The Drillmaster of
Methodism

C.L.GOODE

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Gift of
James Hosmer Penniman
1931

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PRINCIPLES AND METHODS FOR THE
CLASS LEADER AND PASTOR

BY
Ctjarles !L ^ooDcll
PASTOR OF HANSON PLACE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

'JSverg arms wbeels to victors or Sefeat arouno tbe Drill
Sergeant "—Bishop Fowler

NEW YORK : EATON & MAINS
CINCINNATI : JENNINGS & PYE

Copyright, 1902,
by
CHARLES L. GOODELL.

(3To
the Memory of
the Hon. JOHN FRENCH, a Class Leader for fifty years,
and to
the Memory of my Father,
the Rev. WARREN GOODELL, a Class Leader for sixty years,
at whose requests these chapters were written,
31 SBebicate
the book which they did not live to see completed,
but whose principles they exemplified.

PREFACE

/^\!N"E hundred and forty-two years ago the ques
tion was asked in open Conference, John
Wesley in the chair, "Can nothing be done to make
the meetings of the classes more lively and profit
able V From this it will be seen that the questions
concerning class meeting which interest us to-day
are by no means new questions.
The class meeting, like the Church itself, has
had its revival and declension; but in spite of all
efforts to abolish it or to provide for it a substitute
it still holds its place, second to none, as a means
of grace in the development of a noble Christian
character. The recent revival of interest in the
class meeting throughout the country proves that
Methodism is convinced that it must foster and
sustain it.
Some two years ago the writer was requested to
present a paper on the class meeting before the
Brooklyn Preachers' Meeting. The interest of the
meeting was so great that a vote was passed ar
ranging for a class meeting convention to be held
in the Hanson Place Methodist Church. This
convention was presided over by Bishop Andrews,

6 Preface
and addressed by Rev. J. M. Buckley, D.D., Rev.
S. F. Upham, D.D., and many other prominent
members of the New York East Conference. A
permanent organization was formed, of which
Hon. John French was made president. The
writer was also invited to address the Preachers'
Meeting of New York city on the same theme.
The Preachers' Meeting appointed a committee to
arrange for the holding of a class meeting conven
tion in New York. This meeting was held in
Calvary Church, and was addressed by Bishop An
drews, Dr. Upham, Dr. Eckman, Dr. Odell, and
others. Under the direction of Dr. Millard, the
presiding elder, a permanent organization of the
class leaders of New York was effected. This or
ganization immediately began effective work, hold
ing quarterly meetings throughout the city. From
these organizations has come the Lay Workers'
Institute, which is doing at present an excellent
work in the training of class leaders, local preach
ers, and Sunday school teachers by regular meet
ings and lectures in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and
Jersey City. When these conventions were re
ported through the papers, requests came from all
parts of the country for information concerning
this new movement, and the increasing demand for
suggestions and encouragement to pastors and
leaders in the prosecution of this work led to the
writing of this book.

Pkeeace 1
Little has been published on the class meeting
by our Book Concern for the last twenty-five years,
and this book will therefore cover a field which is
not touched by any recent publication.
So much fault has been found with class leaders
that it seemed to me that a chapter on the noble
men of recent years who have magnified and glori
fied their office would be intensely interesting and
profitable. I have, therefore, secured from some
of our bishops and pastors of wide experience
sketches of famous leaders. The names of the con
tributors will appear in connection with these
sketches, but I wish here to express my grateful
thanks for these brief memorials, which make all
Methodism debtors to those who have supplied
them. Our class meeting literature is so meager
that I have found little here that was available. I
wish, however, to mention The Class Meeting: a
Series of Prize Essays, and The Class Leader, by
John Atkinson. I am indebted for letters or valu
able suggestions to Bishops Andrews, Fowler, Vin
cent, Mallalieu, and Foss, and also to Drs. Banks,
Buckley, Cadman, Upham, Hurlbut, Odell, Co-
burn, and Willey, and the officers of the Lay Work
ers' Institute. I wish also to acknowledge editorial
courtesies from The Christian Advocate, Zion's
Herald, The Northern Christian Advocate, and
The Epvjorth Herald.
I know the faithful pastors of Methodism are

8 PfeEFACE
praying in their hearts for that spiritual training
and development in the Church for which the class
meeting stands. I have put down the results of
my OAvn experience and that of others, hoping that
the spirit and method here set forth may be to them
a help in the great work committed to their charge.
Those who have sent communications accept full
responsibility for their own utterances.
My heart goes out to that noble, intelligent,
spiritual, self-denying class of men, the subpastors
of Methodism, men of whom Asbury said, "The
class leaders have been as helpful as the pastors in
the growth of our Church." We are enjoying our
great heritage without sufficient gratitude to those
who scattered and nurtured the seed.
"There was a little city, and few men within it ;
and there came a great king against it, and besieged
it, and built great bulwarks against it: now there
was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wis
dom delivered the city; yet no man remembered
that same poor man." It is to this man that I call
the attention of the Church.
With the prayer that God may bless this book to
the encouragement of pastors, class leaders, and
members, and make it helpful in increasing the
attendance and deepening the intellectual and
spiritual life of the Church, I send it forth.
Hanson Place Parsonage, C. L. G.
Brooklyn, N. Y., September 1, 1902.

CONTENTS

Chapter Page
I. The Drill  11
II. The Drillmaster  20
III. The Pastor and the Class  28
IV. The Class Leader as Subpastor  34
V. The Historic Class Meeting  39 "
VI. The Present Problem of the Class  49
VII. The Class Leader's Preparation  55
VIII. Tact and Versatility  59
IX. Methods in Class Leading  64 "
X. Plans and Topics  72 l'
XI. How to Fill the Class  78t
XII. Absent Members  82
XIII. Testimony versus Rhetoric  86
XIV. How to Get a Christian Experience  90
XV. The Communion of Saints  96
XVI. The Class Leader's Meeting  100
XVII. Some Mistakes of Class Leaders  102
XVIH. Children's Training Classes  106
XIX. The Probationers' Class  114
XX. The Epworth League and the Class  121
XXI. Young Men and the Class  125
XXII. How One Class was Formed  132
XXIII. The Leader who Didn't Know  136

10 Contents
Chapter Page
XXIV. An Old-time Class Meeting  139
XXV. Great Class Leaders of the Past  144
XXVI. Great Class Leaders of To-day  161
XXVII. Queen Victoria at a Methodist Class
Meeting  202
XXVIII. Bible Chapters for the Leader  205
XXIX. A Year's Topics  207
XXX. Great Thoughts for Closet and Class .... 226
XXXI. The Testimony of Great Men  232
XXXII. Episcopal Address to Class Leaders  237
XXXIII. Course of Eeading for Class Leaders  2-17

%\ft Brtlimaster of JHetfKtotem

The Drill

The class meeting is not a fetich to be wor
shiped without reason. It is not an institution to
be preserved simply because of an honorable past.
It must hold its place, if at all, because it proves
itself to be at the present time a necessity of our
Church life. While in many places the class is
doing as effective work as ever, it is true that in
some it has fallen into disuse. In many places it
is moribund, and something ought to be done either
to resurrect it to its old-time usefulness or to give it
decent burial. A frank discussion of the situation
by preachers and laymen cannot fail to do good.
That the class meeting was once a mighty power
no one can deny. It proved itself the most effec
tual instrument of spiritual propagandism the
world ever saw. It met, as nothing since ever has,
the demand of the Christian life for fellowship,
instruction, and spiritual nourishment. Wesley
said : "It can hardly be conceived what advantages
have been reaped by them." Coke and Asbury
affirmed of the leaders and classes: "The revival
of the work of God does perhaps depend as much

12 The Duilljjasteu of Methodism
upon the whole body of leaders as it does upon the
whole body of preachers. Our leaders under God
are the sinews of our society, and our revivals will
ever in great measure rise or fall with them. In
short, we can truly say that, through tlie grace of
God, our classes form the pillars of our work."
The design of the class as originally constituted
and for a long time continued was threefold :
1. Financial. For many years the "offerings
for the church and the poor were collected through
the classes. The people came together, talked of
holy things, gave testimony to the indwelling
Christ, and before they parted made their offering
to the Lord. So did paying and praying go to
gether, and the cardinal principles of our Church
were exemplified — "justification, sanctification,
and a penny a week." Our prayers and alms came
up for a memorial before God and he blessed us.
2. Disciplinary. For organization and disci
pline the class is the head and origin of the Church.
Our Discipline makes it obligatory that our church
membership should be divided into classes and
every individual member a member of some class.
If a church does not have a class it is not a
Methodist church in any true sense. No person can
become a member of our church unless recom
mended by the leaders and stewards' meeting, or,
when there is no such meeting, by the leader. It is
the gate through which everyone must enter our

The Drill 13
fold, and the leader is the warden who must vouch
through personal knowledge for the newcomer. It
is the class leader who is to answer the question,
"What becomes of our probationers?" It is the
class leader who is to know "if any walk disorderly
among us and will not be reproved."
3. Spiritual. In order to understand the de
sign of the class meeting spiritually, we must re
call the condition of the Christian world in the
matter of religious experience when it arose. Then
. few believed it possible for one to possess a divine
witness of forgiven sin. He was treated as a fanatic
who professed positive knowledge that he was ac
cepted of God, and was socially ostracised. Under
such circumstances it is not strange that men who
were despised and persecuted longed for a place
where each could tell his experience into sympa
thetic ears, and sing,
"What we have felt and seen
With confidence we tell."
Such was the threefold purpose of the class meet
ing. The years have brought some changes, but the
essentials of the Christian life are the same now
as they were a hundred years ago, and they will
continue to be the same till the world shall burn
itself out like a smoldering wick in its socket. The
absolute need of doing that for which the class
meeting stands was never more apparent nor more
imperative than now.

' 14 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Our fathers may have given too much attention
to the inward side of religion. It is certain that we
give too little attention to that side. All our organ
izations and institutional methods have relation
only to externals. Ours is a heart need. We must
experience religion. For religious training no
means of grace compares with the class meeting.
Give us the spiritual drill which the class meeting
may supply, and we will produce an army of Car-
vossos who can handle the word of God as a veteran
handles his sword. I suppose we are agreed that
personal testimony is desirable. See, then, what
opportunity is here presented. The class meeting
has been the cradle of leaders, exhorters, local
preachers, and traveling ministers. When the
young man was converted he was assigned to a
class. A stammering sentence was his first testi
mony, but practice gave confidence, and experi
ence gave ability, and the leader said to the pastor,
"That young man ought to be used for the church,"
and so our leaders and ministers were found out.
But for the class meeting many of us would never
have found our way to spiritual usefulness. In
conversation with six of our leading preachers in
New York it was found that five of them had been
converted in the class meeting and through it had
entered the ministry.
The class has been the mightiest aid in the devel
opment of the laymen of the Church, the utilizing

The Drill 15
of whose talents has made our Church first in num
bers among the Lord's hosts. Permit a little testi
mony from outside our fold to the value of this
means of grace: Henry Ward Beecher once said,
"The greatest thing John Wesley ever gave to the
world is the Methodist class meeting." Mr. Moody
testified that Methodist class meetings are the best
institutions for training young converts the world
ever saw. Dr. R. S. Storrs says: "The class meet
ing plan is essential to Methodism. It alone can
counteract the evils of a changing and transient
pastorate. I hope it will never be allowed to suffer
decline." But, further than these personal testi
monies, other denominations are showing their
opinion of our class by adopting its principle.
Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregationalists, and
many others have their covenant or fellowship
meetings, which are little else than our class meet
ing, and the Society of Christian Endeavor has be
come through its pledge the mightiest class meeting
the Church ever saw.
What is the present attitude of the Methodist
Church toward the class meeting? While the
Church maintains that it has been the best means
of grace to instruct the ignorant, to guide the inex
perienced, to comfort the despondent, to restore
the fallen, and promote the fellowship of believers,
very many do not attend it. Is the trouble in the
institution itself ? If so, in what of its features ?

16 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Is the trouble with the people? Have they lost
spirituality, or is there some change in their out
ward condition which makes the class less needful
to their spiritual comfort and profit than in former
times ? So far as the people are concerned, it is
doubtless true that some have lost their first love
and no longer delight to talk of spiritual things.
They are ill at ease with godly men and women,
for their own hearts condemn them, and memory
in the hands of conscience is a fearful scourge.
Some object that people of refined tastes and
thoughtful habit are averse to speaking of their
inner life. It is too sacred to be discussed save
with the closest friend. Such people have the mis
taken notion that the class meeting is a confes
sional, and therefore stay away. Others object, "I
cannot speak in meeting." Many who say this have
a wrong idea of the purpose of such speaking.
They think of it as a set address and measure it by
logical and rhetorical rules, whereas it should be
regarded as the simple testimony of a witness. For
such testimony in our courts no education or cul
ture is required — knowledge of the facts only.
Gideon Ouseley tells how he was called to preach :
"The voice said, 'Go preach My Gospel.' 'How
can I go ? I cannot speak, I am only a child.' 'Do
you not know the disease, Gideon ?' '0 yes, Lord,
I do.' 'And do you know the cure ?' 'Indeed I do,
Lord, glory be to thy holy name.' 'Go, then,

The Drill 17
Gideon, and tell these two things — the disease and
the cure. All the rest is nothing but talk.' " Every
one should know that speaking in class is not com
pulsory, but we might find it a joy to speak if we
remember Jesus's words, "Ye are my witnesses."
We do not say that all who absent themselves from
the class meeting or who refuse to testify in any
of our services are backslidden in heart, but we
wish to remind them that it was John's testimony
which won Andrew, and Andrew's testimony which
won Peter. It was the testimony of witnesses
which established Christ's resurrection and which
will bring the ultimate triumph of his kingdom.
The critics who assail the class meeting as an
institution tell us that times have changed. In
the multiplication of social functions and humani
tarian schemes there is no place for the class meet
ing. They are especially severe upon the leaders,
who, they say, are dry and stereotyped, and we are
treated to editorials on "Why Don't He Get a New
Story?" It is true that there are incompetent
leaders, but the dearth of good leaders is quite as
much the effect as the cause of the decline of the
class meeting. We have largely ceased to train
them. The old class leaders- — .men of wide knowl
edge of character and deep religious experience —
have passed away, and we have not filled their
places with trained young men and women. Lay
men think that most preachers tell them all they
2

18 The Drillmaster of Methodism
. know in five years, and often ask a change in less
time, but here are leaders who have been in the
same class for twenty-five years and giving instruc
tion every week. Is it any wonder that the leader
goes over the same ground again and again, espe
cially when we remember that he is absorbed ten
hours a day in business matters ? It is the pastor's
duty to select proper leaders. If he cannot find
them, let him train them. A class leader is surely
as important a person as a Sunday school teacher.
There are Sunday school conventions and teachers'
meetings without number to fit the teacher to do
his work intelligently. Let us have class leaders'
conventions to discuss methods and plans, and,
better still, to cry for spiritual anointing. If
methods need to be changed let us change them;
but let us bring back the old spiritual power of the
class meeting.
The new emphasis which the times demand,
which is perfectly legitimate and in our opinion
will open to the class a new and enlarging life,
is the emphasis of training. It is not enough that.
our members shall have training in the expression
of their feelings or in public speech in general.
There must be a definite and long-continued proc
ess of intellectual and spiritual drill if we are
to produce strong, athletic, loyal soldiers of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The class meeting must be to
the individual, religiously, what the gymnasium is

The Drill 19
to the athlete ; it must be to the Church what the
preparatory school is to the college or what the
military drill by companies is to the army. Prop
erly conducted, it will make the weak muscular, the
tyro in learning a scholar, the raw recruit a veteran.
The Church can never be a conquering army with
out this training. It can never train a race of
stalwart defenders of the faith unless they are
taught to handle the sword of the Spirit and in
structed how to put on and wear the whole armor
of God. This drill covers the entire Christian life
and cannot be secured in the Sunday school, the
Epworth League, the theological school, or the
prayer meeting. There is no drill ground like the
class room. That is exactly fitted for this essential
work. There we have seen the weakling become a
giant, the child outmatch a college professor, a
ragged line of raw recruits come to march with
line and tread that would have brought huzzas
from a Wellington, a Napoleon, or a Grant. But
more than that, we have seen a dress parade become
a battle and a battle become the devil's Waterloo,
and that is -the only battle worth while, for
"They only the victory win
Who have fought the good fight and have vanquished
The demon that tempts us within."
With a good God, an honest soul, the latent power,
and a great cause, all we need is the drillmaster.
Let us find him.

20 The Drillmaster of Methodism

II
The Drillmaster
The motto which Bishop Fowler has furnished
for our title-page is a declaration of our ecclesiasti
cal faith when applied to the class leaders of our
Church. This is the "crux", of the whole class
meeting question. Given great leaders, the result
will be full classes, growing members, and spiritual
churches. Phillips Brooks could never believe in
the doleful talk about empty churches, for he said,
"All the churches where I preach are filled." We
know scores of class leaders whose classes are
crowded to the doors, and you cannot convince
them that the class is a decayed or decaying
institution. The name which stands as the title of this vol
ume is the announcement to many of a new func
tion for the class leader, but it is really the most
important function which he performs. Many
have thought of the class simply as the place to
relate an experience. Now, an experience is a
blessed thing to have, and the relating of a genuine
one will do great good, but Bishop Vincent spoke
wisely when he said : "It is a pity to think of the
class as a place for pious profession and as always

The Drillmaster 21
requiring a 'happy experience' or a praiseworthy
report of one's own character and prospects. This
conception works untold harm. It engenders su
perficiality, hypocrisy, and the worst form of self
ishness. It trusts to temporary impulses. It dis
courages and repels truly humble, genuine, but
timid souls."
The class meeting is the trysting place of those
who hunger after righteousness and who would
meet their Lord. It has produced giants in prayer,
in exhortation, and in spiritual understanding.
This thought, which we have already emphasized
in the preceding chapter, leads us to consider what
he must be who is to develop mind, heart, and soul.
1. The supreme thing about the drillmaster is
his personality. It was the thing that Arnold of
Rugby was that makes him a fixed star in the scho
lastic firmament. It was because Mark Hopkins
was a full-orbed man that Garfield said he would
rather sit on one end of a log with Mark Hopkins
on the other than to have the tuition of other men
in academic halls. A general whose life is vicious
may lead troops to victory. He may inspire cour
age in a forlorn hope, put life under the ribs of
death, and beat back a horde with a handful ; but
our drillmaster cannot train a recruit, or teach a
student holy mysteries, unless he himself is God's
man. Let him never forget that he who plays
Samson's part will meet with Samson's fate. Many

22 The Drillmaster of Methodism
a good man has come little by little to venture into
the Philistine's territory until he rests in the lap
of some secret sin. He may arise, challenged of
friends or of enemies, to snap his cords. He may
wist not that the Spirit of the Lord is departed
from him, and he may go out as aforetime to do
valiantly; but sin will make him as impotent- as
other men. Pity, pity for the man who has smit
ten God's enemies hip and thigh but who goes at
last, blind and chained, to grind the devil's grists !
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it
are the issues of life."
2. Next to quick conscience stands quick percep
tion of the fitting and the good. Call it common
sense if you please. That is a necessity for our
drillmaster. If he lacks education the schools are
open and he may get it ; if he lacks spiritual wis
dom God gives liberally and willingly; but if he
has not common sense he cannot get it in the
schools nor even at the mourner's bench. Let no
man be appointed as leader, no matter what his
attainments may be, unless he has common sense.
With hobbyists to check and zealots to admonish,
weak ones to encourage and the overconfident to
restrain, and a class to protect from the jealous and
malicious, the strongest will need all the wisdom of
nature and grace.
3. The man who is to train others should be
himself a trained man. "Too many leaders," says

The Drillmaster 23
Bishop Vincent, "do not seem to take the appoint
ment seriously. They have little sense of responsi
bility. They do not read and study for the work;
lack enthusiasm, adaptation, and ideas; do not
visit pastorally, are irregular in the holding of
meetings; in class are formal, tediotis, and apa
thetic." We elsewhere speak of the spiritual train
ing and preparation of the leader. Nothing can
exceed this in importance. He must be mightily
endowed with the power of the Holy Ghost ; but we
must also insist upon thorough intellectual training
for the handling of spiritual truth. A class leader
cannot long preserve the respect of the thoughtful,
nor indeed his own self-respect, if he blunders
along in ignorance where he is set to train and in
struct. It is true that a leader is not called to be
a master in philosophy,. or history, or literature, or
science, but he owes it to every member of his class
not to falsify history, or science, or philosophy.
He must, at least, know enough not to misrepre
sent. Opportunities are everywhere presented for
the class leader to fit himself for his work. Lay
Workers' Institutes and Bible training schools are
within the reach of all by personal presence or cor
respondence, and there is no excuse but indolence
and apathy for the man who goes on in ignorance
to train his members to deeper ignorance. If
knowledge is power, what shall we say of the awful
power of spiritual ignorance?

24 The Drillmaster of Methodism
4. Our drillmaster will be patient on the field.
Many a drill sergeant has turned in disgust from
his awkward squad, and many a class leader has
been impatient at the slow growth of his members.
If there is growth at all, have patience. Did not
God have patience with you? Character grows
slowly, but it lasts forever. It will pay to spend a
long time upon it. "Why do you tell that child
the same thing twenty times ?" asked the father of
the Wesleys. "Because nineteen times are not
sufficient," answered the mother. The true drill-
master will also be patient under fire. There are
sometimes differences of opinion which will touch
him to the quick. While he has a short method for
the incorrigible crank, he must be careful to use it
on no others. In patience let him possess his soul.
5. The duty of the drillmaster is as much heart
training as head training. He must have a heart
himself. The great, weary world needs sympathy,
encouragement, and hope. Our leader has a sunny
face and a warm heart. He is hopeful, for he bears
a message of hope to all men. His voice has in it
the ring of ultimate triumph, and it is not without
the fruitful touch of tears. He will weep over the
desolation of Jerusalem, but like Nehemiah he will
hasten to rebuild her gates. His cheerful yesterdays
help him to confident to-days and victorious to
morrows, and his faith is contagious.
(5. It is true that the ideal class leader is "born,

The Drillmaster 25
not made," but there is not enough of him to go
around. The work of the world is not done by men
of ideal excellence. Geniuses are rare, or else they
have a habit of shirking. Common people with un
common purpose and devotion are the ones who
appear at roll call with their "Here am I; send
me." Rev. Edward Smith, of England, speaking of
such leaders, says, "Sanctified commonplace folk
earn for themselves in this office a good degree,
thereby shaming those who could have had all their
competency at much less cost of self -training and a
much briefer apprenticeship." Some of the most
successful leaders the Church has known were of
this sort. They were "made" leaders, but God
took a hand in the making, as he did with Moody,
and their power and efficiency grew with the years.
O hesitant leader, conscious of limitations, hear
the testimony of Amos ! "I was no prophet,
neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herd-
man, and a dresser of sycamore trees : and the Lord
took me from following the flock, and the Lord said
unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Now
therefore hear thou the word of the Lord."
7. It is not necessary that age or sex should be
considered in the appointment of a leader. Our
own experience is in line with that of Rev. Simp
son Johnson, of the Wesleyan Church : "When a
class has become vacant we have looked round for

26 The Drillmaster of Methodism
a solid, staid member, and out of respect to age and
long standing we have often appointed men whose
minds were, crystallized and in some cases fossil
ized. It would often be better to lay hands on a
young man whose mind is supple, whose heart is
all aglow, and who is likely to carry some spirit,
enterprise, and adaptation into the meeting." We
have recently appointed some young men as leaders
and their success has been remarkable. It goes
without saying that no young person should be ap
pointed who is not fully grounded in the funda
mentals of the Gospel and of good judgment.
Where these are apparent do not hesitate to put
young blood into the leadership. It is unnecessary
to make a plea for the appointment of consecrated
women to this office. Their work, especially in the
religious care of the young, is approved by a
blessed history. The Church of Susanna Wesley,
Hester Ann Rogers, Mary Fletcher, Frances Wil-
lard, Lucy Webb Hayes, will not hesitate to use
the noble successors of these saintly women in the
high office of spiritual training.
The drillmasters next to the pastors of Metho
dism hold in their hands the future of our great
militant Church. When the victory that is sure
to come shall be won God will greatly honor them.
We often go to a country churchyard where a class
leader lies buried and read on the humble stone the
simple inscription. There is nothing in it to stay

The Drillmaster 27
the foot of the passer-by, but there is another monu
ment, more lasting and splendid, which that leader
reared himself. He Avas the drillmaster who
trained a score of young men who are now leaders
of the Lord's hosts. Some are in the pulpit, some
are masters of great wealth which they have con
secrated to God, some are trainers like himself, and
others set the step for the rank and file. When I
see their godly lives or read the tributes to their
praise I say in my heart, These are the drillmas-
ter's monument.

28 The Drillmaster of Methodism

III
The Pastor and the Class
The pastor is the most important factor in the
success of the class meeting, and, conversely, no
organization or institution of our Church is so help
ful to the pastor as the class properly constituted
and worked. The pastor must be held responsible
in large degree for the classes, since it is his duty
to assign all members to classes and to appoint and
dismiss leaders. If members are not pleased with
their class, he can transfer them to another; if
leaders are incompetent, he can train or dismiss
them. To stimulate the members and encourage the
leader let him attend class himself. If the mem
bers need to attend, so does the pastor. It is just
as easy to backslide in the study as in the shop or
market. The temptations of a minister are just
as manifold and quite as insidious as those which
attack the average member. He therefore needs
the class for itself. Has the meeting been dull and
uninteresting? Then let the pastor speak — tears
in his voice, conviction in his soul, his heart to
theirs. The dull meeting quivers with life, leader
and members are aroused, and that class meeting

The Pastor axd the Class 29
talk will be remembered long after Sunday's ser
mon is forgotten.
If it is objected that the pastor has no time for
this, because of so many other religious and semi-
religious duties, we answer that we shall not fear
for the class meeting if the pastor will settle upon
his knees the relative spiritual importance of his
duties and take them up in their order. It ought
to be said that the pastors of the largest churches
in Methodism are also class leaders. If they can
do this with a thousand or more members on their
hands, it ought not to be impossible for the average
pastor. Hugh Price Hughes gives great credit
to the class meeting for the success of his work,
and says there are now fifteen hundred people
actually meeting in class in the West End of
London. Again, it is the pastor's duty to set before his
members the class as it really is. Many have
formed a wrong idea of it and therefore do not
attend it. They need to know that it is not a con
fessional; it is not a place where one's personality
is improperly invaded nor a place where one must
speak whether he will or not. Methodists need to
know that any one method is not the class meeting.
Change methods as much as changing times and
customs make necessary, but the need for the class
meeting idea is a fundamental need of the soul.
Sin and sorrow and death do not change with ages

30 The Drillmaster of Methodism
or climes, and anything which gives men victory
over these is not antiquated or useless.
The pastor needs the class to make complete his
pastoral oversight. Some pastors divide their
parish among visitors, giving a special territory to
each. These visitors have a superintendent to
whom they report, who reports in turn to the pas
tor. All that is provided for much better in the
class, and that plan remains whether pastors come
or go. If the leader cannot visit all, he appoints
visitors from his members. These report to him,
and he to his pastor. Thus every member of the
church is kept under the pastor's eye. The sick
are cheered, the newcomer welcomed, the unhappy
kindly encouraged. We cannot understand how a
pastor can allow himself to be deprived of the best
agency human ingenuity ever devised to keep watch
over his flock. The great question in our large
cities is how to keep track of our members. Our
Conference reports for the last few years are not
encouraging. In New York and New York East
Conferences, covering Greater New York and its
suburbs, the Minutes show that with more than five
hundred pastors and one hundred and twenty-four
thousand members and probationers at work, with
$14,000,000 invested in church property and
$457,000 spent for current expenses, we have made
but little if any advance for several years. It is
very likely that this loss is due to the striking off

The Pastor and the Class 31
of the names of those whose whereabouts are un
known and who have become careless and indiffer
ent themselves. This is just the point of our con
tention. If these persons had been looked after,
as the purpose of the class is, their whereabouts
would be known and their interest preserved.
Bishop Fowler was right when he said : "We have
not lost by doctrinal schism. Our leakage is not
in the arteries, but in the veins. The loss of the
individual to activity and membership is our
peril." Against this only the class, or something
that will do its work, can secure us.
The chief object of the class meeting is to de
velop spiritual life, and in this capacity it is the
most important aid to the pastor and the member
ship. The crying need of the Church is a deeper
spiritual life. Societies multiply. There is the
clatter and clank of endless ecclesiastical ma
chinery. Some of it is necessary, much of it is
good. It is well to start kindergartens and soup
kitchens, nurseries and dispensaries. It is well
to care for the body, but every body has a soul
which will outlast it. The institutional church
has come, but it will be "of the earth earthy"
unless something shall nobly spiritualize it.
For all this machinery there must be some
mighty, impelling, spiritual power. It is for
that we plead. To nourish soul life is our
supreme business.

