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diff --git a/37677-8.txt b/37677-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..001a712 --- /dev/null +++ b/37677-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9759 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of a Life, by J. Breckenridge Ellis + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of a Life + +Author: J. Breckenridge Ellis + +Release Date: October 9, 2011 [EBook #37677] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF A LIFE *** + + + + +Produced by David Garcia, Julia Neufeld and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Kentuckiana Digital Library) + + + + + + + +[Illustration: MRS. O. A. CARR] + + + + + THE STORY OF A LIFE + + BY + + J. BRECKENRIDGE ELLIS + + AUTHOR OF + + "THE SOUL OF A SERF," "THE DREAD AND FEAR OF KINGS," "HOLLAND + WOLVES," "SHEM," "ADNAH," "ARKINSAW COUSINS," "TWIN STARRS," + "GARCILASO," "IN THE DAYS OF JEHU," "KING SAUL," "STORK'S + NEST," "THE RED BOX CLEW," ETC. + + + + + PRESS OF + + REYNOLDS-PARKER CO. + + SHERMAN, TEXAS + + 1910 + + + + + TO HER GIRLS + + and to the + + MEMORY AND PERPETUATION + + OF + + CARR-BURDETTE COLLEGE + + MRS. CARR'S PET--THE CHILD OF HER + + BRAIN AND HEART + + THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTION. + + I. A KENTUCKY GIRL. + + II. IDEALS. + + III. A KENTUCKY BOY. + + IV. A SCHOOL-GIRL'S NOTE BOOK. + + V. A UNIVERSITY STUDENT. + + VI. LOVE AND SACRIFICE. + + VII. "I WILL GO." + + VIII. AN ENGLISH PRIMROSE. + + IX. THE LONG VOYAGE. + + X. LIFE IN MELBOURNE. + + XI. BUSY YEARS IN AUSTRALIA. + + XII. EXPERIENCES IN TASMANIA. + + XIII. TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. + + XIV. WORK IN KENTUCKY AND MISSOURI. + + XV. LADY PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI. + + XVI. IN PURSUIT OF ONE'S IDEAL. + + XVII. ACHIEVING ONE'S IDEAL. + + XVIII. CROWNING MONUMENT OF A LIFE. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The story of any life, if fully portrayed, should be more interesting +than the story of a dream-phantom of fiction. In hearing of one who +really lived, there is with us the feeling that the sunshine which +greets our eyes, the rain which dashes against our window, in brief, the +joys and sorrows which like flowers and thistles grow everywhere, were +all known to that real character in the world's drama. Therefore, since, +in a measure, our experience and his are in common, his life, inasmuch +as it touches us at so many points, should lead us into new fields of +interest and instruction, as it goes on its way alone. + +This is true of any life, if we could know it in its entirety. But how +much more strikingly true it is found, when the life selected is one +that leads from the twilight dawn of infancy to the twilight close of +life, in one straight line of definite desire and inspiring achievement. +It is the purpose of this book to trace such a life, from the little bed +in the nursery, a bed of weakness and tears, to the huge pile of brick +and stone which stands as a monument to that life as if to show what may +be accomplished in spite of tears and weakness. + +In the story of this life will be found stirring scenes and distant +travels; romance will not be lacking; here and there the faces of famous +men and women will, for a moment, appear; across the bloom of youth and +hope will fall the shadows of war. All these realities will be presented +in the colors of truth. But something deeper than an interest in +connected links of a story is here to be found; it shall be our endeavor +to discover the causes that lead to wider activities. + +In endeavoring to divine, and clearly reveal, the motives that prompt +action, we shall try to hold ourselves detached from the subject, +finding no fault, and indulging in no encomium, defining beliefs and +ambitions, not because they are ours, but because they were those of +Mattie Myers, and, to understand her, one must understand them. + +It will not be sufficient to consider her work, and the opinions of +those who knew her, in order to reach the desired result. As far as +possible, she shall speak out herself, out of her old diaries and the +abundance of her letters. As her biographer, I would be but the setting +to uphold the gem, that it may shine by its own light. And yet, there is +no life whose story may be fully understood, unless a knowledge is +gained of those other lives with which it comes in contact. In the +present story, this truth is of wider significance than one finds in the +lives of the majority. Here will be painted scenes as widely separated +as Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Australia, England, and the Levant. + + + + +THE STORY OF A LIFE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A KENTUCKY GIRL + + +"I don't believe she's going to live long," said the black nurse, +mournfully shaking her head. "She's so thin and weak, and she cries +nearly every night!" + +The nurse was speaking of little Mattie Myers, who lived in the old +Kentucky town of Stanford. The child was seldom to be seen engaged in +those sports natural to children. She was grave, quiet, thoughtful. Her +one amusement was found in her family of dolls; she was always their +teacher, and they were daily going to school to her. For companions, she +chose those who were much older than herself, and she would sit by the +hour, soberly listening to theological discussion, weighing, in her +infant mind, the arguments of learned men. + +Her mother was dead, but Mattie could recall her sympathetic touch, and +tender smile. It seemed to her that out of the shadow of death her life +had emerged, to be clouded by new losses. One after the other, her two +sisters were taken from her. Then the brother, who was her only +intimate companion, went to another town to teach school. Mattie found +herself the only young person in the large house of her wealthy father. + +Of course she received all care; her slightest wishes were granted; the +love of her widowed father was doubly hers, because of his bereavements. +But the little girl was very lonely. When the flowers sent forth their +perfume on the warm Kentucky breezes, she was reminded of three graves; +and when the sunshine gilded the level pike leading toward Lancaster, +she felt as if her brother Joe were calling her to come and nestle +against his loving breast. + +At every turn, the big house in Stanford reminded her of her mother's +footsteps, her sisters' voices forever hushed, and that beloved brother +from whom, for the first time, she found herself separated. Is it a +wonder that the nights often witnessed her tears? Is it strange that +there should have grown up within her, the intense desire to go to her +brother? She made this wish known to her father, and her brother +seconded her in the plan. Why not stay with Joe during the school year? +Then they could spend the vacations at home, together. + +Henry Myers, the wealthy and influential father, considered this +proposition. He was an ambitious man. He had spared no expense in giving +his son a thorough education. He was pleased, now, to find that little +Mattie should show a disposition for learning. She was only eight years +old, and yet he felt that, in the companionship of her brother, she +would find ample protection. Moreover, while a child of eight is usually +no fit inmate of a boarding-school, and while it is not best to send one +so young, to dwell among strangers, Mattie was no ordinary child. + +Nor was her mother an ordinary woman. Mary Burdette possessed a cultured +and original mind, related in sympathies to that of her cousin who is +known to the world, in the familiarity of affection, as "Bob Burdette." +When Mrs. Mary Burdette Myers died, it was supposed that Mattie was too +young to appreciate her loss. She could not, of course, appraise that +loss at its full value, but its shadow rested upon her girlhood. This +death, and that of her sisters, had rendered her serious, had brought +enforced reflections upon death and immortality. The letters that she +wrote, almost to the days of maturity, are found inclosed in faded +little envelopes, which show the black band of mourning. + +No, there was no danger in sending Mattie to Lancaster where brother Joe +would be her protector. Her father consented. + +The ambition to teach school, entertained by one who was a man of means, +was a rare thing in the South before the Civil War; or, at any rate, it +was rare in Kentucky. Yet that was the ambition of Joe Myers, and to +this ambition he devoted his life. He was a natural teacher, and Mattie, +who admired him above all others, imitated him in all things. What he +liked, she liked, and what he wanted to do, she meant to do. The young +man was very fond of music--so was his little sister. He opened up an +academy at Lancaster--Mattie established her first school, as we have +seen--a college of dolls. + +When at last it was decided that Mattie should go to Joe, great was her +joy. Some of those few golden hours of childhood, which she afterward +recalled, came to her then. She went--the pike had not called in +vain--but she did not leave her dolls at home. She boarded with her +brother Joe Myers, and her education began in earnest. + +"I was only eight," she afterwards said, "when I entered a boarding +school; my whole family of dolls matriculated with me." + +Lancaster and Stanford were not far apart, though in different counties. +It was a short journey to go home Friday evening, and visit there until +Monday morning. But of course these visits were not of weekly +occurrence. + +There was Joe to stay with, and these two never tired of each other's +companionship. In the twilight-hours, the young teacher would play his +flute, and the little girl would sit listening with all her soul, +translating his music into definite resolves. Just as he had given his +life to teaching, so would she. She declared her purpose at that age of +eight. She would teach a school--a school for girls. It was a purpose +she never changed. + +Thus the years passed by, in sweet companionship with her brother during +the school months, and with the reunited family every summer. Mattie did +not grow strong. The black nurse still shook her head. "We never thought +she would live!" she often declared, in after years. + +In the meantime, Mattie still associated with those who were much older +than herself, still found pleasure in discussion of religious +differences. We shall find her, at the age of eighteen, saying that most +of her friends are married or dead, thus showing that no intimacies +existed between herself and girls of her own age. + +At twelve, a change came into her life. So thoroughly had she pursued +her studies at Lancaster, that it was determined to send her away to +college. At that time, the strongest college for girls of her father's +faith, was at Harrodsburg, Kentucky. The name of it was "Daughters' +College." Mattie's brother and father, justly proud of her attainments, +and still resolved to encourage her in her desire to become thoroughly +educated, sent her to Harrodsburg to be instructed by John Augustus +Williams, the President of "Daughters' College." + +Boarding among strangers, now far from home, Mattie found accentuated +both her spirit of self-reliance, and her attitude of reserve toward +others, two traits always shown in her childhood. The six years at +Harrodsburg served to strengthen and deepen her already-preconceived +ideals. John Augustus Williams carried on the work that Joe Myers had +begun. The Harrodsburg President was as devoted to learning as the +Lancaster professor; and he had farther penetrated its depths. He was, +indeed, a remarkable man, one who magnified the dignity of his calling, +always conscious that the better he succeeded as a teacher, the greater +would prove his blessing to the lives of others. + +On Sunday we may follow the college girls to church. There goes Mattie +Myers, in her solid-green woolen dress, her wonderful suit of hair +arranged as plainly as such a wealth of heavy brown will permit. We see +the neat and unpretentious hat from under which appear the serious brow, +and the eyes always bright and intelligent. We note her reliant step; +her form, too thin; her face a little weary from over-hard studying. + +Shall we not enter this church on Main street, and watch the young +ladies as they seat themselves in a bright oblong of femininity, if not +of beauty? + +We shall certainly do so, if we are young ministerial students, +attending the University! Unfortunately, young Oliver Carr cannot enter +with us, for he is still over yonder at May's Lick; but never mind--he +will presently be coming down to find out what Latin is like! What happy +fortune has brought the University for young men into the same town that +affords a college for young ladies? That, too, we shall presently +understand. + +At any rate, here sits Mattie Myers, decorously listening, it would +appear--we hope she is not thinking about her studies--while Dr. Robert +Richardson, or Robert Graham, or Robert Milligan--all teachers at the +University (among whom "Robert" seems a favorite name)--preaches and +preaches. About what? Why, about what we must do to be saved, to be +sure. And Mattie listening eagerly--for of course she listens--finds +that these distinguished men agree entirely with her father, that what +we must do to be saved is very much like what Peter declared we must +do--nay, is exactly what Peter declared, to the very words. Far, indeed, +is it from the mind of this thin, erect girl in the dress of +solid-green, and under the hair whose splendor refuses to be +concealed--far is it from her mind that any young man of the Kentucky +"froglands" is ever to enter her life as an integral part! + +[Illustration: Pres. Jno. Aug. William. + Daughters College. + Harrodsburg Ky] + +Little time is there for day dreams for this child!--Little time, and no +inclination. Study--ever deeper and more persistent study for her; late +hours after the lamps are out, sitting in the window with long hair +streaming, borrowing favor from the moon--that means spectacles in no +very short time! Study--ever more absorbed, and absorbing study, at +noon-recess, in early morning, on holidays--till the form grows thinner, +the face paler; and, indeed, she had better have a care, or all this +will come to an end, with pain and disappointment! + +The sermon is nearly ended. Are you sorry you missed it? An hour and a +quarter, already! Do the school girls move uneasily in the +straight-backed benches? Let us hope they are entertained by this +searching examination of sectarian "positions." How new that church +building seems to them! Why, it was finished only a few years ago--that +is to say, in 1850. There was a time when two bodies of believers met in +Harrodsburg; one organized by the followers of Barton Stone, who called +themselves "Christians", another the "disciples" who had followed John +Smith and John T. Johnson out of the Baptist church. The Christians met +from house to house; the "disciples" in the old frame building at the +corner of South Main and Depot streets, nearly opposite the public +square. Each body was suspicious of the other till, one day, they found +out that they taught the same things, believed the same truths, were, in +short, blood-brothers of faith and practice. So they came together and +formed the church which Mattie is attending. She comes every Sunday; and +every Sunday you will find, if you examine her closely, that she is a +little paler, a little weaker. Working too hard! The end must come if +this is kept up, year after year. + +We find the girl subject to an unappeasable hunger for facts. Is she not +to devote her life to teaching her sex? Now is the time to store the +mind. John Augustus Williams spurs her on, leads her into untold +scientific difficulties; lets her realize how little is her strength; +then aids by teaching her to help herself. One thing he does not help +her do--that is to husband her physical forces. As he stands before his +"daughters" in chapel he hammers away at this idea: + +"Teaching is woman's profession and her natural vocation. No lady can +claim to be well educated, therefore, or trained for her proper sphere +in life, until she has learned to teach, and to govern the young. The +learning which prepares her for the school-room, prepares her at the +same time for the highest social and domestic position. No time is lost +by such a training, even should the student never become a professional +teacher." + +It is no wonder that the enunciation of these ideas strengthened the +girl's resolutions. Here was the most learned man she had ever met in +daily life, a polished speaker, a graceful author, a correct translator; +one who reads the pages of his manuscript, "The Life of John Smith," +that his class may parse it;[1] a preacher, too, who pointed the way +back to Pentecost. Wisdom flowed from his lips, and his lips proclaimed +teaching the "natural vocation" of woman. + +And the way in which this teaching was to be done--in a word, his +conception of what an education means--that justified his dictum. He +said over and over again: + +"You have an infallible criterion by which you may determine the success +of your own and your teacher's labors. If you feel in your heart a +greater susceptibility to truth, a livelier appreciation of the purely +beautiful, a profounder regard for virtue, a warmer affection for the +good, and sublimer devotion to God, esteem your labors as eminently +successful; but if your attainments, varied and extensive as they may +be, are to render you less amiable in disposition, or less pure in +thought--less charitable to your fellows, or less devoted to God, then +have we labored in vain, and your learning, also, has been in vain." + +To such a teacher as this, every year is a book written full of sweet +influences,--books far deeper and more permanent than any work of the +pen. The girl understood this; that is why her determination to be a +teacher grew and ripened; not to impart facts but, by means of facts, to +inculcate the love of learning and of truth. She wanted to come into +touch with the world, and to send the ripple of her personal influence +far out into those magic circles of infinite distance, which the casting +of an idea forms on the sea of thought. She wanted girls, many girls, +countless girls,--to receive a higher view of life by having known her; +to enter more fully into the inheritance of their estate through her +ministration. No other relation than that of teacher and pupil, could +connect this circuit of spiritual influence. + +Teachers--the world was full of them in those days, just such as they +are now; teachers who bend beneath their burden, who seek in their +business but a means of livelihood, and who are ready to lay aside the +textbook and close the desk, when fortune smiles: who see their day's +end at four o'clock, and their happiness, at the dawn of vacation. But +there have always been, of teachers, a few who regarded their work as +Williams regarded his, and who, as in Mattie's case, with no spur of +necessity, selected it from all careers the future had to offer. + +But we do not mean that these highest ambitions of a teacher's sovereign +realm took definite shape in the girl's mind in her twelfth year; for +see! She is no longer twelve, but thirteen--fourteen--fifteen--how fast +she is getting her education!--sixteen-- + +And then the blow fell--we said it would!--hours too late, and thought +too intense, and eyes too severely taxed! Has it been for nothing, after +all? She must flutter back home, now, like a disabled bird; high ideas +all lost in a maze, definite purposes fused white-hot in a raging +fever. + +Not only so, but in her sudden breakdown of vital force, there is no one +to understand the despair over her own weakness, except, indeed, that +brother Joe who alone understands her. Mother and father are both dead, +now; and the sisters who are proud of her attainments--for she had +finished in the Junior Year at Daughters' College,--wonder that she is +not satisfied. Is it not enough? Already she is "educated." + +And she is sixteen; and her inheritance assures her of future freedom +from necessity. It will be a long time, the doctors say, before she can +resume her studies--a year, at least; maybe two. But does that matter? +In two years she will be of age, and rich, or nearly so, in her own +right. + +"And then," said brother Joe, "I will find her a rich husband, and see +her handsomely established for life!" + +Not that Joe had himself married; he was too busy teaching school, and +too absorbed in his beloved work; but he felt the responsibility of his +guardianship. Mattie was too ill, too broken in spirit, to combat his +plans or to form any of her own. She could only lie silent and, +suffering, uncertain of the outcome. + +Leaving her thus, as we found her at the beginning, in suffering and +tears, let us make a journey to Mason County, in search of that possible +husband. He may not prove so rich as brother Joe could desire. We shall +see. + + +[1] That "drill in Rhetoric, in English pure and undefiled" when she +analyzed and parsed every sentence of the Manuscript read to the class +Mrs. Carr often spoke of, and of John Smith who, in his last days, abode +at Daughters' College to furnish material for his biography. She was +always proud of the fact that John Augustus Williams taught her English. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +IDEALS. + + +But no, the biographer, on second thought, will not go up to May's Lick +in the present chapter. Let that expedition be reserved for Chapter +Third. And let those who care for the story of lives merely for events, +not for motive-springs of action, skip the present chapter, if they +will. It will be to their loss, if they do so; for what life is to be +understood, without an understanding of the principles that direct its +course? + +In the life we are seeking to trace, there were three great principles +that shaped events. The first has already been amplified--the resolve to +become a teacher of girls. The other two must be defined--one's thought +of country, and one's religious faith. + +In those days, a man who had no opinion on the "slavery question," or on +the "current reformation," was no true Kentuckian. If one has slaves, +his children are not only disposed to regard slavery as right, but as +highly fortunate and desirable. Also, when one's religion is being +placed on trial at every crossroad's log-schoolhouse, the smallest +girls in the household have some opinions on the Gospel Restored, on +Election, on Baptism. + +[Illustration: "Studying too Hard."] + +[Illustration: "Brother Joe."] + +In the veins of Mattie Myers flowed Southern blood, and it was with the +South that she sympathized with all that fire of young enthusiasm that +characterized Southern adherents in those days. As for her religion, +that calls for more particular description, because it is +indistinguishably blended with all her emotions and purposes. It was no +more Mattie's intention to become a teacher of girls, than it was to +spread a knowledge of the Gospel as she herself understood it. + +In portraying the belief of this child--a belief that time served only +to strengthen--it is far from our thought to influence the particular +faith of the reader. That biographer is unworthy of his task who allows +his own opinions to color his narrative. What I believe has no more to +do with the life of Mattie Myers, than has the belief of the reader; and +this is the story of a life, not a controversy in disguise. + +But at the same time, it is not only due the reader, but the object of +the biography, that the faith of Mattie should be presented so clearly +and so fairly that no one can fail to understand what it was. I shall +do my utmost to make it plain. It occupied too great a part of the +girl's life and the woman's life, to be ignored. As she sat at her +father's knee in Stanford, as she rested with her brother on the porch +of the boarding-house in Lancaster, as she made her stage-journeys, in +short, wherever she was, she heard religion discussed in all its +phases. And that phase which appealed to her was the same that Walter +Scott--kinsman of the illustrious novelist--had proclaimed from state to +state. + +One peculiarity of this faith was, that whoever accepted it with zeal, +became more or less antagonistic, combative. It was not because it +despised peace, although peace, in later years has sometimes proved +fatal to it; but it was because every hand seemed turned against it. Had +it asked for peace in 1850, that petition would doubtless have been +derided. + +And why? Because an acceptance of this faith meant an end to all creeds, +to all sects, to all denominational barriers. Therefore all +denominations felt that the faith of Mattie Myers had raised its hand +against them. When Walter Scott and his co-workers prayed the Savior's +prayer that all might be one, what--if that prayer be granted--was to +become of the _many_? + +It may be true, in the Twentieth Century, that one need only have enough +money to hire a hall, in order to start a new religion; that Society has +but to smile upon the dancing of Dervishes to popularize Orientalism; +that a woman, by the writing of a book, can convince intelligent +thousands that diseases are but delusions of their mortal minds--perhaps +instincts would be a better word, since unimaginative quadrupeds +sometimes "think" themselves sick. But whether this is true or not, it +is certain that, in the first half of the Nineteenth Century, it +required much more than money, and more than the writing of many books, +this endeavor to re-establish the old religion of Pentecost. It called +for courage, firmness and ability; it invited persecution and +misrepresentation. + +"I would rather," an aunt of Oliver Carr once declared--herself a stern +soldier of the Cross--"see you go to your grave, than have you join the +Campbellite Church!" + +What was this "Campbellite Church" of which some spoke thus +disparagingly? And why "Campbellite"? And why did the denominations +regard the people they thus designated much as, at a later day, the +Mormons were regarded? Before we enter into details, it is enough at +this point to emphasize the fact of general intolerance. To worship God +in your own way is the right of all; and no man disputes that inborn +right, so long as you agree with him in your religious belief. The +Puritans were ready to sacrifice their lives to preserve religious +freedom, and to take the lives of those who desired a separate freedom. + +In the first half of the Nineteenth Century, more especially in the +first quarter, the jangling and wrangling among different sects was +almost inconceivable. It would appear that often where differences of +tenets were but slight, the fight was the more determined, as if the +possibility of preserving a denominational integrity, depended largely +upon keeping alive a spirit of hostility to all other denominations. +Happily that spirit of antagonism has largely died out, and men are not +so ready to take each other by the throat because they are seeking to +gain Heaven by different ways. This tendency to minimize differences of +speculative opinions, and to draw close to each other on the fundamental +truths as they are revealed in the life, death and resurrection of +Jesus Christ, is doubtless in a large measure due to the pioneers of +that faith which Mattie Myers had accepted, and which, at the time of +her acceptance, was the object of so much bitterness and ridicule. + +Thirty years had already passed since Walter Scott and Alexander +Campbell first proclaimed their views in the "Christian Baptist." The +distracted state of the religious world had grieved many a pious and +erudite soul before 1819. In looking for a solution to the amazing +perplexities that baffled the seeker after God, in trying to avoid the +anomalous condition of changing a gospel of love to a gospel of +interminable disputation, the solution proposed by Thomas Campbell was a +return to the practices and faith of the early disciples. This solution +was urged by Walter Scott and Alexander Campbell. What more simple? +Everybody should be willing to accept the Bible; everybody should be +willing to discard everything else! + +In brief, then, that was the work of the "current reformation." It would +call for a sacrifice of individual opinions, of sectarian names and +dogmas, of that poetic atmosphere which time bestows upon any +organization, of those intimate human associations derived from a +commingling with relatives and friends whom a common rule of practice +holds together. As a recompense for this sacrifice, was offered the +privilege of returning to the Apostolic faith and manner of worship, the +sense of security that should spring from following closely in the +footsteps of the earliest disciples, and the privilege of performing +one's part in the realization of the prayer of the Savior of mankind. + +Alexander Campbell's life was given to this fundamental idea--that the +world should go back, in its religious beliefs and practices, nineteen +hundred years, to learn again the conditions of its salvation from the +lips of Christ's apostles. Campbell himself, was but a voice calling in +the wilderness. He seemed always to be crying, "Look back! Behold the +Lamb of God!" As for himself, he would have been but the medium through +which an enlightened vision might see that glorious spectacle of God in +man. "Do not regard me," he seemed to say, "For I am nothing. I am but a +voice--a voice proclaiming no new doctrine, only the old; asking you not +to originate a new faith, but to remember the old. Look back! Behold the +Lamb of God!" + +But the world did not wish to look back. It exclaimed that these people +who pretended to do away with all sects, were themselves the narrowest +sect of all. These preachers who proclaimed that there was but one +church, were accused of "wanting to get us into their church." The +result was endless debates. We have seen that the denominations were at +war with one another; but all of them became more or less cohesive, in +their attack upon these people who claimed to be no denomination. + +If Campbell and his friends urged that baptism should be administered as +in the days of the Apostles, the cry was immediately raised that "These +men believe in nothing but baptism." If their editors asked for an +instance of infant baptism between the lids of the Bible, it was +retorted that "They have only a head religion--they don't believe in a +change of heart." If a preacher said no more about baptism than did +Peter on Pentecost, his listeners went away observing that "he believed +water would save him." If nothing was said about baptism, if on the +contrary, the discourse were concentrated upon the idea that all +Christians should follow the same rule and practice, should dwell +together in one great homogeneous body, it was charged, "That is really +another way of saying that immersion is the only mode of baptism." If, +by dint of innumerable repetitions, Herculean efforts at self-restraint, +monotonous insistence, these "reformers" succeeded in convincing the +antagonist of the fact that nobody believed water would save him, and +every Christian believes in a change of heart, all this laborious and +indefatigable endeavor went for nothing. + +"Well, maybe you do believe in a change of heart," it would at last be +conceded, "but your church don't." Or "Maybe _you_ don't believe water +will save you, but your church does." + +Such as the views of the disciples of Christ really were, Mattie Myers +had received them at first hand. Her father was one of the "new faith." +His home had, from her earliest recollections, been a rallying point for +the sturdy pioneers of the "Old Jerusalem Gospel." In that home, +"Raccoon" John Smith and Barton W. Stone had held her upon their knees. +She had seen Walter Scott and Alexander Campbell in childhood, and had +heard L. L. Pinkerton's eloquence, and Robert Milligan's logic. She knew +the matters debated, the arguments that sustained each side in its +opinion,--and she could point out the verse of scripture that seemed to +substantiate every claim of her friends, and to confound those of the +enemy. And she knew how families had become divided; how bitterness +crept in between life-long friends; how misunderstanding led to +misrepresentation, and argument to vilification, and disapproval to +hatred. + +Whatever else the plea of the disciples accomplished, it led to a closer +study of the scriptures; and to a fuller admission of their authority. +This was inevitable because the adherents of what was disparagingly +called the "new religion," based all their positions upon the Word of +God. Even farther than that they went, in declaring that they +entertained no doctrine not fully presented in the New Testament; they +were willing to relinquish any belief, no matter how dear, on being +shown that it was not divinely authorized. + +It was futile to meet such claims by references to any other book than +that of the inspired writers, unless those books were lexicons and +dictionaries devoted to an explanation of biblical terms. To the +lexicons, the friends and enemies of the "reformation" did indeed go. +There were times when, if Polycarp, or Chrysostum, or even Sophocles, or +Plato, could have stepped into the debating-room, he might have fancied +himself just awakened from his long sleep, to hear confused murmurs in +his native tongue. + +Under this awful weight of learning, the brain sometimes staggered. To +the imprudent, to the rash, to the over-zealous, vital truths might, at +times, be half-obscured, in showing the eunuch as he went down into the +water--_eis_, into; ah! shall we ever forget that _eis_ with its +suggestion of the cooling tide?--Into the water, then, the eunuch +descended; and good care was taken that he should not be left there. The +jailer, too,--was there no water in the courtyard? And Lydia's +household--what right has one to presume her mistress over a nursery? At +these debates, even the eloquent Henry Clay may act as moderator, +generously appreciative of the eloquence of A. Campbell. So, as we have +said, the theme may at times grow obscured with a sort of Greek mist; +but out of this mist there rises, at last, a face of meekness and +suffering beneath its crown of thorns--a crown of thorns, dear reader, +which the Son of God wore that you and I might wear crowns of glory. + +It is interesting to note that here is a religion which its opponents +refused to take at its face value. Its adherents wished to be called +only by Bible names, such as Christians, or disciples of Christ. Their +opponents called them "Campbellites." These disciples claimed that they +had gone back to the days of the beginning of the church, to find there +the true standard of faith and practice. Their opponents said they had +started a new religion, and that it dated from the days of Alexander +Campbell. The disciples said that they added nothing to the Word of God, +took from it nothing; that where the Bible was silent they were silent, +that where it spoke they spoke; that, in matters of opinion, everyone +might think what he pleased, but that, in matters of essentials, there +should be unity. The opponents said that as a matter of fact, the +religion of the reformers was a religion of the head, and that its +central idea was baptism. + +"You do not believe that baptism is necessary to salvation," the +disciples said; "then why do you baptize?" + +"Aha!" the old cry was raised, "you think water will save you!" And +then the begrudged concession, "Well, if _you_ don't believe it, your +church does!" + +In a word, then, the individual adherents of the religion were allowed +to hold opinions contrary to what the adherents as a whole, were +supposed to believe; while, at the same time, not one adherent of the +religion could be found who professed to hold the views that the +opponents of the religion ascribed to all the brotherhood! This was not +from a willful determination to misrepresent, but rather from a sense of +generous good-will. It was the only way to rescue one's kindred and +friends from the inevitable hell that awaits the adherents of heretical +doctrines. + +"Tom is a good man," said a devout adherent of the established order of +things, referring to minister Thomas Arnold of the Kentucky disciples, +"but he preaches a lie and will be damned for it!" And the way to save +one's beloved from this damnation was to believe that they did not +really hold the views of these Ishmaelites of the "new religion," but +were "Baptists at heart"--or Pedobaptists, according to one's point of +view. + +Thomas Campbell's "Declaration and Address" appeared in 1809; but it +was not until September, 1832 that the first general meeting of the +disciples of Christ was held, in Lexington, Kentucky. Everyone +understood that such an assemblage had no authority over local +organizations. Christian soldiers came together to talk over their +victories and defeats, and to plan for fresh campaigns. As time passed +by, such men as John T. Johnson and John I. Rogers were appointed state +evangelists; but they were supported by several churches combining to +furnish the funds. + +At the time Mattie Carr was boarding at her brother's school, there was +no general board behind missionary enterprises. But later a convention +met at Harrodsburg and employed four evangelists; that was in 1857. The +next year sixteen were employed, and in a year they won 1,936 converts +to the church. The year following, twenty evangelists added to the faith +2,020. The "new religion" was growing at an unheard of rate, and the +more it grew the hotter raged the noise of battle and the clash of arms. + +It is in such circumstances as these that one learns to weigh one's own +opinion, to use it, if need be, as a battering-ram against the opinions +of other folk; that one learns to realize the importance of +self-reliance, self-defense, self-assertion. Before Mattie Myers was +twelve years old, the leading purposes of her after-life were already +crystalized in thought and determination. It will be interesting to +watch how she adhered to these principles, and whither they brought her +at last. As we have said, they were three in number, more or less +commingled in her girlhood's plans of life; an unwavering devotion to +the South; a fixed resolve to become a teacher of girls; and a +conviction that the plea of the disciples of Christ was the need of the +world. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A KENTUCKY BOY. + + +It was while the black nurse was doubtfully shaking her head over the +prospect of a long life for Mattie Myers, that two boys presented +themselves at the village schoolhouse of May's Lick, Kentucky. They were +two brothers who resembled each other so closely, and were so +inseparable, that they were often thought to be twins. Oliver Carr, +however, was two years younger than Owen[2]. They had come up from the +country in the old family barouche, and the fact that they were from the +country, was shown in their movements and their dress. + +Their father, while still on the farm in Lewis County, had declared, "I +will educate my children, if I don't leave them a cent when I die." That +is why he sold his farm to invest the proceeds in town property at May's +Lick; and that is why Owen and Oliver are presenting themselves at the +door of May's Lick Academy. The family that had just moved to town, +consisted of William Carr and his wife, and their four sons and three +daughters. Of the children, the only one essential to this narrative is +he who gave his name to the teacher as Oliver A. Carr--better known in +his family and among his young companions as "Ollie." + +The year was 1857. Of all the proud towns of Kentucky--proud of blood +and wealth--no city was prouder than May's Lick. Not even Lexington, +five counties to the southwest, thought more of her high birth, her fine +horses, her opulence, than did this little May's Lick of Mason County. +The schoolmates of the Carrs were the children of the wealthy. The boys +came to school in red-topped boots, riding prancing ponies, and were +waited upon by their black bodyguards. The girls were petted, and +spoiled, clad in dainty apparel, born to refinement and a nicety of +taste, intolerant of whatever appeared to their sensitive minds as +"common." Nor was this superiority of manner merely superficial. Beneath +the gleam of showy beauty, there was the gold of culture. + +Naturally enough, these children of the rich, whether on the +play-ground, or in the school-room, stood aloof from Owen and +Oliver,--or as they were called "Bud and Ollie." In the first place, +they were newcomers; again, they were awkward and their clothes were +made from the same piece of their mother's weaving; and their father had +purchased one of the two hotels in town. "He works, himself!" it was +said, with pity, or contempt. And the sentiment against William Carr +because his work was not done by slaves, was reflected against his seven +children. + +But William Carr, rugged and unyielding, firm in his belief that +education would place his boys and girls on a footing with the best, +conducted the hotel, while his wife, patient and tireless, sewed long +after the hours of the day's inevitable work were ended. To clothe and +educate seven children while all the time one's cashier is stealing +systematically--that is the problem! + +It is a problem that little concerns the lads of the red-topped boots +and prancing ponies, or the girls of fine laces,--still less the fathers +of these; for all their spare time is spent in reminiscences of Henry +Clay, and in defining differences between the North and South--for this +is 1857, as we have said, and in a few years something may happen. + +But it is not given to every boy to wear red-tops, nor to every girl, +real lace. Of course there were other families falling under the +supercilious classification of "those who do their own work." At such +times as the Carrs were not studying, or reciting to L. P. Streater, or +helping at home, companions were to be found, to bear a hand at a game +of marbles. Oliver had the genius of making friends; and, when no +artificial barriers interposed, his gentle nature thawed the ice in +natures most reserved. + +Sometimes it happened that, as Oliver and his friends were engaged in +sports along the roadside, they would see a venerable man drawing near, +smooth faced, broad browed, stately in bearing, kindly in expression. If +it chanced to be a time of heated altercation, the warning would go +round-- + +"Hush! hush! There comes Brother Walter Scott." + +The old man would pause with, "Well, dears, how do you do, this nice +morning? Are you on your way to school?" + +Then he would pat one on the head, and say a pleasant word to all. In +his presence ill-humor melted away, and evil purposes were corrected. It +was not only so with the school boys, but with their fathers. His very +presence seemed a rebuke to wrong-doing and wrong-thinking. Sometimes he +came to the Academy and addressed the pupils. Oliver stood at the head +of the class in mathematics. One day after reciting geometry, "Elder" +Scott, as he was called--or "Brother" Scott--said, with that gracious +smile which lent the aspect of perennial youth to his wrinkled face, + +"Young gentlemen, you have made good progress in Euclid." It was the +first time Oliver had ever heard of Euclid, but he knew the enunciation +of every proposition in the first five Books, and had drawn the figures +with elaborate care on his father's barn door! But he had not studied +Latin. + +"That language," said his practical father, "is dead!" + +The almost daily meeting with Walter Scott was one of those formative +influences, unperceived at the time, which help to shape one's ideals. +Let us look for a moment at this benign figure with his gentle smile, +his keen, penetrating glance, and his still almost raven-black locks. He +had brought to the Kentucky village an atmosphere of the great outside +world, for he was a man who had not only come in touch with the great +and illustrious, but who had himself participated in great affairs. + +It meant much to the young mathematician at May's Lick Academy, this +daily intercourse with such a man. It inevitably raised his mind above +the daily toil, the unstimulating routine of a small town; it gave him a +certain outlook upon a wider life, suggesting higher things than had +hitherto entered his experience. + +This venerable Walter Scott--he who had held little Mattie Myers upon +his knee--was a man in whose veins flowed the blood of Wat, of +Hardin--most illustrious of Scottish heroes. He was kin to the creator +of _Ivanhoe_ and _Rebecca_; a man who had graduated from the University +of Edinburg; who had sailed the seas and traveled in many distant +scenes; whose music instructor had been the friend of Sir Ralph +Abercrombie; who had been by turn teacher, preacher, editor, author; who +had traversed the circular avenues of poplars and pines leading to the +mansion-house of Henry Clay, trees "which made me fancy myself once more +in Scotia"--and who had sat in Clay's parlor in charming intercourse +with the statesman while the portrait of Washington looked down, and the +elegant simplicity of the apartments presented nothing "to make poor +men afraid, or rich men ashamed;" who had ridden on the steamboat with +the distinguished companionship of General Schuyler's daughter, the +widow of Alexander Hamilton, then in her eighty-fourth year; who had +visited the home of Colonel Richard M. Johnson; and who, finally, had +come to May's Lick to pass the remainder of his days. + +It was natural enough that the very sight of this man should suggest to +the studious youth, thoughts of greatness and of travel. His kinship to +Sir Walter Scott and his familiarity with the lands beyond the seas, no +doubt lent him a sort of halo, to the imagination of boyhood. But it +must have done more than this; it must have suggested that one need not +remain poor and unknown; and that, as Walter Scott, when a poor young +man had lifted himself above his condition by means of his education, so +might Oliver Carr. + +The postoffice was in William Carr's hotel. William was the +postmaster, and during vacation, or at intervals, Oliver served as +deputy. After the arrival of the mail, the distinguished scholar, +Walter Scott, would appear at the counter with his benignant smile, +and his "Dear--" he called all young people thus--"Dear, is there +anything for me, this morning?" + +And Oliver was as pleased as he, when there was a _Louisville Courier_ +to hand his friend, or a letter from Ohio, or Pittsburg, or New York. + +There remains a word to be said as to what this Walter Scott was; for, +after all, where one has traveled, or whom one has met, speaks little of +the inner self; and it was this personal value of the man that counted +most with those he met. + +It was in 1819 that Walter Scott landed in New York, and began teaching +Latin in Long Island--diverting himself with his flute at the close of +the day. But he soon felt the call of the West, and obeyed it afoot. It +brought him to Pittsburg, where he found himself drawn into school work +again. He became an assistant in the Academy conducted by Mr. Forrester, +a fellow-countryman. Scott had been reared in the Presbyterian faith, +and his soul had been perfectly satisfied in those religious grounds +staked off by his denomination's creed. He had not associated long with +Forrester before he found to his amazement that the latter, though +apparently of sincere piety, did not subscribe to all the articles; but, +instead of seeking to attack the Confession with the Discipline or the +Prayer Book, had recourse to the Bible. Not only so, but Forrester +professed himself ready to give up any article of faith that did not +appear fully warranted by the Scriptures; or, in other words, he had +resolved to be guided in religious matters by the Bible alone. + +It is difficult for one of the present day to realize how radical, +unheard of, and unorthodox, such a determination as Forrester's appeared +in the year 1819. It is true that men here and there, in places far +removed from one another, were beginning to weary of the burden of the +creeds; they were reaching out to grasp something that might pull their +feet from the shackles of doubt or predetermined damnation, and in +desperate blindness they seized upon the Word of God as likely to prove +of most avail. It was, indeed, heresy; for if all had deserted creeds +for the Bible, what would have become of the creeds? In Luther's day it +had been heretical to decry Indulgences; if a Baptist, it was heretical +not to believe "in the peculiar and eternal election of men and angels +to glory," and "in a particular redemption of a definite number of +persons to eternal life," and "the final perseverance of the saints in +grace to the end." + +Walter Scott felt no hesitation in joining Forrester in his studies of +the New Testament, secure in the belief that nothing could be found +there, inconsistent with his creed; henceforth, we find him sitting far +into the night, no longer solacing himself with the music of his flute, +but studying the Bible with ever greater and greater perplexity; +studying it as diligently as ever he had studied the Confession; +studying it with increasing uneasiness, as it seemed to lead him from +the faith of his fathers. + +There was, at that time, no body of associated men who had agreed to +surrender all creeds, and take the Bible as their only guide. There were +isolated examples of such men. Alexander Campbell, of whom Walter Scott +had never heard, had been forced by his convictions from the +Presbyterian church into the Baptist association. Not long after the +beginning of Scott's explorations into this dimly-known field of +original research, he and the celebrated scholar met; but neither had a +thought of breaking away from the accepted religious bodies; the only +question was to find the one nearest approximating the truth, and to +seek reformation within that body. + +The result of that effort to bring back the primitive church upon earth, +is seen today in the church of the disciples of Christ. This is not the +place to argue the feasibility of the plea, or to adduce arguments +against it. But what that plea was, should be presented clearly and +dispassionately. It is not the office of the biographer to point out the +right or wrong of his subject's dominating ideas, so much as it is to +show how the life was influenced by those motive-springs of thought. + +Walter Scott, as an evangelist, pastor, author and editor, had come into +contact with tens of thousands, and had influenced countless lives. His +followers were called by the unsympathetic, "Scottites," just as those +of Alexander Campbell were nicknamed "Campbellites." Thomas and +Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott, the triumvirate of the dawning +"Reformation," did not come, however, to found denominations, but, so +far as they could, to do away with them. + +They believed that it was possible for the church of New Testament days +to exist in the modern world, just as it had existed then. They +believed that the means of entering the church now, are what they were +then; that Christ's conditions were in their very nature of divinity, +unalterable. As Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, so Walter Scott +preached in the Nineteenth Century. As Cornelius and the jailer and the +eunuch and Lydia and all other recorded instances of sinners converted +in olden times, so man today, in turning to God, must turn as they +turned, come as they came, obey as they obeyed. + +And if the old order should be restored, there would be but one order in +the earth; but one Faith, one Lord and one Baptism. The saints would sit +down to one table from which no saint would be excluded; they would join +their hymns of undenominational ecstasy, and, if they did not see every +subject exactly alike, they would at least agree in their contemplation +of essentials. After all, the important matter seemed to be, to get +safely into the church, and to stay in it; and if all entered in the +same way, the way the apostles had taught, and then dwelt in harmony, +not as Presbyterians and Baptists and Episcopals and Methodists, whose +very names appeared to draw lines, whether the lines were definitely +understood or not--this ideal body would be simply disciples of Christ, +or Christians, as they had been eighteen hundred years ago. Then indeed +would a shout of thanksgiving go up from the earth, that the prayer of +Jesus had been answered; not only his apostles but all those who now +believed on his name, had become one; one in thought and love and life; +one as he and the Father were one, eternal, indivisible. + +Whether or not the reader believes such a union possible, or desirable, +it will surely call for no great task of the imagination upon his part, +to enter somewhat into the thrilling rapture this picture presented to +the hearts of the early "reformers." One feels his heart leap with a +sympathetic throb when men who had dreamed of such a return to the old +paths, but who had dreamed of it in solitude, not knowing it had found a +voice in the earth--suddenly heard it pronounced from the pulpit. Men +who had brooded in seclusion over their Bibles, finding there, as it +appeared to them, sublime statements antagonistic to sectarianism, were +suddenly transfixed by hearing the words of old, "Believe on the Lord +Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!" It seemed to them that the "Old +Gospel" was once more sounding in the land. On a visit to Missouri, +Walter Scott met an eminent preacher, Moses E. Lard. + +"You do not know me," said Lard, as he threw his arm about the other; +"but you are the man who first taught me the Gospel." + +"How so!" the other inquired. + +"It was reading your book--'The Gospel Restored,'" was the answer. + +That is how this movement appeared to those who came under its +influence,--the Gospel must be restored. The preachers proclaimed and +debated from the rostrum, and pulpit, and on horseback. The laymen +talked about it on the street, and in the field, ready at any moment to +draw the Bible from their pockets to show just what the "Old Jerusalem +Gospel" had to say for itself. The women discussed regeneration and +baptism over their sewing and knitting. The children taunted each other +at school and at play, and the swaggering bully might say to the +despised "Campbellite," "_We_ believe in a change of heart!" or "_You_ +believe water will save you!" + +Such taunts, however, did not assail the young Carrs, for their parents +belonged to no church, and their grandparents and numerous relations +were Presbyterians and Methodists. Oliver's teacher, L. P. Streator, was +a disciple of Christ; his life, as well as that of Walter Scott, were +arguments, in their way, for the "new religion"; but after all, Oliver +had thought little of religion during his first years at the Academy. +Martin Streator, his teacher's son, persuaded him to attend the +Sunday-school at the Christian church; he went once or twice, and then +tried the Baptist Sunday-school to find out what "they did over there". +The teacher of the Baptist class devoted his hour to an explanation of +the Holy Ghost, which proved so baffling to the young mathematician, +that for some time thereafter he discharged no religious duties. + +Across the street from Carr's Hotel, was a blacksmith shop. The smith +was an Englishman, Eneas Myall. Fifteen years before William Carr drove +from Lewis County in the old barouche, Myall had come over from England, +and had stood on dry dock with only twenty-five cents in his pocket. He +walked twelve miles to find work; needless to say, he found it. He +earned the passage-money from England for his father, two brothers, and +cousin. All worked together; the cousin was a wagon-maker, and under +the newly made wagon-wheels, as they rested upon their trestles, were +the shavings that had curled up at the making. In the cold dark +mornings, when young Oliver came down stairs to make his fires, the +flames leaped up from these very shavings, which he had carried over the +evening before. They liked him at the shop, and Eneas, in particular, +believed he read an expression in the thin face of the ambitious +student, that promised something better than a hotel life. + +Eneas was a Christian; [3]he and his two brothers and his cousin had all +heard the Gospel preached by R. C. Ricketts, as they had never heard it +in the old country. Over there, to escape the formalism of the Church of +England, they had listened to the Dissenters; they had watched sinners +hovering on the Anxious-seat of the Presbyterians, and the +Mourning-bench of the Methodists. Such ante-rooms to Grace were held +indispensable. As the eminent Congregationalist, Dr. Finney explained, +so nearly all believed: "The church has always felt it necessary to have +something of this kind. In the days of the apostles baptism answered +this purpose. The Gospel was preached to the people and all who were +willing to be on Christ's side were called on to be baptized. It held +the precise place that the anxious seat does now, as a public +manifestation of their determination to be Christians." + +But Eneas and his relatives had been called upon by the preacher, not to +come to something which served the same purpose as an institution of +old, but to the institution itself. "Repent and be baptized every one of +you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall +receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!" This was the trumpet call of R. C. +Ricketts. To the simple blacksmith, it sounded like a voice long silent, +issuing from the sacred past. He had never heard it proclaimed before. +He and his obeyed the call. Having entered upon the Christian life, this +blacksmith felt an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the cause. He had been +made so happy by his acceptance of what opponents called the "new +religion" that he wanted all his friends to partake of his happiness. +When W. T. Moore came to May's Lick to raise funds for Bethany College, +the first college of the disciples,--Eneas took his old rusty pen and +wrote "$100." + +Moore, in surprise, looked at the stalwart form in its rude garb, and +then at the homely scene in which it seemed in keeping. "This is more +than you ought to give!" he exclaimed. "How do you make it?" + +"Oh," said the blacksmith, casting the pen aside, and lifting his +hammer, "I beat it out of this iron! It is such a good cause, I'm sure I +can give $100.00." + +That was when Oliver was fifteen. W. T. Moore was holding a meeting at +the church, working up the college endowment during the day. One +evening, when Oliver entered the shop, as he did daily, seeking his +kindling, Ed Myall looked up from his work, and said, "Ollie, isn't it +time for you to be a Christian?" He would have said more, but his voice +failed him. The boy, without a word, turned and went away. It was the +first time anyone had ever spoken to him about being a Christian. He had +dropped out of the Sunday school; he rarely attended church. + +His sister Minnie was the first of the family to become a Christian. She +repented; she confessed her faith; she was baptized; and then she became +a missionary, thus: She met Oliver in the hall, as by accident--such +matters come hard to the young and inexperienced--and said, "Ol, I want +you to be a good boy!" + +That was all; but he knew what she meant. The opportunity to go to +church was not wanting, for Mr. and Mrs. Carr were always ready to take +the work in hand for that purpose. They wanted the children to go to +church, though, to be sure, they would have preferred the churches of +their fathers. So on Sunday, Oliver went to church and heard W. T. Moore +preach the first sermon he had ever understood. The same points were +preached over and over, "What must I do to be saved?" And after that, +when Oliver was driving passengers to and fro, or hauling wheat to +market, he was thinking incessantly over what he had heard, that +question of old,--"What must I do to be saved?" and then of the answer, +as it had come from the lips of Peter and Silas and Paul. And he made +the resolution, "Next Sunday, I will do what I think right!" + +He asked his father's permission to "join the church." "If you know what +you are doing," said William Carr, "go ahead." + +Oliver thought he knew. The next Sunday he did up his morning's work, +then walked to the Christian Church, where he made his confession of +faith. It was a joyous occasion, and few eyes were dry, as the lad stood +up to make known the new born desire of his heart. There were no looks +cast at him askance, no chill of social cast. All felt one in Christ +Jesus, and there was nothing but love for the lad from Lewis County. + +And his mother who was by inheritance a Methodist, said, "The +Campbellites have got Ollie!" He was baptized; of all his family, only +Minnie was present. + +One afternoon Oliver, now sixteen, came home for the last time from +May's Lick Academy. He had finished the course. He carried his report +proudly. "Seven" was the highest mark according to the teacher's system. +Oliver's card was sprinkled all over with "7's." As he drew near the +tavern, he saw his father in his chair, which had been brought outside. + +He examined the report of his son with laudable pride, then said, "Well, +Ollie, you will have to finish for yourself, now. I'm not able to send +you to school any longer." + +Of course, there was plenty of hard work. There was the wheat for him to +haul across the county to Maysville, and the loads of coal to be brought +home from the river; and there were the passengers to be carried to and +fro; and, always, the home tasks. + +But this life of crushed ambitions was not long to continue. Soon after +Oliver's admission into the church, Eneas Myall, the blacksmith, walked +into Carr's Hotel, accompanied by a prominent member of the church. +Oliver happened to be in the hall when they began speaking to his +father. He heard a few words, and crept nearer the door, his heart +leaping in wild tumult. + +He heard the blacksmith's voice, that voice which had often cheered him +as he went about his daily tasks. And now it was asking if William Carr +would consent to Oliver's being sent to Kentucky University at +Harrodsburg; saying that he and Dr. A. H. Wall would pledge themselves +to furnish the money. Is it a wonder that to Oliver Carr, that voice +"sounded like sweetest music?" + +William expressed his sorrow at not being able to educate his children +as he wished; he appreciated the offer now made. "But," he said, +earnestly, "don't undertake this, unless you are sure you can go on with +it; I don't want you to give him up!" + +A few days later Eneas Myall came with his hard-earned money, and +placed it in Oliver's hands, asking him to take it with the love of its +donors. And so, at the age of sixteen, Oliver Carr went to the +University at Harrodsburg, to study for the ministry. + +So, this is what we have found, in our quest of a possible husband for +Mattie Myers--this Oliver Carr, who, as it appears, is far from being a +rich young man. Will brother Joe be satisfied? Nay, will he ever +consent? At any rate, they must be brought together. Let us return to +the overworked pupil of John Augustus Williams, she who parsed, in +class, too much of that MS. of his "Life of John Smith" for her health. +We shall find her still upon her sick-bed, hovering between life and +death. + + +[2] See appendix. + +[3] See appendix. