Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-11-20
YOUNG PREACHERS.
Bishop Haysoods Address to Those Re-
Cei7Od In Conference.
III TELLS WHAT OFTEN RUINS THEN.
timely Warnings Against CONSTITUENCIES
Intellectual ysriIs, and Other Serious
Drawbacks 20 New Beginners

CHARLOTTESVILLE. VA. November
is.--(Speciai)-The following IL substan-
TALLY Bishop Haygood's address to the
young men received into full connecuoh
with the Virginia Annual Conference. now
In session here on Friday last:
Dear Young Brethren: You noticed this
morning when the old men were speak
ing 10 the conference that there was a
movement up toward those veterans
tes,!fyIng the love in which they are
held. II you live to be old and have such
friends. happy will you he In the love
of the best men In the world. II Is no
small thing TO stand at the close receiv-
ing such honor. II Is q greater inheritance
than the iron-cross Germany gives her
heroes.
All my connection has been with the
Methodis;s, and yet ! am not partisan
or friend Of partisans. l have been
everything in the Church from sexton up
10 Bishop. have been teacher In a mis-
sion school, secretary and treasurer,
superintendent, steward OF churcn,
trustee have been exhorter-we used
10 start them that way, and my opinion
way now. I have been local preacher.
Then local preacher. employed by the
presiding-elder then admitted 20 the con-
ference on trial as n helper then
serving a small station. At the end OF
that year Bishop Pierce asked me "What
do you want?' He had no idea of giving
ma what / would ask. but i had gotten
close TO the Pierces by serving as helper
under DR.. Lavick Pierce j said Il dare
81 NH
think l have got sense enough TO
manage" He gave me q circuit embracing
three counties. We had there eleven re-
yiyals and 4S9 conversions. Then l was
chaplain In the army; then on double
station; then on a city station: theh d
presiding elder; then Sunday-schooi sec
rotary; then college president then nine
years managing the Slater fund LOT 'he
colored people: now this.
want to say TO you. boys mat
had less trouble when l was sexton than
! have had ever since. If You are fit for
important work you will have trouble.
No man who does not feel the burden OF
souls"-that was the old phrase-is Ill 10
be n Methodist preacher.
will not talk theology 20 you this
morning: Won may get that from the
books. There are some that think that L
am not a systematic theologian. ana. u
tell the truth, l think so. too. l want 10
talk 10 you of those things that rum
Young prsachers-to warn you against
them-to save you from them
SENSITIVENESS.
The first thing / wish to warn you
against is sensitiyeness. If that spirit
finds place In any of you. exercise 1t AT
once. ] do not mean that you are 10
bove n rhinoceros hide; but TO warn
Won AGAINST constituencies of spirit. DO not
be sensitive as TO what people may 'hihk
of your preaching. II will make you
unhappy and your wivef--if a woman
IS ind.screet enough to marry you-diiu
your presiding elders and your bishops
IL. after preaching, yea hear some one
say, THAT was a poor sermon uoh
mind II. May be they don't know what
n good serrn,l is. 1t may be they are
right. If YOU have done your best. thank
God and-go to sleep. If you worry about
e. II will spoil your rest and destroy
your development.
NO PLACE TO GET RICH.
Then. don't be anxious about your APP
pointment Ii any of you are now ANXIOUS
aboIt your appointment, would au'lse
YOU 20 take your hat and go out How
seeking some place where avarice ana am
bition would come into play. To JOIN the
it.nerant ministry Is equivalent 10 w"
y.
dist ministry where one may get rich. me
Bible cautions against a covetous spirit
Anxiety about salary Will ruin prsacher'
Rishop Pierce was sorry when they De-
gan 10 report preachers salaries IN the
minutes. / once happened TO overhear
preacher cay when he was read our LOT
a certain appointment, THAT means 2VW
in nv rocket" That man is alive. but IL
IL hard now to find place Tor MN
Don't worry about your appointment.
Some people have thought / had no
dignity when they saw me crying as L
listened to n young man SWALLOWING,
10 control his emotions while ne read
the report OF his labors OIL some nara CIR
emit | felt like DR.. Pierce. VINO, whle
listening to the crude composition OF one
of his school girls, would say. "That Is
excellent; that is fine" as II 10 was
the best composition he had ever hearo.
He was thinking Of what might pe-ol
the mighty possibilities OF that youhs
life Some men talk of the sacrifices or
the ministry. 1t Is miserable W-.-ne
II Is preposterous nonsense. once heard
man read q hymn that No one but
self-denying saint could use-taik ABOUT
sacri0ces-when ne had on broad
cloth suit, was getting 5000 year. and
had come from-a fodder-patch mean
no disrespect to colleges and institutions
of learning. but In the Methods ministry
we get NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. mat all tne
universities on both sides OF the cohtnneh.
could not give. II had forty circuits OF
two appointments each, l Wouio Aho"
where to send you boys.
INTELLECTUAL PERILS.
7 want to warn you against intellectual
uerils. can tell you how to become
dessicated-dried out Send and get a
supply of skeletons OF sermons. Skele-
tons and homliletic magazines. tne
cheaper stun, are getting 70 be most
popular with preachers. ! was once In
the library Of an old preacher who was
getting dryer every year, and the less
power he had the more he hallooeh-lke
the man who said that when his thoughts
began to fail he elevated his voice to
increase his own interest This man be-
came dryer and no!sier. until 1t was
hard to get an appointment for him.
When asked about II he said the trouble
dated back to the year he was agent
for a college. But In his library I found
q book of sketches and skeletons, and,
letting the book fall on the table to
open where II might, It opened on place
that was marked like boys spelling
book, when baker was reached. well
thumbed. and there I found his sugar
sticks" He had been feeding on canned
goods. Canned goods are better than
Nothing. They may do occasionally. But
10 feed on them alone Is to become
stunted. I was once In a mining town
In Arizona. There were thousands of
tin cans around. The people had been
living on canned goods. and they were
the most miserable and most stunted peo-
pie ever saw. What canned goods are
to the people skeletons Of sermons are
10 the preachers. The enormous sale
that these books have Is the bane Of
full-grown manhood in this country.
The complaint is not that men don't
read. but that they don't think. Par
turition pangs must come on you before
you get a mighty grip on great truths.
1t Is not gotten by reading or by talk
ing but by thinking. This does not come
by pumping. but. like an artesian flow,
must come out OF the fountain OF your
own life. 1t will not come II you are
selfish, or pleasure-seeking or place.
seeking. or indolent-you must cultivate
the habit OF Deep earnest thinking. Then
you will not want weeks notice before
you win be willing TO preach in a re-