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diff --git a/old/53014-0.txt b/old/53014-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4a31bbf..0000000 --- a/old/53014-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3851 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Twice-born Men in America, by Harriet Earhart Monroe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Twice-born Men in America - or The Psychology of Conversion as Seen by a Christian - Psychologist in Rescue Mission Work - -Author: Harriet Earhart Monroe - -Release Date: September 8, 2016 [EBook #53014] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWICE-BORN MEN IN AMERICA *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -[Illustration] - - - - - Twice-Born Men in America - OR - The Psychology of Conversion as Seen by a Christian Psychologist in - Rescue Mission Work - - BY - - HARRIET EARHART MONROE - - ALSO AUTHOR OF “CONVERSATION AS A SCIENCE AND AN ART,” “HEROINE OF THE - MINING CAMP,” “HISTORICAL LUTHERANISM,” “THE LIFE OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS,” - AND “WASHINGTON—ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS” - - - PHILADELPHIA, PA.: - - THE LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY - HARRIET EARHART MONROE - - - - - PREFACE - - -I taught psychology for fifteen years at the Atchison Institute, the -predecessor of Midland College, located at Atchison, Kan. I was there -greatly impressed by the fact that the books gave no adequate analysis -of the psychology of the greatest mental and moral change which can come -to the human mind, namely, conversion and regeneration; yet these -changes make the great difference which we see between men and nations. - -A Rescue Mission gives a great opportunity to study mental and moral -changes, and my observations and conclusions, made from years of study, -are herein embodied. - -This book is sent forth with the earnest hope and prayer that it will -lead many souls to Christ; also that it will show earnest laymen just -how to bring about that psychological change which we call conversion. A -Sunday school teacher who brings only ninety per cent of her students -through the process of conversion and regeneration is ninety per cent a -success and ten per cent failure. The same is true of a pastor with a -class of catechumens. - -“Ye must be born again,” is just as true to-day as it ever was, and if -we believed it as Paul believed it, what live wires we would be. - -This book is to remind us that Jesus saves to the uttermost in our day, -just as He did when He visibly walked this earth. - - HARRIET E. MONROE, - 204 A Street, S. E., Washington, D. C. - - JULY 29, 1914. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I - - PAGE - - HOW I HAPPENED TO BECOME INTERESTED IN RESCUE MISSION WORK 7 - - - CHAPTER II - - RESCUE MISSION WORK 22 - - - CHAPTER III - - INCIDENTS SHOWING THE POWER OF GOD TO SAVE 29 - - - CHAPTER IV - - AN ELEMENT OF HUMOR IN RESCUE WORK 36 - - - CHAPTER V - - BIG FEET 44 - - - CHAPTER VI - - HOW WE GOT A NEW MISSION BUILDING 49 - - - CHAPTER VII - - VARIETIES OF WORK IN A GOSPEL MISSION 59 - - - CHAPTER VIII - - THE NEED OF RESCUE WORK 69 - - - CHAPTER IX - - THE PENNY LUNCH AND FREE DISPENSARY 82 - - - CHAPTER X - - THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL 94 - - - CHAPTER XI - - HEREDITARY SIN 107 - - - - - Twice-Born Men in America - - - - - CHAPTER I - HOW I HAPPENED TO BECOME INTERESTED IN RESCUE MISSION WORK - - -In January, 1908, a great calamity came to me in the form of destruction -by fire of most of my earthly property and the death in the fire of a -loved sister. The event had in it some other elements of great pain not -necessary to mention here. If my soul had not been anchored in Jesus, -the combination of sorrows would have broken down my mentality and sent -me to the asylum. As it was, I stood steadily trusting God, knowing that -all things worked together for good to those who love God. I was sure I -was a lover of God, and so, while every fiber of my body and soul ached -with unspeakable pain, I never doubted God's love, care and sympathy. - -In the midst of this grief I received a letter from Mr. George W. -Wheeler, the President of the Executive Board of the Gospel Mission, -saying about this, “Come down to the Gospel Mission, look it over and -see if you care to come in with us in the work of saving souls. Unless -we secure a woman of large executive ability, our work can scarcely go -forward.” - -I answered that I would be glad to join them, and the next week, the -first week of September, 1908, I received a letter from the Secretary, -S. M. Croft, saying I had been elected to the Executive Board of the -Gospel Mission, which met once every week. - -The following Monday I met with the Board, where I heard a letter from -Mr. Tyson, saying that he withdrew from the Board because the -dormitories were badly kept. Then followed a letter of the same kind -from a Mr. Fritz, and another from Mr. Sidell. As soon as the session, -which was largely a prayer service, was closed, Mr. Wheeler accompanied -me to look over the dormitories. - -I never saw or dreamed of such conditions. The very walls were alive -with vermin. In the story above the chapel were fifteen vile beds, and -on the third story above us we saw a floor covered with dirty, wrinkled -newspapers. I said, “Where do the men sleep?” “On the beds you saw in -the third floor and on these newspapers.” - -In my heart I said, “Dear Lord, surely not here, amid this vileness?” -The answer was as sharp and distinct as though spoken through a trumpet, -“Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” - -“Mr. Wheeler,” I said, “I see conditions, and I take charge.” He left -for his work in the United States Treasury, and I went to the street and -hired a force of cleaners, whitewash men, scrubbers, sweepers, etc., and -called up Mrs. Claude Myers, the wife of a Presbyterian minister, and -two other fully consecrated women who were not afraid of work. I asked -them to come at once and bring with them buckets, scrub brushes, rags, -soap, etc., while I put in a supply of chemicals for the vermin. - -Those women helped to burn the bedding and to send away some as trash. -They helped me clean the beds; the whitewashers even entered into the -spirit of it, and every crack was filled with plaster of paris; they -went over the walls three times with lime and carbolic acid. The Health -Bureau in the Municipal Building gave me a preparation used on floors in -jails and in hospitals for contagious diseases. Some redeemed men came -to our help, and by Saturday night we turned over a clean house. - -Every one of us cleaners was obliged to go to the Turkish bath and have -our clothing brushed and fumigated before we could go to our own homes. - -On Saturday evening I told Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Gordon that besides the -good men and women who had helped us for the cause for five days, we had -spent twenty-five dollars. Never will I forget the dismay of those two -good men. “What! Twenty-five dollars! Where do you think we will get -that?” I answered, “Fortunately I belong to a church that lives and -works by faith, and to-morrow, being Sunday, I shall tell the Sunday -school of the Luther Memorial Church, and we'll see about that -twenty-five dollars.” - -The next morning I went to the pastor, Rev. J. G. Butler, D.D., and he -secured permission from the superintendent of the Sunday school for me -to speak three minutes. The superintendent hated innovations, but I can -say a lot in three minutes, especially when I state the needs of the -lost men of the community. After the school was dismissed nearly every -teacher and grown student gave me something, and in less than five -minutes I had twenty-seven dollars. - -Sunday night I told what the Lord had done for us, and I began to ask -all persons present to contribute sheets and pillow-cases. I did this so -much and so often that season that a little four-year-old girl of Mrs. -Claude Myers upset the gravity of an entire meeting by saying out loud -one Sunday evening, “There comes Mrs. Sheets and Pillow-cases again.” -Well, before winter was over we had about fifty clean, well-equipped -beds for which, when they had it, men gladly paid ten cents per night. -If they did not have it, the beds were given as long as they lasted; -but, after the beds were filled, often fifty men slept on the floor with -only the boards under them and no covers. - -We had no heat in the dormitories, but one day Mrs. Richard Butler, a -wealthy woman of the city, was ordered by the Spirit to visit the -Mission. She came by Mr. Gordon's office in her carriage and he took her -through our building. She saw our first need was heat. She sent -immediately to a hardware store and ordered a large stove for the third -floor with a drum for the fourth story, and through her kindness the men -were given heat, but not until after two deaths, caused by cold, hunger -and wet clothing, had about broken our hearts. - -I remember a young, fair-haired man from Virginia, evidently well born -and bred, coming in one night, slightly under the influence of liquor. -It was a rainy, snowy night; his clothing was wet and he was suffering -from a severe cold. When the meeting was over he started to go up -stairs, which had nearly a zero temperature. I begged him to stay by the -fire and sleep on a bench, if needed, but he petulantly refused. He was -dead by nine o'clock next morning. I had wept all the way home, for I -feared just what happened. - -Mrs. Butler's stove put an end to that. She furnished coal for the -entire winter. - -Now that we had beds and heat, I saw we could not keep the beds clean -without bathing facilities. So at our next Board meeting I said, -“Brethren, we need a good shower-bath with warm and cold water so that -men soiled and weary can have the comfort of a warm bath.” All the -members of the Board demurred on account of the expense. Then I said, -“Brethren, if I make myself responsible for the eighty-five dollars -needed and you are in no way held for it, may I have the bath put in at -once?” Of course, they wanted the bath, as they saw how much it was -needed, and gave cordial consent. I purchased a rubber stamp, and on the -outside of our first circulars which we issued I stamped the words, “I -have made myself personally responsible for the cost of a shower-bath. -Help a little.” And with my own contributions the bath was paid for as -per contract. - -That fall we put out a circular folder, of which the following is the -open letter, and is introduced only to give the continuity of this work -so that my friends may know the aim, object and history of the Mission -from the beginning: - - GOSPEL MISSION, - 1230 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N. W. - WASHINGTON, D. C. - - DEAR FRIEND: - - Under the blessing of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a - Rescue Mission has been opened at No. 1230 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. - W., where nightly gospel services will be conducted and the Lord - Christ held up to view as a Saviour “mighty to save and strong to - deliver.” - - Our corps of workers is composed of consecrated and Spirit-filled - men and women, many of whom have had long experience in efforts of - this character. On the occasion of the opening service (Saturday - evening, May 12) God set His seal to the work by drawing seven - earnest seekers to our altar for prayer. - - Street meetings will be held nightly, and an earnest and aggressive - work carried forward for the betterment of society and the salvation - of lost men and women. - - Our hall is well located on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue, - N. W., in the midst of saloons and pool-rooms and in close proximity - to that section of the city almost wholly given up to evil, and it - will be the constant effort of the Mission and its workers to seek - out and rescue the erring girls and reckless men who are found in - large numbers in this immediate neighborhood. - - The management is determined that the expenses of this work shall be - kept at the minimum figures—not exceeding $100 per month—and they - confidently appeal to their Christian brethren and friends and to - the public for such funds as shall be found necessary to carry - forward this work. Can you, will you, aid us? - - With great respect, - G. W. WHEELER, _Chairman_, - J. S. MEWSHAW, _Secretary_, - H. D. GORDON, _Treasurer_, - _Executive Committee_. - -These good men are at this writing (1913) yet connected with the work. -Mr. Mewshaw is an employee of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and has charge -of a station some distance from Washington, but contributes and comes -with us occasionally. But no organization was ever more fortunate than -the Gospel Mission in its officers. - - - TREASURER, MR. H. D. GORDON - -is a prominent lawyer of the city. He really gives more time to the -Mission than his business can afford. When we are under strain to make a -payment on the building, he and Mr. Wheeler can go to their friends and -raise $1000 more readily than the remainder of the Board can raise $100. -They ask largely of their friends. The others of us ask for one dollar -monthly contributions, and we each receive as we ask. Mr. Gordon's -devotion cannot better be illustrated than by the following: Mr. Gordon -is a most effective singer. I have heard many singing evangelists, but -none with a finer pathos of voice than Mr. Gordon's. One evening in the -fall of 1909, when each evening we were privileged to hold our outdoor -meetings in front of the city post-office, I was passing on the street -car when I saw Mr. Gordon with his guitar standing all alone, trying to -sing salvation to some passing sinners. I found the tears coursing down -my cheeks, so I got off at the next corner and went back to help him, -but by that time other workers were on hand and it was less sacrifice -for me to speak for him. I acknowledge here a mean pride (which the Lord -has had to thrash out of me with many hard knocks) against speaking on -the street. I have had to remember many times that Jesus was an outdoor -preacher all His days, and all the Apostles, and who am I that I am -ashamed to follow where He has led! But Brother Gordon can stand alone -anywhere for Christ. He is greatly in demand in other cities as a -successful evangelist. - -I want to here bear testimony to the great good done by outdoor -meetings. If all evangelical churches who believe in conversion and -regeneration would hold their meetings outdoors in the summer, they -would bring many souls, for which they will be held responsible, to -Christ. If young people would hold alley meetings in the alley nearest -their church they would bring sinners to Christ, there would be no slums -and the young Christians would grow in grace. - - - PRESIDENT, GEORGE W. WHEELER - -President, George W. Wheeler, of the Executive Board, is one of God's -best gifts to the city of Washington. He is the very best City Rescue -Mission worker I have ever seen, and I have seen most of the city -missions of the United States and Europe. In the summer of 1910, in -company with Mrs. M. P. Spindle, I visited all the great cities of -Europe, especially Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Berlin and Rome, -to obtain suggestions for improving our work, as we thought, at that -time, to plan for erecting a great mission building unequaled in all the -world. Most mission buildings are mere adaptations of old buildings. We -hoped to do better, but God ordered otherwise. Among all these great -mission workers I have seen none superior to George W. Wheeler in Rescue -Mission work and in conducting an interdenominational organized work for -God. First, his consecration is marvelous. He had been thirty or more -years in government service, to lose time means not only loss of money, -but even endangers a man's tenure of office. - -But when Mr. Wheeler is called to see a soldier, a sailor, a sick man in -the hospital, who must be seen in business hours, he never, as all other -government members of the Board do, pleads loss of any kind, but goes at -once on the errand of love and mercy. Then he gets on well with his -Board of Directors; if debate runs high and a measure is carried without -his favor, he holds no grudge, he is universally kind. That means much. -Then his acquaintance is so large he can secure good talent for helpers -in every line; he has the absolute confidence of the community (which he -richly deserves), and by the blessing of God secures funds for our great -work; and, best of all, he leads many souls to Christ. He has probably -seen more souls born into the kingdom of God than any other living -rescue worker. - -(Mr. Wheeler died January 19, 1914. “He buries the workers, but the work -goes on.”) - - - MRS. M. P. SPINDLE - -is a Christian woman whom I found connected with the Mission when I went -there. My attention was first attracted toward her by her liberality -when I made the calls for bedding, so now I borrowed $85 from her and -put in the bath. She was kind enough to let me pay it back in driblets, -and from that day to this she has given more money than any other -worker. She has loaned or given the money to go forward in each venture -of mine, and, above all, I have had the benefit of her counsel and her -favor in every form, and together we have prayed through many an -obstruction which seemed an impassable barrier. - - - THE FUMIGATOR - -No sooner did we get the bath in place than I saw the necessity for a -fumigator, not only that men should have their clothing purified from -disease and from vermin, but for the sake of the beds. I found that they -could not be kept clean without the men bathed and had their clothing -fumigated. - -The Board again did not feel able to put in the fumigator, which cost -$125. In this work I found a friend in Mr. Ernest Gichner, who invented -a sheet-iron room with suitable fire-box and chimneys, which he anchored -on the roof of the building. - -It did good service and added to the comfort of the men and the -cleanliness of the house, not only while there, but later he moved it -over to our new building. Mr. Gichner permitted me to make payments in -installments of $25, which I was able to collect mostly from my friends -in the Luther Memorial Church and the Mission workers themselves, who -are always liberal even beyond their means. - - - ENLARGEMENT - -I became Chairman of the House Committee in September, 1908, and the -following December Mr. H. W. Kline was made Superintendent. As soon as -we had nice beds to offer for ten cents a night, we had a steadily -increased patronage, so that by the fall of 1909 we were obliged to rent -a large room back of us. That winter we had eighty-four beds filled -nearly every night. - -A friend in California sent me $25 as a Christmas present, and I put -white spreads on the twenty-five best beds. Some members of the Board -laughed at me so much that I was obliged to remind them that the money -of the Mission was not used. Long ago they have come to see that a white -bed is a necessity if we are to keep a clean house. - -By October, 1909, our expenses for rent, fuel and necessities had -increased from $100 to $150 each month. - -Our statistics for 1908, as shown by our circular, were as follows: - - _Statistics of the year and of the last quarter—From January, 1908, to - January, 1909_ - - _Statistics of three months of 1908, as follows_: - - Attendance Req. for Prayer Seekers Conversions Services - - Dec. 1908 1961 165 86 14 41 - Jan. 1909 2487 217 73 37 46 - Feb. 1909 1245 51 34 13 28 - ———— ——— ——— —— ——— - Total 5693 433 193 64 115 - -(Now we care for over 50,000 persons a year.) - -During the year employment was found for probably 300 men. - -We accept it as a great privilege to have presented the gospel of Jesus -Christ to this number of people. - -Our little circular of that period thus sets forth: - - - THE NEED OF RESCUE WORK - -“Washington is a dreadful place for a man out of work. The city having -no manufactories, and all rough work, such as excavating, is let by -contract to men who prefer Italians or Negroes as diggers, while stores -and offices have room for only the efficient young person, so that, when -from age, inefficiency or lack of political influence, people are -dropped from the government service, we are often at our wit's end to -provide means of subsistence for these worthy persons most anxious to -labor. We have some old men whose working days are over. These are for -the most part good men, for the wicked do not live out half their days. -A few immigrants from northern Europe, sick men who are able to walk -about, but could not work if they had it; the shoestring man, the -umbrella man, the sandwich man, the men who are half insane for lack of -food and enforced lack of sleep, for they have no place to sleep oftener -than once a week. Then we have the criminal classes, which must be -touched with the Spirit of God, or they will become the dynamite which -will destroy our cities, also the men just out of prison. These are the -special thought of the Mission, for unless they are made to feel that -they are but temporarily sidetracked from the great highway of success, -they will become an ever-increasing menace to society. - -“Above all, we have the drunkard, who has lost his grip, lost family, -lost place in society, lost business and has become a mass of putrid -flesh, utterly abhorrent to his fellow-men. When we look at these -people, whose weary eyes have looked long into unspeakable sorrow, our -very souls rejoice that we have proven beyond possibility of doubt that -'the blood of Jesus Christ, His son, cleanses from all sin; that if we -confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to -cleanse us from all unrighteousness,' for we have seen some of every -class mentioned redeemed, placed back in society, among the producing -power of the nation.” - - - “OUR GOSPEL MISSION TIDINGS” - -(a monthly paper) was issued first in October, 1909. All members of the -Executive Committee have helped in some measure on it, but the -responsibility has fallen heaviest on Mr. G. W. Wheeler and myself. Our -entire income is the result of our paper, it is our means of -communicating with the public. - - - THE INDUSTRIAL PLANT - -was really brought about by two tragedies. One cold day I went to the -Mission, and on the outside I saw a man, whom I shall call Kelly, -shivering at the door. He looked like death, pale, trembling, the lips -and nostrils drawn as if in extreme pain. “What is the matter, Kelly?” I -said. “I am starving to death; amid all these happy people I am left -out. I have walked the streets hunting work till I can walk no more.” - -At that time we did not provide food of any kind, but I said, “Let us go -up stairs to the Mission,” where