The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-01-12
want to see them. Penrose is the name
Penrosa DR.. Bruce knows


The family at the breakfast table
heard every word The bishop exchanged
a 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 DIR.
Bruce's church all his life
This man IL I'd the bishop and his
former pastor with 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 feeling?
''Ihis affair of the shooting-you un
derstand. You have read it. The family
lived in one of my houses. 1t is a terri
bic 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 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 $ terror in his voice,
II came to say that 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. I
thought at the time, poor fool thatI
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. l was
obliged to answer her. Two Of her ques-
lions last night touched my sore. Did
own any houses where those people
lived? Were they nice and warm like
ours? You know how child will ask
questions like these. l went to bed tor
manted with what ! now know to be
the divine arrows OF conscience could
not sleep | seemed to see the judgment
day Twas placed before the Judge
was asked TIC give account of my deeds
done in the body How many sinful
souls had visited in prisony What had
| done with my, stcwardshipy How
about those tenements where people
froze in winter and stifed in SUMMER
Did give any thought to them: except
to receive the rentals from them?
Where did my suffering come in?
Would Jesus have done as had done
and was doing? Had broken my
pledge? How had used the money and
the culture and the social influence
possessed? Had l used them to bless
humanity, to relieve the suffering, to
bring joy to the distressed and hope to
the depending? l had received much.
How much had | given?
''All this came to me in a waking
vision as distinctly as | see you two
men and myself now. was unable to
sec the end of the vision | had a con-
fused picture in my mind of the suffer
ing Christ pointing Il condeinning finger
at me. and the rest was shut out by
mist and darkness | have not had sleep
for "a hours The first thing | saw this
morning was the account of the shoot
ing at the coalyards. read the account
with a feeling of horror have not been
able to shake off. | am a guilty creature
before God :
Penrose paused suddenly The two
men looked at him solemnly What
power of the Holy Spirit moved the
soul of this hitherto self satisfied, ele-
CANT. cultured man who belonged to
the social life that was accustomed to
go its way. placidly unmindful of the
great sorrows of great city and prac-
tically Ignorant of what it means to
suffer for Jesus sake7
Into that room came breath such as
before swept over Henry Maxwell's
church and through Nazareth Avenue,
and the bishop laid his hand on the
shoulder Of Penrose and said: "My
brother. God has been very near to you.
Let us thank him =
eyes, yes, sobbed Penrose. He sat
down on a chair and covered his face.
The bishop prayed Then Penrose quiet
ly said, "Will you go with me to that
house?"
For answer both Dr. Bruce and the
bishop put on their overcoats and went
out with him to the home of the dead
mans family. This was the beginning
Of a new and strange life for Clarence
Penrose. From the moment he stepped
into that wretched hovel of a home and
faced for the first time in his life de-
spair and suffering such as he had read