The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-02-27

greatest development In the days OF
our colonial lie MethOdisEu was not
on the whole great factor in the re-
liglous and social life Of the people
The Congrega tionalIsts were supreme
throughout most of New England. the
EpiScopa Iians On the sea board from New
York southwark; while the Presbyterian
congrega tons were most numerous
along what was then the entire western
frontier. and the Quaker, Catholic and
Dutch Reformed churches each had de-
velopments in special places The great
growth Of the Methodist church. Ike the
great growth OF the Baptist church, be
gan at about the time Of the ReVolu-
tionary war. Today my theme is purely
MethOdism-
Since the days OF the Revolution NOT
only has the Methodist church increased
greatly in the old communities Of the
thirteen original states, but it has
played peculiar and prominent part in
the pioneer growth of our country and
has in consequence assumed a position
OF immense importance throughout the
vast region west of the AIIeghenies
which has been added to our nation since
the days when the continental congress
first met.
For a century after the DecIarat ton Of
Independence the greatest work of our
f people with the exception only of tho
work Of preservation under Lincoln.
was the work of the pioneers as they
took possession Of this continent Dun
ing rlaE century W. pushed westward
from the Alleshenies to the Pacific
soEthWard 10 the Gulf and the Rio
Grande- and also took possession Of
boundary OF pushing the frontier across
forest and desert and mountain chain.
was the great typical work of our ma
ton. and the men VINO did 1.-THE from
tIersmeu. the pioneers. the backw Gods
men. nlalnsmen. mountain men-fOrmeu
a class by themselves. It was an iron
task which mona but men Of iron soul
and iron body could do. The men who
carried it 10 successful conclusion had
characters strong alike for good and for
evil. Their rugged natures made them
powers who served light or darkness
with fierce intensity. and together with
heroic traits they had those evil and
dreadful tendencies which are but too
apt 10 be found in characters of heroic
possibilities such men make the most
efficient servants of the Lord if their
anounding vitality ana energy are d.
rected Alright. and if misdirected their
influence is equally potent against the
cause of Christianity and true civiIiza-
ton In the hard and cruel life Of the
border. with its grim struggle against
the 1crb1ddlng forces Of wild nature and
wilder men. there was much to pull the
rrontlefsnFan down If left to himself
without moral teaching and moral guild
auce. without any of the influences that
tend toward the uplifting OF man ana
the subduing Of the brute within him
sad would have been his and therefore
OUT fate From this fate we have been
4 largely rescued by the fact that together
with the rest OF the pioneers went the
pioneer s4reachers- and all honor BE-.
given to the AethOdists for the great
proportion of these pioneer preachers
whom they furnished
These preachers We're of the stamp OF
T old Peter CartWright-Uen Who suffered
4 ana oNercaTne every hardship in com
mon with their flock. and who in addi-
ton tanned the wild and fierce spirits OF
their fellow pioneers. 1t was not q task
Ihat could have been accomplished by
men desirous TO live in the soft places
OF the earth and 10 walk easily on life's
Journey. They had to possess the spirit
OF the martyrs: but not Of martyrs who
could merely suffer. not Of martyrs who
couln oppose only passive endurance to
wrong me pioneer preachers Warred
against the forces of spiritual evil with
lne same fiery zeal and energy that they
and their fellows showed in the conquest
or the rugged continent They had in
them the heroic spirit. the spirit that
sc9rns ease II 1t must be purchased by
failure to do duty. the spirit that courts
RISK and life of hard endeavor If the
goal to be reached is really worth at
tanning Great is our debt to these men
ana scant the patience we need show
toward their critics At times they
seemed hard and narrow TO those whose
training and surroundings had saved
them from similar temptations; and
they have been criticised as all men
whether missionaries. soldiers explorers
or frontier settlers are cfticised when
---E- E4 --A IN 10 10 the EOIkn Work EEaL
must inevitably be done by those who
act as the first harbingers. the first her
AIDS, OF CIVILIZATION in the worlds dark
places It is easy for those who stav al
nome In comfort. who never have to see
humanity In the raw. or to strive
against the dreadful naked forces which
appear clothed hidden. and subdued in
civilized life-it IS easy for such TO criti-
else the men who in rough fashion. and
amid grim surroundings. make ready
The way for the higher life that Is to
come afterwards, but let US all remeu-
Der that the untempted and the effort
less should be cautious in passing too
neayy judgment upon their brethren
who may show hardness. who may be
guilty of shortcomings. but who never
tneless do the great deeds by which
mankind advances. These pioneers Of
MethOdism had the strong militant viz
tues which 90 to the accom- Iishuenr Of
such great deeds. Now and then they
betrayed the shortcomings natural to
men Of their type; but their sh0rteom-
lngs seem small indeed when we place
beside them the magnitude of the work
they achieved.
And now. friends. in celebrating the
wonderful growth of Methodism. in re-
Jeiclng at The good 1t mas done to the
country and TO mankind. I need hardly
ask body like this 10 remember that
the greatness OF the fathers becomes to
the children shameful thing if they
use II only as an excuse for InactIOn IN
stead Of as spur TO effort for NOBLE
aims. I speak 70 you not only as Meth
odists-I speak to you as American citi-
zens- The pioneer days are over. We
nov all OF US form parts OF great
civilized nation. with a complex indus
trial and social lie and infinite posi-
biIties both for good and for evil The
Instruments with which. and the sur
roundings i'm which we work. have
changed UNNECESSARILY from what they
were in the days when the rough back
woods preachers ninistered to the moral
and spiritual needs of their rough back
woods congregations. But if we are to
succeed. the spirit in which we do our
work must be the same as the spirit IN
which they did theirs These men drove
forward. and fought their way upward.
10 success. because their sense OF duty