The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-10-06

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turned toward her. hushed and rever-
ent. Before she had finished the verse
the R~ectangle was subdued and tanned.
1t lay like some wild beast at her feet.
and she sang it into harmlessness. Ahl
What We're the fippant, perfumed.
critical audiences in concert halls COM
pared with this dirty. drunken, impure,
degraded, besotted humanity that trem-
bled and wept and grew strangely. sad
ly thoughtful under the touch of the
divine ministry of this beautiful young
woman? Henry Maxwell as he raised
his head and saw the transformed mob
had a glimpse Of something that Jesus
would probably do with a voice like
Rachel Winslow's. Jasper Chase sat
with his eyes on the singer. and his
greatest longing as an ambitious author
was swallowed up in the thought of
what Rachel Winslow's love might
some time mean to him. And over in
the shadow outside stood the last person
any one might have expected to see at
a gospel tent service. Rollin Page, who,
jostled on every side by rough men and
women, who stared at the swell in the
fine clothes, seemed careless of his sur
IDENTIFY swayed by the power that Rachel
possessed. He had just come over from
the club Neither Rachel nor Virginia
saw him that night.
The song was over. Henry Maxwell
rose again. This time he felt calm
What would Jesus do? He spoke as he
thought once he never could. Who We're
these people? They were immortal
souls. What was Christianity A call
ing OF sinners, not the righteous, to re-
%pentance. How would Jesus speak ?
What would he say? He could not tell
all that his message would include, but
he felt sure of a part of it, and in that
certainty he spoke on. Never before
had he felt Compassion for the multi
tude. What had the multitude been
to him during his ten years in the First
church but q vague, dangerous, dirty,
troublesome factor in society, outside
of the church and his reach; an element
that caused him occasionally an I'M
pleasant feeling of conscience; a factor
in Raymond that was talked about at
associations as the masses in papers
written by the brethren il attempts to
show why the ''masses" We're not being
reached. But tonight as he faced the
"masses" he asked himself whether,
after all, this was not just about such
a multitude as Jesus faced ~oftenest, and
he felt the genuine emotion of love for
a crowd which is one Of the best indi-
cations a preacher ever has that he is
living close to the heart of the worlds
eternal life. 1t is easy to love an indi-
vidual sinner, especially if he is person
ally picturesque or interesting. To love
a multitude of sinners is distinctly a
Christlike quality.
When the meeting closed, there was
no special interest shown. The people
rapidly melted away from the tent, and
the saloons. which had been e1perienc-
ing a dull season while the meetings
progressed. again drove a thriving
trade. The Rectangle. as if to make up
for lost time, started in with vigor on
its usual night life of debauch. Henry
Maxwell and his little party. including
Virginia. Rachel and Jasper Chase,
walked down past the row of saloons
and dens until they reached the corner
where the cars passed.
"This is a terrible spot" said Henry
Maxwell as they stood waiting for their
car. 81 never realized that Raymond
had such a fostering sore. 1t does not
seem possible that this is q city full Of
Christian disciples"
He paused and then continued:
"Do you think any one can ever re-
move this great curse of the saloon9
Why don't we all act together against
the traffic? What would Jesus do?
Would he keep silent? Would he vote
to license these causes of crime and
death?"
Henry Maxwell was talking to him
self more than to the others. He re-
membered that he had always voted for
license. and SO had nearly all of his
church members. What would Jesus
do2 Could he answer that question?
Would Jesus preach and act against the
saloon if he lived today2 How would
he preach and act? Suppose it was not
populdI w plctGL ttSulllSo liCGiiS6. sup
pose the Christian people thought it
was all that could be done-to license
the evil, and so get revenue from a nee
essary sin. Or suppose the church mem
bers owned property where the saloons
stood. What then? He knew that these
We're the facts in Raymond What
would Jesus do?
He went up into his study the next
morning with that question only partly
answered. He thought of it all day. He
was still thinking of it and reaching
certain real conclusions when The
Evening News came. His wife brought
it up and sat down a few minutes while
he read it to her.
The Evening News was at present
the most sensational paper in Raymond
That is to say, it was being edited in
such a remarkable fashion that it's sub
scribers had never been so excited over
a newspaper before. First they had no
ticed the absence of the prizefight, and
gradually it began to dawn upon them
that The News no longer printed ac-
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