Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-09-29
BISHOP SIMPSON.
Taken III in the Midst of His Serm On
President Hayes Present
i A Thrilling Scene.

President Hayes Present
A Thrilling Scene.
The announcement in yesterday
mornings papers that President Hayes
would attend services in the First
Methodist Church, on Powell street,
to hear Bishop Simpson preach, at
tracted a great crowd to that temple.
The old pioneer church of the city, spa
cious as it is, was crowded from the
vestibule to the steps of the alter, bum
dreds of chairs being placed in the aisle
and around the chancel. Bishop Simp-
son arrived early, walking up the aisle
alone and kneeling devoutly for some
time in silent prayer in his pulpit
Then he sat quietly with large over
coat buttoned closely about him. Be
side him in the pulpit sat Rev. X. l.:
Hartford, the pastor of the church, and
Rev. H. B. Sheldon of the same de-
nomination. At ii O'Clock the Presi-
dent and Mrs. Hayes, accompanied by
Captain Charles Goodall and Mrs.
Goodall, drove up to the church door
in a covered carriage and alighted. As
thev entered the church the audience
arose and stood decorously while they
were being seated. The party was
shown to the pew of Annis Merrill,
which was reserved for their use. Mrs
HAYES, after the old-fashioned manner,
retained to this day only by the most
devout of the sect, knelt in the pew
with her back to the alter, engaging
in silent prayer, after which she quiet
ly took her seat. The President mere
ly bowed his head upon the back of the
pew in front of him for moment, in
decent respect to the sanctities of the
place and occasion. AS they entered,
the organist of the church, Miss West
gate, struck up and played as well
come march to the president, prelude
fugue, by Bach. The choir, under the
lead of J. P. Davenport, rendered the
hymn, "Come, Ye that Love the
Lord" after which the pastor gave out
the first regular hymn of the service.
After the singing of another hymn
Bishop Simpson arose to deliver his
sermon, taking for his text the words
of the forty-fourth verse of the second
chapter of the Book of Daniel:
"And in the days of these Kings
shall the God o. Heaven set up king
dom which shall never be destroyed,
and the kingdom shall not be left to
other people, but it shall break in
! pieces and consume all these kingdoms
and it shall stand forever"
Speaking slowly and in low, clear
tone, he began: "The reader of history
is oftentimes startled with the little.
| ness of the agencies which produce
great results. Joseph was almost
placed upon the throne of Egypt by a
dream. Had Esther been little less
beautiful all the Jews in the kingdom
of Ahasuerus had been destroyed
Pascal, in the same strain, shrewdly
observes somewhere, that if the nose
of Cleopatra had been half an inch
shorter the face of all Europe would
have changed"
Then the Bishop related the wonder
ful vision of Nebuchadnezzer of the
image of gold, silver, iron and brass
and clay, and Daniels reading of it;
prophetic significance, of which the
text was part. He followed the full
fillment of the prophecy in history with
a rapid sketching hand, from the over
throw of the Assyrian kingdom
through the Medo-Persian dynasty
the Roman Empire, to the establish
ment during the latter days of the en-
during kingdom: foretold in the text
that of Jesus Christ in the hearts oi
men Having thus with mastery hand
run the preliminary lines of the survey
the grand old man eloquent was just
entering on the exalted theme before
him, and his hearers were prepared fol
one of his grand discourses, when he
suddenly paused and pressed hand
kerchief to his lips. His face, always
pailid, assumed white hue, bleach
ing like his hair. The pause became SC
painful as to cause people to look ur
apprehensively to the orators face, He
faltered in a low voice, "I am not sure
that | shall be able to finish this SER
mon," and thrill of apprehension ran
over the vast assemblage. The Bishop
was seized with retching, and appear
ed to be sufPocating. He grasped the
pulpit with both hands The audience
felt strange, chilling tremor. The
venerable preacher grasped out the
words of apology: II was sick last
night, but | thought once | got start,
ed | should warm up to the work and
got ON, but | am not well. If the con-
gregation will kindly sing q verse or
two, | may feel better and be able to
go on and then he tottered and sank
back on his scat in the pulpit. 1t was
a moment of thrilling apprehension.
The tall, slender figure Of the vener-
able Bishop, oopfessedly the FOREMOST
orator of his Church and among the
foremost Of the Nation, bis face pallid,
his lips livid and speechless, bent with
the weight Of more than the allotted
age of man, his head silvered with the
| frosting of seventy-two winters, tot
tering and sinking in the sacred desk,
seemed to end his life and administra-
ton at onae in that tragic, solemn
manner 1t was painful dread and
suspense. The pastor Of the church
sought TO allay the escit"d apprehen-
sion Of the vast congregation, and re-
questcd them to join the choir in sing
ing Crock of Ages" which many did.
During the singing DR.. J. NJ. Bird,
who was present, glided to the Bishops
side, grasped bis hand and felt his
pulse. He detected at once symptoms
of a chill threatening to become con-
gestive, and had the sufferer conveyed
to the lecture room adjoining, where
he was laid on bench and restorative
stimqlants were administered. Mr..
Hartford stated to the audience the ma