Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1895-04-04
$Re $ilenee of
Dean Qaitland.
BY NK<MELL GREW.

aHu SdpnulFH, Nul ECtuCUlkSE, you Niil
not deceive Godr-herc the preacher
paused and chokcd back rising sob.
"all is open In His Stght"-hcrc the
dean trrmhlrd, and his voice took Il
tone of heart broken anguish There,
my brothers, up there is no Shutting"
There WAS silence for some moments
in the vast building, broken only by
the deep and quick breathing OF the
hushed, attentive multitude. and the
great secret of the deans power dash
ed upon Evcmrd's mind 1t was the
fact that the thoughts he was utter
ing were not his own: that he was
possessed and carried away by some
irresistible power, which forced him
to speak what was perhaps pain and
grief to him, what was utterly beyond
his will, 4 strange power truly, which
made Ezekiel pronounce his own dire
mischancc and predict the taking
away the desire Of his eyes for which
he dared not mourn; which made Ra-
caused Isaiah TO forctcll In torrcntS Of
fiery cloQucuCc things he desired In
vain to look into-a great and awful
gift when given In even the smallest
measure, Il gift called In oldcn times
prophecy, in these genius.
\ deep awe and compassion fell
upon Evrrard as he looked upon the
agitatcd and inspired orator, whose
soul was SO deeply stained with guilt,
and he thought OF the diSohcdIcnt pro,
phet and of other Sinful mon, singled
out, in spite of their frailty, for the
supreme honor OF being the instru.
ments Of the Divine Will
watch against secret sin, con
tinucd The preacher, in Il low and Darn
est hut distinct and audible voice
pray for broken hearts. failure, mis-
cry, anything hut the GItitird am
hitiou the fulfilled hearts desire which
makes II impossible for You To re-
nounCe all and follow Christ" Then
he spoke of the rCmorSc of Judas and
his miserable end; said that even he
would have found instant forgiveness
had he sought or desired IT, lsut he
probably did not think II would he
given. since his own love was not large
enough for such n forgiveness, and
he thus Shrunk from the only possible
healing for him. "My brothers." he
said in n voice which touched the
very core of Eycrards heart, "thc man
we think most mcanly of Is the man
we have wrongcd."
He pointed out the difference be
tween repentance and rcmorSc; drew
n vivid picture of the latter, which he
said was the SORROW of sorrows and
the wortst torture of hell" He said
that nothing earthly could soothc that
pain-not all the riches of the world;
not the esteem Of men; not the highest
earthly rcnown. or the enjoyment OF
beauty, health. youth; not all the
pleasures of sense or intellect; not the
sweetest and purcst treasures IF hu'
man affection: and the voice In which
he said this was so cXquisltcly, so dcs
pairingly sad, that n wave Of intcn.
scst pity rushed over Evcrard's soul
and a great sob rose In his throat and
he knew that the long agony of the
prison life. which had bowed hls
frame. broken his health, and shat
tered his nerves, II not his intellect
was nothing In comparison with the
secret tortures of the successful man
who stood In purple and fine linen be
fore him.
Repent" continued the dean, in n
voice of agonized supplicatIon, "whilc
repentance Is possible. Put away the
darling sin, whatever IT may be, before
IT is inextricably wound about youi
heart strings; remember that every
moments delay makes the heart hard
or and the task more difficult. Cut
off the right hand pluck out the right
eye"
lie broke off abruptly, turned pale tt
the lips. and seemed for moment tt
fight for breath. "Oh, my God!' ne
exclaimed at last In low, agonlzed
shuddering tones, so different from thu
full voice OF impassiOned appeal h'
had been using, that they sent M
electric shock through the hushcd list
eners. while the chill drops beaded his
brow and he gazcd fixcdly with hor
ror-struck eyes before him. like one
compelled by some Irresistible spell Il
gaze on what his soul most abhors
1t was the most acute moment II
Eyerard's life, one TO be remembered
when all else had faded-ihe momen
when betrayer and betrayed met face
to face, gazing into each others eye
under fascination that each stroy'
yainly 10 resist Under the spell Of TN
deans eloquence, Evcrard had gradu
ally advanced his head from the she!t'
tor Of the pillars, the gas-bcaded glrdl'
OF which, In the deepening Of the sum
m n twilight, cast strong illumina
ton upon his features, and thus mt
tracted the preachers gaze. That aw
full meeting II glances seemed to Ever
ard 10 endure for an eternity, durinI
which the breathing Of the hushet
congregation and the cnsual stirring
of A limb here and there were dis
tinctly audible In the silence.
u,bn ebalI aay what these two men