Mr. Proctor, then acting as -Superintendent, provided bread and coffee. I set the man to -re-whitewashing the dormitories, and we kept him till he secured work. - -The other was the case of a young man just released from Moundsville -Penitentiary. After I had given the lesson one Tuesday night, I was led -to tell in detail the story of Valentine Burke, a man converted in the -St. Louis jail, from reading one of Mr. Moody's sermons in a city -newspaper. Mr. Burke afterward became a valuable citizen, held the -position of assistant warden, and led hundreds of lost men into the -clear light of the gospel. When I had finished, a well-dressed man on -the front seat said, “I am just out of Moundsville; no one has spoken a -kind word to me, I have had nothing to eat to-day, I see no way but to -steal again.” He was only about twenty-two years of age. I put my arm -over his shoulder and said, “Son, we will take care of you and get you -work.” The Superintendent took him up stairs, gave him bread and coffee, -then a warm bath, but he was so weary the men had to help him to get to -bed. We all tried to get that boy work, but as soon as the word -penitentiary was mentioned every door was closed. I remember walking up -Capitol Hill, crying aloud to God, “Give us an industrial plant or the -sorrows of homeless, workless men will take my life.” - -I paid for the food for a week. He tried also to obtain work, but I -think the sight of my anxious face worried him—I have learned not to -carry sorrow in my face since then. That boy slipped through our fingers -and went back to crime. Now, at whose hands will that soul, anxious for -better things, be required? - -Before I went for my summer vacation I urged before the Board an -industrial plant. Mr. Kline strenuously objected. During that vacation I -laid the matter very fully before God in prayer and felt constrained to -urge the starting of an industrial work. - -At our first meeting in September Mr. Kline said, “Brethren, I have come -to see the need of an industrial plant, not only so that men can earn -lodging, but where, after conversion, we can keep a man a few days to -teach him the way of life.” A Mission worker often prays himself into -light. - -Again I was forced to borrow money with which to purchase a horse and -wagon. Mrs. Spindle loaned me the $150 needed. That fall my little book, -called “The Life of Gustavus Adolphus,” published by The Lutheran -Publication Society, Philadelphia, came out. The house gave me $25 in -cash, if I remember correctly, and 100 copies of the book, which I sold -at 40 cents a copy. So I gave the $65 of my own on the horse and wagon -in paying back Mrs. Spindle for the loan. - -In some way we also secured a paper baler, thus we gave two men work in -collecting books, newspapers, etc., and two men at the baler. In the -November _Gospel Tidings_ we announced that the wagon from the Gospel -Mission would call on the first and fifteenth of the month, and would -accept papers, rags, clothes, bottles, etc., saying, “We have old men -who separate these things and label and bale this material.” The money -was used to feed and care for these unfortunates. - -The city people responded most generously, and in this way our -industrial branch was started, and greatly benefited the Mission for two -and a half years. - -Later we obtained a wood-saw run by a gasoline engine, and we started -the penny bundling industry, where we could use eight or ten men and -make the double purpose of work for unfortunate men and yet make the -industry self-supporting. - -When the United States granted wood pulp to be brought into the country -free of duty, our paper industry was destroyed, as we could not sell the -paper, and the government took our woodyard and killed our wood -industry, but they both did much good in their day. - -The Gospel Mission in the fall of 1914 will again open a laundry, wood -cutting, rope-making, printing, and chair caning in the line of -industries for men who will gladly work rather than eat the bread of -charity. - - - - - CHAPTER II - RESCUE MISSION WORK - - -When I was called to assist in the Gospel Mission, I was not a novice in -rescue work, having been among the workers of the Sunday Breakfast -Association in Philadelphia, Pa., for twelve years under the direction -of Mr. Lewis Bean, probably one of the ablest mission workers of this or -any other country. The Sunday Breakfast is, so far as I know, the -largest Rescue Mission of this country. - - - HOW GOD CALLED ME - -When I moved from Washington to Philadelphia, I found myself very -lonely. I had been President of a Collegiate Institute at Atchison, -Kan., from 1870 to 1885, when, because of failure of health, I came -East, and took up literary work. At Washington, where I lived from 1885 -to 1888, I soon came in contact with literary people, and belonged to -both literary and scientific clubs, some of whose members are to this -day strong personal friends. But in the twelve years in Philadelphia I -never became much acquainted with university people, authors' clubs, -Browning or Shakespeare clubs, although I knew they were all there. God -had to break me loose from too great devotion to that side of life in -order to use me for more spiritual work. - -One evening, in the summer of 1888, I came along Arch Street where, in a -basement room at Broad and Arch, some women were holding a prayer -service. I entered and joined with them. Three poor, ragged, soiled men -were converted. I saw the women were even more inexperienced with the -phenomena of sudden conversions than I was. So I stepped forward and -pledged the converts to a Christian life. Then I appealed to the good -men present to see that the converts had a good meal that night, and -asked for work for them. Good men at once promised both. - -When the meeting was dismissed a gentleman came to me and said, “We need -you at the Sunday Breakfast Association to speak next Sunday night. We -shall have over 1000 men present, all needing to find God. You are one -of the women who can speak without any of the Little Johnny death-bed -scenes, and we need you.” I replied, “If you asked me to talk on -Dickens, Shakespeare, or any literary character, I could easily do it, -but to win souls to Christ, I am not at all sure I could do it.” He did -not argue, he simply said, “I give you your opportunity.” That startled -me, and I said, “I will try.” - -So the next Sunday evening at the Breakfast Association I made my first -talk before an audience largely of the submerged tenth. The galleries -and the platform were filled with well-dressed people, and, instead of -trying to save some soul, I tried to make a fine speech. My rhetoric was -perfect, my periods nicely rounded, my illustrations pertinent, and I -sat down pretty well satisfied with my fine self. Mr. Bean saw what I -had done, so he shook a few grains out of all the chaff I had given -them, made the application, and let me down as easily as he could. - -But while I sat there God's Spirit dealt with me. “What if a mother of -one of these lost men had had your opportunity,” said God's Spirit, -“would she have talked platitudes to the galleries and the platform? -Would she? Would she?” I saw my sin. As I fled from the house I nearly -cried aloud in my shamefaced grief. When I got to my room I went to my -knees and I cried to God my deep shame, “Dear Father, I have sinned. I -know now that is not my work. My business is to instruct the intellect. -I will leave the winning of souls to preachers and mothers. Help me to -bear the testimony of a well-ordered Christian life, speaking for you in -my own social set, but I am not equal to facing those who have looked -long into the eyes of sin and suffering and sorrow, and are uncomforted -with a knowledge of Thy grace.” - -So I felt I had disposed of that, and determined to keep to literature -forevermore. The next day the card of a woman whom I had met in the -highest social circles of Washington was sent to my room. As I came down -through the hall I saw in front of the house her carriage with footman -and driver and team of Kentucky-bred horses. When I entered she broke -out in a sort of wail, “I hear you spoke at the Breakfast Association -last night.” “Yes, and made a great guy of myself. I do not expect to -ever go there again, except as a spectator. I fear I am more literary -than religious.” - -I wish I could describe the next few minutes. Her face blazed. “You, -you!” she said; “why you had a father a minister, your mother a praying -woman, and you not to go there to speak to lost men, if you have the -opportunity! You have had everything which training can give, and you -refuse to reach a hand to lost men.” - -“Well, what does that concern you?” - -She sat down. The agony in her face became anguish. She turned white, -then red, then back to white, till I feared for her heart. “What does it -concern me! What! What! Well, I must tell you. I have a son who sits -down in that awful crowd!” - -It was my turn now to be moved. “You?” I said, “why, you live in a white -marble palace, and can it be that your son is a homeless, friendless -man?” - -“Yes,” she said, “I live in a white marble palace and I hate it from -turret to foundation stone, because my oldest son is not allowed under -its roof. He is a drunkard, and will steal everything he can lay his -hands on and sell it for drink, so that his father forbids me to see him -or to give him money. The last time I saw him he was shoveling coal into -a manhole; he looked the part.” - -Here she tried to give me a large roll of money, as she said, “Take -this, and please go to the Breakfast Association and find my darling -boy.” “Madam, I am not authorized to take money for the Association. Dr. -Henderson is the Treasurer, do see him!” “I will not. Will know who you -are. I told him much of meeting you in Washington. I want you to take -this money and find and clothe my sorrowful son; and oh, say what I -would like to say if I could talk like you! Tell him when he sees a -light at the top of the house that his mother is in the attic praying -for him, and will you pray for me that I shall not die under this? Will -you pray for my son?” - -Then we two kneeled and poured into the heart of a loving Saviour that -story of woe. How she wailed over her own frivolous life, and promised -her God a life for Him. Nearly all the persons referred to have died, -so, though the parties may be recognized in Philadelphia, it cannot now -harm anyone. - -I took the money offered. The next Sunday evening I went to the -Association, and my face must have told the story, for when I said to -Mr. Bean, “I have a message,” he let me speak. I selected the words, -“Son, behold thy mother!” I told many incidents of heart-broken mothers -because of the sins of their sons, and then I told of Mrs. W., nearly in -the above language. Probably two hundred men requested prayer that -night, and I saw God could use me for other than literary work. - -Mr. Bean said, “That man will not show up till the others have gone,” so -I sat down and waited. - -When nearly everyone had left the room a poor, blear-eyed youth came to -the platform. He said, “Mrs. Monroe, I am Will W. Do give me some -money.” I said, “Will, do you intend to break your mother's heart? Do -you intend to keep on drinking?” “Now, see here, Mrs. Monroe, I have -honestly tried to quit.” Then, pushing up his sleeve, he showed me -scars. “There I have signed the pledge with my own blood, and I cannot -quit.” Howard McMasters, one of the Breakfast Association workers, -pointed the way to Christ far better than I could. Then he gave him -tickets where he could get lodging. I met him the next day at a Turkish -bath house. At first they refused to take him, and only by paying a high -price could I secure him a bath and proper barbering. I gave him a -complete outfit of clothes, and he looked very respectable. Mr. -McMasters put a good man on the case to talk with him, to read the New -Testament with him, to explain salvation and to help him find God, and -to keep at his side whenever possible. - -My business took me out of town for several weeks; when I came back to -the city, I went, of course, the first Sunday evening to the Breakfast -Association. After the meeting was over Will W. came slouching up to the -platform as vile as when I first saw him. He had sold every article I -had given him for drink. This sorrowful experience was repeated about -five times, but as good is stronger than evil, the prayers of God's -people prevailed, and Mr. McMasters brought him forward to the altar and -God met him. - -His mother's prayers, the word of God as shown by Howard McMasters and -that wonderful Divine Spirit made a clean work, and a soul was born to -God. We kept him as well guarded as we could. The smells of the street -troubled him, for that reason I went to his father's wholesale house on -Market Street. I had met Mr. W. with his wife in Washington, and he met -me cordially, till I said, “Mr. W., I have come to talk to you about -your oldest son.” He blazed at me, “Don't you dare to speak to me of my -oldest son. He has broken my heart, his mother's heart, and disgraced my -name. I will not permit even my wife to speak of him, much less a -friend.” “But he is converted, Mr. W. It will be different now.” “Oh! he -has a new dodge, has he?” “Mr. W., you must talk to me fairly about this -wrecked young life or refer me to someone who can act in your behalf.” -“Well, see his brother,” and a clerk showed me to the brother's -counting-room. He heard my story with sympathy. After stating the case, -I said, “I want you to put him on a truck farm down near Media, and get -him away from the smells of Philadelphia.” This was done, though it took -several weeks to bring it about. - -The next Sunday night Will sat on the platform, and testified to the -power of God to save. When the meeting had closed, a handsome young -woman, wearing a costly tailor-made gown and with the stamp of the -patrician in every line of her dainty person, said to me, “Mrs. Monroe, -I am going to marry Will W. this week.” “Oh, my dear girl, do not risk -it till he has proved himself for two years! Do not risk it!” “You -believe he is converted, do you not?” “Why, yes; but we should see the -transforming power of the gospel before you risk your happiness.” “Will -needs me now to help him keep straight. You have not as much faith as -you ought to have yourself, or you would believe he will hold out.” - -What more could I say? They were married. His mother was present at the -ceremony, and they went to the farm to live. Will was held by the power -of God, and, after much blundering, they made a fair success with a -truck farm. - - - - - CHAPTER III - INCIDENTS SHOWING THE POWER OF GOD TO SAVE - - -Among the many other impressive cases of the power of God to suddenly -change a human life from evil to good occurred at the Breakfast -Association in Philadelphia about the year 1898, and although fifteen -years have passed, every incident, every word is indelibly written on my -memory. - -I was coming off the platform one evening when I met a large, -fierce-looking, scowling man, who looked as if he wanted to strike me. I -stopped at once. “Friend,” I said, “you are in trouble.” “What is that -to you and such as you?” “It is much to me. You look like an employer of -men, yet here you have been taking the bread and coffee of charity.” -“Well, I have been an employer of men, but now I cannot even get -employment. I have been behind bars; now what hope in life is there for -me?” “Many men who have been behind bars have afterward made good -citizens and even made fortunes. Let us go down to the Board room and -talk this out.” - -As he went along growling that there was no hope for him, I motioned to -Mr. McMasters and another worker to come with us. When we were seated, -he said, “Now, all I want of you people is to help me get work so that I -do not wander like a stray dog through the streets of the city where I -was born. My wife and family have deserted me and I am a desperate man.” - -“Yes,” I said, “brother, no woman could live with you as you are now, -one would as soon live with a wolf; your hand is against every man and -every man's hand is against you. But God can again make you an employer -of men. He can make you a good husband and father, but you must find God -first. Where is your mother?” I saw him shrink, and I knew then I had -the key. “My going to prison killed my mother. I had a mill in a suburb -of Philadelphia, and sometimes, after the day's work was done, I would -step into a saloon and take a glass of beer with my foreman. I was not -what you would call a drinking man. One evening we got into a dispute -about something concerning the mill, and I picked up a monkey wrench and -struck my foreman just one blow, but I killed him. All our property went -for lawyer fees, all to no purpose, for I was sent to prison for ten -years. I have just been pardoned,” and he drew the governor's pardon -from his pocket. “When I went to my home I found strangers in it, but at -last I found my wife and my children now nearly grown, but they would -not let me live with them.” I knew perfectly well from other experiences -that he had gone in violence and had been met with violence. - -Mr. McMasters now took the case. He said, “If your mother were now -living, do you believe she would have received you?” “I am sure she -would. The warden often told us that our mothers would stay by us, that -children grew ashamed of a father in prison, wives persuaded themselves -that it only kept up their grief, but a mother's love is like that of -the God above, it remains. But mother died.” - -“Well, you want to meet her again, do you not?” “Yes, but my mother was -a Christian.” “That is it; let us kneel and talk to your mother's God.” -Reluctantly, growling that God cared nothing for a poor devil like him, -he kneeled, and with the three of us kneeling about him, we each one -presented the case to God, calling on the “God whom this man's mother -loved and served, asking mercy for a broken life, a broken home and a -broken heart.” By the time the last one prayed his head was on the chair -and he was sobbing. Then he prayed for himself, and God came down and -the old alchemy of God turned the heart of stone to a heart of flesh, -and George Gneiss was born into the kingdom of God. It was not difficult -to get him a place as a skilled miller, and from that day to this he has -made good. - -The transforming power of the gospel was plainly seen within a week in -his face, in his clothing, in his bearing at every meeting. After a few -Sundays I was called out of town for six weeks. When I came home, I went -to the Breakfast Association and there, from the gallery, Mr. Gneiss -looked down on me. At his side was a Quaker woman in the plain dress of -her Church, and with them was a manly boy of seventeen. After the -services, they all came to me (I motioned to others to come), and they -told us the story of their reunion. Tears stood in her eyes as she said, -“We have family prayers now, and we pray for you every day. God is -blessing us in every way. Pray for us.” - -After that they came to see me, either at the Breakfast Association or -at my home, as often as three or four times a year as long as I remained -in Philadelphia. - - - THE GOSPEL MISSION - -After telling about those two incidents connected with my small share of -rescue work in Philadelphia, it is time now to resume the story of our -Gospel Mission. It is only because we see souls converted almost every -night that makes it possible for us to bear the sight and the foul smell -of unclean bodies, of dead whisky and tobacco, and the revolting -drunkenness, then the remonstrances of one's own kindred and church -people are trying, unless God gave great recompense, first in one's own -enlarged spiritual life, in order to fit us for the work, and almost -daily gave us the joy of seeing souls converted, it would be an -impossible work. - - - CONVERSIONS AND REGENERATION - -Conversion seems to me to be largely man's share in the greater fact of -regeneration, which is entirely God's work in a human soul. - -At a Rescue Mission the theologian could get a new and practical -knowledge of the gospel he preaches; the professor of psychology sees -how spiritual powers, unseen to mortal eye, can grip the entire -machinery of the mind, and by a supernatural application of God's Spirit -and the word of God make a man over again. - -Hundreds of times have I seen the alchemy of God make men who steal to -do God's service; feet that have been in the way of the transgressor to -walk in the paths of righteousness, and tongues accustomed to blaspheme -to sing God's praises. - -Professor James defines conversion thus: “To be converted, to be -regenerated, to receive grace, to experience religion, to gain -assurance, are so many phrases which denote the process, gradual or -sudden, by which a self hitherto divided and consciously wrong, inferior -and unhappy, becomes unified and consciously right, superior and happy, -in consequence of its firmer hold on religious realities.” - -[Illustration: “REMEMBER ME”: HANDS UP FOR PRAYER] - -_The first element in conversion is first an influence from the Holy -Spirit brought about by prayer._ Now, that prayer may have been sent up -years ago by a mother now dead, but is usually the result of a prayer -atmosphere in the meeting. - -The Holy Spirit acts like a searchlight on the human soul, and the -sinner for an instant sees himself as God sees him. I have seen men rush -through the door, and, without taking a seat, come straight to the -altar, because God's Spirit had met them. That is not the usual way, and -it is usually some immediate message of His word, rendered in song or -spoken word to the sinner's heart, by which he catches a glimpse of his -lost condition. - -Let no parent be discouraged concerning a wandering child. Delayed -answer to prayer is not a denial. I know a minister whom God greatly -uses who was a wild youth when his mother died, but God answered her -prayer. He will answer yours. - -It is important who presents the sinner to God. A perfunctory church -member who plays cards, dances, tipples or smells of tobacco, cannot -acceptably bring a soul to God. God often accepts a soul without an -intermediary, but the wrong person keeps a soul from God. It makes a -difference. You remember Ezekiel 14:20, “Though Noah, Daniel and Job -were in it, they shall but deliver their own souls by their -righteousness,” showing that as we abide in Him, God answers prayers -accordingly. Then the word of God comes in. The helper tries to make the -seeker lay hold of the promises. I have seen many conversions on Romans -10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be -saved.” It comes like a wireless message from on high. It becomes -personal as the praying sinner cries to God, he believes he is heard, he -believes he is forgiven, he accepts the pardon and rises to his feet a -redeemed man. A supernatural power has come into his soul. Another verse -which brings men through is 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is -faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all -unrighteousness.” - -The religion of Christ has two elements in it—a destructive element and -a constructive element. The destructive element is what we figuratively -call “the blood of Christ.” It not only pardons or washes away the past -sins, but it takes out of the soul lying, drinking, lust, laziness, -deceit, fraud of any kind, and with the constructive element it puts -into the soul honor, truth, industry, integrity or wholeness. It creates -in the soul the desire to walk in companionship with Christ. - -The recognition of sins forgiven and the conscious presence of God is -what in emotional natures makes some shout, some weep, some tremble as -with an ague, but regeneration in all souls brings unspeakable joy. It -not only energizes for action, but it puts into the soul the power of -endurance before unknown. - - - I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH - -One cold night in November, 1908, the writer had charge of the Gospel -Mission service. In the testimony meeting a fine looking young man arose -and said about this: “I am a graduate of a college in Maine, also of a -medical department of a college of this city. I have had a good practice -and a good home. I have lost all of these from hard drink. Last spring I -was converted in a street meeting held by this Mission at the -post-office corner. Soon after that I obtained a situation in a large -department store in this city, where I did good work, but I lost my -temper at the inefficiency of a driver. I learned then and there that -only proprietors have the right to lose their tempers, and I lost my -place. I have had a hard time since. God only knows the suffering of a -man without money, friends, or even acquaintances in a great city.” And -with a wail, like a cry of anguish, he said, “But I've kept the faith! -I've kept the faith!” - -After the close of the meeting, a worker said, “I fear that man has had -no food to-day.” I went to him and said, “Son, when did you eat last?” -He answered, “Yesterday morning.” I slipped into his hand a dollar bill -and my card, and said, “Come and see me to-morrow morning.” - -We had no difficulty in getting him back into the department store where -his quick and clear penmanship, his great executive ability, have been -most highly appreciated for nearly five years. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - AN ELEMENT OF HUMOR IN RESCUE WORK - - -Unless one can see the humor in rescue work, the tragedy of it all would -break the heart, ruin one's health, and keep one's mind all the time on -the sorrowful stories that we hear daily. - -A part of successful rescue work is the ability to bring each sorrowful -case to God, lay it on His altar, and leave it behind us when we leave -the Mission. - - - AUNT MARY - -One very cold night, a few years ago, we had present among our visitors -a wealthy lady and gentleman from Pittsburgh. We were most anxious that -the Mission should make a good impression on them, hoping a donation of -at least $25. It was a very cold night. Soon after the services opened a -person, whom I shall call Charles Winters, son of an old Virginia -family, came in. He was much under the influence of liquor, and began at -once to make a disturbance. - -I remembered his dear old gray-haired mother and his accomplished -sister, and knew in a moment that if he were put out he would freeze to -death or be placed in prison. Two of the helpers started to put him out; -that was the easy way, and there were my guests and that prospective -donation. - -The men already had hold of him, when I said, “Stop, men; please let me -speak to him.” Laying my hand kindly on his shoulder, I said, “Charles, -sit down and behave yourself.” With a drunken laugh, he said, “I'll sit -down for you, Aunt Mary, but not for these toughs.” All evening I had to -go back every few minutes to quiet him, much to the amusement of my -friends, who frequently to this day call me Aunt Mary. But I saved a -family from shame and my donation came all right. - -In most businesses old age is a handicap, but every gray hair of my -white head is an asset. Nearly every evening some poor, vanquished -soldier of fortune, ragged, unshaven and unshorn, comes to me and says -with quivering lips, “You look just like my mother, to-night, will you -care a little for me?” And I lay my arm across the soiled coat and say, -“Son, the trail of every sin is on your poor soiled body; you have tried -some by yourself to be good, now let us ask Jesus to help. But I shall -send you up stairs under guard and to the bath-room, where you must take -a very warm bath while I go to the workroom and get you clean clothes -from the skin out; your clothing will go into the fumigator over night; -you shall have enough to eat and be physically comforted, then we will -try again with Jesus as yoke-fellow. You and I will talk to Him about it -and we will try again, shall we?” - -There is no use talking salvation to a hungry man or a man physically -uncomfortable. We usually help a poor fellow several days before -anything more than the above is said, then we show him the tendencies of -his life; he sees them in the wrecks all around him. He hears the -testimony of redeemed drunkards, thieves and gamblers, and sees them -clothed and in their right minds; then the teachings of some Christian -mother, Sunday school teacher, or preacher comes back, and lo! he prays. -God's Holy Spirit acts as a searchlight, and he sees his abhorrent self -as God sees him, and he cries for mercy. God comes down when the sinner -calls for redeeming power, and a great psychological change takes place. -If a soul really agrees to give up every sin, to take Jesus Christ as -pattern and friend, Christ Himself enters into covenant relations with -that soul and the man is born again. He usually lays hold mentally of -some one verse of Scripture, which becomes to him a personal message -from on high. I have seen many take the verse, “Seek ye first the -kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be -added unto you,” and use it as the stepping stone into the higher life. -They seek God and live His righteousness. Take the case of - - - MR. E. C. CONNAUGHT - -as an example. One very cold morning in January, 1912, Mr. Kline -received a telephone message like this, “There is a drunken man with a -wife and four children set out on the street at so and so. Bring coffee -and food at once.” Just as quickly as they could get the food, Mr. and -Mrs. Kline hastened to the relief of that family. The wind was blowing -snow and sleet, though it seemed too cold for either. The family, -including the drunken father, were brought immediately to the Mission, -though their household stuff was left standing on the street, where it -remained four days. It was such a miserable collection that even the -colored people did not steal any of it. Then it was brought to the -Mission and stored in the cellar. - -One child was in the hospital from a blow from the father. They were -physically comforted and put in the “Shelter,” a place reserved for -stranded women and children. By night the father was fairly sober and -they were all taken to the religious services in the chapel, where Mr. -Connaught heard man after man rise and testify that God had saved him -and taken away the appetite for drink. At first there was a sneer on his -face, but gradually, as one well dressed man after another bore the same -testimony, he cried out, “I have been an infidel, not believing in God -or immortality, but if the God you worship can cure me of this awful -appetite, I want Him.” He kneeled at one of the front benches, and an -awful spectacle of rags and dirt and bloated flesh he was. - -I remember thinking, “Surely this case is beyond help,” but God is -better than we even dare hope. Several prayers were offered in his -behalf, then he prayed for himself, and lo! he prayed with the tongue of -the learned. He said, “O God, if there be a God, hear the prayer of the -very lowest of Thy children. I need Thee, I am totally undone, I put -myself in Thy hands for forgiveness and for discipline. O Lord, save -me!” - -He kneeled a moment longer, then rose to his feet with a clear brain, -and, looking about like one dazed, said, “What has happened, you all -look different?” Mr. Kline laid his arm lovingly over the man's -shoulders as he said, “Brother Connaught, you have received your sight. -The Lord Jesus has come into your soul.” - -The next morning the Associated Charities had him arrested for -non-support of his family. Judge DeLacy, a good man, was on the bench. -One of our workers said to the judge, “This man was converted last -night, and if you will give him a chance he will now support his -family.” “Oh, yes, most anyone would be converted rather than go to -Occoquan” (name of the workhouse). “But, judge, this is no fake case; -try him.” - -The bloated face, the soiled clothing were against him, and the judge -sent him up for eleven weeks. The little woman and her children were -sent to her relatives in North Carolina by the Board of Charities and -Children's Guardians. Some of our workers kept at his side, reminding -him that he had put himself in God's hands for discipline, and assuring -him that if he could stand true, God had a useful life in store for him. -A marked New Testament was given him when he left for down the river. -There his head was shaved in the very cold weather, his clothing -changed, so that he took a severe cold which came near carrying him off -with pneumonia. It took about two weeks to bring political and social -influence to bear to have him paroled and sent back to the Mission. - -January and February of 1912 were very cold months, it was hard to get -any kind of work for men to do, and the only thing we could secure for -Connaught was passing circulars at sixty cents a day. That amounts to -$3.60 per week; of this he was obliged to pay to the judge $3, to be -sent to his wife. In two or three days Mrs. Kline phoned me, “Connaught -is trying to live on the rolls and coffee given in the bread line at six -o'clock in the morning.” I replied, “Connaught must have oatmeal with -cream—real cream, for his diseased stomach; he must have eggs and meat -and strong coffee, or he will lose his religion.” “Well, who is going to -provide all that?” “The Lord has money enough for that.” “Well, suppose -you bring some of it right along,” which of course I did. - -About the tenth day after he began circulating papers, the work gave -out. We really prayed night and day, for we feared he would be -rearrested and we had no money to support him. In a few days he secured -work at digging on the streets at $1.25 per day. He had never been -accustomed to manual labor, so when I sympathized with him on his poor -blistered hands, he said, “I am so glad to get the work that the hurt is -nothing.” Think of that for a man who had not done a lick of work, -physically or mentally, for months and months. - -Long before this we had found that he was a graduate of an English -university, had lived in good style, keeping servants, he had possessed -a nice home when he was first married, but when he found the habit of -drink had fastened itself upon him, he came to this country hoping to -break away from old companions and surroundings, and thus get away from -the sin which bound him. - -He tried all the cures; in fact, all his property not spent in drink -went to the cures, but nothing cured him. We found he had been a -first-class bookkeeper for one of the great railroads centering at -Washington, so we applied to them. I am glad to say they took an -immediate interest in the case. - -A man was sent to see him, then Mr. Connaught was put in charge of an -office building at $40 per month, and at once he wanted his family back. -They came first to the Mission, for we desired to keep him attending -services every night till he would understand better the word of God and -grow strong in faith. The railroad now pays him $80 a month, for he is a -good executive, and he has bought a little home in the suburbs on which -he is paying monthly; a home where he can have a garden, an orchard and -chickens. About once a week the father, the mother, and children come to -the Mission. No better looking or happier looking people enter that -building. He comes, as he says, to bear testimony to the saving and -keeping power of the dear Lord Jesus. - - - PSYCHOLOGY - -Now, science could not cure this case; all that science could do had -been done for him. He had become so low that if he saw his children -starving and he had ten cents, the money went to the saloon and not for -bread. It is, as Professor James says, that “Conversion is the only -means by which a radically bad man can be changed into a radically good -person.” The agencies in any conversion are first prayer, then the Holy -Spirit and the word of God. This man was so far gone that he did not -believe in the existence of God. But the sympathy of the workers made -them pray most earnestly for God's Spirit, which came with convicting -power. The verse of Scripture which came like a wireless message to his -soul was, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us -our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He claimed and -still claims the last clause as a message to him personally. - -The reason that hundreds of sermons fail to comfort a saint or convert a -sinner is because they fall on prayerless pews. You remember how what is -known as the Great New England Revival came about. Dr. Jonathan Edwards -was accustomed to go to his church every Saturday afternoon to think and -to pray for his people. - -On one occasion a beggar, known in the town as Old Betty, sat unseen in -a back pew. The great preacher put his head down on the Bible and -sobbed. As he came out Old Betty said, “What is it, Dr. Edwards, that so -troubles you?” “Betty, I have not seen a soul converted in this church -for a year. Why is it?” “It is because these pews are prayerless.” “Will -you pray till you get the answer that God will come in power to this -church?” “I will.” Betty hid when the janitor came to close the church, -and the answer to her soul did not come till the dawning of the morning. - -The following day Dr. Edwards started as usual to read his sermon, but -he soon put it away and began a straight evangelistic talk, professed -Christians stood in their places and asked for prayers, elders and -deacons prostrated themselves before God, the whole town became a prayer -circle, and the New England Revival had begun. - - - - - CHAPTER V - BIG FEET - - -One day a very large man, well over sixty years, and with three fingers -off each hand, in a very modest way said to me, “I am so ashamed to tell -a lady my needs,” and he turned up his foot and showed me where the sole -was worn out, so that at every step he made he left a track in blood. -“You poor fellow, you need not be ashamed to tell me of need like that. -I shall arrange for you to stay at the Mission till I get shoes for -you.” - -He was of the class who sell shoestrings and pencils, but in very cold -weather people do not stop to buy from street merchants. That night, -after the midweek service of my church, I rose in my place and asked for -a pair of shoes number 9½ or 10. The men hooted, no one of them ever -wore that size, declaring, of course, that I wanted them to wear myself. - -“Well,” I said, “whether you wear them or not, you get them for me,” and -I told the story of the bleeding feet. I did the same at my boarding -house. By the next day one of the elders of the church came with two -pairs of shoes which looked nearly big enough for boats, also one of the -men of the boarding house sent to Annapolis to his father, a very large -man, for a pair of shoes, which came to me by express. I put the three -pairs into a basket and rushed to the Mission, when lo! the poor man -could barely get his toes into the shoes. With trembling lip, he said, -“It is simply disgraceful to be old and poor and so awful big that even -one's friends cannot help a fellow.” “Indeed, it is no disgrace to be -old, poor and big, but it is a disgrace to be a bad man of any size or -age. Don't you worry, I shall find the shoes.” - -That afternoon I met a Board composed mostly of men eminent in city -affairs, among them was a distinguished lawyer, a very large man. He sat -with his foot across one knee, when I leaned over and said, “Brother, -would you mind walking home in your hose, and giving me those shoes for -a poor chap as large as you are?” “Do you really mean it?” “Yes, I do; -only I will let you wear them home, then send them to me with hose, -under clothes, and any other clothing you can spare.” - -By the next morning I had clothing for the poor fellow, and Mr. G.'s -number 11 shoes fit as if made to order. - -If the poor man had successfully sold pencils and shoestrings all winter -he could not have been so well clothed as he was that day. But, best of -all, while he was obliged to wait he read the four Gospels through -several times, and he sought and found salvation in Jesus Christ. That -was November, 1911. Since that he has gotten a place as night watchman -in a large building, and he is a good and faithful man. - -In Missions we have a large number of deserted wives with children, whom -we clothe. By that help they can by their own labor keep their little -families together, and then on every holiday, such as Christmas, -Thanksgiving, etc., we bring them all to the Mission for reunion and a -big dinner. The joyous seasons for the rich are the saddest times for -the poor and the bereaved. It is such a privilege to be the -administrators of the church people who send money and clothing for -these purposes. In return, the Missions are the real protection of the -city. A hungry man is dangerous, and a man with a hungry family is a -menace. - -My maid told me, one extreme cold day, that a man was at the door to see -me. I found there one of the most dangerous housebreakers in the -country. “Murphy,” I said, “I do not want to see any of you men at my -home. What do you want?” “I am starving.” “Well, go to the Mission, we -never turn a man away there.” “I wouldn't be caught dead there.” “Why -not?” “Well, I hate Kline (the Superintendent) and the whole outfit, but -I am starving, I tell you.” - -I knew by that he had been stealing at the Mission. Thieves fold up the -sheets and pillow-cases, even when they have been entertaining free, put -the bedding under their coats and get away with it. In time we get to -know them and will not put them in the dormitories, but only in the -barracks fitted with shelving but with no pillows or covers, but fire is -kept all night. The bath and toilet-room adjoins or is part of the -barracks, so that men are made comfortable. I took Murphy to an eating -house near by and filled him up, but at the same time warning him to get -out of town as soon as possible or change his course and become a good -man. Now, if that man had not been given food he would surely have -gotten it, if it cost a human life. Bad as he was, he would have been -fed had he gone to the Mission. I feared he would not go, but would -commit some depredation. Speaking of thieves, reminds me of the case of -a man whom I shall call - - - JAMES MANN. - -One evening a tall, fine-looking man came into the Mission chapel. One -gets to know thieves somewhat as you know an Englishman, a German, an -Italian, by the marks environment have left on the person. I knew on -sight that he was a thief. We had a Salvation Army man at the Mission -that night from West Virginia, who gave the message. His subject was, -“Be sure thy sin will find thee out.” - -He had been a thief, had served time, but now he told how happy and safe -he felt serving God and in being a good citizen. Several men knelt at -the altar that night, so when 9.30 P.M., the time for dismissal, came, -the men were permitted to go to the dormitories while one or two workers -prayed with the penitents. - -Mr. Mann retired, but he could distinctly hear the praying. He declared -that a voice said, “_Mann, now or never_.” He tried to go to sleep, the -inward voice persisted, “Now or never.” He put on his clothes, went back -to the chapel, threw himself down at the altar and cried to God for -mercy for himself. - -The workers gathered about him, he told God his story of sin and shame, -and God heard his cry for mercy, and he rose a forgiven sinner. His kit -of burglar tools were thrown into the Potomac River. He had come to -Washington to burglarize in the northwest section of the city during the -time when Mr. Taft was being inaugurated. His portrait could have been -seen in the rogues' gallery in every large city of the country, but in a -few weeks God so changed his face that the man could not have been -recognized by the old portrait. - -We told Major Sylvester, Chief of Police, of the case, and Mann was put -on the special police force at the Union Station at inauguration time, -and never before nor since was there ever such a quick nabbing of the -noted thieves as at the Taft inaugural occasion. - -Mr. Mann's mother came on from her western home. She is a sincere -Christian woman. It was doubtless the answering of her prayers which -brought conviction, then salvation to that dangerous man. Once she said, -“James, I never heard of you for two whole years; where were you then?” -He made an evasive answer, but we knew that he had spent them behind -bars. - -After the inauguration the special police were discharged, and Mr. Mann -went to work as a carpenter. He made a good assistant carpenter. About -six months after that one of the Northern States was making a search for -large men for their mounted police. Major Sylvester recommended Mann, as -he was six feet four inches tall, and from that day to this he has been -on the mounted constabulary of a great State, engaged in enforcing the -law, rather than breaking the laws of his country. - -Now, is not that real service to the State? This man was restored to his -family, to society, to God. He became a factor for righteousness, -instead of an element of danger to the commonwealth. - -We are not always fortunate enough to see men of that class seek God. On -one occasion three young thieves came into the Mission, they were of the -traveling men of their base business. After I returned to my home I -called up the police and told them my suspicion, and asked them to watch -the Mission very closely from eleven o'clock until morning. They were -all captured between twelve and one o'clock midnight as they were -leaving the building and escorted to the station and told to leave town, -which, of course, they did