32 The Drillmaster of Methodism
The class meeting affords an opportunity for
spiritual exercise which can be found nowhere else.
This world is to be won to Christ by Christian testi
mony, and the Church is to be led by the same
means to highest Christian attainment. The indi
vidual also needs the subjective influence which
comes from witnessing for Christ. It was not bet
ter guns, but better drill in the men behind the
guns, that gave us Manila, Santiago, San Juan,
and El Caney. Think of the great opportunity
for spiritual training which the class meeting
affords. It is seldom that more than forty persons
take part in a prayer meeting, but in one of our
large churches a recent count showed that there
were four hundred and sixty-three present at the
class meetings of the week, and that two hundred
and sixty-six persons gave testimony. If Chris
tian testimony is worth anything to self or to
others, who shall measure the advantage of such a
cloud of witnesses ?
Our appeal is to the pastors. If they wish the
class meeting idea enforced, they know how to do
it. If better class leaders are needed, they know
how to train them. Give us as many conventions
for class leaders as are held for Sunday school
teachers, with as much instruction in spirit and
plan, and we will need no apologies for lack of
increase of members or spirituality. With spiritual
power at tlie front there will be force enough for

The Pastor and the Class 33
education, missions, revivals, and every holy
endeavor. The class meeting proved itself for a hundred
years the pastor's best ally. It helped to make us
numerically the largest of the Lord's hosts, and its
spirit has pervaded other communions for their
great good. Give it opportunity, and it will still
work marvels for us. Not the old forms, of neces
sity, but certainly the old spiritual power. Add
to this such new form and method as a consecrated
experience may suggest, and victory is ours.
3

34 The Drillmaster of Methodism

IV
The Class Leader as Subpastor
With the division of the church membership
into classes, and the assignment of a leader to each,
there goes of necessity the idea that the leader ac
cepts the responsibility of the spiritual guidance
and nurture of those committed to his charge. He
stands to them in an important sense as pastor, as
shepherd of the flock. Are there lambs ? He is to
give them suitable food. Are there sheep, way
ward and unruly? He is to see that they are in
the fold. If they will not come of their own mo
tion he must tenderly constrain them. If they
grow restive in the fold he must still deal with
them patiently. So deals the Good Shepherd even
with the class leader himself, and he will be most
like his Lord when his watchfulness and patience
is most like his Master's.
This, then, as we apprehend it, is the situation
which confronts a class leader when a probationer
is assigned to his class: The Church holds him
responsible for the development of a personal
Christian life, just as the teacher in the public
schools is held responsible for the development of a
child's intellectual life. The first thing, then, is to

The Class Leader as Subpastor 35
make the personal acquaintance of the new member.
We will suppose that he attends the class to which
he is assigned. The leader will carefully note his
testimony and like a true physician seek to make
a diagnosis of the case that he may know what
therapeutic, prophylactic, or tonic treatment is
needed. During the meeting or after it he will
introduce the newcomer to the other members of
his class with such personal reference as may seem
wise. He will converse somewhat at length, if
opportunity offers and wisdom suggests, that he
may know something of former life, mental habits,
daily occupations, or other facts that may help him
to be a physician to this man's soul. The course of
procedure in such a case seems clear, but it often
happens that the leader finds himself in circum
stances wholly different from this.
The name of a new member or probationer is
read by the pastor, and the member or probationer
appears at the altar and is greeted by the pastor
and the officers of the church. His name is pub
lished in the next week's bulletin of the church,
and he is assigned to this leader's class. The leader
is on the lookout for him the next week at the
class ; but he does not come, nor do the weeks which
follow bring him. What shall the leader do ? Visit
him, by all means, if this is a possibility. One
visit is better than ten letters or a hundred postal
cards. Find out why he does not come. If his

36 The Drillmaster of Methodism
business is such that he cannot come, the leader
will be glad to know this fact, and will not forget
that he is still responsible for that member's
spiritual welfare. He will therefore see him the
more frequently or send some other members of
the class to supplement the leader's call. If the
member is a probationer, only personal knowledge
of his life will make it possible for the leader to
answer for him when his probation expires. We
have known cases where probationers were unable
to attend class at all, although living an exemplary
Christian life. In one case where the probationer's
name was read in the leaders and stewards' meet
ing the pastor said, "I find he is assigned to
Brother A.'s class. Will Brother A. report on his
case ?" Brother A. replied, "I know nothing about
him. He has not been to class once during six
months." It proved on inquiry that it was a physi
cal impossibility for the probationer to be present
and that the delinquent had been the leader and
not the member. It is the leader's business to know
why his members do not come to class. Desirable
as class attendance is, the law of our Church does
not require it as a rule of admission to or retention
of membership in the Church. A leader cannot
fulfill his duty to his class without personal knowl
edge of his members. To undertake leadership
without that is to shepherd a flock in aisentia.
Every leader should feel a sense of great disap-

The Class Leader as Subpastor 3.7
pointment and chagrin if a probationer in his class
fails to be advanced to full membership on the
expiration of his probation. It was for that pur
pose that the leader undertook his care, and a
failure to secure such advancement means a failure
of. his work. Of course, it will sometimes happen
that no amount of faithfulness on the part of the
class leader will move the delinquent to a holy life,
as it often happens that no amount of faithfulness
on the part of the teacher will move the scholar to
application. In such cases the failure to advance
is in no wise a reflection upon his instruction.
While it will not be possible for a leader with
fifty or more in his class to give the time for fre
quent visitations of those who do not come to class,
it is true for the most part that the larger number
are confirmed in their absence or inability and
their cases well known, so that frequent visitations
will not be needed. There are some whom the
leader may hope greatly to help. It is the forma
tive period of their lives. An evening given to
such a case may take the leader from a warm fire
and a pleasant book, but it will return him blessed
interest to all eternity for his self-denial.
In all God's universe there is no higher business
than to be a shepherd of souls. To that work the
class leader is called. Pastors come and go, but he
may stay on, his influence growing with the added
years and scores passing from his instruction to

38 The Drillmaster of Methodism
bear forever the mark of his faithful work.
Let him study to show himself approved unto God,
regularly dispensing the word of truth, giving milk
to babes, strong meat to men, and watching over
them as one who must give account for their souls.

The Historic Class Meeting 39

The Historic Class Meeting
The origin of the classes is so well understood
and so frequently stated that I need take but few
lines to set it forth. The United Societies arose in '
1739, but classes were not formed until February,
1742. During a consultation of the brethren con
cerning the payment of the debt on the Bristol
Chapel, Captain Fry said, "Let every man give a
penny a week and it will easily be done." But it
was objected, "Many are too poor." "Then," said
the captain, "put eleven of the poorest with me, I
will see them weekly. If they can give nothing I
will give for them. Each of you do the same."
"The very thing we have wanted so long," said
Wesley. As a matter of fact, the United Societies
themselves were at the first little more than class
meetings. Our general rules open with a state-"
ment of this fact: "In the latter end of the year
1739 eight or ten persons who appeared to be deep
ly convinced of sins, and earnestly groaning for
redemption, came to Mr. Wesley in London. They
desired, as did two or three more the next day, that
he would spend some time with them in prayer, and
advise them how to flee from the wrath to come,

40 The Drillmaster of Methodism
which they saw continually hanging over their
heads. That he might have more time for this
great work, he appointed a day when they might
all come together ; which from thenceforward they
did every week, namely, on Thursday, in the even
ing. To these, and as many more as desired to
join with them (for their number increased daily),
he gave those advices from time to time which he
judged most needful for them; and they always
concluded their meeting with prayer suited to their
several necessities. This was the rise of the United
Society, first in Europe, and then in America.
Such a society is no other than *'a company of men
having the form and seeking the power of godli
ness, united in order to pray together, to receive
the word of exhortation, and to watch over one
another in love, that they may help each other to
work out their salvation.' "
-^ While the distinction between classes and class
meetings should not be lost sight of, if we remem
ber the spiritual significance of these earlier meet
ings, it will appear that the class meeting was,
after all, the original idea, and that our present
classes, conducted as they are, look back rather to
1739 than to 1742 for their origin. It is, however,
true that, so far as method is concerned, that which
was providentially adopted and developed by the
Bristol society has come to be more nearly the
model of the classes of to-day. In that particular

The Historic Class Meeting 41
case there was originally an important difference
both in point of method and time between the
classes and class meeting, and it may with pro
priety be said that many class leaders who have
adopted the method of class meeting have quite for
gotten the idea of the class as originally shown by
the personal visitation and in the conduct of the
leader and his members in the home and place of
business. Mr. Wesley saw that the raising of money was
but an incidental and secondary thing, and that the
greater usefulness of the class leaders would be in
matters spiritual. Mr. Wesley called his leaders
together to report. It appeared that some of their
members walked disorderly, and he desired that
from that time forward each leader should inquire
particularly into the conduct and spiritual life of
those whom he visited weekly. The effect of this
personal solicitude was so marked that the same
method was adopted in London. "The effect of it
everywhere was that evil men were detected and
reproved. If they forsook their sins they were
gladly retained, but if they obstinately persisted it
was openly declared they were not of us."
Thus far there had been no class meetings, prop
erly so called, throughout the societies. It soon be
came apparent that this plan could not be worked
in all cases. Many of the leaders were so employed
during the day that they could not spare the time

42 The Drillmaster of Methodism
to visit their members, and it was also impossible
or inexpedient to visit many of the members who
were in the mines or at service. It was impossible
to see them except in the company of others, and
this did not answer the end proposed, that of
exhorting, comforting, or reproving them. "It
frequently happened also that one affirmed what
another denied, and this could not be cleared up
without seeing the members together." Upon all of
/these considerations it was agreed that the members
¦ of each class should meet together. By this means
every inquiry was made into the conduct of each,
advice or reproof given as necessity required, and
after an hour thus spent they concluded with
prayer and thanksgiving. This was the origin of
the class meeting and also of the leaders' meeting.
Thus far, however, the leader has played the prin
cipal part, the members meeting to receive at his
hand such correction and direction as he saw fit to
give. Another element, which has been for the last one
hundred years the chief characteristic of the class
meeting, soon appeared — -namely, the interchange
of Christian experience. It is quite probable that
this, like the class meeting itself, was a growth
which took place without special preparation.
Nothing could have been more natural than that a
large number of the class, who were walking hum
bly with God, should have such a deep and personal

The Historic Class Meeting 43
revelation of his will and love as would greatly
encourage by its recital the faith and practice of
the brethren.
In this they were not without example and en
couragement in the Band Meetings of the Mora
vians. It was in a Moravian prayer meeting, in
May, 1738, that Mr. Wesley said : "I felt my heart
strangely warmed. I felt I had trust in . Christ,
Christ alone, for salvation, and an assurance was
given me that he had taken away my sins, even
mine, and" saved me from the law of sin and death.
I then testified to all there what I now felt in my
heart." It was an easy step for this idea of Chris
tian testimony to mount to the first place of impor
tance in any plan for the proper development of
the Christian life.
Mr. Wesley was taught that Christianity was not
a religion for solitude and the solitary. "You
wish to serve God and go to heaven. You cannot
serve him alone. You must therefore find com
panions or make them. The Bible knows nothing
of solitary religion." Dr. Stevens says Wesley
never forgot these words, which perhaps forecast
the history of his life.
Mr. Wesley himself said in later years respect
ing the class meetings : "It can hardly be conceived
what advantages have been gained from this provi
dential regulation. Many now happily experi
enced that Christian fellowship of which they had

44 The Drillmaster of Methodism
not so much as a thought before. They began to
bear one another's burdens and naturally to care
for each other."
We see now the class meeting, practically in its
present form, universally adopted. It becomes the
nucleus of the Church, for without it, theoretically,
no Methodist church can exist. I speak elsewhere
of its financial, disciplinary, and spiritual pur
poses. The question which now presents itself is,
What has been the practical working of the class
meeting in Methodism for the past one hundred
years ? For many years attendance at class was a
test of membership, and I understand it so remains
in Great Britain at the present time. In America
the classes are placed among the means of grace,
and an attendance upon them is specified as a
Christian duty; but that attendance^ no longer a
test of membership. In other days such attendance
was obligatory, but many did not attend and were
still not expelled. The Rev. Asa Kent, stern old
disciplinarian, expelled the wife of the most promi
nent member of his church for failing to attend
class; but the circumstances surrounding the case
were such that evil rather than good came both to
the church and the parties concerned.
It is always human nature to think that the old
days were the best days, to lose sight of the unsuc
cessful and unpleasant and remember only those
matters which are recalled with delight. In any

The Historic Class Meeting 45
enumeration of the comparative attendance at class
meeting or other meetings of Christians it must
be remembered that the percentage in a limited
membership is almost invariably greater than in a
large membership, and this with reason. The f
larger the membership the further removed they ;
are likely to be from the church and the less oppor
tunity for personal contact and oversight on the
part of the pastor and leader. Bearing this in mind,
we make bold to affirm, from data in our possession,
that the attendance at class in the churches with
which we are personally acquainted has not materi
ally fallen off in the last fifty years. To many this
will seem a strong statement, as we are accustomed
to think and to speak of the decadence'of the class
meeting and to accept the fact without the least
contention ; but the complaint of the decadence of
the class is only the echo of other years. John
Miley, fifty years ago, lamented the disposition of
the Church to turn from the class meeting and the
failure to appreciate its advantages. The opposi
tion against the class meeting as an institution was
quite as clearly marked then as now. In reference
to it he uses a sentence which sounds as if it were
written to-day : "Recently the tendency everywhere
is to unsettle the whole foundation, break up or
modify long and well tried systems, and substitute
new and untried theories. This we regard as a
hazardous experiment. No rage for improvement

46 The Dbillmaster of Methodism
or reform should induce us to abandon what we
have proved to be safe and profitable until we are
sure of obtaining something better in exchange for
it. . . . To abolish class meetings would be virtu
ally to abandon Methodism and let our church
members fall back into lifeless formality." Twenty-
five years ago Dr. Daniel Wise wrote : "That there
is a tendency, more or less decided, throughout
Methodism to suffer the class meeting to sink into
neglect, it were folly to deny. As a means of in
structing the ignorant, restoring the fallen, and of
promoting the fellowship of believers it is a valu
able auxiliary to the Church. Nevertheless, in
spite of its intrinsic worth, the ugly fact of its
growing unattractiveness to many stares us in the
face." It would be easy to multiply quotations
from the writings of the leading minds of our
Church at any period during the last fifty years,
to show that their hearts were pained at the failure
of the Church to appreciate and use the means of
grace called the class meeting. Therefore the com
plaint of earnest people in our time concerning the
absence of many of our members from the class is
not a new thing, but simply a repetition of the sor
row which pious souls have always felt when Chris
tians have forsaken the assembling of themselves
together for holy spiritual exercises.
That there is great cause for sorrow at the pres
ent time we hasten to admit ; but we are not with-

The Historic Class Meeting 47
out hope. Indeed, there are indications all about
us of a great quickness of interest on the part of
pastors, leaders, and members. Class meeting con- h
ventions are almost a new thing in Methodism, but
they are being held throughout the country, east
and west, north and south. Requests have come
to the writer from almost every State in the Union,
asking him to make addresses or to send literature
which may be helpful in stimulating interest in
this historic means of grace. In a recent number
of the Methodist Review Bishop Vincent gives a
most interesting report of the October conventions
which were held at his suggestion throughout
Europe. More than a thousand of these conven
tions were held, and many thousands of the laity
took part in them. The subject of class meetings
was the first of four topics named for discussion.
Bishop Vincent says: "One is glad to know that
the class meeting in Continental Methodism is still
a most important factor, and that in English
Methodism, thanks very largely to the wisdom and
breadth and vigor of ex-President Hugh Price
Hughes and the Methodist Times, it is experi
encing a genuine and we trust a permanent revival.
For we may be sure that Methodism of the true
type goes up or down with the growth or deteriora
tion of the class meeting."
Spiritual men everywhere are coming to feel
that, whatever changes may be made in method,

48 The Drillmaster of Methodism
something must be done which will give the Church
the spiritual training which the class meeting has
been so effective in accomplishing in the past. This
brings us to the consideration of the present prob
lem of the class.

Present Problem of the Class 49

VI
The Present Problem of the Class
"New occasions bring new duties,
Time makes ancient good uncouth;
He must upward still and onward
Who would keep abreast of truth." — Lowell.
In speaking of the class meeting I find two
classes of people. There are some who believe that
the usefulness of the class to-day is exactly meas
ured by its reproduction of the forms and customs,
the pet phrases and allocutions, which they recall
in the class meetings of their youth. There are
others who would banish every semblance to the
meeting of other years. They would throw over
the old simply because it is old, and they insist
upon superior wisdom as their private possession.
We do not sympathize with either of these classes.
Some things in the old class meetings were purely
incidental and had nothing whatever to do with the
success of the meeting, unless it may be said that
the spiritual power of the occasion was so great
that the meeting was successful in spite of them.
People who constantly recall the old methods
and decry any change need to remember that
spiritual life is something deeper than garments to

50 The Drillmaster of Methodism
wear or posture in prayer or succession of testi
mony. These have little or nothing to do with the
essential thing for which the class meeting stands.
But those who would change the class meeting so
as to make it purely an hour for literature, geog
raphy, or history must remember that, good as
these are in their places, they are not the thing for
which the class meeting stands. Change your
methods and do not be disturbed at the change. Do
not haggle over little things and lose your patience
and peace of mind over the size and color of the re
ceptacle that brings you the great gift of God.
Do not forget that however beautiful the receptacle
may be it will be a bitter disappointment to the
hungry soul if it is found to be empty. It goes
without saying that the problem pressing upon the
heart of every pastor to-day is, How can I train in
experience and righteousness the church committed
to my care ? "Doubtless," said old Izaak Walton,
"God could have made a better fruit than the
strawberry, but doubtless God never did." Per
haps some better scheme than the class meeting
could have been devised for the development of
spiritual life, but nothing better has been devised,
and nothing better is in sight. It is not a question
of choosing between the class meeting and some
other means of grace. It is for most members of
the church a question between the training of the
class room or no training at all, and in such a situa-

Present Problem of the Class 51
tion the course of every lover of the Church must
be plain.
Among the problems that present themselves for
solution are the following :
1. How to make the pastor the ardent supporter
of this means of grace. His support is absolutely
essential for- its success in any church, and there
are few churches where a faithful pastor who de
votes himself by precept and practice to the work
cannot largely increase its efficiency. Many pas
tors have too easily become pessimists. The thing
that ought to be done can be done. Bishop Vincent
says : "The pastor must believe in the class meeting
— its possibilities and the secret of its efficiency. He
must accept the teaching of the Discipline, para
graphs 28-33, 50-55, 101, 193, and Appendix, 64.
If he does not have this measure of faith in the
class he should seek a place in the ministry out
side of Methodism. Our success imperatively de
mands the acceptance and appreciation of the
Methodist theory on the subject of class meetings.
We should hold conferences with and give system
atic instruction to the class leaders, expounding
the Discipline and lecturing to them on such sub
jects as 'The Care of Souls,' 'The Use of the Bible
in Spiritual Guidance,' 'The Ways of the Spirit in
the Inner Life,' etc., etc. The pastor should culti
vate a class enthusiasm, visiting each class occa
sionally, inviting them to his own house, adminis-

52 The Drillmaster of Methodism
tering to each class at least once a year the holy
sacrament, and using that opportunity for exhort
ing them to a more perfect consecration of them
selves, their children, and their property to the
service of God."
Can anyone doubt that such action on the part
of any pastor would go far toward settling the
problem of the class in any church ?
2. Next to the pastor, and hardly second in
point of importance, stands the leader. The great
problem of the class meeting centers in him. The
faithful leader whose zeal is according to knowl
edge and whose heart is tender will be likely to
have a large class. The securing of such leaders is
the prerogative and duty of the pastor, but he can
not make them such. Only hearts given up to
Christ in glad and complete surrender, to spend
and to be spent in the service of humanity, can
measure up to the high and holy place in which
the class leader must walk. If the class is failing
to do its work there should be great heart-searching
on the part of the leader. He must remember that
it is not enough to have an honest purpose to help
the class. Elsewhere we shall speak of his need
for preparation. Let him never forget that he
must have something to offer that is worth while if
he expects his members to come eagerly to their
meeting place. He cannot drag them there by
publicly complaining against them or by privately

Present Problem of the Class 53
scourging them. It is the duty of the leader as
shepherd to serve each member of his flock to the
extent of his ability.
3. The third problem relates to the class itself
and concerns both the leader and the members. If
there are leaders who abuse the Church and its
ministers, there are also members who ride pet hob
bies, who have spurs but no bits, who make Phari
saical boasts and accuse their neighbors, of religious
sloth when their private life is quite as pure and
useful as that of the accuser. There are class
meeting killers who undertake to explain prophecy
and interpret all the mysteries of the Bible as well
as to set right the theology of their fellow-members.
If the class is to be a success the majority of its
members must unite with the leader to keep out
of it censoriousness, self-glorification, subtle ques
tions, and foolish whims.
4. The final problem relates to those whose re
ligious indifference keeps them from the meeting.
How shall these be made to love and frequent this
means of grace ? The answer to this problem must
be found in the personal contact of heart with
heart. Zeal is kindled by unselfish love. Hearts
that are cold may still be warmed by personal con
tact. Those who have become alienated may be
won again by patient toil. The Spirit of God seen
in the life of a brother and working through him
is able to build again the fires which have burned

54 The Drillmaster of Methodism
low or have gone out and to heal the backslidings
that threaten to engulf a soul.
Such are some of the problems of the class meet
ings. Though difficult, they are not impossible of
solution. Sanctified zeal and common sense will
work wonders.

The Class Leader's Preparation 55

VII
The Class Leader's Preparation
"This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fast
ing," said Jesus to his disciples after their chagrin
and humiliation at their failure at Csesarea
Philippi. For a class leader to go to his class with
out special preparation is an impertinence in the
sight of God, and he is equally to be blamed with
that preacher who presumes to enter his pulpit un
prepared. To say that one has only to open his
mouth and God will fill it, and apply it to the regu
lar ministry of the class leader, is to utterly misap
prehend the responsibility of the individual.
Every great triumph in the life of Jesus came after
great preparation alone with God for nights or
weeks. The victory over the devil comes after
forty days of solitary prayer. The transfiguration
comes after prayer has worked its transformation.
For Moses, Paul, Luther, Bunyan, Wesley, years
of preparation in the Arabian Desert, lonely Bed
ford jail, and meditation in city and wilderness.
No great thing was ever done for God or man with
out ample preparation. It is true that Webster
may give a reply to Hayne with only a few hours
of preparation, but the moment only put speed to

56 The Drillmaster of Methodism
the preparation of a lifetime. "How long were
you preparing that sermon?" asked a preacher
when Bishop Foster had swept a Conference by
his great sermon on Immortality. "Forty years,"
was his answer. A young preacher said to a super
annuate who had filled only the smallest appoint
ments during his ministry, "How did you ever get
two sermons a week ready? I only preach once.
I begin my sermon Tuesday and work until Satur
day and then feel that I am not ready." "I never
made any fuss of that sort," said the superannuate,
"nor bothered with preparation. I usually choose
my text on my way to church or after I enter the
pulpit." The young man thought he must be lack
ing in the essentials of a preacher either spiritually
or intellectually and was almost ready to give up
his ministry, but when he told a discriminating lay
man who had sat under the superannuate's preach
ing, he was comforted to hear him say, "We all
knew he selected his text after he got to church by
the way he preached."
Is it any wonder that the class meeting is for
saken by the thoughtful and devout if the leader
shows that he does not think it of sufficient impor
tance to give an hour from business or pleasure to
prepare for it? To say that one has no time for
preparation is not true. Take it from business,
take it from sleep, if necessary ; but take it or give
up the class. In most cases it is not the time, but

The Class Leader's Preparation 57
the disposition, that is wanting. The merchant
will find time while he waits for a customer; the
traveling man as he journeys by steam or trolley;
the laboring man as he works, or as he rests at his
noon hour, or retires for the night. But do not
make the mistake of waiting till the day or the
night of the meeting before beginning that prepara
tion. Intellectual and spiritual shiftlessness is the
curse of the pulpit and the class room. It is just
as easy to be ahead of time as behind time. Seize
the first opportunity instead of the last and you
will drive your engagements before you instead of
being overwhelmed by them.
The leader's chief need is spiritual preparation.
For that he must spend some time in communion
with God. He who comes from a garden of roses
bears their perfume with him. "They took knowl
edge of them that they had been with Jesus" is the
testimony of eighteen centuries to the power of per
sonal communion with the Infinite. The members
of a class room feel the power when their leader
talks with God as friend talketh with friend. Only
the man who has frequent communion can do that.
There are too few who make a real communing
with God. To many prayer is only the begging for
something desired, often a selfish and a secular
thing. Such do not understand the spirit and the
power of prayer.
The art of meditation is with many a lost art.

58 The Drillmaster of Methodism
"While I was musing the fire burned," said the
psalmist, and every thinker who has given himself
to it has been astonished to see how marvelously
the habit of meditation, of rumination, opens up
every subject and enriches the mind. This is a
part of that mental prejDaration which fits the class
leader for his work. The class leader must be a
man of one book. He must know his Bible and
store his mind with passages affecting every phase
of experience. Such a man was Carvosso, and his
class meetings were marvelous in their power.
Read, as opportunity presents, the stirring thoughts
of our great preachers and the inspiring records
of Christian biography. Be on the lookout for
impressive illustrations and put them away for
future use. There is- no excuse for a dull and
profitless class meeting. Any leader who has the
average amount of tact backed by Christian ex
perience can have a successful meeting if he is
willing to pay the price ; but an empty leader will
have an empty class. If he would have others to
think, he must think himself. If he would develop
others in Christian graces, he must grow himself.
If he would have his members enriched by attend
ance at his class, he must make a notable contribu
tion himself to its interest and spirituality. Prep
aration of mind and spirit will enable him to do it.
Leader, are you willing to pay the price ?

Tact and Versatility 59
VIII
Tact and Versatility
Few words are less understood than the word
"tact." It is often used as a synonym for yielding
and compliance, if not for artifice and deception.
The true meaning of the word is far removed from
this. Tact means, etymologically considered, deli
cacy of touch ; and only the man who has a fine
feeling for the sensibilities, the prejudices, and the
environment of men can make an ideal class leader.
Mr. Lecky, in his Map of Life, contends that tact is
more valuable than brilliancy, eloquence, or origin
ality, and cites the case of a great governor, who
always seemed to gain his point, yet he never ap
peared to be in antagonism with anyone. The
steady pressure of a firm and consistent will was
scarcely felt when it was accompanied by the ready
recognition of everything that was good in the
argument of another and by a charm of manner
and of temper which seldom failed to disarm oppo
sition and win personal affection.
There is nothing more sensitive than the trained
human touch. When Alvan Clark was doing the
final polishing of the lens of one of his great tele
scopes that was to set the observer side by side with
rushing worlds, he trusted not to machinery or

60 The Drillmaster of Methodism
measurements, but to the preternatural sensibility
of his own finger tips. Here is something for the
class leader to think about. Some have made the
mistake of thinking that "hair was especially cre
ated to be rubbed the wrong way," and are never
quite sure that they have been faithful to their
duty unless they have crossed, buffeted, and an
gered some one. They are proud of their bluntness
and lie in wait for a chance to disagree. They
have the keen eye of a doctor to discover the spot
where the skin is off, and an acid ready for the
torture of their victim. It may be safely affirmed
that Jesus did not have these men in mind when he
said, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven."
Without any compromise of principle one may
still be tactful. Remembering the attitude of his
Lord toward the bruised reed and the dimly burn
ing wick, he will be tactful and patient. The
leader is to be all things to all men that he may win
some. "He has such a winning way," said the
members of a certain class, speaking of their
leader, and when this comment reached his ears he
blushed and said, "It is my duty to win men."
If a man is in just the place God would have
him he will be tactful — that is, his own heart will
be tender and loving and his touch will be like the
touch of a mother. If some one goes but slowly
along the way he will not beat him down, lest he
go not at all.

Tact and Versatility 61
The tactful leader will not only have a delicate
appreciation of others' feelings and be careful not
to wound them, but he will also have an intuitive
sense of that which is fitting and appropriate. He
will not give meat to babes, nor will he fail to give
to the strong Christian man food convenient for
him. He will have eyes to see what will be an in
centive to the laggard or a balm to the wounded in
spirit. He will in each case suit the remedy to
the malady. If it be true, as Bentham says, that
the turn of a sentence has decided many a friend
ship and, for aught we know, the fate of many a
kingdom, it behooves us to be careful lest the fate
of a soul may poise upon one word.
Whittier felt the importance of this thought and
sang: "These trifles! can it be they make or mar
A human life?
Are souls as lightly swayed as rushes are
By love or strife?
Yea, yea! A look the fainting heart may break,
Or make it whole;
And just one word, if said for love's sweet sake,
May save a soul."
The man of tact must of necessity be versatile.
He will not narrow himself to one line of thought
or action. There is no hobby on earth good enough
to be ridden all the time. Something new, some
thing bright and striking, must be presented if
interest is to be aroused and preserved. As all

02 The Drillmaster of Methodism
roads lead to Rome, so some men, no matter in
what direction they start, come around to their pet
'ology, and one can tell as well before the meeting
opens as at its close the substance of what will be
said. Nothing is more diversified than the Chris
tian life. All experience and all literature are
open. History and biography hold the noblest in
spirations and the most terrible warnings. The
activities of the soul- are so manifold that the only
excuse for a dull meeting is the absence of honest
purpose in preparation and prayer. I say prayer,
because "more things are wrought by prayer than
this world dreams of." Many a time have I seen
a narrow intellect expand marvelously under its
power. And why should it not be so? The man
who talks with God will surely hear something
that is worth while. God's thoughts are as multi
tudinous as the stars and as varied as the beauties
of land and sea. Let the old artist's advice to his
pupil ring in our ears — "Amplius !" — Wider ! It
is not a narrow theme that you take to the class
room. If you would speak of nature, it will lead
you to Him who made flowers and worlds. If you
speak of moral law, Christ gave it and came to
magnify it. If virtue delight you, he was the
brightest example of it. If you talk of worldly
pleasures, he has shown what are wise. If you
long for heavenly delights, he only can show you
the way hither. If ethical motives attract you, he

Tact and Versatility 63
embodied them. If human history beckon you,
it is only the story of God working among men.
All things combine to give force to the leader's
words if only he himself have eyes to see and ears
to hear. Pray and study. With the tender touch
of a loving heart win men. With the thrilling
interest of a mind broad and eager stir the heart
of the sluggard and uplift the indifferent.

