The Fall Of Pemberton Mills



THE awful calamity at Lawrence, Mass. Jan. 10th

1860, caused by the fall and burning of the

 Pemberton mills has sent a thrill of sorrow, 

mourning and bitter lamentation through the 

country. About six hundred persons were buried

 in the ruins. Not far from five hundred of them

 were killed or wounded. Among these were 

parents and children, husbands and wives, 

brothers and sisters, whose lives were taken 

from them with scarcely a moment's warning. 

Others were maimed and awfully crushed by 

falling timbers and heavy machinery. Some

were overtaken by the flames while every

 possible effort was being made to extricate 

them from the mass of ruins, but without avail.

Says an eye witness of the scene, "The scene at

the catastrophe was heart rending. Mothers

shrieking for their children; fathers, brothers,

 sisters and friends running wildly about, crying,

mourning and tearing their hair, each more than

anxious for their relatives and friends. The agony

and suffering of those taken out was intense.

 Here were mangled, dead, dying; some with 

arms broken, heads mutilated, limbs pulled off

 and bodies horribly crushed."

Thousands of hearts today bleed with sympathy

for the surviving sufferers and the bereaved 

friends. Letters of condolence have reached 

them from every direction, and large sums of

 money have been raised for their relief. In view

 of this great calamity a fast has been held in 

Lawrence, and many prayers have gone up to 

God for the poor sufferers. Every possible effort

 has been made to relieve them in their suffering

 condition and deep anguish.

But dear young friends, we turn our minds from

this frightful scene carrying them forward a brief

space of time to the "great and terrible day of

 the Lord," that is near and hasteth greatly,

 contrasted with which, this scene bears but a

 faint and feeble comparison.

As the flood came upon the unbelievers in the

days of Noah so will the seven last plagues of 

Revelation 16 come upon the sinners and the 

ungodly of this generation, and they "shall not

 escape." When this awful day shall come the

 Christian's work for the world will be done; he

 will have offered the last prayer and shed the

 last tear for the sinner. Christ's intercession for

 him is closed! No mercy, no sympathy then. No

 fasts proclaimed, no letters of condolence 

written, no kind friends to bend over the couch

 of the sufferer, to wipe away the falling

tear or cold clammy sweat of death! Sorrow fills

the cup of every one who has rejected the 

counsel of God; his thoughts are all absorbed in

 his own agony and woe. "The slain of the Lord

 shall be at that day from one end of the earth 

even unto the other end of the earth." 

Jeremiah 25:33. 

But dear friends there is a way for you to

 escape.

There is a door of hope open for you. There is a

refuge from the gathering storm. It is in 

obedience to God, it is in the blessed Saviour. 

Heaven invites you, Jesus spreads his arms to

 receive you.

We beseech you who have not given your hearts

 to him to come to his embrace. The Spirit and 

the bride say "COME."O COME while mercy

 lingers!







 A. S HUTCHINS.

Barton Landing, Vt.