A California Girl Part 9

CHAPTER XII.

PENLOE'S SERMON.

The Rev. B.F. Holingsworth was the Congregational minister in Roseland, but he used to come out every Sunday afternoon to Orangeville and hold preaching service in the only church there. One Thursday he received word that his sister, in Oakland, was very sick, and wanted him to come and see her, and he would have to be away over the Sabbath; so he wished to get a supply for the two churches, but could not find any one to fill his place. In talking to the deacons of his Roseland church about the matter, they told him they would conduct the services at their church if he could find some one to fill his place at Orangeville.

It was customary for the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth to spend one day in the week in visiting the good people of Orangeville. Among the pastoral calls, he visited the home of Penloe and his mother. He was very much impressed with the spiritual thought and talk of both, and while neither were members of his congregation he well understood their position. He saw that for a man like Penloe to come and listen to the sermons he gave to the people of Orangeville would be like expecting a student in Harvard College to attend a kindergarten school, with the expectation of receiving instruction. The minister was broad-minded enough to perceive that the spiritual food he gave to his flock was kindergarten talk to Penloe; it was only milk, it was not meat; not the strong spiritual meat that Penloe lived on. It was all right for babies, but it was not fit for men who had attained divine realization in the universal Christ. The Rev. B.F. Holingsworth was too liberal and charitable to think less of Penloe for not attending his church. He was glad he had the courage of his convictions instead of masquerading, as some do, with the appearance of a.s.sent to all that is said and taught; but, being at the same time, within, at variance and holding views entirely different; but for policy, business interest, family peace, social position and standing, love of name and fame or salary, acting the hypocrite because they are arrant cowards.

When thinking of some suitable person to fill the Orangeville pulpit on the Sunday afternoon of his absence, he could find no one so well adapted by natural talents, education, experience, and deep spiritual insight, combined with an irreproachable life, as Penloe. So he went out to Orangeville to see him. Finding Penloe at home, he made known the object of his visit. Penloe did not answer him at once, but was silent for a few minutes; he was thinking that this was a call to a work which was not of his own seeking, and, as the call to the work had come to him, he decided to accept it and told the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth so.

The minister then went to Deacon Allen, of Orangeville, and explained matters to him, telling him that Penloe would select one of the hymns to sing before the sermon, but Penloe wished Deacon Allen to conduct all the other parts of the service, including the reading of the hymns. The minister desired the Deacon not to tell any one who was going to preach next Sunday, but to explain to the congregation why he was absent, and then to introduce Penloe. Deacon Allen had only seen Penloe once or twice, and while he liked the appearance of the man yet he knew very little about him. But, under the circ.u.mstances, he thought the minister had done the best he could.

It so happened it was the time of year when there was a number of visitors in Orangeville, which brought out an unusually large audience, for it included not only the regular attendants and the visitors, but those who seldom went to church but did so to-day because they had company. Mr. and Mrs. Herne, who seldom went, attended to-day, and took the baby with them, this being the first Sunday of the child being in short clothes. Of course, some of Herne's hired men had to go, to see how the baby behaved.

Stella was another irregular attendant at church, but young Mrs. s.e.xton, whose husband was away, came round in her buggy and wanted Stella to go for company's sake.

Stella, through being away at school so much and having gone to Roseland for a while, had only heard about there being such a young man as Penloe in Orangeville, but had never seen him; neither had her parents.

Penloe was about the first person at church that Sunday afternoon, and took a seat in the front pew, next to the pulpit with his back to the congregation, so, as the people a.s.sembled, they saw the back of some one but did not know who it was. When it was time for the service to commence the church was about full, but the people all seemed surprised not to see the minister present. Deacon Allen came forward, and opened service by giving out a hymn, which was followed by prayer. Then the choir sang, sweetly, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Then reading from the Scriptures, which was followed by the singing of a hymn that Penloe had selected, and Deacon Allen gave out. The hymn was as follows:

"See Israel's gentle shepherd stands With all engaging charms, Hark, how he calls his tender lambs, And folds them in his arms.

"'Permit them to approach,' he cries, Nor scorn their humble name, For 'twas to bless such souls as these The Lord of angels came."

