they
all comprehended it, for all had run to that country in the hope of
finding it. "Well, we will put down 'houses' next, and then 'land.' Next
we will put down 'fast horses.'" They all understood what fast horses
were--they knew a good deal more about fast horses than they knew about
the kingdom of God. Some of them, I think, actually made fast horses
serve as Gods. "Next we will put down 'tobacco.'" The teacher seemed to
shrink at this. "Put it down," said I, "many a man thinks more of
tobacco than he does of God. Well, then, we will put down 'rum.'" He
objected to this--didn't like to put it down at all. "Down with it. Many
a man will sell his reputation, will sell his home, his wife, his
children, everything he has, for rum. It is the God of some men. Many
here in Chicago will sell their present and then eternal welfare for it.
Put it down," and down it went. "Now," said I, "suppose we put down some
of the heavenly treasures. Put down 'Jesus' to head the list, then
'heaven,' then 'River of Life,' then 'Crown of Glory,' and went on till
the column was filled, and then just drew a line and showed the heavenly
and the earthly things in contrast. My friends, they could not stand
comparison. If a man just does that, he cannot but see the superiority
of the heavenly over the earthly treasures. Well, it turned out that the
teacher was not a Christian. He had gone to California on the usual
hunt--gold; and when he saw the two columns placed side by side, the
excellence of the one over the other was irresistible, and he was the
first soul God gave me on that Pacific coast. He accepted Christ, and
that man came to the station when I was coming away and blessed me for
coming to that place.

Mothers are Looking Down from Heaven.

I remember in the Exposition building in Dublin, while I was speaking
about Heaven, I said something to the effect that at this moment a
mother is looking down from Heaven expecting the salvation of her
daughter here to-night, and I pointed down to a young lady in the
audience. Next morning I received this letter:

"On Wednesday, when you were speaking of heaven, you said, 'It may be
this moment there is a mother looking down from heaven expecting the
salvation of her child who is here.' You were apparently looking at the
very spot where my child was sitting. My heart said, 'That is my child.
That is her mother.' Tears sprang to my eyes. I bowed my head and
prayed, 'Lord, direct that word to