ordinary course of life, without
the remembrance of, and some
devout feeling regarding the
broken body and the blood-shedding
of my dear Lord and
Saviour.'_--STEPHEN GRELLET.

_'One loving spirit sets another
on fire.'_--AUGUSTINE.

XXXII. PREACHING TO NOBODY

Stephen Grellet, after much waiting on the Lord to shew him His will,
was directed by the Spirit to take a long journey into the backwoods
of America, and preach the Gospel to some woodcutters who were felling
forest timber.'[42]

At first Stephen did not know which was the wood he was meant to
visit, having travelled through hundreds of miles of forests on his
journey. So he waited very quietly, his heart as still as a clear
lake, ready to reflect anything God might show him.

Suddenly a picture came. He remembered a lonely forest clearing, far
away. Workmen's huts were dotted about here and there, and a big
wooden building rose in the midst of the clearing. All around were
woodcutters, some busy sawing timber, some marking the tall forest
trees, others carting huge logs and piling them at a little distance.
Stephen now remembered the place well. He remembered, too, the
workmen's rough faces, and the wild shouts that filled the air as he
had passed by on horseback. He had noticed a faint film of blue smoke
curling up from the large building, and he had supposed that that must
be the dining-shanty where the workmen's food was prepared and where
they had their meals. He remembered having thought to himself, 'A
lonely life and a wild one!' But the place had not made a deep
impression on his mind, and he had forgotten it as he journeyed, in
the joy of getting nearer home. Now, suddenly, that forest clearing,
with the huts and the dining-shanty and the busy woodmen all round,
came back to him as vividly as a picture in a magic-lantern view,
while a Voice said, distinctly but very gently in his own heart, so
that only he could hear, 'GO BACK THERE AND PREACH TO THOSE LONELY
MEN.'

Stephen knew quite well Whose Voice it was that was speaking to him,
for he had loved and followed that Voice for many years. Obedience was
easy now. He said at once, 'Yes, I will go;' and saying good-bye to
his wife, he left his home, and set forth again into the forest. As he
journeyed, a flood of happiness came over his soul. The long ride
through the lonely woods, d