Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Cobden and Bright believed — to quote the language of the former - that "a moral and even religious spirit might be infused into the question of the repeal of the Corn Laws." The story of Mr. Bright's dedication to this most beneficent idea is admirably reproduced in Vince's life of the great Tribune. There came to his soul's vision no forthshadowing of God's glory in any manmade temple, but the story is thus told by himself: "I was at Leamington when Mr. Cobden called upon me. I was then in the depths of grief, — I might almost say of despair, — for the light and sunshine of my house had been extinguished. All that was left on earth of my young wife, except the memory of a sainted life and of a too brief happiness, was lying still and cold in the chamber above us. Mr. Cobden called upon me as a friend, and addressed me, as you may suppose, with words of condolence. After a time he looked up and said, 'There are thousands of homes in England at this moment where wives, mothers, and children are dying of hunger. Now,' he said, 'when the first paroxysm of your grief is passed, I would advise you to come with me, and we will never rest till the Corn Law is repealed.' I accepted his invitation. I knew that the description he had given me of the homes of thousands was not an exaggerated description. I felt in my conscience that there was a work that someone must do. From that time we never ceased to labour hard on behalf of the resolution we had made." In this case a Lancashire manufacturer brought the "call," but surely the angels of sorrow and sympathy assisted in the "consecration," and the Holy One of Israel worked with His servant. (F. Sessions.) Parallel Verses KJV: Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. |
    |