immediately. - -[Illustration: FREE SUPPER SERVICE] - - - - - CHAPTER VI - HOW WE GOT A NEW MISSION BUILDING - - - (A CHAPTER ON FAITH) - -Although by January 1, 1911, we had eighty-four beds filled nearly every -night with homeless men, we felt ourselves very much hampered for room. -We turned many away. Many a poor fellow that winter walked the streets -all night to keep from freezing. - -When we pray for a thing which we think the work of the Lord requires, -we begin at once to arrange for it, as if the money to do the work were -already at hand. Our paper, _The Gospel Tidings_, of January, 1911, -said, “Our Mission now does business in three different localities, and -will soon be obliged to rent two more places for the wood cutting -department and for opening a penny lunch-room.” - -We were so sure that the Lord's work needed enlarging that we went to -the very best architects we knew, Gregg & Leisenring, and told them our -plans and needs, and they prepared with the greatest care, drawings for -a building costing at the very least $50,000, besides the cost of the -land. Then the writer visited the seats of the mighty in New York City -with the best introductions that the District Commissioners and leading -statesmen could give. While I was received with great kindness and -courtesy, I was distinctly told by one magnate that he helped only the -young and those starting in life; by another that his charity could -never take a local form, that he gave along the line of research for -causes and remedies of diseases. The women, whose secretaries I met, -themselves not being visible to plain people, I was assured had planned -all their surplus income for five to eight years ahead, so that I came -back convinced that God's way for the Gospel Mission was not by way of -New York City. - -About that time a great fire occurred in an eastern city, and many men -and women lost their lives, and the order went out in Washington that -every building where a large number of people worked or slept must have -plenty of fire-escapes. - -We found to put fire-escapes on the Gospel Mission would cost $125, an -immense sum to us, but we were preparing to put up the fire-escapes when -the owner refused his permission. We told the police, and asked time to -relocate, but were peremptorily ordered out of 1230 Pennsylvania Avenue, -N. W. We could find no suitable building obtainable within our means. - - - A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS - -was called at my house for prayer. There were thirteen members present. -The object of the meeting was stated by President Wheeler, a few of -God's promises read from His word, and we went on our knees for prayer. - -Each one asked for a suitable home to do the Master's work as seen and -done by the Gospel Mission. It was noticeable that after the eighth -person had prayed, each prayer took more and more the form of -thanksgiving, as if we already had received the building, or money to -build it. - -There had been offered to us a very large double building which had once -been used as the District Building, and upon which it was claimed that -the government of the United States had once put $60,000 to make it -fireproof. It is situated at 214-216 John Marshall Place, N. W., not far -from the foot of Capitol Hill. After having the distinct answer to -prayer that God was working with us, a letter was written to Mrs. John -Hay, wife of the deceased great Secretary of State, asking her to -purchase that building for $25,000 for us and to permit us to pay her a -fair interest and pay the principal in annual payments. The letter was -written about the first of March. Almost by return mail Mrs. Hay replied -that she did not care to make so large an investment, but if we cared to -go forward and purchase the building ourselves, that on April 1 she -would give us $5000 on the first payment. Never will I forget the scene -when that letter was read. - -Mr. H. D. Gordon had received the letter just as he was starting for the -Board meeting, his face was radiant. When Mr. Wheeler came in the letter -was put in his hands without comment. As soon as he read the words, “I -will give you $5000 on the first payment,” without waiting to finish the -letter, he said, “Let us pray.” We, on our knees, each one thanked God -for the gift dictated by His Spirit, and asked God's blessing on the -magnanimous woman who had obeyed the Spirit's order. - -The Building Committee eventually secured the property for $22,000, of -which $5000 was to be a cash payment, and by agreeing to pay $1750 -annually, and to pay semi-annually a 5½ per cent interest. - -Think of the growth in spiritual power of a little organization which in -September, 1908, shuddered at a bill of $25, in the early spring of 1911 -joyously making itself responsible for $17,000 bearing a semi-annual -interest amounting in the year to $850! - -Since that time we have made three annual payments of $1750 each, and we -have met all interest to date. - -Probably in no civilized country was there ever a dirtier house. The -building had been occupied by some foreigners until it had become so -vile that the police condemned it and obliged them to move out. They -took with them all gas fixtures, all sewerage, heating and water pipes; -in fact, wrecked the building, but a mission band is brave, and went -valiantly to work. - -More than one hundred wagon loads of dirt were taken from the cellars. -We know, for we paid ten cents a load to the dump. When we had put in -$100 in glass, it scarcely made a mark, so large is the building. It has -sixty-six rooms, some of them as large as the chapel of an ordinary -church. - -The walls have been scraped and calcimined and whitewashed; the entire -woodwork inside and all the outside has been painted; new gas pipes and -gas fixtures have been placed; new sewerage and bath-rooms have been -prepared. Four new fire-escapes and an electric fire-alarm system -installed; a splendid French steel range has been set in the kitchen; -hot and cold water supplied to various parts of the building, etc. - -The first meeting was held in our new building, 216 John Marshall Place, -N. W., on the evening of April 15, 1911, Mr. Wheeler presiding. - -We found the roof leaked so badly that in case of storm some rooms -became uninhabitable. Again I was obliged to personally guarantee the -payment of $500 for a new roof. Again, Mr. Ernest Gichner came to my -help. He put on a good roof, built up and pointed the thirteen chimneys, -put ventilators in many chimneys, saw to resetting, reglazed all -skylights, and permitted us to pay him $25 per month till the debt was -paid off. - -When the possibility of completing the first cleaning seemed most -hopeless, when heat, water and gas pipes had to be replaced, several -members of the Board pledged $100 each. To some of us that meant great -self-denial. Mrs. Richard Butler gave $500 and Mrs. Spindle $200; in all -we spent $5000 in repairing and cleaning that building. Every step was -made in faith. - -It was wonderful how our people sacrificed to get all this done; women -who do not do such work at home came and scrubbed and cleaned; many a -poor man gave a day's work. Three men who readily command $3 per day, -worked three months each at $1 a day with room and board. The people of -Washington sent us piles of old furniture, for which we were deeply -grateful. Then Superintendent Kline got a great quantity of furniture -and many feet of piping for conducting heat, and secondhand radiators at -the sale of the old Riggs Hotel. We secured a good mechanic, and with -our mechanics at the Mission, installed the heating plant. The expenses -during that time were at least $200 per week. At our Board meeting one -Tuesday, Treasurer Gordon reported $4.84 on hand. All business was -stopped immediately and we went to prayer telling our Father that we had -but $4.84 and the bills of the week would be due on Saturday. We had -each of us done all we could afford. The following Tuesday the Treasurer -reported all bills paid and $284 in the treasury. Thus God not only -supplied all our wants, but graciously relieved our anxiety. - - - SPEAKER CHAMP CLARK - -Rather an amusing incident occurred when our cleaning was most -strenuous. We have a large number of good women who will do good work if -I lead, so on one occasion I took a tin bucket with rags, soap, -scrub-brush, etc., and went to help on work rather out of my line. I -started to return with the bucket in hand. When I came to the car I saw -the Hon. Champ Clark, who had then very recently been elected Speaker, -at the front of the car. I was careful to take the back seat, hoping he -would not see me. I had barely got seated when he came back and took a -seat beside me. I tried to apologize for my appearance and impedimenta. -He said, “Oh, bother! Never mind. What fault are you Republicans finding -with me now?” and we went at the Reciprocity Bill, then before the -House, with hammer and tongs. When I got off at Second Street, S. E., -the Speaker carried the bucket and handed it to me in his gallant way, -still talking of the measure before Congress. I doubt if he recognized -whether it was an old tin bucket or a jewel case which he transferred to -me. - -As long as this is a faith chapter, I shall here insert a statement of -how God sent the last $300 on our annual payment and semi-annual -interest due and paid May 7, 1913. - -This is from the June, 1913, number of _Gospel Tidings_: - - - HOW THE LORD PAID THE DEBT - -Mrs. Monroe's Letter in _Lutheran Observer_ of May 16: - -“On May 1 (1913), we were owing at the Gospel Mission on the building -$15,500 with $406 semi-annual interest. We have agreed to pay $1750 each -year, so we were responsible for $2156 on May 1; by special agreement it -was not paid until the 7th. I want to tell my friends who have prayed -with me in this struggle how the Lord led us. - -“At the Board meeting, Tuesday, April 29, we had $1140 in the treasury. -By Wednesday morning we had $1200. Thursday we had $1300, and on Friday, -at Dr. Stearns's class, I reported $1400 in the treasury and requested -God's children to ask for the $756 yet due. By Sunday, May 4, we had -$1659, when Hon. B. H. Warner subscribed $200, bringing our fund to -$1859. A small bill reduced it to $1856. - -“The gentleman who held the note telephoned from Baltimore that he would -not come for his money until Wednesday, May 7. At the Tuesday evening -meeting five of us prayed definitely for $300. On Wednesday morning, -just after breakfast, a friend telephoned, 'Please come up at once.' -Now, that is my writing day, and I felt I could hardly go, but my times -are in His hands, and if He said 'Go,' then that was my orders. I went -at once, and my friend said, 'I feel you are needing $300 on your debt, -and the Lord woke me up to tell me to hand you $300, and I am prepared -to pay it.' - -“To say how grateful we all are cannot be put into words. But at this -time, when the city was being scoured for $300,000 for the Emergency -Hospital, when the Ohio sufferers had claimed all we thought we could -spare, for the Board of a little mission, dependent mostly on the poor, -as the poor man's church, to pray down from heaven $2156 of a special -fund, besides the running expenses, which are always very heavy, means -more than money to us. It seems to be the divine seal of God's approval -on our work. I had subscribed $500 for myself and friends. He graciously -paid through me $656, and now, with the $300, He has made my share $956. - -“Some of the readers of the _Observer_ sent me money, but more prayed -for our work. Now, join with us in praising God for a message straight -from the throne of our dear, loving heavenly Father. - -“To everyone who helped, even to the amount of five cents; to those who -denied themselves usual comforts to help the Mission; to those who gave -to help provide shelter for the poor—to each of us He sends, I am sure, -this dear message, 'I glorify you in order that your faith may be -strengthened and that you may glorify me.' If any of us has ever had any -doubt of God's special providence to His children, let this concrete -example be a permanent love-message of assurance to every such doubter.” - - - NEXT STEP OF FAITH - -By June, 1913, we found that nearly every Sunday night more than one -hundred persons had to be denied entrance on account of lack of room. We -saw by taking down a partition on the north side of the chapel between -chapel and hall, we could seat at least one hundred more. We were just -over the strain of the last payment, and we were loath to ask our -friends for more help, but as God continues to each of His children the -blessings which they daily enjoy, so each child of God must continue to -help in His work, and relying on Him “who worketh with us,” we ordered -the wall taken out at a cost of about $900, which afterward proved to be -$1300. Again I had to make myself responsible for the payment of that -amount. It was all paid on time. - -In this faith chapter I desire to insert the following from the _Gospel -Tidings_ of June, 1913: - - - MR. WHEELER'S STORY - -“At the Sunday evening service, December 18, 1912, Mr. Wheeler said: -'When I was in charge of religious work at the United States jail some -years ago, one Sunday, after service, I went round, as was my custom, to -shake hands with the men behind the bars. I came to a fine-looking man, -to whom I said, “Why are you here? I have often seen you on the street, -and I have thought of you as a good citizen.” “O Mr. Wheeler, I have -been a good citizen. My wife and I have a little store in Georgetown, -where we sell oysters in the winter and ice cream in the summer. My wife -gave me $65 to settle our bill with the wholesale oyster man, and I took -a number of drinks, and finally went into the marble saloon and took a -drink with some strangers, and as surely as I tell you I do not remember -another thing until I found myself in a cell at the station house.”' - -“On further inquiry Mr. Wheeler found that the prisoner was charged with -passing counterfeit money. It appeared that after he came out of the -saloon a Jew was crying clothing on D Street. This man went into the -Jew's clothing store, bought a suit of clothes, for which he offered a -$50 bill in payment. The Jew could not make change, so took it to a -neighbor, who assured him the bill was bad, and the man's arrest -immediately followed. - -“Mr. Wheeler went often to the cell to pray with and for the poor -prisoner, who devoted his time to the study of the Gospels. He was -soundly converted. Mr. Wheeler said, 'Do not trust alone to your lawyer. -Appeal to Jesus Christ now to clear you, for, as far as I can see, man -cannot.' - -“His lawyer told Mr. Wheeler that the court would surely send the -prisoner to the penitentiary. On the morning of the trial several -Christian men met together and prayed over the case. The court convened -at 10 A.M., and the case was immediately called. A stranger asked to be -sworn as a witness. He said about this: 'I was in Washington on the day -this affair occurred. I do not often take a drink, but I happened to be -in the saloon when this man came in. He took a drink with two young -fellows who happened to be there, and the liquor made him drunk at once, -when one of the young fellows said, “It is my turn to treat, and I will, -if any of you can change a $50 bill.” This man brought out lots of -money, and got the $50 bill in exchange. I left Washington the next day, -that is how I was fortunate enough to remember the date. I got back -yesterday, and happened to see a statement of this case in the evening's -paper, and I felt simply compelled to come and give my testimony.'” - -The prisoner was reprimanded (which was unnecessary, as he was a new -creature in Christ Jesus), but the case against him was dismissed, as it -was apparent there was no intent to defraud the Jew. His family nearly -smothered him with kisses and embraces, and he walked out a free man. - -Skeptics may say this was mere chance. But how did it happen that the -man came back on that day, saw that account in the paper, felt compelled -to testify? No, God directed the case after it was committed to Him. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - VARIETIES OF WORK IN A GOSPEL MISSION - - -We are apt to think that all persons who accept the hospitality of the -Mission are low-born people; we have not found it so. There have knelt -at the altar of the Gospel Mission, priests and preachers, lawyers, -doctors, merchants, engineers, college men and poor chaps who have had -no education but that of the street. - -I remember one night when we were located at 1230 Pennsylvania Avenue, -there knelt at the altar three men, one an ex-preacher, one a graduate -of the University of Virginia, and one the nephew of an ex-President of -the United States. We believed they were all converted. The preacher was -in bad physical condition, and we felt it necessary to put him into a -Christian institution for such as he for medical treatment. The taste -for liquor had gone, but the ulcerated stomach and bowels remained, also -his nerves were in a dangerous condition. How we ever obtained money -enough to pay that man's bills for six weeks is yet a marvel, but we did -it. He came out a redeemed, humble man. He went to the pastor of a large -church in Brooklyn, whom he had known at college, and before that large -church he acknowledged his sin with shame and deep contrition. The -church had grace enough to accept him. The congregation opened a rescue -mission, supported entirely by that church, where for five years he has -preached the gospel and has saved a hundredfold more souls than the big -church which supports the mission. - -The Virginian never again crossed our path, but Mr. Buchanan died after -three years of a good life, an honored member of an Episcopal church in -Washington. - -Men who have been dissipated, even when redeemed and reformed do not, as -a usual thing, live to old age. The wages of sin is death to the body, -though the soul may enter upon eternal life. - -Among the sorrowful who nightly are to be found at the missions of this -city either pensioned by their family or the government, but not -permitted to return to their homes, is one man who was once one of the -_best_ mail agents between Washington and New York City. Another, the -son of an ex-cabinet officer. Another has been Chief Mathematician in a -government bureau, besides about twenty wrecks of various government -departments. - -I remember the case of a well-known man in Philadelphia. He was -converted one extremely cold night at the Breakfast Association. No -provision is made there for beds, so that poor fellow started “to carry -the banner”—that is to walk the streets all night. About three o'clock -in the morning he was taken with a congestive chill. A kind policeman, -seeing the man was ill and not drunk, sent him at once to that blessed -little Presbyterian hospital in West Philadelphia. - -It happened that one of the Board of Directors of the Breakfast -Association, Mr. Tibbals, had given the poor fellow his card. The -authorities, finding the card, sent for Mr. Tibbals. The sick man had -revived enough when Mr. Tibbals arrived, to give his true name and the -address of his parents, which was a number on Fifth Avenue, New York -City. That street was then a residence street for very wealthy people. -Just as soon as it could be done, a telegram for $100 was received in -reply and we were directed to do all we could for him. But the man died -before night, and Mr. Tibbals was asked to take the body to New York. -The coffin was carried into one of the handsomest brown-stone residences -on that handsome avenue. - -The mother and father met Mr. Tibbals, and in the parlor the coffin was -opened for identification. It was the body of the only son of that proud -family. The father gave one look, one great sob, then seized his hat and -fled. The mother said, “O Mr. Tibbals, you think I am grief-stricken -over his death! But I am not even sorry. This son has been a drunkard -from childhood. We could not keep him at home, for he would steal -everything he could carry away and sell it for whisky. Since we lost -sight of him, I have never opened a paper without fearing I should read -his name in connection with some awful crime. No, I am relieved. I shall -know where he is. I have often gotten into my carriage and have had the -driver go up and down this street (which was then covered with -cobblestones) as fast as the law permitted him to drive, and I have -screamed and screamed my heart out. I have gone to the seashore to -scream to let off my nervous strain. Had I given just one such scream in -my own house, I would this day be in a mad house. Oh, no, for this -death, after what you hope was a conversion, I am deeply grateful to -God!” - -And yet people wonder at Carrie Nation. It is a wonder that grief like -that does not make iconoclasts of all mothers whose sons go down the -Jericho road. - -The following testimony, given in the winter of 1911, by one who had -stood on many rounds of the social ladder, a man who accepted -redemption, and is now kept by the power of God: - - - A REMARKABLE TESTIMONY - -“When Brother Wheeler requested me to address this meeting, I felt -somewhat nervous, for the simple reason that I had never in my life -addressed a religious meeting before, and I so stated to Mr. Wheeler. -However, I could not refuse him, and here I am. - -“True, in years gone by, while down South, I have spoken to political -gatherings. Since I got religion, I stopped that. If I should ever make -a political address again, it will be in the interest of the Prohibition -party. I regret that I have no experience in addressing a religious -meeting, and I, therefore, ask you to be patient with me, especially as, -due to previous engagements, I was unable to prepare myself, except in -so far that I have decided to make a few remarks on personal salvation, -and by the term personal I have my own in mind. - -“I want to tell you something about my own experience, how I had lost my -God and found Him again. A man born and reared on the Bowery or any of -its side streets in New York City, a man who from his childhood on has -been influenced by evil-minded and sinful people, has never heard of -Christ, and in the course of time becomes a hardened criminal, such a -man may be condemned by mankind, but never by God. - -“A man born and raised in a comfortable, refined home, who has been -taught the doctrines of Christ, has confessed his belief that Christ is -His Saviour, has a full knowledge of right and wrong and of the duties -he owes his fellow-man—if such a man becomes a willing victim to sensual -pleasures, he may not be condemned by mankind, but God will condemn him, -unless he repents and starts to lead a new, clean life. - -“Only too often men are so completely wrapped up in their personal -matters, as, for instance, in their business affairs, that they -absolutely lose sight of the obligations they owe God, and also their -fellow-men, and, as a natural result, neglect their souls. - -“I honestly believe that such a man is more to be pitied than the ones -who, either through their own fault or being victims of circumstances, -have lost their hold in life and finally found themselves 'down and -out.' A man may temporarily be without food and shelter, but this is -nothing compared to trying to live without God. However, a man who is a -wanderer on the face of the earth and who has lost his God, is indeed a -wretched being. I am speaking from experience. - -“For years I had violated the divine laws. I had been what is generally -termed a society man, 'way down South. I enjoyed a large income, but I -spent everything for worldly pleasures. Finally, I became disgusted with -my surroundings; but, better still, I became disgusted with myself. I -drifted to New York City, determined to live a new life. This occurred -about fourteen years ago. Up to that time I had not been within or even -near a church for seven years. The New York atmosphere apparently did -not agree with me. Instead of leading a clean, moral life—by that I -understood at that time a life simply conforming to the requirements of -the social laws (the divine laws did not exist for me)—I became worse -than I had ever been. - -“Although I made good money, as the saying is, I was, nevertheless, -broke all the time. I voluntarily gave up several splendid positions -because objections had been made to my reporting late in the morning for -duty, and, having become rather nervous, I practically found it -impossible to get along with anyone. I had become a slave to my habits, -and finally associated with the 'has beens,' as they are sometimes -called. - -“There is not a man in this room who knows more about the life on the -east side of New York than I do. I know full well what it means to be -hungry and homeless. I have worked as a longshoreman, newspaperman, -cook, bookkeeper and correspondent. I have been running hot frankfurter -stands, etc., sometimes I had two jobs in one day. I was given a -wonderful taste of the ups and downs in New York City, especially the -downs. I certainly am grateful to Providence for subjecting me to that -awful experience in New York City, for in that way I learned to know -human nature. I learned to know that the so-called submerged masses were -composed of human beings, not brainless individuals; that, as a matter -of fact, there are better people, especially morally, among the poor -than among the so-called society people. - -“I might be asked why it was that I did not find God again, when I was -down and out in New York City. Christ was knocking, knocking all the -time to enter my heart, but I had become a cynic and would not let Him -in. I used to think in those times that if there was a just God I would -not be in such a sorrowful plight. The trouble with me was, I did not -have enough sense to admit that my condition was simply due to my own -faults and to nothing else. - -“During my stay in New York I have met many saintly people, men and -women who devoted their time, energy and money to the uplift of the -homeless and the friendless. Those good people tried their best to have -me converted. They did not succeed because I was not willing and because -I actually believed most of my friends who were in charge of the several -missions that I was in the habit of attending were suffering from -hallucinations, although perfectly honest in their self-imposed task. - -[Illustration: PENNY LUNCH ROOM] - -“The greatest evil in New York City is, as everywhere, the saloon. The -majority of you men present here this evening must admit if it were not -for the saloon you would not be here as applicants for bodily -assistance. There are evil spirits in us and around us to lead us -astray; the devil's worst temptation is whisky or any other intoxicating -drink. Man was made in the image of God; when a man gets drunk he is -worse than a beast. A man will get drunk again and again, a beast will -not, having seemingly more sense than a man. The saloon is the greatest -foe to the spread of the gospel. In most cases the saloon-keeper knows -quite well that he is a highway robber, that his business is ruining -untold thousands of men, women and children, but as his so-called -business is a legalized one, he may continue indirectly committing -murder. - -“Really I have more respect for the highwayman and robber than for a -saloon-keeper. During my voluntary and involuntary observations in New -York and elsewhere, I have come to the conclusion that Christ would -conquer the world in much less time if only the awful saloon and dive -could be eliminated. - -“In my travels in this country and in the foreign countries, I have met -many people who by word and deed were spreading the gospel. Some of them -naturally inquired of me whether I had been converted. My answer was -'No,' because, as a matter of fact, I did not know the meaning of the -word converted. I was told to seek Christ and the meaning would be made -plain to me. Evidently I was not sufficiently willing to meet Christ -half way, and thus I wasted years of my life before I finally submitted -to the pleadings of the Saviour. - -“While I was in the Philippine Islands, twelve years ago, I was deeply -impressed with the different attitudes of the officers and enlisted men -when on the firing line. It was plain, even to the casual observer, that -the men who were thoroughly devout Christians—and there are many -thousands of Christians in our army—were not afraid to face the bullets, -but the men who were agnostics and unbelievers, whatever that may mean, -were so nervous and excited that they hardly knew what they were doing, -or they were downright cowards. - -“In my own case I was not afraid of death, as I had given very little -thought to such a possibility; besides I had become more or less -indifferent to life and possible death. One hot summer day, while -fighting the Filipinos, I was shot through the head. An army surgeon -bandaged me up as best he could and then assured me I was very likely -not to live through the day. - -“If I ever got scared, it was then, and if ever I prayed, it was then, -in spite of the excruciating pains I suffered. The words of a comrade, -who was a fine soldier, though not a thorough Christian, uttered by him -shortly before I was wounded, were constantly ringing in my ears, -namely, 'A man may possibly live without Christ, but he cannot die -without Christ.' - -“For a month or so the doctors and nurses did not think I would live, -but God spared my life, and no doubt for a purpose. For six months I was -unable to utter a word, as the bullet had passed through my tongue. It -was well for me I could not talk to any human being, but I could talk to -God. During those months I lived my entire life over again. I promised -God to become a better man. True, I became more earnest in my views of -life, I realized the value of the golden rule, but I was not converted. -I could not yet understand the meaning of the word. - -“The Red Cross nurses, who at the beginning of the trouble in the -Philippines were in charge of the hospital, were not only experts in -their profession, but were splendid types of self-sacrificing -Christians, and their presence alone made the patients think of their -mothers or sisters or other dear ones at home, thousands of miles away, -and thus unconsciously these nurses, noble representatives of womanhood, -frequently wrought a change for the better in the hearts of the wounded -soldiers. - -“While I was a patient at Manilla I saw many a man pass out of this -life. The man with Christ in his heart died with a smile on his lips, -knowing he had done his duty and that Christ would meet him. The -unbeliever suffered agonies. - -“I was wounded almost twelve years ago, not a day has passed without my -communicating with God, and God was always willing to talk with me, when -I addressed Him. As a result of my experience in the Philippines I spent -almost three years in the hospital. I thank God He made me suffer, it -was the only possible way for me to find Him again. My conversion did -not take place all at once, it took place gradually. God used different -means and ways in recalling me. I cannot mention them here without -baring my life to you, which may be of no interest to you. Let me assure -you no man can succeed without Christ. A man may amass a fortune, but if -he neglects his soul his life is of little value. - -“Among the applicants at different missions, I have met men who claimed -the good people in charge were nothing but hypocrites. It is certainly -strange that those fellows apply to hypocrites for help. Why don't they -go to the agnostic or to the unbeliever? - -“Follow my advice, first seek Christ; He is always ready and willing to -accept you; the rest is easy. A drunkard cannot become sober by taking -the Keeley cure or anything like that. The desire for drink is often -inherited, medicine will not cure the sufferer, only God's grace can -cure him. - -“Why is it that the man who lives with Christ is always happy, even -under adverse circumstances, and the man without Him is, as a rule, -nothing but an egotist? You can easily find the answer yourself. Come to -Christ, and, if you are willing to come, why not now?” - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - THE NEED OF RESCUE WORK - - -As early as the fall of 1909 we put out this call: - - - CENTRAL BUREAU OF LABOR - - “The District of Columbia needs a Labor Bureau to which our Mission - and the Associated Charities can send men and women out of - employment. The Bureau, being a government affair, should know where - labor is needed and should furnish transportation to such places, - whether it be to the cotton fields of the South, the harvest fields - of the West, or the manufactories of New England. - - “Such a Bureau should secure from the railroads concessions, such as - they give to immigrants, in sending our unemployed to the fields of - labor. - - “Unless Society, with a big 'S,' reaches a hand to the unemployed - these people will surely become a menace to our great cities, and on - some sad day they will dynamite our public buildings. - - “We, who work among them, know their sorrow, their anguish, their - despair, which will end in desperation, unless relief is furnished. - - “Use your influence to secure a Central National Bureau of Labor for - the unemployed. The strong and wealthy can care for themselves, but - a good government should concern itself with its weaker members.” - -_The Survey_ (published in New York) is now (1913) steadily advocating -something of this kind, and now Congress (October, 1913,) is considering -the matter. - - - FOR THE UNEMPLOYED - -An organization or industrial army of the United States was provided for -in a bill presented to the Senate by Senator Poindexter, upon the -request of R. A. Dague, of Creston, Iowa. Eligible to membership in the -army would be any unemployed man more than sixteen years old. The -Secretary of Labor would be the recruiting officer, but an “industrial -general,” at a salary of $250 a month, would command the forces. The -army, according to the bill, would not bear side arms or fight bloody -battles, but would be employed in labor at harbors, forts, government -buildings, irrigation ditches, canals and other public works of the -nation, state and municipality. Residents in the United States who -become members would receive $2 a day, “together with board and -lodging,” while those who have been in America less than five years -would receive only $1.50. Foreigners who hereafter come to America would -receive only 25 cents a day, which would be wrong. We expect from the -United States government that ideal justice, even to a foreign workman, -which we shall each receive when we stand in the presence of Eternal -Justice. - -All this shows that the idea of a Bureau of Labor which will help the -laborer is steadily growing. - - - AN INCIDENT OF THE WINTER OF 1910 - -One day Mrs. Kline, the wife of the Superintendent of the Gospel -Mission, phoned me, “We have a man here so covered with vermin that I -cannot let him into the house, yet he seems to be an educated man. [This -was at the Industrial Department on Fourteenth Street, before we had our -new building.] What shall I do now?” “Call Donavan, Hall and Happy, and -take him to the woodshed and have a tub of warm water; let the men give -him a thorough bath, barber him and wrap him in blankets, till we can -get clothes for him.” That was done. We found Taylor an educated man, a -graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the editor of a paper in a -suburb of Philadelphia. He claimed that he had been “shanghaied,” that -is, drugged and carried on board an oyster boat as a common laborer. He -had gone to Baltimore to go on a drunk, hoping his friends would not -find him out, but his Nemesis was there waiting for him. - -He had been kept six weeks on the oyster boat, had been forced to bunk -with negroes and common roustabouts. After he became sober, I fancy the -owners of the boat saw that they had captured the wrong man, and would -gladly have gotten rid of him. They did not dare approach land lest -their entire crew escape; at last he was put aboard a passing boat and -sent to Washington. He was over six feet high, of fine physique, about -thirty-two years of age. We did not find it easy to get clothing -suitable for such a person. The day came when he was able to attend the -services at the Mission. He kneeled at the altar, and we hoped he was -converted. We greatly wanted him to bring suit against the oyster men, -but that would have made his case public, and he did not desire that. He -readily secured a place on one of our city papers as the purveyor of -automobile news, but when pay day came he got drunk and fell down the -stairs and broke his arm. His system was in bad condition and he was -obliged to go to the free ward of Providence Hospital. We now wrote to -his family, and his mother came for him in a big touring car from -Philadelphia and took him home, but the exposure and dissipation had -done their perfect work, and he only lived a few months. He seemed, from -all accounts, a truly penitent man, but only at the judgment day shall -we know whether he entered into the rest prepared for the children of -God only. - -Another experience in the winter of 1911 gave us a still lower opinion -of the oyster men of the lower Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Hall telephoned me, -one cold slippery day, “Do come down at once, the oyster men are in. Mr. -Kline is away, and the men are in bad condition.” I went at once. The -halls were full of them; many had only overalls, shirt and shoes without -stockings; they looked frozen. I ordered coffee and rolls at my expense -till I could call help. I feared if I opened the clothing room they -would raid it, so great were their needs. - -It was too slippery for women to venture out, so I began phoning to -members of the Lutheran Church whom I believed would come. One man in a -bank said, “I am not a clerk. I can't go out this kind of weather for -that class of men.” I replied, “I saw you at communion last Sunday, and -I venture you promised your God to serve wherever you were needed; here -is your first call.” “I shall come at once and bring three other members -of the church with me.” - -That winter the Luther Memorial Church, of Erie, Pa., had sent us a -large box of men's clothing, every article mended, clean and in good -condition, and just the week before a charitable organization, at Chevy -Chase, Md., had sent us two large barrels of men's clothing, and a full -half bushel of socks nicely darned and every article clean. - -So we put trousers on one pile, coats on another, vests on another, -underclothes on another, a churchman at each pile. I had charge of the -socks, then Mr. Ifft, of the Luther Memorial Church, in the next room -superintended the trying on, fitting and exchanging garments. As we -handed each garment we said about this, “The ladies of the different -churches send you these garments with their love and sympathy.” Many a -poor fellow, all unused to blessing, said, “God bless the churches for -remembering such as us.” In an hour's time we clothed over seventy-five -men. A few did not need complete outfits. We never supposed we had that -many garments on hand, but that day cleared out all we had in reserve. - -Among these men were two Welsh boys, both Christians, not long in this -country. They had not known the strength of American liquors (which were -doubtless drugged); they were very contrite and were at once put to -work, one as a furnaceman, the other in the wood yard. We hear the -United States revenue cutters have been after the oyster men and -shanghaiing is no longer a common crime. - -When a friend looked in on that crowd of superior business men helping -distribute clothing and saying words of consolation to the broken men, -he said, “I believe in my soul you would order in the President of the -United States to help at the Gospel Mission.” “Oh, no!” I replied, -“President Taft, good man as he is, would not be permitted to drive so -much as a tack at the Gospel Mission. He does not recognize Jesus as His -Saviour; only orthodox Christians who can tell the sinner of the -redeeming power of Jesus the Christ can successfully work in a rescue -mission like this.” - - - THE HOLIDAYS - -are a sore trial to the homeless or to the recently bereaved. Often -women of the highest social rank come to the Gospel Mission on -Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, when we give a good dinner to -everyone who applies. (These women forget their own woes as they serve -others.) The subjoined newspaper letter will give you a good picture of -one such occasion: - - - THANKSGIVING DAY AT THE MISSION OF 1910 - -“It is a very curious thing to say, that while I saw no relative of -mine, being far separated from all of my kindred, while I had no time to -accept the hospitality of friends, but ate my dinner at my boarding -house, so as to be at the Mission for service, yet it was one of the -happiest days of my life. It is wonderful the kindness God puts into the -hearts of His people at this season. Not a member of the Mission has -wealth, yet God gave us means through His children to feed between three -and four hundred people. A little Ohio Joint Synod Lutheran church at -Fulton, Md., sent us a dozen chickens, two bushels of potatoes, some -fine apples, turnips, beets, cabbage, etc. We bought fifteen turkeys, a -lot of hams, then the New Willard Hotel prepared our fowls and other -meats, and the Raleigh Hotel prepared and cooked all our vegetables, -adding enormous pans of baked beans, and all this they did free of -charge. - -“Bakers sent us bread and pies, florists sent us great quantities of -flowers, so that we were able to feed all comers and send out a number -of baskets to poor families. This was the bodily side; the spiritual -side was even better. - -“The services began at twelve o'clock noon, and lasted until ten at -night, with a change of leaders, musicians and varying audiences each -hour. - -“Two boys, about sixteen and eighteen years old, had walked all the way -from Richmond, Va. As they fed their famished bodies, one said, 'O Jim, -did you ever before hear of such a place where one can really get all he -wants to eat, can get a hot bath, can get one night's lodging all for -nothing? I am so tired I just couldn't walk any more!' - -“One man, about thirty years of age, simply prostrated himself at the -altar, and cried aloud to God for pardon. After he rose he said about -this, 'I came from the workhouse this morning an angry, outraged man, -after thirty days' sentence. I felt my punishment was a great injustice. -My hand was against every man, for I felt every man's hand was against -me. I was ready for any crime. Someone met me and said, “Go to the -Gospel Mission.” I answered, 'I prefer to go to the saloon and get drunk -and forget for a few hours my sorrows and loneliness.' But the friend -brought me here. You have given me a good dinner, but that is the least, -you have reached the friendly hand. Brother Wheeler says I can make this -my headquarters till I get work. I am a skilled mechanic, and I can soon -get my place back again, and now I want to say God has forgiven me my -sins, and they are so black and so many. I was a Christian in my early -life, so I know what I am talking about when I promise my God and all -you, my friends, that, God helping me, I, this day, take Christ for my -Saviour and I will love and serve Him all the days of my life.' That of -itself paid me for all I could do. - -“From three to five people came to the altar for prayer each hour, and -the last hour saw nine young men pleading for forgiveness, and promising -a new life. In all, I should say, that about fifty people asked for -prayers and twenty-five people sought pardon. - -“We had a great singer, Mrs. Fitch, whose singing was greatly used of -God to call men to repentance. Thanksgiving Day was a great day on -earth, at the Gospel Mission, and a great day among the angels of heaven -who saw sinners redeemed.” - - - CHRISTMAS AT THE GOSPEL MISSION - -of 1909 was described by the writer in the following sketch of the -January, 1910, _Gospel Tidings_: - -“Christmas at a mission takes on a great element of thanksgiving; first -for the great gift of God—and no anthems sound so sweet, so deep, -reaching into the deep places of the soul as, 'Now, when Jesus was born -in Bethlehem.' - -“The first thing on Christmas Day was to remember our brothers in bonds. -Down at the barracks in the guard-house, we have two converted men. One -a soldier whom we believe is receiving four times the punishment for -neglect of target practice which he ought to receive; we can only -counsel patience, comfort by our visits and send him a good dinner. - -“Then a dear Jewish brother is there. He had been in the army two years -ago, but he was baited, tormented and outraged in his poetic soul until -he deserted. After that he was converted, and felt with us that he must -go back and take whatever the United States had for him. One of our -workers went with him to the Secretary of War, who said, 'Why, man, -don't come to me; take a carriage for fear you be arrested on the -street.' Mr. Ellison, our helper, took a carriage and went directly to -the Commandant at the barracks. The Commandant said, 'We are sorry for -Mr. L., but he will get two years in the penitentiary at hard labor.' - -“Mr. Ellison said, 'Commander, this man is the servant of the living -God; you will give to this Jew that mercy you yourself will at the last -expect from the Judge of all the earth, who came to this world as a -Jew.' Well, it would be a long