8 Conservative.
exacting responsibilities , and wore not
intimidated by its unforeseen and un
precedented growth.
No antiquated bones , no "dry-as-dust"
conservatism such as lias dwarfed so
many laudable undertakings , were per
mitted hero , for these men knew when
to mov.e as well as when to pause , when
to boldly strike out and forward as
well as when to retrench.
Seeking effective inspiration , shall wo
not turn to their words replete with the
resolute manliness that encouraged their
ennobling thought ? What stirring dec
laration is this of the late President of
The Mutual Life , the honored Frederick
S. Winston : "We have had this simple
watchw6rd for our guide Equity ; no
man , woman or child can truthfully
charge this company with voluntarily
witholding that which was his or her
due , or with striving to avoid its just
obligations. " And where may bo found
more earnestness of speech than in the
selected utterance of that fearless man ,
who , from a modest clerkship rose to
the presidency of the company which
unconsciously he founded as his own
imperishable monument ? I have in
mind the lamented Homy B. Hyde ,
founder of the Equitable Life Assurance
Society of the United States , and his
never to bo forgotten words addressed
to me in person , when Mr. Hyde was in
the fullness and vigor of his splendid
manhood : "I want those who will en
list in the service of this company to
feel with me , that we are going to make
the Equitable the greatest life insurance
company on the face of the earth. As
its president , I will not forget to re
ward the workers who help me to make
it so. " The history of his company
shows how well Henry B. Hyde kept
this pledge.
Living words teeming with the same
ceaseless energy and righteous resolve
that have given rare character to his
public life , were those of acceptance of
fered by Richard A. McCurdy to the
board of trustees of the Mutual Life of
New York , when , sixteen years ago ,
they so conspicuously honored that
company and this man by placing him
in highest authority over the honorable
destinies of that institution. I quote :
"Gentlemen , I approach the assumption
of the burden which you have laid upon
me with considerable hesitancy , with
no over-weening self-confidence , and
with the full realization of a consecra
tion of mind and body and heart to the
service of the company which it in
volves ; I bear in mind that my late
predecessor bore mightily aloft the ban
ner of this company , and that it be
hooves his follower that it shall never
bo sullied or trampled in the dust , " and
strikingly prophetic of the mighty work
that was to follow , as witnessed by
the achievement of this man , who , in
the last ten years of the fifty-eight ,
marking the life time of this company ,
Is-
increased its assets from 158 millions to
325 millions ! An increase of 100 per
centum an unparalleled record compel
ling the admiration of the life insurance
world.
Where is that right-minded young
man who may not find lasting inspira
tion in the crystalized thought of this
intrepid trinity , to whoso language
respectful reference has been made ?
Surely , fortified by so lofty a sentiment ,
the business of life insurance should be
as eagerly sought by our worthy sons as
does this important department of
world-wide industry impatiently await
their approach , for here may bo found ,
not alone a means of acquiring an hon
orable competency , but every oppor
tunity leading up to a successful career
an eminent name ; and firm am I in
the belief that there shall not be found
in all the history of manly effort any
thing larger than the growth of life in
surance as a business of universal sig
nificance , unless it shall be found in the
very characters of them who to this
business have given a life's devotion ;
that if there shall ever be any trade ,
business or profession , any walk in the
commercial life of a people , affording
greater opportunity for honorable ac
complishment , the same must be in re
lation to some department of activity
not yet by man conceived , some plan of
manly action that shall have directly to
do with the further uplifting of our
race and our institutions.
Chicago , Ills. , August 1 , 1901.
JENKIN LLOYD JONES.
General Secretary , The Congress of Re
ligion.
Two classes of young men will find an
open door into the ministry today :
The "good young man" without much
originality of mind or independence of
spirit. The young man with a clean
character , who can accept the conven
tional interpretations of creeds and
texts , the man represented by the Eev.
Mr. Gascoignoin George Eliot's story of
"Daniel Deronda , " a man of "moder
ate views , upon whoso shoulders rested
lightly the honors of easy authorship , "
Ho who , previous to his ordination , was
simply "Captain Gaskiu" but , after
taking orders , added a dipthoug to the
orthography of his name. The young
man who will take "polish , " represent
the conventional "respectabilities" and
bo able to preach the "gospel of the
proper and the becoming , " without
touching the hot questions in civics erin
in theology will find many a "city pul
pit" with a good , living salary awaiting
him , and ho will find the opportunity of
doing much good on the well-prescribed
lines of the conventional church and the
conventional pastor. But he will fail
to receive the support of the strong men
and women in the community and will
miss the inspiration of the clearest
thinking and the highest leadership of
the day.
The second class of young men for
which there is an opportunity in the
ministry today , is the men who dare do
their own thinking , who , believing in
the eternal realities of religion and the
pressing demands of morals , will sot
themselves to the high task of squaring
theology with the latest developments in
scienceart and literature , men who will
not/mly believe in the continuous revela
tion of the eternal , but will try to in
terpret the same , regardless of bishops ,
synods and councils. The young man
who will dare bring the revelations of
his study into the pulpit , and will brook
no interval between his thinking and
his public speech , is the young man that
many a community is looking for. Such
a minister may encounter heresy trials ,
may find no place in any of the estab
lished churches , but the people are
waiting for him and in proportion as ho
JENKIN LLOYD JONES.
is able , consecrated and vigorous in
body and mind , will he find his oppor
tunity.
To the young man or young woman
possessing these qualities there are no
openings in society today more tempting
and more sure to bring the rewards dear
to the scholar , the philanthropist and
earnest friend of truth and righteous
ness , than the progressive ministry ;
there is no position today so indepen
dent , so free from intimidations and en
tanglements as that of the independent
man in the pulpit , the man who thinks
what he says , and who dares say what
he thinks. There are thousands
of communities in the United States ,
the better intellectual life and the civic
conscience of which are untouched by
the churches waiting for such a minis
ter as I have indicated.
I repeat , then , only the "good young
man , " who is willing to subordinate the
intellectual life to his emotional and re
ligious nature , and the strong yonng
man who is determined to combine these
two , to demonstrate the possibility of
uniting vigorous thinking with rever
ent service , need look to the ministry
today with any hope of finding an open
door.
Spring Green , Wis. , July 80 , 1901 ,
