Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-01-11

took ont the novel which Jasper had
given her. Her fac. derpencd in color
Is she turned To certain passages which
she had read often a"j which She knew
Jasper had written i.r her She read
them again Somehow they failed to
touch her strongly She cla-l the book
and let II Icon the table. She gradual
" felt that her Thought was busy with
the sight she had witnessed IN that
tent Those faces. men and women,
touched for the first time with the
Spirits glory. What wonderful thing
life was after all The complete regen-
Grafton revealed in the sight of drunk
en-. vile, debauched humanity kneeling
down to give itself to a life Of purity
and Christlikeness- it was surely
a witness to the suPerhuman in the
world And the face of Rollin Page by
the side Of that miserable wreck out OF
the gutter-she could recall as If she
now saw it Virginia crying, with her
arms about her brother just before she
left the tent. and Mr. Gray lneelin2
close by. and the girl Virginia had tax
en- into her heart bending her head
while Virginia whispered something to
her All these pictures, drawn by the
Holy Spirit III the human tragedies
brought to a climax there in the most
abandoned spot in all Raymond, stood
ont in Rachel's memory now, memory
so recent that her room seemed for the
time being to contain all the actors and
their movements.
'sNo not" she had said aloud. He
had no right to speak to me after all
thatl He should have respected the
place where our thoughts should have
been. | am sure / do not love him, not
enough to give him my life. -
And after she had thus spoken the
evenings experience at the tent came
crowding in again, thrusting out all
other things. 1t is perhaps the most
striking evidence of the tremendous
spiritual factor which had now entered
the Rectangle that Rachel felt, even
when the great love of a strong man
had come very near her, that the spir-
itual manifestation moved her with an
agitation far greater than anything
Jasper had felt for her personally or she
for him.
The people of Raymond awoke Sun
day morning to a growing knowledge
Of events which were beginning to rev
olutionize many Of the regular custom
ary habits of the town. Alexander Pow
ers action in the matter of the railroad
frauds had created sensation, not only
in Raymond, but throughout the coun-
try Edward Norman's daily changes
Of policy in the conduct of his paper
had startled the community and caused
more comment than any recent polit-
ical event. Rachel Winslow' singing
at the Rcctanglo meetings had made a
stir in society and excited the wonder
of all her friends Virginia Pages con
duct, her presence every night with
Rachel, her absence from the usual cir
Gle Of her wealthy, fashionable ac-
quaintances, had furnished "A great deal
of material for gossip and question. In
addition to the events which centercd
about these persons who were 50 well
known, there had been all through the
city, in very many homes and in bust
ness and social circles strange happen
ings. Nearly hundred persons in
Henry MAXWELL s church had made the
pledge TO do everything after asking,
"What would Jesus dor and the re-
suit had been, in many cases, unheard
Of actions The city was stirred as it
had never been. As a climax TO the
weeks events had come the spiritual
manifestation at the Rectangle and the
announcement, which came 20 most
people before church time. of the actual
conversion at the tent of nearly 30 Of
the worst characters in the ncighbor-
hood, together with the conversion Of
Rollin Page, tho well known society
and club man.
1t Is no wonder that, under the pres
sure of all this, the First church Of Ray
mond came to the morning service in a
condition that made it quickly sensi-
tive TO any large truth
Perhaps nothing had astonished tho
people more than the great change that
had como over the minister since he
had proposed TO them the imitation of
Jesus in conduct. The dramatic deliv-
cry Of his sermons no longer impressed
them. The self satisfied. contented, easy
attitude Of the fine figure and the re
fined face in the pulpit had been dis
placed by n manner that could not be
compared with the old style of his de
livery The sermon had become n mes
sage 1t was no longer delivered. IL
was brought TO them with u love, an
earnestness, a passion, a desire, hu-
mility, that poured their enthusiasm
Al. n. I,,.,
no more prominent than nc had to be
as the living voice Of God His prayers
were unlike any the people had ever
heard before They were often broken
Even once or twice they had been actu-
ally ungrammatical in phrase or two
When had Henry Maxwell so far for
gotten himself in n prayer as 10 make a
mistake Of that sort He knew that he
had often taken as much pride in the
diction and the delivery Of his prayers
as Of his sermons. Was il possible ho
now so abhorred the elegant refinement
Of formal public petition that he pur-
poqely chose to rebuke himself for his
previous precise manner Of prayerf II
is more likely that he had no thought
Of all that. His great longing TO voice
tho needs and wants Of his people made
him unmindful Of an occasional mis-
take IL Is certain he had never prayed
50 effectively as he did now.
There are times when sermon has u
value and power due to conditions in
the audience rather than 60 anything
new or startling or eloquent in the
words or the arguments presented, Such
! conditions faced Henry Maxwell this
morning as ne preached aRainst the sa-
| loon, according TO hie purpose deter
mined on the week before. He had no
new statements 10 make about the evil
| influence OF Tho saloon in Raymond.
| What now facts were there? He had no
| startling illustrations Of the power Of
| the saloon in business or politics. What
could he say that had not been said by
| temperance orators 70 great many times
| The effect Of his message this morning
| owed it's power to the unusual fact Of
! his preaching about the saloon Mt all,
| together with, tho events that had stir
rcd the people. He had never in the
course Of his ten years pastorate men
| toned tho saloon as something 60 ho ro-
qardcd in the light Of an enemy. not
only 90 the poor and the tempted. but
TO the business life Of the place and tho
church itself He spoke now with Il
| freedom that seemed to measure his
complete sense Of tho conviction that
Jesus would speak 30 At the close he
pleadcd with the people to remember