JAMES MANN.
One evening a tall, fine-looking man came into the Mission chapel. One gets to know thieves somewhat as you know an Englishman, a German, an Italian, by the marks environment have left on the person. I knew on sight that he was a thief. We had a Salvation Army man at the Mission that night from West Virginia, who gave the message. His subject was, “Be sure thy sin will find thee out.”
He had been a thief, had served time, but now he told how happy and safe he felt serving God and in being a good citizen. Several men knelt at the altar that night, so when 9.30 P.M., the time for dismissal, came, the men were permitted to go to the dormitories while one or two workers prayed with the penitents.
Mr. Mann retired, but he could distinctly hear the praying. He declared that a voice said, “Mann, now or never.” He tried to go to sleep, the inward voice persisted, “Now or never.” He put on his clothes, went back to the chapel, threw himself down at the altar and cried to God for mercy for himself.
The workers gathered about him, he told God his story of sin and shame, and God heard his cry for mercy, and he rose a forgiven sinner. His kit of burglar tools were thrown into the Potomac River. He had come to Washington to burglarize in the northwest section of the city during the time when Mr. Taft was being inaugurated. His portrait could have been seen in the rogues' gallery in every large city of the country, but in a few weeks God so changed his face that the man could not have been recognized by the old portrait.
We told Major Sylvester, Chief of Police, of the case, and Mann was put on the special police force at the Union Station at inauguration time, and never before nor since was there ever such a quick nabbing of the noted thieves as at the Taft inaugural occasion.
Mr. Mann's mother came on from her western home. She is a sincere Christian woman. It was doubtless the answering of her prayers which brought conviction, then salvation to that dangerous man. Once she said, “James, I never heard of you for two whole years; where were you then?” He made an evasive answer, but we knew that he had spent them behind bars.
After the inauguration the special police were discharged, and Mr. Mann went to work as a carpenter. He made a good assistant carpenter. About six months after that one of the Northern States was making a search for large men for their mounted police. Major Sylvester recommended Mann, as he was six feet four inches tall, and from that day to this he has been on the mounted constabulary of a great State, engaged in enforcing the law, rather than breaking the laws of his country.
Now, is not that real service to the State? This man was restored to his family, to society, to God. He became a factor for righteousness, instead of an element of danger to the commonwealth.
We are not always fortunate enough to see men of that class seek God. On one occasion three young thieves came into the Mission, they were of the traveling men of their base business. After I returned to my home I called up the police and told them my suspicion, and asked them to watch the Mission very closely from eleven o'clock until morning. They were all captured between twelve and one o'clock midnight as they were leaving the building and escorted to the station and told to leave town, which, of course, they did immediately.
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