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A SCHOOL GIRL'S NOTE BOOK. + + +Of course she recovered, else there need be no biography of Mattie +Myers, except to teach young girls not to study too hard--a lesson +seldom needed. But the life we are following is to teach a quite +different lesson. She emerges from the sickroom with a constitution +shattered; not altogether broken, but much out of repair every way; +mentally, in particular; for the mind has developed enormous energy in +proportion as the body has wasted away; and all the nerves that are +controlled from the general office are sent tingling at the least +noise--even at the tread of a great thought. + +The girl of sixteen is bewildered with herself. That grasp of the will +which had held her to her tasks, to the outraging of her physical self, +has suddenly slipped--it cannot be tightened up to the proper tension, +at least not now. This inability to sleep that has come upon her, is to +continue throughout her life; this nervous excitement of vital forces, +this disproportion of mind and matter, this thinness of form, this +determination to carry self to the end marked out, shown in the firm +mouth--we are to find all these unchanged in after years. + +In the meantime, her resolution to carry on her education has not +faltered. She cannot go back to Daughters' College--Professor Williams +does not know how to bear lightly upon the mind, and the girl has not +even yet learned to spare herself. But there is a certain convent, the +St. Catherine de Sienna's--Joe will send her there for a year. The very +name is restful. The course is such that a young girl may carry it with +one hand. Mattie will attend a year; that will graduate her from the St. +Catherine de Sienna's. If, by that time, her strength has come back, she +may finish at Harrodsburg. The convent will be so quiet--no levees, no +marching to church in solid-green, no receptions in the parlors--nothing +but trees and birds and silent-footed sisters, and cool gray walls, and +a little French, a little ancient history, and such portions of the Old +Testament history as have not become Protestantized. + +Joe and Mattie discuss these plans at the close of Joe's school-day, as +they sit on his piazza, his flute for the time silent. If they ever +considered her ability to go back to John Augustus Williams instead of +seeking the tutelage of the saint, an event took place that rendered +such a course impossible. It was an event that grew out of other events, +all of which had been preparing for many years. + +To young Oliver Carr, far to the north in Mason County, the beginning +had been announced by his old friend Walter Scott. It had come about in +this way: + +One evening the almost-raven locks and the keen but always kindly eyes, +of Walter Scott appeared at Carr's hotel, which is for the nonce, the +post office. + +"Dear," he said to the youth who, for the time, is deputy post master, +"have you anything for me this evening?" + +Oliver, feeling that pleasure he always experienced when this question +could be affirmed by a paper or letter, handed out the _Louisville +Courier_. The old man opened it, and caught sight of words in large +black letters that stared from the top of the page. At the door he read +the line aloud: + + "FIRING ON FORT SUMPTER!" + +The reader burst into tears, and sank down upon the sidewalk. His +friends hastened up, thinking he was ill, but Walter Scott could only +say, as he pointed at the page,--"Oh, my country is ruined!" They +carried him to his home, to that bed from which he was never to rise. +That was in April, 1861. On the 21st he whispered his dying message to +his friend L. P. Streator, Oliver's teacher,-- + +"It has been my privilege to develop the kingdom of God. I have been +greatly honored". On the 23rd, he was no more, for God took him. + +The war broke in all its fury upon "neutral" Kentucky. It brought the +mountain guerrillas down on May's Lick with all their cruelty, all their +wanton destruction. Woe to the goodly stores in William Carr's larder, +the furniture of the hotel, the splendid horses in the stables, when +they come shouting and cursing at his door! John Augustus Williams is +obliged to close his Daughters' College and save his learning for +another day. The young ladies have laid aside metaphysics and rhetoric +to make clothes for the boys fighting in the Carolinas. For a time it +seems not so important to classify the metonymies as to make peas or +dandelion taste like coffee. + +But gentle St. Catherine de Sienna raises its voice in pious song, and +tolls its beads, and murmurs in pensive recitivo "_Je suis_, _tu es_, +_il est_, _elle est_"--and hears not the echo of Perryville cannon, as +one hears in Harrodsburg; or, if hearing, puts it to the account of the +flesh and the devil, and chants _Te deum laudamus_. + +Mattie's year in the convent is of all things the one needful. She +rests and learns. At the end of the year she knows what St. Catherine de +Sienna had to teach, and her strength is no worse from the acquisition. +But as for any influence upon her mind or heart by this year's +experience, we seek in vain for a trace. It may be that the beliefs she +took behind the convent walls were made firmer to resist soft +influences; or it may be that her faith was so impregnable at the +beginning of this gentle eclipse, that it had nothing to fear. + +The girl of seventeen bade farewell to St. Catherine's with the warm +affection of the girl, and the serene self-poise of the woman. It left +her just where it had found her, except that she knew a little more +about the light graces of learning, and--the main thing, after +all,--that she was now able to go on with serious study. It is often the +case, when a Protestant so young as Mattie, graduates from the convent, +that she carries through life a little cloistered chamber in her heart, +where thoughts slip in the quiet hour to count their beads, and whisper +"Ave Maria". + +The next year Mattie returned to Daughters' College, where she graduated +with honors, in 1865. There is an old gray-mottled composition-book +written through in different inks, the prevailing color suggesting +iron-rust, the pages showing the shadows of half a century, and the +oft-repeated contact of a school-girl's hand. We find on the title page, +"Miss Mattie Forbes Myers," written by her own hand--that was when she +was thirteen. Later--for this book was used during her college days--we +find "Mattie F. Myers"--no use now, for her to prefix the "Miss;" that +is done by others. + +This book is filled with notes taken at lectures, with poems, some +original and some copied or memorized, with essays, with school notes; +and here alone, save in a few essays on separate sheets, are we given a +glimpse into the girl's mind, by the girl herself. Here we may find what +she thought of life and death and immortality--but nothing of her daily +life. + +The book is interesting because of its omissions. There are no +straggling lines such as one naturally writes in one's school-days when +it is raining, for instance; or when one feels dull or impatient for the +closing hour. There are no pyramids of schoolmates' names, no idle +pictures that might be faces or geometrical figures, no allusions to +Harrodsburg, or Lancaster, or Stanford, or any place or person more +concrete than Moses crossing the Red Sea, or Hannibal crossing the Alps. +Above all, in whatever disquisition upon the "Atonement" or "The +Johnsonian Era," there is no flash of humor. One cannot avoid the +impression in turning over these 209 closely written pages that here was +a girl who, from year to year--that is, from twelve to twenty,--was +serious, was intent upon a definite plan, was adhering closely to a +central theme, unmindful of aught that detracts or turns the mind aside, +though that digression be but the pleasant recreation of a smile. + +It is true that all these pages do not present "solid reading matter." +There is poetry here which shows a deeper love of poetry than of a +poetic gift. One sees that this love of poetry was no superficial +acquirement; it was not that nice taste for forms that contents the +modern reader of magazines with a four-line stanza about any subject +that can be put into four lines. Mattie read Mrs. Browning because she +loved her. Of all books in English literature, she seems to have cared +most for "Aurora Leigh." We find her in after years advising her friends +to read Mrs. Browning, if they would taste the purest literary joys. A +serious business, indeed, was life to that great-souled English poet +with the slender hand up-propping the heavy head--this life so full of +song and gaiety to most of us, before we stop laughing--also it meant +serious business to Mattie Myers. And as Elizabeth Barrett found in +later years a great love upon which she could always rest her weary +heart, even so was Mattie Myers to find a love resourceful and +deathless? We shall see, by-and-by. + +The first writing in the book--written somewhere in her thirteenth year, +is this: "A forehead royal with the truth"--_Elizabeth Barrett +Browning_. Then we find, "As stars differ from one another in glory, so +shall it be in the resurrection morn." Later comes, "Heaven is fair, +earth pitiless; why is life so dear?" And, "He who has most of heart has +most of sword." Then, "Oh life, is all thy song, Endure and die?" These +are interesting as showing what sort of sentiments interested the little +girl at the boarding-school. They are all like these, her written +selections, grave to solemnity. Her original poetry is like it: + + "In this narrow vale of life + Amid its scoldings and its strife, + Amid its darkness and its gloom, + Loving children, welcome, come." + +Nor was this that seriousness which many an author confines to his +writings, living a life far different from one's tragic numbers. Mattie +was not an author, she had no desire to be one, and what she wrote was +not apart from her life, but a part of it. + +The style she developed was the oratorical. Her sentences were balanced, +and her thoughts enforced by repetition. What she wrote after her +graduation was, in the main, written to be delivered in public address. +Her college theses represent the highest development of her style. Even +as one reads them, he feels that they should be proclaimed. They are +suited to the public platform. If the girl who wrote these does not, in +time, become a popular lecturer, we shall be much mistaken! Moreover, +apart from the embellishment which she loved to give her sentences, we +find that whatever subject she undertakes, she treats with a +whole-souled enthusiasm, as if it were a matter of immediate, vital +importance, and as if she were an eyewitness of the event. Hear her: + +"But when Aurora with her rosy fingers lifted the veil of night and +robed the earth in sparkling gems, the predominant trait of his +character again swayed his being, and again his solemn oath was +violated. Infatuated man! Think you that because the stream now flows +smoothly, and the thunder of the cataract has transiently ceased, that +you are far removed from danger? Already you are within the rapids." Who +is this man that is in such terrible danger? None other than our old +friend Pharaoh. In such thrilling words is his doom presently presented, +that we feel that while he got no worse than he deserved, still it was +enough. This was written at St. Catherine's. She is just as intimate +with, just as keenly alive to, the sorrows of Spenser: + +"Though the ashes of Spenser repose at Westminister, yet he still lives +in the hearts of every lover of the beautiful and the good. The casket +has decayed, but the jewel is firmly set in the coronet of Literature. +There it will shine in undimmed splendor and beauty until the Empire of +Genius shall fall. Even in our school-girl heart he has found a place, +and memory of his woes and his joys, of his poverty and his unsearchable +riches, will be with us forever." + +The same spirit of bringing heart and soul into the theme, is shown in +her treatment of her favorites of the Elizabethan era, the time of Queen +Anne, or the Fall of Carthage. One does not feel that these essays are +"pieces" so much as they are fragments of a sincere and enthusiastic +mind. That which rouses her to greatest exaltation is the description of +a soul encountering supreme difficulties; and we find her standing by +Hannibal with a trumpet call to duty and heroism, when all his own have +deserted him. Here is her hero of history, to none other does she so +freely pour forth the unstinted admiration of her girl's heart. + +Two other qualities should be mentioned in this connection. One is the +intellectual force shown in these really remarkable productions, the +ability to take the accepted positions of critics and clothe them in new +and pulsing words. No need to ask for help in writing these +compositions! who indeed could have done so well? In a few instances we +find where the pencil of John Augustus Williams has culled out +superlative phrases, or where he has inquired (for instance, after such +a phrase as "we weep for him") if this is not rather "strong?" But on +the whole, he leaves her articles unchanged, doubtless taking keen +delight in the ability that has produced them. A young girl who can +write thus at fifteen and seventeen, might do great things as an author; +but as we have seen, her plans were formed for other fields. + +The last quality of her writings which we have reserved, is one that +permeates everything she wrote. No matter what the subject--whether the +"Vail of Wyoming," or the general title, "Logic"--religion comes in; we +do not say it creeps in; it walks in with head erect. It quite often +overflows and submerges the point under consideration. One feels at +times that the subject has been a means of getting at more vital +matters. All through the composition-book we find pieces of sermons, and +quotations of moral reflections, and verses from the Bible. Here and +there are penciled little prayers such as a school girl might make who +has deep purposes. There are pages of reflections on the Holy Spirit, +side by side with French lessons. The religious nature of man; Christ as +Prophet; Christ as Law-giver; God and Justice; Faith--these are +discussed at length between sections of Botany notes and Geology and +Civil Government classifications. The last word of all is given, not to +a remark about some seatmate, or teacher, but to John the Baptist--what +she thought of _his_ life and purpose. + +In this schoolbook, closed so long ago, there is a page almost filled +with a discussion of Lady Macbeth; then, inverted lines, penciled as if +to stow it away from conspicuous sight--and, indeed, against the +background of iron-rusted ink, it is hardly discernible--are these lines +without a subject heading: "God grant that I may never find enjoyment in +the foolish pleasures of the world; but that my soul may soar far above +its ephemeral joys unto the unsearchable riches of Christ Jesus my +Lord." + +That was the prayer of her young days; it explains what she has +written--the pages we have been examining. By the light of this prayer, +we may follow her from the schoolroom to her active service in the outer +world. We see her attentive upon the worship of God; not only going, +but leading; not only listening, but ministering. She finds her work in +the songs of the church. At Mount Carmel lives her married sister, Mrs. +Kate O'Bannon, a devoted member of the Church of Christ. During her +latter summer vacations, Mattie stays with her; at church, she leads the +singing. + +In the early mornings, Mattie delighted in her walk along the +ridge-road, from which the woods could be heard speaking in the myriad +voices of bird-happiness. And she loved the little church, fresh from +her school-duties, loved each greeting at the sunny door, and down the +quiet aisles, coming as voices from long voyages apart. She led the +singing with all her heart, and the congregation sang with all theirs; +and when a protracted meeting was to be held, there was pleasurable +excitement among the singers, over what to sing, and how to sing it. + +One day, excitement is rife among church-members; one hears that a +strange preacher is coming to hold a meeting--a young man Mattie has +never seen. Who can it be? Surely not the boy from May's Lick? Surely +not the Oliver Carr who was startled one evening with an armful of +shavings, poised for bearing home, at hearing the wagon-maker +say--"Ollie, isn't it time for you to be a Christian?" + +Certainly, it would be strange if Oliver Carr should come to preach in +the church where Mattie Myers leads the singing! The hard-earned money +of Eneas Myall and his friend would not have been spent in vain, should +such be the case! Let us return to May's Lick at the time of Oliver's +starting to college, and find how, by any means, we can bring him to +Mount Carmel to hold this very meeting, for which "Miss Mattie" is +making ready. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A UNIVERSITY STUDENT. + + +That was a wonderful day for the boy Oliver when, with the farewells of +his parents, brothers and sisters, friends and benefactors, ringing in +his ears, he started to college. As the stage coach rushed across the +corner of Fleming County, and plunged through Nicholas and wound its way +among the bluegrass pasture lands of Bourbon, he felt that he was seeing +the world, at last; and not only seeing the world, but had the means to +take an honored place in it; for to this youth of sixteen, there seemed +no honor greater than that of preaching the Gospel. + +It was so plain to him, this plea of the disciples of Christ; it +appeared so evidently the truth of the whole matter; he was anxious to +tell others about it, imagining in his inexperienced zeal, that others +would be as glad to hear as he had been. But before he could preach, the +collegiate fortresses of wisdom must be stormed and captured. Head of +his class in mathematics at the academy--that is the best we can say for +him now, and souls are not won from sin and error by the demonstrations +of Euclid. + +Here we are in Fayette County, and the train stops at Lexington. Here +Oliver pauses, but does not stop, for the University is wanting several +years of reaching this point. We must hold on our course--down through +Jessamine County to Mercer. And now indeed, our blood thrills as if +needles were pricking our veins, for we are near our destination,--near +Harrodsburg the goal of our boyhood's ambition. + +There are other boys in the stage coach going to the University, and we +talk about the history of that institution, and of its professors, and +of what we will do when we stop at the station, and where we will +go,--all strangers as we are, and all young, in this year, 1861. + +Some one tells how Bacon College was established by the disciples of +Christ in Georgetown twenty-five years ago, and how its first president +was Walter Scott--a name sufficient to bring up May's Lick before +Oliver's mind, with a far-away suggestion of homesickness. + +And another tells (or should tell for the refreshing of the reader's +memory) of ten years of college life under James Shannon, until Bacon +College went to sleep, or underwent suspended animation, and had to be +brought to Harrodsburg by J. B. Bowman, to try what a new climate and a +new name could do for it. So Bacon College became Kentucky University in +1858--just three years ago. + +Then another--for there were four of these[4] boys, and being boys +they talked a great deal, and, as we see, very much to our +purpose--congratulates all upon the fortunate circumstances that have +provided the University with the first teachers of the land--a fortunate +circumstance for Harrodsburg, he means; of course a fortunate +circumstance for anybody has a curious way of being unfortunate so far +as somebody else is concerned. + +Bethany College had been reduced to ashes; and although new walls were +starting up from the gray ruins, such men of learning and piety as +Bethany College boasted could not sit idly by, while brick was laid upon +brick; they, too, might be building, and, by happy fortune, something +more durable than stone. So Robert Milligan leaves his chair of +mathematics at Bethany, to assume the presidency of our reawakened or +newborn institution--old Bacon College, or new Kentucky University--one +hardly knows if the author was Bacon or Shakespeare!--and Dr. Robt. +Richardson entrusts his chair of Physical Science at Bethany to Dr. H. +Christopher, and becomes vice-president at Harrodsburg. So now we +know--by listening to the chatter of these prospective students--how it +came about that Mattie Myers was treated to the preaching of these +giants. She is over yonder at Daughters' College even now a girl of +fourteen. Even then, she says, she "had given her life to serious study +and preparation for her chosen life-work." + +And what of Bethany College? How can it survive the loss of those +illustrious men? Perhaps with its Alexander Campbell for president, it +can weather the gale! + +But certainly those of us who are Kentuckians and who have been +attending the College in Virginia, because we had none of our own, now +feel unbounded elation over our newly-captured prize! For in those +days, says S. W. Crutcher, who was just such a student, "We had somehow +gotten into the habit of spelling Kentucky with a big 'K' and the United +States in small letters." + +It was Crutcher who, then in Virginia, went with the other Kentuckians +to "Hybernia" to congratulate Professor Milligan on being chosen +president of Kentucky University. The Professor--who had already grown +cautious about standing in draughts--expressed his resolution to spend +the remainder of his life in the service of the University; and Mrs. +Milligan, with thoughts for the present life, led the young men into the +dining-room. Belle is in short dresses; for, as we have said, this was +three years ago; and it is only last year that Robt. Graham left +Harrodsburg for Arkansas. + +We were speaking of S. W. Crutcher; and by a queer coincidence, there he +is in the middle of the street as the stage coach brings Oliver Carr to +Harrodsburg. We are here at last. Crutcher takes Oliver and his three +traveling-companions to a boarding-house which proves an undesirable +place, and President Milligan takes Oliver into his own home; there he +finds Belle's dress three years nearer the floor than when Sam Crutcher +told her farewell in Bethany; and Oliver is, of course, very much afraid +of her; for was there ever a boy more awkward or more conscious of his +tallness and thinness, than this youth from Lewis and Mason County? + +Perhaps not. But he is much at ease with the president, himself, for the +president is a man--and Oliver has dealt thus far principally with +men--and not only so, but with a prince of men. If Eneas Myall, the +blacksmith, could have had the choosing of Oliver's companions, knowing +in his practical English head that his protege was in the danger-zone of +youth, when companionship counts most--he could have selected with no +greater care than Providence seemed to have done. + +First of all, there was the Milligan household with its atmosphere as +unlike that of the village hotel, as if it had been of another world. +Then there was the man with whom Oliver used to walk home from school, +with whom he loved to stroll in the twilight--the Professor of English, +who examined the youth's fitness for his junior year by having him +analyze and parse a hymn. Between this man and boy grew a liking that +was soon ardent love. "My boy"--that is what L. L. Pinkerton called +Oliver. And Oliver, as he walked with his favorite teacher, and heard +him quote poetry--poetry in the balmy evenings of autumn, poetry in the +crisp winter afternoon, poetry wherever Pinkerton was, whether that of +others, or that of his own joyous temperament--here was another +formative influence for the boy from the froglands. + +When we, of another day, look back upon that time, and watch this sweet +association, it is hard to understand the bitterness--we must not say +hatred--that used to be roused at the mention of the Professor of +English. Let us take a closer look at this man from Baltimore County, +Maryland; a brief look, necessarily, but one which will seek to envelope +his main attributes. In so doing, we have not forgotten that our central +aim is to present the life of Mattie Myers over yonder in Daughters' +College--where she has scarcely heard of Oliver Carr, though she knows +Pinkerton by sight. + +To begin at the beginning of L. L. Pinkerton's life--which was in his +eighteenth year--we find him building a post-and-rail fence in West +Virginia not far from Bethany; "black locust posts, black walnut rails," +he remembers, "all taken from the stump, and fence set, for twenty-five +cents per panel of eight feet." Not that the quality of wood or price of +wages matters--at least now; what does matter is that one morning, +before going to work, he found a paper on the table, edited by Alexander +Campbell. The _Millennial Harbinger_ was its name. Lewis picked up the +paper casually, and was soon reading with strange intentness--reading +and re-reading. Strange reading-matter to absorb the attention of a +fence-builder of eighteen--it was all about Truth! Presently he went to +Bethany to hear more about it, and at the close of a sermon by A. +Campbell, was baptized--he rode home that night four miles in dripping +garments. It was so wonderful to him, this plea of the disciples of +Christ--one name for all Christendom, one rule of faith and practice, +and that rule the Bible alone--he could not but believe that it would be +eagerly accepted by a sect-divided world! He began preaching. + +From Lexington he went to Midway, where he established the Orphan School +of the Christian church. For sixteen years he labored in raising funds, +and in teaching, for this exponent of practical Christianity. The same +enthusiasm which had marked his acceptance of the "reformed religion" +carried him over innumerable obstacles, whether of miserliness, poverty, +or cold discouragement. Now the Midway Orphan School was firmly +established, and the year before Oliver came to the University, +Pinkerton accepted the English professorship. + +But, unfortunately for his peace of mind, however fortunate for truth in +the abstract and concrete, poetry was not the only thing that L. L. +Pinkerton talked, outside of school hours. When we seek to pierce the +clouds of misunderstanding and accusation that darken the atmosphere of +those days, the charges of heresy, and the retorts of sectarianism, +above all, the trumpet call that one or the other was not +"sound,"--which opprobrious epithet, indeed, sounds above all the other +jarring cries,--we cannot believe that this resolution to "down +Pinkerton" came from the sole desire to exalt the Christ. No doubt his +opposers believed such to be the case, but they were mistaken. It was +all the war, the spirit of the times. Though the heavens fall, Pinkerton +must proclaim his conviction that slavery was of the devil, must lecture +about it, must do everything that lay in his power to convince others, +must declare his satisfaction when Lincoln's Proclamation--that one +proclamation that calls for no explanatory data to remind one _what_ +proclamation--outraged those who did not believe slavery to be of the +devil; far otherwise, indeed. + +For the war has burst upon us, now in all its fury, and though we, as a +state, are "neutral," everybody knows what that means, and suspects his +neighbor accordingly. In Midway, Pinkerton in building up the church, +established and nurtured a church for the black folk--preached for it +until out of African darkness was evolved a light to shine for itself. +He believed these slaves had souls, and somehow, he looked upon his +labors for their salvation as a part of the practical good-doing that +flowered in the Orphan School. If he could only believe these things to +himself, and not say anything! But in that case, he would not have been +Pinkerton. And so, after the year 1862--the year in which Oliver Carr +preached his first sermon--no church-door was opened that L. L. +Pinkerton might preach therein--never again was he to be thought "sound" +enough. + +Oliver heard much of "soundness" in those days, just as we do now. But +happily for his peace of mind, he was not disturbed by the continuous +jarring and clashing of orthodox and heretical opinions. He was too +busy--too busy, almost to eat; there is no recreation for him save as he +trudges to and fro between school and lodgings, with, or without, the +poetical friend. For he is most irregular in his classes; +mathematics--fine; Latin and Greek--nothing!--"Dead," his father had +objected. Dead indeed, and buried so deep, that the boy must dig hard +and late, to unearth the skeletons. The result of which exhausting +excavation we hear announced in the language of Dr. Richardson: "If you +don't improve in health I do not see how you can continue your +studies--" And, a little later: "You had better go home!" + +Dark days--a weary struggle for health--a conviction that this is +consumption--a last futile fight for victory--back home goes the broken +invalid, just as Mattie Myers had been forced to quit the field. + +But there is a difference, since Oliver is obliged to stop in the midst +of everything--and since he can ill afford a rest. He has had his chance +and it seems all in vain. For three months he stays with his sister +drinking mineral-water, filled with torturing regrets and +inextinguishable hope. His sister--it is Mary--has married; we are to +hear of her again. Three months--and he realizes that if he goes back, +it will mean as severe a regime as before. The ground is hardly broken +above those dead languages, and he has not the strength he had thought +he possessed. However, if we could, later on, take a peep at the young +men about the grounds, we would find Oliver Carr holding his own with +Surber, Keith and Mountjoy and Albert Myles. For six years we find him +studying--"as hard as anybody," in his opinion; but not again is +ill-health to drive him home, though always hovering at his elbow. Let +us take glimpses, here and there, at these years, with the happy +privilege of the reader, of attending the school of his hero without +being compelled to study his hero's lessons. + +At the close of his full year he goes back to May's Lick. To rest? Yes, +if to do what lies closest to the heart is rest. He borrows a horse, +gets his saddlebags, arms himself with Bible and hymn-book, and starts +out for Carter county where Henry Pangburn and Thomas Munnell have +"started a meeting." He informs the girl who keeps the tollgate that he +is a preacher; no doubt in this boy's mind as to what he is! He loses +his way in the mountain trails--"Babe" will go to show him the +school-house, if he will catch her old white horse with burrs in its +tail; "Babe" is a young lady of two hundred pounds--what matter her +other name? On they go, in and out among the hills--Babe's girth breaks +and Oliver gives up his horse to her. + +"Hello Babe!" thus the father of Frank Kibbey from his doorway, "who's +that you have with you?" + +"Oh, a little rebel I picked up on the way!"--a laughing matter to Babe, +but not to Oliver, for he sees her drawn aside, and hears the whispered +demand, "_Is_ he a rebel?"--and wonders if he will be hung. + +But they are all rebels together. Thomas Munnell says "Ollie, you must +preach tonight!" And Oliver knows off-hand what he will preach, because +he has only one sermon! So the benches are brought into the home of +"Bro. Kibbey"--for in the morning the preaching had been in the +woods,--and Oliver stood in a corner, the preacher's point of vantage in +those days, and preached. "And some old women bragged on me," he said +afterward. + +These fledgling students--Kibbey and Carr--sent an appointment to preach +in the mountains. As they rode along, talking about their faith,--for +that is what these boys loved to talk about--they saw a beautiful pool +sparkling among lordly oaks, and they said, "Here is where we will +baptize!" Why not? Not a word had been preached, nor had they ever +looked upon the faces of their prospective auditors; but did they not +have the truth? So they preached to the mountaineers; and presently came +back to the pool among the oaks, where they baptized four young men and +four young women. + +Another picture, brief, almost brusque in its bold coloring: the young +man is called into the office of the Professor of Mathematics, Henry H. +White. The teacher abruptly extends his hand, "This is for you; take +it." + +It is fifty dollars. Oliver, the tears springing to his eyes, would +falter his thanks. "That will do sir!" says the Professor with +mathematical dryness. "That will do sir! you're dismissed,"--so sharply, +so conclusively, that nothing is to be done but go. There are two such +scenes, precisely alike; fifty dollars each time, and, "That will do +sir!" as an end to the incident. + +Never were such kindnesses more gratefully received, or more sorely +needed. For men have come down from the mountains, seizing upon the +property of Southern sympathizers, and none too particular about your +sympathies, if they can get away with horses and money. William Carr +sees his hard-earned savings disappear in a night. The horses from his +stables are spirited away; his hotel is looted; nor is there wanting the +suspicion that some of his neighbors have pointed out the spoils to the +enemy. To his sudden necessity is added the bitterness against injustice +and ingratitude. Farther into the night his wife must sew, earlier in +the morning they must rise; for though one son is away at college, and +one daughter is married, there is little left to support the other five +children. So here at May's Lick is a battle for daily bread, while +Oliver, at Harrodsburg, battles for daily Latin and Greek. + +Nor is this time of stress without its element of heroism. One might +pause in the narrative to show the young University student in danger of +his life, on the occasion of one of his home-comings. A drunken +soldier, having robbed William Carr of his horse, is about to shoot the +hotel-keeper because he is a "Southerner." Oliver leaps between, fastens +his gaze upon the infuriated face, holds out his defenceless arms, and +saves his father's life. + +This is Oliver's experience of the war, this crushing blow upon his +parents; this, and the booming of cannon at Perryville, and the long +line of stragglers coming back from a beaten field; and then the wounded +and the dead. Harrodsburg is taxed to the utmost in giving shelter to +the fallen heroes. Daughters' College from which, as we have seen, the +young ladies have been banished, is opened up as a hospital. + +L. L. Pinkerton is no longer teaching; he has resigned to become surgeon +in the Eleventh Kentucky Cavalry; just as he marched to the defense of +orphan girls and negroes groping in spiritual darkness, so now he +sallies forth for his country; leading the soldiers in prayer every +evening, dressing the wounds of the blue or gray, and singing Northern +battle hymns. And just as he always worked too hard for Midway Orphan +School, or for the disciples' plea, or whatever he worked at--never +resting till failing resources made him rest,--so now, he toils at +regimental prayer-meeting and midnight diagnoses and presently finds +himself bedfast. Too feeble to stand, he lies praying that the South may +be conquered; and, so praying, he is carried to the home of an old +friend, a Captain Carr, who is a Southerner to the core. + +For weeks the friend of Lincoln lies at the point of death, cared for +with all tenderness by the friend of Jefferson Davis. Then J. B. Bowman, +he who turned Bacon College into Kentucky University, came up from +Harrodsburg to Louisville; here the Professor of English lay, and, +taking him in his strong arms, Bowman carried him out to the carriage +and rode away with him. So, we have him back at Harrodsburg at last, +where he may walk with Oliver again, and quote poetry. Of course he +tells Oliver about his kind treatment in the home of Captain Carr, and +speaks of the tender and faithful ministrations of Southern nurses. And +then, quickly, lest he be misunderstood, he asserts his unalterable +faith in the justice of the Union cause; he will have no doubts as to +where he stands. + +"I could scatter flowers over the graves of the Confederate dead," he +says, "and even bedew them with my tears; but I must still say, if +forced to it, 'These poor, brave young men fell in an unrighteous war +against a beneficent government!'" He must still say it, later on, to +the destruction of his peace of mind; to the dissolution of many a +friendly tie; must still say it, if forced to it; and must say it, +whether forced or not, such being the impetuosity of his character, +which consumes prudence and policy in one blaze of enthusiasm. + +In the meantime, Oliver is at war in his own way. That the South should +prove its right to self-government appeared to him self-evident, but it +did not rouse his fighting blood. Souls to be saved from sin and +error--that is his ever-pressing consideration. That all religious +bodies should take the name of Christian, and worship according to the +Scriptures--could anything be simpler? That the six or seven +denominations in small tows, instead of utilizing half their vitality in +keeping themselves going, should all combine in one glorious purpose to +exalt the Christ--could anything be more like Heaven on Earth? Oliver +thought thus. He believed it might come to pass; and he was eager to do +his part in bringing it about. So every summer he left the University +halls to carry his message into the hills and valleys of Kentucky; and +such was his youthful ardor, his enthusiastic conviction of success, +that people for a time stopped talking about John Morgan and friends in +Canada, and went to hear the boy from the village tavern. + +The time came when he resolved to carry the war into his own country. So +he packed his saddlebags and rode into the land of his youth. There was +no building of the disciples of Christ, but Oliver was offered the +Methodist meeting house. + +When it was noised abroad that Oliver Carr was going to preach, hearts +were stirred and the farmers, many miles away, began catching up their +horses to take the family to meeting. Men who had not been to church for +years expressed themselves to this effect: "Ol going to preach? Yes, +I'll go to hear _him_." + +The meeting began Thursday night; on Saturday he baptized fourteen. +Sunday morning the church building was locked; an agitated congregation +hovered in the yard. "Oliver has opened the doors of the church!" +complained his aunt--meaning the spiritual church; she had taken care +that the church of pine boards should be more closely guarded. Across +the street from the inhospitable meeting house stood the school house. +The audience moved thither. The women went within; the men remained +outside. Oliver stood in the door, and preached on "Christian Union". + +Mrs. O'Bannon was there, she and her school-girl sister, Mattie Myers. +And Mattie led the singing, and listened to the young University student +with unqualified approval. In after days she was to hear him preach many +a sermon, and in many lands; "But that was the best sermon he ever +preached!" she declared. For they were both so young, then, and both so +fired with zeal for the same cause which to them seemed the supreme +cause of earth and heaven. And they were both so confident that this +cause must triumph--perhaps in their own lifetime! + +Oliver went to Orangeburg to preach in another Methodist church, and +people came from May's Lick to hear the boy, his father among the +number. Very seldom, if ever, had Oliver seen William Carr at church +before; here he baptized fourteen--but alas! his father was not one of +them. Then ten days at Sardis, and forty baptized--but we need not +follow the youth from point to point; it was everywhere the same +indestructible faith, and many converts, and the beginnings of church +life. + +Daniel Carr, Oliver's grandfather, sent for him to come up to Lewis +county and preach in his home. Daniel was a prominent class-leader of +the Methodist church, 76 years old. Oliver responded gladly, entered the +county of his birth, where his uncles and aunts all lived, faithful +Methodists. His grandfather brought benches and chairs into his house, +and called in neighbors and kinsfolk. Oliver saw before him the boys and +girls with whom he had gone to school in the country before his father's +removal to May's Lick. Here were Old-School Baptists and Presbyterians, +come to hear what the "Campbellite" had to tell them. But they did not +come in hostility; far from that. It was with wonder, rather, that they +looked upon this young man and thought of his past--the hard work on the +farm, the harder work in his father's hotel. They knew how he had been +obliged to leave the University on account of ill-health, and how, since +then, he had taxed his strength to the utmost in evangelistic campaigns +among the hills. And now he had come to them, his old neighbors, to +tell them about Christ! + +His grandfather knelt down to open the meeting with prayer, but suddenly +the wonder and the joy of it came upon him, and they heard nothing but +his sobs. When he was able to utter words, they burst from a heart that +throbbed with heavenly thanksgiving. + +Then Oliver rose. At last, at last! the privilege was his to speak to +these dear people, words of eternal life. As he looked into their kindly +faces, he too, was overcome by emotion. Minute after minute passed by, +and he could but weep, while the faces of his audience, bathed in tears, +told him that the yearning of his heart was understood. It seems +wonderful when a celebrated man rises to address an audience, and, for +ten minutes, stands dumb before tireless applause. But what shall we say +of this boy who stands ten minutes unable to speak for tears of joy, +while his friends wait, unable to hear for weeping? + +This we must say; that we have found here a youth who has given himself +with all his soul to an idea; an idea that grips at the roots of +emotions and desires and life itself. Will not he who weeps with joy at +the opportunity to deliver his message, also fight for it? But though +fighting, will not his valor be tempered with the tenderness of tears? + + +[4] "These boys," Garrett S. Wall (now Judge Wall, of Maysville, Ky.), +Jacob Riley, Anthony Latham and O. A. Carr, all from May's Lick, had +lively discussion on the way. "Which church is right?" was the awkward +way the talk went on: Garrett explained Jacob's Theological puzzles: +Oliver presented the points in that first sermon he ever heard that he +understood, and to him the Scripture statements were plain: Anthony, +true son of "Calvin", dwelt on the "decrees". These boys were going to +be taught, and Anthony seemed willing that the "Spirit should guide him +into all truth" provided it did not make a Campbellite of him; for he +knew that was wrong religion. The count stood--three against one, and in +boy fashion it was claimed that if "what is to be will be" Anthony ought +to be satisfied. O. A. C. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +LOVE AND SACRIFICE. + + +So they have met at last, the preacher and the singer. They might have +finished their education there at Harrodsburg, Oliver Carr at the +University and Mattie Myers at Daughters' College--if the meeting had +not brought them together--who knows! But, being brought together in +that way, and being the grave and purposeful characters we have found +them to be, it is easy enough to comprehend the friendship that came +into being; a friendship sanctified, as it were, by the sound of hymn +and the fervor of prayer. + +After the services we find Oliver going home with Mrs. O'Bannon, in +whose parlor he meets the school-girl sister. Serious enough is their +talk--you might have thought them staid Christians of middle life! She +finds him awkward and embarrassed, except when the talk runs +religiously. He finds her, to his thinking, highly educated, and feels +due awe for her superior advantages. Behold him, now, driving up with a +spring-wagon to take Mattie and her friends on an excursion to the +mineral springs--"Æsculapia", it is called--certainly an appropriate +spot for these two health-needing students! Drink of that mineral-water +as deeply as you may and let us hope Old Æsculapius himself will infuse +strength into the sparkling drops! + +After this pleasant companionship, Oliver and Mattie were never again to +be strangers. Now he knows one girl at Daughters' College who leads +singing in the church--and she knows one young man at the University +whose very soul is wrapped up in the things nearest her own heart. He +comes to the college to see her; and John Augustus Williams sits with +them in the parlor to complete the triangle,--very properly; are not +triangles the least-sided figures known in the halls of learning? And +when President Milligan gives a levee, who comes for Mattie to escort +her thither? Ask if you choose; I shall not answer! + +We have seen how Kentucky University emerged from Bacon College, but we +have not witnessed the closing scene of the transformation. Out of +Georgetown came Bacon College to Harrodsburg; and out of Danville came +Transylvania Seminary to Lexington; here the Seminary found Kentucky +Academy, and these two were fused into Transylvania University. For +sixty-six years Transylvania University flourished and then declined. +Then fire destroyed the college building at Harrodsburg, and Milligan +came to Lexington, and Kentucky University was amalgamated with old +Transylvania, and these two were one. Which takes Oliver away from +Harrodsburg, and that means letters; letters between him and Mattie +Myers. + +It was in 1865 that Kentucky University gave its last exercises in +Harrodsburg. The "Franklin Literary and Philosophical Society" gave its +"exhibit," June 21st. From his "speeches" written out and now among the +relics it appears that Oliver was usually chosen to represent the +"Franklins." One subject discussed was, "Should we in the administration +of law, be influenced by Justice alone?" J. T. Spillman of Harrodsburg +affirms; O. A. Carr of May's Lick denies. And the speech that O. A. Carr +delivers is sent on eight pages, the words liberally italicised, to +"Miss Mattie." "I do this to gratify my friend," he adds at the end of +the poetry that closes the debate, "and I hope that she will not forget +her promise--I will expect those notes on President Williams' lecture +soon." Thus begins the correspondence: a debate from him, lecture notes +from her. + +Mattie Myers is only eighteen, now, and she speaks with all that +age-wisdom one finds in the sober-minded young: "I have been living over +all the delights of the past," she writes to a friend, "and when the +bright dream passed away before the storm actualities of the present, my +heart has wept that the golden hours of childhood shall never, never +return. True, my childhood was not all joyous; yet there is a luxury in +remembering even the grief that tore my young heart. Many changes have +taken place since then. The death-angel has taken from our circle two +dear sisters. Is it not hard for the human heart, so full of pride, to +pass submissive under the rod? Yet in each affliction there is a +blessing. There is a holy, purifying influence that the children of God +must feel in order to be made fit for His inheritance,--an influence +that even mighty truth, alone, cannot bring; an influence that only +trial can exert upon the proud heart. This will make the weakest strong; +God accepts no sacrifice without salt or without fire. Trial gives us +our Christian character, brings us into closer communion with our God. +With it our hearts may be made fair and pure as the snow that encircles +the mountain-crest. It was a bright-winged messenger that took from us +our sisters, though with the eye of flesh we could not see the +brightness of His glory."[5] + + +"Many of the old friends are married," she continues, "and many are +sleeping. One hardly recognizes the old Kentucky Home. Dearest friends +have moved away. The home of one's youth seems strange. But of one I +must tell you, one dearer to me than all others--_my brother_. God grant +that I may not love him too well lest I forget Him who gave me one so +dear!" + +This year brought the war to a close. We find Oliver Carr once more on +an evangelistic tour, followed, we may be sure, by best wishes from +Mattie Myers for his success. He is accompanied by John W. Mountjoy. +They borrow horses at May's Lick, load their saddle-pockets, and start +for the mountains. Let us take a look at them, July 14, 1865,--"A +bright, beautiful morning," says Mountjoy, writing joyously in his +pocket-diary; "we rose with the sun, welcomed by the song of birds and +the gayety of nature." + +It is interesting to note just what preaching means, and what it +includes for these young University students. "We led George and Davy to +water, fed them and rubbed them off." (Davy is Oliver's colt, so named +for David Armstrong, and George is John's colt, so called after George +Ranck, who trudged on foot with Oliver to hear his first sermon at a +school house on the Perryville road three miles from Harrodsburg, and +afterward became the Lexington historian.) "Went to the house, had +prayers, and then breakfast. Left immediately on our journey for +Vanceburg,--rode slowly on account of the lameness of Ol's 'Davy.' +Singing joyously"--this beautiful morning--"we reached rows of cabins +humbly situated by the roadside--the little children, the old +grand-mother with her white cap--an old man mowing by the wayside. I +would gladly have helped him, could I have stopped. * * * We are now at +the blacksmith shop, having 'Davy' shod--sixteen miles yet to ride +before we reach Vanceburg." + +Presently they pass the little school-house where Oliver learned his +first lesson, his a b c's the first day; the second day it was a-b ab, +and the University student sees himself, barefoot and tiny, trudging up +to the doorway that looked so large to him then. It is hard for him to +believe that little boy himself. The years at May's Lick Academy have +come since then, and the years at Harrodsburg, and now the prospect of +years at Lexington. He is already so removed from that little boy, and +all the world of that little boy, so removed in life-purposes, in +eternal desires! and yet there is something of the little child in his +tall awkward form--or in his heart, rather--something always childlike. + +"The school-house where Ol. learned his first lesson," says Mountjoy--"I +could not enter into half the joys of his sweet remembrances of happier +days." Could not, truly; but why "happier" days? Is it not because they +are past, those days of youth, never to be ours again; surely it is not +because they were in reality happier! + +We pass through Clarksburg about 12, we reach Vicksburg about one, and +now we--or I should say, "I," am sitting on the bank of the +Ohio,--Oliver is doubtless resting from his experiences with "Davy." +For, "While riding along about halfway between Mount Carmel and +Vanceburg, talking of Geo. Ranck and Davy Armstrong, Ol. took a notion +that his beast was becoming insensible to the spur on his right foot, +and concluded he would make a change. He raised his left leg over the +shoulder of Davy"--and then we are treated to a bit of Greek in the +diary-narrative, the spirit, if not the letter, of which may be gleaned +from a line further on--"I thought Ol. would surely be killed." + +Away goes Davy, free of any spur, scattering saddle-pockets and +hymn-books to right and left. A quarter of a mile away he stops, and +looks back at the other borrowed horse as if to say, "George, throw John +Mountjoy off and let's go back to old man Chancellor!"--the old man, +evidently from whom they were borrowed. At which, George's spirit begins +to rage, and Mountjoy has all he can do to keep _in statu quo_. And his +thought--if one can afterwards remember what his thought was at such a +crisis--ran thus; "Ol. is killed or half-dead; I suppose I will have all +the preaching to do!" Preaching he has to do, but only his share, but no +funeral, for Ol. staggers up and mounts and clings. And now we find +Mountjoy alone on the river bank, wishing that the music of the waves +could inspire him to do justice to the thrilling scene just closed. + +But after all, Oliver is not resting up from his dethronement, for we +are presently to discover him in a situation none too heroic, by the +canons of genteel fiction. We have come down to the landing to see the +steamer "Telegraph." We are now down the river a little way. "While I +have been writing, Ol. has been washing his boots, with sand for soap. +The boat has just passed down the river and the waves are lashing the +shore, making melody. Ol. will preach tonight in the little +school-house." + +And somewhat further down we find in another handwriting--"All sitting +together tonight, and Johnnie proposes that each of us write something +in his diary and sign his name. + O. A. CARR." + +So the day, bright and beautiful, is at a close; the waves of the Ohio +no longer sparkle with diamonds as the steamboat plows its way +southward; and the jolts of the journey--let us hope--are eased; and the +sermon has been preached; and if we smile at the thought of the +sand-scouring of the boots, is it not with the smile of sympathy? For +we, too, find beautiful the feet of those who bring tidings of great +joy! So, as we say, gone is that bright day of July, so many years ago; +and every little movement in the river one saw that day has, for many +years, lapsed into stillness, to give place to the movements of other +times. But the words spoken then, the sermon preached, the hymns sung, +the prayers offered,--who shall say there is not in the world to-day a +greater love for humanity, a deeper adoration of the Christ, because of +them? + +This same year Mattie Myers wrote, + + "The leafy bowers their shadows cast, and on the grass so cool, + We lay our burning brows and weep the fleeting joys of school"-- + +For her school-days are at last ended. + +Four years of instruction under her brother's surveillance, six more at +St. Catherine de Sienna's and Daughters' College--ten years of lingering +at the founts of knowledge! And now that they have slipped away, and the +young girl faces the graver problem of life itself, the school-girl +breaks into swan-song, and dies to her youth, as she immerges into +womanhood: + + "We leave thee, Alma Mater, dear, with all the bitter grief + That farewell brings to loving hearts, yet with a sweet relief,-- + A hope to tread thy walks again, to breathe thy fragrant air,-- + A hope to hear again thy voice, thy holy truth to share." + +To her mind, education was not only acquirement of truth, but of holy +truth; such an acquisition as called for its inevitable reward: + + "When from the dust the good shall rise + When glory's streaming from the skies; + The hand of love a wreath will twine, + Eternal, glorious, divine." + +"Miss Mattie: Dear Sister--" What is this? Nothing less than a Kentucky +University student, writing from "Social Hall," on the 12th of January, +1866. "Don't be surprised to find the name of your friend Ollie at the +conclusion of these lines," he goes on, "though I admit it is enough to +surprise you." But not us! He was disappointed, he says, because she did +not come to Mount Carmel during his last meeting, "for I had _all_ the +preaching to do myself--" signifying that there was no young girl fresh +from college to lead the singing. The letter is all about his +evangelistic work. "Uncle Gilbert, who had not been within a church for +twenty years, was constantly in his seat before me, looking and +listening with intent interest." + +And then he mourns because his sister Mary did not "purify her soul by +obeying the truth through the spirit." Privately, she tells her +preacher-brother that she believes; but she will wait awhile before +confessing her belief, will wait for the husband to come. But he does +not come. "I left that dear good sister sitting on the stile, watching +to catch the last glimpse of me, departing perhaps forever." But that +vacation was not spent in vain. "During two months I reported 133 +additions, organized four Sunday schools and two churches. Oh, how happy +I would be tonight, if all my dear relations were among those who have +obeyed!" Then he gives us an insight into the sort of things he and +"Miss Mattie" conversed about at social gatherings. "Although my summer +was indeed a happy one, yet when I returned to where all are so worldly, +my heart seemed almost broken. I will always remember the remark you +made at President Milligan's reception, in regard to the conversion of +my parents; and of your faith in prayer." + +Serious, indeed, but sweet in its strong helpfulness, is this +correspondence, now springing up. We have but one side of it, but it +reveals the other. His next letter: "I will never forget your good +advice, nor will I cease to thank you for it. Mattie, I regard you as my +most wholesome counselor. I seldom find a young lady who will give me +advice; and none ever gave me more consolation than you. I have just +read your letter, and I feel stronger spiritually. How cheering to the +poor boy, are these words from a sister in Christ. You ask me what +message you shall bear to Mary"--the sister we left gazing sadly from +the stile, waiting, but unready. "If you have an opportunity, please +encourage her to become a Christian. I took tea with President Williams +last night. He says if he returns to Harrodsburg next year, he will have +you as his assistant teacher. I hope you will sufficiently recover +your health to be able to take up that employment next to the Christian +ministry in point of usefulness, that you may labor for God and +humanity." + +[Illustration: School Days Ended.] + +He writes in March: "I have been on a visit to my sister, Minnie Fox, to +attend an exhibition given by her husband's school. From there I went to +Winchester to preach, and have just returned. My roommate"--here he +pauses to take futile revenge--"Dr. Sweeny, is amusing himself with his +flute and vexing me no little with his discordant notes. Of course _good +natured Ol._ bears it all in good part, hoping however, that the +doctor's serenade will soon conclude!"--a side-remark which we might +have made ourselves. Then to the more serious matters: "I admire more +than ever the kind, easy and natural manner breathed in your letters. +Your style portrays a good heart. I love _talking_ letters, and such +talk, too, that expresses spontaneous emotions. How happy I am under the +conviction that you feel solicitations about my welfare, and offer up +prayers in my behalf. Mattie, I often think of your remark to me last +June, stating what you thought could be done through faith." + +He has two regular appointments now, for preaching; at Macedonia[6] and +Providence. He touches upon the latest news: "I suppose you have heard +of Brother A. Campbell's death. How sad to think that one so great and +good must lose his power and fade away! 'He had fought a good fight,' +and now goes away to wear the crown. President Williams will go back to +Harrodsburg. He prefers teaching young ladies to boys. Mattie! I am +trying to compose an oration on the 'True and Good in Man,' and would be +very much obliged if you will give a few suggestions. (Bad luck to that +pen for dropping the ink! please excuse the blot.) I will be very glad +to hear from you soon on the True and Good in Man. Good night! May the +choicest blessings of heaven be yours, in time and eternity." + +Mattie Myers is still seeking to regain her strength--for health has +fled after the closing days at Daughters' College; and as she rests, she +reads the "Quarterly,"--no light reading, one would think, for a girl +of eighteen--and "Aurora Leigh," always her favorite,--and at +night--these beautiful nights in May, she goes to the meeting held at +Stanford by Moses E. Lard. Oliver has no such excuses, he writes her, +for delaying his answer, but he has others just as good. "I have yet +those five studies this hot weather," he says; "besides, I go to the +country to preach nearly every Lord's day." However, we would not have +her think his preaching excuses any dereliction of duty. "I have had +occasion to pronounce my love for the ministry, and I need only say that +it is still my chief delight." + +And then he comes to deal with the man about whom the storm-clouds had +gathered, the favorite professor who used to walk with the boy Oliver +when friends were few and the University was at Harrodsburg: "Last +Friday night Dr. Pinkerton addressed our society--the Philothean,--to +encourage us in our undertaking--about twenty-five of us are studying +for the ministry. His subject was 'True Greatness.' All were entertained +with the originality of his conceptions, and his peculiarly terse, +pointed and feeling manner. It just seemed a picture of the man +revealing his noble heart, and showing his fervent religious +sentiments. Perhaps you have been prejudiced against the doctor, owing +to his political proclivities. But Mattie, allow me to say that although +he acted as a Christian should not act, while overwhelmed in excitement, +and had his all in the 'Negro Bureau,' still, I cannot but believe he +was sincere. _Yes!_ he was so deeply convinced of the correctness of his +position that he would have been a miserable man, a vile hypocrite, had +he acted otherwise. He is ready to sacrifice popularity and friends; +yes, I verily believe life itself, for what his conscience tells him is +right. For this I admire him. For his sympathy, I esteem him; and +because he is a good man, I _love_ him. I know many lips have hissed +stern anathemas against poor, passionate Dr. Pinkerton; but his goodness +will compare favorably with that of any of his accusers. I hope the +brethren will labor to restore him to his proper orbit, where he will +shine among the brightest stars of the Reformation." + +So this generous young defender goes on and on, till he reaches a blaze +of eloquence of which we are duly suspicious, knowing not what element +of actuality (which is seldom eloquent) may have been consumed in the +heat of chivalrous ardor. It is enough to know that we have found a +voice to speak for the man "who had his all in the Negro Bureau," nor +was it a light thing to speak thus to Mattie Myers, whose schoolbook is +written close with Southern songs. She loves to sing--else she would not +have taken the pains to write it down so carefully-- + + "Oh, yes, I am a Southern girl, and glory in the name, + And boast it with far greater pride than glittering wealth or fame. + I envy not the Northern girl her robes of beauty rare + Though diamonds grace her snowy neck, and pearls bedeck her hair. + + "Hurrah, hurrah, for the Sunny South so dear! + Three cheers for the homespun dress + The Southern ladies wear." + +After the exalted strain of the first part of this letter, we confess to +a great satisfaction in the latter part, which seems to come so much +closer to the ground on which most of us live: "I delivered your message +to Miss Shaw Turner. She expressed an ardent desire to see you, and gave +evidence to a strong attachment to you,--_which_ I suppose you will +allow me to do." (Observe the artfulness of that "_which_") "I am very +much obliged to you for the invitation to the railroad picnic, and I +think it would be altogether proper for the _Car_ to beat the railroad, +ric, tic." (A pun! what next?) "Well, I have heard Brother Lard preach +lately; no wonder I can't write to you! We are anticipating a happy +time in June at our society exhibitions. Please come! But before you +come, oblige me by writing some of your thoughts on this subject: 'The +Tears of History and the Smiles of Prophecy.' This is my subject and I +have not written a word. Jas. C. Keith, Albert Myles and myself are to +represent the University on the 28th June--a distinguished honor, +indeed. I am also elected to represent the Philothean society, and I +have not prepared _that_ speech. Oh, what a fix I'm in! Please, Mattie, +help me! Next summer, let us visit Mount Carmel again, and go to +Æsculapia for our health." (Only for our health?) "Brother Myles sends +his kindest regards, and says he doesn't think near so much of Miss Ada +as of you! Mattie, please write soon." + +Next month comes the "exhibits," and in July--this from Oliver,--"I know +you will be surprised at the caption of this letter--Ghent, Carroll +County, Kentucky." It does, indeed, surprise her, for after a year's +absence, one would have supposed the student anxious to go back to his +parents, kindred and friends. But "I have sacrificed the pleasure of +meeting my loved ones, and given up all, for the good of this people." +His roommate, Albert Myles, has urged him to this course, for Albert, +who has been assisted in College by Mrs. Drusie Tandy Ellis of Ghent, is +called there to hold the meeting. "College days were over June 28th," he +continues. "I underwent six critical, trying examinations, and prepared +my two speeches--and was then so sick I could hardly walk. The doctor +brought me out of a weakening disease so that I could stand on the stage +while I spoke; but that was about all. When the boys parted for their +homes, they left me in extreme agony. My poor frame was racked and +tortured by unmerciful disease. Many I did not get to bid goodby--dear +boys! God be with you, and may we meet again next October. My roommate, +Brother Myles, remained with me. When I recovered, he plead so +affectionately for his 'chum Ol.' to go with him to Ghent, that I could +not refuse." + +And so they go to Covington, and at Cincinnati take the "Joe Anderson" +for the river town. But in about two weeks, Oliver will be at Mount +Carmel where Mattie is now--he urges her to stay till he comes--and he +will bring her a book by one of his favorite professors--McGarvey's +"Commentary"--solid food for the young lady, one would think. + +Back in the University next fall--let us hope in better health than when +he left it!