HELP AND FOOD FOR THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH VOL. 34 NO. 12

SPECIAL NUMBER

A GOOD SOLDIER OF JESUS CHRIST BY SAMUEL RIDOUT

" I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept
the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7.)

Departed to be with. Christ, at his residence, Plainfield, N. J., on Oct. 3rd, 1916, Paul J. Loizeaux, in the 75th year of his age.

While mere eulogy, whether of the living or the departed, is distasteful to every spiritual mind, it is equally unfitting that we should fail to recognize the grace of God as manifested in His servants, and to record some of the works of that grace, thus seeking to gather lessons of the life of faith for those of us who remain.

This is especially true in the case of the devoted and beloved brother who has recently fallen asleep. For fifty years he has given himself-time, strength, talents-to the service of Christ in the gospel of His grace, and in ministry to and care for the saints of God. In this labor of love he has traveled throughout the length and breadth of this country and Canada, and beyond the sea as well. Through the printed page he has ministered peace, comfort and counsel to how many!-and it will continue to do so. In his private correspondence, as multitudes will bear witness, his tender sympathy, and help and encouragement in times of need have been given without- stint. In personal brotherly intercourse, he has endeared himself beyond many to a generation that is passing, and to a younger company who have learned to love and esteem him very highly for his work's sake. His life was lived for Christ and His Church, and before the Church; he belongs to that Church, and in a special way the record of his life of loving service to them belongs to those for and to whom it was given. Such will value these pages, and for them they are written^ with the prayer that God will use them to stir in our hearts fresh love for our Saviour and Lord, with a deeper desire to follow our brother as he followed Christ.

I. ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE.

While France has been called " the eldest daughter of the Church " (of Rome), God has not left Himself without witness to the true grace of the gospel in that beautiful land. The great fundamental doctrines of the Reformation-justification by faith on the ground of the finished atoning sacrifice of Christ, the priesthood of all believers, the inspiration and sufficiency of the word of God, with many other precious truths-found a place in many hearts at the time of the Reformation. The names of many honored servants of Christ brighten the pages of the history of the Church in France. But as a nation the people remained under the sway of Rome. They knew not the day of their visitation, and instead of opening their hearts to the truth of the gospel, they stained the land with the blood of their best and noblest. Still the Protestant Church in France was established, and spite of persecution remains side by side to this day with the Church of Rome.

It is sad to think of that Church, with so much light, lapsing into the dead state of Sardis; but, generally speaking, such has been the case.

It was from parentage which had been Protestant as far back as the family history is known that Paul J. Loizeaux was born, at the town of Leme", in the Department of the Aisne, in Northern France in 1841. In the Evangelical revival under Cesar Malan and others, part at least of the family embraced the truth of the gospel, and this doubtless had its effect upon the more immediate household, begetting an atmosphere of confidence the mercy of God as well as the previous sobriety and earnestness which belong to the home where the word of God is read and obeyed.

The immense value of a consistent Protestant training can scarcely be over-estimated, as compared with the blindness, superstition and corresponding worldliness of that "Church" which rigidly deprives its members of the only guide to truth and holiness-the word of God. Even where there is a lack of establishment in the grace of God, and a corresponding legality and formalism takes the place of the warmth, peace and joy of a known salvation, yet we can use the language of the apostle in replying to the question, "What advantage then hath the Jew? . . . Much every way; chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God" (Rom. 3:2). Such was the advantage of the established Protestant Church of France.

It was the recognition of this advantage which induced the parents of the young family, f which Paul was the second member, to move from their home in the north to the south, which was the stronghold of French, Protestantism, where the children could have the advantage of the excellent Protestant schools found there. Here they remained from 1850 until their removal in 1853 to America.

There again the faith of the parents, in putting the chief value upon the eternal interests of their family, is seen. When they began to think of removing elsewhere-because of the decline in the silk business in which the father was engaged-it was found that special and attractive inducements were offered by the French Government to settlers in the newly acquired province of Algeria in Northern Africa. While the temporal advantages were far greater, and they would have remained near their beloved France, the majority of the settlers would have put no value upon the things most prized by these parents. So after seeking counsel from Protestants who could correctly inform them, it was decided to cross the ocean and settle in some of the newly-opened lands in the western part of the United States. Thus in due time they settled, after a brief sojourn in Illinois, in the fertile prairie lands of Iowa, near the village of Vinton.

While in the southern part of France the parents had come under the influence of evangelical teaching, and their sympathies were on that side. But as yet intimate personal acquaintance with the God of grace, as revealed in the person of His Son Jesus Christ and through His atoning sacrifice, was unknown to them. Like Abraham they had heard the call, scarcely recognizing whose voice it was, and had left country and kindred. But as yet their primitive cabin on the vast prairies could scarcely be called a "tent," in the pilgrim sense, and the "altar" of approach to God was as yet but dimly known. The lad of twelve years who had hitherto been led in willing obedience wherever his parents went, was yet to lead them in a way they knew not, in the full and blessed light of Him who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

By the blessing of God the settlers prospered in the beautiful and fertile prairie land, and in a few years their diligence and thrift was rewarded by all of temporal good that could be desired. Paul had been his father's constant companion in those early days, accompanying him in needed journeys and acting as his interpreter. Thus his youth was passed in the best way, humanly speaking, for the development of a character of sturdy self-reliance, energy, honesty, and intelligent endeavors. The Bible was still the book for the family, read morning and evening at the family altar, and reverenced. They had also identified themselves with a denomination, and were rightly known in their vicinity as a religious family.

2. EARLY MANHOOD AND CONVERSION.

In 1860 Paul could be spared from the home, and went to New York to attend the " Charlier Institute," an advanced collegiate establishment, of which his uncle was originator and proprietor, and offered its advantages to his young kinsman, with good prospects of later advancement. Here after two years he graduated with first honors, and after the reading of his essay was greeted by a member of Congress with, " I expect to see you by and by, sir, in the legislative halls of our nation."

