The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1899-12-01

iCre tudO 1iS peOple Ieit TOT MN SOr1c-
thing of the old feeling of pride they
once had in his dramatic delivery.
Oily this wSs a different attitude, and
al through lis impassioned appeal Shis
mocnin; tAcco was . GCto cf sadness
end rabuso and stern condemnation
thC5 made mGny OF tho members pale
with sclf accusation or with inward
anSer
For Raymond had awakened that
morning to the fact that tine city had
cone fer license. after all. The rumor
G5 the Rectangle that the second and
third wards had gone no license proved
to bo false 1t WIGS true that the victory
was WON b. Il very meager majority
bat the result was the same as if it had
been overwhelming. Raymond had
voted 70 continue another year the sa-
loon. The Christians Of Raymond stood
condemned by tho result. More than a
hundred Christians, protesting disciples,
had failed to so 10 the polls, and many
more than that number had voted with
the whisky men. II all the church
members CT Raymond he'd voted against
the calcon, IL would today be outlawed
instead OF crowned king of the munich
pahty That had been the fact i'll Ray.
moEd for years. The salcCn ruled. No
one denied that. What would Jesus do?
And the woElCn wEo had been brutal
" struck down by the very hand that
had assisted 60 eagerly 70 work her
earthly ruin--what OF her? Was it any
thing more than the logical sequence OF
the whole horrible system Of license
that for another year the saloon that
received her SO often and compasssd her
degradation, from whose very spot the
weapon had been hurled that struck her
dead, would by the law which the
Christian people of Raymond voted to
support open its doors, perhaps tomor-
row, and damn with earthly and eternal
destruction hundred Loreens before
the year had drawn to it's bloody close
All this, with voice that rang and
tremb:ed and broke III sobs of anguish
for the result, did Henry Maxwell pour
out upon his people that Sunday morn
ing, and men and women went as he
spoke. Donald Marsh sat there, his
usual erect, handsome, firm, bright.
self confident bearing al gone, his
head bowed upon his breast, the great
tears rolling down his cheeks, unmind-
full of the fact that never before had he
shown outward emotion in public
service. Edward Norman near by sat,
with his clear cut, keen face erect, but
his lip trembled and he clutched the end
OF the pew with feeling of emotion
that struck deep into his knowledge of
the truth as Maxwell spoke of it. No
man had given or suffered moro to in
Hrrnnnn y
than Norman. The thought that the
Christian conscience had been aroused
too late or too fccbly lay with weight
of accusation upon the heart of the
editor. What if ho had begun to do
as Jesus would long ago? Who could
tell what might have been accomplished
by this timer And up in the choir
Rachel Winslow, with her face bowed
on the railing of the oak screen, gave
way to a feeling she had not yet al
lowed to master her, bat it. so untitled
her for her part that when Henry Max
well finished and she tried to sing the
closing solo after tho prayer her voice
broke, and for the first time in her life
she was obliged to sit down sobbing and
unable to go on.
Over the church in tho silence that
followed this strange scene, sobs and
the noise Of weeping arose, When had
the First church yielded to such bap-
tism of tears? What had become of it's
regular, precise, cold. conventional or
der of service undisturbed by any vul-
gar emotion and uninoved by any fool
ish excitement? But the people had
lately had their deepest convictions
touched. They had been living so long
on their surface feelings that they had
almost forgotten the deeper wells of
life. Now that they had broken to the
surface the people wero convinced of
the meaning of their discipleship.
Henry Maxwell did not ask this
morning for volunteers to join those
who had already pledged to do as Jesus
would, but when the congregation had
finally gone and he had entered the lee
ture room it needed but q glance to
show him that the original company Of
followers had been largely increased.
The meeting was tender. 1t glowed
with the Spirits presence; it was alivo
with strong and lasting resolve to begin
war on the whisky power of Ray
mOnd that would break its reign. Since
the first Sunday when the first company
of volunteers had pledged themselves to
do as Jesus would do the different meet
ings had been characterized by distinct
impulses or impressions. Today the en-
tire force of the gathering seemed to be
directed to this one large purpose. 1t
was n meeting full of broken prayers,
of contrition. confession, of strong
yearning for new and better city life,
and all through it ran the one general
cry for deliverance from the saloon and
its awful curse.
But if the First church was deeply
stirred by the events of the week gone
the Rectanrln also felt moved STRONGLY