The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-10-30

He Toes not scatter in his sermons
in the form Of Doh or plays. Both
We're vital; both express the man.
To understand his question of Dix
On'S pr~cachcrdOm, n must haVn re-
gard for a peculiarly tense and a pc
culiarIy sincere character. Dixon,
from ~booyhood has been a bundl of
activities seeking Expression. IN his
very early manhood he felt an ambi-
ton towards the stage as an actor,
watch would not be denied. The fol-
lowing of that impulse brought its
disiIlusionlnent. He met n mistake
frankly and quit the boards without
a pang. His mind turned to law. He
followed that profession with eager-
ness, ana With fire. But the law was
q thing of presidents asl Dixon him
self was IL precedent. So he and the
law did not agree. It was then that
he went into the pulpit. perhaps be
cause preaching as a means to i'm
pressing personality on other minds
for good seemed to hold the broadest
avenues for the treading Of feet that
recognized no guidance save their oWn
For a while preaching satisfied the
man and his call to work. Within
him he felt the need to exert his in
huence About him he saw the
things which seemed to him to need
the impress of thought, SO he preach
ed. He preached ~eloquently. More,
he preached originally. His method
was practical, of the day and time.
His was a religion which found its
ready application in the things which
people were thinking about at the mo-
ment. Naturally he earned the repu-
tatiOn of sensationalism. Perhaps it
was a true reputation. in so far as
sensation is dependent on novelty.
He was novel He is yet. He will
die unplaced in a class. uncata1ogucd
as a type. But his preaching, if it
We're sensational. was true in that it
was Dixon. He did not wait for guild
ance by precedent or look for it. He
was in the pulpit, as in his books and
in his plays, an Investigator at first
hand.
And it must not be understood that
his departure from the active work
of the pulpit as a profession was the
result of any sudden opportunity for
wealth and reputation in other di-
r~ections. He did not write the "Leop-
ards Spots" while holding on to his
salary as a minister and quit the min
istry in order to write the "Clansman''
more quickly. Dixon determined to
become an author instead of a preach
er before he had written a book and
quit preaching in order to write his
first novel. His progress in life has been
consistently towards a larger audience
for the thing which is in him, and
which he has felt in different ways.
His first important charge was the
Dudley Street Baptist Church in BOs-
ton. He left that to take hold Of the
Twenty-third Street C2urch of that
denomination in New York. It meant
a larger field, and largeness of field
is the Dixon ambition. But the
TWenty-third Street church wanted all
o. DiXOn's time. 1t was willing
TO pay for it Handsomely. bat
The price it demanded was the sacrifice
Of his lectures The lectures
mean the larger audience. which the
church at its best could not afford. -
he left the church which he had found
struggling with a debt Of eighty thou
sand dollars and which he left great
and prosperous and organized = church
of his own. Its title was significant.
It was the Peoples Church and its
creed was hat for the larger au-
dience.