--we find Oliver again pen in hand: "James Keith, Albert +Myles and myself will finish the course this year by hard study, having +about twenty-five recitations each week--and I am in wretchedly poor +condition. I'm fearful of my health's giving way under the great burden. +I hope and pray for strength of mind and body to prepare for a long +service. I sometimes think it is almost a sin for us young men who are +preparing for the ministry, to stay here conning over dull lessons in +mathematics, Latin and Greek. Like a caged bird, I long to be free of +the College-wall cage. I am anxious to go into the world and preach the +Gospel. I have been telling my friend of how you and I preach together, +and what a good, assistant preacher you are. How I would like to be with +you and your sister tonight. Dear me! What a contrast this dull monotony +presents to that blissful happy meeting--to do such noble work as that +in which we were engaged! Never can I forget that meeting, nor our trips +to Orangeburg! neither can I forget you who cling so tenaciously to +'that good part.' You and Sister O'Bannon both impressed me as being +God's dear children. Remember your mission to speak to my sister Mary +about becoming a Christian. I suppose you heard of my good meeting at +Sardis. Forty-five were added--four of my cousins among the number. +Don't fail to send that sermon. Mattie, I send the promised photograph, +please send me yours. Write to me soon, and tell me what you are doing. +I know you are not hearing Brother Lard _now_. I think you might write +poor Ol. a long letter very soon!" + +"Poor Ol." received the letter; for we find him answering in a short +time--from his letter we may gain an insight into hers: "You speak of +your benevolent scheme in progress for the 'poor wanderers of New York.' +I do not know your exact meaning, but ever since I formed your +acquaintance, I have believed you a chosen instrument of God to +accomplish great good for poor mortals. Now you are making the step. +Dear me! How I wish such a spirit of Christianity infused itself through +the purposes of the ten thousand accomplished and efficient young ladies +of Kentucky! How much good might be done by womanhood, if they would +devote their time, means and energy to alleviating suffering. Perhaps it +would be a better plan to look nearer home. I am glad to know that you +whom God has blessed with a mind and heart able to conceive, plan and +feel, are breathing a prayer for the distressed. Mattie, it speaks well +for you, and makes me rejoice. A young friend of mine insists on my +preaching at Mount Sterling that he may obey the Gospel. I can't refuse +to go. I know I will lose time, and distract my attention from my +studies, but what is that in comparison to saving a soul? I don't +hesitate to go, but will be off soon. Encourage the building of the +church at Mount Carmel all you can. They will receive $50.00 from me +next summer for that purpose. Excuse bad writing. You know I can do +better." + +In Oliver's next letter--December--we find him in a rather sensitive +mood. Mattie has accused him of "Some egotism clearly manifested in a +parenthesis" he appears to have stowed away in his last epistle. "Dear +me!" says Oliver, wounded and perplexed, "What can it be?" After trying +to recall anything that may have prompted her "sarcasm," and after an +eloquent outburst against the meanness of egotism wherever found, he is +obliged to give it up. After relieving his feelings he falls back on +"Brother Lard," who appears as a convenient stalking-horse for both +sides. "If you think my writing home a poor excuse for not writing to +you, I have a very good one at hand. Brother Lard is preaching here +every night. That, as you know (having offered it yourself) is a valid +excuse! I have just returned from a visit to President Williams who is +in high spirits. He has just been giving me a lecture on my returning +here for still another year. He is a dear good man, and often gives me +good advice; but I don't think it would be right, after taking a diploma +in the Bible College and another in the College of Arts, to remain +another year. Now, Mattie, I have always paid much attention to your +advice; what do you think on the subject? You know my deficiences; but +you also know my burning desire to be at work. Like you, I admire Geo. +D. Prentice's 'Closing Year' extravagantly. He has immortalized himself +with that inimitable production. What a pity that such a man is not a +Christian! The world is presenting a sad picture. The people are +beginning to lose confidence even in the clergy. I am convinced that, +as a Christian body, we are more in need of deep-toned piety than of +anything else. We have more learning than we put to good use. We need +exemplary conduct in young men and women. I am going to start out in the +New Year to live a holier, better and consequently a happier life. +Please remember me in your prayers." + +Our next letter to "Miss Mattie," dated December 25th, is not from +Oliver Carr, but from another University student, who signs himself by +his initials. Poor young gentleman, we seek not to know his name, as he +pours out his love of near half a century gone. Her "very welcome +favor," it appears, had nipped his sweetest hopes in the bud, but he was +"glad to receive it." He goes to the point: "You say that no more +intimate relationship can exist between us than that of friendship. Miss +Mattie, why not? I do not presume to ask for details, whether your heart +is prepossessed in favor of another or whether * * *" But no, this was +very real to the "D.," of those days, let us not listen to his +heart-beats, but hope rather that "D." now sixty-odd, if he is a day, +has long since forgotten all about it. He is introduced here merely to +cast one tiny ray upon the character-development of the young lady +addressed: "In the mean time, you will allow me to thank you very +sincerely for the candor with which you have dealt with me, not only in +this correspondence, but ever since our acquaintanceship." And then, +remembering that it is the 25th, he adds with a stout heart, "Just while +I think of it, I will take your 'Christmas Gift!'" + +He gives a flash-light of those vacation days: "Most of the students +have gone to their homes. Egg-nog is flowing freely here. The landlady +has it in abundance, today. Some of the company partook largely; among +them I noticed two young ladies. By the way, a little news afloat: Miss +Jennie Lard is to be married to a very interesting youth" (Note the +bitterness of our rejected lover!) "of fifty and odd summers: This +lovely lad is Woodson, a lawyer of St. Louis, who is very promising for +a mere beginner in this up-hill business of life. In the exuberance of +his youthful feelings he has presented her with a gold watch, rings +infinite, and earbobs not a few." (Oh, the bitterness of it!) + +Then, in this incidental fashion, we find introduced a subject which is +presently to deepen until it envelops all other thoughts of Mattie +Myers: "Alex. Milligan received a letter of twelve pages from Brother +Gore, dated Liverpool. He and Surber intend to start for Australia on +the 21st"--two young friends of Oliver Carr and Mattie Myers, going +forth as missionaries. "They have visited Spurgeon's tabernacle, Crystal +Palace, etc. They describe the English manner of worship, different from +ours. They have no preaching Lord's Day morning; that part of the day is +spent in taking the Lord's Supper, Scripture reading, etc. Preaching at +night." And then "D." enters upon the subject of Conscience, in which it +seems Mattie is greatly interested; but our own will not permit us to +follow him into those intricate depths. + +Three months pass by, but Oliver has not forgotten Mattie's thrust: "I +do wish you had gratified me by sending the sentence in quotation in +which I expressed _egotism_. I have been much troubled about it and I +would like to know exactly what it was." Then after several pages of +severe self-inspection, to find the contamination, he urges her to see +again his sister Mary and his other relatives who are out of the +church, and continue with zest, in finding a delightful means of +prolonging this correspondence: "You say that the affirmative of the +question, 'Will Christ's Second Coming be Premillenial?' is Scriptural. +Well, we will have a debate, if you say so. You must make the first +speech; I'm simply to reply. But as suggestive of the arguments, I wish +you "to prove to me, First * * *" + +And so they debate; and spring blooms in Kentucky, and summer comes with +its hard work and balmy airs. Mattie Myers is not as strong as she might +be, but she has had a long rest, and can rest no longer; for that active +spirit calls her to her chosen work. She has already done some teaching, +but in the autumn of 1867, she purchases Franklin College at Lancaster, +and starts definitely upon her career. She is the president, of course; +and she feels as she walks the familiar streets,--no longer a little +girl under her brother Joe's tutelage, but a grave young teacher--a girl +of twenty now, surrounded by other girls--that her life-work has, +indeed, begun. Her first school! It does not, indeed, promise that wide +field she has so long coveted; the conditions are straight, the +capabilities rather narrow; but after all, it will serve for a time. +Why it served so short a time--but one school term, in all,--may be +gleaned from the continuation of the correspondence: + +"I confide in you," Oliver writes in September, "as I do in my own kin. +The plain truth is that you seem much nearer to me than some of my +kindred who are ever opposing my humble work. I am thankful that I ever +met you, and that we have learned to sympathize with each other. I made +a flying visit to Mount Carmel, and cannot say how sad I felt at not +seeing you there. I preached at Orangeburg, and had the pleasure of +receiving among others, my little cousin Rachel. I have long been +praying for her conversion. I baptized her and her husband both at the +same time. + +"From there I went to the State Meeting at Lexington, and a happy time I +had. It was said by old men that they had never known one so _good_. +During the meeting, a letter was received and read before the convention +by Brother J. W. McGarvey. It was from Brother Surber. He stated very +touchingly the need of more preachers in Australia, and urged Brother +Myles and me to come. He expressly stated that the Australian brethren +had--under the recommendation of himself and Gore--selected _us_, and +wanted no others. Brother Surber wrote to me, and gave a description of +Melbourne, where he wants me to preach. His description made me wonder +at the degree of refinement there. The city is beautifully adorned with +flower-gardens; 140,000 inhabitants. He imagines I'm there, walking with +him through the city. He says, 'Come, Ollie, it is just as near Heaven +from this country as from Kentucky.' He says we will be to the Cause +there what Walter Scott and Barton Stone were here, etc. The brethren +there are almost wild for an evangelist from Kentucky; have sent $800.00 +in gold to bear expenses of Brother Myles and myself. Above all +considerations, the good I might do is the grandest--to preach to people +who are not tired of hearing! I know my relatives will oppose my going, +and that it will almost break my heart to leave them; but I cannot +consult flesh and blood. I have prayed and wept over this, but I cannot +escape the conviction that it is my duty to go. All the brethren except +Dr. Pinkerton advised me to go. President Milligan just wept like a +child. I've not let the folks at home know anything about it; there is +great excitement here. Mattie, what do you think of my going? Would you +go with me? _I'm in earnest._ Brother Keith and I are holding a meeting +at Millersburg. I wish I had you as an assistant preacher, as I did last +summer. I hear that people are well educated in Australia. Please write +immediately." + +We have broken the news to the reader, just as it was broken to Mattie +Myers; but there is a difference; for in those days, knowledge of +Australia was very superficial in Kentucky. It was immensely farther +away then than now, and in proportion as it took so long to go there, to +that degree did it appear wild and barbarous, semi-civilized at best. To +Carr, Myles and Keith, the senior class of 1867,--the three young +preachers and roommates, who were called "the Trio,"--the Australians +were a mixture of exported English convicts and bush-men with bristling +hair. To their imagination, an Australian was hardly to be classified +with any of the recognized races of mankind; he was a mongrel, a +mystery. And even if they could have received the enthusiastic +laudations of young Surber and Gore, the perils of months upon the deep +which rendered passage full of dangers, and a speedy return impossible, +must still have appalled the fancy. To go to Australia, then, was to cut +away from the old life with all its ties of love, of laughter and of +tears, and to find what consolation one might in the thought that the +distance from there to heaven was as short as from a Kentucky haven! + +The next month, Oliver writes to Mattie Myers: "Your touching letter +gave me more encouragement in my expected trip to Australia than any I +have received, leaving my heart literally steeped in faith, hope and +love. I hated to tell you my plan, for you are always holding up to my +view the amount of work to be done in Kentucky. This is the hardest +question I was ever called on to decide. It came to me something like +the question of my soul's salvation. At the State Meeting, old and young +advised me to go--all except Dr. Pinkerton, whose counsel was always +very weighty with me. His argument was that the people of Northeast +Kentucky need my labor too badly, and that their souls are just as +precious as those in Australia. But you know that in Lewis County I have +not the opportunities to labor that I'd have in Australia. Life is too +short--we must use every advantage. There are others to take my place +in this country. + +"I wept all the way from Lexington. And then I placed in the scales, +home with all the meaning of HOME--father, mother, sisters, brothers, +and friends--and no one has dearer friends than I, and God knows I love +them dearly,--and on the other side I placed the salvation of perhaps +thousands of souls, the love of Jesus and his Cause. I looked at the +balance with tearful eyes, and resolved to tell parents, kindred and +friends adieu. The scale turned. My love for all dear to me on earth, +cannot deter me from going with glad tidings to the weary and +heavy-laden. And yet how sad to leave you and all others so dear. I +declare, it almost breaks my heart. Yet go I must! I wrote home and told +all about it. Oh, I hated to let my poor mother know anything about it. +I am to stay three or five years. I will have an audience of 1,000 every +Sunday. The salary will be $1,000 in gold. Some of this I will send home +to my poor parents; and some to my brother Dick whom I am going to +educate; and some to the young man I am already educating for the +ministry. I am going to make one more strong appeal to my parents to +obey the Gospel. How shall I be able to tell them goodby, if I am to go +away with no hope of meeting them in heaven? I am glad you have such a +good school. Oh, you are doing a noble work! Just think of training 90 +or 100 little hearts and leading them to Jesus!" + +December comes, and the stress of resolution grows harder to bear: "I +have come home at last, but not to rejoice in the association of +friends. I am chilled by translation from a fervid spiritual labor and +fellowship of the saints, into a fellowship of worldly affairs where +every effort is to get something to eat, drink and wear, with scarcely a +thought of the hereafter. Brother Dick is dangerously ill. The dear +fellow suffers the most excruciating pain. As I gaze upon his tender +form, I wonder if I am ever to realize that thought--my brother, a +preacher! Added to this sorrow is the sympathy I have for my poor +mother, who weeps whenever Australia is mentioned. It is very +distressing. All charge me with not loving them. My dear father rests +his heavy head upon his hand, and weeps to think of the future. His +frail body is tottering as he descends the hill of life. I fear I shall +never see him again, after I say farewell. It well nigh breaks my heart +to hear them chide me for resolving to go on that long, long voyage. I +close this sad picture by throwing myself into my only refuge--faithful +prayer, and immortal hope." The next part of the letter shows that +Oliver was "in earnest" when he asked Mattie Myers to go with him: + +"In Lexington I met Brother McGarvey on the street" (his teacher with +whom he lodged during his last year at the University.) "He urged me to +tell him all that happened during my brief visit to you at Lancaster" +(where she is teaching her first school.) "In confidence, I told him +your objections and difficulties. When I had finished, he said,-- + +"'I admire her consideration. It is a serious question, I admit. With +regard to her health, and the dangers of the voyage, you and she are on +a common footing. She need not be deterred by the supposition that you +die and leave her in that distant land; the brethren here would, in that +case, have her safely returned home.' He urged our marriage, and trip to +Australia. He was delighted with the idea of having you there as a +teacher. We talked of the sacrifice of your school at Lancaster, and he +argued that it would be far better for the cause of Christianity and +education to have some one take your place in Lancaster, and have you +occupy a higher sphere of usefulness. I wish you had been present to +hear him talk; he is a dear, good fellow. With his strong clear brain, +he adjusts his plans; with an eye of faith, he views the future. I pray +you, weigh his opinions in your well-balanced judgment before you +conclude. I talked with President Williams; I fear he will not advise +you to go. Brother McGarvey says it will depend upon the mood in which +you find him. Then _do_ cheer him up, and prepare him for a happy +answer!" + +The letter concludes with urging the marriage, cautioning her against +giving heed to the advice of others--as in the case of John Augustus +Williams--but the wisdom of _sometimes_ heeding the counsel of +others--for instance, that of John W. McGarvey. + +"Though a stranger to you in person--" What is this? A letter written to +Mattie Myers by this very J. W. McGarvey! "By request of Brother Carr," +he says. One would not expect a passionate, enthusiastic burst of +eloquence from the author of the "Commentary on Acts." What is said +here, emanates from a "strong, clear brain." As the Bible instructor +sees it, the situation stands thus: "After all, your own heart must +decide whether you go or stay. One thing seems certain, that _he_ will +go. It is for you to endure his long absence, and risk the uncertainties +of his return, or share the voyage with him, and help the noble cause to +which he consecrates his all." + +This same month, Oliver returns to the charge: "I waited a week with the +keenest anxiety, hoping each night to get an answer from you. It has +come at last. Mattie! I anticipated what it would be, from reading +President Williams' letter. I know he has tried to mould your life for +teaching, alone. He is true and noble and I doubt not he gave you, as +you say, 'his wisest judgment and the fullest expression of his good +heart on the subject.' I believe he meant to point to our highest good; +but I cannot follow his advice. I have pondered both your and his +reasons for wishing delay. Both of you urge a year's preparation. Well, +what kind of preparation? You are already prepared to teach those in +Australia; and I know I can tell them what to do to be saved. I know I +am weak; but Northeast Kentucky is not the place for me to get strong. +You say I 'need to know assuredly that I can meet stern realities +victoriously.' I do not think I will know more about that than I do now, +till I meet them. Of course a year's experience would increase my +usefulness, but why not acquire it where the brethren want me? I don't +know what especial point you had in view by saying you would like a +year's hard study under President Williams. What were you going to +study? You have taken his full course, I presume. We have simply the +story of the Cross to tell and I believe that we can do it _now_." + +So the letter goes on for eight closely-written pages, showing the +fervor of eloquence quite lacking in the concise review by McGarvey; +but, then, it was not McGarvey who was in love. Oliver is in love, +doubly so; first and always first, with his Cause; and then always with +Mattie. It is a terrible struggle for the young girl, for she too, is in +love; but her affections have always associated teaching with the Cause. +She must know in her heart that this missionary enterprise is a +divergence from her central idea, however much more good it may +accomplish. Here is her college, bought and paid for, and here are her +90 or 100 girls for training. She may hope for different blessings +beyond the seas, but not of this sort. + +[Illustration: Prof. J. B. Myers] + +[Illustration: "Considering His Letter."] + +And here is her brother Joe bitterly opposed to the plan, as one's +brother Joe may very naturally be. It is well enough for McGarvey, who +thinks first of the dissemination of the Gospel, to smile upon her +going; and how could Williams, whose ideal for woman is the vocation of +teaching, say otherwise than wait? It is well enough for Oliver to see +but one course before him; he never entertained himself with dreams of +teaching school. He always meant to preach, and Australia means more of +it, with wider good to hope for. But it is no simple problem for Mattie +Myers. + +A one-sided correspondence, we have been treated to, which, though +one-sided, has nevertheless given us as good an insight into the one +addressed as if she had done all the writing; better perhaps; for now we +are to hear her voice, which in its agitation and perplexity, does not, +it may be, reveal her as she is: + +"I have stretched forth my hands and nailed my heart to the Cross. You +may cast it from you, but conscience nailed it there. For awhile I +cheated myself with the belief that its voice mingled with the voice of +my heart, 'You are already prepared; go with him.' But it was only the +echo of my heart's happy song. I feel that I would be an incumbrance, +rather than your co-worker. However mournfully my heart may cry, however +beseechingly, _I cannot go with you_. Conscience, my guide, beckons me, +and fervently I follow, though my heart is torn asunder. Ah, the +bloodless battles that are fought in our world! You have said, 'Although +I love you as I love no one else on earth, still, if you deny me, I must +go alone.' I say in reply, that though I love you with that love of +which only a Christian woman is susceptible, I cannot go with you. Your +capabilities fit you for one field of labor, mine fit me for another. We +have all to build an altar. I have built mine, and laid thereon my +tenderest feelings, the yearning desire of the woman-nature to be loved. +I know that this mysterious yearning which God has planted with his own +hand in woman's heart will, if left unsatisfied, cast a shadow over her +life; that however strong, however self-reliant a woman may be, her +heart reaches out for something to complete her happiness. But the giant +will can strengthen the trembling, faltering heart. + +"And it is well to nail the heart to the Cross that raises it nearer to +God. He will give it strength to suffer. And his love can never fail. Do +not think that I am staggering under complaint. Like a cheerful traveler +I will take up my life-burden, and continue the journey, with a song in +my mouth, keeping time to the voice of conscience and my God. Do not +think for a moment, Ollie, that I would dissuade you from entering upon +your grand mission. What I said to you before I knew you loved me, I say +to you now, though it wrings my heart with an anguish that I sometimes +think cannot be borne. Sometimes I feel that my heart must break, but it +is sustained by the love of God. If conscience bids you go, then you +must go. But I cannot conceive how conscience would say to you to leave +a field in which laborers are few, for one which may cost you your life. +I am impressed that going is a matter of inclination rather than of +conscience. Nevertheless, if conscience does tell you so, then I urge +you with all the earnestness of my soul, to go. Go; and the burdens of +my prayers will be for him so far away, and yet so very near." + +Alas! how great a mountain is our own conscience, and how small a +molehill that of our neighbor! Mattie, who has been pointing out that +all her future misery is to come from obeying her own, pauses to doubt +if Oliver's conscience is a conscience at all! On such provocation as +that, who can blame Oliver for having doubts about Mattie's conscience? +That he did have doubts, and that he did his utmost to cause her to +agree with him, no one can doubt with the following letter before him: + +"Dear Mattie:--Yours received. I heartily agree to March 26th as _our +wedding day_. I will write to tell sister Mary and Matt to come down to +May's Lick on the 27th. Saturday I will deliver my farewell address +here. We will go to Maysville en route for Cincinnati. Horace came from +Flemingsburg yesterday to find out something about it. Matt, Bud and +Mollie are coming. + +"Mattie, I have the best kind of news to tell you. Hold your breath +while you read. Father came forward at church yesterday, and made the +good confession. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, +bless his holy name!' I recognized in that, the answer to many a prayer. +And now if my mother would obey the gospel I would believe your prophecy +uttered at President Milligan's reception was fulfilled. Do you remember +what it was?--'Brother Ollie, I believe God will make you instrumental +in bringing your family into the fold.' Oh, will that ever be? Mother +won't go to church. She has never heard me preach but twice; but I will +pray on, and hope on." + + +[5] When first I saw the following lines, I called Mattie to hear me +read them to her. I thought of her "CHILDREN," the girls she had taught. +We were seated in her private parlor; and her attention was fixed from +the first stanza: "Shedding sunshine of love on my face." The reading +ended, she threw herself on the bed and wept aloud. Her feelings, when +fully aroused, were paroxysms of joy or grief; and now the two +alternated as memory of her first school at Lancaster, and of the girls +on the other side of the earth, at Melbourne, mingled with all her life +of love for "THE CHILDREN." She made notes when she read Milton, +Spencer, Mrs. Browning, Longfellow, Tennison, but this little poem was +literally bathed in her tears. O. A. C. + + When the lessons and tasks are all ended + And the school for the day is dismissed, + And the little ones gather around me, + To bid me good night and be kissed; + Oh, the little white arms that encircle + My neck in a tender embrace! + On, the smiles that are halos of heaven + Shedding sunshine of love on my face! + + And when they are gone I sit dreaming + Of my childhood--too lovely to last; + Of love that my heart will remember + When it wakes to the pulse of the past, + Ere the world and its wickedness made me, + A partner of sorrow and of sin + When the glory of God was about me, + And the glory of gladness within. + + Oh, my heart grows weak as a woman's + And the fountains of feeling will flow, + When I think of the paths steep and stony, + Where the feet of the dear ones must go; + Of the mountains of sin hanging o'er them, + Of the tempest of fate blowing wild; + Oh, there's nothing on earth half so holy + As the innocent heart of a child. + + They are idols of hearts and of households, + They are angels of God in disguise; + His sunlight still sleeps in their tresses, + His glory still beams in their eyes; + Oh, those truants from home and from heaven, + They have made me more manly and mild-- + And I know how Jesus could liken + The kingdom of God to a child. + + I ask not a life for the dear ones, + All radiant, as others have done; + But that life may have just enough shadow + To temper the glare of the sun; + I would pray God to guard them from evil, + But my prayer would bound back to myself. + Ah! a seraph may pray for a sinner, + But a sinner must pray for himself. + + The twig is so easily bended + I have banished the rule and the rod; + I have taught them the goodness of knowledge + They have taught me the goodness of God: + My heart is a dungeon of darkness, + Where I shut them for breaking a rule; + My frown is sufficient correction; + My love is the law of the school. + + I shall leave the old home in the Autumn, + To traverse its threshold no more; + Ah! how shall I sigh for the dear ones, + That met me each morn at the door; + I shall miss the goodnights and the kisses. + And the gush of their innocent glee, + The group on the green and the flowers + That are brought every morning to me. + + I shall miss them at morn and at eve, + The song in the school and the street; + I shall miss the low hum of their voices, + And the tramp of their delicate feet-- + When the lessons and tasks are all ended, + And death says: "The school is dismissed" + May the little ones gather around me + To bid me good night and be kissed. + +[6] I must have preached "big sermons" in these days; for Brother +Benjamin Coleman saw to it that I received $25.00 each time I went to +Macedonia. No thanks to him and the church, their contribution was to +help me through College. O. A. C. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"I WILL GO." + + +It was September, 1867 that Oliver Carr asked Mattie Myers to go with +him to Australia. For six months she hesitated, refused, wavered. It was +not a question of devotion to each other, but of loyalty to the +life-ideal of each. Going to Australia meant three or five or seven +years away from Mattie's chosen vocation. She weighed at its full value +the argument that she could teach in Melbourne; of course, she could +teach; but teaching must necessarily be subordinate to missionary work. +Mattie did not undervalue the importance of missionary labors; but +neither did she undervalue the importance of touching girls' lives in +the school room. + +In the struggle, McGarvey and Williams, as we have seen, took opposite +sides; McGarvey was for his pupil, Oliver; Williams was for his pupil, +Mattie. Each looked at the question from his point of view. To the +President of the Bible College, what was more important than carrying +the Bible across the sea? To the President of Daughters' College, +teaching was the exalted vocation of woman--Let O. A. Carr do his man's +work, he argued; and let Mattie Myers do her woman's work. + +And there was brother Joe, who had done so much for Mattie--the brother +whom she feared she might love too well--pleading, arguing, exhorting. +"Let Oliver go to Australia," he insisted, "and when he comes back--at +the end of his five or seven years, then, if you and he think as much of +each other as you do now, why--" But the proposition seemed quite safe, +so he added with a stout heart, "then you can get married!" But on this +side of the five years, No! Never! And when words fail him, and +arguments need to be rested, each having done service so often for want +of new ones--Joe gets his flute and sits on the piazza with Mattie, +these balmy spring evenings of 1868, and plays and plays--plays always +the old familiar melodies, the airs that are wrapped up with her most +sacred memories--"Old Kentucky Home," and "Home, Sweet Home," and--we +fear--"Bonnie Blue Flag" that carries up the bars and would sweep the +stars from the Heaven of Union blue. + +[Illustration: "I Will Go."] + +All this is too much for Mattie; her own conscience, the advice of +Williams, "that prince of instructors," as she calls him, and beloved +Joe; all cry out against Australia. She writes to Oliver-- + +"I pray that the love of God may strengthen you to accomplish your holy +mission, and bring you back to waiting hearts in your own Kentucky land. +I may regret the decision that prevents me from going with you. I may, +after you are gone, regret that my hand is not to help you; I weep to +labor with you. I do not know. But I have tried to enlighten my +conscience, and it must not be disregarded. Go, and give to the weary +rest, and to those that thirst, of the well of living water. Though I +must suffer, there is a morn and land beyond it all. Go, and work for +God." + +In these days when evangelistic work would permit Oliver to come to +Lancaster, he visited Mattie Myers as her accepted suitor. After her +day's work in the schoolroom, she listened to his reading of "Lady of +Lyons," and after the "Lady of Lyons" had had her say, talk would drift +to Australia. It was at the conclusion of such a talk at Mt. Carmel--how +earnest we may imagine--when Joe was not there--_that_ we may take for +granted--the young teacher rose with the solemnity of one who takes an +irretrievable step, having counted all the costs--"I will go!" + +Those are her words. And having spoken, the matter is settled. Let poor +Joe play his flute-airs, and look mournfully into space; let Williams +say what he will, or Pinkerton, or anybody else. Mattie has spoken. That +means a wedding-day on March the twenty-sixth. + +Not that Joe understands how unalterable is her mind. Indeed, he is in +no condition to bear the truth. That voyage seems to him a death, the +going out from his life of the dearest object of his affections. He +grows wild when she tries to make him understand her mind. When Oliver +reasons with him, he no longer answers with arguments, but with mere +incoherent passion, partly anger, partly despair. So this is what we +will do; we will go to Mt. Carmel without telling Joe,--yonder at the +home of the sister, Mrs. O'Bannon, where we first met, whence we took +that Spring-wagon excursion to the ineffective spring of Æsculapia. +Mattie will take the stage that comes down to Maysville. Oliver will be +standing upon the pike, out of sight of any kinsman's house. Mattie +will order the stage to stop. He will get in--off we will go. + +And so we might have made our trip without incident, without sorrow, but +for the unforeseen, in this instance, embodied in brother Joe. He +suddenly appears, wild and excited, having come in such nervous haste, +that his hat is left at home. Hatless, but not breathless, he stops that +stage and holds it while he delivers himself of all his arguments, +seeking to bury Australia in an avalanche of spontaneous eloquence. But +the word Mattie has spoken before the blazing hearth she speaks on the +open pike: "I will go." + +Why argue further? Clearly conscience nerves her to her purpose! +Conscience--or love. Only one term of her first school so proudly +begun--and she has put it in charge of another, and is starting forth to +merge her life-work into that of another--and he, a stranger not long +ago,--a mere lad gathering the shavings in the wagon-shop to start the +tavern fires. + +Events now come thick and fast. We are getting ready for the wedding +now. Oliver rides in a buggy with a schoolmate from his home town, May's +Lick, through Lexington to Lancaster, the home of Mattie Myers. Many +times he stops on the way for farewells. The reception committee come +forth in strength, but their spokesman bursts into tears, and Oliver is +received with tears only. Albert Myles, his six-year schoolmate +accompanies him to Lancaster. The wedding is to be at five in the +morning. Bells ring. The village people, thinking there is a fire, are +roused and come forth. Learning that it is a wedding, they troop to the +church. The spectators look on through their tears, thinking vaguely of +the other side of the globe, whither the bridal pair is presently to set +forth. Albert Myles performs the ceremony. It is a scene of early light +and tears. "Mattie going away!" is the murmur--Mattie whom these folk +have known from infancy--going away in early womanhood, perhaps never to +return! + +From Lancaster to Lexington in a carriage; and here J. B. Bowman, the +University necromancer, gives the bride and groom a dinner in his home, +once the home of Henry Clay,--Ashland, where we have seen Walter Scott +admiring the picture of George Washington. Teachers and pupils of the +University assemble, and there is another mournful farewell. In the +afternoon, from Lexington to Stony point, and goodby to Mrs. Fox, +that sister Minnie of the May's Lick days. At Millersburg, another +wedding-dinner, given by Alex. McClintock, and then to May's Lick, +thirty-six miles by carriage. + +[Illustration: Before We Say Goodbye] + +Here they remain over Sunday--the last Sunday in the old May's Lick +church, in which Eneas Myall is a deacon,--the blacksmith who said when +first hearing the news, "I am sorry to see you go, Ollie, but it seems +providential!" The elders of the church, the same who were elders when +Walter Scott preached there, ordained Oliver on that last Sunday at +home. He was surrounded by old friends, tearful but exultant in their +sorrow. There was one who could not come because, "I can't tell him +goodby," he said. That was Oliver's hard task now, to say goodby to all, +hardest of all to those of his father's house. But he had nerved himself +for the ordeal. "I could tell them all goodby," he says, "until I came +to my mother." + +They go, according to their plans, straight to Maysville, across the +county, to take boat for Cincinnati. Not alone do Mattie and Oliver make +that journey. His mother is with them. News runs before; the Australian +missionaries are coming! The word is quickly passed back and forth, +that there will be services at the church. When Oliver arrives he finds +the appointment made. He rises to preach. It is his last night in +Kentucky. Before his vision stretches a long vista of uncertain years in +a strange land; years among strangers for this man who is blessed with +so many friends. But that sorrow is swallowed up in the deeper joy of +presenting Christ to the people, showing forth his loveliness for the +last time in the land of his birth. + +That sermon is not preserved, for which we are, we believe, sufficiently +thankful. If love in its fulness cannot be spoken, much less can it be +read. There is a simplicity and an inner earnestness, that is altogether +baffling to the snare of leaded type. Whatever the subject of that +sermon, Christ was in it, and we care nothing for its divisions and its +order. We are thrilled with joy by that sermon--we who never heard +it,--because we see the preacher's mother step forth--at last!--and +stand before them all like a beautiful dream come true--or rather, like +a spirit of love, whose enkindled face flashes into the son's eyes the +answer to his prayers. + +Not in vain, as we have seen, were her lonely vigils, sewing far toward +midnight in the sleep-enwrapped tavern, that her children might be +clothed, toiling before break of day, the pale candle guiding her hands +to heroic labor that her loved ones might be fed. Much does Oliver owe +her, and much is now repaid, on this last night in Kentucky. He baptized +her; and as she came up out of the water, with his arm so tenderly +passed about her, she looked at him through her wonderful, new-found +happiness. "If all were as easy to obey as baptism," she murmured, "it +would be easy enough!" + +And so,--the boat to Cincinnati where W. T. Moore's father-in-law, he +who is later to become Governor Bishop of Ohio,--entertains the bridal +pair in his home, and other friends assemble for goodbys,--the goodbys +at Macomb, Illinois. And then to New York to set forth for Australia, by +way of England. On board at last--and under a sullen sky they stand on +deck, watching their native land fade--fade--till nothing is to be seen +but a world of angry waves. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AN ENGLISH PRIMROSE. + + +The voyage, begun on a rough sea, was continued over angry waves. For +seven days the ship was beaten by the winds. It was the first time +Oliver and Mattie had been outside of Kentucky. Added to the distress of +seasickness was the thought that, after this passage to England, another +voyage of almost three months awaited them before they could set foot +upon the strange land selected for their missionary labors. No wonder as +the bride was borne farther and farther across the uneasy Atlantic, her +thoughts went constantly back to Kentucky--"That far-off land," she +writes, "my beautiful, sunny Southland." + +Since the wedding-day, there have been a marvelous succession of strange +scenes--the trip to New York, the hurried visits to points of interest +in New York and Brooklyn, the mingling with the rush and roar of +Broadway, and, stranger than all these, this helpless tossing in the +cabin, as the ship throbs and lifts dizzily in air--lifts to sink down +and down, as if never to ride the sea again. + +"That Twenty-Sixth day of March!" she writes in pencil with shaking +hand. "It dawned so bright and beautiful. In its soft morning twilight I +knelt before an altar, and laid thereon not only the heart of a bride, +but all that I had best known in childhood and in girlhood: Home with +all its tender associations, friendship whose face shone as the face of +an angel--the sweet brier that shed its fragrance beneath my window, the +birds that sang for me, the dear old 'big spring' over whose +cooling-ripples I have so often stooped to drink"--she remembers all +these, as the ship bears her farther from that America she may never see +again. + +"Our blessed land of liberty," she says, "proud, beautiful, glorious +America!" Truly, the war is over; and as she steams ever farther away +from America, its states seem to melt magically into one another, and +North and South blend, and become an indissoluble Union. + +One day, less stormy than the rest, the young husband crept from his +berth, hoping to find relief from days of nausea by greeting the keen +wind. He went upon deck, and was presently engaged in conversation with +a stranger. + +He found that his companion was an Englishman who, for some time, had +been in business in Chicago. He was much interested in the young man's +missionary plans; the shrewd merchant read aright the intense zeal which +shone upon the Kentuckian's face, and which trembled in his voice. "I +have a brother living in London," he said; "when you go there, you must +go to his house. I am on my way to visit him now, and I'll meet you +there." + +Oliver Carr had no intention of going to test the hospitality of a +stranger, and, when he gave Mr. Murby his card, he supposed the incident +closed. On the eighth day out the ship touched at Queenstown. Mr. and +Mrs. Carr--we must no longer call them "Oliver" and "Mattie,"--took a +ride on a Jaunting Car--in which one sits sidewise, while one's driver +sparkles with Irish wit. A woman came to sell them fruit, and offered to +toss pennies for the difference between what she wanted and they were +willing to give. It was a jolly crowd that surrounded them, and every +Irishman had a funny tale to tell the travelers. Before the ground +ceased its semblance of rocking to and fro, they were again on board. + +When they landed in Liverpool, everything seemed new and strange. They +"found cabs instead of busses;" but doubtless the difference was most +marked because they found Englishmen instead of Americans. At the hotel +they were visited by G. Y. Tickle and other members of the church, and +in the afternoon they crossed to Berkinhead to visit other Christians. +On April 29th the train pulled out at 9 a. m. for London. Mrs. Carr took +a few notes, as she looked upon Mrs. Browning's world--the world of +"Aurora Leigh." + +"Corn--undulating lands--rural improvements--daisies and primroses. +Hedges--winding roads, and footpaths. Drains in the lowlands. Winding +brooks and brooklets, through daisied meadows. Fir-clad hills." + +Out of this primrose England, the car glides into the smoke and fog of +London. London at last--how far away from the Lancaster and Stanford of +one's girlhood! How far, indeed, even from the dreams of one's girlhood, +this city that rises up, solidly real before the young woman's eyes! It +seems pulsing with the thoughts of those who represent, to her mind, the +highest peaks of literature; Dickens and Thackeray, George Eliot and +Robert Browning, Bulwer Lytton and Macaulay and Carlyle and De +Quincy--all are living; one might meet them any moment on Oxford or +Regent streets, where "I took a promenade," she says; "I find they +surpass Broadway in all but dress." + +At 2:30, they are installed at the hotel; at three, they take luncheon +and at four they have a visitor. It is the brother of the Chicago +merchant. The merchant has written about the missionaries, and asked +that they be looked up--doubtless, suspecting that the overtures must +come from the English side. So this brother has come, a Mr. Murby of +some distinction; for does he not edit the music department of the +_Cornhill Magazine_? + +He insists on the young bridal pair going to his own home; for O. A. +Carr, in honor of the honeymoon, has selected a hotel of much +pretention. "You must go with me," says Mr. Murby. "It is too expensive, +staying at a hotel like this; you shall make your home in my house. My +wife will take no refusal. She will entertain you as well as she can--we +have one baby in the cradle, and another three years old. I've brought +the wagon for the trunks." + +All this from a man and woman one has never seen before, and never heard +of, except from a chance fellow-passenger; a man and a woman who do not +belong to one's church and has never heard of one's friends! But, after +all, is it so strange? If one travels through the world with eyes open +for primroses, and finds them growing along the wayside, why should not +eyes that seek brotherly kindness, find it blooming in many a stranger's +heart? + +Away go the trunks, and the hotel knows our friends no more. Two weeks +are to be spent in England, before sailing for the opposite side of the +globe; and while they are in England, Mrs. Murby leaves the baby in the +cradle, and acts as guide for the Americans. In their hurried visit, +they could have seen little without her. She takes them to ride in the +underground railroad, shows them the wonders of the waxworks, at the +entrance of which stands George Washington with extended hand, and +lingers with them in the British Museum. + +Mrs. Carr's notes of her travels are meager in the extreme; she was too +busy observing and studying, to write about what she saw; but the +necessary enlargement of thought resulting from extended travel was to +take its own part in developing her personality. "Chelsea Hospital for +old soldiers--Buckingham Palace, the Queen's residence--Eaton +Square--National school teachers trained for public schools--Duke of +York's school--Geological exhibit--rock crystal--wood carving--Porcelain +plate, 1585, Francesco de Medici--Venetian wine glass--Danish +drinking-horn--Paul preaching at Athens--Christ changing the water into +wine--Peter and John at the Beautiful Gate--Hogarth's Marriage a la +Mode--Mrs. Siddons as Actress--Rosa Bonheur--Edwin Landseer--Hyde +Park--House where the Duke of Wellington died--Parliament--Retiring +Room--Her Majesty with Mercy and Justice in sculpture--Portrait of Kings +and Queens--House of Lords--Throne--Queen's chair on the right--Prince +of Wales on the left--The Prince Consort--Woolsack, seat for Lord +Chancellor in front of Queen--Table on which are laid all +petitions--books beneath--just behind the table, the bar--gallery for +peeresses, above--Peers' Robing Room--Moses descending from the +Mount--Lobby--Embarking of Pilgrim Fathers--Charles erecting Standard at +Nottingham--Central Hall--Four windows--Lobby--Pictures--Square +Hall--Commons Speaker's Chair--gallery--Each side of entrance, seats for +liberals and tourists--St. Stephen's--Marble walls and floors--On each +side, six stained glass windows, representing scenes in life of +Stephen--On the Thames--Somerset House--Waterloo Bridge." + +Thus we might follow her from spot to spot, as she hastily jots down the +names of pictures, and of the illustrious dead, amidst a catalogue of +wonders seen at the Crystal Palace, the India Museum, the National +Gallery. "St. Paul--Whispering Gallery--Sculptor above--Scenes in the +Life of Paul--Monument of Sir John Howard, Joshua Reynolds--geometrical +stairway--Crypt--Newgate Prison for all offenders within the city's +limits--Christ's Hospital, founded by Edward VI.--Boys' dress in the +costume of that day--Yellow stockings, leather breeches--Former palace +of Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey--Post Office; just across the street, +Returned Letter Office--Clock with two bells, one 'Time,' the other +'Death'--Publishing House belonging to the Religious Tract Society, +built over the place where the martyrs suffered under Bloody Mary--Guild +Hall--for public dinners--Grand dinner given to the Sultan--gold +array--The Lord Mayor conducts trials--His Residence--Monument to +Nelson. + +"May 5th, the Tower--Gateway--Entrance, moats--Bell Tower--Bloody Tower, +porte cullis--White Tower, 15 feet thick--Built, time William the +Conqueror--Norman spear used by him--Dress of 1665--Gun taken by French +at Malta and afterwards recaptured by English--Sir Walter Raleigh +imprisoned 12 years--Lady Jane Grey--Queen Elizabeth on Horseback--Fire, +1841--Indian armor, 1750--Chamber from which Hastings was ordered to +execution--Anne Boleyn's prison in the Tower--Beauchamp Tower." And so +on, and on, from one spot of historic interest to another, the travelers +absorbing all with thirsty minds, the hostess tireless, or at least +uncomplaining--and at night the profound sleep of the sight-seer's utter +exhaustion. + +Mr. and Mrs. Murby took the stranger-guests to their hearts, and treated +them like long-lost friends. The perfume of their gracious hospitality +invested London with a tender aroma for these wanderers, to such a +degree that whenever they afterward thought of England, they thought of +disinterested kindliness. On one of Mrs. Carr's diary-pages, is to be +seen a faint brownish stain, above which is written: "Found by Mrs. +Murby on the streets of London--this primrose." The flower has long +since slipped away and crumbled to dust, since it was placed there in +the spring of 1868; I should like to think that it blooms again on my +page, in honor of that quick and loving eye that discovered the primrose +in the London streets, and the gold in the strangers' hearts. + +[Illustration: Conway Castle, N. Wales] + +[Illustration: Beaumaris Castle, N. Wales] + +On Sunday, they went to hear Spurgeon preach. It was a very ordinary +sermon; his statements had been made thousands of times before, and to +none who listened, were they new. His manner was untheatrical, his flow +of eloquence was not intense. Everything was the essence of simplicity. +He began by holding up a rose. He said that on his way to the +tabernacle, a woman had given it to him. He spoke of his happiness +caused by this simple gift, then of the beauty of flowers, and of +giving; and, as the audience of 3,000 listened, they were melted to +tears. His subject was the Accessibility of Christ. It was the +_tenderness_ in his words and voice that wrought the charm. The singing +was general; it seemed that each of the 3,000 took upon himself the +responsibility of carrying the song through to its conclusion. + +In Birmingham, the Carrs visited David King, editor of the _Harbinger_; +he was the most prominent member of the Christian Church in England, of +his day. It was his custom to question the preachers who passed through +his country, to find out if they were "sound." It was from him that Mr. +Carr discovered the British objection to the American custom of +extending an invitation to the unsaved at the conclusion of the sermon. +It was also Mr. King who went to the office to buy the Carrs their +tickets up to London, fearing they would not get second-class ones. +"Only fools and noblemen ride first-class in this country," was his +dictum; "the second class is just as good and costs half as much." + +The following brief notes show us that Mrs. Carr is in Scotland: +"Holyrood--Rezzio's Slaughter--Residence of bygone monarchs--where Lord +Murray held his Council--Residence of Mary Queen of Scots--where Her +Majesty stops, when in Edinburg--Castle of Craigmillar--where Mary +sometimes held her court--Lochleven Castle." + +She was particularly interested in Wales: "Canarvon Castle, built by +Edward I.--First Prince of Wales born here--April 25, 1284--Chamberlain +Tower, occupied by the Lord Chamberlain--Eagle Tower, so called because +of the Eagle Sculpture on its turret. Prisoner, or Dungeon Tower. It is +supposed this castle was never completed. The banqueting hall, entirely +destroyed--In this castle the present Prince and Princess of Wales were +entertained during their visit to Canarvon, April 24. On this occasion, +Wellington Tower was magnificently decorated. + +"North Wales--across the straight of Angelsey; lodgings here. Ebb and +flow of the tide--Hawthorne--a beautiful lodge, the entrance to a +residence--Suspension bridge over the Menia Strait--Castle--Model +village, Bethesda, near the slate quarries--20 galleries, each 60 feet +high--the deeper the quarry, the better the slate--Tunnel and railways +with round rails and grooved wheels, working with rope--Blasting signal, +first a red flag, then the bugle. Each gallery one mile around the +rail--1,200 feet from lowest gallery to top--300 men employed. Total +wages per month, 1,200 pounds.--Penryln Castle, 16 years building, +completed 30 years ago--Main entrance, heavy iron gate, swinging on +massive pillars of stone, with imposing ivy-clad arch above; winding +roads and bypaths; through rare shrubs and gorgeous flowers of +innumerable species--Main entrance to Castle yard, a massive orchid +gateway--Main entrance to Castle, massive cross-barred iron doors in +base of tower--Four towers with the ivy, beautiful emblem of trust, +clinging to them all--Interior; entrance hall, billiard room, +innumerable lobbies with rare ceilings, main stairway, bedrooms with +antique furniture, drawing-room, dining and breakfast rooms, library, +chapel for family worship, minor stairways, etc.--Family of 10 children, +two married and now in London--will return here in July. Culinary +apartments; cook's sitting-room, where he writes the bill of fare." + +All these sights, crowded as they are into a few days, delay the +departure for Australia; moreover, the travelers have decided to take a +sailship. They have sufficient knowledge of the deathly throb of the +steamer, the quiver that sends unutterable faintness and nausea to those +susceptible to seasickness. The sailship, they are told, skims the waves +like a bird--one hardly knows he is afloat, or knowing, feels himself +lightly carried through the air. + +Mrs. Murby finds her new acquaintances have not left, and writes to Mrs. +Carr at Liverpool, on May 15th, "I was very much pleased to receive your +letter yesterday; I had supposed you would be far away from Old England +by this time. I just wish you had stayed with us longer! There are lots +of places besides the British Museum, I could have taken you to see. You +say you are to leave on Saturday, the 19th, but the 19th is Tuesday, so +we can hear from each other if we cannot meet. If I can find that church +in Camden Town, for your sakes I will visit it. The few days we spent +together will always be remembered by us with pleasure. I sincerely +trust we may all be spared to meet again; you may rest assured of a +hearty welcome. In the meantime we can correspond with each other. I +went to sit for my portrait yesterday; it will be ready for me +to-morrow, and I will send it to you before you leave Liverpool." + +So writes the editor's wife--she who finds primroses in the streets of +London; and her letter comes as a last voice of love to one about to +embark upon a sea-voyage of more than a hundred days. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE LONG VOYAGE. + + +The long voyage was made on the Oriental, Captain Myles. Mrs. Carr was +the only lady who had taken first-class passage. There was a rich young +man on board, who had been put under the care of a Scot of mature years; +the young man was peculiarly susceptible to the temptation of strong +drink, but the Captain reassured his sisters with the declaration that +there would be no drinking aboard his vessel! The young man wished to +visit Australia, one of the few countries he had never seen, and Duncan, +the Scot, had undertaken his charge that he, too, might have the treat +of foreign travel. + +England had not faded from sight before the corks were flying. + +Mrs. Carr found herself associated with a class of men who were far from +corresponding to the degree of their tickets. She felt the need of +woman's society, since her husband was the only man present who +possessed that refinement and moral instinct which had been the breath +of her life. She was unable to hide her disapproval of the drunken +orgies which the officers of the crew shared, and it was particularly +distressing to her to witness the deliberate ensnarement of the rich +young man, the evident scheme to make him drink that he might be fleeced +at the card-game. + +She and her husband put their sentiments into words of remonstrance, +which resulted in the Captain's making slighting remarks, as they sat at +table. He took a spiteful pleasure in boasting in their presence that he +wouldn't employ a "teetotaler on his ship." + +The first Sunday out Mr. Carr was asked to conduct the religious +services. He read the First Psalm and made remarks relative to the godly +and ungodly. Captain Myles was enraged. "I supposed we would have the +Church of England Service," he said at the conclusion; "we will have it +after this; I will read it, myself." And so he did, when he was not too +drunk; in that case, he had the ship's physician read it. + +Mrs. Carr sought relief in the association of the other women on board, +but this was peremptorily stopped. "If she wants to keep company with +second-class people," said the Captain with a sneer, "let her buy a +second-class ticket." + +The ship had not been many days from the British Isles before the crew +was almost completely demoralized. Drinking, gaming, coarse songs marked +the hours of the night. The sailors were at the mercy of the winds. The +vessel drifted over to the coast of Africa. It was becalmed two weeks +under the intolerable heat of the sun's vertical rays, while not a +breath of air came to relieve the hot glare of the Equator. + +One day the Captain exclaimed with the air of one who has made a +terrible decision, "If we don't get wind to-morrow, I will jump +overboard!" The morrow came, and there was no wind. Of course the threat +of the Captain resulted in nothing more dangerous than a cooling bath in +the peaceful waters, but the effect of his words, and of his sudden leap +from the deck, were hard upon sensitive nerves. + +Mrs. Carr being denied the companionship of women, found what relief +from the monotony she might, in writing letters, and especially in +writing in her commonplace-book many quotations from the poets. She +beguiled the time, also, in composing poetry which deals rather with +themes of home, than with those of distant scenes. The ship was wafted +toward South Africa, but it did not weigh anchor. "The only view we had +of South Africa consisted of some monkeys in the trees." When the Cape +Verde Islands were sighted, Captain Myles was anxious to exhibit his +skill by passing within a stone's throw of one on either side. Mrs. +Carr, rejoicing at the sight of something more human and picturesque +than monkeys in trees, took extensive notes: + +"June 18. The Captain caught a large dolphin--change of color in dying. +Breakfasted on flying fish. + +"June 19. Sighted Antonio and St. Vincent islands--passing between them. +Cape de Verde Islands, possessions of Portugese. Antonio with its +innumerable rocky points, some losing themselves far above the clouds. +The white haze peeping behind, lights up the acute angles of the +points--the heights are dark, frowning and barren, with white bowlders +at the feet. The gray terraces in the distance look like leaping waters, +rushing onward to the ocean, to kiss the breakers. The shores are dotted +with little villages whose houses are small and white, with red tiled +roofs. Around these villages are spreading greens along the shore, and +extending up the heights that, through the glass, are seemingly +inaccessible. Yet these heights are laid out, far up, with hedges into +green fields and waving orchards. The shore is indented with innumerable +little bays, and the magnificent ravines to which they point, fill the +soul with awe. + +"St. Vincent is inhabited by the Portugese, yet there is not a spring, +or well of fresh water, or a blade of grass in the whole island. There +are the signs, far up the island, of the washing of the waves. What a +glorious sight they would present in a storm! Here and there, far up the +heights are solitary rocks and vast strata left bare by the washing of +rains and waves, and blackened by the elements. Signals are hoisted +opposite Porte Grande in order that the Oriental may be reported in +Liverpool in 12 days. Two sailing ships are in the harbor. The Oriental +passed between St. Vincent and Shell Island." + +One day the discovery was made that there was a stowaway on board; it +was a young man with a crippled arm, who had slipped into a hiding-place +as the Oriental lay at the Liverpool dock. Captain Myles was all the +more furious because he found himself helpless to rid himself of the +unfortunate youth. He compelled the stowaway to do the meanest labor, +and the hardest his crippled state would allow. When the sailors +encountered him, they greeted him with oaths, if they greeted him at +all. He was set to scour the decks, and it was a task that had no +ending. + +The Oriental drifted at last into the arms of the Trade Winds which sent +it whirling around the Cape of Good Hope. A furious storm came on. The +sea was lashed into mountain-peaks and was hurled in rushing torrents +over the decks. Those sailors who were obliged to remain above, walked +waist-deep in water. The man at the wheel was tied to his post--the +Captain was up all night; but not, now, at cards and drink. The rumor +spread among the passengers that the crew expressed their doubts of +weathering the gale. The rumor was founded upon truth; the outcome was +extremely doubtful. There was the usual scene preceding a probable +capsizing; curses and prayers, the sudden scream of agonized fear, or of +desperate appeal. "But we committed ourselves to the care of the +All-wise and Almighty, and went to sleep." + +Morning came to show under its dim light a battered ship, doors broken +open, cabins inundated from the seas that had poured down the hatchways, +and spars swept away. But suddenly the ocean grew calm, the wind became +fair, and the vessel headed straight for Australia. + +They were at table when the cry arose above, "Man overboard!" Captain +Myers started up with an oath and went growling and storming to see into +the matter. It was the stowaway, who had been cast dizzily from the +life-boat he was trying to paint by a sudden lurch of the vessel. The +Captain himself threw him a life-preserver and shouted, "Stop for him, he's +too crippled to swim to it. Ship about! Man the life-boat!" In that boat +brave sailors went down out of sight in the angry sea, then like a bird +sat on the crest. Our ship "across sea" rolled fearfully and the Captain +commanded the passengers to leave the deck. The sailors in the boat +returned, but the poor crippled boy could not be found. And so the fair +wind bore them on their way and the youth who had come from the unknown +into our story, dropped back again into the unknown. Was there any one +to care?[7] + +One hundred and four days on the deep, during which period, land had +been sighted only three times. Mrs. Carr continued to remember, and to +write poetry. We find this, "Written on board the Oriental, South +Atlantic, August, 1868: + + Homeland, dearest, gentle homeland, + Dearest now art thou to me-- + Dearest, for between us stretches, + Dark and grim, the cruel sea. + + I have left thee, home and homeland, + I have bade thy joys adieu + But, my heart, my heart is with thee, + For I know thy heart is true. + + Now I know how great thy soul is, + Know its depths, so deep, so mild. + Dear and tender home and homeland, + Pray, pray for your wandering child. + + So I smile--the Father's calling + To a land beyond the sea, + To the weary heavy-laden, + Who are groaning to be free. + + Yield I? Yes, I once was weary, + Heavy-hearted and oppressed; + Yield because Christ died to save me, + Yield because he gave me rest. + + With such glorious love to lead me + Can my heart its thrilling tell? + Home and homeland, I have left you; + Dear and tender, fare you well!" + +Thus after her varied experiences, we find the young bride's poetic +fancy slipping past the grandeur of the ocean life, its terrible storm +and its terrible calm; she remembers not now the beautiful castle with +its orchid gate, nor thinks of the family of ten who are to return to +their peasantry in the stately rural life of Old England; nor of the +wonders of the British Isles; it is Kentucky that claims her deepest +love and sincerest tribute--And if her ears ring to the melody of "Old +Kentucky Home," a voice seems to speak, breaking its way through the +music with--"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every +creature." + +At last, the Oriental casts anchor in Hobson's Bay. The voyage is ended, +the experiences in a foreign land are to begin. The Carrs are urged by +many of the second-class passengers to report the conduct of Captain +Myles, but they let his insolence to them pass with the passing of +unfavorable winds that have so long delayed the ship. At this entrance +into a new life, they are saddened to discover that the Captain has +persuaded the rich young man to go back with him--to refuse even to +land. He has not yet been completely stripped at the gambling table, and +he is so valuable and tractable a victim, that all arts are employed to +feed his vanity and alienate him from his guardian. It is a fearful +disappointment to the sturdy Scot, Duncan, to be deprived of his travels +in Australia, but he will not leave his weak-minded charge; so he turns +his back on the land to see which, he has endured contumely and abuse, +and sails away to do all he can to save his ward from the Captain's +rapacity--thus furnishing the Carrs with an example of fidelity to his +promise made to the sisters of the unfortunate man, which they treasure +in their hearts. + +A hundred members of the church have come from Melbourne to Hobson's +Bay, to welcome the missionaries. Among them, the happiest is Oliver's +fellow-student at Harrodsburg, G. L. Surber. + +"For many months we have been waiting to hear if some sacrificing ones +would leave the United States for this country--" as he and Gore had +left, a few years before. "Then at last," he writes, "we were rejoiced +to hear that Brother O. A. Carr and wife had left Liverpool for +Melbourne. Our anxiety was to see them in health. For a fortnight we +read the daily papers eagerly, hoping to hear from them. At last our +suspense was relieved by a telegram--the Oriental had entered the Head, +which constitutes the entrance to the port of Melbourne, about 45 miles +from the city. When I heard the news, I felt as I never felt before. +Now, I thought, my long loneliness is to end, and the cause of Christ +can be more fully met! I could not help weeping, but it was the weeping +of a rejoicing soul. My brethren in America do not appreciate their +blessings. What wonder that I, cast, as it were, upon a distant island, +almost alone, should rejoice at the coming of a co-laborer!" + +He continues: "After receiving the telegram, September 2nd, a number of +brethren with myself went to the port, and took a skiff and went out to +meet them. After rowing about till nearly sunset, we learned that the +Oriental wouldn't cast anchor till the next day. So early the next +morning we again made our way to the landing; by this time the brethren +had begun to gather from all parts of the city and suburbs. At eight +o'clock that spring morning, we went aboard--" It must be borne in mind +that the Australian spring begins in September. + +"Brother Carr didn't know I was there until I laid my hand upon his +shoulder, and spoke to him. Picture that meeting, if you can! Here in +this foreign land I grasped the hand of the dear companion of my +school-days! What thrilling joy! Sister Carr was soon rejoicing with us. +Blessed be our Heavenly Father, for bringing them safely across the +seas! + +"After a few moments their luggage was in our boat and we were rowing to +the pier where we found a throng of brothers and sisters waving +handkerchiefs, and praising God for his goodness. With what rejoicing +the Christians grasped the hands of the missionaries, as they stepped on +shore! There was no time for introductions, none waited for that; but +such a shaking of hands, and welcoming of Brother and Sister Carr, was +enough to move the angels to rejoice. In a few minutes they had taken +the train for the city; then in a cab I took them to my residence, where +they are now resting from their hardships, soothed by the climate, and +delighting, after months upon the deep, in the bloom of peach and plum, +and the blossoming of our spring gardens." + +Thus G. L. Surber writes home that Benj. Franklin of the Christian +Church may publish the letter; thus he writes, until he corrects and +polishes up the sentences, changing his "We made our way to the landing" +to--"we turned our faces," etc. and scratching out "waving +handkerchiefs" for something about "open hearts." But we make nothing of +his careful remoulding of ideas, nor give a snap for his "open heart." +The handkerchiefs shall wave in this history--let them stream to the +breeze, each a white fluttering banner of peace and love, raised above +the heads of this vanguard of Christian soldiers, this beautiful spring +morning of September 3rd, 1868. + + +[7] Just then, it seemed that every one on the ship "cared": That +drunken, card-playing priest proposed to say "mass for the poor boy's +soul"; but Captain Myles said: "None of your foolishness here". I could +not escape the thought that he would have "read mass", if it had been in +the Prayer-book, whether foolishness or not; for the ship's Captain is +ordained to read the church service, or to appoint some one to read it. +That desire to do something, springing from a feeling of helplessness +and grief seems natural to mortals and cries out most pitilessly when +faith is absent. I doubt not it was as sincere as any prayer ever +uttered when Luther wanted to "say mass for the soul" of his mother. I +had seen the poor boy cuffed about deck, driven to his hard task, beaten +with a broom, and had remonstrated in vain. Between the priest with his +rollicking ditties, gambling and drunkenness and the boy there was a +great gulf fixed on that ship. "No association with second-class +passengers" was the edict; and was not the priest first-class? and the +boy, what was he? He had hidden himself among the boxes in the ship's +hold at Liverpool to be taken any where, perhaps, out of the world, and +so it was. That boy, that scene, what led to it and what followed, Mrs. +Carr never forgot--"A neglected one, a prodigal, it may have been, but +still a human; he needed something other than sacerdotal robes to show +him that you are the servants of the Most High." Yes, she "cared" and so +do I, even to this day. O. A. C. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +LIFE IN MELBOURNE. + + +The Carrs were formally welcomed to Melbourne, the evening of the day on +which they landed, by a church tea meeting. We shall speak of it in +detail, that a general notion may be gleaned of this popular Australian +church social. + +"Tea on the Tables at Half-past Six," is the way the invitation-cards +read. We assemble in the basement. There are four tables, running the +entire length of the Chapel (we are not to say "church" when speaking of +a house.) Not alone is tea "on the tables." Here we find a bountiful +repast, garnished forth with beautiful flowers fresh from our gardens. + +After tea, we present the flowers to our guests of honor. By eight +o'clock we have eaten, shaken hands, talked informally with every one, +and are ready to adjourn to the auditorium. Here we listen to the +Chairman's address, and the addresses of five others, including O. A. +Carr and G. L. Surber. The congregation sings three hymns, the Singing +Class renders another; we have, also, two anthems, and, after the +benediction, feel that we have been to a Tea Meeting, indeed. + +A few years ago, the Cause in Australia was very weak. Now the pressing +need is laborers. The Melbourne Church is strong enough to divide; +Surber will preach at the Chapel; a hall will be rented for $400 in +gold, in which O. A. Carr will preach; thus forming a nucleus in two +remote points in the great city. The speakers at the tea meeting are +strong in their faith, and with good reason. Last year the church gave +for home and foreign missions, and local expenses, $4000 in gold. + +We have never had any trouble with expenses, because each of us does +something--each one! that is our secret of success. Far away in +Adelaide, Gore and Earl are laboring; here in Melbourne, Carr and +Surber--four evangelists for Australia. But, as we shall see, all the +preaching is not done by the evangelists. And what of Mrs. Carr? At this +very first tea meeting we speak of a school for Sister Carr. "We expect +in a few months to see her devoting all her time to the high calling of +teaching." + +Thus the new work is inaugurated. Not for the writer is the labor of +seeking lodgings, or a house which will serve also as a school; not for +the reader the weary days of forming an establishment, of settling down +to the necessary routine of daily living, of forming grooves in which +one may run automatically, the better to give the mind to higher things +than food and a roof. + +We are in a land where all is strange and new; but when we leave it, all +shall have become familiar, and much of it dear. The reader need but +glance along the peaks that rise out of the level plain of daily +experiences--one tea meeting for him, to fifty for the Carrs; a few +characters to be learned from among the thousands who cross the paths of +the young missionaries. + +One might crowd a large book with the people who come and go, never to +return, people important in their own orbits, no doubt, but quite futile +to ours. Happy would it be for us and ours, if all the time we scatter +among the moving multitudes of life, we might concentrate upon the few +who are to abide in our hearts and memory. But that is not to be while +life is life; however, it may be reasonably accomplished in book-land. + +So, of these hundreds and hundreds of letters before me, whose +signatures are but the labels of so many shadows--impersonal spirits who +did nothing but write and vanish--we can select only those of a few men +who seem to breathe the same air that envelops our principal characters. + +Such a breathing reality appears in John Augustus Williams, so real in +his profound faith in the dignity of teaching, that the chalk-dust seems +to swing above his head as a sort of material halo. + +To him we find Mrs. Carr writing: "We reached Melbourne in early +September, after a long voyage of 104 days! Contrary winds kept us in +the Irish Channel a fortnight; but we kept our spirits up, resolved to +be content-subjects of the winds. We drifted within sight of the South +American shores. We sailed many miles along the mango and palm-wreathed +coast of Brazil. We are well and ready for work. Brother Surber was very +happy to see us, and the church gave us a most cordial greeting. I will +write brother Joe a description of the voyage; you can exchange letters +with him. I enclose a little flower and leaf of woodruff. I plucked it +at the foot of the south tower of the royal entrance to Canarvon +Castle, on Menia Straits, opposite Anglesey. In that castle, the first +prince of Wales was born, April 25, 1284." + +T. J. Gore writes to the newcomers from Adelaide, South Australia: "I am +aware of your arrival in Melbourne. You do not know how I long to see +you both--you come from old Kentucky--may Heaven's richest blessings +rest upon that dear state! It is hard to realize that here so near, are +two live Kentuckians from my far-away home. You will find conditions and +customs very different here from America; but it is the Lord's harvest; +moreover, Melbourne contains a great many Americans; here in Adelaide, +my eyes are hardly ever blessed by the sight of one, but I console +myself with the thought that though I am far from my native land I am +still in the Kingdom of the Lord. No doubt you and Surber are now +talking over days of long ago, at Kentucky University. + +"Brother Carr! how I should love to fold you to my heart! Tell Sister +Carr she need not fear the hot winds; they are quite harmless. Brother +Earl preaches to big audiences Sunday evening at White's Assembly room; +he has not found a church yet. Tell Sister Carr she deserves great +credit for leaving her home, and coming so far, all for the sake of His +Word. My thoughts go to Keith in Louisville, and Albert Myles in +Cincinnati. I wish we had an evangelist in New Zealand. Write me +something for the _Pioneer_" (which he is editing). "Brother Santo +wishes you both much happiness and great success." (Gore has found a +sweetheart,--"Brother Santo's" daughter; which gives him a firmer +position from which to protest against homesickness.) + +At the conclusion of the first sermon preached by O. A. Carr in +Australia, two made the good confession. During his ministry in the +colonies, he found conversions the rule, while the exception became +rarer and rarer, of preaching without visible results. He had not found +a house to rent when a letter was received from one who was to take an +interesting part in his life--Thomas Magarey, an Englishman, who had +settled in Southern Australia: + +"Now that you are enjoying a little relaxation from the call of visitors +upon your arrival, I may venture an epistle of congratulation upon your +safe arrival. May you and Sister Carr be spared to present the old and +glorious Gospel. I read your article in the _Review_, and laughed at the +alarm of the church at Birmingham, lest any one should 'drop a penny +in their collection.' We have very little cause for alarm upon that +score, here in South Australia. I have heard that you both are suffering +from homesickness. I had that complaint for about twenty years. + +"Unfortunately, every one in Australia has suffered from it more or less +and, like seasickness, it meets with no sympathy. I never could +understand why the most disheartening of complaints should receive no +commiseration, but so it is. I cannot think your disease very violent, +for the best authorities say, those love home best who have least reason +to do so. Thus the Irishman suffers more from leaving his land of +potatoes than the Englishman his beef and plum pudding. I need not tell +you that the best remedy is constant employment. This is not our +home--we are all pilgrims and strangers. My son, just now, was +instructing his little brothers and sisters upon Astronomy. I heard him +say that from Jupiter, this earth of ours could not be seen. Humiliating +thought!" + +[Illustration: Fern Brake, Near Melbourne] + +[Illustration: Fern Tree Gully] + +[Illustration: Australian Home--Martin Zelius] + +[Illustration: Prince's Bridge, Melbourne] + +The man who writes thus abruptly, treading upon the tender +susceptibilities of Kentucky pilgrims, calls for more than passing +mention. When hundreds flocked to the Australian gold fields, Thomas +Magarey established a mill, and sold flour to the prospectors. Gold was +found in abundance, and easily parted with; but while others dug it from +the earth, Magarey ground his meal and watched the yellow tide as it +came his way. "Twenty years of homesickness," on his part, was well +rewarded. He owned a palatial home in South Australia, was immensely +wealthy, and was a Member of Parliament. + +His religious life was diverted into its present channel by reading +articles by Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott in the _Christian +Baptist_. His brother, some time before the coming of the Carrs to +Australia, perished in a fire at sea. Thomas took his brother's family +into his own home, where all live as one. His sheep ranch, his cattle, +his horses, his milling business, his civic affairs, occupied the +greater part of the day, but his evenings were spent with his wife and +children. + +On Sundays two carriages took them to church in the morning, to +Sunday-school in the afternoon, to preaching at night. At the Governor's +receptions, the jewels of the Magareys flashed with the costliest; at +church, their garments were as simple as the simplest. And if there was +no preacher, as indeed was usually the case in this land where +preachers were so scarce, Thomas Magarey addressed the congregation, +after the Australian manner. + +The better to understand this manner, let us return to the Carrs, and +take a brief view of their religious life. As we have seen, the preacher +delivered a sermon only on Sunday nights. The primary object of the +Sunday morning service was the observance of the Lord's Supper. For the +Church of Christ, in its desire to do just as the Christians did in +Apostolic times, met on the first day of the week to break bread, not +"to keep the Sabbath day holy", which they said had been done away, with +the old dispensation, but to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. + +Besides the communion service on Sunday morning, there would be +exhortations to religious life by laymen, who had been appointed a month +in advance. These men took pride in preparing brief addresses which they +hoped might prove edifying; and so general was the custom, that if the +minister failed to be present, his absence was unfelt. Such a custom +tended to build up a permanent and fervid religious sentiment in the +very heart of the congregation--a speaking Christianity which business +men carried during the week into their shops and offices. + +The congregation would assemble promptly in the morning, and, a minute +or two before eleven o'clock, would sit with bowed heads. Exactly at +eleven, all would rise to their feet, and lift up some familiar hymn +such as "Safely through another week, God has brought us on our way." +Among the five hundred there were not a dozen silent mouths. Following +the hymn, a chapter would be read from the Old Testament, another from +the New. A third layman would announce a hymn, usually reading it; a +fourth would lead in prayer. Still another would preside at the table, +to be followed by those appointed for short addresses. + +The congregation preferred to take business affairs from their own +number, rather than from the minister. As an example--One morning a man +rose and said: "Since I have been hearing Brother Carr preach, my Bible +has become a new Bible. I never understood it till now. But there is one +subject Brother Carr has omitted--the duty and privilege of financially +supporting the preacher." Having delivered himself upon this neglected +theme, the man concluded: "You know me and my circumstances. I am a +shipwright. I will give half a crown a week. My wife will do the same. +There are many present who can do as well. Now, will you do it?" And the +audience rose and said, "We will do it!" + +Before a house had been selected for the missionaries, Mrs. Carr went on +a visit to some new-found friends; as a result we have a series of +letters between her and Mr. Carr; we trust our extracts from them will +be both judicious and interesting. + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr: "If my writing proves obscure, remember I'm an +obscure person in this country. Brother Magarey left for Ballarat. We +all went with him to the depot. Alex. and Vaney" (Magarey's sons) "could +hardly keep from crying when they saw their father leave." (Alex. and +Vaney are to board with the Carrs in order to finish the course at the +University of Melbourne.) "I went to look at that house in Clarendon +Terrace, but behold, it was let when I got there! However, the owner +said he wouldn't have been willing to have you teach a school in it; and +besides, it would have been too far out for the boys (Alex. and Vaney) +to walk. There will be plenty of houses to rent when the people go to +the seaside for the summer." (By which we mean December). + +"We must wait a little longer and be satisfied. I trust in God. We are +to do a great work here, if we will be humble and abide the Lord's will. +One confession at chapel, today, five at the hall. There are very large +audiences. Your class did well. They seemed much disappointed in not +seeing you, but they didn't come right out and say they preferred you as +their teacher--mighty smart girls! Brother Zelius says I must remember +him to you." ("Brother Zelius'" was the first house the Carrs entered on +landing at Melbourne; it was he who had sent O. A. Carr the money to +come from America. Years before, Zelius had stood penniless, save for +one shilling, and entirely unknown, in the streets of Melbourne; but he +had done well since he heard and accepted the doctrine as presented by +the Christians, and it was natural that he should have a proprietary +interest in his missionaries.)[8] + +Mrs. Carr to Mr. Carr: "We reached Nutcundria last evening in safety. The +day is intensely hot" (November 29). "I do not believe I could ever love +the Australian climate. Give me the sunny and starlit skies, the balmy +breezes, the snows and winter winds of old Kentucky! There is abundance +of ripe fruit here. Couldn't you come for me next week? The trip can be +made in a day. I shall never regret placing my heart in your keeping; +for every day, I see a new light shining in your character." + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr: "Joy came this morning in the shape of a letter +apiece; yours from brother Joe, which, I see, came by way of Panama. +Mine is from sister Minnie--her news has touched and thrilled my inmost +soul: Jimmie has obeyed the Gospel; and dear old father, working hard +all day, and going to prayer-meeting at night! Poor mother! I wish it +were so that she could attend oftener. Vaney, Alex. and I were at the +hall last night. Alex. announced the hymns for me. Vaney says they would +take me for a Catholic priest if it were not for my whiskers. Vaney is +always cutting at me--we have a good deal of fun as we go along. Say! I +would like to see you monstrous well! If you stay up there much longer +please send me a lock of your hair! I have a house in view--3 stories, 8 +good rooms, just behind Fitzroy Garden, near corner of Clarendon and +George streets, price 130 pounds. All rates paid. This house is +beautifully situated; from it you can view the Botanical Garden, the +Bay, Emerald Hill, etc., but it is a long walk from chapel. I have spent +about 3 hours in preparing a lecture for the class, tonight" (we will +hear more about that class a little later.) + +Mr. Carr again: "Two confessions at chapel, 3 at the hall. The work is +going gloriously on. I baptized 10 Friday night. I am very busy. There +is great excitement. The Rev. Mr. Ballantyne has issued a tract on +baptism. The brethren want me to reply as soon as possible, (presenting +arguments for immersion). I ought to get out the tract in 10 days, so I +cannot come up for you. If Miss McIntyre will come down in coach with +you, I will take pleasure in helping her on the way to heaven; but I +cannot come next week. We have no house yet. Brother and Sister Zelius +send love." + +Mrs. Carr, to Mr. Carr: "I walked out this evening to meet you, and was +disappointed. Soon after, I received your letter; of course I approve +your conscientious course of conduct. I do not ask your _best_ love, +Ollie, that belongs to God; I ask only its reflex. Your fealty to our +Savior is the foundation-stone upon which my affection is built, sure +and firm. How strong is my faith that that foundation-stone will ever +stand! Next to my faith in Jesus, it brings me the sweetest consolation. +I loved you better than my brother, for I left him to follow you; but I +am learning more and more each day, how much better. God knows how my +heart yearns toward my dear brothers and sisters; but you are dearer to +me, Ollie, than all the world beside. In reply to Mr. Ballantyne, +studiously avoid all offense; that which offends will never convince. +May God bless your efforts for the promulgation of the Truth."[9] + +[Illustration: Government Building, Melbourne] + +[Illustration: "Take a Look at Diana and the Stag"] + +[Illustration: Favorite Walk Toward Barclay Terrace] + +"Last Friday morning we started to the Spur, an offshoot of the +Dandenon. The scenery along its sides and summit, is the most beautiful +in Victoria. The gorges filled with enormous pines, stately grottos, and +gums, and peppermints, are a rich feast to the aesthetic nature--but I +saw nothing that so stirred the depths of my soul, as the dreamy hills +in autumn along the magnificent Ohio. About 40 miles below the Spur we +found good accommodations at Heyfield, which we enjoyed after the long +jolting ride. + +"We rose at five the next morning to visit the Falls on the Thompson. +Their beauty fully paid us for our mile's walk--it seemed three to me. +The Falls are magnificent, the lower plunging from 50 to 100 feet, the +highest from 200 feet. We made our way with considerable difficulty +along the whole face of the Falls. We had to cling to the saplings to +keep from rolling headlong into the river. I had a severe headache that +morning, and kept my hair hanging, and the bush was so very thick, I +wonder I did not share the fate of Absalom. I hope you will get us a +house as soon as possible; I am anxious to have a home of our own--if +that is possible in a foreign land. I hear that Mr. Surber is going to +New Zealand. May God bless you, my dear husband, that you may bring many +into the Kingdom." + +Shortly after Mrs. Carr's return to her husband, they received another +letter from their fellow-countryman, T. J. Gore, who is still afraid +they may succumb to homesickness. The manner in which he argues against +such a feeling, is very philosophical: "Our home beyond the bright blue +sea is lovely; there a father and mother are longing to lay their arms +about our necks and say, 'Welcome home!' What a happy meeting that would +be!--but not to be compared to the welcome into everlasting arms. +Brother Carr, we are going home--we have already embarked--we _are_ on +the ship, the good old ship, and swiftly we are speeding over the waves +of life. We have met a few storms, but the Captain said, 'Peace be +still.' The barometer has been low, but He said, 'There's no danger in +this ark of safety!' God only lent us our little homes among the hills +of Kentucky; it is true they are dear to us; but in a few years He will +lend them to others of whom we know nothing." + +A sentence farther on explains, perhaps, how the writer can be so calmly +philosophical: "You have, of course, heard that I am married. Mrs. Gore +begs to be remembered to you; we cannot be as strangers: You and Sister +Carr must come over (to Adelaide) to see us soon." + +Letters from home may have accented the stress of home-longing, but +others came that gave heart for the long separation, such as the +following from Mrs. Drusie Ellis of Ghent, Ky.; "Last night, I heard of +your safe arrival in Australia. I loaned the paper containing your +letters to a friend. She brought it back with the remark that she could +scarcely keep from tears while reading it,--and, as I told Doctor, +'_Scarcely_ keep from crying, indeed!'--when I could not even _mention_ +the subject in a steady voice! The thought of your wife so nobly giving +up home and country for the great work touches my heart deeply. I read +of her welcome with streaming tears, and determined to write this word +of Christian sympathy, hoping to add one little thrill of joy to hearts +so truly consecrated." + +Mr. and Mrs. Carr decided to rent the house already mentioned, in +Barclay Terrace. It commanded an extensive view of Fitzroy Gardens, +through which they walked every day. The way into the heart of the city +led among its statues and greeneries. One might sink down to rest on the +benches beside the fountains, or loiter on the rustic bridges,--only, +alas! there was little time for loitering!--inhale the fragrance of the +perennial flowers, and take a look at Diana and the Stag before setting +forth for Chapel. From the bandstand ascended, "God save the Queen," to +the Southern Cross. Who shall say what element of charm did not steal +unconsciously from such beautiful surroundings into the hearts of the +missionaries? + +We have said there was little time for loitering; the reader shall be +the judge. Two nights in the week were devoted to the prayer meetings of +the two churches; one night was devoted to those who came to Barclay +Terrace to inquire after the truth, or to learn Christian duty; a fourth +night every week was the lecture-night at the Collinwood Church--the +Church established by Mr. Carr; on Friday night there was a short sermon +and then the baptizing of those who had already inquired after the truth +and made the good confession, and who had been instructed as to the +purpose of baptism, and what would be expected of the subject as to +attendance at church, contributing, and the governing of one's +household. + +As the weeks passed by, the history of the Friday nights presented the +appearance of continuous "protracted meeting." Rarely, if ever, did a +week pass without the application and acceptance of from one to twenty +members. Nor did those who joined the one body, the church, enter upon +the crest of an excitement-wave, or with a superficial notion of what it +meant to be a Christian. The following note will show that converts were +not to be obtained with undue haste: + +"The following was passed at the Business Meeting of 23rd March, 1869: +'That this Meeting considers it inexpedient for our Evangelists to +invite public confessions, seeing they regard it desirable to have +conversation before baptism.'" + + "CHURCH SECRETARY." + +Besides the work already indicated, there was an "Improvement Class" +each week, composed of young members of the church, who read essays, and +made short talks, to be criticised by the minister. From this class were +selected those who addressed the congregation on Sunday morning. These +young men were closely bound by affection to their leader, Mr. Carr. +There was something perennially young in his own bosom, that responded +to their youth. + +His health was delicate, as it had been in Lexington, and the +never-relaxing labors of every night in the week, might have made +another prematurely old and solemn. But his boarders, Alex. and Vaney +Magarey, could have told of many a time when he slipped to the attic +with them for a hasty game of marbles. Such innocent, though clandestine +sport, heartened him up, no doubt, to deal the more telling blows +against ecclesiastical foes. Who in reading his trenchant arguments on +the subject of Baptism, would have suspected that at that very moment +the marbles might be clinking in his pocket![10] + +No wonder the young men felt his spirit akin to their own! After +prayer-meeting they would walk with him "part of the way,--" which +usually extended quite across the fifty acres of Fitzroy Gardens, and up +to his very door. And as they walked they talked, talked with all the +earnestness of youth, when youth is in earnest. + +[Illustration: Waiting in Melbourne, alone Will go to Hobart] + +One night when the conversation had become unusually absorbing they +stopped and, looking up, found they had halted before the Model School +Building,--which corresponds to an American college. The subject of +acquiring an education had often engaged them before, but now ideas came +to a focus. + +"I have a calf, and some carpenter's tools," said one young man, +addressing Mr. Carr earnestly; "I will sell them, and buy clothes and +books if you will teach me." + +Without hesitation the minister cried, "Come on." + +"May we come too?" chorused the others. + +"Yes!" Little did they realize how much that consent meant; how much of +energy, of which there was no surplus; how much of nerve-drain and +anxious thought. A number of young men decided to come to Barclay +Terrace every day. They came and Mr. Carr gave them the same course he +had taken at Kentucky University. This was, indeed, paying back to the +world with interest, the good that the world had bestowed! When Eneas +Myall carried to Carr's tavern the money that started Oliver Carr on his +road to the University, little did he dream of the beneficent influences +he was setting in motion on the other side of the globe! It is so with +every good deed. One never sows a word of love beneath the northern +skies, but he may find it blooming some day, beneath the Southern Cross. + +Mr. Carr's boys had studied some--not much--at the public school. They +knew something of English grammar; he did not teach it to them; he +taught Greek grammar, and it is needless to say that they became good +grammarians. They read the New Testament in Greek. They were taught +rhetoric and logic from Mr. Carr's notes, taken at the University. Among +the class was that T. H. Rix, who is today a successful evangelist. +Another--he who sold his calf and tools to buy books,--stands today as +the best educated man in the Church of Christ, in Australia, next to T. +J. Gore. He is G. B. Moysey. Who will say he would better have kept his +calf? + +Thus we find O. A. Carr becomes a schoolteacher, though his purposes +were all set otherwise. It seemed forced upon him by his consciousness +of the good he might do. We are to find the same thing occurring again +and again in his life. Duty seemed ever calling him to the desk when his +own heart yearned for the pulpit. As yet he was able--both to preach +and teach with all his might. Unfortunately that might was not based +upon physical resources. + +On the other hand, Mrs. Carr must always teach, wherever she was, +because teaching was a part of her being. She had opened a class for +young ladies in her home. Her accommodations compelled her to limit the +number of pupils to about twenty; but, on account of this limitation, +she was enabled to select those girls who were most refined, and who +promised the best spiritual reward for her labors. This was her second +school; and while it was by no means so pretentious as her college at +Lancaster, the results were doubtless more far-reaching. + +Her system of education,--indeed, her conception of education--differed +materially from that found in Melbourne. If her method seemed radical to +the most conservative, it filled with delight those open to impressions +of new truth. Mrs. Carr's scheme to educate a girl was not to fill her +with facts, but to develop her mind and heart. This has not always been +understood by those who patronized her various schools. The commonplace +test of "how much a pupil knows," did not always apply to her classes. +She took pains to teach them how to preserve their health, how to deport +themselves, how to preserve their modesty and integrity, how to become +forces in the world. + +In a word, she did not labor to root in those tender minds a multitude +of facts which the passing of time sweeps away; it was her desire to +form of each impressionable girl, a noble woman. + +It was her conviction that no higher work exists in the world than the +development of high ideals of womanhood. If she could have reached young +girls in any other way, in daily living, she could have dispensed +altogether with the school. + +The school was but a means to the end of shaping lives. There were, +perhaps, girls in Melbourne at that time, who were learning more facts +than Mrs. Carr's girls were learning; who might, it may be, have +answered with greater exactitude if questioned as to the dimensions of +the planets' orbits, or as to the geological eons. + +These things did not seem to her of supreme importance. What to her +mind, mattered, was to make world-blessings of her girls. This was so +deep a conviction of her soul, that she had little patience with +literalism. + +It is necessary to understand her purpose, in order to comprehend the +relationship between her and her pupils. When Mrs. Carr found in any +girl those true and enduring qualities which, however much neglected, +promise a harvest of love, and gratitude, and noble deeds, and thoughts, +there were no pains too great for her to take, to develop that soul. + +But when it was her lot to be thrown with a girl whose life-purposes +were all antagonistic to the sphere of the cultured woman--a girl who +suspected insincere motives, and watched for faults, and hardened +herself against sweet influences, Mrs. Carr felt that she could do more +good by giving her time to more susceptible spirits. + +Thus it came about that the pupil who reached after the higher standards +of life, found Mrs. Carr a woman of motherly tenderness; while she who +drew back, found her cold and unsympathetic. + +It is difficult to learn the real character of any teacher from her +pupils, unless we take into consideration the character and point of +view of those interrogated. The pupil in sympathy with the instructress +will praise her, one in rebellion will blame her. It seems necessary to +say this, because Mrs. Carr has often been misunderstood and +misrepresented. An obdurate and intractable pupil usually has a family +to espouse her view of the case; and the neighbors share the impression +of the family; and visiting guests share the opinions of the neighbors. + +It is not always that the pupil wilfully misrepresents; indeed, in most +cases, she does not intentionally do so; but she cannot understand, +because her heart is not in accord. It would be a strange thing if any +teacher should be universally praised by her pupils, and the suspicion +would inevitably arise that she had not done her full duty. + +On one point all of Mrs. Carr's pupils are agreed; that she was a +splendid disciplinarian. Whether you loved her or feared her, or +disliked her, she made you keep good order while under her instruction. + +As to her success in school work at Melbourne, we shall content +ourselves with letting the consul speak a good word for her, then relate +a little incident. + +Geo. R. Latham to Mrs. Carr: "Knowing the respectable character of the +colleges in the United States of which you are a graduate, and feeling a +lively appreciation of your thorough education, finished +accomplishments, and intellectual and moral worth, and learning that you +have opened a select school for young ladies in this city (Melbourne) I +most gladly consent to the use of my name as reference." + +The terms per quarter for board and tuition were from £18-18-0 to +£10-10-0. Mrs. Carr taught the following: "English Literature, +Mathematics, Natural Science and all English branches usually taught, +Italian, French, German, Pianoforte, Guitar, Drawing and Painting, +Leather Work, Wax Flowers." She was the only teacher and, we may +conclude, had her hands full! + +[Illustration: Port Elliott--Farthest Point South] + +The anecdote we referred to, related to one of Mrs. Carr's pupils, Ettie +Santo. Her father, Philip Santo, lived in South Australia. He was a +member of Parliament;[11] and a rich iron monger. He dealt largely in +imported agricultural implements. He had the same love of family that +Thomas Magarey exhibited; every day at three he would go out to his +splendid residence in the suburbs, and play an hour with his children. +Then after exercising, he would go to the library. After tea he wrote +and read two hours, then assembled the family for Bible-reading and +prayer. Ettie boarded with Mrs. Carr. It was the first time she had +stayed away from home. She was a very quiet, undemonstrative girl. Her +father came to Melbourne to visit her. One day he showed Mrs. Carr a +letter he had received from his daughter before his arrival. In the +body of the letter was this sentence: + +"Father, I love you; I have never told you so; I can write it better +than I can speak it." + +This is narrated as an illustration of Mrs. Carr's educational ideas. To +bring love into being; or, as in the case of this noble-minded girl, +where love already existed, to give that love a voice--to teach faithful +service and strengthen holy aspirations, these were her imparted +lessons. The soul which could not receive them might be hardened against +her, but nevertheless she sowed the seed; with her, teaching was a +religious exercise. + +At this busy time, while Mrs. Carr had her girls, and Mr. Carr his boys, +to say nothing of a thousand outside duties to be performed, a character +entered their lives like a good fairy. Janie Rainey was born and reared +in Scotland. Her sister married a "gentleman" that is to say, a man of +means, and for a time Janie lived with them. But it soon became borne in +upon her that her brother-in-law looked upon her as a burden to his +household. She knew a Presbyterian minister in Melbourne, who, in answer +to her letter, encouraged her to come to Australia, where she could find +plenty of work. She made the long voyage, and found asylum in his house, +until she should find regular employment. + +One day she appeared at the house in Barclay Terrace. Beneath her +sunbonnet was to be seen a bright face, and shrewd yet kindly eyes. As +she sat in the hall in her plain but scrupulously neat dress, Mrs. Carr +was charmed by her Scotch accent, and by her manner of dignified +dependence. Janie explained that she had heard Mrs. Carr needed a +servant; she had come to keep the house for her, to wash, to cook, to +do anything. She was received with joy. As Mrs. Carr afterward said, "It +was love at first sight." + +Before the Carrs came to Melbourne, Janie had gone to hear Mr. Surber +preach. "The first time I heard him," she said, "I knew it didn't sound +like the kirk! I could understand him; it was so _plain_!" When she had +heard him preach about half a dozen times, she said, "I must confess my +faith!" She became an intelligent Christian. She knew a great part of +the Bible by heart. "I have read the New Testament all my life," she +declared, "and never knew what it meant before." + +Janie worked for the Carrs all the time they staid in Melbourne. She +regularly attended the Sunday services, the prayer meetings, and the +other gatherings of the church. From her wages she gave one shilling +every Sunday morning. She read the church papers and the daily papers +while the Carrs and their boarders were at breakfast. Her room was kept +clean and inviting, and a talk with her was refreshing; seldom did a +preacher visit the house, who did not ask to see Janie. + +Mrs. Carr would sit in the kitchen to hear Janie read "Bobbie Burns," +with the proper accent. The servant had seen the places described in +the poems; she had known people who had known the poet. She knew +anecdotes about him that have never seen the print. She told about a +working girl who, on looking into his room, found him stamping upon the +floor, and rushing back and forth like mad; how she had rushed down +stairs crying, "He's daft!"--how Burns on hearing the cry exclaimed, +"'_Daft!_' the very word I was trying to think of!"--and how he slapped +his knees, and fell to writing. + +It was Janie's delight to take care of Mr. and Mrs. Carr,--to stand +between them and those innumerable details of daily life, that sap the +energies, that waste the time, and ward off the essential objects of +life for those who have no Janies. + +"She would go to market seeking to tempt our appetites. She would say, +'Oh, you don't eat enough to keep a bird alive!' She petted us. No one +regarded her as a servant except herself--but she always held herself to +be one. She was, indeed, more of a companion. A beautiful character--one +who did her duty because it _was_ duty, and who loved us till we felt +that she was one of the family. Her disposition was bright and +cheerful. We often found her reading while the kettle boiled, or going +about her work with an open book propped upon the kitchen table. One day +I went into the kitchen and found her laughing outright. 'What is it, +Janie?' 'Oh, I was laughing at what Mark Twain says about the Turkish +bath!' What ever concerned us seemed as sacred in her eyes as a +religious matter, and she would guard it as her own interests. Hers was +a life in which we could see no fault." + +A high testimonial to one who serves for years in one's kitchen! A +testimonial rarely given, rarely merited. Let this be an excuse, if one +is needed, for giving so much space to the simple maid from Scotland. +Here is one whose soul bursts through the vapors of false pride and +unlovely shame that does so much to soil the beauty of the poor. Here is +one who recognizes the dignity of service, and who shows by humble acts +that mark each hour, she loves her neighbor as herself. + +And now that we have one so efficient and willing to admit the visitors, +to cook the meals and to do the washing, let us retire to the library +and, without fear of interruption, enjoy a sheaf of letters, which lie +before us; not, indeed, drinking them to the very lees, but sipping +here and there. Our word for it, if the reader be in the mood for +mail-opening, he shall not go unrewarded. + +Here is a young man writing from the Agricultural College of Kentucky +University, whom Carr and Surber have evidently advised to go thither +for a Christian education: "I suppose when I told you I would come here +to school, you thought I would never come. After hard work I got to +England, and I worked hard before I got here; but when there is a +craving for an education, no toil or labor will hinder that young man. I +come to study the scriptures, to be able to go into the world to preach +the Gospel. I work five hours in the A. & M. College on the farm, and +the machine shop. I got to this place without one cent of money. What do +you think my first work here was? Dropping potatoes--Sir; yes, sir!" + +J. B. Myers to Mrs. Carr: "I promised to tell you about the changes in +Lancaster," (from which we may glean a little local coloring of Mattie's +old home.) "The railroad runs right by the old Methodist church, out by +the cemetery; indeed, it took away one corner of the old brick building. +The passenger depot is on the Crab Orchard pike." (Then he enumerates +all the new houses on the various pikes, tells what girls are going to +"set out," and remarks that he pays more attention to ladies since his +sister's departure.) + +"I am still in the old room over Brother Sweeney's store! I have +furnished it up with a $30 bookcase, etc. I have resigned my position in +the Male Academy to teach a public school no more forever! I can't live +that way--too much time consumed in watching the pupils, and making them +keep order,--and the rest of my time, too worried to throw my soul into +the work, and give efficient instruction. I begin a private class of +about 20 choice boys, right away." Then about some who have died; some +who have married; a foolish young girl who has kept her marriage a +secret; and a poor gentleman who is growing too fleshy, and the fond +hope that--"When you and Ollie come back to old Kentucky, you must keep +house, and I will board with you!" "A year of your absence is about +gone. May the three pass speedily! Yea, let them all pass rapidly that +you and Ollie may be returned to me. How I love you my dearest sister! +Tell Ollie I love him; too, and am proud of him!" (Very different does +Brother Joe talk, now that he no longer stands hatless upon the pike, +stopping our stage coach!) + +Here is a letter from our blacksmith, Eneas Myall: "I would not think of +writing to you; but I know what it is to be far from home, and the +pleasure of receiving a letter when among strangers; and besides, it is +my duty to answer your letter. I regret very much that you did not get +to see any of my folks when you were in England. I wish you could see +more of England. I am satisfied it is the greatest opening for primitive +Christianity in the world. Ollie, this will be rather a broken letter as +I am talking, selling and writing all at the same time. We are getting +along religiously, as well as common. It looks a little odd to see your +father and mother attending church; but we are all glad to see it. Your +father is always in his place, and so is your mother, when she can get +there. And let me tell you, you are not forgotten in our prayers. We +hardly ever have a meeting that you are not bidden God's speed. Brother +Bartholomew of Philadelphia was here, raising money to sustain a +missionary in that city! Not very many were present, so our contribution +of $60 was quite liberal, I assure you. Our envelope system is +working-well." (Introduced into May's Lick Church by O. A. Carr, who +visited personally every member and gave each fifty-two envelopes in +which to place the promised weekly offering for a year). + +"And now, Ollie, as I am about to close--if we meet never again here, +let us meet in Heaven. Let us be faithful to our God. My faith bids me +go forward in the unshirking discharge of my duty, and the promise will +be mine. All the Myalls send their love to you and your lady. Now, +farewell for the present. God bless you both." Thus the blacksmith who +beats his money out of iron to spread the Gospel--writing, talking, +selling, all at once--the hammer in his hand, God in his heart. + +Miss Mary Whittington writes from Daughters' College, and we should find +interest in a picture of the scene where Mattie Myers received her +education; "I have a faint idea of how you feel, Mattie, off there in +Australia, for I took a four weeks' trip to Illinois, and cried to get +back to President Williams and the college. You need a correspondent +like myself, to give you little suggestive trifles of the college life. +We have a baby here, wonderful, blue-eyed and spiritual, not a girl, +alas! but a boy--Prince Whittington Williams--the 'Whittington' is for +an old maid who, having no children of her own, is thankful when people +sometimes name them for her--the writer, in a word. Mattie, I hear the +supper bell; I'll run down and eat some battercakes, and drink a cup of +coffee--don't you wish you could hear the supper-bell once more? + +"Well, I had my supper in the same dining-room where you drank tea, and +dieted, of yore, but it was not upon the same old oilcloth, for now we +have a table cloth! Moreover the room is neatly carpeted, and the old +chairs have been carried into the school rooms to make way for new ones. +The girls' rooms have new carpets _all over_ them--no naked space under +the bed--and have been furnished with neat walnut toilets, and full tin +sets for the washstands; and I must not forget the red oil-calico +curtains." (The reader must bear in mind that during Mattie's sojourn +here, such luxury was unknown.) + +"Mrs. Williams is fat and merry. President Williams is also in a +flourishing condition--weighs 160. His flesh makes him very handsome; +you ought to have seen him several months ago! The secret is that he +has quit tobacco. Dr. Williams is still himself. You would have been +convinced of it if you had heard him this morning at church-time, when +he came storming into the library, crying out, 'Where's Mary? I don't +intend waiting any longer on anybody! Is she trying to keep me waiting +another half hour?' And there I had been hiding behind the door half an +hour, waiting for him! It did me good to rise up, and tell him so." + +Here is a letter from our friend Albert Myles, who carried Oliver away +from his sick room in Lexington to hold a meeting at Ghent: "When you +bade me goodby in Cincinnati about one year ago,"--(how short it seems! +and now, how far away!)--"you remember that my health was very bad. +Well, it grew from bad to worse, till I lay at death's door. At Crab +Orchard Springs I rallied, and grew steadily better until October 20th, +1868, when I--I--what shall I say?--I married! Yes, that was the day +that gave me my Ellen for my wife. Two weeks later we took charge at the +Mt. Sterling church, where we are still doing what we can in a small and +humble way. * * * I could see you two as you braved the dangers of the +Irish Channel, and took the long voyage to Australia. I could see you as +you star-gazed and moon-gazed; as you promenaded the deck; as you sat +and sang with the guitar; as you read and prayed in the raging storm. As +you say, none but God can know what you suffered on that voyage; but it +is a precious thought that He _does_ know. + +"Ol., I gather the following impression from your answer regarding my +coming out to Australia, 1. Melbourne is the best field in Australia. 2. +This field is supplied. 3. Adelaide is supplied by Gore, Earl and +others. 4. New Zealand is in danger of a war with the natives, the issue +of which is doubtful without help from the government. 5. Whoever +accepts the £80 must go to New Zealand. With these facts before me, to +be honest, it does not appear to me that Australia is more in need of +preachers than many places in the United States. + +"In New York, there are only about 400 Disciples; in Philadelphia, only +about 300; while in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis and San +Francisco, which will average about 25,000 population, there is scarcely +an average of 100 Disciples; moreover, in many rural communities, we +have not even been heard of! In California are thousands of Chinese who +are actually worshiping-idols! It occurs to me, that men who love the +ancient order of things, are as much needed here as in Australia. You +say also, that the manner of worship there is different from what it is +here. This being so, one would have to spend some time preparing himself +for the changed condition. If I know my own heart, I never wanted to do +anything so much in my whole life, as to go to Australia; but the more I +think of the matter, the more firmly I am convinced that if one goes to +Australia at all, he ought to make up his mind to stay there. J. C. +Keith" (the other member of our "Trio") "has succeeded in getting a +comfortable house of worship built in Louisville. He is doing well." (We +have a purpose for presenting Mr. Myles' objections to going to +Australia, which will be developed later). + +Another letter from brother Joe, written in May, 1868, and of more than +transient interest: "The last spike on the Union Pacific Railroad was +driven last Monday. Thousands of faces are turning Westward, where large +farms can be bought for small prices. New York and San Francisco are at +last united by a mammoth railroad that spans the continent. While the +last spike was being driven, telegraphic wires were in connection with +all the larger cities, and at each stroke of the hammer, the wires rang +signal bells from the Atlantic to the Pacific. As I read the accounts of +the great demonstrations, of processions and bonfires, my own breast +caught the spirit of the age of great enterprises, and I felt like +seeking my fortune amid the rich prairies of the West. But then, I +thought, man's life does not consist in the things he possesses; so I am +resolved to be content in my Old Kentucky Home! I feel inexpressible +satisfaction in the thought that while teaching boys, I am exerting a +purifying and elevating influence,--an influence that will mould +society, and tinge its religious, literary and charitable institutions, +long after this heart has ceased to beat. O, what a privilege is ours, +Mattie, of setting in motion waves of eternal blessing! How strange that +the great mass of mankind neglect such opportunities! + +"We are now agitating the question of the removal of the Capitol from +Washington. If the Union remains undivided, such a step will be made +sooner or later. But wherever they put the Capitol, _my_ home shall be +three miles from Stanford on the Crab Orchard pike! I like to think how +I am going to fill one cellar with choice apples to roast by the winter +fires. Wilt come and see us, and help peel and eat, while we talk of +Australia? And what rich cider for you and brother Ollie! And there is +the garden--oh, what a variety of vegetables! we'll store them away in +the other cellar, and keep them for you. And if you should happen to +come back home in strawberry time! Cake, cream, berries--oh, you must +not think of staying longer than three years! Counting six months for +going and coming, and three years for active service in Melbourne, +you'll get here in August, 1871. Well, we can visit the Crab Orchard +Springs together--they are only distant a short buggy-ride of eleven +miles on the smooth pike--and we can take a jug along and bring it back +full. You say it will be too warm? But remember, we have a good ice +house. Then what a fine lot of chickens and eggs we will have and * * *" +But by this time sister Mattie is weary of cleaning off her spectacles, +and puts her head upon her arm in that far-away Barclay Terrace, and +gives it up, gives it all up for the time--with faithful Janie to ward +off visitors. Oh, brother Joe, how could you!" + +Do you remember the English Murbys who carried the Carrs away from their +splendid hotel in London, and established the missionaries in their own +house? Here is a note from Mrs. Murby: + +"I often take up my album to look at you both. I think over again the +events of the few days we spent together so pleasantly. I always regret +your time with us was so short; but we hope to give you a hearty welcome +again in old England." (Strange how everything dear to us is "old!" It +should be a comforting thought to grandparents.) + +"You overrate any little attentions we may have given you. It was a +great pleasure for us to make your acquaintance. Our brother" (the +Chicago merchant) "returned to the land of his adoption the month after +you left. Willie is a bonnie lad now, nearly eighteen months old. Nellie +is over four, and quite a little companion for me." (Let us trust she, +too, will find primroses in the streets of London). + +If you would like a photographic representation of Kentucky University +life, do not skip this letter from J. H. Stover. It is nothing to our +purpose who the author may be; but he has succeeded in laying before us +not a description of that college life, but the life itself. Here is the +scene in which Oliver, as a student, so often mingled, and which Mattie, +as a visitor, so often looked upon; Lexington in the month of June. +Faded, almost gone, are many of the words, but when we rescue them from +threatening oblivion, they throb again with the _actual_, which throbs +best in trivialities. + +"Our exhibition went off last night. Brother J. B. Jones gave his first +oration before the public; it was well delivered throughout. The +valedictory was by W. A. Oldham, who did the best I ever heard him. +Milligan, McGarvey, Meng, Wilkes, etc., sat upon the rostrum. The ladies +had helped decorate the house with cedar, etc., very tastefully. Robt. +Milligan has just got him a new coat and pair of boots. He has laid +aside that old coat which he used to wear, even the first year. He has a +new hat, too, but he still keeps on the same old shawl. He comes into +chapel with his hand to his head, as of old. He did not have his usual +sick spell this spring. The last time we met, he told us that we were to +have vacations from our duties, 'but, young brethren,' he said, 'there +is no vacation in the school of Jesus Christ, our adorable Redeemer.' + +"Brother McGarvey is just the same--same old coat. I went down to the +dormitory this morning and, as usual, there were about half a dozen boys +standing before Morton's bookstore. They were discussing who had the +best speech, and showed the best delivery, at the Exhibition, last +night. Brother Jonathan M. came out and said, 'Good morning, young +gentlemen!' in that tone bordering on sharpness, as usual." (What a keen +observer! We should dread to wear our old coat where he could see us!) + +"Brother Myles is here. So is Miss Ella Allen. They were together last +night, but I know nothing farther than when you left." (The reader has +already seen what _that_ came to.) "Professor Neville, W. T. Moore and +uncle Dick Bishop have gone to Europe. Professor was excited to death. +It was his long-looked for trip. He bought him a new suit of clothes, +for the trip. He looked funny in his sack coat. Professor White looks +just the same, except his hair is longer. Those same old shoes with +holes in the toes, he still wears. His hat, turned down before, and up +behind, hangs on the peg on the post yet, during recitation-time. The +boys, as of old, went to the board, 'fizzed' and took their seats when +he said, 'That is sufficient, I believe!' When I went up to him this +morning to inquire my standing, he looked into that _same book_. He told +me I had finished the Junior. As I went out the door, I slapped my +thigh. Don't a fellow feel good when he studies hard, and does better +than he looked for! Alex. Milligan still walks as fast as ever, and the +bald place on the back of his head is none the smaller. He is doing well +in his book store. Brother McGarvey told me this morning to tell you he +would write soon. I heard from Jim Keith a few days ago. He is doing +well! Miss Whitie Hocker graduated at the Sayer Institute last week. Our +Sunday-school had a festival about two months ago to which the Midway +Orphan School was invited. The Bible school was dismissed. McGarvey and +Wilkes managed it. I think it was after you left that John Morgan's +remains were brought here and interred. There was a very long +procession. As I was walking down the street, today, I met J. B. Bowman +in his old buggy, behind that same old black, bobtailed mare. He was +driving very fast as usual. Next I met Prof. Pickett. Although it was a +very hot day, he had that coat buttoned up to his chin. He had that same +black cane, and he saluted me in fine military style, then walked on as +fast as possible. I met the old darkey who took care of G. L. Surber's +room the first year. He wanted to know if I had heard from 'Massa Green +Surbah.' I saw old man White with whom you used to board. He still has +the grocery on the corner; Kate isn't married yet. He still swings his +hands as he walks, and ducks his head forward as usual. Brother Lowber +came up and said, 'Well, here is Brother Stover; how _do_ you come on, +Brother Stover?' I think he has asked me that same question four times +this morning, with the same smile. He is a very warm and affectionate +friend. + +"I saw Bob Neal next. He wore his hat as you remember. Jerry Morton +nodded his head at me as he went by. Dick Stohl stopped me to ask where +he could find a Horace, and Cottingham called to me from across the +street. As I came home, I met Brother Lard returning from Winchester in +his buggy; he had 25 additions there. At the table, Brother V. P. told +me his prayers were frequently in your behalf. Dear brother Ollie, if I +have succeeded in interesting you with these trifles, I am repaid for my +long letters. Give Mattie my love, and tell her I claim kin with her." +(Which letter, we fear, leaves Oliver about as homesick as J. B. Myers' +left Mattie.) + +True to his promise, here comes a letter from Prof. J. W. McGarvey: "We +published your letter, and a call for packages in the _Apostolic Times_, +and have received, in response, enough books, pamphlets and newspapers +to fill a medium-sized goods box; we will ship them soon. We now have a +circulation of nearly 4,000 for the _Apostolic Times_. I received a copy +of your tract, and noticed it in the paper. Innovationists have become +rampant among us; they expected to run over our Brother Franklin by +affecting superior knowledge, but the _Times_ cannot be frowned down in +that way. We hope to fill a gap in the ranks of the faithful. You are +right in not encouraging the brethren to send to America for preachers +while neglecting useful men at home. Teach them to encourage young men +of promise. Some changes have occurred in the University. Brother +Pickett resigned his presidency of the Agricultural College, and it was +offered Brother Errett. The chances are, however, that Errett will take +a chair of Bible study, just created at Bethany. He will probably give +up the _Standard_, and it will die. It has never more than paid +expenses. Brother Graham has resigned to take the presidency of the new +female college of which Brother Hocker is proprietor. John Augustus +Williams has been elected President of the College of Arts. You both +have a large and warm place in the hearts of thousands of the saints. +The Lord be with you." + +Another note from the Australian student, now at the University: "I am +now engaged in the selling of books in the vacation: my object is to +make enough money to pay my way through Bible College. My board cost me +nothing, for I am stopping at the home of Dr. W. H. Hopson. I suppose by +this time you have received the books, magazines, etc., from President +Milligan. I preach occasionally at Providence and Bethany. Cannot some +of our young brethren in Australia come out here and prepare themselves +to preach to poor dying sinners? They may say they cannot pay the +passage; but if they love the Lord, they will come, and work their way +through." + +The following is from Mrs. Carr to her brother: "How my heart blesses +you, for almost every mail brings us cheer from your pen! If it be the +will of God that we ever again see each other face to face, you will +know how grateful I am. You would laugh if you could see us running to +the door at the ringing of the postman, or leaping from our seats at the +cry of--'_Arrival of the British Mail!_' We have many dear friends here, +but a word from Kentucky carries our hearts back in a mighty rush, and +all is lost in the old and tried affections of home. Forget you, did you +say? Ah, we could not if we would. Come back to you, did you say? +Assuredly, if it is God's will. When I come back, brother, I want to sit +in your lap, and with my arms about your neck, tell you of my little +trials, and of my many, very many abiding joys. Ollie's health and mine, +is not good as when we first came here; we fear it may be due to the +climate. Ollie is so upright, so gentle and kind to me, that I have +strength to bear everything. + +"Now a question: Suppose we should establish a College in Australia, +exclusively for young men, hoping some day to convert it into a +university--and suppose we should cry to America for professors--would +you come? Think of the cries of the churches here for education--how +they are obliged to send their young men all the way to Kentucky to +prepare them for the ministry in the Christian Church. _Would_ you +come?" And much more to the same purpose, showing that this idea of a +Christian University in Australia, has become a fixed idea with Mrs. +Carr--an idea which she is not to yield readily. + +Now comes O. A. Carr to the charge, showing a little of the heat of +battle that has been roused by controversy with the sectarians. It is +Thomas Magarey, father of Alex. and Vaney, whom he accosts: "Thanks for +candor, but your admonition was unnecessary. I know how it would +aggravate a zealous brother to think that my little squirt is throwing +water on the fire he is trying to keep aglow. You seem to think that I +am desperately bent on doing nothing with a vengeance, especially if it +will injure Australia. It may be true I have no more judgment than a +pig; I may be showing the pig--or dog, if you like,--in writing this; +but like you, if I am wrong, I apologize. And now to the point: What I +wrote was solely to argue that we must not depend upon America in the +contemplated college affair. My reason for believing that evangelists +would not come here from there, was the simple fact of their not coming. +I have never written a line home derogatory to anyone's coming to +Australia. I wrote a confidential letter to Brother Albert Myles, which +he made me promise to do; I gave my first impressions of Australia, and +they were more favorable than I ever dreamed I could give, when I was at +home. As Brother Myles was to come on Adelaide money, I frankly told him +that I could not give him any account of Adelaide. I never believed +Brother Myles would come, when we received the call at the same time, +for the conviction that he should do so, was not so strong as mine. His +mother was a widow, and looked to him for support. Brother Myles is as +true a soldier of the Cross as ever drew the sword. Had he seen his way +clearly, he would have come, for he wanted to do so. I hold myself free +from throwing anything in the way. + +"Pardon me for saying it, but I suppose I will always be a '_new chum_' +and 'too inexperienced for old English women to sit under,' and 'who +ought not to be allowed to write a little Tract till some old, +experienced brother had reviewed it to see if it were sound.' I want +you to believe that the 'new chum' wrote nothing he could not prove, and +that he is anxious for all to come and help in the glorious work, who +ought to assume the responsible position of a preacher. So much from the +'bear with the sore head!' There; now! I haven't flared up. I do hope +you will send for more evangelists, and that the country will be +supplied with a faithfully preached Gospel. Alex. is much better, and is +able to eat heartily; Vaney is well. Mattie, I believe, is writing to +you." + +Back to the charge comes the doughty Englishman, Member of Parliament, +and miller from South Australia: "It is a very busy day with me, but I +must not leave you under painful feelings caused by hasty words of mine. +As I was mistaken, I am heartily thankful, and apologize without +reserve. In the first place, you _are_ a new chum, and nine out of ten +new chums write home under disappointed feelings, as the romance melts +from those visions which lend enchantment to the view. But since you did +not do so, I am much to blame for hasty accusation. As to the rest, you +misunderstood my letter. The fault is with me. I am always getting +myself into unpleasant scrapes by my correspondence. Even the +newspapers that report my speeches complain that they cannot tell +whether I am joking, or in earnest. I have always looked upon you as a +great acquisition to the cause of Christ in Australia. I cannot imagine +what you mean by talking of 'a bear with a sore head.' I am utterly +unconscious of having written anything to give rise to your expression. +Will you kindly send me the whole passage. I do not think of you as a +bear at all, sore-headed or otherwise. Why, I look upon you as one of +the pillars of the Cause. I think,--if we get so much out of Brother +Carr at 24, what will we get at 30! Then I think that by the time you +are 30, you will have ruined your health, and be fit for nothing. I feel +angry that you undertake so much. I know, had it not been for you during +Brother Surber's absence in New Zealand, the Cause would have gone to +ruin in Melbourne. Then how could I have thought you in the way, as 'a +pig,' or as a man? I do not think any of our evangelists are without +faults; but if I let them see that I do not consider them faultless, +they should not therefore run back to America, as they sometimes +threaten to do! I ought to have known better than to take such freedom +with our friends from Kentucky. It is said by travelers that a +Southerner will allow you to tell him his faults, or his country's +faults. But he will not; or can not, understand any playful allusions to +them. Now, Brother Carr, I am exceedingly sorry to have written anything +that hurt your feelings. I begin to have some dim recollection that I +_may_ have written something about a bear with a sore head, but I cannot +remember what it was. What _was_ it? I have Sister Carr's letter; am +delighted with it; was afraid she might be cross about that bear. I have +no letter from my boys, but hope to receive one soon. But I must close +this long rigamarole which I cannot read myself, it is so badly +done."[12] + +As a last letter in this chapter's mail--what a long chapter it is +making!