Chapter VI (1)

In conclusion it will not be out of place to glance for a moment backward and to call attention definitely to some plain facts.

Mr. Holcombe inherited from his parents a diversely perverse and bad nature. Already in his childhood he was cross, irritable, spiteful. In his boyhood his temper was savage and revengful. In his manhood he took the life of a fellowman. He inherited the love of drink from his father, who was a confirmed drunkard before the child was born; and the child himself was drunk before he was twelve years old. He was given to sensuality from his boyhood.

His education was not good--as far as the educating power of daily example goes, it was bad, positively bad, continually bad. His associations outside of home were, for the most part, of the worst sort. His boyish companions were given to gambling, pilfering, fighting, and in all these things they called him chief. But the companionship of boys did not long satisfy him and already before he was fifteen, he drank and gambled with grown men in the bar-rooms of the village.

He had an impulsive sympathy for helpless suffering when it was before his eyes. He had a vague, faint fear of the Power that makes for righteousness, so that in his youth he made three or four ineffectual efforts to get the mastery of his evil nature and to become better. He provided well for his family in meat and drink and the like. He was generous to his friends. When this is said, about all is said on that side. Apart from these things he gave himself up for forty years to the indulgence of all his passions without let or hinderance from parental authority, domestic bonds, fear of God or regard for man. So that the adverse power of evil habit, strengthened by forty years of indulgence, was superimposed upon the moral helplessness of an inherited bad nature made worse by bad education and bad associations.

Such he _was_. The preceding pages have described in part what he _is_. And only in part. The uttermost details of the purity of his life since October, 1877, could not be stated without violating delicacy any more than the uttermost details of his sinful life could be uncurtained without injuring the innocent and offending the public. The candid reader will bridge for himself the past and present of Mr. Holcombe's life. These are the facts. And these facts are freely and fully recognized by all classes of the community in which he lives his daily life. Thousands of eyes have watched him for years and no one has detected any immoral practice or act or found any fault of a serious nature in him.

Candor requires us to say that he is sometimes over-sensitive, that he has his own views as to the best methods of conducting his work and is sometimes a little domineering in carrying them out; that he sometimes uses unnecessary harshness in his public addresses in dealing with the sins and shortcomings of people, especially of the converts of the Mission, a thing which is probably due to his over-anxiety for them; that he has not yet learned economy and the best way of conducting his financial affairs, and that owing to his own former wicked life he would be a trifle too severe in the control of his family but for the good sense and prudent firmness of his wife. But these are minor matters and when they are said, about all is said on _that_ side.

And Mr. Holcombe has come to occupy a unique and commanding position in the city of Louisville. All classes respect him, all classes look up to him and people from all classes seek his counsel and aid in certain emergencies.

Mothers in distress over the sins of their sons, sisters in sorrow over the dissipation of their brothers, wives in despair over the wickedness of their husbands, all these go to Steve Holcombe for advice, comfort, encouragement and help; and when they can not go, they write; sometimes from distant places, as far away as Canada. The ministers of Louisville refer to him those extreme cases which they meet with in their ministry, and which they feel his experience and his knowledge of the ways and temptations of dissipated men enable him to handle, as a letter from Dr. Broadus and one from Dr. Willits, elsewhere reproduced, will show. And the dissipated men themselves, the drunkards, the gamblers, the outcast, the lost--all these feel that Steve Holcombe is their friend, a friend who has the willingness and the power to help them up, and they go to him when they are in distress or when they awake to a sense of their wretched condition and desire to rise again. And through his instrumentality many a one _has_ risen again, and to many a mother, wife, sister, family, has come through him a resurrection of buried hope and joy.

And those gamblers who have never yet come to distress or to religion regard him with admiration and affection. The following letter from Mr. A. M. Waddill, one of the leading sporting men of the South, was written in answer to an inquiry as to how Mr. Holcombe is looked upon by the gamblers:

LOUISVILLE, KY., August 13, 1888.
_Rev. Gross Alexander_:

DEAR SIR: In writing of my friend, Steve P. Holcombe, I will
say that his adoption of the pulpit has not lowered him in the
esteem of his former associates--the gamblers. Far from it.
They are his admirers and his friends, and, when they have the
funds, are as willing supporters of his work as any. They can
not show him too much respect and can not exhibit a more
profound love than is shown him every day by some one of his
old companions. He has wielded a wonderful influence over them
for good, both here and elsewhere, and has made many converts
from their ranks, who could not have been influenced probably
by any other minister of the Gospel. I myself have been, I am
happy to say, wonderfully benefited by the influence of his
benevolent character.

Very respectfully yours,
A. M. WADDILL.

The esteem in which he is held by the leading business men of the city is shown by the fact that the Board of Directors of the Mission is composed of such men as John A. Carter, J. P. Torbitt, L. Richardson, J. B. McFerran, R. J. Menefee, J. T. Burghard, H. V. Loving, Arthur Peter, John T. Moore, J. K. Goodloe, P. Meguiar, C. McClarty, W. T. Rolph, John Finzer, with P. H. Tapp as Treasurer.

