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the story of a pioneer-第17部分

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nervousness。  I do not know what she expected me

to do or say; but toward the end of the sermon it

became clear that I had not justified her fears。 

The look of intense apprehension left her eyes; her

features relaxed into placidity; and later in the day

she paid me the highest compliment I had yet re…

ceived from a member of my family。



‘‘I liked the sermon very much;'' she peacefully

told my brother。  ‘‘Anna didn't say anything about

hell; or about anything else!''



When we laughed at this handsome tribute; she

hastened to qualify it。



‘‘What I mean;'' she explained; ‘‘is that Anna

didn't say anything objectionable in the pulpit!'' 

And with this recognition I was content。



Between the death of my friend and my departure

for Europe I buried myself in the work of the uni…

versity and of my little church; and as if in answer

to the call of my need; Mary E。 Livermore; who had

given me the first professional encouragement I

had ever received; re…entered my life。  Her husband;

like myself; was pastor of a church in Hingham; and

whenever his finances grew low; or there was need

of a fund for some special purposeconditions that

usually exist in a small churchhis brilliant wife

came to his assistance and raised the money; while

her husband retired modestly to the background

and regarded her with adoring eyes。  On one of

these occasions; I remember; when she entered the

pulpit to preach her sermon; she dropped her bon…

net and coat on an unoccupied chair。  A little later

there was need of this chair; and Mr。 Livermore;

who sat under the pulpit; leaned forward; picked up

the garments; and; without the least trace of self…

consciousness; held them in his lap throughout the

sermon。  One of the members of the church; who

appeared to be irritated by the incident; later spoke

of it to him and added; sardonically; ‘‘How does it

feel to be merely ‘Mrs。 Livermore's husband'?''



In reply Mr。 Livermore flashed on him one of his

charming smiles。  ‘‘Why; I'm very proud of it;''

he said; with the utmost cheerfulness。  ‘‘You see;

I'm the only man in the world who has that dis…

tinction。''



They were a charming couple; the Livermores;

and they deserved far more than they received from

a world to which they gave so freely and so richly。

To me; as to others; they were more than kind; and

I never recall them without a deep feeling of grati…

tude and an equally deep sense of loss in their passing。



It was during this period; also; that I met Frances

E。 Willard。  There was a great Moody revival in

progress in Boston; and Miss Willard was the right…

hand assistant of Mr。 Moody。  To her that revival

must have been marked with a star; for during it

she met for the first time Miss Anna Gordon; who

became her life…long friend and her biographer。 

The meetings also laid the foundation of our friend…

ship; and for many years Miss Willard and I were

closely associated in work and affection。



On the second or third night of the revival; dur…

ing one of the ‘‘mixed meetings;'' attended by both

women and men; Mr。 Moody invited those who were

willing to talk to sinners to come to the front。  I

went down the aisle with others; and found a seat

near Miss Willard; to whom I was then introduced

by some one who knew us both。  I wore my hair

short in those days; and I had a little fur cap on my

head。  Though I had been preaching for several

years; I looked absurdly youngfar too young; it

soon became evident; to interest Mr。 Moody。  He

was already moving about among the men and

women who had responded to his invitation; and

one by one he invited them to speak; passing me

each time until at last I was left alone。  Then he

took pity on me and came to my side to whisper

kindly that I had misunderstood his invitation。 

He did not want young girls to talk to his people;

he said; but mature women with worldly experi…

ence。  He advised me to go home to my mother;

adding; to soften the blow; that some time in the

future when there were young girls at the meeting

I could come and talk to them。



I made no explanations to him; but started to

leave; and Miss Willard; who saw me departing; fol…

lowed and stopped me。  She asked why I was going;

and I told her that Mr。 Moody had sent me home

to grow。  Frances Willard had a keen sense of humor;

and she enjoyed the joke so thoroughly that she

finally convinced me it was amusing; though at first

the humor of it had escaped me。  She took me back

to Mr。 Moody and explained the situation to him;

and he apologized and put me to work。  He said

he had thought I was about sixteen。  After that I

occasionally helped him in the intervals of my other

work。



The time had come to follow Mrs。 Addy's wishes

and go to Europe; and I sailed in the month of

June following my graduation; and traveled for three

months with a party of tourists under the direction

of Eben Tourgee; of the Boston Conservatory of

Music。  We landed in Glasgow; and from there

went to England; Belgium; Holland; Germany;

France; and last of all to Italy。  Our company in…

cluded many clergymen and a never…to…be…forgotten

widow whose light…hearted attitude toward the mem…

ory of her departed spouse furnished the comedy

of our first voyage。  It became a pet diversion to

ask her if her husband still lived; for she always

answered the question in the same mournful words;

and with the same manner of irrepressible gaiety。



‘‘Oh no!'' she would chirp。  ‘‘My dear departed

has been in our Heavenly Father's house for the

past eight years!''



At its best; the vacation without my friend was

tragically incomplete; and only a few of its incidents

stand out with clearness across the forty…six years

that have passed since then。  One morning; I re…

member; I preached an impromptu sermon in the

Castle of Heidelberg before a large gathering; and

a little later; in Genoa; I preached a very different

sermon to a wholly different congregation。  There

was a gospel…ship in the harbor; and one Saturday

the pastor of it came ashore to ask if some American

clergyman in our party would preach on his ship

the next morning。  He was an old…time; orthodox

Presbyterian; and from the tips of his broad…soled

shoes to the severe part in the hair above his sancti…

monious brow he looked the type。  I was not pres…

sent when he called at our hotel; and my absence

gave my fellow…clergymen an opportunity to play a

joke on the gentleman from the gospel…ship。  They

assured him that ‘‘Dr。 Shaw'' would preach for him;

and the pastor returned to his post greatly pleased。 

When they told me of his invitation; however; they

did not add that they had neglected to tell him Dr。

Shaw was a woman; and I was greatly elated by

the compliment I thought had been paid me。



Our entire party of thirty went out to the gospel…

ship the next morning; and when the pastor came

to meet us; lank and forbidding; his austere lips vainly

trying to curve into a smile of welcome; they intro…

duced me to him as the minister who was to deliver

the sermon。  He had just taken my hand; he

dropped it as if it had burned his own。  For a mo…

ment he had no words to meet the crisis。  Then he

stuttered something to the effect that the situation

was impossible that his men would not listen to

a woman; that they would mob her; that it would

be blasphemous for a woman to preach。  My asso…

ciates; who had so light…heartedly let me in for this

unpleasant experience; now realized that they must

see me through it。  They persuaded him to allow

me to preach the sermon。



With deep reluctance the pastor finally accepted

me and the situation; but when the moment came

to introduce me; he devoted most of his time to

heartfelt apologies for my presence。  He explained

to the sailors that I was a woman; and fervidly

assured them that he himself was not responsible

for my appearance there。  With every word he ut…

tered he put a brick in the wall he was building be…

tween me and the crew; until at last I felt that I

could never get past it。  I was very unhappy; very

lonely; very homesick; and suddenly the thought

came to me that these men; notwithstanding their

sullen eyes and forbidding faces; might be lonely

and homesick; too。  I decided to talk to them as a

woman and not as a minister; and I came down from

the pulpit and faced them on their own level; look…

ing them over and mentally selecting the hardest

specimens of the lot as the special objects of my

appeal。  One old fellow; who looked like a pirate

with his red…rimmed eyes; weather…beaten skin; and

fimbriated face; grinned up at me in such sardonic

challenge that I walked directly in front of him and

began to speak。  I said:



‘‘My friends; I hope you will forget everything

Dr。 Blank has just said。  It is true that I am a

minister; and that I came here to preach。  But 
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