I H * J
, j * By REV. CHARLES M. SHELDON , *
i * Author of "In His Stops : What Would Jesus DoP" "Malcom * o
, Kirk , " "Eobort Hardy's Seven Days , " Etc. $ *
, , >
* j t- %
TV AX
Copyright , 1800 , by The Advance Publishing Co.
a hTngirr'"Fcttervtrlm your wings , Sa
rah ; they're dragging on the floor. "
He hunted up his hat , which was one
of the things Philip could never find
twice In the same place , kissed his
wife and went out to make the visit
at the mill which he was getting ready
to make when Mr. Winter called.
To his surprise , when he went down
through the business part of the town ,
he discovered that his sermon of Sun
day had roused almost every one. People
ple were talking about It on the street
an almost unheard of thing in Mil
ton. When the evening paper came
out , it described in sensational para
graphs the Rev. Mr. Strong's attack on
the wealthy sinners of his own church
and went on to say that the church
"was very much wrought up over the
sermon and would probably make it
uncomfortable for the reverend gentle
man. " Philip wondered , as he read ,
at the unusual stir made because a
preacher of Christ had denounced an
undoubted evil.
"Is it , then , " he asked himself , "such
a remarkable piece of news that a min
ister of the gospel has preached from
his own pulpit against what is without
question an un-Christlan use of proper
ty ? What Is the meaning of the church
In society unless it Is just that ? Is it
possible that the public is so little ac
customed to hear anything on this sub
ject that when they do hear it it is In
the nature of sensational news ? "
He pondered over these questions as
he quietly but rapidly went along with
his work. He was conscious as the
days went on that trouble was brew
ing for him. This hurt him in a way
hard to explain , but his sensitive spirit
felt the cut like a lash on a sore place.
When Sunday came , he went into his
pulpit and faced the largest audience
he had yet seen In Calvary church. As
Is often the case , people who had heard
of his previous sermon on Sunday
thought he would preach auother like
it again. Instead of that he preached
a sermon on the love of God for the
world. In one way the large audience
was disappointed. It had come to
have Its love of sensation fed , and
Philip had not given it anything of the
kind. In another way It was profound
ly moved by the power and sweetness
of Phijip's unfolding of the great sub
ject. Men who had not been inside of
a church for years went away thought
fully Impressed with the old truth of
God's love and asked themselves what
they had done to deserve it the very
thing that Philip wanted them to ask.
The property owners in the church
who had felt offended by Philip's ser
mon of the Sunday before went away
from the service acknowledging that
the new pastor was an eloquent
preacher and a man of large gifts. In
the evening Philip preached again
from the same theme , using it in an en
tirely different way. His audience
nearly Qlled the church and was evi
dently deeply impressed.
In spite of all this Philip felt a certain -
tain element In the church had arrayed
Itself against him. Mr. Winter did not
appear at either service. There were
certain other absp\ces on the part of
men who had been constant attendants
on the Sunday services. He felt , without
hearing it , that a great deal was being
said in opposition to him ; but , with the
burden of it beginning to wear a little
on him , he saw nothing better to do
than to go on with his work as if noth
ing unusual had taken place.
CHxiPTER IV.
Pursuing the plan he had originally
mapped out when he came to Milton ,
he spent much of his time in the after
noons studying the social and civic life
of the town. As the flrst Sunday of
the next month drew near , when he
was to speak again on the attitude of
Christ to some aspect of modern socie
ty , he determined to select the saloon
as one of the prominent features of
\ modern life that would naturally be
noticed by Christ nun uu . i . * s be de
nounced by him as a great evil.
In his study of the saloon question he
did a thing which he had never done
before , and then only after very much
deliberation and prayer. He went into
the saloons themselves on different oc
casions. He had never done uuch a
thing before. He wanted TO know from
actual knowledge what sort of places
the saloons were. What he saw after
a dozen visits to as many different
groggeries added fuel to the flame of
Indignation that burned already hot in
him. The sight of the vast army of
men turning into beasts in these dens
created in him a loathing and a hatred
of the whole iniquitous institution that
language failed to express. He won
dered with unspeakable astonishment
in his soul that a civilized community
in the nineteenth century would toler
ate for one moment the public sale of
an article that led , on the confession of
society Itself , to countless crimes
against the law of the land and of God.