He has the confidence and esteem of the officers both of the city and State, and he has a large influence with them.

The Mayor, the Chief of Police, and the Judges of the Courts recognize his usefulness, his ability and his efficiency by co-operating with him, as far as may be, and by adopting his views and suggestions as to the treatment of criminals charged with lesser crimes and misdemeanors.

The Governor, J. Proctor Knott, readily granted pardon to the only man for whom Mr. Holcombe ever asked it, and the testimony of this now happy man is given in this volume.

Not only is Mr. Holcombe thus in honor and demand at home; he is in demand all over the country. Until it came to be known that he would not leave his own work in Louisville, he was constantly receiving requests to attend or conduct meetings of one sort or another in all parts of Kentucky and in several other States.

Year before last, in the summer of 1886, he was, by appointment of the Governor of the State, a Commissioner from Kentucky in the National Convention of Corrections and Charities at Washington.

In the fall of 1887 he attended, by request, the Convention of Christian Workers of the United States and Canada, in the Broadway Tabernacle in New York City, and made two addresses, both of which are printed among his sermons in this book. He was appointed a member of the Executive Committee of that body, in which capacity he now serves.

But not only in direct results has the power of God been manifested through this instrument. Mr. Holcombe's conversion and work have had the effect of quickening the faith and zeal of all the churches of the city. It has not only drawn them nearer together in fostering and furthering a common enterprise into which they entered of their own motion, and without solicitation, but it has revived the languishing faith of all classes. Not only has the Gospel saved Steve Holcombe and others, he (let it be said reverently and understood rightly) has, in one sense, saved the Gospel. Many had lost faith in it. They thought it was an old, worn-out story. It had lost its novelty and vitality, and it had not the power it claimed to have. Its achievements were not equal to its pretensions. Some of the men who have been brought to a better life through Mr. Holcombe's instrumentality have said that, though they did not, out of respect for other people, publish the fact, they had lost all faith and were, at heart, utter infidels. Some of them continued to attend church and to give to the church of their means, and to give respectful attention to the preaching, but it was out of deference to relatives or respect for custom, or for mere Sunday pastime. But the conversion of Steve Holcombe, and the life he was living, arrested their thought, awakened inquiry and revived their faith, and many of these have been saved.

The conversion of these has in turn resulted in the conviction of others and so the stream has broadened and deepened. As Mr. Holcombe says in one of his addresses, "There is naturally in the minds of men a doubt as to the truth and divinity of the religion which fails to do what it proposes to do, and so in times of religious deadness men lose faith and unbelief gets stronger and more stubborn while they see no examples of the power of the Gospel to save bad men. But when bad men have been reached and quickened and made better through the Gospel, and this continues year after year, then the tide turns, and faith becomes natural and easy not to say contagious and inevitable."

These effects have demonstrated the reality of conversion in opposition to the view that it is an effect of the excitement of the imagination. "One hears," it is said, "the narration of the experience of others who claim to be converted, and he works at himself till he works himself up to the persuasion that he also has got it." But, as one of the converts in narrating his experience said, "Imagination could not take the whisky habit out of a man. It never did take it out of me. But the power of this Gospel which Steve Holcombe preaches has taken it out root and branch."

Another thing is shown also by the history of this work. A distinguished minister said once, "We must get the top of society converted and then we may expect to reach the lower classes." Mr. Holcombe, on the contrary, in accordance with the example and words of Jesus and of Paul, of Luther and of Wesley, has given his time and labor primarily and largely to the lower classes and the lost classes, and through these he has reached also the higher classes, exemplifying again what was said by the most apostolic man since the Apostles, that the Gospel "works not from the top down but from the bottom up."

If you should ask what is the explanation of Mr. Holcombe's success, it may be answered that it is due to three things. The extraordinary change which has taken place in his character and in his life arrests attention and produces conviction.

In the second place is his intense and pitying love for those who are not saved, and especially for those who, besides being most utterly lost, are, either by their own suspicions and fears or by the customs and coldheartedness of society, or both, shut out from all sympathy and opportunity. He has a very mother's love for poor, sinful, struggling souls, and he shows this not in words only or chiefly, but in service. Some account has already been given from one of the Louisville papers concerning his rescue of a man who had been drunk continuously for twenty-three years. To have preached temperance and morality and duty to this wild and degraded man would have been useless, to have _told_ him of the love of God would, perhaps, have been no better. But when this far off love of God took concrete form in the person of Steve Holcombe and was brought nigh and made real in his brotherliness and gentleness and patience and service, it proved stronger than a twenty-three years' whisky habit and to-day this man, who lately dwelt apart from men like the man among the tombs and who was possessed by the demon of drink so that no man could bind him with bonds of morality or duty--this man is to-day clothed and in his right mind. And though he has not fully apprehended the way of salvation, he says, yet a transfiguration has taken place in him which is little short of miraculous. He says also that he has got some light on the question of personal religion. He is thoroughly honest and will not claim or profess what he has not. He says a man who has always gone slow in everything else can't go fast in getting religion.[1]

[1] This man has, since the above was written, been brought into a clear experience of conversion, and is now a clean and happy Christian man.

