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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029267741 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BR1725.B38 S74 
 
 otin 
 
 3 1924 029 267 741 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
HUGH McAllister beaver 
 
TO HIS MOTHER 
 
'Copyright, 1898 
 
 by 
 
 FiBMiNG H. Rbvell Company 
 
Preface 
 
 When Hugh Beaver died suddenly in August, 
 1897, leaving a wide circle of young men and 
 women whom he had deeply influenced and who 
 loved him, it was felt by many that some little 
 memorial should be prepared, containing a few 
 of the expressions of gratitude and evidences of 
 his usefulness which came from all parts of the 
 land. Believing, however, that an account of 
 Hugh's growth and character and work would 
 be helpful to many who woul^ feel no interest 
 in such a memorial as was proposed, 1 offered to 
 prepare instead a simple biography which, while 
 telling more to his friends than they already 
 knew, might also set before those who never 
 knew Hugh Beaver himself, the story of his life. 
 I knew him from the time when we were little 
 boys among the hills of Pennsylvania and can 
 claim at least a sympathetic understanding of the 
 atmosphere of his life and of the conditions in 
 which his character was shaped and his work 
 done. There has been no oth^r such life as his 
 in our day. There may have been other repre- 
 sentatives of our best " College Christianity " as 
 worthy and true, but their livfes could not be 
 7 
 
Preface 
 
 made available for the young men and young 
 women of our time as Hugh Beaver's can. 
 
 This Memorial has been prepared with the hope 
 and prayer that the story of what Hugh was and 
 did may be the summons to many of these 
 young men and young women to live A True 
 Life. 
 
 It will be evident to the reader that I have used 
 the material available with a freedom that pre- 
 sumes upon his sympathy. It need scarcely be 
 added that those to whom Hugh was closest 
 shrink most from whatever publicity is here given 
 to them. They did not know what was included 
 in Hugh's papers which came into my hands, and 
 for the use of their letters and the mention of 
 their names I alone am responsible. If to some 
 it may seem that a short life is Ipng in the telling 
 — I have written not for the stranger only, but as 
 a friend for his friends. 
 
 R. E. S> 
 
Contents 
 
 ^ PACE 
 
 Three Typical College Men -. . .11 
 
 II 
 Ancestry and Home 24 
 
 III 
 Boyhood ....%,. 41 
 
 IV 
 College Life 76 
 
 V 
 First Months of Work in Pennsylvania . 123 
 
 VI 
 A Year Among the Students of Pennsyl- 
 vania 142 
 
 VII 
 
 Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania . 184 
 9 
 
A Memorial of a Triie Life 
 
 James Brainerd Taylor was tlie typical college 
 Christian man of the first generation of the cen- 
 tury. A great deal that is helpful still is found 
 in the quaint Memoir prepared by John Holt 
 Rice and Benjamin Holt Rice and in the anony- 
 mous New Tribute to the Memory of James 
 Brainerd Taylor, published in 1838 by John S. 
 Taylor, Brick Church Chapel, New York City. 
 "To a fine person," his Memoir concludes, "a 
 pleasant countenance, expressive* of the benevo- 
 lence of his soul, a sweet, yet powerful voice, 
 and a cultivated mind, he added piety, humility, 
 zeal, and devotedness to his profession, such as 
 are rarely ever observed united in one individual." 
 Taylor was born in Middle-Haddam, Connecticut, 
 1801. He was a clerk in New York City when 
 in May, 1819, a friend passing his door invited 
 him to go down to the wharf ''to see Dr. Scud- 
 der off " to India as a missionary. That sight 
 made a profound impression on him. "I shall 
 never forget, " he wrote, " Doctor Scudder's looks 
 or his words. As he spoke, his eye kindled, and 
 his cheek glowed with the ardor of Christian 
 benevolence. He waved his hand and with a 
 benignant smile on his countenance, said, ' Only 
 give me your prayers, and thatiis all I ask.' He 
 is gone now — gone never to see; his friends again 
 in this world." Again he writes, "On seeing Doc- 
 tor Scudder take his last leave of his friends, and 
 12 
 
Three Typical College Men 
 
 of the people on shore, with a true missionary 
 spirit, I felt a tenderness toward the poor hea- 
 then to whom he was going which caused my 
 eyes to overflow. I thought that 1 would be 
 willing to change my situation for his. On re- 
 turning home I felt that I could not attend to 
 business. My desire was to spend that day with 
 the Lord. I retired for prayer and found the ex- 
 ercise sweet. My mind was irripressed with the 
 necessity for more ministers of the Gospel, — and 
 many reasons presented themselves why 1 should 
 devote my life to the good of my fellow men in 
 that situation."^ The way soon opened for him 
 to prepare himself for Christian service and he 
 spent three years in the academy at Lawrence- 
 ville, New Jersey, and then entered Princeton, 
 being admitted to the sophom'ore class. The 
 character of Taylor's devotion and the forms of 
 expression of the Christian experience of that 
 day are illustrated by the following letter written 
 by him to a friend toward the dose of his course 
 at Lawrenceville: 
 
 " The last time I wrote, you recollect the state of 
 my mind. Since then the Lord has been better than 
 my expectations. I have had some precious seasons. 
 I have known what it is to hold communion with my 
 heavenly Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ, 
 through the Eternal Spirit. My closet duties have 
 
 * Rices' Memoir of James Brainerd Taylor^ Second Ed., New York, p. 17 f- 
 
 13 
 
A Memorial of a Tme Life 
 
 afforded my highest enjoyments ; not always, indeed, 
 equally great, but generally delightful. 
 
 " During this year may I, and may you, be more 
 than every engaged in the Lord's Service. I am de- 
 sirous to spend and be spent for Him — to live the 
 life of the righteous. But we may not live to see its 
 close. This morning I was raeditaiting on the words 
 in Matt. xxvi. i8. My time is athanfl; and I thought 
 that if it should be the Lord's will to take me to 
 Himself this year, yea, even this day, I should rejoice 
 at my departure. The grave seemed to lose its ter- 
 rors — heaven and its glories appeared to be in sight 
 — my soul was joyful. O to live religion — to have 
 heaven in view, the love of God in the heart, the 
 world, the flesh and the devil under one's feet ! 
 Then, come life, come death, all, all will be well. 
 
 " O my friend, I am tired of living by halves. God 
 says, 'Son, give me thy heart.' I answer, O for an 
 entire surrender — I long for complete deliverance 
 from remaining corruption ; for sanctification in soul, 
 body and spirit ; for that perfect Ipve that casteth out 
 all fear — and until I attain this I shall feel that I 
 shall be unfit to be a minister of Jesus Christ."^ 
 
 In Princeton Taylor was one of the founders of 
 the Philadelphian Society, out of which gre\v in 
 time, in large measure, the Intercollegiate Young 
 Men's Christian Association. For three years he 
 lived in college a life of deep, -active devotion. 
 He writes in his diary in his senior year, "The 
 world wanes — a whole surrender is growing in 
 importance. Lord, did not I make that surrender 
 
 * Rices' Memoir of James Brainerd Taylor, p. 74 f. 
 14 
 
Three Typical College Men 
 
 to-day ? Keep me — O keep me., Have I sought 
 the honors of this institution — or of the literary 
 society with which I am connected? Has not 
 my desire prevailed for the honor that cometh 
 from above ? Shall I not have to ascribe much 
 to the distinguishing grace of God, for His keep- 
 ing and blessing me in this college? May my 
 ambition be to fear, love and serve God ; let 
 others take up with husks, give me Christ."' 
 Later he writes in his diary, "1 have been think- 
 ing to-day upon our ships of War as spheres of 
 future labor. I have thought of them before, but 
 to-day with some desire, if God will, to engage 
 as a chaplain. ' A man's heart directeth his way, 
 but the Lord directeth his steps.' May I be a 
 good man : for the steps of a. good man are 
 ordered by the Lord."' On Sabbath evening, 
 April 9th, 1826, he was reviewing his personal 
 work in college and writes in his diary, "To the 
 institution as a body, I have done but little. If 
 it was my duty, I have not dotie it. I have not 
 gone from room to room and ' warned every man 
 night and day with tears.' Only to a few have I 
 been personal in my interviews. ... In view 
 of this subject, and some others, this day 
 
 " Resolved, that I will, the Lord being my helper, 
 think, speak and act as an individual : for as such 
 I must live — as such I must die, stand before 
 
 ' Rices' Metiioir, p. 336. ' Idem, p. 336, 
 
 15 
 
A Memorial of a True i.ife 
 
 God, be judged, be damned or saved forever and 
 ever. I have been waiting for others to go for- 
 ward. I must act as if I were the only one to 
 act, and wait no longer. . . . With increasing 
 desire I long to enter the field, to lay out my 
 strength for God." ' 
 
 After his graduation from Princeton, Taylor 
 went to the theological school at New Haven, 
 but his health failing, took a t4-ip through the 
 Southern States, and gaining but slightly, decided 
 to spend the winter of 1828-1829 ^t the Union 
 Theological Seminary in Prince "Edward County, 
 Virginia, where he passed away to the land that 
 after all is not far off and to the King in His 
 beauty on Sunday evening, Marc|i 29, 1829, say- 
 ing in his last letter in the quaint language of his 
 day, "I am now almost helple§s and worn out, 
 and unless there be a change soon, this 'mud- 
 wall'd cottage ' will presently fall to the ground. 
 , . . You may rejoice with me, in that I rejoice 
 in the Lord always. The prospect of changing 
 worlds is pleasant. The home of the Holy is invit- 
 ing. Farewell. " He was a true rrian, sombre, zeal- 
 ous, stern of judgment, fearless of strong words, 
 loving and kind, deeply sensible of sin and of his 
 sin and solemnly appreciative of the sweet mercy 
 of Christ, type of what was best in the college 
 Christianity of a generation that has long since 
 passed away. 
 
 * Rices' Memoir, p. 339 C 
 16 
 
Three Typical College Men 
 
 Of the highest type of college Christian man of 
 the generation just preceding ours there is no 
 finer example than Henry Ward Camp, "The 
 Knightly Soldier," under which title his biography 
 has been exquisitely preserved by the loving 
 hand of his friend and fellow soldier, H. Clay 
 Trumbull. He was born at, Hartford, Connecti- 
 cut, February 4, 1839. Christian experience 
 was becoming less sombre than it had been in 
 Taylor's day, but there was in Camp perhaps an 
 even more delicate sensitiveness of conscience. 
 He shrank from every thought of evil. When he 
 was five years old a little sister was born in his 
 home. "As he first looked at the baby treasure 
 with childish joy and wonderment, a shade of 
 thought came over his face,, and he went alone 
 from his mother's room. On his return, his 
 mother asked him where he had been. 'I've 
 been, mama,' he said, 'to pray to God that I 
 may never hurt the soul of dear little sister.' " ' 
 
 Perhaps Christian life was' running deeper, or 
 perhaps it was the simple modification of temper 
 marking a new generation, but Camp seems to 
 have found expression harder than it appears to 
 have been to Taylor. In a charming account of 
 child life, Beckonings of Little Hands, Mr. Patter- 
 son DuBois tells of one of his little children who 
 had a strong aversion to the. use of the names of 
 
 • Trumbull's The Knightly Soldier, PhiU. Ed., 1892, p. 4. 
 
 i7 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 God and Christ. It caused some distress until 
 after the child's death a noteboolc belonging to 
 him was found in which he had printed in sprawl- 
 ing baby letters, "God is love. He loves lambs." 
 It was not deficiency of experience. It was 
 depth. The same silent reverence marked Henry 
 Camp as a child. '' At six year.s of age he exer- 
 cised himself in writing a little book of sermons, 
 taking a text, and making on it brief comments 
 as striking and original, as the employment was 
 unique for a boy of his years. In looking over 
 the manuscript, his good mother observed fre- 
 quent blanks where the name of God should ap- 
 pear. Inquiring the reason of these omissions, 
 Henry informed her that he had feared he was 
 not feeling just right while he was writing and, 
 lest he should take the name Of God in vain by 
 using it then, he had left the blanks in its 
 stead."' 
 
 From ten until he was sixteen years of age 
 Camp attended the Hartford Public High School. 
 He was a thorough athlete, strong and compact, 
 but above this " there was a charm about him 
 even then," said one of his teachers, "which 
 attracted all who knew him. I never had a pupil 
 who possessed a finer character, or more com- 
 pletely won the respect, and even admiration, of 
 his teachers. He despised everything mean, 
 
 ' Trumbull's The KnigbUy Soldier, PhiU. Ed., 1892, p. 4 £ 
 18 
 
Three Typical College Men 
 
 everything vulgar; and his generosity and manli- 
 ness in his intercourse with other boys made him 
 a general favorite among them. He was remark- 
 ably truthful also, and this never from a fear of 
 consequences, but with a spontaneity which 
 showed that truth was at the foundation of his 
 character. As a scholar he was very faithful, 
 accurate, and prompt in his recitations ; especially 
 copious and rich in his choice of words; of 
 superior talent as a writer. No one stood above 
 him in his class ; and he took some prizes, while 
 in the school, for English composition and other 
 exercises. But it was chiefly, his uncommon 
 nobleness of character which made him con- 
 spicuous then, as in later years." ' 
 
 Camp passed his examinations for Yale in 1855, 
 but did not enter until September, 1856. The 
 next spring he connected himself formally with 
 his home church of which Dr, Horace Bushnell 
 was pastor. " He was such a pan," said Bush- 
 nell, " as going into a crowd of strangers, would 
 not only attract general attention by his person, 
 by his noble figure and the fine, classic cut of his 
 features, by the cool, clear beaming of his intelli- 
 gence, by the visible repose of his justice, by a 
 certain, almost superlative sweetness of modesty; 
 but there was, above all, an impression of intense 
 PURITY in his looks, that is almost never seen 
 
 'Trumbull's The Knightly Soldier, Phila. Ed., 1892, p. 6 f. 
 
 19 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 among men, and which «ver)fbody must and 
 would distinctly feel." 
 
 At Yale, Camp at once took a leading place, 
 especially in athletics. He was a member of the 
 University crew which represeiited Yale at the 
 Worcester regatta on Lake Quinsigamond. He 
 rowed number three. Joseph H. Twichell of 
 Hartford rowed number four, and in an account of 
 the two races with Harvard at Worcester which 
 he contributes to The Knightly^ Soldier says of 
 Camp, "1 well remember, while in college, rid- 
 ing out one day with a classmate of his, and 
 passing him, as erect and light pf foot, he strode 
 lustily up a long hill, and the enthusiasm with 
 which my comrade pronounced this eulogy, 
 'There's Henry Camp, a perfect man, who never 
 did anything to hurt his body or his soul.' . . . 
 He carried all his grace with him everywhere, 
 and had a way of shedding it on every minute of 
 an hour, — no less on little matters than on great, 
 — that gave his company an abiding charm, and 
 his influence a constant working power."' 
 
 He was graduated from Yale with high honors 
 in i860, a stronger man than when he entered, 
 but as modest, true, unspotted and unconscious 
 of his nobleness and influence as four years be- 
 fore. But others knew him. " I dare say he had 
 faults," said one of his classmates, "but I never 
 
 ' Trumbull's Tbe Knigbtly Soldier^ pp. 15, 17. 
 
 20 
 
Three Typical College Men 
 
 saw them. I know of nothing in his life I would 
 correct." Another wrote, "Of his Christian 
 character in college, little can be said that is not 
 true of it in every situation. His modesty did 
 not obscure it; but it did prevent any ostentatious 
 display of it. A college friend on terms of clos- 
 est intimacy writes as follows: 'Those who saw 
 his heart in this respect will cherish the revela- 
 tions made to them as something sacred. I know 
 one who was brought to Christ, who, had it not 
 been for him, for his Christia'n character as re- 
 vealed in his conversation, and for the sincerity 
 and whole-heartedness of his trust in Christ, 
 would not, as far as 1 can see", have ever been a 
 Christian. Others I knew who were influenced 
 by him whom he did not know or dream of — 
 whom he knows now.' "' 
 
 After his graduation Camp taught for some 
 months and then took up the study of law, but 
 on December 5, 1861, he received from Governor 
 Buckingham a commission as second lieutenant 
 in the Tenth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteer 
 Infantry and went off to the war. His three 
 years of service led him through experiences at 
 Roanoke, New-Berne, with the first Charleston 
 expedition, at James Island, Fort Wagner, 
 Charleston Jail, Libby Prison from which he es- 
 caped but was recaptured, with the Army of the 
 
 ' Trumbull's Tie Kmgbll)> Soldier, Phila. Ed. 1892, p. 31. 
 
 21 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 James and in the Petersburg Trenches, and then 
 at last, on October 13, 1864, he fell before Rich- 
 mond, gloriously leading a charge in which he 
 had been placed in the second line, but which he 
 believed must be a failure, and in which accord- 
 ingly he asked to be placed in the first line, where 
 he fell riddled with bullets. "All of us who 
 were about him," said a college friend of him 
 when he was gone, " perceived that Henry Camp 
 , was a Christian who followed Christ. All things 
 that were true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of 
 good report, shone in his walk and conversation 
 among us." A life-size portrait of him was 
 placed in Alumni Hall, at Yale, and over his grave 
 in Hartford, in the Cedar Hill Cemetery, a gran-, 
 ite and bronze monument was placed bearing the 
 inscription : 
 
 HENRY WARD CAMP, 
 
 Major of the Tenth Connecticut Volunteers. 
 
 Born at Hartford, Conn., 
 
 Feb. 4, 1839. 
 
 Killed in battle, before Richmond, Va., 
 
 Oct. 13, 1864. 
 
 "A true knight: 
 Not yet mature, yet matchless." 
 
 Erected by his fellow citizens of Hartford, as a tribute to his patriotic 
 services and to his noble Christian character. 
 
 22 
 
Three Typical College Men 
 
 Another generation has supplanted the last and 
 a new race of college men has been trained for 
 life's service. New conditions have arisen. A 
 lighter humor perhaps hides a deeper sense of 
 the awfulness and the keener stress of life. New 
 forms of speech are in use. New branches of 
 Christian activity have come into existence. A 
 new type of college Christian man has been de- 
 veloped. Hugh McAllister Beaver nobly repre- 
 sented it. Joyful, considerate, gentle as a maid 
 and as affectionate, with rugged* military notions 
 of Christ's service, playful, yet eaten up with the 
 zeal of the Father's house, tender toward all of 
 the erring, yet most stern toward all sin and im- 
 purity, most of all in himself, with singular 
 social gifts fitting him to win high and low, ra- 
 diant in his love for Christ and passionate in his 
 desire for the souls of men and women, as un- 
 pretending as he was simple and strong, Hugh 
 Beaver laid down his life at the-age of twenty- 
 four, a true type of our best college Christian 
 life as Brainerd Taylor at the age of twenty-eight 
 and Henry Camp at the age of ^ twenty-five had 
 been representative of what was best in the col- 
 lege life of their day. Perhaps it may be believed 
 that this is equivalent to saying that Brainerd 
 Taylor, Henry Camp and Hugh Beaver stand for 
 what is best and noblest in the life of all young 
 men in the century that is now drawing to its close. 
 23 
 
II 
 
 ANCESTRY AND HOME 
 
 "Bewire ye be not defiled with shame, treachery or guile." " Then it 
 will not avail," said the damsel ; "for he must be a clean knight, without 
 villainy, and of gentle stream of father's side and mother's side." — Mal- 
 cry's King Arthur. 
 
 fhese friendly fields . . . 
 Where thou with grass and rivers, and the breeze, 
 And the bright face of day, thy dalliance hadst ; 
 Where to thine ear first sang the enraptured birds. 
 . , . and froni^ the eternal shore 
 
 Thou hearest airy voices, but not yet 
 Depart, my soul, not yet awhile. 
 
 — Robert Lo^uis Stevenson, Undtrvjoods. 
 
 Hugh McAllister Beaver was born in Belle- 
 fonte, Pennsylvania, March 29, 1873. The in- 
 heritance that came down to him from his 
 ancestry brought with it the qualities of fearless- 
 ness, simplicity, adaptiveness, winning geniality 
 which marked his character from the beginning. 
 George Beaver came to America about 1740 from 
 Elsass, in the great emigration of Huguenots 
 who left France after the revocation of the edict 
 of Nantes. German by birth and race but 
 affected by the touch of the French influence 
 that was then dominant in Elsass, which had 
 been torn from the German Empire, George 
 Beaver left his home for a faith condemned in 
 
 34 
 
Ancestry and Home 
 
 France, and founded a new line in Chester 
 County, Pennsylvania. He is skid to have been 
 " a man of fine physique, marvellous endurance, 
 strong mind and untiring industry," Energetic- 
 ally taking up agricultural pursuits he set about 
 making a home. He took his part, however, in 
 the Indian wars, and when the Revolution came, 
 his eldest son George enlisted in Captain Church's 
 company of Mad Anthony Wayne's regiment. 
 This son moved after the war tolFranklin County 
 where he married Catherine Keifer, the sister of 
 an army comrade, a daughter of a family of 
 " hardy pioneers of great physical development 
 and remarkable mental force." 
 
 George's son, Peter Beaver, was the great- 
 grandfather of Hugh. He moved from Franklin 
 County to the County of Lebanon among the 
 Pennsylvania Dutch. He was a tanner but gave 
 up that vocation and engaged in trading while he 
 was at the same time a local Methodist preacher. 
 Life was full of hard struggle in these early 
 days, but Peter Beaver fought fair, was a 
 thoroughgoing Christian, a man of deep piety 
 and active in Christian work. He was made a 
 deacon, March 4, 1809, by Frances Asbury, the 
 first bishop of the Methodist Church in America, 
 and the parchment certifying to this appointment 
 is still preserved. A year later he was appointed 
 elder by Bishop William McKendree and for 
 85 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 many years he preached without financial recom- 
 pense in the counties of Dauphin, Lebanon and 
 Berks. 
 
 Six sons succeeded Peter Beaver when he 
 passed away. One became a prominent iron 
 master and two others served iri the State Legis- 
 lature. Jacob, one of the older Sons, was Hugh's 
 grandfather. He was born in Lebanon County 
 in 1803, but his life was passed in Perry County 
 at Millerstown. The Pennsylvania Canal had 
 just been opened and he soon built up a large 
 business on the canal, including the shipment of 
 grain. Here Jacob Beaver married Ann Eliza 
 Addams, of an old and useful Pennsylvania 
 family, one of whose members had commanded 
 one of the two brigades of Pennsylvania militia 
 ordered to rendezvous at York during the war of 
 1812, while another was a member of the Nine- 
 teenth and Twentieth Congresses. Jacob and Ann 
 had four children of whom Hugh's father, James 
 A. Beaver was the third child, ancf first son. Jacob 
 died in 1840, "leaving a young family to be 
 brought up by the mother, a good woman of 
 noble character and intellectual vi^or, who made 
 herself the companion of her children, and taught 
 them by the example of an undeviating Christian 
 walk."^ 
 
 Five years later Ann Beaver married the Rev. 
 
 ' Burr's Life of Jama Addams Beaver, p. 17. 
 
 26 
 
Ancestry and Home 
 
 S. H. McDonald, a Presbyterian minister, and the 
 family removed to Belleville, Mifflin •County, 
 Here under the helpful influertce of his step- 
 father who was a true Christian and scholar and 
 of his mother who was a mother — which makes 
 all adjectives superfluous — Hugh's father seems 
 to have grown up into just such a boy as Hugh 
 was himself, — "not a robust boy, but he took 
 pleasure in outdoor sports, and was never far 
 behind in the exploits of mischievous fun in 
 which the schoolboy heart delights. At Millers- 
 town, as through his whole school life, he was 
 accounted a gentlemanly boy, of high principle 
 and disposed to peace." When he was fifteen 
 James Beaver entered the Pine Grove Academy, 
 and two years later the junior class of Jefferson Col- 
 lege at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, where he 
 was graduated with honor in 1856. "James A. 
 Beaver, better known in college days as 'Jim 
 Beaver,' was a little bit of an enthusiastic fellow, 
 full of fun and pluck and frolic, who never did 
 anything bad and always looked glad," was the 
 way a college classmate described him. ^ 
 
 After leaving college James Beaver settled at 
 Belief onte, the county seat of Centre County, 
 Pennsylvania, and entered the law office of the 
 Hon. H. N. McAllister, one of the most distin- 
 guished lawyers in central Pennsylvania. He had 
 
 ' Burr's Life of James Addami Beaver^ p. 20. 
 
 27 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 barely reached the age of twenty-one when he 
 was admitted to the bar of Centrp County. " He 
 was so thoroughly grounded in the principles of 
 the law, so painstaking in his work, so ready in 
 speech and forcible in argument that he at once 
 made an impression and was accounted a young 
 lawyer of more than ordinary pr,omise," and was 
 taken into partnership by his preceptor. While 
 preparing for the bar Beaver joined the Belief onte 
 Fencibles of whom Andrew G. Curtin, the famous 
 war governor of Pennsylvania, was captain. He 
 carefully studied tactics, familiarized himself with 
 a soldier's work and was made second lieutenant 
 of the company. Here the civil war found him 
 ' and the voice of duty called him. Two letters 
 which he wrote to his mother in, 1861 will help to 
 explain the character of his son Hugh. 
 
 "Bellefonte, January I ith, 1861. 
 " My dear Mother : 
 
 ' ' The Fencibles decided a day or two since 
 to attend the inauguration of Governor Curtin on the 
 15th. So my hopes of staying at home and escaping 
 the crowds, long marches and tiresome standups are 
 pretty much blasted. You will se6 in your Press of 
 this week, under ' Extraordinary War Preparations," 
 that we may have a longer march than to Harrisburg. 
 Governor Curtin assures me that if a requisition is 
 made upon this state, ours will br the first company 
 called out. Necessity for soldiers, however, is grow- 
 ing less and less, so that our chances for active serv- 
 28 
 
Ancestry and Home 
 
 ice, or a life of inglorious ease at Washington, arc 
 not very flattering. 
 
 " Since writing the above I have been to the tele- 
 graph office. A dispatch from Washington says that 
 hostilities have actually begun. The South Carolin- 
 ians fired upon ' The Star of the West,' which con- 
 tained supplies for Major Anderson. If this is true, 
 which God forbid, war has actually commenced. 
 Where will be the end ? The nation must be pre- 
 served. And who can mistake his-duty in this emer- 
 gency? I have prayed for direction, guidance and 
 clear revelations of duty, and I cannot now doubt 
 where the path of duty lies. If required I will march 
 in it, trusting in God for the result. There are few 
 men situated as I am. No person dependent upon 
 me, and a business which I will leave in able hands. 
 If we have a nationality, it must be continued, sup- 
 ported, upheld. If we are ordered to Washington or 
 elsewhere, I will see you before we go. God blesi 
 you, my mother. 
 
 "Your son, 
 
 " Jam^s a. Beaver." 
 
 "Bellefonte, April 17th, 1861. 
 " My own dear Mother : 
 
 ' ' Oh how I long to see you, if for but one 
 brief moment I This boon denied 'me I must trust to 
 a lame medium the expression of my feelings. You 
 have doubtless anticipated the action I have taken in 
 the present alarming condition of our national aifairs, 
 and I hope I know my mother too well to suppose 
 that she would counsel any other course than the one 
 which I have taken. I can almost imagine that I 
 hear you saying, • My son, do your duty,' and I hope 
 that no other feeling than that of duty urges me on. 
 39 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 If I know my own heart, duty — my duty first and 
 above all to God, my duty to humanity, my duty to 
 my country and my duty to posterity — all point in 
 one and the same direction. Need I say that that 
 direction points to the defence of 'our nation in this 
 hour of her peril ? We march to-morrow for Harris- 
 burg ; remain there until ordered into actual service, 
 thence to whatever post may be assigned us. I have 
 little fear of any hostilities between the different sec- 
 tions of our country for the present. Should the 
 worst we fear come upon us, however, and in the 
 providence of God my life should be yielded up in 
 the service, I feel and know that the sacrifice would 
 be small compared with the sacrifices, trials and 
 anxieties which you have made and undergone for 
 me ; and, my mother, can I better repay them than 
 by going straight forward in the path of duty ? In 
 reviewing my life, oh, how much is there that I 
 would blot from memory's pages — ^how much for 
 which I would atone at any cost. It may perhaps be 
 as well that I am not able to see' you now. It will 
 spare us both some pain but rob m^ of much pleasure. 
 " Affectionately your son, 
 
 " jAiip:s A. Beaver." 
 
 James A. Beaver served through the war from 
 1 86 1, until in August, 1864, he was shot through 
 the right leg at Ream's Station. He had been 
 wounded frequently and severely before but this 
 last wound necessitated the amputation of his 
 leg. Eight days later his diary contains the 
 single entry, "Saturday, September 3d. Com- 
 menced to die." The entry erred, however, and 
 
 30 
 
Ancestry and Home 
 
 on December 22d, 1864, he was mustered out of 
 the service, "on account of wounds received in 
 battle," having risen from first-lieutenant, as he 
 Was mustered in, to lieutenant-colonel at the end 
 of three months' enlistment, then to colonel and 
 from colonel to brigadier-genetsil in the second 
 corps of the Army of the Potomac, commanded 
 by Major-General Winfield Scott Hancock. The 
 regiment of which he was colonel — the One 
 Hundred and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania Volun- 
 teers came to be recognized under his command 
 as one of the finest regiments in the army. He 
 was a clean, unpretentious, active Christian sol- 
 dier. "I have no taste for court-martial," he 
 wrote, when an easy place was offered him in 
 1864, "or other inactive military duty." He de- 
 dined to take command of the Third Brigade of 
 the Second Corps, in May, 1864, because he said, 
 " He preferred not to leave his regiment. He felt 
 it his duty to stay by the men he had brought 
 into the field." " He was a soldier who could be 
 trusted morning, noon, and night," wrote Major- 
 General D. N. Couch. " 1 never heard a ribald 
 or a profane word pass his lips," said Brigadier- 
 General John R. Brooke. General Beaver was a 
 good type of the American volunteer, a soldier 
 by the call of duty, not by profession, aggres- 
 sive, ignorant of fear, jovially human, adaptive, 
 quick to grasp and master any.situation, full of 
 31 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 kindly, manly friendships, rooted deeply in the 
 affections of a home community, of instincts in- 
 tensely democratic, and devoptly sensible of 
 God's sovereign control of all our human life. 
 
 After the war General Beaver resumed the prac- 
 tice of law in Belief onte and in 1863 married Miss 
 Mary McAllister, the daughter of his law-partner 
 and former teacher. Hugh McAjlister Beaver was 
 their third son. He was named after his mother's 
 father, who died a few weeks after Hugh was 
 born, while he was sitting as a member of the 
 Constitutional Convention of the state of Penn- 
 sylvania. Mr. McAllister was a man of excep- 
 tional character and power. Thfe Honorable John 
 Scott' spoke of him as 
 
 "A fiery soul which, working out its way, 
 Fretted the pigmy tiody to decay." 
 
 He was of Scotch-Irish descent. 'His grandfather. 
 Major Hugh McAllister, was born in Lancaster 
 County in 1736, and fought in Captain Forbes' 
 company through the Indian war of 1763. In 
 the darkest hour of the revolutionary struggle he 
 was the first man to volunteer to form a com- 
 pany to reenforce Washington. The company 
 was raised in Lost Creek Valley, which is now 
 Juniata County. Major McAllister's son served 
 through the war of 1812, and was subsequently 
 
 'United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Subsequently Solicitor-Gen- 
 eral of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. 
 
 32 
 
Ancestry and Home 
 
 one of the Judges of Juniata County. His son, 
 Hugli Beaver's grandfather, was born in 1809 and 
 graduated from Jefferson College in 1833. When 
 the Civil War broke out he was one of the most 
 earnest supporters of the administration. "Al- 
 though far beyond the age when men are relieved 
 from military duty, and being unfit by education, 
 habits and the state of his health, for the hard- 
 ships of a campaign, he accepted the responsi- 
 bility of the captaincy of Company 'F,' of the 
 Twenty-third Regiment of Pennsylvania Militia, 
 which he had raised, went with his company to 
 the field and served faithfully until his place could 
 be filled by a younger man."' 
 
 Mr. McAllister was a lawyer of great ability 
 and a man of large personal power. In the me- 
 morial service of the Constitutional Convention, 
 where he had been taking a leading part in re- 
 shaping the constitution of Pennsylvania, Gov- 
 ernor Curtin said of him, " While it could not be 
 said that he had the affection which more attrac- 
 tive and magnetic qualities draw to the public 
 man, he had the homage of the conviction in 
 everybody who knew him, that he was a man 
 of sterling integrity, of constant labor, of iron 
 fidelity, and of a will which, fixed in a direction 
 he believed right and true, never failed to carry 
 with it the accomplishment of his purpose." 
 
 ' Constitutional Contfentton^ McAllister Memorial^ p. 70. 
 
 33 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 And Governor Bigler describing him as "always 
 excitable, at times passionate, imperious and re- 
 lentless, and yet generous, benevolent, compas- 
 sionate and affectionate," added that he had never 
 seen his equal in "industry, resistless energy, 
 positive will, passionate devotion, dauntless cour- 
 age, large benevolence and tender humanity." 
 
 Hugh Beaver's grandfather was a man of great 
 liberality, the friend and counselor of those in 
 need, of the poor, and especially of Christian 
 enterprises. For years he was an elder in the 
 Presbyterian Church and his Bible was a worn 
 book, full of his notes and jottings. He was a 
 man of practical tastes but wide sympathies. 
 He had a model farm on which it was said he 
 could raise two spears of grass where any other 
 farmer in Pennsylvania could raise one. He was 
 the leading spirit in a great agricultural conven- 
 tion in St. Louis in 1872 whicfi he attended at 
 much personal sacrifice because he thought he 
 might say something useful to the farmers of the 
 West. It was chiefly due to his influence and 
 energy and persistence that the Agricultural Col- 
 lege of Pennsylvania, now known as State Col- 
 lege, was established. 
 
 Mr. McAllister's wife was Henrietta Ashman 
 Orbison, of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, whose 
 brother, James H. Orbison, was'-for years a Pres- 
 byterian missionary in India, and whose brother's 
 34 
 
Ancestry and Home 
 
 son, the Rev. J. Harris Orbison, M. D., is a mis- 
 sionary now in Lahore. 
 
 Hugh Beaver was descended thus from two 
 lines of fighters, men who were engaged in al- 
 most every war of our national history. And 
 yet they were men of peace, c0jiet men, loving 
 home and preferring to win the -good title of ex- 
 emplary Christians and citizens. All of his an- 
 cestors hved and died in the state of Pennsyl- 
 vania. Many racial streams have flowed together 
 in Pennsylvania, and Hugh Beaver was the prod- 
 uct of one of these convergences which have pro- 
 duced and are constantly producing in our country 
 a type of character which is new and distinct, and 
 to which God has already fitted the natural con- 
 ditions of our life. As Hugh's father writes : 
 
 " His ancestors of the fourth preceding generation 
 were all born in Pennsylvania and all of the male 
 members of his immediate ancestry^ of that generation 
 served in the Revolutionary War, except Benjamin 
 Elliot who was a member of the convention which 
 framed for Pennsylvania the Constitution of 1 776. On 
 his father's side his ancestry was English, German (Pal- 
 atine) and French (Huguenot), and on his mother's 
 side, English and Scotch-Irish. The distinguishing 
 characteristics of this varied ancestry combined to 
 produce a personality which, in early boyhood, was 
 characterized by earnestness, intensity, vivacity, cour- 
 age and perseverance. These characteristics increased 
 and developed with his growth and found full play in 
 his short, active life." 
 
 35 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Hugh spent his entire life prior to entrance to 
 college — with the exception of several short peri- 
 ods in Harrisburg — in his native town of Belle- 
 fonte. There is something in the state of Penn- 
 sylvania that makes her childrert love her with a 
 peculiar love. The writer has observed in many 
 states and in many different lands the peculiar 
 ties which bind the sons of Pennsylvania to the 
 soil of their fathers. There would seem to be no 
 other state in the Union of which this can be said 
 in the same degree unless it be Georgia. Georgia 
 and Pennsylvania wrap the tendrils of a singular 
 love around the hearts of theif children. And 
 this is the best patriotism. As Henry W. Grady 
 said shortly before his death to the literary so- 
 cieties of the University of Virginia: 
 
 " The germ of the best patriotism is in the love 
 that a man has for the home he inhabits, for the soil 
 he tills, for the trees that give Mm shade, and the 
 hills that stand in his pathway. I teach my ion to 
 love Georgia ; to love the soil that he stands on — the 
 body of my old mother — the mouptains that are her 
 springing breasts, the broad acres that hold her sub- 
 stance, the dimpling valleys in Which her beauty 
 rests, the forests that sing her songs of lullaby and of 
 praise, and the brooks that run with her rippling 
 laughter. The love of home — ^deep-rooted and 
 abiding — that blurs the eyes of the dying soldier with 
 the visions of an old homestead amid green fields and 
 clustering trees ; that follows the busy man through 
 36 
 
Ancestry and Home 
 
 the clamoring world, persistent though put aside, and 
 at last draws his tired feet from thehighway and leads 
 him through shady lanes, and well-remembered 
 paths until, amid the scenes of his boyhood, he 
 gathers up the broken threads of his life and owns 
 the soil his conqueror — this — this lodged in the heart 
 of the citizen is the saving principle of our govern- 
 ment. We note the barracks of our standing army 
 with its rolling drum and its fluttering flag as points 
 of strength and protection. But the citizen standing 
 in the doorway of his home, contented on his 
 threshold, his family gathered about his hearthstone, 
 while the evening of a well-spent d'ay closes in scenes 
 and sounds that are dearest, he shall save the republic 
 when the drum tap is futile and the barracks are ex- 
 hausted.'" 
 
 No boy ever loved his home: and state more 
 than Hugh Beaver loved Bellefonte and Pennsyl- 
 vania. In the speech just quoted Mr. Grady re- 
 calls the words of George Eliot, "a human life 
 should be well rooted in some spot of a native 
 land where it may get the love of tender kinship 
 for the face of the earth, for th;e sounds and ac- 
 cents that haunt it, a spot where the defmiteness 
 of early memories may be inwrought with affec- 
 tion, and spread, not by sentimental effort and 
 reflection, but as a sweet habit of the blest." 
 His native town was such a spot as this to Hugh. 
 There was no other place so beautiful. The 
 
 » The Virginia University Magazine. New series, Vol. xxxiiL, No. 3, p. 
 uof. 
 
 37 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Muncy Mountain range to the West, and the Nit- 
 tany to the east, shut in the Nittany Valley in 
 which Bellefonte lies. Smaller ridges break up 
 the valley within and Spring Creek runs down 
 the valley to the Larger Bald Eagle Creek from 
 which at Bald Eagle Furnace the Little Bald Eagle 
 is separated, which in turn steals out through the 
 hills to the Juniata. Indian names linger on the 
 mountains — Nittany, Kishcoquillas, Allegrippas, 
 Tuscarora, and Muncy. Bald Eagle after whom 
 the creeks are named was a Delaware chief, and 
 the Shawnees, the Muncies, the Nanticokes, the 
 Tuscaroras and other tribes along the river on the 
 banks of which most of Hugh's ancestors had 
 lived, have left many memories apart from the 
 old song, which tells how 
 
 Once roved an Indian girl 
 
 Brigllt Alfarata, 
 Wilere sweep the waters 
 
 Of tile Blue Juniata. 
 Swift as an antelope 
 
 Through the forest going, 
 Loose were her jetty loclis 
 In wavy tresses flowing. 
 
 Gay was the mountain song 
 
 Of bright Alfarata— * 
 Where sweep the waters 
 Of the Blue Juniata. 
 *' Strong and true my arrows are, 
 In my painted quiver-^ 
 Swift goes my light canofe 
 Adown the rapid river. 
 38 
 
Ancestry and Home 
 
 " Bold is my warrior good, 
 The love of Alfarata, 
 Proud waves his snowy plume 
 
 Along the Juniata- 
 Soft and low he speaks to me, 
 
 And then his war cry sounding, 
 Rings his voice in thunder loud 
 From height to height Resounding.'' 
 
 So sang the Indian girl, 
 
 Bright Alfarata, 
 Where sweep the waters: 
 
 Of the Blue Juniata. 
 Fleeting years have borne away 
 
 The voice of Alfarata. 
 Still sweeps the river on. 
 
 Blue Juniata. 
 
 The green, fragrant fields of clover and tirnothy, 
 the waving seas of wheat and rye and the rustling 
 armies of corn ; the sun-kissed, pine-fringed hill- 
 tops looking out over the rich valleys and the 
 prosperous homes; meadows and orchards, 
 woodland and forest were all. dear to Hugh. 
 Even now the sweet fields andfswelling hills of 
 Paradise can scarce be dearer. 
 
