The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-11-29

Josiah w. Leeds after Publishers OF
Corruptins Literature.
For "The Friend"
On LITURATURE AND SOME INVOLVED
RESPONSIBILITIES
When Jerry McAuley was but
nineteen years Of age, after an early
career in crime as river. thief prize
fighter, and (as he himself said) all
adept in "all sorts of wickedness," he
was finally arrested and committed h
Sing Sing prison for fifteen years at
hard labor. He was put to carpet
weaving, learnt to read and write, and
having experience of some good i'm
pressions, would daily say q prayer
the /" Lords prayer"- -"from feeling
| it was right TO say it, Then lie
says. II got cheap novels and read, to
pass away the time. I read many and
many of them. 1t was all the recrea-
tion I had, and diverted my mind from
nv dreary surroundings. was cup
eonseq"ence, ,sa w,en sna my head was led With
low and wicked thoughts. I took y
fancy, from some of the remarkable
stories read, that l might by some
good fortune by and by effect my es-
cape from the prison, and then my
heart would fill up with murderous In
tentionr toward the man who put me
Iin.n Providentiaily, man who had
been a confederate with him IN crime,
Oryille Gardiner, but who, by Cots
great grace, had been convicted Of his
| i'll deeds, had witnessed forgiveness
aud entered upon q new life,- visited
the penitentiary, and publicly speak
ing to the prisoners, Jerry McAuiey
was reached, and took to reading the
Bible instead of cheap novels. He
found he must give up looking TO the
priest, bu. 90 direct to the Lord for
pardon. The passage In which he
speaks of his conversion, after Q night
of prayer, is instructive and stimuiat-.
ing; /; !, .t onoe e .eemed 40 If some.
thing supernatural was IN my room.
was afraid to open my eyes. was
in an agony, and the sweat rolled OF
my face In great drops. Oh, Row [
longed for Gods mercy! Just then,
in the very height of my distress, 1t
seemed as If hand was laid upon my
head, and these words came to me:
Ny sou, thy sins, which are many, 4
are forgiven. I do not know if =
heard q voice. yet the words were dis
tinctIy spoken 10 my soul. oh, the
precious Christ! how plainly l saw,
Him, lifted on the cross for my Sins!
What q thrill went through me. 1
jumped from my knees; i paced UP
and down my cell. A heavenly light
seemed 10 fill:it; a softness and a:eper-
fume like the fragrance of sweetest
flowers. did not know If was liv;;
ing or not. I clapped my hands aud.
shouted, Praise God! Praise God p
Zone of the guards was passing
along the corridor, and called OUT
Whats the matter? I've found
Christ answered, my sins are all
forgiven. Glory to God! He took
out paper from his pocket and wrote
the number of my cell, and threatened
to report me in the morning. But l
didn't care for that. My soul was all
taken up with my great joy. But the
next morning nothing happened to
me, and T think the Lord made him
forget it. What a night that wrs!
shall surely never forget the time
when the Lord appeared as my gra-
cious Deliverer from sin.". Eventually,
Jerry was released from prison by
pardon from the Governor, on account
of good behavior, sitter he had: served
about half the time for which ne had
-heen committed. He had the misfOrt-
une to be directed to beer saloon ny
friend (so called) as b place to board,
lager beer being then q newly intro
and quite harmless. 1t proved, how.
ever, to be means for dragging Jerry
back into his old ways of exceeding
wickedness. His effectual recovery
therefrom and subsequent useful life.
it is not my present purpose to follow;