In the third place, Mr Holcombe's success is due to the character of his preaching. It is the simple Gospel, wherein two points are continually made and emphasized, the reality and tenderness of God's love for sinful men, even the worst, and the absolute necessity of regeneration and a holy life. Both these great truths he illustrates with fitness and force from his own life and that of the men who have been converted under his ministry. His sermons are so striking in their directness and simplicity, and so helpful withal, that some of them have been reproduced in outline in the present volume, and the reader who has never heard him may get some idea of his preaching from these, and, it is hoped, some profit as well.

Whatever men may say, the fact remains that when the Gospel is preached on apostolic conditions, it has still apostolic success.

In 1886, when Rev. Sam P. Jones was holding a meeting in Cincinnati, he said of Mr. Holcombe:

"Mr. Holcombe's work is finer than anything done since the death of Jerry McAuley. He is fully consecrated to the work of rescuing the perishing and saving the fallen. Hundreds of men, dug by him from the deepest depths of dissipation and degradation, are to-day clothed in their right minds. Some of the most efficient Christian men have passed through his Mission, at No. 436 Jefferson street, in Louisville. I feel that in helping Steve Holcombe, I shall be able to say, at least: 'Lord, if I did not do much when I was on earth, I did what I could to help Steve Holcombe, the converted gambler, in his mission work among men who never hear preaching, and to whom a helping hand is never extended.'

"There are mighty few men like Steve Holcombe to take hold of poor fellows and bring them back to a purer and better life."

In 1888, during a great temperance meeting in Louisville, Mr. Francis Murphy said of Mr. Holcombe:

"Of all the noble men I know, he is one of the noblest, and Louisville may well be proud of the grand, big-hearted Christian man, who, in his quiet, unassuming manner is doing such a world of good here."

Mr. D. L. Moody, during his great meeting in Louisville, in the months of January and February, 1888, said of Mr. Holcombe:

"I have got very much interested in a work in your city conducted by a man you call Steve Holcombe. I don't know when I met a man who so struck my heart. I went up and saw his headquarters and how he works. He is doing the noblest work I know of. I want you to help him with money and words of cheer. Remember, here in Louisville you make so many drunkards that you must have a place to take care of the wrecks. Steve Holcombe rescues them. Let us help him all we can."

And Mr. Holcombe's work is not done. He is in the vigor of life, with fifteen or twenty years of life and service, God willing, before him. He is only beginning to reap the results of these ten years of study and these ten years of Christian living and working. He knows the Gospel better than he ever did before, and he preaches it better. He knows himself and God better than he ever did before, and he lives nearer the Source of Power. He knows men good and bad, better than he ever did before, and he deals with them in all states and stages more wisely and successfully.

He is of that nervous and Intense temperament which can not rest without getting something done, and he is always doing something to advance his work. And though so intensely in earnest, he is singularly, it is not at all too strong to say, entirely free from fanaticism. He is in high esteem, with large influence at home and abroad, and this he does not prostitute to selfishness, but uses for usefulness.

And, best of all, he has tokens, not a few, in the form of discipline on the one hand, and success on the other, that God is guarding and guiding his Life and Work.

LETTERS.

TO HIS FIRST PASTOR.

LOUISVILLE, KY., November 6, 1883.

_My Dear Brother_:

Our meetings continue in interest. Last night the Holy Ghost was
with us in great power. At the close of the talk, we invited
backsliders to come forward and kneel. Six responded. Then we
invited all others who wanted to become Christians to come
forward and nine others responded, most of them the most
hardened sinners in the city. I am sure nothing but the power of
God could have lifted them from their seats. Men who have fought
each other actually embraced last night. Continue to pray for
us.

Yours,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., November 19, 1883.

_Dear Brother_:

Last night about two hundred persons were present, most of them
non-churchgoers. About forty stood up for prayers. And oh, such
good testimonies, no harangues but living testimonies as to what
God can and will do for those who will let him.

Yours truly,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., November 21, 1883.

_Dear Brother_:

How grateful I am to you for all your kindness God alone knows.
I may and do lack education and refinement, but I will not allow
myself under any circumstances to lack gratitude. The results of
our meetings prove to me that it is the work of the Holy Ghost.
Of course, I could hardly believe you would come to Louisville
even for a little while and not come to see me, one who has cost
you so much of time and care. There was a time when I could not
have stood it. But thanks to God I am now above letting small
things or great things upset me. Give my love to your dear
family.

