第 17 节
作者:痛罚      更新:2024-04-07 11:54      字数:9321
  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