The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-06-29
REV. THOS. DIXON. .JR.
TIE YOUNG PREACHER VINO - At
PRESENT THRILLING MEN, sosx

A Se~spaper sfAn's Farss zaa ssss~u~~n,
fs1prs~siens Ct Hi. yirile Personality.
The Simple story Of us IAf~---Proml.~s 81
. BriiIIansF atare. .E..s. ~.. afs-.
| The following entertaining sketch O.
the personality. Of Rsv. Thomas Dixon.
Jr., the popular New York preacher
whose Sermons ere Row rwynlariy re
ported for tnese columns eaci. week. i
!urpished by wei Enosru newspaper
writer.
The first time heard the Rev. Thomas
Dixon. Jr.. preach he was q stranger 10
me. had hardly heard CT him, al
though he had already stirred the sur
face of metropolitan orthodoxy.
1t was Sunday evening. / found the
large hall, with its old fashioned gallery,
choked with the congregation that had
outgrown its church esiifice proper and
taken refuge here. After the prelirni-
nary musical services a young man came
4 down 10 the front of the platform and
made an extemporaneous prayer and
read a portion Of the Scriptures from a
small Bible which he held in his hand.
| 40 WV VAC" "hIAu lau "a nllH he
appeared to be G feet in stature and
almost weirdly gaunt. He did not stand
erect in the parade sense. and his long
limbs betokened an enormous sinewy
power rather than grace or symmetry.
His dark. spare, close shaver face. mis-
/ plentiful coal black hair carelessIy
pushed backward from his temples, his
strong. almost cadaverous jaw and his
black, deep set and scintillant eyes made
1 up a personality that arrested my inter
est at once. 1t was d type of man espe-
! cially forged for hard, earnest, fear,lss
work in some direction. sn q eupsG3 -,
T. He spoke with authority, as If he had
been commissioned. modestly withal and
tenderly. The great congregation hung
upon his words intently. With marvel
ous clearness he developed his subject,
never resGrting to involved phrases or
abstract reasoning, bot making a clear
cut, concrete picture. Now and then he
famed up as a thought took possession
OF him or an illustration ssiized him. At
such moments his strong face hit up. his.
voice rang out clear and resonant, and
he seemed to sway his congregation by
the magnetism Of sheer oratory: At other
times he dropped to the colIoauial man
ner and carried on a conversation with
his people. j. = II .Yif .tdgilJb -
There was no clerical isolation or min
isterial cloudiness here: His Listeners
kept step with him. He not. only spoke
with intellectual authority, but with an
ineffable fellowship. He had both
thought and felt ont his subject matter,
but he uieekly relied On something other
than himself 5D1i.f 81 tup 81 i-Eii~ ~
M It was the broad, compelling recogni:
ton Of the fatherhood of God and the
brotherhood Of man, the eyer present CO
ercive sympathy, of a great heart for
suffering and dying humanity, and the
ever urgent duty to preach the love as
well rs the law Of the benig1iant and in
finite parent. III JTG GoE T24D"b
Such was my FIRST impression; of the
young preacher. SubsequentlYIb became
acquainted with the man, and then my
admiration Widened with. my knowl-
edge. ! learned his history. It is brief
and uneventfnl. but bursting with prom.
ise. He came of preaching stock down
In North Carolina, and his father is still,
i believe. hard at work in the Baptist,
pulpit there. q At the end of his collegi
ate. course and o. postgraduate term in
Johns Hopkins university, he came to
New York, to determine upon 3. profess
sion. -. 1911 y e - u ''- Al
After a winter in the metropolis he re-
turned to North Carolina, y where he
threw himself into politics, was elected
to the legislature and began a. syste-
matte study of the law What eonvic--
tons Of heart urged him and what, proc
esses of mind led him suddenly to
abandon his law practice and take to,the
pulpit we can readily surmise,, but may
not dwell upon All at once he is,
preaching the gospel in Goldsboro and
Raleigh. and preaching it with such
JUNCTION that some run1or of it. reaches
Boston. Then comes a call, and in De
cember, 1887, the crowds of American
Athens are gathering to hear the new
voice. In 1889 New York wanted him,
and at the solicitation Of the Twenty
third Street Baptist church he took
charge of that society Very soon after
his arrival it, eutgrewp its church &C
communications and had to avail itself of
Association hall. -, III. 90. ..rrt, 4
These barren outlines of rapid success
can only be filled In by living color when, |
we come to know the. man. :" ,D2EEIr |
o The first thing that won me, and |
think will win anybody who makes his
acquaintance, is his ingrained, uncon-
scious and simple manliness. -ef3 1.fe /
: Let me add that he is a scholar, and, i
what is better, student; that he keeps |
abreast of the best thought in every
intellectual field and watches the pano |
rama of events withuntiring eye. You
cannot imagine what a ..nowness" this |
gives to his sermons. When he tells the
''eld, Old story ofdiHne lovg.it wears
neutrality-suspicious. interest 1t is no long |
er historic statement, but living |
force. energizing the. speaker and win
ming the listener, When he illustrates |
the point of discussion, it is from the |
live issues of the hour, and you feel that |
religion is not under bushe1, but is in |
wrought with the destinies of. the race |
and the fate of nations. .5GoDa5Tp |
81 That a young spirit like his attracts
about him large concourses of intelli- /
gent young people is not surprising. |
They understand each other. They want
q vital religion Either religion is a
dramatic fact Of the moment and means |
character IN action, or it Is dead |
tradition. : L felt that this ienergizing
young apostle marked the renaissance of I
new Christian endeaver And a new Chris /
tap socialism. ifIfosd rsf IL 9ru39e1B /
should not be surprised to see Mr.. |
Dixon in another year in a great city
temple, the center of q vast community l.
of practical working eyangelists, him |
self another Spurgeon or Parker, but
st1l the frank, manly and humble yonng
missionary OF the people. of.aA i Il +
ts1if Europe.s Preparation For twar.2l1 I
9 Eyerywhera in Europe, even among the
smallest nations, they are talking at this
moment only of armaments. increase of |