64 The Drillmaster of Methodism

IX
Methods in Class Leading
"The plague that besets the class meeting is not
hypocrisy but dullness." Anything, if not irrev
erent, is better than stagnation. "He died of too
much self-control" will be the verdict of the angels'
autopsy over many a fair professor. There is a
decorum which is fitting and of great spiritual
help, but the value of a leader's talk in class is not
determined by its soporific effect. Bishop Taylor in
one of his early books, The Model Preacher, has a
chapter on "Surprises," in which he maintains that
"There is an essential law of humanity implanted
within by Him who made us, which imperiously
demands variety, with all the sudden transitions
and contrasts which characterize the kingdoms of
nature, providence, and grace." Not much good
can be done unless the attention can be held. This
the uncommon and unusual is quite sure to do.
We are not to gather from this that the class leader
should be on the constant strain for something
outre and sensational, but we long ago made up our
mind that we could better stand some extrava
gances, if they came from a good and honest heart,
than to put up constantly with decorous, dead

Methods in Class Leading 65
monotony. Methodism cannot now be accused of
want of decorum, for we are as proper and almost
as dull as the other Churches.
Now the leader should seek to make his class a
place of intellectual and spiritual alertness. It is
he who must adopt methods to needs and intro
duce such variety, not to say surprises, as will
quicken the interest and challenge the attention of
every member.
Mark Guy Pearse makes Daniel Quorm say : "A
leader ought to be a kind o' doctor that can give to
each one the prescription he needs ; that can deal
out his Lord's medicine and make up a strengthen
ing plaster for them as is weak in the back and
can't stand very well, and can clap on a stiff blister
to them as have caught the fever of worldliness,
and can make a pill for sluggish livers, which is the
commonest kind o' ailin'." Daniel's notion of a
class meeting is worth repeating : "Class meetings
be like awls and needles — they'll go as long as ever
you can keep 'em bright; but when they get dull
they'll rust and then it be hard work. We leaders
must keep the place bright and cheerful and at
tractive if we want to keep the members. Why I
should every bit as soon think o' goin' to class with
the wax and grease on my hands, as soon think o'
goin' with my apron on and in my shirt sleeves, as
think o' takin' all my cares and worries. I get
away first of all and lose all my own fears and

66 The Drillmaster of Methodism
troubles in the lovin' care of my heavenly Father.
I get my own heart put into tune and then the
rest'll take the right pitch from me. And then
with the fire burnin' I get away to meetin'."
Certain principles should be borne in mind : The
meeting should begin on time. Put the meeting at
such an hour as best suits the class, and then begin
on the stroke of the clock. Carelessness in this
matter is the beginning of failure. No matter how
few are present, let it be known throughout the
class that there will be no delay on account of tardy
members. Have the room bright and cheery — a
map here, a picture by some of the old masters
there, a portrait of Wesley, Asbury, or some pastor
or other local worker, plenty of light and ventila
tion. The devil is fond of darkness and foul air.
Many a class leader with his class packed into a
narrow, ill-ventilated room has chastised them for
their dullness or felt that he was himself under the
power of evil from which he could not rise and has
gone out depressed and sad, when a few cubic feet
of fresh air would have been like the breath of
heaven to quicken and invigorate leader and mem
bers. Preach and practice the gospel of fresh air.
Next to this is the gospel of cheerfulness. Open
the meeting with a joyous, hopeful hymn. Start
the service in the right direction. A funereal
hymn, a faithless prayer, a lugubrious testimony,
are a trinity of darkness from which it is difficult

Methods in Class Leading 67
to rescue a meeting. Have the songs sung in time.
Do not allow them to drag. Mr. Wesley loved
"swift singing," and every leader should see that
appropriate songs are sung in a proper, helpful
manner. Encourage naturalness by precept and example.
Be free in the expression of feeling. A laugh may
be quite as religious as a groan. Discourage that
solemn, whining tone which so many good people
affect in the class room. Ask them a question in
the midst of their testimony, and thus assist to
break up the monotony of their tone and thought.
An English preacher, Dr. S. Johnson, well says:
"An exaggerated and unnatural solemnity often
prevails. Thoughtfulness and reverence we must
have, but these have no necessary association with
whining tones, a sad expression, and humdrum ex
change of cant phrases. We have seen a group of
members conversing most brightly on the way to
the meeting, but when they have crossed the threslr-
old and taken their seats, they assume an aspect of
grim seriousness as if they were about to undergo
vivisection. Then the voice is pitched in an un
natural and melancholy key, they talk in tones of
dejection and seem more like people at a funeral
than at a marriage feast. And when the benediction
is pronounced they swing back to heartiness, home
liness, and vivacity." Encourage every member to
be himself and no other ; to use his own language ;

68 The Drillmaster of Methodism
to let out the sparkle, as well as the solemnity, that
is in him. Honesty of behavior will tend to hon
esty of testimony and an immense gain to the prac
tical usefulness of the meeting will result.
Observe the commandment, "Thou shalt not
steal." For a leader to take thirty minutes for
himself when there are many who wish to speak is
to be guilty of theft. Neither has any member a
right to deliver a homily that consumes the time
belonging to others. If the leader sets a good ex
ample, he is in condition to admonish any member
without offense.
An English author suggests that the leader occa
sionally call upon some member of the class to give
his testimony by way of suggestion and help to
some one who has spoken of experiences through
which the other has passed. He says : "The difficul
ties and oppositions to the religious life of a work-
ingman could often be best met and solved by a
brother workingman ; the cares and heart-breakings
of some good woman could often be completely re
lieved by a sister in the class who had just passed
through the crucible; the tendency to worldliness
or to skepticism felt by some one in the meeting
could be effectually curbed and counteracted by
some brother who has just triumphed in similar
circumstances. And if the leader, instead of feel
ing himself bound to speak to every member, would
occasionally ask Mr. A. to reply to Mr. B., and

Methods in Class Leading 69
Mrs. C to give counsel and sympathy to Mrs. D.,
what a freshness it would create, and how it would
stimulate the members to thought, prayer, and per
sonal sympathy for each other ! Absent members ,'
might also be placed under the care of their fellow-
members, and a report brought to class as to the'
cause of their absence, etc. Of course this method
would have to be wisely controlled and guarded.
But our leaders are men of common sense, they
know each of their members, and can be trusted
to steer the meeting clear of rocks and whirlpools.
The dangers are less than would be supposed, for
when godly people are met for religious converse
they are met under the inspection of Heaven, and
the most unlikely are often led to the utterance of
the grandest things of God."
No matter what the provocation may be, keep
sweet. A leader who has once lost his temper be
fore his class is at a discount. His influence is
seriously crippled, and only humble confession and
months or years of self-control can restore him to
full favor and influence. Many things which are
not pleasant to bear will be experienced. His
ability, experience, and motives may be questioned
by those who are not worthy to loosen the latchet
of his shoes. All this and more must be met in
the spirit of the Master, who, when he was reviled,
reviled not again.
It is a mistake for the leader to suppose that he

70 The Drillmaster of Methodism
is to do all the work and give all the instruction.
Each member should be drawn out to make his con
tribution to the general profit. Here is a great
field for the leader. Dean Stanley, in his life of
Thomas Arnold, says that the whole method of this
great teacher was founded on the principle of
awakening the intellect of every individual boy.
Hence it was his practice to teach by questioning.
He gave subjects which obliged them to read and
think for themselves. "I call that the best theme,"
he said, "which shows that the boy has read and
thought for himself ; that the next best which shows
that he has read several books and digested what
he has read, and that the worst which shows that he
has followed but one book and followed that with
out reflection." His questions were of a kind to
call the attention of the boys to the real point of
every subject and to disclose to them the exact
boundaries of what they knew or did not know. It
is true that the leader is not a schoolmaster, but he
is in the highest sense, and in the noblest of all
studies, an educator. The development of spiritual
knowledge will greatly depend upon his wisdom.
No archangel in heaven has a higher calling.
As the leader is prompt to begin on time let him
be as prompt to close on time. Many a good meet
ing has been spoiled by being continued fifteen
minutes too long. If the members know when the
class will be over, they are far more likely to be

Methods in Class Leading 71
present. Enough will be said and done in an hour
to afford subject for meditation through the week.
It is better to close sooner than the class expected
than to have them taking out their watches and
longing for the end. Close with the meeting at
full tide and allow no anticlimax at the last to
dissipate the good impressions.

72 The Drillmaster of Methodism

X
Plans and Topics
The method quite generally followed in the
earlier days of the class was to call upon each mem
ber in turn, and for the leader to make a personal
response which was an answer to the testimony
given, emphasizing, explaining, or differing from
it. While this has passed into disuse in many
classes, there is no denying that in the hands of a
pious, sensible, and intelligent leader such a class
was a glorious drill-ground for Christian experi
ence. We shall never forget the instruction and
exhortation which we received under such circum
stances from a leader who walked and talked with
God, and whose words were such as might befit a
prophet. Given a soul aspiring after all the full
ness of God and a leader quickened of the Holy
Ghost, such a method of leading a class will be
blessed of God now as of old.
Many prefer the method of making the speaking
optional. With some it is optional only in name.
Every person present feels the pressure to speak,
and if they do not do so expect that they may be so
singled out as to make a testimony almost impera
tive. In such an order the only thing optional is

Plans and Topics 73
the time of speaking ; that they will speak at some
time is expected. Others bring to bear no pressure
whatever. The meeting is opened with song and
prayer, the leader reads from the Word and makes
his comments; then testimonies are in order and
the meeting is closed when it is evident there are
no more who wish to speak. Some members enjoy
this kind of class and are regularly present, but
would not go if they were expected to speak every
night. Some leaders have adopted with great success
the conversational method. The leader gives an
exposition of Scripture, or presents a theme or
topic in a brief address, and the meeting thereafter
is entirely informal. Questions are asked of the
leader and by him. He seeks to draw out the timid,
encourage the faint, and stir up the indifferent.
We know of classes so conducted which are crowd
ed and the members look forward with delight to
the class night.
Bible classes of the experimental type are help
ful, where the great characters of the Bible are
studied in the light of to-day, and lessons brought
out by the comparison of opinion and experience.
The words of Jesus and the searching exhortations
of the epistles are taken up one after another, and
presented with their historical setting, all with the
purpose of finding out to what extent and how they
should affect the everyday life of the Christian.

74 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Such classes are especially enjoyed by Bible
students. Lecture classes and Bible reading. We have
seen such classes largely attended by ladies, when
held in the afternoon by the pastor or some com
petent lay member. Many who feel that they can
not publicly testify, and therefore will not attend
a class where testimony is expected, find great de
light in such a class, where the matters of daily
Christian experience are presented in the light of
God's word by some deeply spiritual person.
The young people are often drawn out by the
securing of several among them to present a brief
paper on some topic that especially touches the life
of the young in school, or home, or business. Then
let the leader make such comments as will serve to
bring out that which is most important, and answer
such questions as serve to throw additional light
upon the subject.
Among the occasional variations of the regular
method, the following have been found helpful :
A roll call of the entire membership where all
have been notified and those who cannot be present
are expected to send their testimony by some friend
or through the mail.
An occasional social service with refreshments at
some private house. The social side is not enough
emphasized in many classes.
A question box. Questions to be presented on

Plans and Topics 75
slips of paper without signature, and answered by
the leader at the next meeting.
A missionary night, when reports shall be given
by appointed persons of the work of the last six
months in the foreign field. Get the facts from the
missionary secretaries. Get facts that really
amount to something and are not glittering gen
eralities. A temperance night, when reports shall be pre
sented of the number of saloons licensed in the
town or ward, and actual facts of their iniquity
presented. Good citizen's night, when local political re
forms can be presented and plans laid to keep
wicked men out of office.
City evangelization, when the question shall
be considered, What can our church do to carry
the Gospel to the unchurched ? In the country the
question will be, What can we do to reach the
farmers and laborers who never go to church ?
Charities and hospitals. What are we doing for
the poor about us? What organized charities do
we support ? Have we done anything for the sick
in the hospitals this year? Are the poor in our
own church well cared for?
Schools and colleges. How many of our young
people are in college and seminary? Have any
revivals occurred? What is Methodism doing in
the higher education ?

76 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Benevolences. Just what do our great benevo
lences undertake ? How much money do they ex
pend ? What have they to show for it ?
A night with the great hymns. Sing them and
give the histories of the men who wrote them. The
facts are easily obtainable.
A night with the founders of Methodism in Eng
land. Another with the founders of Methodism in
New York, in Baltimore, in New England. Learn
something about the heroes of Methodism and you
will love her more.
To these might be added an occasional meeting
especially for mothers, students, business men,
etc. ; a promise meeting ; a want meeting ; a pente-
costal meeting, when the class will pray for the
enduement of power for service, that through them
the altars of the church may be crowded with
earnest seekers after salvation.
Many of these topics are exceedingly practical
and will serve to stir the class profoundly. The
church should be interested in everything that
makes for righteousness in the community. In the
class these matters can be talked over as nowhere
else. Facts and not theories should be presented,
and the question often asked, What would our
Master do under such conditions ? Such facts will
serve to draw and interest the young people, to get
the old people out of the ruts, and stimulate' the
leader. The thoughtful as well as the pious will

Plans and Topics 77
find food in such a class and the entire church will
be quickened by it. Other topics quite as good as
those suggested will occur to every leader and thus
all needed variety will be secured.
It should be remembered, however, that these
suggestions are only made by way of variety, and
are not recommended to follow each other unceas
ingly. The personal matters of Christian experi
ence must ever constitute the substance of the class
leader's concern. It is his to care for his flock, to
lead them into the green pastures and beside the
still waters, and he will have the supreme proof of
his ministry and the abundant recompense of his
toil in seeing them grow in grace and in the knowl
edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

78 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XI
How to Fill the Class
It is true that there ought to be such a desire
to attend the class that no methods would be neces
sary to attract the membership; but taking people
as they are, we find that the leader needs to be alert
to encourage those who are losing their love for
spiritual things and to quicken the love of those
who are losing interest in the sober joys of the
Christian life. He is the shepherd in charge of
this part of the flock, and he is expected to see that
the wayward are restrained and to induce the
lambs by every proper means to keep within the
fold. That does not mean that the class room is
to be a hall of amusement, but it does mean
that the leader by personal conversation, house-to-
hous'e visitation, judicious letter-writing, and prop
er social adjuncts will see to it that the individual
members are assured of his personal interest in
them and his desire to see them advance in all
things which are pure and lovely and of good
report. "I have noticed that the firms which show the
best goods have the best trade," said an observing
visitor in our city. This remark will apply to class

How to Fill the Class 79
leaders as well as merchants. The leader who
brings forth from his treasures things new and old
with thought and tact, who in the feeding of his
flock brings juicy and nutritious food and is care
ful to put it low enough so that the lambs can get
at it, will not be likely to be seriously troubled on
account of their absence ; but occasionally unusual
methods may be adopted with excellent results.
We know of one class leader who sends out quar
terly a card like the following :

Dear Classmate :

Next Friday night our theme will be '

How John

Wesley Found the Light."

Please come with us and
compare his
experience
with your own.
Sincerely your
Classmate,

A pastor whom we know well confers with the
several leaders of his church and has each leader in
turn send out a postal card with the following re
quest signed by the pastor :
My Dear Friend:
It is my purpose to visit Class No. — , of which you are a mem
ber, next Tuesday evening. It will give me great pleasure to see
every member of the class present. Unless detained by an abso
lutely unavoidable engagement I am sure you will gratify me person
ally by your presence. Sincerely your Pastor,
80 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Arouse interest in each member to increase the
class attendance, and marvels can be wrought. Talk
over individual cases. Lay siege to them. Let
holy importunity wait upon a loving heart, and
resistance is well-nigh impossible.
Another leader has connected with his class a
band of young men who distribute a beautifully
printed card with the following invitation :

Mr.  will be glad to see you at his class meet
ing on Wednesday night at eight, in vestry No. I.
The meeting consists of Christian conversation,
Bible study, prayer, and song, and is conducted for
one hour.

These are distributed among strangers and new
members of the church.
It is highly important that the members should
come to know each other socially, and many leaders
have found it of great service in the maintenance
of their class to have an occasional social at the
house of the leader or some member of the class,
where light refreshments are served, the grand old
hymns sung, and short fraternal addresses given.
After all, there is nothing that proves to be quite
as effective in building up and holding the attend
ance of the class as the personal and house-to-house
visitation of the leader, to which we call attention
on another page. Where this is possible all other

How to Fill the Class 81
special methods may be dispensed with; where it
is not possible some of the methods we have men
tioned and others of similar character will be
found helpful. Try one kind and then another.
Use sanctified common sense. Pray mightily and
work hard, that you may be able to say at the last
to Him who gave you your high commission,
"Here am I, and those thou hast given me."

82 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XII
Absent Members
While we do all in our power to bring to the
class the members who ought to come, let it never
be forgotten that there is always a large number in
every class who cannot come and who ought not to
be expected to come. When we in our hearts ac
cuse every absent member of religious coldness,
and ourselves of neglect and failure because of
their absence, we are guilty of great folly. In
every class of a hundred members it is probably
safe to say that duty keeps at least half the mem
bers at home on any given night. They are parents
who must care for children, or men whose business
has made it impossible for them to be present.
They are students and must attend to their studies,
or there is sickness in the home. Some are aged
and infirm. Others are called out of town, or some
special emergency arises. It is fair to suppose that
some good reason detains every member not pres
ent, and we should entertain that feeling until
forced by certain knowledge of the facts to a differ
ent conclusion.
Whatever the reason of their absence, it is the
duty and should be the happy privilege of the

Absent Members 83
leader to keep in touch with them. Some report of
the last meeting should be sent to the absentees.
A little sketch of the personnel of the meeting, any
incident of special interest, the general outline of
the leader's talk, or some impressive fact or experi
ence — a few lines covering some of these items
would be found very interesting to those who are
habitually obliged to be absent. Even in cases of
actual indifference on the part of the member such
interest on the leader's part is almost certain to
awaken interest in response.
In some classes it is understood that each mem
ber who cannot be present is to send a postal card
or brief letter expressing his interest in the class
and giving some helpful word of experience or some
passage out of God's word. It can be readily seen
how much such testimonies add to the profit of the
meeting. It keeps the members in touch with each
other even in their absence. It increases their mu
tual regard and their knowledge of each other's
intellectual and spiritual life. It forms a bond of
sympathy and love not easily broken.
A commercial traveler in one of our classes is
accustomed to send to his leader early in the week
a letter telling what he would like to say if he were
present. Just before the class meets the leader
frequently receives a telegram from him contain
ing a greeting to his class and a reference to some
passage of Scripture. After meeting the leader sita

84 The Drillmaster of Methodism
down at his typewriter and in ten minutes has an
interesting sketch manifolded which will gladden
a dozen hearts when they find it in their morning
mail. Such a plan as this has transformed ab
sentees into regular attendants. It has brought a
breath of heaven into many a sick room. It has
sent a cheery note of faith to a discouraged mother
and a worn-out housekeeper. It has made a man
of business stop for a moment amid his cares and
pray to God that he may be oftener reminded to
seek first the things which are eternal, and women
at their washtubs have been comforted to think
that the leader had sent them the same kindly word
which went to the millionaire. It is not easy to
measure the good results which have come from
this simple and kindly practice.
The leaders of some of our larger classes have
divided them into tens, and members have agreed
to be responsible to the leader for the whereabouts
of their little company and in cases of sickness or
calamity to notify him at once. In that way the
addresses of all members are known, and in the
city, where removals are frequent and distances
great, it is in the highest degree important that the
leader and pastor should be informed at once of
any changes.
When it is remembered that more than one half
the membership of the class is not regularly present
the importance of some plan for reaching that large

Absent Members 85
number is apparent. No leader can perform his
functions who does not as systematically care for
the absentees as for those who are present. Their
spiritual well-being is quite as important as that
of the members he meets every week. Their needs
are probably greater and their temptations more
insistent and strenuous. If you value your Lord's
approval, leader, look after the absentees. If the
Master came to seek and to save that which was
being lost you cannot do better than to follow in the
footsteps of the Good Shepherd. Your first duty
is to the one who needs you most, and if you know,
as you are bound to, the burdens which the ab
sentees have to bear and which make them absen
tees, if you know the temptations which come to
those who are getting farther away from the holy
things for which the class stands, you will not rest
until you have done your best to help and to save
them. Methods are of small value as against a loving,
tender heart. A good method prosecuted with in
difference will be barren; a poor method or no
method at all will accomplish something if only
love gets a chance to show itself; but intelligent
methods of arousing interest backed by prayer and
loving attentions will stimulate the indifferent ab
sentee and bring rich harvests of joy to the faithful
leader's heart.

86 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XIII
Testimony versus Rhetoric
Many people object to taking part in class meet
ing through misapprehension of what that service
really means. The essential qualification for testi
mony is experience. The clothing of the witness,
the place of his birth, his intellectual attainments,
his property qualifications, are never weighed in
pure matters of fact. Ofttimes one hears of a
beautiful testimony when the adjective refers not
to the experience related, but to the manner of re
lating it, and an ordinary experience beautifully
related seems to some far more desirable than a
deep and holy experience related with faltering
tongue. But the thoughtful will not long hesitate
in their choice. Let every member of the class un
derstand that sincerity — downright truthfulness —
is the first qualification in any class meeting utter
ance. The cry is not, "Draw near and hear how
beautifully I can speak, with what force of argu
ment and eloquence of illustration," but rather,
"Draw near and hear what the Lord hath done for
my soul."
Dr. Buckley has said concerning the class
leader : "It is not required that he shall be a master

Testimony versus Rhetoric 87
of English. The most cultivated professor of Eng
lish literature has either a weak head or a cold
heart who would not be willing to sit at the feet
of a man whom he thought more spiritual than
himself." In like manner the most gifted man
will readily be silent himself to listen to the testi
mony of one who has been face to face with God.
It has been well said by Dr. Buckley: "Our re
ligion is too outward : there must be a perfect bal
ance between the inward state and the acts. It is
well for us to examine our own soul's life. In the
old days every fourth sermon was on self-examina
tion." He who honestly examines his own motives
finds the strength and weakness of his life and is in
condition to bring valuable testimony for the warn
ing or encouragement of others.
But let it not be understood that he who has no
record of spiritual victory or defeat to relate is
therefore excluded from a testimony meeting ; and
above all things let it not be understood that one is
to parade before others, as in a confessional, cer
tain experiences of the soul which will not ade
quately lend themselves to words and are of such
a nature as to be held forever sacred with one's
soul and God. There is also for every quick and
earnest soul the testimony of aspiration, an honest
purpose within, to express which will stimulate his
own endeavor and that of each member of the class.
The world is to be won for God not on the field of

88 The Drillmaster of Methodism
rhetoric or argument, but on the field of Christian
testimony. In a certain church in our communion was a
learned judge who was not a professing Christian.
The pastor, supposing that there must be some in
tellectual difficulty which prevented the judge from
accepting the great truths of Christianity, preached
a series of sermons covering those essentials, as he
persuaded himself, and proving them in a manner
unanswerable. To his unspeakable delight a few
months afterward the judge made public profession
of his faith in God and his desire to be received into
Christian fellowship. With joyful heart the pas
tor hastened to his house and asked if the judge
would be kind enough to tell him which one of his
sermons it was which God had blessed to his con
version. The judge answered : "Your sermons were
well thought out and fairly presented the argument
for Christianity with which I was already ac
quainted. I felt, however, that I could answer you
in a manner satisfactory at least to myself, and I
am not aware that the sermons had the slightest
effect in producing within me a desire to lead a
different life; but one evening, passing another
church in a storm, I stepped into a class meeting.
I was not recognized by the leader, and I listened
undisturbed to the testimonies. A gardener em
ployed by one of my neighbors arose to speak. I
knew that the manner of his life had been very

Testimony versus Rhetoric 89
wicked, but my neighbor had commented on the
wonderful change that had taken place in him of
late, and now I heard him give in detail his experi
ence. It was so marvelous, and withal so naturally
and honestly told, that I felt as a judge that I
heard a witness whose testimony I could not im
peach. In some strange way that testimony laid
hold upon my soul and I believe I am a changed
man to-day, not because of the statement of theo
ries, but from the force of a fact."
Do not fail to encourage the humblest soul who
knows anything of God. Let him tell his experi
ence as forcibly as he may, but let it always be un
derstood that the experience is the first and only
necessary thing ; have that by all means, for experi
ence, and not rhetoric, is to win the world to God.

90 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XIV
How to Get a Christian Experience
One reason why many do not enjoy an experi
ence meeting is because it makes their own poverty
painfully evident both to themselves and to their
brothers. The first duty of the leader is to put
every member of his class in the way to get an
honest and vivid experience. Honesty is the first
law of testimony. The leader must urge the prime
importance of sincerity. Insincerity is a worm
that will soon destroy the fairest Christian life.
Do not try to make experience too rapidly. Life
holds some things a long time in solution. Do not
hurry the process. Some day some soul-convulsion,
some test of life's acids, will precipitate an experi
ence which will be tangible and solid, never to be
dissolved. You cannot work up a genuine experience. You
must work it out. If there is growth do not shake
the tree too violently. The fruit will drop when it
is ripe. Do not countenance, much less encourage,
exaggeration. The man who gives a hundred per
cent testimony on a ten per cent life is doing a
business too large for his capital. He will fail
soon, and every member of his class will suffer.

How to Get a Christian Experience 91
Let it be ever remembered that the great crises in
religious life can be counted upon the fingers of
one's hands by almost any Christian. Encourage
the idea of steady growth. Remember the fact
which nature teaches in the orderly growth of blade
and stalk and ear, but do not fail to insist that life
always means experience. Physical life is a con
stant readjustment to our environment, and spirit
ual life is not otherwise. If a class member says,
"I am conscious of no experience," he must not be
told that he is spiritually dead, but he should be
encouraged to see that there is an experience for
him. He may begin on that experience at once.
No man can long do business with God without
being conscious of the moving of a power within
him other than himself and making for righteous
ness. We would point out to every honest soul four
steps to be taken :
First, go to Jesus. There can be no peace in the
soul until it has been consciously pardoned,
and there is pardon only through the merit and
atonement of Christ. The scientist is certain that
life comes not by fortuitous concourse of atoms or
spark from impinging worlds. It comes from life
and only from life. Ye must be born again!
There can be no growth until there is life. Ah,
class leader, art thou a master in Israel and know
est not this thing ? Your member may have been

92 The Drillmaster of Methodism
in ten classes for ten years, but if he has not been
born again the best you can do is to put comely
decorations upon a corpse or set rich food before a
marble statue. You prescribe like a physician
when the gates of life swing open. Do thorough
work. The difference between a robust, noble
Christian life and no life at all may depend upon
your actions. Now see to it that there is life. The
sweetest cry a mother hears is the first faint moan
of a new life that she has given to the world. Be
not satisfied until you are certain that the Holy
Spirit has done its work in leading the soul out of
death unto life in Christ and another immortal is
able to sing in the newness of life :
"My God is reconciled;
His pardoning voice I hear."
By pardon we do not mean simply the forgive
ness of sin, but rather all that follows a genuine
conversion — justification, adoption, and all the de
lights of spiritual freedom.
Second, go to the Word. The best advice which
men can give us comes only from men as frail and
erring as ourselves. The teaching of men is of no
value save as it illustrates and enforces the truths
of the Book. Go, then, to the fountain head. Take
the word of God. Now your friend will be in con
dition to love that to which he was indifferent be
fore. When Southey had written his Life of Wes-

How to Get a Christian Experience 93
ley, and had shown his failure to appreciate the
work of Wesley on its spiritual side, because of his
own spiritual lack, a humble Wesleyan revealed his
difficulty in a single sentence : " 'Sir, thou hast
nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.' "
The Spirit will take of the things of God and
make them luminous and blessed. In the words of
Bengel, "Apply thyself wholly to the Scriptures,
and apply the Scriptures wholly to thyself." Seek
it not as a critic, but if you will criticise remember
"it is an anvil that hath worn out many a ham
mer." Come rather that you may be nourished by
it. And as you open its pages breathe this prayer :
"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous
things out of thy law." So coming, you will be
glad to say with Beecher: "It is a living book
shooting out rays of light and heat into all the
world. He who only knows the print and type of
the book, knows only a painted sun." No other
book has the power to change human motive, to
inspire a desire to be free from sin and develop
righteousness. Third, go to your closet. "Prayer is the Chris
tian's vital breath." Because there is so little
prayer there is little growth. "For this cause many
are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."
Does prayer avail? Who can answer that ques
tion? Certainly not the man who seldom prays.
The man who talks most with God must know best.

94 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Nothing makes experience as fast as prayer. God
whispers his secrets to those who talk most con
fidentially with him. If it be true that "one could
not stand under a porch in a rainstorm for five
minutes with Edmund Burke without feeling that
he was in the presence of the greatest man in
Europe," what will be the feeling of the man who
consorts with the mighty God ? True prayer is
not always importunity, it is communion. It is
not telling God what we want so much as it is find
ing out what is his will concerning us. It is
changing eyes with him that we may see things as
he sees them. The thing to which Jesus resorted,
both as the habit of his life and his especial solace
in hours of crisis ; the thing which took the sting
out of the flame and snatched victory from the bony
hand of death; the thing which has quelled the
fever of life in all ages, is the thing that we need
to enrich our experience and preserve our souls
alive. Lastly, go to the church. The church is not a
place where those who think they are better than
other people get together to congratulate them
selves. It is a place where those who desire to do
well get together to help one another in their holy
purpose. Christianity is social. We multiply our
experience by sharing it with others, and are our
selves strengthened by hearing from our brethren
how God has blessed and delivered them. "For

How to Get a Christian Experience 95
none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to
himself." Experience grows luxuriantly in the
class room. The warm fellowship of Christian
hearts is a delightful atmosphere, and we are fain
to sing: "And if our fellowship below
In Jesus be so sweet,
What heights of rapture shall we know
When round his throne we meet!"
If these four steps which we have briefly out
lined be taken by any honest heart, there will no
longer be a dearth of Christian experience. They
will long for a chance to tell what blessed things
are revealed to them and what great things are be
ing wrought in them. May God hasten the time
when every one of the millions of Methodists shall
eagerly say to the world, "Draw near and hear
what the Lord Jesus has done for my soul."

96 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XV
The Communion of Saints
A girl, being catechised by a clergyman on the
creed, was asked, "What is the communion of
saints ?" She replied immediately, "A Methodist
class meeting, sir." And in that she was right.
In our feverish life meditation seems almost a lost
art. Can there be anything more helpful to the
soul than an occasional quiet hour where kindred
hearts commune with each other and with God?
The London Methodist Times in a recent issue had
a discriminating editorial on the value of the class
meeting as a place for spiritual communion, from
which we quote a few sentences :
"The class meeting is peculiarly appropriate to
these times. We strongly contend that there never
was a period when it was more needed in the re
ligion of Methodist life. How difficult it is to
secure a quiet resting place ! We are living in such
a whirl that reflection is hard to exercise. We need
a voice bidding us stand still a while. Such a voice
is that of the class meeting. It affords an hour of
meditation and prayer. Some of us think that if
no word was spoken in the class meeting it would
still be a precious means of grace. For this noisy

The Communion of Saints 97
fevered age reflective means of grace are all too
rare in the churches. If for no other reason the
class meeting is a necessity; for many cannot se
cure the necessary rest in their own homes. How
good it is to get an hour in a chamber of the temple,
and there, with like-minded friends, ponder and
converse and pray. We urge this aspect of the
class meeting. It is a sanctuary of quiet ; it is asso
ciation of soul; it is a 'selah' in the loud, rapid
psalm of life."
Meditation and communion are the only things
which open some of the richest of God's mines.
Some have never known the power of it, and for
this cause are weak and sickly among us. The
careless often wonder how some sympathetic soul
brings rare gems to delight the spiritually minded.
"Whence hath this man this wisdom?" The an
swer is to be found where unhindered minds com
mune with God:
" 'Mid scenes of confusion and creature complaints,
How sweet to the soul is communion with saints!
To find at the banquet of mercy there's room,
And feel in the presence of Jesus at home."
In such communion as this the fictitious distinc
tions of rank and wealth disappear. Nothing will
serve to remind us of our common brotherhood like
the blessed evidences which we see in these times
of communion that the rich and poor alike are
sharers of the same Father's benediction. There is
S.

98 The Drillmaster of Methodism
a fraternity here which we do not find in public
worship, nor even in the larger gathering of the
prayer meeting. It is a beautiful sight to see, as
we often do in our class meetings, the millionaire
and the laborer seated side by side, and, when the
meeting is over, turn to greet each other with the
warm light of brotherhood in their eyes.
"The great Duke of Wellington, when at the
zenith of his popularity, was once partaking of
sacrament in a village church. A rustic was ob
served to be kneeling by the duke's side, when an
officious warden asked him to stand aside and wait.
'No,' said the duke, gently drawing the man to his
side at the Lord's table, 'we are all equal here.' "
This is the same sentiment which the class meeting
fosters, making it yet more tender and personal.
One of the things which go to our hearts with com
fort in these hours of communion is the conviction
that we are not taken with any temptation not com
mon to other men. We are walking in the same
path which they tread. -We find that our rich
neighbors have also their burdens to bear, and we
behold that it is the common lot for men to wear
sackcloth, alike under homespun and broadcloth.
"Mr. Fearing, Mr. Despondency, and Miss
Much-afraid are encouraged and strengthened,
and Mr. Talkative and Mr. By-ends of fair speech
are exposed and rebuked, while as Christiana
listens to one of Great Heart's outpourings she

The Communion of Saints 99
exclaims, 'This is blessed; though my heart was
lightsome and joyful before, it is ten times more
lightsome and joyous now.' "
Rev. Simpson Johnson says: "The early Chris
tians greeted one another with a holy kiss; that
was the common practice. The men kissed the men
and the women kissed the women, and the affection
developed and cherished in the class meeting has
made Methodists greet each other with hearty,
sympathetic handshaking. It has created a brother
ly masonry, and made Methodists one all the world
over. We cannot afford to allow this brotherliness
to decline or die."
The results which Mr. Wesley notes are also to
be found in our time : "Many now happily experi
enced that Christian fellowship of which they had
not so much as an idea before. They began to 'bear
one another's burdens' and naturally to care for
each other. As they had daily a more intimate
acquaintance with, so they had a more endeared
affection for, each other. And, 'speaking the truth
in love,' they 'grew up unto him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ.' "

100 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XVI
The Class Leader's Meeting
In every church where there are four or more
leaders, there should be held quarterly, or oftener,
a meeting for leaders led by the pastor. Among the
duties of the pastor prescribed by the Discipline
and too often neglected is the following: "To ap
point all the leaders; to change them when he
deems it necessary; and to examine each of them
with all possible exactness at least once a quarter,
concerning his method of leading a class." It is
also urged (page 55) : "Let the leaders be directed
to such a course of reading and study as shall best
qualify them for their work; especially let such
books be recommended as will tend to increase their
knowledge of the Scriptures, and make them fa
miliar with those passages best adapted to Chris
tian edification. When practicable, let the pastors
examine the leaders in the studies recommended."
It is difficult to see how these provisions can be
carried out except by a stated period of conference.
Every business needs investigation and report.
Such a period to the pastor are the Quarterly and
Annual Conferences. The leader needs such a
time. The report from leaders called for by the

The Class Leader's Meeting 101
Discipline is seldom made in full and even in that
no questions are asked concerning methods adopted
or results obtained. If our pastors would have a
quarterly meeting of conference with their leaders
it would put new life into the classes. Topics
might be carefully discussed; methods compared;
difficulties stated and removed; special exigencies
met. No Sunday school is complete without a
teachers' meeting, where officers and teachers con
sider the special needs of the school and discuss
methods and plans. Lessons are studied. New
methods of teaching are suggested. In many places
the teachers' meeting has been the resurrection of
the Sunday school. Is not the work of the church
class as important as the Sunday school class ?
Then shall we not use as much time and wisdom
to make it succeed ?
Since many of our churches have but one or two
class leaders, besides the pastor, we suggest that
neighboring towns or churches unite in a district
leaders' meeting where a dozen or more leaders
may come together and be mutually profited in the
direction we have outlined. This is already being
done in Philadelphia, in New York, and elsewhere.
The results have fully justified the wisdom of the
plan. Such a course would fairly revolutionize
many of our country classes and, inspiring the
class, would inspire the church.

