The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-02-23
books. AFTER he had finished speaking in

and their women and children, the saloon
keeper made young Hills stand up while
the crowd filled his pockets with silver
Sl25 In all.
He was due to leave on the waiting
stage, but he shortly returned to the camp
with a hundred volume library and two
hundred hymn books. The saloonkeeper's
wife volunteered to take charge of the
hymn books. and when he babe a final
farewell to the camp, a Sunday school, a
circulating library and a singing school
were In full swing.
How Hills Got His Famous Beechor
Library.
Another unusual thing that Hills the,
college student did was to ransack Brooks
lyn for material for IL Henry Ward Beecher
library. He gathered anything he could
lay hands cn--books. manuscripts. camph-
lets, Interviews. AS a result, when Bar
rows carne to write his biography Of
Beecher he was compelled to consult the
Hills collection. with what frequency the
author gratefully acknowledges in his pre-
face. The collection was made through
sheer admiration for Beecher; today DR..
Hills probably has the best Beecher
library in the world.
Professor Swing was another OF the boy
Hills ideals. He studied the professors
essays and books over and over and sue
ceeded HIN on his DEATH
DR.. Hills ministerial career has been in
four noted churches. He went straight
from the Mccormick Theological Seminary
to Peoria. where he became the head OF
one OF the largest church In Central ILL.,
he spent thefe Il preached In theatef.
His next pastorate was in the leading
Presbyterian church in Evanston. and
while building a new church there heagain
preached in a theater for four years, while
head of the late Professor Swings church.
Former Secretary Of the Treasury Ly-
man j. Gage, was instrumental !n getting
DIR. Hills called to succeed Professor
Swing. Mr.. Gage. however, had never
heard DR.. Hills preach; he simply judged
from reports OF the Evanston preacher
that he was peculiarly fitted to Jake the
place left vacant by the death of so liberal
and humanity sympathetic a man as David
Swing. DR.. Hills mas been at Plymouth
since 1899, succeeding DR.. Lyman Abbott
on his retirement from the ministry, to
give his attention to editorial work.
DIR. Hills impresses with the virile orig
tnality of his own founded upon q ground
work of Beecher and Swing, his boyhood
ideals. Likely as not, you will hear a
sermon of good, hard. common sense
directed especially to young men.
Not a small part Of DR.. Hills fame rests
on his sermons and books to young men.
One OF these books has gone through
thirty editions in this country and several
abroad. 1t is hardly too much to say that
OF all the great preachers OF today he has
Uecl ILe most uniformly successful IN
appealing to the young men. His friends
and admirers say this is largely due to the
circumstance that neither added years nor
Increasing duties have caused him to lose
the young mans view point. DR.. Hills is
in his forty-eighth year.
Most Eloquent of American Preachers
Thece is no man In the American pulpit
today who can move a congregation 80
profoundly as could Henry Ward Beecher.
When he went south after the civil war,
the very men who threatened to do him
bodily harm by reason. OF his steady anti
slavery utterances, were won as friends by
his %eloquence.
Ole church is not peculiarly adapted to the
development of pulpit el%oQuence, nan
ecclesiastical authorities OF various
churches hold that Archbishop Patrick
John Ryan. OF Philadelphia, Is our most
eloquent present day preacher. Certain
1t Is that When he breaches in the Cathe-
dral, he seems strangely to move his hear
ers, and strangers in the Quaker City seek
to be directed to the Cathedral about as
often as they ask the way to the Temple
and to that church popularity known as
John Wanamaker's church."
The archbishop is what has been termed
more than once before now. a born orator.
While a school boy in Carlow college,
Ireland, he reclted before Daniel O'Connel.
and that famous Irishman was so moved
lIldI 1e pEOptlGSleQ h great 1uluCc ZOE
the boy If only he would cultivate his ma
tural gift of speech.
His zeal fired by the emancipator's
words, the boy Ryan set to work to do
this, and as a result, he has become noted
not only in his church here. but abroad as
well, as one OF its most gifted orators.
His reputation abroad began in 1868 when,
on the invitation of Pope Plus TX, he de-
Nvered Lenten lectures In English at
Rome. At home, both in st. Louis, whereh he
first preached, and later in Philadelphia,
his e%loquence was largely instrumental
in breaking down strong prejudice against
his church. This was the case especially
in Philadelphia, where, until the advent
Of Archbishop Ryan, Protestant and Cath
Ole may be said to have been almost at
swords points-a situation surviving the
riotous days of know nottingham.
A New Style Evangelist.
j. Wilbur Chapman has lately become
mighty well known throughout the coun-
try. He is being hailed in Protestant cir
Giles as the fit successor of Dwight L.
Moody. He has stirred up to religious en-
thusiasm scores of cites and towns from
ocean to ocean. His converts are said to
number thousands; even in Paterson, N.
j., hitherto the despair of the revivalist,
he has had wonderful results, the whole
city practically turning out and sitting up
till long after midnight to listen to him.
DR.. Chapman has been an
from the start of his ministerial career.
Shortly after going to his first church, he
began a revival that gathered in some Of
the principal men of the town. In five
years he added 200 person to the member
ship Of the First Reformed church in AL
bany, N. ", his second pastorate. hen
he went to Bethany church. Philadel-
ph.a. John Wanamaker's church," where
he increased the membership by 100 in
three years. The ensuing years he spent
in evangelical work throughout the coun-
trv Until TlpCamhar 1919 hQ was naStOr
first, at Bethany again. and the Fourth
Presbyterian church. New York. Then he
became the executive secretary of the gen.
eral ~assembly's committee on evangelistic
work for the Presbyterian church, and
as such he has won international fame.
DIR. Chapman's up to date method OF
reaching the people is undoubtedly re-
sponsible for much of his latter day sue
cess.
When he goes into a city. he divides 1t
into districts. and a preacher and a singer
is sent into each district. There Is no
1 central meeting as under the old svstem NJ