Yours truly,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., February 3, 1884.

_Dear Brother_:

How I do wish you could have been where you could have looked in
on us last night. The room was full. They had to be turned away
from the door. And they were so anxious to hear the glad
tidings. No carpet, nothing to deaden the sound and yet you
could have heard a pin drop. All the churches are feeling the
results of our work. Yesterday G. H. joined the Christian
church. He seems to be a thoroughly converted man, if I know
one. P. D., whom you know, came in here about a week ago under
the influence of liquor. Said "I am an infidel and a drunkard.
Pray for me." We did pray for him. He has been coming ever
since. He is now perfectly sober and says he was never so moved
before. These are two out of many cases.

Yours truly,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., February 7, 1884.

_Dear Brother_:

Your kind favor received. P. D. comes every night and sometimes
speaks. He is not drinking. He says he can not believe. He does
so pitifully and pleadingly ask for the prayers of Christian
people. He is in earnest. Pray for him.

C. T. testified last night. He was a schoolmate of yours. He
said: "For the last five years, when I would meet Brother
Holcombe, I would say to myself: 'I wish he would say good day,
and pass on.' But he would not. He generally had something to
say about the way I was living. Of late, every time he has met
me he has invited me to the Mission. I would promise to go, but
went, instead, to some bar-room, until I wound up by losing my
position, being sent to the work-house, and being left by a
loving wife. Two weeks ago he met me again, and this time I kept
my promise. I have been coming every night since, and have not
touched liquor since, and by God's help I do not expect to do so
any more. I enjoy the meetings so much. The two hours I spend
here seem so short."

G. H. never misses a night. He is in the room with me now
singing, "Happy Day, When Jesus Washed My Sins Away." And he is
happy. Although in the last four years he has spent thirty
thousand dollars in riotous living, and although his wife has
left him, he said to me: "Brother Holcombe, I believe I am as
happy as I ever was in my life." I asked him, why? He said:
"Because I have something which I never had when I had wife,
child and money. I have the forgiveness of sins and the
friendship of God."

I said: "You will have to watch the devil or he will get you in
his power again."

"Yes," he replied, "the devil told me when I first began to come
to this Mission that I was too mean, and my heart was too dead
ever to get religion; but I fought him on my knees and I got the
victory. I know how hard it was to get, and by the help of God I
am going to keep it, whether I ever have wife or child or money
again."

Pray for me, that I may make no mistake in my difficult work.
Yours, as ever,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., February 13, 1884.

_Dear Brother_:

I did just what you suggested; though I was disappointed I did
not show it. God is helping me to give up my preferences. I am
trusting in the Lord, and sweetly singing

"Oh, to be nothing, nothing,
Only as led by His hand;
A messenger at His gateway,
Only waiting for His command."

I am willing to preach on the streets, at the Mission, at Walnut-street church, or I am willing to be door-keeper--anything for Christ.

So you heard that I am improving in preaching. Well, I do believe that I shall yet learn how to preach.

I had a letter requesting me to go to Nicholasville to preach. But I can not go. I feel I have a little, humble work to do in Louisville, and I am going to do it. The mission men are all doing well. Though to you I may seem very weak, I am to them what you are to me. Yours, etc.,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., May 1, 1884.

_Dear Brother_:

Yours to hand. I do not think you negligent. I know you love me,
and I know you love the cause of Christ for which I am laboring,
and I know you will do all you can to help me to help it. I am
surprised, not at what you don't do, but at what you do do.

I suppose you saw in the paper what a handsome thing they did
for us in the way of giving us a fifty-dollar parlor set, a fine
Brussels carpet, a large walnut book-case and many other
articles, including a fine portrait of dear Brother Morris.

Even for this donation and for all the love shown me by these
good people I am indebted to you. "Jesus must needs go through
Samaria" to save the woman at the well. You must needs be sent
to Portland church to save and instruct and guide Steve
Holcombe. This morning I prayed nearly an hour before breakfast,
and it was lucky for me I did. Something came up at noon that
would have completely upset me, but I was fortified and
withstood the temptation successfully.

I am improving every way. My health is better, my memory is
better. I can read my Bible more profitably than ever and I can
pray better.

God grant you may have good health, length of days and all of
this world's goods that may be good for you.

S. P. H.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., May 23, 1884.

_Dear Brother:_

Yours of the 16th to hand. God is so good to me. Certain
temptations have come to me lately and I could not have borne
them but for His help. I talked at the church last Sunday night
in the absence of Dr. Messick. I felt so humble, it seemed a
privilege to be treated shamefully that I might have an
opportunity of showing that a Christian can give up his own
rights for the good of others. I have grown in grace since you
showed me the necessity of secret prayer and of getting so well
acquainted with God that he would become more real to me than my
own father ever was.