His indignant astonishment deepened
yet more , if that were possible , when
he found that the license of $500 a
year for each saloon was used by the
town to support the public school sys
tem. That , to Philip's mind , was an
awful sarcasm on Christian civiliza
tion. It seemed to him like selling a
man poison according to law and then
taking the money from the sale to help
the ovidow..to.jmrcliasa. mourning It
7tflrus""g7TIs ! llJ ; ! as that wouia ue.
He went to see sotrte of the othei
ministers , hoping to unite them in
combined attack on the saloon power
It seemed to him that if the church a :
a whole' entered the crusade against
the saloon It could be driven out evei
from Milton , where It had been so long
established. To his surprise , he fount
the other churches unwilling to unite
in a public battle against whisky men
Several of the ministers openly de
fended license as the only practicable
method of dealing with the saloon. Al
of them confessed it was evil , and onlj
evil , -but under the circumstance !
thought it would do little good to agi
tate the subject. Philip came awaj
from several interviews with the min
isters sad and sick at heart.
He approached several of the promi
nent men in the town , hoping to enlis
some of them in the fight against tin
rum power. Here he met with an un
expected opposition , coming in a foru
he had not anticipated. One prominem
citizen said :
"Mr. Strong , 3011 will ruin youi
chances here if you attack the saloon ;
in this savage manner , and I'll tell yoi
why : The whisky men hold a trenien
deus influence in Milton in the mattci
of political power. The city electiot
comes off the middle of next month
The men up for oflice are dependent
for election on the votes of the saloor
men and their following. You will cut
your head off sure if you come out
against them in public. Why , there's
Mr. and so on ( he named half z
dozen men ) in your church who are ui
for office in the coming election. Thej
can't be elected without the votes ol
the rummies , and they know it Bet
ter steer clear of it , Mr. Strong. Th <
saloon has been a regular thing in Mil
ton for over 50 years. It is as much t
part of the town as the churches 01
schools , and I tell you it is a power ! "
"What ! " cried Philip , in unbounded
astonishment , "do you tell me , you , t
leading citizen of this town of 50,00 (
infinite souls , that the saloon powci
has its grip to this extent on the civk
and social life of the place , and yoi
are willing to sit down and let this
devil of crime and ruin throttle yet
and not raise a finger to expel tin
monster ? Is it possible ? It is not ir
Christian America that such a state ol
affairs in our political life should b (
endured. "
"Nevertheless , " replied the business
man , "these are the facts. And yoi
will simply dash your own life oul
against a wall of solid rock if you trj
to fight this evil. You have my warn
ing. "
"May I not also have your help ? ' :
cried Philip , hungry of soul for com
panionship in the struggle which he
saw was coming.
"It would ruin my business to come
out against the saloon , " replied tlu
man frankly.
"And what Is that ? " cried Philip ear
nestly. "It has already ruined far
more that ought to be dear to you.
Man , man , what are money and busi
ness compared with your own flesh
and blood ? Do you know where youi
own son was two nights ago ? In one
of the vilest of the vile holes in this
city , which you , a father , license to an
other man to destroy the life of your
own child ! I saw him there myself ,
and my heart ached for him and you.
It is the necessary truth. Will you not
join with me to wipe out this curse in
society ? "
The merchant trembled , and his lips
quivered at mention of his sen , but he
replied :
"I cannot do what you want , Mr.
Strong , but you can count on my sym
pathy if you make the fight. " Philip
finally went away , his soul tossed on a
' wave of mountain proportions and
growing more and more crested with
foam and wrath as the first Sunday of
the month drew near and he realized
; that the battle was one that he must
j wage single handed in a town of 50-
j 000 people.