 The town itself is one of the oldest towns in 
 Central Pennsylvania. Its early prosperity was 
 due to its iron furnaces and the wealth of the 
 agricultural resources of the valley lands round 
 about. Other interests have developed with the 
 years. The early population was made up of the 
 commingling of strains characteristic of our 
 American communities, but with a dominant 
 
 39 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Scotch-Irish element and not a few prosperous 
 Friends, who had come westward and brought 
 their meeting house with them. The Scotch- 
 Irish were and are Presbyterians. The Friends 
 have melted away and the weelcly meeting is al- 
 most abandoned. Their children have grown 
 into more genial faiths. It hadibeen for years a 
 town of great intelligence. Judge Woodward, a 
 Philadelphia lawyer, spoke of this in an address 
 at the Constitutional Convention: "When I 
 think of that picturesque and beautiful village of 
 Bellefonte and of the refined and intelligent so- 
 ciety I found there in 1841, it makes my heart 
 ache to think of the desolation death hath 
 wrought there. There was John Blanchard, one 
 of the noblest men it has been my good fortune 
 to know, and Bond Valentine, a genial Quaker, 
 and James T. Hale, a man of rare endowments, 
 and James Petrikin, a lawyer, an artist and a wit, 
 and James Burnside who was everybody's friend 
 and had a friend in everybody." In such a com- 
 munity the social relationships 'and associations 
 were all that could be desired foi- a boy, and there 
 was all the freedom of country life with its 
 wholesomeness and buoyant, purifying influence 
 upon character. 
 
 40 
 
Ill 
 
 BOYHOOD 
 
 Then heard he a voice that said, " Galahad, I see there about thee so 
 many angels that my power may not hurt thee. "^Malory's King Arthur. 
 
 He scarce had need to doff his pride or slough( the dross of Earth —^ 
 E'en as he trod that day to God so walked he.Yrom his birth, 
 In simpleness and gentleness and honor and clean mirth. 
 
 — Rudyard Kipling, Verses to Woleott Balestier. 
 
 Hugh's boyhood was the sunny, unconstrained 
 life of the best type of American boy. He took 
 an interest in all interesting things, was free from 
 every idiosyncrasy and grew up amid his fellows 
 happy and free, disciplined intb the capacity to 
 serve, with no consciousness that he was in such 
 a school. There was no undue orderliness or pre- 
 cocity of precision about him. He seems to have 
 made only one attempt to keep account of his 
 receipts and expenditures. It was in a red mem- 
 orandum book, indexed alphabetically and in it 
 for four days he kept a cash account of his ex- 
 penditures, entering his payments as in a ledger 
 under the names of the persons to whom the 
 payments were made. This memorandum book 
 was doubtless a Christmas present, for the first 
 entries are made on December! 28th. The last 
 entries are made January ist. Perhaps the ability 
 41 
 
A Memorial of a Tfae Life 
 
 to make payments disappeared then, for there 
 was a lavish expenditure while ;the assets lasted. 
 The entries under "S" indicate a generous 
 spirit in a boy and an unusual proportion to his 
 expenditures : 
 
 "Dec. 28, S. School, . . .25 
 Dec. yo, C. Shuey, candy, .10 
 Dec. 31, C. Shuey, candy, .04 
 Jan. I, Stitzer, Book, .50." 
 
 The military passion developed in him early. 
 His father writes : 
 
 " He was a great reader always, but when he got 
 hold of anything relating to the war he simply de- 
 voured it ; would sit all day in the house, without 
 going out, and curl himself up in; a corner of a sofa 
 and be lost to everything else tcri'estrial. This, of 
 course, affected his thought in regard to military af- 
 fairs very much and, when he became the captain of 
 the boys' company, called the Bellefonte Guards, it 
 was a very real thing to him. It gave him great con- 
 cern that his company did not tak6 as serious a view 
 of the matter as he did. In drills and in their Satur- 
 day afternoon camps and in everything of that sort, 
 he was a very strict disciplinarian. The punishments 
 inflicted upon the members of his company were 
 sometimes severe, but were inflicted solely in the in- 
 terests of discipline, upon which he laid great stress. 
 Tom was Hugh's orderly. This was an adroit and 
 effective scheme to get Tom to run errands. 
 
 '•The boys were accustomed to going with me to 
 the camps of our National Guard, when I commanded 
 42 
 
Boyhood 
 
 a brigade in it, and here also Hugh had plenty of 
 opportunity to learn the drill and to acquire a knowl- 
 edge of military routine and details. On one occa- 
 sion in which the inspector of my brigade came here 
 to inspect the company which is located in Bellefonte, 
 I intimated to him that I thought it would please 
 Hugh very much, if he would inspect his company. 
 He gave Hugh notice of the inspection and it was 
 paraded in due form, Hugh presenting it to the major 
 who was in full uniform with as much seriousness as 
 if his company were a part of the National Guard. 
 Major Sayer, who was a gallant soldier in the war 
 and had lost a leg in it, was very piuch impressed as 
 well as amused with the incident and spoke of it 
 many times afterward. Unfortunately he is dead or 
 he would be able to give a very graphic account of 
 this inspection." 
 
 The prospect of this formal inspection was too 
 much for some members of the company, and 
 smitten with terror they viewed Hugh's presen- 
 tation of his remaining men, from a position of 
 safety around the corner of the house where they 
 were visible to Hugh but not to Major Sayer, 
 Hugh was profoundly disgusted with their con- 
 duct and made frank remarks to them afterward, 
 but neither as a boy nor later did he have the sad 
 gift of bitter speech, and his wor'ds, though plain, 
 left no sting, 
 
 Hugh had four brothers. Nelson, the oldest of 
 the four boys, died when a child. Of the others 
 Gilbert was the oldest and Tom and James 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 younger than Hugh. The father and mother en- 
 tered heartily into all the waysof the boys, and 
 the family life expanded to take in their plans. 
 
 "In going to our state militia camps on several 
 occasions," General Beaver writes, " we drove in our 
 carriage, on one occasion going through some fifteen 
 counties of the state and making quite a round 
 through Bedford, Somerset, Westmoreland, Arm- 
 strong, Butler, etc. Hugh was then quite a lad and 
 greatly interested in Pennsylvania and its resources. 
 He started, I remember, on that trip to make a collec- 
 tion of the resources of the several counties, intend- 
 ing to make a cabinet illustrative of the subject. 
 When we came to Somerset County and he inquired 
 of one of the citizens at a place where we stopped for 
 the night, what the principal products of Somerset 
 County were, the man said, ' Cheese and maple 
 sugar.' Hugh was very much atnused at this and 
 intimated that the rats would probably cat the cheese 
 and, as he would eat the maple sugar, there wouldn't 
 be anything left for the cabinet. However, as we 
 were passing a barn which was then being built, we 
 stopped for a moment to examine? the lumber which 
 was then going into it and Hugh found that the 
 flooring was to be of sugar maplt. He got one of 
 the carpenters to saw him off a little bit of the floor- 
 ing for his cabinet and carried it home with him. 
 These trips in the carriage were great occasions for 
 us all. I became better acquainted with the boys 
 and they developed wonderfully under them. The 
 work was carefully divided, Tom .looking after the 
 horses, Hugh looking after the carriage and contents, 
 seeing that everything was taken out at night and put 
 44 
 
Boyhood 
 
 back in the morning, and Gilbert attending to the 
 finances. On one occasion, when our camp was to 
 be at Gettysburg, we went by way of Huntingdon, 
 Orbisonia, Fannettsburg, Upper Strasburg, Cham- 
 bersburg, etc., to Gettysburg, and home by way of 
 Harrisburg and the Juniata, stopping at Millerstown, 
 where my parents had lived, and at McAllistervillc, 
 where Hugh's grandfather's parents had lived. I prom- 
 ised them, when we started, that I would show them the 
 graves of many of their ancestors. At Huntingdon, we 
 found the graves of Benjamin Elliot and his wife, of 
 William Orbison, the elder, and his wife; at Kic- 
 fer's Church in Franklin County, the graves of my 
 great-grandfather Beaver and his *wife ; at Millers- 
 town the graves of my grandfather Addams and wife 
 and of my parents and a few miles out of my grand- 
 mother Beaver. In the old churchyard near Thomp- 
 sontown, we found the graves of the Thompsons for 
 several generations, and at McAUisterville, in the old 
 Lost Creek Presbyterian Church burying ground, the 
 graves of the McAllisters. After leaving Lost Creek 
 and Mifflintown and turning our faces homeward by 
 way of Lewistown, Hugh remarked, with a very quiz- 
 zical sort of an expression on his face, ' Well, papa, 
 aren't we nearly through with the graves of the an- 
 cestors?' We laughed at him a great deal about it 
 and it was quite a joke in the family for a long time. 
 My recollection is that we had visited the graves of 
 about sixteen of his ancestors, both on his mother's 
 side and mine." 
 
 There were none but the most loving Christian 
 influences surrounding Hugh ia his home. His 
 father was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, 
 45 
 
A Memorial of a Tr.ue Life 
 
 and the atmosphere of the community so far as 
 Hugh felt it was Christian. The Bible and the 
 Shorter Catechism had a large place in his home 
 instruction, General Beaver holding strong con- 
 victions as to the efficacy of the catechism and 
 its educational value. The father writes : 
 
 "Gilbert had committed the Shorter Catechism to 
 memory very early. Indeed he was more than third 
 through it, when he was about three years old, but I 
 thought his memory would be taxed beyond what 
 was reasonable and stopped repeating the questions 
 and answers to him. He finished, however, before 
 he was nine years old and, as was promised him, was 
 given a silver watch suitably inscribed. A similar 
 offer was made to Hugh but he never grew enthusi- 
 astic over the watch, expecting that his grandfather's 
 watch was to come to him. He developed a desire 
 for marksmanship and became very skillful both with 
 the air gun and subsequently with a rifle. Thinking 
 that he needed a stimulus, I offered, him as an induce- 
 ment to memorizing the Shorter Catechism an air 
 gun and this settled the question, immediately and 
 the catechism was soon dispatched. After the air 
 gun was secured, Gilbert made him a target with a 
 bull's-eye which, when hit, released a spring, causing 
 an Indian to pop up at the top of the target, and this 
 afforded great amusement to the boys in their young 
 boyhood. It was really astonishing to see the man- 
 ner in which Hugh could strike that bull's-eye with a 
 gun as uncertain as the air gun was." 
 
 The boys of each generation: have their own 
 peculiar range of interests, but Collecting some- 
 
 46 
 
Boyhood 
 
 thing or other is always a passion with boys. 
 Hugh passed through the fever of stamp collect- 
 ing and also of the gathering 'of tobacco tags. 
 His partner in these enterprise^ and in many of 
 his boyhood experiences was Edmund Blanchard 
 who has kindly written out some of his recollec- 
 tions of those days : 
 
 " The first year Hugh was old enough to enjoy out- 
 door life was spent on a large swing on the back 
 upper porch and it was here that the writer and most 
 of Hugh's young friends met him. Everybody upon 
 arrival at the house was ushered to this favorite place 
 where Hugh would be surrounded with his numerous 
 friends. The whole day would be spent here, each 
 one having a turn in the performance — a character- 
 istic of Hugh's even at that early stage, i. <?., a marked 
 lack of selfishness and an equal treatment to all who 
 were his friends. In all these performances Hugh 
 outshone all the rest of us. While not as heavy as 
 some, yet his wiriness was most noticeable. After this, 
 he drifted into a military frame of mind which resulted 
 in the formation of a company of which Hugh was cap- 
 tain. With wooden guns and ' mother made ' uni- 
 forms, we were all organized into a= regular company 
 with our armory in the Beaver stable. Hugh was 
 very well up in tactics and in tim6 had his company 
 a well-drilled organization, with a very good knowl- 
 edge of the simpler movements which were always 
 performed on the large lawn before the eye of Gen- 
 eral Beaver on the porch. 
 
 " The other young fellows of the town became very 
 jealous of the notice taken of us, so organized an op- 
 47 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 position company and declared war against us. This 
 state existed for some time, and very few days would 
 pass without a capture on the one side or the other, 
 which meant a day's confinement in the bran box, 
 until supper time. As we had to pass their head- 
 quarters on our way down town, we always went by 
 there with our fathers, clutching thfeir hands, with the 
 enemy making wild signs of ' wait until you come 
 back ! ' Our wooden swords were very formidable 
 instruments. 'Jimmy,' the big Irish coachman, was 
 the greatest fortification we had in time of real peril. 
 
 " In all these affairs Hugh was always at the head 
 and showed a wonderful spirit of bravery. He could 
 outdo any of his friends in outdoot' sports and took a 
 healthy, active interest in everything. One thing 
 was noticeable at this time, that he would never look 
 at girls, but was remarkably bashful. 
 
 "At about the age of fourteen, he took a great 
 interest in baseball and became the best pitcher of his 
 age in the town. He and the writer formed a battery 
 and hardly a day passed that one of the most exciting 
 games between two batteries would not be played . We 
 would receive ' all comers,' none Of whom were able 
 to solve Hugh's curves. He had a wonderful con- 
 trol and very good curves. We 'termed ourselves, 
 'The little potatoes, hard to peel.' It was at this 
 time that the Beavers had a donkey presented to them. 
 We all spent our time riding ' Maud ' and the main 
 trick was for one to get on and the'.other twist its tail 
 which would make it kick violently for about five 
 minutes, and the point was to see who could stick on. 
 Here again Hugh outdid us all, as it was wonderful 
 how he could stay on with his legs only reaching half- 
 way round the donkey. 
 
 "Then during the summer of 1889, we were all 
 48 
 
Boyhood 
 
 delighted to hear that General Beaver was going to 
 give Hugh tents enough to take his whole company 
 camping in the mountains. General Beaver was gov- 
 ernor at the time and sent an old colored man to 
 take care of us. We spent ten days right in the heart 
 of the Alleghanies with no thought'of fear, and those 
 days of swimming, hunting, etc., were undoubtedly 
 the finest in our lives. 
 
 "So all through his life Hugh was always doing 
 something for his friends. We were all jealous of 
 each other's affection for him, but he seemed entirely 
 unconscious of it, and treated us all alike. We 
 went camping in this way for two years until the fol- 
 lowing autumn we all parted for; various colleges, 
 when the writer's close connection with Hugh seemed 
 to end, although we both seemed as fond of each other 
 as ever. We drifted into different fields." 
 
 In 1886 Hugh's father was elected Governor of 
 Pennsylvania and the family removed to Harris- 
 burg, the capital of the state, in 1887. This di- 
 vided their interests between Harrisburg and 
 Bellefonte until the expiration of Governor 
 Beaver's term of office, December 31, 1890. 
 
 "Hugh went with us to Harrisburg," writes 
 his father, "in '87. Neither he, nor Tom were 
 ever very much taken with the idea of going to 
 Harrisburg and always, when asked how they 
 liked Harrisburg, invariably replied ' Not as well 
 as Bellefonte.' This feeling grew upon Hugh to 
 such an extent that, after our home vacation in 
 '89 and his making the special plea to be al- 
 49 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 /owed to remain here in Bellefpnte and attend 
 our academy, we consented and he boarded for 
 a time with Mrs. Hoy, and afterward with his 
 aunt, Mrs. Nannie Orbison, the widow of Hugh's 
 missionary uncle. In this way he was separated 
 from the family during the winter of '89, and 
 also of '90. Tom joined him jn the winter of 
 '90, and they both attended the academy that 
 year, which was our last at Harrisburg." 
 
 Although full of vivacity and vitality Hugh 
 was not strong and after going to Harrisburg he 
 began a course of physical training in the hope 
 of increasing his strength. It is of this that his 
 father writes : 
 
 " Although greatly interested in all outdoor sports, 
 Hugh was not very strong physically and often com- 
 plained to his mother that he could not do what 
 other boys could, and was very nsuch annoyed and 
 chagrined because of this fact. After we went to 
 Harrisburg, he found football very much in vogue 
 there and did not seem to be able to accomplish what 
 other boys could in that direction, and came home 
 one day very much discouraged. Shortly afterward I 
 found on the table in the sitting-room the book 
 'How to Get Strong.' I observed it and asked his 
 mother what it meant. She said that Hugh had 
 ordered it from some book publisher on his own ac- 
 count. I was very much impressed by it and the 
 next time I went to Philadelphia agked his mother to 
 get him ready to go with me. Wejwent together and 
 I had him examined by a celebrated physician there 
 50 
 
Boyhood 
 
 who gave attention to that sort of practice and was 
 assured by him that every one of Hugh's organs was 
 perfect. I could not quite agree with tlie doctor and 
 made my dissent. He insisted that in every respect 
 his organs were normal and in perfect condition, al- 
 though he might not be physically developed as fully 
 as might be desirable, and directed me to another 
 physician. I had an engagement! at the time and 
 gave Hugh the money to go down for an examination 
 by this physician. He went with a» young companion 
 and came up to the hotel where I was stopping at an 
 hour which had been designated, with a prescription 
 covering physical apparatus of all sorts which he 
 needed for physical development. I asked him what 
 the cost would be and found that he had been to 
 Spaulding's and had priced the whole outfit. As a 
 result, we ordered the entire prescription sent to 
 Harrisburg. It was set up in a large china closet on 
 the second floor of the back building and that was 
 Hugh's gymnasium. I never knew any one more 
 conscientious in regard to his exefcise than he was. 
 No matter how late he might be out in the evening, 
 he went to the little gymnasium and took the pre- 
 scribed quantity of exercise, before going to bed. 
 The result was a fine, symmetrical physical develop- 
 ment. When he went to college, he entered into 
 athletic sports with great vigor and was an unusually 
 fine runner, taking one of the first prizes at the indoor 
 athletic meet in probably his freshman year. His 
 mother disliked athletics, particularly of the more 
 violent sort, and out of deference to her wishes and 
 perhaps a feeling on his own part that they were not 
 the best thing for him, he dropped out of all competi- 
 tive athletics. He took a deep interest in them, how- 
 ever, through his entire college course and afterward, 
 51 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 and at all the football games fori several years was 
 very active and always announced the results to the 
 crowd at all the games which he attended." 
 
 During the winter of 1 888-1 889, from January 
 until, boylike, he wearied of it on March 20, 
 Hugh kept a diary in which he wrote with a blue 
 indelible pencil, and extracts ffom which will 
 show what his interests and tastes had become. 
 
 "Jan. I. Happy New Year. Went up to see the 
 Senate and House convene with W. A., R. P., and 
 E. B. The cut in Ned's head is very much better. 
 Doctor made a dandy job of it. 
 
 "Jan. 2. Ned went home to-day. Took a photo- 
 graph with Vance of Miss S., but it was not good. In 
 the afternoon I took two more of same party. Not 
 bad. Went to V. M.'s for dinner. 
 
 "Jan. 4, Sick. Staid in bed all day. 
 
 " Jan. 6. Did not go to church on account of my 
 throat, which is better. Ulcer is, still there. Papa 
 read a chapter from Newton's ' Life of Christ ' in the 
 evening. 
 
 "Jan. II. Doctor B. H. Warren of West Chester 
 was here to-day to teach me to stuff birds. 
 
 "Jan. 12. This morning we went up the stand 
 pipe and counted the steps on the way down. There 
 were 290. In the afternoon we took a walk over the 
 river to Fort W. Had a very gpbd time and got 
 home about 5:45 pretty tired. 
 
 "Jan. 14. Went to school. After school in the 
 afternoon we had a dandy game of shinny. In the 
 evening went down Market Street and saw Cap. 
 Then went to the Camera Club. 
 52 
 
Boyhood 
 
 "Jan. 15. Went to school. Mr. Seiler gave us a 
 big lesson in Algebra for to-morrow. Had a good 
 game of shinny. Went to hear James McC. lecture 
 on electricity with L. H. and R. P.* 
 
 "Jan. 16. At school to-day, I got through with- 
 out being kept in. Had 12 out of 14 sums in alge- 
 bra. The weather is very dis. on account of rain. 
 
 "Jan. 19. In the morning I went up the stand 
 pipe with R. P., L. H., D. H., and some other fel- 
 lows, and again in the afternoon. I took several 
 photographs from the top. No good. 
 
 "Jan. 20. At Church this morning. Dr. Cham- 
 bers preached. His text was Eph. iii. 14. 
 
 "Jan. 21. Did not go to schbol on account of 
 sore throat. Took a photograph of the S. to-day. 
 Exposed it four hours and fifty miriutes. Had white 
 paper over windows. Very good. 
 
 "Jan. 25. Last evening Doc. Warren called to 
 teach me to stuff birds. As we had no bird to stuff, we 
 substituted a banty hen. 
 
 "Jan. 27. Cap. called here last evening and we 
 had a good time together. Did not go to church as 
 the weather is disagreeable. Read Bible warnings in 
 the evening. 
 
 "Jan. 29. Went to school. After school I drove 
 down to Rob Rutherford's with Teddy and traded two 
 roosters for three hens. The hens were not very 
 large. The three weighed thirteen lbs." 
 
 Hugh, as will be seen, had a .great faculty for 
 the gentler forms of slang. He never lost this. 
 His speech was always of the most unconven- 
 tional and breezy sort and his letters, which are 
 always brief, and his short diary use the shortest 
 53 
 
A Memorial of a Tcue Life 
 
 and most expressive terms. "Dandy," was one 
 of his favorite boyish adjectives, equivalent to 
 " delightful " or " superlatively good." His diary 
 indicates also how many practical and useful 
 interests he had, — stuffing birds, photography, 
 poultry raising. He had a very inventive mind. 
 His father says : 
 
 " Hugh had conceived the idea of hatching chick- 
 ens out in an incubator and invented one, when we 
 were in Harrisburg, which was to* be placed in the 
 manure pile at the stable, and was so arranged that the 
 eggs could be turned by a combination of gum bands 
 and knobs on the inside and knobs on the outside. 
 It was really an ingenious affair but; I do not think, as 
 a matter of fact, that any chickens'were ever hatched 
 by it ; but boy-like he was very enthusiastic over it 
 and had great enjoyment in finding that, so far as the 
 mechanism was concerned, he could accomplish all 
 that he had set out to do. This inventive turn stood 
 him in good stead in his photographic work. Dur- 
 ing his attack of diphtheria he thought out a plan for 
 enlarging photographs which he finally carried out 
 with great success and which was really a rather novel 
 and remarkable contrivance." 
 
 The next entries of his journal describe the 
 visit to Philadelphia, during which he consulted 
 the physicians and bought the apparatus for his 
 gymnasium : 
 
 " Feb. 4. Left for Philadelphia at 3:40. Ar- 
 rived at 6:50. Nate met us at the depot and we 
 54 
 
Boyhood 
 
 went right to the house. . . . Went to bed at 10:30. 
 Feb. 5. Frank and Chips have no school to-day. 
 Went to see Doctor Thomas and let him examine my 
 throat. After that I went to see Doctor Ford, who 
 keeps a gymnasium. Feb. 6. Boys went to school 
 to-day. Went to Wanamaker's, Got a box of Seed 
 Plates. Sen 26. $ .81. . . . Feb. 7. Read a lot 
 of stories in ' Chambers' Journal,' among them 'Our 
 New Manager,' a very good story. In the afternoon 
 we went to the Art Academy and heard the Germania 
 (Orchestra) play. Feb. 8. Last night I went to the 
 Y. M. C. A. and heard the Lotus Glee Club of Bos- 
 ton, a very fine entertainment. In the afternoon I 
 went skating on Centennial Lake in Fairmount Park. 
 Had a good time. Wrote to W. A. and Mamma. 
 Feb. 9. Went to Doctor Ford's gymnasium to find 
 out what machines I would need for my gys. Went 
 to Reach's and ordered them. .... Feb. 10. Yes- 
 terday I went to Fatimitza with Frank. . . . Coming 
 home from the opera we saw the engines going to a 
 fire and we followed them. The fire was on Green 
 St. Went to church, i8th and ^rch. . . . Feb. 
 13. Bought two developing pans, price $\.aa. 
 Went to dime museum with Frank, in the afternoon. 
 Had a right good time. Feb. 14. Worked several 
 sums in arithmetic. . . . Feb. 16. Left for Harris- 
 burg at 11:00. Started to read ' The Moonstone, ' 
 by Wilkie Collins, a very good book." 
 
 Of the other records in his diary the only ones 
 of special interest refer to his poultry raising and 
 his photography, and a visit to Washington at the 
 inauguration of President Harrison. In connection 
 with the latter his enterprise and boyish self- 
 55 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 confidence were well shown in a feat he records 
 quite quietly : 
 
 " Feb. 26. Went over the bridge to take a photo- 
 graph of General Harrison and party. The snow 
 prevented me and I did not get a good one. Was 
 introduced to the General. 
 
 " Feb. 27. A reporter called to-day to get a copy 
 of the picture I took yesterday. Of course he got 
 one. Cap. came in the afternoonland we filled my 
 plate holders and packed. 
 
 "Feb. 28. Got orders for photographs. Sent a 
 proof to the Press to make a cut from. Started for 
 Washington at 3. Train was i hour late. Arrived 
 7. After supper Tom and I took a walk and saw the 
 W. H. (White House). 
 
 "March I. Took a photograph of White H. 
 Visited the Capital, House and Senate. Drove 
 through the grounds surrounding National Museum 
 and Smithsonian Institute. Went up the Washington 
 monument. Called on the editor pi W. C. 
 
 "March 3. Received 4 more orders for photo- 
 graph. . . . 
 
 ' ' March 4. Rain ! Took a photograph of Gen. 
 Harrison and Mr. Cleveland. Earade was fine in 
 spite of the weather. 35,000 men in line. Heard 
 from Cap. to-day. 
 
 "March 5. Called at the White House and saw 
 the President and his wife and daughter. Took a 
 photograph of the Capital. Developed the photographs 
 of the parade. No good. 
 
 "March 6. Took photographs of Treasury and 
 Navy. Started for home at 9:00. Arrived 4 o'clock. 
 Saw the Friendship (fire) engine; tested. A dozen 
 letters asking for photographs came to-day. . . . 
 56 
 
Boyhood 
 
 " March 8, Wrote to Washington for a copyright 
 of my picture. . . . Answered 12 letters asking for 
 phot. . . . 
 
 " March 10. Went to Church and Sunday-school. 
 Took a walk. Went to Y. M. C. A. in the Opera 
 House, with R. P., W. A. Very good meeting. Gen. 
 Howard spoke. . . . 
 
 " March 12. . . . Cleaned my dark room and 
 chicken coop. . . . 
 
 "March 15. . . . Ordered 30 lbs. of bone for my 
 chickens. . . . 
 
 " March 20. Set a hen with 13 eggs. Wrote sev- 
 eral letters about photographs. ..." 
 
 This is the last entry in the only real diary he 
 seems to have kept. It is a boy's record, and it 
 shows in the constant mention of "Cap" and 
 certain familiar initials the wafmth of a boy's 
 friendships. The names and addresses of these 
 friends are written in the back of the diary, and 
 under them is the note, characteristic of his pa- 
 triotic sympathies, "First American Flag made 
 239 Arch St., Phila., Pa." 
 
 The newspapers made a good deal of Hugh's 
 courage in photographing General Harrison. The 
 Lancaster Intelligencer, February 27, 1890, told 
 the story thus : 
 
 "Harrison's Picture "Taken I 
 
 "Just as the train was leaving Harrisburg a gentle- 
 man handed up to Russell Harrison a beautiful floral 
 basket made of Marechal Niel and La France roses, 
 57 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 with sprays of frisia and bunches of carnation pinks 
 and hyacinths. As the train left behind it the vener- 
 able city where General Harrison's grandfather was 
 nominated for the Presidency, the General, Mrs. Har- 
 rison, and the members of the family remained out 
 tipon the platform some little time. The train was 
 moving slowly, when a bright-fated boy, wearing 
 knit cap with tassels, and carrying a small photog- 
 rapher's outfit, ran beside the train and called out 
 to the General that the train would stop shortly and 
 he wanted to take his picture. The General nodded 
 his approval and watched the zealous lad with inter- 
 est as he kept pace with the moving train. Opening 
 the door the General called Russell and his wife and 
 Mrs. McKee and Mrs. Lord to come out with him 
 and Mrs. Harrison and have their photographs taken. 
 Of course, they all complied, while the nurses held 
 Benjamin and Mary McKee up at the window, Rus- 
 sell's baby, Marthena, being in the other car at the 
 time. Finally the train stopped at Bridgeport, just 
 across the river, and the young amateur hastily ad; 
 justed his tripod, and, waving his hand for them to 
 prepare, he uncovered the lens fpr a moment and 
 then politely doffed his cap. The train moved up a 
 little, and so did the boy, and Coming closer, he 
 secured a second picture. The General inquired his 
 name, and he said it was Hugh Beaver, and one of the 
 crowd of boys called out that he was- a son of Governor 
 Beaver, whereupon Mr. Russell Harrison opened the 
 gate and assisted the little fellow up the steps, and the 
 General shook his hand and told him to give his re- 
 gards to his father, the Governor. As the train moved 
 off, Mrs. McKee requested the young artist to send her 
 one of the photographs and he promised to do so, 
 provided, said he, ' I have secured a. good one.' " 
 58 
 
Boyhood 
 
 Hugh sent a copy of this ta Mr. Russell B. 
 Harrison who was connected with Frank Leslie's 
 Weekly and who had desired a: copy of it. He 
 received the following reply: 
 
 "New York, September 12th. 
 " Mr. Hugh McA. Beaver, 
 
 ' ' Care of Governor Beavfer, 
 "Harrisburg, Pa. 
 "My dear Sir: 
 
 " I am just in receipt of a copy of the photo- 
 graph you took on the 26th of February, 1889, of the 
 President and party en route for Washington, in 
 which I appear. I have been very anxious to secure 
 a copy of this photograph, and I want to thank you 
 sincerely for your courtesy in sending the same. It 
 is an excellent picture taken under the difficulties of 
 a train switching. 
 
 " As you are a good amateur phptographer, I want 
 to invite yonr attention to the contest and prizes 
 offered by ' Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper ' for 
 amateur photographic work. We closed our first 
 contest on the ist of August, and a great many of the 
 pictures entered in the contest were published prior 
 to that time. If you will send some photographs, I 
 will see that they are published, if you would like to 
 enter the contest. This, I think, would do you good, 
 whether you are awarded a prize or not. 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 "E.ussELL"B. Harrison." 
 
 The "Vance" mentioned by Hugh was Vance 
 McCormick, who was graduated from Yale Uni- 
 versity in 1 893, and who was captain of the Oni- 
 59 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 versity Foot Ball Team. He has kindly written 
 out some of his impressions of Hugh in these 
 Harrisburg days : 
 
 "I only knew Hugh intimately in Harrisburg the 
 first year they were here, for I went to Andover the 
 following year and only saw him at vacations and at 
 Bellefonte in the summer. 
 
 " Hugh as I first knew him was of a bashful nature, 
 and it was always with difficulty that I could get him 
 to go with me if there was any danger of meeting 
 girls. We spent most of our time pit his house in his 
 dark room developing photographs, and it was during 
 the hours we were patiently waiting for the pictures to 
 come out that I got to know him so intimately, and 
 we were accustomed to exchange confidences. We 
 also had heated arguments upon the relative merits 
 of Harrisburg' and Bellefonte. Hugh was always 
 loyal to his old home and he ended up every dis- 
 cussion apparently settled in his own mind that 
 Bellefonte was far superior because they had steam 
 heat at that time and Harrisburg had not. We spent 
 many pleasant hours at target practice and Hugh was 
 really a remarkable shot with a rifle. I remember at 
 a Division Encampment of the National Guards, he 
 shot an even match with one of the best shots in the 
 state. 
 
 " His greatest pleasure and ambition at that time 
 seemed to be for a military life and he always longed 
 for the State Encampment which was his particular 
 delight, and as a boy it was remarkable the number 
 of friends Hugh had made amonglthe soldiers of all 
 grades and ages. 
 
 ' ' Before I left for school Hugh was of a very retir- 
 ing nature and even slow in getting, to know the boys 
 60 
 
Boyhood 
 
 and consequently my surprise was very great when 
 returning home for vacations I found him a leader 
 of our younger crowd of boys, having won his way 
 into their hearts and being loved by them all. Hugh 
 was always fond of teasing, and we amused ourselves 
 by playing numberless tricks upon his girl cousins 
 who might happen to have been staying in the house, 
 such as turning out the electric light upon callers, etc. 
 Hugh always saw the amusing side of everything and 
 I wish I could recall some of his brightest speeches. 
 What strikes me most forcibly now, in Hugh's char- 
 acter as I first knew him here in Harrisburg, was his 
 faculty of always doing well anything he undertook to 
 do, and going into it with his whple heart, and also 
 the power of making every one love him, from the 
 servants up to the highest officials in the state, and his 
 loyalty to Bellefonte and old friends." 
 
 In April, 1889, Hugh went with his father to 
 New York to the centennial celebration of Wash- 
 ington's first inauguration as president and took 
 a number of photographs there. The list of 
 these, carefully entered in a book he kept for this 
 purpose, shows how judiciously he selected his 
 exposures: "The Despatch with President Har- 
 rison on board; Massachusetts Regiment; Presi- 
 dent Harrison on the way to the reviewing stand; 
 the Fifth Maryland; Governor Beaver and staff; 
 United States Man of War ' Brooklyn,' steaming 
 up the Bay; the crowd corner Twenty-third 
 street. Fifth avenue, and Broadway ; Governor's 
 Guard, Connecticut; Troops of 1776; Richmond 
 61 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Blues; United States Calvary;: Seventh New 
 York." In September he was at Gettysburg and 
 took some pictures of the Twelfth Regiment of 
 the National Guard of Pennsylvania, and the next 
 summer was with his camera at the state camp at 
 Mount Gretna. 
 
 As has been said, Hugh preferred Bellefonte 
 to Harrisburg, and in the fall df 1889 he went 
 back to Professor Hughes' Academy in his home 
 town. Hugh spent the next year also in Belle- 
 fonte where he had charge of the house and 
 many of the family affairs which his father en- 
 trusted to him in large measure, to develop his 
 sense of responsibility and his ability to act with 
 sound judgment. The nature of some of the in- 
 fluences which were shaping the boy, and the 
 growth of character in him are illustrated by the 
 correspondence which passed bertween him and 
 his father and mother at this tirne : 
 
 "Executive Chamber, Harrisburg, 
 "12 Nov. 1889. 
 "My dear Hugh: 
 
 " I send you herewith a check for ;g5o. It 
 will be well for you to open an account with one of 
 the banks, get a little check book and pay all your 
 bills by check. You should keepfa regular cash ac- 
 count so as to know just how you stand and where 
 your money goes. . . . 
 
 "Do not waste your money oirwhat will do you 
 no good and will look badly in your cash %. I wish 
 62 
 
Boyhood 
 
 you to manage your own afFairs^to exercise your 
 judgment and to become acquainted with business 
 methods. Keeping a bank % and a careful expense or 
 cash % will help you in all these directions. Strive 
 to be thoroughly exact. If you need any help as to 
 the manner of keeping your check book or cash % you 
 can consult some one in the bank where you keep 
 your %. 
 
 "Your mother went to Phila.- yesterday. She 
 was quite disappointed that she did not hear from you 
 before leaving. It will be wejl to have a regular time 
 for writing your mother and never omit it. We are 
 all anxious to hear from you and your mother counts 
 much upon her regular letter from you — more perhaps 
 than you can appreciate. 
 
 "Lovingly your 
 
 " Father. 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 " Bellefonte, Nov. 13, 1889. 
 ' ' Dear Papa : 
 
 "Your letter with enclosed check for 
 I50.00 was received to-day. I thought as Gilbert 
 had his account with the 'Centre Co. Bank,' I had 
 better open mine with the 'First National,' so I de- 
 posited the $<^o with them. Will write my first 
 check to-morrow. ... I wrote to mamma on 
 Sunday and directed to 18 11 Spring Garden St., 
 Phila. I would have written sooner but I wanted to 
 wait until I had received her usual Friday night letter. 
 I am looking forward with great pleasure toward her 
 visit here. 
 
 " With love to all, I remain, 
 
 "Your affectfonate son, 
 
 " Hugh jVIcA. Beaver." 
 63 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 ' ' Executive Chamber, Harrisburg. 
 "My DEAR Hugh: 
 
 "... Tom has done splendid work at 
 the farm. Your bank % might Jiave been ^20 or 
 ^25 larger if you had gone out with him. I am very 
 anxious that you should learn the* value of a dollar 
 and there is perhaps no better way than to work for 
 it. . . . 
 
 "Lovingly your 
 
 "Father. 
 "9 July, 1890." 
 
 This summer Hugh and some other boys went 
 on a "camping out" expedition and to a letter 
 from the state arsenal keeper saying that he had 
 sent to "Captain Hugh Beaver, Bellefonte, Pa., 
 
 " I wall tent, fly and poles, 
 
 ID wall-shaped common tents and poles, 
 
 16 tent pins, large — 150 tent pins, small," 
 his father added the note: "My dear Hugh — I 
 suppose the tents have reached you. Hope you 
 will have a good time. You certainly will for 
 you go for the pleasure of others than your- 
 self." 
 
 This same summer also Hugh went to the camp 
 of the Pennsylvania National Guard at Mount 
 Gretna. The president visited this camp and 
 Hugh took a photograph of him and his party. 
 
 Like most boys Hugh had been quiet and un- 
 expressive about his spiritual life, but he was 
 growing steadily year by year and his separation 
 64 
 
Boyhood 
 
 from the family tended to develop the in- 
 dependence and self-reliance of his Christian 
 faith. His mother's letters constantly emphasized 
 the duty of open confession and the privilege of 
 Christian discipleship. 
 
 " Harrisburg, Oct. gth, 1889. 
 " My darling Son: 
 
 " I wanted so much to speak to you about 
 uniting with the Church and say tliat I would come 
 back (to Bellefonte) if you wanted to join next Sun- 
 day, but I could not see you alone. I trust you have 
 given your heart to the Lord and are trying to follow 
 Him. If you haven't done so, dol^it now. There is 
 no true happiness without Him. . . . 
 "Your Lo'^ing 
 
 "Mother." 
 
 "Harrisburg, April 20th, 1890. 
 " My darling Sons : 
 
 "... I hope you have had a pleasant, 
 profitable Sunday. Read what helps you on your 
 Heavenward journey, and try in all things to please 
 Christ and serve Him. I am glad to hear some of 
 your companions have united with the Church and 
 fondly hope and pray that I will Soon have my dear 
 boys with me at the communion. Of course the 
 most important thing is to trust Christ to save and 
 keep you, but it is a help to confess Him before men 
 and be numbered among His, followers. . . . 
 May the Lord bless and keep you from all evil is the 
 prayer of 
 
 " Your Loving 
 
 "Mother." 
 65 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 On October ii, 1890, Hugh united with the 
 Presbyterian Church in Bellefcfnte. The same 
 month General Beaver wrote reenforcing an invi- 
 tation from his brother Gilbert* to Hugh, to at- 
 tend the Pennsylvania State Convention of the Y. 
 M. C. A., at Danville. And his mother wrote "I 
 think it would be a help to you in your Christian 
 life. Think and pray about it." Hugh's letter 
 on the subject crossed his father's: 
 
 " I received a letter from Gilbert with reference to 
 my going to the ' Y. M. C. A.' Convention in Dan- 
 ville. I did not think I could afford to miss school 
 just now. Have written to him explaining." 
 
 In the Spring of 189 1, Hugh's military oppor- 
 tunity came, but he had grown^to larger things, 
 as he conceived it: 
 
 "419 Walnut St., PniLADELPfflA, Pa., 
 
 " ij March, 1891. 
 "My DEAR Hugh: 
 
 "A letter reed, this a. m., asking me to 
 write the President in behalf of a young man for 
 appt. to West Point, has led me to write you on the 
 subject. I spoke to your mother the other day, but 
 we both concluded that you would not care for the 
 appointment. The President will' have four cadets 
 to appoint in June. If you wai'^ted to go to West 
 Point, I have no doubt we could .get you the place. 
 I do not know that you would like it nor would I ad- 
 vise you to apply for it unless your own tastes and 
 inclinations lead you very strongly; in that direction. 
 66 
 
Boyhood 
 
 The discipline is rigid and the education whilst very 
 thorough in many respects is perhaps not so broad as 
 what you would get elsewhere. The Army is likely 
 to become much more desirable in the future than it 
 has been, but I do not feel like urging this as a con- 
 sideration to be weighed in determining the question. 
 Give the subject very careful consideration, if you 
 care to consider it at all, and let me know your views 
 and I will then be able to answers the letter referred 
 to. . . . 
 