You have seen in the papers poor D. T.'s attempt at suicide. But
God has spared him yet another season. He will recover. Pray for
him. May God bless you and strengthen you and keep you is the
prayer of

Your friend and brother,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., July 23, 1884.

_My Dear Brother:_

Yours received this A. M. I am so pressed for means I can not
now buy the book you speak of, but will do so as soon as I can.
I am _taking time_ to study. I am getting much better acquainted
with God and the better I know him the more I love him.

Yours in love,

S. P. H.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., July 25, 1884.

_Dear Brother:_

The men are all doing tolerably well. The attendance at the
meetings is increasing. Sunday-school holds up well. My great
desire now is to be able to study the Bible better. The more I
think of what you have been to me, the more grateful I feel. I
wish I could in some substantial way show you how I appreciate
your care. But God will reward you.

Yours, etc., S. P. H.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., July 30, 1884.

_Dear Brother:_

The Bible is becoming very sweet to me. I can study it all day
long and not get tired. I am sure the Holy Ghost is helping me.
I have read the book you gave me. It is very helpful.

Brother Davidson has gone to housekeeping. He has his son and
daughter with him. Oh, the love and power of God. Praise His
name!

S. P. H.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

CHICAGO, ILL., September 5, 1884.

_Dear Brother:_

Yours of the 2d to hand. Think of you? The sun may forget to
shine, but poor Steve Holcombe can never forget the man who has
done so much for his soul. Never has a day passed since my
conversion that I have not prayed God's blessing on you, your
family and your work.

Well, Chicago is a great city, a grand field for Christian work.
I find many earnest Christian men and women laboring for the
Master. I am not idle either. I talked four times last
Sunday--three times on the street and once at a Mission.

I am having a royal time, sailing on the lake, riding on
street-cars, taking in the town. I wish you were here.

God bless you always. STEVE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., July 1, 1885.

_Dear Brother:_

Yours of June 25th received. I do hope you will get Brother
C.[2] those books to sell. These men must have employment. They
can not live, as some Christian people seem to think, on
promises. It is all right to say, "Oh, let go and trust in the
Lord," to a man who knows the way, but it is all not right when
it is said to a poor struggling gambler, who, in faith, is as
weak as a baby. I know of Brother L.'s troubles. My heart goes
out to him. All well.

Yours, S. P. H.

[2] A converted gambler.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., May 15, 1885.

_Dear Brother:_

Since writing my card this morning I have learned that D. McC.,
the boss Nashville gambler, and an old partner of mine, is
attending Sam Jones' meetings. I want you to go to see him.
Don't be afraid to go right up to him and introduce yourself.
Tell him you and I are old friends, and that I love him, and
requested you to see him. But you know better how to approach
him than I can tell you. But you must see him. Take Sam Jones to
see him. Visit him at his home, with Sam Jones. He is worthy of
concentration. If you can get him converted, he will be a power
for good. Most of your members know him, I guess. If you don't
like to call on him, alone, get some of them to go along and
introduce you. May God help us save poor D. McC.

Yours,

STEVE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., December 20, 1887.

_Dear Brother:_

Your favor to hand. I have had a terrible battle with self, but
by the grace of God I have come out conquerer. I praise God now
that I had the struggle, because it has enabled me to realize
the emptiness of all that is earthly. It has convinced me that
to depend on men is "like a foot out of joint." I make more
miles toward my haven of rest during a night of storm than in
days of calm weather. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy
New Year, I am as ever,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

STEVE P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., December 29, 1887.

_Dear Brother:_

Yours was received a few days ago. Yes, I thank God I am almost
rid of my love of praise. I am willing to do the dirty and
disagreeable work and let others have the picnics and the
praise. "Who am I that I should be a leader of the Lord's
people?" But I confess I did not get to this point without a
struggle. How I did have to wrestle with God. He showed me the
envy that was in my heart, that is my jealousy of any one who
did more work or had more attention paid them than I had. But
glory to God I hope I am rid of it at last.

Yours,

S. P. H.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., January 26, 1888.

_Dear Brother:_

Yours just received. I hardly think it would be worth while to
ask Mr. Moody to visit our Mission, as his time is so completely
occupied. I think our work is as much thought of as ever. It is
quiet but I think deep. I have kept it out of the papers,
because too much newspaper notoriety is calculated to cause a
poor little-brained fellow to exaggerate his own importance. And
then there is such sweetness in the work when you are sure it is
not for praise but for Christ. I am afraid that many of us on
analyzing our hearts will find first, self; second, self; and
almost all for self in one way or another. May God deliver me
from self.

Yours as ever,

STEVE P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., July 10, 1888.

