Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1900-03-29

my future work. Dear little woman,
| Philip went on as he drew his wife's
head down and kissed her tenderly,
while tears of disappointment fell from
her-"little woman, you know you
are the dearest OF all earthly beings to
me. And my soul tells me the reason
| you loved me enough to share earth's
troubles with me was that you knew
| could not be coward In the face OF
my duty, my conscience and my God.
/ Is 1t not SOP
The answer came in a sob Of mingled
anguish and happiness:
"Yes, Philip, but 1t was only for your
sake l wanted you to leave this work.
1t Is killing you. Yet'-and she lifted
her head, with smile through all the
tears-"yet, Philip. whittier thou goest
will go, and where thou lodgest
will lodge; thy people shall be my peo-
| pie and thy God my God. Where thou
| diest will | die, and there will l be
| buried; the Lord do so to me and more
also If aught but death part thee and
me-"
There were people in Milton who
COuiu uOt uuutTstduu NJ" pei Va
such refined and even naturally expen-
sive and luxurious habits as the minis
! ter's wife possessed could endure the
| life he had planned for himself and his
| idea of Christian living In general.
Philip could have told them II he had
| been so minded. And this scene could
have revealed 1t to any one who knew
| al t,.su nd tc MI 20
were. That was a sacred scene to hus-
| band and wife. something that belong
| ed to them, one of those things which
| the world did not know and had no
! business to know.
When the first Sunday of another
month had come. Mr.. Strong felt quite
well again. A rumor of his call to
Fairview had gone out, and to the few
| intimate friends who asked him about
1t he did not deny, but he said little.
The time was precious to him. He
plunged into the work with an enthu-
siasm and purpose which sprang
! from his knowledge that he was at last
really gaining some influence In the
tenement district.
|
borhood was growing worse instead Of
better. The amount of vice, drunken
ness, crime and brutality made bis SEN
sitive heart quiyer a hundred times a
| day as he went his way through 1t all.
His study Of the whole question led
! him TO the conviction that one of the
great needs Of the place was a new
! ha
ments were owned and rented by men
of wealth and influence. Many Of
these men were In the church. Dis
couraged as he had so often been In
his endeavor to get the moneyed men
Of the congregation to consecrate their
property to Christian uses, Philip came
up to that first Sunday with new
phase of the same great subject which
pressed so hard for utterance that he
could not keep it back.
/ As he faced the church this morning
he faced an audience composed of very
conflicting elements. Representatives
| of labor were conspicuous In the gal
leries. People whom he had assisted
at one time and another were scattered
seats under the choir gallery. His own
membership was represented by men
who, while opposed to his idea Of the
Christian life and his Interpretation OF
Christ. nevertheless continued 10 60
and hear him preach. The incident OF
the sections application for member
ship and his rejection by vote had also
,hat In, Har xt ,s,xte
Many preachers would have resigned
after such a scene. He had said bis
say about 1t and then refused to speak
or be interviewed by the papers ON the
subject What II cost him In suffering
was his own secret. But this morning,
as he rose to give his message In the
person Of Christ. the thought Of the
continued suffering and shame and
degradation In the tenement district,
the thought Of the great wealth In the
possession Of the church which might
be used almost to transform the lives
of thousands OF people II the men of
riches In Calvary church would only
see the kingdom Of God in its demands
on them-this voiced his cry to the
people and gave his sermon the signifi-
canoe and solemnity of prophets in
spiration.
See" he exclaimed as he went on
after drawing a vivid picture of the
miserable condition of life In the
buildings which could not be called
homes, ''see what a change could be
wrought by the use Of few thousand
dollars down there. And here this
morning In this house men are sitting
who own very many Of those tene-
ments. who are getting the rent from
them every month, who could, without
suffering one single sorrow. without
depriving themselves Of one necessity
| ar even Injury of life so change the