Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-01-25
CHAPTER VII.
BY Charles NJ. Sheldon.

| was SUNDAY morning, ana tne clear
sweet air, just beginning to breathe
over the city the perfume Of opening
| blossoms in the woods and fields, swept
over the casket from one of the oper
windows at the end Of the grand hall
| The church bells We're ringing, and the
people on the avenue going by to serv
ice turned curious, inquiring looks nj
at the great house and went on, talking
Of the recent events which had SC
strangely entered into and made history
in the city.
At the First church Henry Maxwell,
| bearing On his face marks of the scene
he had been through the night before,
confronted an immense congregation
and spoke Of it with passion and a
| power that came So naturally ont OF
the profound experiences of the day be
fore that his people felt for him some
| thing Of tho old feeling of pride they
once had in his dramatic delivery.
| Only this was a different attitude, and
all through Lis impassiOned appeal this
| morning there vGs note Of sadness
and reouko and stern condemnation
that made many Of the members pale
with self accusation or with inward
anger
For Raymond had awakened that
morning to the fact that the city had
gono far lic, -ae. after all. The ruuor
at the I3cc;uagie that tho second and
third " lGs L3l gone 10 license proved
| to lie false. il was true that the victory
was won iy It very laeager majority.
but the result was tie same as if it had
been ovcrWhelI;ii e. Raymond had
voted TO co@.i:.a. aa3ther year the sa-
Icon The Ch.=stiars Of Raymond stood
condemned - the result More than Il
hundred Christians, protesting disciples.
had failed TO 80 10 the polls, and many
moro than that number had voted with
the whisky men If all the church
members of Raymond had voted against
the saloon, it would today be outlawod
instead Of crowned king Of the munici-
pail hat had been the fact in Ray
n1. ,;rs The saloon ruled. No
rne that What would Jesus do?
And the woman who had been brutal
ly struck down by the very hand that
had assisted 20 eagerly 20 work her
earthly ruin what of her? Was it Giy-
thing mere than the logical sequence Of
the whole horrible system Of iceE Sc
that for another year the saloon thST
received her SO often and compassed 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 Il hundred Loreens before
the year hid drawn To It's bloody Close
All this, with voice that rang and
tremblad ana broke in sobs of anguish
FOR the result, did Henry Maxwell pour
out upon his people that Sunday morn
ing, and men and women wept as hc
spoke. Donald Marsh sat there his
usual erect handsome, firm, bright,
self confident bearing all 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 a public
service. Edward Norman near by sat,
with his clear c1t, keen face erect, bat
his lip tremblcd and he clutched the end
of the pew with a 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
fuence public opinion that last week
than Norman. The thought that the
Christian conscience had been aroused
too late or too feebly lay with weight
of accusation upon the heart Of the
editor What if lie had begun to do
as Jesus would long ago? Who could
tell what might have been accomplished
by this time? And up in the choir
Rachel Winslow, with her face bowed
on the railing of the oak screen, gave
way to feeling she had not yet al
lowed to master her, but it so untitled
her for her part that when Henry Max
well finished and she tried to sing the
closing solo after the prayer her voice
broke, and Tor the first time in her life
she was obliged to sit down sobbing and
unable to go on.
Over the church in the 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 unmoved 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 were convinced q
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 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 alive
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
10 us Jesus WOulu 40 UHc Inherent lltet-
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 a 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 Rectangle also felt moved strongly
in its own way. The death of Loreen
was not in itself so remarkable a fact
1t was her recent acquaintance with
the people from the city that lifted her
into special prominence and surrounded
her death with more than ordinary i'm
portance. Every one in the Rectangle
knew that Loreen was at this moment
lying in the Page mansion up on the
avenue. Exaggerated reports of the
magnificence of the casket had already
furnished material for eager gossip
The Rectangle was excited to know the
details of the funeral Would it be
public? What did Miss Page intend to
I L. 1af