The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-10
TESTIMONIES In FIFTH AYE.
FROM A THIEF AND 4 TANK con-
VERIFIED AT JERRY M'AULEY'S.
After the Congregation Has stirred and
Gasped Over Them DR.. Mackay says
That some who SIT IN Pews and Hear
Essays Have Little Sense OF Christ.

UabDcu ONtT w Ut. gWaChAg says
That some who SIT IN Pews and Hear
Essays Have Little sense OF Christ.
The Rev. Donald Sage Mackay, pastor of
the Collegiate Church of st. Nicholas. asked
some of the converts from the Jerry McAuley
Mission to come up last night and tell his
Fifth avenue congregation something o
the reality Of sin and the power OF true
conversion.
Il became a thief when / was a boy"
said one of the men from Water street.
Il learned the tricks of the thief's trade.
Fifteen years of my life / nave spent in
prison, serving four different terms. For
eighteen months l was in close oonfine-
ment."
The people in the church stirred with
surprise. Women shifted their furs and
men played with their gloves as the convert
from the mission continued to tell his
story.
For twenty-seven years l never used
my own name. For all those years l was
busy avoiding the police or picking hemp
when the police had caught me and put
me in prison. At the end of that time l
was a desperate man, an outoast and home
| less.
Last week l ate my Thanksgiving dinner
for the first time in twenty-seven years
with my mother and my sisters and l was
not ashamed, nor were they ashamed OF me.
| Now my heart s desire Is TO tell others how
il was that in my misery and the wreck OF
my life l found consolation and freedom
from sin in the little old mission down on
Water street"
j. H.. Wyburn, assistant superintendent
of the McAuley Mission, amened.
Il may not look like an ex-tank, said
! WvhIrn md fh0rA WAR a sllDDrpSSnd half
gasp and half litter that rippled over the
congregation. But yet that Is what / am.
Christ removes the marks of sin from our
faces even az from our souls when we come
TO Him.
"A man came TO the mission this afternoon
with a flask of whiskey in his pocket. He
knew that he could not kneel down and
pray wit whiskey in his pocket, so he went
to the door and threw it into the street,
then he came back. When l first went to
the mission | did not have wbiskey in my
pocket; l was full to the neck. IL has been
said that a nka cannot be brought
to see the light when he is in his cups; yet
/ was so drunk that l could hardly walk
when first | felt the influence OF the Master
come over me.
Il had made up my mind when | went to
the mission, on the advice Of a friend | met
in one of the BoweTy 'morgues TO ask
S. II. Hsdley, who was then superintendent,
for the loan Of $40 TO carry out the rest oil
my jag on, Fortunately the first time |
went there he was not in; the second time
/ went he met me, talked 10 me, ami then
got down on my knees and the weight that
had been pressing me down slipped away"
Mr.. Wyburn introduced the next speaker
az one of the Young ones Of the mission; he
had been a member of the fold for only six
months, said the assistant superintendent.
A broad shouidrred man with a young
face, but with hair almost white went up
and awkwardly shook the hand of Mr.
Mackay. Then he stood stifiy behind the
reading desk and spoke.
Il found the McAuley Mission on the
day that | had determined to end my life,
he said. the end of twenty years
debauchery | found myself an outcast on
the world, without friends and with my
wife and babies gone from me. | was oven
kicked out of a Bowery saloon the night
before | went To the mission because the
bartender said that | was a disgrace to
the place.
Il walked down Roosevelt street 10 the
dock intending to jump into the river, but
the Waterman at the dock would not allow
me on the place; he thought ] would steal
something. Then | found the mission. and
after / heard the others praying | got down
on my knees and prayed like tins: Oh,
God, saw me if II is not too late II was
not too late"
When the last of the men from the mission
had spoken, Dir. MaCkay preached "A short
sermon. He said that some people who are
content TO sit in cushioned pews and listen
to moral essays once a week have no cOnCep-
ton Of the spirit of Christ. Many of the So
called churchmen were aliens to the real
church, said the pastor. The reality of re-
ligion could be found best in the ex Experiences
given by the men W no had spoken; men who
had been snatched out of the gutter 10y a
true conversion to the teachings of Jesus
Christ.
Let not these testimonies you have
heard tonight be in vain, said DR.. Mackay.
But on your knees try 10 read the promise
that God has given you all, and which these