Having been advised by a prominent lawyer in New York to adopt the legal profession, he entered the office of a firm near his home and began his studies. But he was being led in a way he knew not, and something higher than either statesmanship or law was to engage his time and abilities. An incident occurred after his entrance into the office which diverted him completely from the profession. An important case having been taken by the firm, the client confessed his guilt to his lawyers. Paul could not comprehend how they could argue such a case as though their client were "not guilty "when they knew the reverse from the man's own lips. Writing to the legal friend in New York upon whose advice he had acted in adopting this profession, he received the following answer to his questions:" Loizeaux, you must start with this, in law, that your client is not guilty till condemned by the jury."

While this was used of God to confirm that love of truth which was ever so prominent a characteristic in him, he by no means believed that all legal men are dishonest. It was doubtless God's way of further exercising him, and providentially leading him away from all other courses except the one for which he was to be later prepared by grace.

Returning to New York he accepted a position as associate in the Collegiate Institute from which he had graduated, with prospects of further advancement to " partnership" in a year or two. He had been regarded, and rightly from a human standpoint, as a fine Christian, and a "preacher's license" had been urged upon him in the denomination with which he had been affiliated in the West.

During his stay in New York he visited Y. M.C. A. meetings, the "Newsboys' Home," and some Missions, being more or less active in these things, while yet not knowing the true gospel of God's grace. About this time were the beginnings of those exercises which culminated shortly after in the great change in his life.

In early childhood there had been occasional glimpses of truth, with deep and serious thoughts. While crossing the ocean, he had felt as if he could trust in the goodness of God; and later on, as a boy in the West, he had said, while watching a young colt gamboling about-" Mother, I wish I were a colt like that." "Why, child! what makes you say such a thing?" " Why, mother, a colt won't have to give account to God as we have," answered the boy.

He became greatly interested in a book of George Muller's, of the Ashley Downs Orphan Homes, supported by confidence in God rather than by direct solicitation of funds. "Answers to Prayer" also stirred him, and finding himself more and more out of accord with the conduct of the Institute, he resigned and returned to his home in Vinton.

But the exercises above referred to, while sincere, did not find or make him a decided Christian in the Bible sense. He desired to "help others to be good," and was giving himself to his work, when he saw the "light above the brightness of the sun." Then for the first time he counted as loss for Christ those things which had been gain to him. His fancied righteousness was then cast away, and henceforth he had but one object and desire-to make known to others that which had brought peace to his own soul. But we will let him tell in his own words how this great event took place.

"I have been a most self-righteous man.* For years I groaned, expecting to find peace by regulating my life according to the Scriptures. *From " Saved by Grace." by P. J. L. The tract is prefaced with the following quotation from Scripture:" For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth " (Rom. 10 :2-4).* I could not but believe them true:they proved such a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart' (Heb. 4:12). I sought carefully for the commandments of the New Testament, but the more I sought, the more I got into difficulty. I read, 'He that hateth his brother is a murderer,' or, ' For every idle word which men speak they shall be brought into judgment,' and others of the same character, but they terrified me. I read also, ' Seek not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink,' but it did not seem to be for me-my labor brought in abundantly. I read also, ' Sell what ye have, and give to the poor,' and then I wished, ' Oh that I were rich, that I might sacrifice all!' Then I sought baptism and the Lord's supper; but after doing all, and living an irreproachable church life, I got no peace. The 'rejoice evermore' I read was only a mockery to me. When I was baptized, I expected some mysterious change, but there was none:I wept at the Lord's table, but there was no peace:I prayed in secret and in public, often so earnestly that others thought me mighty in prayer, but yet there was no peace. 'O Lord!' I cried in my agony, 'speak to me and tell me what to do; I will run and do it even at the peril of my life;' but no answer. I now visited the sick, and spent much time in prayer. I preached too-yes, dear reader, I preached-I tried to be a bearer of glad tidings, while my own heart writhed in agony. What did I preach? What others had preached to me- 'Do thy best; be a valiant soldier of Jesus Christ, and then He will save thee;' but no peace! no peace! In spite of all this supposed duty fulfilled, there was no peace!

One day I called on a sick man, and quickly introduced the subject of religion, as that was my object in calling. 'Ah, sir,' he said, ' they used to tell me to do my best, and I tried and tried, until I found that there was no best to be reached. When I examined myself, I found that I was still the same poor sinner. Then I watched my instructors, to see if I could detect in them what I found in myself, and they failed so visibly to live up to what they taught and professed that I set them all down as hypocrites, and turned infidel. But here, read this;' and he passed to me a Testament opened at Romans 3. I had often read it before, but now the declaration, ' There is none righteous, no, not one,' was strangely solemn to me. I read on:'There is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, . . . whom God hath set forth a propitiation through faith in His blood, . . . that He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.' And as I read the Holy Ghost opened my blinded heart, and I saw it all. Then and there, in that log cabin, I got what Cornelius got as Peter spoke the wonderful message, 'To Him [Jesus] give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins’ (Acts 10:43).

I was then two miles from home, and my path lay mostly through fields of corn and tall grass; but all I remember of it that evening is finding myself several times on my knees on the ground, praising God for His salvation. What shall I do when I get to heaven!

I now had God's answer to all my difficulties in His precious Word, and there it was all the time, but I was blind to it. Is it not wonderful we should be so quick and intelligent about so many things and yet so stupid, about matters so important, and so simply and clearly stated in the Word of God ?"

His soul flooded with this light from heaven, his one great desire was to make it known to his dear ones, the members of his own family, and to friends and neighbors. Soon after he had found peace he mounted his horse and went from house to house asking them to meet him at the school-house, as he had something of great importance to tell them. A company having been thus collected he began to tell them the way of salvation as he had himself learned it from the word of God-by faith, without the works of the law. They listened for a while, then murmurs began to be heard and objections, until at last they quite drowned his voice as they burst out with the words of an old hymn, whose meaning they little understood:

"Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease ?
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas? "

The dear young believer in the finished work of Christ was not finding "flowery beds of ease," as
he proclaimed the free gospel of God, but never again would he put his labors as a ground of salvation. Work he did, unceasingly, but it was not for salvation which was now and eternally his, but because he was saved he could not cease to labor for souls. He could truly say,

"The love that fills my grateful breast
Makes duty joy, and labor rest."

