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(2°7-21
I)
ZION'S
WATCH
TOWER
ALLEGHENY,
PA.
holy
Spirit
is
the
spirit
of
meekness,
gentleness,
patience,
long-'suffering,
brotherly
kindness,
love,
we
may
well
ask
ourselves
how
else
could
the
Lord
work
out
for
us
these
elements
of
character
which
we
desire
did
he
not
permit
to
come
upon
us
the
trials
and
difficulties
of
life
necessary
to
their
development.
We
know
not
the
author
of
the
following,
but
consider
it
worthy
of
reproducticn
as
an
illustration
of
earthly
kind
ness
and
a
reminder
of
the
gracious
me,Ssage
from
Je
hovah:-
"LIKE
AS
A
FATHER
PITIETH
ms
CHILDREN,
SO
THE
LORD
PITIETH
THEM
THAT
REVERENCE
mM."-PSA.
103:13
The
life
of
a
beautiful
girl
was
nearing
its
close.
The
busy
father,
active
in
legal
and
political
life,
made
short
visits
to
his
office
to
perform
the
most
necessary
duties,
and
hurrieJ
home
again
day
by
day
to
be
near
her
in
her
last
days.
He
spent
every
po,Ssible
moment
in
granting
her
every
wish,
and
It
was
a
comfort
to
him
that
his
daughter
was
finding
in
her
religion
a
source
of
strength
that
robbed
approaching
Jeath
of
its
terror.
He
was
an
upright
man,
but
one
f10m
whose
busy
life
religion
had
been
cl'owJed
out.
One
day
as
he
sat
by
the
bedside,
his
daughter
asked
him
to
read
to
her.
He
found
a
magazine,
and
read
,Some
bright
bits
of
poetry
and
fiction.
It
pleased
her,
but
she
wanted
something
else.
I
I
Father,"
she
askeJ,
I
I
will
you
get
my
Bible
and
read
from
thaU"
I
I
Certainly,
my
dear,"
he
answered,
and
was
rather
glad
than
otherwise.
He
was
a
strong
man
with
a
clear
voice
and
a
good
degree
of
self-control.
He
had
mastered
his
own
feelings
in
these
days
of
patient
anJ
affectionate
milli.stration,
that
he
might
bring
to
the
sick-room
every
element
of
cheer
that
was
possible.
And
now
he
began,
calmly
and
quietly,
to
read
the
Sermon
on
the
Mount.
He
knew
where
to
find
it,
and
he
knew
that
it
was
good,
and
he
read
it
with
a
growing
appreciation
of
its
beauty
and
sublimity.
But
the
daughter
grew
more
and
more
restless.
"Don't
you
like
it'''
he
asked.
I
I
0,
father,"
she
exclaimed,
I
I
it
isn't
that
I
want,
about
our
righteousness
exceeding
that
of
the
Scribes
and
Phari
sees!
Can't
you
find
the
place
where
it
says,
I
Like
as
a
father
pitieth
his
children,
so
the
Lord
pitieth
them
that
fear
him"
"
His
voice
trembled
a
little,
but
he
said,
"I
will
find
it,"
and
he
turned
to
the
concordance
in
the
back
of
the
Bible.
But
when
he
found
the
place
and
began
to
read,
I
I
Like
as
a
father,"
he
could
bear
no
more.
I
I
0,
my
child,"
he
cried,
I
I
if
God
cares
for
you
as
I
do-"
He
bent
over
the
bed
and
wept.
"It
is
the
verse
we
both
need,"
she
said
softly,
after
a
few
minutes.
And
he
knelt
beside
the
bed,
and
said:
I
I
Yes,
my
dear-that
i.s
the
verse
we
both
need."
PILGRIM
VISITS
OF
BRO.
B.
H.
BARTON
.N
o~tingham.l-.
Eng.,
July
28,
29;
Atherstone,
Eng.,
July
30;
Bummgham,
~ng.,
July
31;
Oxford,
Eng.,
Aug.
1,
2;
Read
ing,
Eng
..
Aug.
3;
Bristol.
Eng.,
Aug.
4-6;
Tewkesbury,
Eng.,
Aug.
7;
Cardiff,
Eng.,
Aug.
8;
Bournemouth,
Eng.,
Aug.!);
London,
Eng.,
Aug.
11,
12;
Brighton,
Eng.,
Aug.
13;
Seven
oaks,
Eng.,
Aug.
14,
15;
Ilford,
Eng.,
Aug.
16;
Southend,
Eng.,
Aug.
17;
Forest
Gate,
Eng.,
Aug.
18,
19.
VOL.
XXVII
ALLEGHENY,
P
A.,
JULY
15,
1906
No.
