THE BATTLE OF THE LORD
Among the audience, or rather the congregation, which had assembled to
hear Joseph in St. Elwyn's Church, all those people who were intimately
connected with him had been present.
It had been arranged beforehand, although Mr. Persse had known nothing
of it, that Joseph's followers, Sir Augustus and Lady Kirwan, Marjorie,
and Mary, accompanied by Sir Thomas Ducaine and Hampson, the journalist,
should all have seats reserved for them by ticket in the church.
Accordingly they had all been there. After the Teacher's solemn
exhortation to private prayer, the whole congregation had awoke as if
from a dream. The influence, the magnetic influence of Joseph's
presence, was removed. Every one sat up in their places with grave and
tired eyes, wearing the aspect of people who had come back to life after
a sojourn in that strange country of the soul which lies between this
world and the next.
The vicar, very pale and agitated, had descended from the chancel in his
surplice and biretta, and had gone among the people, whispering here and
there, frowning, faintly smiling, and only too obviously upset and
frightened in body, mind, and spirit.
Over all the great congregation of wealthy and fashionable people there
had lain that same manner of uneasiness, that hidden influence of fear.
After a few minutes the majority of them rose and went silently from the
church. As they walked down the broad and lighted aisle it was obvious
enough, both in their walk and in their faces, that they were trying to
call back their self-respect and that mental attitude which ruled their
lives, and was but an insolent defiance of all claims upon conduct, save
only the imperial insistence of their own self-will.
But it was an attempt, and nothing more, upon the part of those who
thronged and hurried to be quit of the sacred building in which, for the
first time in their lives, a man inspired by God had told them the truth
about themselves.
Nevertheless, a considerable residue of people was left. They sat in
their seats, whispering brokenly to each other, glancing at the vicar,
and especially at two pews where a company of countrymen in black were
still kneeling with their heads bowed in prayer.
It had already been bruited about in society that Sir Augustus and Lady
Kirwan, together with Sir Thomas Ducaine, were intimately connected with
the Teacher. The regard and attention of those who still stayed in the
church were, therefore, also directed to the pew which held the baronet,
his wife, and their daughter, Sir Thomas, the beautiful girl in the
costume of a hospital nurse who was recognized by some of them as the
niece of Lady Kirwan, and a little, meagre-looking man whom no one
knew--Hampson, the editor of the _Sunday Friend_, in fact.
Mr. Persse seemed oddly ill at ease. He was unable to answer the queries
which were constantly addressed to him, but his embarrassment was
presently relieved. Sir Thomas Ducaine, followed by Mary Lys, rose from
his seat and went round about among the people.
"If you will come to my house," Sir Thomas whispered to this or that
friend; "if you care to come, of course, Joseph is to be there to meet
us all at eleven o'clock. He will make the first pronouncement as to
what he intends to do, as to why he has come to London, and of the
message which the future holds."
* * * * *
On Sunday night, about half-past ten, the squares and the street
thoroughfares of the West End of London are not thronged. The exodus of
the crowds from the East End which takes place earlier every evening, so
that the poor may catch a single holiday glimpse of those more
fortunate, is by that time over and done with.
The rats have gone back to their holes, and the spacious streets of the
wealthy are clear and empty, save only for the swift and silent
carriages of those who have supper parties, to end and alleviate the
dulness of the first day of the week in town.
The walk from Mayfair to Piccadilly is not a long one, and Joseph, with
his companion, met few wayfarers as they walked swiftly among the swept
and lighted streets, wound in and out among the palaces of the West End.
Eric Black strode by the side of the Teacher with never a word. His
heart was beating within him like sudden drums at midnight. His mind
and thoughts were swirling in multitudinous sensations. What he had seen
he had seen, and what to make of it he did not know. Where he was going,
he was going, and what new marvel he was about to experience he was
unable to conceive or guess.
Yet, as he moved swiftly towards the house of Sir Thomas Ducaine, he
knew in a strange, sub-conscious fashion, that all his life was altered,
all his ideas of the future were overthrown.
Something had come into the life of the brilliant young man, something
had fallen upon him like a sword--it would never be the same any more!