_Dear Brother:_

Your letter to hand. There is nothing so comforting as true
friendship. Alas! how little of it there is in this world. Happy
the man who can claim _one true friend_. I know a man that has a
true friend. I am that man and you are that friend. How do I
know it? You are so faithful in telling me the truth about
myself and showing me my faults and mistakes. Who but a true
friend that had your best interest at heart would have written
such a letter as this last one from you? I want you to know that
while I loved you much before, I love you more now. I have been
going through the fire lately, but I think I shall come out all
right. Doesn't God sift a fellow? I believe I can say I rejoice
in tribulation. I find I can not expect to be understood in this
world or always have sympathy, but I do expect, if "I meekly
wait and murmur not," to find it is all right in my Father's
house.

Your friend and brother in Christ,

STEVE P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO S. P. DALTON (one of the converts).

LOUISVILLE, KY., July 17, 1883.

_My Dear Brother Dalton:_

Your good letter to hand. It is, as you say, so sweet to be
bound together by the ties of Christian love, and there is no
tie which binds men more closely than the religion of Christ. It
breaks down every barrier, and all are alike to the true
Christian man; rich, poor, halt, lame, blind, there is no
difference. And the Christian is happiest when he is denying
himself to help others.

In order to convince the world of the truth and power of our
religion, our own standard must be very high. We must deny
ourselves of things which in themselves would be innocent, but
which, if practiced by us, would lessen our influence for good.
And how comforting to think that if we _suffer_ with Him, we
shall also reign with Him. The suffering comes first, the
humiliation first, the toil and weariness first. Yes, we may
_expect_ troubles and crosses here, but we leave it all behind
when we enter within the gates into the city. I thank God that
your heart has been changed and that you have tasted of the
powers of the world to come. I am glad you find more pleasure in
my poor company and lame words than in the follies and
friendships of the world. Hoping for you all good things, I am
with much love,

Your brother in Christ,

STEVE HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., July 23, 1885.

_Dear Brother Dalton:_

Your letter from the great Falls is to hand. It is very
gratifying to me to know that in the midst of so much excitement
you could and did think of one so humble and obscure as myself.
I have been at the Falls and have seen many wonderful and grand
things, but the most beautiful thing I have ever seen is an old
hardened sinner picking up his grip-sack and bidding the devil
farewell forever. And, praise the Lord, that is my privilege
almost daily in the dear old mission. Though the weather is very
hot, we have glorious meetings; new converts testifying almost
nightly. Two professional gamblers have just been converted. One
of them was one of the sweetest conversions I ever saw. The old
converts are nearly all doing well. Don't grow, cold, but be in
some work for the Master every day, and you will not miss the
time or regret the service. God bless you.

Your friend and brother in Christ,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., April 17, 1886.

_Dear Brother Dalton:_

Yours of the 6th to hand. We have purchased the property for our
new home, and we shall move in in about a month. Our work is
moving like a thing of life. It was never so prosperous before.
I wish you could be here to work with us. Sister Clark is in her
glory. She is one of the grandest Christian women I have ever
seen. Nearly all the converts are doing well.

Yours,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., November 15, 1886.

_Dear Brother Dalton:_

I receive no letters that touch my heart more deeply than those
I receive from you. Our work is more quiet now. The papers do
not notice it so much, but we are doing a good work. It is now
more among the unfortunate business men of the city some of
whom, were fallen very low. Some who have recently been
reclaimed are now first-class business men. The old converts are
all right and doing well, but they don't stand by me in the work
as I wish they would. Oh, for "consecration and concentration."
That is my motto.

My married daughter has got one of the best of husbands and I
think they are the happiest couple I know. The rest are all
well. I hope you will be blown back this way by some favoring
breeze, so we can have your help in our work.

Yours,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., January 6, 1887.

_Dear Brother Dalton:_

Our work is going on grandly again. You can see from the papers
I am kept as busy as a bee. You must know from the number that
come that my time is all taken up in nursing them. Hence, I can
not write long letters, however much I would like to.

Hope to see you soon.

Yours,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., October 28, 1887.

_S.P. Dalton, Cleveland, Ohio:_

DEAR BROTHER DALTON: Yours of the 17th is received. I am glad
you are an active worker in the church, and that they have shown
their appreciation of you by making you a steward in the church.

I believe you will render a good account of your stewardship.
The main thing for you to guard against is _care_. Remember,
always when you think you are too busy to pray in secret, read
the Bible, go to the meetings, etc., what Jesus said to Martha:
"Thou art careful and troubled about many things."

I am trying to be a faithful servant. God is blessing my humble
efforts. The converts are sticking and the work is growing. Most
of the converts are prospering in business. Some that were in
the gutter are now making from fifty to two hundred dollars a
month.

Your friend and brother in Christ,

S. P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

TO THE SAME.

LOUISVILLE, KY., May 11, 1888.

_Dear Brother Dalton:_

Yours of the 9th to hand. Glad to hear of your continued success
in business. You are a great man, but a man who is so prosperous
in business must keep his eyes open.

Remember to give to the Lord all that belongs to Him of every
dollar you earn. John Wesley's motto is hard to improve on:
"Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can." And oh!
what sweetness there is in giving. Never get too busy to do some
Christian work. We have just had Murphy at Louisville, for a
month.