Hewas , not so destitute of support as
he thought. There were many mothers'
hearts in Milton that had ached and
prayed in agony long years that the Al-
jnighty would come with his power
and sweep the curse away. But Philip
had not been long enough in Milton to
know the entire sentiment of the pee
ple. He had so far touched only the
church through its representative pul
pits and a few of the leading business
men , and the result had been almost to
convince him that very little help
could be expected from the public gen
erally. He was appalled to find out
what a tremendous hold the whisky
tneu had on thu luibiin. ' and politics
of the place. It was a revelation to
him of their power. The whole thing
seemed to him like a travesty of free
government and a terrible commen
tary on the boasted Christianity of the
century.
So when he walked into the pulpit
the first Sunday of the month he felt
his message burning in his heart and
on his lips as never before. It seemed
beyond all question that if Christ was
pastor -Calvary church he would
spttik out in plain denunciation of the
whisky power. And so , after the open
ing part of the service , Philip rose to
speak , facing an immense audience
that overflowed the galleries and in
vaded the choir and even sat upon the
DuluitDlatform. Such.a crowd. Jiad
tIdVCrTJ5n seen In Calvary church be
fore.
Philip had not announced his sub
ject , but there was an expectation on
the part of many that he was going lo
denounce the saloon. In the two
mouths that he had been preaching in
Milton he had attracted great utu-n
tion. His audience this morning rep
resented a great many different kinds
of people. Some came out of curiosi
ty. Others came because the crowd
was going that way. So It happened
that Philip faced a truly representative
audience of Milton people. As his eye
swept over the house he saw four of
the six members of his church who
were up for office at'the coming elec
tion in two weeks.
For an hour Philip spoke as he had
never spoken In all his life before.
His subject , the cause It represented ,
the Immense audience , the entire occa-
. slon caught him up in a genuine burst
of eloquent fury , and his sermon swept
through the house like a prairie fire
driven by a high gale. At the close
he spoke of the power of the church
compared with the saloon and showed
how easily it could win the victory
I against any kind of evil if It were only
united and determined.
"Men and women of Milton , fathers ,
mothers and citizens. " he said , "this
evil is one which cannot be driven out
unless the Christian people of this
place unite to condemn it and fight It
regardless of results. It is too firmly
established. It has its clutch on busi
ness , the municipal life , and even the
churcli Itself. It is a fact that the
churches in Milton have been afraid to
take the right stand in this matter.
Members of the churches have become
involved in the terrible entanglement
of the long established rum power , un
til today you witness a condltiou of
affairs which ought to stir the right
eous indignation of every citizen and
father. What is it you are enduring ?
An institution which blasts with its
poisonous breath every soul that en
ters it , which ruins young manhood ,
which kills more citizens in times of
peace than the most bloody war ever
slew in times of revolution an institu
tion that is established for the open
and declared purpose of getting money
from the people by the sale of stuff
that creates criminals ; an institution
that robs the honest workingman of
his savings and looks with indifference
on the tears of the wife , the sobs of
the mother ; an institution that never
gives one cent of its enormous wealth
to build churches , colleges or homes
for the needy ; an institution that has
the brand of the murderer , the harlot ,
the gambler burned into it with a
brand of the devil's own forging in the
furnace of his hottest hell. This institu
tion so rules and governs this town of
Milton today that honest citizens trem
ble before it , business men dare not op
pose it for fear of losing money , church
members fawn before it in order to
gain place In politics , and ministers of
the gospel confront its hideous influ
ence and say nothing ! It is high time
we faced this monster of iniquity and
drove it out of the stronghold it has
occupied so long.
"I wisli you could have gone with me
this past week and witnessed some of
the sights I have seen. No ! I retract
that statement. I would not wish that
any father or mother had had the
heartache that 1 have felt as 1 con
templated the ruins of young lives
crumbling into the decay of premature
debility , mocking the manhood that
God gave them in the Intoxicating
curse of debauchery. What have I
seen ? O ye fathers ! O ye mothers !