Meanwhile, as he walked with Joseph, he walked with a man who warmed his
whole being with awe and reverence. Speculation ceased within him. He
was content to be taken where the other would--dominated, captive, and
glad.
And in his mental vision there still remained the vivid memory of the
miracle which he had seen--the piercing cries of joy and thankfulness,
the picture of the poor old man and his recovered son, drowned all other
thought within him!
He felt, as Moses must have felt on Sinai, the rapture and fear of one
who has been very near to God.
They came to the door of the house in Piccadilly.
A row of carriages lined the pavement, and the butler was standing in
the hall, surrounded by his satellites. The door was half ajar, held by
a footman, and as the two men entered there was a sudden stir and
movement of the people who were expectant there.
Sir Thomas Ducaine, who had been talking earnestly and in a low voice to
Mary Lys, came forward quickly as the two men entered.
His face was charged with a great reverence and affection as he took
Joseph by both hands.
"Master," he said, "welcome! We are all waiting for you."
Then he turned inquiringly to Eric Black. Joseph interpreted the look.
"This is a brother," he said, "who will be very strong in the Lord. He
is a strong and tempered blade which has for long rested in the
scabbard. Our Blessed Lord has come to him this night."
The twenty or thirty people who had been waiting round the great hall
now came forward in a group. With the exception of Joseph's friend
Hampson, there was not a single person there who was not important in
one way or another in English life. Here was a well-known and popular
King's Counsel, his keen, clean-shaven face all alight with interest and
wonder. By his side was a prominent society actress, a great artiste, as
far removed from the Mimi Addington type as light is from darkness.
There were tears in the great grey eyes, and the sensitive mouth was
quivering with emotion. A young peer, an intimate friend of Sir Thomas
Ducaine, a group of well-known society women, a popular Mayfair doctor,
a middle-aged baronet, who was one of the Court officials at Buckingham
Palace--of such materials was the advance band of people composed.
Along the other side of the hall, in strange contrast to these
fashionable and beautifully dressed people, the faithful band of Welsh
miners and quarrymen was standing in their black coats, talking
earnestly and quietly together.
They turned also as the Master entered.
Then David Owen took three or four steps in front of his companions and
raised his gnarled old brown hands high above his head.
"Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord," he cried, "and who
is filled with the Holy Spirit!"
Then he turned suddenly to his companions, and with a wave of his arm
started the "Veni Creator Spiritus"--
Come, Holy Ghost, eternal God,
Proceeding from above,
Both from the Father and the Son;
The God of peace and love.
Visit our minds, into our hearts
Thy heavenly grace inspire;
That truth and godliness we may
Pursue with full desire.
Thou art the Comforter
In grief and all distress;
The heavenly gift of God Most High
No tongue can it express.
The fountain and the living spring
Of joy celestial;
The fire so bright, the love so sweet,
The Unction spiritual.
A glorious burst of deep and moving harmony filled the great hall, and
thundered away up in the dome above as the Welshmen caught up the old
hymn.
None of the other people there had ever heard anything like this in
their lives. All this melody and wild beauty, which is the heritage of
the country which produces the most perfect chorus singers in the world,
were mingled with a spiritual fervor so intense, and a love and rapture
so ecstatic, a purpose so inviolable and strong, that souls and hearts
were moved as they had never been moved before.
The organ voices ceased suddenly, as a symphony played on some great
orchestra ceases without a single dropping note.
Then every one saw that the Master's hand was raised in blessing. He
seemed suddenly grown taller. His face shone with heavenly radiance, he
was more than human in that moment, his whole body was like some thin,
transparent shell which throbbed and pulsed with Divine fire.
"The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
be with you and remain with you always."
The words of blessing fell upon hearts and souls long dry and arid,
atrophied by the things of this world, like the blessed rain of heaven
upon the thirsting fields. Worldly ambitions, hopes, thoughts and
preoccupations, shrivelled up and disappeared. A deep penitence flowed
over those dry spaces like a river. Sorrow for the past, resolution for
the future, the glory and awe of worship, came upon them all in the
supreme moment.
