Benjamin Fay Mills

              Benjamin Fay Mills
TWO ARTICLES FROM THE ARENA
Mr. Mills in Boston
One has to be early to get a seat, and, once settled in one's seat, has hardly had time to more than survey the scene, when the appearance of the chief figure for which it is the setting, is proclaimed by applause so general, so em¬phatic and so spontaneous, that no room is left for doubt of its genuineness. Eyes light up, heads stretch forward, and from one to another goes the whisper: "There he is; that's Mills." Mills is very interesting in himself, as a personal¬ity—unique, powerful, magnetic and persuasive.
In advance of his day, perhaps,—yet not so far in advance as some people might suppose, he presents the significant spectacle of the old-fashioned revivalist and enthusiastic and emotional apostle of orthodoxy, transformed by soul growth into an apostle of the larger Christianity, the surer ethics and the new conscience.                               Let
us take a look at this end-of-the-century prophet and preacher of righteousness and see what he looks like. Certainly there is not much of a sky-pilot about him.   *                 His wavy
hair shades a broad brow, under which clear, sharp blue eyes seem to look squarely into yours. Whom the Gods love are perrennially young.                                   However
much there may be behind him, there is more before him. The pleasant face is strong in every line, shrewd and yet sweet. His magnetism is felt by every person in that crowded hall, as he steps to the front with a word of welcome to his old friends and to those who from that moment begin to be his friends. His voice has the strength that comes from character, rather than from volume.             Fay Mills brings
about him men and women of all ages, none of whom go away without taking something to think over.
Dora M. Morrel,   February, 1899.
Mr. Mills in 1909
Here is the man as he appears to me today: fifty-one years of age, five feet, seven inches high, stockily built, o| abounding vitality and radiant physical and mental life, with tremendous energy and tireless capacity for work, possessed of the resonant, pleasing voice of the natural orator, to whom it is little more work to address   1 0,000 people than 500: with bright, scintillating, keen, blue eyes, that ever beam with brotherly kindness, tender sympathy,  gentle toleration and yet discerning penetration;   with a hearty cordiality to all and an almost rollicksome buoyancy to his friends; full of fun and humor, yet demanding dignified and serious consider¬ation of important themes by a sincerity and earnestness so manifest that it has seldom, if ever, been questioned, ready to yield gracefully and joyouslv any mere opinion, yet hold ing to fundamental principles with a firmness and persistent tenacity of insistence that soon drives the insincere, irreverent and dishonest away from him; openly and frankly proud of his   spiritual and intellectual wife, his accomplished eldest daughter, his manly and strongly individualistic sons and his two youngest daughters, to whom he carefully and completely outlines his ideas, listening with intent thoughtfulness to then criticisms and suggestions;   with   a genius for stripping idea and customs of all conventionalities, complexities and extranities and presenting them in their pure attractive simplicity; possessed by a tremendous urge that makes itself ielt by with whom he comes in contact; able with serenity to continue in the cause he has laid out, regardless alike or pw or blame; able with complacency to insist upon the reaction of what he regards as fundamental, though he sees who differ from him, even warm personal friends, themselves from his organization;—this, in part, is Benjamin Fay Mills as I see and regard him.
George Wharton James, Febuary,
1909
Leslie's Weekly.
Dr. Edward Everett Hale, who presided at the opening of his Boston lecture course,
declared that Mr  Mills was today the most wonderful preacher in America, perhaps in the
world, and  anoecher distinguished minister said he combined the genius of Beecher and the flamboyance of Ta;madge..
Rochester, (N. Y.) Herald
He is ha iled in many parts of the country as an apostle of  glad tidings of great ioy toall the people; a minister of the church universal, the incarnation of the new spiritual
From the Rochester, (N. Y.) Post Express
He is the apostle optimism, the profound student, who sees in the light of history and in the modern trend of events the coming dawn of an age of unity,  embracing   all people of all nations, in one great Cod-fearing, peace-loving, co-operative family.
State Republican, Lansing.
His ulterances are always interesting and constructive and  hold the attention of all people, from the intellectual leaders of the community to people of lesser culture.
From the Lafayette Daily Courier
"Isn't he wonderful?"   and   many   other   like   exclamations  told
how deep a hold   Mr.   Mills had taken on our  people.    And  surely
he is wonderful, as the nearly 4,000 people who heard him yesterday
will testify          *    *    People shall  move in great masses to hear the
words of  this powerful  man.    He has no  worn out  message,  but  a
living, vital gospel  for the world in which we live.
