Evening star., 1899-02-04

they at once took up collection of nearly
$50. OF course, l could not, as they urged.
keep 1t for myself, but it helped the work
along. From I their looks 1 almost feared
that they would shoot If refused"
JanitOr for College Fees.
But though this york was congenial. he
could not relin1uish the idea of educa-
ton, and on bis return he entered Lake
Forest University. Here occurred some Of
the hardest struggles of his life. He Sc
cured a position as janitor of local
church at a salary Of S1.50 week, the ap-
pfec1atlVe butIbuSinesS like committee Stip-
ulating that one of fhis tasks should be to
ADDRESS the weekly prayer meeting. Some
now, by living on next to nothing and by
accepting every odd job that offered, he
managed nol only to eke out living, but
to accumuatel.a library of 400 books. He
hnaliy was appointed assistant in the uni
Versity library, and then it was that he set
himseif the task of reading at least par
TALLY every book on the shelves in the
order of their alphabetical arrangement,
beginning with Addison 1t was hare that
ne built up the habit of reading, which so
largely accounts for his wide information;
ne learned to get out the gst of book
and its style and structure without taking
time to read it through, for such time he
did not have. 1t took him three years to
go through the library
At Lake Forest he had one experience
which at the time probably came closer to
tragedy than his present laughing account
would lead one to believe.
For Two Dollars a Week.
Il got down to bed rock" he said,
down to where I had neither money nor
the prospect of earning any, and naturally
was little blue. One day, through an ac-
cldental meeting, / secured employment on
a farm near the town. The agreement was
that shouid receive board, lodging and 81
week L got the board and lodging, such
as IL was, but when the time was up my
employer refused to pay me-" He paused,
"hlle mis- eyes twinkled. "If there ever
was time In my life when 1 gave way to
unchristian thoughts" But a smile closed
the sentence.
In spite of his modesty, enough can be
s!eaned from his own statements to con-
vince one of the terrible earnestness of the
man through his trials. His indomitable
spirit, his nervous yigor. his practical op-
tmism, all kept him at it with persist
ence that perhaps was partlv outside of
himself.
After college came the Mccormick Semi
nary In Chicago, where he received his
theological training, and after that the
great lie work. He preached first at
Peoria. His success there was so pronounce
ed that he was called to the First Presby-
terrain Church of Evanston. a position in
SUCH close touch with Chicago church cir
cies that his name grew rapidly. A few
years more and David Swing died: then
Dr. Hills stepped into his place in Central
Church, Chicago. Many there were who
SAID that he could not do it, that he was
100 young. too inexperienced, that it meant
the decline of Chicago's most prominent
church organization But how he silenced
his critics is a matter of too recent history
to call for comment.
His Marked Success.
DIR. Hills has published q number of
DOCKS, compilations of sermons and ad-
dresses, and all have met with remarkable
success. His writing is like himself keen
logical, forceful. and, better still, intensely
human. Though not yet forty he has seen
more than falls to the lot of most olde-
men. He has lived through hardships into
success; and the hard treatment which
might nave made a cynic or a failure of a
smaller man has mellowed him and ripened
MIN into strong, vital manhood. And
there is in all his work a gentle tolerant
humor that often crystallizes into wit
Dr. Hills is very careful writer He
gives minute attention to every detail of
style, and his study of the masters shows
in every line of his, writing. Even when
carried away by the flow of his ideas he
constructs each, sentence with the precision
that long practice has developed into in
stinct In delivering sermon, however,
ne is not bound to the manuscript and
often he uses the written pages merely for
an outline. breaking away from them into
extended flights of eloquence.
The history Of Plymouth Church is built
upon the lives of two great men. DR.. Hill
hs the third to occupy its pulpit will be
watched with. absorbing interest by the
whole country Those who know him best
feel sure that the nobIest efforts Of an
already noble life win be devoted not only
to continuing the work, but to carrying it
into larger fields. ly