wh, ha) Maras st etre ee oe we Sits { Root PRING >: Mar 10 1926 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK qe wr a oe | ’ + —— = pes sar nS a ~ a ee ee, re et Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library httos://archive.org/details/russellhconwellhOOburr_0O Vanity Fair Studios, Inc. Authorised 4 hs RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK ONE MAN’S INTERPRETATION OF LIFE By / AGNES RUSH ‘BURR WITH DOCTOR CONWELL’S FAMOUS LECTURE ACRES OF DIAMONDS Blustrated PHILADELPHIA THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, 1926, by THE JOHN C. WINSTON Co. Copyright, 1917, 1923, by THe JoHN C. WINSTON Co. PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. THE Baprist TEMPLE PHILADELPHIA, PAe August 21, 1923. Gentlemen: In the preparation of this biography Miss Burr has had the advantage of intimate acquaintance with me and my work for many years. I have given her full access to every kind of information that I possess, and have talked with her freely as to the aims and purposes I had in view. I have repeated to her conversations which I have had with representative men whom I have met in my travels both in this country and in Europe. The estimate which Miss Burr has placed upon me and my work is of course entirely her own. She has written with the eyes and heart of a friend, and that must color more or less the account in my favor. While of course I cannot accept respon= sibility for the opinions of the author, I believe that her narrative of the facts of my life is correct and it goes forth with my entire approval. Fraternally yours, [fecetell Mbortuehl- To The John C. Winston Company Philadelphia PA I f 7 i ¥ ha i t . by za , { } a is ga) re WY. 4 3 sf r) abe Ay % sh ae Hy ae ae hae 4 iy ‘ f A } : a) ‘ F < 7 . A? « : ? La - + ‘ + ‘ i . n , : f ¢ ; 6 ¢ ¢ i j +9 ‘ ‘ ove 6. ' ‘ > 7) 1 FOREWORD HE biggest problem that confronts a man is life. It includes all problems. ‘To find a sat- isfactory solution is every man’s earnest desire and persistent quest. How others have solved the problem is often enlight- ening. Particularly do the records of those whose lives have been greatly useful to the world have much in them of help, especially when they began life with none of the aids considered necessary to achievement, yet have achieved. Such is the career of Russel H. Conwell. He started life as a penniless boy on a rocky New England farm. He had neither money nor influence to help toward success. Yet he achieved success in great measure— a success that ranks higher than the gaining of wealth or fame, though these have been won—in that its finest flower is great service to his fellowmen. The road he hewed for himself may prove both inter- esting and helpful to trace. This record of it is offered with the hope that the sign-posts along the way may be of use to others in faring toward their goal. This book was revised by the author and approved by Doctor Conwell a few months before his death. A new and final chapter tells of his last days on earth and gathers a few tributes to his memory. (9) Ver erly. ya he ‘ X | + 4 ¥ ® a r aM “n! - * if > ou ie hi qj aergh Rep eT oe CHAPTER * ib Il. III. IV. VI. VIL. VIIT. CONTENTS Tue Story OF THE SWORD. Doctor Conwell’s Favorite Occupation. He Tells the Cause of His Unceasing Work............... THe Man He Grew To BE. His Life Harvest. His Wide Activities—His Many Charities—His Aims in Life............... Doctor CONWELL’S ANCESTRY. The Conwell Family Tree. Doctor Conwell Tells Hig Views -om ANCeStry sac. ters ie tes haere ete Toe CoNnwEeELL Homes WITHOUT AND WITHIN Doctor Conwell Describes the Daily Life of His Boyhood. The Mental and Spiritual Atmosphere Of the Homes icc. ics Late ae eee eee es se fory a Ss THe FRIENDS THAT CAME AND WENT. Doctor Conwell Gives Personal Recollections of John Brown, Frederick Douglas, William Cullen Bryant and Other Distinguished People Who Influenced Him in His Boyhood................. EARLY YEARS. Formative Influences of Nature. Traits Developed by the Hard Work of the Farm. The Literature of the Home and Its Influence upon His Life.... THE RUNAWAY. Doctor Conwell Tells of His First Escapade. Run- ning Away a Second Time and Going to Europe. . ScHooL Days. Doctor Conwell Describes His Early School Days. He Shows How One can Get a Practical and Useful Education Right at Home................ (11) PAGE 26 29 32 45 59 67 12 CHAPTER CONTENTS IX. Tue Puace or Music in EDUCATION. cle XI. XIII. XIV. XV. Doctor Conwell Tells the Value of Music in a Child’s Education and How He was Able to Secure It. The Benefit It Became to His Life. He Makes Some Suggestions for Musical Programs Scuoot Days AT WILBRAHAM. Earning the Money to Go. Working His Way Through. His Studies. Doctor Conwell Describes His First Public Debate There, Its Ignominious Failure and‘the Value of Debating Societies. His Work as a Book Canvasser...........2022ee200- CoLLEGE Days AT YALE. His Struggle to Get Through College. The Humiliation of those Days. A Dip into Atheism Tur OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. A Visit to New York. Doctor Conwell Gives His First Impressions of Henry Ward Beecher and Lincoln. Speeches for Enlistment............... GoInc TO WAR. Enlisting. Raising Troops. His Election as Captain and Presentation of Sword. Doctor Conwell’s Letter Home Describing His First Fingagement.... 2 meme ee ele, online meee en ee THE SECOND ENLISTMENT. Captain of Company D. Accompanied by John Ring. In Charge of Newport Barracks. Attack of Pickett’s Corps. Defeat of Conwell’s Men. Death of John Ring. Appointment on General McPherson’s Staff. Wounded at Kenesaw Moun- tain. | Conversion an eens. a ee ee New VENTURES. Admitted to the Bar. Marriage. Removal West. Life in Minneapolis. Mrs. Conwell’s Progressive Editorial as to Woman’s Place and Interests. Loss of Home and Illness. Immigration Agent to Germany. Given up to Die in Paris. Health Restored. Reporter on Boston Traveller. Trip Around World as Correspondent...........0.0: PAGE 83 90 101 106 112 125 CONTENTS 13 CHAPTER PAGE XVI. Busy Days 1n Boston. Doctor Conwell Tells about Meeting Tennyson, Gladstone, Garibaldi, Henry Ward Beecher, Whittier, and Many Other Famous People. His Work as a Lawyer. Free Legal Advice to the Poor. The Boston Young Men’s Congress. His Tremont Temple Sunday-school Class........... 151 XVII. His Entry into THE MINISTRY. The Death of Mrs. Conwell. Increasing Interest in Religious Work. Doctor Conwell’s Second Marriage. The Lexington Church. His Decision CENCE Be WAITSUL VC te faerie te een eat 166 XVIII. His First Pasrorate. Doctor Conwell Tells Why He did not Earlier Enter the Ministry. His Advice upon Choosing a Life-Work. The Condition of the Church at Lexington. The First Service. Building a New Church. His First Church Fair. The Activities and Growth of the Lexington Church. His Help in Developing Lexington. His Ordination. The Cali to Philadelphia}: tanrac setae wate wlersi dave ek ya 170 XIX. THe Earty Days oF THE PHILADELPHIA PASTORATE. The Beginning of Grace Baptist Church. A Letter Describing a Church Service. John Wana- maker’s Tribute to Doctor Conwell’s ‘‘ Different”’ Methods. The Growth of the Church........... 185 XX. A Cuytup’s LEGAcY. The Beginning of the Building Fund of The Baptist 1203) 6) [a ae PEN OF roe Vl ho, ROL AGI E anda aang Cot 197 XXI. Burupinc THe TEMPLE. How a Poor Congregation Built One of the Finest Church Edifices in the Country. Doctor Conwell’s Ideas as to What a Church Edifice Should be Like. His Own Plans for The Temple. His Warnings Against the Perils of Success..........+.0005 ek OD 14 CHAPTER XXII. XXIII. XXIV. AN» ROAV AG XXVIT. XXVIII. CONTENTS PAGE How Tur TEMPLE WORKS. Doctor Conwell Discusses the Church Work and Tells the Underlying Principles which He Believes should Govern. The Various Organizations. The Temple Fairs and their Purpose. Doctor Conwell Gives His Ideas of a Church Fair. The Various Entertainments. How they are Planned and Managed oii... «!s + -led eis ale oho apa et tena lad eae Tur Business MANAGEMENT. Doctor Conwell Tells how the Business Affairs of The Temple are Conducted. The System of Handling the Church Finances.................. THe Music or THE TEMPLE. The Chorus of The Temple and Its Organization and First Leader, Professor David D. Wood. Professor Wood’s Views on Choir Organization and Work. ‘The Business Management of The Temple Chorus. The Special Organ............. TEMPLE SERVICES. The Sunday Routine. The Children’s Church. The Sunday-school and Sunday Prayer-Meetings. Baptismal Services. The Dedication of Infants. Special Services. Watch Meeting............... TEMPLE PRAYER-MEETINGS. Doctor Conwell Tells the Purpose a Prayer- Meeting Serves. The Various Prayer-Meetings of The Temple. The Method of Conducting Them How TrempitE UNIVERSITY TRANSFORMS LIFE. The Reason Instruction at Temple University Means More than in Many Institutions. Doctor Conwell Tells How it Came to Be. Rev. Forest Dager Shows the Need of It oo 6 Om 66) 0 <@ © *) C18 6 & se eee Be A UNIVERSITY FOR THE PEOPLE. Obtaining the Charter. Laying the Corner-Stone. The Ultimate Development that is Hoped will Come HOU 8 Oo 610. FT OO C6 es Siete ane Saere 6 Oe ee 86 Le 6, ela ie heehee 227 233 243 255 274 CHAPTER XXIX. XXXI. XXXII. XXXITI. XXXIV. XXXY. CONTENTS 15 PAGE A Democratic INSTITUTION. What the Opportunities it Offers Mean. Its Adaptable Curriculum. Its Willingness to Meet Needs. The Various Departments. Many Unique Special Courses. Its Small Tuition Fees........ 2 HELPING THE Sick Poor. The Samaritan, Garretson, and Greatheart Hos- pitals. Doctor Conwell Tells How the Samaritan Hospital Started. He Gives His Ideas of True Charity. The Unique Beginning of Garretson Hospital. The Work it Does at Present..,,..... SPREADING VISIONS. How the Lecture ‘‘Acres of Diamonds” has Brought Fuller Life to Many. How it Helped a Salesman. How it has Built up Towns. Its Voice Within Prison Walls. The Message it hast for? Al, ee Fee en (sre ay Anon Camm an ar ET EPAN Tue History or ‘‘AcRES oF DIAMONDS.”’ The First Time ‘Acres of Diamonds” was Delivered. Its Present Great Popularity. What it has Earned. The Number of Students Helped. Doctor Conwell Tells How He Came to Give the Proceeds of the Lecture to Poor Students. Inci- dents of Becture Trips. ge. semen tae ss acre aretts Ten MILLION HEARERS. Unique Lecturing Places. Lecture Topics. Doc- tor Conwell Discusses Audiences. ‘Tells How to Keep the Voice in Good Condition. Mentions the Best Ways to Study for Public Speaking and Speaks of His Early Efforts. What Others Say of His Lectures. His Chautauqua Work and what He Thinks of the Chautauqua Movement. Firry YEARS ON THE AMERICAN PLATFORM. Doctor Conwell Discusses Lecturing as a Career and Gives Reminiscences from His Many Years’ EXPCPIEN CO We. of od ok See ee ee oe canes Doctor CoNWELL AS A WRITER. His Biographical Work. Lives of the Presidents. How He Wrote His Successful Life of Spurgeon. Books that Have Helped Him. His Favorite Autnors and Charactersemansas \iieineie retains s8 294 307 318 331 16 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XXXVI. MARGINALIA. A Favorite Motto. Home Life. Family Bereave- ment, (Public Honorsi cae tee oes ere 347 XXXVII. Toe Messace or A LIFE. The Secret of Doctor Conwell’s Success. He Emphasizes the Power of Right Thinking and Tells How to Use It Intelligently. The Develop- ment of Personality—a Process of Education. Doctor Conwell’s Search for Knowledge and How He Found It. What True Living Is. In Tune with the Infinite. Doctor Conwell’s Life—a Mighty Inspiration to Everybody............... 352 XX XVIII. “Open THE GATES OF THE TEMPLE’’...... 355 APPENDIX Doctor CoNWELL’s ViEW oF A MENACE TO OUR DEMOCRACY 20 ee eee ee 363 “THe BATTLEFIELDS OF THE REBELLION’’............ 876 Warrrinr’s Porm, ‘“MEMOREBStAu one ee 388 OUTLINE OF HARLY SERMONS See. ee ee 391 SERVICE USED IN THE DEDICATION OF INFANTS....... 399 ACRES OF DIAMONDS ‘ACRES OF .DIAMONDS”’ je. Sees ee een A405 ILLUSTRATIONS RUSSULL YI) GONWELLY DAD eee ke, Frontispiece PAGE BVA TENE COON WEL Larch cit tr ital eric ithe Au ualen tonsil na 2 19 THE BIRTHPLACE OF RussELL H. CoNWELu.......... 34 BVLEHAIND A) COOM WIRED: «yh tek te Ft Led Rome Ae UME Ge, 51 RussELL H. CONWELL AT THE AGE OF TWELVE...... 66 Tue Oup Door-sTEp, WILBRAHAM ACADEMY......... 99 THE Campus, WILBRAHAM ACADEMY................ 99 RusseLL H. CoNWELL WHEN ELECTED CAPTAIN...... 114 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL CONWELL..........-0-e+000-- 137 NIRS JENNIE, CON WELDS. 0g: eRe alepmenen: fecaiity MN, 140 Tue First “Cuurch Home” or Grace Baptist GEER E Eh latent oo: 5). 5's Noll aa SCP ae DCS 185 Russevt H. Conwet WHEN He Enterep THe Ministry 188 Ree BA PTISTACERMPLR 0... ea ae Mm eh anne ek Ag BEORESSORUWAVID 10:)(WOODs. Sau eee rots & sae eee 226 New Buvitpinaes THAT WILL COMPLETE TEMPLE NRA RETUNY Mees ces oe Sk ae a re eater 275 THE SAMARITAN HOSPITAL......... A OB AA ASS REA ol) eb ue) WIRES OARAH DM (CONWELL. 22 eee: EES Nee He ea 349 (17) MARTIN CONWELL FATHER OF RussELL H. CONWELL CGrA Pi hiheot Tue Story oF THE SworpD Doctor Conwell’s Favorite Occupation. He Tells the Cause of His Unceasing Work. USSELL H. CONWELL was once asked, ‘‘ What R is your favorite occupation?”’ “Tiving,’ was the prompt and hearty re- joinder. His career proves his words. No one could meet him, feel his hearty handclasp, hear his deep, vibrant voice, or see his cordial smile, without knowing that he enjoyed living. No one could come in touch with his work—the big church, with its membership of more than three thou- sand; the great university with a roll call since it started running into the hundred thousands; the hos- pitals, with their thousands of patients annually; his lecture trips from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in the course of which he spoke to hundreds of thousands of people; his radio lectures in which he spoke to thou- sands more—without realizing that he gave to this occupation of living all of his time and energy. He threw himself wholly into it. But, though his pleasure in living and working was keen, he had still another and greater incentive for his wealth of achievement. Over Doctor Conwell’s bed, in his Philadelphia home, hangs a sword. Back of this sword is a story. It is the tragedy of this story that is the chief cause of the unceasing activity which filled his days. He was aman who would undoubtedly have accomplished much with (19) 20 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK his life. But this disaster made it imperative that he do so. He was induced sometimes to tell the story of the sword. He related it once to a little group of friends in his home. As they were admiring its beautiful, gold-chased scabbard, his face saddened. He was silent for a moment. ‘Then, in the simple, direct and unaffected way characteristic of him, he told what this sword meant to his life. “During the Civil War,’ he said, “when I re- enlisted at Readville, Massachusetts, a boy came to me who wanted to go to the war with me. His father had consented. His mother was dead. “T said to him, ‘John, you should not go to war. You will be killed.’ I tried to frighten him, but he was determined to go. I told him then that he could not go. But his father insisted, and I finally permitted him to go with me. “T went to war from Yale College. I had been there a little over a year and naturally knew every- thing that anybody could possibly know. I remem- ber coming home the previous vacation and while digging potatoes my devout Methodist father said to me, ‘My son, I notice that you do not go to church.’ I said, ‘No, father. And I am not going to church any more. I don’t believe the Bible anyhow.’ ‘My son,’ he continued, ‘are you getting away from your father’s God; from your mother’s God?’ ‘No, father,’ I replied, ‘you ought to consider that I have been to college and know all these things. You have never been to college and you are not expected to know. I am an agnostic. I have learned that I don’t know anything about religion.’ ‘““My father was broken-hearted. He said to me, ‘Don’t go to school any more. I would rather you THE STORY OF THE SWORD 21 would hold on to the love of God than go to school and learn everything. My son, I would rather see your body going into the grave than to hear that you had joined the atheists and infidels.’ “‘T said, ‘I will have to tell you the truth. I have joined the free-thinkers’ club.’ “My classmates’ autograph books still bear the record with my name as ‘Atheist.2 I was known as a disbeliever in the Bible and I used everything I could find to prove that it was untrue. “But the first night that John Ring came into my tent, he took out his Bible and read it by the candle- light. I said, ‘John, you can’t do that in my tent. I don’t believe in it and everyone will laugh at me if I permit you to do that.’ The next night I found him reading it again and I said to the boy, ‘You can’t read that Bible in my tent!’ ‘Why,’ he said, ‘what is the matter, Captain? ‘This is my mother’s Bible and father told me to read it in memory of mother.’ I said, ‘You ought to remember your mother, but you can’t read that book in this tent.’ He answered with tears, ‘I love you, Captain, but you are a very wicked man.’ After that night John went into my orderly- sergeant’s tent to read his Bible. “One day, when I was called away on duty, there eame an attack upon our fort in North Carolina, below Newbern, at the Newport River. Pickett’s celebrated corps drove our men from the camp. My troops fled across the river and set the long trestle bridge on fire. When some had gotten across, John ran up to the orderly-sergeant there and said, ‘Where is the Cap- tain’s sword?’ He answered, ‘He has it on. Get out of the way.’ But John meant this gold-sheathed sword that was presented to me at Springfield, Massa- chusetts, when I first went to war. It always hung 22 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK on the center-pole of my tent, and it was John’s especial delight to polish it and keep it bright. Fearful now that it had been left behind, he ran back across the bridge, in among the Confederate soldiers, into my tent and pulled down this gold-sheathed sword that I had promised, when it was presented to me, to give my life to preserve. “He managed to get about half-way back across the burning bridge when a Confederate captain saw him and did one of the noblest deeds of the war. He came out in full view and swung his white handkerchief. The fire on both sides ceased and the Confederate cap- tain shouted, ‘Tell the boy to Jump into the river! Jump on either side. We will save him!’ ‘They shouted, but they could not make him hear. When he came near our end of the bridge his clothes were blazing high. He ran through the smoke and flung himself out on the end of the abutment of the bridge, and my sword fell from his hands to the bank of the river. ‘They rolled him into the water and washed out the fire, but he was insensible. “They put him on a gun carriage and took him down to the hospital at Beaufort. There he lay for three days. With the return of consciousness, one night, he asked the nurse, ‘Where am I? Where is the Cap- tain’s sword? Won’t you bring it in, so I can put my hand on it? Is the Captain coming to see me?’ The nurse told him that I was coming to see him soon. The next night he awoke and said, ‘ Hasn’t the Captain come yet? I want to give him the sword myself, for then he will know how much I love him.’ “‘A little later the surgeon came along and said, ‘That boy isn’t going to live.’ He called the nurse and asked, ‘Are you a Christian woman?’ § SEY Bee THE STORY OF THE SWORD 23 “‘ «Then tell the boy he is going to die, for he won’t live till morning.’ “The nurse sat down beside him; took his hand and said, ‘John, you are going to see your mother.’ ‘ano Dabs: “You are going to see your mother,’ she repeated. “Do you think I am going to die?’ he questioned. ‘““*Yes,’ said the nurse. ‘I will have to tell you the truth. You will probably not live more than twenty-four hours. Do you want some one to pray with you?’ ‘“‘He didn’t answer her question but put up his hands and began to move his lips in prayer. She sent for the chaplain but did not find him. A short time afterward John took hold of the sword and whispered, ‘Will you tell the Captain that I saved his sword?’ “She answered, ‘Yes, I will tell him; but I hope he will be able to get here before you go.’ “He turned his face upward; peace came to his features and my John went into the Shining. When they sent me word that he was dead, no man can describe the horror that came into my soul. “Six months afterward I was left for dead on the field of battle at Kenesaw Mountain, in Georgia. I came to myself in the hospital tent and asked my nurse if I was living. ‘‘She said, ‘Do you want something to eat?’ ““ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I want the chaplain.’ ‘She sent for him; he came and sat beside me and said, ‘What do you wish?’ ““‘T want to be forgiven,’ I replied; ‘I want to find my Lord. I feel that I must. Will you pray for me?’ ‘‘He made one of those formal prayers that we hear sometimes. It didn’t do me any good and I was angry. I said, ‘I want to be prayed out of my sins somehow or other.’ 294 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK “He got cross and went out, but soon he came back and said, ‘I am sorry that I was impatient.’ “T told him that I wanted him to read the Bible to me; that I had disbelieved in it and now I wanted to believe in it. I told him about John Ring and how he had once read the fourteenth chapter of John. He read it, and then the twelfth chapter of Romans, but I couldn’t see anything then. I felt there was no help for me in the Bible. I told him so and he said, ‘The only thing for you to do, Colonel, is to go to God yourself.’ “T said, ‘It looks as though I must. I don’t see that I am getting any help from you; but come in again.’ “Sometime during the night I felt a strange sense of dying—a fading, falling out of life—and I said, ‘I am going to my God if there is one; to the Saviour whom I have scoffed at and despised; going to meet’ John and his God.’ An awful sense of sinking came over me and I called upon the unknown God for for- giveness, and asked Him to reveal Himself to me if there was any revelation possible. , eo hl ad ae eee ‘ J in — ee 1s Ware. - LIEUTENANT-COLONEL CONWELL SEcOoND ENLISTMENT NEW VENTURES 137 been among his pupils when he first taught school. She was a warm friend of his sister Harriet, a frequent visitor at the Conwell home, and a favorite with the entire family. Life’s greatest incentives were now his. Almost with joy he thought of those hard years at Wilbraham and Yale. They filled him with confidence for what now lay before him. ‘They were a promise of what he might again do. Tor now, as then, he had nothing with which to start upon the new life but determination. ‘“T had no money,” Doctor Conwell said, in speaking of this period of his life. ‘‘ Nothing but my education.” “Don’t you think it is rather hazardous to marry on such prospects?”’ was asked. ‘‘Wouldn’t it have been better to wait?” ‘“‘No,”’ was his emphatic reply. ‘‘ Marriage is not a mechanical business. Married life is the normal life. The ambition to have a home is the greatest incentive a man can have. I don’t believe in waiting to be married. I do not believe in being reckless; but there is always work a man can do, if he is earnest and willing. If he can’t find one kind of work he can another.”’ In his wife he found a true helpmate. She had a sweet and loving disposition that matched and responded to his own affectionate nature. She was as courageous as he, and she faced their future as confidently. She was ambitious, but it was an ambition with high ideals. She wanted to live to do good; was utterly unselfish, and recognized her husband’s capabilities and threw herself wholly into the task of helping him. “Persistent faithfulness,’’ Doctor Conwell has described as her chief characteristic. ‘‘She utterly effaced herself in her desire to help me,” he has said. And permeating all these qualities was a forcefulness and self-reliance that swept on with his to dare and do. One who knew her well, in describing her said: 138 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK ‘She was a beautiful woman, with bright, dark eyes, good color and a fine form. She was very jolly and full of fun, and could see the funny side of anything. When others saw the dark side, she would always find something to make it bright. Russell adored her and depended on her. He confided in her and talked things over with her. She believed in him, encouraged bim and was anxious to see him rise. She never thought of herself. She saw the potential power in him and gladly sacrificed herself to help him.” A _ cousin, writing to Mrs. Conwell from Williams College, under date of March 4, 1865, has this to say of their marriage: ‘““T was very much gratified to find that the people among whom I have been visiting entertain so high an ppinion of your husband, as a young man of firm prin- ciples, fine talents and great promise. I discovered that his friends have—and I judge not without reasons that fully justify them—high hopes of his future career, while I am very sure that it is my earnest wish that he may more than realize these expectations. To stand as well as he seems to in the opinion of others is, to say the least, a compliment to his intellect. I only hope, Jennie, that your two lives, joined in the highest, ho- liest bonds on earth, may ever surpass in success and happiness your most ardent anticipation for the future.” Almost immediately after they were married Russell Conwell decided to go West. He had not outgrown his childhood’s habit of sending for literature of all kinds. An advertisement of Minnesota, and of the bright future of those who grew up with the country, had attracted his attention. He sent for the printed matter and after a careful study of it and of such other data as he could get, the two resolved to make their home there. One week after their marriage he started, leaving NEW VENTURES 139 Mrs. Conwell to follow when he had made a place for her. He had barely enough funds to pay his carfare. But the lack of capital has never deterred Russell Con- well from going ahead with what he thought ought to bedone. The first two dollars he earned in Minneapolis were obtained by sawing wood. He did not have then, nor has he now, any false pride. He planted potatoes and did whatever he could find to do during those first few weeks; but he also made friends. A letter to Mrs. Conwell from one of these new friends—Mrs. Keith, with whom he boarded—gives a good picture of his first days in the West. ‘‘Dear Friend,” it began, ‘‘ Your husband has vol- unteered to hoe potatoes for Mr. Keith this afternoon if I will do his work, 2. e., to write you. As I have agreed to do so, I shall keep my word, and your loss will be our gain. I think, however, he will not refuse to assist me by sending you at least a note, so that you will not be so great a sufferer by this agreement. ‘‘But, all joking aside, I have wanted for some time to assure you of the high appreciation that we cherish for your warm-hearted, noble, Christian husband, and to allay your fears that should sickness and suffering come to him, no one in this far-off country would minister to him or give him the sympathy and love of true friendship. Let me assure you, dear friend, that such fears are groundless. In the little while he has been among us he has gathered around him many friends, and if the hour of adversity should come, he will find them just as true as the old and tried ones. ‘“‘But we find that he does not forget old friends while enjoying the society of many new ones. We are look- ing forward with interest to your coming among us to join your husband, and trust you will decide to come out this summer. I think, if you wish to employ some 140 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORE of your leisure, you can have the opportunity to teach; and as our schools are on the graded system that you are probably familiar with, you would find it pleasant. ‘‘T think there is no doubt in regard to the success of your husband here. He has already done more business than you could reasonably expect a stranger to procure, and the foundation for a good and perma- nent business seems firm. In the meanwhile accept the assurances that, until you do come, he shall be as a brother to us, and in all ways that we can, we will seek to advance his interest and highest good.” Russell Conwell, as the writer of this letter says was not long in getting a foothold, as he soon became the Minneapolis correspondent of the St. Paul Press, and filled a column every day with news of the town. He began to practice law and also went into the real estate business. A few months after he had arrived prac- tically penniless, he was in a position to send for Mrs. Conwell. Keenness, alertness, and a willingness to do whatever he could find to do, but not to be content with so doing, had quickly made him known and given him a footing in this bustling western town. Mrs. Conwell arrived in August with her mother and brother, Joseph Hayden, who went into business with Conwell, and the prospects of the young couple began to look bright. As Minneapolis correspondent for the St. Paul Press, Conwell was not long in discovering that Minneapolis needed and could support a paper of its own. With him to see a need was to supply it if there was nobody else to do it. In company with Colonel Stevens he started the Minneapolis Daily Chronicle, which has since become the Minneapolis Tribune. The weekly edition of this paper was called Conwell’s Star of the North. In the editorial of the first issue is given not only the purpose of the paper, but a MRS. JENNIE CONWELL First Wire or Dr. ConweLu NEW VENTURES 141 good index of its editor’s outlook on life. In this article he says: “Tt will be appropriate in the first number of the Star to state fairly what the reasons were for bringing out a new paper at this time and also to say what position we intend to take upon the questions of the day. There has been a lack of such family reading as the intelligence and enterprise of Minnesota would seem to demand. The political papers cannot devote much time or space to matters of mental culture and do their parties justice. Whenever they do insert anything other than political news or comment it must necessarily be wholly sub- ordinate to the main object of their publication, viz., to advance the interest of their party. Far be it from us to blame them. If they are party organs, let them speak the things of their party. It is in the contract. “But with us these things are different. Claiming to be the organ of no party, bound by no political ties, having no political history, and doing whatever we do entirely within ourselves; taking nothing, asking nothing of anyone, we propose to speak our own mind freely upon any topic in which we believe the people to be interested. No ‘stockholder’ can come in and upbraid us if we differ from him. No ‘private friends’ can come to ‘set us right’ if perchance we tread upon their toes. This paper will be the organ of the editor only, and any injustice or wrong that is brought to his notice will be as openly and freely condemned if perpe- trated by one man as by another, and anything com- mendable will be as quickly perceived in one place as in any other. It is, however, enough to say(which we are sorry to state is more than some can say) we are ourselves. ‘We will try to the best of our ability to carry into the family with the Star a high standard of morality, 142 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORE a love for the good, a respect for the noble, and an increased interest in education, refinement, and every- thing that elevates and dignifies mankind. We say we will try to do this; but should we at any time fail, or come short of our aim, it will be the fault ‘of the head and not of the heart.’ Westart with the people. We will march on with them. ‘They know the metal from the dross, and we will rest our cause with them.” Mrs. Conwell conducted the ‘‘ Ladies’ Department.” Her initial editorial is not only a good indication of her broad outlook on life, but it shows how far in advance of the times was her thought, and how courageous and independent she was in voicing it. ‘“‘Upon assuming the care and labor belonging to the ‘Ladies’ Department’ of this paper,’”’ she wrote, ‘‘we take upon ourselves a great responsibility. We feel how much happiness, morality and religion depend upon the reading matter furnished by the family news- paper. In view of all this we lay down our plan of operation for the future. ‘“We repudiate the ideas put forth by the Star Com- pany in their prospectus relating to the ‘ Ladies’ Depart- ment.’ We will never consent to conduct any part of the paper which proceeds upon the supposition that fashions, receipts, cook-books, and nonsense are the only matters of interest to the female part of the com- munity. Pshaw! Is Minnesota so far behind the age, that her people do not know that the ‘reign of mind’ has commenced on earth? Have they yet to learn that there are found among our sex the brightest, clearest literary minds of the day? : “Will the women of the Northwest be satisfied: to be represented by a journal which concedes to woman only just enough thought to appreciate a cook-book? Answer us, ye men whose homes are cheerful and happy NEW VENTURES 143 in the presence of a thinking wife or daughter. We know. full well what your answer will be. It will be just such a reply as should come from the hearts and heads of intelligent, honest, generous men. You would say that this is not the age of brute force. The stoutest arm, the strongest body, does not necessarily command the respect and reverence of a people now, as that ancient day. It is the strongest brain, the deepest thought that compels the homage of the world. “Woman has been hampered by custom, spoiled by too much care, bound by the fascinating cords of fashion, and has never had the opportunity of proving whether she be man’s equal or not. Whatever she has done, in nearly every instance, has been appropriated and claimed by men. Who supposed, until very recently, that the mowing machine—the greatest improvement of the age—a machine that saves our farmers hundreds and thousands of dollars every year— was the invention of a woman? How little did she realize the benefit she was doing mankind when she left the flower-beds she had been trimming with her scissors and asked her husband if a machine for mowing might not be made to work on the same plan! “But we do not wish to enter into any argument. We wish simply to call attention to the matter, and to state that we believe woman is mentally man’s equal; that she has her sphere of action; that her place 1s not man’s; that her physical and mental constitution is different from man’s and calls for different exercises; that there is enough for both to do in the world, and neither need be termed ‘inferior.’ We do not adopt the extreme stand of Anna Dickinson, George Francis Train and others, nor the other extreme which would treat woman as an ‘inferior order of animals.’ “But. we hold to the golden mean, claiming that 144 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK literature, art, and science are as appropriate studies for women as for men; that women are as interested in all that disciplines the mind as are men; that the milliner should have no more influence over women than the tailor over men; that millinery, dressmaking, tailoring, receipts, cook-books, and fashions are worthy of attention, but not of the whole attention, of any class of human beings; that in conducting this department we shall do as we please, without consulting the men as to the propriety of our action. We shall select, write, and insert such articles as we shall think of inter- est to ‘woman as she should be;’ and when we make up our minds that nothing else but the items recited in the Star prospectus are of interest to our lady readers, we will drop our pen and ‘Hie to worlds unknown.’”’ It is a fine, clear, vigorous statement, and far in advance of the general thought of her day. It brings out in a strong light her charmingly forceful personal- ity. It gives a good picture of what a helpmate she was. One feels that she would put into everything she did the same force and the same fine mentality and high purpose that are here shown. In addition to these undertakings, any other avenue for earning a living that opened was utilized by Russell Conwell. Singing lessons were given in his law office, and he also gave instruction on the piano. Thus many a dollar was added to the family income by his knowl- edge of music. But in this new life with all its new interests and needs, his time and attention were not wholly concerned with himself. Ever since his con- version in the Big Shanty Hospital near Marietta, Georgia, and his open profession of faith when able to leave the hospital, he had been active whenever and wherever possible in the cause of Christ. Although a stranger in a strange land, Russell Con- NEW VENTURES 145 well’s activity did not cease upon his arrival in Minne- apolis. He spoke in the cause of temperance, and he made addresses at Sunday-schools. On one occasion, when a funeral service was to be held and the minister was detained by a storm, Conwell preached the funeral sermon. ‘‘It was an inspiring sermon, too,” said one who heard it. He organized a quartet, himself singing bass, Mrs. Conwell soprano, Mr. Hayden tenor, and a friend alto; and, with him at the organ, the four gave their services wherever such help was needed. But perhaps his most important work in this line was the establishment of the Y. M. C. A. of Minneapolis, He had been holding a noon prayer-meeting every day for a year in his law office. It was similar to the “uiton Street noon prayer-meeting in New York—one of the most remarkable prayer-meetings of the country. So successful was this prayer-meeting in Conwell’s office that those who came felt they would like to branch out into some larger work. A committee was formed consisting of a member of one of the large dry goods firms of the town, a deacon in the church of which Conwell was a member, and Conwell, as chairman. The field was carefully surveyed and, as a result, the Y. M. C. A. of Minneapolis was started. Thus several years slipped away and prosperity seemed assured. Conwell’s business was growing; his friends were increasing and he was, as well, taking an active part in the religious life of the community— a work which, had he been willing to admit it, brought him more genuine satisfaction than anything else he did. Already he was beginning to feel an inner pulling toward the ministry that was given increased strength by the remembrance of his father’s and mother’s wishes in the matter. But as yet he had not seen this work in its true light and he resisted the call. i" 146 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK Then, suddenly, disaster came. One night in 1868, when the entire family were away, the house caught fire. Conwell was attending a G. A. R. meeting about a mile distant. When word was brought to him, he ran the entire distance, hoping to arrive in time to save some of the household goods. It was a bitter night, with a temperature of thirty-five degrees below zero. The running, the excitement, and the cold, brought on a hemorrhage of the lungs. At first, this was thought but a passing ailment. ~ The family fixed themselves in a few rooms and cheerily set their faces toward retrieving their lost fortune; but the hemorrhages continued. Often as much as a pint of blood was lost at one time; he rapidly grew weak and thin, and business was impossible. The doctors hinted at tuberculosis and held out little hope. Everything had been lost in the fire; funds were low; no money was coming in; and, with health and business gone, the future looked black. At last it was decided to take the little money that was left and return East. His family and friends, if not Conwell himself, thought his life was but a matter of weeks. These were dark days for Russell Conwell and his wife. Everything he had worked so hard to achieve was lost, and the money he had saved was gone.. The position he had labored to make was valueless, and death might be but a few weeks or months away. ‘‘How did you have the courage even to try to go on?” was asked him. ‘‘Under such circumstances, most people would have just given up.” His mouth settled into grim lines. ‘‘They were dark days,”’ he said, “but I never acknowledge to myself that I am defeated. I held on, then. I kept planning in my mind things to do. Then, too, one is more disheartened if failure comes through one’s own NEW VENTURES 147 fault. When it comes—as this did—from nothing for which I could blame myself, I think one has more heart to try again.” Not only did he refuse to give up hope himself, but his friends stood by him. It was thought that possibly a trip abroad might benefit him; and the warm and wide circle of friends he had made in Minneapolis secured his appointment as Immigration Agent to Germany for the State of Minnesota. With this appointment, he and Mrs. Conwell returned to Massachusetts, and he sailed for Germany to take up his duties; but his health did not improve. He finally gave up the commission upon which he had been sent, as he felt he was not able to do the work properly. ‘Then he wandered about Europe from one health resort to another, hoping to find relief. At last he joined a surveying party and went to the Holy Land, for the inner voice was calling more insistently to follow in the footsteps of Christ and preach and teach and heal the sick. He desired greatly to see the country where the Saviour had gone up and down doing good. But the trip was of no benefit physically, and the hemorrhages became more and more frequent. He could not keep up with the party and, in 1869, he left it and went to Paris. Here he was so weak that he could no longer care for himself and he entered the Necker Hospital for treatment. After an examination, he was told he could live but a few days. But his life was not to flicker out among strangers in a strange land. He now had faith in a supreme and loving Being, and he prayed with all his fervor that he might be permitted to again see his wife, his father and mother and the woods and streams of his native land. His prayer was answered in greater measure than he had dared hope. 10 148 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK His case had aroused much interest among the physicians of the hospital, because the blood from the hemorrhage, when analyzed, disclosed traces of brass. The talk about it spread outside the hospital walls and finally came to the ears of a famous Berlin doctor then in Paris. He was a man always on the alert for anything new and remarkable in his profession. He came to the hospital and studied the case of the young American. ‘“Were you ever shot-in the shoulder?” he finally asked. Then came back to Conwell the recollection of the duel with the Confederate around the tree in the North Carolina woods, and the bullet which had lodged in his shoulder near his neck and which had never been removed. He told the physician the incident. ‘There is the trouble,” said the doctor. ‘‘That bullet had brass in it, and it has worked down into your lung. Only the most skilful operation can save you, and there is only one man—so far as I know— who can do it. He is a surgeon in Bellevue Hospital, New York. Even then, your chance is slight. But the physician’s words brought hope—hope of again seeing his people and home, and perchance of life itself. It buoyed him to attempt the trip home. It was a fearful ordeal and required all his determina- tion and grim tenacity to help him carry it through. Even when almost unconscious from weakness, he clung to that one purpose to reach home. Few can realize the suffering and loneliness of that trip, but he survived it. Upon landing in New York, Russell Conwell was taken to the Bellevue Hospital, the case explained and. the opinion of the famous physician given. The surgeon of whom the doctor had spoken made an NEW VENTURES 149 examination, and the bullet was found near the third rib. It had worked down from the shoulder through the tissue of the lung to this position. To remove the bullet would be an exceedingly delicate operation, and the chance of recovery was slim; but without it, death was inevitable. It was an anxious time for all who loved him; but the operation was successful. The bullet was removed and, in a short time, health and strength were back in full tide. With returning vigor came the old desire to work. Conwell went to Boston in 1870, and secured a position on the Boston Traveller at fifteen dollars a week. He and Mrs. Conwell established themselves in a few rooms and practically began life anew. But, though poor, these were happy days. The fear of ill health had been lifted; congenial work had been found; and their first child, Nima, was born. The name given to her is indicative of the originality of Conwell’s mind. It is a Bohemian word meaning “none such.”’ Doctor Conwell has a dislike for nick- names and never wanted his children to have a name that could be thus misused. As in Minneapolis, his indefatigable work soon began to tell, and his circumstances to improve. He opened a law office and also began to lecture. His work on the newspaper, too, began to arouse comment. Then came his first big commission. He was sent by his paper to write up the battlefields of the rebellion, and ‘““Russell’s Letters from the Battlefields,’ became famous all over the country. They were quoted and commented upon widely. Simply as descriptive writ- ing they were vivid pieces of literature. But the human interest element was woven in, together with memories of the battles that had been fought; and not only the soldiers, but everyone throughout the country read 150 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK them eagerly. (See Appendix, “Russell’s Letters from the Battlefields.’’) These letters were followed by a trip around the world as special correspondent for the Boston Traveller and the New York Tribune. He was already the New England correspondent for the T’ribune, so it was an easy matter to place his articles from abroad with the big New York paper as well as with the Boston Traveller. When Conwell returned from this trip, he brought out his first book, published by Lee and Shepard of Boston, ‘‘Why and How the Chinese Emigrate and the Means They Adopt of Getting to America.” The Chinese question was causing great excitement just then, and this book was timely and popular. CHAPTER XVI Busy Days 1n Boston Doctor Conwell Tells about Meeting Tennyson, Gladstone, Garibaldi, Henry Ward Beecher, Whittier, and Many Other Famous People. His Work as a Lawyer. Free Legal Advice to the Poor. The Boston Young Men’s Congress. His Tremont Temple Sunday-school Class. Russell Conwell was offered an editorial posi- tion upon the Boston Traveller. Thishe accepted. His work now broadened in many ways, and his days became increasingly active. He wrote not only for his own paper, but he did special work for other papers and periodicals throughout the country, and this necessitated much traveling. The demand for lectures increased and these took him to various parts of the country. In addition, he went abroad many times in the interest of different newspapers and publications, and interviewed many distinguished men and women of that period. He thus obtained a wonderful kaleidoscopic picture of life. From the West—where his work took him to the very frontiers of civilization and he mingled with hardy pioneers and obtained their primitive outlook upon life—he went to the very heart of the slums of Boston among the poor and suffering, and from there he boarded a steamer bound for the old and cultured civilization of Europe, to view its superfine luxuries and mingle with some of its best representatives. (151) Ue: his return from his trip around the world, 152 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK On one of these foreign trips he saw Bismarck—“ A ereat, large-hearted German,’ Doctor Conwell describes him, ‘‘with a laugh that fairly shook the building. He was a rough, rude soldier with hard features; but I do not believe,” he observed, thoughtfully, ‘‘that he would have shot Miss Cavell.” Doctor Conwell also saw Von Molke, whom he remem- bers as a dignified soldier and a most polished gentle- man. His interview with Tennyson remains vividly in his memory, and is one of the most pleasant that he recalls. He went to seen Tennyson in company with Harriet Beecher Stowe and spent an afternoon with the poet. It was during this interview that Tennyson told about the writing of the poem, ‘‘ Break, Break, Break,’ which is probably known wherever the English language is spoken. « This poem was written shortly after the loss of a loved one. The poet had gone to the seashore, upon the advice of friends, in the hope that new scenes might fill his mind with other interests and lessen his grief. As he walked upon the beach and gazed out over the waters the view took form in: “Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea.” Then over him swept the memory of his bereave- ment. The scene before him vanished. All that he saw or thought was his loss, and the mental picture ended in: “T would that my heart could utter, The thoughts that arise in me.’ The following day he had the same experience and, as he gazed out over the sparkling waters, his thought took shape in: “The stately ships go on To their haven under the hill.” BUSY DAYS IN BOSTON 153 Then again the overwhelming sense of his loneliness swept over him, and he finished: “But oh, for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still.” Conwell stayed a week with Garibaldi and walked with him around Caprera, the island owned by Gari- baldi, and where he made his home. ‘“‘It was a great experience,” Doctor Conwell says in recalling it. “We would sit up and talk half the night. That week with him was practically the whole of Italian history. It made me keenly interested in Italian affairs—an interest I have never lost. All these interviews, how- ever, were a great education. They made me want to read and know more about the prople and countries I saw.” “My interview with Dickens, for instance, gave me a greater desire than I had previously had to read his books. I saw him a few days before he died, so, of course, he was scarcely his usual self. He was fussy and nervous, but wonderful, despite the state of his health. He kept us much longer than we had expected to stay.” Doctor Conwell’s recollection of Gladstone is most pleasant. ‘‘He was a good, kindly old English gentle- man and he talked long with me about American affairs. I was amazed at the scope of his knowledge of them.”’ Just before the outbreak of the Franco-German war, Conwell attended a banquet in Paris at which the Emperor and Empress were present. ‘‘HKugenia was a beautiful woman,” he says, ‘‘and,” he added, “‘she really was the whole government.” Victor Hugo impressed him as a stern, reserved man, who hated Napoleon the Third, and looked upon his ascension to the throne as a great crime. 154 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK Doctor Conwell saw Emperor Francis Joseph, and attended a reception to William the Third of Ger- many at his palace. In fact, there were few people of note that he did not interview, or events of impor- tance at which he was not present as a journalist. Li Hung Chang, the famous Chinese statesman, was among those interviewed during these years. He impressed Conwell as a stingy old man—careful not to spend a cent. An indication of this was his failure to serve his visitors with tea—the custom in China. “He had a genial side to his nature, though,” con- cluded Doctor Conwell, ‘‘and when I called upon him, he was playing leap-frog with his grandchildren, and also letting them ride on his back, under the pretense that he was an elephant.” However, not all of Doctor Conwell’s interviews were with distinguished people abroad. He also met many men of note in America. In this way he came to know Henry Ward Beecher very well. The man— whose sermons as a child he had read and whom, as a young man, upon his first visit to New York, he had heard Pech that remarkable sermon in which Beecher auctioned off a slave woman—came to have an important place and a strong influence in his life. “My acquaintance with Henry Ward Beecher,” Doctor Conwell says, ‘‘was the most intimate that I had with any public man. I was often in New York for several months at a time doing special work on the Tribune. At such times, I always reported Beecher’s sermons. When he had anything special to be written up, he would send for me. We traveled together a great deal, and, later, when I myself was lecturing, I met him often on my lecture trips. ”’ Bayard Taylor was another of Conwell’s intimates of these days. Taylor was one of the editors of the BUSY DAYS IN BOSTON 155 New York Tribune and Conwell, through his connection with the paper, had become acquainted with him. They had chanced to meet upon one of Conwell’s trips abroad and had traveled together from London to Italy. After his death Doctor Conwell wrote a biog- raphy of him; and when the great memorial service was arranged for him in Tremont Temple, Boston, the Young Men’s Congress asked Conwell to call upon Oliver Wendell Holmes and request him to write a poem upon Bayard Taylor’s death for the occasion. ‘‘T called upon Mr. Holmes and told him what was wanted,’’ says Doctor Conwell in recalling the inci- dent. ‘‘I remember the occasion well. He was sit- ting in a rocking chair. He rocked back and kicked up his feet, and ridiculed the idea as absurd. ‘<“T write a poem on Bayard Taylor?’”’ he said. ‘No; but I tell you, if you will get Mr. Longfellow to write a poem on Bayard Taylor’s death, I will read it!’ So I went to Mr. Longfellow and told him what Doctor Holmes had said, and here is the poem he wrote.””’ And Doctor Conwell recited: ‘¢ ‘Dead he lay among his books! The peace of God was in his looks. As the statues in the gloom Watch o’er Maximilian’s tomb, So these volumes from their shelves Watched him, silent as themselves. Ah, his hand will never more Turn their storied pages o’er. Never more his lips repeat Songs of theirs, however sweet. Let the lifeless body rest! He is gone who was its guest. Gone as travelers haste to leave An inn, nor tarry until eve. Traveler! in what realms afar, In what planet, in what star, In what gardens of delight Rest thy weary feet tonight. Poet, thou whose latest verse Was a garland on thy hearse, 156 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK Thou hast sung with organ tone In Deukalion’s life thine own. On the ruins of the past, Blooms the perfect flower, at last. Friend, but yesterday, the bells Rang for thee their loud farewells. And today they toll for thee, Lying dead beyond the sea. Lying dead among thy books, The peace of God in all thy looks.” ” Whittier was another distinguished American with whom Conwell spent many hours in the poet’s charm- ing, old-fashioned home in Amesbury. ‘‘I used to run out to his home frequently,’ says Doctor Con- well, ‘‘and in his study, talk over with him matters in which we were both interested.” That study is a restful room. Many pleasant hours the aged poet and the young newspaper man passed together in it. It looks out upon a peaceful garden. The walls are covered with photographs, autographed poems and mementos of many kinds from friends and admirers all over the world. The furniture is old-fashioned and the desk upon which the poet wrote is small and cramped according to present-day standards; but an atmosphere of peace and charm pervaded the place that was an inspiration and strength to the busy young newspaper man who came here so frequently. “T once asked Whittier what was his favorite poem,”’ says Doctor Conwell when recalling these days. ‘‘He replied that he had not thought very much about it, but said there was one that he especially remembered. It was this: “*T know not where His islands lift, Their fronded palms in air; I only know I cannot drift Beyond His love and care.’ id also asked him, ‘Mr. Whittier, how could you write all those war songs which sent us young men to BUSY DAYS IN BOSTON 157 war, and you a peaceful Quaker? I cannot understand it!’ He smiled and said that his great-grandfather had been on a ship that was attacked by pirates; and, as one of the pirates was climbing up the rope into their ship, his great-grandfather grasped a knife and cut the rope, saying ‘If thee wants the rope, thee can have it.’ He said he had inherited something of the same spirit.” Another question which Conwell put to Whittier was of an extremely personal nature, and shows how intimate they were. ‘Several of us had been discuss- ing one day in the newspaper office after our work was done, why Whittier had never married,”’ said Doctor Conwell in speaking of this particular interview. ‘I said I would go and ask him. I went out to his house and approached the subject from all possible sides, with what I thought were leading questions; but the poet did not respond in the way I wished. Finally I asked him point blank. He smiled but again evaded, and I returned to my co-workers no more enlightened on the subject than when I left. The next day, how- ever, I received a letter from Whittier, which read: ““Tyzar CoLonet:—I thank thee for thy interest in my humble past and hazy future. It was a blest con- ference we had on First-day. Come again and let us walk longer by the river. I enclose the answer I could not give thee yesterday. “ “Thy Friend, “ ¢J. G. WHITTIER. ‘* ‘Amesbury, July 10, 1871.’ ” Enclosed was the poem entitled ‘‘Memories.”’ (See Appendix.) But busy as Conwell was with his newspaper, maga- zine and book work—for he wrote many books in 158 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK those days—this was but a small part of his activities. He became more and more widely known as a lecturer and the calls for him to speak became more and more frequent. While upon one of his trips abroad, he gave a series of lectures at Cambridge, England, on Italian history, that attracted much favorable comment. They grew out of the interest in the subject which Garibaldi had aroused in him. It was also during these busy days in Boston that Conwell wrote a biography of Daniele Manin, the great Venetian statesman, for whom Garibaldi had aroused his admiration. This manuscript was thought to have been destroyed by a fire at his Boston home; and it was not until years afterwards that it was found in a barrel in the barn where, in the confusion, it had been hastily placed for safe keeping, and then forgotten. Conwell’s law practice steadily increased. He had an office in Somerville, practically a suburb of Boston, where he now lived, and also one in Tremont Temple in the city proper. In this law practice he took a step unprecedented in the history of the profession in Boston. He was ever ready to respond to the needs of the poor, and in his newspaper work he often saw how a little legal advice would lift the poor and ignorant over a rough place in the road. So he inserted in the Boston paper the following notice: ‘““Any deserving, poor person wishing legal advice or assistance will be given the same free of charge, any evening except Sunday, at No. 10 Rialto Building, Devonshire Street. None of these cases will be taken into court for pay.” These cases Conwell prepared as attentively and took into court with as great a determination to win as those for which he received large fees. This pro- BUSY DAYS IN BOSTON 159 ceeding laid him open to much professional criticism. His action was said to be unprofessional, sensational and a ‘‘bid for popularity.” But criticism did not stop him. The wrongs of many an ignorant man, suffering through the greed of men over him, were righted. Those who robbed the poor under various guises were made to feel the hand of the law. And for none of these cases did Conwell the lawyer ever take a cent of pay. He kept his law office open at night for those who could not come during the day, and gave counsel and legal advice free to the poor. Often during the evening he had as many as half a hundred of these clients, too poor to pay for legal aid, yet sadly needing help to right their wrongs. Another class of clients who brought Conwell much work but no profit were the widows and orphans of soldiers seeking aid to obtain pensions. ‘To such he never turned a deaf ear, no matter what multitude of duties pressed. He charged no fee, even when to win the case he was compelled to go to Washington. Nor would he give up the case—no matter what work it entailed—until the final verdict was given. His part- ners say he never lost a pension case, nor ever made a cent by one. Attorney Conwell was considered an expert in con- tested election cases, and he frequently appeared before the legislature in behalf of cities and towns on matters over which it had jurisdiction. One who knew him personally, speaking of these days says: ‘““Conwell prepared and presented many bills to Congressional committees at Washington, and appeared as counsel in several Louisiana and Florida election cases. His arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States in several important patent cases were reported to the country by the Associated Press. 160 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK He had at one time considerable influence with the President and Senators in political appointments; and some of the best men still in government office in this state (Massachusetts) and in other New England states, say they owe their appointment to his active friendship in visiting Washington on their behalf. But it does not appear that, through all these years of work and political influence, he ever asked for an appointment for himself.” _ An unwritten law in Conwell’s law office was that neither he nor his partners should ever accept a case if their client were in the wrong or guilty. But this very fact made evil-doers the more anxious to secure him. They knew it would create the impression at once that they were innocent. A story that went the rounds of legal circles in Boston, and finally was published in the Boston Sunday Times, shows how he was cleverly fooled by a pick- pocket. The man charged with the crime came to Attorney Conwell to get him to take the case. So well did he play the part of injured innocence that Colonel Conwell was completely deceived and threw himself heart and soul into the work of clearing him. When the case came up for trial, the lawyer and client sat together in the court-room and Colonel Conwell made such an earnest and forceful plea in behalf of the innocent young man, and the harm already done him by having such a charge laid against his door, that the district attorney agreed to dismiss the case at once. So lawyer and client walked out of the court together, happy and triumphant, to Colonel Conwell’s office, where the pickpocket paid Attorney Conwell his fee out of the lawyer’s own pocket-book which he had deftly abstracted in the court-room. “What was your most interesting case?’”’ was once BUSY DAYS IN BOSTON 161 asked Doctor Conwell. He thought a moment and replied, ‘‘It was amurdercase. I came into it after the supposed murderer had been sentenced for life. He pleaded ‘not guilty,’ but made no defense. The ver- dict went against him, and when I came into the affair he was serving his life sentence. I was called to settle the estate of his son and discovered that the son had in his possession some property of the murdered man. “Suspicion had never been directed to the son at all; but when I went to see the man in prison to get him to sign some papers concerning the son’s estate, I said, ‘You did not kill that man. It was your son that did it... At my words he broke down. But still he did not admit it. I was so convinced of his innocence that, without his permission, I took the matter up and brought it again through the court, with the result that he was finally pardoned. He had suffered to shield his son.”’ Into work for temperance Colonel Conwell went earnestly. He spoke for the cause and also helped individuals suffering from the habit. Many a drunk- ard he took to his Somerville home, nursed all night, and in the morning endeavored to awaken him to adesire to live a different life. Deserted wives and children of drunkards came to him for aid, and many of the free law cases were in behalf of those wronged through drink. Friend always of the workingmen, Colonel Conwell was persistently urged by their party to accept a nom- ination for Congress; but he as persistently refused. However, he worked hard in politics for others and man- aged one campaign, in which General Nathaniel P. Banks was running on an independent ticket, and elected him by a large majority. Charles Sumner and Henry Wilson presented Con- well’s name for United States Consulship at Naples o 162 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORE because his lectures at Cambridge, England, on Italian history had attracted so much favorable comment on account of the deep research they showed and keen appreciation of the Italian character. At one time he was guardian of more than sixty orphan children and three of the most destitute of these were left a fortune of $50,000 through his intercession with a relative. In addition to his newspaper work, his lecturing and practice, Colonel Conwell went actively into real estate operations. In Somerville, a growing suburban sec- tion, he started the Somerville Journal, a newspaper, and began various real estate operations that materially assisted in the growth of the place. ‘Two streets in Somerville were named after him—one, Conwell Street and the other, Conwell Avenue. He built a beautiful home in what is now the Tufts College district. This is one of the loveliest sections around Boston. The land is elevated, and beautiful views are obtained of Boston and the towns along the Mystic River. Despite these many and far-reaching business activities, he found time for interests other than his own. As in Minneapolis, he entered energetically into all work of the community that made for better- ment and progress. One of theinstitutions which Colonel Conwell founded at this time and which has played an important part in Boston’s civic life, was Boston’s Young Men’s Congress. It was organized in 1875 by Conwell after he had dis- cussed the project with Charles Sumner. So important a body did it become that it was incorporated in 1885. It was modeled after the Lower House of Congress of the National Legislature and was a school of the actual work of the House of Representatives. The Manual of the Massachusetts Legislature was used for its rules. Its sessions opened the first Monday in BUSY DAYS IN BOSTON 163 October and it met every Monday night during the winter. The congress had at one time more than a hundred members, and it became one of the notable associations of Boston. Bills were introduced as in the legislature, and all the important subjects of the day were discussed. The tariff, suffrage, immigration—whatever was fore- most in the public mind—was argued pro and con; and many were the heated debates, and widespread was the interest in the conclusions reached. Many of the prominent men of Boston were members of this congress. Hon. John D. Long, Governor of Massachusetts in 1880-83 and afterwards Secretary of the Navy, was one of its members; so also was Elmer A. Stevens, at one time Treasurer of the State of Massa- chusetts. Mr. Stevens says that his success as a public speaker was due to the training he received in the “Young Men’s Congress.” Other members included Charles H. Innes, then a young attorney and later a member of the Massachu- setts Senate; William T. A. Fitzgerald, a lawyer, who became a Senator and afterward register of deeds in Suffolk County—one of the most remunerative posi- tions in the gift of the people; Judge Barnes of East Boston court, who was for many years a member and speaker of the congress; March G. Bennett, a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives; Ben- jamin C. Lane and Malcolm G. Nichols, who became members of the Boston city council, Judge Riley of the Malden court and a prominent figure in the Demo- cratic politics of Massachusetts; John Buckley of Cambridge, a deputy collector of internal revenue; and Harry Grigor of the customs service. Later these two men went prominently into social welfare work. In speaking of the work of the congress, one of its il 164 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK members has said, ‘‘The congress was not sectarian. Many Catholics bore no inconsiderable part in its success during the many years of its existence. I men- tion this to show that, while the congress was founded by Colonel Russell H. Conwell, who was not a Catholic, it partook of none of the petty religious prejudices of the day.” Another member regarded the congress as the high- est class debating society he had ever attended. It was widely copied. The Law School of Boston University and the Young Men’s Christian Association both organized similar societies. Visitors were admitted to its sessions and occasionally a Ladies’ Night was held. Once a year a supper was given which was a most delightful and interesting function, as it included among its members and guests notable men, not only from Boston, but from many parts of the country. The congress disbanded in 1913-14, but for nearly forty years it was one of the prominent and influential organi- zations of Boston. Another association that was almost equally far- reaching in its influence was the Tremont Temple Bible Class organized by Colonel Conwell. When he returned to Boston to live, he allied himself with Tre- mont Temple Baptist Church, the church of his boy- hood friend, Deacon Chipman, who figured in his first adventure in Boston. Conwell started a Bible class which grew so rapidly that it soon beame necessary to secure a hall in which it could meet. Its member- ship numbered about eight hundred, but between two and three thousand people often attended its meetings. The Sunday-school lesson for the day was taken up by Conwell, who gave a little talk upon it, and questions and answers and discussions followed. The original- ity and the vitality of the discussions, and the applica- BUSY DAYS IN BOSTON 165 tion of the truths taught to the everday problems of life, made the class meetings unusually helpful and interesting, and attracted to them thousands of the business men of Boston. In addition to the study and discussions of the lessons, the class did much work in the slum district of the North End. The poor and sick were visited, and books, clothing and provisions distributed among them. The class had an excellent male quartet—wherever Conwell was there was always good music—and the quartet helped the work of the class in this section by its singing. A second child was born in the Conwell family during these years—a son, Leon—now editor and publisher of the Somerville Journal, founded by his father. He is a prominent and influential resident of Somerville, has been a member of the Massachusetts State Legis- lature, and mayor of Somerville. Thus, writing, lecturing, traveling, practicing law, dealing in real estate, conducting a newspaper, helping in the civic and religious life of the community, Colonel Conwell’s days were filled with incessant activity. He lived life as zestfully as he had done in boyhood, but to larger ends. Then the years were giving. Now he was using what they had given. Even now, as he gave, he was receiving. His contact with all phases and con- ditions of life, his keen interest 1n all he saw and heard, his warm sympathies that carried him right into the heart of things, enriched and broadened him. These busy years were prolific of much building other than houses, legal emoluments and bank accounts. CHAPTER XVII His Entry INTO THE MINISTRY The Death of Mrs. Conwell. Increasing Interest in Religious Work. Doctor Conwell’s Second Marriage. The Lexington Church. . His Decision to Enter the Ministry. Conwell family in happy and useful activity. Colonel Conwell himself was becoming widely known by his writings and lecturing; was build- ing up a good law practice; was conducting large and successful real estate operations; and was prominent in the social, political and religious life of the commu- nity. Mrs. Conwell was equally popular and busy in social and religious circles; and was as ably and force- fully conducting a woman’s department in the Somer- ville Journal as she had done in the Minneapolis Séar. The two children—Nima and Leon—were growing into sturdy youngsters, brightening and making happy the family circle. A handsome home was nearing com- pletion for them in one of the most beautiful parts of Somerville. Then a tragic blow fell. In 1872, after a few days’ illness which was not thought to be serious, Mrs. Con- well passed away. With her usual cheery spirit, she had made light of her sickness. She had refused med- ical help, insisting that her ailment was trifling. The last time she went upstairs she laughed and joked, the family say, as she lifted herself from step to step, the pain, though she would not admit it, being too severe for (166) ie seemed to be flowering out once more for the HIS ENTRY INTO THE MINISTRY 167 her to walk. She was brave, cheery, and self-effacing to the end. Her husband left her in the morning, thinking she was better, to return to find her dead. The rheumatic trouble from which she was suffering suddenly went to her heart and before aid could be secured she had left them. The months that followed were dark ones for Colonel Conwell. Ordinary occupations palled. He continued his editorial work, his law practice and his real estate operations. He worked even harder, if possible, so that his thoughts could not stray to his loss." It was during these years that he learned five languages by studying on the train to and from his office and his home. But zest in his many activities was largely gone. The lonely man needed something beyond these to satisfy. As in the Big Shanty Hospital at Marietta after his injury in the Battle of Kenesaw, the death angel roused him to look into her world—the world of the unseen, she again urged him to seek the things of the spirit. This time the call reached depths unsounded before and he sought to know eternal life and the gov- erning power of the universe more earnestly than when he was converted. Anything that concerned the Bible and Bible people attracted Colonel Conwell now. He gathered a valu- able theological library, sending to Germany for a number of the books. When he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, he delivered an address that same evening in Washington on ‘“‘The Curriculum of the School of the Prophets in Ancient Israel.’ From all parts of the Old World he collected photographs of ancient manuscripts and sacred places, and kept up a correspondence with many professors and explorers who were interested in these 168 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK subjects. He lectured in schools and colleges on arche- ological subjects with illustrations prepared by himself. He also began lay preaching and spoke to sailors on the wharves, to idlers in the streets, and at little strag- gling missions where help was needed. Gradually, through his speaking and teaching and studying, the true understanding of what it meant to be a minister of Christ came to him. The misconcep- tions and narrow views of his boyhood days regarding the profession dropped away and the joy of the work, its great value, and the world’s need of workers in this field began to dawn upon him. While engaged in evangelical labors Colonel Con- well met Miss Sarah Sanborn, of a wealthy and influ- ential family of Newton Centre. She was an active worker in mission and church circles; a woman of culture, refinement, force of character and executive ability, and widely interested in religious affairs. They met frequently in religious work. 'Their common inter- est in such activities drew them together and, in 1874, they were married. After his marriage Colonel Conwell removed to Newton Centre, the seat of the Newton Theological Seminary. His new home was but a few blocks from the Seminary buildings. Mrs. Conwell already had many friends among the professors, and Conwell was at once thrown intimately into the atmosphere of theo- logical study and discussion. This brought to his attention and thought another side of the ministry. He thus obtained, through the actual work he was doing in lay preaching and teaching, and through the theological atmosphere into which he was now brought—a view of the profession as a whole. He could see the work from all sides. As Colonel Conwell meditated upon the need of HIS ENTRY INTO THE MINISTRY 169 religion in men’s lives and the effects it produced there, the struggles of a little Baptist church in Lexington to prolong its existence, suddenly cleared his vision as to his course. He saw what his true work was and decided to enter the ministry. He closed his law office, gave up his real estate business, and offered his services as preacher to the little church in Lexington. CHAPTER XVIII His First PASTORATE Doctor Conwell Tells Why He did not Earlier Enter the Ministry. His Advice upon Choosing a Lrfe- Work. The Condition of the Church at Lexington. The First Service. Building a New Church. His First Church Fair. The Activities and Growth of the Lexington Church. His Help in Developing Lexing- ton. His Ordination. The Call to Philadelphia. successful real estate business to take the pastor- ate of a church that was on the verge of ruin seemed an act of folly to Colonel Conwell’s worldy-minded friends. Speaking of Conwell’s decision and his quick action, Mr. Hayden, his brother-in-law, said: ‘“My wife and I were in New York at the time on a brief visit. We returned to Boston by boat and, as I wished to see Conwell about something, I went immedi- ately to his law offices in Tremont Temple, only to find them closed and to learn of the change he had made. I was dumfounded.”’ That was the way many of his friends and relatives regarded his action. But he him- self viewed the change in no such light. When questioned about the matter in later years, Doctor Conwell said with a happy smile, ‘‘I knew I had found my work. I was perfectly satisfied. I have never had any disposition to change it, to do anything else. Before that, I was always changing. I was rest- less. Though I was busy; though I was what the (170) [os relinquishment of a good law practice and a HIS FIRST PASTORATE 171 world would call successful, I wasn’t satisfied. From the moment I decided on this work, I was contented and happy. I felt a great satisfaction that cannot be described in words. ‘Had I known what the ministry meant, I would undoubtedly have gone into it sooner. I always had a pulling that way but fought against it, for my idea of the work was formed from my childhood experiences; from gloomy, harsh sermons I had heard as a child, from the torture I suffered in church when I could not keep awake and I knew I would be whipped if I didn’t. All these things meant to me the church and church work, and I could not force myself to inflict anything of that sort on others. It took me a long time to find out that one could be independent of such methods. “‘T remember, as a boy, an old preacher who was always asking me, ‘How is your soul?’ As I had an inner conviction that it was not altogether commend- able in his sight, I was eternally seeing it flying off to some region of eternal woe—not, I must confess, a pleasant thought to entertain continually. The uneasi- ness it gave me, I somehow blamed upon the ministry. ‘“‘T remember another incident of my boyhood that set me against the ministry. Our minister was given a donation party, and sixteen dollars was collected and presented to him. But the expense of feeding the horses of those who came, and the cost of repairing the furniture that was broken during the evening’s hilarity, was greater than this amount. Such things made the ministry seem foolish and futile and lacking in good sense. I could not see any connection between it and purposeful living. Yet I always had the desire—as I think most men have—to do good; to be of use to others; and to make my life worth while. Had I realized that these were the foundation principles of 172 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK the ministry, I would have entered it sooner. But my early ideas of a minister’s life and work and accomplish- ment held me in a spell which I could not shake off for many years.”’ At another time Doctor Conwell said, in reference to this sudden and decided change in his life: ‘‘T have been often asked how I came to choose my life’s work, as though it were a matter of my own selec- tion, instead of a case of being forced to do that which I did not like. But the feeling within my soul that I ought to preach the Gospel was never fully out of my heart, after the days when my mother insisted that I should be a preacher and told all the neighbors who came to our house of her great ambition for me. ‘““That feeling would often rise to a very strong desire, and I seldom ever listened to a religious address or a fine sermon without feeling conscience-stricken and often half inclined to throw away everything and enter upon the humble service of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I tried to destroy that feeling, or at least bury it by taking hold of other things and putting my whole mind and time into them. ‘“‘T studied law while in the army, and paced the beach many weeks at Fort Macon, in North Carolina, memorizing the entire works of Blackstone. I thought I had at least conquered my previous inclination toward the ministry, and that I should be contented as a lawyer. But my practice was much broken at first by the failure of my health, due to my army wounds, and I was forcibly thrust into newspaper writing by the necessity of earning a living and traveling for my health. “One of the first law cases which came to me after the opening of my law office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1866, compelled me to take possession of a printing HIS FIRST PASTORATE 173 establishment connected with a weekly newspaper which had failed. That led to a financial interest in the Minneapolis Chronicle, which Colonel Stevens per- suaded me to undertake, and afterward led to the establishment of Conwell’s Star of the North, a weekly paper later merged into the present Minneapolis Tribune. Then, for several years, I traveled around the world, making a complete circuit of the earth for the New York Tribune, the Boston Traveller and my own Minneapolis newspaper. ‘But I always kept up the ambition to return to the practice of law, which I did when I recovered my health, opening one office in Somerville, Massachusetts, and another in Boston. There I practiced law, speculated in real estate, entered into active politics, and began the publication of the Somerville Journal. All the time these various matters were being used by me to keep out of mind that mysterious call of the spirit to preach the Gospel. ‘““Unexpected and probably undeserved success came to my law practice in Boston through accident and the kindness of friends, so that I seemed to be prospering beyond my highest hopes, when, among my clients there came a young widow—Mrs. Barrett of Lexington, Massachusetts—who consulted me as to what could be done with the property of an old Baptist church in Lexington, which had been practically abandoned. “TY had been continuously lecturing in the lyceums and speaking on the Sabbath to Sunday-school con- ventions and anniversaries, so that I was not out of touch with religious life and work. I had also organized a large Bible class of nearly eight hundred members in the Tremont Temple Church in Boston, of which I was a member. My advice as a lawyer to Mrs. Barrett was that they should sell the property and turn the 174 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK proceeds over to the State Convention for the general use of the Baptist denomination. But the first little gather- ing which I attended in Lexington was such a sad occasion that we could not get the few old people, who loved the place so much, to do anything about selling the property; and Mrs. Barrett suggested that I should go to Lexington the following Sunday and give an address to such people as might come to the old building. ‘The address, which I delivered there the next Sun- day, was attended by very few people and it would not have been safe for more persons to have stood upon the dangerous floor. But it was an occasion when all the old-time desire arose in full power within me, and my conscience resumed complete control of my actions. I resolved that night—after hours of struggle with myself and prayer to my Lord—to at last dedicate myself to the cause which I should have adopted years before. i was then thirty-seven years of age and settled in a profession in a large city, with prospects of wealth and success, which were very attractive; but I felt, ‘Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel,’ and I dared not disobey that divine call. “My family were greatly surprised, my relatives were indignant, and even the church members thought me to be unbalanced in mind to do so wild a thing as to launch out from my settled and successful life into the uncertainties of poverty and failure, which seemed all there was before me in the life of a preacher. But I surrendered all and kept on amid the scoffs and reproaches of my best friends. And while I have seen hours of trial; met sore defeats; been wounded by jealousies; injured by misunderstandings; yet, as I look back upon life now, I cannot see that I ever suffered greater hardships than I had expected. “Instead of those expected privations, I have been HIS FIRST PASTORATE 175 especially blessed. The Lord has sent to me successes beyond my highest expectations, and I have had friends and comforts which I am sure I could not have deserved. Not for one moment since I came to a full decision to follow the Lord in his work have I ever been sorry that I made the change and, although I have not wealth nor fame, I can lay down my armor now with a feeling that I have succeeded more than I had ever hoped or expected. ‘‘T have seen so many men, who have worked much harder, made more sacrifices, and had more talent, who have fallen in the rear and sunk into oblivion, that I cannot take to myself any pride; nor am I willing to accept these results as more than accidental. But I would have my friends—as I would myself—give the glory or the honor to the Great Power which has designs of His own and who promotes those whom He will or keeps in obscurity those who may serve Him best. ‘No one in the service of the Lord can say that he is in the wrong place—no matter where he may be situ- ated—if his conscience does not tell him that he him- self. has entered into conscious sin. Defeats are often the greatest victories; and the Lord may use most those who seem to be—from a human point of view— of the least account. It is absolutely impossible for any servant of God to tell in this life whether his efforts are going to be of future avail, or whether his losses may not after all be of more account in the future Kingdom than the gains of the great.” This first service at which Colonel Conwell preached is often recalled by the members of the Lexington church. ‘‘When we heard that Colonel Conwell was coming to preach,” said one of these members, in describing his work in Lexington “‘we felt that we must get together an audience for him. We scoured the 176 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK town to induce people to come, and succeeded in secur- ing eighteen to attend his first service. But after that first service we did not need to do any missionary work. People came of their own account. Soon they could not be accommodated in the church and they stood out- side on the pavement. Colonel Conwell is not limited for lung power, though, so they all heard him.” The church building in which the services were held was in a dilapidated condition, and the steps leading up to it were really dangerous. The structure was heated by a stove ‘“‘which,” one of the members said, “the janitor always insisted upon shaking down in the middle of the service.’ A small melodeon was the musical instrument. For this first service, in addition to securing a congregation, the interest of some of the music lovers of Lexington was also enlisted. ‘‘T went to some of my Unitarian friends who sang,” said one of the workers, ‘‘and asked them if they would not come and sing for us. They agreed, and so we were able to have a quartet for that first service.” One can feel the anxiety of the few devoted members left, who had the welfare of the church at heart, for that first service. Could they have glimpsed the future they would not have been anxious. As has been said, that first service was electrical. The second Sun- day saw the place dangerously crowded. The building was thronged, and people stood upon the sidewalk at both morning and evening service. Lexington realized that the church had come to life, and there was some- thing so vital in this new life that the town was stirred. But it was not mere curiosity that attracted the people. It was a recognition of the fact that the Gospel of Christ was being given to them in a form that practically and helpfully entered into their lives, and they were eager for it. HIS FIRST PASTORATE 177 The crowds and the interest shown pointed out to Conwell the need of a larger building, but he felt that it would be useless to say anything upon the subject to the present members. How could he ask a congre- gation, whose previous attendance fell at times as low as five or six, and whose former collections—though the members gave nobly and self-sacrificingly—were usually less than a dollar on Sunday, and in whose treasury at his coming was but a dollar and a half, to erect a new church building? Indeed, the treasurer of the church said laughingly, in regard to the dollar and a half that was on hand: ‘‘We were so thankful that in his letter saying he would come and preach that first Sunday, he wrote, ‘I will take no pay,’ for we needed that dollar and a half to fix the door latch.”’ Surely never was the outlook for building a church more hopeless. But Colonel Conwell is not a man to give much time to viewing the obstacles in his path. It is the need to which he gives the most of his attention and, if this seems definite enough, he believes the very fact of the need implies a supply. As he knew it would be useless to propose to the church members to build a new church, Colonel Con- well started the work himself. Bright and early upon the Monday morning after his second Sunday at Lex- ington, he appeared with saw and hammer and began tearing away the steps that had broken down under the pushing and stamping of the crowd. Vigorously he went to work. The neighborhood was aroused by the sounds of blows, the rending of boards and the falling of timbers. By night the most dilapidated parts of the old building were gone and only a fraction of the original porch remained. But more had been done than the tearing down of @ building. That day’s work had aroused Lexington 178 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK and the whole town was talking about it. For not only was the old building almost razed, but a large amount of money had been subscribed toward a new one. Every one who had stopped and asked what was going on had been told the church’s need. The first person had voluntarily given one hundred dollars. Others, when told of the gift, had added what they could. And when Colonel Conwell laid down his pick one evening he had nearly five thousand dollars toward the new edifice. “The church members could not object to building a church when I told them how much money I had secured toward it,’ he said, with a twinkle in his eye, as he recalled those days. ‘‘The question was settled without any discussion or doubt.” If Colonel Conwell’s preaching had been electrical in its effect upon Lexington, his method of building a new church was even more so. Equally so were the other activities that quickly followed. While the church was being made over, the services were held | in the Town Hall, in which was also held a fair to raise money for the building fund. This fair was unlike any- thing of the kind that had ever been held before in Lexington. The whole of the Town Hall was used for it. Upstairs was a restaurant in which meals were ready at all hours. On the balcony was an old-fashioned kitchen in which was served all manner of old-time dishes—cider-apple sauce, doughnuts, baked beans and other famous New England delicacies. When the dinner was prepared a man in the uniform of a Colonial soldier came out on the balcony, blew a silver trumpet, announced that dinner was now served, and read the ménu. Kiverything imaginable in merchandise was on sale HIS FIRST PASTORATE. 179 from farming tools to the daintiest of hand embroidery. Orders were taken for the winter’s supply of vegetables, or for coal or wood. Anything anybody needed was furnished if possible. The only exception was dry- goods by the yard. The fair cleared $1,600. This event stirred the town and the neighboring community profoundly. Everyone was talking about it and the church work it stood for. One of the pleas- ing incidents was the action taken by the Roman Catholics of the community. Sometime previously the Roman Catholic church of the town had given a supper. The church did not have enough dishes and tried to borrow supplies from the various Protestant churches of Lexington, but without success. Finally application was made to Colonel Conwell for whatever his church might have. He gladly loaned the dishes at his dis- posal and, when payment was offered, refused it. The Catholics were not unappreciative and, when the fair for Conwell’s church opened, the priest speci- ally addressed his congregation in regard to it. He told them how kind the Baptist church had been in helping them and said to his parishioners, ‘‘I want you to go to that fair and spend money. Don’t only buy a ticket to goin. But buy something at the fair.” As the Roman Catholic church had a membership of about a thousand, their good-will and help had much to do with the success of the fair. A Young People’s Society was formed, a Bible class for young men organized and many entertainments were given. Activity was the word and the church was thoroughly alive. Everyone connected with it was set to work doing something. Energy seemed to flow from it in many directions and to reach many circles. Colonel Conwell’s method of choosing a Sunday- school superintendent is indicative of the simple and 12 380 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK direct manner in which he worked. His knowledge of men told him that a certain member of the church would make a good Sunday-school superintendent, but he knew that the man if asked would refuse from timidity and self-distrust, as he had never filled any public position. Conwell, however, knew the real capabilities of the man and that all that was needed was for the man him- self to discover them. So he arranged a little social gathering of church members at the man’s house and, at the psychological moment, introduced him as the new Sunday-school superintendent. Of course the man protested; but Colonel Conwell held to his point, agree- ing that he would himself be on hand, if desired, to make an address, but that the other could easily attend to the routine work. At last the man agreed, and ‘‘he made one of the best Sunday-school superintendents Lexington ever had,” said one of members who had been present at the affair, in concluding her recital of this event. ‘‘Why, we no more thought he would make a superintendent than a butterfly would. But Mr. Conwell was right.” Music was an important part of the church services, and it was not long before the church was said to have the best music within ten miles of Boston. In describ- ing the rdle music played in the church work, a member said, ‘‘Mr. Conwell would usually arrive a half hour or so before the service, and, seated at the organ, would play and sing and conduct a general musical service in which the assembling congregation joined. It brought tears to every one’s eyes to hear him sing ‘ Where is my wandering boy tonight?’”’ The finances of the church improved immediately, as collections increased from a few dollars to an average of about eighty dollars a Sunday. Not only did the fairs HIS FIRST PASTORATE 181 and entertainments bring in considerable money for the work going forward, but individually the people of Lexington gave generously. In speaking of the liberal financial support received, a member of the church said that a friend had remarked to him, apropos of the financial record the church was making, “‘If any- body had asked me two years ago, ‘How much can these Baptists raise, I would have said six cents. I would not even have made it six and a quarter.’”’ In the eighteen months Colonel Conwell was there the church raised $8,000. He lived at Newton Center—ten miles distant—and drove to Lexington. On one of these trips he lost his necktie, and his little daughter Nima who was with him was quite horrified at the thought of her father preaching without anecktie. But such trivialities did not bother him. At another time the horse ran away, and he was thrown and sprained his ankle; but he limped into the pulpit on an improvised crutch. In the winter he often had to shovel his way through snowdrifts; yet such things did not deter him. Love for the work so filled him that anything extraneous to it did not count. Nor did Colonel Conwell confine himself solely to routine church services or activities. The spirit of religion he believed should pervade all of life’s enter- prises, and so he entered sympathetically and heartily into all the interests of Lexington. He was as ready to help any person or any interest of the town as he was those under his immediate charge. His earnest desire to be of service to his fellow-men was not bounded by creed or class. | In one section of Lexington was a somewhat rough element. It was Pastor Conwell’s wish to reach these people. One night in passing through the streets of this 182 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK district, he met a crowd of boisterous young men singing on the corner. He approached them; said a few words in praise of their singing, and then remarked, ‘‘Come up and sing for me at the church. Your voices are just what I want. Bring your friends if you want to.” His invitation was met with scoffing and jeers, but he persisted, and finally persuaded them to come. They were at the next service and became regular attendants. Many of them reformed and became respectable and useful members of the community. Colonel Conwell also did much other personal work. It is told in Lexington how he sat up night after night with a man well-known and liked, but addicted to alcoholism, to prevent him from going out and becom- ing intoxicated. In the business life of Lexington he became an important factor. He was a keen business man as well as a preacher and had been interested—both in Minneapolis and in Boston —in building up communities. He saw business possibilities in Lexington which had not been made the most of, so he undertook to develop the town commercially. At Conwell’s invitation the Governor of the State, Honorable John D. Long, visited the place. Large business enterprises were started and strongly sup- ported by the townspeople. From the date of Colonel Conwell’s installment as pastor, the town took on a new lease of life. He showed them what could be done and encouraged them to do it. Strangers were wel- comed to the town, and its unusual beauty became a topic of conversation. The railroad managers heard of its attractiveness and provided better accommoda- tions for travelers. Conwell himself had sae | and distributed the following card: HIS FIRST PASTORATE 183 THE HILLS AND VALLEYS OF LEXINGTON Are now open for the residence of business men, and the advantages of the town may be briefly stated as follows: First, official statistics show it to be one of the healthiest localities in the State; Second, its lands are nearly three hundred feet above the sea level; Third, the water is so pure, that an analysis of some of the springs show but a trace of difference between them and the celebrated Poland Springs, said to be so valuable in kidney diseases; Fourth, the location is away from the piercing east winds, although only ten miles from Boston; Fifth, there are eleven trains each way every week-day and more wili soon be put on the road; Sixth, it is an historic town, known over the whole civilized world; Seventh, its houses and lands and farms are valuable and so cheap that every citizen can afford to have at least a large garden tract; Eighth, the people are descendants of old New England stock, enterprising, indus- trious, social, cultured and intelligent; Ninth, its schools are not excelled by those of any other town in the State; Tenth, its public library, its gas company, its local stores, markets, etc., are now fully equal to the demand of the time; Eleventh, there are four religious denominations having houses. of worship—Unitarian, Orthodox-Congregational, Catholic, and Baptist. The writer of this card has no financial interest whatever in the sale of any real estate or other property, but will gladly answer any inquiries about the town or its places of resi- dence, either personally or by mail. RUSSELL H. CONWELL, Room B, Tremont Temple. March, 1881. 184 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK One of the town officers writing at that time says: ‘Lexington can never forget the benefit Mr. Conwell conferred during his stay in the community.” The beginning of all this work Colonel Conwell did before he was ordained, as he merely had a license to preach. When he made the definite decision to enter the ministry, he immediately enrolled at Newton Theo- logical Seminary and pursued his studies there during the busy days of preaching and building at Lexington. Russell Conwell was ordained in the year 1879. The council of churches called for his ordination met in Lexington and President Alvah Hovey, of Newton Sem- inary, presided. Among the members of the council was his life-long friend, George W. Chipman, of Boston —the same good deacon who had taken him, a runaway boy, into the Sunday-school of Tremont Temple. The only objection to the ordination was made by one of the pastors present who said, ‘‘Good lawyers are too scarce to be spoiled by making ministers of them.” : Fora year and a half he thus labored. A new church was built. The Baptists of Lexington were working with an enthusiasm and a consecration they had not experienced for years. The town itself was stirred to new life, new activities. Then a call came to larger work. He resigned the pastorate at Lexington to come to Philadelphia to enter upon what has proven to be his great life work—a work which has benefited thousands upon thousands of the people of this country. VIHUIGAVIIHG ‘StAGULG ANIAUTY GNV SUuag Lv agLodUyY INA], AH], HOUNHD LSIldvd ZOVUD AO « ANOH HOUAHO» LSald AHL CHAPTER XIX Tue Earty Days oF THE PHILADELPHIA PASTORATE The Beginning of Grace Baptist Church. A Letter Describing a Church Service. John Wanamaker’s Tribute to Doctor Conwell’s ‘Different’? Methods. The Growth of the Church. Conwell came was, in a sense, in almost as sore straits as the one to which he had gone in Lexington. It was started in 1870 as a little mission in a rapidly developing section in the northern part of the city. A number of young men from the Tenth Baptist Church, seeing the need for religious Services in this district, secured a hall at Twelfth Street and Montgomery Avenue and began holding meetings. The work prospered and finally a clergyman was employed to take full charge. Under his ministry the mission became still more successful. In 1872, evan- gelistic services were held which brought a large increase in the membership. It was then decided to form an independent church; and Grace Baptist Church was formally organized, February 12, 1872, with forty-seven members. The membership soon outgrew the accommodations of the hall, and steps were taken to secure larger quar- ters. A lot was purchased at Berks and Mervine Streets and a tent, with a seating capacity of five hundred was erected. This was the first ‘‘church home” of the members of Grace Baptist Church. (185) ie church in Philadelphia to which Russell 186 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK But the little church was growing rapidly in members. Soon the tent could no longer accommodate those who wished to attend, and the problem of erecting a church building confronted the band of workers. ‘This step was finally decided upon. The tent was moved to a neighboring lot, where it was used for mission work, after the church services in it were discontinued. Home- less wanderers were given food and shelter in it, and helped to a useful life. From this work grew the Sunday Breakfast Association of Philadelphia. The edifice for Grace Baptist Church went rapidly forward. In 1875, the membership was able to use the basement of the building. But troubled days came; bills could not be met; judgments were entered, and finally the sheriff descended and foreclosed. But, after much persuasion, the mortgagor was induced to wait and the little band of workers bent with fresh energy to the task of raising the money and holding their church together. This was the condition Russell Conwell was asked to meet when the call was made to him—an unfinished building with a mortgage of $15,000 upon it. But failure and debt did not daunt him. He had seen how hard work and determination could overcome both. The only point to be considered was, ‘‘Did the cause of Christneed his services heremore than in Lexington?” This was the only issue with him. He came to Philadelphia and looked over the field. He quickly saw that a live church could do much good in the rapidly developing section in which this church was situated. And the earnestness of the church members—their willingness to work and _ sacrifice— touched him. They were of a spirit kindred to his own and he decided to accept the call. To many of those interested in his welfare, Russell EARLY PHILADELPHIA PASTORATE 187 Conwell’s decision again seemed an act of folly. To relinquish work that was proving highly successful, and which was giving him an influential position in the community, in order to take charge of a church that was on the verge of failure, appeared to many to show an utter lack of wisdom. But worldly standards' had little weight with Doctor Conwell. When he was once convinced there was a work to be done, he went ahead and did it. His congregation in Lexington was loath to give him up. But when he pointed out the precarious condition of the Philadelphia church; how the people there were saying what practically the Lexington congregation had said, ** Help us to save the church;”’ how the church at Lexington could go forward of its own impetus, and that in this new field he could be more useful, they sorrowfully acquiesced in his decision. “It was a sad day in Lexington,” said a member of that church, ‘“‘when he preached his farewell sermon. But we believed that the church in Philadelphia needed him more than we did, and that he could do a greater work there than he could in Lexington. And so we agreed regretfully to his going.” Doctor Conwell entered upon his duties on Thanks- giving Day, 1882. He at once went to work with characteristic energy—preaching, planning, organizing and getting the people busy. He followed no traditions or conventions, unless they could be of use in the work he was doing. He surveyed the field and studied the people. Then he began in the most simple, direct and effective manner to accomplish what needed to be done with the means at hand. His sermons were simple, direct, full of homely illus- trations that stayed in the memory and enabled his hearers to make the spiritual truths he preached a part 188 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK of their everyday life. (See Appendix for Sermon Outlines.) A Methodist minister from Albany who happened to be in Philadelphia in the early days of Russell Conwell’s pastorate, gave, in a letter home, a good description of one of Doctor Conwell’s sermons and of the entire service. He wrote: ‘“‘T arrived at the church a full hour before the eve- ning service. There was a big crowd at the front door another at the side entrance. I was determined to get in, so I waited. I was dreadfully squeezed, but finally got through the back entrance and stood in the rear of the pretty church. All the camp chairs were already. taken; also the extra seats. The church was rather fancifully frescoed; but it is an architectural gem. It is half amphitheatrical in design; is longer than wide; and the choir gallery and organ are over the preacher’s head. It looks, underneath, like an old-fashioned sounding board; but it is neat and pretty. The carpet and cushions are bright red, and the windows are full of mottoes and designs; but in the evening, under the brilliant lights, the figures could not be clearly seen. ‘‘'There was an unusual spirit of homeness about the place, such as I never felt in a church before—I was not alone in feeling it. The moment I stood in the audience room, an agreeable sense of rest and pleasure came over me—and everyone else appeared to feel the same. There was none of the stiff restraint most churches have. Everybody moved about and greeted each other with an ease that was very pleasant, indeed. I saw some people abusing the liberty of the place by whis- pering, even during the sermon. They may have been strangers and evidently belonged to the lower classes. But it was a curiosity to notice the liberty everyone took at a pause in the service, and the close attention there was when the reading or speaking began. RUSSELL H. CONWELL WHEN HE ENTERED THE MINISTRY AT THE AGE OF THIRTY-SEVEN hye re 1 ‘ an *) ¢ ' 1 a } a‘ \ Yr. HG ike id Sn eae » A \y 7 >) - é ie i ‘ % 2 4 Py * A." "As a ’ AS *. ae San hc L e . = : t : { 7 i “}’ yo 2¥ } ; " = 5 1 : < . ’ 1% ' i] eB) ae | ¢ t “ , : ( a 2 . . ? a7 j +5 4 : ; , 2} ow sg n4 \ i 4 ’ 4 8 P - ‘ » 4 —s y ‘ ' F f + ‘ 4 Pe > } ‘ ? ‘ ‘ v J t V na : I +)! yea * ty : \ i Pha | 4 ‘ ' ‘ 4 ' © j an 4 ) ; ‘ oh f ey ye bys J { Pe ing yay J : eR pre. ¢ i - i &é¢ P ' =! i 4 a4 1’ . 