story to tell of the court-martial, but, -in answer to prayer, the Jew got only six months in the guard house, and -that time will expire this month. - -“Then two poor workmen are in the hospital, and four sinners who -promised reformation in the workhouse, must have a remembrance. Kindness -in shame often leads men to Christ. - -“But the great event of the day was the service from twelve to one -o'clock, followed by a dinner at which from two hundred to three hundred -lonely men were fed. In the evening a service, at which the old, old -story of love is told, heart-broken men are redeemed, and we all go home -wondering at the never-ending miracle of the gospel, which takes tongues -which blaspheme and makes them sing God's praises, feet that walk in the -ways of sin and makes them run in the ways of righteousness, hands that -steal and makes them do God's service. Oh, it is a wonderful gospel, and -a wonderful Saviour! - -“'O ye priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord, praise and exalt Him -above all forever. O ye servants of the Lord, bless ye the Lord, praise -and exalt Him above all forever. O ye spirits and souls of the -righteous, bless ye the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever. O -ye that are holy and humble of heart, bless ye the Lord, and praise and -exalt Him above all forever.'” - - - NEW YEAR'S EVE - -And New Year's at a Rescue Mission is an interesting time. Men have -wandered the streets for a week, when it seemed to them every other -human being on earth was happy but themselves; they see happiness in -every passing face, they have caught glimpses of Christmas trees through -open doors, they have sensed the appetizing smells of good dinners, they -have witnessed at the railroad stations and even on the streets the -reunion of families, they have heard the deep-toned organs from -churches, they have heard the ragtime music of happy people about the -home piano, and they only unloved, unloving, uncomforted, lonely men -walk the lonely streets of our great cities. - -Is it any wonder that memory calls up the time when they too were in -happy homes, when mothers' arms encircled them, when a father's -benediction was on their young heads, and, like the prodigal son, they -say, “I will arise and go to my Father”? - -Every one of them knows that sin is the cause of his downfall, and they -also know that they must get right with God before they can forsake evil -habits. Scarcely one of them but what has tried again and again to leave -off their grosser sins but have failed, but when at the watch-night -service they are told of a Saviour mighty to save, hope comes again to -the broken-hearted. - -I remember one occasion at the Breakfast Association, Philadelphia, at -the twilight service, New Year's Eve, I saw five hundred men stand for -prayer at one time. Our Mission is much smaller, but on New Year's Eve -and during New Year's Day, when we have a continuous service from 12 -o'clock midday to 9.30 P.M., with an entire change of leaders and -musicians each hour, I have seen your nominal Christian, the toper, the -criminal, all so overcome by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit -that social differences melted away and they knelt side by side at the -mercy seat; we have seen fifty people enter into covenant relations with -God in that pivotal period of the year, and we have seen most of them -keep the faith. - -Think of a church holding a meeting nine and a half hours long; in most -churches the pastor and the elders would have the last three hours or -more all alone. But at the Mission the interest deepens so that it is -hard to dismiss even at a late hour. - - - THE FORGER FROM NEW HAVEN - -It was at one of those long services I saw a New England man brought -under deep conviction, and at last yield to the Spirit, make confession -and receive Christ. - -It was about 4 P.M. when he arose to tell his story of sin. He said, “I -have committed a crime against the State, and I want to know if I can be -forgiven before that is made good. I want to see three members of the -Board alone.” Three of the men went into consultation with him. It -proved that he had forged a check at New Haven for $300, had collected -the money and had escaped. - -He was told, “God will forgive you now and undertake for you in case you -promise full restitution.” He kneeled at the altar, began to pray out -loud, promised restitution and promised to bear patiently any punishment -the State demanded. - -A worker was sent with him to New Haven. He went first to his own -father, who said, “John, I never want to see your face here; you had no -business to come back, for you will be sent to prison and disgrace us -all.” “But, father, I am converted, I mean to take my punishment, then -live a true man ever after.” “Oh! that is different; in that case, I -will help you all I can.” - -They went at once to the man whose name had been forged. They found him -very bitter at first, but when John told his story of how ashamed and -sorry he was, and added, “I have come back to take my punishment, then I -want to be a good man and a good citizen all the rest of my life.” At -this point the father said, “Mr. Percy, I will gladly pay back the $300 -and interest if you think you can forgive John.” That was done and the -prosecution withdrawn. - -The episode had a little after-clap. John came back to Washington, and -came at once to the writer. He said, “Mrs. Monroe, I want you to ask -Miss Stanislaus if she will marry me.” “Why, ask her yourself, man; I am -not in practice in handling love matters.” “No, you see my red head and -freckled face and freckled hands make me so homely I am afraid to ask. -Do see her for me.” This I did. She accepted him, and he obtained a -situation in the mountains of North Carolina as a school teacher. He -preaches on Sunday and they both teach all week and seem to be doing -good work. - -The _Gospel Tidings_, of December, 1910, had this notice: - - WHAT WILL YOU DO, FELLOW-CHRISTIANS? - - “Eleven men, cold, hungry and friendless, the night of December 5, - said, 'Mr. Kline, for God's sake, give us work!' He replied, 'We do - not have the work to give until we get wood-cutting machines.' Mrs. - Monroe said, 'I shall trust God's people to help me on that, even - though the horse and wagon are not yet paid for.' So she personally - took the risk of the 50 needed to put in the machinery. Her friends - will remember that a great fire three years ago not only destroyed - her property, but also her means of making money. - -[Illustration: 10 AND 15 CENT DORMITORIES] - - “'Blessed is he that considereth the poor, the Lord will deliver him - in the time of trouble.' - - “The Gospel Mission Board feel that when the necessities of men are - so great as in this call that it is God's call to help by giving - them means to help themselves. Maybe in these suffering men your - Saviour passes by.” - -The Christian people of Washington made a generous response to that -call, and by the next issue of the _Tidings_ we announced that we could -give fifty cents a day for six hours' work, leaving time to hunt a -better place, and yet pay lodgings and food. - -The October _Tidings_ of 1910 said: - - A MENACE - - “What is the most important question now in Washington? From our - standpoint it is the care of the unfortunate and the sinful. Why? In - order to protect your home. When a man walks the streets hungry, - cold and friendless, and looks through the window of your happy home - and he sees you surrounded with the comforts he lacks, do you know - you are in danger? Unless the unfortunate are comforted, they will - surely dynamite our great cities. - - “The Gospel Mission stands between you and this danger. We make - these sons of sorrow realize that they need be only temporarily - sidetracked from the great highway of success, that the grace of - God, their renewed will power and our friendly hand may yet restore - them to home, friends and society, and make them useful men.” - - - - - CHAPTER IX - THE PENNY LUNCH AND FREE DISPENSARY - - -The following is a letter written by Mr. George W. Wheeler, which was -published in our _Gospel Tidings_, of February, 1911: - - - PENNY LUNCH - - “In an experience of twenty-six years in active, earnest, aggressive - Rescue Mission work in this city, the writer cannot recall that any - line of secular work taken up for the amelioration of the poor has - ever called forth such universal expressions of interest, sympathy - and co-operation as the 'Penny Lunch and Newsboys' Waiting Room,' - opened by the Gospel Mission, at 304 Fourteenth Street, on Saturday, - February 4. The city papers published pictures of the interior and - exterior, and a portrait of our Superintendent, Mr. Kline, and were - most generous in their endorsement of the enterprise, while the _New - York Times_ and other papers spread the news far and wide that the - cost of living had been solved in Washington by the Gospel Mission - '_Penny Lunch_.' - - “The opening of this lunch-room was made possible by a noble - Christian woman of wealth, who was born, reared and now resides in - this city. Her interest was aroused by reading a statement of the - work and needs of the Gospel Mission, prepared by our - Superintendent, and she came to see about the matter, learned its - approximate cost, and sent a check to pay the expenses. - - “For two weeks or more Mr. Kline and his assistants were busy - papering, painting, etc., and finally the steam table and coffee - urns, with many other essentials of a twentieth century up-to-date - lunch-room were installed and the doors were opened to a waiting - crowd. Mrs. Kline oversees the cooking, and everything is as clean - and neat as in one's home. - - “The menu consists of the following articles: Coffee, 1 penny; bread - or rolls, 1 penny; beans, 1 penny; doughnuts, 1 penny; sour, 1 - penny; beef stew, 3 pennies; one-half pie, 3 pennies. A lunch, - consisting of soup, meat, vegetables, bread and coffee, 5 cents. - This brings a well-cooked, clean, nourishing meal within the reach - of all who have any income whatever. - - “It was amusing to see the class of men and boys who came to have - their appetites satisfied at the lowest cost. Newsboys, messenger - boys, laboring men, teamsters, and all kinds of indescribables came, - and they appeared greatly surprised to find such an attractive room - with all the 'latest improvements' found in a lunch-room. And how - they did eat! A big soup plate filled to the brim with bean soup, a - big china cup filled with steaming hot coffee, a big brown roll or - three slices of Corby's 'Mother's Bread.' These were good, and - 'mighty filling at the price.' - - “Well, the 'Penny Lunch' is launched, and whether the prices charged - will pay the cost of the material, cooking and serving, or not, we - feel certain that any little deficiency that may occur will be - cheerfully met by the well-to-do of our community. - - “A coffee-roasting firm has pledged five pounds of good coffee each - week for use at the 'Penny Lunch' room, and we are sure dealers in - other lines will be glad to assist. Corby Brothers have been - furnishing from fifty to seventy-five loaves of bread for our 'bread - line' for many months, and Browning & Baines, coffee dealers, have - supplied six pounds of coffee a week for a long time past. - - “We greatly appreciate the generous co-operation of all these dear - friends, who help us to help others to help themselves.” - -The benefits of the Penny Lunch can never be told till the books of -eternity are opened, but some idea may be gathered when we state that -the report of the bread line from May 12, 1911, to May 12, 1912, was -41,750, but the report from May 12, 1912, to May 12, 1913, was 18,950. -The Bread Line is the name of a service at 6 A.M., the year round, when -bread and black coffee is served to all who come for it. If people will -come before daylight in the winter, or at that early hour in the summer -for coffee, without cream or sugar, and a quarter of a loaf of bread, we -believe they need it, and we gladly give it, not as a charity, but as a -visible token of our sympathy. Now, the fact that 22,800 fewer people -took bread and coffee free in the year 1912 to 1913, compared with the -preceding year, can only be accounted for that when a man has a few -pennies in his pocket he could buy a satisfactory breakfast, and gladly -did so rather than to line up for an unrequited kindness. - -How shamed many men were to take food in the bread line, but the loving -word sweetened many a bitter cup. Once a hand so unusually white and -well-kept reached for the cup of coffee. Mrs. Kline looked up and saw -the face of a man who had been a minister of the gospel. She said, -“Brother, take only the coffee, we want you to take breakfast at our -family table this morning.” He sat down to drink the coffee with bitter -tears coursing down his shamed face. Of course, every kindness was shown -him, “for need has its right, and necessity its claim,” then the blessed -Spirit came in and lo, he prayed, and God received back to a useful life -a man who had found sorrow and sin bitter and the tears of remorse salt. - - -WHAT DR. HALLIMOND, OF THE NEW YORK BOWERY MISSION, SAYS ABOUT THE BREAD - LINE - -“There are in the Bowery men who never sleep in a lodging house because -they have not the price, and they get their bed either by stealing or -begging, and eat out of the garbage boxes. You who have never been to -the Bowery know nothing of the agony or remorse that these men feel. -Now, what are we to do with them? There is not anybody to look after -them but us. Oh, the horrors of the homeless man! It is the many little -comforts that go to make our comfortable life. They cannot keep clean. -They cannot brush their clothes or comb their hair, they cannot take -their shoes off their poor tired feet. These men gather there in the -great meetings, and among them are many that are in the last stages of -physical weakness. Many of them ought to be in the hospital instead of -walking the street day and night. Many of them are dying of hunger. -Sometimes we cannot get men to understand that we have people in our -meetings that are dying of hunger. I am not using any figure of speech. -It is not an unheard-of thing for men to drop dead in our meetings. That -is why we have the 'bread line.' We dare not fail to help these people. -People sometimes come to us with the very best of intentions, talking to -us of the sin of indiscriminate charity; but, bless your life! is not -God indiscriminate, for does not He cause the rain to fall on the just -and unjust? Did Jesus Christ ever go through the hungry crowds and find -out who was worthy and who was unworthy? Did He not spend His life to -help just such men? These dear people some of them are spending -seventy-five cents to find out where the other twenty-five cents is to -go. I have made up my mind that if I ever find a man dying on my -doorstep of hunger, and I can do anything to save him, I am going to do -it, whether he deserves it or whether he does not. - -“That is the origin of our bread line about which you have heard so -much. We cannot help but have a bread line. In fact, I refuse to allow -our work to be called a charity. It is not a charity, it is brotherly -kindness. It is not a charity, but a kind hospitality, just a little -evidence, just a little token, that there is somebody who cares for -their poor weary hearts which these destitute brothers of ours possess. -As long as the bread line exists, and God helping, it shall exist as -long as there is need for it, people must know that there is something -wrong with our social system, a problem that we cannot solve but that is -up to the politician. As long as we are in this great, rich country with -all the extravagances of wealth, then the bread line shall tell that -there is something wrong, and that our Declaration of Independence, -declaring, as it does, for 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,' -is but a delusion and a snare.” - -This seems a long interlude to the Penny Lunch chapter, but you can see -the lunch counter where five cents can buy beans, bread and coffee, -saves many a man from feeling that he takes charity. The bread line was -instituted to fortify a man's stomach against needing to go to the -saloon in the morning for the free lunch, also to give strength to a -poor fellow so he could search for work. - -The bread line food given each morning will not of itself sustain life, -as we found out to our sorrow. One Tuesday night, as the writer entered -the Mission for the purpose of conducting the service, I found the men -at the door excited. On inquiry, I found a man lying on the front seat -dying. The Emergency Hospital ambulance had already been called. I found -a man who twenty years ago had been a leading patent attorney of this -city. I saw the soul was about to depart. I said, “Mr. West, say, 'Lord -Jesus, receive my spirit.'” “No, I have lived wicked, I shall die -wicked.” “O son, say, 'Lord Jesus, forgive me.'” “Too late, too late; I -have heard you all, night after night, and I have rejected Christ. I -must die as I have lived.” - -I motioned the choir to sing softly, “Jesus receiveth sinful men.” I -bent over him, urging repentance; the ambulance men were at my side, -they picked him up and laid him carefully on the stretcher. I said, -“Dear Mr. West, we are praying for you, pray for yourself.” I kept my -hand tenderly on his head as the stretcher was slowly carried out, but -he continued to say, “Too late, too late for me.” - -He died within an hour, and the post-mortem showed he had died of -inanition caused by slow starvation. We found he had tried to live on -the bread and coffee of the bread line alone; he was too poor to buy -food, too proud to tell his needs, and we were too stupid and too busy -to realize his awful need. We thereby learned a good lesson, and the -Superintendent and helpers now all look more carefully after the man who -sits down claiming either exhaustion or sickness. - -No man, woman or child is ever refused food because without money, but -if a man can buy whisky, we think he ought to be able to buy food, -though even then we look after him. - -We cannot leave the granting of food to employees, so when the -Superintendent and his wife are absent we have some pathetic cases. Mr. -Gordon found a little fellow crying at the door. “What is the matter, -little man?” said the big man. “Mother gave me ten cents to buy food for -our family, and I have lost the money.” You may be sure Mr. Gordon -obtained much more than ten cents' worth of food for the child. Very -many families live in one furnished room and get all their food at the -penny lunch counter. Seamstresses, all the dollar a day men for many -squares, girls from the Agricultural Seed Bureau, come in and buy at -cost the luncheon at the middle of the day. Many well-to-do people come -in and take luncheon to watch the various grades of humanity who solve -the cost of high living by taking meals at the Mission. All the street -peddlers, the umbrella man, the shoestring and pencil man, the rag -gatherers, eat at the counter, the better class sit at the tables. - -Mr. Gordon saw a little altercation between a waiter and a customer, the -waiter demanding four cents while the man had but three cents. “But you -should not have ordered food unless you could pay for it.” The poor man -looked dreadfully embarrassed, at last he looked up and said, “Will you -lend me a cent, sir?” which was gladly done. - -Many who come only for the cheap meal are induced by the kindness shown -and by the good music and bright lights in the chapel, to go in to the -services. There some song, some word from the speaker, some devout -prayer, touches the chord of memory of what a mother, a faithful teacher -or almost forgotten preacher has taught years ago, and, backed by the -Holy Spirit, a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter returns to the -Father's house. - -Mr. Kline reports the meals furnished in the Penny Lunch Room from May -12, 1912, to May, 1913, to be 87,856, at an average cost of four and -one-third cents per meal. - - - THE DISPENSARY - -was opened February 1, 1912, after the need was very apparent, and -further neglect of this branch of work seemed impossible. - -Never will I forget the day when I first called up Dr. C. H. Bowker, one -of the leading physicians of the city, living on Massachusetts Avenue, -near Thomas Circle, the very heart of the city, and told him of a man -who had pneumonia, and of a woman in the shelter with a severe cold, and -asked him to go to the Mission free of charge. I waited with bated -breath for the reply. It was, “I am an exceedingly busy man, but I shall -try to go within an hour.” Very much emboldened, I said, “Could you stop -in once a day to see if anyone there has a contagious disease, or if -anyone should be sent immediately to the hospital?” - -The answer seemed very slow, and I fairly trembled, for our need was so -great. At last he said, “Well, I have noticed if I put a duty on my -daily program, I manage in some way to get it in.” From that day to this -that blessed doctor has been at the beck and call of the Mission day and -night; only God knows what a help and a comfort he has been to broken -men and sorrowful women in that part of the city. - -The February _Gospel Tidings_, of 1912, had the following: - - - GOSPEL MISSION DISPENSARY - -“For several months we have had a house physician, and the use and need -for him has steadily increased. The establishment of regular hours at -which patients could see the doctor, and a proper place for -consultation, naturally suggested the establishment of a dispensary. -This appeared feasible to the Executive Committee, and Mrs. Monroe, -Superintendent Kline and Dr. Bowker were appointed a committee to study -the advisability of such an addition to our work. The report from this -committee was favorable to the project, and active steps were at once -taken to the establishment of a free general dispensary for the -treatment of all classes of cases, or their reference, where necessary, -to special institutions. - -“The location of the Mission for dispensary work could not be better -from any point of view. It is accessible to the hundreds needing its -help. There is no conflict in its field by any other institution doing -this class of work. Four rooms on the first floor of the Mission, with -the chapel for a waiting-room, will serve admirably for dispensary needs -at present. And these rooms are rapidly being put in shape by carpenters -and painters. Shelves are being made for the pharmacy, a door cut -through the partition, and running water is to be installed. - -“Our printing plant will again demonstrate its usefulness by furnishing -the necessary record blanks, labels, treatment cards, etc. - -“The Executive Committee has placed Dr. Charles Harvey