102 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XVII
Some Mistakes of Class Leaders
There can be no greater mistake than for a
class leader to give the fag end of his time and
strength and thought to the class. The work of a
class leader is as distinct a calling as any other in
the Church of God. He must be able to say con
cerning that work, "This one thing I do," before he
will be able to accomplish any great or fitting good.
He must look at everything from the standpoint of
the class leader, so will he find grist for his mill.
Reading and observation will fill his mind.
It is a serious mistake for the class leader to
crack his whip and ply the lash. He is a leader
and not a driver. "The shepherd goeth before his
sheep and calleth them by name and leadeth them
out." Kindness and not severity must rule in
thought and life. If severity ever has place it
should be like the cut of the surgeon, which is to
save life, and should be done with the loving ten
derness of a mother.
If it is a mistake for the member to harp upon
old experiences, it is also a mistake for the leader
to employ cast iron methods and stereotyped ex
pressions. Get a new vocabulary. Dress up the

Some Mistakes of Class Leaders 103
truth in new garments. Throw away the thread
bare platitudes which were outworn a century ago.
"Experience," says Dr. Gregory, "is the life blood
of the church, and its unchecked circulation is
essential to vigor and effectiveness." Let the class
never lose its distinctive character as a meeting for
testimony and experience, but do not think that
these are the only things to be conserved.
Experience becomes of value as it is examined
and classified by a trained and thoughtful mind.
"Too much is made of doubts and fears as though
these were a part of the Christian's legitimate
stock in trade, instead of being really contraband
goods to be seized and destroyed in the King's
name." Do not mistake a sigh for religious piety or a
smile for an agent of the enemy. Even a good
laugh may clear the atmosphere of some second
hand solemnity as unhealthful as last Sunday's
atmosphere left in the church by a careless sexton
to ruin a preacher's health and sermon. "Be not
deceived, God is not mocked," and people are not
blind. The leader cannot consort through the day
with the world, the flesh, and the devil and come
to his class at night in a fervor of holy zeal. He
bears an unmistakable atmosphere. No warm dec
lamation or pious platitude will supply his lack or
move his people.
It is a mistake not to go from the closet to the

104 The Drillmaster of Methodism
class. If it is a mistake not to begin on time, it is
also a mistake not to close on time.
While we would not limit the manifestation of
the Spirit in class in expressing the high com
mission from God, the leader ought to be as much
in touch with God's Spirit as any member of his
class and be able to discern whether the lengthy
testimony is of God or from pride or self.
Said a class leader of sense to a member who
was giving a long and profitless testimony with the
declaration that God had commanded it: "You
are quite mistaken, my brother; the Spirit has
just told me it is time for you to stop." If such
an answer shocks us, it is no more shocking than
such a claim.
It is a great mistake for the class leader to rail
at the church or to find fault with the ministry,
either his own pastor or the ministry at large.
He cannot afford to be absent from the weekly
prayer meeting nor to be silent when in attendance.
Unless the service is crowded and he must deny
himself for the sake of others, let him speak at the
first opportunity and be a model in point and
brevity. It is a mistake for the leader to do all the work
himself. No meeting can long survive with full
ranks and interest where the leader takes three
quarters of the time, and then says to the members,
"Let us be very brief to-night." Do not make the

Some Mistakes of Class Leaders 105
mistake of replying to each testimony or speech.
Some of them are complete in themselves, and need
nothing but your amen ; others are of such a char
acter that the less said the better. It is an unpar
donable blunder to match a long and purposeless
testimony with a longer homily.
Do not scold the members who are not there and
accuse every one of spiritual apostasy who does not
answer to his name each week. Do not in the
prayer meeting inveigh against all other means of
grace as compared with the class meeting, and do
not hold up the attendants at the class meeting as
the only religious people in the church. Do not
think that the only place for prayer is at the be
ginning or close of the meeting. The best answer
to many a testimony is an earnest prayer. The
best person to offer it may be not the leader, but
some one who himself is walking a lonely way, a
Via Dolorosa such as his Master knew.
Permit these warning words, and may grace and
wisdom keep you from all the mistakes which
might otherwise mar your noble, faithful ministry.

106 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XVIII
Children's Training Classes
De. Edward Judson has well said, "The key to
the hard problem of evangelization lies in the puny
hand of the little child." Do what you must with
the old man, his days are nearly over, but in the
case of the little child, you have the incentive not
only to save a soul but also to win the service of a
life. The Church of Rome has set us an example
which we ought to folloAV. Its children, as a rule,
are far better instructed with regard to the doc
trines of the Church than are ours. They know
what they believe and why they believe it, and they
can give a reason for the faith that is in them.
Our Church, theoretically, has a splendid plan
for the training of children; it only needs that the
plan should be worked. So important did the
fathers of the Church consider this branch of
church work that among the questions which the
presiding elder is obliged to ask each quarter is
this : "Have the rules respecting the instruction of
children been observed?" Those rules are as
follows :
"The pastor shall organize the baptized children
of the church, when they shall have reached the age

Children's Training Class 107
of ten years, or at an earlier age, when it is deemed
advisable, into classes, and appoint suitable leaders
(male or female), whose duty it shall be to meet
them in class once a week, and instruct them in the
nature, design, and obligations of baptism, and in
the truths of religion necessary to make them 'wise
unto salvation;' to urge them to give regular at
tendance upon the means of grace; to advise, ex
hort, and encourage them to an immediate conse
cration of their hearts and lives to God, and to
inquire into the state of their religious experience ;
provided, that unbaptized children shall not be
excluded from these classes.
"Whenever baptized children shall understand
the obligations of religion, and shall give evidence
of piety, they may be admitted into full member
ship in the church, on the recommendation of a
leader with whom they have met at least six months
in class, upon publicly assenting before the church
to the baptismal covenant, and also to the usual
questions on Doctrines and Discipline."
It will be seen that accurate and spiritual train
ing is here planned for. Many pastors have what
is called "the children's hour." In this exercise the
pastor meets the children on Friday afternoon and
has general interesting exercises with some inci
dental instruction ; but the plan has been rather to
entertain the children by song and story than to
instruct them. "Such a meeting," says Dr. Glad-

108 The Drillmaster of Methodism
den, "which keeps the pastor in touch with the chil
dren, may be very useful, but it does not quite
answer the demand that the pastor shall be, in a
spiritual sense, the teacher of the children com
mitted to his care. The great Teacher, in his last
commission to the chief of the apostles, laid upon
him as a test of his affection and loyalty that he
should feed the lambs of the flock. The lambs were
mentioned before the sheep. The true shepherd's
care must be first for the lambs. You must not
only help to fold, you must feed them."
The success which follows work among the chil
dren is far greater than that which is experienced
in any other field. So far from being temporary
and fleeting, it is the most permanent in its results
of any work which the pastor can do. So thought
Mr. Spurgeon, and every pastor who has had ex
perience in this work will agree with him.
One has only to inquire of the leading Christian
workers of to-day as to the period of their conver
sion to be made aware of the fact that the majority
of them were converted in their early youth. "Out
of the seventy-one corporate members of the
American Board of Missions nineteen were con
verted at so early an age that they were unable to
remember it, while thirty-four were led to Jesus
before fourteen years of age."
Chaplain McCabe was converted at the age of
eight, and the present writer was received into the

Children's Training Class 109
church at the same age. Jonathan Edwards tells
of Phoebe Barlett, whom he considered a suitable
candidate for church membership at the age of
four years, and his judgment was afterward con
firmed by her consistent Christian life.
E.P.Hammond quotes, "Dr. Hart, of Connecti
cut, astonished us by saying that he was truly con
verted at two and a half years of age." Out of
ten hundred and fifty persons converted in Cali
fornia the record shows less than one hundred and
fifty converted after they were twenty years of age.
It has been the writer's custom in every church
to form classes for the careful religious training
of the. children, and no part of his work has been
more blessed of God. We have had in Hanson
Place Church for the last five years from four to
six of these children's classes in active operation.
The pastor has kept in touch with them by frequent
visits and has often consulted with the leaders con
cerning their management. Hanson Place has
abundant causes to be grateful to God for the re
sults which have come from her children's classes.
Forty years ago Dr. A. S. Hunt, afterward
secretary of the American Bible Society for many
years, appointed Sarah B. Bates leader of a chil
dren's class. The Church has reason to thank God
for that appointment, and- there are scores of men
and women all over this land, eminent for ability
and spiritual power, who became rooted and

110 The Drillmaster of Methodism
grounded in the Christian life by the faithful
labors of this elect lady. Those whom she trained
are now training others, and they regard her with
a tender devotion that is touching to see.
Later she became the wife of Mr. J. Davenport,
one of the noblest Christian laymen in Brooklyn.
Their home is a veritable Bethel.
She is still able to come to the pastor's class on
Tuesday afternoon, and he gladly gives her a place
in a trinity of noble women the other members of
which were Susanna Wesley and Salina, Countess
of Huntington.
When Mrs. Davenport, a year or two since, felt
herself unable longer to conduct her class, it was
passed into the hands of Mrs. Reynolds, an elect
lady of kindred life and ability.
Anyone who desires to see a model class for the
training of the young Christian may find such an
one on Friday night, at Hanson Place, led by Mrs.
George Smith.
The practice of observing Decision Day in our
Sunday school, when a large number of children
make expression of their desire to lead a Christian
life, renders imperative the gathering of these chil
dren into classes for careful religious training. It
is only thus that they will nourish their soul life
and worthily develop it. While the class should be
enlivened with joyous singing and happy incident,
it will only accomplish its purpose when the leader

Children's Training Class 111
feels the importance of downright earnest work as
between a soul and its God.
Very few among us have had a wider experience
than Rev. Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, D.D., for many
years at the head of the Sunday school work of our
Church. Learning of the large number that gave
themselves to Christ on Decision Day in the church
of which he is now pastor, and learning that he had
met them weekly for training, and had just received
nearly the entire number into full membership in
the church, we have asked him to give the results
of his experience. Whatever difference of opinion
there may be with regard to revival work, pure and
simple, and its present place in the church, there
can be no difference of opinion as to the impor
tance of "The Pastor's Training Class for Young
Christians" which he here describes.
"1. In the past, the principal means of growth
to the churches was through the revival; when
masses of people, generally outside of the church,
attended special services; were wrought upon
through earnest preaching and personal appeal;
were converted, receiving a new spiritual life ; and
were brought into the church. But now it seems
that the revival method is no longer successful in
reaching the outlying, irreligious masses. The
lines are drawn; between the church-going and
nonchurch-going classes there is a great gulf fixed ;
and the people who need the revival will not attend

112 The Drillmaster of Methodism
it. In the older sections of our country the revival
may be set down as a failure.
"2. Yet to-day the church reaches more families
and more people than ever before through the Sun
day school, which forms the connecting link be
tween the family and the church. One sixth of
the American people are enrolled upon the register
of Sunday school membership.
"3. Therefore, the great work of the church to
day is to win to Christ and to membership in the
church those already under its influence in Chris
tian families and in the Sunday school. It should
be the diligent purpose of every parent, every
teacher, every superintendent, and especially every
pastor to see that as far as possible the young
people of the church and the Sunday school are
brought into the membership as professed and
genuine Christians before they are sixteen years
Old. "4. Those who come to Christ from Christian
homes and Sunday school classes will not show pre
cisely the same type of Christian experience as
those who in other times came to Christ from the
world and from sin. They will show less emotion,
less excitement, less marked transformation of con
duct ; but under careful training will show a more
symmetrical development of Christian character,
and a larger percentage will remain faithful to
their vows.

Children's Training Class 113
"5. For this training there should be in every
church classes for children and young people. If
possible the 'young people' and 'the children' should
be kept apart. A good plan is to hold a class for
the religious training of children in the afternoon
of a week day and one for young people in the
evening. The aim of both classes should be the
preparation for full membership in the church by
an early decision, by training in the Bible, in
Christian experience, and in the system of the
church. "6. It is my conviction that the one person in
the whole church to conduct both these classes is
the pastor. He can give them dignity and impor
tance ; he can invite and urge the young people and
children ; he can instruct with a weight of knowl
edge and authority possessed by no other person.
And it is more important for him to do this work
than to do any other, for through it souls are won
to Christ and his Church. Moreover, it is for his
own interest as pastor to do it, for there is nothing
that will give him greater influence in his field
than to be the leader and the teacher of those who
shall form the church of the future."

114 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XIX
The Probationers' Class
Pastors and leaders are by no means agreed as
to the best class arrangement for probationers. If
only two or three are received the matter settles
itself, but when from twenty to one hundred or
more are received a serious problem is presented.
To send them to the several classes where their
particular church associates are or where they will
meet a leader especially adapted to their needs has
its advantages. There, too, they will hear the testi
monies of others of long and varied experience and
learn much from that. But after long study of the
matter from its practical side, and many trials of
each method, we do not hesitate to say that the best
results have come where the pastor himself has
held, for six months at least, the probationers'
class. If the pastor does this it will give him the
opportunity he ought to have to know the religious
life of each one received into the church. It will
also give the probationers such instruction in doc
trine and Discipline as they need to have, and for
which the pastor is usually better qualified than
any of his leaders. He will know how much time
should be given to instruction and how much to

The Probationers' Class 115
experience. He will be able to give them such
instruction as will make them intelligent Metho
dists, with a clear reason for the faith that is in
them. It is preeminently the time for training,
and the future life of the member in the church
will depend in large measure upon the direction
which he now receives.
Some regular course should be given to quicken
the conscience in the matter of Bible study, family
and private devotions, the sanctity of the Sabbath,
the force of example in all matters of temperance,
amusement, and general associations Avith people
in social life. Where can the General Rules be so
carefully explained or the obligations of the great
benevolences of the Church so impressively en
forced ?
After six months of instruction and spiritual
counsel, which will not be limited by the simple
hour of class meeting, the probationers should be
ready for reception into full connection. Many a
probationer has been lost to the church because a
busy class leader has been unable to see him. The
leader has made the too frequent mistake of pre
suming that the initiative was with the convert in
stead of the leader. It is the shepherd who is to
seek the lamb. It will not do for him to say, "I
have cared for those who come regularly to class."
It is his business to seek the straying, to encourage
the diffident, to watch over the restive and dissatis-

116 The Drillmaster of Methodism
fied ; nay, to seek the one who is lost. He has not
done his duty until he knows the exact religious
condition of each new member and the cause of
his absence, if absent he is; until he has done at
least as much to hold his probationer as a faithful
Sunday school teacher would do, by visit and other
wise, to hold a member of his class.
After the probationers are received the opportu
nity will present itself for the pastor to assign them
to some of the existing classes of the church or to
give the class a new leader, and be ready himself
to take another class of probationers, which it is
to be hoped will not be wanting each year in the
experience of every faithful minister of Jesus
Christ. We recommend the course here described to
every pastor, and urge its trial. If it is objected
that the pastor is already overburdened, the answer
is not far to seek. Anything that will put him in
vital connection with the young Christian life of
the church in its most formative period must be
improved at any hazard. Some hewing of wood
and drawing of water can be left to others and
some social functions and outside matters passed
by entirely for the sake of spiritual influence that
will reach beyond the grave and outshine in perma
nence and glory the shining of the stars.
We are pleased to add to our own testimony the
experience of some of the most successful winners

The Probationers' Class 117
of souls and trainers of young people in our
Church. In a personal letter to the author, the
Rev. Louis Albert Banks, D.D., pastor of Grace
Methodist Episcopal Church, New York, writes :
"In an evangelistic pastorate there is nothing
more important than the probationers' class. The
vast discrepancy between the number of probation
ers received in Methodism and the number of per
sons received into full membership, mounting up
into the tens of thousands, comes about through the
failure of multitudes of pastors to carry on proba
tioners' classes with persistent fidelity.
"The probationers' class ought to be conducted
by the pastor himself, and never be given to any
body else when it is possible for him to hold it.
This is important for several reasons. First, if
he won the probationers to Christ himself he has
more influence over them than anyone else. Sec
ond, if he is fit to be a pastor he is better equipped
to give them the instruction which they need dur
ing the first six months of their Christian experi
ence than anyone else in the church. And finally,
it gives the pastor an opportunity to become thor
oughly acquainted with these new members com
ing into the church."
Dr. W. P. Odell, pastor of Calvary Methodist
Episcopal Church, New York, gives us his experi
ence as follows :
"It has been my practice for many years to con-

118 The Drillmaster of Methodism
duct a weekly probationers' class for the instruc
tion of the converts gathered during the annual
revival season. The results have abundantly justi
fied the wisdom of the plan and have more than
repaid me for the required personal expenditure
of time and energy. I have through this agency
been enabled to become intimately acquainted with
each individual and to give helpful counsel accord
ing to special needs. Both old and young have
grown in knowledge and grace as together they
have studied our denominational polity and doc
trine. These meetings have been to me the most
enjoyable of the week and have been attended by
the probationers with a regularity which has
proved their appreciation of the interest I have
taken in their welfare and their own increasing
delight in the things of the Church and the king
dom. I am persuaded that some of my best work
for Christ has been done in the class room with
the new recruits for the army. I can most heartily
commend the custom as good alike for preacher
and probationer."
Dr. John H. Willey, pastor of Nostrand Avenue
Church, Brooklyn, is a firm believer in the proba
tioners' class. He writes as follows:
"The probationers' class is an obvious corollary
of this age of specialization ; and the pastor is the
presumptive leader. The Sunday school no more
certainly needs a cradle roll, or a reserve corps,

The Probationers' Class 119
than does the church need a class for beginners.
The young Christians must have special instruc
tion, and there must be a place where it can be
given. New duties are to be learned, new experi
ences examined, false impressions challenged, and
questionable habits discouraged. Those who come
to us are to be made intelligent Methodists, as well
as practical Christians. They must learn to give
a reason for the denominational faith that is in
them. "Moreover, there are certain dangers in the con
ventional class meeting that may well be avoided.
Our fathers were famous phrase-makers ; the chil
dren have inherited the phrases, but much of the
original inspiration has gone out of them. The
'language of Canaan' has thus degenerated in
many instances to that which is little better than
the language of cant. The children especially
should be carefully directed while learning sxich
speech ; should be shielded as far as possible against
the danger of lampooning it. Let us have some
new phrases to describe this 'new and living way,'
for many of the old ones have served their time
and deserve an honorable discharge.
"It is also true that the mental attitude toward
Christianity and the Bible has greatly changed.
The Bible has been put on its own merits, and
stands now without the bolstering of Church or
tradition. It is a greater book than ever, but it is

120 The Drillmaster of Methodism
not the same book. We do not any longer prove
essential doctrines by isolated texts, nor decide
important questions of practical life by a haphaz
ard opening of its pages. There are problems that
should be settled on the threshold of the Christian
life. The young people who are coming to us now
are intelligent and wide-awake. There must be a
place to meet these new conditions and the pastor
is the man to meet them. He has come to his king
dom for just such a time as this. The plea that he
is too busy is invalid. Feeding the lambs is as
surely a part of the divine commission as shep
herding the sheep. The probationers' class is to
morrow. What Methodism will be is decided here.
The minds that are shaped and tutored now are to
be the master minds of the next generation. We
must keep the arm of the Church about the young
people for they will be the Church when the new
age comes."

Epworth League and the Class 121

XX
The Epworth League and the Class
Some recent editorials in our Church papers
have held the Epworth League in large part respon
sible for the decadence of the class meeting. We
hasten to affirm our belief that this is not the case.
The class did not show a special decrease of attend
ance with the advent of the League, nor are the
churches where the League is strongest least de
voted to the class.
Others have said that the Epworth League fur
nishes the training once provided for by the class
and hence makes the class no longer a necessity.
In a personal letter to the author Dr. W. A. Quayle

"The fact of a Christian experience is the sweet
truth of God. We are born from above. That
truth must always have resonant proclamation.
The class does this and therefore does good. The
Leagues do this. They are a modern edition of the
class and, therefore, to be rejoiced in. The meet
ing together of lovers of God to talk sanely but
exultingly over their inheritance can never become
an afterthought in the Methodist Episcopal
Church."

122 The Drillmaster of Methodism
As a place for the expression of Christian ex
perience the League certainly does great good, but
we are sure neither Dr. Quayle nor any other
student of Methodism will for a moment maintain
that the League meets the piirpose of training for
which the class stands. Surely neither the presi
dent of the League nor any vice president assumes
the duties which devolve upon the class leader.
There is neither training nor subpastoral oversight.
The League at best represents but a limited portion
of the membership of any church and has even here
but a limited sphere of usefulness.
We have been pleased to note that the present
secretary of the League and editor of its official
organ, the Epworth Herald, Dr. J. F. Berry, is
the pronounced friend and advocate of the class
meeting. His ringing editorials have greatly en
couraged many class leaders in their efforts among
the young people.
If there is any way that the League can better
perform the work of religious development so ad
mirably done by the class for more than a century,
let it by all means take up the work even at the
cost of the annihilation of the entire system of the
class ; but until it can do that which it was not
organized to do and which was never contemplated
either by its founders or chief supporters to this
present time, let no friend of the League become
its enemy by making for it a false claim.

Epworth League and the Class 123
We are glad to bear testimony that the best Ep
worth Leaguers we have ever known were constant
attendants upon the class meeting. The real Ep
worth Leaguer, the one who desires a league offen
sive and defensive with every lover of the Lord
Jesus Christ, loves his class meeting, for he finds
there as nowhere else the fellowship which his soul
loves. He makes a good Epworthian because of
the training of the class.
We therefore make our plea to the Epworth
League, Stand by the class meeting ! Do you wish
a spiritual man or woman to head your spiritual
department ? who so well fitted as he or she who
has been trained under a man like those whose
brief biography this book contains. Do you seek
one to lead you in practical matters of mercy and
help? take him from the number who have had
months or years of practical training under a
leader who has fired their hearts by his own noble
example ? Who will be as likely to make the liter
ary department an adjunct of the spiritual life as
one who has had the watchful care recommended
in the chapter on "Young Men and the Class" ?
You are to set the pace for the coming age. If
the class is better loved a generation hence it will
be because you love it and rally to it. Encourage
the leaders of Methodism. You are loyal to your
pastor and the church officials, be also loyal to that
noble company who are trying to make the church

124 The Drillmaster of Methodism
a holy and a conquering army. They Avill help you
in the noble endeavor to keep your possession even-
paced with your profession, and you will find in
their company an inspiring fellowship. After the
tragic death of Maltbie D. Babcock this entry was
found on the flyleaf of his pocket Bible: "River-
dale, N. Y., Nov. 7, 1899. Committed myself
again with Christian brothers to unreserved do
cility and devotion before my Master." Go to the
class, find brothers like minded, and with them
make such another consecration of yourself.

Young Men and the Class 125

XXI
Young Men and the Class
It is difficult for the Church to exaggerate the
importance of laying hold of the young manhood of
the age. It will never do this by restrictions and
threats. It must intelligently examine the intui
tive choices and longings of a man's life and offer
something that will invite the choice and satisfy
the longing. The robust, thoughtful, daring man
hood that challenges every comer and tries the tem
per of every blade is not to be satisfied by what
some one has called the "eternally feminine," which
appears in so much of the preaching of some pul
pits as well as dominates the pews of the church.
There is a religion for the sorrowing and the sin
ning, and men and women at some period in their
lives will need it alike, but there are phases of
Christian thought and experience which are pecul
iar to the sexes, and every class leader, like a wise
physician, should be able to make a true diagnosis
of each individual case. There are, however, cer
tain general principles to which the leader's atten
tion should be drawn. There will be exceptions to
this rule, to be sure, but they will be comparatively
few. Emerson could write of himself, "I do not

126 The Drillmaster of Methodism
know what arguments are in reference to any ex
pression of a thought. I delight in telling what I
think, but if you ask me hoAV I dare say so, or why
I think so, I am the most helpless of mortal men."
But the spirit of the average young man is quite
otherwise. He longs to investigate. He will argue
and prove.
After reading the generalizations of Starbuck
and Coe and comparing them with our OAvn experi
ences Ave find all quite agreed in this, that young
men are subject more than young Avomen to definite
periods of awakening and need expressly to be
helped and guided in times of crisis. It is their
nature to question traditions, and customs, and be
liefs. The class leader who would be successful
must understand and meet their need. Dr. Buck
ley says that the tact of a class leader in a period
of religious crisis saved him to the Church and the
Christian life. That class leader was Thomas
Langdon, aa^Iio has made young men his life study
and is now at the head of the BordentoAvn Military
Academy. Young men must be treated individually rather
than collectively. Women go more easily en masse
and with the tide, but young men must be labored
with patiently, intelligently, persistently. Dr. Coe
well says: "Women respond to religion more feel
ingly and, in some respects, more continuously,
but men more energetically and with a higher

Young Men and the Class 127
potential of self-conscious reflection and choice.
With women religion is more like the intuitive tact
that helps them so much in all the relations of life ;
with men it requires the clumsier instruments of
deliberation." When a young man has come out into the light
of conscious acceptance with God — and the ma
jority of young men come to that crisis at home
and alone — something must be given him to do.
He must have not only a chance to work for better
conditions in social life and to win his fellows to a
better life, but there must also be set before him
some definite plans for the development of his own
life. Youth is the time of high ideals. The chap
ter which youth has written in the history of the
world is the most stirring chapter in the book. To
help form these ideals, to guide the young man's
thought and life into the noblest channels — this is
the splendid opportunity within the reach of the
leader who has himself high ideals, who under
stands the character with Avhich he is to deal and
whose whole soul is challenged by his opportunity.
Nowhere does the personality of the leader count
for so much as in dealing with young men. In
answering the questions, "How are young men to
be led to the Church ?" and "How to reach the
children ?" Dr. A. J. Lyman, in his Preaching in
the New Age, says : "These questions cannot be an
swered by mechanism, by devices, by patent pre-

128 The Drillmaster of Methodism
scriptions. The preacher who would attain these
ends by mere rules will fail. He is to attain them
by bringing his manhood and his preaching into a
certain tone of vivid sympathy Avith Christ on the
one hand and the social life of the time on the
other. At whatever cost to himself let him come
down from his antiquated or factitious profes
sional pedestals and stand with Christ and child
hood on the bright floor of the new age !" To the
question, What will rally to the Church a larger
percentage of men ? he answers, "A finer manhood
in the pulpit."
Why do so few young men come to the class
meeting? Because so few class leaders take their
stand with young men, look through their eyes, feel
as they feel, think as they think, listen to the same
voices which thrill their ears. Only real interest
in these problems of young life can give power to
help in those problems. The chief interest which
many pastors and leaders have shown in young
men and women expresses itself in the indolent
and unreasoning "Don't." That word may be the
proper word to be used in any given case, but it
must lie at the end of a reasonable process and not
be spoken ex cathedra. The exhortation and advice
of many a pulpit and class room is epitomized in
that one word, and such a pulpit and class need not
wonder when it is deserted by our youth. An
eternal negative is not enough. Stand out of the

Young Men and the Class 129
young man's path unless you can light him on his
way. He will scale the dead wall you have built
across his way unless you show him a better path
leading into fairer vistas.
Why does he not come to class ? Why should
he ? Have you put as much time into preparation
for his instruction as the cOmic singer or reciter
has for his amusement? Are you as much inter
ested and as interesting in your work as is the actor
in his ? The young man will not long be deceived
by an interest that is simulated, and only real in
terest will beget interest.
Concerning the best method for the training of
young men in spiritual things, Camden M. Cobern,
D.D., pastor of St. James Methodist Episcopal
Church, Chicago, writes to the author out of his
own experience, and we give his testimony entire.
While many will prefer "class" to "club" as the
less likely to lead to an independent meeting, which
Dr. Cobern deprecates, all will agree that the form
and method are best which produce the best results.
Dr. Cobern says :
"With young men I find that a 'class' does not
work as well as a 'club.' The average class
will not draw the average young man, and,
since the modern methods of conducting prayer
meeting and Epworth League are taking the place
of the old-time class meeting for young people, a
new motive must be introduced. Of course the
9

130 The Drillmaster of Methodism
best method is the method that works. In some
communities a bright business man might conduct
a 'class' in an up-to-date way and hold it. Suffi
cient tact, patience, energy, and talent would, no
doubt, do this. Taking things as they are, how
ever, I count it better to have young men form
themselves into a club for religious conversation or
Bible study, or for discussing the best methods of
Christian work, or for personal or social improve
ment. At such clubs they would discuss the need
in business life of honesty and truthfulness, or
some other topic that should touch business habits
or the life of men, such as 'Christian Methods of
Advertising,' 'Can a Business Man Read the Sun
day Paper ?' etc. In such conversations, freedom
of thought and utterance must be encouraged, and,
if encouraged, a man will not be slow in giving his
'experience.' "The living question of the day in regard to the
Bible and its personal influence on man and the
reasons for any decline of interest in it will be
eagerly discussed.
"Very much depends upon the leader. It takes a
man to reach men. If he has been very successful
in business or in athletic contests it adds fifty per
cent to his influence as a leader. The men must be
put to work in preparing papers and discussions
and in reaching other men and bringing them into
this 'Searchlight Club' or into the prayer meeting

Young Men and the Class 131
and church services. No meeting should be run
as an independent thing ; they should all have close
connection with the regular services of the church."
It is a mistake to suppose that young men are
not ready for serious and thoughtful work. While
they are attracted by life and movement there must
be something worth while at the end. The shalloAV
and thoughtless, like the poor, are always with us,
but the young manhood which is found in our
schools and churches is a noble manhood and Avill
respond to noble treatment.
Statisticians give us the percentages of attend
ance and membership of young men in the church,
and the figures are not cheerful reading.
Something must be done to win them and to
hold them to the Church. If our pastors and class
leaders will address themselves intelligently to
this they will be surprised to find how readily the
young men will respond to kindly and thoughtful
attentions. Form classes for young men. Give
them what young men crave and need. Study each
individual case. Let them see that you are putting
time and thought into the work. They will be your
friends. You will be their model and teacher.
They will approach as rapidly as yourself the
model of perfect manhood, Jesus the Christ.