And so began, in the peace and joy of a known salvation, his life in the service of Christ.

3. "YE ARE DEAD."

Before dwelling further upon these early labors in the gospel, we must narrate a further most essential experience through which our brother passed. Very soon after having found peace for his conscience through the finished work of Christ upon the cross, he began to find, as every true believer will, that sin still remained in him. He was conscious of sin, though thankfully free from condemnation. As this pressed upon him, he turned more and more to the word of God, devoting his whole time day after day to prayer, fasting and study of the word of God. He was seeking deliverance from his sinful nature, and in a modified way was seeking holiness through his prayers and struggles as he had formerly sought peace. Shut up in his room he struggled on. His mother would knock at his door beseeching him to take his food, but he had heart for but one thing, and seek it he must until he found the answer to the question, "Oh wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from this body of death ?" For more than a month the struggle continued.

One day as he was reading the third chapter of Colossians, he came to the third verse, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."

" O Lord, that I were more dead," he prayed.

" For ye are dead," replied the word of God.

"Oh that I were dead to sin-more dead, more dead," he repeated.

" FOR YE ARE DEAD," the Word read.

Suddenly, the light flashed into his soul. He leaped to his feet and shouted, " Glory to God, I am dead, and Christ is my righteousness before God. What a fool I have been in beating a dead man!"

Thus was his soul set free, from the law of, or strength, of sin as well as from its guilt. As a bird let loose he soared aloft bathing his soul in the sunshine of heaven-free from self; "in Christ" his righteousness, his peace, his power, his all.

These two great truths never ceased to be the basis of all his service. While he had labored incessantly immediately after finding peace for his conscience, he himself has said he saw comparatively little fruit from his preaching until he had found deliverance through those words, "Ye are dead."

4.EARLY LABORS IN THE GOSPEL.

With conscience and heart now set free, in the deep joy that filled him he gave himself to the delightful work of winning others to the precious Saviour he had found. Beginning immediately after his finding rest, he goes on to say,

" My heart now turned toward all men, especially to those already dear to me by the ties of nature. It was no more praying and preaching and visiting to perform some worthy thing, it was fishing after souls of men. One having in prospect the ministry was most of all on my heart. I knew he was just where I was before. I wrote to him, and told him that I had been blind, but now I saw. I told him of that Man that is called Jesus, of the work which He finished on the cross, and of the wonderful results of apprehending it by faith. He replied that he was 'in great distress sometimes, and he did not know whom to believe. One said this, and another said that, and all seemed earnest. It was very puzzling.' One day he wrote, ' All you tell me is true. I have compared it with the Word. One thing only I cannot understand. You say, ' It is useless to try to better that which cannot be bettered,' and add, 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh.' Surely you do not mean to say we must not strive to improve ourselves.'

I prayed to the Lord that He would guide me in my answer, and thought of the joy of being made the instrument in bringing that dear one to Jesus. I then replied, 'Yes, that is just what I meant to say. I meant that it is useless, and even folly, to strive to better what cannot be bettered. 'Ye must be born again' Your only hope is in what another, even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has done for us. This is humiliating, but there is no other way. ' He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already'! This is the testimony of the whole Scripture.'

A few days after, I received his answer:'Give glory to God, my beloved brother. I see! I see!! It is Jesus, and Jesus alone. Since yesterday, it seems I understand more than half the Word, which before was all darkness. I received your letter yesterday morning, and, as usual, I read it over and over. I read the passages you mentioned, and they were there:I could deny nothing; but I was miserable. I went to my task heartlessly. Toward evening, a gleam of hope reached me. I fell on my knees and prayed, and while there, the whole redemption which is through Christ Jesus was opened up to me-Jesus upon the cross my Substitute! My wonder is, that in view of such a salvation I can remain so calm. I almost tremble lest I should lose such a precious rest.'

Lose such a precious rest ? No, never ! It cannot be lost, for it rests on a foundation which cannot be moved. It rests on what God did for us when He ' laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all.' That is what true peace rests upon. Blessed is the soul that rests upon this precious work of Jesus upon the cross for us!"

We must also let him tell in his own words of another case as illustrating the character of the dealing he had with those to whom he spoke, not as a religious duty, nor to relieve himself of responsibility, but to compel them to accept Christ and His finished work.

*" It had not been long since it had ' pleased God to reveal His Son in me.' *This narrative has been printed as a tract, entitled " The Two Discoveries."* No slave, however ill-treated, could ever feel more delight at being set free, than I had felt upon finding out that a man is 'justified freely by God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus' (Rom. 3:24). Ambitious purposes henceforth gave way to a burning desire of seeing others get the same deliverance, and I began to go about telling people what I had found and was daily finding in the word of God.

On one occasion, I had read the third chapter of Romans to a company of six or seven young men who had come, and I had tried to draw their attention particularly to some of the passages which show the condition of the sinner in the sight of God, and then to some others which show the way God has provided for the salvation of such sinners.

One especially dear to me was there, and on the way from meeting, after having walked side by side a long while "in silence, he said, ' If what you said tonight is true, I am no Christian at all!'

'What have I said which led you to such a discovery ?' I said.

'Well,' he replied, rather angrily, 'you said there was none good, not one righteous. You said it made no difference whether a man had sinned much or little, all alike were lost sinners before God; and then, to finish it up, you said that a lost man could do nothing to save himself, that it made no difference how much good he tried to do, it could neither save him nor help him to salvation. I say, if all this is true, I am no Christian at all, for I thought that a Christian is a man who tries to be good, and does all the good he can so as to find favor with God.'

