Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-05-31

I
and that young man, whelmed with re-
pentance, implored prayer and advice,
and passed into complete reformation of
heart and life. All the neighborhood
was astonished and asked, "Why was
thisY' His father and mother had said
nothing to him about his souls welfare.
On another aisle of the same church
sat an old miser. he paid his pew rent,
but was hard on the poor, and had no in
terest in any philanthropy. Piles OF
money! And people said, "What a strug-
gle he will have when he quits this life
10 part with his bonds and mortgages"
One day he wrote to his minister:
"Please to call Immediately. have a
matter Of great importance about which
want to see you" When the pastor
came in the man could not speak for
emotion, but after awhile he gathered
self control enough to say: II have lived
for this world too long. Iwant t. know
if you think can be saved, and, if so,
wish you would tell me how" Upon
his soul the light soon dawned, and the
old miser, not only revolutionized in
heart but in life, began to scatter bene-
factions, and toward all the great chari-
ties of the day he became a cheerful and
bountiful aiinoner. What was the cause
of this change? everybody asked, and no
one was capable of giving an intelligent
answer.
In another part Of the church sat, Sab
bath by Sabbath, a beautiful and talented
woman, who was great society leader.
She went to church because that was a
respectable thing to do, and il the neigh
borhood where she lived it was hardly
respectable not to go. 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
costliest favors that were ever given,
and though she attended church she
never liked to hear any story of pathos,
and as to religious emotion of any kind,
she thought it positively vulgar. Wines,
cards, theaters, rounds of costly gayety
were to her the highest satisfaction.
One day neighbor sent in visiting
card, and this lady came down th@stairs
in tears and told the whole story of how
she had not slept for several nights, and
she feared she was going 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 consecrated 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 itY" and no one could make
satisfactory explanation.
In the course Of two years, though
there was no general awakening in that
church, many such isolated cases of such
unexpected and unaccountable conver-
sions took place. The very people whom
no one thought would be affected by
such considerations were converted. 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 itY' At last the discovery was made
and all was explained. A poor old
Christian woman standing in the vesti-
bule Of the church one Sunday morning,
trying to get her breath again before she
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 par
ticular persons in that church. She
would see some man or some woman
present, and, though she might not
know the persons name, she would pray
for that person until he or she was con-
verted to God. All her prayers were
for that one person--just that one. She
waited and waited for communion days
to see when the candidates for member
ship stood up whether her prayers had
been effectual. 1t turned out that these
marvellous instances Of conversion were
the result of that old womans prayers
as she sat in the gallery Sabbath by
Sabbath, bent and wizened and poor
and unnoticed.
A little cloud of consecrated humani-
ty lowering in the galleries. That was
the secret place of the thunder. There
is some hidden, unknown, mysterious
source of almost all the moral and reli-
gious power demonstrated. Not one
out of a million--not one out of ten mil
lion-prayers ever strikes human ear.
On public occasions minister of reli-
gion voices the supplications of an as
semblage, but the prayers of all the
congregation are in silence. There is
not a second in century when prayers
are not ascending, but myriads of them
are not even as loud as whisper, for
God hears thought as plainly rs vo-
calization. That silence of supplication
-hemispheric aud perpetual-is the &C.
cret place of thunder.
THE SECRET PLACE OF THUNDER.
In the winter of 1875 we were worship
ing in the Brooklyn Academy of Music
in the interregnum of churches, We
had the usual great audiences, but was
beyond measure by the fact
that conversions We're not more numsr- |
GUS. One Tuesday invited to my house |
five old, consecrated Christian men-all |
of them gone now, except Father Pear
son, and he, in blindness and old age,
waiting for the Masters call TO come up
higher.
These old men came, not knowing
why had invited them. l took them
10 the top room Of my house. l said TO
them; II have called you here for spe-
cial prayer. am In an agony for q
great turning 10 God of the people. We
have vast multitudes in attendance and
hey are attentive and respectful, but
rannot see that they are saved Let us