14
May
10,
1906.
My
Beloved
Brother
Russell:
My
heart
aches
for
you
as
I
read
your
letter
of
May
8th
and
note
that
you
still
love
and
cherish
the
memory
of
the
one
you
have
lost,
in
spite
of
all
the
suffering
which
her
blind
ness
has
brought
upon
you.
May
God
bless
and
help
you,
deap
brother.
It
ought
to
be
a
comfort
to
you
at
a
time
like
this
to
know
that
there
are
probably
not
less
than
10,000
of
the
Lord's
saints
who
daily
make
mention
of
you
in
their
prayers
at
the
throne
of
grace.
I
have
not
failed
to
do
this
daily
for
the
last
11
years,
and
how
much
more
just
now
when
you
ure
passing
through
such
deep
waters.
I
doubt
if
in
the
entire
history
of
Christ's
church
there
has
ever
been
anyone
person
who
has
continually
had
so
many
saints
to
remember
Mm
daily
in
prayer
as
yourself.
In
humility
of
heart,
and
realizing
keenly
my
own
little
ness
and
unworthiness,
I
now
suggest
to
you
what
it
seems
to
me
to
be
the
Lord's
will
that
you
ought
to
do
regarding
this
matter,
and
will
first
point
to
the
Word
of
God
to
sustain
the
opinion
I
shall
express.
God
rebuked
Miriam,
that
there
might
be
no
question
in
the
mind
of
fleshly
Israel
regarding
the
one
at
fault;
God
reprovetl
Job's
friends
that
they
and
others
might
know
whom
Goll
approved;
our
Father
has
explained
particularly
the
circum-
"TRUTH
IS
STRANGER
THAN
FICTION"
A
CONFIDENTIAL
EXPLANATION
BY
THE
EDITOR
OF
HIS
PECULIAR
TRIALS-THE
WIDE
SPREADING
OF
UNTRUTH
MAKES
NECESSARY
THIS
STATEMENT
OF
THE
TRU'fH
It
is
requested
that
this
issue
be
not
loaned
or
otherwise
publicly
circulated.
"LET
NOT
YOUR
GOOD
BE
EVIL
SPOKEN
OF"
in
contact
with
the
slanderous
reports
who
may,
just
as
well
as
Dear
Friends
:-As
your
letters
indicate,
you
have
rightly
not,
remain
in
ignorance
of
the
whole
matter.
It
has
been
judged
that
I
have
recently
passed
through
the
most
trying
my
effort
to
hide
my
troubles;
but
now
this
much
seems
due
experience
of
my
checkered
career
as
a
servant
of
the
Lord.
to
my
friends.
For
these
reasons
it
has
seemed
to
be
the
And
I
may
add
that
one
of
the
chief
features
of
my
present
Lord's
guidance
that
a
rehearsal
of
matters
should
appear
in
distress
arises
from
my
conviction
that
my
tribulations
are
by
this
form
intended
only
for
friends,
for
private
use
amongst
no
means
('onfinrd
to
myself,
but
pain
and
amict
all
the
dear
those
whose
minds
have
been
so
poisoned
as
to
nccd
these
I
I
household
of
faith"
walking
in
the
narrow
way
and
in
the
details
as
an
antidote.
Moreover,
instead
of
giving
full
de-
light
of
I
I
present
truth."
I
am
grieved,
indeed,
that
those
tails
I
am
herein
confining
myself
to
those
features
of
this
for
whom
I
have
pleasure
in
laying
down
my
life
daily
should
trouble
seemingly
necessary
to
a
reasonable
comprehension
of
be
caused
any
measure
of
pain,
hardship
or
other
bitter
ex-
the
facts.
Be
assured
that
every
word
has
been
carefully
and
perience
on
my
account.
And
yet
I
know
that
fiery
trials
prayerfully
weighed,
to
the
intent
that
so
far
as
possible
not
must
necessarily
come
to
us
all,
to
prove
us,
to
test
us,
to
refine
a
word
shall
be
uttered
in
criticism
of
my
wife
that
does
not
us,
to
make
us
ready
for
the
glorious
things
to
which
we
have
appear
to
me
to
be
absolutely
necessary
to
even
a
brief
out-
been
called
of
the
Lord.
line
of
the
difficulty.
Further,
I
have
endeavored
to
use
only
I
may
further
add
that
one
of
the
chief
consolations
of
kindly
and
moderate
language.
my
time
of
sorrow
has
bren
your
letters
assuring
me
of
your
THE
NECESSITY
FOR
TmS
ISSUE
sympnthy,
confidence
and
love.