132 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XXII
How One Class was Formed
Some years ago Bishop Simpson Avas introduced
to a lady who informed him that she had been
thinking very seriously of uniting with the Metho
dist Church. "I am in hearty sympathy," she said,
"with its doctrines and with most of its usages,
but I am sure I could never enjoy the class meet
ing. To talk about the deep things of my spiritual
life with others would be very repugnant to me,
and then if I kneAV I was expected to rise and speak
I think I should die *)f fright." Without taking
issue with the lady the good bishop explained a
little the principle on Avhich the class meeting
stands ; and little by little he drew her on by ques
tion and ansAver to matters of experimental re
ligious life. He questioned her as to the time and
manner of her comrersion, as to the circumstances
which had been most helpful to her in the develop
ment of Christian character, and at last said, with
a kindly smile, "Madam, you and I have had a
class meeting together." "O sir !" she said, "we
have had a most precious season, and if the class
meeting is like this, my prejudices are gone for-

How One Class was Formed 133
The class to which we wish to refer Avas formed
something after this manner. There was but one
class in the church and that Avas led by a good old
man who had long since fallen into ruts too deep
for even the pastor to lift him out. There Avas
little in that particular class to interest the young
or the spiritual and thoughtful. One could tell
before the meeting opened about what the leader
would say. There was always the same old round
of well meaning platitudes, but there was nothing
fresh or interesting.
A young lady had attended the State normal
school, and while there Avas soundly converted. On
her return she took up work as teacher in the
village. After a few weeks she called one night
at the parsonage and said to the pastor, "I am only
a beginner in spiritual things. I feel so much the
need of careful training. In order to teach others
I have been studying hoAV to teach. I have now
begun a Christian life; I Avish also to benefit and
instruct others, but I am absolutely ignorant of the
great things which the Christian should know. I
am like a child in the kindergarten. Would it be
asking too much of you to give me one hour in the
week when you would take up systematically the
doctrines of the Church, and what is of even greater
importance to me, explain in some practical way,
so that I can understand it, the development- of
the Christian life in the soul; faith as applied to

134 The Drillmaster of Methodism
life and prayer, and let me talk Avith you concern
ing the difficulties Avhich meet me in my daily life,
and ask you such questions as I am not able myself
to ansAver ?" The pastor's heart Avas in his work,
and he said, "Nothing Avould please me more."
The next morning she stopped on her Avay to school
to say that she had seen her brother, Avho had
joined the church a year before, and a cousin who
was not yet a member of the church, and they had
asked the privilege of going with her to the parson
age. The pastor said, Avith a great flutter of his
heart, he should count it a great pleasure to have
them come. On the night appointed these three
appeared, and a little later in the evening the
father and the mother of the young lady also
dropped in. The father had seldom been present
at the prayer meeting and almost never at the class
meeting, but he said his daughter had told him
what was to be the purpose of their meeting, and he
confessed to a strong desire in his own heart to look
into these great matters.
It is too long a story to take up the several
themes as they were presented by the pastor and
to produce again the lively fusillade of question
and answer. But it is a matter of history that
before a month had passed the young lady had in
duced one of her fellow teachers to join the little
company, and her brother had induced two clerks,
whom he knew intimately, to drop in a little after

How One Class was Formed 135
eight o'clock, when the stores were closed. One
night the pastor Avas unable to meet the little com
pany, and asked the lawyer in the village Avho had
come to them from a sister denomination not repre
sented in town, to talk that evening on the eviden
tial value of Christian experience. He became so
much interested in the little gathering that ever
after he was a regular attendant. At the end of six
months the pastor said one night, "My friends,
without any purpose at the beginning to do so, I
think you will all see that Ave have in our weekly
meeting nothing more nor less than a Methodist
class meeting, performing the full Avork for Avhich
the class was designed. I have consulted Avith our
good brother," naming the lawyer, "and he has al
lowed me to appoint him as the leader of this class.
You will meet here in the parsonage as before,
and I shall be present whenever it is possible.
Together we Avill go forward in the study of God's
word and in the development of Christian life."
We recommend this bit of actual history to every
pastor, and we say to him, Find some godly young
man or young woman, give him or her an empty
class book, with instructions to find others — young
or old — and invite them to the gathering until the
blessed feast is furnished with guests.

136 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XXIII
The Leader who Didn't Know
He lived in a New England city and was as
kindly a man as ever smiled a welcome to a late
comer or shook hands at the class door after the
meeting was over and said, "I am so glad you came.
God bless you ! Good-bye." Everybody loved him,
and his pastor felt safe when he assigned a new
member to his class. He knew that person would
feel at home and would be profited by the meeting.
He knew he would have a favorable idea of the
hospitality of the church and be glad he had at last
found a church that was warm in faith and cordial
in manner.
Some things our leader knew right well. He
knew that he had passed from death unto life.
That is a good foundation for a class leader. He
was doing business with the Master daily, and
nothing develops faith in him like that. He knew
the needs of men, for he was a man of wide experi
ence and deep thought. He knew his Bible, and
"his hand clave unto the sword !" He was no
dilettante swordsman or sprightly fencing master.
His excalibur was for carving the casques of great
sins, and for that "his strength was as the strength

The Leader who Didn't Know 137
of ten, because his heart Avas pure." No one ever
said a word against that man of God, but once he
"did not know," and this was how it happened.
It was the monthly meeting of the leaders and
stewards, and the roll of probation was called. The
names of a mother and two daughters, all members
of the class, were read, -and he was asked if he
recommended them for reception. He replied, "I
do not." The pastor knew the facts of the case and
was surprised at the answer. "Why," he asked,
"do you not recommend them?" "I cannot con
scientiously do so, as they have not been to class
since the second month of their probation." It was
remarked that simple absence from class was not
prima facie evidence that probationers were living
improper lives or were not suitable persons to be
received into the church. Attendance at class is
placed by the Discipline along with the prayer
meeting and family devotion as the duty of the
Methodist. "Have you seen this family to inquire whether
it was possible for them to come ? Have you
labored with them, or do you know the circum
stances that surround them ?"
Something had evidently been working upon the
mind of the leader, and he answered, "I am sorry
to say I do not know, but I will know about them
and will report of my own knowledge at the meet
ing next week,"

138 The Drillmaster of Methodism
At the appointed time and place the godly man
appeared, and when asked if he was ready to report
he replied : "I am humiliated beyond measure. I
found the Avoman at the washtub. Her husband
is a drinking man. He is frequently abusive and
always improvident. The daughters are obliged
to help the mother support the family. Nearly
every night they are compelled to spend in hard
work. There is a little boy who is an invalid and
every moment the mother can get she gives to him.
I found her, in spite of all this, as patient as a
saint. She has family devotions, led by herself,
and, at their work, she and her daughters are accus
tomed to talk of spiritual things. I feel that she
is my teacher in the things of God, and to think
that I had not found her out and would not recom
mend her ! It Avas only because I did not know."
The saintly man has gone to his reward, but
never after that experience did he fail to keep in
touch with every probationer assigned to him.
May every class leader who has failed to care for a
probationer because "he did not know," lay his
experience to heart.

An Old-time Class Meeting 139

XXIV
An Old-time Class Meeting
I am not one of those who believe that the for
mer times were better than the present in any gen
eral sense. Centuries ago the apostle made whole
sale charges against the church at Corinth that we
should hardly feel justified in repeating to the
deadest church among us as charges which we
could substantiate. Wesley and Asbury lamented,
with good cause, a lapse of faith in their day quite
as appalling as any which saddens us. They de
sired, as our fathers did, and as we also do, to stir
up the Church to its great opportunity and respon
sibility concerning the means of grace.
I distinctly remember that some leaders were
dull and profitless in their remarks; that some
members arose, turned their faces to the wall, and
repeated, in a dismal, sanctimonious tone — very
different from that used in town meeting or in
trading horses — a pious lot of platitudes which
meant nothing to them or to us. There was the
sister who was "but an unprofitable servant," "liv
ing at a poor, dying rate," and "meant, by the
grace of God, to continue;" the bluff, full-faced
farmer who talked like a consumptive about "the

140 The Drillmaster of Methodism
waste, howling wilderness of this unfriendly
world;" and Simon Go-Softly, Avho spoke of his
poverty as "the dispensation of the Lord to purify
him," and that he Avould patiently bear his Lord's
will — the lazy lout ! I remember these, and many
others like them, whose pet phrases I had heard
so often that I could give their testimony verbatim
before the meeting began.
But I shall never cease to thank God that I also
knew the class meeting in its power, and saw what
it could do when leader and members were true to
its principles and traditions. I was born in a class
leader's home. I knew the room where he went to
pray. I heard his low cry in the travail of his soul,
and Avhen he came from that trysting place I bear
him witness that the fashion of his countenance
was changed. I trudged Avith him through the
deep snows, his stout grip on my hand — a grip as
Avarm as his heart — and I had ample shelter in the
folds of his great broadcloth cloak.
The meeting to-night is at Uncle Henry's. What
a man he was! From sunrise to sunset he was
hard at work. His presiding elder said to him, "I
never saAV a man so fast for both Avorlds as you
are." But he put God's Avork first, and God hon
ored him. Two of his daughters married Metho
dist preachers, and a half dozen of his grand
children are filling the first pulpits in Methodism.
The old man sits by the fireplace as we open the

An Old-time Class Meeting 141
kitchen door. His place of secret prayer is in a
grove of birches near the barn. There is a beaten
path to it, and you may be sure he has been there
to-night. His pastor once remarked the broken
ground under a sapling, and asked if he had tied
cattle there. Two things impress you as you enter
— his homespun frock and his smile of welcome.
He rubs his hands with delight as the farmers clat
ter into the room, knocking the snow from their
cowhide boots. "Glory to God, see the troops
gather !" says the old saint. A few chestnut planks
are put in place to help out the wooden-bottomed
chairs, and we crowd the kitchen.
They sing "Come, Thou fount of every bless
ing !" and then prayer follows. And what prayers
they are ! There is no giving of the Lord general
information and advice. They are after something.
They believe it is to be had, for they have had it
before, and they will not quit asking now until they
get it. I do not deny that there was some noise.
They were so near heaven it was entirely unneces
sary, but it seemed as if they had read somewhere,
"The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and
the violent take it by force." I do not at all justify
the man who brought down his chair with such
violence that the legs spread and every rung
dropped out, but it was worth the price of all the
chairs in the kitchen to see what happened that
night.

142 The Drillmaster of Methodism
A late comer had brought with him a man who
lived ten miles away. This man had been under
conviction for his sins for three months, and could
get no light. He was a picture of despair. As a
last resort a friend brought him to Uncle Henry's,
for it was known in all the country round that the
members of this class Avere past masters in the art
of getting a soul to God. They crowded around
the man like doctors at a clinic. A question or
two, as clear-cut as Christ's Avords to Nicodemus,
and they had the diagnosis of that case. And then
the remedy — and the remedy did the rest! It
fared worse with the devil that night than with the
Spanish fleet at Santiago. Uncle Henry was so
utterly beside himself with joy at the result that
he shouted, "I feel as though I could leap over a
troop or run through a stone wall !"
Some critics of the class meeting have said that
it was a necessity then, as the people did not read.
Not read! Shades of the Book Concern! Then
why did the men and women of New England go
out of Calvinism and become social outcasts ? Who
made the thumb marks in Adam Clarke's Com
mentaries, Wesley's Sermons, Watson's Institutes,
Fletcher's Checks and Appeal, and the Lives of
Mrs. Fletcher, Hester Ann Rogers, and William
Carvosso ? The fact is, there never was a genera
tion of Methodists that read so much of Methodism
and the Bible as the generation that became Metho-

An Old-time Class Meeting 143
dists at the cost of friends and preferment, and
paid the price of social ostracism for acting up to
their convictions.
The members of that old-time class are gone.
The names of the most of them
"Have been carved for many a year
On the tomb!"
Some time ago I scraped the lichens and moss from
the headstone of the saint of that meeting, and
read: "He sleeps his last sleep; his conflicts are past,
He rests from his labors in glory at last.

WTiile the lingering notes of his triumph I hear,
Hallelujah! I'm going with Christ to appear!"
We cannot wonder that the members who still
live recall the days of their strength with holy joy,
and grow impatient to see the chairs set once more,
and to hear the old songs and see the old faces.
You cannot overthrow their confidence that such a
day is not far off. The old class meeting is gone,
like the men who made it. No eddy of the stream
of time will bring it back, but the power and the
development of it the Church needs to-day.

144 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XXV
Great Class Leaders of the Past
At the head of the list of the great class leaders
of the past stands the name of William Carvosso.
For sixty years his success as a class leader and
soul winner was marvelous. Thousands blessed
him in his life time, and for a hundred years his
simple memoirs have instructed and inspired the
Church. The secret of his success in the class
meeting was his love of it. It was a drill room to
him, but it was something more, it Avas a spiritual
battlefield in Avhich holy battles were to be fought
and victories won. Daniel Wise said of him : "Love
is life, and it made Carvosso a lively effective
leader. It led him into the class with an elastic
step, frank, open, moistened eyes, hearty but
tremulous voice, choice but fervent spirit, and in
tellect quickened by study of the word and by the
Holy Ghost." With such a leader no class could
be dull or profitless.
Whoever reads his diary will be conscious of
warmth in his heart and moisture in his eyes. At
Mylor Bridge he says : "I felt Christ Avas eminent
ly present and precious. O Lord, make me more
thankful for these brief manifestations of thy love

Great Class Leaders of the Past 145
to my soul." A few years later he writes, "I think
I never did feel my heart so much delighted in the
work of meeting classes as of late." When he was
seventy-five years old he wrote, "I never had
greater pleasure in meeting classes, in laboring to
prop the feeble knee, strengthening the hands that
hang down, and press on believing to all the depths
of human life."
His class meetings were places of conversion.
"In one instance," says his biographer, "he labored
for five successive hours with a person who had
long been suffering under the power of unbelief,
and at last his pious efforts were happily crowned
with wonderful success." With Carvosso, as with
every other faithful leader, the harvests reaped in
class were very largely the fruit of seed sown in
private. "Strike his personal efforts with indi
viduals out of his life, and it is impossible to be
lieve that he was the power he was in the class and
the prayer meeting."
Of his method in the class meeting not very
much is known. He was, however, a careful
student of the word of God, and it was a sharp
sword in his hand. He was a lover of good singing
and he knew the Wesleyan hymn book by heart.
He believed it alone contained a body of divinity
which could not fail to guide the heart into full
peace. Carvosso was a beautiful example of the class
10

146 The Drillmaster of Methodism
leader as subpastor. If his members were present
at the class, well ; if not, he saw them often enough
to know their spiritual condition and watch over
their soul's interest. He says in one of his letters
to a class leader in respect to visiting from house
to house: "When you were first fixed as a leader,
I know it was your meat and drink to do it, for the
salvation of their souls lay near your heart. If
they discover less diligence and love manifested
toward them in this respect, it is apt to discourage
them and lessen their esteem for their leader. I
wish you to look well to these precious souls put in
your care that at the great day you may be enabled
to say, 'Here, my Lord, are those committed to my
care, not one of them is wanting.' " He exempli
fied this in his own life. Visiting the scenes of his
first labors as a class leader, he says, "I rejoiced
to see my old friends and companions, but was
sorry to find that some in Avhose Avelf are I had felt
much interest had grown weary of well doing.
Constrained by love I went immediately in pursuit
of the wanderers."
He Avas sixty-five years old before he learned to
Avrite, but his son says : "He wrote hundreds of let
ters, and yet I believe not a page or a letter was
ever Avritten by him on any other topic than experi
mental and practical godliness. He put to paper
matter enough to fill many volumes, living to see
his epistles esteemed and desired alike by the hum-

Great Class Leaders of the Past 147
ble laborer and the learned counsel, the illiterate
servant girl and the accomplished lady. What was
far better than this, he had the great happiness of
knowing that his letters did good to souls redeemed
by the blood of Jesus."
Numbering his spiritual children by the thou
sands, surrounded by those whom his life had
blessed, he came in peace to the end of his journey.
Just as his breath was departing, some one re
marked that dying Christians signified their happi
ness, after losing the power of speech, by raising
their hand. Instantly the venerable patriarch lift
ed his left arm, and then let it fall back gently
upon the bed. When it ceased to move the soul of
Carvosso, most devoted class leader of his time,
was absent from the body and present with the
Lord. His eighty-five years of life on earth Avere
ended and his life in eternal glory begun.
Next to William Carvosso in the list of great
class leaders of the past stands the name of Wil
liam Reeves. He was born in the parish of Cud-
ham, in Kent, December 15, 1779. He was a
journeyman coachmaker. He was not converted
until he was twenty-nine years of age, but his con
secration was so deep and thorough as to make him
ever in spiritual things a marked man.
For twenty-seven years he was employed by one
family, and he records that daily during that long
period he sought one spot in the yard where, under

148 The Drillmaster of Methodism
shelter of some planks leaning against each other,
he poured out his soul in earnest prayer for him
self, his wife, his class, the sick, the church, and the
Avorld, never forgetting his master and his family.
Ten years after his conversion he was made a
class leader. As was the custom at that time, he
had more than one class. In order to do his work
successfully he felt called upon to make sacrifices.
He found that "working from six o'clock in the
morning to eight at night left his time to visit the
sick and the absent members too short. To secure
the necessary time he found he must give up six or
seven shillings each week, but by faith in God and
from love to souls he did it." His biographer well
says, "A poor mechanic sacrificing from six to
seven shillings per week that he might give the
time to the Lord, is an act of faith and devotion
rarely performed, and is Avorthy the consideration
of men of superior social position, who will will
ingly give a subscription to a benevolent object, in
order to do good by proxy, but Avho shun personal
service." Concerning the work of William Reeves as class
leader the words of Mary Howitt are singularly
appropriate :
" And first he taught them to respect themselves,
And then with goodness lured them on to virtue ;
He hated sin, but the poor outcast sinner
Was still his human brother. This was goodness,
And this was greatness, too."

Great Class Leaders of the Past 149
His classes grew so rapidly that it was necessary
to divide them. Though repeatedly divided, they
constantly grew. They were admirably trained,
. and in late years out of eighty members in one class
more than seventy have been found to present
themselves for their quarterly tickets.
The amount of good William Reeves did in the
training of those who Avere to train others can
neATer be estimated. Those who are familiar with
English Methodism will realize from the following
entry something of the value of that work :
"1824, June; Samuel D. Waddy, after meeting
with me sixteen months, left to become a traveling
preacher, November, 1825."
The following record will show his care for his
flock and the honor his Lord and Master put upon
him: "December, 1832. — The number of those who
have been convinced of sin, those who have been
converted, the backsliders restored, and the happy
deaths in my classes this last year :
Convinced of sin  60
Found peace  40
Backsliders restored  6
Happy deaths  2
And many now enjoy perfect love."
William Reeves used printer's ink like a success
ful man of to-day. He advertised his classes as

150 The Drillmaster of Methodism
other men advertise their trade. It was his busi
ness to lead men from sin to righteousness. One of
his announcements reads, "The time and place
where my classes meet: 1. Sunday afternoon at
half past tAvo o'clock. Free seats, Lambeth Chapel.
2. Sunday evening, after preaching, in the same
place. 3. Wednesday evening at seven o'clock in
the lower vestry. 4. Friday at the same time and
place. William Reeves."
On the back of the card was written, "Come thou
with us, and we Avill do thee good; for the Lord
hath spoken good concerning Israel."
He went out into the world to get recruits for
his class. He said, "Only Avhile I am adding to
my heavenly graces I am kept alive and growing;
so I daily prove that only while I am getting new
members to my classes we keep alive the old mem
bers." What an example for the leaders of to-day.
William Reeves' success was not strange, and he
deserved it.
A leader, he held, should be the first and the last
in the class room. At the close of the meeting he
took his position at the doorway, grasped each
member's hand in turn, and asked the divine bless
ing upon each.
Some said that his classes were too large, and
that it was impossible that the ends of class meet
ing could be answered, but, he asks, What is the
end of class meeting ? 1. That the members may be

Great Class Leaders of the Past 151
instructed to know their lost state by sin. 2. That
they may be led- into a state of justification by
faith. 3. That they may be led on to perfect love.
And then he makes his humble boast : "Now let
me say to my beloved friends, and I do indeed say
it 'as a fool,' let them take out of that class twenty
members, whom they will, and compare them with
any other twenty members from another class in
Lambeth, and see if they do not come up to the
above standard as fully as those who have been fed
with the finest wheat, although we have been, like
Daniel and his three brethren, fed upon pulse."
He sent his members to the Word of God, and
often held a Bible class, giving them a month to
prepare for the subject.
He made his members recruiting officers for the
class: "Be sure you tell all your relations and
friends at what time your class meets," said this
faithful leader.
He made such careful preparation for his work
that his words were condensed to the fewest mo
ments. He was never in haste, always orderly, and
never dull, rarely took more than ten minutes of
the time himself. His addresses related both to
experience and to practice. "He labored most dili
gently," says one of his members, "to instruct us
in doctrine, in church discipline, and every matter
necessary to make us intelligent Christians."
He kept a careful record in his class books of his

152 The Drillmaster of Methodism
visits upon his members. From 1825 to 1852
nearly thirteen thousand visits were set down, an
average of four hundred and fifty a year. So
faithfully Avas his visiting done that when he
passed aAvay this conversation took place in the
street: "Dead!" said a Lambeth Walk shopkeeper
—"who is dead?" "Mr. Reeves." "What, the
little old man with the umbrella, that was always
going about visiting the sick ?"
Thus briefly have we sketched the work of
Father Reeves, whose blessed work will bear rich
harvest as long as the world stands. He ceased at
once to labor and to live, but his influence for good
still goes on. Most of his methods were methods
good for all time, and most of his successes can be
duplicated to-day. One of his friends thus sum
marizes his work : "He never went to class without
earnest preparation, a careful selection of hymns,
Scripture references, and, apparently, topics for
prayer. He never permitted absence without
knowing the cause, or immediate visitation to
ascertain it. To him the loss of members was a
source of humiliation — a matter for self-abasement
in his classes. He was ready for any service, and
rejoiced in all. His Bible was his teacher ; prayer
his element, his duty, his delight. Consecrating
his time, his soul, his energies, unremittingly, un
reservedly, to God and his cause, no wonder he
was blessed."

Great Class Leaders of the Past 153
Among the many class leaders that were famous
in the days of Wesley, William Bramwell deservea
a place. It was he to Avhom Wesley said on the
occasion of his introduction to him, "Well, brother,
can you praise God ?" Mr. Branrwell replied, "No,
sir." Mr. Wesley, lifting up his hands and smil
ing, said, "Well, but perhaps you will to-night."
And indeed, so it came to pass, for that very night
he found the comfort he had lost and his soul was
enabled to rejoice in the glorious liberty of the
sons of God.
The life of William Bramwell is exceedingly
interesting reading for any spiritual class leader,
but because his usefulness was especially seen in
the work of a local preacher and later as an itiner
ant preacher we shall not consider in detail his
labors as a leader. Read his life and catch his
spirit. Some years ago the writer attended services in
St. James Hall to hear Mark Guy Pearse, the
famous Wesleyan preacher, associated with Hugh
Price Hughes in his great work at the West End
in London. At the close of the service we ex
pressed the pleasure and profit which we had de
rived from the reading of his works, and especially
mentioned Daniel Quorm.
"Ah," said the preacher, his face lighting up,
"I am glad if Daniel is doing good in America ; I
knew him well, and loved him."

154 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Though we do not have in Daniel Quorm an
exact biography of any class leader, his duplicate
was to be found in scores of chapels throughout
England a generation and more ago. His delinea
tor spoke truthfully Avhen he said, "In hundreds
of towns and villages men of the humblest position
are doing the highest work of the church in the
Sunday school, in the pulpit, and in the society
class." "My old friend Daniel Quorm — Brother Dan'el,
as he was called — was the village shoemaker, the
Methodist class leader, and the society steward.
As hard-headed as the rounded lapstone on which
he hammered all day long, as sharp and quick as
his shining aAvl, as obstinate in holding his ov/n as
his seasoned shoe leather; yet, withal, Brother
Dan'el had a heart so kind, so wise, so true, that,
like the hammer, it only beat to do good, and, like
the. aAvl and thread, it was always trying to
strengthen some poor soul that had got worn in. the
rough Avays of life."
What a life of consistent devotion he lived. His
religion Avas certainly theological ; fiercely so some
times, as even Fletcher could be in his polemics;
a garrisoned city, full of defenses, and sharp
definitions, of points and proofs.
What a world of quiet humor lay in him, and
a world of shrewd common sense.
He sat there in his. little shop, always busy, ever,

Great Class Leaders of the Past 155
too, with a book before him. Solid books they
were, Wesley's Notes and Sermons and Journals
occupying the chief place. Only one dearer than
these, and that was his mother's Bible.
Above everything else, my friend Dan'el AATas a
class leader. He was good at making shoes or
mending them; good at doing a bit of garden in
front of his place ; good at an argument, and many,
a man stepped into the .shoemaker's shop for a
talk; good at a sermon, as appeared from his ap
pointments on that huge circuit plan. But it was
as a class leader that you had Dan'el at his best.
Pithy, plain common sense, with a depth of pity
and tenderness in his soul. So wise, so simple, so
practical. No one can read Daniel Quorm and
watch his home thrusts at the sins and weaknesses
of our poor human nature without being ashamed
of his failings. Hear him as he punctures some old
platitude which has done service in the class meet
ing for a hundred years. "How was Jim Trego-
ning gettin' on? Well, he feared he was only a
slow traveler heavenward. But there — he had
many troubles and trials — fightin's without, fears
within — and he hoped that his motto was slow an'
sure, slow an' sure."
The little eye twinkled — and yet there was a
tone of pain and grief in the reply.
"La, Jim, whatever do'e mean ! 'Slow and sure,
slow and sure.' Always the same, never no for-

156 The Drillmaster of Methodism
warder, never no backAvarder, but always a stickin'
in the same place. I'll tell 'e what, Jim. Do 'e
get out o' this here way. Strive to enter in at the
strait gate; but goin' along so sIoav you'll be sure
not to get through un. SIoav an' sure ! Yes, sure
to be too late ! 'Tis what the folks said when they
Avas a comin' to the ark ; but the floods came quick
and sure 'pon them before they got to the ark, and
sIoav an' sure was drowned. Serve him right, too.
The virgins were slow and sure AA'hen they were
a-gone to buy oil for their lamps, and when they
come back the door was shut. Slow an' sure !
"My dear Jim, there ben't no such thing as this
slow and sure o' yours. When the top do spin sIoav
he's sure to come down. 'Tisn't the way the angels
told Lot. 'Escape for thy life, tarry not in all the
plain !' and I don't think we shall get off easier than
he did. Time is SAvift and sure, Jim; and death
is swift and sure. And then the love of Jesus is
swift and sure. Ah ! bless the Lord, how swift and
sure that is you know, Jim, as Avell as the rest!
'When he was yet a great way off, his father saAV
him, and had compassion, and ran — ran!" And
Dan'el's voice spoke with a tenderness that brought
the tears to every eye. "No creepin' then, or walk-
in', either. He 'ran, and fell on his neck, and
kissed him.' Ah, bless the Lord; that's his way
always — and his way be always best !"
Dan'el had no patience with those who sat down

Great Class Leaders of the Past 157
supinely under the ills of life and tried to comfort
themselves in their indulgence by saying, "It's the
Lord's will."
"I can't abide to hear folks talkin' about it ; put-
tin' down everything that is sad, and bad, and
miserable to be the Lord's will. It ben't the Lord's
will, but just our own folly very often that makes
the Lord deal with us a bit hardly. Fancy Eve
a-comin' out of paradise, and when the earth begins
to get covered Avith thorns and briers, and Adam
has to go earnin' his daily bread by the SAveat o' his
brow, she says, 'Well, you know, it's the Lord's
will, and we must bear it !' Not a bit of it. They
knew that the Lord's will was paradise. The Lord's
will was all the fruit, and flowers, and beauty of
Eden. It was right against the will of their Father
that there should come these thorns and things, and
weariness and sorroAv; only it was just what their
sins forced the Lord to do."
It will be helpful to us to listen to Dan'el's
notion of a class meeting.
"But talk about class meetin's, and people not
comin' to 'em ; why the reason is pretty much the
same as I Avas a-tellin' Bob Byles's wife the other
day, that it wasn't all his fault that he was at home
so little and at the public house so often. If she
kept a bright fireplace, and a snug corner, and a
pleasant smile for him at home, he would be
tempted oftener to stay at home. We leaders must

158 The Drillmaster of Methodism
keep the place bright and cheerful and attractive if
we want to keep the members. Why, I should
every bit as soon think o' goin' to class with the
wax an' the grease on my hands, as soon think o'
goin' with my apron on and in my shirt sleeves, as
think o' takin' all my cares and worries. I get
away first of all and lose all my OAvn fears and
troubles in the lovin' care of my heavenly Father.
I get my own heart put into tune, and then the
rest'll take the right pitch from me. And then
with the fire burnin' I get away to meetin'. We
always begin with a good, cheerful hymn — one o'
them that do stir up your soul, and a good old tune
that you can sing without thinkin' about it, because
you do know it so well. Give me a 'trumpet meter'
to 'Arise, my soul, arise !' or dear old 'Jerusalem,'
to the hymn —
'My God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights;
The glory of my brightest days,
And comforts of my nights!'
Bless 'e, why, by the time you're gone through
that, and had a bit o' doAvnright earnest prayer, the
fire is burnin' in every heart, and you're all agloAV
with holy joy. No fear o' freezing the tender
lambs to death then; more likely to warm the old
ones up to shoutin' pitch. When I hear some folks
talk about the class meetin's as they do, I AA'onder
Avhatever the leaders can have been about for to

Great Class Leaders of the Past 159
let 'em get such notions as they have got. I know
faults are thick when the love is thin ; and standin'
water '11 breed plenty o' nasty things without any
body goin' nigh it. The old mill wheel'll creak and
grumble when the river be low. But you can't won
der that folks don't like class meetin's if there be
nothing for 'em when they do come ; neither meat,
nor drink, nor fire, nor a nice, hearty welcome.
"We sha'n't get folks very often to come into a
desert place and rest awhile, if we, like the dis
ciples, forget to take bread. If we want the folks
to come we must have it now as it was then, and
as it always will be when the blessed Master be
with us : 'They did all eat, and were filled.' All —
nobody was forgotten. It was a big class meetin'
that, but everybody got a bit; not an old woman
was shut out by the crowd ; not a hungry child was
passed by because it was afraid to ask ; not a little
maid but got a bit. That be just what I do want
my class meetin' to be ; a bit for all round, old and
young, weak an' strong. A bit for everybody.
And, bless the Lord ! more than a bit, too. 'They
did all eat;' but that's only half of it, only the
beginnin' — 'They did all eat, and were filled' —
filled! Ah ! that's just like him — filled. He don't
give us a taste and leave us hungerin' for more.
He 'satisfieth thy mouth with good things.' 'They
did all eat, and were filled.' Now that's a class
meetin' 'zactly to my mind."

160 The DraLLMASTER of Methodism
Dan'el's quaint and homely talk will be a spur
to many a careless class leader, and with the gleam
ing of light upon a dark way, where some have
sadly stumbled, the heart will be warmed by the
tenderness which looks out of his old wrinkled face,
and those who have culture and "understand all
mysteries and all knowledge" will be pointed to the
Father's love, which is better than these.
When the fire burns low, read Daniel Quorm.

