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I VOL III. FUCHMC
The Pocket 1
A Remc
The Pocket Testament League was introduced
into Canada at the beginning in 1911, the great
tercentenary year of the English Bible, and it is
peculiarly appropriate that in this year the
movement should be sweeping over the Dominion
in a marvellous manner. The plan has been
taken up with such enthusiasm by the various
branches of the Christian Church from the Anglicans
to the Salvation Army, that Canada bids
fair to lead the world in the promotion of this
method of reading and carrying Gods Word, and
of using it for the salvation of the lost.
In January, 1911, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman
and Mr. Charles M. Alexander conducted a simultaneous
mission in Toronoto. As a
result of the awakening W. S. Dinnick,
a prominent business man, and Dr. W.
A. Young, a leading physician, publicly
confessed Christ, dedicating their
lives t.O God's RPrvifP Tlior
?^ A
ately felt a great longing to win their j jja
fellowmen to Christ. They saw the j^(
work of the Pocket Testament League, J3ut
and decided it was the best means they T1
could use for promoting the spiritual Yet
welfare of the Dominion. They deter- H
mined to throw themselves into the
? < tTi
movement with such business sagacity, ' ^
enthusiasm and financial support, that
the Word of God would be read and ^
carried and loved and used in soul- ^
winning, as never before from one end (j]
of their country to the other. Now
Less than five months after the in- T]
auguration of the League in Canada
W. S. Dinnick, the honorary secretary, "Ta
sent a wonderful account of the pro- -tigress
of the League throughout the Do- ^ ^
minion. He wrote: ^
"Dear Mr. Davis: ?g^
'' I am glad to be able to give you a j m?
detailed account of what has been so
far accomplished in connection with
i .?the Pocket Testament League in Can&
ada. I am giving you a rather com*^01
prehensive survey of our work to date. You
Tni*-) readily recall the inauguration of the
' movement here, when a few of us gathered
\J. 3 .together at the National Club early in January.
^?,2)5 You will also remember that at that time an
Executive Committee, to act pro tem, was appointed
to' secure a Canadian Council. This
committee met the same day and operations were
started. Another meeting was held early in February,
and still another on February 18th; at
this time we had with us Reverend Ritson, of the
Bible Society. Mr. Ritson gave us a short adUZ
^ dress. At a subsequent meeting a special com
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^Inia State
)ND, NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA, AUG
* . I
estament Leas
triable Tercentenary Achi
mittee consisting of John Firstbrook, Reverend
J. G. Shearer, Rev. Jesse Gibson, Dr. W. A.
Young and myself, was appointed to complete
the work of organization and to call the inauguration
meeting of the Council for May 12th. This
was done, the meeting was held, and I might say
that in every way it was most successful. At this
meeting the officers were elected, the Council duly
organized, and the League officially introduced
into Canada.
"The correspondence, etc., in connection with
the League soon became so heavy that I decided
to open a League office. Mr. H. Waite was engaged
by myself to look after the details and
MY <a^
id on thine altar, 0 my Loi^d d
ccept my gift this day, for<J&$us' sake,'.
ve no jewels to adorn thy shriai^ ^
or anv world-famed snnrififo in mob-o..
here I bring within my trembling hand/
lis will of mine, a thing that seemeth small
thou, 0 Lord, can'st understand
ow when I yield thee this, 1 yield mine all.
dden therein thy searching gaze can see
;ruggles of passion, visions of delight,
that I have, or am, or fain would be,
sep loves, fond hopes, and longings infinite;
ath been wet with tears, and dimmed with si
inched in my grasp, till beauty hath it none;
r from thy footstool, where it vanquished lie
he prayer ascendeth, 'May thy will be done.'
,ke it, O Father, ere my courage fail,
nd merge it so into thine own will, that e'en
i some desperate hour my cries prevail,
nd thou give back my gife, it may have beei
hanged, so purified, so fair have grown,
) one with thee, so filled with love divine,
ty not know or feel it as my own,
at gaining back my will, may find it thine."
?Exchan
attend to the letters and so on.
'' It was at this time we started to get out our
printing. We had 20,000 copies of "The Pocket
Testament League in the Sunday School" issued;
20,000 membership cards printed; 20,000 sheets
describing our Testaments printed; 2,000 letters
to send to the converts of the mission; 5,000 letters
to send to the members of the League, and
1,000 letters to send to ministers, Sunday school
superintendents, etc. Then, too, we had 35,000
copies of "The Pocket Testament League in the
Sunday School" issued in a very much condensed
form. These were used in connection
1
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UST 30, 1911. NO. 35.
rue in Canada
'evement.
with the tercentenary celebration by the Anglican
Church throughout Canada.
"A word as to those letters we sent out. You
will understand that in every case the name, address
and heading was filled in with the typewriter.
This made the letter a personal one. We
have sent out the' 2,000 to the converts, about
2,500 to the members of the League, and about
800 to active Christian workers. The replies to
the first two would do your heart good and hundreds
of people have come to our office thanking
us for them, all of which is very encouraging to
me personally. The letter we send acknowledging
membership has brought us very good results
indeed. It also serves to awaken a fresh
interest in the League and keep it before
the members.
"The way the work advanced was
something wonderful. Our correspondence
increased so that it was necessary
to put in a stenographer, and now we
are about to engage another. Regarding
the Canadian Council, I might say
f that the very best men available were
written to, some sixty-five in all, and
out ofthis number we only met with two
refusals. A splendid record I think.
Our Council has been said to be the
strongest undenominational body of
_ men ever got together in Canada; and
ghs Personal influence of these men will
do much towards promoting the League.
S "Soon after your departure from Toronto
it was impossible to secure a
Testament suitable for carrying in the
city. We therefore placed an order
with the Scripture Gift Mission for
about seven hundred dollars worth of
the different styles, Workers' Testaments
included. The demand for Testaments
is now so great that we shall
shortly have to duplicate the order. To
ige. meet the increasing demand for information
about the League, we secured
Mr. 0. J. Smith, a candidate for the
ministry, to act as an outside organizer for us.
Mr. Smith is now in Gait. Ontario Hp intrn
duces the League into the churches, Sunday
schools, Guild, Y. M. C. A. and factories, and
appoints local secretaries. Mr. Smith is doing
good work. The Gait papers give whole columns
to the movement, showing the public interest
in the League.
"Acting in very much the same capacity as
Mr. Smith, we have Mr. Duncan McDonald. His
work is confined to Toronto. He personally interviews
all leading Christian communities, addresses
Sunday school teachers' meetings, etc.
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