' My dear –,' I said, ' the things I said are not mine; they are God's. The chapter we read says there is none good; it says there is none righteous, no, not one; it says there is no difference; all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It says, By the deeds of the law (that is what you call good works) there shall no flesh be justified. Ah, my friend, it is the word of God which has just been showing you the darkness you are in, and I am sure if the word of God has led you to discover you are not a Christian, your discovery is true. May God help you, and lead you to see Jesus the Saviour of sinners'

But all that man loves to boast in could not be given up so easily. A year before, he had passed through a series of meetings where, night after night, he had wept and mourned, asked the church to pray for him, humbled himself down as low as he could; after all this, finding no rest yet, he had asked in despair what he could do now to find God's favor, and the answer had been, ' Be faithful, pray much, strive on, work for Jesus, and you'll get what you are seeking for.' He had prayed much, he had worked with unbounded energy, he had done all the good it was in his power to do, and now, was all this useless? Was he going to get nothing for it all ? Was he no better off than if he had sat still ?

Ah! the conflict had begun. The Saviour-God receiving sinners and eating with them had roused to anger the righteous Pharisee. He could not bear to hear his righteousness called ' filthy rags.'

' Has God been reached by nothing of all this ?' he exclaimed.

'The cries of your earnest heart, my dear, have reached God,' I said,' but you have never reached Him yet, and never will in the way you have been following. It is a way which the natural heart loves, because there is some praise for self in it; it is the way the Pharisees were wont to bind on the backs of other people, but it is not ' the way.' You have been both deceiving yourself and being deceived. Before you can be saved, you must stop ' trying'; you must stop ' resolving'; you must stop ' working'; you must find out that you are lost, that you are 'dead in trespasses and sins.' That verse in our chapter, ' There is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,' puts you on the same level with the thief, the murderer, the fornicator. You are a condemned man, and until your heart owns this to God, you need turn to Him for nothing, He has nothing for you. Be sure of this:He will never accept your terms, you must come down to His. But as soon as you find out that you are lost, you will rejoice to hear God telling you that you are 'justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood'! This puts an end to your idea of being brought to God by any thing from you. It teaches you what the second chapter of Ephesians says-' But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ!' When you know yourself a saved man by the blood of Christ, God will teach you then to live for Him; but until then, He has nothing to say to you save about His Son's work for you.'

By this time we had to separate, and I retired to my room, assured that 'the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,' had begun to prove itself indeed 'a discerner of the thoughts and intents' of that proud, self-righteous heart.

For nearly a year he continued in that strange state of mind which is seen in people who know what the truth is, but refuse to bow to it implicitly. His feelings toward me often bordered on hatred, because I seldom failed, when he spoke of ' doing,' to bring him before the cross of Christ with the solemn question, ' What was that for ? What meant that cry of agony -' My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ?' Then he ceased pursuing the religious operations he had been engaged in, and, as a consequence, he was warned from all sides against the danger of believing that salvation is by the blood of Jesus alone. Thus, as is generally the case when God is about to deliver a soul, Satan puts forth, with great energy, every possible objection. He hates to see his slaves delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son.

How interesting to watch a struggle of this kind, knowing God is the One at work, and that He is Almighty.

One day he told me he was so miserable he didn't know what to do with himself. Knowing the cause of this misery and what the end would be, I could not but be glad; and as my face told what was in my heart, he went away with the thought that salvation by grace made one hard-hearted, since I seemed to have no sympathy for him in his sorrow.

A few days after, he asked me to pray for him; his misery was becoming intolerable. I told him my prayers could not make the work of Christ more perfect, nor His blood more availing. The supper was ready-complete – wanting nothing more. It was God's supper, and man's prayers could add nothing to it; yea, anything man would add would spoil it altogether. Moreover, my prayers could not make God more willing to accept him, since God Himself had taken the attitude of one who beseeches sinners to come to Him, as the last three verses of 2 Cor. 5 clearly show. The trouble was nowhere on God's side, but all on his. God told him all was finished, he must take Him at His word. His misery was the consequence of refusing to have salvation simply on the ground of what Jesus had done. If, therefore, I prayed for him, all I could ask of God was that He would please make him miserable enough to give up his own righteousness, and submit himself unto the righteousness of God; for 'Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth' (Rom. 10:3, 4).

Two days after, while he sat driving on the front seat of a sleigh, conversing with a dear one, who knew the Lord Jesus, about the all-engrossing subject to him, he suddenly exclaimed with a loud voice, 'I see it, I see it now! Neither prayers, nor tears, nor good works, nor anything from me can satisfy God for sin; it is the blood,-the blood of Christ alone can, and it has satisfied Him. Thank God! thank God!'

For a while he was so overcome with joy at having discovered the perfect satisfaction which God has found in the atoning work of Jesus, that he seemed like one beside himself; but we soon found he had just received ' the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind'" (2 Tim. 1:7).

We cannot fail to notice here the apparent harshness of a love which would not hesitate to probe to the depths of the heart of those near and dear, that all trust in self, feelings or doings might be removed. Thus their peace was made to rest upon Christ alone.
So one by one those nearest and dearest to him were brought to the solid rock of a known salvation -sisters and brothers were thus wrought into a closer relationship as children of God and heirs together with him of the coming glory.

It is touching to see how he was used to bring full light and peace to his beloved and honored parents, who had so carefully watched over his childhood and early youth. Now the docile scholar was to instruct, in all humility, those whom he ever owned as entitled to all his respect and obedience. To his mother it seemed that this new light was too great to be fully the truth. She was not clear that one could be justified by faith apart from works.

He opened her Bible at the 4th chapter of Romans and showed her, in the sweet tongue in which she was born, those precious words:"To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness " (ver. 5). The mother had been so constant a reader of those very scriptures, that in their frequent reading she had rubbed the words pale with her finger, yet had never seen their wondrous, simple truth.