From the Indiana Baptist
Mr.  Mills  is a great orator.    He is a great elocutionist,  but his
oratory is simpl,   natural  the  kind that  calls  no  attention to  itself.
Personally   he   is   a   most   lovable   man.      He   practices   what   he
He   is   many   years   ahead    of   his  -times,   unfortunately,
which is only the worse for the times.
From the Chelsea Record
One of the mightiest men that God has blessed with an exist-ence the  XlXth  century.    *    *    *    A man of destiny.
From the New Haven Palladium
One cannot  fail  to  be impressed not by his earnestness alone,
to  his logic, his  lack of all  leaning toward the  sensational,  and the personal   magnetism   of  the   man.     *     *    *     His   personality   is genial and kindly.   Humanitarianism is a large part of his religion, He loves people,  and  therein  lies  much  of  his  success.
From the Chillicothe Daily Gazette
"Wonderful,  simply wonderful!"  is not a sufficiently strong ex-
presssion   for   the   immense   throng  that   poured   into   Memorial   Hall
last evening to listen to the inspiring words of Rev.  Benjamin Fay
Mills. More   wonderful   still   was   the   fact   that,   while   the   aisles
contained   hundreds,   young   and   old,    standing   side   by   side,   the
closet attention   was   accorded   Mr.   Mills'   every   utterance,   and   at
no time could   an   expression   of   weariness   be   detected   upon   the
counterances  of  those   whose   postures  could  not be  otherwise  than
From the Wisconsin State Journal Madison, (Wis.)
It is a wonderful  voice.     It  could readily be utilized in tragedy
on the stage. It  is  rich  and   organdike  in  its  qualities  and  tones.
He is an educated man, yet    the      better      equipped       to      talk
to all classes of people.     *    *    *    Mr.   Mills  is  in  advance  of his
"He is  not   only   up   to   date,   but   is   a   leader   in   religious
And   the   beauty   of   it   all   is,   the   uneducated,   and   even
can  understand  the   language   and   grasp  the   thought   so
cleary and simply expressed.
From the Montreal Daily Witness
The Rev.   Benjamin  Fay   Mills  is  a  splendid  optimist.     Upon
the darkest  day his  face  glows  as  with  the  clear  radiance  of sunhine.
His smile is like a cordial.    The grip of his hand is like the
strengthening of one's faith  in   humanity.     If  one   were  cast   down or perplexed, he needs but to hear the voice of this strong, confident, wholesome man, announcing the presence of Divine in every human breast, whether recognized or not, needs but to hear him set forth the ultimate triumph of love over all the earth.
From the Lexington, (Ky.) Morning Herald
Benjamin Fay Mills' lecture at the opera house last night for the benefit of the Young Men's Christian Association was enjoyed by  a  large   and   appreciative   audience.
Few have ever appeared before a Lexington audience who could rank with Mr. Mills as an entertainer. His lecture was like a beautiful story beautifully told. It sparkled with humor and pathos, interwoven with pleasing effect and the line of thought was majestic.    The lecture will be long and pleasantly remembered.
From the Kokomo Daily Dispatch
Benjamin Fay Mills, who lectured at the Congregational Church last nght was greeted by an audience that occupied every available inch within the edifice. The power that this noted platform orator exercises  over  his  audience  has   not been  exaggerated.
Tne lecture last night was replete with gems of wit and language, beauty and power. He possesses a keen and caustic power of raillery that exposed the weak points of the prevailing social system in the most embarrassing and unpleasant manner pos¬sible,  and he deals his  deepest blows stealthily and with  a smile.
From the Balitmore American
The audience was deeply impressed with the intelligence, man¬ner and delivery of the speaker. The lecture was interspersed with various witicisms and touches of humor.
From the Terre Haute Gazette
There was that easy and humorous style of which Mills is such a master and absorbing interest having been gained the audience was in a receptive mood for the eloquent passages with their pointed truths with which the lecture abounded.
From the Elgin Daily News
Benjamin Fay. Mills is a noted orator. He never exaggerates or overdraws. He is calm, self-possessed and yet intense. He sways his hearers with his wonderful appeals to the emotions, and leads them upward to the majesty of his thought.
From the Tiffin Daily Advertiser
The lecture of Rev. Benjamin Fay Mills was one of the best ever delivered at this place. The audience was held in rapt atten¬tion for nearly two hours by this master orator. His lecture was replete with good thought and he was interrupted frequently by enthusiastic applause.
