“Just as soon as possible.” And removing his boots and some other parts of wearing apparel that could be temporarily dispensed with, he got out of the buggy and carried the baby to a dry place. He then removed his wife to the shore, after which he proceeded to unhitch the horse from the buggy, or rather to unhitch the buggy from the horse, as the buggy was movable and the horse was not. A strategic plan was then inaugurated by making a natural appeal to the animal’s stubbornness. This was done by hitching the horse to the rear axle-tree of the buggy, which proved a decided success, at least to the extent of getting both the horse and buggy out of the water. Newgent then hitched up according to the conventional style, and with his family started homeward in deep meditation. He filled no appointment that day. He found it difficult to see the point in his neighbor’s argument that “this was the very horse he needed,” unless it was to stimulate the grace of patience, which is a much-needed quality in a preacher. Since then he has stoutly maintained that it is a bad thing for a preacher to swap horses—unless he is sure he can make a better trade.
Chapter Nine.
Labors at Mattoon, Illinois—A Persistent Campaign and a Great Victory—Second New Goshen Pastorate—A Coincidence—Success at Prairieton—Laboring in the Shadow—The Death of Mrs. Newgent—A Bishop’s Tribute to her Character.
The scene of his next labors was Mattoon, Illinois. This was a city of some ten thousand inhabitants. It had been marked by a mushroom growth, having sprung from a small village within a few years. More attention, however, had been given to its material development than to its moral and religious welfare. It had eleven churches, but what members they had, were received mostly by letter. Like the city itself, the churches were made up of a conglomeration of heterogeneous elements. All were lacking in efficient organization, stability, and vital godliness.
Rev. Mr. Newgent’s church, the United Brethren, like most of the others, was new in the city. It had but twelve members when he took charge. He at once conceived the idea of enlisting the various churches in a great and much-needed revival campaign. He met the local pastors and proposed that all join in a concerted, evangelistic effort—each to begin a meeting in his own church on the same date and continue until victory was achieved. The plan was unanimously agreed to, and on New Year’s Day the campaign began.
It was a stubborn fight. The bombardment was kept up by all the churches through the entire month of January with no apparent results. One after another of the pastors then became discouraged and hauled down his colors. By the end of February all the batteries had ceased except two, one of them being Newgent’s. Some of his members, convinced of the utter futility of the effort, counseled him to quit. But he was determined to fight it out on that line if it took all summer; and it looked as though it might take several summers. The largest congregation he had during those two months numbered twenty-four.
With the beginning of the third month there were unmistakable evidences of a thaw. Interest was awakened, congregations increased, and on the fifth day of March the ice gave way completely. At the morning service the altar was crowded with anxious penitents, and twenty-one were graciously converted. The news was heralded throughout the city. It was as though a mighty miracle had been wrought. Newgent’s church became the center of intense interest, the subject of conversation in the stores and shops and on the streets. At night it seemed as if all Mattoon was seized with a sudden impulse to go to church. The house was filled long before the appointed hour for worship, and the sexton reported that over five hundred people were turned away. The few days following witnessed stirring scenes in that church. Multitudes were converted; no definite account could be taken of their number. One hundred and twenty-eight members were added to the United Brethren Church, and other churches of the city profited largely from the fruits of the meeting. It was the first genuine revival Mattoon had ever enjoyed.
“What I lacked in sense, I made up in holding on,” was Rev. Mr. Newgent’s modest comment on the situation. But in this case holding on was only in keeping with his usual good judgment. It was a case where not only prayer and fasting, but also perseverance were required. Perseverance, however, is one of his strong points. As a pastor he made it a rule to continue a meeting until success was realized, a rule that seldom had to be waived.