 "Affectionately, your 
 
 " Father. 
 " Mr. Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 "Philadelphia, March 13, 1891. 
 " My darling Hugh : 
 
 "Your Papa tells me he has written you on 
 the West Point question. He thought it was only 
 fair to let you decide for yourself. Of course I hope 
 it will be against it. At the same time I would not 
 oppose it, if your heart is set that way. I don't think 
 it is. We will pray about it, dear, and trust you will 
 make the right decision. , , . 
 
 "Your loving 
 
 "Mother." 
 
 "Bellefonte, Pa., March 15, 1891. 
 ' ' Dear Papa : 
 
 "I had decided what course to pursue in 
 regard to West Point before I had finished reading 
 your letter, but thought I had better give the matter 
 further consideration. Since then;I have looked the 
 ground over carefully and decided to stick to my 
 first opinion : To stay at Bellefonte and try and malce 
 P. S. C. (Pennsylvania State College) next fall. I 
 67 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 have no desire to spend the greater part of my life in 
 keeping Indians on their reservations or in loafing 
 about Fort Monroe or some other swell fort. . . . 
 "Your aff, son, 
 
 "Hugh McA." 
 
 " My dear Hugh : 
 
 "I think you are quite right about West 
 Point. Army life at best is not desirable for a man 
 who wants to do his share of wdrk and render his 
 share of help and service in the world, and it seems 
 hardly the thing to get an education at the expense 
 of the Government and then resign: the service. You 
 will do better, I have no doubt, in the matter of edu- 
 cation, at P. S. C, and will, when your education is 
 completed, be at liberty to plan your life work with 
 reference to the good you can do and the place where 
 you can render the best service to your fellow men. 
 
 "Your affectionate 
 
 "Father. 
 "Mr. Hugh McA. Beaver. 
 " 17 March, 1891." 
 
 "Phila., March 20, 1891. 
 " My darling Hugh : 
 
 ' ' We are rejoiced beyond measure at your 
 
 decision about West Point, and truly thankful that 
 
 you want some better way of spending your life. 
 
 Words cannot express how happy you made us. . . . 
 
 "Your loving 
 
 "Mother." 
 
 Hugh was never very careful ?bout his spelling 
 and his mother gently took him to task in one 
 letter for some mistakes. His reply is not pre- 
 68 
 
Boyhood 
 
 served but he had a genial carelessness for strait- 
 jackets of all kinds and was ever buoyantly full 
 of the spirit of liberty, though it was a liberty 
 that kept its bounds almost infallibly. 
 
 During his stay in Bellefonte away from the 
 family, save for his younger brother Tom's com- 
 pany most of the time, Hugh gained a great deal 
 of practical experience in building, business and 
 practical affairs. Many family responsibilities 
 were entmsted to him, and he got some special 
 training in connection with horses. General 
 Beaver writes : 
 
 " During the last winter of our stay at Harrisburg, 
 while Hugh and Tom were here together, I allowed 
 them to bring in a couple of horses^ from the farm for 
 riding horseback, provided they would take good 
 care of them themselves. This the'y did for, I think, 
 several months, rising before breakfast and doing all 
 their stable work and then changing! their clothes and 
 taking breakfast and going to school subsequently. 
 We arranged this for several reasons : first, because 
 it was intimated to us that taking Care of a horse was 
 good for health, particularly if persons had a tendency 
 toward weakness of throat or lungs, and I had always 
 had a very decided impression that there was nothing 
 which would train a boy as to judgment, self-control, 
 kindliness of disposition, etc., so much as becoming 
 thoroughly familiar with horses. The result was that 
 our boys all grew up with a very thorough knowledge 
 of horses, of their care and of all the details of hitch- 
 ing and driving them and, after reading ' Black 
 Beauty,' which they all did in their early boyhood, 
 69 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 developing in them a kindliness teward and appreci- 
 ation of horses which was always very gratifying to 
 me." 
 
 His enterprising business ways are illustrated 
 by one of his notes regarding the horses : 
 
 " Bellefonte, Pa., Sep. 15, 1890. 
 "Dear Papa: 
 
 "Mr. Erhard offers me J125 for the black 
 mare and ^15 extra should she prove to be in foal. 
 She is 12 years old. Do you think I had belter sell? 
 We can wean colt now. Has been with mare for 
 almost 3 mo. Brown thinks he can get a good young 
 mare in Va. for that. They are cheap owing to lack 
 of food. Wire me as soon as possible, 
 
 ' ' Your aff. son 
 
 " Hugh Beaver." 
 
 The chicken enterprises were not dropped. 
 Hugh made an effort to get from* Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor Stone, of Warren, a patent chicken coop, 
 and the following letter from Tom before he 
 joined Hugh in Bellefonte throws hght on the 
 situation in Harrisburg. 
 
 " March 20, 1890. 
 " Harrisburg, Pa. 
 "Dear Brother; 
 
 " I seta hen on the 18, I set her on plymouth- 
 rock eggs and minorcies we separated them last 
 Saturday, We left the plymouthrock chickens where 
 .they were and put the minorcies in that little coop 
 and fixed it so they could run out in that little yard, 
 I got 4 eggs from the minorcies 
 70 
 
Boyhood 
 
 " We put that biggest rooster in the little coop and 
 left the other where he was. 
 
 " I am coming up on the 31 of march, 
 
 •' Your loving brother 
 " Thomas Beaver," 
 
 Although Hugh was not al\yays strong and 
 well during these winters when he was away from 
 the family he never spoke of any little illnesses and 
 the thought of being coddled as an invalid was 
 very repugnant to him. His mother was obliged 
 in her correspondence with him constantly to ap- 
 peal to be told whether he was'well. "Is your 
 cold entirely well?" she writes. "You never 
 speak of your health." There was great depth of 
 self-knowledge in Hugh which developed with 
 his years, but his boyhood was too sunny and 
 unselfish to be subjective. It was of more im- 
 portance to think of some kindly service of 
 others or of some genial playfulness than of how 
 he felt. Whether he was sick or not was of 
 slight consequence to him. He was concerned to 
 be happy and to make others happy. 
 
 Hugh's younger brother recalls several inci- 
 dents of these days : 
 
 "In the summer of '89 or '90^ while at Spring 
 Lake, there was a little thing happened which showed 
 his great fondness for swimming. Not satisfied with 
 his long swims in the ocean, when he would go out 
 farther than any one else, to the great fear of the life- 
 71 
 
A Memorial of a Tfue Life 
 
 savers, he wanted to take a swim in the Lake which 
 was fresh water, but he did not know how to escape 
 the fine for bathing there. One day while out boat- 
 ing he solved the problem. He decided that when 
 out about the middle of the Lake he would fall out of 
 the boat and then swim for the shore. At the time 
 there were a number of people about so he could not 
 deliberately fall over. He took off his coat and be- 
 gan to row but somehow he lost an" oar and as he was 
 reaching for it he fell out of the iDoat, got the oar, 
 gave it to us and swam for the shore. He had two 
 reasons for doing this — one was to swim in the Lake 
 and the other was his desire to see whether he could 
 swim with all his clothes on. 
 
 "In the fall or winter of 'go-'gr, while staying 
 with his aunt Mrs. Orbison, there Tyas a little incident 
 happened that' showed his bravery and recklessness. 
 While sitting in his room in the front part of the 
 house on the second floor, he heard the front door open 
 but did not hear it close ; thinking it was some per- 
 son that had no business there he ran quickly out of 
 his room and down the stairs. As he did so he heard 
 a rumpus downstairs and the noise of some one 
 jumping off the porch. He followed' tiim and ran some 
 way down the street thinking he rriight scare him, so 
 he would drop anything that he had taken." 
 
 Hugh had already begun to take a strong inter- 
 est in the Young Men's Christian Association, 
 and on April 5, 1891, he writes to his father: 
 
 "I have been planning to write to you about the 
 
 Y. M. C. A. , for the last week and take this evening 
 
 as the only available time. We arein very bad shape 
 
 and if the people don't give a little more generously 
 
 72 
 
Boyhood 
 
 will go under. A notice tacked on the door now an- 
 nounces that the property of the Y. M. C. A. , will be 
 sold at lo o'clock Tuesday, April 7. 375 dollars 
 would clear us entirely and we would be able to start 
 out without a cent of debt of any kind. During the 
 last week a subscription paper has been circulated ; 
 
 about ^130 raised. Mr. put his name down for 
 
 the magnificent sum of $^.00. That tells the whole 
 story. When a man of Mr. 's position sub- 
 scribes an amt. like that there seems to be no danger 
 of any one going above it. You told me when you 
 were up here last that you would give ^50.00 dollars 
 toward the debt. Would you be willing to give that 
 now-on condition that the whole amount (J375)be 
 raised ? I spoke to Mr. Bailey and told him what you 
 said on the subject. The sale will probably be post- 
 poned a week in order to give us a better chance. If 
 I could hear from you as to whether I can put your 
 name down for ;?5o.oo before the committee call on 
 
 Judge and several of the richer men, it might 
 
 have a very good effect. might even be pre- 
 vailed upon to raise his subscription. The district 
 convention meets here on the 10, m and 12 of April, 
 and some enthusiasm may be aroused among the 
 Christian people of Bellefonte. At any event a can- 
 vass of the town will be made for subscriptions for 
 the running expenses of the Association. . . . 
 
 "Please excuse the way this letter is written for I 
 am very tired and sleepy and find it hard work to 
 think at all. 
 
 "Please don't postpone opening the house again. 
 It is such a disappointment and we look forward to 
 the 21 of April with much pleasure. With love to all. 
 " Your affectionate son 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 73 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Hugh completed in the spring of 1891, at the 
 Bellefonte Academy, his preparation for college. 
 The impression he left behind him is indicated 
 in a letter from Mr. J. R. Hughes, a Princeton 
 graduate, who with his father conducted the 
 academy, written to General Beaver after Hugh's 
 death : 
 
 "It is almost impossible to realize that the 
 dearly loved, thoroughly good, ^ver smiling, ever 
 helping, popular and active Chi»istian is no more 
 so far as this life is concerned. . . . Such sunny 
 lives are rare and with difficulty to be replaced. 
 Hugh lived so as to be missed. ... To know 
 Hugh was to love him." 
 
 Into this recollection of his boyhood days, 
 however, something of what Hugh afterward 
 became is imported. Life wasi not very serious 
 to the boy yet. Hugh himself "was accustomed 
 later to regard this period of his life, as a close 
 friend remembers, "as the one of greatest temp- 
 tation and indifference. The books he read and 
 other influences almost carried him away. He 
 referred to it very often as haviig gone 'just to 
 the edge ' and he firmly believed i;t was his moth- 
 er's prayers that had kept him." 
 
 He was just a happy boy with few "trailing- 
 
 clouds of glory," but with a great deal of hearty 
 
 human spirit and possibilities fdr a life of happy 
 
 usefulness, a life of merry selfishness or a life of 
 
 74 
 
Boyhood 
 
 frivolous commonness. And yet there were deep 
 assurances that his life would not be wasted. 
 
 None loved Hugh better or esteemed him more 
 dearly in these boyhood dSys than the family 
 servants. " When I think gf him/' one of them 
 wrote, "it is of a manly little fellow in knee 
 trousers, whose affection for the baby (a little 
 brother named James, who died in Harrisburg) 
 seemed too great for words and found expression 
 in tender touches and looks of unutterable love. 
 1 remember him as the gentlest boy to his mother 
 and the most courteous to her friends of any boy 
 I knew." A wonderfully affectionate boy he 
 was, almost never passing his mother without a 
 kiss, and a boy of endless merriment and natural 
 joy. "Jimmie," he would invariably call out to 
 a servant who had been with the family for fif- 
 teen years, when he saw him, " ain't I the best of 
 the Beavers ?" And Jimmie who loved him and 
 thought him perfect and who understood, would 
 reply, "Yes, when you're asleep." 
 
 75 
 
IV 
 
 COLLEGE LIFE 
 
 " And though that he were worthy, he was wys 
 And of his port as meeke as is a mayde, 
 He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde 
 In al his Ivf un-to no maner wight. 
 He was a verray parfit, gen til knyght." 
 
 —Chaucer, fbe Canteriury Tales. 
 
 The early part of the summer of 1891 Hugh 
 spent at home, but the latter part he spent in vis- 
 iting friends at Spring Lake and elsewhere. Con- 
 stant letters from his mother reminded him of 
 the things that are most worth while. Referring 
 to some influences that had touched Hugh before 
 he left home, she wrote, "I trust that what 
 you have heard will lead you to consecrate your 
 life more fully to the dear Master's service." 
 There was constant expression also of motherly 
 solicitude for him which he answered with the 
 truest love. 
 
 In September he entered the freshman class of 
 the Pennsylvania State College, at State College, 
 Centre County, a village about twelve miles from 
 Bellefonte. The college owed Its establishment 
 to Hugh's grandfather, Mr. McAllister. As Gov- 
 ernor Curtin said in the constitutional convention: 
 76 
 
College Life 
 
 " He conceived the idea of establishing in 
 Pennsylvania a school where farming would be 
 taught as the chief part of a complete education 
 . . . and while other men faltered and hesitated 
 under disappointment, when the school would 
 have failed over and over again, the energy and 
 persistence of this man kept it alive, and before 
 his death he had the satisfaction of seeing it in 
 successful operation; and there is not to-day, in 
 all this great commonwealth, a more success- 
 ful educational institution than the Farmer's Col- 
 lege of Pennsylvania." 
 
 Through Mr. McAllister's influence General 
 James Irvin gave a valuable farm in Penn's Valley 
 as the site for the school and Mi;. McAllister's in- 
 domitable resolution accomphshqd the rest. After 
 his death Hugh's father was chosen trustee in his 
 place, and was for many years president of the 
 board of trustees. The scope of the institution 
 broadened greatly. It ceased to be a farm school 
 and became an .agricultural college, and when 
 Hugh entered, it differed not greatly from any 
 good scientific school. In 1893 aschool of mines 
 was added. The relations of Hugh's family with 
 the State College were so close that both he and 
 his brothers did not think of going elsewhere. 
 Moreover the State College was of high grade 
 and did thorough work and it had the advan- 
 tage of being near Belief onte. Also it was a 
 77 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Pennsylvania institution, and pride in the state 
 and desire to be identified tliorpughly with the 
 life of the state were powerful* motives always 
 with Hugh. 
 
 When Hugh entered college he was a Christian 
 in his convictions and his life, but he was not 
 specially pronounced, and the quality of his Chris- 
 tian life did not differ from the qsual type among 
 students. There was nothing extraordinary in 
 his own personal experience or in his Christian 
 activity among his fellows. H'e was a straight- 
 forward, genial, sunny-hearted boy, but the more 
 serious problems of an earnest life lay before him 
 and the deeper springs of his character and 
 power were still sealed. A letter from an older 
 friend who knew him well and who had been 
 out of college for several yearst will indicate the 
 stage of Hugh's development on entering college. 
 The course he would pursue could not be so 
 definitely counted upon as to make a brotherly 
 word of counsel out of place: 
 
 "September 4, 1891. 
 "My Dear Hugh : 
 
 " It must be pretty nearly time for you to go 
 over to the College to commence operations, and I just 
 wanted to send you my very heartiest good wishes for 
 a pleasant, successful and useful* year. Just how 
 much usefulness can be crowded into a year in col- 
 lege, especially the first and last yea^s, you will know 
 78 
 
College Life 
 
 better five years from now. Experience is about the 
 only teacher from whom it can be learned. 
 
 " There are two things hard to do in college — two 
 changes hard to make. One is to climb up when you 
 are down, and the other is to tumble down when you 
 are up. After the first few months a fellow is asso- 
 ciated in every one's mind with a certain kind of life 
 and character. If it is a low one, it is hard for him 
 to rise from it because his efforts will be viewed with 
 some suspicion and often scorn. If it is a high one, 
 he will be saved often from lowering his colors be- 
 cause he has a good name he cannot afford to tarnish. 
 
 " I believe that with the majority of fellows the 
 first few months determine their whole course and 
 often their whole life. You understand, of course, 
 what I am driving at, Hugh, that a fellow wants to 
 be a first-class Christian from the first day to the last, 
 that he ought to run up his flag at the first opportunity 
 and never strike it though sometimes he feels he is 
 flying the colors by himself HeTwill be glad of it 
 after awhile, and other fellows whom perhaps he never 
 dreamed he was helping, will be glad, too. I have 
 met plenty of college men whose grdat regret for their 
 college course was that they had not been better 
 Christians. I never met a man who wished he had 
 been a worse one. 
 
 " I shall pray that God will give you a useful and 
 happy year and that you may be one of His own men 
 all the time you are in college and forever. 
 
 " Your sincere friend 
 
 This was a view of the matter that appealed to 
 Hugh and he wrote of this letter to his mother, 
 who said in her reply: 
 
 79 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 " I hope, darling, you have learned the com- 
 fort of taking ' everything to God in prayer.' 
 Nothing is too trifling. Be sure to pray before 
 leaving your room in the morning. We need 
 our Father's help and guidance in all that we do." 
 It was possible of course for Hugh to go home 
 frequently from college, but iri addition to his 
 constant visits almost daily letters came to him 
 from home, and these brought constant remind- 
 ers of the true life: "May the Lord bless you 
 and make you a worker in His vineyard"; "May 
 the Lord bless you and enable you to live a con- 
 sistent, useful life to His praise and glory is the 
 prayer of your loving mother"; "God bless 
 and keep you from all evil"; "May the Lord 
 bless you and enable you at all times to show 
 that you are a soldier of the Cross." 
 
 At the opening of Hugh's sophomore year he 
 was still needing gentle stimulus from without. 
 To be a silent, common Christian in college, liv- 
 ing a clean life, but of negative power is one 
 thing. To be an out-and-out, earnest, positive 
 Christian in college is quite artother thing and 
 much harder than a loving, buoyant life in the 
 calm holiness of a Christian home. And though 
 pure and unselfish, Hugh was awaking rather to 
 the social attractiveness of life i than to its deep 
 solemnities. It was natural, perhaps, that he 
 should develop in this way. All things come in 
 80 
 
College Life 
 
 their time and what Hugh was passing through 
 were 
 
 " The earlier grooves 
 Which ran the laughing loves 
 Around the base. " 
 
 It was part of the 
 
 " Machinery just meant 
 To give his soul its bent, 
 Try him and turn him forth, sufficiently impressed." 
 
 The deeper notes were sounding in his life but 
 at a distance. They were to become dominant 
 before he went much further. Meanwhile he 
 was kept in mind of them. Thus Gilbert wrote 
 at the beginning of Hugh's second year: 
 
 "Sept. 15, 1892. 
 " My dear Hugh : 
 
 ' ' I hope that you are going to be at the first 
 meeting of the College Association this coming Sun- 
 day, — not that I am going to suggest that you make 
 a speech for there are other things more needed than 
 speeches at such a time ; but I do wish that to the 
 hand-shaking and good fellowship you might add in 
 the meeting a word or two in an off-hand, informal 
 way that would show the new students very clearly 
 that your sympathies are with the work for which the 
 Association stands at P. S. C, and that might lead 
 some of them to show their colors before the close of 
 the meeting. 
 
 " We cannot very easily imagine how much of the 
 future of these new students at State College is depend- 
 ing on their first few days there, and on this first 
 81 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 student religious meeting. I hope: they will turn out 
 ill good numbers, and be made to feel at home. I 
 know that you can help to bring, this about and to 
 show them that our religion helps to make us ' all 
 round men ' and bring joy and not gloom into our 
 life ; and so I send you these few lines with my best 
 wishes for a good and happy year. 
 
 " Affectionally your brother 
 " Gilbert A. Beaver." 
 
 His mother reenforced this counsel. 
 
 Hugh threw himself into all the interests of his 
 college life with characteristic enthusiasm. He 
 was not strong enough to take part in any of the 
 rougher games but he could take his share in 
 track athletics and won a place as a runner in 
 the contests in his own college. 
 
 In the fall of 1892, he tried for the position of 
 half-back on the class football team and no 
 doubt would have secured it, because of his 
 quickness and swiftness in running, but he gave 
 it up on account of his heart; which was not 
 strong. In the winter of 1893, at the indoor 
 sports he entered the 220 yards dash and won it, 
 but he gave up running also after this on account 
 of his heart. 
 
 In the Athletic Association of which he was 
 president in 1894-1895, he was very active look- 
 ing up recruits for both the baseball team and the 
 football team and he would visit different parts 
 of the state in the interest of the A5SOciation. If 
 82 
 
College Life 
 
 he heard of good athletes in pre'paratory schools 
 he would work earnestly to persuade them to 
 come to State College. He took great delight in 
 encouraging the teams. His sunny hopefulness, 
 and his playful humor fitted him for such work 
 and he led the cheering in behalf of the college 
 in contests with teams from other institutions. 
 He was indefatigable in using athletics to adver- 
 tise his college and in this he- was aided and 
 abetted by his father who suggested fresh ways 
 of bringing the college before the public and en- 
 larging the number of students and so improving 
 the teams, apart from the major aim of enlarging 
 the usefulness of the institution : 
 
 " If you hear of desirable fellowS for next year, go 
 for them systematically. Flood them with literature 
 — Free Lance, La Vie, catalogues, photographs, &c. 
 If any of the teams are taken have extras to send out. 
 Get all the fellows to work enthusiastically and we 
 will have a freshman class of loo for 'g6. You will 
 then have material to select from independent of the 
 special cases. Take this matter in your hands and 
 show what kind of stuff you are made of. 
 " Affectionately your 
 
 "Father. 
 
 "23 May, 1892." 
 
 Hugh won a warm place in the hearts of his 
 associates in the Athletic Association and one of 
 its members in transmitting some resolutions later 
 added : 
 
 63 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 " Such a document doesn't seem to me to allow of 
 the full expression of our feelingsl There certainly 
 never was a man, in any capacity^ who stood nearer 
 to the hearts of the students here, than did Hugh. 
 He never met one but his hearty hand-grasp and his 
 cheery greeting went straight to the heart and 
 warmed it. I am putting it mildly, when I say that 
 every man here, who knew him, feels his loss to be 
 almost a personal one." 
 
 The subjects of the essays and orations which 
 Hugh wrote in college indicate: the range of his 
 special sympathies. He was very practical and 
 two of his papers are on "hypnotism" and 
 "Great Inventions of this Century." All the 
 others are political or historical. He was in- 
 tensely American. The bright optimism of his 
 nature characterized his views of the history, the 
 present condition and the future of American in- 
 stitutions. He scorned that spirit of self-satisfac- 
 tion and pride of opinion which is always carp- 
 ing at our national conditions and prophesying 
 doom and disaster unless some special political 
 nostrum or the prejudices and refined notions of 
 some little clique or caste can be forced down the 
 throats of the people. Like ttenry Grady he 
 "always bet on sunshine in Arrierica." And so 
 his college essays and speeches are full of ex- 
 pressions of admiration and patriotism. Thus 
 he closes an essay on "The Puritans," "The last 
 tie that bound them to their old home is severed. 
 
 84 
 
College Life 
 
 So the fight for liberty goes on, and thus through 
 hardships, sufferings and sacrifice, the great re- 
 public of the west shall rise to be a leader among 
 the nations of the earth and above all a God-fear- 
 ing people." In an essay on "The Effect of the 
 Norman Conquest upon the En^ish Language," 
 he is sure that "The English is the greatest lan- 
 guage on the globe," and in "Salem in 1692" he 
 thinks "It is only fair to add that none of the 
 barbarous tortures practiced in Europe (upon 
 those condemned for witchcraft) were used upon 
 those put to death in this country," and a char- 
 acteristic opinion about the unlustifiableness of 
 any lie is suggested by the next sentence, "In 
 justice to those executed, and to their honor it 
 may be said that they preferred death to a life 
 saved by a lie and went to the gallows with con- 
 science clear of falsehood." Among "Reflec- 
 tions on the Naval Review" of 1893, he imagined 
 Columbus looking on and finding consolation for 
 all his sufferings "when he s'ees this mighty 
 land, his great discovery, and knows that he was 
 the instrument ' in God's hand ' in finding this 
 land of refuge for the oppressed and in sowing 
 the seed of a happy, free nation, ' The Mother of 
 Exiles.'" Perhaps he was thinking of his Hu- 
 guenot ancestor, George Beaver. He took a 
 great pride in the navy and in " Our Navy, Past 
 and Present " spoke of it as "a navy not large in 
 
 85 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 numbers to be sure, but one in which America 
 has shown and shows to-day its superiority over 
 all others." He was an enthusiastic advocate of 
 the annexation of Hawaii. ''"Humboldt," he 
 wrote, "predicted that in time the commerce of 
 the Pacific would rival that of the Atlantic. The 
 great powers realize that that; prophecy is to 
 come true. They have taken measures to protect 
 their interests. One by one the islands of the 
 Pacific have been taken until Samoa and Hawaii 
 alone remain. Our government alone, the one 
 above all most interested, has neglected it. Are 
 we to allow this golden opportunity to pass from 
 us ? Will we permit the one available port to 
 pass into hands other than our own ; to be a con- 
 stant menace to our coast as well as our com- 
 merce — and then like Spain bewail the Gibraltar 
 lost, like France, the Egypt gone." Hugh held 
 also most zealous political views. He had a 
 great admiration for Mr. Blaine ;= he assailed the 
 Income Tax as impracticable, however theoret- 
 ically just; and he lamented in a manly speech 
 the result of the presidential election of 1892. A 
 good deal of his political enthusiasm was trans- 
 ferred to other things later, but* he never lost his 
 intense interest and conviction. 
 
 Early in the freshman year Hugh became a 
 member of the Alpha Upsilon Chapter of Beta 
 Theta Pi. His father had been a member of this 
 86 
 
College Life 
 
 fraternity at Jefferson College and his brother, 
 Gilbert, was one of the charter members of the 
 chapter at State College. One who was closely 
 associated with him in promoting the chapter's 
 interests writes : 
 
 "Hugh entered with the real Beta spirit, believing 
 that in Beta Theta Pi was the fullest opportunity for 
 true fraternal companionship. His additional in- 
 fluence brought in his youngest brother, Thomas. 
 . . . Any mention of Hugh Beaver as a Beta 
 must include his splendid work ifa connection with 
 the chapter-house of the Pennsylvania State chapter. 
 The same enthusiasm characterized all his fraternity 
 associations. From his initiation he felt that the 
 chapter should have a house of its own, and when the 
 movement was started he enlisted in it with great 
 heartiness. He determined that though only six 
 years old, the chapter should have a house second to 
 none, and until its completion he was managing 
 director in charge of construction. His marked busi- 
 ness ability well fitted him for the work. He con- 
 sulted on plans, supervised the woprk, negotiated the 
 finances, and, in fact, gave himself so completely to 
 the task that he was familiar with the smallest details. 
 His time and money were freely offered." 
 
 This house was completed in the spring of 
 1895. Hugh relished much the task that was 
 committed to him and he was the life of the 
 banquets known in the vernacular of the chapter 
 as "Dorg," for which he was one of the most 
 bountiful providers. In the winter the members 
 87 
 
A Memorial of a Trjie Lite 
 
 of the fraternity living in ttie house took monthly 
 turns in caring for the furnace. , During Hugh's 
 month he fixed up an arrangement of cords and 
 pulleys which he attached to an alarm clock in 
 such a way that in the morning the alarm fixed 
 the dampers on the furnace automatically and 
 saved him the labor of going dojvn into the base- 
 ment to do it himself. 
 
 It was during the summer succeeding his 
 sophomore year that "the light whose dawning 
 maketh all things new," began to break upon 
 Hugh. He and his brothers were going to the 
 Exposition in Chicago together, out of which 
 they got as much enjoyment and instruction as 
 was possible for American boys. 
 
 From the Exposition Hugh wrote to his mother 
 on Sunday, June i8. 
 
 " Sunday is almost over and soon we will be on 
 our sight-seeing tour again. It has been indeed a 
 day of rest for us and a most welcome one. This 
 A. M. we went to hear Moody preach up near Van 
 Buren St. There was a big fire u'p in that section, 
 so we had a chance to see a real Chicago fire. There 
 were thirty-nine engines on hand and the fire was 
 under control. Had been burning since three o'clock. 
 The church services were held in Forepaugh's circus 
 tent and proved most interesting. As we entered we 
 had to pass through the animal tent and here the 
 crowd were viewing the monkeys, feeding the 
 elephants peanuts, buying lemonade, etc., just Hke a 
 88 
 
College Life 
 
 circus day at home. The sermon ended we came 
 down on the cars to spend the rest of the day in rest. 
 As I sit here the sound of the Scotch bag pipes, the 
 drums of the South Sea Islanders and of a band playing 
 • America ' comes to me from the Fair. Everything 
 seems to be in full blast. Where we had church this 
 morning, the circus will be this afternoon and even- 
 ing. It's a strange place, this Chicago." 
 
 An intimate friend who watched Hugh's de- 
 velopment says: 
 
 "In writing to me from the Fair, I was sur- 
 prised to have him almost ignore the Exhibition 
 and fill his letter with a description of Mr. 
 Moody's Sunday meeting in the tent. He went 
 he said from a sense of duty to keep the Sabbath, 
 and from curiosity to hear Mr. Moody, but came 
 away very much impressed with the services and 
 the large crowd of people that had left the Fair 
 to attend the meeting. At the close of the serv- 
 ices he and some others collected the hymn 
 books for Mr. Moody." 
 
 In connection with this trip Gilbert succeeded 
 in persuading Hugh and Tom to go to the sum- 
 mer conference for Bible study at Lake Geneva, 
 Wisconsin, held for the students of the colleges 
 lying between the AUeghanies and the Rocky 
 Mountains. A letter from Gilbert to his mother 
 shows how steadily the influences toward the 
 larger life were constraining Hi^h: 
 89 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 "Bellefonte, Pa., June 5, '93. 
 " My dear Mother : 
 
 "... You may remember that I mentioned 
 the matter of Hugh's going (to Lake Geneva) and 
 something came up that preventfed our talking it 
 through. However, I know how desirous you have 
 been to have him attend one of these student gather- 
 ings the last two years; and he^ will be so near 
 Geneva this year in point of time £!,nd distance that I 
 feel sure you and papa will agree tHat he ought not to 
 miss the opportunity when he has only one other 
 summer vacation between college years, and when he 
 has his two years as an upper claSsman before him. 
 As for Tom what better preliminary could he have to 
 his college course, and what will help him to enter it 
 with as true a sense of the relative importance of 
 things? . . . 
 
 " Affectionately your son, 
 
 "Gilbert A. Beaver." 
 
 Gilbert had endeavored to get Hugh to the con- 
 ference at Northfield the preceding summer but 
 had not been successful. These summer gather- 
 ings of students have become a valuable part of 
 the Christian forces working for young men. 
 They began in the summer of 1886, when about 
 two hundred students accepted Mr. Moody's in- 
 vitation to spend some weeks at Mount Hermon, 
 Massachusetts, for the study of the Bible and for 
 general conference as to Christian and missionary 
 work. The next year this gathering was held at 
 Northfield, Massachusetts, about- five miles from 
 
 90 
 
College Life . 
 
 Mount Hermon, and the place of Mr. Moody's 
 home, and the seminary for yourtg women which 
 he had established. At Mount Hermon was his 
 corresponding school for boys. Each year since, 
 such a conference for students from colleges, 
 universities and preparatory schools has been 
 held. To reach all sections of the country, how- 
 ever, and both young men and young women, it 
 has become necessary to hold whenever possible 
 eight conferences, four for young men and four 
 for young women, the latter held usually after 
 the former but at the same plates. During the 
 summer of 1898, the conferences were held at 
 Northfield, Mass., Asheville, N. G., Lake Geneva, 
 Wis., Oakland, Gal., though only a young men's 
 conference was held on the Pacific coast. It was 
 the Lake Geneva conference which Hugh attended 
 this summer of 1893, and there he began to see the 
 great vision, and the interests of his life took new 
 proportion. 
 
 Lake Geneva is a quiet little body of water, 
 several hours' ride northwest of Chicago, nestling 
 among wooded hills. On the ^lorthern shore of 
 the Lake the tents of the student encampment are 
 pitched, for unlike the other 'conferences, the 
 students who attend this live under the trees and 
 largely in the open air. It is a good place to meet 
 the Master. Such spots have ever been dear to 
 Him. 
 
 91 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Into the woods my Master went, 
 
 Clean forspent, forspent ; 
 
 Into the woods my Master came, 
 
 Forspent with love and shame. 
 
 But the olives they were not blind to Him, 
 
 The little grey leaves were kind to Him 
 
 The thorn tree had a mind to Him, 
 
 When into the woods He came.: 
 
 Out of the woods my Master went, 
 
 And He was well content ; 
 
 Out of the woods my Master came, 
 
 Content with death and shame. 
 
 When death and shame would woo Him last, 
 
 From under the trees they drew Him last ; 
 
 *Twas on a tree they slew Him last, 
 
 When out of the woods He came- 
 
 And here under the oaks and along the pebbly 
 beach of the lakeside Hugh met Him. He had 
 never met Him so before. It began a new life 
 for Hugh. It was not a sudden* transition, but it 
 was not long delayed and it wa's sure. A trans- 
 formation began there which issued four years 
 later in a transfigured life and which left a path of 
 glory between. 
 
 These summer conferences o'f students are as 
 free and simple almost as was the school of Jesus 
 on the hills and by the brooks and the blue waters 
 of Galilee. No attempt at anything arid or high 
 was made at Lake Geneva. The mornings began 
 with some conference as to the methods and 
 needs of Christian work in college. This was 
 followed by Bible classes, one designed to teach 
 
 92 
 
College Life 
 
 the devotional use of the Bible for spiritual growth 
 and the other its practical use in dealing with 
 men and endeavoring to lead them into Christ's 
 discipleship. After these came one or two ear- 
 nest, direct addresses, designed to produce result 
 in resolution and character. The afternoon was 
 free for recreation or quiet study and fellowship. 
 In the twilight as the sun slipped down behind 
 the hills and flung their lengthening shadows 
 across the lake the men gathered on the grass on 
 the water side under the trees for a meeting to 
 consider the great fields for life's opportunity and 
 service and the day closed with a general meet- 
 ing like the last meeting of the morning and quiet 
 little gatherings of the students from each college 
 apart, to gather up and seal the influences of the 
 day. The part that Hugh was: to take in these 
 summer conferences justifies this^ account of them. 
 His notebooks show how attentive he was at 
 Lake Geneva. And the part of the conference 
 which evidently took deepest hold upon him was 
 the Bible class taught by his brother Gilbert, 
 whose purpose was to make men personal 
 workers. His notes show the thoroughness with 
 which he entered into the work of this class. 
 They give first a description of a certain actual 
 type of college man to be dealt with and then the 
 Bible passages containing the principles to be 
 urged upon such a man. 
 
 93 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 "June 27, A. M. Good habits. Recognize im- 
 portance and good of religion. Will come some 
 time. Expects to be a Christian some day. Fears 
 his companions. 
 
 "Ought. Luke xii. 47; James iv. 17. 
 
 "Afraid. Mark viii. 38; Isaiah li. 12, 
 
 "Danger. Prov. xxvii. i; James iv. 13, 14; 
 Isaiah Iv. 6, 7 ; Prov. xxix. i. 
 
 "Now. 2Cor. vi. 2; Eccl. xii. i j i Kings xviii. 
 21. 
 
 "When do you expect to beqdme a Christian? 
 Heb. Hi. 7; 1 Kings xviii. 21; Matt. vi. 24; ISAIAH 
 IV. 6; Acts xx. 21 ; Prov. xxix. 25." 
 
 He seems to have worked twice each day on 
 such a scheme as this. The other men who are 
 described and studied are as follows : 
 
 "Attends meetings. Realizes that he should be- 
 come a Christian. Fears ridicule.. 
 
 "Thought well of by men. Excuse — Have no 
 sympathy at home. Has love for ballroom, cards, 
 etc. Realizes his position. 
 
 "Wild, careless, ashamed to show any interest in 
 his salvation. Avoids an interview. Unwilling to 
 give up wordly pleasure. Does not look at the ques- 
 tion in the right light. 
 
 "Very critical. High standard for Christian. 
 Lives a good life outwardly. Excuses himself by 
 pointing to inconsistency of Christians. His own 
 good works will save him. 
 
 " One who hesitated for fear that he could not hold 
 out. Thinks influences are such that he cannot now. 
 'Many things in Bible that I can't; understand.' 
 94 
 
College Life 
 
 "Member of Y. M. C. A. in preparatory school. 
 Drifted away. Impure thoughts. Bad company. 
 Fears he cannot hold out. Can't give up card play- 
 ing. Seventeen years of age. Christian home. 
 
 "A young man, good-natured, easily influenced. 
 Believes in Bible. Attends church. Does not feel 
 his obligations to God or see his sinful condition. 
 Fears he could not be a consistent Christian. 
 
 " A man whose creed is like a Unitarian's. Does 
 not recognize divinity of Christ. Studies have been 
 along scientific line, and he seeks to give natural 
 causes to the miracles of Christ. Is a Friend and does 
 good work in his own denomination. 
 
 " One who goes to excess. Believes in the Bible. 
 Lots of nerve. Holds on to the world. Not serious. 
 Wild and reckless. Expects to go to hell." 
 
 Later in these same notes he speaks of John iii. 
 ^6, as a verse which meets the objection of a want 
 of emotional feeling, and then gives three sets of 
 verses which have been selected apparently to 
 meet three successive stages of e)i:perience in men : 
 
 " First. Rom. iii. lo, 22, 2}', James ii. 10; i 
 John i. 10; Rom. v. 12: Gal. iii. 22. 
 
 "Second. Ezek. xviii. 4; Rom. vi. 29; John 
 iii. 36; Mark xvi. 16; Heb. ii. 3;' Luke xiii. 3; 
 John iii. 18. 
 
 "Third, i John iv. 16; Johrt iii. 16; Rom. v. 
 8; I John iv. 9, 10; iii. 16; /sa. liii. ^,6." 
 
 He also notes the title of Andrew Murray's 
 With Christ in the School of Prayer, It was 
 presumably a book he intended to buy. 
 95 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 After the conference at Lake Geneva Hugh 
 went home for the summer, and back to college 
 in the fall. "In speaking of the conference," 
 said one of his friends, " Hugh seemed impressed 
 with the restfulness and peacefalness in contrast 
 to his experiences at Chicago. He spoke of his 
 surprise in the methods used and said the confer- 
 ence had been a great awakening to him." New 
 ideals were wooing him. What his life work 
 should be he had not decided. He was moving 
 toward some profession or a business life. But 
 a greater question was turning over and over in 
 his. mind and heart. Should what was in the 
 world, the tastes of it, the tastes of the eye and 
 the pride and joyousness of life command his 
 love or should he make it his meat and drink to 
 do the will of God, whatever that might be ? 
 Should he live an unselfish life that was yet 
 centred in self-development and .self-contentment 
 or should God be the centre of all .? It was not a 
 short battle. As his room-mate in college writes : 
 
 " I shall never forget the years Hugh and I passed 
 so closely together. I was with him a great deal of 
 the time, when he was trying to decide to give up 
 the world. It was a quiet struggle but a long one 
 and, when won, it was beautiful tb see how entirely 
 and happily he gave up the pleasures of this world 
 and how happily he took up his new life among his 
 companions and friends." 
 96 
 
College Life 
 
 The victory did not come suddenly. He had 
 grown gradually into the cofisciousness that 
 there is in every man's life an issue between 
 Christ and self and he emerged slowly but 
 steadily from the struggle over that issue. But 
 the last two years of his college pourse were very 
 different from the first two. He took up the 
 work of his junior year with a new sense of the 
 deeper meanings of life and wit|i a growing pas- 
 sion after the souls of men. An(i in this new life 
 all his jollity, his merriment, his: lightheartedness 
 remained with him, only refined yet more, made 
 more gentle, buoyant and winsome by the new 
 friendship for Christ he had conceived and the 
 power it was gaining in his life. He naturally 
 grew yet more thoughtful and tind. When the 
 arbutus came in the spring he saw that a box of 
 this daintiest and sweetest American flower got 
 to his mother. 
 