--this is offered from Martin Zelius, he who began Melbourne life +with one shilling, and later sent to America the gold that brought over +Mr. and Mrs. Carr; it will show that he, too, was interested in that +Tract: "I have heard that you intend to investigate, and bring out, the +injustice that one of the religious bodies here has done our people. I +hope you will do it most effectually, not for the sake of victory, nor +of retaliation, but for the love of the truth. Stand up at any time, and +under any circumstances, to defend the commands of Jesus. He has said he +will never leave us, nor forsake us. When we have our friend Jesus to +stand by us, our confidence is raised to the highest pitch. My dear +brother, it brings the tears to my eyes when I look back on the past, +and see how Jesus has shielded me from many a trial, from many a foe. +Stand up for him, Brother Carr! He who is with us is more than all who +can be against us!" + +The way in which the Church of Christ looked at religious matters was so +different from the usual view, that the American evangelists felt the +pressing need of tracts to disseminate their ideas. One illustration of +their effectiveness, may close this branch of the subject. + +There was a young man whose parents lived in a house passed, every day, +by the Carrs, on their way to town. The father belonged to one +denomination, the mother to another, while the son, finding the +Calvinistic doctrines of both repellant to his bent of mind, refused to +accept any scriptural or unscriptural principles. He graduated at the +Melbourne University, then took a special course for the degree of M. D. +He went into the adjacent country to practice, without having ever met +the missionaries. One day he came across one of O. A. Carr's tracts. "I +read it with great interest," he said. "I asked myself, is this the +truth? I was then unsatisfied with the truths of Christianity." + +The young man sought his Bible, and began with Moses and the prophets, +in a course of systematic and scrupulous examination of the Word. He +read himself into the belief of the Christian church. He called upon the +neighbors to meet in a hall, that he might tell them what had won him to +Christianity. He delivered to them a course of lectures, insisting that +everything needful to man's salvation, and life of holiness, was +explicitly laid down in the Bible. At the conclusion he cried out, "Is +there any one here who believes?" + +More than a hundred rose and answered yes! He heard them confess their +faith in Christ's divinity. He baptized them. Having determined to +prepare himself for the ministry, he laid aside his practice, went to +Kentucky University, and, thanks to his splendid education, was able to +finish the course in a year. Thus Dr. A. M. Fisher became Fisher the +Evangelist, thanks to a tract written by one who, not many years before, +was gathering up the shavings in Myall's wagon shop. + + +[8] Martin Zelius, happy man! About the time Eneas Myall was seeking +work and found it at May's Lick, Kentucky, Martin Zelius stood in the +streets of Melbourne, wondering to what he should turn his hand. He +turned his eye and saw across the street a flaming placard: "Evangelist +from America, H. S. Earl, will preach in St. George's Hall," etc. "No +where to go," he thought to himself, "I will go hear that man." He was +charmed with what he heard, and soon became obedient to the faith. He +entered upon a business life in which his success was marvelous: +everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. Whole-souled, +enthusiastic, he stood before the church and asked the privilege of +sending from his own earnings the money to pay the expenses of the +evangelists from America. One night, when he had come from church he +learned that a brother was aggrieved at him: he hired a "cab", drove +across the city to that Brother's home, called him from his bed out to +talk with him alone, and broached the matter in such a way that the +Brother said: "O, it was a trifle, I should not have mentioned; I am +ashamed of myself because I did. Is it possible that you have come all +this distance to talk about that?" "Why, yes," said Martin Zelius, "our +Savior said, 'if thou bring thy gift to the altar and there remember +that thy Brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift; go be +reconciled to thy Brother, and then come and offer thy gift.' I could +not pray to-night until I came to see you, and know what I had done to +offend you." "Well, I always thought a great deal of you, but more now +than ever." Forgiven and happy he goes home, at peace with all the +world. + +His wife, fit companion for such a man, of meek and quiet spirit, +entered into fullest sympathy with Mrs. Carr, understood her, knew her +and loved her. She entreated Mrs. Carr to visit her daughter in +California and arrangements were made to do so, to start in two weeks +(in November, 1907); but in five days she had gone to the eternal home. + O. A. C. + +[9] See appendix. + +[10] Alexander T. Magarey and Vaney J. Magarey were sons of Thomas +Magarey, M. P., of South Australia. They made their home with us while +attending the University of Melbourne. Two more congenial spirits I +never met; nor better students. Then, too, they were Christians from +very love of the Savior, and delighted in the truths of the Gospel. They +were very intelligent in the Scriptures. After my return from Australia +Alex. visited me in Kentucky. It was my delight to take him among my +kindred; for he and his brother seemed to me like one of my own family, +and to present him to the Brethren as a specimen of what sort could be +found in Australia. The memory of him, his father, brother and the +Magarey family is very precious. Alex. would have me take him to see the +mother of Brother Be. sley who went to Australia, came home an invalid +and died of consumption: he must weep with that mother and see the grave +of that young man: he must see those--teachers and preachers--of whom he +had read; he wanted to take them all by the hand, and such a hand grasp +as he gave was remembered. We were sitting together in the Main Street +Church in Louisville during the State Meeting in 1880, when T. P. Haley +asked if any knew of rich men's sons who are preachers of the Gospel. +Only two were known--T. M. Arnold of Covington, Kentucky, and Alex. +Magarey. On one occasion his horse, which no one drove but him, took us +in a buggy from his father's home to a church near Adelaide where Alex. +preached. The people there were poor, and he would minister to +them--"preach the gospel to the poor". He taught them to give. A woman +who had no money had gathered the wild flowers--her offering--better +than gold to him. He took them home and pressed them, possibly had them +as long as he lived. + +The name "Magarey" always honored in the Campbell Home, is it strange +that when Alex. came to the United States the next time it was for the +express purpose of bearing to his Australian home a bride--niece of +Alexander Campbell? + +These young men (A. T. and S. J. Magarey) were my ideals of what young +Christians ought to be and do: they were so congenial to me--my +companions even playmates, sympathized with me so fully, helped me in my +work, that when their earthly life ended it seemed that a part of my own +life had gone with them. O. A. C. + +[11] Philip Santo--a prince among men--a generous, sympathetic soul +"Come to see us", was his message to me, "Jeff." (T. J. Gore) "wants to +see you--I will take no excuse". Of course, I had to go. When we had +enjoyed his home for a while he sent "Jeff." and me to the seaside--to +Port Elliot, the farthest limit of land toward the South. Up on the +immense cliff at the hotel we feasted the body and rested, while we +looked far out over the Southern ocean toward the South Pole. At night +the tide would lash the waves up in sprays to the very top of this +cliff: in the afternoon we strolled the beach, gathering shells, and +leaving our little (?) footprints to be washed away at even. Every year +T. J. Gore visits Port Elliot with his family for a season; and a +picture of it hangs on the wall at Carr-Burdette College. + +Philip Santo, happy man, was always planning, preparing something for +the good of the Church. He would sit in his Library at night and read +until absorbed in some happy thought he would say: "Jeff., what does +this Scripture mean?" and then he would be silent until next Lord's day +morning when "Jeff." would be delighted with the lesson, and the +exhortation Philip Santo would give at the church. Those who heard him +speak in the House of Parliament were glad to hear him in the Church; +for in the honesty of his soul he ministered in each place. When I bade +him good-by he insisted that I take fifty dollars; for, said he, "I do +not permit the preachers to come to see me at their own expense". + +He visited us in Hobart City, Tasmania. He entered the store of his old +time friend, with a cordial greeting. "How do you prosper"? The friend, +a hypercalvinist, he who heard O. A. Carr gladly, read Milligan's Scheme +of redemption and pronounced it the best book, next to his Bible, he had +ever seen, "but who drew back when he heard a sermon on 'My +Sheep'--"Very well indeed," he said, "until the preacher (Carr) began to +preach Campbellism". "What is that you said he preached", said Santo. +"What is Campbellism?" "Oh, I don't know; but that is what they said he +preached". Then he enveloped himself in a mist of dreary theology, and +proceeded into the darkness of the decrees of foreknowledge and "fixed +the fate" of all, as he thought. Whereupon Santo remarked: "Do you think +that any man of ordinary sense can understand what you have been +saying?" Our friend was a good man, and he could bear it, when Philip +Santo said it; but he went into the other room to cool off; but soon +returned to indulge in reminiscences. He read in a few days the +announcement that "The Hon. Philip Santo, from Adelaide, would preach +the next Lord's day in O. A. Carr's place". Then it was revealed that he +had given himself away together with his cause; but he continued to +maintain stoutly that a "sheep could never become a goat". + +On leaving us he said: "I want to give you this: you may need some +pocket change"--and placed $50.00 in my hand. Thus he moved around among +the churches--distributing to the necessity of saints like he was "given +to hospitality" in his home. + +His heart's desire was to visit his brethren in America. His active +business life forbade a lingering while here. He telegraphed to me to +meet him in St. Louis. Feeling that we must have him in our home at +Columbia, my answer was to tell him how he could come, and be sure to +come; but he must set sail from California at a fixed date and could +not. We missed the joy of his presence. How I would love now to have the +opportunity to do his bidding; but he has gone from the earthly life. + O. A. C. + +[12] By association with him and his family in his own home I learned to +love Thomas Magarey, and henceforth to think of him very much as his +sons thought, and to feel that he was a father to us all to correct and +to help us. He could not offend me if he would by any strange position +he might take, or any thing he might say; nor would he intentionally do +so. He was born to be heard, to say what should be in the affairs of +men. Right or wrong in what he claimed as truth, he was a genuine man. +O. A. C. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +BUSY YEARS IN AUSTRALIA. + + +In the shifting crowds of men and women along our life-pilgrimage, few +are those who feel an abiding interest in the concerns of others. We +meet and part, each thinking of what he may have gained in the way of +social inspiration, rather than of what he may have imparted. It is not +indifference, however, which most severely galls the sensitive spirit; +it is the active opposition that ever seems the lot of him or her who +would help humanity. I do not know if any feet have reached the upper +rounds of high ideals, without shaking off detaining hands. In the case +of Mrs. Carr, influences adverse not only to her work, but to her peace +of mind, were destined to attend her through life. + +It is impossible to estimate the good that might be accomplished, if +mankind would rally around those souls fired with lofty purposes, and +strengthen and make more effective those purposes, by sympathetic +encouragement; if it were human nature to add to lofty ambitions, by +lending substance from one's own slighter forces. But it appears to be +the rule that wherever one is found who desires to do a great good +for others, a dozen are found to weaken his influence and to seek to +undermine his work. Those physical mannerisms which are presently to +perish with the flesh, are seized upon for the purpose of striking dead, +influences which might otherwise have been eternal. + +[Illustration: On Road to Salmon Ponds, Tasmania] + +[Illustration: Hobart Town, Tasmania] + +When Mrs. Carr, experienced for the first time the cruelty of this +truth, she was unprepared for it. In later years, having learned her +lesson, having been convinced that opposition to truth is inherent to +human nature, she was able to hold her courage with a fixed and +steel-willed conviction, that cut its way through all walks of +opposition. But at first she was not prepared for this unlovely trait of +lesser minds. Accordingly, we sometimes find her sinking, wavering, +fluttering like a bird in a snare, before the breath of treachery, and +the opposition of jealous natures. + +To understand the story of this life in its entirety, one must know the +details of these struggles and these disappointments. Yet we would +rather leave the story incomplete, than perpetuate misunderstandings and +misrepresentations. Those who opposed Mrs. Carr in all of her +educational plans, share the fate of one who chooses as his part in +life, that of opposition. It is not he who opposes, but he who performs, +to whom the world owes its gratitude. Those who are antagonistic to good +works, court the oblivion that awaits them. Those who, in spite of +discouragements and hostility, hold tenaciously to lofty purposes, leave +to the world such monuments of their devotion, as the sun-kissed college +on the flower-embossed hill overlooking Sherman, Texas. + +We shall content ourselves, therefore, with passing by, in silence, the +words and deeds of the ill-natured, the unfriendly and the indifferent. +One should not go back into the past to gather its thorns. So much is +said at this place, that those conversant with the controversies and +contentions of school and church life during the last quarter of the +nineteenth century, need not expect to find them reanimated in this +volume. + +The following selection from Mrs. Carr's diary deals with her first trip +to North Tasmania whither, two years later, she and her husband were to +go for a year's sojourn: + +"Jan. 3. Left for Hobart Town, Tasmania, on the ship _Southern Cross_. +Sisters at the wharf. Kissed Ollie goodby. Dashed away the tears--may +we meet again, dear husband! + +"4th. Passed through Port Philip's Bay. Over the Rip, that terrible Rip! +what seasickness it brings! Terrible storm! I was crowded out of my +birth, but was glad to get the fresh air. The captain and stewardess +were kind. The Lord bless them. + +"5th. Reached Hobart Town, 7 a. m. Met by the Walworths, to whom Ollie +had telegraphed. Saw more vice in two hours than I saw in New York in +two weeks. What wicked people! + +"6th. Sailed in the _Monarch_ to New Norfolk, 22 miles. Scenery along +the Derwent is grand, but not to be compared to that of the beautiful +Ohio. Hop gardens far up the hills, shrouded in mists. How lovely! + +"7th. Visited Salmon Ponds, 7 miles from New Norfolk. Salmons raised +here, as they are not native to Australia; 30,000 sent to the ocean +yearly through the streams that supply the ponds from the Derwent. +Returned to North Tasmania by coach; fine view of the country--how I +wished for Ollie! + +"8th. Stormy day. Spent it indoors, sewing and gazing at frowning Mt. +Wellington, the pride of Tasmania. Attended services on a man-of-war. + +"10th. Visited Town Hall and Museum. Saw handwriting of the King of +Madagascar. + +"11th. Went by coach to Launceston, distance of 120 miles. The grand +mountainous scenery compensated for the long ride. Passed the Western +ridge on top of which smile beautiful lakes, 1,000 feet above the sea. +More like Kentucky than any scenery I've witnessed. + +"12th. Visited Cataract Gorge on South Esk. To Prince's Square where +stands the finest fountain in the Colonies; it was imported from Paris. + +"13th. At Mechanics' Institute saw life-size oil paintings of Victoria +and Prince Albert, and the Prince and Princess of Wales. What a sweet, +gentle face Princess Alexandria has! Dear woman, she deserves a better +husband. These people are so kind to me--Ollie will love them for that. + +"14. Visited Mr. Gunn, Curator of Museum, who promised to send specimens +to Kentucky University. My husband's Alma Mater is dear to me, because +dear to him. Launceston by Tamar. Sick all the way to Port Philip. +Scenery along Tamar not so bold as along the Derwent. + +"15th. Reached Melbourne, and waited at Brother Zelius' to see Ollie. +How glad I am to be with my dear husband once more. May the dear Lord +spare him till I die. Only God knows how dear he is to me; God will not +take him from me." + +At this time, the youth whom we have known as "Vaney" Magarey, leaves +the Carrs' household, no longer to play marbles in the third story at +stolen intervals, but to take his place in the world as Dr. S. J. +Magarey; the "Vaney" quite lost among these dignified initials. Also his +brother "Alex." departs, meaning to sail to America. From Adelaide, +Vaney writes back; sending Mrs. Carr ten pounds, evidently on her +birthday, for he tells Mr. Carr, "I promised Mrs. Carr ten pounds. +Please lay them on with your fist with as much severity as you think +fitting." Then he tells of £8,000 worth of Adelaide gold just +discovered, and sends his regards to all inquiring friends, "except +tailors and bailiffs." + +Somewhat later, he writes that he will not return; another may have his +room. He is interested in Mr. Carr's work as a teacher of prospective +ministers,--"For goodness' sake, do not turn them out half-educated. +Sometimes students are allowed to leave the Academy before they know +enough, and then they cause anxiety to many, and prejudice people +against colonial-made preachers." As for Vaney, himself, "We are at the +seaside, and have a swim every morning, and drive every day." + +An interesting character, this gay young physician, son of the rich M. +P. As we have seen, he and his brother were accustomed to address the +congregations on Sunday mornings, while they attended the University of +Melbourne. When he had graduated, Vaney or "S. J." as we must call him +now, went to South Australia and lived with his father, where Gore was +editing the _Pioneer_. The young physician married one of Mrs. Carr's +favorite pupils. He became successful in his profession, while his +brother developed into a splendid preacher. "Alex. preaches and I +practice," said the doctor. When it was necessary for Mr. Gore to be +absent from the pulpit, he would call on "Dr. S. J." to preach the +sermon in his stead. + +In the meantime the father, Thomas Magarey, has seen his son "Alex." +off to America, in the company of Evangelist Earl. He writes to Mr. +Carr, but not now about bears with sore heads: "I have your letter dated +'Washington's birthday.' I have heard something of Washington, but never +heard that he had a birthday. I suppose Washington is one of those best +kind of demons, more worshipped in America than England. When I go to +Barnum's Museum, I will inquire for his birthday. + +"I am glad to hear your Forrester's Hall was so hot, because I had +thought our White's Room the hottest place in Australia. I am still +inclined to think we can sweat freer at White's. I am glad Brother H. +makes a good deacon; I am always glad when a Scotchman can be found good +for something. Dr. Johnson says the animal ought to be caught while +young. You say your health is better, but I cannot believe it, for you +give yourself no chance to get better. Go away and take a rest. Why was +Paul allowed to waste so much time and energy? Was he not a citizen of +no mean city (the Kentucky of his day?) Was he not senior wrangler under +Prof. Gamaliel? Had he not graduated with honors and degree of A. M. +from the University of Jerusalem? He was at least master of the art of +tent-making. Yet with all these accomplishments, he went away somewhere +into Arabia for three years. Then he goes from city to city afoot, in +danger of being robbed--why wasn't he provided with a buggy? Instead of +preaching in a jail, why not have occupied the biggest house in +Phillippi? It wouldn't have been refused after that earthquake. Instead +of working at his trade for bread, wouldn't it have been better for the +missionary cause, if the brethren had paid him a salary, and had him +give all his time to preaching? What a waste of time! He might have been +writing a "Reply--_a Tract_"--to the Rev. Annanias of the Temple. And +think of him at Rome, chained to a Roman soldier (no doubt a Yankee +barbarian!) Why, if he had been chained to a Barnabas or Titus, they +must soon have got to quarreling. Think of him two years in his own +hired house, when the church of Rome ought to have put out handbills +that Rev. Paul would preach at the Town Council! But perhaps there were +Scotch deacons in that church, for we know there were Britains in Rome. +They were too cautious. + +"But a thought upsets my theory. Perhaps the Lord saw that Paul's own +mind needed the discipline through which he was passing. Perhaps it is +so with young men of the present day--sometimes their energy seems +wasted; but it may be in order to make the most of their good qualities; +that they may learn in time to be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Well, +I must close my letter and go out into the barren wilderness which +surrounds me, in which the shepherd is at wits' end to find pasture for +the sheep." + +[Illustration: Entrance to Domain, Sidney--Hyde Park.] + +From Mrs. Carr's diary, Mar. 27, 1870: "Two years ago we made those holy +vows to each other that only God can sever. Two years ago, we left +brothers and sisters, and all the tender associations of sweet home. May +we ever be true to each other, and to God. O blessed Savior, give me +more of thy gentleness and of thy humility. Make me a better child and a +better wife, as the silent years creep on, leading me closer to the +grave,--the dark path that leads to the beautiful mansion in our +Father's house. * * * Visited Botanical Gardens, overlooking the Bay. +Visited Barrabool hills and along Barwon river to Geelong across the +Bay, 50 miles from Melbourne, where we got a cup of milk." + +On Mrs. Carr's birthday, her pupils thus testify to their affection: "We +cannot permit this opportunity to pass without manifesting our +appreciation of the excellent course of instruction you have pursued, +and the kindness, perseverance and patience you have combined with +Christian love and forbearance, with which you have exercised your +arduous duties. You have not only enlarged our understanding, but +excited in our hearts a deep feeling of love. You are more like a dear, +fond friend than a teacher. The most difficult lessons become, under +your guidance, pleasant studies. May you live many years to pursue the +noble efforts of your life."--Signed by the young ladies of her class. + +From J. B. Bowman, now in Washington City: "I have been prosecuting a +claim for damages done the University buildings during the war; I will +succeed in getting $25,000, which will be expended in the erection of +buildings at Ashland. I have written thanking you for your valued favor +of shipping the box of specimens for the Museum. We had the pleasure of +opening it to-day at the Smithsonian Institution, and oh! how delighted +was I, with the rare and beautiful things in it! It shall be placed in +a special case in Ashland. Sister Mattie, how exact they are in the +classification and arrangement, showing so much care and skill and +science on your part! General Latham arrived after a trip of six months. +He called on me to-day at the department. He says Sister Carr is the +most highly educated and accomplished lady in Australia. We have about +800 enrolled at the University. The Bible College is a grand success. I +propose nominating Jas. C. Keith as Adjunct Professor. Oh, if I had a +million dollars, there would be 500 in the Bible College! To this end of +enlarging the University, I am working and praying every day of my +life." + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr--relative to this brief visit to Sidney: +"September 27, '71: We will reach Sidney at dark to-night. It is hard to +write on the ship. All of us have been very sick, but it is fine now. +The wind is fair and we are gliding along most beautifully as we +promenade the deck. There is a man on board who has been in Louisville, +and _May's Lick_! His name is Smith; a brother of John's I presume! + +"28th: After a fine dinner yesterday at five, we had music on deck. Dark +came on, and with it the lights of Sidney Harbor. It was the grandest +view I ever had of any harbor. The lights were everywhere, and their +reflection in the water was like posts surmounted by candles, and we +were sailing right into the midst of these posts. We came right up to +the wharf and there stood a number of Sidney friends to put us in cabs. +After I went to bed, the old steamer was still roaring in my ears, and +the floor was moving up and down, as I went off to dreamland. I am now +sitting in a little parlor with a headache, waiting for breakfast and +fearfully hungry. + +"30th: I saw Parliament houses, and fine they are. I walked through Hyde +Park, where is a monument to Captain Cook with this inscription; +'Captain Cook, born in Yorkshire 1726, founded this territory 1770.' +Just over the monument I saw, away in the distance, part of Sidney +harbor, the sun shining on the hills, and glistening in the water. +Visited a former servant of the Magareys, who is now independent and +owns a mill of his own. His daughter is a fascinating little +creature--don't be jealous!--a perfect prodigy on the piano. They insist +that I must preach here two Sundays. + +"Sidney is the funniest laid-out place I ever saw. Part of the city is +compact, the streets running every direction, at all angles, like +London, while a short distance toward New Town there is a cowpen or +paddock. The houses are strongly and handsomely built of massive stone, +and some have stone steps running to the top of the three stories. Some +houses look as if they had stood for centuries. It seems to me that the +poorest thing the people have is religion. The one thing needful is the +only thing neglected. I am not over my seasickness, and even now the +table seems to be going up and down as I write. Give my love to Surber +and Zelius, etc. If my tooth quits aching, I shall bring it back to +Melbourne in my mouth. + +"Oct. 3rd: Preached yesterday to small but interesting audiences. At +night, three confessions--the first ever had in Sidney immediately after +the preaching. The brethren were delighted. + +"Oct. 4th: Went to hear an elocutionary effort in a little chapel; I was +charmed by the speaker's manner and style, but pained because he did not +preach the Gospel. From there we hurried on a boat for a trip up the +Parramatta river, and saw Sidney Harbor to best advantage. I never saw +such a sight, not even in old Kentucky! It is beautiful beyond +description. The river was clear and smooth, sparkling in the sun. As +far as the eye could reach were the weeping willows and pines, and trees +whose foliage had the appearance of a continuous mountain range, +relieved by beautiful flowers and lawns surrounding the prettiest +houses, in front of which were the winding walks. The red soil and +bright pebbles glistened down to the shore-bridge, where the boat would +stop for passengers. We saw many islands where were beautiful houses and +gardens, and could see the people walking about in their island homes. +The most famous was Cockatoo Island whither the convicts were once sent, +from which there was no possible escape. There stood the houses in which +they had once lived. As the steamer glided on, we saw the ripe oranges +hanging from the trees, and when we landed to go to a hotel at +Parramatta, the perfume of the flowers followed us through the streets. + +"Oct. 9th: Your two letters came, and I had a rare treat reading them. I +was so glad to hear of the success you are having in the matter of +raising funds to build the chapel! Hurrah for those sisters at +Collingwood! We'll have a chapel, won't we? Certainly, if my wife takes +the enterprise in hand!" + +Mrs. Carr to Mr. Carr, while he was on his visit to Sidney: "It is very +stormy today on land,--what will it be on the sea? I dreamt last night +of a sinking ship. In reaching forward to save you, I awoke. May God +bring you back safe to me, my dear, dear husband! Jane Nash" (of whom +the reader is presently to hear) "is going to Tasmania in about a +fortnight to be married to Brother Smith; she wants you to perform the +ceremony. Can you not come home by way of Tasmania? Jane will go over +any time you can be there. Let us know." + +Among the young men who were bound to the Carrs by tender affection, and +a common religious interest, was George Smith, a hatter by trade. Some +time before the Sidney experience, Mr. Carr met Smith on the street, and +the young man grasped the minister's hand, while the tears shone in his +eyes. He had been out of a job for some time. "And now," he said, "I +have found a position. I answered an advertisement a few days ago, and +a telegram has come for me to take a place at once." + +"Then what is the trouble?" asked Mr. Carr. + +The trouble was that the position offered Smith was at Hobart Town, in +Tasmania. There was no Church of Christ at Hobart Town; there was no one +known to the young hatter, and, moreover, there was Jane! "How can I +leave the brethren?" exclaimed Smith; "and how can I leave Jane?" + +Jane Nash had been reared a Roman Catholic. Through the influence of her +suitor, she was induced to attend the preaching. She was so disturbed by +what she heard, that she resolved to take her Bible, visit the different +preachers, and have them point out the places that might tell her what +to do to be saved. She visited several; but they could only tell her to +read her Bible, to pray, to wait for a divine influence. At last, she +accosted Mr. Surber with her oft repeated question: "Will you tell me +what I must do to be saved?" + +"I cannot tell you," said Mr. Surber; "but I will direct you to those +who can; men who ought to know, for the Savior himself inspired them to +speak his will." + +[Illustration: Sydney Harbor] + +[Illustration: Port Jackson, Sydney] + +[Illustration: Sydney Harbor] + +Jane was greatly excited. Mr. Surber took her back to the day of +Pentecost, and had her sit under the preaching of Peter. Her question +was the very one Peter had been asked. The answer on that day was the +answer now. Jane confessed her faith, and was baptized. + +It was best for George Smith to leave Melbourne, that he might make a +home for himself and his betrothed. Dear as both were to the Carrs, they +urged the young man to accept the position, and Jane, to wait till he +could send for her. After they were married, they faded for a time from +the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Carr; but, as we shall presently see, they +were again to enter their history in a way more pronounced. + +In the meantime J. C. Keith writes from Louisville, and gives us a +melancholy bit of news as regards that Australian student whom we had +seen dropping potatoes, to hurry along his education; Keith writes to +Mrs. Carr: "I have read with interest all your articles to our different +papers. You are doing a noble work for the Master. Few women in this +fashion and money-loving age would endure so much for the Savior. Oh, +that woman would rise to the dignity of her position! * * * My letter +has been interrupted. The life of a city preacher is a checkered, yet a +glorious one. One day he exhorts the brethren to be faithful, the next +he faces a bridal pair, the next he stands beside the dead; then he +visits the poor and bereaved and goes reading, and singing, and praying, +on his way. I met Brother Earl and Magarey" (our Alex.) "Earl is working +hard to raise the $20,000 for your Bible College in Australia. I saw Mr. +Cowley yesterday. He is in this city, working for some Boston book +house." (This is our enthusiastic Australian pupil. Note his sequel.) +"Don't think the Cause lost much." (Ah, yes, let us solace ourselves as +best we may.) + +J. W. McGarvey writes encouraging words, not about young Cowley, who, +alas! is no longer ours, but regarding another Australian student who is +destined to remain in the fold: "Our Bible College is moving on with +steady growth. We have 107 matriculates and expect 20 more. The +_Apostolic Times_ is growing in favor, but not so rapidly as we would +like. The tendency among us is strongly in favor of latitudinarianism; +our opposition to this rouses counter opposition. _The Standard_, under +its free and easy policy, has almost caught up with the _Review_. _The +Christian_ has at last possession of the _Pioneer_, and has a clear +field in Missouri. We have recently had a runaway match of a rather +unusual character. A young son of Brother G. W. Longan of Missouri, who +was a student at the Bible College, got a dismissal to go home, and +slipped off with Emma Lard, Brother Lard's third daughter. Bad for the +children of two preachers! All the special friends of the parties are +very much mortified. The young couple are poor and inexperienced; they +have a poor prospect before them. "Brother Capp" (our young man from +Australia) "is making a good student. He is industrious, popular, and +recites very well for a new pupil. Much love to Sister Carr, and many +thanks for her good letters in the _Times_." + +John Augustus Williams is very doubtful about that Australian University +scheme; he writes to Mrs. Carr: "I know the Lord, by his tender +providence, is guiding you to do a good and noble work. I hardly know +what to say in reference to your proposed trip to the United States with +a view to raise funds for a College in Australia. No doubt you could +succeed better than Brother Earl" (whose efforts for $20,000 came to +nothing). "But you would assume a great undertaking. While I would give +you all the help I could, you would have to depend mainly on your own +personal appeals. It is impossible to excite any general interest in an +enterprise that lies so far away. Though Charity may extend a liberal +hand, she does not reach far." + +Mrs. Carr, in a letter, gives a sidelight on her busy life: "If you +could follow me one day through No. 4 Barclay Terrace, and then through +the streets of Melbourne, you would lay your finger upon my lips, should +I seek to apologize for not writing oftener. I am discharging some duty +every waking hour, and I rarely retire till after twelve. Yet with all +my humble efforts, a host of duties unfulfilled is daily pressing upon +my conscience. Often in the storm, it is a perplexity to know what +should be done first. But I rejoice that I had the strength to cut the +cord binding me to the vanities of life. No, I do not complain, for I +never _lived_ until I came to Australia. When I read, two years ago, +Mrs. Browning's line, 'Where we live, we suffer and toil,' I thought it +a golden bar of poetry; now I know it to be a diamond of truth. Then, it +moved my girl's spirit with the murmur of the outer world; now, it +pushes my woman's nature toward the inner significance of all things. +Yes, to suffer and toil, is to live! + +"So I enjoy this life; but I should enjoy it intensely, if I had but +three hours every day to devote to self-improvement. It may be a selfish +desire; not having a single hour to cultivate my mind, is a sore trial. +I try to smother this longing, fearing it may be wrong; but my every +effort seems to give it a brighter glow. It is a part of my life, a part +of the life that hungers after the beautiful, the wise, the infinite. If +I were with you, I would bore you from morning to night with poetry; for +during my summer vacations in girlhood, my store of poetry grew +painfully immense. Have you read 'Gold Foil,' and 'Bitter Sweet,' or +'Dream Life,' and 'Reveries of a Bachelor'? If not, a rich feast awaits +you. There is a deep, strong poetry in all that dropped from 'Ike +Marvel's pen, though he wrote nothing but prose. I thought of comparing +that brilliant writer to Washington Irving, but remembered the grave of +buried love, and Friendship weeping there, and my hand refused to commit +the sacrilege." + +In October, 1871, we find that one of our "Trio"--the +graduating class of '67--has been attacked by a foe from whom there is +to be no escape. The letter is from Albert Myles: "Yes, the notice in +the _Times_ by Brother Brooks was correct. I am disabled from +preaching--my last sermon was delivered April 26th, six months ago. I +may never be well enough to preach again, though I try to keep a brave +heart and hope on. It was at first a cold, of which I thought little, +but instead of getting better, I finally had a cough--the doctors said +it was bronchitis. By their advice, I resigned my position and went to +St. Louis, as the doctors said a rest would restore me. But shortly +after I came to the city, the 8th and Mound Street congregation +earnestly solicited my services. They are poor, and only about 200. I +consented to preach twice on Lord's day, if they would not ask me to +visit; but it was a mistake; the work did not seem heavy, but I grew +worse, and worse. I still thought my lungs were sound, and being called +to the church at Columbia, Mo., I thought I would go there for the +country air. I had been but a week or two, when I was compelled to quit +and return to St. Louis. I had the doctors examine me again, and, to my +utter astonishment, they said with great unanimity that I had old +fashioned tubercular consumption, and that my life depended upon +quitting preaching immediately, and that, for a good while. I have not +dared even to exhort in prayer meeting, since then. As to my coming to +Australia, the dangers of the voyage have never been considered by me. +But if I come--for I cannot even yet decide _not_ to do so--could the +trip improve me sufficiently to labor there? And suppose I came, and +could do no more than I do here! + +"My headquarters are still in St. Louis; but I am not living anywhere in +particular. I am at Mt. Sterling, Ky., now, where I see your brothers +nearly every day. They do not look strong, but you can't tell anything +about the Carr tribe by their looks, they are such a bony set! I must go +to church now--will finish this letter after church if strong enough." +The next day he takes up the pen again. "You have doubtless seen an +account of the death of my brother James. No man in the ministry did so +much work as he, in the same length of time. He was literally the victim +of overwork! We have also lost our darling little Allene; she was 20 +months old. Not only we, but every one thought her remarkably +beautiful. Dear Ol., you have never been blessed with one of these +little heavenly messengers; but neither have your hopes, once kindled, +been turned to ashes. May the Heavenly Father give us the strength to +endure." + +So cries out our young Christian soldier, almost fallen in the last +trench of the hard battle; a cry for help, but a cry, too, of fealty, to +his great Captain. One by one his arms have been stripped from his +feeble grasp--he cannot even exhort in prayer meeting!--and how fondly +he remembers the date of his last sermon!--and no little Allene ("I +shall never love another child so well," he says)--no fighting brother +James to carry on the standard. But he still hopes he may get to +Australia for missionary service. We, who cannot share his hopes, can at +least rejoice that he began duty so young; for consider this; in the few +years of his ministry, he has done more for Christ, than many a man of +sixty. + +His beloved schoolmate, Oliver Carr, stands much in the danger of James +Myles. His energies are all gone--we do not say wasted, but spent; a +vacation is imperative, and the missionary turns toward South Australia, +whence have come the letters from Magarey and Gore, and Gore's +father-in-law, Philip Santo. Mr. Carr goes thither on a visit to these +three--the rich miller, the evangelist and editor, and the rich iron +monger. This holiday furnishes us with the concluding series of the +present chapter. The time is the Australian spring (or American Fall) of +1871. + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr: "I am in Brother Gore's study at Clapham, safe +and sick. I was met by Santo," (M. P.) "Earl" (who failed in his attempt +to bring over American gold for our Australian College) "Moysey" (who +sold his calf some time ago to buy school books, not in vain) "Gore" +(who has a new baby, T. J., Jr., by name, and affords the Australianized +Kentuckian a fresh vantage point from which to argue against +homesickness) "and many others. I never was so thoroughly seasick. I was +on the bed or couch from one harbor to the other. I'm sick yet. Brother +Gore and I came near talking all last night through. I've been asked +many questions about Miss Ettie" (Gore's sister-in-law, who wrote to her +father, "I love you," and who is still attending Mrs. Carr's +boarding-school.) + +He writes the next day: "I've gotten off my sea-legs, but my health is +no better. We drove out to Magarey's and the family were glad to see us" +(no talk of sore-headed bears, we may conclude). "Alex. is well," (who +preaches while his brother "practices.") "For the first time, I pulled +ripe oranges from the tree. We talked incessantly. I ate six before +dinner." (The talk, then, not quite incessant!) "This country about +Adelaide is a level plain for 200 miles around the seashore, girt by +hills like those at Maysville on the Kentucky side. In the early +morning, as I look at those hills and the lovely plains silvered with +light, all is so much like home that my heart rises in my mouth, and I +could almost say poetry! Adelaide seems to have been laid out for about +200,000 people, but only about 30,000 have come; so the spaces between +the houses have been made into lawns and fragrant gardens. It is truly a +rural place. The houses are principally one-story, with gardens, trees, +etc. I only wish you were here to enjoy it. We talked about Kentucky +University and the 'boys,' etc., all day long. These are just my kind of +folk!" + +Mr. Carr a few days later: "I am resting, oh, so good! I'm as easy as an +old shoe--I wrote that while looking at Brother Santo, who had just +come in to sauce me. He is a good man; I have a deal of fun with him. I +get on the scales nearly every day to see if I've fattened. I wish you +could breathe this clear, fresh air, and the perfume of the roses! I can +hardly stop in the house long enough to write a letter. I baptized one +last night. I told you how scattered the houses of Adelaide are--no +danger of anybody's getting killed by being run over. This air is so +clear that you can distinctly see the bodies of the trees and the cows +grazing on the hills, six miles away. Tell Miss Ettie I don't blame her +for being homesick for a place like this; all the family are just like +Miss Ettie, so you would like them all." + +Mrs. Carr to Mr. Carr: "I am distressed over Dr. Campbell's diagnosis. +If your right lung is weak, a few more weeks' preaching in the hall +would bring on disease. Now, my dear husband, the best thing that you +could do, is to act the part of a rational being by taking the doctor's +advice. If you will spend the summer in Tasmania" (whither our friend +Geo. Smith has gone to make tall silk hats,) "I will gladly stay here in +Melbourne for your sake. If you ought to return to America before the +building of the Chapel--in other words, before the Cause is firmly +established in Collingwood,--I am willing to do that or anything to +re-establish your health. These are only suggestions; your own judgment +must decide. No consideration could induce me to oppose you in any +course the doctor might pronounce. Ollie, take good care of yourself. I +am glad you and Brother Gore are going to the mountains. Climb Mt. +Lofty, if it is accessible. You won't be able to tease Ettie about her +country, when you return, you are so enthusiastic about its beauties. My +birthday party passed off happily. My girls surprised me with a +beautiful toast rack, butter knife and candlestick. It was a real +surprise. We had delightful music. Two complimentary tickets just came +for you from the Town Hall. Ettie and I will have the tickets, and you +can have the honor. May the Lord bless you, my darling, and give you the +strength to accomplish your proposed work in this land. I will be as +economical as I can, that your health may not suffer for want of travel. +Your large donation to the Chapel Fund will make things a little hard, +but the Lord will supply us in a way that we know not." + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr: "I have been with Alex. to see such sights from +the top of Mt. Lofty, as I cannot describe. The Magareys have done their +best to make me happy, and oh, I do enjoy it! We went to church; +Brother ---- gave us the fall of Jericho. We got home at 9, enjoyed our +cocoa, then to rest. Brother Gore is going to give his class a two +weeks' holiday; then we will go fishing, and sit on the fence! We have +great audiences here, our Cause is very strong in this country; and yet +there are only about 350 real members (year 1870) in Adelaide; the +faithful are few!" + +Mrs. Carr to Mr. Carr: "I miss your wise counsel and kind encouragement +in the discharge of duties. I would not wish to live without you; I feel +that I could not. I hope you will write to Brother Albert Myles without +delay. In his present health, he must be greatly crushed by the death of +his brother. If you do not take the rest you require, you will go as +perhaps Brother Albert is going. The Lord bless Brothers Santo and Gore +for their goodness to you! Ollie, I wish you would write more of what +you feel, and less of what you see. I want to know if you are any +better, and I want to know Dr. Campbell's opinion _in full_. Ettie and +I enjoyed the annual meeting of the deaf and dumb at the Town Hall. We +had a representation of a cricket match; and the battle of Hastings. How +did you happen to write 'Six shillings are too much for the book?' In my +opinion you should have said 'Six shillings are too _many_,' or, '_is_ +too much.' I called on the American consul's wife; both are pleasant +people. I am still determined to keep you in Tasmania two or three +months during the summer, even if I have to keep lodgers." + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr: "I find no fault in what you have written for the +_Times_, why you should not have it published. I return you the MS. with +my approval. Brother Gore and I went by coach to a fine old English +tavern at Port Elliott where we staid till Saturday. I got you some +shells. We wandered over the beautiful fields, gathering the wild +flowers daily, and hourly left our little (?) footprints on the beach to +be washed away. I wish you could have seen that view! Mattie, do you +think I would let you stop at home and slave away, for _me_ to have all +the fun, just because of what Dr. Campbell says about one lung? I am +glad your birthday party passed off so well. Many thanks for the +flowers from your bouquet." + +Mrs. Carr to Mr. Carr: "I am sending you an article for the _Times_, for +you to criticise. Return it to me and I will send it to Brother +McGarvey, as I want to write to him. If there is anything in the article +you disapprove, underline it, and perhaps I will omit. That which you +cannot _tolerate_, doubly underline, and I will certainly strike it out. +Does the little boy really cry for _you_, when you start for town, or +isn't it for Brother Gore? Thanks for the nice flowers. I appreciate +such a remembrance from my 'prosy husband.' If Ettie returns next year, +I will keep you in Tasmania for your health three months. She is such a +good girl, I love her more every day. I miss you more than I can tell, +darling; but I have made up my mind to do what is best for you. Brother +Dick remembered you at morning service, yesterday. It is after eleven +now, and I must read some French before I sleep." + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr: "I am sorry I wrote you anything about Dr. +Campbell's notion--I believe you called it a 'diagnosis.' There is +nothing serious. My breathing is all right,--but my _unbreathing_ isn't +perfect. But I think I'm coming round finely. I shall certainly write +to Albert Myles. Brother Santo is teasing me--I can't write. He is such +a jolly good soul. He has been put up for the Upper House, and is pretty +sure to go in. Much excitement about it. Brother Gore and I tease him +all the time." + +Mrs. Carr to Mr. Carr: "I still insist upon that Tasmania trip. Sister +Smith is confident you can do much good there during your two months' +rest." (Sister Smith is the Jane Nash, once a Catholic, whom Geo. Smith +left when he accepted his position in Tasmania. Ever since the hatter +went thither, he has urged the Carrs to come and establish a Church of +Christ; now that he has married Jane, he has a faithful ally in sending +the call for help to Melbourne.) "Expenses are running up, and I have no +way to meet the bills; but the Lord has helped us in the past, and he +will in the future. Your trip to Adelaide has put us in debt; but never +mind, we will get out; just now, we must restore my darling's health. +Your letter was read to the church last Lord's day, and all were +rejoiced at the improvement of your health. They say it is a shame you +have never had a long rest after three constant years of labor! They +desire very much your recovery, for they know how much depends upon you +at Collingwood. I am writing on your table in Ettie's room. She occupies +your study and will till you return. Aren't we saucy girls! But you will +be so glad to see us, you won't scold. My eyes are closing--so good +night, my love." + +[Illustration: In Botanical Garden, Melbourne] + +[Illustration: In Botanical Garden, Melbourne] + +[Illustration: Town Hall, Melbourne +Seats 4,000 on First Floor] + +[Illustration: In Botanical Garden] + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr: "Had a long talk with Sister ---- . She is too +despondent to be a happy woman. There's no use in such a thing as that. +Be cheerful and happy! I wish you were with me here at Two Wells. I was +at the Port yesterday, 7 miles away, and got to fishing and got several +bites, and came near catching a fish. I had him near the top of the +boat, but he--" (Ah, yes!) "I am now at North Adelaide, at Magarey's. +Everybody in the room is talking away, telling me what to write--write +this and that--'Tell Mrs. Carr that joke on you,' etc. Such a pleasant +visit!--talk, music, etc., and I played drafts and beat them badly every +time, and then threatened to beat my antagonist with the board. Brother +Thomas Magarey and I had a long walk and talk. He is a fine man and is +sorry for ever having misunderstood me, and been led to think strange +of us. He shows a great interest in your work." + +In the next chapter, we enter upon that Tasmanian visit which was +destined to be of far greater proportions than Mrs. Carr at first +planned. As a final word on the life at Melbourne, we quote from Mrs. +Carr's diary, when all were together in the work: + +"My evening class as usual. Ollie is with his Adelphian that he loves so +well. How it has grown in favor under his good and gentle guidance! How +delightful to see him yield a Christian influence over the hearts of +those destined to become the pillars of the church! + +"Took two young ladies to Chapel. They had never seen a baptism before, +and were favorably impressed. + +"Had a talk with my dear husband on the Baptism of Jesus and John. How +hard I try to be worthy of Ollie! + +"Ollie went to officers' meeting after preaching, and came home after +twelve, much exhausted. Blessed Savior give him health and strength, and +keep me humble. + +"Wrote to President Williams about my plan for an Australian College. +Blessed Savior, give my husband strength to labor for Thee." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +EXPERIENCES IN TASMANIA. + + +The following extracts from letters of 1872 furnish an interesting +account of the removal from Melbourne to Hobart Town, Tasmania. Mr. Carr +writes to Mrs. Carr: "Arrived at Lancaster, safe but sick, January 6th. +We set out for the Temperance Hotel, but it had become intemperate and +gorged with guests before we got there. We went on, and have struck a +bargain with an old woman who charges us one-six for each meal, and +one-six every time we sleep. I came near stealing a march on my landlady +by falling asleep this afternoon without the old lady's knowing it. +Pretty high fare, but we are high up in the second story. Called on a +Church of England acquaintance; he didn't invite me to his residence, +but asked me to his pew. The coach doesn't leave for Hobart Town till +Tuesday at 5 a. m. This place is just now taken by storm by pleasure +parties from Melbourne; I suppose they will go on to Hobart Town. I am +better to-day. I do believe if I stayed here, I could establish a +church. The people are delighted to hear of your teaching, and of your +plan of teaching. Shall I get you any boarding pupils? I believe this +climate will be good for me. + +"January 10. We arrived at Hobart Town last evening. Brother Smith was +at the Coach Office, by chance or providence. There were 48 passengers. +It was a very large open coach and we had a fine view of the country +from Launceston to Hobart. All the cabmen and mischievous boys in the +country flocked around to see why such a big affair had come to town. We +were very cordially received by Brother and Sister Smith, and after +cocoa, went to bed, and that was delightful, too. It is raining today, +and I feel wretchedly dull and bad. I can hardly sit up. + +"January 15. I do trust you are not discouraged. I am not. Remember you +are a child of God, and all things work together for your good. I +believe I have come to Hobart Town just at the right time, and the Lord +will bless my coming to the good of this people, and the restoration of +my health. I am enjoying the hospitality of Brother and Sister Smith, +who show me every attention. She prepares many nice things for me to +eat, and he has given me a fine new hat. I have a front room and a +parlor all to myself, and the climate suits me exactly. Brother Smith +and I went to the Baptist prayer meeting, and afterwards, they insisted +that I preach on Lord's day. They asked me many questions, to which I +returned Scriptural answers; I told them all about the church to which I +belong, and what I preach; and they agreed, and I came home on tiptoe. + +"The next night I went to Town Hall where the different preachers had +been preaching all week. Sunday morning I preached at the Baptist chapel +to a good audience. Then we ate the Lord's supper. I insisted on the +ancient order of things--especially on meeting the first day of the week +to break bread. They were delighted, and said I must preach in their +chapel whenever I wanted to speak. There is a prayer meeting held every +day at noon, and preaching held three or four times a week in the +people's hall; but oh, they are so benighted! They don't know the Gospel +in its beauty and power. I just burn to preach to them. I will, if I get +half a chance. + +"January 20. I am called on from every quarter to speak. All seem +interested in my sermons. Things look bright, now; but I fear they will +soon become prejudiced against the truth. + +"January 27. I agree with you about the brick Chapel, and leave it all +to you. I do hope they will not put up a wooden one. But they had better +not have any Chapel, than to quarrel over it. If the majority say a +wooden Chapel, a wooden one let it be. I don't believe in the +Collingwood Church's going down. The faithful will remain faithful, +despite a Chapel. The people here are becoming enthusiastic. Among my +large audience Thursday night, I had two preachers. The people say they +never heard such preaching in their lives. I am trying to work them +around on Apostolic grounds. Now, Mattie, do not think all for me, and +nothing for yourself. I could never forgive myself if I came here for my +health, and you overworked. Do not let the building of the Chapel take +too much of your strength. + +"February 6. Last Lord's day I spoke on [13]'My Sheep' and there were +about half a dozen of the higher Calvinists--who own the Chapel--who +were not pleased. They will hold a church meeting next Thursday to +decide whether or not I am to preach in their Chapel any more. Perhaps +if they turn me out of their place it will be for the best, because the +people who have been thronging there, do not believe in Calvinism; I am +sure none would take steps to the Savior in that church, while I am +preaching. I could rent a hall for eight, a week, and think after a +while I can have a church here. The people meet me on the street and +take me by the hand and say, 'I do wish you were going to live here,' +etc. Last Lord's day, I spoke on the wharf to what is said to have been +the largest audience ever assembled there. I am going to speak tonight +at the People's Hall. But you must not think, dear Mattie, I am +overdoing my strength; for it is no harder to preach than to go out to +tea and talk. + +"February 10. Great excitement in church affairs. I preached on John +10:27, and the audience was much interested, even excited, so that they +began to talk in the yard about the absurdity of the church's bringing +me to task. But I went in to my trial. One of the deacons made the +motion that because I preached that it was possible for one who had been +converted, to fall away and be lost, and because I said that Christ +died for all, the Chapel be no longer tendered to me.[14] The motion was +put, and only this deacon and two others voted for it. One man would not +vote either way, and four voted in the negative. The chairman announced +that I could use the Chapel when I liked, only three being opposed. But +I declined to accept the offer, and yesterday tried all day to get a +place to preach in; but was told in each place, "No, it would injure the +other congregations, by drawing away their members." I am going to +preach on the wharf tomorrow, where I will have a larger audience than I +could ever have at the Chapel. The cause of the Master will not be hurt +by this opposition. The editor of a weekly paper has offered me one page +to edit religiously, and thus I will preach to the people. Brother and +Sister Smith and I sat up late last night talking over the situation. +She cried like a child and he is so excited over the matter that he +doesn't know what to do. They will give us a room as long as we can +stay. You must come. + +"February 11. To-day has been one of great anxiety. As I could not get a +hall to preach in, I thought it best to go to the Baptist Chapel as a +hearer. The deacon of whom I wrote yesterday, preached in a vexing +manner and Brother Smith was highly wrought up over the +misrepresentations of my position. I preached on the wharf to a large +throng in the afternoon, and at night heard a celebrated +Congregationalist. I was so disappointed at passing one Lord's day +evening without preaching the Word, that I was unable to give him a fair +hearing. The people are in a furor because I cannot get a place to +preach in. One lady whom I have never met, offers to give £5 toward +erecting some sort of shed, that I may have a place to preach. I am not +discouraged. Not even in Old Kentucky did I ever see so much interest +manifested. The Lord will surely make some way here that his Truth may +be heard." + +From Mrs. Carr to Mr. Carr: "My heart is full of you and your mission, +and prayers for your success. I believe the Lord will bless your +efforts. I am determined that you shall have a hall to preach in, I know +you will never sacrifice any of the fullness of the Gospel, hence you +cannot continue at the Baptist Chapel. I send you £8 that you may rent +a first-class hall. This I have borrowed, and I would borrow for +nothing but to further your efforts in the Gospel. People ask me if you +have had any 'Results.' Do not write to any one but me, of your labors, +until you have had what the people call 'Results,'--until at least 20 +have obeyed the Gospel. I will pay your rent until then, and after that +you may be sure of the hearty co-operation of the churches. It is the +_work performed_ that determines the value of any instrumentality. At +least, that is the opinion of the churches; and their idea of work +performed is embodied in '_Converts_,' or, as some say, '_Results_.' And +they are not wholly wrong. Don't write to others about your work until +you have success. The £8 will rent a hall for two months at £1 per week, +and by that time you will certainly have some 'Results.' But don't +forget to take care of my darling's health. I do trust that your success +will be such that you can stay three months longer. A gentleman we met +in London at Mr. Murby's, called with letters and papers from Mrs. +Murby. She says we must make up our minds to a long stay with her in +London, on our return to Kentucky." + +We resume Mr. Carr's letters to Mrs. Carr: "I have done it. I have +rented one of the best places in the city, Odd Fellows' Hall, for 13-9 +per week, including cleaning, gas, etc. Am now at the printing office +getting out posters. We are to have six hymns printed for next Lord's +day. I will ask baptized believers to remain after the sermon, to see +how many members of the church there will be. Tell Brother Dick to send +50 hymn books, with bill. And tell him to send my baptizing suit in the +same box. + +"February 19. Our first day at the hall was a very successful one. The +house was crowded and the people stood at the door. Poor Brother Smith +is hardly able to contain himself for joy. On Tuesday we meet to +organize a church. Don't forget to send that baptizing suit. + +"February 20. To-night (Tuesday) we met in a side room of the Odd +Fellows' Hall and talked on the basis of union. I answered their +questions, and we had a happy time. Then I asked all to hold up their +hands who were in favor of taking simply the New Testament as their rule +of faith and practice, and nearly every one held up his hand. Fifteen of +those who had been baptized, gave me their names, pledging themselves +to live by the Word of God. So you see, we have a start even in Hobart +Town. + +"February 27. Lord's day evening the hall was crowded; some stood, some +sat on the floor. There are some candidates for baptism, but a +difficulty has arisen. The three who objected to my preaching, do not +want to let me have the use of the baptistry. They have called a church +meeting to which I am invited to explain what I make of baptism.[15] In +the morning we met at the hall to break bread, so I regard the church as +begun in Hobart Town. Our collection from the 15 who have taken their +stand with us, was 1-6-0 last Lord's day morning. Pretty good for a +start, isn't it? I will soon be able to return that money you borrowed. +There is no communion service in Hobart Town, and I had to send to +Melbourne for one. + +"March 5. Our evening audiences are increasing, but only a few meet to +break bread in the morning. The people are so ignorant of everything +pertaining to Christianity, that I have to teach them as if they were +children, sure enough. Many never heard of what I preach; and while +they admit the truth of it, they stand aloof. About 500 read each week +my religious page of the _Advance_. That is better than tracts. Come to +Tasmania! I am sure you could do a good work here, and this climate +would restore your health. We will treat you, oh so well! Let me know +when to expect you, and I will go out and sit on the wharf and wait for +you." + +Mrs. Carr to Mr. Carr: "The _Southern Cross_ leaves Melbourne the 26th +of March, the anniversary of our wedding. I wish we could be together in +Hobart Town on that day. I will bring my piano. If you are on the wharf +at 6:30 Thursday morning you will see your wife. But I'll not expect you +there, for I remember your motto--'He who cannot rest his head upon his +pillow and enjoy his forty morning winks, is up to knavery, or else he +drinks!' At the tea meeting everybody asked about you, and expressed joy +at your success. The brethren are delighted that you have established a +church in Tasmania. No, I will not bring Sister Smith a half dozen +_reams_ of cotton; paper is sold by the ream; but thread by the gross; +perhaps you meant reels. It does seem strange that in less than a week, +I'll see my husband! I scarcely know how I'll behave myself! An appeal +was made to the Lygon street church for assistance to Collingwood, in +the erection of a brick chapel. All thoughts of a wooden building have +been abandoned, and harmony is prevailing. I am sure I'll get pupils on +the piano and guitar when we are established at Hobart Town. President +Williams' last words to me were, '_Only believe_, Mattie, and the light +of his face will always shine upon you.' I believe the Lord will open a +way for our support, if not through my labors, in some other way. I am +going to have your faith, Ollie, and I know I'll be happy. Take good +care of yourself. I'm sure you work too hard. Remember your work and +your wife, and _take care of your health_!" + +The reader who has followed the preceding pages does not need to be told +why the Carrs finally left Australia. The admonition which each +constantly gave the other--"Take care of your health,"--could not be +observed. Even on holidays, as we have seen, hard work came pressing at +the door; and the climate was never favorable to the constitution of the +missionaries. They left, at last; but the Collingwood Church +established through their efforts, remains to perpetuate their +influence. At Hobart Town, success came in spite of active opposition. +When Mr. Carr was challenged with the inquiry, 'What do you think is the +design of baptism?'--his reply was as follows: + +"'He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.' That is what the +Savior says. That is what I think." + +This reply was so unsatisfactory that he was refused the use of the +baptistry. The town, less scrupulous in its views, proffered the use of +public baths. The public would assemble upon the porch of the bathroom, +and, in the salt water, the converts would be immersed. It was not in +vain that Mr. Carr preached on "My sheep hear my voice." The entire +Baptist Church with the exception of six came to the congregation at the +rented hall. At the end of three months, Mrs. Carr joined her husband. +During the year in Tasmania, they lived with the Smiths. Mrs. Carr +taught music, and she and Mrs. Smith made sailors' caps and sold them to +help on with the missionary work. Whaling ships came in there, and the +demand for sailors' caps was unceasing. + +But while Mrs. Carr thus lived in partial seclusion, sewing and +teaching music lessons, her thoughts reached far beyond the straitened +opportunities of the colonies. Five years from the native land had +resulted so far as visible results went, in the establishment of two +churches, one in Melbourne, one in Hobart Town. Such accomplishments +were well worth the sacrifices they had demanded, but they were +achievements aside from those definite ideals which she had formed at +the beginning of her school life. Her boarding school in Melbourne had +done much good, but it was not a permanent institution; with her +departure, it passed away; and she was resolved that out of her life +should come a monumental school, which, though she departed, should +remain. Her plans conflicted with her husband's intense zeal for souls, +hence she quietly worked away at sailors' caps, and agreed, if he +thought best, to go next to New Zealand for the Cause. But at last, when +it became manifest that his health demanded a rest from work too great +for even a strong man, and a decided change of climate, she declared for +a return to America. To go back meant not only the probable regaining of +his health, but the carrying out of her educational ambitions; and in +order the better to perfect herself in her chosen work, and to secure +the needed rest for both, she resolved that they should spend the next +year in travel, studying the countries of the Orient, and dwelling among +the hills round about Jerusalem. + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, from Hobart Town, January 17, 1873: "Last night +we had our Tea Meeting and oh! such a Tea it was! Everybody seemed +pleased with everything but one abominably long address. The speech of +the evening had much about you; 'a lady of such rare abilities,' 'your +condescension in coming amongst them,' 'they would never find your +equal,' etc. The good you have done, your kindness to all, your talents, +were dwelt upon by nearly every speaker. Poor Brother Jones could hardly +restrain his feelings. He said he had never seen your like. The singing +was splendid. The room was most tastefully decorated. 'Farewell to +Brother and Sister Carr for a season,' and 'Welcome to Brother G. B. +Moysey,' were the letters hanging about." (Mr. Carr's successor at +Hobart Town was that Moysey who had sold his calf for learning.) "After +Brother Moysey's first sermon on Lord's day, there was one confession. +It was a grand sermon,--he is just the man for the place and I am sure +will do a splendid work here. Everybody sends love to you. I am so +excited, I'm ill. I do hate to go from here. I never knew before how +much I thought of this people. I have spent three days taking Brother +Moysey around to see the people in their homes. I am so sorry to hear of +your illness. Take good care of your health. Love to Brothers Gore, +Santo, and everybody--dear me! I can write no more." + + +[13] See appendix. + +[14] See appendix, "My Sheep." + +[15] See appendix. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. + + +An account of one's travels in lands far from the scene of one's +life-work, has no proper place in biography, unless such travels reveal +or develop characteristics of the traveler. No matter how wide-spread +may be the interest in the countries traversed, the biographer has no +right to convey his reader from land to land, simply because the feet of +his subject have gone on before. We would, therefore, pass over the +oriental experiences of Mr. and Mrs. Carr with but a word, if we did not +have before us extensive notes on the journey, in Mrs. Carr's own hand. + +The fact that she wrote of her experiences, makes them at once of +biographical value, for we are enabled to observe the reaction of +peoples and countries upon her own mind. While it is true that these +notes were made that she might tell others what she had seen, it must be +remembered that they were not intended for publication. + +"On a beautiful May morning, the pet steamer of the Peninsular and +Oriental Line, with all canvas spread, was skimming the smooth waters +of the Indian Ocean. No albatross of ill-omen hovered round our ship. +The passengers, light-hearted and joyous, were chatting under the +awning,--when the man at the wheel shouted, 'Fire! fire!' + +"At that awful word, every man of the crew was at his post, while pale +passengers stared at each other, fainting women fell into trembling +arms, and the children caught the contagion of fear. Suddenly our +Captain turned his wide-mouthed trumpet upon us and shouted: + +"'Ladies and gentlemen, I beg your pardon; the crew is on a fire drill!' +Those who had fainted, never forgave him for his failure to notify them +of what was to happen. + +"A night of excitement succeeded. About ten o'clock, while we were on +deck, enjoying the balmy air of the tropics, the sharp report of a +pistol was heard, its flash gleamed for an instant on the waters,--and a +suicide had cast a gloom over all. A night of watching by the dead +passed, and at the rising of the sun we witnessed a burial at sea. The +body, enclosed in a canvas sack and weighted with iron, was laid upon a +latticed bier close to the opened gangway. It was held in place by two +guards lest, even in that calm sea, a sudden tilt of the ship send it +into its grave before the time. The service of the Church of England was +read; then the body fell heavily into the waters, there to remain until +the coming of that sound which is to penetrate even the depths of old +ocean. + +"A few days sail brought us to the luxuriant shores of Ceylon. We spent +several days driving over the beautiful island, through cocoanut and +banana groves and cinnamon gardens, inhaling the spicy breezes, and +sorrowing over the degradation of the people. + +"From this beautiful but sin-cursed isle, our ship soon brought us +through the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, and anchored at Aden, on the +barren shores of Arabia. Near Aden are situated the immense tanks +holding millions of gallons of water, without which the land would be +uninhabitable. Continuing our voyage up the Red Sea, we passed Mocha, +renowned for its coffee, and in due time arrived at the gate-entrance of +the great Sinaitic Peninsula,--Suez. + +"Suez, washed upon one side by the sea, is encircled upon the others by +the barren wastes of the desert. No tree, shrub, or blade of grass, +relieves the gloomy sterility of the landscape. We hasten on by rail. +Soon a long, low line of water appears, just beside the railroad track. +Behold, it is the Nile--that river cradled in the depths of mysterious +caverns, forcing its way through granite ledges and mountain barriers, +rushing over cataracts, foaming through narrows, then flowing gently +onward, singing amid perpetual sunshine, until it empties by its seven +mouths into the great blue sea. A river which has a place in history by +the side of the Euphrates and the Jordan; a river which the Egyptians +worshiped, and the miracle of whose waters made a Pharaoh tremble; a +river on whose banks perished Thebes with her hundred gates, and Memphis +with her monuments; a river that has seen the coming of Ethiopian and +Persian, Macedonian and Roman, Saracen and Turk, in fulfillment of the +curse God spoke through Ezekiel. + +"After stopping at numerous stations where we were greeted by sights, +sounds, and odors peculiar to the coarse civilization of the Orient, the +minarets of Cairo and the pyramids of Gizeh looked down upon us. After a +minute examination of the pyramids" (I omit a thoughtful and logical +disquisition on the various problems presented by these monuments) "we +drove back to Cairo under the grateful shade of the lebbekh trees, over +a fine macadamized road, built in 1868 in honor of the Prince and +Princess of Wales. After a pleasant and profitable talk with the +American consul, who kindly came to bring us our passports, and to +invite us to dine with him, we reviewed, as usual, the scenes of the +day, and rested as only weary sight-seers can rest. + +"Early the next morning, we drove through the Esbekeeyah, the Corso of +Cairo, on our way to Heliopolis. It is easily identified from a distance +by the oldest obelisk in Egypt, bearing the name of the founder of the +XXII. dynasty. In Scripture, Heliopolis is called On. Moses is said to +have studied here, and Joseph's father-in-law was a priest of its +renowned temple. Here Plato lived for thirteen years. It seems to have +been literally a city of obelisks, for it furnished all that have been +transported to Europe. Its destruction was prophesied by Ezekiel. + +"The way to the magnificent palace of Shoobra lies along a beautiful +avenue of sycamore, fig, and acacia. The Shoobra road is the 'Rotten +Row' of Cairo. It is perhaps the most republican promenade in the world. +No vehicle or animal is excluded. The Khedive and his outriders are +jostled in most unseemly fashion by bare-boned donkeys whipped along by +ragged urchins. Ministers, consuls, bankers, money-changers, +speculators, singers, actors, ballet-dancers, adventurers, and not least +conspicuous, English-speaking tourists, form a curious medley. After a +drive to the tombs of the Caliphs through sand that buried our carriage +wheels almost to the hub, we spent a pleasant evening with the American +consul and his accomplished wife in their beautiful oriental home, then +slept the dreamless sleep of the weary traveler. + +"In the early morning we mounted our donkeys which were ornamented +gorgeously in oriental style. These donkeys, in honor of our nativity, +had been christened Uncle Sam and Yankee Doodle. We expressed our +appreciation of such patriotic names, when, lo! almost every donkey in +Cairo, in the neighborhood of our hotel was suddenly transformed into an +Uncle Sam or a Yankee Doodle. But Mr. Carr and I would not desert the +first of the name. + +"I wish you could have seen us flying along the Nile at the rate of the +Western Lightning Express, Eli, without either bridle or mane to +cling to, our English tongues crying, 'Stop! stop!'--which the Arab ears +of our muleteers interpreted into, 'Faster! faster!' Our muleteers were +very accommodating fellows, and their interpretation encouraged them to +renewed efforts to increase the speed of our donkeys, by applying, every +thirty seconds, a sharp-pointed steel instrument. Our English-speaking +dragoman was too far ahead to hear our cries of distress as we rocked in +the cradle of (on) the donkey. + +[Illustration: A New Year's Reception] + +"After an hour's most exciting ride, we dismounted at the Museum of +Egyptian Antiquities. Here is a mummy coffin, whose hieroglyphics +demonstrate that the ancient Egyptians had a conception of hell and +heaven, and a belief in the immortality of the soul. There is an +inscription proving that the Sphinx existed before the time of Cheops; +and that even then, the people were rich and civilized. Here are ancient +knives, scissors, needles, etc., but nothing is made of iron, which they +thought a bone of their evil genius. Here on exhibition are the +magnificent jewels found on the mummy of Queen Aoh-Hotep, the mother of +the first king of the XVIII. dynasty. + +"Here can be found the confirmation of many narratives of the Old +Testament. The first great event in the Kingdom of Judah, after its +separation, was the invasion of Shishak, king of Egypt. According to the +sacred record, Shishak came against Jerusalem with 1,200 chariots and +60,000 horsemen, took the fenced cities, and was about to invest the +capital, when Rehoboam made his submission. + +"On the outside of the great temple at Karnak, hieroglyphics commemorate +the success of Shishak against Judah, and records a long list of +captured towns--the fenced cities of Scripture. The picture Moses gives +of a Pharaoh ruling over an absolute monarchy, finds confirmation in the +ancient Egyptian tombs. From vast numbers of papyri, we learn in detail +of that old civilization--records which even Herodotus was not able to +read. + +"In these we find a counterpart of the picture of that country presented +by Moses. After a slumber of 3,000 years, these records present the +people prostrating themselves, the laborers storing away grain, the +baker with his three baskets upon his head, the brickyards with Jewish +laborers supervised by Egyptian taskmasters, etc. + +"In the Museum of Antiquities are statues of kings and queens who lived +in the era between Moses and Abraham. In front of them is an immense +glass case in which is deposited their crown jewels, artistically +executed. Among them is a massive gold chain, more exquisitely beautiful +than anything I saw in the Tower, among Victoria's crown jewels, unless +I except the Kohinoor. It was more beautiful than the jeweled swordhilt, +breast plate or crown of the Shah of Persia, worn at his reception at +Milan, though they represented nearly half the wealth of his kingdom. + +"Thus it is proved that in the era in which Joseph received the chain of +gold from Pharaoh, such chains, of rare workmanship, were already in +vogue. Less than a century ago, critics were hurling their shafts of +contempt against the so-called blunders of Moses; but monumental history +substantiates his credibility. Truly, Egypt is one of God's historic +books. His handwriting is on temple and tablet and tomb. Here dead men +speak, and stones rise up to testify. Bricks of unburnt clay, torn up +from the ruins of centuries, tell of Israel's bondage and labor. + +"Of course we went to the bazaars and parks, cathedrals and mosques, +the missionary schools, and the College of Cairo--the principal +University of the East. And then to Alexandria--to which the ancient +city has, indeed, bequeathed nothing but its name. Though earth and sea +have remained unchanged, imagination can scarcely find a place for the +ancient walls. Little vestige remains of the magnificent days of the +Ptolomies and the Cæsars. + +"One-fourth of the population is foreign; the city seethes with the scum +of all the cities of the Mediterranean. Here luxury and literature, the +Epicurean and the Christian, dwelt together; but now, in the Oriental +part, one finds only dirty, narrow, tortuous streets, mud-colored +buildings with terraced roofs, varied by fat mosques with lean minarets. + +"Here once stood the renowned library of antiquity. Here the Hebrew +Scriptures expanded into Greek under the hands of the Septuagint. Here +Cleopatra, '_Vainquer des vainquer du monde_' reveled with the Roman +conqueror; here Mark preached the truth upon which Origen attempted to +refine; here Athenasius held warlike controversy; here Amer conquered, +and here Abercrombie fell. + +"In company with our intelligent dragoman, we sailed from Alexandria on +a Russian steamship, and, after a voyage of a day and a half, beheld the +queer stone city of Joppa, with its fort-like houses rising tier above +tier on the hillside. + +"I cannot describe the enthusiasm we felt at the thought that we were at +last to walk upon the soil hallowed by the feet of patriarchs, prophets +and apostles and to visit the scenes where they lived, labored, and +communed with God. We walked through the winding, slanting streets of +Joppa, and called at the house of Simon the tanner. + +"So well preserved were the vats of his tannery that one would hardly +have been surprised to find the distinguished guest of Simon walking on +the housetop in the twilight. But we must confess that we could not +identify this house by the description given in the tenth chapter of +Acts. + +"Leaving Joppa early in the afternoon, in a German spring-wagon, and +passing through the only gate on the land side, we set our faces toward +the Holy City. Gardens and orchards, groves of orange, fig, and +pomegranate, made the country delightful. Our road lay directly across +the plain of Sharon. + +"Isaiah prophesied that Sharon should be a wilderness, and the black +huts of the Bedouin tell the fulfillment of that prediction. We look in +vain for the beautiful flower to which Solomon likened his beloved. But +although man is no longer regaled by its fragrance, the true Rose of +Sharon still unfolds its charms to every believer, whether he be a child +of the plain, or the mountain. + +"We passed by Ludd, and refreshed ourselves at the Arimathea of Joseph. +We approached the hillside village of Kirjath-jearim, with its terraces +of olives and fig trees. Leaving the valley of Ajalon, the rough +macadamized road led us up the rocky sides of Judea's hills. We traveled +nearly all night; and, just as we reached the highest point in the road, +between the sea and the river, the rising sun unveiled to us the +minarets and domes and massive walls of Jerusalem. I cannot tell you +how inspiring, how deep, were the emotions that came crowding upon +brain and heart. + +"When we were about five miles from the city, a young man, mounted upon +a beautiful Arab steed, brought us to a halt, with a courteous wave of +his hand, and, in broken English, presented us with the card of the +Mediterranean Hotel. We learned that the proprietor was a convert of Dr. +Barclay, and decided to make his house our home during our stay. In a +little while we entered the Joppa gate amid cries of squalid beggars, +and, a few yards from that entrance, dismounted before our hotel. It +stands on Mt. Zion, in the shadow of the Tower of David, and here we +received that cordial welcome accorded to those willing to pay $3 a day. + +"Standing on the heights of Mt. Zion with your face to the east, you +have before you the Tyropeon Valley, now so full of debris as scarcely +to appear as a valley. Looking a little to the north you behold Mt. +Moriah where now stand the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque of El Akra. +Beyond these to the east, is the deep Valley of Jehosaphat with the +brook Kedron and the supposed Garden of Gethsemane, and beyond rises the +beautiful summit of the Mount of Olives. Northward is Akra, and east of +it Bezetha, two of the hills on which the city originally stood, and a +part of which it still covers. + +"We have lingered at Bethesda, whence the angel has departed; at +Siloam's fountain; at the Wailing Place where the Jews, every Friday +afternoon, lament in the language of their poets, the misfortunes of +their people; at the Dome of the Rock with its marvelous Moslem wonders; +at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, that centre of enslaving +superstition, whose annual triumphs cast a ray of hope adown the narrow +halls of the Vatican. Through a hole in the wall of the Chapel of +Angelo, a torch is annually passed out, supposedly lighted by fire from +heaven. The pilgrims wait in the darkness with wax tapers, to be lighted +from celestial fire. The devotees bathe their hands in the flame, to +secure a special blessing; and the extinguished tapers are carried to +20,000 distant homes, to be as devoutly reverenced as the pilgrims who +carry them. + +"There is nothing in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that is not +saddening to the heart of the enlightened. Through our visit to this +building we had the honor of making the acquaintance of the Bishop of +Jerusalem, and receiving from him diplomas testifying to our Oriental +travel. I fear I should forfeit mine could he know my unorthodox +opinions of the 'sacred spots' of the Church. + +[Illustration: Woman of Bethlehem] + +"I loved to walk along the Via Dolorosa, to visit the home of Mary and +Martha. I wept under the shade of Gethsemane's gnarled olive trees; I +climbed to the summit of Olivet, and listened to the French prattle of +the Countess de Bouillon; I took a donkey ride over the hills of Judea; +I lunched in the shadow of the rock where the man who went down from +Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among thieves; I tented in the valley of the +Jordan with the Stars and Stripes and the Crescent and the Star waving +above; I stood on the whitened shores of the Salt Sea, and gathered dead +sea apples along the shady banks of the Sacred River; I had a cooling +draught from Elisha's Fountain at the foot of the Mount of Temptation; +and in the shadow of Mount Tabor, I thought I heard the angel of death +calling me to another Canaan. The flowered slopes of cedared Lebanon, +the snowy top of Hermon, the clear waters of Abana, the ivy of old +Damascus, Tyre and Sidon, Mt. Carmel and Nazareth--in short, from Dan to +Beersheba, we saw all. + +"And for all the Holy Land, the most accurate guide-book the traveler +can have, even to this day, is the Old Testament. So perfect is the +agreement of the land and the Book, that frequently when standing upon +some elevated spot in Palestine one could read the story of Joshua, +Judges and Samuel, and follow accurately with the eye the movements from +place to place, as readily as on a modern map. + +[Illustration: Mrs. Carr in Jerusalem] + +[Illustration: O. A. Carr, Arab Gentleman's Garb] + +"Since the first siege of Jerusalem by Joshua thirty-three centuries +ago, it has undergone twenty-six sieges, and in almost one-third of +these, the city was utterly devastated. The great explorer, Captain +Warren, has sunk shafts through the immense mass of debris accumulated +at the wall penetrating stratum after stratum of debris of successive +devastations. + +"Descending eighty feet, he found the road that used to lead from the +gate, in the time of Herod. Sixty feet farther down, was discovered the +road of the time of Solomon. In the foundation-stones were found the +marks of the quarries of Tyre. They came upon the arches of the viaduct, +that, in the days of Solomon, connected the palace with the temple. + +"There is no discord between the voice of the ruins, and the voice of +inspiration. These wonderful voices of the dead, coming not alone from +Egypt and Palestine, but from the exhumed capitals of Assyria and +Babylonia, awakened after a score and a quarter centuries of silence, +bear testimony in unmistakable tones that 'Jehovah is God, Jehovah is +God alone.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +WORK IN KENTUCKY AND MISSOURI. + + +The five years following the return to America were years of transition, +of experiment. Mrs. Carr was, as always, bent upon devoting her energies +to educational work, and Mr. Carr was content to preach in whatever +surroundings might be best adapted to her talents. + +Fortunate is he who discovers anywhere in the world, a situation which +calls for the exercise of all his highest faculties; usually such a +setting must be made, fashioned from a part of that energy which, might, +if not thus deflected from creative work, have wrought the more. + +It was so with Mrs. Carr. Endowed with gifts of high order, gifts that +the world always needs, she had not, as yet, found the vantage ground +for their full exercise; nor was she ever to find that highest +development, until she had fashioned from her own heart and brain, the +battle-ground of service. + +As yet, she did not know this, but sought in various fields for a +ready-prepared equipment, a sword sharpened, and a breast plate polished +by other hands, with which she might fight for the truth. Returning +from Australia she naturally looked about in Kentucky for the background +of her ideals. It was not to be found there, and she came presently to +Missouri; first to Fulton, then to Columbia. + +She entered into various school relationships, but we find her restless +in association with presidents whose ideas of school-government were +different from her own. We trust the following extracts from letters +will prove of interest in themselves, and at the same time tell the +story of these years in the words of those who were chief actors. + +May 27, 1874, about eight months after the return from Australia, A. B. +Jones writes to Mr. Carr from Madison Female Institute, Richmond, +Kentucky: "If I should conclude to resign here, would it be worth while +to nominate you and Mrs. Carr for the position?"--which shows that Mrs. +Carr is making no delay in seeking her sharpened sword and polished +armor. + +She is in fact, impatient in the search, as witness this to her from Mr. +Carr, May 27th: "I am having big audiences at Sycamore, Kentucky. At the +conclusion of the sermon, last night, eleven came forward. You must try +to be reconciled with your lot until next fall. This constant moving +about from place to place, is best for the present. As to Hocker +College, they want you and I will hold myself liable to an engagement at +Cincinnati, for my wife's sake. Do not worry over the matter. Teaching +must be attended to, just as the institutions of baptism and the Lord's +supper. I am sure you will be one of the happiest women in the world, if +you are settled at work; and this shall be, if we are spared to see next +fall." + +He writes again, June 25th: "Your letter came yesterday. A man named +Carr, opened it by mistake, and when he saw that ribbon and those +flowers, he must have thought it from somebody's sweetheart,--and so it +was! Brother Crenshaw has a flourishing Ladies' College at Hopkinsville. +These institutions have sprung up rapidly in Kentucky. Here at Princeton +is another. Warrendale College at Georgetown is to be sold for debt. +From all I can see, these Colleges do not promise much. I am sure a +certainty at Hocker is preferable to an uncertainty elsewhere." + +Extract from the _Kentucky Gazette_, Lexington, Ky., August 18, 1874: +"On the second Monday of September, Hocker College" (of which Robt. +Graham was President) "will begin its sixth annual session. The immense +outlay of more than $100,000 has made the building perfectly adapted to +its purposes. To the faculty of the fall term has been added Mrs. O. A. +Carr, a Christian woman of untiring energy, and zeal in the education of +women. She is a graduate of St. Catherine de Sienna and Daughters' +College and holds a Traveling Diploma from the Bishop of Jerusalem. She +purposes delivering a series of lectures, extending through the +collegiate year, upon the wonders of many lands. She is eminently +qualified as an educator and disciplinarian for the position of +Principal in Hocker College." + +M. W. Green, writing from Australia, throws a confirmatory light on why +the Carrs were obliged to return to America: "You say you are so busy +you find it difficult to get time to write. It is to be hoped that in +doing so much you will not again overtax yourself, and bring on another +time of weakness. I am beginning to feel somewhat as you did, before you +left Melbourne. Nature is beginning to wear out, and calls for a rest. I +cannot get that rest on land, for if I see an opportunity to preach, I +feel myself unfaithful if I do not avail myself of it. Sometimes I think +I will never get a rest unless I take a long sea-voyage. It must be hard +for you to have your study in Lexington, and your books in Hobart Town. +Brother Earl writes me of his sorrow at hearing that protracted meetings +are being introduced into Australia. 'They,' he says, 'often bring +unconverted people into the church; and they are discouraging to the +regular preacher, for the people get into the way of not uniting with +the church, except at the exciting time of a protracted meeting.' We are +pleased that Sister Carr has obtained so good a place for usefulness as +the one at Hocker. We had Brother Magarey over in Melbourne to preach +for us. I was much pleased with him, both as to piety and ability. His +style much resembles your own, and I cannot tell his handwriting from +yours." (This was the miller's son, Alex., whose brother practiced +medicine and religion, as we have seen.) + +While Mrs. Carr is teaching at Hocker, Mr. Carr writes to her from +Vanceburg: "I cannot tell when I will be home; this is the time for +work. I would be miserable hanging about Hocker College, doing nothing, +and you hard at work. I will hold two or three meetings before I +return. Miller is blazing away at Greenup; he is giving me a drumming, I +hear; but he can't hurt me. I understand that Brother Sweeny has agreed +to debate with Miller. I can assist your young ladies on the Argonautic +Expedition as well from here, as if I were with them. I advise them to +write sensible essays, and have their papers strictly original. This +advice is all I could offer them, no matter where I am. This is an odd +place. The farmers bring their produce to town every other day, which +consists of a few bundles of hoop-poles for barrels, and these they +trade for something to eat. They leave the city with a long slice of fat +bacon under the arm, and a little bag of flour, enough to sustain their +families for the next day. Then they come, and go again. I am amused at +the merchants, who give their goods for poles, tar and tanbark, and then +run cooper-shops in connection with their dry goods and bacon. One of +our sisters here is a milliner. She says she doesn't take tanbark in +trade for bonnets, but she has ladies' hats for ten cents a piece, and +carries on a lively trade. Don't you want me to bring you up here, to do +some shopping?" + +[Illustration: Standing: Matt (Mrs. W. B. Smith), R. A. Carr, Mrs. O. A. +Carr, O. A. Carr, Mrs. H. P. Carr, Owen Carr. Sitting: Mary (Mrs. +Goddard), Wm. Carr, Mrs. Wm. Carr, Capt. H. P. Carr, Minnie (Mrs. Jno. +W. Fox, Sr.) HOME AGAIN--ALL HERE] + +We learn from the following that Mrs. Carr found one year at Hocker +College (now called Hamilton College) enough to convince her that it did +not afford the opportunities she sought; the letter is to the Trustees +of the Midway Orphan School, and is written by Robert Graham, May 10, +1875: "Having heard that there will be a vacancy in the principalship of +your institution, it gives me pleasure to say that Sister Carr has been +associated with me in Hocker College during the session now coming to a +close, and that she is a lady peculiarly fitted to have charge of girls +in the classroom and in daily life. She is a lady of refinement, +intellectual culture, and energy. I think her conscientiousness, +experience, and religious devotion, point her out as one raised of God +to do a great work in the intellectual world, and spiritual education of +women." + +September 9, 1875, Mrs. Carr, now at her old home town, Stanford, +receives a letter from John Augustus Williams: "If you had consulted me +as a daughter should consult a father, you would have saved yourself +some trouble. I received several letters from the Missouri Orphan School +recently; they wrote for my advice regarding teachers,--but I thought +you engaged at Hocker College. School must be in session now, so it is +too late. But you and Ollie, having no children, ought to be in charge +of that school. It is 150 pupils strong. What to do this session? Well, +address yourself to study, and prepare yourself to take charge of your +sister-women in any branch. Daughters College is full. Over 100 boarders +have applied, and we cannot take them. You and Ollie come to see me. +Yes, come _home_, and let's have a talk!" + +Mrs. Carr was never associated with the Missouri Orphan School, but she +was convinced that Missouri offered her better opportunities than +Kentucky. Accordingly, when in the fall of this same year, Mr. Carr was +called to preach for the 17th and Olive Street Church, at St. Louis, it +meant a final departure from the state of their birth, so far as +permanent work was concerned. + +At the St. Louis Church, Mr. Carr was the successor of Dr. W. H. Hopson, +and the predecessor of T. P. Haley. It was an interesting and a critical +time in the history of the St. Louis Churches. J. H. Garrison of the +Central Church was laboring night and day to keep the infant _Christian_ +upon its feet. The faithful members of both congregations stood loyally +by the little weekly, and took their turns in ministering to the mission +churches, such as that at 13th and Webster. + +Of the Church for which Mr. Carr preached, there were three elders, who +were interested in this missionary work: John G. Allen, the +father-in-law of Albert Myles; Dr. Hiram Christopher, former teacher of +Chemistry at Bethany and author of "The Remedial System" as we have +seen; and Dr. J. W. Ellis, who practiced law during the day, taught in +Jones's Business College at night, preached on Sunday afternoons, wrote +"Jarvis Jeems" articles for the _Christian_ between times, and edited +the St. Louis Ladies Magazine. + +The matter of finding board for Mr. and Mrs. Carr was a difficult one. +Albert Myles and his family lived with J. G. Allen, hence Mrs. Allen did +not feel that she could receive an additional family, however congenial. +In the end the Carrs went to her hospitable home, but for some time they +lived with Dr. and Mrs. J. W. Ellis. + +To this association of a month, the present writer owes his personal +knowledge of Mrs. Carr. He had never seen her until the fall of 1875, +he never saw her after the spring of 1876. Inasmuch as his sixth +birthday fell within those extremes of time, he cannot be expected to +speak of Mrs. Carr's mental and spiritual characteristics, from his own +observation. He remembers her, however, not as a mere name, or as a +vague shadow of the past, but with clear-cut distinctness. Of all the +women who flitted through his boyhood days never to reappear, Mrs. +Carr's personality stands forth best defined. + +Perhaps it was because she had no children of her own, that she was able +to impress children, from the interest she had in the children of other +people,--her absorbing thoughtfulness for youth itself. This was with +her no transient pastime, but belonged to that deeper part of her nature +which started the stinging tear at little bits of childhood-verses. Her +manner with children was not gay and buoyant, but gentle and untiring. + +The child felt that her interest did not spring from impulse, to pass +with the hour, but that whenever he should be ready, he would find her. +In that inherent dignity and seriousness of her natural character, +kindliness for the young shone with a steady light which, if it did not +flash out in sudden radiant mirth, remained unclouded from any other +interest. + +Those who have proved restive under Mrs. Carr's unrelaxing discipline, +those who may have opposed her in school management, those whom she has +faced from the public rostrum in state addresses with logical +argumentation, may have found in her a fearlessness that seemed at times +the indication of an imperious and unyielding disposition. Doubtless +those who opposed her were unable to understand the wounded heart behind +the stern, accusing eye. But however brave and determined, there was one +thing she feared,--to wound the heart of a child. + +During Mr. Carr's ministry in St. Louis, Mrs. Carr devoted herself to +study and travel. A large composition book, filled to the last page, +shows her indefatigable labors with the German language, under the +guidance of Dr. J. W. Ellis. In 1876, she went to the Centennial +Exposition at Philadelphia, where we find her studying the exhibits with +the same thoroughness she had shown in London and Cairo. While she is on +the wing, Mr. Carr writes to her from Sedalia in June: + +"I'm all right here, a little sick. Friday night I lectured at Mexico. +Brother Hardin and I took the freight to Moberly; and then here, in +time for the meeting. Dr. Hopson is in the chair and there are +twenty-nine preachers present. I met Brother Longan last night, and he +laughed as we shook hands. He and I will have a private dig. What do +Brothers Wilkes and Rogers think of his 'One Word More' in the last +_Christian_? Do they think Longan is right on the ghost question? This +is a charming city. The country around looks like the best part of +Fayette County" (of course he is speaking of Kentucky.) + +"The little I have seen, is bewitching. I am on for a speech tomorrow, +and have been too sick to prepare it, and here I sit with my finger in +my mouth! I hope I'll do as well as ---- did last night, and I think I +will! Brother Monser is my roommate, and we did talk last night! I think +he likes my wife better than he does me. Well, I let him. He is a good +man. He spoke of the time Brother Mountjoy conducted you to the platform +at Mexico." + +The following, from Fulton, Missouri, signed by three citizens, shows +that while at the Exposition, Mrs. Carr was making plans for future +work: "In compliance with your request, we report as follows,--We have +interviewed the members of the church in town, and find them quite +favorable towards patronizing a school of our own; we think 30 or 40 may +certainly be counted upon at the opening. We cannot do anything until we +first ascertain that we are going to have a school taught. Desks, seats, +etc., can be easily secured when we find there is to be a necessity for +them. If preparations be commenced at once, we think a very good school +can be founded here." + +September 7th, Mrs. Carr wrote to Mr. Carr from Washington, D.C.: "I am +writing in the celebrated Washington Post Office. I have learned a great +deal during my short stay in Washington. I have made a pilgrimage to the +American's Mecca,--but I boiled my peas,--and have visited all the +places of interest in the city. I will reach St. Louis to-morrow +afternoon. Tell Sister Childers I would rather have the room over the +parlor, for you know how wakeful I am. The room over her room we can +have for a study. May the Lord abundantly bless my dear husband, and +grant me the happiness of seeing him once more face to face." + +On the same day, Mr. Carr wrote to Mrs. Carr: "Brother Franklin preaches +at Fulton to-day, so I have run down here to Louisiana, Missouri, to +try to get a pupil for you" (for the prospective school, perhaps to be +established at Fulton.) "You say you will be in St. Louis soon--then in +Fulton, I suppose, about the 12th. Is it possible that I shall see my +dear wife so soon? I do long to see you and have your encouragement, and +enjoy your counsel, your comfort and your love. You say, 'I have just +called on H. W. Longfellow. What a grand old man he is! His poetic soul +flows through every word he utters. I wonder if he _ever_ did anything +that was wrong?' I wish I could have accomplished more in our St. Louis +work. I believe our new field at Fulton is promising." + +Mrs. Carr's fourth experiment in the educational world was at Fulton, +where she established Floral Hill College for girls. Her note book shows +that her rules of discipline were as wise and as rigid, as if her +attendance had been much larger. The attendance was not indeed large, +but it was sufficient to place the institution upon a paying basis. + +At this time the Orphan School was at Camden Point, and Floral Hill +College had no rival in Fulton. However, at Columbia, not far away, +Christian College proved a formidable check to any thought of future +greatness. Christian College had long been established; it was +handsomely equipped, and could make the appeal throughout the State, +that Floral Hill College could not offer. Mrs. Carr found herself at the +head of a college whose management depended solely upon her own wisdom; +but as an offset to this advantage, she knew that her institution could +never become a mighty force in Missouri. + +[Illustration: "I Want to Educate you"--"Absorbing Thoughtfulness."] + +The spring of 1877 saw the close of her first year's work, and the +following, written by Mr. Carr, in August, shows that she intended to +open school in the fall; he writes from Maysville, for he is on a visit +among the scenes of his youth: + +"Mother and I went by Mill Creek, where Brothers Jno. I. Rogers and I. +B. Grubbs are holding a meeting, on to Mt. Carmel. Thursday I dined with +Brothers Grubbs, Rogers, Loos and Myall at Sister Mayhue's--she was one +of my schoolmates at May's Lick. The meeting at Mill Creek closed last +night with several additions. Everybody asks why I didn't bring you. +Kate would 'give anything to go to Floral Hill College'. Grandfather is +nearly 86 years of age, and has been very ill of late. I talked long +with him, as he lay there, and read 2 Cor. 5, and prayed with him. He +wept for joy and simply said 'I am waiting for the Lord's will to be +done.' I am so glad to find father and mother able to go about. They are +still working for their children. You must be encouraged about your +school. Brothers Grubbs and Rogers praise you for your work. But nobody +praises you more (I mean _prizes_) than I!"[16] + +Mrs. Carr had not been teaching long on her second year, when she +received a request from Mrs. P. F. Johnson, President of the Christian +Women's Board of Missions, to make an address at the St. Louis +convention, to be held October 19, 1877. The subject given was, +'Children in Mission Work.' The request was seconded by Mrs. Sarah +Wallace, who made this interesting comment: + +"From the very beginning of our work as a Society, we have had to battle +with the habit of 'giving nothing' among our churches. The people are +not stingy, but they do not realize the necessity of systematic giving. +When we wanted to add to the amount for Brother Darly's school (the +mission school in Jamaica), it was asked, What can the children do? Our +board advanced the amount, then issued an appeal to the Sunday-schools. +We wanted the children to have a work of their own. Brother Darly's +school proved more than a success, passed the examination in six months, +and is now under the patronage of the Government. As a result of the +appeals, the Sunday-schools gave, first quarter, $12; second quarter, +$23; third quarter, $36; fourth quarter,--not yet reported. It is now +decided that a school be established at Kingston. It will call for +about $250. The Board desires to continue this as children's work. Mrs. +Jameson feels confident of meeting you in St. Louis, when she will tell +you the whole story. Her illness is not violent, but lingering, as +malignant fever usually is." + +In the meantime, O. A. Carr had been preaching for the Fulton Church. +The following from Geo. W. Longan of Plattsburg, Mo., shows the activity +of both, and that "private digs" about ghosts had no place in public +work for the Cause: + +"March 6, 1878: Of course, I can't consent to take the burden on my +shoulder! It falls of right on yours, and you can carry it as easily as +any one. The objects of the convention are to discuss themes of living +interest, and general utility as a sort of preachers' drill. We aim to +assign subjects according to the known tastes of the individuals chosen. +I suggest that no one be selected who was on the program last year. Of +course, the country around Fulton will furnish most of the speakers. The +subject, 'Phases of Current Unbelief' would be both interesting and +profitable in the hands of the right man. I think J. Z. Taylor would +write a good paper on that, or A. F. Smith, or President Geo. S. +Bryant, of Columbia. Procter had nothing last year; you might get him to +preach at night. Experience proves that two papers with discussions +following, and a sermon at night, is the best division of time. I will +try to compel my mind to think of other objects. Write to Edgar for +suggestions as to men." + +(We may state parenthetically, that the reason the present writer never +again met Mrs. Carr, though she often returned on visits to St. Louis, +is because Dr. Ellis moved from the city, first to take charge of +Woodland College at Independence, later to assume the presidency of +Plattsburg College at Plattsburg, Mo., where Geo. W. Longan was still +preaching.) + +Mrs. Carr had not finished her second year at Floral Hill College when a +series of letters were exchanged between her and the President of +Christian College at Columbia, Geo. S. Bryant. These letters show a +consciousness on her part that Floral Hill College, if continued, was +destined to remain overshadowed by larger institutions; and a conviction +on his part that Christian College must inevitably suffer from the +nearness of Floral Hill. President Bryant seeks to absorb Mrs. Carr's +institution, and to employ Mrs. Carr as Associate Principal,--the same +relationship she had held toward Robt. Graham at Hocker. This +correspondence is interesting, and throws light upon Mrs. Carr's ability +as a woman of business. Not only does she gain the various points for +which she contends, such as the number of hours she is to teach, the +amount of salary she is to receive, etc., but she is jealous of her +official position, and will have none of its privileges abridged. +President Bryant is a man who loves his joke, and is inclined to +illuminate contested ground with the glow of good-fellowship; but Mrs. +Carr will have none of his humor until all her propositions are definitely +accepted. At last, May 23, 1878, President Bryant writes: + +"The propositions of yours of the 21st--eight in number--are the +propositions of our agreement, as I understand them. So Christian +College and Floral Hill College are one! I congratulate Christian +College upon the accomplishment of so desirable an end. Please allow me +to say that your spirit of self-sacrifice has not gone unnoticed. +Instead of assigning reasons to the 'Fulton Public,' would it not be +better,--'To the Public?'--For Floral Hill College was not an +institution of Fulton simply. I will gladly publish in the catalogue a +statement over your own name, of the reasons." + +This agreement was reached after months of negotiations. + +Floral Hill College was absorbed by Christian College, accordingly; but +Mrs. Carr's personality was one that refused to be absorbed by any +association, or institution. So definite were her ideas of the +management of a school, particularly in regard to its discipline, that +her position as associate principal could never have been satisfactory +in any school. Mrs. Carr was a woman of intense conviction, and when +attempts were made to persuade her from her principles, she felt that +she was being persuaded to error. Those who are by nature fitted to +lead, find their inborn talent curbed, when this leadership is clogged. +In any school, there can be but one real head. Mrs. Carr would not look +upon her position as associate principal as an honorary title; nor could +she feel that she was doing all she could for the education of girls, +when her ideas of education, which emphasized conduct, clashed with +those of others who insisted rather upon grades in recitation. As at +Hocker in Lexington, so now at Christian College in Columbia, she grew +restive before the year had expired. + +In the spring of 1879, Mr. Carr again went to Kentucky to hold meetings, +and we find him lingering among the scenes of his boyhood, and naturally +thinking much of the past. + +"March 17. As I walked about the streets at Mt. Carmel, many familiar +objects met my gaze. There was the road along which you used to take +your morning walks, and the woods in which the birds sang for you their +best early songs. They put me to sleep in the parlor where you said to +me, '_I will go with you!_'--that room in which I first became +acquainted with you, and asked you to go on an excursion with me to +Æsculapia. I thought of the past and tried to sketch the future, and +prayed that you may be happily situated. I expect to have a happy +meeting at Carmel, for those old familiar faces inspire me. If you were +here, I could preach much better. + +"March 20, Stony Point. This is my sister's home, midway between Paris +and Winchester" (the sister Minnie, now Mrs. John Fox, Sr., whom we +heard of in the May's Lick days). "I am sitting at the old desk where, +seventeen years ago, I conned my Greek grammar under the instruction of +my brother-in-law Jno. W. Fox, who is the head of this house, and the +head of a school here, of eighteen years' standing. He has a family of +ten children all of whom, except the infant, have been taught by him. +One son, Johnnie, passed the Harvard examination last spring, and is now +at Lexington. Professor Neville brags on him, and says he knocks '95' +every time in his Greek class. His half-brother Jimmie, is one of the +public school principals of Lexington, and is much respected there. He +has taken Johnnie with him, pays his board and tuition, and assists him +in his studies." (The reader will doubtless recognize in "Johnnie", the +author of "Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come," and "Trail of the Lonesome +Pine.") "President Graham was out here, and stayed one night. He enjoyed +it! He says, in talking of us, 'Ollie and Mattie.' The children all fell +in love with him, and gave him cakes. My father is able to walk, and my +mother's general health is good. At Lexington, I saw many of your old +friends: Grubbs, Cox, etc. Doctor Hopson and Brother Graham say that you +ought to take a good rest. _Now do you hear?_ That is from headquarters! +My visit at Lexington was too short. I fell in with some Australian +students who came near monopolizing my time. One young man, Charlie +Thurgood, used to work in a baker's shop all week, and come to my house +in Melburne, Saturday nights, to learn grammar. Now he is in Lexington, +preparing to preach the Word.[17] The Bible College has 45 students, +College of Arts 65, Agricultural and Mechanical 105. Professor Neville +says it is the most pleasant session he ever had. Hamilton College" +(formerly Hocker College) "has moderate success. I gave them a Bible +reading at Broadway Church, Wednesday evening. The audience was very +good. It was like old times." + +When her first year's work ended at Christian College, Mrs. Carr, though +dissatisfied with the restraints upon her, had not decided to relinquish +her position as associate principal. However, she and President Bryant +were unable to agree upon terms, and in July she definitely terminated +her engagement. "I would not insult President Bryant," she wrote him, +"by supposing for a moment that he expected Mrs. Carr to accept the +propositions in his last letter." + +She observes that she would have considered a re-engagement because of +Mr. Carr's earnest desire to assist L. B. Wilkes, then in poor health at +Columbia, and also because Mrs. Carr's work in the College had been +greatly appreciated by patrons. But the curtailment of her privileges +and authority, is intolerable; the matter of salary is of no moment, in +view of this obstacle; nor will she hesitate to make the matter clear to +all who seek enlightenment. As she remarks, "I do not know exactly what +you mean by burying the past. In the course of the sad work, you may +cast a few clods over the remains of Mrs. Carr's once prosperous school. +If by burying the past, you mean, stop all discussion of our +differences, I have only to say, it is impossible to bury that which is +not dead. Be assured, I would not bury it alive if I could. When I am +asked why I do not remain at Christian College, I am constrained to tell +the whole truth, though I would rather be silent." Let us hope that +President Bryant's sense of humor enabled him to enjoy this keen +sarcasm. + +About this time, Dr. S. S. Laws, President of the University of the +State of Missouri, situated at Columbia, became desirous of associating +Mrs. Carr with the University. He had been deeply impressed not only by +her scholarship and wide experience, but by her reputation as a +disciplinarian. As she was now free from Christian College, he expressed +to her his hope that she would consider an offer. Such an association +could not but be looked upon by her as a high promotion in her beloved +calling. + +September 1, 1879, Dr. Laws wrote to Mrs. Carr as follows: "I mentioned +the case to our Local Board, and their favorable action I now send you. +Your answer will, of course, be addressed to the Board, but I'd be +obliged for a note by bearer, informing me of your acceptance--I should +say, of your _answer_, as I will then be able to leave on the evening +train for St. Louis." + +With this note, the present chapter properly terminates; it has been a +chapter of changes, of rapid transitions. We have now reached a period +of stability, of advancement, of growth,--the ten years of Mrs. Carr's +connection with the University of Missouri. + + +[16] A letter from Mrs. Carr to one of her pupils she taught in +Melbourne. The letter was discovered recently with "the little wild +flower gathered on the plains of Sharon" pinned to it: the letter had +never been mailed: written thirty-three years ago, it shows how Mrs. +Carr talked to her girls. Possibly she wondered why "Maria" did not +answer her letter, and here is the letter found in a pigeon hole at the +College. Mr. Carr sends it on to Maria with apology. + +"Fulton, Mo., U.S.A., January 8th, 1877" + +"My Dear Maria: + +I received a letter from Maggie a few days since in which she stated +that you had written to me, but receiving no answer, feel discouraged to +write again. Be assured your letter never reached me, or it would have +been answered. I often think of my dear girls in Australia, and +especially of you and Maggie, because I loved you best of all my pupils +in Melbourne; for my association with you was longest and most intimate, +and because your mothers were friends that never failed me amid the +little annoyances and trials that life is so surely heir to. I cannot +tell you how much I long to see you all once more. I cannot imagine how +you think for a moment that I forget you. I wrote you from Jerusalem. I +wrote to you from Rome, and I sent you a French Journal from Paris. I +would love to visit you in your happy home that Maggie so graphically +described and to see that beautiful boy upon whom she lavished so many +praises. Vaney a husband and father, and my little Maria a wife and +mother! Well, I am truly glad it is so, and pray that your lives may be +happy and useful. After all, Maria, the sweetest thing in life is the +privilege of BEING USEFUL--the privilege of WORK. What greater blessing, +beyond redemption, can a woman ask than the privilege of serving her +husband and her generation. We are now stationed in a very pretty little +city in Missouri and our work is pleasant. Mr. Carr preaches for the +Church here, and I have charge of Floral Hill College. My school is +prospering and I am very happy in my work. Tell Miss Ashley I wish she +were here to work with me. However, we may have the happiness of working +together in Australia. Every winter I pine for the hot winds--yes--THE +HOT WINDS--of Australia. My health has been poor during the winters ever +since our return to America. We may meet you all again. How are Brother +and Sister Magarey and family? Remember us very kindly to them all, also +to Brother and Sister Santo and family, especially to ETTIE. We had a +short, but pleasant intercourse with Alex. (Magarey) during his visit to +America. Extend our congratulations to him and his bride, and our best +wishes for their happiness and usefulness." [Alex. had come to the +United States to marry Miss Campbell of Bethany, Va..--niece of Alex. +Campbell--O. A. C.] + +"The snow is falling drearily and the snow birds are hopping about +cheerily, as though the snow was the greatest boon that God ever +bestowed upon his creatures. It is not 'The Rainy Day,' but the spirit +of Longfellow is about me. By the way, during my tour East last summer, +I called upon the grand old poet, and had a happy talk with him in his +own historic drawing room. As you doubtless know, the Longfellow Mansion +was at one time during the Revolution the headquarters of General +Washington. Longfellow is one of the few glorious poetic spirits that +have withstood the corrupting influence of the world's applause. When I +visited the Centennial Exposition I availed myself of the privilege of +visiting many places of historic interest in the East. This is the only +tour that I ever made through the Eastern States EXPRESSLY for +information, and I need not tell you that I enjoyed it intensely and +feel greatly benefited thereby. When I see you, you shall have all +particulars. Now, Maria, you must not fail to answer without delay. +[What grief it gave Mrs. Carr that she did not have a letter from +Maria--because this letter was not posted!] Write me a 'chatty' letter. +Tell me how you like housekeeping, if baby ever has the colic, if Vaney +kisses him over a dozen times a day, etc., etc. Give my love to your +mother and tell her I would love to receive one more pledge of her +friendship in the form of a letter for the sake of 'Auld Lang Syne.' Or +if she is the busy housewife of yore, she can press Willie into service. +Remember us very kindly to our friend, the Scotchman, your father and +Mr. Jacques. + +"I enclose a little wild flower that I gathered in the Plain of Sharon. +I collected many curios in my travels and arranged them into a Museum +during Christmas holidays. The first day of January it was opened with +nice entertainment to my young ladies, and CHRISTENED FLORAL HILL +MUSEUM. My girls acquitted themselves splendidly. + +Write soon and believe me, affectionately yours, + +I will write to Maggie soon. MRS. CARR." + +[17] Now, 1910, he and his good wife are in a most efficient ministry in +Pittsburg, Pa. O. A. C. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +LADY PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI. + + +During the ten years of Mrs. Carr's connection with the University of +Missouri, we find her busy mind occupied by three entirely distinct sets +of interests. + +In the first place, of course, there was the University work, into which +she threw herself with tireless energy and splendid success. The +position she occupied was Professor of English, and Dean of the Young +Ladies' Department,--a two-fold work, which threw her into contact with +both sexes in the classroom, and called for the exercise of rapid +judgment in the government of the young ladies. + +As Lady Principal, she not only preserved order in the study, looked +after the health of its occupants, shaped the literary exercises of the +various organizations, and gave as much energy to procuring new students +as if she were conducting a private school; but she strove to win the +confidence of her girls, that she might lead them to higher spiritual +planes of life; and we find her making the same religious impress upon +the minds of the young men. + +We need but refer to two letters written to Mrs. Carr in later years, +leaving the reader to judge of the positive results of such a character +as that of Mrs. Carr; results too significant and lasting, to excuse a +lack of appreciation, or to palliate the breach of unkind criticism. One +is written by a distinguished citizen who states that he was on the eve +of committing suicide, when he came under Mrs. Carr's influence; and +that she, unconscious of his darkened mind, saved him by the clear +radiance of her daily life. The other tells of a young man who entered +the University with no ambitions and no purposes in life. + +"All that I am now," he writes, "I owe to the time spent with you in the +classroom." He occupies a high government position. + +In 1882, Mrs. Carr, writing to Hon. J. S. Rollins, states what she +regards as her most important duties at the University: "The subject of +my salary was thoroughly discussed last year by your Executive +Committee, and it was reported to me by Eld. J. K. Rogers, that my +salary of $1,500 should remain unchanged. The avenue to my highest +success in my supervisory work (which is indeed, my chief work), is my +social intercourse with the young ladies under my charge; and this can +be best secured by having a home in which I am free to invite them at +any time. My classroom work, as Adjunct in the English Department, and +as teacher of calisthenics, entitles me to $1,200, and the classwork is +the least important, and the least embarrassing, of all. My supervisory +work demands the most constant and harassing thought and involves great +responsibility." + +The following from Mrs. Carr, to the Board of Curators, will show how +thoroughly she threw herself into the interests of her young friends: "I +hereby testify that the appropriation asked by the Philalethian Society, +is needed to complete the furnishing of their Hall. I need not tell you +that the work for girls in our University is yet in its infancy, and +needs especially, therefore, your guardianship and helping hand. I have +encouraged the young ladies to appeal to you, through President Laws. If +you hesitate to grant the petition on the grounds of financial pressure, +will you please allow $138.60 of my salary to be deferred, until after +the next appropriation by our Legislature?" + +Mrs. Carr began to lay great stress upon the physical developments of +her pupils,--a neglected branch of education in her own case. Her entire +work at the University was destined to strengthen those powers of +government, already highly developed, for the future scene of her +greatest usefulness; and, in after years, we find her views on physical +culture, carried out in concrete form. In addressing the young ladies of +the University, she said: + +"If you will stand for one day at the corner of Washington Avenue and +4th Street, St. Louis, or Broadway and Fulton, New York, and watch the +passing multitude, you will see scarcely one in ten who is erect, or +well-built. The large majority of Americans are born of imperfectly +developed parents. After six years' association with the robust women of +England and the Continent, the physical degeneracy of American women +appeared more marked to me than ever before. In London, the broad feet +of robust women make the flags resound in the early morning; in New +York, the tiny feet of pale-faced ladies trip along Broadway at stated +fashionable hours. An Englishwoman thinks nothing of walking from six to +ten miles a day. After climbing and descending the Cheops of Egypt, I +was unable for three days to ascend an easy flight of stairs. An +Englishwoman who went up the Cheops as I did, rowed up the Nile, the +following day, to the Boolak Museum, enjoyed a donkey ride back to +Cairo, returned to the hotel, and spent the evening in nursing my aches +and pains. Physical tendencies, whether toward beauty or deformity, like +gentle dispositions and moral obliquities, are inherited; remember that +you are the coming mothers of the nation." + +It is not our intention to dwell upon Mrs. Carr's daily life in +Columbia. Any young lady desiring to attend the University, is asked to +correspond with her. She delivers lectures in the University Chapel; she +contributes to the Missouri University Magazine; she corresponds with +Miss A. M. Longfellow, daughter of the poet, concerning their work--for +Miss Longfellow holds at this time, practically the same position at +Harvard, that Mrs. Carr does at Columbia; she advises with +Representatives concerning the passage of bills at Jefferson City; she +is in frequent consultation with Dr. Laws regarding the perplexing +problems that are always arising in University life. + +In presenting the portrait of Dr. Laws to the young ladies of the +Philalethian Society, in 1886, she compares the ladies department with +its status ten years before--the year before Dr. Laws became president. +It was natural for her to attribute the secret of the great development +to the doctor's labors. Whatever may have caused the wonderful growth, +there can be no doubt that much of it was due to Mrs. Carr. She says: +"In the catalogue of 1876, all announcements concerning the young ladies +are restricted to 33 lines. It records 39 lady students, only four of +whom lived outside of Boone County. The catalogue of 1885 records a +special service for young ladies; generous provisions for their physical +education; a Girls Academic Course, equivalent in honor to any other +academic course of the University; a neatly furnished and convenient +study, on the first floor, and another in our elegant library room; a +handsomely furnished society hall, lighted by electricity; and many +other conveniences, and luxuries. We have 73 young ladies now attending +the University. They represent 28 counties of Missouri, and four states. +In 1875, no girl took a degree. In 1885, four received academic degrees, +four, professional degrees, and one read the McAnally English Prize +Essay. On Commencement, 1886, one read the Astronomical Prize Thesis, +and another delivered the valedictory of the Normal graduates." + +A large and interesting volume could be filled with the lectures of Mrs. +Carr. For biographical purposes, they need be simply referred to, as an +indication of one form of her activity. The preparation of such +discourses, replete with classical and historical illustrations, must +have consumed many of these late hours snatched from the rightful claims +of repose and relaxation. One might suppose that this woman, always +frail, always wakeful, liable at any time to fall the victim to +headache, would have found the University work with its many-sided life, +much too great for her strength. For her physical strength, it was, no +doubt; but that untiring mind found leisure, after its thousand details, +to turn in another direction. As we have said, she had three separate +sets of interests, during the ten years at the University. We are now to +consider the second--her connection with the women's missionary work of +her church. + +We have a threefold purpose in dealing with Mrs. Carr's work for the +Christian Woman's Board of Missions. In the first place, it formed a +large part in her life; in the second, the work in itself is +interesting; and in the third, it proves how erroneous were the +circulated reports that Mrs. Carr was opposed to organized missionary +work. Concerning these reports we shall speak at another time. At +present our difficulty is to select from among the many appeals to Mrs. +Carr to speak at conventions; from reports of her addresses; from +accounts of money sent in by her for the missionary magazine--the +_Tidings_; and from the various conferences held by her with the members +of the board,--lest our narrative be overburdened with a mass of similar +instances. It seems almost incredible that one so absorbed as she in the +University work, could have given not only her vacations, but special +days during the school year, to the labor of organization, and platform +addresses, appeals for money to the missionary cause, and for +subscribers to the _Tidings_. + +That strangers to the Christian Woman's Board of Missions may understand +just what it was, and that its friends may know how much it had +accomplished at this time, we present a condensed account of the +organization, delivered by Mrs. Carr at the Annual Convention, at +Carthage, Mo., in 1885; by this means we are not only enabled to +introduce the subject, but to give an adequate conception of Mrs. Carr +as a public speaker: + +"I want to talk to you directly about our mission work, giving a +historical sketch of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions from its +incipiency to the present time. + +"In July, 1874, Mrs. Cornelia Neville Pearre suggested the desirability +of effecting a missionary organization among the ladies of the Christian +Church. The sisters were exhorted to consecrate monthly little sums of +money from their allowances, or salaries, as individual means to the +spread of the Gospel. The idea at once became popular. A little Aid +Society in Indianapolis seized upon the thought, and discussed it. At +their meeting a stirring letter was read from Mrs. Pearre setting forth +the purposes and basis of the proposed society. At the same meeting, a +brief article of incorporation was drawn up, to which eight names were +signed. A president, secretary and treasurer were elected, and a meeting +appointed. + +"The women composing the new society were inexperienced in the work. Not +one of them had ever lifted her voice in a convention; all of them were +wholly unskilled in parliamentary address. They were simply +housekeepers, wives and mothers; but their hearts burned to do more for +the Master, and they had the rare sense to know that organized effort is +the surest and shortest road to success. Not long after, Brother Isaac +Errett espoused their cause, and sounded forth the entreaty, 'Help these +women!' + +"This led to a mass meeting of Christian women, held in Cincinnati at +the same time as the General Convention of the Christian church. About +seventy-five composed the meeting, over which Mrs. Pearre presided; in a +most earnest and prayerful manner, she presented the purposes and plans; +and then and there, the Christian Woman's Board of Missions assumed an +organized form, and entered quietly upon its humble yet glorious career. + +"Indianapolis was made headquarters for the general officers. Five +States were represented, and a vice president, a secretary and managers, +were elected for each. After a full and free discussion it was resolved +that Jamaica should be the first object of their care. The unanimous +vote for the revival of the Jamaica Mission, which Brother Beardsley had +been forced, in sorrow, to abandon, and whose resumption had long been +postponed, brought delight to many hearts; though some present had hoped +that a field nearer home would be chosen. + +"The following December the Executive Committee held its first meeting +at Indianapolis, and determined to make an effort to establish Auxiliary +Societies in every State and Territory of the Union. The following +January $1,500 was in the treasury, and Brother W. H. Williams of Platte +City, Missouri, sailed with his wife and child, for Jamaica. + +"The day after his arrival in Kingston, though debilitated from the +rough voyage, he preached to about thirty, in a dilapidated Chapel. His +audiences increased. He established prayer meetings, Sunday-schools, +teachers' meetings, and carried the Gospel from house to house. Through +his instruction, several native young men were soon prepared to render +valuable assistance. When, in 1879, Brother Williams was forced to +resign on account of his wife's ill-health, he was succeeded by Brother +Isaac Tomlinson, under whom the work steadily advanced. + +"In 1882, Brother W. K. Azbill was appointed. Through his association +with the Baptist ministers, he soon ascertained that the differences +between their doctrine and his was merely nominal. His proposal that the +name 'Christian' be substituted for 'Baptist' was joyfully accepted by +several of the oldest and most intelligent ministers, who, with their +entire congregations, planted themselves upon the Bible, and the Bible +alone. A building-fund was established looking toward the permanent +establishment of the work in Jamaica. + +"We are especially anxious to put our schools upon permanent basis, for +the educational work is, after all, the best and most lasting missionary +work. It is our earnest prayer that we may see, after a few more patient +years, the desire of our heart fulfilled,--the cause of Jamaica, the +oldest born of our love, self-supporting, under the exclusive management +of native talent. + +"Brother and Sister DeLauney have, for several years, been supported by +the Foreign Christian Missionary Society, at Paris, France. In the +summer of 1879, the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, with hearts +stirred by their success in Jamaica, determined to contribute to the +French mission. At the Bloomington convention they pledged $500 to the +salary of Sister DeLauney's assistant. Immediately after this, our +beloved Brother Timothy Coop of England, without any knowledge of our +purpose, presented us with £100. God put it into our hearts to promise +$500, and He put it into Brother Coop's heart to pay it, so that the +following year we were able to give $500 more