HIS LIFE AND WORK 



occasion came in 1834, when McCormick was 

 twenty-five years of age. A four-day meeting 

 was being held in the little stone church on his 

 grandfather's farm. Three ministers were in 

 charge. As was the custom, there was constant 

 preaching from morning until sundown, with 

 an hour's- respite for dinner. At the close of 

 the fourth day, all who wished to become avowed 

 Christians were requested to stand up. Cyrus 

 McCormick was there, and he was not a member 

 of the church; yet he did not stand up. That 

 night his father went to his bedside and gently 

 reproached him. "My son," he said, "don't 

 you know that your silence is a public rejection 

 of your Saviour?" Cyrus was conscience- 

 stricken. He leapt from his bed and began to 

 dress himself. "I'll go and see old Billy Mc- 

 Clung," he said. Half an hour later, old Billy 

 McClung, who was a universally respected re- 

 ligious leader in the community, was amazed to 

 be called out of his sleep by a greatly troubled 

 young man, who wanted to know by what means 

 he might make his peace with his Maker. The 

 next Sunday this young man stood up in the 



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