 There was no further need fior outer impulse 
 in Hugh's life. The wells of living water had 
 been opened within. And he began his junior 
 year in college with a sense of responsibility and 
 a love for men which grew steadily deeper and 
 more joyous thenceforth. He had copies of 
 Christ as a Personal Worker, and Personal Work, 
 How Organised and Accomplished, two small 
 pamphlets published by the International Com- 
 mittee of the Young Men's Christian Associations, 
 
 97 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 and he made many notes in these, adding in one 
 place as if sensible of a new need — "Holy Spirit. 
 Acts V. 32. Given to them that obey." In the 
 spring of 1894, the presidents, of the College 
 Young Men's Christian Associalions of Pennsyl- 
 vania met for their annual conference at State 
 College. Two subjects discussed at this confer- 
 ence appear to have appealed specially to Hugh, 
 for on these he has left full notes and apparently 
 none on any other subject. One was " A Spirit- 
 ual Awakening in Pennsylvania State College." 
 This was the analysis Hugh preserved : 
 
 I. The Need. 
 
 II. Incentives. 
 
 Significance of students. Students are especially 
 susceptible to religious impression. If students are 
 not won in college days chances are against their 
 being won in after life. Conditions of college life 
 impose special responsibilities updn Christian stu- 
 dents. More responsibility is delegated to students 
 by Faculties now. Christian work is organized. 
 Spiritual awakenings in other colleges. Value of the 
 soul. 
 
 III. Hindrances. 
 
 Inconsistent lives. Sabbath desecration. Cheat- 
 ing in examinations, recitations or«dishonesty. Ly- 
 ing. Profanity. Drinking and gambling. Betting. 
 Smutty stories. Division among Christians. Failure 
 to realize need, importance and personal responsibil- 
 ity. Failure to act. Men are not equipped. Unbe- 
 lief. 
 
 98 
 
College Life 
 
 IV. Preparation. 
 
 1. Get a few of the best tuen to realize awful 
 need. Face plain facts about the college. Try to 
 realize what is at stake. Try to imagine what Christ 
 would do were He to enter P. S. C. Books to read : 
 The Acts of the Apostles ; Finney's Revival Lectures, 
 I-— VIII. ; Murray's With Christ in the School of 
 Prayer; Arthur's Tongue of Fire ; Tonty's How to 
 Bring Men to Christ. 
 
 2. Let the Christians themselves be revived. Let 
 there be intense self-examination.. ' ' Search me O 
 God, and know my heart ! " Confess sins of omission 
 and 'commission. Then quit. Daily Bible study and 
 secret prayer for Christians themselves. 
 
 3. Special prayer for others. Definite, for spe- 
 cial men. United. Importunate. 
 
 V. Methods. 
 
 1. Personal work. 
 
 {a.) Nature. Tactful, adapted to the man, to 
 ourselves. Study God's work. Persevering. 
 
 {b.) Relations to other agencies. Preceding them 
 in preparing the way. John i. 35-47. Accompany- 
 ing them it gathers the result. It ensures a whole- 
 hearted and more intelligent obe4ience. Following 
 them it conserves results. 
 
 {c.) Organization. Picked men*. Workers' Bible 
 training class. Workers' circles. Workers' Bible topic 
 class for students' training in devotional exercise who 
 are prevented from entering other class. Promoted 
 by leaders of classes who confer with one another. 
 
 2. The Association Evangelistic meeting. 
 
 3. Special evangelistic effort. Daily workers' 
 meeting. Conference of leaders of groups. Series 
 of meetings when the laborers are ready to gather in 
 the harvest. Special help from outside. 
 
 99 
 
A Memorial of a Tr-ue Life 
 
 VI. How TO CONSERVE RESULTS^ 
 
 Enlist men in Bible classes and Bible study. In- 
 terest the right Christian student' in each convert. 
 Lead him to join Church and Association. Set new 
 converts at work — -winning fellows. Help them in 
 forming new companionships and changing old. 
 
 The other notes are on the subject of the work 
 to be done in behalf of new students each fall at 
 the opening of the college year. The careful 
 analysis of these notes suggests that Hugh took 
 them down from some one speaking at the con- 
 ference. He never cared much for analysis and 
 used to say he had no gift for it. How Hugh 
 had grown in his activity as a Christian worker 
 at this time is indicated by a reminiscence of this 
 conference furnished by Mr. John R. Mott, who 
 was there. 
 
 " The first vivid impression made upon me by 
 Hugh was in connection with my visit to State Col- 
 lege about five years ago, when I went there to assist 
 in the Pennsylvania Presidential Conference. The 
 closing afternoon of the conference we had a men's 
 gospel meeting. Largely as a result of Hugh's per- 
 sonal influence and efforts the large room where the 
 meeting was held was crowded with college men. 
 The Spirit of God worked mightily in the meeting. 
 The interest manifested was so great that we had a 
 second meeting on the night of the same day. In 
 both of these meetings I was impressed by Hugh's in- 
 tense prayerful ness, and also by his tremendous ear- 
 100 
 
College Life 
 
 nestness and loving tact in personal work. He forgot 
 all formality, going about here and' there in the room 
 in the intense part of the after-meeting, sitting down 
 by the side of classmates, putting his arm around 
 them and urging them to take a decided stand for 
 Christ. To my knowledge not less than three men 
 were led under the influence of his burning personal 
 appeals to decide for Christ. The joy which filled 
 him in such work and during tl|e hours which fol- 
 lowed was a real benediction to all who came in con- 
 tact with him." 
 
 The first Bible study notes which Hugh pre- 
 served seem to belong to the spring of his junior 
 year. They were taken evidently in some meet- 
 ings conducted in Bellefonte, by Mr. James H. 
 McConkey. 
 
 "March 12, '94. The Living Christ. Rev. i. 
 18; Heb. vi. i; Rom. viii. 34'; Luke xxiv. 4; 
 John XX. 19, 20; Acts vii. 25; 1 Cor. ix. i; Acts 
 XXV. 19. The Present Christ. Matt, xxviii. 20; 
 John xiv. 16; John xx. 28, 29; John iv. 23, 24; 
 Luke xviii. 8; 2 Kings vi. i^ ; (Not created, only 
 allowed to perceive) Heb. xi. 27; Acts ix. 34; John 
 xiv. 16; I John V. 11; John v. 3*9, 40; Col. iii. 3, 
 4; Mark V. 27, 29 ; Jolin i. i, 14.' 
 
 "March 12, '94, p. m. The Holy Ghost. Acts 
 ii. 38; John xiv. 16, 17; Acts xix. 2; explained by 
 verses 3-5. Holy Ghost comes only under two con- 
 ditions: Repent (John's Baptism,) Believe on Jesus. 
 When conditions are fulfilled the Holy Ghost comes. 
 
 1 Cor, vi. 19; I Cor. iii. 16. Spirit dwelleth in you. 
 
 2 Cor. vi. 2. Now. 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Christ in you. 
 
 101 
 
A Memorial of a Tiiue Life 
 
 Surrender freely. That's all. The/i Christ will use 
 us. . . . 
 
 " March 13, '94, P. M. Eph. iv.. 30. Grieve not 
 the Holy Spirit. Isa. Ixiii. 10. Lack of power be- 
 cause we so often grieve the Holy Ghost. 2 Cor. 
 viii. I ; 2 Cor. vi. 16, 17 ; Heb. x. 7 ; Rom. xii. i ; 
 John XX. 20. Child rescued fronf fire. Rescuer in 
 need shows his burned hands to that child's mother. 
 So Jesus shows us His hands and His feet. Shall we 
 refuse Him now? Christ died for us that we who 
 live might not live unto ourselves, but that we may 
 surrender ourselves to live as the Spirit directs, i John 
 ii. 16, 17; John xiii. 34; 2 Cor. viii. 8." 
 
 The other studies are of the' same character. 
 Hugh was deeply impressed by these Bible talks 
 and after one of them made a formal surrender to 
 God. Mr. McConkey recalls this : 
 
 " I was with Hugh when he came face to face 
 with the crisis of his Christian life — his surrender to 
 God. He had been at Lake Geneva and had re- 
 turned home much impressed by truths which the 
 Spirit of God had revealed to him there. That 
 revelation had brought conviction, but conviction 
 had not yet culminated in decision. So it was with 
 great joy that we kneeled together one memorable day 
 while he laid his life at the feet of Him who, already 
 the Saviour of his soul, was henceforth to be the Lord 
 and Master of that life. Very humble, tender, and 
 beautiful was his low-voiced prayer of committal. 
 But how much it meant for him, for the cause 
 of Jesus Christ, and for the souls he led into the 
 Kingdom ! His will had for sorae^ time before been 
 102 
 
College Life 
 
 trembling in the balance of a decision which, if 
 made, would have turned the current of his life in a 
 far different direction. Little did he know how brief 
 was the span of earthly existence allotted to him. 
 But God knew, and won to Himsejf that life with all 
 its rare beauty and sweetness of character and spiritual 
 fruitage. Had Hugh Beaver failed, to yield his young 
 life to God's service the Kingdom of God would have 
 been the loser by so much as the Lord God had need 
 of him. Had he postponed his decision three or four 
 short years it would have been too late. Then would 
 ' the night cometh when no man can work ' have been 
 sadly true of him. What a lesson for those who arc 
 rejecting the pleadings of God's Spirit for a yielded 
 life ! Noting the marvellous use God made of this 
 young life within three short years it is startling to 
 think of the costliness of possible disobedience, and 
 of the blessedness of actual obedience to His call. 
 Yea the waves of influence which flow from obedience 
 or disobedience to the claims of Qod upon the lives 
 of His children cease not until upon the very shores 
 of eternity itself they break in joyous acclaim or sad 
 lament. Thanks be to God even for the memory of 
 such a life as dear Hugh Beaver's.'! 
 
 A friend who knew Hugh well remembers the 
 place these meetings had in his development: 
 
 "Hugh attended them and for the first time in 
 Bellefonte took active part in the services — he never 
 liked to sit up front in the afternoon meetings for he 
 was afraid Mr. McConkey would call on him to pray. 
 
 "After a personal talk with Mr. McConkey he 
 gave his life and time definitely to the Lord. At this 
 time there was a decided change; heretofore he had 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 been very decided as to his life Work and had his 
 business career planned out very definitely, but from 
 this time on he always spoke of his life as in the 
 Lord's hands, and he was simply waiting for guidance 
 and direction. He invited many of the young men 
 of the town to attend the evening meetings but had 
 one friend whom he seemed afraid to approach. After 
 much prayer and several vain attempts, he excused 
 himself while walking one afternoon with a friend 
 and myself and bounding across the street he spoke to 
 this young man and returned with the promise that 
 he would be at the meeting that evening, not because 
 he wanted to go, but simply to please Hugh." 
 
 In the summer Hugh went to the students' con- 
 ference at Northfield. He tried to get as much as 
 he could from the Bible classes and one notebook is 
 full of outlines and hints on the life of Christ and 
 on the study of parables and miracles. In another 
 notebook, intended for the general meetings and 
 addresses, he has especially full gotes on a talk of 
 Mr. Moody's on "The Holy Spirit," from John 
 xiv. 17. These notes conclude, ■" If we have not 
 shown Christ in our lives, we cannot lead others 
 to that love and peace which we ourselves know 
 but little of. Oh God, help us so to live that 
 others may be led to Christ by our lives. If we 
 want power, we must be humble. Don't expect 
 any strange sensations. Just let the Holy Ghost 
 come in His own way. Don't try to dictate." 
 This notebook is opened with the words, 
 104 
 
College Life 
 
 "Highest use of giving that which comes to the 
 giver. God has no need of our gifts but v^'e our- 
 selves need to give," and closes with the words 
 from Whittier's hymn, 
 
 " O Lord and Master of us all 
 "Whate'er our name or sign|" 
 
 The friend who knew Hugh's inner life best 
 writes of the influence of this tonference upon 
 him: 
 
 "His letters during this conference showed that 
 the impressions of the whole year ^ere greatly deep- 
 ened and his interest and zeal in Christian work 
 seemed to take a lasting hold upon him. Knowing 
 him as well as I did I noticed a very decided change 
 in him after his return, especially in the fact that he 
 seemed desirous to influence every one he was thrown 
 with to lead a nobler life. Mr. Moody had impressed 
 him strongly and he often spoke of him as " Dear 
 old Moody " with so much feeling in his voice. 
 
 " In looking back I feel that this summer was the 
 beginning of Hugh's very decided personal influence 
 for good which was felt by all who knew him and 
 only grew stronger as his Christiaii life developed, — 
 he never seemed satisfied with a day or a conversation 
 unless he had a serious talk with some one that he 
 met." 
 
 In September Hugh went back to State College 
 for his last year. A senior in an American col- 
 lege is an object of vast admiration to a freshman 
 and of corresponding power over him. And in 
 
 105 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 the general traditional organization of our college 
 life each senior class holds for its brief year the 
 post of honor and the reins of power. , Hugh had 
 in addition to these general sources of influence 
 all the radiant personal gifts of his boyhood, en- 
 riched and developed. He was interested in 
 everything. In April he made a geological 
 survey of Centre County, walking across the 
 country with a classmate to get the data. There 
 was nothing scanty or impoverished or squalid 
 about his life. And most of all now he was in- 
 terested in following Christ truly and in winning 
 other men to the same delightful life. And his 
 clean, wholesome, overflowing spirit spread an 
 atmosphere of genial playfulness all about him in 
 the midst of which in the most serious and stead- 
 fast way he strove to show men what he had 
 seen. 
 
 "Trained to live his whole life long 
 On beauty and splendor, solely at their source — 
 God," 
 
 and having come at last to that to which his 
 whole training had been leading him he was 
 ready now to 
 
 " Burn his soul out in showing men^the truth." 
 
 What his classmates said of him shows how 
 strong and respected he was in this Christian 
 service : 
 
 106 
 
College Life 
 
 "We know that in all cases and at all times lie 
 sought to right errors . . . always speaking a good 
 word on the side of Christianity and setting the ex- 
 ample *by the excellence of his own life." 
 
 "I was a classmate of his for ;|ears, coming into 
 closest contact with him and learned to appreciate his 
 manliness and strength of character; and was attracted 
 ever by his personal magnetism." 
 
 " I was associated with him four years and in that 
 time he was the same sincere, upright boy — and al- 
 ways so. It is a great source of consolation to all of 
 us to remember his character." 
 
 " I never knew a more manly fellow." 
 
 While another who had known him longer 
 writes of " the good pure life he led," and of the 
 delight of "the thought that he was blameless in 
 character." The Christian Association after his 
 death "bore testimony to his Christian life, his 
 untiring work in his Master's service and his up- 
 lifting influence upon his fellow students." 
 
 A signal illustration of Hugh's, intensity of pur- 
 pose and determination was exhibited in his last 
 year in college. During a snow blockade which 
 prevented the running of trains and all intercourse 
 between the State College and his home, twelve 
 miles away, by the ordinary means of convey- 
 ance, he walked the entire distance, most of the 
 way on the tops of the fences. He was naturally 
 much exhausted by the journey and, as a result, 
 had a serious affection of the eyes which pre- 
 107 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 vented his carrying on liis studies. He was for- 
 tunate, however, in having among his friends 
 several young women who had been graduated 
 from college and who were famjlar with the sub- 
 jects then engaging his attention. Three or four 
 of them were willing to give him an hour each 
 day and, availing himself of their invitation, he 
 took up the studies of the senior year with them 
 and, by having them read to and discuss the sub- 
 jects with him, was enabled to keep up with the 
 work of the class. One of those who read to 
 him said: 
 
 " I was especially struck with his power of retain- 
 ing what was read to hira, as he sat with his eyes 
 closed while I read page after page of chemical 
 analysis and formulae. I would test him by going 
 back a page or two and rereading but I never could 
 catch him, and in asking him questions found he had 
 understood and remembered everything of im- 
 portance." 
 
 Among Hugh's papers were four or five simple 
 little outlines for Bible talks which, as the dates 
 marked in the corner show, were given at college 
 during the latter half of his senior year or on 
 visits to his home at Belief onte: 
 
 "The Holy Spirit. Conditions. Acts ii. 38. 
 
 Repent and be Baptized, i. We have received the 
 
 Holy Spirit, i Cor. iii. 16; vi. 19; 2 Cor. vi. 16. 
 
 To abide we must be already there. 2. Fullness, 
 
 108 
 
College Life 
 
 Acts 11. 4; vi. 5; ix. 17. 3. How shall we be filled ? 
 Surrender our lives. Romans v. 5." 
 
 " Believer's Safety. Grace is what God has done 
 for us. Eph. ii. 8. Sins cast away. Where ? Isa. 
 xxxviii. 17. How far? Psalm ciii, la. Blotted 
 out. Isa. xliv. 22. Forgotten. Heb. viii. 12. All 
 this God has done for me. Now are we the sons of 
 God. I John iii. i, 2; John v. 24; Rev. i. 18; 
 John xiv. 19. Belong to God. How long? Sealed. 
 Rewarded for our works. Eph. iv. 30. Held by 
 God's hand. John x. 29. Kept not by faith but 
 through faith by the power of God. Isa. xli. 13." 
 
 "Belief and Unbelief. Mark ix. 14-29, 
 especially verses 23, 24. To the sinner. Belief. 
 John iii. 16; v. 24; iii. 36. Unbelief. John iii. 
 18, 36. To the converted. Belief. Matt. xxi. 21, 
 22; Mark ix. 23f. Unbelief. Heb. xi. 6; Matt, 
 xiii. 58." 
 
 "Building, i Cor. iii. ro. Character forming 
 now . Influence upon posterity. Second Command- 
 ment. Lowell. Service. Heredity. Orr's theory. 
 " Great responsibility resting upon each generation 
 since its actions are helping to mould the character 
 of its posterity," p. 254. Everyday, life. Examples. 
 Influence upon ourselves, i Cor. , iii. 17 ; 2 Cor. v. 
 10. Need we be careful ? College men. Remedy. 
 Jude 24, 25." 
 
 "Matt. xxiv. 32; Luke xxi. Solemn thought, 
 nearer home to-day than ever been before. Sure. 
 Death or His coming. Christ's coming. Certain. 
 Testimony. Christ. John xiv. 13. Angels. Acts 
 i. II. Apostles. I Thess. iv. 16. Signs. Jews. 
 Worldliness. Anti-Christ. Gospel preached to all 
 world. Matt. xxiv. 14; Rom. x, 18; Acts ii. 5; 
 Col. i. 23. Watch." 
 
 109 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 A few months before his graduation a renewed 
 call came to Hugh to succeed his brother Gilbert 
 as college secretary of the Young Men's Christian 
 Associations of Pennsylvania, Gilbert having 
 been called to take part of the general work 
 among the colleges of the whole country. Hugh's 
 plans had been carefully thoughtout, though they 
 were not very definite. They involved a business 
 career, perhaps in the west, but he took up the 
 new call as the possible summons of God. This 
 call had first come to Hugh early in his senior 
 year. His brother Gilbert writeS: 
 
 " The State Convention of the Associations met in 
 Johnstown in the fall of '94. 
 
 " Hugh was reluctant to go, but-finally consented. 
 He spoke for a few minutes abput the work for 
 students at one of the evening meetings in which 
 several students spoke on different phases of the 
 work. 
 
 " If I remember correctly, Hugh had been spoken 
 to before the convention about taking my place in the 
 State College work the next fall. From the first men- 
 tion of it he seemed to be rather fearful that he was 
 being drawn into something that would interfere with 
 his ambition to be a Christian busiiiess man, and lay- 
 man like his father. Once, before he declined the first 
 call, he was reminded that it was for only one year, 
 — that the end of the year, when he knew more about 
 the work and his fitness for it, would be time enough 
 to decide about business. He replied, ' but I'm 
 afraid if I ever get into this kind of work, I never can 
 get out,' " 
 
 110 
 
College Life 
 
 But the call was repeated and he could not 
 escape from it. One of his friends writes of the 
 struggle he passed through in connection with it: 
 
 "At this time Hugh was contemplating taking a 
 post-graduate course at the State " College, in order 
 that he might continue his interest and work in his 
 fraternity and the Y. M. C. A. I saw him con- 
 stantly during this period of his life and know some- 
 thing of the struggle he underwent. It was not un- 
 usual for him to spend a whole evening discussing the 
 subject and bringing forth every conceivable prop- 
 osition why he should not accept, most prominent 
 being his incapability to fill the position and the feel- 
 ing that his own life would not permit him to guide 
 and influence young men. Although he seemed de- 
 termined to decline I always felt that in his heart he 
 could not, for he never left me without a request for 
 more earnest prayer in the matter, asking especially 
 that the Lord might make his way so plain that he 
 could not make a mistake and that if his Master 
 wanted him he might go gladly. He declined at 
 first after a long and hard fight. But all felt that his 
 decision, though emphatic, was not final. 
 
 "Toward spring and after Mr. Bard became State 
 Secretary, Hugh was asked to consider the call again. 
 After much prayer he went one evening to prayer meet- 
 ing, having asked the Lord to make very plain to him 
 that night His wishes for him. The text for the evening 
 was Acts viii. 26, ' And the angel of the Lord spake 
 unto Philip saying, Arise and go toward the south, 
 . . . and he arose and went.' A very striking hymn 
 was given out which I do not recall and Hugh said 
 he felt so sure that the service was a direct answer to 
 his prayers that what had been like a heavy cloud 
 111 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 hanging over him for months seemed to roll away and 
 he decided there and then to give his life up to this 
 work for a year at least. He very often remarked, 
 •I have only taken this for a year to help them out 
 and because I feel the Lord wants nie, but after that 
 I expect to go into business.' After the decision was 
 made he seemed perfectly peaceful a,nd contented and 
 I never heard him regret for a moment that he had 
 done so, but on the contrary hig interest and en- 
 thusiasm grew and deepened steadily and he would 
 often say, ' Oh I am so glad I am in this work. It 
 would have been fearful if I had refused.' " 
 
 When the long struggle between inclination 
 and duty was over he wrote on March ii, 1895, 
 to Mr. John R. Mott, the Senior College Secretary 
 of the International Committee of the Young 
 Men's Christian Associations. 
 
 " My dear Mr. Mott : 
 
 "Since receiving your letter, Mr. Bard, our 
 State Secretary, has visited us an4 partially as a re- 
 sult I have decided to go into the work for the present, 
 giving them from six to nine months per year. I had 
 other plans in view, but for about three years I have 
 been calling for hymn No. 107 of Gospel Hymns No. 
 5 in about all the meetings I have attended — ' My 
 Jesus, as thou wilt,' and it seemed that the spirit of 
 the hymn should be a guide to me in this the first 
 call that has cost me very much to obey. So you will 
 find me next year, if God permits, doing what I can, 
 with His help, in our Pennsylvania colleges. 
 " Very sincerely, 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 112 
 
College Life 
 
 The decision once made tliere was no looking 
 back and Hugh went in April to the conference 
 of presidents of the College Associations of the 
 State in order to meet the men and learn as much 
 as possible about the work. Like Sir Griflet he 
 was "but young and late made knight," but as 
 Merlin prophesied of Sir Tor, he was to "prove 
 a noble knight of prowess, as; good as any is 
 living, and gentle and courteous, and full of good 
 parts, and passing true of his promise, and never 
 to do outrage." So those who had best oppor- 
 tunity to study Hugh believed. Rresident George 
 W. Atherton, of State College, .recalling Hugh's 
 college hfe speaks of this great promise he gave: 
 
 " I knew Hugh Beaver very well before he entered 
 college, during his four years in college, and sub- 
 sequently almost to the close of his life. He was a 
 person who could hardly fail to attract attention 
 wherever he was. He struck you at once as a frank, 
 hearty, fearless fellow, perfectly confident of him- 
 self, forward and aggressive, without conceit, and, at 
 the same time, as considerate of the rights and feel- 
 ings and interests of others as he was ready to defend 
 his own. He had also, in an unusual degree, a quick 
 appreciation of the proprieties, even in the midst of 
 his most impulsive moods, and a certain chivalrous 
 and most winning deference to rightful authority or 
 precedence. His impulsiveness and intentness on the 
 purpose which, for the time, absorbed him, led him 
 sometimes into forgetfulness and inconsiderateness ; 
 but even that was so tempered by the general tone 
 113 
 
A Memorial of a Trjae Life 
 
 and spirit of his bearing that it could never be mis- 
 understood or taken as an occasion pf serious offence. 
 
 "I well remember my first real View of him as a 
 college student. It was while he* was a freshman, 
 during a period when the boisterous spirit of rivalry 
 between his own class and the sophomores was at iis 
 height. The freshmen had evidently prearranged a 
 ' rush ' upon the sophomores in the main college hall, 
 at a time when the latter class waS least likely to ex- 
 pect it. Beaver went into the affait as if he felt it to 
 be his own personal matter. Iii fact, there were 
 circumstances connected with it which led me to 
 think that he had planned it. His active, wiry, alert 
 form was in the thickest of the mglte and one might 
 have thought him engaged in a charge on the battle- 
 field, so intent and absorbed was he in leading the 
 struggle. I happened to be near and went at once 
 into the midst of the combatants and stopped the dis- 
 order. Beaver was too much occupied to see me at 
 first, but when I spoke to him his bearing and manner 
 instantly changed, he recognized my right to intervene, 
 accepted it without a word of dissent, and was once 
 again an orderly college student, instead of a leader 
 in a struggling mob. 
 
 " This first scene was fairly typical of his entire 
 career in college. He was sufficiently attentive to 
 his duties to maintain creditable rank as a student, 
 but never worked for high grades or devoted any 
 more than the necessary time to subjects in which he 
 had no special interest. In the case of subjects for 
 which he had a fondness, no man was more inquisi- 
 tive and eager and receptive. He had, too, an al- 
 most intuitive perception of the leading principles of 
 such subjects, which made his questions always sug- 
 gestive of a kind of intellectual enthusiasm that gave 
 114 
 
College Life 
 
 promise of brilliant achievements in any direction 
 which should really attract his eijorts. He seemed 
 to find an abundance of time for whatever concerned 
 the varied activities of general student life. He was 
 not of sufficiently vigorous constitution to enter into 
 athletic contests himself, but no champion on the- 
 field had greater enthusiasm for them. I think it is 
 safe to say that no one in college, during his time, 
 did more to stimulate and guide the activities of the 
 students in that direction, and no one devoted more 
 time and effort to making athletic sports popular and 
 successful and at the same time thoroughly manly. 
 He entered into the successes of his fellow students 
 as enthusiastically as if they had been his own per- 
 sonal achievements. Neither the heat of the sun nor 
 the chilling storms of autumn, neither mud nor dust 
 nor any other thing could prevent him from appear- 
 ing upon the scene of every athletic contest, and he 
 entered into it as if there was nothing else in life 
 quite so well worth doing. 
 
 "I may perhaps be allowed to mention an incident 
 of a more closely personal kind because it illustrates 
 so well the two sides of his nature which I have above 
 alluded to. It occurred during the season of the 
 Columbian Exposition at Chicago., The college ses- 
 sion was very near its close, examhiations were over, 
 and all his college duties were ended, except the an- 
 nual military drill. A group of his most intimate 
 friends had arranged to go to Chicago together at 
 that time and he had planned to accompany them. 
 He naturally felt that a trip under such circumstances 
 would be extremely pleasant and that for that pur- 
 pose, he ought to be excused from attendance at drill. 
 He accordingly applied for leave of absence, and 
 with an air of unquestioning confidence that it would, 
 115 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 of course, be granted. I should haye been more than 
 glad to comply with his request,. for I perfectly ap- 
 preciated the situation and greatly regretted it ; but 
 I felt obliged to remind him that it had been found 
 necessary to refuse all absences from that specific 
 duty, except on the ground of absolute and unavoid- 
 able necessity. He urged his case with great ear- 
 nestness but with perfect courtesy and propriety and 
 he had so set his heart on going that he seemed 
 strongly inclined to carry out his purpose even 
 though it involved certain suspension. At this point 
 I made a sudden and complete change in the basis of 
 our talk. I dropped the attitude pf a college ofiScer 
 dealing with a student, and addressed him as an in- 
 telligent and responsible man. I said, in substance, 
 and almost in words, 'Hugh, there are two points 
 involved in this matter which you cannot afford to 
 overlook. In the first place, you know that, while 
 you have never sought any privileges or concessions 
 which could not be as freely grfitited to other stu- 
 dents as to yourself, yet if an exception were made in 
 your favor in this case, it would be at once attributed 
 not to the force of justifying circumstances but 
 wholly and exclusively to the supposed fact of your 
 being supported by influential outside friends of the 
 college. While you know and I know that such a 
 suggestion would be unjust to you and to the college, 
 no amount of assertion could remove that injurious 
 impression. You have no right to place yourself or 
 your friends or the college in such a position. In 
 the next place, you have reached a'time of life when 
 you must accept the full responsibility for your own 
 judgments and conduct. Your plain duty now calls 
 you in one direction, and your strong personal in- 
 clination calls you in another. You will find that it 
 116 
 
College Life 
 
 is a part of the necessary discipline of life to do hard 
 and disagreeable things in the line of your duty, and 
 often in the face of the most urgent inclinations to the 
 contrary. Unless you learn that lesson you will fail 
 in the most essential element of your training as a man 
 and a Christian. You understand perfectly well, too, 
 that any act of insubordination oh your part, as an 
 officer in the battalion, could not fail to do injury to 
 others as well as to yourself. No man can ever com- 
 mand well who has not first learned to obey well. ' 
 
 " It was a fine thing to witness the intense conflict 
 with himself through which he then passed. He 
 stood irresolute, staggered, but at first apparently un- 
 moved from his original purpose. The struggle evi- 
 dently stirred his whole being. Presently he said, 
 ' If I felt it to be my duty of course I should stay, but 
 I don't.' I replied, 'Your duty is to do the task 
 which is regularly assigned to you until some other 
 assigned task calls you away from it.' He went 
 away to think it over. He gave -up his project and 
 attended to his duty at the drill. He did it with as 
 much heartiness and thoroughness and appearance of 
 interest as he had ever shown, never, so far as I 
 knew, at that time or afterward, betraying the 
 slightest sign of reluctance or resentment. 
 
 "This twofold nature, an impulsive and enthusi- 
 astic interest m the affairs of the moment and, on 
 the other hand, a high and steadfast conscientious- 
 ness of purpose was perhaps his most striking char- 
 acteristic. The former not infrequently led him to 
 forget duties or requirements in the routine of college 
 life which properly demanded attention, but his bal- 
 ance of judgment ultimately asserted itself. He more 
 than once failed to obtain excusej within the time 
 required by college rules, for absences necessarily in- 
 117 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 curred, till his record reached the danger point. Had 
 a stranger to whom the fibre of the man was un- 
 known, seen this record, he migh't have formed a 
 most unjust estimate of his attention to duty. But 
 those who knew him recall among instances illustrat- 
 ing the intense earnestness of his character, a con- 
 spicuous occasion one winter, when he was anxious 
 to keep an engagement in Bellefonte. The day 
 previous a remarkably heavy snowstorm occurred, 
 completely blocking the railroad and the highways 
 for all ordinary travel. Beaver waited till afternoon, 
 only to see the storm increase, and then, in spite of 
 the remonstrances of his friends, set out to walk the 
 distance of nearly twelve miles over practically im- 
 passable roads. It proved to be, as his friends had 
 feared, a most hazardous undertaking, and we learned 
 afterward that many times he was obliged to get 
 down and roll over drifts to prevent sinking beneath 
 them. But he met his appointment. 
 
 • ' Toward the close of his college career and for a 
 period after his graduation I had occasion to observe 
 his aptitude for business affairs. The fraternity to 
 which he belonged was having a house built on the 
 college premises, and he, as a rnember of a com- 
 mittee representing the fraternity, had occasion two 
 or three times, to appear before a committee of the 
 board of trustees for the purpose ,• of agreeing upon 
 final arrangements respecting the property. His 
 clearness of conception, his careful study of all the 
 elements involved in claims and counter claims, his 
 directness in stating his own case and, in general, his 
 many sided comprehension of every subject consid- 
 ered were to me a revelation of skill and resources 
 which gave me, for the first time; an impression of 
 great reserved power. 
 
 118 
 
College Life 
 
 "This impression was signally deepened in the 
 course of my last two or three talks with him during 
 the year before his death. He was no longer a col- 
 lege student. He had heard an inward voice and 
 seen an inward vision beckoning him to devote him; 
 self to the work of helping other young men. He 
 had seen and entered upon the way in which he be- 
 lieved he could do it. All his enthusiasms were now 
 becoming blended in one great overmastering enthu- 
 siasm, and his whole manner was that of a man in- 
 spired by a single noble aim. But, with it all, was 
 the same cool and skillful practical judgment which 
 he had shown in the transaction of business for his 
 fraternity, leading him to the most painstaking study 
 of the adaptation of means to ends. There was an 
 utter absence of self-consciousness or conceit, coupled 
 with absolute confidence in his power to accomplish 
 his objects. It was the nearest approach I have ever 
 seen to a great enthusiasm acting on business princi- 
 ples. In my very last conversation with him I found 
 that he had become interested in Captain Pratt's 
 work at the Carlisle Indian School and was now re- 
 volving in his mind the whole problem of uplifting, 
 civilizing, educating and Christianizing that race. 
 He had made himself familiar with the records of in- 
 dividual students; knew what they were doing, what 
 their plans were, what their qualities and fitnesses 
 were, and was setting himself to- find out how he 
 could best help them. 
 
 "It may seem somewhat like exaggeration, but it 
 is the simple truth to say that no young man has 
 ever given me such an impression of almost limitless 
 power, and possibility for a great clreer as did Hugh 
 Beaver in that last interview. A few months later, 
 during a temporary absence in Europe, I heard of 
 110 
 
A Memorial of a Tjue Life 
 
 his death with a stunned sense of incredulousness. It 
 did not seem possible that such a, force could have 
 been so suddenly quenched, and my only hope in 
 writing these brief notes is that they may help some- 
 what in keeping alive in the minds of young men 
 the influences which in his too short life he had 
 already set in motion." 
 
 One of Hugh's college professors added this 
 loving testimony: 
 
 " The first year that I served here as ' division of- 
 ficer ' it was my good fortune to" have on my lists 
 Hugh and his friend, Mr. B. They gave me a good 
 bit of trouble, for what one did the other wanted to 
 do, so that their absenteeism was usually paired as I 
 might say. Hugh would work the system of ' cuts ' 
 for all it was worth and Mr. B. wpuld generally fol- 
 low suit. I never knew Hugh to transgress the 
 limit, but time and again he kept me on the ' qui 
 Vive' to see that the system was not misused. 
 
 "In February, 1895, a severe snowstorm visited 
 this part of Pennsylvania. The theftnoraeter for three 
 days did not rise higher than six degrees below zero. 
 The snow was piled three feet high! on an average and 
 drifts filled the roads so that for miles together travel- 
 ling had to be done through the fields. The night 
 when the storm proved the worst, ^^ugh started home 
 to Bellefonte and walked the entire twelve miles (no 
 train could run at that time). I he^rd about it ; that 
 he got to Bellefonte with great diffic'ulty. He was so 
 badly disabled as not to appear in college for a few 
 days following. But when he had assigned his rea- 
 sons (for his absence), I remarked to him that a man 
 who had pluck enough to face that storm because he 
 120 
 
College Life 
 
 wanted to get home, need not render me any other 
 excuse. 
 
 "Genial, sunny, alert, — oh how lovely he was! 
 Many an hour of my life at State College, when I 
 first came, was made happy as if with spring-sunlight 
 by Hugh's broad smile and the twinkle of his eyes. 
 We talked moral questions. We talked religious 
 questions. We talked Northfield — and particularly 
 so as it was near my old home of so many years. 
 
 " I have taught more than a quarter century. I 
 never had a more genial, manly man under my in- 
 struction than Hugh. He had the stuff saints are 
 made of. . . . When* I think of the white-robed 
 company to which he has gone arid to which one of 
 my own has but just departed, I cannot help praying 
 at times, ' O God that I were therel ' 
 
 " ' Oh sweet and blessed country 
 The home of God's elect.' " 
 
 The following testimony frotn a fellow stu- 
 dent may be added: 
 
 "He was always active; always temperate in all 
 things ; regular in the amount of sleep, caring for the 
 body and health ; notably regular in such things for 
 a boy liberated from the restraints of home. Always 
 cordial and sincere toward all students regardless of 
 their type. A hand-shake, a kindly inquiry, a good 
 greeting to all after a separation, Such as vacation or 
 any absence. This attitude was constant and not 
 subject to moods. Hugh was full of respect and love 
 for all, and won the same from all the fellows in con- 
 tact with him. 
 
 " He was charitable in judgment. I have heard 
 121 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 him say, when a weaker fellow was being condemned 
 for a failing, ' Yes, but you do not kjiow what he may 
 have had to contend with within himself.' This 
 was a general reply to those of harsher judgment. 
 
 "Hugh's mannerisms were those of an enthusias- 
 tic, warm-hearted, broad-minded, congenial fellow; 
 fond of companions and always alert to lend a help- 
 ing hand and to drop a kind word. His presence in- 
 variably 'brightened a crowd up,' and a low plane of 
 conversation was not tolerated by those fellows who 
 would do so under other circumstances. Hugh was 
 a good and conscientious student ; stood well up in 
 his class ; a thorough collegian, but not a book- 
 worm. Outside of his physique, he was what college 
 men style, ' A representative college man.' " 
 
V 
 
 FIRST MONTHS OF WORK IN PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 " My good blade carves the casques of men, 
 My tough lance thrusteth sure, 
 My strength is as the strength of ten, 
 
 Because my heart is pure."— Tennyson, Sir Galahad. 
 
 The summer of 1895 was spent at Belief onte 
 with the exception of the last week of June and 
 the first two weeks of July, during which Hugh 
 attended the conference for College men, at 
 Northfield. Hugh was receiving rather than giv- 
 ing at this conference. He felt his immaturity 
 and inexperience and was not ready yet to take 
 many responsibilities of leadership. Extracts 
 from his notebook will show what truths were 
 appealing to him and will illustrate also his free 
 simple ways of stating what he^heard: 
 
 "Importance of Bible study to individual student, 
 to the church, to the association. Upon this hangs 
 all.* Are the meetings cold? Do. the men lack de- 
 sire to do personal v/ork. Look to your Bible study." 
 
 " John vi. 27. Speak only as loud as you live." 
 
 "No elective studies in Christ's school. I^eave 
 evil habits. Do you scratch the frost off the window 
 panes? Heat up the room, the frost melts. Take 
 care to whom you give the night key of your heart." 
 
 "Qualifications for the ministry, i. Ability to 
 123 
 
A Memorial of a True Lite 
 
 speak — physical and mental. 2. Hunger after truth. 
 Love your Bible. 3. A love for your Lord. 4. A 
 hunger for souls. 5. Immovable faith in the Bible." 
 
 " Dr. Mabie says, ' I thank God that in my college 
 days I had a roommate who talked to me of spiritual 
 things, — the greatest blessing of my college course.' " 
 
 " Never will you be filled with God's spirit until 
 you are occupied with Jesus. Do not wait for the 
 feeling of power. When we are *eak, then are we 
 strong." 
 
 "Dr. Cuyler said, 'Remember that you represent 
 Jesus Christ in that college. Do men see you repre- 
 sent Him on the campus and in the classroom. God 
 help you, young brother, to get your hand on some 
 man's shoulder for Christ, that the grasp may outlive 
 you. The secret of Spurgeon's power was his 
 prayers. If we can't pray, we cari't preach. Keep 
 faith alert.' " 
 
 "Exodus XXV. 1-8. Mr. Moody says, 'Gold has 
 no value in heaven, but to man, it is nearest his heart 
 and God wants heart-service. He wants the best we 
 have. I'm glad He wants the goat's hair too. There 
 are many in fine purple, but, bless you, the goat 
 hair's more plenty.' " 
 
 ' ' Personal life of students in college the great cause 
 of success or failure. Make us pure ! " 
 
 " We want men of no uncertain tone in life. God 
 give us men of that stamp. Help me. Lord, so to 
 live." 
 
 "If we have not gained victory for ourselves, we 
 are the last persons to try to help others. The lust of 
 the flesh we must overcome. God help us. To him 
 that overcometh shall I " — 
 
 Hugh's friend who has been already quoted in 
 124 
 
First Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 connection with the developmeqt of his spiritual 
 life says that at this conference Hugh 
 
 " Took more active part in the work and his interest 
 deepened greatly, but in contrast to his last year at 
 Northfield, I think this conference and the former 
 one are characterized by a spirit of changeableness. 
 He told me in the meetings he wbuld be so full and 
 feel so happy that he was sure his life would be differ- 
 ent, but often before the day was over he had become 
 indifferent to what he knew were his Master's desires 
 for him. His last year at Northfiejd was the reverse. 
 Temptations seemed wiped out of his nature and he 
 told me instead of it's being hard for him to pray in 
 public he longed for the opportunity. 
 
 "It was during the conference of '95 that he 
 shrank from being asked to pray in public." 
 
 Hugh had charge of 'the Foijrth of July cele- 
 bration at this conference, and he was chair- 
 man of the Athletics Committee, positions of con- 
 siderable prominence among th§ students. 
 
