unwearied service to all of the churches. Quietly and modestly, God still directing and leading him to the high places of privilege, he went on to the altitudes where his name was to be recorded among those of the great spiritual harvesters ordained to reap in fields that others have sown.

CHAPTER VII

SUMMER CONFERENCES

THE study of the Bible at Summer Conferences has in these later years become a distinctive feature in the religious life of America. During Dr. Chapman's earlier ministry there were comparatively few of these Conferences; but later, and largely because of his deep interest in them, they multiplied with great rapidity. Among the first in which he became interested was that held for a number of years at Niagara on the Lake. Thither he was drawn first by the influence of Mrs. Strain and afterward by the name and fame of the great Bible teachers who by their teaching made the Conference conspicuous, moulded the thought and vitally affected the spiritual life of many younger ministers.

"Those were days"-so declares a recent writer-"of Brookes and West and Parsons and Erdman and Moorehead and Nicholson and Needham and Gordon. Oh, what discussions were held in those days! How the Lord Jesus Christ was exalted, how the Holy Spirit was honoured, and how the Bible was expounded! The bread of life broken and distributed at the Niagara Bible Conference is feeding the children of God in this land to this day."

Some fourteen "Articles of Belief," expressing in clear and terse language the fundamental truths of Christianity, were framed and adopted. During the Conferences these themes were under constant consideration and the leaders permitted the intrusion of nothing else that might tend to

lower the spiritual atmosphere. For such Conferences Dr. Chapman manifested an interest that continued throughout his life. Wherever held he was in demand as a speaker, and his name upon the programme was always heralded as a notable and attractive feature. For years he was the leader of the Bible Conference at Winona Lake, Indiana, which under his direction had its period of greatest prosperity.

The Rev. Sol. C. Dickey, the founder and now General Secretary of the Winona Conference, first met Dr. Chapman in the city of Indianapolis, during January of 1884. Dr. Dickey had been at Chautauqua and at Northfield and he conceived the idea of combining the features of those two institutions into one at Winona Lake. He had a conference with Mr. Moody who advised him to secure if possible the coöperation of Dr. Chapman who at that time was filling an engagement with Mr. Moody at Northfield. Mr. Moody, from his earliest acquaintance with Dr. Chapman, had followed his carreer with the deepest interest, encouraging the evangelistic gifts that he so clearly discerned in him. He had been one of the famous group of speakers secured by Mr. Moody for that wonderful series of meetings in Chicago during the World's Fair. These men were brought together and entertained by Mr. Moody at the Bible Institute. Dr. Chapman proved to be one of the most popular speakers of the group. Mr. Moody's affection for him was sincere and deep, and for years, at the Northfield Conferences, he was a guest and one of the notable speakers. Considering such warm attachment it is no wonder that Mr. Moody should have recommended him as the leader of the Winona Bible Conference Movement which, as then outlined by Dr. Dickey, he most heartily approved. After

some hesitation Dr. Chapman consented to accept the leadership of the Bible Conference, and the following summer the first of these, attended by some three of four hundred, was held. In a reminiscence of those days Dr. Dickey says:

The first night will never be forgotten because of a terrible thunder and wind storm which came up just at the hour of opening. The roof of the Auditorium was leaking and the thirty-nine men and women present were called by Doctor Chapman to the platform and then and there held the first session of the first Winona Conference.

For the following fourteen years he gave himself in unwearied sacrifice and devotion to the development of the Conference. His name more than anything else drew increasing multitudes, especially of ministers, to the annual meeting, and it is perhaps safe to say that no Conference held in this country or perhaps any place else in the world has exerted a greater influence over the lives of more ministers. The early and phenomenal growth in those days of Winona has been generously attributed by Dr. Dickey to the loyal and unfaltering coöperation of Dr. Chapman. Through his influence Strain Hall, named in memory of Mrs. Chapman's mother, was constructed, contributions being secured through Mr. Walter M. Smith, one of Dr. Chapman's most generous of friends. Two other buildings, Evangel Hall, used as the headquarters of evangelists, and Kosciusko Lodge, where ministers on small salaries were entertained free of cost, were secured to the Winona Assembly through the influence of Dr. Chapman. He cooperated also in the founding and establishing of the Boys' School and the Girls' Conservatory of Music. The School for Boys was opened in September, 1902, when Professor H. E. DuBois, brother-in-law of Dr. Chapman, was secured as principal. At that time Professor DuBois was engaged

in educational work at Kansas City, Missouri, and he left his great work there in order that he might take up the direction of the Winona Academy which under his efficient management became from the first a pronounced success. Scores of boys, otherwise without resources to meet the expenses of their education, were enabled by the generosity of Dr. Chapman and others whom he interested to enter and graduate from the Academy. He was a director of the school, never failing to attend the meetings, and continued to hold that position until he and Professor DuBois resigned in 1908, the latter to enter upon educational work elsewhere and Dr. Chapman to prepare for his evangelistic trip around the world.

Soon after accepting the leadership of the Summer Conference, Dr. Chapman built a small cottage on the Assembly grounds, not far from the old Indian Mound, which will forever remain associated in the minds of hundreds of ministers with the day of their renewed consecration to God. The very name "Indian Mound" will awaken in many a one some of the most hallowed memories of the past.

In 1902 he built the artistic and commodious bungalow across from the golf links, and this home during the Conference period became the centre of the generous hospitality extended by Dr. and Mrs. Chapman to relatives, friends, and distinguished guests. As leader of the Bible Conference he was in a position to secure teachers, able and distinguished in this country and in Europe. During the Conference he invariably entertained them in his own home.

For the Salvation Army he had a profound affection and admiration. In his later years he came into personal con