Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1900-09-09
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Copwighted and published i1, book form by tIe
 Aduance Publishing Co. ul ttteUa9.

atonement under the heads of sacrifice and example and then show the steps needed to follow his sacrifice and ex- ample. .
 q am sure it is a good sermon. I hope it won't rain Sunday. We have had so many rainy days lately"
 tYes; the audiences have been quite small for some time. People will not come out to church in storm The Rev. Henry Maxwell sighed as he said it. He WIS thinking of the careful, la- horious efforts he had made in prepar- ing sermons for large audiences that failed to appear.
 But Sunday morning dawned on the town of Raymond one of those perfect days that sometimes come after long periods of wind and rain and mud. The air was clear and brseing, the sky wae free from all threatening signs and ev- er5 , .e in Henry Maxwell's parish pre- pared to go 10 church. When the service opened at Ii o'clock, the large building was filled with an audience of the best dressed, most comfortable looking peo- pie i'll Raymond
 The First church of Raymond be lieved in having the best music that money could buy, and its quartet choir this morning was a great source of pleasure to the congregation. The an them was inspiring All the music was in keeping with the subject of the ser mon. And the anthem was an elaborate
 
 of the hymn:
 Jes1s. I my cross have taken,
 All to leave and follow thee.
 Just before the sermon the soprano sang a solo. the well known hymn;
 Where he leads me will follow
 I'll go with him. with him all the way.
 Rachel Winslow looked very beauti- ful that morning as she stood up be- hind the screen of carved oak which WAS significantly marked with the em- blenls of the cross and the crown. Her voice was even more beautiful than her face, and that Beannt 8 great deal There was a general rustic of expecta- ton over the audience as she arose. Henry Maxwell settled himself content edly behind the pulpit. Rachel Wins low s singing always helped him. He generally arranged fer a song before the sermon. It made possible certain inspiration of feeling that he knew made his delivery more impressive.
 People said to themselves they had never heard such singing even in the First church. Ii is certain that if il had not been church service her solo would have been vigorously applauaed It even seemed to Henry Maxwell when she sat down that something like an at tempted elappin2. of hands or striking of feet on the floor swept through the church He was startled by it. As he rose, however, and laid his sermon Oh the open Bible he said to himself he had been deceived. Of course 1t could not occur In few moments he was absorbed in his sermon, and everything else was forgotten in the pleasure of the delivery
 No one had ever accused Henry Max well of being dull preacher. On the contrary, he had often been< charged with being sensational, not in what he said so much as in his way of saying it. But the First church people liked that It gave their preacher and their parish pleasant distinction that was agreeable
 It was also true that the pastor If the First church loved to preach. He seldom exchanged. He was eager to be in his own pulpit when Sunday came. There was an exhilarating half hour for him as he stood facing church full of people and knew that he had hear ing. He was peculiarly sensitive to variations in the attendance He never preached well before small audience. The weather also affected him decided ] ly He was at his best before just such an audience as faced him now. on just such morning He felt a glow of sat isfaction as he went on The church was the first in the city 1t had the best choir. It had membership composed of the leading people, representatives of the wealth. society and intelligence of Raymond He was going abroad on three months vacation in the sum- i mer and the circumstances of his pas torate, his influence and his position as pastor of the first church in the city
 It is not certain that the Rev. Henry Maxwell knew inst how he could carry on all that thought in connection with his sermon. but as he drew near tie end of it he knew that he had at some toint in his delivery had all these feel lngs. They had entered into the very substance Of his thought IL might havo been ali in few seconds of time but he had been conscious of defining his position and his emotions as well as if Nhe had held a soliloqay. and his de- livery partook of the thrill of deep per sunal satisfaction.
 The sermon was, interesting It was full of striking sentences. They would have commanded attention printed. Spoken with the passion of dramatic