Great Class Leaders of To-day 161

XXVI
Great Class Leaders of To-day
Bishop Mallalieu, formerly pastor of Brom-
field Street Churchy Boston, sends the folloAving
most interesting sketch of one of Boston's famous
Methodists :
"Jacob Sleeper was born in Belfast, Maine. In
early life he came to Boston, where he lived and
died. He was a Boston millionaire when million
aires were not numerous. He held high offices in
the city, the State, the church, and would have
graced the halls of Congress whether in the House
of Representatives or Senate. He Avas preemi
nently a courtly gentleman. For more than fifty
years he was the superintendent of the Bromfield
Street Sunday School in the days of its greatest
strength and prosperity. For almost if not quite
as long a series of years he was both trustee and
class leader of the same church.
"In the later years of his life he held the
meetings of his class in his own spacious par
lors. His members were not selected by him,
but assigned in the regular manner, with
special reference to their convenience of location.
They were not the old, experienced, and saintly
11

162 The Drillmaster of Methodism
members of the church, but they came from all
classes and all ages. There were no Epworth
League meetings in those days, and so the young
and old, the men and women, tried and faithful
for many years, and the young beginners in the
Christian life — all classes were alike welcome to
his home, the poorest as really as the richest, the
least cultured as the most highly cultured. The
meetings were weekly home-comings and seasons
of rich spiritual intercourse.
"One special feature of these meetings was their
cordial informality. It was entirely optional with
each whether in speaking one should stand or sit.
Sometimes the members would be called on in regu
lar order, and at other times the meeting would be
open for A^olunteer remarks. Sometimes each
would be called on for a favorite or especially help
ful passage from the Bible or a verse or two from
the hymn book. There was always a brief Scrip
ture reading and prayer at the opening of the meet
ing, and sometimes special prayers would be
offered if the occasion seemed to require such
service. "The influence of these meetings upon the
younger members was especially pronounced. First
of all, the class leader won their confidence, and
in due time their love, and in the later years of his
life their veneration, so that mind and heart were
alike open and receptive to all the wise counsels,

Great Class Leaders of To-day 163
tender warnings, timely instructions, and inspir
ing encouragements that were patiently and con
stantly imparted. It may truthfully be said that
the lives of hundreds of young people were en
riched, ennobled, and made beautiful and influen
tial for good by these meetings.
"The class leader is dead. He has gone to his re
ward. But his work endures. Would that thou
sands of our well-to-do people, men of wealth and
influence, might follow the example of Jacob
Sleeper!" Rev. Benjamin M. Adams, of the New York
East Conference, himself one of the greatest men
among us in spiritual things, gives the following
graphic and inspiring sketches of the great leaders
he has known :
"Some of the class leaders I knew sixty years ago
were evidently put in place because 'they had com-
panied' with the disciples, 'and went in and out
with them,' as Matthias did in Acts 1st, and, like
him, were elected to fill in with. They came near
killing me dead, but the rule was strict, and I went
on principle as a Methodist, and believe to-day it
was the knot on the end of the rope that kept me
from falling off.
"There were exceptions. My father was a great
class leader for many years in Stamford, Conn.
His class was the refuge for the troubled and per
plexed. He'd take time to unravel the toughest

164 The Drillmaster of Methodism
tangle of a soul all enmeshed in Calvinism. Never
mind how big the class, or how long it took. Al
most always there was a shout in the camp as the
'day dawned and the shadows fled away.' The
shouters who have not long since been suppressed
in Stamford were the successors of the old band
AA-ho were led to liberty in General Sands Adams'
class. "John Sudlow, in Second Street, New York, was
a great class leader. He was a successful business
man. Rather fine looking, of easy gentlemanly
address, full of common sense, a good singer; but
the secret of his popularity as a class leader lay in
the personal interest he took in everybody. The
'iwidershepherd' idea didn't seem to have daAvned
on him. He was responsible for that soul, first,
last, and always. He turned everything turnable
to the advantage of that person, never mind hoAV
poor. How he poured out himself in his class meet
ings, and yet never long; it Avas not hoisting a
flood gate; but the entire dam gave way, and
eArerybody went away feeling like a Avell-watered
garden. "He was called the greatest class leader in New
York. He certainly Avas one of the best, and cer
tainly a remarkable exhorter. Few ministers were
more skillful in sending home the great facts of
redemption and the needs of the soul.
"Samuel Halsted, of the old Allen Street Church,

Great Class Leaders of To-day 165
New York, was a remarkable class leader. It was
as impossible for a gloomy saint to stay under the
shadow of Mount Sinai in that class room when
Uncle Sammy was leading as for a dewdrop to
refuse to shine Avhen the sun strikes it of a June
morning. He Avas joy incarnate.
"At the St. Denis Hotel, in 'New York, where he
lived for some years, a friend came to see him from
Philadelphia, and inquired at the office for Mr.
Samuel Halsted. The clerk didn't know such a
man. He called a porter who had long been on the
premises. He didn't know such a gentleman. An
other man Avas called. He didn't know any such
person. The Philadelphia man described Brother
Halsted. Suddenly the first porter said, 'O, its
Old Hallelujah !' That was the name he Avore in
the St. Denis Hotel.
"He carried climate with him, even that of the
New Jerusalem. His funeral was no more like a
funeral than Fourth of July is like fast day. It
was a love feast. He didn't look like a dead man.
His hair was black as a coal, though he must have
been eighty or hard by it ; face rosy and full and
every appearance of abounding youth. The old
Pacific Street Church was crowded with people
who had been members of his class. He Avas the
leader of the 'New York Praying Band' which in
'57 and '58 did wonders in the churches.
"He was often urged to take a license to exhort

166 The Drillmaster of Methodism
or preach. 'No,' said he, 'I have only one ambi
tion ; that is to be a good class leader.'
"Samuel Halsted's secret Avas his abounding joy,
a cheerful view of the Avhole situation. Hundreds
and perhaps thousands were Avon to Christ by this
man whose highest ambition was to be a good class
leader. "In great contrast to these in many respects
Avas Sylvanus Hallock, of the old Duane Street
Church, New York. His class was held Sunday
morning at nine o'clock. He had the three great
qualities of a class leader: common sense, a good
knowledge of the Bible, and religion. He seemed
to have intuitive knowledge of everybody who came
in — 'strangers of Rome, JeAvs, proselytes.' No
one ever knew who he'd call on to speak. Might
be a man or woman he'd never seen before, but it
was always the right one.
"Brother T  n was a lumberman on the head-
Avaters of the Delaware River. He had sold his
lumber product to a firm in New York for $7,500.
The dreadful panic of 1857 came on. Brother
T  n hadn't received his money. Came to town
late Friday night, and Saturday morning made his
way to the office of the firm indebted to him. The
gentlemen told him they were 'hard up,' were
'talking of suspending payment,' 'many building
firms indebted to them had failed.' They were
'very sorry,' they'd 'had pleasant dealings with

Great Class Leaders of To-day 167
Mr. T  n, he wouldn't lose his money, they'd
do the best they could.' T  n went down town
to see his lawyer. That gentleman counseled
against putting an attachment on the property of
the company, as they were solvent, but embar
rassed. T  n went back to his hotel. There
were fifteen or twenty men in his employ, all wait
ing for their money, and other obligations pressing
him which he didn't see how to meet. He had his
supper, wrote a doleful letter to his wife, said his
prayers, and went to bed, but didn't sleep much.
After breakfast Sunday morning he sauntered into
the office of the hotel, and there hung the big card
of the old 'Duane Street Methodist Episcopal
Church' with the services duly and plainly print
ed. (It was a downtown hotel.) 'Class meeting
at 9 o'clock Sunday morning.' T  n started,
was five minutes late, but the room was full and
'the power' on. 'Father Hallock' eyed T  n as
he took his seat and called on one and another to
speak. Suddenly he called on a gentleman sitting
opposite T  n, tall, well built, and every way a
good looking man. He began with : 'Three months
ago, I had a lovely wife, three beautiful children,
and supposed I was worth seventy-five thousand
dollars. To-day my wife and children are all in
their graves, and my entire property is swept away,
but such are the resources I find in God, through
Christ, I can say, "Though he slay me, yet will I

168 The Drillmaster of Methodism
trust in him." He cannot fail. He does not!
Never have I known him as I know him now. To
him be glory !'
"While he was speaking, a mighty influence
swept through the room. Tears, sobs, and sup
pressed shouts all around. T  n sat there
thinking, 'How ungrateful I am. Here I've a
good farm, a comfortable home, a good wife, four
nice children, and gloomy as an owl, while there's
a man swept clean, and rejoicing in God. I'm
ashamed of myself.' Father Hallock didn't get
all the way round. He hardly ever did. Brother
T  n wasn't called on. He went upstairs and
heard a sermon on 'casting all your care upon Him,
for he careth for you.' A revival was going on in
the church. Several people shook hands with
Brother T  n. He ate a hearty dinner and had
a good sleep in the afternoon. The morning class
had helped Brother T  n amazingly. He was
on hand at six o'clock evening meeting and the
evening preaching. Several were at the altar for
prayers. He went back to his hotel, and when he
got down on his knees to pray, broke out in praise
to God, his burden all gone. He 'slept like a stone.'
"On Monday morning he awoke in the spirit of
praises. At half past nine he was at the office of
the lumber firm. The head man said: 'Mr.
T  n, we have been dealing with you a good
many years, and you have always treated us well,

Great Class Leaders of To-day 169
We are sorry things are hard just now. We have
seven thousand dollars in the bank. We have con
cluded to offer you that for your bill. If we can,
we will pay the rest. Will you take it ?' Brother
T  n, in telling it afterward, said, 'I could
have leaped for joy.' He took the check, drew the
money, and was on his way home at noon, blessing
God for Father Hallock's class and the victory he
had won. After a year or so the remaining sum
was paid.
"In 1869 the pastor of the Central Church,
Brooklyn, received a note signed by some dozen
people, asking that Samuel Adams be appointed
class leader. The young man insisted he had 'no
gifts,' 'no grace to speak of,' and the usual stock
excuses in use since Moses set the example as he
stood barefoot before the burning bush all came in
play, but he didn't refuse, and was appointed. He
took to prayer ; made up his mind to make it a suc
cess if possible. Got out a pretty card. On one
side was
Central Methodist Episcopal Church.
class NO. VI.
Samuel Adams, Leader.
Room No. 4. Tuesday Evening, 7 :30.
On the other side was
Liberty of Speech
or
Silence,

170 The Drillmaster of Methodism
"The room was full the first meeting. After sing
ing, he called on a brother to pray, and he made his
opening address, duly reported to the pastor, as
follows : 'Friends, I understand I am here because
you have requested my appointment. I shall try
to do my duty as I see it. I am sure I shall not be
able to reply to all of you, as is the fashion of class
leaders, because I shall not be able to think what
to say. I shall inquire, as the Discipline says,
"How your souls prosper," but nobody will be com
pelled to answer or scolded if they don't. If you
should say anything to start me may be I can say
something in reply, but it will depend on you very
largely; let us have plenty of room in this class
for the Holy Spirit, and spells of silence to give
him a chance.'
"For more than two years that class room was
crowded. Old and young Avere at their ease, and
to this day they Avho remain talk of the meetings
as though they had been the 'gates of heaven.'
After a little over two years he resigned, giving as
a reason that he had told all he kneAV. His secret
was self-effacement. When somebody would have a
trial on hand, he'd sit still a moment, and then ask
some good man or woman to give the right word.
He'd rarely open or close the meeting himself.
The result Avas a company of trained workers such
as is not often found. Now and then I meet a
man who says, 'What a class leader he was.' "

Great Class Leaders of To-day 171
Mr. E- K. Todd, long associated with John
French as class leader, gives us a careful account
of his. spirit and methods in his class :
"John French, a class leader for nearly sixty
years, forty years in Hanson Place Church, by the
simplicity of his faith, the serenity of his trust,
the consistency of his life, the keenness of his
judgment, the goodness of his heart, his practical
common sense, his knowledge of Scripture, and his
loyalty to Methodism, fulfilled the conditions of a
model class leader.
"His might be called 'an old-fashioned class with
the best modern improvements.' He dearly loved
to sing the old standard hymns of the Church, but
he Avelcomed such of the new hymns as had a joy
ous air or a martial tread; and he conceded that
the human voice, even in a class meeting, could be
greatly aided by instrumental accompaniment.
"He was always at his class when able to attend.
It is doubtful if in his sixty years of service he ever
allowed a personal engagement, either business or
social, to keep him from his place ; though he con
ducted an extensive business, and his social engage
ments were many. He was always on time and
urged his class members to be ever prompt in their
attendance. "His method of conducting his class seldom
varied. He would sing a hymn while the members
were gathering ; then an opening hymn (all stand-

172 The Drillmaster of Methodism
ing). Prayer would follow, either by himself or
some member of the class. Then the Scripture
lesson (generally the Friday reading in connection
with the Sunday school lesson). He would briefly
comment thereon, and then announce that the
meeting was open for experience. He did not in
sist on everyone speaking, but in a quiet way he
induced everyone to speak. He generally had
some- one on his immediate left on whom he could
call to speak first ; a quiet 'next' would draAv forth
a testimony from the next in line, and so on around
the room.
"His responses were apt and helpful. If one
spoke despondingly of his experience and depre
cated his unfaithfulness, he would say, 'Do not
write bitter things against yourself.' If one was
critical or censorious, he Avould remind him that
'to err was human.' A text of Scripture, a verse
of a familiar hymn, a kindly Avord of sympathy, a
friendly admonition, or perhaps simply a fervent
'Amen' or 'God bless you,' would often prove
just what was needed by the member giving the
experience. "He never scolded, seldom reproved (and then so
gently that the reproof became a benediction), and
his members always left the room feeling that 'it
had been good to be there.'
"It was his custom, on going home, to sit down
and recall the testimonies; and when absent he

Great Class Leaders of To-day 173
loved to have his substitute report to him who was
there and what was said.
"He was very careful as to probationers, and
never recommended one unless he was satisfied as
to the reality of his or her conversion.
"His smile was a benediction, his counsel a safe
guide, his handshake a token of fellowship, his
friendship an unspeakable boon. Those of us who
knew him most intimately loved him most sin
cerely, and nowhere was he so approachable or so
lovable (except in his home) as he was in that place
he loved so well and attended so faithfully, his
Friday night class meeting.
"God bless the memory of my dear old leader,
John French."
Warren Goodell was a class leader of the old
school, as well he might be, for he was born in 1810
and died in 1902 — a class leader for sixty years.
Neither Carvosso nor Fletcher were oftener than
he in the place of secret prayer. I might change
the hyperbole of John concerning his Master and
say, If the prayers uttered in that upper chamber
were recorded, the chamber itself would not contain
the books that should be written. For his living
he manufactured shoes, for his life he walked and
talked with God. His citizenship was in heaven,
his pilgrimage upon earth. Perhaps he was- too
contemplative and introspective for a model class
leader, but every Christian who knew him is thank-

174 The Drillmaster of Methodism
ful that God gave the century one such man. His
private life was as spotless as his profession. As
boy and man I have known him for forty-five years,
in daylight and darkness, in success and reverse,
in sickness and in health, and I never found in his
character a moral blemish. A just man he was,
and one who feared God.
With such a character read and known by his
neighbors it was worth while to see the people look
into his face when he stood up in chapel and school-
house to preach, for he was for fifty years a local
preacher. It was worth a long tramp in the mud
or snow to listen to his words of consolation and to
see him lift the loads of the burdened.
As a leader he taught the lessons which were
hardest for himself to learn. Naturally doubting,
he was the apostle of faith. Like Wesley, he
"preached faith until he had it and then preached
it because he had it." He knew the misery of the
lack of it, and tried to fortify every heart against
unbelief. Merciless with himself, he was full of
kindness for other people. The man who thought
himself forgotten of God learned from his solici
tude the tenderness of the great Father. He put
himself out for other people. He visited them,
carried their sorroAvs as if they were his own.
Went out of his way to relieve them. Did things
that nobody asked him to do. Result — respect,
admiration, reverence, love. He outlived all the

Great Class Leaders of To-day 175
friends of his early life, but their descendants re
vere him this day on two continents. If there are
class meetings in heaven, I should like to be as
signed to his class. I should expect to find there
many old members who I am sure would choose
their old leader. Among them I should find a mild,
unselfish spirit who helped to make him what he
was but who never took the credit. He was her
husband and I was her son, but we both called her
"Mother." Rev. Willis P. Odell, D.D., pastor of Calvary
Methodist Episcopal Church, New York, gives
the following interesting account of a leader whom
he does not name:
"The best class leader I ever knew was a young
man whose heart was warm with love for Christ.
He had the shepherding instinct. He saw the value
of personal interest in souls and he gave himself
with diligence and wisdom to the care of those
assigned him. There was method in his manage
ment. He made the meetings intensely attractive
by variety in the exercises. No two services were
just alike. He brought freshly culled ideas from
many fields of scientific, classical, and religious
literature. An earnest devotional spirit was main
tained without cant or dullness. The singing was
always on a joyous key. Prayers and testimonies
were brief. No one was permitted to lecture his
classmates, and no one was encouraged to profess

176 The Drillmaster of Methodism
superior sanctity. All absences were noted and
large use made of the mail. Many letters were
written weekly to stimulate those who showed
signs of indifference. Numerous visits were made
to the sick and the sorrowing. Shoe leather was
liberally employed. Look-up committees were kept
at work. Responsibility was laid on helpers. Spe
cial occasions were made much of. The social
element was discreetly introduced. Human inter
est was awakened by wise appeals to sympathy.
The class became a hive of industry. Often have
I visited this model meeting when fifty or sixty
were present. I have seen eighty in attendance.
Of course it was a great power in the parish. With
enough leaders of this kind any church can be kept
in a high state of prosperity."
Dr. W. A. Quayle, pastor of Grand Avenue
Church, Kansas City, outlines with masterly touch
a nameless but model class leader :
"He was a boisterous man, full of faith and
quaint originality. He had thoughts; which is a
good symptom for a class leader or another. He
was himself. He had no twin. He did nothing
by rote. Things fairly spurted from his heart —
like hot lava sometimes, like cool waters from deep
fountains at other times. He was not, therefore,
a man of routine. He kept topsails out for the
heavenly winds, and seeing them blow he Avas
glad and moved out in their direction. He

Great Class Leaders of To-day 177
therefore killed no meeting with sameness. His
was a fresh life like the smell of fields just before
the dawn.
"His thoughts of God and his goodness and his
book and his Son and the Holy Spirit were of
singular vigor. He was such an Arminian as to
do one's heart good. He could not sing, but loved
music. The tides often were at flood in his heart,
and he shouted with a voice you could hear though
you were far gone to deafness. He did not pet
trials nor caress tribulations, but seemed to think
class was for praising the Lord rather than for
parading the devil. He was fervid but sane. He
did not laud nor endure hobbies. He loved Christ
and flamed up in holy ardor to call him blessed.
He was voluble but not lengthy. He was homely
in speech and warm in heart. He snugged up to
folks and they snugged up to him. He believed in
the new birth and loved his birthday and sang its
praise in a joyful heart. He did not insist on every
one having exactly his experience nor always talk
one thing, but talked that wide versatility of theme
which is one essential glory of the book of God. He
made class meetings possible and profitable. They
were never stale while he was there. He never let
them die out, but had good terminal facilities,
thinking not that he must hold a class just so long,
but must let it hold him so long as it Avas remunera
tive to those Avho were attendants. He kept a good
12

178 The Drillmaster of Methodism
fire on the hearth and left while it was burning
high. "He had good fellowship with God's word, with
God's people, with God's house, was scant in com
plaints at man or measures, waded out pretty deep
in the sea of God but never beyond his depth. God
loved him, and he knew it, and he saw visions and
dreamed dreams. And he sees the King in his
beauty." Dr. S. F. Upham mentions the names of four
class leaders whom he has known, whose work will
bear inspection, and writes of them as follows :
"First, Dr. Augustus W. Smith, in my college
days. President of Wesleyan UniATersity. He met
the senior class, such as were Christians, regularly,
it being a regular church "class." He was consid
erate, faithful, and understood young men and
their peculiar temptations, and noAvhere failed
to emphasize the importance of character as a
result of genuine faith in Christ. Dear man,
little did he know the blessed influence he was
exerting. "Second, Dr. A. S. Hunt. He was tutor in the
university during the first years of my college
course. He not only met the 'class,' but made it
his duty to visit the members in their rooms, talk
and pray with them. He supplemented most ex
cellent and instructive counsel at the regular 'class
meeting' by faithful personal effort with indi-

Great Class Leaders of To-day 179
viduals. Dr. Hunt, as you know, became one of
our most distinguished ministers, but he Avas never
greater than when he bowed in prayer with some
poor discouraged young man and lifted him up.
"Third, Comfort Tiffany, father of Dr. O. H.
Tiffany. Brother Tiffany was a class leader in the
church in Bristol, R. I., when I was pastor there
in 1862-3. He was a man of deep religious experi
ence himself and built others up in an intelligent
Christian life. He was a model Christian gentle
man. He was to his class a constant example of
gentleness, meekness, and charity.
"Fourth, C. W. Atwood, of Trinity Church,
Springfield, Mass. The 'class' meets, as it has for
thirty-eight years, at the leader's home. Brother
Atwood is an intelligent Christian; one who
studies and imparts instruction. He believes the
Bible from beginning to end and loves the Lord
Jesus Christ with all his heart. His soul is on fire
all the time, and he just lives for the good of
others. No one has seen Springfield Methodism
until he has visited Brother Atwood's 'North Main
Street Class.' "
Rev. A. B. Leonard, D.D., writes thus of John
Wilderson :
"The most helpful class leader I have ever known
was not a class leader at the time I knew him, but
a regularly licensed exhorter. Previously he had
been a class leader for many years, was always at

180 The Drillmaster of Methodism
the class meeting, and was usually called upon by
our leader and conducted in whole or in part the
class meeting exercises. His name was John Wil
derson, AA'hose residence was near Alliance, 0. He
was a member of the Lexington Society, an ap
pointment at that time on the Alliance Circuit.
At the time I kneAV him he was a farmer, although
subsequently he became a miller. Brother Wilder-
son was of goodly stature, well proportioned, and
of great physical strength. He was not an edu
cated- man, in the literary or scientific sense, but
he had a large store of biblical and general infor
mation. He was a constant reader of the Bible,.
and his mind was stored with a large number of
doctrinal, experimental, and practical texts, which
he used with great skill and in response to testi
monies of old and young. He was never at a loss
for an appropriate passage from the word of God,
words of instruction, encouragement, sympathy, or
reproof, as circumstances required. His own ex
perience was deep, and the current of his religious
life was strong, often overflowing with ecstatic joy.
Frequently, when giving counsel to the bereaved,
suffering, sorely tempted, or wayward, his emo
tions would be deeply stirred and his eyes suffused
with tears. His interest in and sympathy for
young people was one of his strong characteristics.
They turned to him for help in their time of need
and were never disappointed. Few probationers

Great Class Leaders of To-day 181
were lost to the church where he was their spiritual
adviser. No class meeting was dull when he Avas
the leader, and all went away with a sense of
spiritual refreshing, and with renewed purpose to
live a holy life. This man of God was present
when the writer was converted, in 1855, and he
owes to him a debt of gratitude for spiritual coun
sel and encouragement Avhen struggling with Avhat
he then believed, and now has no reason to doubt,
Avas a divine call to the Gospel ministry. Father
Wilderson, as we aftenvard called him, lived to
a good old age, died in peace, and now doubtless
enjoys the reward of the faithful."
Rev. J. J. Reed, D.D., pastor of the Washington
Square Methodist Episcopal Church, New York,
kindly outlines for us the life and labors of two
men well knoAvn to the Methodists of NeAv York:
"Mr. John D. Slayback has for many years filled
a large place in the eye of the Methodists of the
New York metropolis. He was converted in the
old Green Street Church when but a boy, was
prominent in the activities of that church, and
identified with the best interests of its Sunday
school until about the year 1860, when the Wash
ington Square Church was erected. Mr. Slayback
was associated with the early promoters of the new
enterprise, became a teacher and officer in its Sun
day school, and after the retirement of Mr. W. W.
Cornell became its Sunday school superintendent,

182 The Drillmaster of Methodism
which position he has now held for more than
thirty years. For much of that time he has been
very prominent and greatly influential as a class
leader. Notwithstanding the pressing cares of a
prosperous business life and the duties incumbent
upon him as Sunday school superintendent,
trustee, and a member of tAvo General Conferences,
Mr. Slayback's devotion to all the interests of his
weekly class has been for many years a matter of
admiring comment.
"Living in the upper part of the city, his sleep-
denying fidelity in attendance upon all the services
of the church on the Sabbath and on week days has
been most exemplary. He has been a unifying
factor and force in the Washington Square Church
life to a very remarkable degree. His peculiar
gifts in public testimony, prayer, and song, added
to a magnetic personality, are widely recognized
in Methodist circles, in New York city ; but Mr.
Slayback's life work has been largely limited to the
development or conservation of all the best inter
ests of the local church. There he is an acknowl
edged power. Large-hearted, liberal, and sympa
thetic to a degree, he is greatly beloved by hosts
of those whom, in so many ways, he has been able
to befriend.
"As a class leader he was singularly attractive.
With a wide knowledge of human nature, a
genuine love for spiritual life, an unquestioned

Great Class Leaders of To-day 183
devotion to the Master whom so loyally he aims to
'trust and obey,' with an eye quick to see the
humorous and the pathetic everywhere, even in
church life, with a Christian experience that is
deep, and a Christian testimony that is ready and
real, Mr. Slayback has been a means of spiritual
uplift and encouragement to hundreds who have
looked to him for spiritual guidance in the class
room. "Mr. George E. Meyers, of the Washington
Square Church, New York city, who died so sud
denly and so greatly lamented a few years ago, was
originally connected with the old Sullivan Street
Church. He was associated with all the interests
of Washington Square Church from the beginning
of its history.
"He was a Bible class teacher for full sixty years.
He was an honored and beloved class leader for an
equal length of time. He died suddenly one Sun
day afternoon, during the opening service, while
seated in the Bible school. His funeral services
were held — without design — on his Tuesday class
night. The church that night was crowded to
repletion. So unexpected was his death and so
little known, indeed, that there were those of the
wondering, weeping congregation who had come
expecting that Brother Meyers would lead them in
the. weekly class as usual..
"Mr. Meyers was a man of fine appearance and

184 The Drillmaster of Methodism
of attractive presence. His erect military bearing,
even in advanced years, his bright, Avinsome speech,
Avarm interest, and genial, gracious, brotherly
greeting will never be forgotten by the multitude
Avho during so many years came under the spell of
his kindly influence.
"In the class room as a beloved and venerated
leader he was an acknowledged social and spiritual
power. Few men in Methodism have had a wider
circle of acquaintance. Few men have been more
painstaking in the exercise of a conciliating, fra
ternal watchcare over those confided to their
spiritual instruction and guidance. His weekly
class was very largely attended; his method of
leading was most friendly, considerate, deferential,
and sympathetic. He drew to him an almost rever
ent following of men and women. He was a
veritable pillar in the church. His name to-day is
'as ointment poured forth.' He is greatly missed.
His personality was so striking, so vital, and so
familiar, he seems yet to belong to the class on
which the benign semblance of his large photo
graph beams with a smile of encouragement from
week to week."
There are few names more highly revered in
Brooklyn Methodism than that of Moses F. Odell.
Willis McDonald writes concerning him :
"He was a magnificent Christian man and offi
cial member of Sands Street Church and superin-

Great Class Leaders of To-day 185
tendent of that Sunday school for twenty years.
He was a member of Congress from Brooklyn dur
ing the war and one of the most loyal Americans
this country ever produced. He was a war Demo
crat, but an intimate personal friend of President
Lincoln, and a member of the Committee on the
Conduct of the War.
"His was a beautiful Christian character, and
it was nowhere more apparent than in his office as
class leader. So devoted was he to the class that
for years he left his duties in Washington early
enough on Friday to reach his class in the evening,
coming into it frequently in haste from the train,
unable to secure food or rest before it. Our whole
family Avere members of his class, and he has ever
been my model class leader. There are many noble
Christian men scattered through the churches of
Brooklyn and of the entire country Avho are what
they are under God because of the magnificent
leadership of Moses F. Odell.
"His was a class for training in the deep things
of God. Faithfulness and deep study of the Word
of God were inculcated and exemplified. He was a
joyous Christian himself and the meeting caught
his spirit. He knew the great hymns of the Church,
and taught us to love them. He was cheery and
hopeful to the last degree. For him there were no
trials or sorrows or difficulties of any sort which
God was not able to conquer through faith.

186 The Drillmaster of Methodism
"He loved the members of his class and was per
sonally interested in them. The duties of a Con
gressman were never so great that he could not take
time to talk with a man about the interests of his
soul. He taught us by his example that we were to
seek first the kingdom of God; that the greatest
concern which any man had was with his Maker,
and being right with God, he could not be out of
joint with life.
"Scores of men to-day are perpetuating the life
of Moses F. Odell, and his circle of influence was
never wider than at this present moment."
President Bashford, of Ohio Wesleyan Univer
sity, writes as follows :
"I have known many good class leaders, but
upon the whole I place J. P. Donnell, of dear old
Chestnut Street Church, Portland, Maine, at the
head of my list. Brother Donnell always had a
large class, numbering betweeen sixty and seventy
members, with an average attendance of about
sixty. In leading the class meeting he spoke very
briefly at the opening of the service and very sel
dom responded with more than a single sentence to
any experience narrated. His words were very
few, but very weighty. The secret of his success
was his intense personal love for each member of
the class. He was a real shepherd of the flock. He
knew each member by name and reflected much
over his case, his testimony, his difficulties and pos-

Great Class Leaders of To-day 187
sibilities. He saw personally those who failed to
be present, evidently prayed for each member
personally, and every sentence seemed to the
members to come through Brother Donnell from
the Lord.
"I ought to add that Brother Donnell's success
was due largely to his wife. She was the very em
bodiment of Christian joy, sympathy, and sun
shine. God gave them no children in their home,
but to the seventy or eighty young people Avho
gathered around them they were brother and sister,
father and mother combined."
Dr. J. H. Chadwick, presiding elder of Brook
lyn South District, describes one of Brooklyn's
most successful class leaders.
"During my ministry I have knoAvn and been
in close touch with many class leaders. Of course
they have differed in many things, especially in
their methods of conducting class meetings. Some
of them have been eminent and have acquired great
riches in this blessed work. I could mention names
of some who are still alive and very popular, but I
will content myself with giving the name of one
who but recently passed to his heavenly home —
Charles F. Jones, Sumner Avenue Church, Brook
lyn, New York. I knew him well, having been his
pastor for five years. He was devoted to all of the
services of the Church — a gifted man intellectu
ally, and of the highest Christian principles. At

188 The Drillmaster of Methodism
least three things gave him high rank as a class
leader :
1. He was a true Christian. No one doubted
his piety. There was no cant, no affected manners
about him. There Avas a vein of humor in his make
up ; still he was always dignified and Christlike in
his bearing. By both speech and example he im
pressed all Avho knew him as being at once a Chris
tian and a gentleman.
"2. By his careful preparations for and his ver
satile methods of leading the class he attracted
many to its exercises. He studied selected pas
sages and gave brief expositions of the Holy Bible,
sometimes announcing the place a week in advance,
so that his members could read and meditate on the
lesson. All Avho heard him Avere instructed, com
forted, and Avonderfully helped by his apt, ready,
and appropriate responses. He enjoyed and en
couraged appropriate singing, although no singer
himself. Under the leadership of this good man
Christian life was enriched and character was
symmetrically developed.
"3. His personal qualities were such as to render
him very popular. He was extremely kind and
attentive to all who attended his class. He was
conscientiously regular and prompt. He gave the
fullest latitude to human peculiarities and idiosyn
crasies, but always kept the meeting well in hand.
Such Avas his personal standing and influence

Great Class Leaders of To-day 189
among his members that the usual sociability at
the close of each meeting did not degenerate into
mere gossip and a spirit of levity. The good of
the class was not dissipated by subsequent worldly
conversation. "The church of which this man was a beloved
member is richer and stronger to-day because of
his love for and loyalty to the class of which he
was for many years the honored leader."
For twenty-five years Daniel Van Nostrand has
been the treasurer of Hanson Place Church, and
few church treasurers have handled so much money
as he. His answer to the usual question of the pre
siding elder each quarter has been, "All bills
paid." If he ever had a "bad quarter of an hour,"
nobody ever knew it. For fifty years he has started
for his place of business at three o'clock in the
morning and has hardly knoAvn a day's sickness in
all that time. His character is as beautiful as the
sunlight, and everybody loves him.
This is the man who has one of the Sunday
morning classes at Hanson Place Church. Come
there at 9 :30 and you will find him at his place.
He has already been there half an hour, arranging
his books and welcoming the early comers. The
room is a marvel of neatness and taste. It was
furnished throughout, frescoes, carpet and all, by
a member of the class who thus offered to the leader
a tribute of love. There are new hymnals and

190 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Testaments, in large print, elegantly bound, in all
the chairs.
The people are coming in. Here comes a man
of superior intellectual furnishing, formerly a pro
fessor of mathematics in a great institution — later
an actuary of a leading insurance company. Here
comes a member of the New York Board of Educa
tion, a man of means, president, vice president,
or director in many companies ; one of the busiest
of men. Here is a rising lawyer. There come a
half dozen men of affairs — merchants, builders,
and shopkeepers. Here are some boys who have
just entered the class. You will hear them speak
this morning. Here comes an old saint of God, her
face fairly beaming ; she Avas up at five o'clock this
morning that she might talk Avith her Lord. She
will have a message from him to-day. Here are
godly mothers ; some public school teachers ; an old
sailor or tAvo; men and women toiling in humble
ways, and half a dozen strangers who have heard
of the class and are here for a blessing. At the
organ is the widow of one of the famous members
of the NeAV York East Conference ; she is like her
leader and John Wesley in that she loves "swift
singing." The hymn is given out :
"My God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights.
The glory of my brightest days,
And comfort of my nights!"