 On returning home after Northfield he sent his 
 account of travelling expenses to the office of the 
 State Committee of the Pennsylvania Y. M. C. 
 A., one of whose secretaries he now was, dimin- 
 ishing the amount, with characteristic conscien- 
 tiousness, to what it would haye cost if he had 
 gone as cheaply as possible and saying : " Back 
 again from Northfield and feeling much better 
 prepared for the Fall than before, though the 
 source of all strength still remains the same. 
 185 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Wish you could have been with us there. Penn- 
 sylvania turned out 1 18 men. New York stood 
 second with sixty-eight. If the blessing was in 
 proportion we must expect great things during 
 this coming year." 
 
 Some notes seem to indicate that he made a lit- 
 tle study of the Bible teachings regarding the 
 second coming of Christ during'the summer and 
 an outline of one talk on Luke viii. 26-39 is dated 
 " Belief onte, Aug. 4, 1895": 
 
 "Luke viii. 26-39. Man's condition. Ours. 
 Lust. Appetite. Mind. Great Healer willing to 
 fill us. Healed. In right mind. Are we ? Father 
 and Son. Asked Him to depart. Answered. Pha- 
 roah's prayer. Depart. Ex. x. 28, 29. Answer. 
 Men to-day. Spirit depart. More convenient day. 
 We know not hour. We want to be'with Him. Pos- 
 sible. Lo, I am with you always even unto end. 
 Tell others what great things He has done." 
 
 In September, Hugh entered actively upon his 
 work among the students of Pennsylvania, who 
 were gathered in forty-nine institutions, twenty- 
 one colleges and universities, seven professional 
 schools, eleven state normal schools, nine pre- 
 paratory schools and one Indian industrial school. 
 He made monthly reports of his work, indicating 
 the institutions visited and the work done at 
 each, and adding often some supplementary re- 
 marks and his correspondence, exceedingly scanty 
 126 
 
First Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 before, became quite full. It will be possible ac- 
 cordingly to set forth the general course of his 
 work and the revelation and development of his 
 character in it largely in his own letters. These 
 letters begin in his naturally earnest, breezy way: 
 
 "Bloomsburg, Pa., September 7, 1895. 
 "... Held two meetings at — ■ — , one with mem- 
 bers of committees, the other with students in gen- 
 eral. In the latter meeting one man accepted Christ 
 and later in a personal interview another. Tliere 
 seemed to be quite a number halting who could be 
 reached if done at once. . . . The president of the 
 association is a man of push but 1 fear rubs the 
 wrong >vay very often. . . . Chairman of the Bible 
 study committee is an old Prof, with no ' get up and 
 dust ' about him. Did all I could to wake him up." 
 
 "Jersey Shore, September 12, 1895. 
 "... At Bloomsburg Normal!' School had meet- 
 ing on Personal Purity for men alone. Six men ac- 
 cepted Christ. Personal interviews with five of them 
 and quite a number of the other fellows. In the joint 
 meeting in the evening one young roan and one young 
 woman accepted Him. . . . Pray for the men that 
 have lately come out. " A hard fight is ahead of some. 
 May they go often to Him." 
 
 In the middle of the month he went back to his 
 old college to be present when the year's work 
 began, and reports "Met workers. 'Decision 
 Meeting.' About forty new men made a stand 
 for Christ, several for the first time. Meeting 
 for students. Many new men reached," 
 127 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 In his new work he kept ahve all his healthful 
 interests. He writes from Washington, Penn- 
 sylvania, to his mother, on September 22d: 
 
 "Went to the telephone office last night and the 
 man very kindly called up one of the Pittsburg papers 
 to find out who had been successful in the inter- 
 national athletic meet in New York. When I found 
 out that dear old Uncle Sam had more than used 
 John Bull up I went to bed happy." 
 
 In accordance with this same? interest he made 
 an effort this month to get an active Christian 
 man "a first-class baseball player" from Blooms- 
 burg Normal School into the University of Penn- 
 sylvania. He wished to take a medical course 
 but was poor and would have to go where the 
 expense was least and to gain, the influence of 
 his strong Christian life in the University, Hugh 
 endeavored to have financial assistance given to 
 him. 
 
 Hugh did not find much life in the work at 
 Washington and Jefferson,, and two days after 
 his visit writes back to one of the students: 
 
 "September 24, 1895. 
 "Just back from California (a school in Western 
 Pennsylvania). Found all at wo'irk there. That's 
 how slie must be at W. & J. I think B. will prove 
 a right hand man, and the two of you certainly know- 
 ing the source of all power, ought to be able to waken 
 the men up. We can't sing, revive Thy work, can't 
 
 128 
 
First Months of Work in -Pennsylvania 
 
 pray, revive Thy work, with any expectation of hav- 
 ing our prayers answered, unless we are iviUing to 
 allow God to use us, and to have Hi*m use us we must 
 get to work. We must have push of the right kind, 
 and the Pres. in particular must be a wide-awake 
 man. Keep in touch with the Master through prayer 
 and Bible study and then do your best, and I am very 
 sure He will honor your efforts. I think it might be 
 well to talk matters over with B. Keep him at it. 
 Get at it yourself and the Christian men will soon all 
 be at work. Stop thinking you can't reach Frat. 
 men. One good man reached may set the rest on 
 fire. Pray much by name definitely, and then try to 
 reach them personally. I am praying for you. He 
 stands ready to help you. Let us do all we can at 
 once for Him. 
 
 " Yours in His service, 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver. 
 " God bless you, old man." 
 
 Hugh's work was successful, from the begin- 
 ning. He saw, himself, that God was making use 
 of him. From New Wilmington he wrote to his 
 mother on September 26, "Held two meetings 
 last night and had men with me in my room here 
 at the hotel. I am very thankful that our Father 
 has given me His pov/er." But he believed that 
 the secret of continued and enlarged power was 
 prayer, and in this same letter he adds a request 
 for prayer as he does also in a* letter to Gettys- 
 burg, which also indicates what he was speaking 
 about to the students : 
 
 129 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 "Lancaster, Pa., October 9, 1895. 
 
 "... I find so far, talks on Bible study and 
 prayer, or one of a general nature to stir up Christian 
 men, or personal purity , are the subjects most needed. 
 Of course it depends upon the rhen you get to the 
 meetings what subjects should beiicbosen. ... If 
 talk is on line of character building or personal pur- 
 ity, earnest effort should be made to get non-Chris- 
 tians out to it. 
 
 "Trust you have been and will continue much in 
 prayer as to my visit. I realize that apart from Him 
 Vfe can do nothing. Let ns allow Him to use us. 
 Arrange meeting or meetings as you think best, and 
 we'll trust God for some blessing. 
 
 " Yours in His service, 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 "Gettysburg, Pa.j Oct. 13, 1895. 
 " My dear Mother : 
 
 "... To-day has been delightful. Two 
 meetings with a large turnout. In the last only one 
 empty seat left. God spoke to the men here and 
 consequently my visit has been a very happy one. 
 . . . T.'s letters help me very much. Ialwa3'sknow 
 she is praying for me and have faitK in her prayers as 
 well as in those of my many college friends. 
 " Affectionately, thy son, 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 On leaving Gettysburg he -^ent to Mercers- 
 burg, where he reported " Conference with 
 President, etc. Personal Purity Meeting. Twenty- 
 seven men express desire to accept Christ. Per- 
 sonal interviews until one a. m." He was deeply 
 130 
 
First Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 stirred here. The next day he wrote back from 
 Shippensburg to two men who were evidently 
 hesitating on the edge of open and manly con- 
 fession of Christ. 
 
 " SHIPPENSBURff, Oct., 15, '95. 
 " Dear R. : 
 
 "You will probably be surprised to hear 
 from me, but you have occupied sueh a large place in 
 my thoughts since last night, that I write at the risk 
 of being thought forward. 
 
 "My prayers have been going* up for you very 
 often since our talk, for I realize what it means to 
 let this matter go. When the call has come I know 
 it is dangerous to simply neglect it. In the first 
 place, it will be harder if you ever do make the stand 
 than now. ' And secondly, you ruii a great risk in 
 that you may so grieve the Spirit that He may not 
 speak again. We know not when pur time of prepa- 
 ration is to end, and when we may be called away. 
 Please read in 4th chap, of James 13-17. I pray 
 that He may speak through that. 
 
 " I enclose a card I found in my Bible as a marker. 
 That is the entire matter in a nut shell. Not merely 
 an intellectual belief, but that which takes Him as a 
 personal Saviour; i John i. 8-10; i Tim. i. 15, 16. 
 The thing that helps us most after accepting Christ is 
 to confess Him openly. Surely we are not mean 
 enough to be ashamed of our best friend ; Rom. x. 
 g-ii. Please get a Bible and Iqok references up. 
 May God lead 3'ou to decide at once. 
 
 "Write me if you feel like it to Bellefonte, Pa. 
 "Your sincere friend, 
 
 " Hugh JvJcA. Beaver." 
 131 
 
A Memorial of a Triue Life 
 
 " Shippensburg, Pa., Oct. 15, '95. 
 "My dear H. : 
 
 " Here it goes even at the risk of surprising 
 you. I wish I could have had a fuller talk with you 
 last night. I pray you may make a bold stand for 
 Christ, not a half-way acceptance, keeping it to your- 
 self, but take Him to keep you pure. Get your Bible 
 and read Rom. x. 9-13, and with His help do it. 
 Honestly, old man, it will give you great peace and 
 joy after you have done it. It may be hard, but we 
 are manly enough to acknowledge a friendship that 
 means to us what this one should. If you neglect to 
 make a stand now, it will be much harder the next 
 time, should God speak to you, and to be frank we 
 are apt to become so hardened we do not hear His 
 voice. We can never tell when our time of prepara- 
 tion will end, see James iv. 13-17. God help you to 
 make a manly stand, both on account of what it will 
 mean to you, and because I am sure^it will help others, 
 — may lead some one else to do likewise. 
 
 " If you have time and inclination I would be glad 
 to have you write me. Bellefoute, Pa., will reach 
 me, but do not feel compelled to write, only if you 
 feel like it. I can't tell you how happy it will make 
 me if you can tell me you have proved yourself a man. 
 I pray for you. 
 
 " Sincerely your friend, 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 From Shippensburg Hugh wrote to Carlisle also 
 regarding his visit there and the subjects it would 
 be best to speak upon: 
 
 "As to character of meeting, if to Christian men 
 there will be no difficulty, but if to student body, the 
 132 
 
First Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 subject is important. If you have had no talk on 
 Personal Purity and need it, that may be the best sub- 
 ject. God has blessed my efforts on that line. We 
 know the need, but unless we can get men out to 
 consider that need, I would rather* not talk upon it. 
 Whatever the subject I trust you and your men will 
 be much in prayer about it, and that He may bless 
 the effort. • Apart from me ye can do nothing,' 
 keep it in mind and look to Him for power. 
 
 "If possible, see Hawk of Indian School, if there 
 is doubt about time of meetings.] I pray that He 
 may guide us as we decide upon a subject and then 
 furnish the power to speak upon it." 
 
 Hugh had come to see the need of plain and 
 honest speech on the subject of Personal Purity, 
 and he was an unflinching enemy of all unclean- 
 ness. He was constantly speaking of the hid- 
 eousness and sin of the spotted life. But he 
 never lost that freshness and in.nocence of char- 
 acter which the over curiosity and prurient im- 
 agination of some advocates of social purity cause 
 them to lose. Hugh kept a clean imagination 
 and a pure heart and sought tOj think and speak 
 about the awful vices of our life in such a way 
 as to do himself least harm gnd others most 
 good. He wrote at this time the following letter 
 to a paper published in the interest of Purity: 
 
 " The Philanthropist, 
 
 "Box 2554, New York City., 
 
 " Enclosed find ^i.oo for which please send 
 me the Philanthropist's Social Pu|ity and the White 
 133 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Cross, one copy. Personal and Public Purity, one 
 copy. That leaves twenty-five cents unaccounted for. 
 Please send me some of your latest and best publica- 
 tions to that extent. The copy of the paper I have 
 is old, and I take it for granted that many pamphlets 
 have come out since. In my work as college secre- 
 tary I have fought impurity. Through your paper I 
 hope to be better prepared to fight it. The Holy 
 Spirit has convicted scores of men of sin on this line, 
 and in it more than any other, they have felt the use- 
 lessness of fighting in their own strength. Any infor- 
 mation you may be able to give me as to recent pub- 
 lications will be appreciated." 
 
 Hugh signed a White Cross pjedge which he 
 carried in his Bible. It is dated at West Chester, 
 Nov. 12, 1895, and reads: 
 
 ' My strength is as the strength of ten 
 Because my heart is pure.' 
 
 " I, Hugh Mc A. Beaver, 
 
 " Promise by the Help of God 
 " I. To treat all women witb respect and en- 
 deavor to protect them from wrong and degradation. 
 "2. To endeavor to put down, all indecent lan- 
 guage and coarse jests. 
 
 "3. To maintain the law of purity as equally 
 binding upon men and women. 
 
 " 4. To endeavor to spread these principles among 
 my companions and to try to help my younger 
 brothers. 
 
 "5. To use every possible means to fulfill the 
 command, ' Keep thyself pure.' " 
 134 
 
First Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 He also wore a little White Cross pin. 
 
 As he travelled about, Hugh kept remembrance 
 of men vv'hom he had met wh6 needed further 
 help, "to be jollied along" as he would have put 
 it, and when the thought of such a man came to 
 him he sat down and wrote back to him. He 
 kept also a list of people to be prayed for in the 
 front of his Bible. Thus he writes to a student 
 at Mercersburg College : 
 
 " Haverford College, Pa., Nov. 13, '95. 
 " My dear Old Man : 
 
 "I have thought very ofte'h of you and your 
 fellow students, and have hoped that you would find 
 time to write me. My own time has been very fully 
 occupied with my work else I would have written 
 sooner. Let me hear from you just how things are 
 moving with yourself and the fellows, particularly E. 
 and some of the others that were interested that night. 
 God grant that it may have been , something more 
 than a passing interest. Get your Bible and read the 
 2d chapter of 2 Tim. I want you to plan to get up 
 to Northfield, Mass., next summer to the Students' 
 Conference. It will begin June 26^th, and lasts ten 
 days. You can get the money all O. K. and should 
 go. It will mean much to you. 
 
 "I send you a White Cross pledge. Wish I had 
 had them with me when I was in Mercersburg. 
 
 " God keep you old boy very near to Himself, and 
 that means we must try to keep neir Him. 
 " Write me at Bellefonte. 
 
 " Your sincere friend, 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 135 
 
A Memorial of a Tr,ue Life 
 
 Several days later Hugh was at Kutztown, 
 Pennsylvania, at the school located there. A 
 lecture in the evening obliged him to have his 
 meeting at seven in the mornijig. During the 
 day he had some time for quiet meditation, and 
 the life that had been steadily deepening found 
 expression in this deed of consecration, written 
 on the back of the White Cros^ pledge already 
 referred to, found after his death. 
 
 "Kutztown, Pa;., Nov. i6, '95. 
 
 " ' Just as I am, — Thy love unknown 
 Has broken every barrier down ; 
 Now to be Thine, yea Thjne alone 
 O Lamb of God, I come, I come.' 
 
 "This 1 6th day of November, 1895, I, Hugh 
 McA. Beaver, do of my own free will, give myself, 
 all that I am and have, entirely, unreservedly and un- 
 qualifiedly to Him, whom having t)ot seen I love, on 
 whom, though now.I see Him not, I believe. Bought 
 with a price, I give myself to Him who at the cost of 
 His own blood purchased me. NoV committing my- 
 self to Him who is able to guard me from stumbling 
 and to set me before the presence of His glory with- 
 out blemish in exceeding joy, I trnst myself to Him, 
 for all things, to be used as He shall see fit where He 
 shall see fit. Sealed by the Holy Spirit, filled with 
 the peace of God that passeth understanding, to Him 
 be all glory, world witliout end. Amen. 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver. 
 "Jan. 19, '96, Phil. 4:19." 
 136 
 
First Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 How Hugh came to make this deed he tells in 
 the following letter to his mother: 
 
 " I had been having good meetings all along but I 
 felt that there was a great yearning in my life that as 
 yet had not been satisfied. At Kutztown it became 
 so manifest that I slept poorly, so.early in the morn- 
 ing I arose and asked God what was the matter, then 
 I wrote out a deed giving myself dbsolutely to Him, 
 to be used as He should see fit, where He should see 
 fit, and then I simply trusted HirA. Gradually that 
 peace which passeth understanding has come upon 
 me as never before. 
 
 "I conducted the meeting in the town Y. M. C. 
 A. yesterday afternoon, and our Father spoke to five 
 men, and to a great many more I am sure, but five 
 indicated it to us in the meeting. My meeting at 
 this college has been one that I dreaded greatly, yet 
 God spoke there, and the Christian men seem roused. 
 I'll not speak further, my eyes simply overflow with 
 tears of quiet joy very often. My Bible study has 
 been different to me, and my prayers little talks to 
 Him. I pray God that nothing may ever come into 
 my life to interrupt this sweet communion with Him. 
 As I read zd Cor. 4th chap, beginning with 7th 
 verse it seemed that it was written especially for me. 
 May our dear Heavenly Father be so near to us, so 
 dear to us that the life we now live may be but the 
 manifestation of the Christ-life. God grant it." 
 
 Plans had been made for December, including 
 a visit to the State Convention of the Young 
 Men's Christian Associations of Kentucky, where 
 
 137 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Hugh had been asked to speak on the need of 
 spiritual life. He had replied: 
 
 "Feeling that you could have; better taken the 
 topic yourself, as I am a very young man in the work 
 in both senses, I take it with the idea that you and all 
 interested will make it a special subject of prayer. 
 AVe'U need a wide-awake spiritual life ourselves if we 
 are to impress others with the need." 
 
 But he had been overtaxing his strength. He 
 had written in September, "hot weather is hard 
 on me," and when the weather grew cool he was 
 hard on himself, working early and late, con- 
 stantly travelling and more careful of his Master's 
 business than of himself. On the 20th of No- 
 vember he went home with diphtheria, and his 
 next letter is dated December 4th, to the Office 
 Secretary of the Pennsylvania Y.' M. C. A. 
 
 ' ' Dear Fencil 
 
 " I feel like Jim Burdick. God bless you 
 boy, I am still with you, though I did feel very much 
 like Paul in Phil. i. 23-24, especially 23, now I have 
 come to decide as he did, 24. 
 
 " I am sorry I could not turn my report in on time, 
 but to-day is the first that I have been allowed to 
 write and my head tells me I have done enough al- 
 ready. I took no rest days, intending to get home 
 on the 23d to prepare for Ky. Conference, but 
 found Meyerstown could not take me, and Fredericks- 
 burg no longer exists, a fact I had forgotten in mak- 
 ing out my schedule. Took sick at Easton but stuck to 
 138 
 
First Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 it in hope I could stand one more ^top, Annville, and 
 then take a few days' rest. Dr. says that was my 
 mistake, but it's over now. I was sick when I ad- 
 dressed my meeting, but 2 Cor. iv. 7, led me to 
 speak, notwithstanding. We had a good meeting. 
 Very small, but God spoke to some of the men I am 
 sure. Have put a good deal on W. because he has 
 had experience in Assc'n wk. and' has a mission in 
 city Sunday night, so things have gone decidedly off. 
 They claim best organization in student volunteer 
 men, but had not more than ten freshmen at their 
 reception and less than that at the decision meeting. 
 One of their best men walked home with me all 
 broken up, a student volunteer, but neglecting work 
 in college. Pray for the work there. It's in a critical 
 condition." 
 
 On the same day he wrote to Mr. Bard, the 
 State Secretary having charge of the whole work, 
 Hugh's having been solely the' college depart- 
 ment: 
 
 ' ' Once more I am about, expecting to go down- 
 stairs in a few days, and then ojit of doors. I am 
 not dangerous, even now, as I have been dipped in a 
 bath guaranteed to kill everything but the bather. 
 Doctor says I'll have to be a little riiore careful of my 
 health ; I go it too hard. I am resting now, see? " 
 
 One other letter written on the same day to a 
 student at Mansfield shows that the interests of 
 the work were uppermost in his-'thought : 
 
 "One important thing before I close: Every 
 Assc'n in the state but yours elects Pres. for one 
 139 
 
A Memorial of a Tfue Life 
 
 year. You should by all means do so. It takes a 
 man some time to understand his business, as I have 
 seen in many institutions. Cannot you have the 
 change made so as to have the man at the Pres. 
 Conference next April elected for a year? It is a 
 matter that you can best look after before you retire 
 from office. Be sure the right man is elected for the 
 year then. Push, tact, above all a deep love for Him, 
 whom though we have not seen we love, in whom, 
 though now we see Him not, we believe ; find such a 
 man. 
 
 " May God bless you and your fellow workers, and 
 may such a love for those about you come upon you 
 that the hand to hand struggle may go on until they 
 are brought to know Him. 
 
 ' ' Yours in His wqrk, 
 
 ' ' Hugh Mc a. Beaver. 
 
 " My kindest regards to my friends." 
 
 His sickness had been very trying to him be- 
 cause it had isolated him and while he came 
 later greatly to love Lowell's lines, which he 
 often quoted : 
 
 " If chosen souls could never be alone 
 In deep 'mid silence open-doored to God 
 No greatness ever had been dreamed or done. 
 The nurse of full grown souls is solitude," 
 
 he was too social and loving to like such long 
 separation and in one of his last letters of the year 
 he wrote, when the quarantine; was off, "Can't 
 tell you how I look forward to the Y. M. C. A. 
 meeting here on Sunday. It has been a longtime 
 since 1 have met the Lord with others." 
 
 140 
 
First Months of Work, in Pennsylvania 
 
 He had feared at times during his sickness that 
 he might not get well and had Written three fare- 
 well letters to be fumigated and .sent to friends in 
 case of his death. He said to his mother, also, 
 "Mother dear, don't worry. If it is the Lord's 
 will for me to have diphtheria it is all right, and 
 I am happy. Only have the BiBle texts where I 
 can read them." When better he said to her, 
 "I was in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to 
 depart and be with Christ which is far better, but 
 I guess He has more work for me here. If I had 
 gone, mother dear, you shouldn't have grieved for 
 me. You would know I was so happy and only 
 a little way off. Then it woulcfii't be long until 
 we would all be together." Still it was only with 
 him 
 
 " High nature amorous of the good, 
 But touched with no ascetic gloom." 
 
 For during his sickness while lying in bed he 
 thought out a special plan for enlarging photo- 
 graphs and afterward made some fine enlarge- 
 ments of photographs he took of scenes in Centre 
 County and in California. He was not content 
 with the roll of Bible verses wl;iich hung on the 
 wall and which he memorized. He asked also 
 for an old Bible which could be burned after he 
 had used it. 
 
 141 
 
VI 
 
 A YEAR AMONG THE STUDENTS OF PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 This was King Arthur's dream. Him thought: that there was come inU 
 this land many griffins and serpents and him thought that they burnt and 
 Blew all the people in the land, and then him thought that he fought with 
 them, and that they did him passing great damage, and wounded him ftlll 
 sore ; but at the last he slew them all. — Malory's King Arthur. 
 
 Hugh began in January, 1896,, the last full year 
 of his life. The four months already spent in 
 work for students in Pennsylvania had shown 
 more clearly the need and had .fitted him more 
 perfectly for the prosecution of the work. With 
 increasing sagacity and deepening love and 
 warmer zeal he gave himself fof the young men 
 of Pennsylvania, earnestly striving to persuade 
 them to accept life abundantly from Christ. 
 During January he visited ortly the Normal 
 School at West Chester and Professor F. H. Green 
 who was one of his most intimate friends. This 
 was the way he arranged for his visit : 
 
 " Bellefonte, Ea., Jan 20, '96. 
 ' ' My dear Prof. : 
 
 "I am going to do a nervy thing ; invite 
 myself to visit you for a few days. I have had 
 Diphtheria followed np by LaGrippe and the Doctor 
 will not allow me to do much work, but has con- 
 sented to a short trip in Feb. I want to be a silent 
 143 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 member of your Training Class sorhe Sunday early in 
 that month, if you will allow me. Would it suit you 
 to have me with you from a Friday p. m. to Monday a. 
 M. either Jan. 31-Feb. 3, or Feb. 7-10? If so which 
 Sunday would suit you the better?' I do not want to 
 have any work, just a visit with"! you and the in- 
 struction in your Training Class. Just between us, I 
 have been asked to take the Training Class at the 
 Pacific Slope School in May, and am looking for sug- 
 gestions. The Training Class at Northfield did not 
 suit me fully, so I go to West Chester. Can you let 
 me hear from you at an early date so that I can ar- 
 range trip to suit. Tell me frankly if date or visit 
 does not suit you, and I'll appreciate it all the more. 
 
 " God bless you and your work. 
 
 "Cordially ydurs, 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver. 
 
 " Prof. F. H. Green, 
 
 "West Chester, Pa." 
 
 Among the letters written this month is one 
 which shows the practical interest he took in the 
 men he met and his rare fidelity to the claims of 
 the best friendship, as well as his comradely way 
 of helping men. It was written to a student at 
 Lafayette College : 
 
 "As to an Evangelist, I cannot think of any one 
 that I could be sure of filling the bill. I'll talk it 
 over with Mr. Bard, and let you bnow if he has any 
 one in mind. There seems to be % great lack of men 
 fitted to do work of that kind, especially with college 
 students. We'll have to pray the Lord of the Harvest 
 to send forth laborers, and that very soon. God will 
 143 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 surely bless the effort you are making and wonder- 
 fully develop the workers for the field if we will allow 
 Him the right of way. I expect to go up to State 
 College this week and will ask therp to keep your re- 
 quest in mind. I think your plans excellent, and 
 will be much in prayer that leaders, workers, and 
 those worked for may be led by Him. 
 
 " One thing before I close, of a personal nature. I 
 have put myself in your place and decided I would 
 want you to speak to me in the same way. During 
 my visits I heard of you from several and of the work 
 you were doing, with one criticism : ' The only 
 trouble is, he is inclined to talk too fast.' I know 
 we all have our personal traits, some that strike others 
 as peculiar. From what I have heard, that must be 
 yours. I speak frankly because I want you to treat 
 me the same way, and because it is easier overcome 
 early in life. I'll appreciate anything you can tell 
 me in regard to my own speaking that you have 
 noticed as peculiar. I intended to speak to you while 
 I was at Easton, but my illness compelled me to leave 
 sooner than I expected. I was so sick during the 
 night that I left for home on the early train in the 
 morning. Feared I never could r^ach there I was so 
 ill. Diphtheria had fully develciped by Thursday 
 morning, but after a long and painful sickness I am 
 about once more ; though not able^to do much work, 
 I can pray for you. Trust you will pardon me for 
 speaking so frankly, and let me hear from you again. 
 " I remain, 
 
 " Yours in His service, 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 On his way to West Chester he stopped at 
 Harrisburg and went over the governor's house 
 144 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 where the family had lived for four years and the 
 next day wrote to his mother,- " Everything in 
 the house has been changed and it simply looks 
 out of sight now. It must have taken a pile of 
 money to do it though. To me it is a wonder- 
 ful improvement." 
 
 The doctor had warned Hugh that he "must 
 go slow," but that advice is easy'to give and hard 
 to take and Hugh was at his work again in Feb- 
 ruary as intensely as ever. One week was spent 
 in Philadelphia at the University, the College of 
 Pharmacy, Hahnemann MedicalXollege, and the 
 Medico-Chirurgical and Haverford College. " In 
 the medical colleges," he reported, "work is 
 becoming well founded. Christian men lifeless 
 to great extent. Haverford is manifesting great 
 interest. From fifteen to twenty men indicate a 
 desire to lead Christian lives. Gfiristian workers 
 wide awake." Toward the close of the month 
 on his way to Towanda Hugh was taken sick 
 and went home again. This disconcerted him 
 quite a little. " That last flunk-out of mine," he 
 wrote a few days later, " rather discourages a 
 fellow. Cold weather does not seem to agree 
 with one in my present condition, but we'll hope 
 for the best." 
 
 On February 20th the new fraternity house, at 
 State College, of Hugh's fraternity, Beta Theta 
 Pi, was destroyed by fire. Hugh had main- 
 
 145 
 
A Memorial of a Tfue Life 
 
 tained the warmest interest in the society, and 
 was kept informed about all its affairs even to 
 the admission of new freshme'n. He heard at 
 once of the loss. The answer he made and the 
 spirit which marked him in this enterprise and in 
 all his work among students are set forth in 
 some notes kindly furnished by H. Walton 
 Mitchell, Esq., of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, who 
 was a graduate of State College and president of 
 the Alpha Upsilon Chapter of th'e fraternity: 
 
 "When the fire swept away the new fraternity 
 house in a few months after it had been occupied no 
 disconsolate cry went up from him. His first mes- 
 sage was, ' We must prepare to rebuild at once,' and 
 it was done. He immediately tc5ok hold of the re- 
 building, and we have now a hoQse better than the 
 one destroyed. Hugh lived long enough to see the 
 work finished and the Chapter at home once more. 
 As the boys annually return to enjoy the pleasantries 
 of college life for a season, and renew the happy as- 
 sociations of Chapter days, there will be missing the 
 hearty welcome from one of the jblliest boys. The 
 name of Hugh Beaver is inseparably associated with 
 the Alpha Upsilon house, and it stands as a monu- 
 ment to him. 
 
 " Hugh came face to face with a serious problem 
 ere he was graduated from college. In his senior 
 year an invitation came to him to enter the college 
 work of the Y. M. C. A. of this state. He had, I 
 think, planned for himself a business career. He 
 had had some experience in this .line and showed 
 unusual ability. His friends were* sure a successful 
 146 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 business life lay before him. Aftep weeks of thought 
 and prayer he cast aside the prospect of wealth and 
 preferment and took up the work in which he was 
 engaged to the last. A great conflict preceded the de- 
 cision. There was no regret ever felt by him. On 
 the contrary he was always happy. He was sure he 
 was right. In whatever he was actively associated he 
 believed in it heartily, and his enthusiasm was always 
 contagious. In his opinion there was no place like 
 Bellefonte, his home town. Pennsylvania State Col- 
 lege could do as much for a young man as any other 
 institution, and much more than the majority of col- 
 leges. A victory by one of his own college teams was 
 more of an event than the contest between the teams 
 of two of the foremost universities. In his fraternity 
 was the inspiration to loftiest ra6tives and highest 
 ideals. It was this pride and enthusiasm that carried 
 things, and that commended his religious work to 
 men. His conduct seemed to say. It is the best 
 thing in the world and you ought to have it. 
 
 " He had been instrumental in consummating a 
 business arrangement which had been the subject of 
 a great deal of thought to him and his associates in 
 the project. In a five page letter he intei'jected an 
 exclamation here and there calculated to stir up the 
 most doubtful. The opening sentence was, ' Things 
 seem to be falling our way,' and the letter concluded 
 with, ' Hurrah for us.' 
 
 " There need be little said of his faith. That was 
 abundant. Concerning a series of meetings he con- 
 ducted among students of medicine> he wrote, ' Med- 
 ical students are a hard lot but the power of God can 
 reach them as well as others.' 
 
 " A friend pointed out to him the splendid oppor- 
 tunity for success before him if he would read law and 
 147 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 take up his father's work, or if not that, his business 
 qualifications would insure him large financial re- 
 turns. Hugh was then in his second year of Y. M. 
 C. A. work. His answer came quickly as he said, 
 ' Old man, I am not laying up my treasure here.' 
 
 " He was affectionate to more than the usual de- 
 gree. During one of the college commencement cel- 
 ebrations a crowd of young men >ere indulging in 
 drink late in the night. Among them was one who 
 had grown up with Hugh and a schoolmate from 
 early years. Hugh heard of the spree, hunted the 
 boy up and followed him around Endeavoring to in- 
 duce hira to go to his room. He tad been indulging 
 sufificiently to make him obstinate, and Hugh was 
 rebuffed and his principles slurjed. However he 
 clung to the boy and after a long siege well on to 
 morning, succeeded in getting him to his room and 
 to bed. I believe this same young man later united 
 with the church. 
 
 "The popularity of Hugh Beaver was not confined 
 to those interested in religious work. In college he 
 was a leader in promoting athletics. In social affairs 
 he was a favorite. His manliness won for him the 
 esteem of all who knew him." 
 
 In rebuilding the fraternity house Hugh showed 
 even more remarkable business ability than he 
 had revealed before. He was; carrying on, of 
 course, his work among the students of the state 
 without interruption, but at the same time he 
 handled the contracts, and all the loans and 
 mortgages connected with thei building enter- 
 prise. The house cost about $13,200 and a great 
 
 148 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 deal of shrewdness was required to provide this 
 with the scanty credits at the disposal of the 
 chapter. One of Hugh's triumphs in connection 
 with this movement was the way he secured a 
 loan from a National Bank in the western part of 
 the state. This exploit called out from one of 
 his friends the expressive message, in broad col- 
 lege slang, "as a politician and nether limb ma- 
 nipulator, you are a screaming success." 
 
 At the beginning of March Hugh wrote, "The 
 doctor does not want me to work this month, at 
 least until it warms up." Accordingly he made 
 fewer visits to colleges, but he used a good deal 
 of strength in an effort once again to clear off the 
 debt on the Young Men's Christian Association in 
 the town of Bellefonte. " I am doing my best 
 in the home association," he wrote. "We must 
 get $1,400 at least by subscription to put things 
 in shape and run to October ist. I have $1,000 
 to raise yet. It's worse than the travelling work 
 in using a man up, but 1 believe God has a big 
 blessing for me in it. A fellow surely is inclined 
 to get discouraged but the ' Lo I am with you 
 always ! ' should keep him all O. K, . . . Re- 
 member to pray especially just now for work 
 here. It's do or die this time.i May God open 
 men's hearts and purses." On the Sunday pre- 
 ceding this canvass for subscriptions Hugh has 
 written in the small engagement' i^ecord which he 
 
 149 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 kept intermittently henceforth, the three Bible ref- 
 erences: "1 Cor. ii. 2; Phil. iv. 13; 2 Cor. xii. 
 9." He was feeling evidently the need of divine 
 help. Often in these days he was sensible of 
 great weakness and the consciousness of power 
 would be succeeded by discouragement. He 
 was coming to, but he had not found yet the 
 secret of an even life, undisturbed by the fitfui- 
 ness of mood or the alternation of hope and de- 
 spondency. This writing of pertinent Bible 
 verses on days of special feeling or thoughtful- 
 ness grew into a habit with hiiji. On February 
 13th the reference is to Jude 24, 25. Occasion- 
 ally in his diary for 1896, which was a small, 
 oblong book for the waistcoat pocket, he made a 
 few notes of catch words for his simple talks. 
 Thus at Bucknell University on April 7, "Your 
 life is hid with Christ in God. Work. North- 
 field. Studd. Lowell," and at Lancaster on 
 April nth, "One talent men., Responsibility 
 placed upon Peter. Feed my Sheep," and on 
 April I2th, which was Sunday, "James ii. 14. 
 Northfield. Studd. Attract. Carlisle Indian 
 Training Class. Carlyle. Chief End of man. 
 Lowell's ' open-doored to God."" About Father's 
 business. 2 Tim. iv. 6-8. ' I have fought.' " 
 
 Much of his correspondence this spring was in 
 preparation for a conference at Carlisle, April 
 16-19, of the presidents of the associations in the 
 150 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 colleges of the state. Thirty men came and Hugh 
 reported that it was "a successful conference, 
 characterized by a spirit of prayer and deeper 
 and more full consecration on the part of all." 
 The object of this conference was to train these 
 men for better work in their own institutions. 
 Such subjects as the following Were discussed: 
 "The Association Field of Pennsylvania." "The 
 Preparation of the President." "Place and 
 Power of Prayer." "Duties of the President." 
 ' ' Finances and Records." ' ' The' Students' Move- 
 ment." "Bible Study." -" The Missionary De- 
 partment." "The Fall Campaign." "Personal 
 Work." " A Spiritual Awakening." " Our Pol- 
 icy for Next Year." Hugh discussed "The Fail 
 Campaign," meaning thereby, the work done 
 at the opening of the college year for new stu- 
 dents. This was his outline: 
 
 "Fall Campaign. 
 
 "I. Object. I. To lead the new students who 
 are Christians to take a positive stand at once for 
 Christ and to join in the work of the association for 
 their fellow students. 2. To lead those who are not 
 Christians to become followers of Christ. 3. To set 
 right standard of Christian life and service for entire 
 student body. 
 
 "II. Importance, r. To the new student: (i) 
 He is unattached. (2) He is looking for fellowship. 
 (3) He is in danger. Why? (a) Because he is free 
 from home influences. (1^) Open to first impressions, 
 
 151 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 good or bad. (r) Satan is most active at this time. 
 (</) Because he is in danger of failing to seek first 
 the Kingdom of God. 2. To the Association, (i) 
 The large number of new students. — One third of the 
 student body. (2) Their power to influence perma- 
 nently every phase of college life. (13) If not won now 
 the new student is generally lost. Only one in four 
 is reached after the first month. 
 
 "III. Preparation. i. Master the pamphlet 
 provided on this subject. 2. Study field, workers, 
 new students, 3. Get as many men as possible to 
 pray during vacation. 4. Get as many men as pos- 
 sible to promise to come back early. 
 
 "IV. What to do before men-reach college, i. 
 Prepare to send out hand-book. z. Correspond 
 with pastors, Y. M. C. A. secretaries, &c., in towns 
 ■which are prominent feeders of your institution. 
 
 "V. What to do for men after they reach college. 
 I. Meet men at trains. 2. Student headquarters. 
 3. Religious census. 4. Social reception before 
 the first religious meeting. 5. Special organized 
 effort to lead men to accept and confess Christ 
 openly. 6. Decision meeting, preceded and fol- 
 lowed by personal work. Follow up. Enlist men in 
 Bible study classes. Give them work to do. Place 
 one new man on each committee." 
 
 His notebook suggests that his policy for the 
 coming year was: "(i) To pray, plan and per- 
 severe to lead more men to Jesus Christ. (2) To 
 enlist definite men in personal \Vork." The day 
 following the close of the conference he entered 
 in his diary "Phil. iii. 13, 14." 
 
 As he went from college to cdllege his convic- 
 152 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 tions of the need of moral cleansing of life 
 among students and his abhorrence of impurity 
 increased. To be better able to speak clearly and 
 directly and to get new thoughts with which to 
 influence others Hugh wrote to the American 
 Purity Alliance for the papers and addresses of 
 the National Purity Congress. His diary shows 
 more talks on Personal Purity than on almost any 
 other subject except the opening of life to God, 
 In the midst of such work, however, most prac- 
 tical ideas came to him. He writes on May i : 
 
 " My dear little Mother : 
 
 "... I had a dream night before last that 
 the barn on the farm had burned down and we dis- 
 covered that the insurance had run put. It may have 
 and should be looked after as should also the policy 
 on the furniture at home. . . . Have succeeded in 
 knocking another dollar per thouisand off the Wil- 
 liamsport brick for the Chapter House." 
 
 Hugh bought a copy of Andrew Murray's little 
 book on Humility this spring. It bears the date 
 of April 1 5th, 1896. He marked carefully a num- 
 ber of passages, underlining them. Among them 
 were such as these: 
 
 " The chief care of the creature is to present itself an 
 empty vessel in which God can dwell and manifest 
 His power and goodness. . . . Humility, the place 
 of entire dependence on God. . ; . . Without this 
 there can be no true abiding in God's presence or 
 153 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 experience of His favor, and the power of His Spirit ; 
 without this no abiding faith or love or pity or 
 strength. ... It is simply the sense of entire noth- 
 ingness which comes when we see how truly God is 
 all and in which we make way for God to be all. . . . 
 Every child of God is to be the witness . . . that it 
 is nothing but a vessel, a channel through which the 
 living God can manifest the riches of His wisdom, 
 power and goodness. The root of all virtue and 
 grace, of all faith and acceptable worship is that we 
 know that we have nothing but what we receive and 
 bow in deepest humility to wait upon God for it. 
 , . . His service is the highest liberty,— the liberty 
 from sin and self." 
 
 Hugh received an invitation this year to teach 
 a Bible class at the Summer Bible Conference of 
 students from colleges on the Pacific Coast, 
 which was to be held at Cazadero, California, 
 during the last ten days of May: He accepted 
 this invitation although he wrote, "Personally! 
 regret that you have not secured one better fitted 
 to teach the class as my experience has been 
 small. None at all as a teacher." Still he felt, as 
 he said, that " the great need in all Christian work 
 is for men able to do personal Work and to do it 
 they must be Bible students," a'nd he was ready 
 to do what he could. He left Bellefonte on May 
 13th. On May 17th his diary records "New Or- 
 leans. Col. i. 1-3. Help me. Father." 
 