While they were looking at the Teacher with rapt attention they saw him
suddenly drop his arm, which fell heavily to his side like a dead thing.
The light faded from his face, the thin, blue-veined lids fell over the
shining eyes, the mouth dropped a little, with a long sigh, and Joseph
fell backwards in a deep swoon.
The man who but a moment before realized for them the absolute visual
picture of Christ Himself, as He may have looked on one of those great
moments of tenderness and triumph which star the Holy Gospel with the
radiance of their recital, was now, indeed, a visible picture in his own
body of the "Man of Sorrows Who was acquainted with grief," The Redeemer
Who fell by the way.
Sir Thomas and Hampson were standing by the Teacher as he fell, and it
was their arms which received the swooning form, carried it into an
inner room, and laid it gently upon a couch.
But it was Mary, tall, grave and unutterably lovely in her healing
ministry, who chafed the cold, thin hands, wiped the damp moisture from
the pale and suffering brow, and called back life into the frail and
exhausted vessel of God.
While the Teacher was being tended by his friends Sir Thomas had given
orders to the butler to take his other guests into the large
dining-room, where there was some supper waiting for them.
Every one assembled in the great, rich room, with its Jacobean carvings
and family portraits by Gainsborough and Reynolds.
But nobody ate anything, or sat down at the long, gleaming table. One
and another took a sandwich, but every one was too expectant and highly
strung to think of food in the ordinary way.
Probably for the first time in the lives of the society people there,
they felt a real brotherhood and equality with the rugged sons of toil.
The cultured accents of Park Lane mingled with the rougher voices of the
Master's disciples. Distinguished and famous men walked with their hands
upon the shoulders of the peasants from Wales. Beautiful women in all
the splendor of dress and jewels hung upon the words of some poor
servant of God whose whole worldly possessions were not worth twelve
inches of the lace upon their gowns.
It was an extraordinary scene of absolute, uncalculating love and
brotherhood. As in the very early Christian time, the mighty and the
humble were once more one and equal, loving and beloved in the light
which streamed from the Cross on which the Saviour of them all had died
in agony that they might live in eternity.
There was no single trace of embarrassment among Joseph's followers.
They answered the eager questioning of the others with quiet and simple
dignity. The marvellous story of Lluellyn Lys was told once more with a
far greater fulness of detail than the public Press had ever been able
to give to the world. The miracles which had taken place upon the wild
hills of Wales were recited to the eager ears of those who had only
heard of them through garbled and sensational reports.
During the half-hour all the London folk were put in possession of the
whole facts of Joseph's mission and its origin.
Probably never before in the social history of England had the force and
power of the Christian faith been so wonderfully and practically
manifested as at this moment. Degrees, dignities, rank, wealth, and
power were all swept away, and ceased utterly to exist. The Divine love
had come down upon this company in full and overflowing measure, and a
joy which none of them had known before, and which seemed indeed a very
foretaste of the heavenly joy to come, was with them all.
Sir Thomas Ducaine came into the room.
"My friends," he said, "the Master has recovered and asks you to pray
and talk with him upon this great and happy night. He is waiting for you
all in the ball-room upstairs. Will you come with me?"
The young baronet led the way. They followed him out of the dining-room,
through the hall in which the liveried servants stood about with
awe-struck faces, up the wide marble staircase with its crimson carpet,
and into the vast room, lit by a thousand lights, which gleamed in the
mirrors with which the walls were lined, and were reflected again in the
smooth and shiny parquet floor.
And in the midst of all these splendors, seated upon a chair at one end
of the room, they saw the dark-robed figure of the Master, with a sweet
and gentle smile upon his face.
Without a word they grouped themselves round him, and, still smiling on
them in love and brotherhood, Joseph began to speak.
"My dear brothers and sisters," he said quietly, "you have come here
to-night from the church where I spoke as the Spirit of God compelled me
to speak. The words that I said were there given to me, and to many of
the congregation they must have seemed harsh and cruel. But out of all
that congregation you have chosen to be with me to-night, and I pray and
believe that a new life is to begin for all of you, even as it began for
me no long time ago.
