“I continued to practice law. My wife and myself lived in two small
rooms. The front one was my office, and the back one, kitchen, parlor,
sitting room and bedroom. I had never fully recovered from my wound
received in the war. I knew Governor Marshall, and it was he who
appointed me emigration commissioner for the state of Minnesota. My
duties, of course, took me to Europe.”
When Dr. Conwell arrived in Europe, his health, that had been breaking
down, gradually gave way, and he gave up his place as commissioner.
For awhile, he rested; then, for several months, he attended lectures
at the University of Leipsic. That pilgrimage was followed by a number
of other journeys across the Atlantic to the principal countries of
Europe, and to northern Africa.
“In 1870,” continued Dr. Conwell, “I made a tour of the world as
special correspondent for the New York ‘Tribune’ and the Boston
‘Traveler.’ I then exposed the iniquities of Chinese contract
immigration. I next returned to Boston and law, and became editor of
the Boston ‘Traveler.’”
“But, doctor, had you never entertained a desire to enter the
ministry?” I asked.
“All my life I studied theology. The question was before me always:
Shall it be law or the ministry? The change came after I had lost
considerable money in the panic of 1873. Then came death into my home,
and the loss of my first wife. I turned to missionary work in Boston.
As time rolled on, I became more interested. But the turning-point
was really brought about by a law case. There was a meeting house
in Lexington, Massachusetts, in 1877, dilapidated and old. The
congregation had left it, so the few old persons who remained decided
that it should be sold. They wished to consult a lawyer, and called me
to Lexington. Standing on the platform, I asked the few present to vote
upon the question. The edifice had been dear to some of them, and they
hemmed and hawed, and couldn’t decide.
“At length, I suggested that they put new life into the place. But
interest in the building as a place of worship seemed to have departed,
although they did not care to see it torn down.”