Telegram-herald., 1890-07-21
MASCULINE PIETY
II Was Deeply Stirred BY Female
Eloquenee Yesterday.
DlED'S lyD slIHlyS REDUEE.
The Revival ~ ork a. ths Asss sfsthsdiss
ChaEeh Goes BFassly On.-Msn's Meet
t1g fsstsrdAE Whsn the STA of
Dasid " as Applied 10 All

That there should have been Just the
slightest element Of masculine curiosity
In the motive that called 80 many men
70 church - hear what woman nad
% say % men only, Was but natural.
The Ames Methodist Church was fHli
70 the door yesterday afternoon, with
men the only female present beng the
preacher.
The preliminary devotiOns were IN
form OF the ordinary character. Mrs.
Van CotG betrayed no sign of WEAKNESS
or poer health until she had reached
the middle OF her sermon. Then.
through the exhaustion, she was forced
70 take a chair, IN which she sat down
and taught the people"
The text Vas sam. XIII. Thou
art the Man" If this old Bible were
what some would have Us believe Il 10
be-a cunnlngly devised fable, l could
not today give you the sad circumstance
narrated IN the context. There IS
much in the history OF David 70 lead to
Al Inference that he was perfect man.
But ia fact he was so weak and imper-
feet that be was broken in character by
that which las been the ruin OF many
q man. beautiful woman" With fine
descriptive skill. Mrs. Van Cott told the
story OF Dav.d's dastardly murder by
proxy OF Urlah by ordering HIM TO the
front of the battle. 10 was Ike the
bursLugof u cloud of tire and birthstone
when the indignant woman summed
the character oil the man VINO had done
this thing with the apOstrODhe. David,
YOU are murderer, as we'll As a mean,
low, lying devIl." The grief of Bath
sheba poured out IN crocodile tears"
for her husband was we'll portrayed.
Then followed q thrilling dramatic de-
scrptiOn Of the meeting of David and
the prophet Nathan. Then she sudden
~ burst forth, Every soul here has
transgresseG GOd's Divine law, and | am
here 20 say 10 everyone, Thou art the
man, and 10 ask that you put on the
robe OF Gods Divine Righteousness,
And viii you DO lt?' And when she
repeated the question With the piercing
emphasis of when Mrs. Van COtt is a
mistress, "Will you do ItP' { seemed a
If every man IN the house vas about to
jump TO ms feet and give his answer
then and there. 81 say TO you who are
yet N your SIN. thou art the man who
once looked on the face OF your dead
child. and when, ~ the anguish of that
nrst grief, you promised 10 meet that
darling over yonder, you promised and
Led 20 Heaven"
You who left the fond and anxious
mother who pressed your cheek and
left there Der tears when you first went
into the world. and you VINO promised
and bed II you are not getting ready 70
meet that mother over there"
Il asked a man down in New York
State TO give his heart 20 God. He
smiled cOntemptuOusly, and replied
that he didn't like the style.
But the time viii come when YOU
viii, SAID /. Time passed on, and
the sweet babe OF his earliest
love sickened and died. As he knelt, a
broken-hearted man, over the cold clay,
the minister bent low and whispered
Do you Ike the styIe?' And he shook
his head and wruIg his hands in fren-
Zied agony and said No. no.. And the
spirit OF God moved over MS soul and
he was saved. And / say TO YOU un-
less you make the preparation, YOU Twill
never see the inner portals Of deliver
anCe.
But I don't believe the ark story
YOU say. II ls because you are so
stupid. The Blessed Christ believed it.
They IN NOah's day did not believe it
I'll II was proved to them IN the rising
waters. They Dad never heard OF a
deipg3." Here Mrs. Van Cott gave a
tragic DESCRIPTION of the deluge which
few actors cOult excel. The people
laughing at NOah-"W hat Is that old
fool gong to go with all those ami
malsf'-the coming on of the storm,
the start which the first flash Of light
nlng gave 10 a man caught out IN the
storm, his sOhiOquy. the next flash, his
terror As the great drops fell and the
waters rose, were all-nOt described
but reproduced. with a vlvldness that
sent thrill OF terror through the great
masculine congregation.
An inexpressIbiy pathetic story was
one told of q man IN Beaver Dam,
Wis, who, after n period of singular
stubborn n-heartedness, surprised his
wife one day by suddenly enquiring:
"Wifs, would YOU mind taking me 20
Jesusf' Another was an incident
IN the jail at San Francisco. To say
that ''strOng m0n wept,' would
hardly express the truth, for al the
congregation wept.
At the close or the sermon, all in the
audience were requested To rise, who
felt a personal consciousness of being
saved About three-ftths rose. Then
those were requested 10 rise VINO felt a
desire for this salvation, and another
fifth rose.
During the subsequent moments Of
prayer. a number who bad remained
out Of the meeting. and the reporter
followed 70 speak to some of them. To
those whom he approached, he put this
question, 'Why did yOu not rise IN re-
sponse tn the last reQuestp'
The first man had a ine. thoughtful
eve. and hes tated for a moment. He
wss assured that the reporter did not
know him. nor would rot seek % know
hm. hut sskod the question only ss A
study in human nature. Slowly the
nan replied
II understand what you mean. and
appreciate your motive. But I really
do not feel ike telling 20 anybody nv
rtason There are things lying deeply
Ir iae heart. winch some men never
Cumnuul cate 20 their fellows. | now
present a case of that sort
Another one sa .ds 81 endeavor % DO
~ whole duty. and lose no opportun-
uv - put myself N contact
With the hrst Efa Of nv day.
No doubt Mrs. Van Cott saws
many SWEET a1t uoble things. and
have ni0ved her sermon deepiv. But
I am irarS t0 say that I 80 not sgree
win her theory Of the propItatOrY
efficacy OF mere blood