After singing the hymn, Deacon Allen explained to the congregation the cause of the minister's absence, and introduced Penloe, to the great surprise of those present. Penloe, in a simple, una.s.suming manner, stepped up to the desk and faced the audience. Casting his eyes over the ma.s.s of upturned faces, he said, in a very pleasant, musical voice:

"Dear friends, I will speak to you from the following words, 'Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.'"

The sermon was a most remarkable and original discourse. It held the close attention of every one present, and at its end the congregation sang:

"I think, when I read that sweet story of old, When Jesus was here among men, How he called little children as lambs to his fold, I should like to have been with him then.

"I wish that his hands had been placed on my head, That his arms had been thrown around me, And that I might have seen his kind look when He said, 'Suffer the little ones to come unto me.'"

Penloe's sermon we will give, as told to her mother by Stella, and also the version published in the Roseland _Weekly Gazette_.

When Stella arrived home from church her mother noticed that her countenance was all animation, and her bright eyes seemed to glisten and sparkle brighter than ever; but she said nothing, knowing Stella would relate all she had seen and heard of any interest.

"Well, mother," said Stella, "I have had the greatest surprise and the greatest pleasure I ever had in my life."

"Why, Stella," said her mother, "I am very pleased to see and hear that something has delighted you so much."

"Who do you think I saw, and heard preach this afternoon?" said Stella.

"Why, I suppose the minister," said her mother, which was the same as saying, "I don't know, but want you to tell me."

"Well, mother," said Stella, "it was Penloe. I do wish you had been there to have seen and heard him. His face, when speaking, at times looked angelic. His eyes are so clear and bright, his voice sweet and musical, and he is so graceful in his movement, at the same time so simple and una.s.suming in his manner. He is symmetrical in his build, and as handsome as a picture."

"Is he really all that?" said her mother, with a smile.

"Yes," said Stella, "and there is something about him that is a thousand times more than all that; for there is an earnestness and sincerity of purpose and a power, such as I have never seen or felt before, in all he says and does. I don't know how to describe it, for he is so different to any man I ever met or saw; and, as for his subject, why, it was just grand. But I cannot help laughing when I think of the feelings of horror, and so much mocked modesty which I saw and heard expressed by many who were there this afternoon."

"Well, whatever could his subject have been about, to cause those feelings?" said her mother.

"It was this mother; he took for his text, 'Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.'

"He said it was not his purpose this afternoon to describe in detail the circ.u.mstances which led Jesus to utter those words, nor to enter in full into the history of those people at that time, nor to describe the way in which they were raised by their parents in those days, nor how children were treated in general at the time Jesus walked on the earth, but to dwell on the thought more particularly about how to bring the children to Jesus now, and how to help them find the Kingdom of Heaven within. He said the subject was such a large one that he could only dwell for a short time on one method for bringing the children to Jesus, and that was how to bring them up pure and make pure men and pure women of them. For purity of life and thought was one of the first steps in coming to Jesus, and finding the Kingdom of Heaven within.

"Penloe said such an innovation introduced into our society would be a G.o.d-send to us all, for it would bring about a change in so many ways for the advancement of the race, as to make the mind almost bewildered in the contemplation of the giant strides that humanity would make. I cannot begin to tell you all he said, mother, and I don't think the congregation took in the full sweep of his great thought.

"I will tell you one thing Penloe has done for me. He has cut what few strings there were which kept me in bondage to my s.e.xual nature. I am free." And here the beautiful and intellectually bright girl laughed, and shouted again, "I am free! Free from that awful superst.i.tion of s.e.xual bondage. Bless Penloe for helping me to my freedom," said Stella.

Mrs. Wheelwright said: "Stella, there have been millions of women who have _died deaths of untold agony_ through being in bondage to their s.e.xual natures."

"Mother," said Stella, laughing again, "I give you notice that on and after this I shall speak and act just the same when members of the other s.e.x are present as I would with my own s.e.x, I don't care what they may think. I will not be negative to their ideas, for I am free;" and here she clapped her hands, and said, "I intend to have the courage of my convictions under all circ.u.mstances.

"I must tell you, mother, there were a number there who were perfectly disgusted that Penloe should have introduced such a subject. You just ought to have seen the faces on some of the congregation.