One day, Paul went with his father to the distant woods where they had to spend the night. After a day of labor, he lay beside his father in the little cabin. Very weary, he soon fell asleep. The sleep of youth is not easily broken, but to his father's anxious words, "Oh, my son, I am so miserable," he roused and answered:"Father, trust in Christ alone !" But soon after the father woke him again with "Oh, my son, I am so miserable!" Again came the same answer:"Father, trust in Christ alone." The Holy Spirit used these simple words to bring rest to the troubled heart.

Thus, one by one, the dear members of the family circle were brought by the knowledge of the truth into peace with God through Paul's instrumentality.

At home, with his Bible and concordance, he drank deeply of the water of life. Eager to communicate to others the strange new truth of salvation by faith apart from works, he went everywhere with the glad tidings-to all who would hear.

Open opposition sometimes broke out. At one place, after preaching Christ in a log schoolhouse, he was hooted at as "the man going to heaven without works." The directness and power of the preaching would rouse the people to interest in the message, and while some were made angry by it, others found peace and joy in believing.

At one place, especially, the word of God was taking deep root, and though twelve miles from his father's house, Paul went there on foot every weekend, often through snow and bitter cold, to preach Christ in the school-houses and in the homes of the scattered people. What mattered reproach and hardship when Christ was so precious!

5. EARLY MARRIED LIFE.

While a student in New York Paul made the acquaintance of Miss Celia Sanderson, of Milwaukee, who was also attending a school in the Metropolis. On his return to the West, he went to Milwaukee, to obtain permission of her parents to correspond with their daughter. This resulted in their marriage in 1868.
Miss Sanderson had been converted early in life. Her father's death, and her mother's soon after, caused her to come and dwell with her uncle Howard Sanderson who had recently come to the knowledge of the Truth. She became greatly exercised by the condition of things in the denomination of which she was a member. She withdrew from it, and identified herself with the little company of believers gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus alone in Milwaukee.

It was at this time that Paul passed through the exercises which so changed the current of his life. Thus was the Lord preparing each for the path which lay before them.

After their marriage they lived at Vinton, Iowa, and our brother gave himself ardently to the preaching of the gospel. North, west and south, he carried the blessed tidings-salvation through faith in Christ. After a season of toil he would return to his companion, often walking to save expenses, but with a joyful heart in his Master's service, who gave him souls for his hire.

On one of these return visits he found a letter awaiting him, containing a liberal offer if he would return to New York, and take charge of the Institute where he had formerly studied and taught. As they sat at the tea-table, he passed the letter to his wife, saying, "What am I to answer, my dear? " As she read, her cheeks flushed, and looking up she said, "Is there any more than one answer to this? " " Yes; it is a direct question, which may be answered by a 'yes' or a 'no'; which shall it be? " To say "yes" meant for her a life of luxury in keeping with her past; to say "no" meant a life of privation and hardship. Fixing her eyes tenderly on him, she said, " No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." So they went on as heirs together of the grace of life.

6. EXTENSION OF THE WORK.

The interest then widened and deepened. Many had confessed Christ, and found themselves no longer at home where formalism was the rule. What should they do ? Our brother had become convinced that Scripture lays down a simple path. In some degree he had passed through exercises as to the Church and its testimony, similar to those which marked his finding peace and deliverance. He related how one day, while alone in the country, and pondering upon the truth as to the Church and its order, he was assailed by doubts:-Was it all imaginary, and were the denominations right after all ? At last he opened his Bible at the 4th chapter of Ephesians, and read it aloud. Here was the Church's constitution:"One body, one Spirit, and one hope of your calling." Christ had descended into the grave for us, and now ascended, was the Head of the Church, His Body. Where were many "religious bodies?" Where a place for man to be its leader ? The question was settled, and he became a steadfast witness for the truth of the Church of God as well as for the gospel of salvation.

Thus a company of believers, near "Yankee Grove," Iowa, began to remember the Lord in the breaking of bread according to His word. This was the first gathering of a "little flock" in the West.

Some times the opposition was intense. At one place where he had an appointment to preach, on arriving he found a clergyman had come there before him, determined to supplant him or break up the meeting. Finally a gentleman present called out, "Any who want to hear Mr. L. come to my house." So the closed door was still an opened one.

At another time a young Quaker who had become greatly interested in the truth, begged our brother to go with him to his friends and relatives in Muscatine, Iowa, about 100 miles away. On arriving there our brother found himself among Hicksite Friends, and at the home of their chief man, a person of influence and a Unitarian, as they mostly are. The message of salvation through a divine Saviour, and by His atoning sacrifice, was resisted and openly withstood. The ardent young evangelist therefore received scant courtesy at his hands, and school-houses were closed to him by his influence. The young man who had brought our brother to Muscatine, was son-in-law to the Hicksite, and was told that if he had anything to do with Mr. L.,his wife would be taken away from him. Another Quaker, however, took our brother in for the night.

Being obliged to pass on, the next day he met a Col. Hare, who had a school-house. In answer to the Colonel's question, what he intended to preach, our brother replied, " Preach Christ; " and received the desired permission to use the school-house. Being hungry as well as weary, our brother satisfied his hunger with partly frozen apples which remained on the trees, by the way; then covering himself with leaves, refreshed himself with sleep for the preaching in the evening. After the meeting, when all had left the school-house, while he prepared to pass the night where he had preached, a man returned and asked, "Stranger, where are you going to stop ?" and on finding out, he took him to his own home. Two years later, this man's house became the gathering place of the assembly there.

A touching incident occurred in one of these parts at that time. Believers had come to remember the Lord's death in a brother's house, as usual in those early days. A member of the family, insane for a long time, had become violent and had to be confined in a locked room. They had some misgivings as to having the meeting there, for fear of freshly exciting the poor sufferer. They decided, however, to go on in dependence upon the Lord. When they brought the sufferer's food after the meeting, he seemed strangely quiet. " What was that lovely singing I heard?" he asked. "It was like heaven." They soon found that the dark cloud had lifted:and ere long he also was sharing in the joy of the others.