to the French mission. + +"In 1881 we enlarged our mission by establishing a mission among the +freedmen of the South. At Jacksonville, Mississippi, Elder R. Faurot is +carrying forward the evangelical and educational work, among a large +colored population. + +"In 1882 the Christian Woman's Board of Missions became a happy +stockholder in the India Mission. The Foreign Christian Missionary +Society sent Brother Albert Norton and Brother G. L. Wharton and their +wives; we sent Miss Mary Greybiel, Miss Ada Boyd, Miss Laura Kinsey and +Miss Mary Kingsbury. These offered themselves for that remote corner of +the Lord's vineyard, without any stipulated salary. There is a work +there which only women can do. In Oriental countries, the home must +first be captured for Christ; and in these homes, men cannot give +instruction to the hedged-in women. + +"Missouri had the honor to suggest the next field to be occupied--the +far West. In June, 1883, Brother J. Z. Taylor assumed control of this +department, and in a short time Brother M. L. Streator was established +at Helena, and Brother Galen Hood at Deer Lodge. These two congregations +were at that time the only ones in Montana. The Western field is +immense, and the sooner it is occupied, the less the difficulty of +occupation. + +"As I spent six years of my life 10,000 miles from home, helping my +husband in his labors for the Master, I will not be thought sectional or +narrow, though I say that I regard the Western mission as our most +important one. Indifferentism, skepticism, Mormonism, and almost the +whole catalogue of _isms_ are growing rank in the busy, rushing, +money-loving Western heart; if the children of God do not eradicate +these poisonous weeds, American civilization must inevitably +deteriorate, for the character of a country's civilization depends upon +the character of its people. + +"In the midst of infidelity at home and heathenism abroad, the Christian +Woman's Board of Missions is pushing forward, in a quiet, womanly way, +without the sound of trumpets, or the gleam of arms, its blessed work +for the Master. We are doing something; but a completer organization +will help us to a completer work. The best results can be accomplished +only by a systematic plan, a comprehensive grasp and a disposition of +forces: We must organize ever new auxiliaries; we must strengthen the +weaklings, revive the dying, and, by the power of the living Christ, +bring the dead from their graves of idleness. Let us have more and +better societies. The gifted Mrs. Browning says: + + 'The world wails + For help, beloved. Let us love so well, + Our work shall be the better for our love. + And still our love be sweeter for our work.' + +"Daily, we pass into the likeness of that which we believe. Very soon, +Faith hangs out a label, and the whole woman becomes a confession of its +truth. If you have faith in God to save souls, you will certainly be +transformed into the perfect likeness of the missionary woman. You may +have much to discourage you; it may be better for you, if you do. Those +from whom you have the best right to expect sympathy, may be those who +will misinterpret the truest purposes of your heart. He who engages in +any work worth the doing, must antagonize somebody. But what of that? Is +not woman the best burden-bearer? Can you not weep tears of +bitterness,--yet press on, in the midst of all discouragements, to the +beautiful likeness of the Great Missionary, who left the solemn +injunction, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every +creature?' + +"We scatter the seed. But when we are old and feeble, who will gather in +the golden sheaves? Where are the future reapers and sowers? They are in +the Children's Bands. In them you will find the sure prophecy of the +future of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions. Whether that prophesy +be radiant with promise, depends upon how we are educating the girls of +to-day, to be the women of tomorrow. Some time, our brains will grow +dull, our hands helpless. Shall not the daughters receive the torch of +truth from the hands of the mothers? + +"In conclusion, let it be felt as inevitable that we should often feel +tired by the way; that we should hunger for human sympathy; that our +best efforts at times prove barren of results, through the indifference +of God's children; that the purest purposes of our hearts be impugned by +those we love best; for a public work, however unobtrusively performed, +and painful criticism, cannot be divorced. It is said that there is a +grape which, transplanted from its native soil, loses its taste; but +possesses the flavor of the soil, when grown upon the banks of the +Rhine. It is only when our lives are planted in the aromatic soil of the +love of humanity, that our lives shall be identified by the richness of +Christianity; and no human hand, however unkindly strong, shall be able +to transplant our affections into an alien soil, or take from our lives +their flavor of piety and devotion." + +Having now placed before the reader the object and accomplishments of +the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, in Mrs. Carr's own words, thus +showing her attitude toward it, we come to speak of the third great +purpose that influenced her life during the ten years' work at the +University. + +It was none other than the same central idea of her life which we found +developed in the Daughters College days of her girlhood. She realized +that in her present position at Columbia, she had reached the highest +step in her educational career; the highest, because she was thrown +into touch with the greatest number of young lives which it became her +privilege to shape toward lofty aims. + +Indeed, her entire history shows advance steps. The tentative experiment +of her first school at Lancaster was fortunately relinquished for her +work among the girls of Australia, with its broadening experiences. +Having acquired that broader view of life that comes with the extended +horizon of foreign lands, it would have been unfortunate, had she not +returned to America to communicate the fruits of her observations. +Hocker College was, accordingly, an advance upon the Melbourne work, +just as Floral Hill, where she was sole authority, hence better able to +carry out her original ideas,--was an advance upon Hocker. Her keen +foresight, and unalterable determination to sacrifice personal feelings +for the development of wider aims, led her to merge Floral Hill into +Christian College, thus losing her identity in swelling the general +good. As we have seen, the promotion from the Christian College to the +State University was one of far-reaching importance. + +And yet, Mrs. Carr was not content. She had not reached that ideal +toward which she had directed her gaze when a mere girl; and, in the +elements of her nature, there were traits that refused to be satisfied +by anything but the great object in view. Success did not for an hour +swerve her aside from her fundamental purpose; to establish a college +for girls in which she might develop her original ideas of government +and tuition. + +Hence, all during the Columbia days, we find her seeking a promising +opening. Her eyes were turned toward many fields. Her caution and +prudence prevented her from relinquishing a great responsibility for an +uncertain experiment; but her indefatigable mind, while rejecting one +expedient after another, never wearied in the quest. Hence it is that +during those years, we find her absorbed not only in University work, +not only in missionary interests, but always, as well, in the great +object of her life. + +It was particularly in the latter that her husband proved of invaluable +assistance. Called to preach in many diverse scenes, it was his +pleasure, and his care, to look about for a suitable opening where a +college for girls might be established; a college whose foundation +stone should be the Word of God, and whose every day's instruction +should be permeated with the love and power of its truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +PURSUING ONE'S IDEAL. + + +The letters presented in the present chapter are not only interesting in +themselves, but are valuable as illustrating the threefold bent of Mrs. +Carr's mind, as outlined in the preceding pages. They cover her +University experiences. Here is a manuscript revealing Mrs. Carr's +struggles with the Greek language. She has evidently just taken up this +study; her exercises show the same thoroughness she exhibited in her +German commonplace-book. + +Here is a receipt from the Christian Woman's Board of Missions for $50 +which Mrs. Carr has sent on subscriptions to the _Tidings_. And Mrs. S. +F. D. Eastin writes from St. Joseph, 1880, requesting Mrs. Carr to read +her essay before the Moberly convention. "I know it will be worthy the +attention of that erudite body," says Mrs. Eastin. Worthy _any_ erudite +body it should have been; the subject is "John Stuart Mill and C. W. B. +M." + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, October 23, 1880, from the Louisville convention: +"Your letter was handed me in church just before Brother McGarvey's +excellent address. Your words rang through my soul all the time he was +preaching. The devotion to the Cause expressed in your letter is an echo +of my heart, and I second your motion to go to Paris next summer, but I +fear you will exhaust yourself in such abundant labors. Your spirit is +too strong, and too active, for your body. I gave Sister Eastin your +message and she says it is the very thing. This has been a glorious +convention, most orderly and deeply pious. I delivered to the convention +the messages of Brother and Sister Rogers and Brother and Sister Wilkes. +To-day the convention closed in tears and in high hopes, for the future. +Brother Magarey" (our "Alex." of Melbourne association) "went to Bethany +yesterday. He looks a little older, but is the same blessed man. I love +him. We had long talks. Brother Gore will visit home before long. All +well at Brother Santo's. I got this sheet of paper from Jimmie Fox's +desk. He is doing well--Adjunct Professor in the Male High School. I am +writing at the office of the _Old Path Guide_. Brothers Hardin, Allen, +Cline, et al., are talking all around me. Hardin goes to St. Louis +tonight; I send this by him, that you may get it soon. Collis and +Thurgood asked of you especially. I told Brother McGarvey of your work, +of Brother Wilkes' estimation of you, of your position in the +University, of the high praise President Laws gives you, etc., and +Brother McGarvey says he wishes you could have a work directly in the +interests of Christianity; but all he can advise is, to stay in the +University until such a position opens up." + +W. W. Dowling to Mr. and Mrs. Carr: "I am publishing in the _Sunday +School Teacher_, biographical sketches of some of our prominent +Sunday-school workers. I want a sketch of both of you--a synopsis of +your lives and labors." + +J. W. McGarvey to Mr. Carr, June 30, 1883: "I am glad you have the heart +and ability to care for your aged parents as you do. In regard to +educational affairs, I doubt the possibility of legally removing the +Canton Institution. If you need an institution for the education of +preachers, you cannot do better than to build a house, and endow two +chairs in connection with the University. But I do not see that you need +it for many years to come. Our College at Lexington can receive all your +young men, and do a better part by them, at less expense. An attempt to +have a Bible College in every State where we have a strong membership, +will result in a large number of weaklings. The Baptists in all the +South aim at but one; the Presbyterians, the same. We are now aiming at +six or seven, and ours, the largest, has only 94. Since Geo. Bryant has +gone home, I hear they are expecting 250 guests at Independence. I am +surprised so many are expected. I have not heard whether Brother Oldham +made a good reputation at first, or not. I am sure, however, that he +will establish a reputation and secure success. I hope the preachers +will help him." (Oldham was Bryant's successor at Christian College, +Columbia. The institution referred to, at Independence, was Woodland +College.) + +November 4, 1883, O. A. Carr issued a circular addressed to the Alumnæ +of Christian College, urging them to send matter for the forthcoming +book, "Biography of President J. K. Rogers, and History of Christian +College." This was a book Mr. Carr had undertaken at the request of +President Rogers's widow. The work was attended with much difficulty and +many delays, on account of the alumnæ pursuing the usual course of +alumnæ, by refusing, as a whole, to answer request or entreaty. + +Mrs. S. E. Shortridge, from Indianapolis, to Mrs. Carr, February 20: "I +have been working all day steadily on the _Tidings_, and tonight, being +too nervous to sleep, I take advantage of this halt to write to you, +though the midnight hour is not far away." (Mrs. Shortridge was the Cor. +Sec. of the C. W. B. M.) "Accept my thanks for the kindness and patience +with which you have gone over the whole ground. I quite agree with you +in the main; the only difference between us is, I believe, in the +exceptions to the rule. I must assure you that we are of one mind here +at Indianapolis. Perfect harmony and confidence prevail. This is +particularly true of Sister Jameson and myself." (Mrs. Jameson was the +president of the C. W. B. M.) + +"From her I have no secret. We are very near neighbors; I see her almost +daily; yet I am continually finding new beauties of character to love +and admire. I find the _Tidings_ cannot be enlarged this year: I wish it +could." (At this time the _Tidings_ was a small four-page sheet, four +columns to the page.) "We are not able to rent a room, or office, and we +work at great disadvantage. I never look at the paper that my +conscience does not stir uneasily, it reminds me so much of a motherless +child. And yet--I am doing the best I can. I have no journalistic +genius, Mrs. Goodwin always insisted that I had, but she was blinded by +love. If I have talent, it is still dormant. I do believe in you, and +trust you fully, my dear Sister Carr. I think of you as a lovely +Christian woman, incapable of consciously doing an unjust thing." + +L. B. Wilkes, from Stockton, Cal., to Mrs. Carr: "I am better--nearly +well. Still, if you were here to rub my head, I believe it would hurt me +pretty often yet. You are in earnest--you would like to come to +California--and will, if I can find a place for you and the doctor" +(meaning Mr. Carr, of course.) "The school business is overdone among +our folks. We have three colleges, all mixed schools, and pretty badly +mixed. Just come to our house and stay till you find a place, let that +be long or short. I don't know how to write a letter, so leave the +gossipy part to my wife, she is good at it. I will start the doctor a +paper in which I have a small piece on the organ." (For in those days +one could write about the organ, when all other subjects failed.) + +To which letter, Mrs. Wilkes adds a postscript--"He says I am good at +gossip; I deny the charge. He would have you both come on here; but +selfish as I am, I cannot insist on your coming, for fear you might not +like the place." + +In 1884 O. A. Carr was appointed State Evangelist for Missouri, and the +following notes are taken from his letters to Mrs. Carr. The names of +places are generally omitted: + +"March 3. We are poorly represented here. The people don't seem to +believe the Bible. A woman, though, has been taking the rag off the +bush. It is said she can out preach a man--goodness! my wife could beat +nine-tenths of the preachers, but I'm glad she's a woman who wouldn't +preach publicly before a promiscuous audience. There is a gloomy +prospect here. Ignorance--you never saw the like. At Trenton I tried to +raise money to seat the meeting house at ----, but they said, 'That is in +the midst of a good agricultural district--why don't they build their +own church?' They don't know that infidelity stalks abroad in daylight +there, and that infidelity does not build meeting houses or anything +else that is good. I have been talking to an old brother with his +wife--mine host--on missionary work, trying to show that I am in as +legitimate a business as the editor of the _Review_ when he publishes a +paper. The woman yielded at last--said at least there is no harm in it. +Good! My desire is to meet some more of such people, and convert them. I +believe I can do it! I will have a heft at it here, I think. Some good +old men have tried to preach and farm, and have not done either very +well, I presume. It will be difficult to persuade these people to give +$200 for once-a-month preaching, when they have been giving about five +dollars. I have not done a thing on the Biography of President Rogers, +nor do I see how I can at this rate. I have a bad cold. The door is +warped and won't close, and last night the wind whipped around into the +bed, and everywhere. I've got the stove between me and that crack in the +door now, and some of the atmosphere will have to get warmed, before it +reaches me. Brother A. B. Jones says I'd better stay at ---- and work it +up; but there's nothing to work up, and the only chance I see is to get +that place joined on to the congregation here. + +"March 6. I've tried to introduce the envelope system of contribution in +the church here (Gallatin) and have run myself down today; from house to +house. I am in a cold room, writing after speaking tonight at the +Christian convention. I enclose $25 for you to forward to father, Wm. +Carr, Maysville, Ky. Brother S. P. Richardson says, 'Give my love to +Mrs. Carr.' He says he was in your class at the University, and thinks a +great deal of you. He says he had a good time in your class. He was a +law student. Will Sister Rogers be satisfied with delay of the Biography +till fall? How I do wish I had the material for a complete biography. I +don't like to blame anybody, but I have tried faithfully to collect it. +I do not like to think of anything incomplete in connection with that +grand, good man. + +"March 9. Thank you for that nice letter; there was great encouragement +in it. A vision of you comes before me--it is a charming picture. You +say you are anxious that I should succeed. But in my case, what is +success? If adding members to the churches is a success, I have failed +already. I have been setting churches in order, and teaching the +brethren. Here at Gallatin, we meet in a hall. There is no house, and +the members are poor. From Trenton I go to Breckenridge, or Grant City. +Brother Floyd of the _Christian Herald_, of Oregon asks me for a +Missouri sub-editor. I have recommended you to him. I have written my +notes for the _Christian Standard_ and _Christian-Evangelist_. I will +watch for your article and see if it sounds like I wrote it. That was a +big joke! Did _I_ know what you could say about John Stuart Mill and the +C. W. B. M.? I don't suppose Mill ever heard of such a thing as the C. +W. B. M., and I don't know how you thought of both names at once. I wish +you would write a dozen articles for our church papers--divide them +around. Write on Women's Work, for the _Quarterly_. + +"April 15. I rode twelve miles horseback for your letter, which +heightened the joy of receiving it. I am utterly discouraged about that +Biography of Brother Rogers. I cannot find time and quiet to write. For +instance, I walked nearly two miles to church, then two more to reach a +place to stay all night--where I had to sit up, and be sociable till I +was worn out. The people are generous here, and I think, religious. The +church is ajar, and I am expected to set it in order. It is rather +discouraging for me to have to do the hard work, then leave to set +another church in order, while some one else follows me up, and holds +the meetings and gets the additions. I am here, trying to get the +members to act decently toward one another. It will take a week to warm +them up, and then I will have to leave. + +"April 19. It rained so much last night, I could not get to meeting, and +I am compelled to stay in doors. Mine host is a good man. He and wife +and six children are all crowded together in two rooms, and we have +confusion worse confounded. I have to cross a swampy valley to and from +church (distance two miles) and a muddy, snaky river that is to be +despised. Our toilette arrangements consists of a washpan outside the +house. It will take a week to get the Christians to be friends with each +other. I heat up in church and cool off walking home, and cough at +night. Between coughs, I think of you, wondering if you are wearing +yourself out with toil and anxiety. Learn to take life more leisurely! +My idea is for you to become author--write a book or two, if you please, +and contribute to the journals. Our papers need your talent. Please +forward the enclosed $25 to mother." + +From J. W. McGarvey, Lexington, Kentucky, to Mrs. Carr, April 29, '84: +"Brother Patterson is to continue at Hamilton College at least one more +year. He is making money out of the school at a very handsome rate; but +the fact that he is building a fine dwelling on the place he bought from +Brother Lard's estate, indicates that he will not remain much longer +than a year. When the time comes, you may rest assured that I will +present your claims and merits before the Board, in all their +attractiveness. I have no doubt you could make a success of it. I am +sorry I cannot accept Brother J. A. Lord's invitation to lecture on +'Bible Colleges' at Columbia." + +The following of July 15th, shows Mrs. Carr working in a fresh +field--the Women's Christian Temperance Union: "As Corresponding +Secretary of the Columbia Union, I send you the following resolutions, +which were unanimously adopted at the last session of the Union: * * * +Be it resolved that we as an individual Union protest against the +resolution passed at the Sedalia Convention, namely, 'That the White +Ribbon hosts of Missouri work for woman suffrage.' The woman suffrage +attachment will necessarily complicate the nature of our plea. An +organization already exists entitled, 'The Woman Suffrage Association', +whose exclusive purpose is woman's suffrage. Many of our friends, and +many in our own ranks, oppose the plea of woman's suffrage, as a part of +our plea for temperance." + +Mrs. Carr writes to Mr. Carr concerning a church quarrel which he is +striving to quell--judging from her letter his efforts at warming up the +members has taken an unfortunate direction. The letter is interesting as +showing Mrs. Carr's wisdom in such delicate affairs: "I cannot tell you +how deeply I deplore this church difficulty. Deal with the matter very +gently. Don't write sharply to any one, for if you do, you will be +misrepresenting yourself, and injure the work. Let the matter readjust +itself. I advise you to so arrange your work as not to be present at the +county meeting. Your presence at this juncture might do harm to you and +to the Cause. Stay away, and write them a good, fatherly letter, to be +read before the convention. I'm sure, intuitively, that this will be +best. Your success is the burden of my prayers. After a few more years I +hope we shall be more together; we shall see each other every day." + +Robt. Graham to Mrs. Carr, from Lexington, July 9: "Your letter was duly +received, and I immediately set to work to see what could be done to get +you into the Midway Orphan School. I handed your letter to Brother +McGarvey, and he agreed with me that there is little likelihood of the +trustees placing the management under the control of a lady. I consulted +members of the executive committee, and find they are resolved upon a +man. It is very difficult to find the right one. Keith of California +refused at once; Bartholomew of Louisville has a better position, etc. +It is suggested that you buy the now vacant school at North Middleton, +Bourbon County, and while I could not advise you to such a step, I +mention it, that you may know of that opening. I see that Corinth +Academy is for sale, but I don't suppose you would want to put your +means there. Brother Patterson holds on for another year at Hamilton +College. I can easily understand why you seek to be engaged in a school +where you could work for the Cause we love; were it in my power, I would +soon have you in a position more congenial to your tastes. As it is, +you must be content to labor and to wait, till God opens up the way. I +write this, knowing you have a position of great honor and emolument, +one that many would gladly obtain; but I know your desire, and +sympathize with it." + +More notes from Mr. Carr, as State Evangelist, to Mrs. Carr--July 18: +"Letters forwarded. You don't miss me any more than I do you. I am going +to hold some meetings during pleasant weather. I have very few additions +to report. I have spent most of my time trying to set up torn-down +churches. As to Vice President of the C. W. B. M., I don't object for +that honor to be thrust upon my wife. I think it very complimentary; get +up the program, and preside at Kansas City. How about that Biography? If +_you_ could work on that, we would get it out. You ought to write much +for the Brotherhood. Women can do that work, and not trespass on I Cor. +14:34-35. Drive out to church and hear Brother Powell, Sunday. Don't +forget to fix up the genealogy of the Rogers family. Don't try to drive +that horse by yourself. While you are resting, select the essays to be +added to the second part of the Biography. Don't work hard, just lounge +around, for this is your vacation, you know. + +"August 6. While at Savannah I received some letters forwarded by you to +'_Sullivan_.' How they came to Savannah, marked thus, I don't know, I +suppose there is no such postoffice as Sullivan, and they might as well +come here as anywhere. Halt!--I had to go out to preach my ten o'clock +sermon. I am preaching day and night. It's a hard row to hoe. The church +is in a deplorable condition, and of course nobody will 'join.' But I am +expected to stay up here, and keep digging. Brother J. H. Duncan asked +me to help make out the C. W. B. M. program for the State meeting. Isn't +he impudent? I told him you are president, and will manage it; but I +helped him on the _male_ part. + +"November 27. This is Thanksgiving Day, and I am to eat at a hall--a +dinner by the Methodists. I'm a good hand to eat for the benefit of a +church. I hear they're going to have ice cream. Well, I can't help it. I +must go. You will have to be thankful without me; I'll be as thankful as +I can. We are to have a Thanksgiving sermon by a North Methodist +preacher, and coming so soon after Cleveland's election, it is +anticipated he will give us a gloomy kind of thanks. He will doubtless +feel somewhat as Dr. Pinkerton did, when he told his wife he had nothing +to be thankful for because there was no butter. Our meeting drags. I had +to get this part of the county fixed up and friendly. There is a good +prospect now. Received account from Brother D. O. Smart. Sorry I could +not be with you and the young ladies and gentlemen at 'Narrow Gauge' +today." + +From the Missionary _Tidings_, September, 1884: "Mrs. O. A. Carr of +Columbia has been appointed vice-president of the C. W. B. M. of +Missouri, to succeed Mrs. J. W. Morris, who was compelled to resign on +account of ill health." The reader is referred to past files of the +_Tidings_ for a full account of Mrs. Carr's labors as organizer, +platform manager, speaker, and her committee work in the C. W. B. M. She +was vice president in 1884, 1885, 1886, after which she became a State +manager. During her first vice-presidency, the managers were Mmes. +Hedges, A. B. Jones, J. H. Garrison, J. W. Monser, Dr. Petitt, T. E. +Baskett, T. D. Strong, E. C. Browning, Kirk Baxter, Wm. Pruitt; during +each of her terms, the secretary was Miss M. Lou Payne. In 1887 she was +succeeded by Mrs. J. K. Rogers. + +On the 20th of March, 1885, the St. Louis publisher, John Burns, writes +to O. A. Carr: "Last Friday I went to Columbia and had a pleasant +interview with Sister Rogers about publishing her book. We agreed that +the matter should be delayed no longer. The MS. should be in my hands +with the least possible delay. It should be in type by the first of May, +and the books ready by June 1st. As you are so constantly engaged away +from home as our State Evangelist, it is thought best for Brother +Mountjoy to read the proof. As to compensation for labors, Sister Rogers +stated that she is anxious for you to be satisfied. I have agreed to +bring out the work in first-class style. There is to be a steel +engraving of Brother Rogers, and a wood cut of Christian College. The +work will be in two bindings, one to be full Turkey Morocco, gilt. The +John Burns Publishing Company will have entire control of the work, and +have agreed to push the sale to the best of their ability. I expected to +meet Mrs. Carr, to discuss the matter with her, but could not delay my +stay in Columbia." + +At the foot of the foregoing, Mr. Carr writes a hurried note to his +wife, on enclosing her the letter: "I wrote Brother Burns that I would +rather trust you to read the proof than anybody. I am afraid I cannot +get the work done, even next month. I have to settle a church here." + +While churches are thus wrangling among themselves, and sinners are +standing aloof, taking notes on the War of the Christians, and the +Biography is apparently fated never to get itself into type, Mrs. Maria +Jameson, national president of the C. W. B. M., writes to Mrs. Carr: "I +read your letter to the Board, and there was a unanimous expression of +gratification at its contents. You are one of the women among us who can +make public addresses. Now, if you are willing, we will utilize this +talent. Public lectures, properly advertised, designed to attract +attention to missionary work, particularly to the work of our women, +might do great good. Of course, you will have to use judgment in +selecting the places for the addresses. No provision has been made for +an outlay of money in this matter, as we can ill afford to divert a +dollar from regular work. I believe, as a public speaker, you will +spread the name, and strengthen the influence, of the Christian Woman's +Board of Missions." + +W. B. Johnson of the Christian Publishing Company, St. Louis, to Mrs. +Carr: "Your C. W. B. M. notes will appear in next week's paper; and I +will also speak of the University, and of your work there." + +M. B. Mason, Principal Meadville Public Schools, to Mrs. Carr: "We +intend to celebrate Whittier's birthday with suitable entertainment. +Will you please send some suggestions regarding arrangements, program, +etc?" + +Mrs. Maria Jameson to Mrs. Carr, November 1: "Ever since our parting, I +have purposed writing to express the pleasure given me by an increased +acquaintance with you. During our recent convention, I learned to feel +constantly that I had an able ally, quick to see what was needed in an +emergency, and able to act intelligently and promptly. I wish you would +write occasionally to me during the year; so many new sides of things +are evolved by talking them over. My daughter and son-in-law are back +from their trip abroad, and, of course, I have not had time for much, +besides talking to them; but in a short time my thoughts will be turned +to our work. With the help and blessing of God, I will do everything in +my power this year for its development. Let 'For Christ's sake' be our +motto, and in his blessed name we shall do many wonderful things. Pray +always with me, and for me, my dear sister, that we may prove faithful +until the end." + +Enough has been said about Mr. Carr's work as State Evangelist--his work +of several years,--to suggest the arduous nature of that labor. Passing +by any further details, we turn for a moment to the Biography, which +did, after all, find its way into cloth and Morocco, in 1885, under the +title, "Memorial of J. K. Rogers and History of Christian College." + +The book is divided into three parts: the first, of about 200 pages, is +devoted to the Life, Letters and Addresses of J. K. Rogers; the second, +of some 30 pages, is called "History of Christian College"; while the +third of about 100 pages, bears the title--"Some Essays and Poems of +Pupils of Christian College, Edited by Mrs. O. A. Carr, Principal of the +Ladies Department of the University of the State of Missouri." + +This Part Third of the Memorial, is the only work left by Mrs. Carr, in +book form. As we have seen, she undertook the editorship of the +collection of essays and poems of the Alumnae, at the request of her +husband, in order to hasten the publication of the book. + +Joseph Kirtley Rogers was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1828. +When he was two years of age, his parents left Lexington on a thirty +days' journey to the wild and Indian-infested West, pitching their tent +finally about twelve miles west of Palmyra, Missouri. Here they lived in +their log cabin. "Game was abundant," says the Memorial; "panthers +screamed, wolves howled; bears roamed the thick woods; deer were a +common sight, and wild turkeys hovered in the tree tops." It was near +the birthplace and boyhood scenes of Mark Twain, and the author of "Tom +Sawyer" had no need to go outside of Marion County to find the original +of his "Colonel Mulberry Sellers." + +When William Muldrow with others, borrowed $20,000 to establish "a great +college"--Marion College--on the western prairie, purchasing therewith +4,969 acres, and confidently expecting a future hay crop to reimburse +the teachers, he fathered a scheme that the "colonel" might have +joyfully laid out with his toothpick upon his tablecloth. To this +college Rogers went,--until it died; then he attended the University at +Columbia. + +Christian College was the first institution for the collegiate education +of Protestant women to receive a charter from the Legislature of +Missouri. The enterprise was largely due to the work of D. P. Henderson, +minister of the Christian Church at Columbia, and Dr. Samuel Hatch and +Prof. Henry H. White of Bacon College, Harrodsburg, Ky. When Jas. +Shannon of Bacon College, was elected to the presidency of Missouri +University, he recommended a former pupil for the presidency of the +contemplated college. This pupil, John Augustus Williams, held the +position from the opening of Christian College until 1856, when he +resigned to establish Daughters College at Harrodsburg. It is an odd +coincidence that Williams should have gone from Columbia to Harrodsburg +in time to shape the educational life and ideals of Mrs. Carr, and that +Mrs. Carr should, in the course of years, have come from Harrodsburg to +Columbia, to act as associate principal in the college inaugurated by +her favorite teacher. + +John Augustus Williams was succeeded at Christian College by L. B. +Wilkes. During the latter's administration, J. K. Rogers from Marion +County, Mo., acted as instructor; at the close of President Wilkes' +second year, Rogers became the third president of the institution; a +position which he occupied for nearly twenty years, and which only a +fatal disease compelled him to relinquish. During his administration +there were 174 graduates, and it was the difficulty of hearing from so +many, that delayed the Memorial. + +George S. Bryant was the fourth president,--from 1877 to 1884. His +successor, W. A. Oldham, had scarcely finished his first year, when the +Memorial was published. The book is true to its title; it is rather a +Memorial than a biography, the work of a friend, who prefers to quote +such men as G. W. Longan, J. W. McGarvey, etc., rather than to +substitute words of his own. + +And if the life of a minister who, for twenty years, occupies the same +chair in a school of learning, lacks the variety which gives to +biography an interest to the general reader, still less can the history +of that school be offered as a work of entertainment. Something more may +be said for the part edited by Mrs. Carr. Whatever lack of merit her +collection of essays and poems reveals, may be charged to the paucity +and immaturity of the material in her hands. It is fair to conclude that +she gave us the best that the alumnae gave her; and the impression that +most of it might just as well not have been preserved, is dissipated +when we are told that President Rogers was anxious to have the writings +of his girls published as his memorial, even if no word be said about +himself. Viewed, then, not as literature, but as the fruits of his +instruction, these writings, breathing the deepest piety, and revealing +both learning and grace, hold their fitting place in the memorial to the +Christian teacher. + +But it is because this Part Third reveals the mind of her who edits it, +that it is of moment to our biography. In the first chapter she gives us +an indication of what she regards as of the utmost value in a woman's +life: + +"In looking over the scores of letters I have received from the Alumnae +of Christian College, I find that I have written on the envelopes of +about nine out of ten, the word, _Christian_; on two out of ten, the +word, _teacher_; and on each without exception, the golden word, +_home-worker_. In this statistical catalogue of three words, is found +the grandest record of Christian College. That the life-work of its +Alumnae has been chiefly confined to the church, and the school-room, +and the home, is its honor and renown." + +Mrs. Carr thus sues for toleration of "a wrong spirit" manifested in an +essay on the "South." "Though the author evinces a little bitterness, we +should forgive her. She wrote at the close of our sad civil war. When +she writes vigorously and touchingly of 'A Washington, a Jefferson, a +Calhoun, a Clay, a Breckenridge, a Benton,' when she proudly says, +'Behold on Virginia's consecrated ground, noble Bethany College, and +Virginia's magnificent University,' when she turns lovingly to 'Kentucky +University, one of the proudest in the Union,' and when, in the full +bound of her loyalty she clasps to her heart her 'own Missouri +University,'--then indeed we forgive, and our heart rejoices with hers +in a common love." + +Mrs. Carr thus introduces her third chapter: "If no George Eliot was +found in the previous chapter, so no Elizabeth Barrett Browning will be +found in this. If the reader be generous, he will find some very sweet +poetic thought expressed in verse; but he will feel no deep stirrings of +an angelic genius, that looks through Casa Guida window up to the very +gates of heaven. He will find only the rhythmical outpourings of +ambitious girlish hearts; and if he laugh at their imperfections, he +will only prove that his heart is old--" Reader, let us not delve into +these ambitious poems, lest we laugh and prove ourselves no longer +young. Let us come away, after noting this comment on a poem entitled +'Longfellow.' + +"Having once met him in his poet-home," says Mrs. Carr, "having felt the +warm pressure of his hand, heard the low music of his voice, looked into +the clear depth of his poetic eye--having felt, in short, the +benediction of his presence, I find in the following simple dirge, a +peculiar charm. That the modest author so tenderly loved her nation's +poet, whose song like his own flower-de-luce, shall 'make forever the +world more fair and sweet,' evinces both a refined taste, and a cultured +heart." + +Gone, now, that good white poet, to mingle in the poesy of the past; and +vanished is she who felt the warm pressure of his hand, and looked into +the clear depth of his poetic eye. But the world is here as when they +trod it beneath its daily sun; and here are you and I. Happy are we, if +we find the world more fair and sweet because of those who have +breathed their influence upon it. + +So we lay aside this Memorial, the joint work of Mr. and Mrs. Carr, the +only book they ever produced, and go on with the story of their lives--a +story full of incessant work, its routine broken by some such adventures +as is suggested by the following from Anthony Haynes to Mrs. Carr: "You +are invited to read a paper before the State Teachers' Association which +meets at Sweet Springs, March 22-24, 1886. Your cabinet is just the +thing we wish to see at the Display--bring it." + +From Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, June 6th--showing that Mrs. Carr has her +eyes unalterably set upon the future: "There is no advertisement of +phonography in the _Cincinnati Enquirer_ or the _Courier-Journal_. So +you have learned the shorthand alphabet! Well, I am sure it will require +a great deal of practice to report verbatim. I do want you to take a +rest this summer, whether you learn phonography or not. The truth is, +you ought to be resting now." + +But the report of the Fourth Annual Convention of the Women's Christian +Temperance Union shows that Mrs. Carr was doing anything but resting. +The "Irrepressible Conflict" of this year, shows her laboring sturdily +for temperance. Further letters show her struggling at spare moments +with shorthand. What will she do with _that_? This from Mrs. S. E. +Shortridge of the C. W. B. M., suggests a new activity: + +"Sister Jameson was very much pleased with the card of flowers you sent +her. She is very greatly improved--able to see and enjoy her friends. We +had a most delightful conference with her last Sunday afternoon. Brother +Azbill, Dr. and Mrs. Pearre, A. M. Atkinson and wife were there, besides +the member of the board, and others. Mrs. Jameson is still confined to +her bed. She sends her love and says she will write very soon. Perhaps +you can get your leaflet printed at Kansas City. The C. W. B. M. will +highly appreciate your kindness in the preparation of a leaflet, in the +midst of your various duties and obligations. There is a growing demand +for such information. I am anxiously awaiting its appearance." + +In the same year, O. A. Carr attended a meeting of the Alumni of +Kentucky University, and in a public address, thus referred to his own +graduating class: "The class of 1867 has never appeared on this rostrum +since commencement day nineteen years ago. We were three then; we are +two now. We were called the Trio. For nigh six years of student life we +were boon companions. We shared our mutual joys, our mutual burdens +bore, in a most intimate friendship. We planned our future so that our +paths might often cross each other, but duty called us to labor in +fields as far apart as Colorado, California, Australia. When James C. +Keith, President of Pierce Christian College, California, and I were +corresponding, concerning this meeting of today, our hearts cried out +for the absent one--the noble, generous, gifted, brilliant valedictorian +of our class. In the hearts of those who knew him, there arises, as a +sweet fragrance, the memory of Albert Myles." + +Not long after the delivery of this tribute, Mrs. O. A. Burgess wrote to +Mrs. Carr: "I was in Indianapolis a few weeks ago, and found our dear +Sister Jameson better than I hoped. I had a delightful visit with her. +She realizes that she is soon to leave us, but is as bright and cheerful +as she ever was in her life, and her interest in the C. W. B. M. is +unabated. Allow me to congratulate you on the rapid growth of the C. W. +B. M. in Missouri. You certainly must have efficient workers. Your +article on 'How to Organize an Auxiliary' will meet a long felt need." + +November 27, 1886, Mrs. Shortridge wrote: "Am sending you our amended +Constitution and the December _Tidings_. In the list of Missouri +officers you will notice your name as a manager. I hope you will +approve. The relation between yourself as Vice President, and the +Executive Committee, has been so pleasant and congenial, that we are +unwilling to sever it altogether. We need your help, and will be +grateful at any time for suggestions. Your leaflet, you so kindly +prepared, has been most useful to me in answering the question, How to +Organize; and it has been a means of encouragement to a great many timid +sisters. Indeed, my dear sister, when I think how promptly you have +responded to my requests for help, how your loving words of appreciation +have lifted me up when almost discouraged and ready to give up the +struggle,--the tears come to my eyes, and I ask God to bless you +abundantly." + +The leaflet referred to, is by Mrs. Carr, as President of the Missouri +State Board, and is addressed to "The 39,000 Missouri Sisters who wear +the badge of the C. W. B. M." It is an eloquent and logical presentation +of the value of organization. + +From Mrs. Maria Jameson, came the following, October 4, 1886: "Your +loving message with the pretty card was received with heartfelt thanks +to God, who has given me the love of so many warm hearts. Surely in this +regard, never was woman more blessed. With humble heart I accept it as +one of the ways the kind Father 'is making his grace sufficient for me.' +Of course, I am thinking much of the Kansas City convention. You and I +have begun an acquaintance so pleasant--you enter so readily and +heartily into my views and plans--so ready to render me judicious and +active assistance, that I looked forward with increased pleasure to the +labor of coming years. But 'man proposes and God disposes.' I almost +dare think that He wished to give me a special lesson of the absolute +dependence of all my plans upon His sovereign will. When I knew beyond a +doubt that I could not be present, the question rose, Who will occupy +the vacant chair? One day it flashed across my mind that now we had the +opportunity of making a graceful public testimonial of our respect to +the woman whom the C. W. B. M. delights to honor--Mrs. Pearre, who is +this year, for almost the first time, free from school duties. You, as +Vice President, will open the convention's sessions with the usual +exercises. Mrs. Pearre's name will be received by acclamation, and you +will conduct her to the chair, and give her all the help and +encouragement you would have given me, staying beside her, informing her +and supporting her according to requirement. What shall I say of myself? +I have through all my life received wondrous good from God; shall I not +patiently receive evil, also? Pray earnestly for me, that I may +cheerfully yes, joyfully, submit to His will." + +In 1887, O. A. Carr went to Arkansas to look about for a promising +field, where he might labor in the ministry, and his wife, in her own +chosen profession. He writes from Fort Smith: "I lectured last night to +a moderate audience. We have a neat little frame church here. The +preacher has been re-elected; 22 for, 12 against. I am sorry for him; +but he is going to stick to them. He is a pleasant man, and very kind. +They are remarkably hospitable here. I send you a little bouquet from +the front yard. Think of violets and roses, a month ahead of the +Missouri bloom! You will recognize the two large leaves; they are maple! +It is now about as warm as a June day at home. I don't believe you could +have any success here during the summer, in teaching elocution and +phonography; for I am told that the people take holiday during the +summer months, and take it very extensively--even the laboring men, +because they are afraid to work much. People are dropping in here +quietly, buying, and slipping out. There will probably be a rise in +property after the bridge is built into the Indian Territory. Work is +begun on a U. S. court room and new post office. There is tied up in +this nosegay a great deal of love for my wife. I go to Alma tomorrow." +(So _now_ we begin to understand what that short hand meant! There are +to be no more vacations, it seems.) + +April 13th, Mr. Carr wrote from Fayetteville, Arkansas: "Brother Ragland +tries to convince me that we ought to come here, and establish a Young +Ladies' College, in connection with the University--but young ladies +attend the University. He says our church has no school in Arkansas, and +Fayetteville is the educational center, etc. Brother Robt. Graham +started a college here in 1858 and continued it successfully until the +war broke it up in 1862. His college building was burned. He had five +acres, most beautiful site. His residence is standing yet. I attended +the opening exercises at the University. Some of the professors +remembered you; they heard your lecture at Sweet Springs. The University +is upon a hill and is imposing. I could not make an arrangement for a +meeting at Fort Smith, because it is cotton-planting time, and the +people are very busy. After preaching at Alma two days (and receiving +$6) I came here. I will stop at Springfield, Mo., tonight, and may +remain over Sunday, as I am told they have no preacher. I have seen +several young ladies and talked up Christian College, distributed +catalogues, etc., but they object that Columbia is too far away." + +Mr. Carr, from Springfield, Mo., May 13th, showing that Springfield is +beginning to enter largely into his life; "I preached last night on +'Quench not the Spirit,' and ended the Ash Grove meeting. The sale of +the college is postponed sixty days. Sister Bander said my sermon was +much needed. There now! she is a judge. They want you to send some of +your tracts on 'How to Organize an Auxiliary' here, to Springfield." + +Mr. Carr from Paris, Ky., June 9th: "I received your good letter, and +was reading it in Morrison Chapel, as I sat beside Alex. Milligan. He +saw the flowers enclosed, and said, 'I thought you were over that!' I +told him that was an old bachelor's idea of the matter--just as though +true love would ever get over it! I told Brother McGarvey what was in +your letter. It is all right; but Brother Graham asked at first, if it +was wise for you to give up your work at the University. When I see you, +I'll tell you about Hamilton College. I am here over night with Minnie +Fox. John is home from New York on a visit. We talked so late last night +that I could scarcely get up this morning! Saw Brother Grubbs at +Lexington. Monday I take the boat for Cincinnati, and expect to be in +St. Louis at the Union Depot, Tuesday morning next. I had a fine sleep +on the _St. Lawrence_, and didn't wake up till the boat whistled for +Maysville. I hurried up and found mother busy skimming milk. She can not +walk far; her ankle seems to be ossifying. She is all the while anxious +about the children for whom she has worn out her strength. If I had not +engaged at Springfield, I might have gone to Mt. Sterling or Louisville. +I don't know but what Springfield is as good a place for regular +employment as the other places. The idea is to be content, and do the +work well. I want you to have a year's good rest. Now is your time to +rest. Get the good out of old Jeff. Make him flutter around. I think he +had better be sold to some one in Columbia where he is known. Minnie Fox +is a fine girl. She says she would love to be with you in Springfield. +John is home now for vacation, but is going to the coal mines in +Southern Kentucky" (where his fancy is one day to follow the trail of +the Lonesome Pine, and discover a little shepherd herding the sheep in +"Kingdom Come.") "He says he would like to be one of the Assistants at +the University. I told him you are going to rest, and he wants to know +whether there would be a chance for him to get in. He could bring +testimonials--his Harvard diploma would be something. If you think well +of it, you could present his name. He took the honors at Harvard, and +has been tutoring in New York ever since. He is a teacher by education +and by nature. Do as you think best about it." + +From the foregoing it is clear that Mrs. Carr has definitely decided to +relinquish her post of service at the University of Missouri. That she +needed rest, there can be no doubt. That she needed undivided time in +which to mature plans for her future college, against the day of +opportunity, is equally certain. At Springfield, Missouri, Mr. Carr +entered upon a three year's service. As soon as Mrs. Carr could sever +her connections with the University, she joined him. + +Her work for the C. W. B. M. still continued. We find her delivering +addresses, arranging programs, and lecturing. Mrs. Jameson, Mrs. Pearre, +Mrs. Shortridge, etc., continue to write her for wise counsel, in grave +times of anxious consideration--for instance, when the Constitution was +altered, when plans were on foot to make the _Tidings_ a stronger +magazine, etc. When Mrs. Carr ceased to hold an official position under +the C. W. B. M. the appeals to her for advice and help came just as +frequently as when she was President of the State Board. + +Her work in the W. C. T. U. was also unabated, and during 1888, she took +an active part in the prohibition candidacy of John A. Brooks for the +governorship. A letter from E. C. Browning requests Mrs. Carr to do the +C. W. B. M. work of Mrs. Browning, whom ill-health prevents from +performing her duties as manager in Southern Missouri. She is also +engaged in lecturing on her tour of the world, taking opportunity as she +goes from city to city, to investigate the prospects for a new college. + +In the _Nevada Daily Democrat_ of October 11th, we find this estimate of +Mrs. Carr as a public lecturer: "The lady reads her lecture from +manuscript, and has a very plain, clear voice which can be distinctly +heard all over the room. Her diction is fine. She is, indeed, a pleasant +reader, almost perfect in her pronunciation and emphasis." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +ACHIEVING ONE'S IDEAL. + + +The six years following Mrs. Carr's connection with the University of +the State of Missouri, might be characterized as the time of +preparation, struggle and victory; preparation in the definite +formulation of plans for her last educational experience; struggle to +find the suitable place and the requisite means for the establishment of +her college, and the victory of final achievement. This period extends +from 1888 to 1894. + +As we have seen, it was Mr. Carr's earnest desire for his wife to take a +long rest, on his acceptance of the church at Springfield; and no +attentive reader of Mrs. Carr's life can doubt the need of rest at this +time--a rest which, in her case, meant keeping house--the every-day work +of many women. + +While she rests, this biography may also rest, in the respect of dealing +with events, since the occurrences in the simple life are most enjoyed +in proportion as they make dull reading, and the days at Springfield +were happy days. + +To illustrate Mrs. Carr's force of character it may be related that one +day when her finger was cut off, she found the dismembered part in the +folding door, quickly fastened the end back in place, and held it there +till help could be summoned. + +A brief note from the Ladies Aid Society of Sheldon, Missouri, asking if +Mrs. Carr can come to deliver a lecture in their interests, must be +taken as an example of countless others of a similar nature. The +following statement from the President of the Missouri University, fitly +serves as a transition from former experiences, to the new phase of Mrs. +Carr's career. It is addressed to her: + +"During my administration of the Missouri University for thirteen years, +you occupied faithfully and efficiently and acceptably the position of +Lady Principal, for eight or ten years. This position you resigned of +your own choice. It was not done at the advice, or the instance, of +either the Board or the President of the institution. You had always +done considerable teaching, as well as serving as Principal, and it was +always my understanding that it was not your pleasure to hold the +position apart from teaching; and as the care had so grown as to make +that overburdensome, when you withdrew, a successor was appointed who +has never done any teaching. As a matter of fact, when you resigned, I +did not fully understand your reason for doing so. Allow me to express +my appreciation for your great worth as an educator, and to assure you +of my earnest hope that your enterprise at Sherman will more than +realize your purposes and expectations." + +This letter from Dr. S. S. Laws was written in 1891, which brings us +rather prematurely to the subject of "Sherman." The reader will find +that in the course of events, all interests will presently center in +that Texas city; but, as we have said, Mrs. Carr is now resting (1888-9) +and the biography, as a chronicle of events, rests with her. + +But while household cares engage her time, her mind is ever active with +that great idea of her life which has attended her since childhood days, +and which we are, in the course of time, to find bringing her to the +highest fulfillment of her powers. We have seen how that tireless nature +has fought its way from battlefield to battlefield, ever progressing in +its educational career. It is not clearly defined to her judgment how, +or where, she is to take the final stand in her work of improving the +greatest number of girls in the most effective way, yet, by following +the clews given in the following letters, we may trace out her course to +its final destination. + +But if Mrs. Carr has temporarily entered into what we may call--as +distinguished from other years--her period of rest, the following +clipping from a newspaper dated, May, 1889, will indicate that Mr. Carr +has been far otherwise engaged: + +"Sunday night, O. A. Carr stated to his congregation that he had a +secret of several months' standing which he was agonizing to disclose. +The long cherished hope of his congregation, and indeed of the North +Town disciples was about to be realized--the erection of a church +building in North Springfield. He said the money is already raised and +the building will begin as soon as specifications are determined upon. +He stated that the disciples of Christ with whom he had been meeting in +the Good Templars' Hall, for nearly two years, would begin, next Sunday, +regular church work preparatory to entering their new church home in the +near future. With the dawning light of the permanent prosperity of the +church of North Springfield filling their hearts, the congregation was +dismissed, and the scene of rejoicing that followed cannot be +described." + +Mrs. Carr in commenting upon this news, adds, "North Springfield has a +population of about 10,000, and a struggling little band of Christians +have been praying and working for the above happy consummation, for +years." + +This brief news-item reveals, to those who have built churches, years of +labor, anxiety, and suffering. In the meantime, the quest for a suitable +college opening is never relinquished. Now that the church is built, one +is freer to look about. Mr. Carr, having served three years at +Springfield, Mo., is invited to come to Arkansas and examine the field. + +"The brethren will help support and establish a college here," writes G. +W. Hudspeth. "I would like to have it at Little Rock, but do not know +that she would offer as much encouragement as a smaller town with no +college. I have about 400 lots in a railroad town of which I will give +sufficient grounds for a college building; and allow the other lots +sold, and donate one-third of the proceeds to the support of the +college." + +In December of the same year--1890--Mr. Carr writes from Bates City to +Mrs. Carr: "It seems to me that the Sherman proposition is the best +that has been made you, and I want you to see your way clear, and at the +same time I want you to act on your own judgment. You say you will +accept the terms, if they suit. I hope you will have some word of cheer +to send before long. Do not be gloomy and downcast." + +A few days after, the following from J. W. McGarvey is written to Mr. +Carr, showing that the terms of Sherman were far from persuasive: "Your +letter surprises me, for I thought that you and Sister Carr had already +moved to Sherman, Texas, and were at work there. The Broadway Church has +engaged Brother Bartholomew to preach one year, and superintend the +erection of a new house of worship, after which he returns to St. Louis +to build a new house there. I hope the school at Sherman has not gone +amiss, and that it will not be affected by the college boom at Dallas." + +Mrs. Carr, in explaining why Sherman was chosen as the site for her +important venture, wrote: "After a long and arduous term of labor as +Adjunct Professor and Principal of the Ladies Department in Missouri +State University my nervous system broke down, and I am compelled to +suspend my work. Mr. Carr accepted a call to preach at Springfield, Mo., +believing the altitude would conduce to the restoration of my health. +Breathing the ozone of the Ozarks, I was soon a new creature, and I +determined to resume my professional labors. The thought, like an +inspiration, came to me, 'Build a college for girls, consecrate your +life to it, and _leave it as a bequest to the Church_.' I told Mr. Carr +of my heart's desire, and after prayerful consideration, we resolved to +devote our united lives to the work. I visited a number of towns and +cities in Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky, seeking a suitable location. +After I had spent a year thus, Mr. Carr went to Sherman, Texas, to +conduct a series of meetings, and some of the prominent citizens, having +learned what we purposed, expressed a desire to have the college located +at Sherman. A proposition was submitted, which Mr. Carr forwarded me at +Springfield, advising me to come and look into the matter. I came, +amused at the idea of locating our life-work in Texas; but I was then +ignorant of her marvelous developments, and of her still more marvelous +undeveloped resources. I visited a number of her splendid towns, and +ascertained that in the wide territory of the State, the Church of +Christ owned no college exclusively for girls." + +It would be a brief story to say that Sherman was finally selected and +the college built there; but how, in that case, could the reader gain a +knowledge of the almost insuperable difficulties overcome? It is by such +a knowledge that we gain the clearest view of Mrs. Carr's character. She +was, no doubt, often despondent, but she never relinquished her +determination; nor did her zeal cause her to act too hastily. Although +Sherman now appeared desirable, no stone must be left unturned to +discover if there were towns more promising. + +January 18, 1891, we find President J. W. Ellis writing from Plattsburg +College, Missouri, to Mr. Carr: "I wrote you a hasty note on receipt of +your last. If you had carried the letter a little longer in your pocket, +you might have weakened it so it might not have got here! In regard to +Sister Carr's quest--Plattsburg College is now prosperous and has been +for eleven years. I would be willing to sell it at a nominal price, to +get rest from the long-continued service of a teacher and his wife. I +see no reason why Sister Carr could not continue the flourishing +condition of the school. Campus, four acres, unencumbered, non-taxable." + +February 12, 1891, Wm. Frazier wrote Mr. Carr from Calusa, California: +"At the suggestion of Brethren J. C. Keith and W. P. Dorsey, I address +you this note to say: For some 14 years, Brother Keith has been +President of Pierce Christian College; lately he sent in his +resignation; we will have to supply his place. I feel at liberty to ask +if you will be open for engagement next session, beginning September +1st. I am President of the Board of Trustees, and the Board looks to me +to attend to these matters. The church at College City will be without a +preacher in June; so the President of the college will most likely be +called to preach for the church. I ought to have said that Brother +Keith's health has been poor for three years, and his physicians advise +a change and rest." + +O. A. Carr, in forwarding this letter to his wife, adds, "The above +received to-day. I answered by saying, 'Send on your proposition, I will +consider it.' Why not get an appointment to lecture at Galveston? You +could easily run down there from Sherman, and see the place." + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, March 2nd: "I have just written to Brother Keith +in full asking all the questions you suggested, and several besides. I +told him we would come, and I could begin preaching for the church right +away. I asked him to send you a catalogue at Sherman. It may be that the +California plan is better than the Texas one. I have but one objection, +which I waive for your sake--I will be so far away from my kin, and the +friends of early days. Besides, you know I prefer preaching to teaching; +but I suppose I could do both at College City, after a fashion. So +Brother Capp is to be at Springfield! Well, I would rather have him +succeed me than any one else, for the good of the church. Address me at +Omaha." + +L. B. Wilkes, at Stockton, California, to O. A. Carr: "I wrote to +Brother Frazier. The place at College City is yours, it seems, if you +want it. You had better have them as a _Board_, send an official letter, +saying just what terms they mean to propose. If there's anything I can +do, I am ready." + +Wm. Frazier to L. B. Wilkes, March 16th: "I have written to Sister Carr, +making Brother Carr an offer to take our college, and am now anxiously +awaiting an answer. What a grand service you could be to us, Brother +Wilkes, if you could write to Brother Carr and induce him to come and +see our college." + +Instead of quoting further, the Pierce College incident may be summed up +as follows: The Executive Board called Mr. and Mrs. Carr to Pierce +Christian College of California. The call was accepted. Mrs. Carr gave +up the Sherman idea; all property at their death was to go to Pierce +Christian College; an accident policy in favor of the college was +arranged. She accordingly wired to College City that she would be there +by the 30th; sold the ponies and carriage and the household goods at a +sacrifice of about $1,000 (Mr. Carr was then in Nebraska), and was in +due time joined by her husband. + +The ticket agent secured their tickets. They were on the eve of +departure when a message from the President of the Board called off the +agreement. Opposition had arisen on the grounds that Mr. Carr did not, +in some of his opinions, accord with all of those on the Board. + +Mr. Carr, under the blow of this disappointment, wrote to Mr. Frazier as +follows: "Your reasons for withdrawing your offer are as great a +surprise to me as was the telegram announcing the fact. I stand where +Brothers Wilkes, Keith, Graham, McGarvey and Grubbs stand. I +emphatically encourage and practice progression heavenward. I will not +desert the cause of Christ for the fashion of the giddy world. Having no +children, Mrs. Carr has been planning for several years to locate in a +college which, at my death, would receive our money. We had decided upon +Pierce Christian College. I tell you this that you may know how +completely you have upset our plans." + +The foregoing is introduced into this biography merely by way of +illustrating the difficulties with which the Carrs were forced to +contend, before the final victory. + +Thus is the California incident closed. The Carrs once more find +themselves beset by uncertainties. Mr. Carr writes to their Springfield +friend, Mrs. Weaver, showing how one pauses irresolutely before various +openings: + +"I have been preaching at Council Bluffs, of late. I haven't yet decided +where I shall labor. I am waiting to hear from different points, and +then we'll go somewhere. President J. W. Ellis of Plattsburg, Mo., +offers us his college. I don't know about it. There is no offer so good +as Sherman, I think. Tell Miss Kate to write to me in shorthand if she +likes. I