Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1892-06-04

EOne day he wrote to his minister:
30 call Immediately. bave .
Enatter Of great Importance about which
III watss To zee you" When the psstor
E.naane tn too man could nos apeah for
lsamotaon, but after awhile he gathered
lsself CONTROL enough TO Soy: Il have lived
lfsf0r this world too long Iwent 10 know
8sI you think dan be saveal. and, II 60,
lNI wish you would tell mo how" Upon
ishis soul the light soon dawncd, and the
Fold miscr, not only reyolutioniZed IN
isheart but In life, began to scatter beno-
Elections, and toward all the great chali-
lies of the day he bccamo cheerful AID
tsbounhful almoncr. What was the cause
/ Of this change? everybody asked, upd no
one was capable Of giving IN intelligent
s1sweg.
In another part OF the church sat, Sab
hath by Sabbath, a beautiful and talented
isRonan, who was q great society leader.
She went 90 church because that5was o
respectable thing to Go. and ii the neigh
borhood where she lived 1t was hardly
respectable not to go. Worldly was she
to the last degree, and all her fasnily
worldly. 8he had at hcr house the finest
germans that wcro ever danced, and the
costliest favors that were ever given,
md though she attended church sho
oeyer liked to hear any story Of pathos,
and es 10 religious emotion Of any kind,
she thought 1t positively vulgar. Wines.
cards, theaters, rounds Of costly gaycty
were to her the highest satisfaction.
Ono day q neighbor sent IN o visiting
card. and this lady ca,ne Down tho stairs
In tears and told the whole story Of how
she had not aleps for several nights, and
she feared she Was going to lose her soul,
end she wondered II sOule one would
not come around and pray with her.
From that tins hor entire demcanor wHs
changed. and though slo was not called
upon to sacrifice any OF hor nneniSies of
life, she consecratod her beauty her
social position, hcr family. her ell TO
God aud the church and usefulness.
Everybody said In regard to lfer, Have
you noticed tho change, nn.l what in the
world caused it, and no ono could make
satisfactory explanation
In the course OF two years, though
there was no general awakening In that
church, many such isolated cases OF ss,ch
unexpected and un;p;countnble CONVEX
sions took place. The very people whom
no ono thought would DO affected by
such considerations v:cro converted. The
pastor nnd the officers Of tho church
were on the lookout for the solution Of
this religious phenomenon 'Whe-e 10
it, they said. land who Is 1t and what
is itf' at last the discovery was made
and oil was explained. a poor old
Christian woman standing in the vesti-
bule Of The church ono Sunday morning,
trying 70 sot her breath again before she
went up etairs to tho gallury, heard Che
inquiry and told the secret.
For years clio had BEEN in the habit
of concentrating oil her prayers Cor par
ticulur persons In that church Sho
woslld Gee CONC man or sono woman
present, and, though she might not
know tho PERSONS narno, she would pray
Gor TINT person until he. or che was con-
yertej to Col. Ali hcT prayers wero
for that ono porson-just that one. She
voted and waited for communion days
to SEQ when the candidates fer member
ship stood up whether her prayers he'd
boon cfectual. 1t turned out that thoec
marvellous instances u conversion wero
the result Ut that old wolnan's prayers
Is size &1t m tho gaifery Sabbath By
Sabbath. bent end wizcncd and poor
End unncaced.
A Htde cloud Of corsocTated humani-
ty lowering in tho galleries That Yves
the secret place Of the thunder. There
Is some hidden, unknown, mysterious
source Of almost all tho moral und relL
gious power demonstrated. Hot one
out OF million-not one out Of ten mil
tion-prayers ever strikes % human ear.
On public occasions minister of reli-
gion pvices the supplications Of an u.s.
semblage, but the prayers Of oil the
congregation are Ia nlence. There Is
not q second III century when prayers
are NOS ascending, but 1nyriads Of them
ire nos even as load as a whisper, for
God hexs thought as plainly as q 70
calization. That silence Of duplication
hemisphere and porpotual-is the So
crut place Of thunder.
THE SECRET PLACE OF THUNDER
In the winter Of 1875 we were worship
ing IN the Brooklyn Academy of Muslc
in the intcrrcgnuln CT churches. We
hsd the usual great audiences, but Twas
oppressed beyond measure By tho fact
That conversions wore not moro numer-
QUA. One Tuesday | invited to my honse
FIVE old, concccrated Christian nicn-all
Of them gone now, except Father Peer
son, and he, in blindness and old eye,
waiting for tho Masters call 30 como up
higher.
Theee old mon came, not knowing
Ehy had invited them. l took them
10 the top room OF my house. l said to
them: ~ have called you here for spe-
cial prayer. I arn In an agony for
great turning to God of the people We
have vast ,nultitudes in attendance on1
they are attentive and respectful, but
cannot SEQ that they nre saved. Let us
knecl down and each one pray and not
leave this room until wo nre oil assured
that the blessing will come aud has
come" It was q most Intense crying
unto God. | eaid, Brethren. let this
mosting bo secret" and they said IL
would be. That Tuesday night special
service ended.
On the following Friday night 90
cured the usual prayer meeting. No
cae knew Of what had occurred on Tues
day night, bat the meeting was rnusu-
nlly thronscd. Men accustomed 80 pray
in public In great composurc broko
down under emotion. The people were
II, taa-a There vere eoils and Biiences