In these same parts, a lady, "full of good works," though not then a Christian, filled his ears with an account of the good things she had done. "Now, what do you think of it all ? " she asked. " I think you are a first class Pharisee," was his reply. The sharp thrust was owned of God. Not long after she too learned to trust not in works of righteousness which she had done, but in Christ her Saviour. A life-long lover of the truth, she departed to be with Christ only a few years before our brother.

Interest in the truth then developed at Muscatine in a pronounced way among men. At a meeting, in a large hall, but one woman was present, and the proportion of gray-haired men was very large. The Word was taking effect; and one of its fruits was seen in their liberal giving. Surrounded by them at the close, they thrust bills into his pockets from every side. Thus he found, as the apostle, times of abounding as also times of privations.

New fields sometimes were opened in a very providential way. Our brother was going with a younger member of the family to St. Paul, in the winter. He had heard of a company of earnest Baptists at Plainfield, Iowa. As the train proceeded with increasing difficulty, they finally ran into such a snow-drift that it made it impossible to proceed further. Inquiring the name of the place, he found it was Plainfield. He then decided to get out and visit the believers of whom he had heard.

Finding they lived some seven miles away, he trudged away through the snow to the house of one of whom he had heard. He was preparing to go to a distant forest for a load of wood. Making himself known, our brother told him his object in the visit.

" Have you come out all this way to talk to us about Christ ?" Being assured that this was the case, the farmer said, "Fred, put up the team." Then the neighbors were sent for, and the work of God began. The brother who first thus opened his house, and received and acted upon the truth, was a "pillar "in that assembly to the day of his death. The testimony to the truth in Christ remains in the family and in that district to this day.

In one town in Iowa, a clergyman had been under contract to the people to preach for a certain time, which had now expired. Not receiving the stipulated payment for his services, the gentleman no longer preached, though remaining in the town. He attended one of our brother's meetings, and along with some others attempted to interrupt the preaching with cries of "Wolf, wolf!" One who had received blessing through our brother's ministry of the Word answered, to the confusion of the interrupter, "The hireling fleeth because he is a hireling."

So in the joy of the gospel and even amid the opposition of many, the work went forward. We may add, as describing it; "So mightily grew the word of God, and prevailed."

In a more remote place, a settlement of Hollanders led by their evangelical pastor, had come to this country for " freedom to worship God " according to their light, which had been denied them in their country. They had called their town " Pella," as the oppressed Jews in days of long ago had called their place of refuge. Their pastor had died, and many there welcomed the light through the preaching of our brother, and were led on into the blessedness of their standing in grace, not under the law, and in the order of the Church of God.

7. ACQUAINTANCE WITH "BRETHREN"

Although married to a sister already in the fellowship of "brethren," and profiting, doubtless, by their literature, especially as to details of the Church's place and order, our brother had never been thrown in contact with those called "brethren." From his own study of the Word, he had learned much which he found was held and acted upon by others as well. When, therefore, he received a warm invitation to attend a conference of "brethren "in Guelph, Ontario, in 1870, he willingly went.

It was here he first met Mr. J. N. Darby. As they met, Mr. Darby greeted him with a kiss, after the manner of the Continent.

" I have seen you before," said Mr. Darby.

"Where ? " asked our astonished brother.

"In your father's house in France, when you were a young boy."

It seems that Paul's parents had given lodging to an aged brother, "un Darbiste" at their house in France, and it was there that J. N. D., on his visits to this brother, had seen the young boy and taken notice of him-for he loved children. How little either dreamed of what grace would do in the future.

This meeting in Guelph was not only helpful to the diligent student and preacher of the Word, who valued the company of one whom he gladly recognized as a marked gift of Christ to the Church, but made him acquainted with various zealous evangelists proclaiming the glad tidings in different parts of Canada, who had gathered there a harvest of souls for Christ. What cheer, what help in Scripture understanding, what joy of fellowship in the truth were those gatherings for the study of God's word! After some clear exposition of certain parts, or even passages of scripture, we can imagine the satisfaction with which our brother would reply, Ah, that is very clear and helpful.

It is to be hoped that the Bible Reading will never lose its place among us. For general instruction, solution of difficulties, answering of questions, it has a place which nothing else can fill.

8. DANIEL MANN.

Among the fellow-servants in the Lord's work whom our brother met at Guelph was Mr. Talbot who, with others, had recently had much blessing at Kingston, Ont. He urged Mr. L. to go there and carry on the work, and he consented. He was led thus, all unknown to himself, to a work which he ever regarded as one of the most important in his long years of service.

Visiting the prisoners in the jail, he found a man under sentence of death for the murder of his keeper, and was privileged to be the honored instrument of leading him to Christ, and into the fulness of the blessings of Christian truth.

It is difficult to describe in a few sentences the charm which has always made the story of the conversion and establishment of this dear soul in the grace of God so attractive to all classes of readers.

Entering the cell of the condemned man, who could read with difficulty, the moral, educated, refined young man found himself face to face with his exact opposite. His ardent temperament made him ever intense, but here was a soul hovering on the brink of eternity, without Christ, and therefore without hope. It was no time for soothing words. The sword of divine truth was plunged into the bosom of the poor criminal, in order that the abundant consolations of the gospel of Christ might be poured into the wounds. It was this faithfulness in dealing with souls that doubtless was used of God, when softer words might have been useless.

The light soon broke into the poor, darkened heart. The third chapter of Romans, which had brought peace to the young evangelist a few years before, came as a beam of heaven's own light, giving life and peace to this poor child of sin.

Aflame with joy and love, Paul clasped the newborn man to his bosom. All the ardor of his own first love was transferred to Daniel Mann's breast, and sitting together in the cell they poured out their hearts in a joy that none but those who have experienced it can understand.