Do you know what is going on in this
place of GO saloons licensed by your
own act and made legal by your own
will ? You , madam , and you , sir , who
have covenanted together in the fel
lowship and discipleship of the purest
institution of God on earth , who have
sat here in front of this pulpit and par
taken of the emblems which remind
you of your Redeemer , where are your
sons , your brothers , your lovers , your
friends ? They are not here this morn
ing. The church does not have any
hold on them. They are growing up to
disregard the duties of good citizen
ship. They are walking down the
broad avenue of destruction , and what
is this town doing to prevent it ? 1
have seen young men from what are
called the best homes in this town reel
in and out of gilded temples of evil ,
oaths on their lips and passion in their
looks , and the cry of my soul has gone
up to Almighty God that the church
and the home might combine their
mighty force to drive the whisky de
mon out of our municipal life so that
we might feel the curse of it again
never more.
" 1 speak to you today in the name of
my Lord and Master. . It is impossible
for me to believe that if that Christ of
God were standing here this morring
lip woud advise the licensing of this
corruption as the most feasible or ex
pedient method of dealing with it. I
cannot imagine him using the argu
ment that the saloon must be licensed
for the revenue that may be gained
from it to support the school system.
1 cannot imagine Christ taking any
other position before the whisky power
than that of uncompromising condem
nation. He would say it was evil and
only evil and tm-ivrore to be opposed
by every legal and moral restriction
that society could rear against it. In
his name , peaking as I believe he
would speak if he were here this mo
ment , I solemnly declare the necessity
on the part of every disciple of Christ in
every church in Milton of placing him
self decidedly and persistently and at
once in open battle against the saloon
until it is destroyed , until its power in
business , politics and society is a thing
of the past , until we have rid ourselves
of the foul viper which has so many '
'
years trailed its slimy folds through
our homes and our schools.
"Citizens , Christians , church members -
bers , I call on you today to take up
arms against the common foe of that
or * KcJ. < l floor in r hnrch Lome , and '
Bta'to' " t k'ribVtfiefe arc 'honcSt busi
ness men who Lave long writhed In se
cret at the Ignominy of the halter
about their necks by which they have
been led. There are citizens who have ,
the best Interests of the community at ]
heart who have hung their heads in
shame of American politics , seeing this
brutal whisky element dictating the
government of the towns and parcelIng -
Ing out their patronage and managing
their funds and enormous stealings of
the people's money. I know there are
church members who have felt in their
hearts the deep shame of bowing the
knee to this rum god in order to make
advancement in political life. And I
call on all these today to rise with me
and begin a fight against the entire
saloon business and whisky rule in
Milton until by the help of the Lord
of Hosts we have got us the victory.
Men. women , brothers , sisters In the
great family of God on earth , will you
sit tamely down and worship the great
beast of this country ? Will you not
rather gird your swords upon your
thighs and go out to battle against this
blasphemous Philistine who has defied
the armies of the living God ? I have
spoken my message. Let us ask the
wisdom and power of the Divine to
help us. "
Philip's prayer was almost painful In
Its intensity of feeling and expression.
The audience sat in deathly silence ,
and when he pronounced the amen of
the benediction it was several mo
ments before any one stirred to leave
the church.
Philip went home completely ex
hausted. He had put into his sermon
all of himself and had called up all his
reserve power a thing he was not of
ten guilty of doing and for which he
condemned himself on this occasion.
But it was past , and he could not re
call it. He was not concerned as to
the results of his sermon. He had
long believed that if he spoke the mes
sage God gave him he was not to
grow anxious over the outcome of It.
But the people of Milton were deeply
stirred by the address. They were not
in the habit of hearing that kind of
preaching. And what was more , the
whisky element was roused. It was
not In the habit of having its authority
attacked in that bold , almost savage
manner. F'or years its sway had been
undisturbed. It had insolently estab
lished itself in power until even those
citizens who knew its thoroughly evil
character were deceived into the belief
that nothing better than licensing it
was possible. The idea that the saloon
could be banished , removed , driven out
altogether , had never before been ad
vocated in Milton. The conviction that
whether it could be it ought to be sup
pressed had never gained ground with
any number of people. They had en
dured it as a necessary evil. Philip's
sermon , therefore , fell something like
a bomb into the whisky camp. Before
night the report of the sermon had
spread all over the town. The saloon
men were enraged. Ordinarily they
would have paid no attention to any
thing a church or a preacher might say
or do. But Philip spoke from the pul
pit of the largest church in Milton.
