ompared to one of the mighty
rings of Saturn, the human mind, in the presence of the Divine, is
infinitely more so. Well hath the Scriptures said, "Far as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts."

The mysterious ways of Providence are, however, not unfrequently so
interwoven with human events as that average intelligence may be able to
understand portions of them, though much of mystery must always remain.
And in no one particular do these understandable portions find a clearer
illustration than in those interventions which assign individual men to
given pursuits and responsibilities in life. Truly, "There is a
Providence that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we will."

Nor may these special interventions be wholly appropriated by the great
men of the world. On the contrary, they not unfrequently condescend to
bless the very humblest. The same great thought, the same skilled hand
and the same infinite power that were necessary to pile up the grandest
mountain ranges and hollow the ocean's bed, were also required to create
a single grain of sand and assign it its place as a part of the grand
whole. So, while great and honorable men pass into the world's history
as the proteges of a special providence, let it also be remembered that
the humbler ones, though their names may never be chronicled, are not
forgotten by the All Father. If willing to be led, they shall not want
a kind hand to lead them. And even though rebellious at times, and at
others shrinking from the proffered responsibilities, yet a loving
Father cares for the trembling and feeble ones, as well as the brave and
the strong, and kindly leads them into the paths of peace.

I have not written thus, good reader, in these opening pages, to find a
starting place for the record that is to follow. On the contrary, these
utterances hold a special relation to the writer and the labors of the
last thirty years.

Soon after my conversion, and before I was eighteen years of age, I
received an Exhorter's license. I was then engaged in teaching and found
my time largely occupied by my profession. Yet, I occasionally held
services on the Sabbath. During the ensuing four years I retained the
same relation. I was often urged to accept a Local Preacher's license,
but declined, thinking I was too much occupied in the other field to
make the necessary preparation for this. And, besides, I had now reac