Good-bye,

STEVE P. HOLCOMBE.

* * * * *

[3]LETTERS TO MR. HOLCOMBE.

[3] A few of the letters to Mr. Holcombe have been selected out of several hundreds.

_Mr. Holcombe:_

I have heard and read so much of your influence and prayers for
men leading dissolute lives, that I am going to ask you if you
won't find my husband and stay and pray with him until he is
saved. The other night, when he was drinking very hard, he
appealed to me to send for you to pray for him. He has much
confidence in your prayers, and believes in your life; I have
often heard him say so. He has a noble, loving disposition, and
forgiving; so you need not be afraid of offending him. His whole
heart would forever offer thanksgivings for his delivery from
drink; for it is that that he prays for. I have thought that,
perhaps, God intended salvation to come to him through you; and
how earnestly I pray that it may. So much has been done, and so
many prayers offered for him, won't you please, at your next
opportunity, find him and talk and pray with him? You would make
a miserable, lonely woman's life happy again. We have been so
happy together, so congenial, so well mated; and if God will
answer all our united prayers, happiness will return to our
hearts tenfold. Oh, Mr. Holcombe, pray the prayer of faith, and
my heart will ever turn in grateful acknowledgment to God for
making you the humble instrument of my much-loved husband's
salvation. Won't you go now immediately and wrestle for and with
him in prayer?

Believe me, most earnestly, your co-worker in prayer for his
salvation.

MRS. H.

* * * * *

BIRMINGHAM, ALA., May 12, 1888.

_Dear Brother Holcombe:_

I hope you will not think hard of me for asking you to write
once more to my husband. I feel so confident it will stir up a
remembrance of his conversion. Oh, brother, don't give up
helping me. Try to save my husband. It nearly kills me to see
him come home full of the destroying thing called whisky; and it
seems to have such a strong hold on him. All the imploring I can
do will not change him at all. I have grieved until my life is
almost grieved away. But oh, God will surely hear my cry after a
while. If I could give my life to save my husband's soul, I
would willingly, yes, gladly, do it. Brother Holcombe, what do
you think about this plan? If you can get one of the converts
whom my husband knows, and one who has been a great drunkard, to
write a friendly, brotherly letter to him, don't you think that
might do some good? Oh, I have thought of so many plans and ways
to try and get him back to the Lord. I am sorry to say that the
city of Birmingham is the most wicked place I have ever seen; so
few Christians, and they are not working. I do fervently hope
God will send some one here who is like yourself, not ashamed to
work for the lost. I hope you will write, Brother Holcombe. Pray
for me; and oh, do ask all the friends there to pray for my
husband.

Mrs. P.

* * * * *

LOUISVILLE, KY., December 3d.

_Brother Holcombe:_

Will you ask the prayers of your people in behalf of my
skeptical son-in-law. He is a talented man, but he is using his
influence against his best friend. My poor child is suffering
the penalty for marrying an infidel. If I dared tell you how
desperate the case, I am sure your heart would be troubled to
its depths. Do pray that this man may be led into the light of
the Gospel, and become a better husband, father and citizen.

A SUFFERING MOTHER.

* * * * *

BOWLING GREEN, November 10, 1884.

_Mr. Holcombe:_

Will you please go and see my son L., and try to persuade him to
live a better life? He has great faith in what you say. When you
wrote to him last spring he seemed very much affected, and said
to me. "That is one of the best men in the world." Oh, for
heaven's sake, pray for him. If you can go and talk to him,
advise him to leave Kentucky and go away off and reform his
life. If he comes back here, _danger awaits him_. I feel sure
you can influence him, for he believes you are sincere. He is
not mean and sinful at heart, but oh, the accursed demon Drink
causes him all his trouble. If he could get some respectable
work and some one to encourage him and lift him above his
darkened life, I believe he would be all right. He has relatives
there, but they are the last to apply to for assistance. He is
in jail in your city now. God only knows the pang it causes me
to say he is in jail. He was such a good Sunday-school boy and a
good Templar. Is it possible that he is to be lost? I can't yet
give up all hope. While my Father in heaven has so sorely
afflicted me, I can't help believing that after awhile the
change will come. Oh, how I wish Brother Morris could go to him
to-day. He took more interest in him than any one else ever did.
Please do what you can. I know God _will hear your prayer_ and
help you to save him. Yours with a mother's aching heart for her
boy,

---- ----

* * * * *

CHICAGO, May 24th.