The whisky men knew that if the large
churches should all unite to fight them
they would make it very uncomforta
ble for them and in the end probably
drive them out. Philip went home that
Sunday night after the evening service
with several bitter enemies. The whis
ky men contributed one element. Some
-Ox
. This time Philip fell.
of his own church members made up
I another. He had struck again at the
same sore spot which he had wounded
the month before. In his attack on the
, saloon as an institution lie had again
necessarily condemned all those mem
bers of his church who rented proper
ty to the whisky element. Again , as a
month ago , these property holders
went from the hearing of the sermon
angry that they as well as the saloon
power were under indictment.
As Philip entered on the week's
work after that eventful sermon he be
gan to feel the pressure of public feel
ing against him. He began to realize
the bitterness of championing a just
cause alone. lie felt the burden of the
community's sin in the matter , and
more than once lie felt obliged to come
in from his parish work and go up into
liteJtudy , th"iv to commune with his
Father , lie was growing old very fast
in these first few weeks in his new
parish.
Tuesday evening of that week Philip
had been writing a little while in his
study , where he had gone immediate
ly after supper. It was nearly 8
o'clock when he happened to remem
ber that he had promised a sick child
In the home of one of his parishioners
that he would come and see him that
very day.
He came down stairs , put on his hat
and overcoat and told his wife where
he was going.
"It's not far. I shall be back in
about half an hour , Sarah. "
He went out , and his wife held the
ffnfiir.non until lif . .tTng rlfn tKr\
FOUND.
. . .
& , ; '
During Our Annual Inventory Too
Many Winter nnnHc IIIM |
We wish to reduce this stock and
will sell all Heavy Goods at Greatly
Reduced Prices. A grand opportunity
to supply your wants for this and next
season. Manufacturers have advanced
prices on all lines ; we cannot dupli
cate present prices when our supply
on hand is gone.
We still have a few.
Ladies' Jackets at
One-Half Regular Price
For This Week.
25 per cent discount on Ladies' Suits and Waists
A good Percale 31 inches wid
All standard Calicos at5C per yd.
Other goods in proportion.
Give us a call-
THE . .
JSarcjaiti
re
C. L. DeGROFF & CO.
n
5 NATIONAL
*
V > VVA. > AAA < VVVVS < VV * > tf JVS > XVV > /
ooo
! Authorized Capital , $100,000.
Capital and Surplus , $60OOO
GEO. HOCKNELL , President. B. M. FREES , V. Pros.
W. F. LAVJSON , Cashier. F. A. PENNELL , Ass't Cash.
A. CAMPBELL , Director. FRANK HARRIS , Director.
I Rex Eheumatic'Oure
is not a medicine or drug to be taken internally , neitli-
er is it a liniment for outward application , but an ar-
tide to be worn and is made of certain metals that
draw the uric acid from the blood. It costs § 2.00 and
never wears Ollt. Written guarantee to refund money in 30 days
if not entirely satisfactory. Itcures Eheumatism Acute
Chronic , Muscular and Sciatic , Lumbago and Gout.
* 1 ? Send 2c stamp for little booklet that tells the whole
story- Address , KEX liHEUMATIC CO. ,
j Box 14Harttord , Conn.
io Users ,
Our General Catalogue quotes
them. Send 150 to partly pay
postage or expressage and we'll
send you one. It has nee pages ,
17,000 illustrations and quotes
prices on. nearly 70,000 things
that you eat and use and wear.
We constantly carry in stock all
articles quoted.
The Tallest Mercantile Building in the World , MONTGOMERY WARD & CO. ,
Owned and Occupied Exclusively Bj Us. Madkon St. , Chicago.
