Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1868-09-09


because all the boys said his father
was the wickedest man in New York.
His den was oyeIrun with respectable
visitors to such an extent as to serious
ly damage his business, and so he
cursed the visitors and the miserable
Dyer" who had sent them there, AMI
rayed and swore, and 10 use his own
words run on rum heavier than ever"
At last Mr.. Dyer's second wicked
est Man" article came out in the
August number of Packard" at the
close Of which he gives Aliens promise
to quit his business by the first of May
next, expresses his belief that he will
keep his promise. aud winds up by say
ing that the wickedest man in New
York shall get l0in name of iOhieh his
children, l0hom he so paSsionatsLy Iorss. NEED
not Be ashamed, and shall get establish a
character t0hiek l0iH suffer those children 20
plant fo1Osrs upon his grave I0ithOUt blush
ing for the memory of their dead father
hing beneath the sod"
When Allen read these lines he wept
again, not with rage and shame, but
with remorse and repentance. To
QuOLc us OnA hOlAo-
"When 1 read what Mr.. Dyer says
about my children's yet planting flow
ers on my grave, and not blushing at
my memory, felt as though | wanted
that to be so; and L kept reading it
over and over, and at last said: IF I
LiUs long enough that SHALL Be So and |
have read it almost every day since,
and every time have said, at shall be
so If iVs n"
Fortunately this man had sagscious
Christian friends to encourage him in
his good resolutions. DR.. ]. NJ. Ward,
of Newark, N. j., a gentleman of wealth
and culture, has been unremitting in
his efforts to win Allen from his career
of sin; and Mr.. Albert C. Arnold of
the Howard Mission has labored to the
same end with enlightened. zest and
invincible hope. His friends in the
city followed up the attack. When
Mr.. VanMeter returned from Europe
he joined his arguments and persus-
sions to those of DR.. Ward, Mr. Arnold
and Mr.. Dyer. But the devil had his
agents at work also. Aliens neighbors
got wind of what was going on, and
made dead set at him. They abused
him and ridiculed him, called him q
Methodist, wanted to know when he
was going to join the church, and did
all they could to keep him from
going over to the enemy" as they
called his meditated abandonment of
the dance house business.
"Why don't you kick them prayin'
| f,Ilo-o 1,,kIv, r-o,,r ba,rsa ~ .pI1rpo1 10
exclaimed one of his alarmed neigh
bors. You're lettin' 'em come run
MIN there so much, a singin' their
camp -meetin' hymns, that eff you don't
look out you'll coon be as bad as any
of 'emw
But Allan's true friends gained
steadily on him. He began to stop
swearing and using obscena language,
and ran lighter on rum" One day
when Mr.. Arnold expostulated with
him for swearing, he said: That's
right, Arnold, want TO stop tAe use oi
bad language, and whenever you hear
me use a profane word. or foul word,
you just say to me. How do you parse
that John ? and I'll take the mint
And he has actually made great prog
ress in comeliness Of speech, and also
/ in sobriety.
The truth is, this "Wickedest Man
is an original and marked character
/ He reminds US of those generous-heart
ed pirates and highwaymen whom
novelists and poets have so delighted IC
depict, and who have been celebrated in
song and story for the handsome man
uer in which they disbursed the funds
which they had cut the throats OF
blown out the brains of their victims
to obtain, and who, finally, as the
French Cardinal said of Louis XIV,
made the aneade honorable to God, and
died in the arms of the Redeemer."
Allen would stop in the very riot
and carnival of his dance-house to 90
out and help q poor child o. poor man
in distress, and then return seVen-fold
more a child of hell than before. One
morning,s few weeks ago, ne came rush
ing over to the Howard Mission to get
somebody to go and read the Bible and
pray with a dying tenant of his-for
he is the owner of houses and lands.
Finding DR.. Ward and Mr.. Arnold, he
said:
There's tenant of mine over here,
dying. He's poor printer. He can't
live more than twenty-four hours I; and
you know, gentlemen, that, when q
man feels this world slipping out from
under him, there's only one thing thatil
do, and that is the Savior. I've been out
of practice twenty years, and can't
read and pray with the poor fellow,
but you can. So come along"
He took them to the dying mans
bedside, and sat reYerently by while
they read the Bible and prayed with
him and when the man died he saw
to his funeral, and had him decently
buried, and then went back to his
dance-house and had red-hot evening
of it.
There is many a Christian landlord
in this city who would not look after a
dying tenant like that, any more than
he'd keep a dance house.
Yesterday afternoon Allen attended
religious services at the Howard Ms
sion. At the close of the service it wa
announced that Allen had shut up his
dance house, and that he would make
a few remarks. Coming forward witt
difidence and hesitation, he said;
THE WIcKEDEsT MANS MAIDEN SPEECH
"My Friends-Ladies and gentlemen
Pm not accustomed to addressing au
diences, and don't intend to say much
I've been called the Wickedest Man il
New York, and 1 have done a gooC
deal of evil, but PA sorry for my pas
life, and intend to see if l can't nov
do little good. l suppose l shall hsv'
q hard time of it, and often get Sc
back one way and another; but if my
lChristisn n friends will stand by me,
hope shall hold out and DO some good
Pm most obliged for your courtesy, anc
will do the best can
Aliens manner was modest anc
straightforward, and he seemed to b'
sincere in his intentions to reform
Many shook him cordially by the hand
and promised to stand by him in hi
efforts to atone for his past life-
The Rev DR.. Birmingham OF st. Louis
followed Allen. He said that he hac
read the account Of Aliens life, hac
seen and talked with him the day
before, and believed be would keel
his word, and never open his dance
house again; that the announcement
would ring through the land, and I'll
thousands of hearts with JOY.
In the evening there was praye
meeting at Aliens old dance house
No. S04 Water street, which was large
ly attended. The services wer'
| A-.4T1 Thn -,