Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1892-06-10

In the course OF two years, though there
was no general awakening in that church.
many such isolated cases OF such unexoecte
and unaccountahle conversions took plac,.
The very people whom no one though:
would be affected by such considerations
were converted. The pastor and tho officers
OF the church were on the lookout for the
solution OF this religious phenomenon
"Where Is It." they said, "and who is it and
what is it| At last the discovery was made
and all was explained. a poor old Christian
woman standing in the vestibule OF the
church one Sunday morning. trying to get
her breath again before shs went up stairs
to the gallery, heard the inquiry and told
the secret
For years she had been in the habit of
concentrating all her prayers for particu ar
persons in that church. She would see some
man or some woman present, and, though
she might not know the persons nama, she
would pray for that person until he or she
was converted to Col. All her prayers were
for that ono perSon-just that on,. Sae
waited and waited for communion DAYS To
see when the candidates for member ship
stood up whether her prayers had been eff ct
ual. Ii turned out that these marvellous iu-
stances OF conversion were the result Of tn At
old woman's prayers as she sat IN the gallery
Sabbath by Sabbath, bent anl wizaned and
poor and unnoticei.
A little cloud OF consecrated humanity
lowering in the galleries. That was the
secret place OF the thunder. There is s)ms
hidden. unknown, mysterious source OF
almost all the moral and religious power
demonstrated. Not ons out oi million
not one out OF ten million-prayers ever
strikes human ear. On public occasions a
minister OF religion voices toe supplicatiOns
OF an assemblage, but the prayers OF all the
congregation are in silence. There is not a
second In u century whom prayers are not
ascending, but myrisds OF them arh not even
as loud as a whisper, for God hears a thouS Sht
rs plainly as vocalization. That silence OF
supplicaton-hcmisph anl perpetual
Is the secret place Of thunder.
In the winter OF 1878 We were worshipinr
In the Brooklin Academy OF Music IN the III.
terregnum OF churches. We had the usual
great audiences hut was oppressed beyond
measure by the fact that conversions were
not more numerous. One Tuesday invited
TO my house five old, consecratei Christian
men-all of them gone now, except Father
Pearson, and he, IN blindness and oil age.
waiting for the Masters cali to come up
higher.
These oil men cane. not knowing why
had invite them. took than to tho to)
room OF my house said t. then: II havn
called you here for special PRAYER. | an in
an agony for great turning t. God o; ths
people. We have vast multitu les IN atten-
dance end they are attentive an respectful
but cannot see that they are saved LIT
us kneel down and each one pray AMI not
leave this room until we are all assured
that the blessing will come ani has come"
1t was most intense crying unto Goi.
said, Brethren, let this meeting be a secret"
and they said it would be. That Tues iay
night special service ended
On the following Friday hight occurrc
the usual prayer meeting. No one knew Of
what had occurred on Tuesday night, Lus
the meeting was unusually throlge1. Men
accustomed TO pray IN public in great CON-
posure broke down under emotion. The
people were in tears. There wero soos
aud silences AMI sol amnities OF such unusual
power that the worshlpers loOSei into each
others faces as much as to say What
does nll this mean And when tho follow.
ing Sabbath cana although we were in a
secular place, over four hundred arose for
prayera and a religious awakening TOOK
place that made that winter memorable for
time and for eterhity. There may bo in
this building many who wero bruuS Sht u
God during that great inEathering, but few
Of them know that the upper room in my
house on Quincy street, where those five old
Christian men poured out their souls before
God, was the secret place Of thunder
The day will come-tioI hasten lt-whea
people will find out the velocity, the ma
jesty. the mutipotencs OF prayer. Webray
/ about our limited express trains which put
us down thousand miles away in twenty
four hours but here Is something by which
in a moment we may confront people five
thousand miles away. We brag about our
telephones, but here is something that beats
the telephone In utterancs and reply, for
! God says, "Before they call, | will hear. V
We brag about the phonograph, in which n
man can speak, and his words and the tones
Of his voice can bo kept for ages, and by the
turning OF q crank the words may come
forth upon the ears OF another century, but
prayer allows us to speak words into the ears
Of everlasting remembrance. and on the
| other side OF oil eternities they will be heard.
| Oh, ye who are wasting your breath, and
| wasting your brains, AMI wasting your
nerves, and wasting your lungs wishing for
this good and that goo for the church aud
the world, why do you not sol into the secret
place OF thunder
but" says soma one that is a beautiful
theory, yet 1t does not work in my case, for
| am In cloud OF trouble, or a clout oI
sickness, or clond of persecution, or a
cloud of poverty, or cloud of bereavement
or cloud OF perpIe1ity." How glad | an
that you told me that. That is exactly the
place to which my text refers. II was from
a cloud that God answered Isracl-the cou
over the chasn cut through tho Red Sea
the cloud that was light to the Israeites am
darkness to the Egyptians. 1t was from I
cloud a tremendous cloud, that God mad,
reply. 1t was cloud that was the secre
place OF thunder So you cannot get away
from the consolation Of my textby talkinl
that way. Let all the people under clou
hear It, ~ answered thee in the secret place
of thunder"
This subject helps me to exoain some
things you have not understood about mer
and women, and there are multituies o
them, and the multitude is multiplying by
the minute. Many OF them have not O
superabundance of education II you had
their brain in post-nortem examination
and you could weigh it, it would not weigh
any heavier than the average. They hav,
not anything especially impressive in per
sonal appearance. They are not very iiuen
of tongue. They pretend to nothing uuu sua
in mental faculty or social inauence bu
you feel their power; you are elevated il
their presence, you are better man or 1
better woman, having confronted them
You know that In intellectual endowmen
you are their superior, while in the matte
of moral and religious influence they ar
vastly your superior. Why is thisH
To find tho revelation OF this secret yol
must go back thirty or forty or perhaps sixty
wears to the homestead where this man wa
brought up. 1t is a winter morning, and tn
tallow candle is lighted, and the fires ar
kindled, sometimes the shavings hardl,
enough to start the wood. The mother {
preparing the breakfast the blue edge
dishes are on the table, and the lid Of tn
kettle on the hearth begins to rattle with tn
steam, and tho shadow Of the industriou
woman by the Pickering flame on the heart
is moved up and down the wall. The fathe
is at the barn feeding the stock-the oat
thrown into the horses bin and the cattI
craunching the corn. The children, eHrlie
than they would like and after being calle
twice, arc gatherei Mt the table
The blessing Of God Is asked on tho foot
and, the meal over, the family Bible is pl
upon the white tablecloth and a chapter
| ,nnd aud n nravnr M adn which inclndns a