Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-12-07


what the man had said He bad through
. ont spoken in a mild. apologetic tone,
almost as If he We're one Of the congre-
cation seeking for light on a very diff
cult subject.
The third day after his removal t.
the minister : house there was a marked
change in his condition. The doctor
spoke of it and offered no hope Satur-
day morning he still fingered. although
he had rapidly failed a. the week drew
near to its close. Sunday morning Just
before the clock struck lie rallied and
asked if his child had come. The min
lister had sent for her as soon as he had
been able to secure her address from
. some letters found in the man 5 pocket
BE had been conscious and able TO talk
coherently only few moments since
his attack The child is coming She
viii be here, - Henry Maxwell said as
he sat there his face showing marks Of
the strain of the weeks vigil. for he
I had insisted on sitting up nearly every
night
Il shall never see her in this world %
the man Whispered. Then he uttered
with great difficulty the words "You
have been good to me. Somehow | feel
as if it was what Jesus would do -
After a few moments he turned his
| head slightly, and before Henry Max
well could realize the fact the doctor
said He is gone.
The Sunday morning that dawned on
the city of Raymond was exactly like
the Sunday Of the week before. Henry
Maxwell entered hrs pulpit to face one
! of the largest congregations that had
ever crowded First church. He was
| haggard and looked as if he had just
risen from long illness. His wife was
at home with the little girl who had
come "a the morning train an hour aft
sr her father died. He lay in that spare
room. his troubles over, and Henry
Maxwell could see the face as he opened
the Bible and arranged his different
notices on the side of the desk as he had
been il the habit of doing for ten years.
The service that morning contained a
new element. No one could remember
when the minister had preached in the
morning without notes. As a matter Of
fact, he had done so occasionally when
be first entered the ministry, but for a
long time he had carefully written ont
every word of his morning sermon and
nearly always his evening discourse as
well. 1t cannot be said that his sermon
this morning was very striking or inn
pressive He talked with considerable
hesitation. 1t was evident that some
great idea struggled in his thought for
utterance, but it was not expressed in
the theme he had chosen for his preach |
ing. 1t was near the close of his sermon
that he began to gather certain |
strength that had been painfully lack |
ing at the beginning. He closed the |
Bible and. stepping out at the side Of |
the desk, he faced his people and began
to talk TO them about the remarkable |
scene of the week before.
''Our brother somehow {. words |
sounded n little strange coming from |
Henry Maxwell's lips passed away |
this morning. / have not yet had time |
to learn all his history. He had one sis
ter living in Chicago | have written
her and have not yet received an an
swer. His little girl is with US and will |
remain for the time.
He paused and looked over the house.
He thought he had never seen so many
earnest faces during the entire pastor
ate. He was not able yet to tell his peo-
pie his experiences the crisis through
something of his feeling passed from
him to them and it did not seem to
him that he was acting under a careless
impulse at all to go ON and break to
them this morning something Of the
message he bore in his heart. So he
went on:
"The appearance and words of this
stranger in the church last Sunday |
made a very powerful impression on
me. l am not able TO conceal from you
or myself the fact that what he said,
followed, as it has been, by his death
in my house, has compelled me to ask
as / never asked before, What does fol
lowing Jesus meant l am not in a po-
sition yet to utter any condemnation
of this people or, to "A certain extent, of
myself either in our Christlike rela-
tions to this man or the number he rep
resents in the world. But all that does
not prevent me from feeling that much
that the man said was so vitally true
that we must face it in an attempt to
answer it or else stand condemned as
Christian disciples. A good deal that
was said here last Sunday was in the
nature of challenge TO Christianity as
it is seen and felt in our churches /
have felt this with increasing emphasis
every day since, and | do not know
that any time is more appropriate than
the present for me to propose plan or
purpose which has been forming in
my mind as n satisfactory reply to
much that was said here last Sunday .
Again Henry Maxwell paused and
looked into the faces Of his people.
There We're some strong, earnest men
and women in the First church. The
minister could see Edward Norman,
editor of the Raymond Daily News. He
had been a member of First church for
ten years. No man was more honored
in the community. There was Alexan-
der Powers, superintendent of the rail
road shops There was Donald Marsh,
president of Lincoln college, situated in
the suburbs of Raymond There was
Milton Wright, one Of the great mer-
chants of Raymond, having in his EN-
ploy at least 100 men in various shops
There was DIR. West, who, although
still comparatively young was quoted
as authority in special surgical cases.
There was young Jasper Chase, the
author, who had written one successful
book and was said to be at work on
new novel There was Miss Virginia
Page, the heiress, who through the re-
cent death of her father had inherited
n million at least and was gifted with
unusual attractions of person and in
telleCt. And. not least of all, Rachel
WinslOw from her seat in the choir
glowed with her peculiar beauty Of
light this morning because she was so
intensely interested in the whole scene.
There was some reason perhaps, in i
view Of such material in the First
church, for Henry Maxwell's feeling Of
satisfaction whenever he considered his |
parish as he had the previous Sunday.
There was a large number of strong in
dividual characters who claimed mem
bership there. But as he noted their
faces this morning Henry Maxwell was
simply wondering how many of them
would respond to the strange PROPOSE
tion he was about to make He con
tinued slowly. taking time to choose
his words carefully and giving the pco-
pie an impression they had never felt
before. even when he was at his best