And now began a series of visits, with the open Bible as the one theme. Mann was an apt scholar and diligent student, and within the brief compass of three weeks was led on in the practical knowledge of divine truth in an amazing way, beyond what many Christians learn in a lifetime. The Completeness of the finished work of Christ was enlarged upon, and the believer's perfect standing in Him. The heavenly position and destiny of the child of God, and the blessed hope of the Lord's coming were eagerly grasped and assimilated.

What is exceedingly instructive in the history is that the dear man was not without experience of the fact that, though born of God, he still had the old nature, which was as sinful as ever. He fell into the painful snare of making unkind and ugly charges against the jail officials, and as a result passed through deep soul-exercise. This lapse, however, was but the occasion of a fresh and fuller grasp of the truths of the two natures, the advocacy of Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit. Speedily restored, and chastened in spirit, he grew all the faster.

The nature, destiny and ministry of the Church of God were also clearly grasped, and most ardently did Mann enter into the wondrous thoughts of God concerning the Body of Christ.

Bowing to the government of God that the death penalty was righteously to be visited upon the slayer of his fellow-man, no effort was made to secure executive clemency for the prisoner. So he went on calmly, with deep humility and self-abasement, but unshaken confidence in the grace of Christ, to his appointed end. The last night was spent in praise by these two together, and in the morning, with heart torn between grief and joy, Paul returned from the prison yard.

Brethren had heard of this marked work of grace, and wrote to Paul for some particulars. Sitting down with a full heart, and voluminous notes of various conversations, and while memory was fresh, our brother wrote the manuscript of "Daniel Mann." Completing the first half, he mailed it to the brethren in Toronto, who having read it, grieved at the thought that the second half had been lost, as they supposed. This, however, soon followed, and shortly after the printed narrative of "The Lord's Dealings with the Convict Daniel Mann," was in the hands of the public.

At once it became in great demand, and has continued to be one of the most widely circulated and blessed of the large pamphlets. In the United States alone 170, 000 have been printed, and several millions in Great Britain. It has also been translated into eight or more languages, thus carrying the precious truth in many parts of the world.

This pamphlet has been used of God in the conversion and blessing of multitudes. The author would frequently receive word of some soul having found peace through its pages. We give a few of these-though no record has been preserved of the very many letters telling of souls saved and blessed by its means. In his closing years, in infirmity and suffering, these came as a breath of those bright early days to cheer our dear brother.

Major S of the Royal Engineers was a passenger on a steamer returning to his post at Aden after his well-earned furlough. Among his fellow-passengers was an American missionary, returning to Egypt to his much loved work among the Copts.

Both the major and the missionary were earnest Christians, and many were the talks they had together. When they parted the missionary gave his friend some books and pamphlets, among them being one entitled, " Brief History of the Convict, Daniel Mann."

Such things as the giving of this book do not happen by chance, as the sequel will show.

Some weeks before the arrival of the steamer at Aden, a soldier in the garrison had been punished by his sergeant. Confined in prison, he determined on revenge.

He managed to shake loose one of the bars of the window in his prison. Taking advantage of the firing of the one o'clock gun, under cover of the noise he shook the bar quite free, squeezed through the window, dropped to the ground, gained the barracks, secured and loaded his rifle, and shot his sergeant dead.

He was tried by court-martial, and condemned to death. In three weeks' time, the official authority to carry the court-martial into effect arrived from headquarters in India, but some irregularity in it caused the delay of its return to the authorities for correction. This gave the condemned man a further and quite unexpected respite. Had this not occurred, the soldier would have been executed before the arrival of Major S—- at Aden.

But God had purposes of blessing for the condemned man. From the first, the chaplain of the troops had earnestly sought the eternal blessing of one so soon to enter eternity, but without any apparent result. Knowing the major to be a Christian officer, he put the case before him for his prayerful sympathy. He at once remembered the striking book the missionary had given him, and handed it to the chaplain. It quickly found its way into the hands of the poor murderer.

It was just the message for him. God had saved one murderer, why should he, too, not be saved ? The book was happily the means of his conversion, and was his constant companion with his Bible till the end came. Letter from a Japanese Christian-to Loizeaux Brothers. my beloved brothers:

Lately I got a copy of a Japanese magazine called "Grace and Truth." In it was the following story, which I relate as briefly as I can. A young man of a prominent family, whose brother is a professor in a university, was on the Osaka Stock Exchange. A stock buyer sent him much money by a boy to buy stocks for him which the young man had advised him to get. But alas, the young man, tempted by the money, took the errand-boy to a lonely place, murdered him, and hid the body. After a few days he was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged. A little girl about twelve years old read this awful story in the newspapers, and it moved her tender heart. She could not go to see him, because Osaka is many hundred miles away from her; so she sent a letter to a pastor at Osaka, and asked him to visit the condemned young man in the jail and hand him the tract which she was sending. The tract was, " The Lord's Dealings with the Convict Daniel Mann," translated into Japanese by Mr. Hasada. The pastor went as desired, and handed the poor young man the little girl's tender letter and the tract. The young man read many times the tract " Daniel Mann," and through it found the way to escape eternal condemnation. He felt so peaceful as he drew near the execution that he wrote the little girl, telling her how kind to him she was so to think of the eternal punishment to which he was going without the Lord Jesus Christ. In thanking her, he said that of the fifty million people in Japan she was the only one who cared for his soul-he a cold-blooded murderer! and she only a little girl, who believes in Jesus Christ, and loved a sinner's soul so much as to send him a tract with tender words! Dear Brother, it was labor to show Daniel Mann the way, but that labor was for many more. Far off in my own country it reaches too, and we thank God for it.

Your affectionate brother in Christ, Y. Y.

" The Power of the Name of Jesus.

While laboring in the gospel a few years ago in a little village of Ontario, the lady at whose house we were entertained proposed a visit to an afflicted family six miles away. On our way there she pointed to a cottage by the roadside, and said, "An aged Scotchman lives in that cottage; he loves the children of God, and I am sure he would enjoy a call from you." So we alighted at his door and went in.

