People's voice., 1900-03-22

oAon "neu tuo Dtll rang ana one or tht
residents went to the door.
"Tell DR. Bruc,. and the bishop
want to see them. Penrose is the nam,
Clarence Penrose. DR.. Bruce know,
me-.
The family at the breakfast table
heard every word. The bishop exchanged
significant look with DR.. Bruce, and
the two men instantly left the table
and went out into the hall
"Come in here, Penrose," said DR..
Bruce, and he and the bishop ushered
the visitor into the reception room.
They closed the door and were alone.
Clarence Penrose was one of the most
elegant looking men in Chicago. he
came from an aristocratic family Of
great wealth and social distinction. He
was exceedingly wealthy and had large
property holdings in different parts Of
the city. He had been member of DR.
Bruce's church all his life.
This man faced the bishop and his
former pastor with a look of agitation
on his countenance that showed plainly
the mark of some unusual experience.
He was very pale, and his lip trembled
as he spoke. When had Clarence Pen
rose ever before yielded to such strange
emotion of feelingH
"This affair of the shooting-you un-
derstand. You have read it. The family
lived in one of my houses. It is terri
BILE event But that is not the primary
cause of my visit. " He stammered and
looked anxiously into the faces of the
other two men. The bishop still looked
stern He could not help feeling that
this elegant man Of leisure could have
done a great deal to alleviate the hor-
rors in his tenements, possibly have pre-
vented this tragedy, if he had sacrificed
some of his personal ease and luxury to
better the condition of the people in his
district.
PenrOse turned to DR.. Bruce.
Doctor" he exclaimed, and there
was almost child's terror in his voice
Il came to say that l have had an ex.
perience so unusual that nothing but
the supernatural can explain it. You
remember | was one of those who took
the pledge to do as Jesus would do.
thought at the time, poor fool that
was, that | had all along been doing the
Christian thing | gave literally out of
my abundance TO the church and char
ity. never gave myself to cost me any
suffering. | have been living in a per-
feet hell of contradictions ever since |
took the pledge My little girl, Diana,
you remember, also took the pledge
with me- She has been asking me a
great many questions lately about the
poor people and where they lived. | was
obliged to answer her. Two of her uues-
tions last night touched my sore Did l
own any houses where those people
lived2 Were they nice and warm like
Ours2 You know how child will ask
questions like these. | went to bed tor
mented with what l now know to be
the divine arrows of conscience. Icould
not sleep. | seemed to see the Judgment
day. was placed before the Judge
was asked to give account of my deeds
done in the body. How many sinful
souls had Visited in prison? What had
done with my stewardship How
about those tenements where people
froze in winter and stihed in summer
Did give any thought to them, except
to receive the rentals from them
Where did my suffering come inf
Would Jesus have done as | had done
and was doingf Had l broken my
pledgef How had used the money and
The culture and the social influence
possessedf Had ! used them to bless
humanity, to relieve the suffering, tC
bring joy to the distressed and hope tx
the desponding? had received much.
How much had l giyenf
"All this came to me in a waking
vision as distinctly as l see you two
men and myself now. was unable t
see the end of the vision. had a con
fused picture in my mind of the suffer
ing Christ pointing a condemning fngel
at me, and the rest was shut out BY
mist and darkness have not had sleel
for "a hours The first thing / saw thii
morning was the account of the shoot
ing at the coalyardS | read the accoun
with feeling of horror have not bee1
able to shake of. am guilty creatur
before God.
Penrose paused suddenly. The twu
men looked at him solemnly. Wha
power of the Holy Spirit moved tn
soul of this hitherto self satisfied, ele
CANT, cultured man who belonged {,
the social life that was accustomed t,
go its way, placidly unmindful of tn
great sorrows of a great city and prac
tically ignorant Of what it means {,
suffer for Jesus sakef
Into that room came breath such a
before swept over Henry Maxwell
church and through Nazareth Avenue
and the bishop laid his hand OH tn
shoulder of Penrose and said: "M,
brother, God has been very near to you
Let us thank him"
Eyes yes" sobbed Penrose He sa
down on chair and covered his face
The bishop prayed Then Penrose quiet
ly said, "Will You go with me to tha
housef"
For answer both Dr.. Bruce ard th
bishop put on their overcoats and wen
out with him to the home Of the dea.
mans family. This was the beginnin,