VINCENT, REV. JOHN H., D.D.
I have written down the name of the "great man" which I have chosen to
stand in this Alphabet, and here I pause as I reflect that to many of
you his face and form and speech are familiar. You have seen him upon
the platform and upon the avenues of Chautauqua and Framingham, and in
other places. Some of you have welcomed him at your own homes; his
smiles and his talks are among the things which will be always, so long
as you live, a pleasant memory. What can I tell you about him that you
do not already know? Yet I am not willing that another name should take
the place of this, and therefore we will talk a little together of this
friend of the young people, and idol of the older people.
Dr. Vincent's early home was in the Sunny South. "In the land of orange
blossoms and magnolia groves," he first saw the light. Six years of his
life were spent in the home of the flowers; then the family came North
and settled in Pennsylvania.
Like the mothers of many of our great men, John H. Vincent's mother
might fill a place in the book called "Some Remarkable Women."
She is described as "patient, amiable, living as though she belonged to
heaven rather than earth. Often at the twilight hour, especially on
Sundays, she would take her children to her own room, and there sweetly
and tenderly tell them about the life to come, and point out their
faults and spiritual needs."
Mrs. Bolton in her sketch of Dr. Vincent, in "How Success is Won," gives
some amusing incidents of the childhood of our Great Man. I quote from
memory, but I think it is she who tells the story of the boy of six
years gathering the children of the neighborhood, and after getting them
quiet by threatening them with the lash of a whip, he would preach to
them. And so far did his zeal carry him, that upon one occasion he tore
into several parts a small red-covered hymn book, which he valued as the
gift of his pastor, and distributed the pieces through his audience,
doubtless thinking it highly important that all should be supplied with
hymn books. Whether they all sang together from the different parts of
the book given them, we are not informed.
Very early in life the boy seems to have decided that he would _do
something with his life worth while_; that he would do that which should
help others, and realizing that there is a world to be saved, he grew up
with the hope of one day becoming a minister. His studies were carried
on for a time at home, afterwards at a neighboring academy. Later he
engaged in teaching, continuing his studies by himself, and finally he
had fitted himself for college. Not every boy would have the will and
perseverance to carry on a course of study while teaching six hours or
more each day. However, he did not finish his college course. Not for
any want of persistence, neither did he consider such a course
unimportant. But he was anxious to be about his Master's work, and thus
it was that before he was twenty-one years old he set out to preach "on
a thirty-mile circuit, over the mountains and through the valleys of
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania."
He travelled on horseback, studying and thinking out his sermons as he
journeyed. Everybody, young and old, were glad to see his bright,
smiling face and feel the warm grasp of his hand. It has been said that
"he never shook hands with the tips of his fingers, nor preached dry
sermons."
It was during this period of his life that his mother whose parting
words when he went out into the world were, "My son, live near to God;
live near to God," went to be with God. One near the throne in heaven,
the other living near the throne on earth; is this the secret of John H.
Vincent's success in the Lord's vineyard?
[Illustration: REV. JOHN H. VINCENT, D.D.]
At length he became a pastor, preaching for a few years in New Jersey,
afterwards in the vicinity of Chicago. But all the time he was busy with
plans of an educational character. These plans which were at first
carried out in the establishing of Saturday afternoon classes of young
people, called Palestine Classes, with the purpose of studying about the
Holy Land, have at length developed a Chautauqua. I need not tell you
about Chautauqua; about the C.L.S.C., nor about the C.Y.F.R.U.; you do
not need to be told about the town and country clubs, nor about the
society of Christian ethics. Many of you have listened to those Sunday
afternoon talks in the Children's Temple, and afterwards gone to the
vesper service in the Hall of Philosophy.
I ought to tell you that although Dr. Vincent postponed his college
course, he never gave it up, but outside college walls, he continued his
studies by himself, even in the midst of a busy life, until by regular
examinations he took his degrees, and also passed through the regular
theological course of study of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which
denomination he belongs.
To the boys especially I recommend the study of the life and character
of Dr. Vincent. A gentleman remarked in my hearing the other day,
"probably no man living is exerting a wider influence over the hearts
and minds of the young people than Dr. Vincent!" And I thought, what a
responsibility! and how thankful the fathers and mothers should be that
he is just the man he is; that his influence is ever on the side of
truth and right; that his aim is to uplift, and that Christ is ever the
centre of his thought. To see and hear Dr. Vincent is to understand
something of the secret of his power. The sympathy which manifests
itself in every look and tone, the enthusiasm with which he enters into
his work, and which tides him over the hard places, and the personal
magnetism--which makes you, whether you will or not; these qualities,
sanctified and consecrated, make the man a power for good.