 At Cazadero Hugh began his class with the 
 154 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 purpose of inciting the students to personal work 
 for their fellows, intending at the close to turn 
 from this line of thought to deepen if possible 
 the spiritual lives of the men by some devotional 
 Bible study. He asked each member of his class 
 to answer in writing two questions, Have you 
 ever been a member of a Workete' Training Class 
 before ? Can you describe some particular man 
 whom you have tried to bring to Christ, arid his 
 difficulties ? Almost none of the students an- 
 swered the first question in thA affirmative and 
 some of their replies to the second show the 
 problems Hugh had to deal with : 
 
 "A logical minded man, good in mathematics, 
 etc., says he doesn't understand it. Guesses he'll 
 wait and see. He is a good-hearted man and if he 
 were really convinced, that is all that would be neces- 
 sary." 
 
 "Bright man — has been an earnest worker in a 
 very stimulating atmosphere. Has let go most of the 
 things he has believed — says there's too much super- 
 stition among Christians, in the Church, in Y. M. C. 
 A. work. Stumbles over miracles,,inspiration, Christ 
 as the Son of God, the power of prayer, etc." 
 
 "A very worldly boy. I prayed for him and 
 showed him the way to Christ. He was convicted, 
 promised me he would come to Christ. He went to 
 prayer meeting one night with the intention of giving 
 up, but after getting there made his excuse, ' not yet.' 
 He drifted away and is now even worse than ever be- 
 fore in his life." 
 
 155 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 " A fellow was persuaded of the" duty of accepting 
 Christ, but did not want to give up his enjoyment of 
 life and did not understand how the Christian life had 
 any corresponding enjoyments." 
 
 '•I have spoken to no man, e^fcept in a general 
 way, of his belief in Christianity." 
 
 The written notes which Hugh prepared for 
 this class were very scripturaf and plain. The 
 illustrations he supplied out of the life that he had 
 lived and that the members of liis class well un- 
 derstood ; 
 
 "First Lesson. Importance of Personal Work as 
 
 seen in the Bible. 
 I. Weigh carefully Christ's last commands. 
 Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Mark xviv 15. Luke xxiv. 
 
 46-49. John xxi. 15-18. Acts i. 8. 
 (i) Methods. 
 
 {a\ Preaching. Mark xvi. 15. Orig. Going 
 into all the world preach the Gospel. Wherever you 
 go, for whatever purpose, preach the g. n., proclaim 
 the good news. 
 
 {b) Witnessing. Luke xxiv. 48. Ye are 
 witnesses. Personal testimony. 
 
 {c) Teaching. Matt, xxviii. 19, so. As hav- 
 ing known the Great Teacher. Teaching them {all 
 nations) to observe all things whatsoever I com- 
 manded you. Teach by life and word. 
 
 {d') Tending and feeding. John xxi. Simon. 
 My sheep are scattered. Gather them together, 
 tending and feeding them. 
 
 (2) Given to? Not to the Elfeven only. Luke 
 xxiv. 33, 48. Followers. 
 
 156 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 (3) What promises in connection with work to 
 workers ? 
 
 Lo I am with you alway. 
 
 Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Ye shall receive power. When ? 
 
 Where was work to begin? Luke xxiv. 47. Ours? 
 Luke viii. 39. 
 n. Teachings of Christ in which Personal Work 
 
 IS IMPLIED. 
 
 Matt, iv, 19. Fishers of men. Luke v. 10. 
 Matt. X. Twelve instructed, x. 7. As ye go, 
 
 preach. 
 Matt. X. II. Search out who is worthy and there 
 
 abide. 
 Matt. X. 42. Unto one of these little ones. 
 Matt, xviii. 12. Seek the lost sheep. 
 Matt, xviii. 15. Show thy brother his fault, him 
 
 and thee alone. 
 Luke x. 37. Good Samaritan. Go thou and do 
 
 likewise. 
 Luke xiv. 23. Go out into h. and h. and constrain 
 
 them to come in. 
 Luke xxii. 32. When thou hast turned again 
 
 stablish thy brethren. 
 John xxi. 15. Feed my lambs. 
 III. Example of Christ. — John's Gospel, 
 i. 35-40. Andrew. 
 i. 40-42. Andrew and Peter, 
 i. 43. Philip. 
 
 i. 45-51. Philip findeth Nathanael. Conver- 
 sation with Christ, 
 iii. 1-15. Nicoderaus. Rulei;, a teacher. Ad- 
 mits Christ's authority but stumbles at His 
 teachi ng. 
 iv. 1-42. Woman of Samaria, Alien race. Bad 
 
 157 
 
A Memorial of a T^^e Life 
 
 reputation. Sinner convicted. First dec- 
 laration of Messiahship. 
 iv. 46-54. Nobleman. Takes Christ at His word. 
 V. 1-18. Infirm man of Bethesda. Wouldest 
 thou be made whole ? Looks him up later 
 to follow up with warning. Sin no more, 
 vi. 22-71. With men seeking loaves and fishes. 
 vii. i-io. With His brothers,^ a bounty confer- 
 ence, 
 viii. i-ii. Woman taken in adultery. Tact. Sin 
 no more. 
 ix. Man blind from birth. Findeth hira again. 
 Follows up work of restoting physical sight 
 by giving spiritual sight, 
 xi. 10-27. Martha after deathnof Lazarus. 
 XX. 14-17. Mary Magdalene. 
 XX. 26-29. Thomas. 
 xxi. 15, 23. Peter. 
 rv. Practice of Early Christians. 
 
 John i. 40. Andrew first findeth his own brother. 
 
 John i. 45. Philip findeth Nath&nael. 
 
 Acts viii. 26. Philip and Eunuch. 
 
 Acts viii. 35. Preached unto him. Preached. 
 
 P. W. 
 Acts X. Peter and Cornelius. 
 " Second Lesson. Incentives. 
 
 I. Seek the incentives that moved Christ to work 
 for the salvation of men as we find them in 
 John's Gospel, iv. 17, 34, 35; v. 17; vi. 
 35-40; vii. 16-18; viii. 28, 29, 38, 42, 49, 
 50, 55 ; ix. 4; X. 10, 14-18; xi. 4; xii. 44- 
 50 ; xiii. I, 34 ; xiv. 2, 13, 16, 29, 31 ; xv. 8. 
 His mission divine. ' He that sent me ' six- 
 teen places. Teaching not His own. Works, 
 His that sent me. 
 158 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 2. Incentives to us. 
 
 (i) John XX. 21. Even so send I ^«7«. i John 
 
 ii. 17 ; iii. 22; v. 16. 
 
 (2) Constraining love of Christ. 2 Cor. v. 
 
 11-21. 
 
 (3) Multiply our lives. Peter. 
 
 (4) James v. 20. 
 
 (5) 2 Cor. v. 20, 21 J vi. I ; ambassadors for 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Key 2 Cor. v. 20. 
 " Third Lesson. Qualifications. 
 
 1 . Knowledge that Christ saves and keeps. 1 John 
 
 i. ; iii. 24 : Peter. 
 I Peter i. 3f. ; ii. 24 : Paul. Rom. i. 2 
 Tim. i. 12. 
 
 2. 2 Tim. i. 13, r4; ii. 2, 15;' iii. 14-17. 
 
 3. Acts i. 4, 5, 8; ii. 4; iv. 8; vi. 3, 5, 10. 
 
 Condition. Acts iv. 31 ;, v. 32. 
 Result. Boldness. Acts iv. 31, 19, 20 ; v. 
 29. Unity. Acts iv. 24, 32; ii. 46. 
 Power. Acts vi. 8. 
 
 4. I Cor. ix. 22. Matt. iv. 19. John vi. 26. 
 
 5. John XV. 7. 
 
 6. John xiv. 26. Teach. Bring. Remembrance. 
 
 John xvi. 7. 
 ' ' Fourth Lesson. Hindrances. 
 
 1. Natural diffidence. From wjiat cause ? Cure 
 (i) Slowness of speech. Ex. iv. 10. Cause 
 
 Cure. Ex. iv. 11, 12. 
 Ex. and cure. Jer. i. 6-9. Cure. Isa. 1. 4, 
 (2) Timidity. 2 Tim. i. 6^; i Cor. ii. 1-5 
 Ridicule. Jer. xx. 7^9. 
 
 2. Self-conceit. Luke xviii. 9-13 ; Job xii. 1-3 
 
 Cure. I Cor. x. 12; Phil. iii. 13, 14; Rom 
 xi. 20-23. 
 
 159 
 
A Memorial of a Tme Life 
 
 3. Love of ease. James i v. 17; John xiii. 17. 
 
 4. Inconsistent life. Effect on companions. Tree 
 
 known by its fruits, Mqtt. vii. 15. On 
 man himself. Out of the abundance of the 
 heart his mouth speaketh. Luke vi. 45. 
 Blind guide the blind. Luke vi. 39 ; i John 
 ii. I, 2; Psalm li. 7-13. 
 
 5. Beholding not the beam in thine own eye. 
 
 What effect on companions? On man him- 
 self? How obey. Luke xi. 35. Self-ex- 
 amination. Psalm cxxxix. 23, 24. 
 
 6. False courtesy. Ezek. iii. 17-21; i Kings 
 
 XX. 39. 
 
 7. Lack of experience. Matt. iv. 19. 
 
 8. Ignorance of the Bible, i Tim. iv. 12-16; 
 
 Acts xvii. II. 
 
 9. Failure to recognize opportunities. John iy. 
 
 34-36. 
 
 10. Satan's active interference, i Thess. ii. 18 ; 
 
 2 Cor. ii. II." 
 
 No other lesson outlines are preserved, although 
 there seems to have been one on "Simon Peter" 
 with the references " Luke v. 4-1 1 ; Matt. xiv. 28- 
 3! ; John vi. 66-69; Matt. xvi. 16; Mark ix. 5; John 
 xiii. 6-1 1 ; Luke xxii. 31, 57, 61, 62; Mark xvi. 
 7; Luke xxiv. 34; John xxi. 15," and another on 
 
 •' Christ as a Man of Prayer." 
 
 " I. His habits. Mark i. 35 ; Luke iv. 42 ; v. 16; 
 Mark i. 45 ; Luke vi. it2 ; ix. 28 ; Matt, 
 xiv. 23; Mark vi. 46; Luke xxii. 32; 
 Matt. xxvi. 36. 
 
 160 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 2. His prayers. Matt. vi. 9 ; Luke x. 21 ; John 
 
 xvii. ; John xi. 41 ; Matt. xxvi. 36-45 ; Luke 
 xxiii. 34, 46. 
 
 3. Now. Rom. viii. 34; Heb; vii. 25; ix. 24." 
 
 To two difficulties presented l;^ugh made these 
 answers: '" Too much to give up.' Mark viii. 
 35-37; Matt. vi. 33; 1 John ii. 15-17; Rom. viii. 
 32; Heb. xi. 24-26. 'Can't hold out.' / Cor. 
 X. ij; 2 Cor. xii. 9; Jude 24, 25; Isa. xli. 10, 13; 
 Phil. iv. 13." 
 
 Hugh greatly enjoyed this Cazadero conference. 
 
 "Sunday, May 24, 1896. 
 " My dearest Mother : 
 
 ' ' Just now I am up on one of the beautiful hills 
 that overlook the valley in which our hotel is situated, 
 having come up here for a quiet time in Bible study 
 and prayer. Our day has been one in which prayer 
 has had a very large place. Everjf session has been 
 along that line and the afternoon we have for the 
 most part come out to be alone with the Master. The 
 conference has already proved to be a great blessing 
 to all of us, and it is with great expectation that we 
 await each day. . . . It is a most beautiful place here 
 and we are delightfully fixed in every way. I am in 
 splendid shape and am enjoying my work very much. 
 Reporters are the greatest bane of my life. Already 
 two of the Frisco papers have asked for my picture 
 but I had none for them. I must close now and 
 study. My own dear Father keep you all. A great 
 deal of love to father with all you can take for your- 
 self. "Lovingly, 
 
 " Hugh." 
 161 
 
A Memorial of a Tr^e Life 
 
 "June 2, 1896. 
 " I am very well and happy after a most enjoyable 
 and blessed time at Cazadero. ' The fellows were 
 wonderfully blessed as were the speakers also. This 
 pen is rank, SO I'll close." 
 
 Hugh came back from his western trip much 
 impressed with the open degradation of fallen 
 women in some of the western, cities. On the 
 trip east he had a berth in the sleeping car near a 
 man who was very ill with consumption. He 
 talked to him several times and 6ne day when the 
 invalid was suffering very mucii Hugh sat alone 
 for a long time praying that he might be relieved. 
 That evening as Hugh was praying for the Y. 
 M. C. A. meeting at home and for the Chris- 
 tian Endeavor Society, as was- his custom, the 
 invalid's attendant came to him and told him that 
 the sufferer had just died. 
 
 In the latter part of June Hugh went to North- 
 field again. His notes were vefy scanty but he 
 did more for others, and he especially spent him- 
 self in trying to have the delegates from Pennsyl- 
 vania get as much good as possible to carry back 
 to their institutions in the fall. His own report 
 says succinctly. " Aided in organization of Penn- 
 sylvania delegations. In charge of whole dele- 
 gation of 112 men representingitwenty-eight in- 
 stitutions. Met leaders of delegations for con- 
 ference on work. Visited these delegations. 
 162 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 Conducted four college conferences. Personal 
 interviews." A friend who watched the whole 
 of Hugh's spiritual development writes : 
 
 " He was still characterized at times by a feeling of 
 changeableness and discouragement. But he took much 
 more active part in the services, arid seemed to have 
 lost his fear and to be much more strongly impressed 
 than the previous year. One phrase I recall which he 
 so often repeated, ' How and why does the Master 
 use such an unworthy and sinful child as I ? ' Tears 
 often came to his eyes and he would turn his eyes to 
 Heaven and ask forgiveness and implore the Lord to 
 help him as he sat with me in the woods in the after- 
 noon, and he would tell me how deplorably he failed 
 in leading a Christlike life. 
 
 "He returned home very enthusiastic about the 
 meetings. Seemed filled with the desire to start a 
 series of summer meetings in ' old Pennsylvania ' on 
 the plan of Northfield, where those who could not go 
 to the latter might have a similar, opportunity. He 
 often referred to this thought during the last year of 
 his life." 
 
 On Tuesday, July 7, the day He left Northfield, 
 is the entry in his diary, "But as many as re- 
 ceived Him to them gave He power to become 
 the children of God, even to thepi that believe on 
 His name. John i. 12; i John iii. 3. Pure." 
 
 There have been held at Shikelimy, Blooms- 
 burg and Eaglesmere in the three summers since 
 1896, conferences intended to meet this need 
 which Hugh felt so keenly. 
 163 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Each summer the National Guard of Pennsyl- 
 vania, the State Militia, has an encampment, as 
 is the custom with each division of the National 
 Guard, and in July, 1896, fifteten regiments of 
 infantry, three batteries of artillery and three 
 companies of cavalry, numbering about eight 
 thousand men, were encamped at Camp John 
 Gibbon near Lewistown. It was an exceptional 
 opportunity for reaching the young men of the 
 state and Mr. Fred B. Shipp and Hugh Beaver 
 were put in charge of the tents provided for the 
 use of the soldiers by the Young Men's Christian 
 Association, where newspapers, stationery, 
 games and an organ and song books were sup- 
 plied for the men. Small bills called the atten- 
 tion of the soldiers to the Association tent: 
 
 • • Attention ! 
 These privileges are provided with the hope that 
 you will use them. Then get 
 
 Ready ! ! 
 and decide to visit the tent; makp the acquaintance 
 of the men in charge, who will 
 Aim ! ! ! 
 to serve you in every way possible. So when you 
 can lay aside your 
 
 Fire ! ! ! ! 
 -arms for a brief time, make yourself ^t home in the As- 
 sociation tent. 
 
 We Will Expect You ! " 
 
 Hugh's letters give an interesting insight into 
 
 164 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 this work ; which is prefaced by an entry in his 
 small diary for July 17, " By my Father's help." 
 
 "Lewistown, Pa., Saturday^ July 18, 1896. 
 " My dearest Mother : 
 
 ' ' Here it goes for the first letter written in 
 the Y. M. C. A. tent. My hands are very dirty from 
 unpacking paper, etc., as the condition of this will 
 bear me out. I guess I had better make haste in my 
 writing for I fear we'll be rather busy and my time is 
 not my own." 
 
 to a friend: 
 
 "Lewistown, Pa., Sunday, July 19, 1896. 
 " Shipp has had to go home for Sunday and 
 I'm holding forth alone just at present. Our day has 
 not been one of rest by any means, held two services 
 in the tent, the first at ten o'clock and another at 
 eleven. Tent was crowded and about 200 
 men on the outside. I'm staying over in the town, 
 with a two-mile walk, between me and bed at the 
 close of the night's work, so this boy is generally 
 weary by the time he reaches his home. The men 
 come up every now and then to talk with me. Be 
 much in prayer for our little work here ; the men 
 seem to appreciate so much the little things we do 
 for them. May God help us to help them for more 
 than these little kindnesses that so soon fade from 
 memory." 
 
 to the same friend: 
 
 "July 2ist, 1896. 
 " My time has been very freely occupied. Mr. Shipp 
 has not been able to return on account of sickness, 
 165 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 So I have had my hands full. I am located over 
 in town with an old Beta; being entertained at his 
 home is very different from hunting up boarding- 
 houses and meals. Seems as though Our Father was 
 wonderfully kind to me in these little things as well 
 as in the greater ones. I have bad to speak every 
 evening and from present indications will have to 
 continue. God has been with me and we have had 
 large crowds in spite of bad weather. Sunday night 
 I was very mucli moved to see the hard old cases 
 touched by the old, old story, nothing that I said of 
 myself, simply what was given nie at the last mo- 
 ment, for I changed the subject of my little talk as 
 we were singing the hymn just before I was to speak. 
 God convicted a number of sin and though I gave no 
 invitation that could be accepted and indicated to us, 
 men came up after the meeting to talk with us. Some 
 to arrange to have a talk the next day, &c. I pray 
 that many of these dear fellows may give their hearts 
 to Christ during the encampment. We look for a 
 great blessing this eve and God is willing, so that 
 if we fail to receive, there must be the 'asking amiss' 
 or that the life is wrong. You know I am very 
 weak, very wicked, and I am sure your prayers will 
 be answered some day. Perhaps I am not going to 
 stay very long, that soon ' I shall be like Him for I 
 shall See Him as He is,' for I surely have not been, 
 here below. My thoughts and life have both been kept 
 pure by His power during these days and I am sure 
 they always can be if this boy would stay close to his 
 Master's side. 
 
 "One bit of news without comment and I close. 
 
 I received a letter from Mr. Moody asking me to 
 
 come to his school at Mt. Hermon and teach the 
 
 English Bible. Please say nothing about it to any 
 
 166 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 one EXCEPT the Lord. Be much in prcver that I 
 may be guided." 
 
 Hugh wrote on the same day to his mother re- 
 garding this invitation to Mount Hermon: 
 
 " I suppose Gilbert has said something to you of 
 Mr. Moody's plan for me. He wants me to come to 
 Mount Hermon to teach English Bjble. Work to be- 
 gin this fall. . . . Please say nothing at all about 
 it outside the family. Mr. Moody gave me a very 
 warm talking to at Northfield. Wants an early 
 favorable reply. Would my little mother want her 
 boy that far away? I'll not decide until I return." 
 
 Hugh Beaver's ability to adapt himself to all 
 conditions of life and all kinds of men w^as never 
 better shown than in the way he won the hearts 
 of these soldiers. At a memorial meeting after 
 his death at the State Conveijtion of the As- 
 sociations of Pennsylvania, two delegates bore 
 these testimonies to him : 
 
 " One of the lessons I got from Hugh," said one, 
 " was at the Lewistown National Guard Encampment. 
 We worked together, and one of the things that im- 
 pressed me so much was his longing to be alone with 
 God. There wasn't any place there except the fields 
 and, I remember, up back of the headquarters there 
 was a wheat shock and Hugh would say, ' Ed, pray 
 for me. I am going up to be alone.' And I would 
 watch him until he got up by the wheat shock and he 
 would get behind it for secret pj-ayer. After he 
 167 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 would come down I was so hungry to get alone with 
 God myself that he would remain ill the tent, while I 
 would go up. I became very much attached to the 
 boy. The soldiers spoke of his life all along while 
 we were there. The ten days that we were there, his 
 life was wonderfully sweet and tender. He would 
 take a man by the arm and talk tolhim about Christ, 
 by the door of our tent or any place at all. Hugh's 
 motto was, 'All for Jesus.' " 
 
 Said another delegate, " I want to tell about Hugh 
 Beaver at the soldiers' camp. The boys in the camp 
 generally have a lot of entertainments on the grounds, 
 but when Beaver came, the tent was crowded. They 
 all went to hear him. I want to tell you one hymn he 
 taught them all to sing. He sang it every night be- 
 fore roll-call : — ' When the roll is called up yonder, 
 I'll be there,' and I know a hundjred have promised 
 me that when the roll is called up yonder they will 
 be there. I remember, one year ago to-morrow, 
 when we returned from the convention at Reading, 
 we were all in the rear end of the car. There was 
 quite a company, including Hugh Beaver, and he 
 has been a friend of mine ever sihce. He has sent 
 me a great deal of work there, keeping my work 
 moving in the slums of Philadelphia. He was al- 
 ways one of a giving nature. He helped me with my 
 supplies. Can 1 forget him? Not I. . . . I re- 
 member the hymn wc sang coming from Reading. 
 ... I tell you I haven't got through speaking of 
 my friend, Hugh Beaver." 
 
 On July, 1896, Hugh replied to Mr. Will Moody's 
 letter in behalf of his father, inviting him to 
 come *.D Mount Hermon to be associated with 
 168 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 Mr. James McConaughy in teaching the EngHsh 
 Bible. 
 
 " My DEAR Mr. Moody : 
 
 ' ' Your letter reached me during the rush of 
 work of conducting meetings at the National Guard 
 Encampment and it was not until'! it was over, after 
 prayer and thought that I could come to a decision. 
 I have been led to decide in the negative. ... I 
 honestly feel that I can make my life count for more 
 for the Master in the field in which I am working 
 than at Mt. Herraon. My experience as a teacher of 
 the training class has led me to believe that my talent 
 is not in that line. I fully believe that all things are 
 possible through Christ, yet it is He who has deter- 
 mined a diversity of gifts, and I am very sure that I 
 have not been able to regard teaching as the talent in- 
 trusted to my keeping. ... I am sure that God has 
 a much better fitted man in His plan for the place at 
 Mt. Hermon. It is and will be njy prayer that you 
 will be led to Him. . . . Please, communicate this 
 to your father and thank him in my name for the 
 call. 
 
 •• Yours trulj^, 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 The rest of the summer Hugh spent at home. 
 In the frame of the mirror in his room he stuck 
 a card with the words, " I shall pass through this 
 world but once; any good, therefore, that I can 
 do or any kindness that I can show to any human 
 being let me do it now; let rne not defer nor 
 neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." 
 
 169 
 
A Memorial of a Tfue Life 
 
 He kept one pocket for pennies which he gave to 
 small boys, especially small negro boys, for whom 
 he had a great fondness. One exploit of his 
 during this vacation was characteristic. He re- 
 turned late one night after a bicycle trip and find- 
 ing the house closed, he climbed iip the piazza and 
 through a window into Gilbert's study. He slept 
 there and in the morning wrote on a paper in a 
 scrawling hand, "Thanks for the use of your 
 sofa. Wandering Willie," and pinned this on 
 the sofa in the room and leaving the window 
 open and the door locked went off to his own 
 room where he smothered his glee with pillows 
 while the servants expressed their horror at the 
 impudence and boldness of the tramp who had 
 spent the night in such comfort.; 
 
 The autumn work began with September. 
 His diary for September 3d, reads, "C. E. Con- 
 vention, Milesburg. Phil. iii. 7-14. Help me 
 my Father to press on more earnestly. Not my 
 own." As he set out he wrote to the Office Sec- 
 retary, "1 have the big balance of eighty cents 
 in bank to my credit," and lat§r wrote, "Many 
 thanks for the check. You made a small mistake 
 in the amount. I55.20 should have been $55.60. 
 It does not matter to me just so it does not put 
 you wrong in your accounts." 
 
 A deeper peace, a freedom from mood, a 
 steadiness, an evenness, unknown before, were 
 
 170 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 coming into his Cliristian life now. On Sept. lo 
 he wrote to a friend from Lancaster: 
 
 "My prayer has been all day, ' More love to Thee, 
 O Christ, more of Thy love in me,' and it's been a 
 very sweet peace that has been flowing into the heart 
 that has had so much of self and selfishness in it. 
 He is simply a wonderful Master we serve, wonderful 
 in His love that passeth all knowledge, all under- 
 standing. May our own dear Father keep and guide 
 us all, ' all roads and all days.' " 
 
 To another he writes, " May God teach us to 
 just allow Him to help us." 
 
 Hugh gave not a little worii to the institutions 
 in Philadelphia and Pittsburg this fall. He appre- 
 ciated the great difficulties under which the Cliris- 
 tian men were laboring — indifferent faculties of- 
 ten, the temptations of city life, the want of college 
 feeling and its community sympathy. One of 
 the Pittsburg institutions would not even provide 
 a room for the meetings of the Christian students. 
 To one of them who was greatly discouraged he 
 wrote, " Do not give up the ship. It is certainly 
 the will of our Father that the. work should go 
 on," and later, " Hold fast a littte longer." 
 
 Hugh was exceedingly practical and sane in all 
 his work. He wrote to a student at one college 
 where he was to be at the opening meeting, " 1 
 expect to be present but want you to lead or your 
 leader as planned. 1 may say a few words after- 
 
 171 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 ward but think it far better to take but little 
 part." He was eager to train others to work, 
 and he never spoke except with direct reference 
 to practical result. A negro student at Lincoln 
 University wrote to him : 
 
 " It seems to me that we need to be stirred up on 
 the subject of practical Christianity, ' An everyday 
 life for Christ.' Remembering your visit to us last 
 fall, and the lasting impressions which you made 
 upon the students, I feel that if you will address us 
 upon that subject, you will help us much. . . . May 
 the Master give you a message for us, and we pray 
 that He will prepare our hearts to receive it." 
 
 He was very frank and conciliatory in his deal- 
 ing with the difficulties men* presented. He 
 wrote this note to a student at Gettysburg who 
 complained bitterly of the difficulties he thought 
 the fraternities introduced into Christian work in 
 college and who told Hugh that he wanted his 
 candid opinion on the subject, which he felt 
 Hugh had not given when on a previous visit: 
 
 "Meadville, Pa., October 6, 1896. 
 
 " My DEAR : 
 
 "Your letter at hand. Sorry you are hav- 
 ing trouble. . . . Don't antagonize the Frats. more 
 than you can help. I'll not be silent when I visit you, 
 .on the subject. Did not realize I was before. Would 
 write but I am pressed for time. God bless you and 
 His work. 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 172 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 Other institutions felt the difficulties arising 
 from tarnished lives of men calling themselves 
 Christian. One student wrote, "The great 
 problems which confront us are lack of conse- 
 cration and the inconsistency of the Christian 
 men. So possibly we would get the greatest 
 good from your visit if you spoke on this sub- 
 ject in the evening." Hugh was accustomed 
 to speak on this subject, with love for the men 
 but without mercy for the dishonor cast on 
 Christ. 
 
 On September 28 Hugh wrotq in his diary the 
 simple words, "There is liberty," The next day 
 he had a narrow escape at Haverford, where a 
 stray bullet just whizzed past his head, but 
 missed him, as he was riding in the railroad 
 train. The thought of freedorn remained with 
 him. On October 4 he wrote, '« Jesus Christ, the 
 same, yesterday and forever. There is liberty." 
 He was attending a college conference on this 
 day at Oil City, one of three district conventions 
 he attended this month where he had charge of 
 the students who came. One who heard him at 
 this conference wrote afterward, "I do not re- 
 member his words, but as he stood up there so 
 deeply moved and yet with perfect control I 
 thought it was the sweetest picture of youthful 
 devotion I had ever witnessed." His report for 
 the month closed with the sentence, "Work 
 173 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 throughout state with about five exceptions is in 
 good shape." 
 
 His first Sunday in Novembfer was spent at 
 State College. His diary, in whfch almost all the 
 days are blank or marked only by the name of 
 the place where he was, reads : 
 
 " My life, my love I give to TKee 
 Thou Lamb of God who died for me 
 Oh may I ever faithful be 
 My Saviour and my God. 
 Keep that which I have committed unto Thee, my Master. — H. M. B." 
 
 The whole month was satisfactory to him. 
 " God gave me a good trip," he wrote, and his 
 report says : 
 
 " The Association in every college visited is I be- 
 lieve in better shape and doing better work than last 
 year with the exception of State College. At Mer- 
 cersburg a number of men made a stand for Christ, 
 eighteen or twenty. The Association should now 
 have a much greater influence upon life at school. 
 The meetings during the month were marked by a 
 deep spirituality and earnestness without exception. 
 Christian men seeking first His kingdom and His 
 righteousness." 
 
 Of these meetings at MercersbUrg he wrote to his 
 mother: "Have had wonderful meetings. . . . 
 Among those who made a stand for Christ at 
 Mercersburg were some of the most influential 
 men in the college. Praise God." His diary on 
 the evening of the Mercersburg hieeting says, "I 
 174 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania" 
 
 thank Thee, my Father. Keep them by Thy 
 Power." To a friend he wrote, "Pray for the 
 men that made a start at Mercersburg." The 
 following letters he wrote back to men whom he 
 was still carrying on his heart: 
 
 " Pittsburg,, Pa., Nov. 21st. 
 " My dear C. : 
 
 "You have been much in my thoughts and 
 prayers since I left you just a week ago. Guess that 
 week has not been a very easy one if you have been 
 standing by the flag like a man. I'd like to help you, 
 old man, but I don't know how to express myself. 
 Remember that if you truly believe in Jesus Christ 
 and are doing the very best you know how, having 
 told God of your sin and asked Him for Christ's sake 
 to forgive you, you have a clean page to start out 
 with. Keep it clean, old man, and when it does get 
 splashed before you have had a chknce to think, just 
 ask Him to forgive and make it right again. He says 
 over in Isaiah xli. 13, ' For I the Lord thy God will hold 
 thy right hand saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help 
 thee.' The Person that said that has almighty 
 power. Trust Him. One thing : more — a man is 
 never downed until he gives up. Whatever happens, 
 stick to it. tray and read your sister's Bible and 
 your strength will increase. God keep you, old 
 fellow. 
 
 " Faithfully your friend, 
 
 • • Hugh Mc A. Beaver. 
 
 "Will be glad to hear from you if ycu feel like 
 writing. Philippians, 4 chap. 9th verse. Look; it 
 up." 
 
 175 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 "Pittsburg, Nov. 21st. 
 "My dear F. : 
 
 " I hardly know what to write you, but you 
 have been so much in my thoughts and prayers for 
 the last week that I feel as though I must write, not 
 for yourself alone, but because I believe you might be 
 a mighty power for good in your institution by being 
 filled with the power of God. 
 
 "Men there are in awful need of a strong, manly 
 Christian fellow. In God's hand you can be that 
 fellow and make this last year count for all eternity. 
 Sincerely ask God to increase your faith. In the 
 meantime exercise what you have now. Be earnest 
 in Prayer and Bible study, and take part in the work 
 for Christ, remembering that He is more interested in 
 it than you are. Don't give up, old man, — if you are 
 sincerely seeking light and doing your best to live up 
 to what light you do see, it will come out all right. 
 See Isa. xli. 13. God keep you and lead you each 
 day. 
 
 " Faithfully your friend, 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 "Phila., Dec. 8th. 
 " My DEAR W.: 
 
 "I have been hoping to find a little book 
 here that I wanted to send you, but it does not seem 
 to be about. I have thought and prayed very often 
 for the fellows back with you and for you that you 
 might come to truly know Jesus Christ, that your life 
 might become a mighty power for Him in Mercers- 
 burg. One thing I know, you can grow to be just 
 such a man, if you will. It lies with you whether 
 your life is to be used by God in lifting up scores of 
 poor sin-scarred lives into liberty in Christ or not. 
 176 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 As in the physical life, we only grow strong by plenty 
 of food and exercise, so in the man that lives forever. 
 By feeding on His word and working for Him, we in 
 time become strong men. God help you, old man, 
 and make you just long to be more like His Son. 
 Frankly, ' Half-way doings ain't no count ; for this 
 world or the next.' Phil. iii. 13, 14, and I am very 
 sure you'll find Phil. iv. 13 true, and I know iv. 19 
 is. If you feel like writing, let me know frankly how 
 things are going with yourself and the other fellows. 
 I fear some of them do not know where to go for 
 help, that some will desert the flag. Stand by it, old 
 man, through thick and thin. • Suffer hardship with 
 me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.' It's a fight 
 from start to finish, but thank God we can come out 
 more than conquerors. Remember that there is no 
 limit to what the Almighty God can do through you, 
 but we must always remember to whom the glory be- 
 longs. I'd be glad to hear if you feel like writing. 
 Bellefonte, Pa., my address. 
 
 "Faithfully, 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 On December 14, he wrote again to the man to 
 whom the second of these letters was addressed. 
 
 "Phila., Pa., Dec. 14th. 
 " My dear F. : 
 
 " I have been working in hard fields these 
 last two weeks among the Med. Polleges and have 
 had some wonderful proofs of the power of God in 
 seeing men turned to Him who have been deep in 
 sin. To-day I had a Jew, one of the bright men in 
 the Junior Class of one of the big Med. Colleges, 
 come to me and we had a long talk. To accept 
 
 177 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Christ would probably mean that he would be driven 
 from home, and yet I believe he will take Him as his 
 personal Saviour. Our faith grows as we use what we 
 have. God wants you to be a mighty power for Him. 
 No difference what failures you have had since I saw 
 you. Hold fast. Don't give up. If you are in ear- 
 nest, He will show you that He is the Son of God. I 
 send you a little booklet. Please read it prayerfully. 
 It has helped me wonderfully in the past. Remem- 
 ber that Bible study and prayer .are necessary for 
 Christian growth, and that you must exercise to be- 
 come strong. The State Y. M. C. A. Convention is 
 to be at Reading Feb. 18-22. Wish you could plan 
 to be there. Entertainment free. Reduced rates on 
 all R. R.'s. God help you in yotir fight. Glad to 
 hear all about the fellows, if you, feel like writing. 
 Phil. iv. 13, 19. 
 
 "Ever your friend, 
 "H. M. Beaver." 
 
 Two other prayers appear in his little diary 
 book for November. 
 
 "Nov. 19, California, Pa. My life is Thine. 
 Keep it my Father for Jesus' sak.e." 
 
 " Nov. 25, Huntingdon, Pa. 1 am Thine. Lead 
 me. Keep little Jack, (a child lying very ill) my 
 Father, and may his life be lived for Thee. For 
 Jesus' sake." 
 
 He was as thoughtful for others in act as he 
 was in prayer. One student recalls this incident: 
 
 "On one of Hugh's visits to a Penna. College, he 
 was walking along the street from the station with a 
 178 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 student when a cart passing by became fast in the 
 mud. Hugh put down his valise and taking hold of 
 the muddy wheel assisted the driver to get it started. 
 In doing this his clothes became- very much soiled 
 with the mud. Hugh with a smile picked up his 
 valise and started on. The student remonstrated with 
 him for doing this and getting his clothes muddy 
 when there was no necessity for it. Hugh said ' I 
 expect to pass through this life but once, if therefore 
 there is any kindness 1 can show ilet me do it now.' 
 This we afterward learned was a motto which he had in 
 his room or rather a part of it, which he had quoted." 
 
 Hugh's closing work for the year was done in 
 Philadelphia, at the University of Pennsylvania, 
 and the medical schools. Several letters written 
 before leaving home for Philadelphia are char- 
 acteristic : 
 
 " Bellefonte, Pa., Nov. 27, 1896. 
 ' ' Dear Frank : ' 
 
 "... I would rather not speak in Huston 
 Hall (at th^ University), but if the big guns are all 
 used up and you think it for the best we'll trust God 
 to use even the very weakest things then." 
 
 "Bellefonte, Pa., Dec. ist, 1896. 
 ' ' Dear Fencil : 
 
 "... Address meeting in Huston Hall, 
 4 o'clock Sunday, P. M. Remember it." 
 
 "Bellefonte, PA.„Dec. 3d, 1896. 
 "Dear Fencil: 
 
 ■ "Your letter with enclosed check came in 
 
 'Mr. Frank A. Beach, Secretary of the Students' Work in Philadelphia. 
 179 
 
r 
 
 A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 beautifully. Able to pay my Y. M. C. A. subscrip- 
 tion here in full for '96-97, and just when they 
 needed the money. . . . Many thanks for 2 Cor. i. 
 21, 22. Praise the Lord for that." 
 
 He spent two weeks working in the Univer- 
 sity, the Medico-Chirurgical, the« College of Phar- 
 macy, Hahnemann, Jefferson Medical, the Penn- 
 sylvania Dental, and the Pierce School of Busi- 
 ness. At almost all of thesfe he spoke on 
 "Purity." The notes in his diary for Sunday, 
 Dec. 6, are "2 Tim. ii. 3, 4. 'Julian Legion.' 
 Dutch. Loyd. (Lawyer R. W. W.). Crosswait. 
 ' Toby.' " That was his speech outline. His re- 
 port for the month says: "Meetings were in 
 most cases well attended, but held under difficult 
 circumstances, often in a lectur'e room. A num- 
 ber of men rose to express their need of Christ 
 and their determination to become His followers. 
 Notably at College of Pharmacy,»where about ten 
 men rose to accept Christ and twelve requested 
 prayer. From personal interviews I am sure that 
 the converting power of the Spirit of God was 
 manifested and His keeping power will be more 
 fully known in the lives of the men." His diary 
 record for the evening of the meeting at the Col- 
 lege of Pharmacy is "1 thank Thee, my Father." 
 
 One of Hugh's closest friends says regarding 
 these meetings in Philadelphia: 
 
 180 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 " A medical student told me there were men at the 
 University who would go to hear Hugh who never 
 went inside a religious meeting, that he was the 
 University's favorite speaker. He spent much time 
 in prayer before these meetings, fpr often he entered 
 the room with the students in a perfect uproar and he 
 said if it had not been that he looked entirely to the 
 Lord to speak through him he could never have faced 
 those men — he always made a point of bowing his 
 head in silent prayer before addressing them in hopes 
 that they would realize to whom he looked and to ask 
 the Lord for strength. Several times the most noisy 
 leaders were the men most deeply touched. One 
 man especially whom Hugh felt cotild not be reached 
 — before the meeting was over, large tears were glis- 
 tening in his eyes and he was one of the first to rise 
 and confess his indifference and desire to change his 
 life. Hugh told me these experiences because he 
 knew I understood his utter helf)lessness and de- 
 pendence upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit for 
 power. He would so often say, ' I can tell thee all 
 this for thee knows it is not I but Christ working 
 through a very weak and small member.' His prep- 
 aration before a meeting was shutting himself up 
 alone with his Master, reading His Word and talking 
 to Him. Many times he had decicjed to use a certain 
 text for his meeting and perhaps as he rose to his 
 feet or during the singing of a hymn an entirely 
 different thought or text would be given to him in 
 such a way that he knew the Lord wished him to 
 speak from it." 
 
 The Friend's manner of speech Hugh learned 
 from one with whom he had grown up from 
 childhood, and he used it constantly with his 
 181 
 
A Memorial of a Tfue Life 
 
 mother and with some of those whom he came 
 to know best. 
 
 Several of his letters regarding these Philadel- 
 phia meetings are worth quoting: 
 
 "Philadelphia, Dec. II, 1896. 
 " Dear Fencil : 
 
 "... Have had several men rise to ac- 
 cept Christ and many requests for prayer, and that 
 in a Medical College shows the power of God. I 
 have not made it easy. If the men are not enough 
 in earnest to stand before their fellows, they are not 
 in shape to call upon Him to be their Friend. Re- 
 member my meetings in your prayers. There is so 
 much to work against here which nothing short of the 
 power of the Almighty God can overcome. All glory 
 to Him. ... I pray that men may see their lives as 
 God sees them. He has been breaking them down 
 and I am sure will lead them to perfect peace in 
 Christ Jesus. . . . 
 