"The dressmaker, Mrs. Hopkins, and her daughter, said they would not have come to church if they had known the indecent talk that a strange man was going to make. The two May girls, with their beaux, were there, and after the service they acted as if they were afraid to speak to each other. They went out of the church with their heads down and seemed afraid to look anywhere; till they saw Deacon Tompkins' wife get in the buggy, and then the Deacon got in and took the reins and started the horse. But he had omitted untying the animal from the post, and they all had a laugh, and that broke the strain they were under, and they were seen talking to their beaux after that.

"After service I went up to the desk and gave Penloe my hand and thanked him for the help he had given me in breaking my bondage. I told him he had cut the last string of s.e.x superst.i.tion for me. He smiled and pressed my hand and said he was glad to hear it.

"Mother, I did not know that Orangeville had such a young man as that.

Why, just think of it! A fine Sanskrit scholar; he can read Bengali just as well as I can English, and by his reference to the Old and New Testament he shows he understood Hebrew and Greek. And think of it; he is only twenty-two years of age! He is a fine orator, very eloquent, and has such a command over himself and his audience.

"But, mother, great as his scholarship may be, he has a power that is greater; it is seen in his eyes and in every feature of his handsome countenance, and felt in the touch of his hand. Its source is not purely intellectual. I perceive it intuitively, but cannot explain it.

"Why, mother, I never thought Penloe was the kind of man he is. From what I had heard about him, I thought he was one of those quiet, goody-goody men, but instead of that he is a scholar of the most advanced school of thought."

Her mother said: "Stella, do you know why Penloe took the subject he did to-day and spoke from it? I think I know; it was this: not that he liked such subjects more than any others, and perhaps not so much; but he knew that if such ideas were presented to the public, it had to be done by those who were not in bondage to name and fame and salary. It had to be done by those bold, fearless thinkers who will speak the truth regardless of frowns and smiles. And Penloe did it because he knew there was no one else that would do it. It was pioneer work."

Stella said: "I think so, mother, and he certainly seems well qualified to do such n.o.ble pioneer work."

Mr. and Mrs. Herne, on their way home from church, talked the matter over. Mr. Herne said: "Penloe is the most remarkable man I have seen; so young and yet so gifted in every way. The secret of his power I do not know anything about, but he possesses a power such as no other man I have ever seen. I could not keep away from church if he was going to speak every Sunday."

Mrs. Herne said: "He has the clearest and brightest eyes I ever saw. I never get tired of looking into them. At times his face brightened so much during his speaking it looked angelic."

They were both very much impressed with the sincerity and earnestness of the man, but were not prepared to pa.s.s an opinion on the subject of his discourse. They thought well of his ideas, but did not know how they would work. It set them both to thinking, and it was their intention to try if possible to cultivate the acquaintance of Penloe.

The Roseland _Gazette_, which was published every Sat.u.r.day, had the following:

"Last Monday and Tuesday strange stories began to be circulated through this city by persons coming in from Orangeville, concerning what was said in the Congregational Church there last Sunday. It seems that the Rev. B.F. Holingsworth, of this city, was called away to see a sick sister, and he got a man who goes by the name of Penloe to fill his place. The stories that were put in circulation are of a wild and varied character. Some started the rumor that Penloe preached that we all ought to go naked. Another story was, that he said we all ought to bathe together, regardless of s.e.x, in a nude state. Then some said, he told the people that all families ought to sleep in one large room, to appear as much in a nude condition as possible, so as to satisfy all curiosity.

These and other like stories aroused so much interest among the people of this city, that it has been the upper-most topic of conversation among them, and led to the inquiry whether it was so, and was the man a crazy crank or a fool, and how came such a man to be asked to preach.

"Our reporter went out to Orangeville to learn what he could concerning the matter. He first of all went to see Penloe to get a certified statement, but that gentleman could not be found anywhere. He had an interview with Mr. Saunders, the merchant of Orangeville, who said he was at church last Sunday and heard the sermon.

"When asked if the stories which were circulated in Roseland concerning Penloe's sermon were correct, he replied that in part they were, and in part they were not.

"When asked to state as near as he could remember just what was said: