th, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need
no repentance." In introducing this text he declared it to be one of the
most beautiful and hopeful in Scripture. Was it the sweet, clear voice
that lured the different minds and led them, as it were, in leash? Or
was it that slow, deliberate, persuasive manner? Or was it the
benedictive and essentially Christian creed which he preached that
disengaged the weight from every soul, allowing each to breathe an
easier and sweeter breath? To one and all it seemed as if they were
listening to the voice of their own souls, rather than that of a living
man whom they did not know, and who did not know them. The preacher's
voice and words were as the voices they heard speaking from the bottom
of their souls in moments of strange collectedness. And as if aware of
the spiritual life he had awakened, the preacher leaned over the pulpit
and paused, as if watching the effect of his will upon the congregation.
The hush trembled into intensity when he said, "Yes, and not only in
heaven, but on earth as well, there shall be joy when a sinner repents.
This can be verified, not in public places where men seek wealth, fame
and pleasure--there, there shall be only scorn and sneers--but in the
sanctuary of every heart; there is no one, I take it, who has not at
some moment repented." Instantly Evelyn remembered Florence. Had her
repentance there been a joy or a pain? She had not persevered. At that
moment she heard the preacher ask if the most painful moments of our
lives were the result of our having followed the doctrine of Jesus or
the doctrine of the world? He instanced the gambler and the libertine,
who willingly confess themselves unhappy, but who, he asked, ever heard
of the good man saying he was unhappy? The tedium of life the good man
never knows. Men have been known to regret the money they spent on
themselves, but who has ever regretted the money he has spent in
charity? But even success cannot save the gambler and libertine from the
tedium of existence, and when the preacher said, "These men dare not be
alone," Evelyn thought of Owen, and of her constant efforts to keep him
amused, distracted; and when the preacher said it was impossible for the
sinner to abstract himself, to enter into his consciousness without
hearing it reprove him, Evelyn thought of herself. The preacher made no
distinctions; all men, he said, when they are sincere with themselves,
are aware of the dif