Bowker, 1204 -Massachusetts Avenue, in full charge of the Gospel Mission Dispensary, -and he will have associated with him at first Dr. O. C. Cox, 1320 -Eleventh Street, N. W. A number of leading physicians and surgeons have -evinced an interest and willingness to give their services, and Dr. -Bowker will add them to the dispensary staff and assign them work as the -clinic grows and they are needed. - -“Dr. Bowker's experience in managing a hospital in his home city, and -his hospital and dispensary work in Washington, assure us a businesslike -management of this new branch of our work. - -“Our need at present is for drugs and surgical dressing, and it is hoped -that the druggists of the city may contribute. - -“The dispensary opened Thursday, February 1, 1912, at 10 A.M., which -will be the regular daily hour, and all those who are interested are -invited to inspect the new rooms.” - -You notice that we opened February 1, 1912, and our annual report in May -_Tidings_, 1913, shows the following: - - THE MISSION FREE DISPENSARY - - _Staff_ - - Physician in charge, Dr. Charles H. Bowker, 1204 Massachusetts - Avenue, N. W. - - _Associates_ - - Dr. Oliver C. Cox, 1320 Eleventh Street, N. W. - Dr. W. O. Owen, Southern Building. - Dr. William F. Hemler, 706 Eighth Street, N. W. - Dr. C. A. Simpson, 1217 Connecticut Avenue, N. W. - Dr. C. F. Dufour, 1347 L Street, N. W. - Dr. Adam Kemble, Cecil Apartments, Fifteenth and L Streets, N. W. - Dr. Jesse Ramsburgh, The Portner. - - _Hours for Treatment_ - - Medical and surgical cases treated daily, 11 to 12 A.M. - Diseases of Women—Monday, Wednesday and Friday. - Diseases of Men—Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. - Diseases of Children—Monday, Wednesday and Friday. - Diseases of Ear, Eye, Nose and Throat—Monday and Thursday. - - _Report for the Year Ending April 30, 1913_ - - Cases treated 2500 - Referred to Hospital 80 - Treated at homes 80 - -The dispensary is in need of a sterilizer and a special fund for medical -supplies for those too poor to pay. - - * * * * * - -The sterilizer later was the gift of Dr. Jesse Ramsburgh, and we have a -complete set of lenses for testing the eyes of school children. - -It would break your heart to see the women with babies, the aged on -crutches, the hosts of children, the aged victims of every vice, now -broken and often repentant, seek the aid of these good men. Often we run -short of remedies. “What do they do then?” you ask. Well, they simply go -down in their own pockets and buy the necessities, and no one is turned -empty away. - -Think of a procession of sick and needy persons, 2500 human beings in -line, and you will see in your mind what that blessed dispensary has -done for the sorrowful of this city in one year. - -I wish I dare to tell you the particulars of one of these great -physicians who had not been living close to God, seeing our work of -faith, seeing how the Mission people lay their many needs before a -patient God, who meets every demand in answer to their prayer, and -possibly feeling that in a mission he could not minister to a mind -diseased without himself being in touch with the living God, was led to -revise his views, make public confession of his faith and enlist in -God's organized method of evangelizing the world by joining the church. -We all need God, but the hand that reaches down to help sinful men must -have the other hand clasped close in God's strong hand if he would do -effective work. - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL - - -St. Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the -_power_ of God unto salvation.” - -Yes, the gospel is the _power_. The soul is as dead as a street car with -the power gone, till it is touched by that special power. I could kneel -at the side of a sinner and quote the very best things of Shakespeare or -Milton, and the soul would step to no higher ground; but when the right -verse of God's word is shown with the New Testament in hand, and the -Holy Spirit makes that soul see that the passage before him is God's -recorded wireless message for his soul alone, the power comes on and -that verse again proves true, “But as many as received Him, to them gave -He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His -name,” and a soul is born into the kingdom of God. Dan Crawford, the -great missionary to Africa, says not Livingstone, not Taylor, not Dan -Crawford, are the real pioneer missionaries, but the Spirit of God -Himself, and when the word is brought to a prepared soul it is a spark -of powder. He tells of one besotted Negro who read John's Gospel. The -Negro said, “I was startled that Christ could speak Chulba; I heard Him -speak out of the printed page, and what He said to me was, 'Follow me.'” -Mr. Crawford says, “When the guncotton of John's Gospel came in contact -with the tinder of his rebellion, he was literally exploded into the -kingdom,” and by continuing to study St. John's Gospel the transforming -power of the gospel made him a good earnest Christian man, fit for the -companionship of good people. - -At a rescue mission we have such scenes almost every night of the year. -In our case it is usually the word first implanted in the human heart -either at a mother's knee or by some Sunday school teacher, or by a -faithful preacher in early life, then the very room of the Mission is -filled with the Holy Spirit in answer to the prayers of God's people. -Now, when a heart-broken, world-buffeted sinner comes into the room, the -words or music of some song, or the presentation of God's word, is used -by God's Spirit to bring to memory all the sinner has known of these -things; he hears redeemed men tell how God cured them of lust, of -alcoholism, of gambling, of profane language, of all sin; he sees these -men well clothed, radiantly happy, and sees and feels his own -degradation; is it any wonder he drops on his knees and cries out, “Men -and brethren, what shall I do to be saved”? When he wants God more than -he wants deliverance from his besetting sin, when he wants God more than -he wants his deserted wife and children, when he wants God for what God -can do for his poor soul, the God of his soul comes down, and at that -second the soul passes from death unto life eternal, for that soul the -decisions of the judgment day have been settled, for Jesus said, -“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my words and believeth -on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into -condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.” - -That verse comprehended and lived has power enough to carry a soul -through all besetments into the very presence of God. - - - THE CASE OF MR. ABBOTT - -During the winter of 1910, there came into the Gospel Mission a man, -ragged, soiled, blear-eyed, doped and utterly down and out; he came only -for the coffee and rolls given Sunday night. Before coming up the steps -he had said to a friend, “I don't want to hear any of their blank -sermons, but I am starving.” He heard no sermon, instead he received a -warm hand-shake, he heard bright singing, but, best of all, he heard -redeemed men tell how God had saved them from the alcohol habit, till he -cried out, “If God has power to save me from the sin of drink, I want -God!” He kneeled and poured out his soul in prayer. As soon as he began -to pray aloud, we saw he was an educated man. The Spirit came upon him -in great power, he really had the searchlight of God on his soul, and he -saw himself for a short time as God saw him. Then God forgave him, he -rose justified, strong, happy, a new man in Christ Jesus. The Mission -gave him a bed for the night, and the next morning this man, who had not -worked or desired work for two years, begged that we should find a place -for him to earn his way. He obtained a situation to solicit business for -a laundry, about as hard work as one can imagine, but he made good, and -in six months he was made foreman of the laundry in which he was -employed. He modernized its methods and doubled its business by the end -of the year, and the company made him a present of five hundred shares -of stock and elected him president of the company. Then he received -$3000 a year salary, besides his percentage of all gains made by the -house. His friends claim his income is now about $5000 a year. In the -meantime, after he had been redeemed, probably four months, his wife, a -most beautiful and accomplished Philadelphia woman, brought their lovely -son, aged about eight, and they began housekeeping again. The home has -given needed physical comfort, the companionship has given the mental -and the spiritual help needed to make this former tramp into a -first-class citizen. At night, during the last winter, he has been -studying law in one of the university law schools, and on Sunday he acts -as usher and vestryman in one of the largest Protestant Episcopal -churches. As a child he had been a choir boy in a church in -Philadelphia. Doubtless the knowledge gained there as a child made him -able to understand his duty to God and man after his conversion better -far than an ignorant, uninstructed person could have done after months -of instruction. - -[Illustration: CHILDREN OF ALL NATIONS] - -[Illustration: SETTLEMENT HOUSE] - - - THE PSYCHOLOGY - -of just this case is worth considering. This man was spiritually dead, -so far as we could see. He did not desire to live. The people of the -Mission had been more or less in prayer from three o'clock to eight when -this man came in. He saw religion in action in the person and speech of -redeemed men. But even if these testimonies were factors it was the Holy -Spirit that did the work. It was the divine spark to human tinder, or, -as Henry Drummond better puts it, “The spiritual world reached down and -carried this worldly soul into the world above it.” “He that hath the -Son hath life, he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” Life -depends upon contact with life, it cannot develop out of anything that -is not life. - -Even as the physiologist cannot explain how the human seed generates in -a human body eventually becoming a new-born man child, neither can -theology fully explain how the Holy Spirit can touch a human soul out of -which will be born another soul in the same body with marks of its -divine parentage in every line, or, as St. Paul says, a new creature in -Christ Jesus. - -I heard a distinguished man who had long been in official connection -with prisons and reformatories, say, “A reformed man is always in -danger; he may stand twenty years and then fall back into sin, but a -regenerated man is as safe from his sinful besetments as if they had not -been the weakness of his life.” - -I fancy I can hear some preacher say, “If it is the word and the Holy -Spirit do the work, why does not the church have as many conversions as -a mission?” The very first element of spiritual power is lacking in most -churches. If the preacher, the official members, then every member of -the church first sought God's special blessing in private, then came -together offering first praise, then united prayer to God from the very -depths of their hearts, there would be conversions every Sunday in every -church. - -Spurgeon and Moody expected conversions every Sunday, and they had them. - -In presenting a soul to Christ no perfunctory Christian can do it and -have that soul received. To present a person to the King of England, let -us say, the presenter needs to be acquainted with the king; so a person -unacquainted with God has no power at the throne; he even impedes the -soul coming into the light. I have seen many a dancing, card-playing -Christian at the side of the penitent, praying earnestly, then rise -baffled, troubled, helpless; not able to reach the throne, they had no -access to God. - -Often people from the States write me to present such and such a paper -in person to the President of the United States. I am obliged to reply, -“I have no access to the President of the United States,” but I daily -thank God that I have access to the throne, for I am acquainted with -God. - - - RELIGION WITH THE DEFECTIVE DELINQUENT - -I venture to take the two following short articles from the November -numbers of 1913 of the _Survey_, the most valuable weekly magazine which -comes to my desk on all social questions: - - “WHAT ABOUT JEFF?” - - “Jeff is a white boy sixteen years old. I am estimating this, as - Jeff says he doesn't know how old he is and doesn't know his - surname. He has every appearance of being a little less than half - witted. - - “I found Jeff this morning working, with two other white boys and - ten or twelve Negro boys, as an inmate of the County Workhouse. He - was carrying stone on a public hitch-lot. One of the white boys and - two of the Negro boys were in chains. - - “Jeff has been in the workhouse for sixty days. He was placed there - for beating a ride on a railroad train. Next Monday Jeff will be - released. He will have not a cent to his name, not very good - clothes, not a relative in the country, no place to sleep and - nothing to eat. - - “I have put this predicament before our city inter-church - organization, and we have seen no solution. About the best thing we - can see for this half-witted boy is that he will do something that - will again bring him within the clutches of the law in order that he - may be immediately sent back to the workhouse. At the age of sixteen - he is a human derelict, yet he has capacity to work, to love, to - respect, to enjoy, and to feel sorrow. - - “There is another mentally weak boy in this same gang. If we knew - what to do with Jeff we might be able to do more for the other one. - What do you suggest?”—_W. H. Swift, Greensboro, N. C._ - - “SUE AND JEFF” - - “'What about Jeff?' was shown to a New York settlement worker. - 'Print it,' he said, 'in the hope that someone may stir up the - inter-church organizations of Greensboro to find another solution. - The question is: What about that organization? rather than poor - Jeff. He is a victim of wrong social conditions, plus his weak head; - but if there is no one in his neighborhood who can see any other - solution than the workhouse for a lad who has the “capacity to work, - to love, to respect, to enjoy and to feel sorrow,” then I suggest - that the community is worse off, a good deal, than poor Jeff. To - begin with, why don't the inter-church organization take him under - its own wing?' - - “Now, it would be very easy for the inter-church organization of - Greensboro to take care of Jeff if there were only one of him. - Unfortunately, there are many hundreds of him. How many of the boys - of sixteen sent to the island from the New York City courts are of - Jeff's class? Nobody knows for certain, because nobody tries to find - out. Those of us who have lived for years among defectives and have - visited reform schools know that the number is large. Yet the - inter-church organizations of New York City do not take them under - their wings. - - “The proportion of the feeble-minded Jeffs in various reformatories - has been to range from twenty to fifty per cent of all the inmates. - Every intelligent worker with prisoners knows there are many - weak-minded among them; yet the usual method of treating the - defective-delinquent (and every defective is a potential delinquent) - throughout the United States is to do with them just what our - Greensboro friend hopes to do with Jeff—send him to the workhouse as - soon as he commits his next petty crime. And we keep on doing it - over and over and over again. - - “Meanwhile the proper method with the Jeffs and the Sues is so - simple and plain, so patently economical in this generation, and so - tremendously profitable for the next, that its very simplicity makes - it neglected. The colony at Templeton, Mass.; the one just organized - at Menantico, N. J.; the farm colonies at Fort Wayne, Ind.; Lincoln, - Ill.; Faribault, Minn.; Columbus, Ohio; and Letchworth Village, N. - Y., all point the way with greater or less success. - - “Yet Letchworth Village was enacted by the legislature of New York - nearly five years ago. Its first commission reported 29,000 suitable - inmates pressing for care. To-day it has only 100 inmates; and the - Inter-church Federation says nothing. - - “It is not worth while to get all stirred up and excited about Jeffs - in North Carolina. What have we to say about the defectives in - jails, workhouses, penitentiaries, reformatories, and prisons under - our noses in New York? Is our beam so big that we cannot see - it?”—_Alexander Johnson, Director Department of Extension, Vineland, - N. J._ - -Now, that was the churches' opportunity. Federation work should see that -a religious school should be started in each community for its Jeffs and -Sues. A city rescue mission could easily find work for Jeff. - -I saw a Jeff come into the Sunday school of my own church. He was a -great lumbering chap of eighteen years of age, he was not quite clean, -there was the odor of the unwashed about him. He immediately went to the -class of about thirty young men of his own age. I was gratified to see -that youth seek the society of the church people rather than the saloon, -but he was not welcome with the young men. The teacher visited his home, -there was no help to be expected from the home, so the teacher, or the -class, whether by actual request or by treatment, caused Jeff to stay -away. Now, in the great day of accounts, of whom will that soul be -required? If the defective intellect, what there is of it, can be turned -to believe God, the defective is prevented from becoming a criminal. We -have them at the Gospel Mission. The very first thing is to have the -physician talk to Jeff of the sacredness of his own body to absolutely -prevent all secret habits which injure the body and brain, and the -motive of self-restraint both for physical habits and for drink must be -that these things offend a loving Saviour who walks with each one of us. - -Each year I meet Dr. H. M. Freas, of Philadelphia, at Northfield. His -work as a physician frequently takes him to the asylum for the insane. -He feels most keenly that these institutions should be in the hands of -Christian people only. Many a brilliant intellect could be restored to -perfect sanity if the loving care of some saintly Protestant sisterhood -or brotherhood were in charge to bring the human love, which even the -sanest of us need, to bear on the tottering brain. These human -deficients are found in the public schools; as soon as discovered they -should be transferred to a religious school where they can be -scientifically studied, what intellect they have developed, and the -religious side of each one fostered. If then they are found permanently -deficient, especially in the moral sense, or in physical self-control, -then they should be segregated on farms for the sake of the race. People -of deficient brains become fanatics; now, if these unbalanced people -become filled with an enthusiasm of righteousness they absolutely do -much good. They constitute three-fourths of the street preachers, and -they reach many a soul who never enters a church. Religion prevents -insanity. There is no doubt that fanaticism run riot leads to the -asylum. We had one man who was insufficiently fed, badly clothed, who -spent the entire night in prayer, two or three nights of the week. Of -course, he was brought up in the insane asylum, but when he had food -enough at the asylum where he was not permitted to pray aloud, he soon -became normal, and was set free. It taught him a needed lesson. - -But religion sustains us through the breaking ties of life, through the -loss of fortune, through the defection of friends, through blasted -hopes, through the anguish of children going wrong, and their punishment -by the State which follows. - -Religion holds many a woman whose son is a wanderer, either criminal or -otherwise, from insanity. I know a woman who has not looked into the -face of her wandering son for six years. She stands up and sings with -radiant face, “I am going through whatever others do, I am going through -with Jesus,” and in spite of what looks an unbearable sorrow, leads a -useful and apparently happy life. A mission is a blessed thing for -enthusiasts. It sends them with flowers and literature to hospitals and -jails, it sends food to private families in need, it gives the -enthusiasts tracts to distribute, it puts musical instruments into their -hands and says, “Praise the Lord with pleasant sounds,” it sets women to -repairing clothing for the poor, to caring for little children, while -mothers earn money for food. As we do these things we talk religion, we -tell of Jesus, the friend of sinners, we make a steady effort in very -many directions to have each soul brought into harmony with God. In -almost every instance where sorrow in a family has been the result of -sin; and Jesus is allowed to become to each of them a personal Saviour; -the home is electrified by a new enthusiasm; the parents become -efficient, self-supporting, happy; the children become self-respecting; -are taken from the class needing help; and become helpers. Religion -eases the burden of life and heals the welts of adversity. - -We have in Washington a club known as “The Monday Evening Club,” a -clearing house for all forms of philanthropy. At the different banquets -and at their monthly meetings all forms of reforms, from purely a -humanitarian standpoint, are discussed, but we, who go at the open sores -of the world with the only sure cure earth has yet received, the -religion of Jesus Christ, we receive no recognition, we are given no -hearing at banquets, and are never spoken of as part of the city's force -for betterment, yet we comfort the prisoner, we bring hope to the -hopeless, and we are the real protection of the city. No hungry man is -turned from our door unsatisfied. A hungry man is a danger, a man with a -hungry family is a menace. He will get food even if it costs a life to -obtain it. Like Him whom we serve we are rejected of men. We work amid -the social dynamite of a great city. Unless the religious part of this -nation assumes its rightful place as arbiter in all labor troubles, -saying to the rich man, “Thou shalt not defraud,” and to the poor man, -“Thou shalt do no violence”; unless Christian people see to it that -remunerative labor can be had by every person willing to work; unless -Christian people close the saloons (the author of seventy-five per cent -of the sufferings of the poor), on some sad day our great cities will be -systematically dynamited. As Christians we must go down among them and -make the broken man feel that he is only temporarily sidetracked from -the great highway of success. That the grace of God and his own will can -and will bring him back to the great highway of prosperity. - -The Church is waking up to its full duty in social service. Bishop -Simpson, even in his