The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-04-03
The Man, His Method
and His Appeal.
HIS FORTE, SINCERITY
Not an Orator or an ElocutionIst But
a Man OF Simple Words, Faith,
Ideas and lmpress~-Hls
Meetings Showed His
Charm.
Charm.
ISy II. l.. GRAY.

~ go ~
wick has beer preaching in Raleigh
churches, drawing crowds, exciting in
tyfest of hat real sort which dwarfs
the "~scnsations' of the every day.
hut a handful in Raleigh had ever
heard of Chadwick. He was not an
uounced as a preacher on fire. He
was heraldcd as what he is. a teach
cI-a simple cache at that Yet
he has drawn" the people. The test
OF a preachers influence is day meet
ings. Chadwick has met the test.
When people leave bushes for
preaching they have received a jolt.
What is the significance of Chadwick
in the plan?
The writer went to hear Chadwick
critically. lie hopes that he may re-
main critical. 1t would have been
easy to drop into enthusiasm. In
stead, ! looked at the man. sifted
his words, thought bou what his
philosophy meant, or aid not G
70 fall under the spell Of q preacher
IL IS perhaps necessary to hear MIN
several times, to catch the spirit of
his message, the cOnta.iOn of his
faith. To know h a preacher mas
To say, in fact what he is capable Of
saying it is necessary 10 go only once.
There is one sermon to every man:
the variance in expression is but the
foliage of thought. Also YOU must in
evitably attach the man to the ser
mon. SO personal an exercise as Il
~preaChment may not be divorced from
personality. Therefore, as the man
who in the literal sense of the word
was creating q 'Sensation," in that he
IVA over o. an in tly1pDnn f.nE1l tho
crust downward to the still plastic
dough, it wsS competent to examine
the man himself, and the setting in
which he worked.
The settiag was not unusual. There
WAS an added fcrvency to the hymns,
perhaps, which were of the &
Satlonal persuasion. Everybody
sung whether they could carry Il tune
or no. Everybody seemed to have
caught the idea that they were as
Sistiug h pulpit. 1t was a sort of
- SocliHIistic demonstration in favor
OF equal distribution regardless of
talent. In instances, picked by the
car aS cNtrcmcS, the method had its
flaws, the impulse, however, moved
one as the triumph of the mass. There
l. something Very convincing about
Individuality, even when it is drown
ca lii Il crowd. if one can watch it
assert itself. The Rev. Chadwick is
a ma of the crowd. His doctrine
rather, | should say, his practice, Is
Institutional He is for the poo
pie, His church in England takes
care to watch conditions, to exercise
itself i'll problems, to provide amusc-
nlcntS, to influence education, it is
not above politics nor above life.
Looking down on a Chadwick au-
dicnce, one saw row after row of COM
plaCcnt women of the church. gentle
creatures whose vanitics did not get
beyond their particular "sOcicty,"
whose j~calOuSicS caught the same
nEc, whose perplcNiticS ended in an
"Ncn or Il servant; one aW. also,
many men who were pillars Of the
church on s}undayS-What were they
doing here on week day in the day
time? one saw, also. huGdlcd masses
near the dOor Of unfamiliar faces ut
Il church, busy men, professional men
what were they dolnS here? The
Organ pcaIcd. Every body sang.
Whispered Il sinner: We don't get
hiIi It chance. the Saints have all
the front pcWs." Yet his eyes
were g~listcnlng with interest. even
Us he voiced the Jest.
Out of this comes Chadwick. Again
YOU are surprised. If YOU have been
Il reader YOU expect a man with :;
port, Il man with Il graphic turn of
phrase; 4 man with Il owe of inVC,-
tive, with a flight of passion. with
" oN'I SlltI dS ~ IuIS one away from
lis senses and bring him Bringing to
the fountain whether he would or not.
No such man is Chadwick. His rep
ui3ti"n Is not the result of our liter
AIRY, OF our oratorical ideals. Chadwick
Is small. but he is a man. He has
not even a we'll developed chin. That
IS a misfortune Which adds to his
worth when you have heard and felt
the unVarnished measure of his mes
sage. Chadwick is d man who rises
HhnNn thin o.
almost supernatural sincerity. The CT
feet Is personally appreciate: coi!ec-
lively 1t IS manifest. There is the man:
here his results,
How you are going to place Rev.
Chadwick? He is Il man who does
things. Without cant. without fIattHrv,
without even giving him the aid Of
ms reputation, he rOuscS in Gallons
hearts the spirit Of religious exa!la-
ilon. He even does 50 without oratory.
The Rev Chadwick is a smaIf man
physically. He is without presence.
without h voice which one con
cIudcs beforehand is the sine qua non
OF a rc~Nlvalist. The point is that We
are p~rejudiced in our ideals, both of
rcFlVals aud reViyalists. The Rev.
Chadwick takes his duty quietly. if
none the less sincerely. such enthusi-
aSm as the simmer may construct
from his discourse has Il basis on
MhlDn IL may rest. 1t cannot be an
cDullltlon. 1t is response to an earnest
attempt at reason, rather that Il dciir-
iOuS reply to passion.
of Reverend Chadwick's pulpit
presence: He is. as has been said. a
small man. He has a carriage which
is not an outrage on dignity, straignt
yet not ompou His manner is nor
Vous. His gestures are unstudied. Tho
physical expression of his thought.
He grabs himself by the lapcIs oi
his coat and talks for minutes at a
time. He swings down his arms .:
a man throw away an error. Con
Stantly his hands, y white and
nervous tWitch and fiuttcT II
their fingers with the Illus
tration Of feeling which is beyond
art. They are like the hands of a