Judging by the deep furrows of his face, he must have been at least eighty years of age. Addressing him, I said, " The Scriptures say, ' We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.' This lady tells me you love brethren; and as I am one of them, I have come in to see you."

His face fairly beamed with joy, and he expressed himself thankful for a visit on such a principle.

" Have you known the Lord very long? " I asked.

" Well, there is a story to that," he replied. " I belonged to the kirk when quite a young lad; but whether I belonged to the Lord, He alone knows; I canna tell. But I came to Canada, and was steward in a gentleman's house in Kingston, when a poor penitentiary convict killed his guard in trying to escape. He was sentenced to be hung, and during his days of grace was converted through the ministry of an evangelist then preaching in Kingston. This evangelist wrote a little book telling about his conversion. I read the book ; and ever since that time I know I belong to the Lord, and no doubt about it; and I tell ye, it's a mighty different thing to belonging to the kirk."

" I am very glad to hear my little book has helped you, I said."

" Na !" he cried.

" Yes, I wrote the book."

" Na, it canna be! " he cried again, with excitement.

"Yes, it was I who was preaching then in Kingston, and ministered to that poor convict, and wrote the book."

Convinced at last, he rushed to me, grasped me in his arms, and for a long time sobbed aloud.

Our brother once said that he believed there would be more fruit from " Daniel Mann " than from all his other ministry. His wife sometimes would try to dissuade him from exposing himself to excessive fatigue in inclement weather by saying, " Daniel Mann is preaching all the time ; you need not go out." It is touching to remember in this connection, that in those closing days, when Mann longed for life that he might tell others the way of salvation, and was told a narrative of what the Lord had done for him would be published, he would especially pray for God's blessing upon its circulation. Truly, his prayers have been answered in a ma:-ked and abundant way.

9.ACTIVITIES WEST AND EAST.

Our brother had now entered upon a wider sphere of activity. Doors for the gospel were opened in many places, and it was his joy to declare the unsearchable riches of Christ in both new and old fields. Marked interest was shown in many places. He was often privileged to preach to crowded audiences in large halls night after night, and during the day was sought after by enquirers.

As to our brother's manner of preaching, it was utterly devoid of sensationalism. He was preeminently a preacher of the Word. The great truths of the gospel as laid open in the epistle to the Romans formed the basis of his preaching-the ruin of man, the holiness and righteousness of God, the perfect sacrifice of Christ as the means of justification and peace-it was by these truths his soul had been set free, and they were pressed upon his audience.

Such truths solemnize the heart, and he had none of the levity into which some are betrayed. Yet there were few who could attract and hold an audience so effectually. Doctrinal his preaching was- preeminently so, but never dry. Apt illustrations were often used, with an occasional incident, but all was subordinated to the one great aim of winning souls to Christ. As he dwelt upon the sufferings of Christ, the eyes often suffused with tears at the thought of the peace, the joy and deliverance which follows the acceptance of the Saviour, it seemed as if he would sing. All the ardor of his nature lent itself to the greatness of the subject, and both he and his audience were carried along in the swift rushing current of his utterance. Not with mere excitement were hearers carried along, for the word was in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Their faith stood, therefore, "not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." His converts "stood."

Our brother was a great preacher because of the greatness of his theme and because of its power over his own soul. He preached always that which he had first experienced. Well grounded in the entire teaching of the Scripture, and delighting to minister instruction to the saints, he was ever at home in the precious gospel of the grace of God. This was meat and drink to him, and it became the bread and water of life to many who listened to him.

His labors extended, as has been said, over a wide field-in Canada, in New York City and the East, and again in the West:Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. These were days of happy and unremitting toil, and of fruit whose abundance the day alone will declare.

It was during this time that the conferences for brethren in the West, at his father's farm, took place. To this Western farm, lumber was brought five miles to erect the necessary sheds, which willing hands of brethren helped to erect. Mr. Darby attended two of them, and we may well believe with what profit and blessing to the Lord's people. Great blessing and joy flowed from these meetings. The closing prayer-meeting would be protracted far into the night, as brethren lingered before the throne of grace, loath to part from one another.

God has greatly used these conferences, which are continued in those parts, and all over the country. Altered slightly to meet the varied requirements of time and location, they have preserved, we are thankful to say, much of the simplicity and spirituality which were so marked at the beginning.

10. THE BIBLE TRUTH DEPOT.

Our brother's name will ever be associated with the Tract and Book Depot, from which millions of tracts and books have gone to all parts of the world . with their messages of peace and blessing. It is therefore fitting that some brief account be given of the beginning and growth of that work in which he took so large a share, and which ever had a prominent place in his interest and prayers.

While he was still in Iowa and engaged in gospel work in various places, cases of tracts and books were received from England. x With intuitive promptness Paul saw here an opportunity for a wider field of service to the Lord through the printed ministry. This little stock of tracts and books were put in the hands of his brother Timothy, who was detained at home by asthma. Shelves were put up in the latter's home, and in a small way, the " Bible Truth Depot" was begun.

About a year after this, a sum of money was inherited by Mrs. Paul Loizeaux, and this, after seeking the Lord's guidance, was entirely devoted to the Lord, for the purchase of a press and the needed materials for printing and publishing the truth. A room was rented, a brother in the Lord, Mr. Robert Seed, was engaged, and the printing began. There was no formal "opening" of this little establishment, but a wall motto served as the dedication of the press to this work:

"Unto Him that loveth us, and hath washed us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.'

And this has ever been the aim and character of the ministry sent forth through the press, and the conduct of the work-to glorify Him whose redeeming love and precious blood is

" Our theme of joy and wonder here, Our endless song above."

For three years the work went on in this way. A number of tracts and booklets were reprinted:the "C S. Railway" series, and the " Plain Words" series of gospel tracts, followed by " The Lord's Dealings with the Convict Daniel Mann," "How to get Peace," and a number of others were turned out. Twice a week the families gather