A HOME COMING
Reception Tendered by Citizens of Philadelphia in Acknowledgment of
Work as Public Benefactor.
One more scene in the life of this man who, from a barefoot country
boy with no advantages, has become one of the most widely known of the
preachers, lecturers and writers of the day, as well as the founder
of a college and hospital holding an honored position among the
institutions of the country.
In 1894, acting upon the advice of his physician, Dr. Conwell went
abroad. It is no unusual thing for pastors to go abroad, nor for
members of their church and friends to see them off. But for Grace
Baptist Church personally to wish its pastor "Bon voyage" is something
of an undertaking. A special train was chartered to take the members
to New York. Here a steamer engaged for the purpose awaited them, and
twelve hundred strong, they steamed down the harbor alongside the "New
York" that Dr. Conwell's last glimpse of America might be of the faces
of his own church family.
On his return six hundred church members met him and gave him a royal
welcome, and a large reception was held in The Temple to show how glad
were the hearts of his people that he was restored to them in health.
But it was not enough. The people of Philadelphia said, "This man
belongs to us." In all parts of the city, in all walks of life, were
men and women who had studied at Temple College, whose lives were
happier, more useful because of the knowledge they had gained there,
for whom he had opened these college doors. The Samaritan Hospital had
sent forth people by the hundreds whose bodies had been healed and
their spirits quickened because his kindly heart had foreseen their
need and his generous hands labored to help it. Everywhere throughout
the whole city was felt the leaven of his work, and the people as a
body said, "We will show our appreciation of the work he has done for
Philadelphia, we will show that we recognize him as one of the city's
greatest benefactors and philanthropists."
A committee of twenty-one citizens was formed, of which the Mayor,
Edwin S. Stuart, was chairman, and a reception was tendered Dr. and
Mrs. Conwell and the others of his party in the name of the citizens
of Philadelphia. It was given at the Academy of Fine Arts. With its
paintings and statuary, its broad sweeping staircases, it made a
magnificent setting for the throngs of men and women who crowded to
pay their respects to this man who had lived among them, doing good.
The line of waiting guests reached for two blocks and more and for
hours moved in steady procession before the receiving party. At last
the final farewell was said and on toward midnight Dr. Conwell stepped
into the carriage waiting to take him home.
But the affair was not over. The college boys felt that shaking hands
in formal fashion did not express sufficiently their loyalty and
devotion, their joy in the return of their beloved "Prex." They
unharnessed the horses, and with college cheers and yells triumphantly
drew their president all the way from the Academy of Fine Arts to his
home, a distance of two miles. As they passed Temple College, their
enthusiasm broke all bounds and they drew up the carriage at the
Doctor's residence, two blocks beyond the College, with a yell and a
flourish that fairly lifted the neighbors from their beds.
It was in every way a homecoming and a welcome that proved how
wide-reaching has been the work Dr. Conwell has done, how deeply it
has touched the lives of thousands of people in Philadelphia. This
spontaneous act of appreciation was but the tribute paid by grateful
hearts.