Great Class Leaders of To-day 191
An earnest prayer follows. The leader reads a
Psalm; he speaks no more than five minutes —
short, quick, explosive sentences. There is likely
an "Amen" or two from the old sailor and the saint
in the close-fitting bonnet. The field is cleared for
action, and the firing begins. There are practical
applications of Christianity from the hard-headed
men of business; there is a posy or tAvo from
Brother Dayton's corner. A smile from the leader
draws out a passage of Scripture and a word of
purpose from the boys. A long-winded stranger
has come this morning. He means to tell the ex
periences of the last forty years. But after a
moment Brother Nostrand says, "Be short, brother ;
we love each other here ; no stealing of time," and
the brother leaves the last thirty-nine years un
touched. There may be a word of criticism from
the actuary or the printer, and an incisive question
from the tea merchant, but the bank director knows
how to harmonize differences and the class smiles
to see him do it. The leader sums up in a few
words ; the pastor enforces some practical thought,
and after a rousing hymn dismisses the class.
If you do not love the class meeting it is because
you never went to Brother Van Nostrand's class.
Hanson Place has a score of such classes, each one
having its distinctive feature and each leader
worthy of more than passing note. It is no wonder
that this is a class meeting church.

192 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Dr. Hugh Johnston, of Baltimore, writes as
follows :
"One of the finest classes in Methodism was
conducted in Toronto, Canada, by the late Wil
liam Gooderham, Esq. It was for business men,
conducted by an eminently successful business
man who was also earnest as a Christian, and
Avho sought from week to week to broaden the out
look and deepen the spiritual life of his fellow-
members. "A very large and successful class meeting has
been conducted in the Queen Street Methodist
Church, Toronto, for more than a quarter of a cen
tury by Dr. W. W. Ogden, on the lines of experi
ence and review of the wonderful life. Dr. Ogden
has an immense practice and is one of the staff of
the Toronto School of Medicine, but he allows
nothing to interfere with the hour of his class.
He makes much of the services, and his members
feel the importance of regular attendance.
"J. McCormack, of Queen's Avenue Church,
London, Ontario, is another successful class leader.
Dropping in upon his class about a year ago I
found an attendance of over seventy, nearly all of
Avhom took some part in the exercises. This class
is highly organized. He has a secretary, uses the
Bible much, appoints members of his class to take
charge from week to week, and develops to the full
the spiritual life of the class meeting.

Great Class Leaders of To-day 193
"One of the most unique and interesting class
meetings in American Methodism is the Strangers'
Class of the Metropolitan Church, Washington,
District of Columbia, led by Mr. T. W. Talmage.
It meets after the Sunday morning service, and
visitors from every part of America and Christians
of all denominations are found in it. Mr. Tal
mage extends a personal invitation to the strangers
that he meets. The church is well furnished with
leaders and a goodly number of classes are found
meeting weekly in that church.
"In First Church, Baltimore, the Veteran's
Class conducted by the saintly Dr. Armstrong has
been meeting continuously since the Lovely Lane
Meeting House was built, something over one hun
dred and thirty years."
Rev. John P. Brushingham, D.D., pastor of the
First Methodist Episcopal Church of Chicago,
gives us an interesting account of one of the lead
ing class leaders of that city:
"John McKay has been in the true sense of the
word a 'pillar' in the church. For the past twenty-
five years he has been a class leader, a steward,
and a Bible class teacher, on the west side of
Chicago. He had not a college education, but he
had a keen intellect, and has found time to read
and study widely. He started out with the idea
that he had nothing but himself to give the church,
and he faithfully gave all. He married his wife
13

194 The Drillmaster of Methodism
because he loved her, and has had nothing to regret.
He has brought up and settled three children who
are an honor to himself and to the church. He has
always given more than his full share to the church
funds. His hands have for many years toiled early
and late in a great iron manufactory, and his face
looks doubly bright and smiling where the iron
dust flies thickest. The great army of fellow-work
men around him know it is a reflected glory from
the face of the carpenter's Son. He has never
known what it is to have a bank account, and
people wonder at his serene faith, but he still keeps
leaning on the strong arm of the living God.
"To describe him as a class leader one might
first tell what he is not. He never grumbles. He
is not a fault finder about the 'state of the church'
and 'what it ought to be.' He has not reached the
conclusion that the sermons are 'too long,' are 'too
plain,' are 'too dry,' or that they do not 'draw.' In
fact he does not exhort at all in his class. Now as
to what he is. He is both an old-fashioned man
and an 'up-to-date' class leader. He is a staff of
strength to every member of his class, from the
pastor to the youngest child. If anyone comes
to his class cast down with doubts he scatters them
to the winds, and after hearing his quiet testimony
such a one will wonder how he could ever have
doubted. "He has conversions in his class. He finds time

Great Class Leaders of To-day 195
to call at the homes of his members. He makes his
class room a trysting place where the 'children of
the King' meet to confess, to shout, to rejoice, and
to go forth strengthened for service. His pastor
knows exactly where he stands, and his words of
good cheer and comfort are like a benediction from
heaven." Mr. J. W. L. Foster, of Toronto, the celebrated
artist, commissioned by the Methodists of Toronto
to paint the portraits of John, Charles, and Su
sanna Wesley, and a prominent class leader, Avrites
to the author concerning Canadian class leaders as
follows :
"For first honor I select the name of Rev. Thomas
W. Jeffrey. He was strong, original, erratic, and
eminently spiritual as a preacher, and equally
unique as a class leader. For the intimate personal
talks of the class room he possessed that rare
psychic gift by which the inner thought of his
classmates was read. He interpreted to the timid
ones their own half expressed feeling; to the dis
couraged wrestler with a nature warped by wrong
habit he laid his finger upon the weakness but gave
the hand and word of encouragement that were as
magic. To thinkers entangled in many questions
he brought the fine understanding of one who had
dealt with the riddles himself — 'had faced the spec
ters of the mind and laid them.' The child and
the aged saint alike felt the gentle wise cheer of

196 The Drillmaster of Methodism
his life; but to the hypocrite he was like Nathan
to David. This was Jeffrey in the street and in the
home, and this was Jeffrey in the class room.
"His frequent habit was, after singing, to ask
Brother A. or Sister B. to pray. Some line of the
hymn or some petition offered would give him a
theme for the meeting, and he would ask the peti
tioner if he had thought it out, or if he were pre
pared for the answer to his request, and some
wholesome counsel about prayer would follow. One
brother used to pray all around the Avorld and,
when out of breath, have a concluding word for
the church at home. He was commended for the
largeness of his heart and was asked a few definite
questions about his fireside prayer with his wife
and his boys. A visitor had given an unctuous
speech with a floral ending, and the leader gave
him a word of hearty welcome, asking at the same
time, tactfully, a few questions about his conver
sion, his business, his daily habit, and present ex
perience, to the effect that the inflation of manner
collapsed as though pricked by a deft hand, and
the true life of the man appeared.
"I don't forget having spoken of an experience
of some years before, and with a twinkle he asked
me where I was yesterday, and if I had had any
special indication of divine nearness and favor
this week. Once I complained that I did not find
for myself the evidence of intimacy with God that

Great Class Leaders of To-day 197
he seemed to have. He said: 'You may not, my
brother.' Then he read text after text showing the
divine interest and intimacy, until the class room
seemed a Bethel, and all confessed it was the gate
way of heaven.
"Mr. Jeffrey did not often expound Scripture
to the class except to illustrate a truth or teach a
lesson as the need was shown in the course of the
class hour. Questions were encouraged and the
hour was all too short for those Avho sat Avith this
man of God. He was indeed one of the 'Drill-
masters of Methodism.' "
Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, formerly pastor of the
Metropolitan Temple, New York city, has kindly
taken time from his vacation to send back from
England the following appreciative testimony con
cerning "A Model Leader :"
"Some years ago the late Rev. Dr. R. W. Dale
gave a memorable address before the Wesleyan
Methodist Conference of Great Britain, held at
Birmingham, England, in which address he, as the
leading Congregationalist divine of his country,
paid an eloquent and weighty tribute to the in
stitution in whose interests Dr. Goodell has asked
me to contribute this brief article.
"At the very time Dr. Dale uttered words every
Christian minister could ponder to advantage, a
model class meeting was being held, and had been
continually sustained for many years, in a humble

198 The Drillmaster of Methodism
mining village forty miles from Birmingham. It
was only one of a hundred such organizations scat
tered through the 'Black Country,' but it was re
nowned for its leader, and through his agency
infinite blessing was bestowed upon the com
munity. "William Owen Avas no ordinary man, but one
'full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.' He excelled
in a remarkable gift of prayer, and often I have
heard him pour forth his sanctified pleadings Avith
such persuasiveness and power as to graciously
subdue and hallow the assembly of the saints
privileged to share in such a priesthood. 'Upon
the godless and the wicked his petitions had a start
ling effect. Fearing God above many, he hesitated
not to call sinners to repentance, and this by invo
cation and supplication which moved the hearts of
men of all kinds.
"He was noted further for a close and accurate
knoAvledge of the Holy Scriptures. They were his
daily delight and his nightly meditation. No man
I have known understood the genius of the book
of God more explicitly than did this saint, this.
Methodist, upon Avhose path there ever shone the
light of another world.
"He chose for the edifying of believers com
mitted to his care not only the broad highAvays of
the Bible, but also the less familiar and unfre
quented paths where truths of rare beauty and heal-

Great Class Leaders of To-day 199
ing virtue are to be found by the seeker. Some
times the fruits of his constant study would leap
forth and fasten upon conscience and will with an
irremovable grip. The stale commonplace medioc
rities of a self -centered introspection, which have
ever been the dire foe of the class meeting, had no
part or place where William Owen led the flock. Out
of the most unpromising of them, the hesitant, the
weak, the sinful, he would evoke new courage and
strength and conscious acceptance with heaven.
And he did these greater miracles because he was
truly learned and deA'out, a lover of souls, a saga
cious and ready interpreter of spiritual necessities.
The last trait of his leadership was his mastery of
the best hymns of the Church, and especially those
which expounded the heights and depths of the
evangelical movement of Avhich universal Metho
dism is the permanent embodiment. Sweetness
and light came into many a bitter lot Avhile these
lyrics fell from his lips. Sometimes I recall a
stanza he was apt to quote, all too neglected now,
and I find my own ministry greatly enriched by the
knowledge he communicated to me in the earlier
days. They are hymns which appeal to the strong
est elements of worship, and they give an ease and
facility to our expressions of the same which are to
be reckoned as a primal force in propagating the
faith, confirming the converts, and building up the
saints.

200 The Drillmaster of Methodism
"When you ask me for hints on a model class
meeting, they personify themselves in this man,
William Owen. He sleeps with God now, buried
in full view of the tomb and the church of John
Fletcher, of Madeley, and hence I speak of him
with freedom. Some will say, Could he succeed in
modern, in American religious conditions ? I un
hesitatingly answer, he could have succeeded any-
Avhere. He was a spiritual expert, and adapta
bility Avas at his right hand. He loved those for
Avhom he labored.
"Upon these generic lines, successful classes can
be maintained. One of them, knowledge of the
Holy Scriptures, read in the illumination of the
Divine Spirit, is sufficient to sustain interest and
afford profit. Two of them, made by the addition
of the coveted gift of prayer, are secure; and the
three are a cord that cannot be broken. If pastors
have such men, or having them not, will train them,
it seems beyond cavil to me that the class meeting
can be, and surely it ought to be, the glory of
Methodism and of the Church catholic. Its con
scious or unconscious imitators have not improved
upon the original. They sometimes lose the sense
of individual responsibility by slipping behind the
mass. And their general tone is not equal to the
magnificent discipline of the classes I recall even
not farther back than twenty years ago.
"Since the work of the lay preacher seems to be

Great Class Leaders of To-day 201
thwarted in American Methodism, Avhy not keep
alive the fervor and democracy of the Church by
sending chosen laborers into the harvest by means
of this time-honored and most beneficial establish
ment."

202 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XXVII
Queen Victoria at a Methodist Class
Meeting.
The Methodist Times, of London, under date
of February 23, prints this very interesting story
concerning the presence of the queen at a Metho
dist class meeting :
"Speaking at the anniversary of Lambeth Mis
sion on Monday evening, Mr. J. A. Bowron, of
Blackheath, related a remarkable incident, which,
he said, had never been told in public before.
'Many years ago,' said he, 'my father conducted
a large society class at Sloane Terrace Chapel, v
Chelsea, and at one time one of the members of
that class was a female servant at Buckingham
Palace. This servant, hoAvever, came in for much
persecution and ridicule on account of her Metho
dism and her regular attendance at class. It be
came so acute at length that some of the other serv
ants threatened to leave if the Methodist servant
remained, and the matter in some manner reached
the ears of her majesty, Avho immediately inquired
into it, and on being informed of the cause of the
dissatisfaction, said, "I will go to the meeting my
self and see if it is a fit place for a servant to go

Queen Victoria at a Class Meeting 203
to." And,' continued Mr. Bowron, 'her majesty
came to my father's class, and on her return to the
palace said to the persecuted Methodist servant,
"Never forget your class meeting. I only wish
that other servants Avould go also." ' "
Our Christian Advocate makes the following
comment :
"It is to be regretted that some more particulars
are not given, such as the date and -other circum
stances. If human nature was then what it is now,
the presence of so great a personage — unless she
went incognito — must have made a great change in
the class. If indeed it was a true Wesleyan class,
it must have given her majesty a vieAV of the nature
of the Methodist movement which she could never
have obtained through the testimony of others."
The point which is especially worthy of notice
is that Queen Victoria was sufficiently interested
in the matter to make a personal investigation.
That which convinced her we are certain would
satisfy any honest investigator. A mistaken no
tion widely prevails that the class meeting is only
for those who enjoy the subjective and the emo
tional in religion; that wide and accurate knowl
edge and broad training are incompatible with de
votion to the class meeting. We answer, it all
depends upon the class meeting. With the most of
those with which we are acquainted the deeper
one's knowledge of truth in any form the greater

204 The Drillmaster of Methodism
will be the enjoyment. The shalloAv religiously
and the thoughtless are most ready with flippant
criticism. "Ben Karshook's Wisdom" may seem
severe, but Browning taught a lesson which is not
without its force in our time, and which some
critics of the class may well ponder.
"Quoth a young Sadducee,
Reader of many rolls,
'Is it so certain we
Have, as they tell us, souls?'
"'Son, there is no reply!'
The rabbi bit his beard.
'Certain a soul have I;
We may have none,' he sneered.
"Thus Karshook, the Hiram's-Hammer,
The Right-hand Temple-column,
Taught babes in grace their grammar,
And struck the simple solemn."
If any who have criticised the class will follow the
example of Queen Victoria we shall be quite ready
to abide their verdict.

Bible Chapters for the Leader 205

XXVIII
Bible Chapters for the Leader
The class leader should know where to find the
following :
The Lord's Prayer. Matt. vi.
The Commandments. Exod. xx.
The Beatitudes. Matt. v.
Paul's Conversion. Acts ix.
Christ's Great Prayer. John xvii.
The Prodigal Son. Luke xv.
The Ten Virgins. Matt. xxv.
Parable of the Talents. Matt. xxv.
Abiding Chapter. John xv.
Resurrection Chapter. 1 Cor. xv.
Shepherd Chapter. John x.
The Comforter. John xiv.
Love Chapter. 1 Cor. xiii.
Tongue Chapter. James iii.
Armor Chapter. Eph. vi.
Paul's Prayer. Eph. iii, 14-21.
Traveler's Psalm. Psa. cxxi.
Bible Study Psalm. Psa. cxix.
Greatest Verse. John iii, 16.
Greatest Invitation. Rev. xxii, 17 ; Isa. Iv, 1.
Rest Verse. Matt, xi, 28.
Consecration Verse. Rom. xii, 1.

206 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Worker's Verse. 2 Tim. ii, 15.
Another Worker's Verse. Psa. cxxvi, 6.
How to be Saved. Acts xvi, 31.
Should I Confess Christ. Rom. x, 9.
Teacher's Verse. Dan. xii, 3.
The Great Commission. Mark xvi, 15.
Christ's Last Command. Acts i, 8.
choice chapters
The story of Joseph. Gen. xxxi-1.
The Ten Commandments. Exod. xx.
Psalms i, xix, xxiii, xxxiv, xxxvii, li, ciii, cxvi,
cxxxix, cxlv.
The cross. Isa. liii.
The sermon on the mount. Matt, v-vii.
The judgment. Matt. xxv.
The birth of Christ. Luke i, ii.
The prodigal son. Luke xv.
The rich man and Lazarus. Luke xvi.
The new birth. John iii.
The Avater of life. John iv.
The bread of life. John vi.
The good shepherd. John x.
The resurrection of Lazarus. John xi.
The great revival. Acts ii.
The Gospel in a chariot. Acts viii.
The jailer in Lydia. Acts xvi.
God's love to us. Rom. v.
The greatest thing in the world. 1 Cor. xiii.

A Year's Topics 207

XXIX
A Year's Topics
We have already indicated many topics which
the leader may present with propriety and profit.
The following are noted as suggestive of the variety
which should mark the themes presented and as
offering a cumulative series covering the ground
of Christian doctrine, practice, and experience.
All references to Christmas, Easter, etc., are pur
posely .omitted.
1. The Sinfulness of Sin. Neither guilt nor
righteousness can be transmitted (Deut. xxiv, 16;
Ezek. xviii, 20). Sin is personal demerit (1 John
v, 17). Its results are certain (Eph. ii, 1, 5;
Rom. vi, 23).
2. How to Become Sons of God (John i, 12 ;
iii, 3-8; Rom. viii, 14-16; Gal. iii, 26; iv, 5;
Rom. viii, 17; 1 John iii, 1-3). The sand under
your feet has turned to rock. You have a strong
and sure present standing place. Now you can
say, "I am a son of God." — Phillips Brooks.
3. The Bible is the Word of God. Ten reasons
to prove it: (1) The testimony of Jesus. (2) Its
fulfilled prophecies. (3) Its unity. (4) Its
superiority to any other book. (5) Its soundness

208 The Drillmaster of Methodism
of doctrine. (6) Who accept and avIio reject it.
(7) Its influence in uplifting men. (8) It is inex
haustible in its riches. (9) The better Ave are the
more it is to us. (10) It has proven itself inde
structible. — Ellis.
4. Confessing Christ (Rom. x, 10). Confes
sion must follow believing. Neglecting to confess,
we lose the witness of our acceptance. Christ con
fesses those who confess him. Our confession leads
others to him.
5. Bible Prescriptions for Human Ills.
If you are "down with the blues," read the
twenty-seventh Psalm.
If there is a chilly sensation about the heart,
read the third chapter of Revelation.
If you do not know where to look for the month's
rent, read the thirty-seventh Psalm.
If you feel lonesome and unprotected, read the
ninety-first Psalm.
If you find yourself losing confidence in man,
read the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians.
If people pelt you with hard words, read the
fifteenth chapter of John.
If you get discouraged about your work, read
the one hundred and twenty-seventh Psalm, and
Gal. vi, 7-9.
If you are all out of sorts, read the twelfth
chapter of Hebrews. — Ellis.
6. What It Costs Not to Be a Christian (Heb.

A Year's Topics 209
xi, 6; 1 Pet. i, 18; Mark viii, 36). The loss of
abiding peace; the satisfaction of the soul-life;
the companionship of holy thoughts ; the promises
of God ; the hope of heaven.
7. Family Devotions. Set up a family altar,
no matter how busy. "Prayer and provender hin
der no man in his journey." — Luther. It is better
to ask guidance in the morning than to ask forgive
ness at night. Begin the day with prayer. Teach
your children by example to seek first the kingdom
of God. Have every member of the household
present. Do not read a Psalm because it is short,
nor repeat the Lord's Prayer to save time. The
great need of our time is Christian life in the
family. Urge it.
8. How We Got Our English Bible.
Read the prefaces of the Revised Old and New
Testaments. Refer to cyclopedias under the titles
Bible Versions, Luther, Reformation, Wyclif,
Tyndaie, Coverdale, Great Bible, Geneva Bible,
Bishops' Bible, Douai Bible, Authorized Version,
Revised Version.
9. Faith. What we gain by it. Never thirst
(John vi, 35). Live (Rom. i, 17). Courage
(2 Cor. iv, 13). Joy (Phil, i, 25). Overcome
(Heb. xi, 33). Holy Spirit (John vii, 39). Stand
(2 Cor. viii, 7). Good report and final triumph
(Heb. xi). Faith is the soul of conduct; faith is
the bloom, the breath, the vital power of religion ;
14

210 The Drillmaster of Methodism
without it virtue is the alabaster box, empty ; faith
is the precious ointment whose fragrance fills the
house. — Van Dyke.
10. A Night with the Question Box. Give the
members a chance to drop into a box, as they pass
out, a paper bearing any question they would like
to have the leader answer at the next meeting. It
will give variety and furnish opportunity for some
impersonal advice which will be very profitable.
11. Prayer. A Bible reading. The model
prayer (Matt, vi, 9-13). Perseverance in prayer
(Luke xviii, 1-8). Prayer and working (John
xiv, 8-14). Bible study and prayer (John xv,
1-7). Obedience and prayer (John xv, 5-8;
James v, 16). In His name (John xiv, 12-14;
xv, 16; xvi, 23-27). Prayer and the will of God
(Mark xiv, 32-37; 1 John v, 13-15). A life of
prayer (1 Thess. v, 16-18; 1 Tim. ii, 1-4).
12. The Christian Walk. In newness of life
(Rom. vi, 4). By faith (2 Cor. v, 6). In good
works (Eph. ii, 10). In love (Eph. v, 2). In
Christ (Col. ii, 6). Worthy of God (1 Thess. ii,
12). As Christ walked (1 John ii, 6). Worthy
of vocation (Eph. iv, 1). In the Spirit (Gal.
v, 16). In wisdom (Col. iv, 5). In the light
(1 John i, 7).
13. So-called Little Sins. "An egg before an
eagle, a thought before a thing." "A little time
may be enough to hatch great mischief." What we

A Year's Topics 211
call little things are merely the causes of great
things. One single black speck may be the begin
ning of a gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution. —
Amiel. "Trifles are trifles only to triflers. Awake
to the significance of the insignificant."
14. Difficulties in Coming to Christ. There is
too much to give up (Mark vii, 26 ; Rom. viii, 32 ;
Luke xii, 16-21). Christians are not consistent
(Rom. xiv, 12; ii, 1-5; Matt, vii, 1-5). I have
tried before and failed (Isa. xl, 29-31 ; Psa. cxix,
11; 1 John v, 4).
15. Keeping Out of Temptation (Psa. i ; Prov.
iv, 14; ii, 20). It is useless to pray God to
keep you in safety when you willfully walk into
paths of danger. "How near could you drive to
this cliff ?" asked a lady of a coachman. "Within
five feet," was the answer. "How near could
you ?" she asked of the next. "Within two feet, if
the ground is solid." "Could you go nearer ?" she
asked of the third. "Madam," he answered, "if I
were driving your carriage I should keep as far
away from the cliff as possible." Do thou likewise.
"The path of the wicked is dark, slippery, hard
and thorny, crooked, lonely, dangerous, mean."
16. Be Patient (James v, 7-11). Men of pa
tience: Jesus (Isa. liii, 7-11); Abraham (Heb.
vi, 15) ; John (Rev. i, 9) ; Paul (2 Tim. iii, 10).
When to be patient (Prov. ix, 11 ; Gal. vi, 9 ; Rom.
v, 3, 4; xii, 12; Prov. xiv, 29; xv, 1; xvi, 32).

212 The Drillmaster of Methodism
17. The Thought that Helped. As each one
comes into the room let him lay upon the desk a
paper containing the quotation, poem, prayer, or
text that has specially helped him this week. Com
ment upon these. You will also learn how wisely
your class read.
18. Church Attendance. Without church at
tendance all the purposes of the church fail. No
church, no Sabbath; no Sabbath, no safety —
anarchy, revolution, ruin.- Church attendance is
not primarily to hear, but to worship; therefore
do not neglect the church, whoever may be the
preacher. An intelligent and spiritual observance
of the Sabbath quickens every moral sense. Asso
ciation with God's people is God's command
(2 Kings xvii, 36 ; 1 Chron. xvi, 29 ; Psa. xxix ; xcv,
6; xcix, 5).
19. Confessing our Sins (1 John i, 9). Unless
we realize our sins enough to call them by name it
is hardly worth while to say anything about them
at all. When we pray for forgiveness let us say
"my temper," or "untruthfulness," or "pride,"
"my selfishness, cowardice, indolence, jealousy,
revenge, impurity." To recognize our sins we
must look them in the face and call them by their
right names, however hard. Honesty in confes
sion calls for definiteness in confession. — M. D.
Babcock. 20. Christian Conversation. Some examples:

A Year's Topics 213
Jesus with Nicodemus (John iii) ; with the woman
of Samaria (John iv, 7-27) ; on the way to Em-
maus (Luke xxiv, 13). Peter with Cornelius
(Acts x, 27). Festus and Agrippa (Acts xxvi,
31; Col. iv, 6).
21. Falsehoods in Act and Word. Sin has many
tools, but a lie is a handle that fits them all. —
0. W. Holmes.
Sincerity, I think, is better than grace. — Car
lyle. "Dare to be true; nothing can need a lie;
A fault which needs it most grows two thereby."
22. Jesus Only. After the celebrated painter
Da Vinci had completed his immortal painting of
the Last Supper, a friend came in to inspect it.
"That goblet is wonderful," said the friend; "it
stands out like solid silver." The great artist drew
his brush across the goblet, and exclaimed, "Noth
ing shall draw the eye of the beholder from my
Lord." 23. A Night with the Psalms. The Blessed
Psalm, i. Messiah Psalms, xxii, xxiii, xxiv.
Tonic Psalm, xxvii. Assurance Psalm, xxxvii.
The "New" Psalm, xl. Faith's Psalm, xlvi. The
Saddest Psalm, lxxxviii. Safety Psalm, xci.
Traveler's Psalm, cxxi. Soul Winner's Psalm,
cxxvi. Psalms of Praise, cxlv-cl.
24. The Uses of Affliction. "Where grows the
golden grain ? Where faith ? Where sympathy ?

214 The Drillmaster of Methodism
In a furrow cut by pain." "Have you never had
any clouds?" said a preacher to an old lady.
"Clouds!" answered the old saint, "Why, yes.
Where else would the blessed showers come from ?"
"Many a promise is written in sympathetic ink,
which cannot be read until the fire of trouble
brings out the characters."
25. Meditation. Think of good things. As a
man thinketh in his heart, so he is (Psa. i, 2 ; xix,
14 ; lxxvii, 12 ; cvii, 43 ; cxix, 97 ; Josh, i, 8 ; Psa.
v, 4; Prov. iv, 26; 1 Tim. iv, 15).
26. Little Worries. Christ saves from them
(1 Pet. v, 7). Moses worried (Exod. iv, 10, 11).
Elijah worried (1 Kings xix, 13-18). The widow
worried (1 Kings xvii, 10-16). Paul did not
worry (2 Cor. iv, 16, 17). A cure for worry
(1 Sam. xxx, 6). Our little worries; what are
they ? How can Ave get rid of them ? (Psa. cxxi,
1-8 ; John xiv, 1). — Gospel Seed.
27. The Witness of the Spirit (Rom. viii, 16;
1 Cor. ii, 11, 12). The mighty Avork of God which
brings about the release from sin and the newness
of life carries along with it its OAvn proper and
peculiar assurance to the human self-consciousness
(John xv, 26; xvi, 13; Rom. xv, 16). — Terry.
28. Missions and Money. Over a thousand
churches in each of the twelve leading denomina
tions gave nothing last year for missions. The
women of America spend more for kid gloves than

A Year's Topics 215
the Church spends for missions. The average gift
of each church member is forty cents a year. Ten
cents Avill preach the Gospel a day through native
lips. A dollar will keep a boy in a mission day
school for a year (Matt, ix, 36-38). — Epworth
Herald. 29. Some Ancient Heretics. Read the story of
Tauler and the Mystics. Curious it is to observe
how these common-sense philosophers, men who
brag chiefly of their irrefragable logic and keep
watch and ward, as if this were their special trade,
against mysticism and visionary theories, are them
selves obliged to base their whole system on mysti
cism and a theory — on faith, in short, and that of
a very comprehensive kind; the faith, namely,
either that man's senses are themselves divine or
that they afford not only an honest but a literal
representation of the workings of some divinity.
30. Growing in Grace (2 Pet. i, 5-8). A good
man is one who is growing better. "A man's
reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven
for?" "O that I may grow!
What though time cuts its furrows in my face,
My heart may ever add grace unto grace,
Graces with added days keep pace.
O that I may grow."
31. Possession Better than Profession. An old
Scotch minister proposed to keep back from the

216 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Lord's table a young Avonian Avhose knowledge he
found grievously neglected. Rising to go, she
burst into tears. "It's true, sir, I canna' speak
for Him, but I think I could die for Him." She
was admitted.
32. A Christian's Experience — Told by the
Book. What I was and what I am.
I once resided with 2 Tim. iii, 4, and walked in
Eph. ii, 2, and conversed in Eph. ii, 3.
I heard one day that an inheritance had been
purchased for me in 1 Pet. i, 4, by One residing in
Heb. iv, 14, having paid an extraordinary price.
I called at 2 Tim. iii, 16, as my own prospects
at Eph. ii, 2 were as bad as could be, and found a
house at 2 Cor. v, 1.
The invitations to it put up by Isa. Iv, 1, and
John vii, 37, are especially attractive to the poor
and needy.
At last I saw the only door at John x, 9,
My address will be 2 Cor. v, 1 ; but if you call
any day at Heb. iv, 16, you will meet me and
others. If you would call, attend to what the
servant says at Luke xiv, 22. — Gospel Seed.
33. The Tongue (James iii, 2-10). Of all
gossiping, religious gossiping is the worst; it adds
hypocrisy to uncharitableness and effectually does
the work of the devil in the name of the Lord. The
leaders in every society may do much toward driv
ing it from among the Methodists ; let him in the

A Year's Topics 217
band or class observe : 1. Now we are to talk of no
absent person, but simply of God and our own
souls. 2. The rule of our conversation here is to
be the rule of all our conversation. — John Wes
ley. A sure cure for gossip and slander is to
breathe through your nose — keep your mouth shut.
Be good enough to the air, good enough to people,
to let all wickedness and malice remain inside of
you. Germs of love, bacilli of brotherliness, will
eat them up and you will be strong and beautiful
and beloved. — Babcock.
34. Temperance. Need of temperance (1 Cor.
ix, 25; Titus i, 8; ii, 2; Prov. xxi, 21; xxx, 4;
Isa. xxviii, 1, 3, 7). Woes of drink (Prov. xxiii,
29-35). No stone should be left unturned to
counteract the great curse of intemperance. — Dean Stanley.
"Drink first dims, then darkens, then deadens,
then damns."
"Don't let the public house live on your private
house." "Some drink healths until they drink away their
own health."
35. Saved for Service. Get each member of
the class to state what difficult personal work they
are doing for Christ. If nothing specific is being
done, get each to take up something at once. Im
press each with the fact that he was saved that he
might serve and bless others.

