Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-06-02

how. Ipou hls soul the light sool
dawned, and the old miser, not only rev
olutionized IL heart out in life, began t
scatter benefactions and toward all tn
great charities of the day he became
cheerful and bountiful almoner. VIVA
was the cause Of this change2 everybody
asked AMI no one was capable of giyins
an Intelligent answer.
In another part Of the church sat Sab
bath by Sabbath, beautiful and talented
woman, who was a great society leader
hbe went to church because that was re
tpectable thing to do, and in the neighbor
hood where size lived it was hardly respect
able not to 90 Worldly was she to the
last degree. and all her family worldly
She had at her house the finest germans
that were ever danced, and the costliesi
flvors that were ever given and though
she attended church she never liked tC
hear any story of pathos, and as to re
ligious emotion of any kind she thought
it positively vulgar Wines, cards, the
alters, rounds of costly gayety were to her
the highest satisfaction. One day neigh
Dor sent in visiting card, and this lady
came down the stairs in tears, and told the
whole story of how she had not slept for
several nights, and she feared she was go
ing to lose her soul, and she wondered If
some one would not come around and pray
with her.
| From that time her entire demeanor was
changed, and though she was NOT called
upon to sacrifice any of her amenities of
life, she eonsecrated her beauty. her social
position, her family her all to God and the
! church and usefulness. Everybody said
in regard to her, Have you noticed the
change, and what in the world caused itg"
and no one could make satisfactory expla-
nation. In the course of two years, though
there was no general awakening in that
church, many such isolated eases of such
unexpected and unaccountable conversions
took place. The very people whom no one
thought would be affected by such consid-
erations were converted.
THE POWER OF PRAYER.
The pastor and the 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 its"
AT last the discovery was made and all
was explained. A poor old Christian wom-
an standing in the vestibule of the church
one Sunday Forming trying to get her
breath again before she went upstairs to
the gallery, heard the inquiry and told the
secret. For years she had been in the
habit Of concentrating all her prayers for
particular persons in that church She
would see some man or some woman pres
ent and, though she might not know the
PERSONS name, she would pray for that
person until he or sha was converted 10
God. All hsr prayers were for that one
person--just that one She waited and
waited for communion days to see when
the candidates for membership stood up
whether her prayers had been effectual.
1t turned ont that these marvellous in
tances of conversion were the result Of
that old womanis prayers as she sat in the
gallery Sabbath by Sabbath bent and
wizened and poor and unnoticed 4 little |
cloud of eonsecrated humanity lowering |
in the galleries. That was the secret place |
of the thunder There is some hidden. un-
known, mysterious source of almost all |
the moral and religious power demon. |
strated. Not one out Of milion-not one |
out of ten million prayers ever strikes a |
human ear. On public occasions minis |
ter Of religion voices the supplications Of /
an assemblage, but the prayers OF all the |
are in silence There is not
\ second in century when prayers are not
ascending, but myriads of them are not
even rs loud as a whisper, for God hears a
thought as plainly as a voealization That
silence of application hemisphere and
the secret place of thunder.
In the winter of 1915 we were worshiping
in the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the in
teITegnum of churches We had the usual
great audiences, but Twas oppressed beyond
measure by the fact that conversions were
not more numerous One Tuesday invited
10 my house five old, consecrated Christian
nen-all of them gone now, except Father
Pearson and be, in blindness and. old age
waiting for the Masters call To come up
higher These old men came not knowing
Hhy invited them. took them to the
OPP room OF my house. said to them: II
nave called You here for special prayer.
I'm in an agony for a great turning 10 God
If the people. We have vast multitudes in
attendance and they are attentive and re-
pectful, but | cannot see that they are
ayed Let us kneel down and each one
,ray and not leave this room until we are
III assured that the blessing will come and
las come" Ii was a most intense crying
into God. said, Brethren, let this meet
ng be IA secret and they said it would be.
That Tuesday night special service ended.
On the following Friday night occurred
he usual prayer meeting No one knew
# what had occurred on Tuesday night,
nut the meeting was unusually thronged.
den accustomed to pray in public in great
omposure broke down under emotion
The people were in tears. There were sobs
nd silences and solemnities of such I'M
Isual power that the worshipers looked
nto each others faces as much as to say.
What does all this mean2" And when
he following Sabbath came, although we
we're in n secular place, over four hundred
rose for prayers and a religious awaken
ny took place that made that winter mem
rable for time and for eternity. There
nay be in this building many who were
rought to God during that great ingath-
ring, but few of them know that the up-
er room in my house on Quincy street,
where those five old Christian men poured
ut their souls before God, was the secret
lace Of thunder
sCIENC CANNOT APPROACH IT.
The day will come-God hasten it-when
eople will find out the velocity, the males