_Rev. Steve Holcombe:_

MY DEAR FRIEND: I have just received a letter from my son, who
has almost ruined himself and broken my heart by his
intemperance. I have been always praying for his reformation,
but felt almost hopeless, as he would not go to church and
seemed hardened, and I know very well he could not rely on his
own strength and would not look to a stronger arm for help. Do
you know when I received a letter from him to-day making a full
confession of all his past course, and saying he had been to
hear you and asked for your prayers, I could not realize it? How
we are surprised when God hears us. I write this to thank you
for anything you may have said to help him, and to beg you to
follow him with your prayers and advice. Oh, won't you try to
help him all you can? It will be a hard battle with him, poor
fellow, as he has been for some time indulging freely. Will you
look after him as much as you can and if he should fall, help
him up? I am praying for you and your work, and have been doing
so for a long time. Your friend,

MRS. P. W. M.

* * * * *

WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

_Dear Mr. Holcombe:_

Will you please come out to my home on Third street in the
morning as early as you can? I dislike to trouble you in this
way; but I am in great trouble with Mr. L. He has been drinking,
and I feel that you can be the means of bringing him back to
God. I have prayed with him, and done all I could for him. I
feel crushed to the earth with this deep sorrow and
mortification. Don't let him know that I sent for you. He is
quite sick to-night. Pray that God may sustain us and lift us
out of this deep dark sorrow, and cast out the demon that seems
to possess my poor dear husband. God bless you, our dear good
friend, and keep us all this night.

Sincerely your friend,

MRS. L.

* * * * *

LOUISVILLE, KY., April 12, 1888.

_Rev. S. P. Holcombe:_

DEAR BROTHER: It is with grief in my heart I must write you
again. Mr. L. went on a business trip three weeks since, but
fell into bad company, and has been on a protracted spree. He
came home last night utterly discouraged--will not even try to
pray again. I am almost discouraged myself; can only wait and
trust. I think if you could make it convenient to call to see
him to-day, perhaps God will put words into your mouth that will
help him. I leave it with you; and would not ask you to leave
your duties, except I know your willingness to work for the
Master. He will not know that I have sent for you. Oh, help me
to pray that God will help my husband.

Your friend,

MRS. L.

* * * * *

OCTOBER 28TH.

_Friend Holcombe:_

I am locked up, and go to the work-house this morning. Oh, can
anything be done to help me; I want to become a different man.
Try and save me.

Truly, ---- ----

* * * * *

CITY WORK-HOUSE, November 1, 1882.

_Rev. Stephen P. Holcombe:_

DEAR SIR: You kindly requested me to write you in event I
reached the conclusion that under a change of condition I might
become a different man. My knowledge of your own career inspires
me with more confidence than anything that has ever fallen under
my notice. Coupled with the impression made upon me by the
sermon on Sunday afternoon, I firmly believe if you will come
and see me, and allow me to state to you fully my convictions as
to your ability to make a sober man of me, you will do one of
the greatest and noblest acts of your life; and, in keeping me
from the slavery of drink, rescue one who has suffered, and who
has caused, and now is causing, much suffering to others. I
stand ready to unite with you in any manner you may suggest, and
pray God Almighty to bless you.

Truly, ---- ----.

* * * * *

CITY WORK-HOUSE, November 2, 1882.

_Friend Holcombe:_

When I penned the few lines to you yesterday, I had to do it in
so short a space of time, that in all probability I omitted to
state specifically why I desired to see you. Heretofore, I have
never entertained any settled plan of operations to restrain my
appetite for liquor other than the mere will power I deemed in
my own possession and control, and, as a result, would
invariably find myself in the very midst of violating every
previously conceived resolution. Your kindness in pointing out a
course of discipline and conduct, and extending to me a welcome
among those who have made, and who are making, successful battle
against the great destroyer of happiness, awakened within me an
entirely different current of thought; and when I stated I would
unite with you in any manner you would suggest, to effect the
object in view, I meant it with all my heart and mind; and I
appeal to an all-wise and merciful Creator to attest the
sincerity of my declaration in this matter. Again, my resolve is
to attend strictly to any suggestions you may make. The accursed
appetite has beggared me. I do not ask charity from any mortal
toward me. I am not deserving of either sympathy or pity; and
while the embracing of the cause of religion and temperance can
not of itself work reformation, it places a man in a position
where he can climb upward and go forward, instead of forever
traveling the broad way that leads to destruction. Holcombe, I
want to redeem myself. I only crave this one last opportunity,
and if God will help me no man shall ever know of me using
either intoxicating drink or profane language as long as breath
is in my body. When released, I do not want to be idle a day. I
have mouths to feed whose entry into this troubled life is
chargeable solely to me. I will work for a dollar a day to do my
duty towards them. Judge W. L. Jackson, Judge H. H. Bruee, Gary
B. Blackburn or Major Tom Hays, would, I am sure, put in a good
word for me; and Judge Price himself, I think has some hope for
me. I had a violent chill to-day, and am in the hospital
department, and my fingers are somewhat stiff from researches in
the geological department.[4] Hence this cramped writing. Come
and see me, and do not give me up as hopeless.

Truly, ---- ----.

[4] He means the rock-pile.