218 The Drillmaster of Methodism
36. A "Want" Meeting. "Ask and ye shall
receive." If your request for one thing could be
granted, for what would you ask ? Money ? Busi
ness success ? Knowledge ? Health ? None of
these are absolutely necessary to happiness or suc
cess. What is necessary ? Do you want it ? Of
what that God has offered do you feel most in
need? 37. The Sacrifice of Christ. Redeems (1 Pet.
i, 18). Procures forgiveness (Eph. i, 7). Brings
peace (Col. i, 20). Cleansing (1 John i, 7). Jus
tifies (Rom. v, 9). Sanctifies (Heb. xiii, 12).
Overcomes (Rev. xii, 11). Gives access (Heb.
x, 19).
38. Amusements. Are you for having as much
cheerfulness as you can? So am I. Do you en
deavor to keep alive your taste for all the truly
innocent pleasures of life ? So do I likewise. Do
you refuse no pleasure but what is a hindrance to
some greater good or has a tendency to some evil ?
It is my very rule, and I know no other by which
a sincere, serviceable Christian can be guided.
— John Wesley.
39. Obedience. Men say that when they know
they will do; Jesus says that when they do they
will know. He does not promise to manifest him
self to the man who dreams or debates, but to him
who keeps his commandments. The seeds of truth
sprout in the soil of obedience. The words of Jesus

A Year's Topics 219
in the mind of a disobedient man are no more vital
than wheat in the wrappings of a mummy. To
know the divinity of Jesus's teaching we must do
his will with definite intention. Moral disobedi
ence is mental darkness, but to submit our will in
loyalty to his law is to open our minds to the light
of his truth. God accepts obedience without emo
tion, but cannot accept emotion Avithout obedience.
— Babcock.
Dictate no terms to Providence. At what
ever cost, accept the service offered you, high
or low, far or near, then burn to the socket.
— Hitchcock.
40. Philip Findeth Nathanael. Winning others
to Christ. It was a great day for the Church when
Andrew said to Simon Peter his brother, "We
have found the Messiah," and brought him to
Jesus. Personal solicitude has been one of the
greatest factors in building up the Church. In the
life of almost every great man it will be discoA^ered
that his greatness was largely due to the faithful
warning or the noble example of some humble
disciple whose soul possibly outranked in devotion
to Christ that of their more gifted fellow. Bishop
Newman used to say that it was the call of a
friend, "God wants you," thrice repeated that led
him to Christ.
41. The Hymns of Charles Wesley. Look for
them in the Hymnal. Get Nutter's Hymn Studies

220 The Drillmaster of Methodism
if possible. If not, take each hymn and find the
Scripture upon Avhich each line is based. Thus
the text for "Jesus, Lover of my soul" would be,
"Who loved me and gave himself for me !" Give
a sketch of Wesley.
42. Enduring Injuries. We are constantly
liable to ill treatment. Much we bring on our
selves; much may be undeserved. We are apt to
retaliate, not only when great wrong is done us, but
in the trifling events of daily life. Totally differ
ent was the conduct of Jesus. Throughout his life
he Avas despised and rejected of men, yet he went
about doing good. — Newman Hall. (1 Pet. ii,
18-25; Col. iii, 12-14; 1 Pet. iii, 9; Eph. iv,
31, 32.)
43. Good Company. Associate with men of
good judgment. Bad company is the devil's net.
You are known by the company you keep. Seek
for companions those who will instruct and inspire
you. The best of a college course is the men you
meet ; they will influence you when you have for
gotten the teaching of the books. If you go with
those who do not love your Christ you must soon
leave them or him (Prov. i, 10; ii, 12; xiv, 14;
xii, 11; Rom. i, 32; 1 Cor. v, 9; xv, 33; Eph.
v,7y. 44. Goodness and Usefulness. Goodness condi
tions usefulness. A' grimy hand may do a gracious
deed, but a bad heart cannot. What a man says

A Year's Topics 221
and what a man is must stand together, must con
sist. His life can ruin his lips, or fill them with
power. It is what men see that gives value to what
we say. Paul had the right order: "Take heed
unto thyself and unto the doctrine." Being comes
before saying or doing. Well may we say, "Search
me, O God. Reveal me to myself. Cleanse me
from secret faults, that those who are acquainted
with me, who know my downsittings and uprisings,
may not see in me the evil way that giveth the lie
to my words." — Babcock.
45. The Duty for To-day. Take time by the
forelock. By losing present time we lose all time.
"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any
good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kind
ness that I can show to my fellow-creatures, let me
do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I
shall not pass this way again." "Work when you
have your tools; the hour cometh when you may
not have them."
46. The Holy Spirit. Wisdom (Exod. xxviii,
3). Understanding (Isa. xi, 2). Truth (John
xiv, 17). Adoption (Rom. viii, 15). Grace (Zech.
xii, 10). Power, love, and grace (Heb. x, 29;
2 Thess. ii, 13; 1 Pet. i, 2).
47. The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax
(Matt, xii, 20). God's providences are arranged
to support the weak, and not to crush them. His
breath will fan the feeble light until it breaks into

222 The Drillmaster of Methodism
a flame. He is not anxious to mark our transgres
sions, but he loves us like a father. Keep good
heart. The God of the sparrow and the lily, of
the bruised reed and smoking flax, is your Father.
48. The Lord's Supper (1 Cor. xi, 23-32). Cup
of salvation (Matt, xxvii, 27, 28). Cup of blessing
(1 Cor. x, 16). Cup of thanksgiving (Luke xxii,
17). Cup of communion (Matt, xxvi, 27; Mark
xiv, 23). Cup of testimony (1 Cor. xi, 26). Cup
of expectation (Matt, xxvi, 29).
49. Holiness (Rom. vi, 19; 1 Pet. ii, 11;
1 Thess. iv, 3-7 ; ii, 10 ; 2 Cor. vii, 1 ; Eph. iv, 24 ;
i, 4). All these scriptures imply a thorough
cleansing from the old, sinful life and the attain
ment of a state of personal purity. A holy life is
impossible apart from a righteous life, and it is
important that our conception of righteousness be
accurate and exalted.— -Terry.
50. The Heavenly Home. A beautiful place.
A safe place. A happy place. A permanent place.
The home of childhood, of all the holy and the
pure. The land of health and joy, of plenty and
peace. That our heavenly home will satisfy our
fullest social longings we cannot doubt. No one
need to complain of lack of good society there. Old
Dr. Emmons is not the only Christian who has fed
his hopes of " a good talk with the apostle Paul."
Dr. Guthrie is not the only parent who has felt
assured that "his little Johnnie would meet him

A Year's Topics 223
inside the gate." Many a pastor expects to find his
converted flock as a "crown of rejoicing to him in
that day." — Cuyler.
51. Eternal Life (John iii, 15; i, 4; vi, 54;
xvii, 3 ; Col. iii, 10 ; 1 Tim. vi, 12). Eternal life,
then, is to be understood primarily of the pure,
free, permanent, and ever-increasing spiritual life
of Christlikeness. It is a present possession and
glorious reality to the believer. The life in Christ
is eternal in that it endures in eternal permanence.
— Terry. It also indicates an entrance into the
joy and glory of the King himself.
52. What is a Class Meeting ? The Christian's
opportunity to help his brother by telling how God
has helped him.
(1) It is a school where all come to learn.
(2) It makes people think.
(3) It spreads knowledge.
(4) It leads to prayer.
(5) It develops spiritual strength.
(6) It develops Christian brotherhood, and
gives us a special interest in others.
(7) It is a great social leveler.
(8) It is a church builder, because it develops
a working agency.
(9) It is a complete system of church shepherd
ing. (10) It is the church's barometer.

224 The Drillmaster of Methodism
(11) It is what the heating apparatus is to a
building. (12) It is a spiritual gymnasium.
(13) It is an experimental station in the Chris
tian life.
(14) It is a tower of observation for the pastor.
(15) Here spiritual travelers compare notes and
gain information concerning the way they are
going. We go to class meeting —
For a reverent talk about Christ.
For a self-forgetting talk with Christ.
For an honest talk about how we may do our
best work for Christ.
Serious members love it.
Indifferent members need it.
These three factors will always start an experi
ence.— Exchange.
To present these topics well, remember Dr.
Guthrie's advice: "Prove, that is, appeal to the
Reason. Paint, that is, appeal to the Imagination.
Persuade, that is, appeal to the Affections."
The leader should try to be "Conciliatory, but
not servile ; winning, but not fawning ; timely, but
not time-serving; simple, but not commonplace;
interesting, but not sensational; positive, but not
dogmatic ; tender and affectionate, but not lachry
mose and sentimental; orderly, but not mechan
ical. Workers, note this. Spiritual plowman,

A Year's Topics 225
sharpen thy plowshare with the Spirit ! Spiritual
sower, steep thy seed in prayer ; so shall it germi
nate. Spiritual warrior, whet thy sword with the
Spirit, and ask the Spirit whose word is a sword
indeed to strengthen thine arm to wield it." — Ellis.
15

226 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XXX
Great Thoughts for Closet and Class
He who climbs above the cares of this world and
turns his face to his God has found the sunny side
of life. — C. H. Spurgeon.
Faith is the grave of care. — Krummacher.
Those must needs be well kept that have the
Lord for their keeper. — Matthew Henry.
God is not a workman that will need to be
ashamed. He hath called together a goodly com
pany of the nobility of heaven to look on while he
brings a holy creature oiit of your unholy nature.
Will he lay down his implements and say, "I mis
calculated" ? — George Bowen.
O God, who alone canst transform the nature of
man, change the ingenuity whereAvith I invent
Avorries into a skill at discovering joys. Make
strong my memory for pleasure and weaken it for
pain. Give me a genius for gratitude. —A. R. Wells. '
Is there anything that pleases you more than to
be trusted — to have even a little child look up into
your face and put out its hand to meet yours and
come to you confidingly? By so much as God is

Thoughts foe Closet and Class 227
better than you, by so much more does he love to
be trusted. — Henry Van Dyke.
We must know before we can love. In order to
know God we must often think of him. — Lawrence.
It is the deliberate verdict of the Lord Jesus
that it is better not to live than not to love.
— Henry Drummond.
If at the last judgment God should accuse me of
being too stern and pitiless, I should have nothing
to answer him ; but if he should charge me Avith too
great leniency and pity, I can always say I have
learnt mercy of him whose mercies are infinite.
— Bernard of Asti.
Judge thyself with a judgment of sincerity and
thou wilt judge others with a judgment of charity.
— John Mason.
Epictetus says, "Everything hath two handles."
The art of taking things by the better side, Avhich
charity always doeth, would save much of those
janglings and heart burnings that so abound in the
world. — Robert Leighton.
Without a friend thou canst not well live : and if
Jesus be not above all friends to thee thou shalt
be indeed sad and desolate. — Thomas a Kempis
(quoted in Closet and Altar).
Home Sundays, when the peace of God abides
in loving hearts, are nearer heaven than anything
else earth can show. — Closet and Altar.

228 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Pray and read, and read and pray, for a little
from God is better than a great deal from men.
— John Bunyan.
Pray ye ; go ye ; bring ye — a call to supplication,
service, sacrifice. — L. D. Wishard.
If any work is really God's giving, and he puts it
either into our hearts to devise or into the power of
our hands to do, no fear but he will also provide
stuff sufficient, whether metal or mental.
— F. R. Havergal.
Man is more blessed or less blessed in the same
measure that he is aware of the presence of God.
— Tauler.
Many indeed think of being happy with God in
heaven, but the being happy with God on earth
never enters their thoughts. — John Wesley.
A man could not become happy by making him
self anything, but he may by letting God make
him something. — Charles Kingsley.
The kingdom of heaven is not come even when
God's will is our law ; it is come when God's will is
our will. — George MacDonald.
Our Lord God doeth like a printer, Avho setteth
the letters backward ; we see and feel well his set
ting, but we shall read the print yonder in the life
to come. — Martin Luther.
The world sees the crosses of Christians but not
their anointings. — St. Bernard.

Thoughts for Closet and Class 229
God has made us to feel, that we may go on to
act. If then we allow our feelings to be excited
Avithout acting from them we do mischief to the
moral system within us. — J. H. Newman.
Some people do not like to hear much of repent
ance ; but I think it is so necessary that if I should
die in the pulpit I would desire to die preaching
repentance, and if out of the pulpit I would desire
to die practicing it. — Matthew Henry.
Love is the only atmosphere in which God can
reveal himself. Love alone has eyes to see God,
and ears to hear him. "He that loveth not, knoAV-
eth not God, for God is love." — Mark Guy Pearse.
It is a deep true thought which the old masters
had when they drew John as likest to his Lord.
Love makes us like. — Alexander Maclaren.
Christ's incarnation was a girding himself to
go after his lost sheep. — Trench.
Has the water of life become a well within you ?
Is it living water — a ceaseless, stainless spring?
Does it nourish thy soul and its overflowing make
the world to rejoice ? Then know that living water
is Christ within thee — it is eternal life already be
gun. — Goodell.
I should be sorely afraid to live my life without
God's presence ; but to feel that he is by my side
now just as much as you are, that is the very joy
of my heart. — Alfred Tennyson.

230 The Drillmaster of Methodism
With God go even over the sea ; without him not
over the threshold. — Russian Proverb.
Thou hast lighted my soul, make me more happy
in giving light to others than in receiving it unto
myself. — Bishop Hall.
"The life of Christianity," said Luther, "con
sists in possessive pronouns. It is one thing to say
Christ is a saviour, it is quite another thing to say
he is my Saviour and my Lord." — J. C. Ryle.
Do not let the good things of life rob you of the
best things. Goodness outranks goods. A bursting
barn and a godless heart proclaim a fool without
hope. Life is more than meat and the body than
raiment, and a soul outweighs the world. So char
acter must come before comforts and God before
bread. — Maltbie D. Babcock.
There is more cause for joy than for complaint
in the hard and disagreeable circumstances of life.
BroAvning said, "I count life just a stuff to try the
soul's strength on." Spell the word discipline
with a final g — "discipling." We are here to
learn Time's lesson for Eternity's business. — Babcock.
Would to God that all the party names and un-
scriptural phrases and forms AA'hich have divided
the Christian Avorld were forgot, and that Ave might
all agree to sit doAvn together as humble loving dis
ciples at the feet of one common Master, to hear

Thoughts for Closet and Class 231
his word, to imbibe his Spirit, and to transcribe his
life in our own. — John Wesley.
GiA'e me solid and substantial religion; give me
an humble, gentle lover of God and man; a man
full of mercy and good fruits without partiality
and without hypocrisy; a man laying himself out
in his work of faith, the patience of hope, the labor
of love. Let my soul be with these Christians
wheresoever they are and whatsoever opinion they
are of. — John Wesley, Advice to the People called
Methodists.

232 The Drillmaster of Methodism

XXXI
The Testimony of Great Men
CHRIST
In all my study of the ancient times I have
always felt the want of something, and it was not
until I knew my Lord that all was clear to me.
With him there is nothing that I am not able to
solve. — Johann v. Mutter.
I know men, and Jesus Christ is not a man.
Superficial minds see a resemblance between
Christ and the founder of empires and the gods
of other religions ; that resemblance does not exist.
There is between Christ and all other religions
whatsoever a distance of infinity from the first day
to the last. He is the same, always the same,
majestic and simple, infinitely firm and infinitely
gentle. — Napoleon.
The best of men
That ere wore earth about him, was a sufferer ;
A soft, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit ;
The first true gentleman that ever breathed. — Decker.
To deny divinity to Christ is to relegate all
divinity whatsoever to a far-off shadowy realm of

Testimony of Great Men 233
metaphysical inquiry. If the flesh and blood of
the man whose meat it was to do the will of God
be not divine, then the days of faith in a living
God are numbered, and the feet of the agnostic are
at the door to carry out the corpse. — W. D. Hyde.
All that I think, all that I hope, all that I write,
all that I live for, are based upon the divinity of
Jesus Christ, the central joy of my poor wayward
heart. — Gladstone.
The wildest dreams of her rabbis has been far
exhausted ; has not Jesus Christ conquered Europe
and changed its name to Christendom. All coun
tries that refuse the cross, wilt ; and the time will
come when the countless myriads of America and
Australia will find music in the songs of Zion and
solace in the parable of Galilee. — E. D'Israeli.
Look on our divinest symbol, on Jesus of Naza
reth, and his life and biography, and what follows
therefrom. Higher has the human thought not yet
reached. — Carlyle.
Nothing will do except righteousness, and no
other conception of righteousness will do except
Christ's conception of it. — Matthew Arnold.
I would rather have one smile from Christ than
to have the acclamations of the world. — Beecher.
My belief embraces the divinity of Christ and a
recognition of Christianity as the mightiest factor
in the world's civilization. — William McKinley.

234 The Drillmaster of Methodism
The history of the life of Christ as concerning
him should be the holiest among the mighty and
the mightiest among the holy — life that has burst
new empires off their hinges and turned the stream
of centuries out of its channel and still governs
the ages. — Richter. THE BIBLE
All that I have taught of art, everything that I
have written, whatever greatness there has been in
any thought of mine, whatever I have done in my
life, has simply been due to the fact that Avhen I
was a child my mother daily read with me a part
of the Bible, and daily made me learn part of it by
heart. — Ruskin.
I Avant to know one thing, the way to heaven,
how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself
has condescended to teach the way, he has Avritten
it down in a book. O, give me that book, give me
the book of God. I have it. Here is knowledge
enough for me. Let me be a man of one book.
— Wesley.
To the covenants of this book we are indebted
for all the progress made in true civilization, and
to this we must look as our guide in the future.
— Ulysses S. Grant.
I have for many years made it a practice to read
through the Bible once a year. It is an invaluable
and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue.
— John Quincy Adams.

Testimony of Great Men 235
From the time that at my mother's feet or at my
father's knee I first learned to lisp phrases from
sacred writings, they have been my daily study and
vigilant contemplation. If there be anything in
my style or thoughts to be recommended, the credit
is due to my kind parents in instilling into my
mind an early love of the Scriptures. — Webster.
Take away our Bible from us and our warfare
against intemperance, impurity, oppression, in
fidelity, and crime is at an end. We have no
authority to speak or courage to act.
— William Lloyd Garrison.
Save for my daily range
Among the present fields of holy writ
I might despair. — Tennyson.
The man of one book is always formidable, but
when that book is the Bible he is irresistible.
— William M. Taylor.
IMMORTALITY
Though I stoop into a dark tremendous sea of cloud,
It is but for a time.
I press God's lamp close to my breast ;
Its splendor soon or late will pierce the gloom,
I shall emerge somewhere. — Browning.
There can no evil befall a good man, whether he
be alive or dend. — Socrates.

236 The Drillmaster of Methodism
Man's immortality stands fast upon the fact of
the possession of the image of God, and the true
conception of good places the worth of the man so
high, and God's Avill of love for communion with
him so fine, that immortality has therein its pledge.
— Dorner.
The expectation of something beyond is in all
breasts. Man has everywhere believed in all ages
and almost without exception that man is im
mortal. — Johnson.
Without a belief in personal immortality re
ligion is like an arch resting on one pillar, like a
bridge ending in an abyss. — Max Mutter.
If death ends life, what is this world but an
ever-yawning grave in which God buries his chil
dren with hopeless sorrow. — Munger.

Episcopal Address to Class Leaders 237

XXXII
Episcopal Address to Class Leaders
Dear Brethren: The General Conference of
1888 requested the bishops to prepare a course of
reading for class leaders, and to issue an address
to them concerning their office. That request was
made in the following terms :
"Whereas, The Discipline in Part 1, chapter iii,
paragraph 62, provides for a course of study for
the class leaders, but does not specify or give
particular directions as to the course of study;
therefore, "Resolved, 1. That we request the bishops to pre
pare a suitable course of reading for the class
leaders of the Church and cause the same to be
printed in the Discipline.
"2. That we request the bishops to prepare an
episcopal address to class leaders, such as will serve
as an introduction to the course of reading, and
will, at the same time, be an affectionate reminder
of the gravity and responsibility of the class lead
er's office. We further request that this address be
printed in tract form, and that it be made one of
the text-books in the course of reading."

238 The Drillmaster of Methodism
In fulfilling this request we desire first of all to
fasten your thoughts on
The Nature of the Class Leader's Office.
No brief term better describes it than that by
which it was designated in the Episcopal Address
to the General Conference of 1860; namely, a
"subpastor ate."
From the beginning Methodism has been intent
on faithful dealing Avith individual souls, believing
that only thus could it fulfill its divinely-appointed
mission, which John and Charles Wesley declared
to be "to raise up a holy people." They plainly
saw that they must follow the example of the Great
Teacher, who not only publicly proclaimed the
truth, but also privately applied it to the individual
conscience, as in the case of Peter, the woman at
the well, and many others; and of Paul, Avho
taught the people "from house to house," and
"warned everyone night and day with tears."
They saAV that no amount of public preaching, how
ever orthodox and zealous, could fully accomplish
the end in view. They were interested in securing
not merely the conviction of sinners and their pub
lic profession of faith in Christ, but also their
actual conversion, attested by the Avitness of the
Spirit, and the subsequent training of them in
Christian knowledge and holiness.
What Mr. Wesley thought of this hand-to-hand

Episcopal Address to Class Leaders 239
work you may learn from his oAvn words in the
Minutes of the Wesleyan Conference: "Great as
this labor of private instruction is, it is absolutely
necessary ; for after all our preaching, many of our
people are almost as ignorant as if they had never
heard the Gospel. I speak as plainly as I can, yet
I frequently meet with those who have been my
hearers for many years, who know not whether
Christ be God or man. And how few are there
that know the nature of repentance, faith, and holi
ness ! Most of them have a sort of confidence that
God will save them, while the world has their
hearts." He adds: "I have found by experience
that one of these has learned more from one hour's
close discourse than ten years' public preaching."
From the beginning our Discipline has contained
a most searching and arousing chapter on Pastoral
Visiting which abounds in trumpet-blasts like this :
"What avails public preaching alone, though we
could preach like angels ? We must, yea, every
traveling preacher must instruct the people from
house to house. Till this be done, and that in good
earnest, Methodists will be no better." (See Dis
cipline, I 140.)
If, however, all ministers were as zealous as this
most salutary exhortation summons them to be in
prosecuting this part of their work, the urgency of
their public duties and of other legitimate demands
upon their time would render it simply impossible

240 The Drillmaster of Methodism
for many of them to do a tithe of the individual
work needed. Especially is this true in the case
of an itinerant ministry like ours. Mr. Wesley
quickly found himself and his associate pastors
utterly overwhelmed in such endeavors, and was
providentially led to organize class meetings. The
primary purpose of these meetings was to collect
the necessary "penny a week" from each member,
but they quickly took on a far deeper and richer
aim. In his Journal for March 25, 1742, Mr.
Wesley says: "I appointed several earnest and
sensible men to meet me, to whom I showed the
great difficulty I had long found of knowing the
people who desired to be under my care. After
much discourse, they all agreed there could be no
better way to come to a sure, thorough knowledge
of each person than to divide them into classes, like
those at Bristol, under the inspection of those in
Avhom I could most confide. This was the origin
of our classes at London, for which I can never
sufficiently praise God ; the unspeakable usefulness
of the institution having ever since been more and
more manifest."
We would thus fasten your earnest attention on
the indispensable necessity of individual effort to
secure the actual conversion of awakened persons,
the reclamation of the backslidden, the instruction
of the ignorant, and the training of each believer
in the practical duties of a holy life; and also on

Episcopal Address to Class Leaders 241
the absolute impossibility of the full accomplish
ment of this work by ministers alone.
Hence the vast importance of the "subpastor-
ate," we would almost say the copastorate, to
which you are called. Bishops Coke and Asbury
in their Notes on the Discipline (published by re
quest of the General Conference in the Discipline
of 1787) give their deliberate judgment in these
emphatic words:
"The revival of the work of God does perhaps
depend as much upon the whole body of the leaders
as it does upon the whole body of the preachers."
"Our leaders, under God, are the sinews of our
society, and our revivals will ever, in a great meas
ure, rise or fall with them." "In short, we can
truly say that through the grace of God our classes
form the pillars of our work, and, as we have be
fore observed, are in a considerable degree our
universities for the ministry."
Such was the estimate of the class meeting made
by the first bishops of American Methodism more
than a century ago. Whenever, in any country, in
all the years from then till now, class meetings
have been faithfully sustained and wisely con
ducted that early estimate has been fully justified.
They have fanned many a spark of grace into
flame, have led many a timid seeker into the
triumphant knowledge of a present salvation, have
reclaimed the backslidden, comforted mourners,
16

242 The Drillmaster of Methodism
established the wavering, developed budding talent,
and led thousands of the noblest sons of the Church
into the ministry.
We cannot, therefore, look upon the decline of
class meetings without profound concern.
In alluding to this topic we take pleasure, how
ever, in assuring you that the extent of this decline
has sometimes been greatly exaggerated, and that
in many places class meetings are numerous and
largely attended and in a most encouraging degree
maintain their old-time power and usefulness; in
some churches a large majority of the members
being frequent attendants. This remark applies
to no particular class of churches, but is true
among some of our poorest people and some of our
wealthiest; and in city, village, and country
churches. Yet we sadly admit that no such proportion of
our people are regular class goers as formerly, and
that in some places class meetings have entirely
died out or have been displaced by other forms of
service, which cannot accomplish the purposes in
view. To this fact, in large part, we attribute the
increase in the number of unspiritual church mem
bers, the presence of worldliness in the church, and
the lack of more numerous, searching, and sweep
ing revivals. We do not forget that circumstances
change, and that the incidental phenomena of re
ligious awakening and reformations may be ex-

Episcopal Address to Class Leaders 243
pected to differ from age to age ; but it seems to us
certain that if the great mass of the members of
all our churches should meet once a week in class
meetings under competent leaders, who should, as
the Discipline directs, "1. Inquire how their souls
prosper; 2. Advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort,
as the occasion may require," the essential glory
of early Methodism would burst forth anew on
every hand ; and awe-struck communities would be
constrained to say, "Surely the Lord hath visited
his people."
The necessity for class meetings, or for some
similar means of grace, is deeply embedded in
human nature. The social principle must have
exercise in religious matters. All evangelical Chris
tians, in times of religious quickening, feel this;
and various means of grace akin to the class meet
ing have been devised to meet this deep-seated
want: such as "inquiry meetings," "conference
meetings," "young converts' meetings," and "ex
perience meetings." In the class meeting we have
and have always had the very meeting which can
best secure all the ends thus sought; and we look
to our class leaders to restore it to far more than
its old-time power.
We submit the following
practical suggestions
I. To our pastors, who appoint the leaders and
who should themselves be model leaders :

244 The Drillmaster of Methodism
1. Have at least one class meeting in every
church, however small. If necessary, lead it your
self. If you can find no other convenient time,
hold it after the Sunday morning service, and if
need be, shorten your sermon to make room for it.
2. Preach occasionally on class meetings, and
give notice of them every Sunday.
3. Assign all the members to classes, being care
ful to consult their convenience as to time.
4. Change the leaders when necessary, appoint
ing some women when that seems best, especially
for young people's and children's classes.
II. To class leaders :
1. Your office demands a life of high consecra
tion to God. The church has a right to expect of
you a life marked by conspicuous moral purity and
religious zeal. Be holy. Be zealous. Be an ex
ample of earnest and constant devotion to all good
works. 2. Be absolutely regular and prompt in attend
ing your class meeting. Always begin it and close
it on time.
3. Make it interesting and instructive. These
are the two indispensable requisites for a good
class meeting. In order to do this you must be a
constant student of the word of God and of re
ligious books and periodicals. By all means take
at least one of our church papers. Your mind and
heart must thus be constantly made fresh and full.

Episcopal Address to Class Leaders 245
Keep out of the ruts. Avoid platitudes. Make the
meeting largely conversational. Do not require
everyone to speak, nor always reply to everyone.
Introduce topics of experimental and practical
godliness in a free conversational way, asking ques
tions and drawing out replies. Vary the meeting
by sometimes asking each member to quote a verse
of Scripture, or of a hymn, indicating his personal
experience. If your class members are interested
and helped they will come again, and regularly.
4. Be a constant student and teacher of the word
of God. Saturate your mind and heart with it.
Read, study, and search it daily. Commit to mem
ory texts suited to all varieties and stages of re
ligious experience and temptation. Quote them
discriminatingly and believingly. In his duel with
Satan our Lord conquered every time simply by
quoting Scripture.
5. As to the course of reading prescribed, you
will find that the books recommended to you are
adapted to the quickening of your personal re
ligious life; to the increasing of your religious
knowledge, and of your preparation for your work
as leaders ; and to impressing upon your minds the
nature and history of the class meeting and the
best methods to make it greatly successful in train
ing souls for God's work on earth and for his glory
in heaven. We earnestly advise you to get all these
books, and to read and study them with conscien-

246 The Drillmaster of Methodism
tious fidelity, as your time may permit. It will be
well for you to read some of them repeatedly, to
call the attention of your children to them, and to
lend them to your neighbors. Others you will need
to keep at hand for frequent reference.

Course of Reading 247

XXXIII
Course of Reading for Class Leaders
Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
1896.
The Catechism, No. 3.
Episcopal Address to Class Leaders.
The Class Leader. Atkinson.
The Class Meeting. Fitzgerald.
The Why of Methodism. Dorchester.
Helps to Official Members. Porter.
Plain Account of Christian Perfection. Wesley.
Doctrinal Aspects of Christian Experience. Mer
rill.
Father Reeves.
Memoir of Carvosso.
Handbook of Christian Theology. Field.
Seed Thought. Robinson.
Scripture History (abridged edition). Smith.
Outlines of Church History. Hurst.
History of Methodism (abridged edition). Stev
ens.
Books of Reference:
Handbook of Bible Geography. Whitney.
Handbook of Bible Manners and Customs.
Freeman.
Handbook of Bible Biography. Barnes.

218 The Drillmaster of Methodism
other books recommended
Daniel Quorm and His Religious Notions. Pearse.
The King's Son. A Memoir of Billy Bray.
The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life.
Guides and Guards in Character Building. Payne.
Personal Work. S. M. Sayford.
Lectures to my Students. C. H. Spurgeon.
Teaching and Teachers. H. Clay Trumbull.
The Point of Contact. De Bois.
Modern Methods in Church Work. Mead.
The Spiritual Life. George A. Coe.
The Blessed Life. Quayle.
With Christ in the School of Prayer. Andrew
Murray.
A Year's Prayer Meeting Talks. Banks.
Newly Enlisted. Theodore Cuyler.