day, eloquently described the mission of the Church -in the world: “The Church must grope her way into the alleys and courts -and purlieus of the city, and up the broken staircase, and into the bare -room and beside the loathsome sufferer; she must go down into the pit -with the miner, into the forecastle with the sailor, into the tent with -the soldier, into the shop with the mechanic, into the factory with the -operative, into the field with the farmer, into the counting-room with -the merchant. Like the air, the Church must press equally on all the -surfaces of society; like the sea, flow into every nook of the shoreline -of humanity, and, like the sun, shine on things foul and low, as well as -fair and high, for she was organized, commissioned and equipped for the -moral renovation of the world.” - -In closing this chapter we cannot do better than to quote from the -fourth volume of the Jewish Encyclopedia, which pays this remarkable -tribute to Christianity: - -“Christianity, following the matchless ideals of its Christ, redeemed -the despised and outcast, and ennobled suffering. It checked -infanticide, and founded asylums for the young. It removed the curse of -slavery by making the humblest bondsmen proud of being a child of God. -It fought against the cruelties of the arena, it invested the home with -purity and proclaimed the value of each human soul as a treasure in the -eyes of God, and it so leavens the great masses of the empire as to -render the cross of Christ the sign of victory for its legions in place -of the Roman eagle. - -“The Galilean entered the world as a conqueror. The Church became the -educator of pagan nations; and one race after another was brought under -her tutorship. The Latin races were followed by the Celt, the Teuton and -the Slav. The same burning enthusiasm which sent forth the first -Apostles, also set the missionaries aglow, and brought all Europe and -Africa, and finally the American continent, under the scepter of an -omnipotent Church. Christianity is not an end, but the means to an end, -the establishment of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God.” - - - - - CHAPTER XI - HEREDITARY SIN - - -It was an exceedingly cold night when Jake Grossman burst into the -mission, having on the apparel of a hotel cook. He did not take a seat, -but marched to the front and prostrated himself at the altar, crying, -“God be merciful to me, a sinner.” In such cases, no difference what we -are doing, all formal program is suspended and we go at once to prayer. -Jake was in deep earnest, men and women acquainted with God kneeled all -about him, presenting his case to the Saviour of men. We did not then -know his special need, but a soul in the depth of conviction wanted God, -not for one sin, but he needed cleansing from all the sins of his past -life. It must have been an hour before that soul received light. The -choir had sung softly, “I'm coming home to-night,” and like melodies; -others had come to the altar, been forgiven and gone to their seats, -when Jake Grossman rose to his feet and rejoiced that he had found peace -and pardon through the blood of Christ. - -We found afterwards that Grossman was the son of the great Swiss -engineer, who had planned the great tunnel through the Alps, whose -genius had built bridges over roaring, impassable canyons, who had -planned the electric roads in all parts of Switzerland, until he was -wined and dined by scientists not only in his own country but in many -countries, so that he had acquired the alcoholic habit, after which his -brain became sluggish and at last he fell from his high estate, became a -common drunkard and died poor. The memory of the wicked shall perish. - -While he was yet prosperous, using expensive wines, his only legitimate -son was born. The mother noticed that, as a child of six or seven, Jake -wanted a sip every time wine was used on the table; by twelve he could -drink a large glass of wine and not show drunkenness. By his twentieth -year Jake was a drunkard, the father dead, the mother poor and -heart-broken. Friends and relatives all advised sending Jake to America, -where wine is not used on the table, and also to get Jake away from old -companions. - -He came with letters to good people, but alcoholism is not baffled by -change of location. His money gave out, the people to whom he had been -introduced refused to receive him. Fortunately his mother had taught him -to cook, so he obtained a place as an assistant cook in a Washington -hotel; later he developed into a first-class chef. When he came to the -Mission he had been discharged for drunkenness, and now, being a -redeemed man, he went back to the hotel, gave up his white clothing, -gathered up his belongings, and sought other work. - -That was five years ago. Jake has often been asked by the hotels of this -city to cook for them at a salary of $100 or more a month, but Jake -daily prays, “Lead us not into temptation,” and he does not knowingly -walk into it. He shovels coal at a wage of $10 per week. He says, “You -see, it keeps me in the open air; I do not have to taste wine or smell -it; I get black on the outside, but I keep white within, which was more -than I did as a cook.” - -All the heroes are not in high places. “He that ruleth his spirit is -better than he that taketh a city.” We believe God cleansed Jake -Grossman from inherited sin. - - - HEREDITY - -I see that scientists are now claiming that a tendency to use alcohol is -not hereditary. We who work among alcoholics know that it is. God says -that the sins of the fathers shall be visited on the children unto the -third and fourth generation, and they are. God gives a high premium for -virtue to all who would take the responsibility of bringing another life -into the world. - -I remember a man converted at the Breakfast Association, Philadelphia. I -had spoken on the power of God to take away even inherited tendencies of -sin from our souls. A young chap in the audience sent an usher to ask me -to see him in the after meeting. I went down the aisle till I stood by -his side. He said, “Can God save me from drink? My father was a -saloon-keeper and died drunk. My mother died a drunkard; she fed me beer -as an infant. I am now twenty-two years old; I do not remember a day in -my life that I have not used beer.” Looking over that blear-eyed crowd, -he said, “I do not want an old age like these wretches. Do you know that -I recognize among these bloats at least twenty men who are the sons of -saloon-keepers? You Christians have not yet discovered that no man puts -liquor to his neighbor's lips without destroying his own family. Now, -can God save me from the sin and shame of the old age of an alcoholic -paralytic?” - -“Well, let us go to the altar and ask Him.” We knelt long at the altar. -At last he claimed that he had been accepted of God. As he started to -leave the hall he came back and said, “Do pray for me; I am afraid of -the smells of the street; I am afraid of my old companions. Pray for -me.” - -“Well,” I said, “you come home with me, you are young enough to be my -son. If you were, I would want some good woman to mother you.” The next -day I took him to Lancaster, Pa., where at that time I had a number of -acquaintances among business men. I took him to quite a number before I -came to a man who would take him at all, and to a number who would take -him but not agree to help save a soul. At last I came to a Christian man -in the leather business, who agreed to take him into his family, -instruct him in the very rudiments of religion, take him to church and -Sunday school with him; in fact, to nourish this new-born soul in -Christ. We prayed together, then I left him. For a very short time I -received a postal-card each week, which I failed to answer; then, amid -the cares of a very busy life, I forgot him. About three years after -that I was walking along a street in Lancaster when a fine-looking chap -came rushing from behind me, and, placing his arm over my shoulder, -said, “Oh, God bless you! God bless you!” - -I turned and found a fine-looking man with tear-dimmed eyes blessing me. -“Son,” I said, “what is your name?” - -“Oh! do you not know me? I have prayed for you every day for three -years, and you have forgotten me.” - -“Well,” I said, “I fancy you are so much better looking to-day than you -were then so that your own mother might not know you now.” - -I walked back to the leather store with him and found my friend behind -the counter. “Mr. S.” I said, “is John Schmidt a good man?” - -He did not wait to go around the counter, but, coming right over it, he -placed a hand on each of John's shoulders as he said, “I am glad to bear -witness that John is a true, good man. At first he was sorely tried to -associate only with our kind of people, but he has worked all day, gone -to school at night, gone to church and Sunday school every Sunday, and -he is about to marry one of the best young women of our church.” God had -done a perfect work of grace, and the hereditary drunkard became a good -man and a useful citizen. It must be so, for the word says the blood of -Christ Jesus cleanses from _all_ sin. - - - MR. KLINE'S TESTIMONY - -On the evening of September 16, 1913, Mr. Kline, our Superintendent of -the Gospel Mission, gave, in substance, the following: - -“It is ten years ago to-night since God, for Christ's sake, forgave my -sins. It was a day like this has been, a perfect day in September. I had -become a confirmed drunkard, so that every waking moment I kept myself -under the influence of whisky. I was a good workman, but I was conscious -that my strength had gone. Three days before I had been attacked with a -trembling which seemed like palsy. As I looked in the glass I saw the -face of a dying man. The barkeeper saw it. He said, 'Kline, take a -drink; you will shake to pieces.' It took four or five drinks to make my -hand steady enough to work. Then the barkeeper said, 'Now you need work -to bring you to strength. You may paper and fix up this bar-room.' I -went to a paper house, selected my paper, and had the man make a bill -four times what it should have been. The bill was paid and I went back -to the paper store and got my rake-off. You see, I had become dishonest -as well as a drunkard. I had been brought up in a Lutheran household in -Harrisburg by a Christian aunt, who was a member of old Zion Lutheran -Church. - -“My mother had died in my infancy. I never saw her to remember her -appearance; I never saw a likeness of her, a lock of hair or a garment -which she had worn; but when dying she left a message with my aunt, a -message which never left me, even when I was farthest from God. It was -these words, 'Bring up my boy to meet me in heaven.' It was those words -which really brought me back to my mother's God. - -“When I quit work in that saloon that 16th day of September, 1903, I was -all in. I saw my face in the mirror over the bar, and when I am dead I -shall not be more colorless. The barkeeper filled my bottle, and instead -of going, as usual, to my home in the southwest, I made my way up -Four-and-a-half Street. I was simply impelled by an unseen force. Behind -every tree I took a nip from the bottle, till I came to Pennsylvania -Avenue. Then I knew I dared not drink where a policeman would see me; -so, hardly knowing where I was or what I was doing, I staggered to the -old bank corner at Seventh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. They tell me -I disturbed the meeting, but when they adjourned to the Mission Hall I -followed weeping and crying, 'I shall not go out of this hall till I am -dead or saved.' - -“I have been told by Brothers Gordon and Wheeler that no drunkard we -have ever seen disgrace himself in this mission ever behaved worse than -I did. God gave them that night the grace of patience. - -[Illustration: BOY SCOUTS] - -[Illustration: CAMP FIRE GIRLS] - -“I cried to God, 'This poor man cried, and God heard him.' I rose to my -feet, sobered and in my right mind. I gave the bottle to Brother Bratz, -and when I got out on the street I threw away my cigarettes and tobacco, -and from that day to this I have not touched or tasted either liquor or -tobacco. The next morning my hand was as steady as it is this minute. -While I was wondering what to do, a rap came to the door. It was the -saloon man's messenger, telling me to come and finish my job. I was -weak, but I was praying. In the meantime Satan was giving me the battle -of my life. The devil is a hard loser. He said, 'Well, if God could keep -Daniel in the lions' den, and the Hebrews in the fiery furnace, He could -surely keep you in the saloon.' - -“But God has done better than that for me. He has kept me out of the -saloon. In my distress of mind as to whether I should finish that job or -go for my tools, I picked up my wife's Bible and I opened at these -words, 'Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy -name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters I will be with -thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou -walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the -flame kindle upon thee.' It was a message straight from heaven to my -soul. I so accepted it. - -“I never finished the job. I never went after my tools, and from that -day to this I have not entered a saloon. Satan has camped on my trail -many times. I have had trials and temptations, but God has delivered me -from the sins of the flesh, whisky, tobacco and their accompanying sins. -No man who has been a drunkard can ever again safely use tobacco. An -experience of ten years in mission work, where I have seen thousands of -souls born into the kingdom, convinces me that the convert who retains -tobacco will surely slip back. Christ's redeeming blood cleanses from -all sin. - -“I was a good workman and I soon had permanent work. I never failed to -make the arrangement before I entered into a contract that I was not to -be expected to enter a saloon or any other disreputable place.” - -That was Mr. Kline's testimony, and I would like to say for him that God -greatly uses him and his testimony to bring fallen men back to God. He -is an acceptable preacher of righteousness in almost any pulpit in this -city, and he has done acceptable evangelistic work in many large eastern -cities. His presence in the Gospel Mission, we believe, is helpful to -all the men who come under its roof. He is an honored member of the -Luther Memorial Church. - -I reaffirm, as long as one man dead in sin can be transformed into a -living, active, aggressive Christian, the words of the Scripture are as -true to-day as when the angel said, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for -He shall save His people from their sins.” Nothing now known to science -can accomplish what happened to Mr. H. W. Kline that night; that is, as -Prof. James so pertinently says, “Conversion is the only means by which -a radically bad person can be changed into a radically good person.” - -Harold Begbie, as a psychologist, says: “Whatever we may think of the -phenomenon itself, the fact stands clear and unassailable that by this -thing called conversion, men consciously wrong, inferior and unhappy, -become consciously right, superior and happy. It produces not a change -but a revolution. It creates a new personality.” We would say a new -creature in Christ Jesus. - -The religion of Christ differs from all other religions. They take the -rich, the happy, the successful, as their expositors, but Christ takes -the broken, the sorrowful, the beaten in the race, and makes them the -rich, the successful and the happy expositors of His religion. - - - EMOTION IN RELIGION - -Prof. H. W. Wynn, D.D., one of the great writers of the _Lutheran -Observer_, has these wise words concerning the elements of emotion in -religion: - -“We have discovered that religion as a purely emotional experience may -have no religion in it at all, though kindled by the emotional stimuli -that religion commands. There is an emotional element in religion, of -course, deep, powerful, pervasive; and when you give way to it, -enveloping your whole being as in an atmosphere of flame. Those tender -feelings which enter so largely into the deeper currents of our domestic -and social life—love, pity, joy, hope, the striking of the glad hand, -comradeship locking arms under the same great banner to do deeds of -heroism in the same great cause—religion calls them all up, and fires -them all with a conquering zeal. - -“But, manifestly, the zeal may burn out before the deeds of heroism have -been begun. We have learned to know that the same emotional fires may be -kindled when religion is not the theme. A great crowd, an orator of -fluent and persuasive speech, music filling the air with the imaginary -shouts of an “Io triumphe” come to stay—it matters very little what may -be the occasion that has called these people together, the emotional -part of their campaign has been achieved. But, whether in religion or in -politics, it would be stupidly unwise to conclude that the excitement -itself was the end to be attained—emotion being set down as the deed -itself; or, in some way, an assured equivalent of the deed. - -“In all such cases fanaticism is the result, and fanaticism has never -been an aid, but always, in the long run, an embarrassment to any great -cause. Fanaticism stops with the excitement—absurdly confounds -excitement with the cause to be maintained. - -“In religion, especially, this unhappy 'transvaluation of value' is -likely to be made. For long ages it has been systematically taught that -the emotional element in religion either summed it all up or was an -unmistakable token that, then and there, it had been all summed up for -us in the exchequer of the skies. The great transaction had passed, the -thing was done when your religious ecstasy swelled to the highest, and -you found yourself, as you confidently believed, borne on its billows to -the bosom of God.” - -Now, we all recognize this emotional element only as a helpful factor in -religion, but not a permanent element. I have seen a few men accept -Christ without any emotion whatever. I remember a blue-eyed, fair -complexioned man saying, “I have no especial emotion. I am truly sorry -for my sins. I confess them now and here, and I claim 1 John 1:9, 'If we -confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to -cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' I ask God to cleanse me. I need it -and accept it, because He has said so.” Tracy lived all right as long as -we knew of him. If converts made in evangelistic meetings were taken -into careful Bible school, they would develop into useful Christians, -and there would be no backsliding. - -Now, religion, in the sense in which we use it, is a “building” process, -not “inflation,” as the aeronaut would inflate his balloon. We all know -the class of religionists who hop, jump and shout in religious meetings; -they are so busy they do not see the basket as it passes; they give no -money, they do nothing that the world would call religious except these -physical manifestations. They are intolerant to all who do not believe -as they do, they are simply to be tolerated and petted along as -deficients who mean well but cannot be counted as part of the great -organized force of believers which God is using to bring about the -kingdom of God until by training and experience they can be used among -their own class. But, among these, every now and then there comes a man -of good mentality but without education, whom God can use. His church -has no room for him, yet he has the same orders that Jesus gave to the -eleven, “Go ye and preach the gospel to every nation,” and we find him -preaching on the side streets, later a hall or church is hired, and we -have a new sect. - -You remember Jane Addams tells of the young college graduate who had -taken a course in a Bible training school and in a school of -philanthropy, who, on her return home, asked the rector for religious -work, and he replied, “You might arrange the flowers on the pulpit each -Sunday.” Think of that to a soul aflame with God! - -Macaulay touches off this kind of blindness in his essay on “Ranke's -History of the Popes,” in this way: “Far different is the policy of -Rome. The ignorant enthusiasts whom the Anglican Church makes an enemy, -and, whatever the learned and polite may think, a most dangerous enemy, -the Catholic Church makes a champion; she bids him nurse his beard, -covers him with a gown and hood of coarse dark stuff, ties a rope around -his waist, and sends him forth to teach in her name. He costs her -nothing. He takes not a ducat away from the revenues of her beneficed -clergy. He lives by the alms of those who respect his spiritual -character and are grateful for his instructions. He preaches not exactly -in the style of Massillon, but in a way which moves the passions of the -uneducated hearers, and all his influence is employed to strengthen the -church of which he is a minister. To that Church he becomes as strongly -attached as any of the cardinals, whose scarlet carriages and liveries -crowd the entrance of the palace on the Quirinal. In this way the Church -of Rome unites in herself all the strength of establishment, and all the -strength of dissent. Even for female agencies there is a place in her -system for devout women; she assigns them spiritual functions, dignities -and magistracies.” - -How different from these enthusiasts who have not entered a church for -years; their stock in trade is largely vituperation of the churches -until they are trained into a better understanding of relative social -service. The Church is doing the real Christian work of the world in -keeping people from going wrong. Missions and their branches only hope -to catch the driftwood of humanity before it floats out into the great -ocean of eternity. - -But every church in the land should have an investment in money or -personal representatives in the nearest city rescue mission. The young -people of the churches should be the choirs of the missions. They will -get inspiration as to how to do work for God in securing the conversion -of every soul committed to their care in the church and community work. - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES - - - 1. On p. 51, interest on $17,000 at 5.5% would be $935 instead of $850. - 2. Added “was” between he and brought on p. 103. - 3. Silently corrected typographical errors. - 4. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. - 5. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Twice-born Men in America, by -Harriet Earhart Monroe - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWICE-BORN MEN IN AMERICA *** - -***** This file should be named 53014-0.txt or 53014-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/0/1/53014/ - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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