From the Elmira Daily Gazette
A man who seems the embodiment of the spirit of Christ-like love which he preaches, a handsome, smooth-faced man with ex¬pressive, mobile features, a face of rare sweetness, brightness and strength and a smile like a burst of sunshine—this is Benjamin Fay Mills. It is a long time since a lecturer has been heard in Elmira with greater interest and pleasure than was Mr.( Mills last evening. Epigrammatic sentences and apt stories followed each other rapidly. He believes in the highest and best, and his force¬ful, eloquent words and manner inspire his listeners to believe, too.. It is to be hoped that Mr.  Mills may visit Elmira again.
From the Steubenville Daily Star
The lecture last evening was quite a treat to those who were fortunate enough to hear it. Mr. Mills is a pleasing talker and has a well modulated voice. He is undoubtedly a man of strong opinions and is fearless in expressing them. It is certainly re¬freshing to listen to one who sees the needs of society and has the power of portraying its vices in well-wrought phrases, striking powerful blows when necessary. Should Mr. Mills favor Steuben¬ville with another visit he will be assured a hearty welcome and a crowded house.
From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Mr. Mills has the most dramatic power of any of the preachers of to-day.    He greatly resembles John  McCullough.
These are a few Sample
EDITORIALS
From the Indianapolis Star
It is well when a community has within its gates a Benjamin Fay Mills, who comes with the philosophy of joy and gladness, and who, with a serene and persistent optimism, sees the shining of a lamp where other men be¬hold naught but darkness and dread.
Mr. Mills brings the message: "All is well! Be of good cheer!" that this "sorry scheme of things" is not without its purpose and that, with a more intelligent knowl¬edge of the laws of existence and with proper submission to those laws, life may be made infinitely more tolerable, and in fact, often enjoyable.
From the Omaha Excelsior
Mr. Benjamin F. Mills has deeply stirred the thought¬ful ones among the Omahans, who had the good fortune to hear his lectures. Such mental stimulus as Mr. Mills dis¬penses is truly a Godsend
From the San Francisco Examiner
Here is a man who can find no hall large enough for his audiences, and can call the men of the world from their vocations to hear him. He does not have to complain of the counter attractions of the ball game, the picnic and the Sunday newspaper. He has learned the secret of interest¬ing the world in his message, and the world is willing to take time from its own devices to hear him.
From The Outlook, New York
This series is characterized by thoughtfulness, thor¬oughness and timeliness.
From The Independent, New York
Rev. Benjamin Fay Mill’s paper at the Parliament of Religions, which we publish this week, has in it the material for one hundred sermons.

From the London (Eng.) Christian World on a Volume of Mr. Mills’ Sermon’s
The sermons themselves need to be studied to get any proper idea of their masterly grip of the modern spiritual and social situation, of their searching and scathing denunciations of evil, of the overwhelming power and tenderness of their sunny brightness and white glow of enthusiasm.
 
From the Columbus (O.) Press
Many ministers were there to hear by what magic of words this noted preacher draws crowds and convinces people of the misery of their lives and the selfishness of their example. Doctors and lawyers, editors and merchants, milliners and dressmakers, and other men and women of every calling and employment were there and the house was filled with eager humanity, moved by various motives. There is no doubt that the eminent divine met expectation, and on a higher plane than most of his auditors expected. He is beyond doubt an intellectual man of tender sensibilities, and he mingles these qualities in his discourse in pleasing proportions. There can be no doubt of the sanity and high standard of his teaching. His words, like rosemary, are for remembrance. No diviner voice has ever been heard in the wilderness of this community, calling men and women to nobler, juster lives. His clear voice is sounding the key that would make a joyful, helpful chorus, if the world would join in with. 
Mr. Mills is not only a preacher—he is a statesman. 
These are the Topics About Which
MR. MILLS WILL SPEAK
What the World Never Knew Till Now
What the World Needs Most to Learn
The Greater Fellowship
The Prophet Emerson, the Greatest Man of Modern Times
The Psychic Powers of Man
The Tyranny of the Dead
The Happiness Habit
Religion and Socialism                                 The New Psychology
Mr. Mills will deliver a limited number of lectures during the season of 1911-12, under
the management of the CENTRAL LYCEUM BUREAUS, CHICAGO, INDIANAPOLIS AND KANSAS CITY