"I am going to ask you now how, and in what measure, each of you is
going to live for Christ Jesus. Think about your past life and think
about your future life in this world! God has given to all of you great
powers and opportunities. In the ranks of this world you are set high. I
and my companions have come from the hills of Wales, led by God, our
band captained by the Holy Ghost, to wake this great and sinful city
from its sloth and evil. By the blessing of the Holy Trinity you are
assembled here to-night under the roof of a young man who is very rich
and powerful in England. By the direct operation of the Paraclete, that
young man is being led to the Truth, and has thrown in his lot with the
servants of God. At the beginning of our battle we are thus provided
with money and influence, and all the weapons with which God in His
Divine wisdom makes it necessary for His servants to use.
"What are you, also, going to do for Jesus?"
There was a silence for a full minute when Joseph had made an end of
speaking.
Then, quite suddenly, a strong, clear, and confident voice rang out in
the great ball-room.
Eric Black, the journalist, was speaking.
"Sir Thomas Ducaine, Ladies and Gentlemen," he said, "I am not one of
you. I am a writer for the Press, and, I may say, a writer who is
successful and whose words are read by very many people. I have never
before to-night thought much about religion, nor have I loved God or
tried to serve Him. But from now, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I
vow and pledge myself to write nothing that is untrue; nothing which
shall not, in intention and effort, redound to the glory of God. With
such power as in me lies, I enlist under the banner of this man, which I
verily, truly and honestly believe to be the banner of Jesus. And there
is one thing more that I must say. I beg you will excuse my presumption,
and listen patiently to me for a moment, for I have a wonderful thing to
tell you."
Then, in crisp, vivid sentences, full of color and movement, he told the
listening company of the miracle of healing he had just witnessed in the
West End slum.
He spoke as he wrote, keenly and directly, with the technical power of
producing an actual picture in the hearer's or the reader's brain.
While he was telling his experience Joseph's eyes were half closed. His
hands were resting upon the arms of his chair, and he was quite
motionless.
When he had finished, the keen-faced King's Counsel began to speak in a
somewhat hard and metallic voice, though with force and determination in
every note of it.
"For my part," he said, "without any further preamble I will say just
this. I will never again defend a cause in the courts in which I do not
believe. I will give up all the methods and intrigues by which I have
hoped to secure a judgeship. I will no longer court a political party in
whose policy I do not really believe, in order that I may gain a prize.
And when I am not exercising my profession and doing the duty to which
God has called me, in an honest and Christian fashion, I will spend a
right proportion of my wealth and time in helping Joseph to alleviate
the sorrows and miseries of the poor, and to bring London back to Jesus
Christ!"
The silence which ensued after the great lawyer, in his brusque and
determined fashion, had made his confession of faith, was broken by a
voice which was like water falling into water.
The great actress was speaking, gently and humbly.
"For my part," she said, "I can do little, oh, so very little. But I
have enough money to live on quietly, and there will still be some to
spare for the poor people. I will act no more. My art, such as it is,
has been well thought of in this world. But I am sure now that I cannot
go on playing. There is so much more to do for God. And, perhaps, I do
not yet know, because I have not thought it out, it may not be good in
the sight of Heaven that I should continue in my profession. That is
what I will do, Master."
Young Lord Ashbury, Sir Thomas Ducaine's friend, began to mumble and
stutter. He was a short, thick-set young fellow, with a clean-shaven,
pleasant, but not particularly intellectual countenance.
"I--er--really, I don't quite know, but I--well, it's difficult to say,
don't you know! At any rate, I'll do what I can. Old Tommy Ducaine is a
good lead, and I haven't done all I ought to do--not by a very long way.
But I will if I can. If I can help the poor Johnnies Joseph talks about,
I jolly well will. That's all!"
Very red in the face, the Earl of Ashbury subsided into silence.
The night wore on, and many hearts were laid bare, many natures opened
themselves before the Teacher.
It was close upon dawn when the last carriage rolled away, and the door
opened to let the latest guest out into Piccadilly.
The battle of the Lord was begun. People were flocking to the
enlistment. The standard of Jesus was raised in the Babylon of our
time.