Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1891-04-09
declared that be must have lost his
mind. but the women. with thHt 1,onaffI

sympathy which ever Ell poets good re-
suit from an osterlsiblv pions action,
ayerred that he was appointed to- Ering
about great reformation. Wives per-
suaded their husbands 10 assist in build.
ing the church, and thus aided, Peel
was soon ready to deliver his sermon.
III was on q Sunday, warm, bright and
beautiful, thai hundreds Of PEOPLE
hocked TO see him. I remember hear
ing one man. a cynical fellow, mark:
Z Oh, he has gone off this way for eff:
feet. He knows that If he had gone
into regular church nobody would
pay any attention to him. He alws5s
was sort OF theatrical fellow, anyway.
u. Why do You call him theatrical
fellow r. the mans wife spoke up. IL
am sure that ] never heard of his going
to theater.n
Mary Ann, you don't know what
you are talking about
9 know enough not to talk about q
man that is trying to do good in the
world"
Good in the worldT her husband
contemptuously repeated. There's
altogether too much talk these days
about men doing good III the world. If
aman wants co do good, why don't he
plant something and raise stuff for the
people to eat ?"
: It is quite as important to take care
Of poor peoples souls"
II don't know about that. The Lord
will fix the soul business"
The church was crowded. Mont
* n Il. r. q
sort of platform, still majestic, but
with q sprinkling Of gray In his beard.
A hymn was sung, a prayer was offered,
and then the preacher thus began:
My friends, will not explain why /
have erected this church other than
that / have taken it upon myself to
preach the word of God. / do not
come before you claiming to have been
directly called to deliver the world unto
you--that is, heard no voice telling
me to preach, but / did feel that I
could do much good, and that it was
my duty to spend the rest of my life in
that service. / shall attempt no revo-
luton, and those of you that have come
expecting to hear a new doctrine, or
even q new explanation of the old doc.
trine will be disappointed. I believe
that immortal fruit grows upon the
tree of sincere repentance. believe
that each ofu owes to God life of
simple purity and honesty, Our al
lotted time on earth is but few days,
and what should we gain though we
were placed in high position among
men, for high positions soon crumble
into the dust Of forgetfulness and men
soon pass away. It is not enough
simply to declare that we love the Lord,
for love is often selfish; it is not enough
simply to praise the Lord, for praise is
sometimes the offshoot of fear. While
processing to love the Lord, and while
showing that we praise him, we must
look with tenderness upon the
faults of others, we must speak no evil
word of neighbor, neither shall we
bear tales, for the man who comes and
tells us that some one has spoken in
our dispraise may profess that he took
our part and hushed the mouth of SLAM
der, yet he destroys our happiness for
an entire day. Every Sunday hereafter
- that is, SO long as am able-I shall
preach in this house, urging repentance
and kindness of heart. Many people
have wondered at the great change that
has come over me. This was q natural
result of so unexpected an action. Bear
with income aud commune with me,
and do not think that any one will
ever regret that this humble house was
placed here among the trees.
Many years passed. ! grew up and
wandered in foreign countries. MY
father passed away. and still, letter
from an old friend told me, Montgomery
Peel continued to preach. returned
home, and ON the following Sunday went
to the log church, now almost covered
with moss. The congregation was sing
ing hymn when my friend and / en-
tered.
Where is the rreacher?" I asked
when we had sat down.
Hasn't come up yet. He lives in a
cellar Immediately under the floor. and
has grown SO old aud infirm that we
sometimes have to wait for him."
The hymn was finished and still he did
not come. Another hymn was sung
and then q man arose and said that he
would go down and see if anything had
happened to the preacher. The man
soon returned. Brethren" said he,
| "the old man is dead. Those of you
who desire to do so may come down and
see him."
Nearly every one shrank back, but ]
went down into the cellar. The old
man, shriveled and white with age, lay
upon bed of straw The place was
dark, and when we held candle near
his face we found paper pinned to the
bosom of his shirt. Written on the out
side of the paper we're these words,
"Read this to the congregation.
We went up stairs and the man that
had found the dead preacher thus adj
dressed the awestricken congregation
Brethren aud sisters, we have COM
munication from the old gentleman
/ whose voice you shall never hear again. "
! He then resd as follows:
@The hand of death is upon me, and
feel that il is my duty to say few
words to yon, my dear people. You
have been 30 good, SO patient and SC
kind that love you with all my soul.
] have loved you ever since / needed
your love and sympathy. Many years
ago was walking along lonely road.
/ Night hawks may have cried, but / did
not hear them; could not have heard
the voice of an angel had it shouted to
me. met mani knew he was COM
4 ing that way Hold said i. He
stopped and asked what I wanted.
| 4 want you, said !. What do you
want with me-? s want you to give
me something What do you want
me to give?' Your life. sWhy2' BE.