If the people of the twenty-first century are going to read anything I write, I am sure they will be most likely to be interested when I write about what I know, and not about what I may think or hope. I shall therefore simply try to give some account of the experiences which come to me as a Minister of the Episcopal Church, resident here for almost six years, and consequently an old enough inhabitant to bear witness to the character of our life in this city. In the first place, as is probably the case with all who live here, my life as a Minister has many very agreeable features. The possibility of spending much time pleasantly in the open air, affects the Minister's work advantageously. If he makes calls, almost always he has bright and sunny weather for his visits.
Many ministers make their parish calls by means of the bicycle.
The roads being good, one can thus gain much time. This has been my own practice, very largely, until the last year, when, for health's sake, I returned to natural means of locomotion. When the bicycle is constantly used for business, I have found the temptation to hurry too great. Walking, then, is always something to give pleasure and healthfulness to the business of parish calling, which naturally constitutes so much of a minister's work. I don't see how a man can be bookish or pedantic in his preaching here.