 "Faithfully, 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 "Bellefonte, Pa., Dec. 22, 1896. 
 " Dear Frank : 
 
 "I have often thought of you and the fel- 
 lows in Philadelphia who made a start. Thinking of 
 meant praying for and I send you Phil. iv. 19, as one 
 thing I'm sure of. I missed the personal interviews 
 with men so much while in Philadelphia and since 
 coming home it has seemed harder than ever to do 
 work without that feature. May God wonderfully 
 bless you and the fellows you touch in that way. 
 When you write of a man, tell me fti a few words the 
 182 
 
Among the Students of Pennsylvania 
 
 circumstances or in what way I could or should know 
 him." 
 
 The last correspondence of the year was with 
 a friend whom Hugh called "Jacob" and to 
 whom Hugh was "Esau," in which Jacob 
 was invited to come to Belief ont« for a visit and 
 replied : 
 
 " Don't you say a word about^ my bunking else- 
 where than with you. I want to be in your presence, 
 awake or asleep, just as long as I can, and I'll try to 
 make our time together just as poetic as possible — 
 {Lowell a specialty^." 
 
 Hugh had been more or less under the physi- 
 cian's care. Carrying both his' Christian work 
 and the burden of rebuilding the; fraternity house 
 he wrote at one time, "My health will surely 
 give way under this strain if it continues much 
 longer." At the close of the year he wanted a 
 month for rest but there was to be no rest for 
 him. The night was coming when he could not 
 work any more. With new zeal he set about 
 doing the will of the Father who had sent him, 
 while it was day. 
 
 183 
 
VII 
 
 LAST MONTHS OF WORK IN PfeNNSYLVANIA 
 
 " O just and faithful knight of God I 
 
 Ride on ! the prize is near ; 
 So pass 1 hostel, hall and grange ; 
 
 By bridge and ford, by park and pale, 
 All arm'd 1 ride, whate'er betide; 
 
 Until I find the Holy Grail. "-^Tennyson, Str Galahad. 
 
 "One a. m., Jan. ist, 1897. Heb. ii. 18. Rescue. 
 
 " ' My life, my love I give to Thee 
 
 Thou Lamb of God who died for me : 
 O may I ever faithful be 
 My Saviour and my God.' 
 
 Keep that which I have committed unto Thee, 
 my Master." 
 
 These are the words written -at the top of the 
 first page of Hugh Beaver's diary for 1897, the 
 last year of his short life. The next entry is on 
 Jan, 3, Sunday, indicating that he spoke at the 
 Y. M. C. A., in Belief onte, that day, on " Choose 
 ye this day whom ye will serve." He took an 
 active part in the meetings of the Week of Prayer 
 with which the year began in his own home 
 church. One of his closest friends recalls these 
 meetings: 
 
 " In looking back it seems like a week of perfect 
 peace and happiness for Hugh. He seemed over- 
 
 184 
 
Last Months of Work in 'Pennsylvania 
 
 flowing. The evening he conducted the services the 
 chapel was filled and many were present simply to 
 hear him. This was all secondary in his mind for 
 he felt that night that the Lord had not used him 
 as he had hoped." 
 
 Hugh was solicitous about the men who had 
 been drawn toward Christ in the meetings in 
 Philadelphia and the following .letter was in re- 
 sponse to his inquiries: 
 
 "Philadelphia, Jan. i8, '97. 
 "My DEAR Hugh: 
 
 "... Have been unable thus far to see — , 
 the Jew; you remember he had a. long conversation 
 with you at Medico Chirurgical, I called one even- 
 ing last week on the man who played the piano at 
 the Pharmacy (sitting in front of all the fellows and 
 rose) : he was a backslider but has come out defi- 
 nitely and clearly for the Lord. He is getting in 
 Bible study daily after ten o'clock when he finishes 
 his work and is becoming deeply iiiterested in a non- 
 Christian classmate who has been leading a very wild 
 life. This friend of his, upon whom I have called 
 without finding him in, said that he wanted to rise in 
 
 your meeting but had not courage. . . . Mr. R , 
 
 the Catholic, who I think sat on the front row at 
 Pharmacy, wearing glasses and rather tall, is leading 
 a moral life but not as trustful as might be I fear ; 
 have had no opportunity to converse with him alone. 
 ... I pray for you daily, Hugh, and know you re- 
 member the work and the poor stick down here who 
 is at the head of it. 
 
 "As ever, yours, 
 
 "Frank A. Beach." 
 185 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 "Bellefonte, Pa., January 22, 1897. 
 "My DEAR Frank: 
 
 "Many thanks for your kind letter, old 
 man. ' May the God of Peace Himself grant you 
 peace at all times and in all ways.' ... 
 "As ever, 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 A new call came to Hugh in February. The 
 first entry for the month in his diary is : 
 
 " For me to live is Christ 
 
 8 
 
 To die is endless gain." 
 
 The call was given in the foIlo"wing letter from 
 the General Secretary of the Young Men's Chris- 
 tian Associations of New Yorli City: 
 
 " February 15th, 1897. 
 "Dear Mr. Beaver: 
 
 "Not being aware of your address I have 
 taken the liberty of enclosing this in a letter to your 
 brother. 
 
 "Your brother will tell you of our large students' 
 work in this city, and he is someiwhat familiar with 
 its needs. 
 
 "Our present Secretary, Mr. Hunt, has resigned, 
 and we are seeking a successor. At the first meeting 
 of the Committee appointed to take the matter into 
 consideration, which was held last.Saturday evening, 
 I was instructed to communicate with you on the sub- 
 ject, to ascertain if you would favorably consider a 
 call to the work. 
 
 "I am somewhat familiar with the student field 
 throughout the country and I doubt if there is a po- 
 183 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 sition of larger usefulness in this or any other land 
 for a man whose heart is thoroughly enlisted in the 
 work, than is to be found in New York. 
 
 " We would be glad to have you Come on and look 
 over the field if you feel so-disposed, but if you would 
 prefer not to do so, we would be! glad to have your 
 permission to present your name. 
 
 " I am happy to say that you have won both the 
 confidence and affection of the members of the Com- 
 mittee who are acquainted with you, and for that 
 reason you would be assured of very hearty cooper- 
 ation. 
 
 " The Committee of Management is composed of 
 a fine set of men, and they are animated by a very 
 earnest purpose. 
 
 "I do not know of any man who would be any- 
 thing like as satisfactory as yourself, and from all 
 that I can learn as well qualified for the position. It 
 is a large field. We certainly need you, and ear- 
 nestly hope that you may be guided in relation to this 
 matter. I am, 
 
 "Very truly yours, 
 
 "R..R. McBtmNEY. 
 
 "Mr. Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 A member of the committee making the call 
 wrote the same day, "The financial inducement 
 is not great but that is of course the least of 
 the inducements. The work ig now in a very 
 promising condition for a strong advance move- 
 ment. And there is almost ho limit to the 
 amount of good the right man can accomplish in 
 the next two or three years." 
 187 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 While considering this call Hugh's work for 
 the month took him to the State Convention 
 of the Pennsylvania Young Men's Christian As- 
 sociations at Reading, Pennsylvania. On his 
 way to the convention he wrotp to an intimate 
 friend : 
 
 " Sunday morning I staid at home to rest for my 
 work of the afternoon and eve. God seemed to 
 bless the little that I did for Him and it made me 
 much more peaceful to be at His work. I go to the 
 Convention expecting great things. Every indication 
 seems to point to a most helpful time. Personally I 
 feel that it's to be a crisis with me.- I certainly can- 
 not be as I have been, one who seemingly at least, 
 cares little for the honor of his King. Pray that 
 God's plan may be entirely carriftd out in my life. 
 For some reason the New York work does not appear 
 so distasteful as at first. My only prayer is ' What 
 wouldest Thou have me do ? ' Surely our Father will 
 make very clear to us His plan and give us what help 
 we need to carry it out. ... I confess that many, 
 many times I have gone into what I felt sure grieved 
 Him but I am sure He has already 'washed me 
 whiter than snow.' " 
 
 One hundred and thirty-five students were 
 present at the convention. Hugh had charge of 
 the college conference, the conference with nor- 
 mal school delegates, and another with repre- 
 sentatives of all the associations which were to 
 be visited the next month on a tour he was plan- 
 ning to take with Mr. Charles T. .Studd. He was 
 isa 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 called upon to speak constantly. Thus he wrote 
 on the last day of the conventiort : 
 
 "I am writing this on my knee in great haste. 
 Have been simply rushed all week.. Have had four 
 services already to-day and speak in First Presby- 
 terian Church and in Farewell Meeting this evening. 
 Be much in prayer, please, that He may guide. I am 
 very tired and would like to lie down." 
 
 Hugh says little of these meetings, but he 
 made a profound impression upon the delegates 
 and the people of the city. When the news of 
 his death reached the city six months later it 
 called forth such expressions as these: 
 
 "The name of your now sainted son Hugh is on 
 the lips of thousands of people of our city this morn- 
 ing. His artless sincerity won the- hearts of parents, 
 many of whom to-day hold him up as a model to 
 their sons." 
 
 " The news of his death came as a shock to all. 
 Many on the street spoke of it in tones of sadness, 
 and all realized that a life full of exceeding rare 
 promise had passed away. Personally, when I first 
 heard of it, I could scarcely refrain from tears; it 
 actually seemed that a very dear kinsman of mine had 
 gone ; and with such talents as he possessed I honestly 
 felt that surely I could be better spared than he." 
 
 The "Monthly Bulletin" of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association of the city of Reading 
 spoke thus of his death and th*e impression he 
 had left: 
 
 189 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 " The saddest and yet the most precious death 
 in all our knowledge was that of Hugh McAllister 
 Beaver, who died on the morning of August 2d at 
 the home of his parents in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, 
 aged twenty-four years and four rnonths. Saddest, 
 because of the lovely life that was cut off; precious, 
 because of the sweet memories left behind. 
 
 "Our citizens well remember 'Hugh,' who, with 
 his father, General Beaver, and brjjther Gilbert were 
 with us at the State Convention held in our city last 
 February. 
 
 "Hugh had a personality and* magnetism for a 
 young man that were remarkable : his intense enthu- 
 siasm, his whole-hearted simplicity, his manly mod- 
 esty, together with a naturalness of* manner that was 
 exceedingly attractive, won every. one to him. To 
 hear him speak was to be consciously drawn to him ; 
 to know him was to love hira. He was greatly used 
 of God and created an atmosphere of sunshine and 
 light wherever he went." 
 
 Another wrote: 
 
 " I was so much impressed last February by Hugh's 
 fine qualities. ... I am reminded now of a short 
 talk I had with him while we were walking.. I asked 
 hira what he was going to do, whether he would study 
 for the ministry, or what. He said simply, 'I am in 
 the hands of the Lord.' I felt hke pressing him for 
 a more definite reply. But he made none, and now 
 I see how he was in the hands of the Lord and how 
 any plan that he might have had; would have been 
 negatived. For He who doeth all things well had 
 other and better plans." 
 
 How Hugh won hearts is shown by this letter 
 
 390 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 to him from a schoolboy who was at the con- 
 vention: 
 
 " I don't know whether you will remember who I 
 am or not, but you made such ah impression on me 
 that our folks have heard nothing except Hugh Beaver. 
 . . . When we said good-bye on Sunday night I felt 
 as though we were old acquaintances, as I hope we 
 may turn out to be, even if I am only a high school 
 boy, and if this boy can be of any assistance to you, 
 when he is through his education, in bringing souls 
 to Christ, I will be at your service. In fact, you are 
 my model." 
 
 Reference has been made already to the trip 
 Hugh contemplated with Mr. Charles T. Studd 
 through the leading colleges of the state. Mr. 
 Studd was a graduate of Cambridge University 
 in the year 1884. He was one of the company 
 popularly known as the Cambridge Band who 
 went out to China in 1885 unde? the China Inland 
 Mission. He had been a famous cricketer and 
 before leaving Great Britain had been of great 
 service in connection with Mr. Stanley Smith, 
 another member of the Band, a prominent oars- 
 man at Cambridge, in deepening the Christian 
 life of students and others in Scotland and Eng- 
 land, and in promoting genuine revivals of per- 
 sonal loyalty to Christ in many universities. In 
 Edinburgh University especially a permanent 
 movement began which was carried on by Pro- 
 
 191 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 fessor Henry Drummond when Studd and Smith 
 had gone. The book known asi The Evangeltia- 
 tion of the World or A Mission'ary Band ' is the 
 record of the work done by the Cambridge Band 
 before leaving home and on the way to China. 
 Mr. Studd had been in the United States before 
 at some of the summer conferences, but he was 
 spending some months this year visiting indi- 
 vidual institutions and urging Christian men to 
 make full surrender of life to Christ as the Lord 
 of life and to be ready for any krvice He might 
 appoint. He did not pretend to speak eloquently 
 nor was it so much a part of his plan to try to 
 move men in public meetings. He gave himself 
 with unwearying devotion to personal interviews 
 with men in which he strove to lead them one 
 by one, into the life that has at once a Master and 
 a Mission. 
 
 He gave the month of March to Pennsylvania 
 and Hugh went with him, conducting the meet- 
 ings, making arrangements for them and sharing 
 in the direct personal work with men who were 
 willing to think of being as honest and honor- 
 able with God as they held it was the duty of a 
 gentleman to be with man. Hugh's report says: 
 
 "The meetings have been well attended and have 
 been wonderfully blessed by God. They have aimed 
 to lead men into a deeper spiritual life. A number 
 
 * Fleming H. Revell Company. 
 192 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 of men have been led to give their lives for service 
 on the foreign field. Northfield and the Presidents' 
 Conference at Lancaster have befen boomed where 
 possible. Mr. Studd's work cannot fail to have a 
 most marked effect on the work in the colleges 
 visited." 
 
 Mr. Studd enjoyed this tour greatly. He wrote 
 to Hugh especially of some meetings at JVlead- 
 ville, adding, "When you get among real hot 
 Methodists they are just prime,, but when they 
 are cold they are harder to move' than any." 
 
 Mr. Studd had been overworking, however, 
 and could not be dissuaded from disregard of 
 himself in his longing to help others. Thus 
 Hugh wrote from Bellefonte to his mother who 
 was away on March 13: 
 
 " Mr. Studd and I are enjoying to the full our time 
 spent here. In some way he has =taken a bad cold 
 and we are getting ready for our work of next week. 
 ... I am in good shape. Cold is gone and people 
 say I look very well, so haye no anxiety. . . . We 
 drive to the college to-morrow and back to speak to 
 our church in the evening. Studd will not give up 
 either the college or the evening service here, so I 
 simply fall in with his plan." 
 
 But that plan was not carried QUt: 
 
 "Bellefonte, Pa., Inarch 15, 1897. 
 
 " MV DEAR FenCIL, 
 
 "... Studd's work in China has left hira 
 with bad lungs, etc., and he has been laid up here. 
 193 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 1 was up with him last night, but he has improved 
 wonderfully to-day and we look for a good night. 
 The doctor insists upon his remaining here until Fri- 
 day. . . . Studd did splendid work in the three 
 institutions visited and I believe he; will be a wonder- 
 ful blessing to the rest. ... I'm having a hard time 
 to keep the bull dog nature of the Englishman under, 
 though just now he is so weak he can scarcely sit up. 
 Please keep it quiet as he does not want any one to 
 know about it. 
 
 "Faithfully 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 The nature with which Hugh wrestled is indi- 
 cated in this characteristic letter in which "the 
 Englishman " expresses regret tor not having 
 carried out the plans which had been made : 
 
 "Rutgers College, 19 April, 1897. 
 ' ' My dear Hugh : 
 
 " I got orders to go to Alexandria at 40 E. 
 23 St. on Sat. & now have just recjd yr telegram. I 
 go this morn'g, getting there i^ of 5 p. m. Had a 
 ' rum go ' , here ; arrived with a heavy cold & 
 asthma, but went to the meetings all the same ; it 
 seemed impossible yesterday morti'g. I didn't get 
 up till past noon ; but He told me He w'd see me 
 thro' & so He did, bless His Naipe. So here I am, 
 and this morning, a lot better than yesterday morn- 
 ing, and more than ever knowing of His love and 
 Goodness and Power : it comes as it came yesterday 
 and day before, so sweetly, ' To them that have no 
 might He increaseth strength.' Oh, to trust Him 
 more and more & to rejoice when one's own physical 
 194 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 strength fails that one may rest in utter abandonment 
 on His almighty power. 
 
 " Keep right on praying for me fho' won't you ? 
 
 ' ' 1 hope you had a real good wind up to the State 
 Sec. Coll. Convention. 
 
 "I have always so bitterly regretted not having got 
 up and gone to State Coll. that Sunday at Bellefonte. 
 I do believe Jesus co'd have seen nie thro' that as He 
 has seen me thro' this; but you see I stayed in, and 
 the result is that I have never been allowed to go 
 there again ; nor have I got to Lehigh either; so I've 
 lost two good opportunities, & Gqd only knows how 
 many souls thro' my cowardice. Euh ! to be sure one 
 is made of poor stuff. 
 
 "Well, old man, I do hope you will have a few 
 quiet or nearly quiet days of Rest and Rest and 
 Prayer. I do so want to know more of HIM ; I know 
 Bo little ; so just keep praying, and I will pray that 
 He may endue you with more and more of His 
 mighty power for the New York work. Somehow I 
 think the Lord does not mean that to be permanent for 
 you, but only as a stepping stone to something higher. 
 
 '• I saw Hunt ; he was ever so kind, as he always 
 is ; he does such a lot and then swears he has done 
 nothing, tho' I must have botheredhis life out. 
 
 "Now good-bye dear old Hugh. I can never 
 thank you eno' for all your love and kindness to me. 
 I shall hope to meet you again at Asheville, God will- 
 ing, & shall expect to see you have grown quite a 
 deal older, but also not less bright. Let's ask Him 
 to make us shine for Him. 
 "Now good-bye, 
 
 " All of heart's love;^. 
 
 " Ever your very affectionate, 
 
 ".C. T. Studd." 
 195 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Toward the close of March when Hugh and 
 Studd had separated Hugh wrote to him added 
 words of caution: 
 
 "Bellefonte, Pa., March 29th, 1897. 
 * ' My dear Parson : 
 
 "Just finished reading my mail and make 
 haste to write you. I enclose Brock's letter also 
 Gailey's wire. To my mind the 29th would be by 
 far the best date and I'll arrange for Lafayette and 
 Lehigh immediately after. 
 
 " As your advance agent I take matters in my own 
 hands and will write Gailey telling him the 29th will 
 be the date and also inform Brockj Inasmuch as he 
 says the 8th could be arranged for Princeton, there 
 must be no dates fixed as yet for Va. Motlier in- 
 sists upon your coming up here for a few days' rest 
 after Lewisburg, and tliis boy believes fully that his 
 mother is just right in that. You lyould put in a day 
 at State College at the same time, say Thursday, but 
 we'll have a chance to talk that over in Lancaster. 
 A letter just received from Meadville gives name of 
 the student who has done humanity such a favor in 
 taking you to a Phot. Gallery, E. C. Smith, Mead- 
 ville, Pa. Please put on your company manners and 
 write thanking him for ones sent you, etc. I would 
 also commend to your careful consideration the latter 
 part of the letter written by Mr. F. S. Brockman. 
 By virtue of the authority conferred upon me, I com- 
 mand you to ease up. Please Parson do take care of 
 yourself. May our Father keep you and yours in 
 perfect peace. 
 
 "Faithfully, 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 196 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 Hugh speaks of the same matter in another 
 letter, to his friend, Brockman, who was arrang- 
 ing a tour for Mr. Studd in the South : 
 
 "He can just as well come up here for a rest, for 
 mother would make him feel at home. He has met 
 her and I think would feel at home : the only thing 
 in the way being the dislike on his part to leave a day 
 go by without hard work. He needs the rest. Can- 
 not you write him or wire him telling him to rest in 
 Bellefonte a few days and fix his Yirginia dates so as 
 to make this possible ? ' ' 
 
 Hugh was ever doing thoughtful things of this 
 sort. In a letter written to an old college friend 
 this spring, who had asked him to do some favor 
 and had apologized for troubling him, he wrote: 
 
 " Bless your dear old heart, don't ever worry about 
 giving a Beaver trouble. We are oiily too glad to do 
 whatever we can. I'll urge my fr'iend McKinley to 
 send you to the Court of St. Janjes if you want it. 
 George, Colonel, but you would captivate John 
 Bull ! " 
 
 Studd accepted these warm invitations couched 
 in a later letter in the form of orders from his 
 "advance agent," and coupled with the prayer 
 that "God would keep him quiet at Bellefonte 
 for a few days." Writing as he left Bellefonte 
 he closed his note to Hugh: "How lovely this 
 district must be to travel through when the rho- 
 
 197 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 dodendrons are flowering. Th^se hills are good 
 for one's wind. . . . Hope everything is going 
 on well with you. Growing a little older I hope. 
 God bless you old boy: being at Bellefonte again 
 reminded me of how lovingly you nursed me, 
 there. Good-bye. God bless you and make you 
 a blessing to millions." And Mr. Studd remem- 
 bers still his tenderness now that he is gone, 
 writing from England : 
 
 "To those he has left behind it is one of those 
 partings which make us long to be gone fron> this 
 earth also. He was so ripe — God could not spare 
 him longer. How he got at the hearts of the students 
 — old and young ones ! He seemed to twine himself 
 round one's heart. He was indeed to me a brother 
 — a brother and beloved. I can never forget how 
 tenderly he nursed me, when I was ill at Bellefonte. 
 He was gentle as a woman and loving as a Jonathan 
 and so bright, and oh ! how I missed him, when I 
 left Penn'a. It was so lonely for days afterward 
 without his merry laugh and spirits which .never 
 seemed to becloud the deep love he had for our be- 
 loved Lord Jesus. He was just all heart— a big lump 
 of love ; and oh the joy it was — as I had thought 
 never to meet him more on this eajth — to meet again 
 at Northfield. . . . 
 
 " How nice it will be to see hfs beaming face at 
 the portal to welcome us in by and? by ! " 
 
 Hugh gained much from his intercourse with 
 Studd in the deepening and steadying of his 
 198 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 growing life and during the month they were to- 
 gether he decided the question of'his work for the 
 year that was never to come to him. After the 
 letter already quoted Mr. McBurney had written 
 again : 
 
 " February 26th, 1897. 
 " Dear Mr. Beaver : 
 
 " In relation to the Secretaryship of the In- 
 tercollegiate students' work in New York, I desire to 
 say: 
 
 "First, The largest student cejitre on this conti- 
 nent is in New York, and is composed of students 
 from all sections of our own land, and from many other 
 lands. To reach with spiritual influences the student 
 settlement in New York is to touch, the world. 
 
 " Second, The work has the sympathy of the cler- 
 gymen, yes, of all classes. 
 
 "Third, Organization has already been effected 
 in the various universities, colleges and technical 
 schools. These organizations, however, are but in 
 their infancy, and are capable of very large expan- 
 sion. 
 
 "Fourth, Some progress has been made in spiritual 
 work, in practical Bible study, and devotional 
 work. 
 
 " Fifth, All the local organizations are represented 
 in the Intercollegiate, with headquarters at what is 
 called the 'Students' Club,' and from this club there 
 radiate out into the local organizations awakening 
 and stimulating influences. 
 
 " I do not know that I need to add anything more 
 except that the Sub-committee haVe unanimously in- 
 structed me to ask if you will consent to allow your 
 199 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 name to be placed before the Committee of Manage- 
 ment of the Intercollegiate for appointment as Secre- 
 tary of the work. 
 
 " An early and favorable reply will be very heartily 
 appreciated by us. 
 
 •'Very truly yours, 
 
 "R. R. McBuRNEY. 
 " Mr. Hugh McA. Beaver, 
 
 "Bellefonte, Pa." 
 
 Several of Hugh's letters will show how his 
 mind was working toward a decision: 
 
 "March 4th, 1897. 
 " My dear Mr. Bard : 
 
 "I have been thinking a good deal on the 
 big question that is before me now, and as yet am 
 undecided. I certainly appreciate the action of the 
 Business Committee, and should I have to leave the 
 college work in this good old state, it will be at the 
 sacrifice of my personal feeling, and only because 
 the Master would have me elsewhere. The longer I 
 think of it, the harder it seems to leave, especially as 
 I work up our Pres. Conference and Northfield, both 
 of which I believe will exceed anything we have ever 
 had. My life is not my own, however, — that was de- 
 cided when I took up my present work ; and should 
 the Lord of the Harvest send me to another portion 
 of the field, it will not be, I am sure, at the expense 
 of one part, needy as it may seem. On the other 
 hand, it will be at the expense of our work if I should 
 remain here, when He would havf me elsewhere. I 
 fully expect Him to make His wilUknown, and noth- 
 ing else will move me. I thank you from the bottom 
 of my heart for your kind letter and your many, many 
 200 
 
Last Months of Work in 'Pennsylvania 
 
 kindnesses in the past. Whatever happens, my heart 
 will always be very warm toward our State Force and 
 work, and it will be often remembered in my prayers. 
 "Faithfully, 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 to a friend. 
 
 "Washington, Pa,, Mar. 4, 1897. 
 "One question comes continually before me and 
 seems harder than ever to decide. The business com- 
 mittee met yesterday in Harrisbufg and Bard writes 
 me as follows after telling me that they had unani- 
 mously voted to raise my salary to ^100 a month 
 (decided before call to New York carae). ' They 
 also expressed their heartiest appreciation of your 
 work. All think it would be a great calamity for us 
 to lose you. Believe me my dear boy, we cannot al- 
 low you to leave us. May God bless you.' Then 
 McBurney writes that I must come to New York. In- 
 deed it is a blessed thing that One far wiser than any 
 human being has the decision to make, the life to 
 place. I firmly believe that by the time I reach 
 Bellefonte one week from to-morrow He will have 
 made clear just what His will is. Remember me 
 often in prayer, that I may be guided. May our 
 Father keep thee." 
 
 TO THE SAME FRIEND. 
 
 " Washington, Pa„ Mar. 7, 1897. 
 "I have just come home from church. Studd has 
 been a source of great joy to me and we seem to get 
 along splendidly. His life is simply lived for Christ. 
 No other idea seems to carry ahy other weight. 
 ' That I may know Him and the power of His resur- 
 201 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 rection and the fellowship of His\sufferings becom- 
 ing conformed into His death ' ; if by any means I 
 may attain unto the resurrection frdrti the dead, some 
 fellowship in the suffering of Christ and Paul in a 
 land where they have never heard of Him. I have 
 told him fully of my condition now in regard to New 
 York and we have made it a subject of prayer. 
 Surely the Father will make unmistakably clear just 
 what He would have me to do. Since dinner I have 
 had a wonderful time. Christ has been with me so 
 manifestly. Studd talked very freely of his life this 
 afternoon and through it I think I am nearer Him 
 than ever before. We are to go to the Second Pres- 
 byterian for the service to-night. May God use it to 
 His own glory. More and more*, sure I am that if 
 God wants me in New York He will lead me to see it 
 clearly. May He lead you into sweeter peace and 
 fellowship with Him than has ever been yours." 
 
 The question of salary having been suggested 
 he wrote, " I should feel the need of a sufficient 
 income (short of l4,ooo to avoid income tax!) to 
 let me feel free to expend something in the many 
 little personal ways that would help me to get 
 hold of the men interested or whom I would like 
 to get interested in the work." Writing on the 
 same subject on March 6th, he added: 
 
 " Do not consider this letter, even though you 
 should agree to all that has been said, as expressing a 
 willingness on roy part to be considered willing to 
 .•.ccept the call should you see fit to make it. Cer- 
 .ainly I dare not go to New York as an ambassador 
 202 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 of tlie King without the assurance from Him that it 
 is His will for me. Poor policy to expect that the 
 power of the home government will be behind you 
 and be uncertain as to whether you are in accord 
 with it." 
 
 A coincidence in his life at this time impressed 
 him very much. During one of his tours he went 
 to a prayer meeting in a small church rather re- 
 luctantly for he was tired and needed rest but, 
 hardly Icnowing why, he found himself in this 
 meeting. The pastor arose and^gave out for his 
 text Acts viii. 26, "Arise and go toward the 
 south, . . . and he arose and went." "Hugh's 
 mind being filled with the proposition to leave 
 Pennsylvania and go to New York and this same 
 text having helped to decide his entering upon 
 the work, he was made to feel that the Lord was 
 speaking to him." 
 
 On March 13th Hugh was formally called by 
 the committee having the work in charge. Some 
 urged it upon him because he was the indispen- 
 sable man. " There is no other available man," 
 wrote one. "Not only that but there is danger if 
 you don't take it, that we may get here what there 
 is no likelihood of your getting in Pennsylvania 
 a man who will run the thirig into a hole." 
 Hugh knew how lightly to appraise such ar- 
 guments and he went on quietly seeking his 
 Master's will, and on March i8th he wrote: 
 803 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 "My dear Mr. McBurney : 
 
 " After much prayer I have flecided to accept 
 the call to New York, and have so written Mr. Dor- 
 man. The field will be very unlike my present one, 
 and I'll rely a good deal upon the judgment of those 
 who more thoroughly understand it and its needs. 
 All I can promise is that I'll rfo my best in His 
 strength. 
 
 " Faithfully, 
 
 " Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 This decision gave great delight to all who 
 were connected with the Students' Club and the 
 work in behalf of students in New Yorlc City. It 
 brought deep sorrow to those who had charge of 
 the woric for students in Pennsylvania, though 
 they accepted it at once, knowitjg that Hugh had 
 followed his Master in what he'believed was the 
 way of his mission. He put the matter as fol- 
 lows to the committee in Penrlsylvania : 
 
 " My dear Mr. Bard : 
 
 " The matter of a change of field has been 
 decided after much prayer. I am led to believe that 
 the Master would have me in New York next year at 
 least, and hence will give up my present position on 
 Sept. I St. 
 
 "I cannot tell you how hard it has been for me 
 to finally decide to leave this dear old state. My 
 work has been most congenial to me, and I only re- 
 gret that I could not give or have not given better 
 service. No difference what position I may occupy 
 in the future, the work of our StatS Committee will be 
 204 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 very near and dear to me. Nothing but the call of 
 the Lord of the Harvest could send me to another 
 field, and because I firmly believe that He wants me 
 elsewhere, I leave, with a heart filled with gratitude 
 to Him, who gave me this opportunity to labor for 
 Him in my home state. I am sure the Master has a 
 man reserved for the work I leave. May He lead you to 
 him. It's useless for me to try to express my grati- 
 tude to you and the committee and force; believe 
 me, I feel it. 
 
 " Faithfully, 
 
 "Hugh kcA. Beaver." 
 
 Hugh made several visits to New York during 
 the spring to get the work in hand before the 
 students went away for the sumrner, and in April 
 a reception was held for him at the house of Mr. 
 James G. Cannon, Vice-president of the Fourth 
 National Bank of New York City, and a warm 
 friend of the students' work. 
 
 The student field in New York City is of im- 
 measurable importance.^ Hugh seemed ideally 
 
 * Mr. Henry W. Georgi, the present secretary of the Students' Club, who 
 took Hugh's place in this work, supplies this statement of the work of the 
 students' movement in the city : 
 
 "The Students' Club is the Intercollegiate branch of the New York City 
 Young Men's Christian Association. It grew out: of a movement started by 
 Professor Henry Drummond after a series of addresses to students, more 
 than ten years ago. Mass meetings and Bible classes were conducted and 
 finally a house on Lexington Avenue was rented as a headquarters for 
 social and religious work. Prominent Christian men and women were 
 identified with the enterprise from its inception, and through their con- 
 tinued coSperation^ succeeding generations of students have been encouraged 
 and enabled to maintain and develop the work. 
 
 "The present headquarters of the enlariged work is at 129 Lexington 
 Avenue, where are commodious and attractive parlors, a reading-room and 
 library, dormitory accommodations for eighteen or twenty representative 
 students and an eating club. This Christian clubhouse is the religious, 
 social and business centre of the Intercollegiate work which within the past 
 
 205 
 
A Memorial of a Ti^e Life 
 
 fitted for this great opportunity. Refined, genial, 
 affectionate, magnetic, overflowing with con- 
 fidence and joy and compelling the love and trust 
 of men, keen and well balanced in his business 
 instincts, adaptive to any class: of men, of the 
 most simple, sweet and outspoken faith, with a 
 deep spiritual life, deepening daily, experienced 
 in personal work and in handling men, a Christian 
 and a gentleman — it seemed that until he was called 
 to some yet larger field this was the place for him 
 and he was the man for this place. After he had 
 accepted it he received a letter from the ** Parson " 
 saying, "It will be hard leaving the work in 
 Pennsylvania, but the Lord will make you more 
 fruitful in the new place though ^He may not give 
 you to see so much fruit at the time, and then 
 
 five years has spread even into the prominent professional colleges of the 
 city. Here during the week the influence is that of a Christian home. On 
 Sunday afternoons students from all parts of the city gather in the parlors 
 to listen to an address by some prominent professional man. This is fol- 
 lowed by an informal tea furnished by the members of the Ladies' Advisory 
 Board. 
 
 ^Mn nine institutions of learning well organized associations are carrying 
 on systematic Christian work. The result is thaj not only has the general 
 moral tone of these colleges been elevated and young men away from home 
 influences been restrained from giving way to the pressure of city tempta- 
 tions, but positive growth has characterized the lives of Christian men and 
 marked changes the lives of others. The faculties in most of the institutions 
 have granted rooms to the Associations in the colfege buildings for their ex- 
 clusive use. These, with the central clubhouse, lend permanence and 
 dignity to the work. Thev are used for reading, study, reli^ous and social 
 meetings, etc. Among other attractions are reference libraries, musical in- 
 struments and comfortable furniture. 
 
 " The strong coCperation of the city churches is received. Several in the 
 midst of student communities have very promising student Bible classes. 
 Every fall hundreds of new students are personally visited and in the name 
 of the churches and of the Students' Club receive^a welcome and an invita- 
 tion to enter into Christian associations and activities. Receptions in 
 churches to the students are not uncommon and every winter several church 
 student mass meetings are held." 
 
 206 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 perhaps it is just His stirring up the nest so you 
 should not settle down in one' place. I would 
 not be surprised if He stirs up the new nest also 
 before long and makes you build another behind 
 or between the Devil's goal posts {i. e., China)." 
 But the next nest Hugh built was not on the 
 foreign mission field : 
 
 As the marsh hen secretly builds in the sod 
 He built him his nest in the greatii^ss of God. 
 
 But he left behind him a sense of irreparable loss in 
 the hearts of those who even in the little contact 
 they had had with him in connection with his 
 anticipated work, had come to Jove him and to 
 trust him, Mr. Cannon wrote: 
 
 " I cannot tell you how attached I became to him 
 during the short time we were acquainted. I do not 
 know of any other young man who has made such an 
 impression upon me and upon Mrs. Cannon. He 
 was so enthusiastic, and yet with it all "^'d such a 
 deep spiritual character, that he could not come in 
 contact with anybody without making a deep impres- 
 sion on their minds. I wish I could show you the 
 letters I have received from all our boys in this con- 
 nection. At the reception which | tendered him last 
 spring, he met nearly all of our young men, and he 
 seems to have made and left thq impression upon 
 their minds written in indelible characters, that here 
 was one young man that lived his Christianity in every 
 word and deed." 
 
 207 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 And a leader of the work, himself a student, 
 wrote : 
 
 "Hugh's call to his heavenly home has been the 
 same terrible blow to the students-of New York City 
 that it has been to everybody. We felt in the spring 
 that God had sent him to us, but, when we had the op- 
 portunity at Northfield to work with him, we felt he 
 was raised up for our work as was Moses of old. As 
 Chairman of the Bible Study work here, it was my 
 privilege to be with him much — and oh ! how we had 
 learned to love him." 
 
 A student in the New York Gollege of Den- 
 tistry wrote : 
 
 " I can truly say the sad news (of his death) came 
 home to me as if he had really been my own brother. 
 We all loved him and no one can take his place in our 
 hearts." 
 
 It is a rare thing for men to say that they love 
 a man. But Hugh won the love of men and 
 won the expression of it. 
 
 On March 25, when Hugh first went over to 
 New York to study the new call that had come 
 to him he wrote in his diary: " Make Thy power 
 perfect in my weakness, my Father." On April 
 3, when he went again, it is written: "Through 
 the Holy Ghost," and on April 6,. while still there, 
 "Seek first, and all shall be adde'd." 
 
 After this New York visit he went to Boston to 
 
 208 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 the Conference of College Association presidents 
 of New England and New York. Of his visit 
 there, Mr. John R. Mott who had charge of the 
 Conference writes : 
 
 "I called on Hugh to make a" short talk on per- 
 sonal work. I requested him to number his points so 
 that the men could take notes, as that was the plan 
 of the Conference. Hugh said that he would try to 
 follow instructions. He started in doing so, but he 
 had not spoken one minute when he swung loose from 
 the notes he had on paper, and from following all 
 numbers and headings, in the real Hberty of the Holy 
 Spirit. Seldom have I ever heard a man who im- 
 pressed me more than Hugh Beaver did in that ten 
 minute speech as being fairly swept along by the 
 Holy Spirit with His irresistible power. Men were 
 deeply moved by his impassioned a|)peal, and I know 
 of some men whose practice has been permanently 
 changed as a result of it. I wish that I could recall 
 the illustrations which he used with reference to his 
 own personal work, but I shall ndt attempt to do so 
 as I shall not be able to do it accurately." 
 
 At this Boston Conference he wrote in his diary 
 on April 8, the reference: "2 Cor. xii. 9, 10," 
 and on Sunday, April 11, is the note, "See Sept. 
 1st. Made in the upper room, Boston. Trusting 
 Thee to work through me. Ten men." Septem- 
 ber 1st was the day he was to have begun his 
 work in New York and in the space for that day 
 he has written "New York. My Lord, I do 
 promise to pray, plan and persevere to lead at 
 
 209 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 least ten men to accept Thee as their personal 
 Saviour during this year. Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 Upon returning from the Conference at Boston, 
 Hugh went to Lancaster to the meeting of the 
 presidents of the Pennsylvania College Associa- 
 tions. In his preparations for this conference he 
 had urged the speakers to be practical and how 
 practical he himself was is indicated in his out- 
 line for his discussion of the "Missionary Depart- 
 ment." 
 
 "Missionary Department. 
 
 /. Importance. 
 
 1. Strong convictions as to needs. Weowex)ur 
 
 existence as Y. M. C. A, to the conviction 
 in that line of the little band of eleven, 
 
 2. Vitally interested in the cause of missions be- 
 
 cause we are a College Association. Ad- 
 vantages. Yet we cannot be broad-minded 
 men without a view of the world-field. 
 
 3. College. Valley of Decisions. The man's 
 
 life-work determined there. 
 
 4. College the place where men prepare for life. 
 
 5. College men the strong men. The men needed 
 
 on the mission field. 
 These facts to aid in choice of life-work. 
 
 6. Because this is a Young Men's Association. 
 
 Not for our own alone but for young men of 
 all lands, if we take, as wcf profess, Christ for 
 our example. 
 
 7. College Association prepares men for mission 
 
 work better in many respects than semi- 
 naries. 
 
 210 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 8. The College Association has a better chance to 
 
 influence the influential men than any other 
 agency not excepting the Church. Reach 
 men at a time of forming opinions. 
 
 9. Christ has told us to pray. We cannot pray 
 
 intelligently for the world unless we study 
 missions. 
 10. Christ alone can save the world, but Christ 
 can't save the world alonei How can we be 
 loyal to Him unless we go to His help, un- 
 less we obey Him? 
 //. How can missions be best promoted t 
 
 1. By a monthly missionary meeting. Read 
 
 pamphlet No. 318. 
 
 2. Missionary literature. Up to date library. 
 
 3. Mission study. 
 
 4. Systematic giving to missions. 
 
 5. Prayer. Definite. Cycle. New. 
 
 More time given in meeting for earnest 
 prayer." 
 
 Hugh made use himself of the Cycle of Prayer 
 of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign 
 Missions. His copy is worn anji soiled with the 
 black coloring from the inside covers of his Bible. 
 The blank spaces he had filled up with such sub- 
 jects for prayer as "Presidents of College Asso- 
 ciations," " Bible Study Work in College," " Rail- 
 road Y. M. C. A," "National Guard of Penn- 
 sylvania." 
 
 At Lancaster Hugh again wro^e in his diary the 
 lines: , 
 
 211 
 
A Memorial of a Tfue Life 
 
 "Not my own, but saved by Jesus 
 Who redeemed me by His blood. 
 Gladly 1 accept the message, < 
 1 belong to Christ the Lord." 
 
 At this Conference and at Boston Hugh gath- 
 ered some figures illustrative of the comparative 
 extent and development of the student work in 
 New York and New England on one side and in 
 Pennsylvania on the other: 
 
 N. Y. 
 
 & N. E. 
 
 Penna. 
 
 College Associations, 
 
 71- 
 
 44. 
 
