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6 THE PRESBYTERIA
THE BIRMINGHAM CONVENTION.
It is my deliberate judgment that the Laymen's Missionary
Convention held in Birmingham last week was
the greatest gathering of any kind ever held in the
Southern Presbyterian church. It was great in numbers.
There were four or five times as many delegates
present as attend the General Assembly of our Church.
Eleven hundred and thirty-two properly accredited delegates
were registered?and the great majority of them
came the first day and remained to the end. Of these
between two hundred and fifty and three hundred were
ministers and the rest laymen. They came from all
parts of the South. A more representative body never
assembled in our church. Some of the old patriarchs
among our ministers were there. The young theologues
were there. Bankers and judges and merchants and
manufacturers came. Bookkeepers and clerks and stenographers
sat by their sides. The metropolitan church
was represented. The small country church had its
delegate. The great majority of delegates were in the
prime of middle age or young manhood.
It was great in enthusiasm. I have never seen a body
so full of enthusiasm unless it was the great Democratic
convention in Chicago in 1896,' which nominated Mr.
Bryan after his "cross of gold" speech, and that was a
very different kind of enthusiasm. I am afraid that
some of the fathers in the church will be a bit shocked
when they hear of the fact that there was frequent applause
and cheering. The truth is they cheered everything
but the prayers. I heard a round of applause when
John 3: 16 was quoted. There was an outburst of applause
at the close of the great hymn, "All hail the now
er of Jesus name." I say I am afraid the fathers would
be shocked, and yet some of the fathers were there and
they did not seem to be shocked. There was something
so sincere, so natural, so spontaneous, so spiritual
about it all that it seemed to be a proper way to express
love and loyalty and devotion to the Master. Never
have I seen a gathering more loyal to Him.
I believe it will be great in its influence. Indeed I
believe this convention is going to be more far-reaching
in its influence than any convention or Catherine pvi>r
o O
held within the bounds of our church. No doubt some
of the enthusiasm will fade as the delegates get back to
their daily work and cares, but after we have made
due allowance for that, this multitude of men will carry
back to their home a great deal of the fire and enthusiasm
that burned in that great convention. Here I am,
back in my study with work piled high all around me,
the last three nights have had precious liitle sleep, Sunday
is staring me in the face, a sermonless Sunday, and
yet with all these things to drown enthusiasm, I kfiow
that there is a new fire in my heart. I have no doubt that
there are 1,131 other delegates who could give the same
testimony.
It is impossible to give any adequate idea of this great
vuuvciiiiuii 10 me man wno was not there, and yet at the
request of the editors I will try at least to give a few
of the outstanding features. Let us begin at the beginning.
During the whole of Tuesday delegates and visitors
were pouring into Birmingham from all parts of the
South. In a number of cases there were special trains
and special cars. Religiou? services were held on some
y
N OF THE SOUTH. February 24, 1909.
of these trains as they sped on their way to the convention
city. Birmingham is a splendid city and has excellent
hotel accommodations, but by Tuesday night all
her space was filled. I hunted for more than an hour for
a place to sleep and then got it only by the skin of my
teeth.
On Tuesday.
The convention assembled on Tuesday afternoon.
We may pause just here for a moment and look at the
hall. It is the city auditorium. The first floor will seat
about two thousand people. The galleries will seat two
thousand more. Only the delegates were admitted to
the first floor. Visitors went to the galleries. It was a .
great sight to sit and look down into the faces of twelve
hundred good, strong Christian men, and then lift your
eyes to the galleries and see there two thousand more
of the choicest Christian men and women of Birmingham
and the South. A delegate near me said, "I never
saw so many Christian men together in all my life." I
agreed with him. In one end of the auditorium hung
the largest missionary map in the world. From the galleries
there were suspended the flags of all the heathen
lands in which we have missionary work. The Stars and
Stripes were also in evidence. Suspended here and there
were banners bearing striking missionary mottoes. Near
the entrance there was a post office, writing room, information
bureau, prayer-room, telephones, and all the
conveniences heart could desire.
Governor B. B. Comer, of Alabama, gave a cordial
address of welcome to the delegates. Ex-Governor R.
B. Glenn, of North Carolina. Dresided. Tnst T moir
. * J ? ?- say
that Governor Glenn made a most excellent preside
ing officer and soon won the hearts of the convention.
He had to leave on Wednesday night for Louisville,
where he was to fire one of the first guns in a great temperance
campaign in Kentucky. When he made that
announcement he was cheered to the echo. It was easy
to see what the convention thought on the temperance
question and what it thought of Governor Glenn.
As he took his leave he said: "I have had the honor of
presiding over many conventions. It was the proudest
moment of my life when I was asked to preside over
the convention of governors in Washington City. But
I can truly say that I count it the greatest honor I have
ever had in my life to have presided over this convention,"
and he looked as if he meant it.
Mr. J. Campbell White made the first address of the
afternoon. He spoke of "the significance of this convention."
I suppose we all know by this time that Mr.
White is the General Secretary of the Laymen's Movement
in America. He belongs to the United Presbyterian
Church, and was for ten years a missionary in
India.
He and Dr. W. W. White, of the Bible School in New
York, are brothers. They have a no less distinguished
sister, who is the wife of Mr. John R. Mott, the man
who has done more for the mlleo-e entente ?-v.o
wvvix^vt^U UA HIV WU11U
. i
than any living person. Mr. White is a native of Ohio
and got his fine physique out on the farm. It stands him
in good stead now when he is under such tremendous
pressure all the time. A statement which is not generally
known was made on the platform on the closing
night. It is that Mr. White is supported by a beloved