I
was
pleasantly
astonished
to
It
was
the
receipt
of
the
following
(two)
letters
that
de-
find
that
mnny
of
these
letters
were
written
by
friendS
who
cided
the
Editor
that
it
is
his
duty
to
the
cause
of
the
Lord
only
recently
came
into
the
knowledge
of
the
harvest
message.
to
make
the
statements
of
this
Special
Issue:
I
felt
confident
from
the
first
that
the
well-established
ones,
who
had
learned
from
pnst
experiences
to
endure
hardness
as
good
soldiers,
would
falter
not
in
the
presence
of
this
attack,
but
I
did
greatly
fenr
for
the
new
recruits
among
the
soldiers
of
the
Cross,
those
who
knew
nothing
of
my
past
trials
and
difficulties
from
fnlse
brethren
and
who
had
less
opportunity
for
personal
acquaintance.
It
appears
to
be
my
duty
toward
the
truth
to
give
as
briefly
as
possible
an
outline
of
the
facts
of
the
case
leading
up
to
the
present
denouement.
Gladly
would
I
have
kept
silence
before
the
church
as
I
have
opened
not
my
mouth
to
the
world;
but
I
find
my
personal
nffairs
so
closely
linked
with
the"
harvest
work,"
that
it
brcomes
duty
to
let
all
the
members
of
the
body
of
Christ
wit~
whom
I
am
so
closely
riveted
know
something
of
the
facts,
for
their
relief
and
comfort
and
strengthening;
"that
the
ministry
[of
the
good
tidings
of
great
joy]
be
not
blamed.
"
This
seems
to
be
in
accord
with
the
Apostle's
in
junction,
"
Let
not
your
good
be
evil
spoken
of":
Let
the
search-light
of
truth
disclose
the
fact
that
the
Lord's
people
seek
in
everything
to
practise
what
they
teach
I
In
a
very
special
sense
WATCH
TOWER
subscribers
look
to
its
Editor
as
their
Pastor;
hence
the
propriety
of
making
known
to
them
everything
necessary
to
their
peace.
There
are
some
irregular
readers
who
may
not
have
come
[3808]
(207-211) holy Spirit is the spirit of meekness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering, brotherly kindness, love, we may well ask ourselves how else could the Lord work out for us these elements of character which we desire did he not permit to come upon us the trials and difficulties of life necessary to their development. We know not the author of the following, but consider it worthy of reproducticn as an illustration of earthly kindness and a reminder of the gracious message from Jehovah:— ‘‘LIKE AS A FATHER PITIETH HIS CHILDREN, SO THE LORD PITIETH THEM THAT REVERENCE HIM.’’—PSA. 103:13 The life of a beautiful girl was nearing its close. The busy father, active in legal and political life, made short visits to his office to perform the most necessary duties, and hurried home again day by day to be near her in her last days. He spent every possible moment in granting her every wish, and it was a comfort to him that his daughter was finding in her religion a source of strength that robbed approaching death of its terror. He was an upright man, but one fiom whose busy life religion had been crowded out. One day as he sat by the bedside, his daughter asked him to read to her. He found a magazine, and read some bright bits of poetry and fiction. It pleased her, but she wanted something else. ‘‘Pather,’’ she asked, ‘‘will you get my Bible and read from that?’’ ‘Certainly, my dear,’’ he answered, and was rather glad than otherwise. He was a strong man with a clear voice and a good degree of self-control. He had mastered his own feelings in these days of patient and affectionate ministration, that ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, Pa. he might bring to the sick-room every element of cheer that was possible. And now he began, calmly and quietly, to read the Sermon on the Mount. He knew where to find it, and he knew that it was good, and he read it with a growing appreciation of its beauty and sublimity. But the daughter grew more and more restless. ‘*Don’t you like it?’’ he asked. ‘*O, father,’’ she exclaimed, ‘‘it isn’t that I want, about our righteousness exceeding that of the Seribes and Pharisees! Can’t you find the place where it says, ‘Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him?’ ’’ His voice trembled a little, but he said, ‘‘I will find it,’’ and he turned to the concordance in the back of the Bible. But when he found the place and began to read, ‘‘Like as a father,’’ he could bear no more. “*O, my child,’’ he cried, ‘‘if God cares for you as I do—’?’ He bent over the bed and wept. ‘It is the verse we both need,’’ she said softly, after a few minutes. And he knelt beside the bed, and said: ‘Yes, my dear—that is the verse we both need.’’ PILGRIM VISITS OF BRO. B. H. BARTON Nottingham, Eng., July 28, 29; Atherstone, Eng., July 30; Birmingham, Eng., July 31; Oxford, Eng., Aug. 1, 2; Reading, Eng.. Aug. 3; Bristol. Eng., Aug. 4-6; Tewkesbury, Eng., Aug. 7; Cardiff, Eng., Aug. 8; Bournemouth, Eng., Aug. 9; London, Eng., Aug. 11, 12; Brighton, Eng., Aug. 13; Sevenoaks, Eng., Aug. 14, 15; Ilford, Eng., Aug. 16; Southend, Eng., Aug. 17; Forest Gate, Eng., Aug. 18, 19. Vou. XXVIT ALLEGHENY, PA., JULY 15, 1906 No. 14 “TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION” A CONFIDENTIAL EXPLANATION BY THE EDITOR OF HIS PECULIAR TRIALS—THE WIDE SPREADING OF UNTRUTH MAKES NECESSARY THIS STATEMENT OF THE TRUTH It is requested that this issue be not loaned or otherwise publicly circulated. “LET NOT YOUR GOOD BE EVIL SPOKEN OF’’ Dear Friends:—As your letters indicate, you have rightly judged that I have recently passed through the most trying experience of my checkered career as a servant of the Lord. And I may add that one of the chief features of my present distress arises from my conviction that my tribulations are by no means confined to myself, but pain and afflict all the dear ‘‘household of faith’’ walking in the narrow way and in the light of ‘‘present truth.’’ I am grieved, indeed, that those for whom I have pleasure in laying down my life daily should be caused any measure of pain, hardship or other bitter experience on my account. And yet I know that fiery trials must necessarily come to us all, to prove us, to test us, to refine us, to make us ready for the glorious things to which we have been called of the Lord. I may further add that one of the chief consolations of my time of sorrow has been your letters assuring me of your sympathy, confidence and love. I was pleasantly astonished to find that many of these letters were written by friends who only recently came into the knowledge of the harvest message. I felt confident from the first that the well-established ones, who had learned from past experiences to endure hardness as good soldiers, would falter not in the presence of this attack, but I did greatly fear for the new recruits among the soldiers of the Cross, those who knew nothing of my past trials and difficulties from false brethren and who had less opportunity for personal acquaintance. It appears to be my duty toward the truth to give as briefly as possible an outline of the facts of the case leading up to the present denouement. Gladly would I have kept silence before the church as I have opened not my mouth to the world; but I find my personal affairs so closely linked with the ‘‘harvest work,’’ that it becomes duty to let all the members of the body of Christ with whom I am so closely riveted know something of the facts, for their relief and comfort and strengthening; — ‘‘that the ministry [of the good tidings of great joy] be not blamed.’’ This seems to be in accord with the Apostle’s injunction, ‘‘Let not your good be evil spoken of’’: Let the search-light of truth disclose the fact that the Lord’s people seek in everything to practise what they teach! In a very special sense WarcH Tower subscribers look to its Editor as their Pastor; hence the propriety of making known to them everything necessary to their peace. There are some irregular readers who may not have come in contact with the slanderous reports who may, just as well as not, remain in ignorance of the whole matter. It has been my effort to hide my troubles; but now this much seems due to my friends. For these reasons it has seemed to be the Lord’s guidance that a rehearsal of matters should appear in this form intended only for friends, for private use amongst those whose minds have been so poisoned as to need these details as an antidote. Moreover, instead of giving full details I am herein confining myself to those features of this trouble seemingly necessary to a reasonable comprehension of the facts. Be assured that every word has been carefully and prayerfully weighed, to the intent that so far as possible not a word shall be uttered in criticism of my wife that does not appear to me to be absolutely necessary to even a brief outline of the difficulty. Further, I have endeavored to use only kindly and moderate language. THE NECESSITY FOR THIS ISSUE It was the receipt of the following (two) letters that decided the Editor that it is his duty to the cause of the Lord to make the statements of this Special Issue: May 10, 1906. My Beloved Brother Russell: My heart aches for you as I read your letter of May 8th and note that you still love and cherish the memory of the one you have lost, in spite of all the suffering which her blindness has brought upon you. May God bless and help you, dear brother. It ought to be a comfort to you at a time like this to know that there are probably not less than 10,000 of the Lord’s saints who daily make mention of you in their prayers at the throne of grace. I have not failed to do this daily for the last 11 years, and how much more just now when you are passing through such deep waters. I doubt if in the entire history of Christ’s church there has ever been any one person who has continually had so many saints to remember him daily in prayer as yourself. In humility of heart, and realizing keenly my own littleness and unworthiness, I now suggest to you what it seems to me to be the Lord’s will that you ought to do regarding this matter, and will first point to the Word of God to sustain the opinion I shall express. God rebuked Miriam, that there might be no question in the mind of fleshly Israel regarding the one at fault; God reproved Job’s friends that they and others might know whom God approved; our Father has explained particularly the eircum [3808]
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