The Washington herald., 1909-07-04
A Remarkable Revelation

n ANNAAdAhaus hEfEtdEOUs
The pastor Of the Fifth Avenue Bap-
tist Church. New York City. Rev.
Charles F. Aked. d. D, an Englishman.
has perpeUated-aH unconsciousIy as 10
its self-revelation-as remarkable a docu-
ment as it has been our privilege 10 pc
ruse. entitled a Minister'S Mail" Il
occupied the position Of honor in a re
cent issue OF the Saturday Evening Post
DR.. Aked. always be It remembered. is
a minister Of the Gospel OF Jesus Christ
albeit as Baptist he has come in for a
good deal OF criticism from his co-work-
ers OF his own creed. Il appears that
when II became known that DR. Aked
was 10 be pastor of the church in New
York OF which millionaire Rockefeller is
a member, il was widely thought that he
might have something to do with the
distributing OF such charity as a multi
millionaire might be expected 70 dis
pense. Letters came 10 Dr. Aked from all
parts OF the world and from AL sorts
and conditions of men" and women and
children. Some Of them reveal faith
in the existence OF good that is inspir-
ing: many OF them are appeals in causes
that are altogether admirable and
worthy; most OF them would exSte some
expression Of pity or sympathy that so
much suffering and III should exist IN
Gods world; but all they elicit from
DR.. Aked is a petUlant. querulous. and
seemingly selfish article. for which-as
for his sensational articles in certain
New York newspapers-one may be sure
that he takes care 70 be paid.
For a revelation Of SNUG egotism. it
would be hard to find anything to excel
Dr. Akeds article. He begins by stating
that I have no more to do with Mr..
Rockefellers' philanthropies than the man
in the moon" Yet IS he Mr.. Rockefel-
ler's pastor, his preacher. his teacher. It
IS easy 10 conceive how a brave disciple
OF the church might dare TO have some
thing to say on the subject OF charity,
even TO so successful q hnancier as Mr..
Rockefeller But not Mr.. Aked-not he;
that is none OF his business. lie tells
US how letters OF appeal came pouring
upon him; how he declined to open
n; how ne consigned them to the
sstebasket unopened. He says. They
make my life a burden to me-" and what
was in the letters and what became Of
Them he says 7 neither know nor care
Why, receiving these appeals for a
hearing from foolish people Che calls
these people foolish many times in his
article) was so great a burden for this
high-salaried divine that in trying 10
avoid them he tells US that ne even re-
fused to receive his own bank book when
il was sent 20 him.
However. he did look over some OF the
letters. and he gives some samples. One
he designates as coming from "a sturdy
beggar.' Read it:
Honored and reverend sir: It IS unbelievable
That you are able to leave in the g.eatest distress
an honest old man. You ignore all my ur7vers and
the Recommendation Of our pastor, whom sou treat
with contempt, although be is worthy Christian
and does not deserve the disdain which YOU mani
fest bg yc'r silence. Msmmon has already attached
your heart You show no sign Of charity
We should think that any ordinary
layman would at least have the cour-
tesy to answer letter ike that. evi-
IDENTIFY, for it bears the stamp Of truth
as well as the recommendation Of our
pastor" written by ~an honest old ran. "
But it excites nothing but ridicule and
contempt
We quite agree with D-. Aked that
for man OF his caliber to risk offending
the richest man Of his congregation by
appeas for charity is simply preposter-
Gus" as he says. 1t matters not about
the example set by the Master whose
disciple DR.. Aked sets up 10 be: there Is
no room in the Fifth Avenue Baptist
Church, while DR.. Aked is pastor for
charity except that organized kind which
costs the donors nothing but cash. which
Dr. Aked is paid a large salary 10 save
them the pains Of administering. Not
once in this whole article does this min
lister Of the church express one note Of
human sympathy, let alone Christian
mercy. The sufferings laid before his
eyes excite only his rislbility and his I
sarcasm. He is safely inrenched in a
comfortable pastorate; let the outside /
world take care OF itself.
He speaks with an air Of sanctifed
superiority about the 'uneducated ap-
peal" as If Christianity called upon
man for diploma before he was worthy
Of help from his fellow-man: and he
gives US a sample OF one Of these "uned- /
ucated appeals" Here It is:
I'VE have read Of Mr. Rockefeller's charity. /
Rssse pardon us for writing to you. We are two /
thely women. mother and myself Mother is a I
widow soTenty-tWo years Of age / have the care Of
her. I inclose sample Of crochs: work. Pleas. |
sir could you get me an order to enable me +, /
start poultry farm or start a sweat saop We have
nothing to bring Us a living
We submit to the general public if that
is what might fairly be called the let
ter Of an uneducated woman? It is
well phrased. well expressed, in simple
English well punctuated. concise. and
earnest Did 1t or its contents reach