leave the other side of this sheet for Mattie to say her say." + +Mrs. Carr adds: "It is good of you to say my room is waiting for me. I +shall never forget your kindness, coming just when it was most needed. I +do try to be cheerful and hopeful. We have the comfort that we have +tried all along to do our duty, to the best of our ability. I believe +the Lord has a bright day in store for us, by and by, if we will only be +patient and stand for the right." + +June 23rd, F. W. Smith wrote to Mrs. Carr answering her questions +regarding the Tennessee Female College at Franklin. He hesitates to +advise her to accept it, but believes she could make of it a success, +and assures her of his hearty support should she undertake the work +there. + +About the same time, W. J. Loos writes to Mr. Carr from Louisville: "We +have your article from the _Guide_; had just received a note from Mrs. +Carr covering the same ground. I will keep an eye on the field, and if I +see any favorable opening, will let you know. I think you ought to +appear more frequently in the _Guide_." + +In 1891, the Carrs are thinking of going to Kentucky with their +enterprise. In September, Mr. Carr writes to Mrs. Carr from "Brother +McGarvey's study": "Brother Bartholomew says he will prepare you a +prospective so that a cut can be made from it, of the college building, +if you will give him the idea as to size, etc., and that it can be done +in three or four days. For his work, he will charge nothing, but he will +have to pay the man who does the drawing for the cut, and the cut will +cost about $15." Tentative diagrams at this time, show that Mrs. Carr +was making her own designs, arranging the rooms of her college--wherever +it was to be--to suit her own ideas. It is no easy matter to make the +cut of our college before there is any college. Still it must be done, +to bring the scheme tangibly before the public, and one's imagination +must become fixed in steel. + +September 9th, Mrs. Carr writes Mrs. Weaver from Omaha: "I hope to be +with you next week. I shall be in Springfield only a few days, I +presume. Then I shall go on to Sherman, to begin the College enterprise. +My love to Tillie." (Tillie was Mrs. Weaver's little daughter.) "Tell +the dear child to have a dozen kisses ready for me." + +Affairs seem to be crystalizing in and about Sherman, Texas. A site is +provisionally chosen for the proposed college, "on a beautiful +elevation," says Mrs. Carr, "in her eastern suburb, overlooking an +immense circuit of country, as charming as the bluegrass region of our +native State." + +A mass meeting of the citizens of Sherman was called, which Mrs. Carr +addresses in the interests of the enterprise. The arguments she produces +appear to cover all the ground in sight, and all probable contingencies +of the future. She says: + +"If another girls college be established in Sherman, it will bring among +you many more girls. They, in boarding-school vocabulary, will 'get +awful hungry,' and must be fed. Our grocers will have to order a large +supply of boarding-school staples, and our meat markets will have to +multiply their sirloin roasts and porterhouse steaks. These girls will +have boxes of roast turkey and French candies smuggled to them by +sympathetic mamas, and nature in her mercy, will send a wave of nausea, +and a cry will go up for our Homeopathic M. D. with his pleasant little +pills, or for our old school dignified Regular with his calomel and +quinine, or for our cautious Eclectic with his 'best' from all schools, +and each will add to his list of patients, and our druggists will +multiply their prescriptions, and their profits. These girls will +delight in pretty dresses and becoming hats--." And so the dry goods +stores will have their innings, and the milliners. Hope is next held out +to the bookstores, the music supply companies, the opera house, the +street car lines, etc. + +Perhaps it is not so apparent what advantage the new college may be to +those institutions already established in the city. But Mrs. Carr +promptly takes up this point, and elucidates it with faultless logic: + +"For example, Miss Smith, who is a member of the Christian Church, comes +from Galveston, and attends the Christian College of Sherman. She is +pleased with the school and delighted with our town. When she returns +home, at the close of her session she tells her intimate Baptist friend, +Miss Jones, and her intimate Methodist friend, Miss Brown, what a +delightful place Sherman is, and how 'jolly' it would be for all to go +to school in the same town, etc. What is the result? The following +September Sherman Institute opens its doors to Miss Jones, and North +Texas Female College welcomes Miss Brown. But that is not all. Miss +Jones of Galveston has a brother who must be sent to college, and, with +the true impulse of an affectionate sister, she says, 'Oh, brother +Jimmie, get papa to send you to Austin College, or Mahan's Commercial +College; and you can come to see me every Saturday.' Therefore, all the +Baptists and Methodists of Sherman ought to encourage our enterprise to +the extent of their financial ability." + +Mrs. Carr proceeds to point out how the building of her college will +give employment to carpenters, brick masons, carters, etc., how it will +help fill the purses of the dealers in hardware and furniture, and +carpets, and coal, etc., until most of the industries known to man are +shown to be directly concerned. + +"What I have said has been chiefly from a financial standpoint," she +concludes, "but I know you love Sherman for Sherman's sake, and glory in +her educational and religious progress. I believe you have the gallant +Southern pride, and the intensely earnest desire for the education of +women, to prompt at least one hundred and fifty of you to contribute to +this enterprise at least $200 each, especially when you get in return a +good-sized lot in one of the most beautiful suburbs of one of Texas' +most beautiful cities." + +So the success of the enterprise is to depend, it seems, upon the sale +of college-lots--an old story, and usually, a sad one! We shall see how +it succeeds in this instance. + +In the meantime, Mrs. A. M. Laws, wife of the President of Missouri +University, writes to Mrs. Carr, January 16, 1892: "I am glad you feel +so much encouragement in your new enterprise. If there is such a thing +as a fire-proof building, you ought to build fire-proof. I suppose you +have heard of the calamity that has befallen our University. It is all +in ruins. Last Saturday night a fire destroyed the entire building with +its contents. Only the museum specimens, and law library, were saved, +and not all of that. But already steps have been taken to rebuild and on +a grander scale than before. In the meantime the classes are meeting in +various places, all over town. All the portraits and statuary are gone +to ashes. Mr. Laws' large oil portrait, and two other crayon portraits +of him in the society halls, and one of myself, are destroyed. We will +be glad to hear of your success in the new enterprise. Mr. Laws joins me +in love and best wishes for a new year." + +At last, O. A. Carr comes back from holding meetings in Kentucky, and +joins his wife at Sherman. Mrs. Carr, on February 2nd, writes to her +Springfield friend, Mrs. Weaver: "I need not attempt to tell you how +happy I am to be with my husband once more. He says it is almost like +being married over. Nothing but the good work we are trying to +accomplish could have persuaded me to stay away from him so long. I have +been hard at work all winter, and have got the College enterprise into +good shape, and it bids fair to be a splendid success. If we can only +stem the tide of our financial troubles a year longer, I think we shall +be safe. We think we can get the college in operation by September, +1893. If Brother Porterfield will keep our house until then, or sell it +for us, or if we can get the Omaha property off at half-cost price, we +will be safe. I believe the Lord will put it into the hearts of our +friends to stand by us. When the college is up, we shall be able to +return their kindness tenfold. How happy we shall be, when the college +is built, and we have you and our dear little Tillie with us every +winter! Pray without ceasing, dear Sister Weaver, that the college may +be built, for we are so anxious to do a good work, and we want to _work +together_, the remainder of our lives. The Reid case at Omaha will +retard the college enterprise, for I will have to go there in April; but +we trust in the Lord, since the work we are doing is for His Cause, and +we believe He will give us success in His own good time. + +"We shall be hard pressed, for we are borrowing money, and indeed will +be borrowing until the college is up, but after that, we hope to have +plenty to live on and give to the Lord. Mr. Carr and I have keenly felt +our financial embarrassment, but remember we have told no one but you +just how great is that embarrassment; keep it locked up in your own +heart. Keep your health and strength for Tillie. She is the special +charge God has given you. Keep your energy for her. Is she taking music +lessons--or do you think she is still too young? Bless her heart! how I +wish I could kiss her this minute! Tell Brother Capp to bring you each +_Homiletic Review_, after he has read it." + +About this time, J. W. McGarvey, President of the Bible College of +Kentucky University, wrote: "It gives me great pleasure to learn that +Brother and Sister Carr have undertaken, in connection with the brethren +of Sherman, to establish a female college of high grade in that city. +Their removal to Texas will not only promote the educational interests +of that State,--for which work, Sister Carr has eminent qualifications +and experience,--but it will add very materially to its evangelizing +force. Brother Carr has had a great deal of successful experience as an +evangelist, and his skill in organizing churches for effective work is +not inferior to his presentation of the Gospel. I wish them abundant +success in their undertakings, not for their own sakes merely, but for +the sake of the cause of truth." + +Mrs. Carr's reference to money stringency may be explained by the fact +that the payment of college lots did not fall due until the college +building was actually begun. As our story advances, the reader must +imagine the hundreds of attempts to find buyers for the lots, the +hundreds of rebuffs, excuses, refusals, which cannot find place in this +work, lest it sink under melancholy monotony. + +April 4th, Mrs. Carr wrote from Farmington, Texas, "I don't want to +write to you, I want to talk to you, face to face. Tell little Tillie to +help you pray for our success in the college enterprise. Sherman takes +150 lots; and if we can sell 100 additional outside of Sherman; the +thing is a success. May our Heavenly Father be with us, and speed the +work of our hearts. If our Springfield property could be sold, it would +be such a help. Tell Brother Capp if he can sell ten lots for us, we +will thoroughly educate one of his daughters, board and all, free of +charge. Several preachers here, and one in Kentucky, have undertaken +this, and I believe they will succeed. If he will undertake this, let me +know at once, and I will send him map of lots, picture of building, and +all necessary information." + +To this letter Mr. Carr adds a postscript: "We are in Grayson County, in +the interests of the college. Mattie has lain down to read, after we had +a talk about you, of the time which we hope will come, when, the college +built, we shall have a home, and you and Tillie with us in the Sunny +South. I had a visit from Brother J. D. McClure and his son-in-law from +Iowa--where I had a vacation on leaving Springfield. I wish you could +know these people. They are the right kind. He wrote before coming, 'I +shall be as proud to see you as if you were my own brother.' You may be +sure I was proud to see these true men and to introduce them to Mattie. +They are booked for five lots in the college enterprise. Remember our +address is Sherman, Texas, and letters will be forwarded us, wherever we +may be." + +On October 10th, the following from the Sherman Soliciting Committee to +Mrs. Carr, suggests some of her difficulties: "After a full discussion +of the matter, the Soliciting Committee decides that it would be +inopportune to try to sell the remainder of the College Park lots. It is +thought best to defer this until after the November election; and, in +fact, the opinion prevails among the majority of the Committee that it +would be better, if possible, for you to finish selling your 100 lots, +return to Sherman, report that you have carried out your part of the +agreement, and that if Sherman does not come up to her part of the +agreement, that you will proceed to go elsewhere with the college." + +Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, January 13, 1893: "What a surprise to receive +your card announcing that you are in Kansas City and will go to +Springfield before returning to Sherman! Still it's all right, if you +can sell the lots. I have had a fearful time, I sold only three at +Clarksville. We will have to take off the names of ---- and ----, who +say they cannot take their lots! All in all, I have sold 90 lots. Dear +me! I have done my best, and have lost a great deal of time--rain and +mud. I think we can close it up in about two weeks when you come. Sell +all the lots you can, but do not delay, do not waste time. I don't +believe any lots could be sold in Paris or Bonham. I tried faithfully. +Joshua Burdette, son of Geo. Burdette of Clarksville, Texas, lives at +Eufaula, Indian Territory. He is a member of the church and is making +money; you might sell him a lot. Tell those Springfield preachers Jimmie +Pinkerton" (son of our old favorite professor and doctor) "and John +Hardin and Tom Capp, I say for them to put their names on your list for +a lot each." + +In short, one thinks of little but lots, these days; one dreams of lots; +one writes always, speaks always, of lots. People must learn that these +lots are for sale, they must be persuaded that the purchase of them is +for individual good, for educational enlargement, for the advancement +of spiritual interests. The Carrs believe all this. Will others believe? + +Fortunately others are found to enter heartily into the project.[18] +But, as one might naturally expect, there is great opposition, which one +always finds as the shadow to bright deeds. It would seem that no light +can shine in the world without casting the shadow of opposing forces +upon the ground. There are some who treat the Carrs with rude +incivility; will buy no lots, and will, if possible, persuade others +from buying. + +On one occasion, Mrs. Carr was obliged to walk to the station from a +distant farm-house--do you know those muddy Texas roads in the "Black +Lands?"--because the farmer is opposed to buying the college lots; he +watches her grimly as she makes her way along the difficult road, with +no intention of offering his horses. We have before us letters written +to Mrs. Carr by members of the church in good fellowship--men of +recognized standing in their communities, and who, without doubt +believe themselves to be excellent Christians. But alas! these letters, +in refusing to buy the college lots, are not, as it would appear, the +letters of gentlemen, so we must pass them by. + +These were in truth times of pressing need. Mrs. Carr often found it +best to walk that she might save the expense of a cab. The Carrs had +just suffered a loss of $12,000 in property at Omaha. Often Mr. Carr was +obliged to go hungry in his expeditions of lot-selling, and on his way +to hold meetings. There were taxes to be paid on vacant property, +interest to be found that borrowed money demanded, while traveling +expenses were necessarily large. + +"Will you please tell me where I can get a meal for twenty-five cents?" +Mr. Carr inquired of a stranger in a town whither he had gone to +lecture. + +The man indicated a restaurant. Mr. Carr went away, but soon returned to +the stranger, saying, + +"Will you be so kind as to tell me where I could get the quarter?" + +"Yes," was the glum response; "at the bank." + +"And," said Mr. Carr, when referring to the incident, with a twinkle in +his gray eye, "he wouldn't even promise to come to hear me lecture." + +In the meantime Mrs. Carr was also traveling, in the prospects of her +future college. "Wherever she went," one writes, "she carried good cheer +and a blessing to that home. There she would give instruction, impart +advice, there she would help with the sewing, and, with pleasure, would +teach and care for the children." + +But the thought that she should be thus financially embarrassed and +placed in a dependent position, was most distressing to Mr. Carr. Yet +there was no help for it, until the lots should have been sold. We do +not dwell upon these days of heartache and suffering, to inspire remorse +in the breast of anyone who offered obstacles to the great enterprise. +We would, instead, pay a tribute to those who gave a welcome; who +cheered up the way; who, instead of doubting the outcome, hoped for the +best; who, instead of waiting for ultimate success, helped in time of +need. It is he who smiles at his open door, who joins his song to that +of the singer along life's highroad, and reaches out his hand to help, +and waves to the departing traveler his confidence of victory,--he it +is, who finds the world growing better. For the world is always growing +better for him who makes it better for others. Those who helped the +Carrs with friendship, and with a participation in their college-plans, +cannot be named in this book; but we should like to think that those +still living might read these lines, and each take them to himself. + +January 30, 1893, Mr. and Mrs. Carr issued this typewritten manifesto to +subscribers for lots: + +"When you purchased one of the Christian College lots, we promised you +that you would not be called on for the first payment before September, +1892. Because of Mrs. Carr's protracted suspension of the work, on +account of sickness, the sale of lots has been, of course, retarded. We +shall be ready, however, for the distribution of lots by March 1st, +1893, and write to you at this early date, that you may have ample time +to arrange for making at that date the FIRST PAYMENT ($100). Please make +your draft of $100 payable to Hon. T. J. Brown and Judge H. O. Head, +Trustees, Sherman, Texas, who will make you a deed to your lot. If you +desire to pay all cash, and it will be best of course, if you can, send +the draft for $200 (the full amount) payable to the said Trustees. We +shall begin the college building by the middle of next March, and open +the first session in September, 1893." + +But if the reader supposes that all now glides smoothly forward, let him +read this of May 20th: "The distribution of the Christian College lots +has been unavoidably postponed until the first of July next, when it +WILL POSITIVELY TAKE PLACE in the court house in Sherman, Texas, at 2 +o'clock p. m. + + O. A. CARR, + M. F. CARR." + +At last the ground is broken for the foundation of the college building, +and Mrs. Carr proudly walks behind the plow, and guides it in the making +of one long furrow. Can you not see her marching thus, grasping the +handles with all her strength, her eyes aglow with the realization that +she is digging deeper than a foundation of stone? + +O. A. Bartholomew is called upon to undertake the construction of the +building, July 27th. He shows hesitation and remarks--while our heads +nod mechanically, _Ah, how true!_ "I do not know what to say. The +churches for which I have made the completest plans, have found the +most fault. Especially, if I did not charge them much!" And we who have +never built churches, yet feel like crying, Ah, yes, how true! + +Let us pass over the months of sleepless nights, of anxious days. There +was one matter that brought great hindrance to the scheme. It was +currently reported that the college was merely a private enterprise of +the Carrs, like any other private school; and the Carrs would reap all +its advantages and profits: and that the claim that it was deeded to the +church was a specious pretense made in order to induce people to buy +lots. These charges were made, not by the enemies of education and +Christianity, not by unfriendly denominations, but by the members of the +Christian church; in other words, by the very body to whom the college +was deeded, to be theirs forever. + +This accusation had its staunch adherents, men who for years were ready +to argue warmly, if not dispassionately, in its support. The fact that +it could have been disproved by simply glancing at the records, seems to +have lessened none of its force. It wrought much delay in selling the +lots, and, after the college was built, it served to lessen the +attendance. Carr-Burdette College was, indeed, a free and loving +gift,--given, one might almost say, in spite of the reluctance of the +beneficiary, and held in his possession while he disclaimed its +ownership. + +It is not our wish to lessen the patient helpfulness of many of the +members of the church. Had the Carrs worked themselves to death they +could not have disposed of the lots, had not people been found to buy +them. People there were found, as we have seen, who co-operated with the +Carrs to the extent of their ability, and many of these were among the +most illustrious of the Texan brotherhood. But for years, one might find +at a general convention, the spirit of suspicion and hostility to +Carr-Burdette College--as "Christian College" was finally named, and, at +important committee meetings, it would be plainly declared that the +college was a private enterprise and did not belong to the church. + +But we will never get our college up at this rate. Let us pass on to the +winter of 1893, which takes O. A. Carr once more to Kentucky. Who would +ever have thought that the Kentucky boy of May's Lick, chalking his +problems on his father's barn-door, would, at a later day, be going up +and down his native State, selling college lots, and looking out for +prospective pupils of his own? These pupils are for next year. The day +for laying the corner-stone of the college, is to dawn while Mr. Carr is +far away from Sherman. + +On December 26th, Mrs. Carr writes to him: "I hope you will have a happy +time with your kindred. I am very lonely without you; but it must be +thus, until those twenty lots are sold. Necessity is a stern tyrant. But +we have borne thus far, and we can bear a little longer. How happy we'll +be, when we can be at home together all the time! The corner-stone will +be laid New Year's Day at 3 p. m. I am dispatching you tonight to have +your message in your own hand writing, to be read on the occasion, and +it will be deposited in the bowl of the corner-stone. It is too bad you +can't be here. This sacrifice should make a heart-appealing chapter in +my book. Have your speech here without fail, in your own hand writing. +Your message in your letter to me is beautiful, and I'll read that if +necessary, but there are other things in that letter I don't want to go +into the corner-stone. Suppose you send a dispatch, for fear your speech +will not come in time. Do this at once. I send this to Maysville, and a +copy to Carmel. A merry Christmas to all! How I wish I were with you!" + +As to the "book" referred to, that, of course, is the "History of +Carr-Burdette College;" the book which Mrs. Carr intends to write--after +the college is built, of course; a book which will tell of almost +superhuman struggles, of cruel sacrifices and, thank God! of words of +love and cheer, and of final peace "in our home, where we shall live +together." But the book was never written. Here and there among groups +of old letters we find a document superscribed "Important," or, "For the +Book"--and we know Mrs. Carr wrote that, with her mind upon some future +day, when she would have time--time in her old age, the heat of battle +dying away, and the calm of memory softening the past--a time that never +came, else _this_ book would have had no being. + +January 10, 1894, Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr: "I go to hold a meeting at +Vanceburg, Kentucky. I am sorry I could not be at Sherman when the +corner-stone was laid. Of course, it was laid right side up, with care; +and as my wife is to see to it, I'm sure it will be well done. But it is +too bad that I have to be away, causing you to work yourself down, and +get sick. I am devoutly thankful to Sister Hildebrand for her care of +you. Tell her she shall have her reward, by and by! I suppose the +corner-stone was laid on the 7th--" sickness having made New Year's Day +impossible. "I do hope you will excuse me for not sending a message +worthy of the occasion. I wonder what you did with my poetry? If you +planted it in the rock, I will have to get up something else for your +Book. Look here! What did you think of that poetry? Perhaps there has +been another delay of corner-stone ceremonies,--pshaw! if I could get +into the spirit of it, I could write something, but I am so unsettled +and so put out from not doing anything, that I can scarcely write a +letter, to say nothing of writing what is to be left as a monument!" + +The following, from Mr. Carr, January 24th, is a fitting trumpet-note +with which to close the discords and harmonies of the college-overture: +"I received a paper to-day--Picture of college is fine. Hurrah! Your +address is grand--Just the thing! You are doing fine work." + + +[18] Their names are in those "Envelopes" at the College inscribed "for +my book" and Mrs. Carr intended to honor them thus; memory of them and +incidents she often recalled; and she praised them always. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +That was, without a doubt, the proudest day in Mrs. Carr's life when she +faced the expectant multitude, on the day of the corner-stone +ceremonies, and told in simple words, the story of her striving and +achievement. It was, in truth, the day most significant in her history. + +She could cast her eyes over that plowed field, and in fancy see rising +before her, the outlines of the college which she had designed as her +monument. The money was all raised; never was Carr-Burdette to rest +under the shadow of mortgage, or suspend payments. + +Fresh in the minds of her audience were many instances of plans for the +selling of lots to erect college buildings,--plans that had resulted in +forced sales, spasmodic flickerings of uncertain life, and humiliating +defeat. She and her husband had accomplished what well-organized boards +and influential committees with fleet financial agents, had not been +able to consummate. They had accomplished this, not because Texas felt a +great educational want,--a vacuum in the intellectual thermometer,--but +in spite of the fact that many Texans believed they had schools +a-plenty. This they had accomplished, although misunderstood and +misrepresented by different factions; although it was persistently +denied that the property belonged to the church; and although the State +papers, on more than one occasion, refused to print an advertisement of +the enterprise. + +Mrs. Carr did not rehearse these difficulties, save in general and mild +terms. A record of her sad experiences was placed by her own hand in the +dark recess of the corner-stone; but we, who are unable to hide our +record in so sacred a receptacle, must be content to lay it before the +public eye, with all good-will, and, we trust, all fairness. In her +address, that January day of 1894, Mrs. Carr said: + +"To sell 250 lots at $200 each and to collect the money, was the work to +be accomplished in order to secure the college--a work that demanded +enormous courage and indomitable will power and persistence. We struck +out the word "fail," and all its derivatives from our vocabulary, and +addressed ourselves to the task. We traveled in five different States; +and, amid the distraction of the most intense political excitement and +under the pressure of the severest financial crisis the country has +ever experienced since 1873, we completed the sale of the lots after +nearly two long years of labor, worry and anxiety inexpressible. The way +has been long and hard, but you have been kind to us and God has been +with us. The corner-stone of our life-work is laid to-day; we behold the +consummation of our heart's desire, and we feel generous towards all and +profoundly grateful to our Heavenly Father for the many and devoted +friends that He has given us to cheer us by their kind words and deeds +when our burden seemed ofttimes greater than we could bear. The +sacrifice that we have made and the trials and humiliations that we have +endured are too sacred to be told, even in this paper that shall be hid +in the silence and darkness of the corner-stone, whose peace the +cyclonic onrush of the Twentieth Century may never disturb. They are +known only to our own hearts and to God. But we count them all joy and +would endure tenfold more if need be, because we believe that for the +Christian girls who shall be educated here from generation to generation +there shall work out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. +We are building, not for ourselves, but for coming generations of +girls. This thought has been from the beginning our inspiration and our +strength; and it is useless to say that to donate this college to the +Church of Christ in Texas for the education of the daughters of the +South is the supremest happiness of our united lives. It is the child of +our adoption, and to its interests we consecrate the best energies of +our remaining years. Of all the glad New Years this is to me the +gladdest. The only thing that disturbs the fitness and happiness of the +hour is the unavoidable absence in Kentucky of my husband, who has +labored so long and so faithfully under circumstances the most painful +to "humor his wife (as he expresses it) in helping her to bring to a +successful issue the pet scheme of her life." But a gladder time is yet +before us--the Jubilee Opening next September, 1894, of the completed +college--when it shall be lighted by the faces of happy girls, and when +Mr. Carr will participate in person as well as in spirit, and nothing +will be lacking to perfect our joy in the crowning work of our lives. +And best of all, the years of blessed work that shall follow! Oh, I pray +that our Heavenly Father may give us health and strength, and length of +days, and that the fruits of our labors may be abundant; so + + 'That when our summons comes to join + The innumerable caravan that moves + To that mysterious realm where each shall take + His chamber in the silent halls of death, + We go, not like the quarry-slave at night, + Scourged to his dungeon; but, sustained and soothed + By an unfaltering trust, approach our grave + Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch + About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.'" + +But was the work now ended? It was only about to begin; all else had +been preparation. But how different to work in uncertainty, and to work +in confidence! + +There were the catalogues to be thought of, and notices in the papers to +be judiciously given out, and furniture to be bought, and trees, and +shrubbery, and pianos, and charts, and all things else needful to +college life. Above all, there is the building itself to be erected. + +And, of course, many who have subscribed for lots do not want to pay for +them, when paytime comes due,--and are indignant at being held to their +bond, and say bitter things, and spread unkind rumors. And some have to +be excused from paying interest, else they will pay nothing; and some +move away, one knows not whither! + +"Mrs. O. A. Carr is in the city," says a daily paper. "Carr-Burdette +Christian College at Sherman will open in September. The college has +been donated to the Christian churches in the State, but will be open to +all denominations. Mr. and Mrs. Carr are doing much for the educational +interests of Texas, and their philanthropic devotion to this interest +sets an example which we hope will be emulated." + +[Illustration: "The College is Built at Last."--Carr-Burdette.] + +Mrs. Carr clips the foregoing and sends it to the _Gospel Advocate_, +hoping they will reproduce all, or a part, of the "local". + +"My dear Sister," says the _Gospel Advocate_--it is in August of the +corner-stone year, "it is our settled policy not to advertise one school +more than another. We do not see any reason why we should advertise the +Carr-Burdette College any more than the Add Rann College. There are a +number of good schools controlled by the brethren, to whom we have never +given free advertisement. Yours truly and fraternally--" Very +fraternally, without doubt. So Mrs. Carr may be in our city as often as +she pleases, and she and her husband do all they can, for a dozen +colleges, but we mustn't mention the fact; such is our policy! + +John A. Brooks, pastor of the Christian church at Memphis, writes to Mr. +and Mrs. Carr: "I am pleased to see that you are about to open a female +school in Sherman. I know your education and character are such as to +commend you to the public as most competent teachers. Most heartily I +wish you both a successful voyage on the sea of life." + +This from Palestine, Texas, July 13th, to Mrs. Carr, is a voice from the +camp of misconception: "I have read your letter with much interest. I +accord to you the purest and best motives in your work, and believe you +to be a noble woman. But it is reported, on good authority, that you and +Brother Carr are not in sympathy with our work in Texas, the United +States and abroad. I shall not enter the lists against you and your +work, however--I shall attend to my own business, which will keep me +busy enough * * * Fraternally yours--" + +That word "Fraternally," which we find closing so many bitter and +discourteous letters, seems to be used as a parting blow. They all write +"Fraternally"--that stereotyped phrase of a stereotyped brotherhood! But +the present biographer feels indeed fraternally toward these indignant +and suspicious and mistaken letter-writers, and shall prove it by +reproducing none of their letters. + +For these writers who were so warmly "fraternal" did not understand, and +seemingly would not understand, that the Carrs had deeded the college +and the extensive grounds to the Church; that the Carrs furnished the +buildings throughout, at their own expense, to present them to the +Church fully and beautifully equipped; that the Carrs had insured, and +would keep insured, the buildings, not for themselves, but for the +Church; that they did not, and never would, receive a penny of +money-contributions from anyone; and that this Carr-Burdette College, +this monument to Mrs. Carr, was given to the Church as the most +priceless gift in her possession, to the cause dearest to her heart. + +In the meantime, college-work did not wholly absorb the life of this +busy woman. Here comes a letter from the Christian Woman's Board of +Missions in Missouri; the state-secretary, at this time, is Mrs. +Elizabeth Bantz. Mrs. Bantz writes: + +"This year marks the twenty-fifth year of the C. W. B. M. in +Missouri--1894. My board has authorized me to issue an historical +sketch of the work. We are publishing the faces of many of those who +served us officially. We want your picture for this book. Please, my +dear sister, send me a half-tone cut, as soon as possible." + +Mrs. A. B. Jones of Liberty, Mo., seconds the request: "I have been +asked to write an historical sketch of our C. W. B. M. for a book which +our state secretary is preparing for our 25th anniversary. We want our +state officers from the time of our organization. Will you kindly send a +photo, or cut, to Mrs. Bantz at St. Louis? I would be so glad to have a +picture of yourself and Brother Carr. Both of you are lovingly +remembered by us." + +Now that the college is built at last, and Mr. and Mrs. Carr have +assumed its management, the story of their lives enters the peaceful +channel of daily service together. + +A few events of distinction stand out from among the minor affairs of +fourteen years. The incessant work in the school room, the canvassing +tours during vacations,--involving lectures with the stereopticon,--the +correspondence with new pupils, old pupils and prospective pupils, the +worrying over misunderstandings and misrepresentations; the struggle +against prejudice, and jealousy; the sweet companionship with each +other, and with congenial friends--all this is the story of daily +living, that does not belong to the world of books. + +Let the reader imagine the interlinked events of these fourteen +years--the fourteen years that followed the accomplishment of Mrs. +Carr's life-work. The honors bestowed upon her and her girls at the +Confederate Reunion at New Orleans, and at the World's Fair at St. +Louis, may be found fully described in the great daily papers of those +days. The mass of printed programs that lie before me tell of brilliant +success before the footlights--and hint at long hours of nerve-racking +rehearsals. And here are confessions of school-girls who have done +wrong, and who ask to be forgiven; and other letters which wound cruelly +and do not ask for pardon. But shall we not forgive all? And how can we +forgive, if we do not forget? + +Upon my table lies documents from disobedient pupils of Carr-Burdette +College, ungrateful pupils, narrow-minded pupils, and parents naturally +championing the cause of their daughters--in which, all these stand +self-accused. Here is one who has discovered how unjust were charges she +had made against the Carrs--but not until she had spread those reports +to willing ears. And here is one who asks with tears that she may be +forgiven; but who laments that the harm she has done can never be +overcome. + +But what of it all, now! I should not mention these things if it were +not for this: that the evil reports live in some minds and, no doubt, +are handed down to strangers. Here are the refutations to several such +reports, but we push them aside. Can falsehood wound beyond the grave? + +Nor would we expose anyone to shame by bringing her name upon the +printed page, with quotations of her own rash words. There is no +punishment for a malicious nature so terrible as the vengeance of its +own malice which reacts upon itself, dwarfing, embittering, deadening +the higher capabilities of the soul that harbors it. He who took the +snake to his warm hearth to nourish it to life, is not he who suffers +from the ingratitude of a friend, but rather he who admits hate to warm +it in his own bosom; for it wounds him, first of all. + +Fourteen years of labor in the work Mrs. Carr loved best, amid +surroundings best adapted to call forth one's greatest capabilities, +and then--the last journey. The school year of 1907-8 had opened +prosperously. September passed, and in the warmth of its haze, and in +the tender blue of its Texan sky, there was no hint that its +sister-month would bring the chill of death. + +It was on the thirty-first of October that there came the summons of +which she had spoken in her dedicatory speech. Not, indeed, as a quarry +slave, scourged to his dungeon, did she go to meet that call, but rather +as one who had followed her Lord across the seas, who had dwelt with him +in many lands, and who was now to abide with Him forever. + +He who was left behind, dwells in the lofty halls her wisdom and her +love fashioned out of brick and stone. The great work of her life is +continued by President O. A. Carr, and when one visits that "College +Beautiful," that "College Home," tapestries and statuary, pictures and +mosaics, engravings and flowers--all seem instinct with the presence of +Mrs. Carr. + +One passes through spacious reception-rooms and ample halls, into +parlors of refined and exquisite workmanship. Yonder is the winding +stairway, with its "Cosy Nook" behind the ferns. Here is the library +with its cheerful hearth. Nothing is to be seen to suggest Latin and +Geometry! It is, first of all, a home for young ladies. + +But when we are shown the mystic way that leads to schoolrooms, we find +them stript, as it were, for service. Here is little or no adornment. +They are placed before us in stern reality--desk and blackboard and +floor--with no pretense that knowledge walks on velvet carpets. In this +wing, we find ourselves indeed in a school; and we feel instinctively +that if we do not immediately fall to, at some difficult textbook, we +have no business here, and should be sent home to our parents. + +And that is just what Mrs. Carr would have done for us. Education had +always for her, meant something serious, something life-long, something +to become an integral part of one's character. First, Carr-Burdette +College is to be a _home_ in which young ladies are to be taught conduct +and hygiene; but it is a _College_ Home, where study is not play, any +more than play is study. We cannot determine where we feel Mrs. Carr's +influence stronger--whether in these unadorned schoolrooms, or in the +luxurious parlors. Taken together, they typify the extremes of her +character. She sought to build in every soul that came under her +moulding touch, the firm foundation of eternal truth; and upon this +foundation to erect a structure traced with all the beauty of eternal +love. + +[Illustration: "He Who was Left Behind."] + + +THE END + + + + +APPENDIX. + +By O. A. Carr. + + +(Page 31.) + +Our mother made our clothes from the same piece, which, for many years, +was her own weaving; and our resemblance was such in childhood that many +thought we were twins. For sixteen years we were together day and +night--in the field, in the school-room, in the home. "Bud and Ol.," our +familiar names, were pronounced together, and the presence of one +suggested the other. Our separation came when I said good-by to go to +Kentucky University, and then to the other side of the earth. I can even +now recall my feelings when I would go into Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, +Australia, where, alone, I would read Owen's letters over and over. +Though himself not a preacher, he came as near as any one I ever knew to +an identification of his life with the lives of those who preach the +word. + +After my return from Australia it was our happiness to go together to a +church composed of many whom I baptized when I began preaching +forty-five years ago, some of them our relatives. The building was +within a mile of where we were born, and near the site of the first +school-house we ever entered. There were the boys and girls with whom we +played in childhood, heads of families now. Such an audience was an +inspiration to me, and especially the presence of "Bud." I ever felt +that I could preach better when he was hearing. We went over the +familiar roads planning a meeting to be held when the weather would +permit, and I thought this happiness would be mine, but alas! there came +the telegram: "Bud is very sick, come at once." We all came to him, +except one brother who was far away. There were the chairs my mother +used, my father's desk, the little chair in which I sat in earliest +childhood, and the pictures on the wall of those whom my brother loved. +There, amid all to remind me of early days, I took my seat beside him +with the sad duty on me to report to the physician his pulse and fever +day and night. What was revealed by his tearful eyes fixed upon us can +never be put in a book; but when the physician told him he must die, he +simply said "I am ready." + +With the exception of a short sojourn in Missouri and Illinois Owen +spent his life in Kentucky, at May's Lick, also at Lexington, Maysville +and Mt. Carmel. The call for a young man who neither blasphemed nor +drank secured for him his first business engagement at Lexington. He was +engaged in Maysville many years, and he spent his earnings in helping +our afflicted parents; and from the needy he never turned away. After +the death of father and mother, Owen made his home with his sister, Mary +E. Goddard, near Mt. Carmel, whence he was called to go up higher, +Thursday, January 14, 1902. + +Owen Carr was a Christian. His life was very quiet, but useful. His +faith was simple, his convictions were strong and he was true to them. +To maintain what he held to be truth I believe he would have laid down +his life. Yes, he did this in effect, toiling for the good of others, +bearing heavy burdens of suffering, fulfilling his mission to the +family, in the community, in the church. How can I speak his praise? +Does he know, now, how we all loved him? No words could ever tell it. + +A companion wrote: "Though our association was not long at any one time, +yet he was so transparent and companionable that in a short time I knew +Owen Carr well. He was one of the few men in the world that I really +loved ardently; and I have his obituary on the 'Treasure page' of my +little scrap book. He was the divinest and sweetest impersonation of +unostentatious unselfishness and of transparent honesty and integrity +that I ever knew among men. + + J. H. M." + + +IN MEMORY OF THE NOBLE. + +(Page 46.) + +"Not of the blood," though they were Englishmen: "nor of the will of the +flesh nor of the will of man", and yet the Myalls, Eneas, Jonas, George +and Edward, stand in memory as NOBLE MEN. In the days of their activity, +their motto seemed to be: "We will do more than any others". Of these +four men two--Jonas at May's Lick, and Edward, at Maysville, +Kentucky--still live, and they are my witnesses. Eneas and Jonas Myall +were blacksmiths; and they shod one hundred mules in a day, at a time +when mules were driven overland to market! Energy, perseverance, +generosity characterized these men--each in his own way.--Remembrance of +them has been with me and has been presented to the young men in many +lands and on both sides of the earth. + +Of Eneas Myall Longfellow's words in "THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH" are true +in almost every line. + +If money was to be raised for benevolent purposes Eneas Myall was the +one to secure it; for he headed the list with a liberal offering, and +while others did the talking, he did the work. He was more eloquent in +deed than they were in speech: hence May's Lick church was in the lead +of all churches in that part of the country in expenditures at home and +abroad. As a deacon in the church he was well nigh perfection. I have +never seen a better. + +His constancy made him great in usefulness. For more than sixty years he +led the songs in the May's Lick church. For a period of twenty years he +was never known to be absent from the meeting on Lord's day morning and +night and the Wednesday night prayer meeting except on one occasion, +when he went to Paris to see his sick brother. His best singing was +done, as it seems, on occasions when the boy, his protege, was in the +pulpit. Such singing is seldom heard now-a-days as was heard when these +men, Ed., George, Jonas and Eneas Myall sang together with Eneas to +lead. There was only one occasion, as I remember, when Eneas Myall could +not sing, and that was the morning when my father came forward to +confess his faith in Jesus. He wept for joy; but could not talk--could +not sing. The circumstances seemed to me to magnify his sincerity; for +it was just at the close of the war. Eneas Myall was of strong +prejudice, and he was opposed to my father politically, but the welcome +he extended seemed to say: we differ out yonder in the world where +political troubles are, and war rages; but here, in the church, there is +peace, and we have fellowship. When I took my father down into the water +to bury him with Christ in baptism, Eneas Myall had recovered himself +so as to sing: + + "How happy are they, who their Savior obey." + +It is not strange that a man possessed of such firmness, such +perseverance and such energy should become wealthy. His earnings +increased: He sowed with an unsparing hand, and he reaped bountifully. +Wealth did not make him proud nor dry up the fountain of his generosity. +He seemed never so happy as when he was dividing what he possessed with +his friends. When he and his good wife, "aunt Sallie" would spread the +banquet, and he would gather all the preachers he could find and those +who loved such company to his house, and around the table where he +presided, what a feast for body and soul was there! What preacher who +has ever been at May's Lick does not remember Eneas Myall and his +family? He has gone; and shall we ever see his like again? Before him +across the silent river had passed his faithful wife and the elders of +the May's Lick church, as nearly models, as mortals could be expected to +be, of what the Scriptures say of bishops, elders, pastors. What a +church that was! over which Aaron Mitchell, Waller Small and Benjamin +James presided, and taught by precept and example and led and protected, +in those days when Walter Scott did the preaching and Eneas Myall led in +song! + + +MY SHEEP. + +(Page 272.) + +"A sheep can never become a goat!" True of the woolly quadruped but this +fact is no reply to my sermon; for the Savior was not talking about +animals. He meant people when he said "My sheep hear my voice and follow +me". That is what sheep (animals) do; hence people who hear his voice +and follow him he calls his sheep; and says "they shall never perish". +Who? His sheep; that is, people who hear his voice and follow him. If +they should cease to hear his voice and follow they would cease to be +his sheep and the Savior did not say of such, "they shall never perish." + +But were they his sheep before they heard his voice. + +They might have been called "sheep" on account of some other +resemblance, such as proneness to wander away, need of guidance, of +protection; but for these reasons it would not be true of them that +"they shall never perish". It is certain that they would perish; hence +the Great Good Shepherd came and called them home, saved and protected +them. + +If you say they were his sheep because he died for them--"laid down his +life for the sheep", I answer: He called them his sheep before he laid +down his life for them; and when he died it was not for them alone but +"he died for all". + +The truth is that the characteristic of sheep, to hear and follow, is +possessed by all mankind; and whose sheep they are depends upon whose +voice they hear and whom they follow. They are not the Savior's sheep +unless they hear HIS voice and follow HIM. When persons do turn away +from other voices and give heed to HIS they become HIS sheep. Would you +say, this is not true, and give as a reason, "a GOAT can never become a +SHEEP?" As well say this as to say "a sheep can never become a goat" as +a proof that a believer may not, can not, cease to be a believer. + +The one expression is fate fixed as fatally as is the other; and neither +of them contains any Scripture idea. + + * * * * * + +The TRIAL was unique. The purpose was to determine whether I should be +permitted to use their baptistry; and this depended on whether I was +sound on what they called "the design of the ordinance." There were the +officers of the Baptist Church to hear and a lawyer to ask questions. He +put them in such a way that each question could be answered by simply +quoting the Scripture; and that was happy; it was right, too, whether he +intended it or not: "What do you believe baptism is for--what purpose +has it?" Answer. "Repent and be baptized--in the name of Jesus the +Christ FOR the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the +Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38. + +"Do you regard it as a saving ordinance?" Answer--"He that believeth and +is baptized shall be saved." Mark 16:15-16. + +"Yes, we believe that: of course, we believe the Scriptures, but what do +YOU THINK? Do you think a person cannot be saved without baptism?" +Answer--"I think just what the Savior says: 'He that believeth and is +baptized shall be saved.' It is not my privilege to THINK anything +except what the Savior said, and what his Apostles preached and +practiced. Aside from this I have no ability to think; for I have +nothing to think about." "Well, our Savior says: 'he that believeth not +shall be damned' and he does not say he that believeth not and is not +baptized shall be damned." "Does not this show that baptism is not +necessary to salvation, that it is not a saving ordinance?" +Answer--"Baptism is not named in that clause, hence, we cannot think +what that clause says and have baptism in mind at all; since it is not +there. The way to be saved, Jesus says, is: 'he that believeth and is +baptized shall be saved;' but the way to be damned, he says, is, 'he +that believeth not shall be damned.' I think just what the Savior says +on the subject of DAMNATION; and I think just what he says on the +subject of SALVATION." + +Then Brother Jones, a Baptist, addressed the meeting in substance thus: +"Brethren, I have heard every sermon our young brother has preached in +Hobart, and I have found no fault with it. He says just what the +Scriptures say, and surely you cannot refuse that. You heard the sermon +on, 'What must I do to be saved'"? Then Brother Jones gave an outline of +that sermon--the first I had ever heard that I understood--heard it from +W. T. Moore at May's Lick, Ky., and from him I learned how to preach it. +Thereupon a good man of the company of Baptists arose and said: "I would +rather give up my life than countenance FREE-GRACE preaching." I did not +want him to give up his life, and so the interview ended with my +resolution not to use the baptistry; I would use the public baths +instead. + + +MRS. CARR AND A LITTLE BOY--THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO. + +(Page 198.) + +A letter to be read between the lines. "Melbourne, Australia, September +5, 1909." + +"DEAR BROTHER CARR: + +"Father wishes me to express to you how very sorry he was to hear of +Mrs. Carr's death, and how deeply he was moved by the touching +references to and description of her beautiful life and character. She, +indeed, was a wonderful woman, and must be sorely missed by many. It +must be a terrible blank in your home and we deeply feel for you. Father +felt it very much and very often spoke of her. Indeed, I felt it too. My +mind goes back to my school days when my sister, Eliza (now gone many +years) and I attended Mrs. Carr's school in Melbourne. I was then but a +little fellow--about eleven years of age--(I am now forty-five and have +three children.) It was a school for young ladies, but four of us boys +were allowed to go--George Thomson, Willie Robinson, Willie Church and +myself--and many a heart ache, I think, we boys gave Mrs. Carr. I can +remember that Mrs. Carr put me in a room by myself for fighting Willie +Church. I was in terrible disgrace that day; and I remember you came +into the room and asked me what I had been doing. I told you I had been +fighting Willie Church; for which you gave me to understand how naughty +it was to fight. Then, I think, you were sorry for me, and said: 'Never +mind Nat., we will have some fun,' which we did; and in the midst of it +all Mrs. Carr came in and we both got in for it. The poor dear lady was +doing what she thought best for me, and instead of punishment I was +having a good time, with you. However, she was always very, very kind. I +do not know that during my young life anyone so impressed me as the dear +soul that has gone from us all; and I see by the book you sent us that I +am not alone in this respect. + +"The Church at Lygon Street is still to the fore. What delight it would +give us all in Melbourne if you could manage to pay us a visit! Would it +be possible for you to do so? You know the distance now is not so great +as when you were here. The trip would do you good; and you could stay at +my house (and we would have some fun.) The fine, grand steamers now +running out to Australia should tempt you, and what a pleasure it would +give us all to know that you were coming--won't you come? NAT. HADDOW." + + +"AVOID ALL OFFENSE." + +(Page 186.) + +The admonition, so impressive then, and needed always, caused the +revision of many a manuscript from that time on. "That which offends +will never convince." But then, when one's position is assailed, the +very assault is considered an offense: such is human nature. Few are +sufficiently civilized to discuss religious differences and at the same +time "avoid all offense;" for each one holds his religious position as +sacred, whereas, it is sacred only when it is true, when it is divine. + +The Rev. James Ballantyne, a prominent preacher in Melbourne, had issued +a tract. It was no offense for him so to do: it was right--even noble +from his view of it. But did he present the truth? was the question, and +it is the question even now, and ought to be inquired into by everyone. +To help in this it was resolved that a REPLY be issued. To "avoid all +offense" Mrs. Carr was requested to go over the manuscript word by word. +What she approved it is hoped will not be an "offense" to the reader. +The language of the author was quoted, his very words, and the reply +followed each paragraph, thus: + +"BAPTISM"--"ITS ORIGIN." + +"It is not of man, but of God. Jesus Christ himself instituted it. We +find it in the apostolic commission, 'Go ye therefore, and teach all +nations, baptizing them in (into) the name of the Father, and of the Son +and of the Holy Ghost.'" + +TRUE. + +"ITS DESIGN." + +"It represents and seals the union of the soul with Christ. It is the +pledge that all covenant blessings will be bestowed. It is the visible +sign of our engagement to be Christ's, by receiving him in faith, and +laying ourselves on the altar of his service. It is our initiation into +the membership of the visible Church. It is the badge of our public +Christian profession, proclaiming our separation from the world and our +union with all who bear the name of Jesus." + +THE ABOVE IS IN SUBSTANCE, WHAT THE PRESBYTERIAN CONFESSION OF FAITH +SAYS, INSTEAD OF WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS IS THE DESIGN OF BAPTISM. WHOEVER +READ IN THE BIBLE THAT BAPTISM IS A SIGN OR A SEAL, OR A SYMBOL OF +ANYTHING? PAUL SAYS, "YE WERE SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT," EPH. 1:13 +AND 4:30. THE REV. BALLANTYNE SAYS, BAPTISM IS THE SEAL. THE OBJECT OF +HIS TRACT, AS STATED IN HIS PREFACE WAS TO UTTER A WARNING WORD TO THE +YOUNG, NOT TO LET FEELING TAKE THE PRECEDENCE OF ENLIGHTENED CONVICTION, +AND NOT TO MAKE TOO MUCH OF BAPTISM. AND THIS IS THE WAY HE BEGINS: BY +PUTTING BAPTISM IN THE PLACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND BY MAKING BAPTISM +SEAL THE UNION OF THE SOUL WITH CHRIST. REMEMBER THIS: "YE ARDENT AND +IMPULSIVE MINDS" WHAT SAITH THE SCRIPTURE ON THE DESIGN OF BAPTISM, +"THUS IT BECOMETH US TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS," MAT. 3:15; "HE THAT +BELIEVETH AND IS BAPTIZED SHALL BE SAVED," MARK 16:16; "REPENT AND BE +BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF JESUS THE CHRIST FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS, AND +YE SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT," ACTS 2:38; "AS MANY OF +YOU AS HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST HAVE PUT ON CHRIST," GAL. 3:27. +BAPTISM IS A BIBLE THEME, AND WHY NOT WRITE ABOUT IT IN BIBLE LANGUAGE? + +"The words do not declare that Faith must go before Baptism. The Greek +word translated BAPTIZED is baptistheis. The proper meaning of this is, +HAVING BEEN BAPTIZED. Anyone who knows the parts of the Greek verb knows +this. The passage, then, reads thus: 'He that believeth, having been +baptized, shall be saved.' So then, after all, the passage is just as +favorable to infant baptism as any passage could be." + +BAPTISTHEIS MEANS HAVING BEEN BAPTIZED. THIS IS STRICTLY TRUE. IT IS +ALSO STRICTLY TRUE THAT "PISTEUSAS" IS THE FIRST AORIST PARTICIPLE, AND +LITERALLY MEANS HAVING BELIEVED. "ANYONE WHO KNOWS THE PARTS OF THE +GREEK VERB KNOWS THIS." THE PASSAGE, THEN, READS THUS: "HE HAVING +BELIEVED, AND HAVING BEEN BAPTIZED SHALL BE SAVED." SO, THEN, AFTER ALL, +THE PASSAGE IS JUST AS UNSUITABLE TO INFANT BAPTISM AS ANY PASSAGE COULD +BE. + + * * * * * + +FROM THE ALUMNAE. + +How often do we recall the mornings dear Mrs. Carr called us into the +study hall, or kept us in the dining room to give us those sweet, +motherly 'little talks.' How often her words come to us as we see her +standing there among us, and, in her gentle, tactful way, a way which +belonged only to her, telling us and advising us about those little +things which play such important part in the formation of habits and +character. + +Well do we all remember the little talk about the dirt's being swept +into the corner, or left behind the door; how that in time such habits +would tell upon our characters; that a neatly kept room was but an +expression of a girl's inner self. + +Her precious words we treasure in our hearts and value beyond all price. +How often have we heard her say: "My dear girls, this I say for your +good. It may be hard for you to receive it, and you may not know now the +value of it; but you will know in after life." And then would follow +those talks about decorum. "Think nothing, do nothing that you would be +ashamed for your father and mother to know. Write nothing to your +intimate friend that would not bear the light. Admit nothing here into +your college home that would defile. Carr-Burdette College is the child +of my brain and heart, dedicated to you. Our home is our castle, and let +us guard it sacredly. Character is everything in a young lady's life; +knowledge is good, but the wisdom which is from above is best. I know +that some of you girls think I am exacting, think that I am too strict; +but you will know hereafter that your best friend is the one who tells +you kindly of your faults and helps you to correct them; and you will be +grateful after awhile for having given heed to many things that you do +not like now. You will say in your hearts: 'I see now that Mrs. Carr was +right, and I am glad she said NO to many of my wishes and warned me +against so many little things that tempted me.' I would deny you nothing +you want except those things that I think will injure you. I am +sleepless at night, thinking of you, planning for your good, how I can +best discharge the weighty responsibility that is on me." + +She was happiest when she knew she was pleasing us, would join in our +merry-making, and laugh aloud at our pranks. To reward us was her +delight. What happy talks she made when she bestowed medals and honors! +Talks, sparkling with wit and glowing with love and enthusiasm, on that +last night of the session before we all went home. She is on the +rostrum, the medals in their cases are on the stand; she takes them up, +displays them to the audience, one by one, and talks about each, its +meaning, what it is for, talks to the audience about the girl who is to +receive it and who could ever equal her grace of diction and +whole-souled sympathy? How she kept the audience in suspense, in +excitement; how she amused all by her wit, and then, with tearful joy, +pinned the medal on the girl whom she called to the rostrum to receive +it. Holding up the house-keeper's medal, she would say to the audience: +"This medal I esteem the best of all; the best house-keeper is to be the +most honored. To be neat, to be orderly, to show ability to keep a home, +to mind the little things that make for neatness, to sweep in the +corners, to be tasteful--all this is to be lovely in conduct; and, +remember, that all honors of every kind bestowed by Carr-Burdette +College have this meaning namely, every medal, every diploma is hedged +about by conduct." + + * * * * * + +TO MATTIE'S MEMORY. + +[From a letter written by O. A. Carr.] + +"Carr-Burdette College, Sherman, Texas, is the monument to the memory of +my dear departed wife. She gave the last thirteen years of her life to +the college. I feel that she literally sacrificed her life in the +accomplishment of her high purpose; for I know she toiled beyond her +strength, forgetful of self. She conceived of building the college as a +Home and School for young women, and of how the funds were to be +secured. She planned the building, which was erected under her immediate +supervision, and there is not an idea in it that is not hers. She +devised and toiled to within a few days of her death, and expended all +earnings on the college, that she might attain her ideal. + +According to her heart's desire that the college should never suspend +its work, and that her purposes may be carried out as nearly as +possible, I, with the assistance of able and devoted teachers, continue +the struggle. I can not do the work my dear wife did; nor do I think +that any one else could do what she has been doing all these years; but +an honest effort will be made to accomplish her purpose--that +Carr-Burdette College may continue to be her IDEAL, as it is now her +MONUMENT. + +Saturday, October 26, 1907, on her return from shopping with some of the +students, I offered to assist Mattie with the writing. She said: "I am +not able to think now; I must rest." The next day she was unable to +rise. The physician pronounced the trouble lagrippe, and he assured me, +even at noon, Thursday, that she would recover. Alas! at 7:30 p. m. the +same day, death came. There was no symptom of suffering. She seemed to +be sleeping. + +The loving hands of students and teachers and kind friends arranged all +for the funeral--the first public assembly held in the college over +which she did not preside and direct in detail. Her lifeless body lay in +her own beautiful college parlor, where the funeral was conducted by +Brother J. H. Fuller and Brother A. O. Riall assisted by Brother R. D. +Smith, and Dr. Clyce, President of Austin College. Mattie told me years +ago that she wished Brother Graham, with whom she was associated at +Hamilton College, and Brother McGarvey, to preach her funeral; but +Brother Graham had gone where there are no funerals, and Brother +McGarvey could not be here. The students in a line of march descended +the stairway, preceded by a young girl in white, who bore their +beautiful floral offering. They stood on either side of the casket and +sang (1) "Some Day", (2) "Going Home", (3) "My Savior First of All", (4) +"I Am Only Waiting Here", (5) "Sweet By and By." + +One who knew Mattie well wrote me years ago, saying, "I know of no one +who can show a more valid claim than yourself to have a living +commentary on the last chapter of Proverbs". That chapter was read from +the twelfth verse to the conclusion, by Brother Smith, and Brother +Fuller chose as the text for his beautiful, hopeful discourse, "The gift +of God is eternal life, through our Lord Jesus the Christ". + +For nearly forty years Mattie and I have toiled together. She took +responsibility, financial and domestic from me, and bore it herself. I +trusted to her judgment, and felt that all was well when she approved. +And now, at night, I sit alone where we used to sit together. I look +around to see her, but see only her empty chair." + +[Illustration: Mattie's Grave.] + + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber's Note: + +Inconsistent spellings and hyphenation have been retained. Obvious printer +errors fixed. Many punctuation errors repaired. + +In the footnote of page 192 missing letters "Alex. would have me take +him to see the mother of Brother Be. sley who went to Australia..." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of a Life, by J. 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