Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-12-30

affairs, and so was at liberty to accept call
elsewhere. ! must confess the call from Milton
was a surprise to me. ! have never been there
(you know do not believe in candidating for a
place., and so | suppose their church committee
came up here 10 listen TO me- Two years ago
nothing would have induced ME to SO to Milton.
Today it seems perfectly clear that the Lord says
to me, GO" You know my natural inclination
is toward quiet, scholarly pastorate Well,
Milton is as you know. q noisy, dirty, manufac.
turning town, full Of workingmen. cursed with
saloons ard black with coal smoke and unwashed
humanity. The church is quite strong in member
ship The "Year Book" gives it 500 members last
year, and il is composed almost entirely OF the
leading families in the place. What can do in
such church remains to be seen. My prede.
cessor there. DR.. Brown. was profound sermon.
izer and generally liked, believe. lie was q
man Of the old school and made no attempt
understand. to bring the church into contact with
the masses You will say that such church Is q
Door place in which to attempt different work.
| do not necessarily think The church OF
Christ is in ITSELF believe, powerful engine to
set in motion against all evil ] have great faith
in the membership Of almost any church in this
country to accomplish wonderful things for hu-
manity. and ! am going to Milton with that
faith very strong in me. ! feel as il very great
A town Of $4,000 workingmcn, half OF them for
cigncrs; a town with more than 60 saloons in full
blast 4 town with seven churches OF many differ
cnt denominations all situated one street and
that street the most fashionable in the place, a
town where the police records show an amount OF
crime and dcpravty almost unparalleled in mu'
nicipa annals-surely such place presents an
opportunity for the true church OF Christ to DO
some splendid work. hope do not overestimate
the needs Of the place. | have known the general
condition Of things in Milton ever since you and
did our summer work in the ncighboring town
of Clifton. II there was missionary ground
in America, il is there. ! cannot understand Just
why the call comes to me to 60 to place and
take up work that in many ways is SO distasteful
to me. In one sense | shrink from it with sen.
sitiveness which no one except my wife and you
could understand. You know what an almost
ridiculous excess of senshlity have. 1t seems
sometimes impossible for me to do the work that
the active ministry OF this age demands OF a
man. II almost kills me TO know that am criti.
cised for all that say and do. And yet know
that the ministry will always be the target for
criticism. ] have an almost morbid shrinking
from the thought that people do not like me,
that | am not loved by everybody. and yet
know that if speak the truth in my preaching
and sneak it without regard to consequences some
one is sure to become offended and in the end
dislike me- | think God never made man with
so intense craving for the love OF his fellow
men as ! possess. and yet ] am conscious that
cannot make myself understood by very many
people. They will always say. "llow cold and un'
approachable he is." when in reality love them
with warnings Of heart. Now. then. | am going
to Milton with all this complex thought OF my
SELF and yet. dear clum. there is not the least
doubt after all that ! ought to 60. ! hope that
= H., ....t.t tt,,rn I cha hn
forget myself. and then the work will stand out
prominent as it ought. With all my doubts oil
myself | never question the wisdom OF entering
the ministry. ! have a very positive assurance as
| work that am doing what | ought to do. And
what can man ask morc2 ! am not dissatisfied
with the ministry. only with my own action with.
in it, II is tn: nohlcst Of all professions ! feel
proud of it every day. Only it is so great that it
makes man feel small when he steps inside.
Well. my wife is calling me down to tea. Let
me know what you do. We shall move to Milton
next week, probably; so, if you write. direct
there As ever. your old chum.
PHILIP STRONG.
1t was characteristic Of Philip that
in this letter he said nothing about his
call to Elmdale and did not tell his col
legr chum what salary was offered him
by the church at Milton. AS a matter
of fact. he really forgot all about every
thing. except the one important event
of his decision to 20 TO Milton. He re-
gardpd it. and rightly so. as the most
serious step of his life, and while he
had apparently decided the matter very
quickly it was. in reality. the result OF
a deep conviction that he ought to 60.
He was in the habit of making his de-
cisions rapidly. This habit sometimes
led him into embarrassing mistakes
and once in great while resulted In
humiliating reversals Of opinion. 50
that people who did not know him
thought he was fickle and changeable,
In the present case Philip acted with
his customary quickness and knew
very well that his action was unalter'
n,