5 fy f ‘ & e aa oe +q ' Sy , ’ 4 od P j ' r Lal iG 2 aan = ‘ 4 : di lise i ' ,: a) . -) A ; ys a ) w ib a ry 4 / EARLY PHILADELPHIA PASTORATE 189 ‘All the people sang. I think Doctor Conwell has a strong liking for the old hymns. Of course I noticed this selection of Wesley’s favorite. A little boy in front of me stood upon the pew when the congregation rose and piped out in song with all his power, just like a spring canary. It was difficult to tell whether the strong voice of the preacher, or the chorus choir, led most in the singing. A well-dressed lady near me said, ‘Good evening’ most cheerfully, as a polite usher showed me into a pew. They say that all the members do that. It made me feel welcome. She also gave me a hymn book. I saw others thus kindly greeted. How it did help me to praise the Lord! At home with the people of God! That is just how I felt. “T was greatly disappointed in the preacher. Agree- ably so, after all. I expected to see an old man and he did not appear to be over thirty-five. He was awk- wardly tall. I had expected some eccentric and sensational affair. I do not know just what, but I had been told many strange things. I think now it was envious misrepresentation. The whole service was as simple as simple can be—and it was surely as sincere as simple. The reading of the hymns was so natural and distinct that they had a new meaning tome. The prayer was very short, and offered in homely language. At its close the minister paused a moment for silent prayer, and every one seemed to hold his breath in the deepest, real reverence. It was so different from my expectations. “Then came the collection. It was not an asking for money at all. The preacher put his notice of it the other way about. He said, “The people who wish to worship God by giving their offering into the trust of the church could place it in the baskets which would be 190 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK passed to any one who wanted to give.’ The basket that went down by me to the altar was full of money and envelopes. Yet no one was asked to give anything. It was all voluntary, and really an offering to the Lord. I had never seen such a way of doing things in a church collection. I do not know if the minister or church require it so. ‘The church was packed in every corner, and people stood in the aisles. The pulpit platform was crowded so that the preacher had nothing more than standing room. Some people sat on the floor, and a crowd of interested boys leaned against the pulpit platform. When the preacher arose to speak, I expected some- thing strange. It did not seem possible that such a crowd could gather year after year, to listen to mere plain preaching; for these are degenerate days. The minister began so familiarly and easily in introducing his text that he was half through his discourse before I began to realize that he was actually in his sermon. It was the plainest thing possible. I had often heard of eloquence and poetic imagination; but there was little of either, if we think of the old ideas. There was close, continuous attention. He was surely in earnest, but made no attempt at oratorical display. _ Of course, there were exciting gestures at times, and lofty periods; but it was all so natural. ‘At one point the whole audience burst into laughter at a comic illustration, but the preacher went on unconscious of it. It detracted nothing from the solemn theme. It was what the Chautauqua Herald last year called a ‘Conwellian evening.’ It was unlike anything I ever saw or heard. Yet it was good to be there. The sermon was crowded with illustrations and evidently unstudied. They say that Doctor Conwell never takes time from his many cares to write a sermon. EARLY PHILADELPHIA PASTORATE 191 That one was surely spontaneous; but it inspired the audience to better lives and a higher faith. When he suddenly stopped and quickly seized a hymn book, the audience drew a long sigh. At once the people moved about again and looked at each other and smiled. The whole congregation were at one with the preacher. There was a low hum of whispering voices. But all was attention again when the hymn was read. Then the glorious song! One of the finest organists in the country—a blind gentlemen named Wood—was the power behind the throne. The organ did praise God. Every one was carried on in a flood of praise. It was rich. “The benediction was a continuation of the sermon and a closing prayer—all in a single sentence. I have never heard one so unique. It fastened the evening’s lesson; but was not formal. The benediction was a blessing, indeed. It broke every rule of church form. It was a charming close, however. No one but Doctor Conwell could do it. Probably no one would try. Instantly at the close of the service, all the people turned to each other, shook hands, and entered into familiar conversation. Many spoke to me and advised me to come again. ‘There was no restraint. All was homelike and happy. It was blessed to be there.”’ _ Both Russell Conwell and his work were widely dis- cussed, and often harshly criticised. Many said he was sensational; but his critics were frequently those who had never heard him and who drew their conclu- sions from the reports of others, or from distorted newspaper accounts. His so-called sensationalism consisted only in doing things differently from the way they had been done. Speaking once of the manner in which people had misunderstood and criticised him, Doctor Conwell said 192 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK with a grim setting of his jaw: ‘“‘I do not do reckless things. That would be wrong. But when I think Jam doing right, I go ahead, and let people say what they will. I take my stand.” In speaking of these early days, the Hon. John Wanamaker, upon the occasion of a celebration in Philadelphia in honor of Doctor Conwell’s seventieth birthday, said: ‘Thirty-one years ago a poor Baptist minister, of whom none of us had then heard, came to Philadelphia and took. charge of a little, struggling church. Not that he was a poor minister, or a poor Baptist, but a man whom the world would call financially poor. ‘““When that same man, then in the early prime of splendid manhood, first came to this city, it did not take long for the people to discover that in some way he was different from the average minister; and there are those in this world to whose minds to be ‘different’ means to be wrong. His brethern in the ministry of all denominations looked upon him first indifferently, then curiously and finally many of them with suspicion. ‘Why should this man take the trouble to do this and that and the other thing? Why should he work so much harder than his profession required? By what magical art did he seem to understand the heart of the common people? Wise heads were shaking, and it was said: ‘A new broom sweeps clean—but wait awhile. It won’t last. He is a sensationalist—a fad- dist!’ When the Baptist Temple was projected, there were those who called it ‘Conwell’s Folly,’ and a theater company joyfully anticipated taking it for their own purposes when the inevitable failure should come. “Then we remember, when perhaps ten years had passed away, hearing the story of a white azalea. We violate no confidence, for it was publicly told by a ne EARLY PHILADELPHIA PASTORATE 193 minister then prominent in the city, who now has gone to the glory land. He confessed to having harbored a full share of the suspicion and envy which many others felt toward this ‘different’ worker, and that he also was waiting for the failure which nearly all prophesied. ‘‘But one day he was very ill, and a beautiful white azalea came to his bedside. At first he almost resented it. Why did that man send him a flower? What motive was back of it? Did he intend to buy him with a present? Well, he wasn’t to be bought—that was all! Nevertheless he would watch him, and watch him he did. He began to see the motive of a great Christ-like life, of which that white flower was just one expression, He found Russell Conwell doing little kindnesses here and there—to high and low alike. He found a great, wide, deep interest in humanity for Christ’s sake such as he had found in no other life, such as he presently longed for in hisown. And upon the day of that man’s funeral, Doctor Conwell said, ‘I feel personally bereaved, for in my Philadelphia ministry he was one of my earliest, dearest, and most sympathetic friends.’ ‘The same distrust to which this brother freely con- fessed personally, existed in larger circles also—just because he was ‘different.’ When he read that Jesus went about, ‘preaching, teaching and healing.’ Doctor Conwell said,,“That is the model for every organized Christian institution; preaching is not enough; there must be added teaching the ignorant and healing the sick.’ Hence the night school which has grown into the Temple University, and the Samaritan Hospital—and later the adoption of the Garretson Hospital. “When the hospital and university first outgrew the possibility of his own personal care, Russell Conwell offered them to his denomination—and even plead with it to come to his assistance in the responsibility f ‘ { ‘ 194 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK and the harvest. Had his own people recognized him then, as they do now, these organizations would have undoubtedly been great Baptist institutions. But God’s plan was a wider one; it was to place these institutions among the great Christian factors of human uplift upon a basis as broad as the love of the Father Himself; and today they are so recognized. Considered in the light of that white azalea’s revelation —a, single act that has been duplicated a million times in its outshining of an inward Christ-like love for everyone in need—this celebration takes on even deeper significance.” Although criticised and misunderstood, Russell Con- well went ahead. The church was soon completed and the financial obligations, as they came due, were easily met. The church became an influence in the commu- nity. Not only was the immediate neighborhood stirred, but people from all parts of the city thronged to hear him. He soon had Philadelphia as much aroused as Lexington, when he began tearing down the old church there. The banging of hammers and ripping of saws were not any more disturbing to that sleepy, old town than were Russell Conwell’s forceful sermons and his efficient, practical ways of going about church work to Philadelphians. He was a tireless worker. Day and night he went about the duties that devolved upon him. He made himself intimately acquainted with the members of his church family and entered sympathetically into their ambitions and interests. Such personal history as they cared to tell him was not forgotten and he was ever ready to advise and help. His manner was so simple and informal that no one felt any hesitation in going to him for counsel, and the practical suggestions he gave—-drawn from his own wide experience of men and EARLY PHILADELPHIA PASTORATE 195 affairs—were right to the point in solving problems and lifting burdens. The same spirit permeated the membership. The church fairly radiated kindliness, cheer and _ help. Religion was not merely preached as being able to give satisfaction to life; but the fact was demonstrated. Such work of pastor and people could not but tell. The church became more and more crowded. In less than a year—although the seating capacity was increased to twelve hundred—people stood throughout the services. It finally became necessary to admit the members by tickets at the rear, as it was almost impossible for them to get through the throngs of strangers at the front. Upon request, cards of admission were sent to those who desired them. This was one of the things for which Russell Con- well was much criticised. Word went about the city that admission to ‘‘Conwell’s church’’—as it was at that time scoffingly called by some—was only by ticket; and others went so far as to say that one had to pay for these tickets. This is but one illustration of the misunderstanding and criticism that first met him, and of how little foundation there was for it. Anyone could enter by the front door who wished to become one of the crowd and wait; but it was impossible for members to get through this crowd in time to reach their seats for the beginning of the service. Always many were turned away. So, for the convenience of the members and strangers, who perhaps could not come again if they missed a certain service, tickets of admission were instituted. But even these, though they simplified the process of entering the building, did not provide additional accommodations. In greater and greater numbers were people turned away. ‘““T am glad,’’ Russell Conwell once remarked to a 13 196 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK friend ‘‘when I get up Sunday morning and can look out of the window and see it snowing, sleeting and raining, and hear the wind shriek and howl. ‘There,’ I say, ‘as I preach this morning, I won’t have to look at people patiently standing through the service, wherever there is a foot of standing room.’ ” The membership rose from two hundred to more than five hundred within two years, and the question began to shape itself in the minds of the pastor and people, ‘What shall we do?” As a partial solution, the proposition was made to divide into three churches; but each section wanted Doctor Conwell as pastor, so the idea was abandoned. Still the membership grew, and the need for larger quarters faced them and could not be evaded. The house next door was purchased, which gave increased space for the work of the Sunday-school and the various associations. But it was a mere drop in the bucket. Every room was filled to overflowing with eager workers before the ink was fairly dry on the deed of transfer. Then into this busy crowd, wondering what should be done, came a little child, and with one simple act cleared the mist from their eyes and pointed the way for them to go. CHAPTER XX A CuHItp’s LEGACY The Beginning of the Building Fund of the Baptist Temple. old, came to the church building at Berks and Mervine Streets to attend Sunday-school. But, large as the Sunday-school was, there was not room for even one more tiny child. Other little girls had been turned away that day, and still others on Sundays before. And so she was told there was no place for her. It was a bitter disappointment. Hattie did not take it as other children had done; sobs that came from the heart shook her as she went home, and tears rolled down her cheeks as she told her mother that she could not go to this Sunday-school because there was not room. She dwelt upon her disappointment all the afternoon and when bedtime came, and she said her evening prayer, she included in it a special petition that a place might be found for her in the Sunday- school. But this was not enough. Doubtless she had heard some word dropped about faith and works, or, perhaps, her childish mind thought it out for herself. No one knows what led to the resolve; but she arose in the morning with the determination to save her pennies and build a larger Sunday-school. To older persons it might have seemed a big under- taking, but to her simple faith, it did not seem impos- (197) () Sunday afternoon, Hattie Wiatt, six years 198 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK sible. From her childish treasures she took a little red pocketbook, and into this she put her pennies. The temptations that assailed Hattie to spend those pennies, none but her own heart knew. But she did not waver in her purpose. Day by day the little hoard increased and, as she counted it, her eyes grew bright and her heart light at the thought of the Sunday-school that was to be. But there were only a few weeks of her planning, hoping and saving. The little Temple builder fell ill. She was sick but a brief time, and then the grim reaper knocked at the door of the Wiatt home and bore the unselfish child spirit away. With her dying breath she told her mother of her treasure—told her it was for Grace Baptist Church to build. In the little red pocketbook was just fifty-seven cents. That was her legacy. With swelling heart, Doctor Conwell reverently took it and, with misty eyes and broken voice, he told the congregation of the little one’s gift. “When we heard how God had blessed us with so great an inheritance, there was silenee—the silence of tears and earnest consecration,’’ said a member in describing the event. ‘‘We felt that the corner-stone of the new church was laid.”’ CHAPTER XxXI BUILDING THE TEMPLE How a Poor Congregation Built One of the Finest Church Edifices in the Country. Doctor Conwell’s Ideas as to What a Church Edifice Should Be Like. His Own Plans for The Temple. His Warnings Against the Perils of Success. as to what the church should do to relieve the overcrowding. The decision was made at once to build. But it was no light task that con- fronted the membership. They were men and women who toiled for their daily bread, and there was no one among them to aid by large contributions. It may be helpful to other struggling churches to briefly recount how this church raised the money to build. Since they were a people with no one among them to give largely, and yet succeeded in building one of the largest, handsomest and most valuable church edifices in the country, no other church mem- bership—no matter how unfavorable may seem the prospect of success—need hesitate to go forward into large work if the need is imperative. It was not a question simply of giving. What was given had to be saved. Few could give outright and not feel it. Incomes for the most part just covered living expenses; and expenses had to be cut down, 1f incomes were to be stretched to build the church. So these practical people put their wits to work to save money. Walking clubs were organized—not for (199) [ astox WIATT?’S legacy settled the question 200 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK vigorous cross-country tramps in search of pleasure and health—but with an earnest determination to save carfare for the building fund. Tired men, with muscles aching from a hard day’s work, and women, weary with a long day behind the counter or at the typewriter, cheerfully trudged home and saved the nickels. Men ceased to smoke tobacco; women economized in dress and vacations in the sum- mer were dropped. Even the boys and girls saved their pennies, as little Hattie Wiatt had done—and the money poured into the treasury in astonishing amounts, considering how small was each individual gift. All of these sacrifices helped to endear the place to those who wove their hopes and prayers about it. Another effort that brought splendid results was the giving out of little earthen jugs in the early summer to be brought to the ‘‘harvest home” in September with their garnerings. It was a joyous evening when the jugs were brought in. A supper was held and, while the church members enjoyed themselves at the tables, the committee on the platform broke the jugs, counted the money and announced the amount. Innumerable entertainments were held at the church and at the homes of the members. Suppers were given in Fairmount Park during the summer and every worthy plan for raising money that clever brains could devise and willing hands accomplish was used to swell the building fund. A fair was held in one of the largest halls of Philadel- phia in the central part of the city. It was as electrical in thoroughly awakening Philadelphia to what this live church in the northern part of the city was doing, as had been the fair at Lexington. As at Lexington, almost everything salable was on hand. Meals were served and orders were taken for supplies that could BUILDING THE TEMPLE 201 not be handled at the hall. The affair was planned along business lines; conducted in a practical, sensible fashion—and it went with a vim. It was visited by thousands of people and netted nearly nine thousand dollars toward the building fund. The underlying principle of this effort in behalf of the building fund was to meet any need that the dis- cerning eye of any member could descry, or to devise a new way to raise money that would appeal by its novelty. The various methods employed would prob- ably not serve now; but the principle holds good when- ever and wherever such work needs to be done. By all these various channels, funds flowed in, and in September, 1886, the lot on which The Temple now stands at Broad and Berks Streets was purchased. The price was $25,000, but only fifty-seven cents, little Hattie Wiatt’s legacy, was paid down. The beginning thus made, the work for the building fund was pushed, if possible, with even greater vigor. Ground was broken for The Temple on March 27, 1889. The corner-stone was laid on July 18, 1890, and on the first of March, 1891, the structure was occupied for worship. But raising money and erecting a building did not stop the spiritual work of the church. Rather it increased it. People heard of the church through the fairs and various other efforts to raise money, came to the services—perhaps out of curiosity at first—were awakened to the needs of the spirit, and joined. Never did the spiritual light of the church burn more brightly than in those days of hard work and self-denial. The membership steadily rose and, when Grace Church moved into its new temple of worship, more than twelve hundred members answered the muster roll. The only large amount received toward the building fund was a gift of $10,000, on condition that the church 202 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK be not dedicated until it was free of debt. In a legal sense, calling a building by the name of the congrega- tion worshiping in it is a dedication, and so the struc- ture, instead of being named the Grace Baptist Church, was called the Baptist Temple—a name which will probably cling to it as long as one stone stands upon another. , The first Sunday in The Temple was a day long remembered by its members. ‘‘During the opening exercises, over nine thousand people were present at each service,’’ said the Philadelphia Press in describ- ing the event, ‘The throng overflowed into the Lower Temple and into the old church building. The whole neighborhood was full of the joyful members of the Grace Baptist Church, and the very air seemed to thrill with the spirit of thanksgiving abroad that day. All that Sabbath—from sunrise until close to midnight— members thronged the building with prayers of thank- fulness and praise welling up from glad hearts.”’ Writ- ing from London several years later, Doctor Conwell voiced in words what had been in his mind when the church was planned: ‘‘T heard a sermon which helped me greatly. It was delivered by an old preacher, and the subject was, ‘This God is our God.’ He described the attributes of God in glory, knowledge, wisdom and love, and compared Him to the gods that the heathens worship. He then pressed upon us the message that this glorious God is the Christian’s God, and that with Him we cannot want. It did me so much good and made me long for more of God in all my feelings, actions and influence. The seats were hard; the back of the pew hard and high; the church dusty and neglected; yet, in spite of all the discomforts, I was blessed. I was sorry for the preacher who had to preach amid all those discomforts, and did not wonder at the thin congregation. BUILDING THE TEMPLE 203 “Oh! it is all wrong to make it so unnecessarily hard to listen to the gospel. They ought for Jesus’ sake to tear out the old benches and put in comfortable chairs. There was present an air of perfunctoriness and lack of object, which made the service indefinite and aimless. This is a common fault. We lack an object and do not aim at anything special in our services. That, too, is all wrong. Each hymn, each chapter read, each anthem, each prayer, and each sermon should have a special and appropriate purpose. May the Lord help me— after my return—to profit by this day’s lesson.” No hard benches and no air of cold dreariness marks The Temple. The exterior is beautiful and graceful in design, and the interior both cheery and homelike in furnishing. Doctor Conwell sketched the plans for The Temple himself and the building embodies his ideas of what a church edifice should be. These rough drafts were given to the architect, who drew them to measure- ment and put them into practical form for materializa- tion in stone. The Baptist Temple is of hewn stone, with a frontage on Broad Street of one hundred and seven feet, a depth on Berks Street of one hundred and fifty feet, and is ninety feet in height. On the front is a beautiful half-rose window of rich stained glass; and on the Berks Street side there are a number of smaller memorial windows, each depicting some beautiful Biblical scene or thought. Above the rose window on the front is a small iron balcony upon which the church orchestra and choir often played sacred melodies and sang hymns on special occasions, such as Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and Easter, thus filling the hours with melody and delighting thousands of interested spectators. Of late years this custom has been replaced by a large electric cross that can be seen for miles blazing against the midnight sky. 204 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK The auditorium of The Temple is one of the largest among Protestant church edifices in the United States. Its original seating capacity, according to the archi- tect’s plans, was forty-two hundred opera chairs; but, to secure greater comfort and safety, only thirty-one hundred and thirty-five chairs were used. Under the auditorium and below the level of the street is the Lower Temple. Here, also, are many beautiful stained-glass windows. In this part are the Sunday-school rooms with a seating capacity of two thousand. One of these rooms also answers for the dining-room, in which five hundred can be seated; and folding tables and hundreds of chairs are stowed away in the nearby store rooms. Adjoining the dining-room are the rooms of the various associations of the church; and the kitchen, carving-room and cloak-room. ‘The rooms of the various societies are pleasantly furnished and home- like. In pantries and cupboards is an outfit of china and table cutlery sufficient for five hundred persons, and the kitchen is fully equipped with large ranges, hot-water cylinders, sinks and drainage tanks. The annex beyond the kitchen contains the boilers and engines and the electric light plant. All appoint- ments here are modern. The steam heating of the building is supplied by four 100-horse-power boilers. In the engine-room are two 135-horse-power engines directly connected with dynamos having a capacity of twenty-five hundred lights, which are controlled by a switchboard in this room. The electrician is on duty every day, giving his entire time to the management of this plant. The building is also supplied with gas, and behind the puplit is a small closet containing a friction wheel, by means of which, should the electric light BUILDING THE TEMPLE 205 fail for any reason, every gas jet in The Temple can be lighted from dome to basement. For cleaning the church there has been installed a vacuum plant which does the work quickly and thoroughly. In the rear of the auditorium on the street floor are the business offices of the church, Doctor Conwell’s study, and the offices of his secretary, and associate pastor. The offices are equipped with desks, filing cabinets, telephones, speaking tubes, and everything necessary to conduct the business of the church in a business-like way. The acoustics of the great auditorium are practi- cally perfect. There is probably no building on this continent with an equal capacity which enables the preacher to speak and the hearers to listen with such perfect comfort. The weakest voice is carried to the farthest auditor, and lecturers who have tested the acoustics of halls in every state in the Union speak with praise and pleasure of The Temple. At one time telephonic communication was installed between the auditorium and the Samaritan Hospital and private homes. Patients in their beds and people in their homes could hear the sermon and the music of the Sunday services. In fact, a sermon was once taken down in shorthand, in Newark, by this tele- phone service, which was later discontinued because of the cost. A helpful device has been installed for those of the congregation who do not hear well. In front of the desk on the pulpit is asmall apparatus—the audiphone— by which the speaker’s voice is carried to a device in certain seats. This device is connected with an ear- piece and thus those who otherwise could not hear are enabled to enjoy what is said on the platform. These ear pieces are furnished free in the business office of 206 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK the church upon request, though many who use them regularly have their own. Compared with other assembly rooms in this country, the auditorium of The Temple is a model. It seats 3,185 persons. The Academy of Music, Philadelphia, seats 2,900; the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, 2,433; the Academy of Music, New York, 2,488; the Grand Opera House, Cincinnati, 2,250; and the Music Hall, Boston, 2,585. The walls of the first floor of the church are finished with glazed tiles in a soft pinkish tint, that is restful to the eye and harmonizes with the furnishings of the church. In each tile is burnt the name of the giver or the name of some one the donor may desire to honor. It was a method of raising money for the church that not only proved very successful but very pleasing to the membership. ‘The tiles are substantial and are substantially set into the walls and will remain while the building stands. But greater than the building is the spirit that per- vades it. The moment one enters the vast auditorium with its crimson chairs, its cheery carpet, its softly- tinted walls, one feels at home. Light filters in through rich windows, in memory of some member gone before, or of some class or organization. Behind the pulpit stands the organ, its rich-looking pipes rising almost to the roof. Everywhere is rich, subdued coloring— not ostentatious, but cheery and homelike. Large as is the seating capacity of ‘The Temple, when it was opened it could not accommodate the crowds that thronged it. Almost from the first, overflow meetings were held in the Lower Temple, that none be turned away from the House of God. From five hundred to two thousand people crowded these meet- ings in addition to the large audience in the main auditorium above. BUILDING THE TEMPLE 207 The Temple workers had come to busy days and large opportunities. But they accepted them with a full sense of their responsibility and prayed that they might use them worthily. Their leader knew the perils of success and with wise counsel guided them against its insidious dangers. ‘‘Ah, that is a dangerous hour in the history of men and institutions,” Doctor Conwell said, in a sermon on the ‘Danger of Success,” ‘‘when they become too popular; when a good cause becomes too much admired or adored, so that the man, or the institution, or the building, or the organization, receives an idolatrous worship from the community. That is always a danger- ous time, and small men always go down, wrecked by such dizzy elevation. Whenever a small man is praised he immediately loses his balance of mind and ascribes to himself the things which others foolishly express in flattery. He esteems himself more than he is and, thinking himself to be something, he is consequently nothing. ‘““How dangerous is that point when a man, or a women, or an enterprise has become accepted and popular! Then, of all times, should a man or the society be humble. Then, of all times, should they beware. Then, of all times, the hosts of Satan are marshaled to overcome by every possible insidious wile and open warfare. The weakest hour in the his- tory of the greatest enterprises is apt to be when they seem to be—and their projectors think they are— strongest. Take heed lest ye fall in the hour of your strength. The most powerful mill stream drives the wheel most vigorously just before the flood sweeps the mill to wildest destruction.” “The mission of the church is to save the souls of men,” he told his congregation. ‘‘That is its true 208 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK mission. It is the only mission of the church. That should be its only thought. The moment any church admits a singer that does not sing to save souls; the moment a church calls a pastor who does not preach to save souls; the moment a church elects a deacon who does not work to save souls; the moment a church gives a supper or an entertainment of any kind not for the purpose of saving souls, it ceases in so much to be a church and to fulfil the magnificent mission God gave it. Every concert, every choir service, every preaching service, every Lord’s Supper, every agency that is used in the church must have the great mission plainly before its eye. We are here to save souls of dying sinners. We are here for no other purpose. And the mission of the church being so clear, that is the only test of a real church.” GHA PDE Re Xa How THE TEMPLE Works Doctor Conwell Discusses the Church Work and Tells the Underlying Principles which He Believes should Govern. The Various Organizations. The Temple Fairs and their Purpose. Doctor Conwell Gives His Ideas of a Church Fair. The Various Entertatn- ments. How they are Planned and Managed. WN looking at this magnificent church building on | Broad Street and the manifold uplifting activities it houses; in gazing at the great University adjoin- ing, where more than a hundred thousand men and women have broadened and made more useful their lives, and then glancing backward over the life of Rus- sell Conwell, it seems as if a miracle had been wrought— a miracle that had flowered forth in visible form in these two granite buildings, and in great buildings in other parts of the city, but more in the invisible and more potent expression in the forces for good that flow in a never-ceasing stream from them. Of the work of the church Doctor Conwell himself says: ‘Looking back over my life’s work with the Church of Christ, all seems unreal. I cannot fully fathom the depths of abiding peace, nor understand the powers, which have combined to make my life so happy and so peaceful amid such a harvest. I could not be honest with myself without stating distinctly that it has been brought about by persons and powers entirely beyond myself and my control. Strange things—unaccount- (209) 210 RUSSELL H. CONWELL AND HIS WORK able by any human law or in any known human experi- ence—have come into the religious work, which make me a firm believer in the interference of a divine Spirit who casts down and lifts up at will. “The hundreds of consecrated martyrs who worked out of sight; the self-sacrificing givers who labored so hard to earn the money; the favorable conditions which surrounded our work; and the fortunate combina- tions in the beginning made by men and women wholly consecrated to the cause of Christ, made possible what no human genius could have accomplished alone. I—here and now—sincerely reject any tributes of praise to myself, for I honestly feel that it has been a fortunate combination of providences which built up the great church in Philadelphia, and which brought so many to an open confession of their faith in the Lord. ““T was often a ‘looker-on in Israel,’ when great events were transpiring and when people turned in from the streets to seek their Lord. It often appears very foolish to assume that the Lord of Heaven would care what became of a little missionary church nor would give any special attention to the upbuilding of one organization—or even of one great denomination. Yet it is probably true that the Lord loves each indi- vidual and takes as full charge of his private affairs as if that individual were the only person living on the earth. 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