 Men in College, 
 
 28,034. 
 
 10,306. 
 
 Church Membership, 
 
 I?, 682. 
 
 4,988. 
 
 Association Membership, 
 
 5.750. 
 
 2,390- 
 
 Active Members, 
 
 4,489. 
 
 1,920. 
 
 Associate Members, 
 
 1.336. 
 
 470. 
 
 Conversions during year. 
 
 144. 
 
 209. 
 
 New Students during year. 
 
 8,020. 
 
 2,084. 
 
 Cond. F. C, 
 
 44- 
 
 30. 
 
 Workers' Bible Training Classej 
 
 '< 
 
 
 for year. 
 
 239. 
 
 82. 
 
 In Other Classes for year. 
 
 i-,766. 
 
 1,108. 
 
 In Voluntary Bible Classes for 
 
 
 
 two months. 
 
 1.643. 
 
 965. 
 
 English Bible in Curriculum, 
 
 25- 
 
 19. 
 
 No. in Study of Eng. Bible in 
 
 
 
 Curriculum, 
 
 1,812. 
 
 1,505. 
 
 Candidates for Ministry, 
 
 646. 
 
 425. 
 
 Mission Study Classes, 
 
 121. 
 
 8. 
 
 212 
 
 
 
Last Months of Work m Pennsylvania 
 
 The work in Pennsylvania showed a dispro- 
 portionately large number of conversions, and of 
 members of Bible classes. It was- on these things 
 that Hugh had laid chief emphasis. 
 
 On leaving Lancaster he stofiped at Columbia 
 to speak at the Railroad Young Men's. Christian 
 Association. The next day one earnest man 
 wrote to him : 
 
 " The seed that Jesus sowed through you yesterday 
 had fallen on good ground, and Will Help men and 
 women to do more for Jesus. Mqny Requests Have 
 Come To me to-day to ask You to Come Back in the 
 near future, not Only from Railroad men only but 
 Business men of the town. Arrange to spend Some 
 Whole Sunday With Us. The Dear Lord through 
 you Has Captured the People's Hearts. I know in 
 that Day When The Trumpet Shall Sound To Call 
 forth our Dead and we Shall Be Changed Some one 
 Will Call You Blessed for Coming to Columbia. We 
 Will Pray much for You in Your Work. Just dear 
 Boy Keep Humble in Jesus and allways Remember it 
 is Not of Might Nor Power But of His Spirit that 
 men are Convicted and Won to Jesus. As you go to 
 New York, May you Be the Light God is sending There 
 to Light Many of the College men to know Jesus Christ, 
 May God Bless and Keep you untijf He comes. 
 
 "P. S. Come Back." 
 
 Hugh now gave himself to the work of getting 
 a large delegation of Pennylvania students to 
 Northfield for the summer conference of 1897. 
 Mr. Mott writes : 
 
 213 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 "A few weeks after the Boston Conference I tried 
 to get Hugh to accept the position of teacher of the 
 normal class for training leaders of! personal workers' 
 groups at the Geneva Conference of western college 
 students. It is a post of great responsibility and of 
 wonderful possibilities. Hugh declined my urging, 
 both in interview and in letter, saying that this was 
 to be his ' last year's work for the students of old 
 Pennsy ' and that he had a ' great burden ' on their 
 behalf which he could not possibly delegate. He 
 then gave himself with remarkable yet characteristic 
 enterprise and intensity to working up the remark- 
 able delegation which attended Northfield last year 
 from Pennsylvania. It was by odds the largest dele- 
 gation which has ever come from any state to any one 
 of our Student Summer Conferences. He organized 
 the state delegation perfectly, and this year's work has 
 shown wonderful results which have followed from 
 his self-denying and devoted efforts on behalf of the 
 students of that state. 
 
 ' ' I was impressed on my return from my tour 
 around the world with the wonderful deepening 
 which had taken place within two years in Hugh's 
 life. It showed itself in the marked way in which 
 he had his affections set on things above and not on 
 things below. It showed itself in his prayer life. I 
 really believe that he was living a real life of prayer. 
 Time after time in interviews and* in meetings when 
 prayer was not being offered audibly, and when 
 prayer had not been called for, I had evidences that 
 he was giving himself to prayer. In at least two let- 
 ters received from him since my return he made 
 touching reference to his prayers on my behalf." 
 
 He was urged to attend the Knoxville Confer- 
 
 214 
 
Last Months of Work In Pennsylvania 
 
 ence for southern students but declined for rea- 
 sons set forth in the following letter to Mr. F. S. 
 Brockman: 
 
 "Bellefonte, Pa., March 17th, 1897. 
 ••Mv DEAP^ Brock: 
 
 " Your letter of the loth at hand. When I 
 first read it, I felt tempted to write at once, • No.' 
 At present it's simply to do my Father's will in the 
 matter. I am going to be frank in the matter. 
 Though I have not yet accepted the call to New York, 
 to-day I feel clear that that is where He wants me, so 
 shall write to them accepting. Now I want to give 
 them the best of my life while there. My time will not 
 allow me to do much outside Pennsylvania until June. 
 In some way I must get hold of the inen in New York, 
 the problems, etc. I believe you will realize in a 
 measure how anxious I am to have all the possible 
 time I can get at Northfield for thaJ reason. 
 
 " Secondly, Leaving Pennsylvania has not lessened 
 in the least my interest in the work there. My suc- 
 cessor must make the most of the ten days at the 
 Conference. I should do all in my power to aid 
 him in becoming acquainted with the men and the 
 field. For that reason I do not feel that I can afford 
 to miss Northfield. I do not see Yrdw under any con- 
 sideration I could afford to be later than Saturday 
 evening in reaching there. To do' that I would miss 
 too much of Knoxville. 
 
 "Thirdly, I simply am no teacher. Honestly, 
 Brock, I know there are scores of men who are not 
 only better teachers but more filled with a passion 
 for men's souls, which must possess the personal 
 worker, than I. I am not telling this to appear mod- 
 215 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 est, it's simply the truth and it's my prayer that the 
 men at Knoxville may have such a teacher that the 
 few days at the Conference may send them back 
 hungry to see men led to Christ, 30 hungry that one 
 by one they will compel them to come in. My case 
 is stated. May God lead you to see His will clearly, 
 as I pray I may see it myself. Studd has been laid 
 up here with a severe cold and I am doing my best 
 to break that stubborn English will of his, though it 
 seems hopeless. He is very much better to-day, and 
 we look forward to going to Philadelphia Friday 
 night. I enclose letter from the Parson. 
 "Faithfully, ' 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 During the whole month of May, accordingly, 
 Hugh threw himself into the work of securing a 
 large delegation to Northfield and leaving a deep 
 final spiritual impression upon the students of the 
 state. "I have outlined a month's work," he 
 wrote, "and if I am well enough to carry it out 
 will cover field in good shape." On his way to 
 Allegheny College he wrote: " They had not de- 
 cided to send any one to Northfield but I hope 
 and pray the Lord may lead them to change their 
 minds. I'll do what I can to.-night to help." 
 The students of Pennsylvania were very respon- 
 sive to the invitation to Northfiel|i, scores of them 
 having been there before. What sacrifices and 
 economy they were prepared for in order to go is 
 indicated in a letter, in answer to some of Hugh's 
 inquiries, from a student at Bucknell University: 
 
 216 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 " We paid |2o for two tents. As there were nine 
 of us, it cost each of us ^2.22. Our board bill for 
 the ten days was $1.^6 apiece. We had a visitor for 
 several days who paid five dollars! Counting this I 
 suppose that ;?i.75 each would be a fair estimate of 
 the cost per man for board, making in all $s-9l *°'' 
 the total expenses at Northfield not including the 
 registration fee of $5. The cost for the tent included 
 beds and blankets, chairs, tables, wash stands, bowls 
 and pitchers, mirrors, lamps and oil. We had some 
 dishes and cooking apparatus along and made our 
 stove out of bricks and iron. They furnished us bar- 
 rels to burn free of charge. We= took our turn at 
 cooking, two being appointed for each day. Had 
 enough to eat and somewhat of a variety, including 
 canned beef or other meat, peas, beans, potatoes, 
 rice, oat meal, eggs, bread, butter, sauce or jellies, 
 milk, coffee, chocolate, rolls and a few times water- 
 melon." 
 
 During May Hugh visited seventeen institu- 
 tions, apart from general conferences, and his 
 report for the month concludes : 
 
 " Month spent principally in working up North- 
 field. Outlook is very bright. Work in general is 
 in good shape, showing an advance with but one or 
 two exceptions. Mercersburg and Ursinus in partic- 
 ular have made great steps forward. God has won- 
 derfully blessed the work done and the results of 
 former work have been made very clear, especially 
 along Personal Purity lines. Many men have come 
 to know the freedom of sons of God." 
 
 That Hugh v^^as still earnestly pressing the 
 217 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 claims of the unstained life wip be indicated by 
 the following letter to him from the wife of the 
 head of one of the most important institutions in 
 the state, written after his visit there: 
 
 " Short and hurried as was your visit here and your 
 message to our lads, it nevertheless left a deep im- 
 pression on the hearts of all who heard you. Surely 
 there is nothing more inspiring and ennobling than 
 the vision of a young man, givihg his youth and 
 vigor, his time and talents to the service of the King 
 of Kings — and this — though never a word were ut- 
 tered — is an inspiration to all who behold it. . . . 
 May God bless you in your work of pointing men to- 
 ward a purer life and may He give you the power to 
 show to those you come in contact with, that it is not 
 enough to keep oneself pure and unspotted from the 
 world, but that if the chivalry of their age and genera- 
 tion is worth anything it must be vigorous, aggressive 
 -^to the • pulling down of strongholds ' — and in the 
 protection of the ignorant, the guarding of the weak, 
 the guiding of the foolish. 
 
 " ' The woman's cause is man's : they ride or sink 
 Together, dwarfed or Godlike, bond or free." 
 
 There is an awful fight before us, but ohl it is a 
 glorious privilege to wage war in so divine a battle, 
 and dare we let our lips and lives be silent in the face 
 of such peril to our homes and our nation ? 
 
 " ' For never land long lease of empire won 
 
 Whose sons sate silent when base .deeds were done.' 
 
 God give you courage not to sit silent but to 
 
 sound a vigorous note of noble aggressive resistance 
 
 218 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 against all that mars that which w,as made in God's 
 image and meant to be free and Godlike." 
 
 June was the last month of Hugh's work in 
 Pennsylvania. He visited six colleges and gath- 
 ered together the ends of his work in preparation 
 for leaving it. Early in the month a request from 
 the faculty of the Indiana Normal School of 
 Pennsylvania, for the organization of an associa- 
 tion in the school was referred to Hugh. When 
 he received the letter from the State Secretary 
 telling him of this request, he wrote : 
 
 " My dear Mr. Bard : 
 
 " Just in from Mansfield for what I thought 
 was to be a rest until Northfield. I'm glad and sorry 
 to hear from Indiana but of course'I'll go." 
 
 The words " and sorry " were crossed out with 
 the note added, "I'm weary. That's why that 
 went in." A week later he wrote, " I leave for 
 Indiana, Saturday. 1 have never organized an 
 association. Can you not send me in a few 
 words just what steps are necessary." What is 
 called "organization" was never much to Hugh's 
 taste. For the "organization " which consists in 
 articulating bones or in getting other people to 
 let you call their work by youf name Hugh had 
 no gift. But he possessed great ability for that 
 form of organization which consists in breathing 
 life into dead flesh and bones tlwt they may live. 
 219 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Having spent two years in spiritual impression 
 and influence he closed his work in the State by 
 the establishment of this new association. It 
 was his last visit and his last service to the insti- 
 tutions of Pennsylvania. He laid aside his work 
 with the love of all the men Who had come to 
 know him and he left a great fragrance behind 
 him, which lay sweet upon the trembling heart 
 strings of the students of the State he loved. 
 Mr. Charles W. Harvey who succeeded him gath- 
 ers up the impressions he left upon the men for 
 whom he toiled: 
 
 "Having now spent six months going over the 
 State traversed so many times by !^ugh, and visiting 
 the Institutions and touching the; lives upon whom 
 the impress of the Lord's life in and through him is 
 still so marked, I feel that you would gladly know the 
 blessing that he was permitted to be to so many. 
 
 " None of us would speak words of personal praise 
 merely, much as we loved and honored him, for we all 
 so clearly recognize that it was true of him as of 
 Paul, 'Nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ 
 liveth in me.' Truly like his Lord when surrounded 
 by the multitude 'virtue went out from Him,' for 
 everywhere his life was a benediction. 
 
 " It would be impossible to give all the impressions 
 of his life gathered here and there sfrom college boys, 
 professors, railroad boys, city and- town Association 
 men and pastors as I have met them over the State. 
 Every life he touched either by public address, per- 
 sonal interview or letter went away better because of 
 it. 
 
 220 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 "While he was a typical college man, yet he be- 
 longed to no set of men, for he was broader than any. 
 ' He became all things to all men that he might by 
 all means save some,' and yet nq one detected the 
 least effort on his part for he seemed naturally to be 
 one of them. In this State with its widely diversified 
 phases of College work Hugh seemed to be equally 
 fitted for all. He was perfectly at home, whether 
 with the boys in normal, preparatory school, college 
 or professional school. 
 
 " He was loved alike by the colored boys of Lin- 
 coln and the Indians of Carlisle. So marked was the 
 impression at Lincoln that they have resolved to com- 
 memorate his work there by the erection of a memo- 
 rial Association building. 
 
 " Each Institution felt that Hugh had a special in- 
 terest in it. The whole moral and spiritual life of 
 some of our Institutions was changed as a result of 
 one of his visits, while I have found very many lives 
 who date the time when their whole course was 
 changed from a personal interview with him. 
 
 ' • He was always seeking opportunities for doing 
 good. He seemed not to think of himself. 
 
 " The statements made by the b(jys reveal his fully 
 developed character, such as, his marked personality, 
 genuine manhood, tender sympathy, unselfish nature, 
 deep spirituality, intense earnestness, sincerity, frank- 
 ness, genial disposition, unaffected humility, purity of 
 life, love for Christ, real prayer life, etc. 
 
 " As one said, ' Hugh could pray anywhere, — sit- 
 ting, standing, kneeling, lying down or walking 
 about.' He could shout with thei boys over a foot- 
 ball victory and then quietly kne'el in prayer. In 
 either place he seemed equally earnest and sincere. 
 With him there seemed to be no dividing line be- 
 331 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 tween the secular and the spiritual. There is one in- 
 cident and lesson of his life which:! cherish. About 
 a year ago at Pittston as we were being entertained 
 together, I frequently heard him in his room across 
 the hall, alone and yet not alone for he was talking 
 as to a friend. During our conversation afterward 
 he said, ' Harvey, I have been learning a new lesson in 
 prayer. I like to walk about the, room and talk to 
 the Lord as to one very near.' 
 
 "The hymn suggested by Hugh'at the Conference 
 of College Association Presidents a year ago as their 
 motto, and used so frequently during its sessions, best 
 sums up his life, and has since become the motto of 
 very many lives who were present, ' Not my own, 
 but saved by Jesus who redeemed me by His blood. 
 Gladly I accept the message, I belong to Christ the 
 Lord.' 
 
 " Eternity alone can reveal the lessons and impres- 
 sions and fruitfulness of a life so devoted to the Lord 
 as was his. We all count it a privilege to have known 
 him, and while saddened because of his short service, 
 feel thankful that he was permitted to come into such 
 close and helpful relationship with so large a student 
 body for even two years." 
 
 And upon older men as well* as upon the stu- 
 dents Hugh made the same deep impression. 
 Many who never before had spoken openly of 
 loving any man loved him and found comfort 
 when he was gone in saying that they loved 
 him. 
 
 "He was so full of all that isibrightest and best 
 in life," says one, the General Secretary in Phila- 
 222 
 
Last Months of Work in Pennsylvania 
 
 delphia, "that I cannot realize yet that he has been 
 taken away from us. There were few young men that 
 to human judgment could not have been more easily 
 spared from the service of our country and of the 
 Church on earth than he. The loss to the work of 
 the Young Men's Christian Association is immeasur- 
 able." 
 
 "I need not tell you what a dear boy he was," 
 says another, the Chairman of the State Committee 
 of the Y. M. C. A., "you know, but I loved him 
 very mucTi." 
 
 " Hugh's was a pure, inspiring character," another 
 writes, " that will have an undying influence on my 
 own. He was the Father's own sweet, cheerful, 
 trustful son." 
 
 " How we all," writes another, an Association 
 Secretary in a large town, " in .Association work 
 shall miss his outshining face, his cheerful, encourag- 
 ing voice, and the touch of his Ijfe that was wholly 
 surrendered to the Master. . . . May we all learn 
 the lesson from Hugh's life, that it is the surrendered 
 heart and life that brings the largest fruitfulness here 
 and the greater glory hereafter, for as he moved 
 among us for those few short years, he clearly exem- 
 plified that the place of learning was at the Master's 
 feet and that the place of service was in His hand." 
 
 Among the last entries in his little record book 
 diary are these written during his last visits to 
 Mansfield and Indiana: 
 
 333 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 "Not my own, my time, my talent 
 Freely all to Christ I bring, 
 To be used in joyful service, 
 To the glory of my King. 
 
 Mansfield, June 9th, '97^ Hugh McA. Beavbr." 
 
 "Indiana. We give Tiiee all the glory, my 
 Father." 
 
 He said to one of his closest friends that he 
 felt "changed" this last month. In May he had 
 been greatly discouraged about his personal life. 
 He said that he often felt that his temptations 
 would overwhelm him. But in June he said that 
 his temptations seemed to have been taken out 
 of his life and that he felt freer than he had ever 
 felt before. 
 
 224 
 
VIII 
 
 YOUNG men's conference AT n6rthfield, 1897. 
 
 " Through such souls alone 
 God stooping shows sufficient of-His light 
 For us i' the dark to rise by." 
 
 — Browning, The Ring and the Book, Pompilia. 
 
 TO HIS MOTHER 
 
 "East Northfield, Mass., June 2Sth, 1897. 
 " Here we are, all safe and sound, out under a tree 
 in front of Marquand enjoying the view and breeze. 
 . . . Found it very warm on the cars but feel de- 
 lightfully cool now. Last night was most beautiful 
 on the boat and with a good crowd of fellows we 
 made the time fly. . . . After July 9th' we (he and 
 his younger brother Tom) rather expect to go over to 
 Albany and thence by boat to New York. . . . Both 
 of us are well and happy. ' ' 
 
 TO THE SAME 
 
 "East Northfield, Mass., July i, 1897. 
 "We are having such a good' time. Seems to 
 grow better each day. ... I ha\'e a meeting to- 
 night so must close to get ready for it. God is won- 
 derfully present here in a way tVat makes one feel 
 that He is very near. The meetings have been help- 
 ful and the best of feeling exists on all sides. Penn- 
 sylvania stands first with at least 1 71 delegates. New 
 York second with 97." 
 
 285 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 TO A FRIEND 
 
 "East Northfield, July 2, 1897. 
 " We reached here safely and have been enjoying 
 it to the full. To me it is by far the best conference 
 I have ever attended. . . . Penpsylvania has 167 
 men here. We never had more than 113 before. 
 New York comes next, I think, witl} about 100. Long 
 live the Keystone State ! " 
 
 The students from New York wished him to 
 join them in the college demonstrations but he 
 said he could not " hurrah for anything but Penn- 
 sylvania." 
 
 Hugh did not take a very prorninent part in the 
 larger meetings. The impression he left was al- 
 together out of proportion to the, part he did take. 
 Mr. Mott speaks of this in some recollections : 
 
 "At Northfield in connection .with the World's 
 Student Conference, and notably at the morning 
 conferences on Association work, the face of Hugh 
 shone as though he were actually living on the mount. 
 The impression which will live longest in my memory 
 is that made by his face and voice and words one 
 morning when I called on him at the close of one of 
 these conferences for a three minute speech. There 
 again, though in a much more marked manner than 
 at Boston, he manifested the perfect liberty of the 
 Spirit which reminded me of the words, ' If the Son 
 shall make you free, ye shall be fffee indeed.' He 
 was speaking on a very difficult subject, that of purity 
 among Christian men ; he was speaking in the pres- 
 ence of the most critical audience, composed not only 
 226 
 
Young Men's Conference at Northfield 
 
 of college men but of representative students of twenty- 
 seven nations and races ; he was speaking under a rigid 
 time limit, but I have never heard a person in three 
 minutes get such a grip on an audjence or convey to 
 my mind more strongly the impression that he was 
 a perfectly acceptable instrument being mightily 
 wielded by the Spirit of God. 
 
 "A number of the foreign delegates told me, both 
 in this country and afterward in" England where I 
 met men from four countries who had been at North- 
 field last sutnmer, that Hugh Beaver impressed them 
 more strongly than any young man whom they met 
 in that wonderful concourse of picked college men ; 
 and they referred, as their conversation showed, not 
 to a mere popular impression, but to a deeply spir- 
 itual impression. This to my mind is striking testi- 
 mony. Again it demonstrates the truth that, if 
 Christ be really lifted up in surrendered lives, He 
 will draw all men of all nations and races unto Him. 
 
 " The last time that I saw Hugh was at the close 
 of the conferences on Round Top. I shall always 
 associate him with that sacred spot. As I stop to 
 think of it in these hurried moments when I am giv- 
 ing you these fragments of reminiscence, I do not 
 recall a student whom I have met in my ten years' 
 work among college men who exemplified in his per- 
 sonality more completely the unselfish, loyal, loving, 
 joyous, intense spirit which was associated with the 
 meetings on Round Top." 
 
 One of the Edinburgh Universjty students who 
 was present at the Conference recalls especially 
 the contagious joyousness that marked Hugh. 
 He was full of an overflowing gladness. Christ 
 
 227 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 had fulfilled in him His promise, and rivers of 
 living water were springing up 'in the depths of 
 his life. 
 
 "I had conversation with himj several times. I 
 was greatly struck with his joyousne^s in Jesus Christ. 
 
 ' ' Everything he did seemed to be such a supreme 
 delight to him to do. His face, his hand grip, and his 
 passionate earnestness of appeal, all spoke of his mo- 
 mentary remembrance that he did all for the Love of 
 his Saviour. Love — Love, Love, seemed his ruling 
 motive, and all which with others would be merely a 
 faithful performance of duty, seemed with him to be 
 illumined by overflowing love. 
 
 ' ' I shall not forget his passionate appeal to men to 
 let Christ have full sway over their lives. He was 
 speaking on purity of thought and life and concluded 
 by a telling testimony to the fact that Jesus can keep a 
 man from sin, even of thought if only men will really 
 submit to His Gracious Power, This was at North- 
 field last year ; — just a few days before he was pro- 
 moted. 
 
 " Hearing that he was to take on the City Secreta- 
 ryship in New York, I sought him out almost the last 
 day and asked him to tell me about his future work. 
 He gripped my hand and said he knew nothing about 
 it yet, but he was looking to God to teach him. 
 
 " His whole bearing was so fuUiof deep joy which 
 had sure anchorage, it was infectious to talk to him. 
 One's Hope and Optimism was immediately raised. 
 
 " His was one of those winning natures which do 
 not need much time, before one is drawn from ac- 
 quaintance into the deeper relations of friendship. 
 None of us who heard his glowing address at North- 
 field are likely to soon forget it. I seem to-day to 
 228 
 
Young Men's Conference at Northfield 
 
 hear those tones so emphatically earnest : ' Men, I 
 tell you, Jesus Christ can and does keep a fellow from 
 this awful sin. . . . I tell you He is a real Saviour,' 
 and we knew He was to the speaker. Christ had 
 written His mark on that forehead ; but we little 
 knew that so soon he was to be taken from the glori- 
 ous work that was opening before him." 
 
 Scores of such testimonies to Hugh's influence 
 at this Northfield Conference came after he had 
 passed on to the larger life and the higher service. 
 A Princeton man wrote of "the hundreds of col- 
 lege men throughout the country he had influ- 
 enced for good." A Yale graduate wrote, "At 
 Northfield those of us who had not seen him for 
 a year noted his power which was nothing less 
 than the power of Jesus drawing all men unto 
 Him." Another student wrote from Virginia, 
 "There was no one at Northfiel^to whom I was 
 attracted more than to Hugh. His great earnest- 
 ness and deep spirituality were an inspiration to 
 me. I shall never forget the Way that he plead 
 with the men to lead more consecrated lives." 
 Yet another wrote from the University of Ver- 
 mont, of "the wonderfully beautiful life which 
 God gave me the inestimable privilege of know- 
 ing somewhat. I cannot refrain from saying 
 that of all the persons I have ever known he had 
 the personality which appealed? to me the most. 
 J could never see the slightest fault in his whole 
 
 229 
 
A Memorial of a Ttue Life 
 
 character. It seems to me that those who knew 
 him long and closely must have loved him very 
 much indeed." A Haverford graduate wrote, 
 " 1 loved him as 1 have rarely Iqved men. Who 
 could help being drawn to him ? He was manly, 
 pure, devoted and unselfish — a, true disciple of 
 the Lord he loved. In all my visits to Northfield, 
 I have rarely known any man to make such a 
 spiritual impression upon the fellows as Hugh 
 did this year." While Dr. Arthur T. Pierson 
 said, "I regarded him as of all 'the young men I 
 have met at Northfield most fired with divine 
 passion for souls. He made here an impression 
 never to be effaced." 
 
 Another student, a graduate of the University 
 of Michigan, who knew Hugh even more inti- 
 mately, Mr. Frank A. Beach, who had been 
 closely associated with Hugh in the work in 
 Philadelphia wrote of his companionship with 
 him at Northfield : 
 
 " I loved Hugli as I would my own brother and he 
 had upon my life an influence greater than that of 
 any other friend. Though I often /eel that it cannot, 
 it tnifst not be that he is gone, yet as I recall how in 
 our quiet Northfield talks he would say he would like 
 to go, and as I think of his life that seemed almost 
 faultless it is easier to say ' Thy will is best.' Ire- 
 member one morning, when we were talking about 
 being conscious of the Lord's presence as we prayed, 
 Hugh said, ' Sometimes I am so sure of Christ's pres- 
 230 
 
Young Men's Conference at Northfield 
 
 ence that I open my eyes expecting to see Him and I 
 shall not be surprised if I do some day. ' The vision 
 came sooner than we thought and my desire to go is 
 now stronger than ever, for there is no departed 
 loved one whom I so look forward to seeing as I do 
 toward meeting Hugh again." 
 
 Mr. ^Beach has written out also some remin- 
 iscences of Hugh's spiritual life culminating in 
 their association in this Northfield Conference. In 
 sending them he recalls that on the last Sunday 
 Hugh thought that some of the most spiritual 
 hymns were being neglected and he wrote out a 
 list a copy of which he gave to Mr. Moody, as 
 follows: "120, He shall reign. 115, I'll live for 
 Thee. 44, Sunshine in My Soul. 16, Let the Sun- 
 shine in. 112, Loyalty to Christ. 102, Moment 
 by Moment. 'When the Rdl is called up 
 Yonder, I'll be there,' not in the book." The 
 Roll-call to which he responded was not long 
 delayed. 
 
 These are Mr. Beach's recollections: 
 
 PRAYER LIFE 
 
 Hugh seemed to pray at all times, for all men and 
 for all things. He said once in answer to my ques- 
 tion, " Do you pray about the small things of life ? " 
 " I suppose you will think it strange, but when I was 
 in college I used to pray about my athletic sports, and 
 won as a result. When the Penn^lvania State Col- 
 lege played Pennsy, I walked up and down the field 
 231 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 and prayed, while the fellows played — it was the only 
 time that we ever scored on the Uniyersity of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and I knew that we would." When our com- 
 mon friend Percy was in training f9r the Mott Haven 
 games, he often said, " It will help Perce in his 
 Christian work if he takes first place and we must 
 pray for him." As soon as the news reached us that 
 our friend had won the long jump at Mott Haven 
 Hugh said, slapping me on the shoulder, "Well 
 didn't I tell you he would win." At Northfield one 
 summer the spiritual tone of the Conference having 
 been plainly affected by an uuspiritual address, Hugh 
 seemed much weighed down by the fact and was 
 quietly the means of inducing a number of men to go 
 alone and pray for the renewal of the blessing which 
 God gave us at the beginning. He said that he felt 
 that the cause was not alone the speech, but the lack 
 of prayer on the part of us men who were leaders. 
 One day as Gilbert was having an important conver- 
 sation with Mr. Moody, Hugh and I turned from the 
 platform arm in arm, and saying, ' ' Let's pray about 
 this now," he ceased talking with me and began 
 talking to the Lord as naturally as to a visible friend. 
 Naturalness and sincerity, with implicit faith which 
 seemed to me never to waver, wejre the characteris- 
 tics of Hugh's prayers. He was never satisfied with 
 anything but a definite unmistakable answer, and I 
 do not believe he often failed to thank God for the 
 answer. He told me that at night, as his mind was 
 more inclined to wander than during the day, just 
 before he retired he briefly asked the Father for for- 
 giveness for whatever had grieved Him during the 
 day, and His blessing upon whatever had been done 
 according to His will, and commending his life to 
 God he went to rest. At one time when we were 
 232 
 
Young Men's Conference at Northfield 
 
 speaking about the " Consciousness of God's pres- 
 ence" as we prayed, he said, " Sometimes my pray- 
 ers seem formal but at other times Christ is so real 
 that I open my eyes and really expect to see Him, 
 and I shouldn't wonder if 1 shall some day." This 
 last conversation occurred toward the close of the 
 Northfield Conference in 1897, in the room which we 
 had occupied for two years, 52 Marquand, and were 
 among the last words I ever heard from dear Hugh. 
 His confidence in God's immediatie answer to prayer 
 was once shown when I had difficulty in quieting 
 some boisterous fellows in a meeting, and I asked 
 him what he would have done had the fellow inter- 
 rupted him during his talk. He said, " I should have 
 prayed for him right there and the Holy Spirit would 
 have broken him down." In his pocket Bible Hugh 
 had a little slip, containing the names of a certain 
 number of people for whose conversion he was pray- 
 ing ; when God answered the prayer he placed an X 
 opposite the name, and one of the first whom God 
 brought to himself in answer to Hugh's prayer was 
 their hired man. He often referred to this list and 
 would now and then ask me to join with him in 
 prayer for a person, after he had told me all about 
 him. Meeting as many people as he did, he was fre- 
 quently asked to pray for a persop, and he told me 
 that lest he should forget, he always looked to God 
 immediately in answer to the requeSt. Hugh's cousin 
 recently said she believed prayer was the secret of his 
 ■whole life and power. 
 
 BIBLE STUDY 
 
 Hugh was not inclined to systematic study but 
 rather seemed to search each day for that help which 
 God might give him for the day. He did study, 
 333 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 however. He was inclined, when we walked, or 
 rode together in a car, to be sile;nt for some time, 
 and not infrequently did one learn that he was re- 
 volving in his mind some passage. Each time I saw 
 him he seemed to be seeking light ppon some part of 
 God's Word that was difficult, and he never lost an 
 opportunity of questioning those who might be able 
 to help him. He kept studying and seeking light 
 until he was satisfied. He derived great comfort 
 from his belief that God would keep every life that 
 was committed unto Him, and often referred to 
 marked passages in his pocket Bible such as, "He 
 that hath the Son hath life." From a friend he re- 
 ceived a New Testament bound with Psalms, Prov- 
 erbs, Isaiah and Jeremiah. This he always carried 
 with him; and in the car, at the table, in the fields, 
 at every opportunity he made frequent reference to 
 it. The great decisions of his life were very delib- 
 erately made and twice God guided him through 
 Acts viii. (Philip). 
 
 HIS LIBERALITY 
 
 Hugh never made much reference to his gifts and 
 seldom said how much he gave, but I know that he 
 often gave to the point of self-sacrifice. I remember 
 how he told me several months after Christmas that 
 he was still in debt for some specially generous and 
 costly presents he had given out of his love. He 
 sometimes bought literature and Sent to fellows in 
 whom he had been interested not charging it to the 
 State Committee. 
 
 HIS FRIENDSHIPS' 
 
 Hugh had more friends than any-other person that 
 I have ever met. All classes were ^rawn to him upon 
 234 
 
Young Men's Conference at Northfield 
 
 first acquaintance, and their regard always increased 
 as they knew him. With baseball men and other 
 athletes he was popular, for he kept well informed as 
 to the athletic records, and the standing of the vari- 
 ous teams. While in college he took some part and 
 that a successful one in athletics. His easy manner 
 made him at home anywhere ; the fellows in the city, 
 not college men, were drawn to him by his cordiality 
 and his very evident genuineness. Christian people 
 of all sorts looked up to him because of his earnest- 
 ness. He was very popular with his girl friends, 
 being full of fun and considerably inclined to "jolly- 
 ing," as he said Studd characterized the habit. Hugh 
 specially loved railroad men ; at conventions he did 
 all possible to draw the railroad and college men to- 
 gether. He once told me of the man who had helped 
 him most, and with whom he most enjoyed to sit 
 down and talk over the things of God. He said he 
 was a plain railroad man who useji to be one of the 
 toughest men on the road, but that now as he sat by 
 his side, and with his arm around him he seemed 
 nearer to God than any other friend that he had. 
 When he spoke to our medical boys he held their at- 
 tention as I have never seen any one else do. The 
 wildest, roughest fellow at Hahnemann came into 
 Hugh's meeting. In another college a Jew came up 
 after Hugh talked on "Personal Purity" and said, 
 " I wish I could believe in the Christ you believe in 
 for I need His help to keep me pure." At a Dental 
 College a large number of men expressed themselves 
 at the earnestness which " the young fellow," as they 
 called him, showed. Men who had never been at 
 any other religious meetings in the college remember 
 the name of Hugh Beaver. Whep out at the Uni- 
 versity among some of his athletic friends, Hugh 
 235 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 seemed not to notice the oaths of the fellows around 
 him, but a grieved look would unconsciously steal 
 over his face. All men were confidential with him ; 
 they seemed to feel that it would help them to share 
 their hearts' secrets. More than once did he sit up 
 until past midnight talking with fellows who came to 
 his room. He remembered a large number of the 
 men whom he met and he seldoni forgot one of the 
 many who made a start for Christ in his meetings. I 
 have known a very large number of those who were 
 acquainted with Hugh and I have never heard a criti- 
 cism of his life or words. 
 
 HIS TALKS 
 
 He was intensely interested in the subject of Per- 
 sonal Purity and often opened his talks with, " I speak 
 as one who knows what it is to be tempted. I have 
 sympathy for the fellow who is down." He seemed 
 to find it difficult to avoid referring to this subject no 
 matter what his topic. He endured the common 
 temptations of every man himself, though he did 
 not exaggerate them. His talks on Personal Purity 
 he often closed by reciting "Oh! Jesus thou art 
 standing" with feeling that brought tears to his own 
 eyes and conviction to the hearts of the fellows. An 
 easy, off-hand, yet dignified manner characterized 
 his public speaking. He sometimes had an outline 
 of four or five points but as often spoke without notes, 
 not knowing until he stood upon his feet what God 
 would have him speak. In large meetings I have 
 known him to say he was not sure.as to the best sub- 
 ject, and to have asked for a season of earnest prayer 
 that he might speak the one message which God would 
 have them hear. He seemed always trying to get 
 236 
 
Young Men's Conference kt Nortifield 
 
 some one else to take his place because of his own 
 unfitness. He very frequently urged his own inability. 
 His illustrations came from his contact with men, and 
 he said he never tried to remeniber them because 
 recent ones kept coming from his experience. 
 
 HIS READING 
 
 He read what he wanted of a. book, instead of 
 beginning at the beginning and reading to the end. 
 He said he had received as much help from the selec- 
 tions from Meyer, by B. Fay Mills,, as from any other 
 book. He bought a considerable = number of these 
 and sent them to the fellows of the various colleges 
 in Pennsylvania. 
 
 237 
 
IX 
 
 YOUNG women's CONFERENCE AT NORTHFIELD, 1 897 
 
 " All my heart is drawn above 
 
 My knees are bow'd in crypt and shrine : 
 I never felt the kiss of love, 
 
 Nor maiden's hand in mine. 
 More bounteous aspects on me beam 
 
 Me mightier transports move'and thrill ; 
 So keep I fair thro' faith and prayer 
 A virgin heart in work and will." 
 
 — Tennysbn, Sir Galahad. 
 
 At the end of the College Men's Conference a 
 brief conference of secretaries of college associa- 
 tions was held. Hugh spoke at this meeting on 
 Prayer and ■was intending to go home after it, 
 stopping perhaps for a few visits to friends on 
 the way. But he was pressed to remain for the 
 Young Women's Conference which began on 
 July 9th, and though hesitatingly, for he was very 
 tired, he stayed. 
 
 "East NoRTHFiELD,.July 9th, 1897. 
 " My dear Mr. Bard : 
 
 "... I stay over, much to my surprise, to 
 take the Training Class at the Young Women's Christian 
 Association Conference. Girls thick about here now 
 and not a man to be seen." 
 238 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 "East Northfield, July 9th, 1897. 
 " Dearest Mother : 
 
 "I'm out under a tree enjoying the cool 
 breeze, for the day is as hot as one cares to endure. 
 The girls are here in force and your young son is a 
 stranger in a strange land. . . . I'll tell you better 
 how I like it after a day or so of it. , . . My time 
 I guess will be well filled up and there'll not be much 
 time for letter writing. . . . I'll try to get home by 
 July 25, to stay until the first of September. Am 
 well and happy. Much love to all, -especially to thee, 
 mother dear." 
 
 "East Northfield, July 11, 1897. 
 " My dear Mother : 
 
 "... I am having a delightful time. 
 Could not be, or would not be resting half so much 
 at home. My class is quite large, about 150 I guess, 
 Mr. B. being the only one of the male line present. 
 I have but the one hour a day of teaching. That with 
 the time in getting ready keeps me from getting rusty. 
 "The halls are quiet before ten and as breakfast 
 does not come until seven-thirty I manage quite well 
 with my sleep. I go to very few meetings, none ex- 
 cept the platform meetings and Round Top, and I ex- 
 pect to cut a few of them. The conference is one 
 day longer than ours, the last session being Monday 
 night instead of Sunday, held over to keep the girls 
 from breaking the Sabbath by packing their trunks. 
 I have a good deal of fun at meals if they begin to 
 compare the two conferences. . . .; I have had a de- 
 lightful Sabbath, one in which th^ Lord of the day 
 has been very near. . . . God keep thee, little 
 mother, in the hollow of His hand. . . . 
 239 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 " p. S. — July 12. All goes well. I have enjoyed 
 my work so much, the little I have had of it. The 
 girls do very faithful work and as my class grows 
 larger I feel more and more the great privilege God 
 has given me. We had such a good session to-day. 
 The Holy Spirit opened the Book up so wonderfully, 
 I must close now." 
 
 TO A FRIEND 
 
 -July 13, '97. 
 "Please be much in prayer that I may be kept 
 from anything that would displease Him. I en- 
 joyed our conference more than 4ny I have ever at- 
 tended. ... I find I am to appear on the platform 
 and have a little say to-night so I think I had better 
 be off alone with Him for a little while. One thing 
 more ; dear old Parson Studd is to be here for the last 
 three days. God is wonderfully good to me. I am so 
 full of longing to be like my Master and I have been 
 so unlike Him, so selfish. I pray that He may for- 
 give me and help me to live a life for Him. Please 
 pray for me. May God keep and t>less thee." 
 
 "E. NORTHFIELD, July 18th, '98. 
 " My dear Little Mother : 
 
 " Another beautiful Sabbath has come and 
 thy boy looks back upon the best week of all his life. 
 We have had wonderful times: the platform meetings 
 were not very strong and that made us all the more 
 dependent upon God. I have never known anything 
 like these last days. My class has been so large and 
 the girls so different in their needs, lots of them not 
 being even professed Christians, some Unitarians, etc., 
 that they were in no shape for personal work. I let 
 the Master lead the class and through it He led 
 840 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 many to Himself. It has been a great joy and 
 privilege during these afternoons to see some of the 
 strongest girls of Vassar, Smith, etc., led to know 
 Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. My days have 
 been so full of personal interviews I have had no time 
 for letter writing. I have cut a good many meetings 
 for my own sake, and because I had no time to my- 
 self unless I did. Studd was to have reached us last 
 night, but failed to arrive. Expect him this a. m. 
 God has been so wonderfully good to me during these 
 days, I cannot thank Him enough for keeping me 
 over here. . . . 
 
 " Just in from dinner at Mr. Moody's with the dear 
 old Parson ; he is just the same and it made me very 
 happy to be with him. 
 
 "I have had some very sad interviews with girls 
 this afternoon, and I am going down to have a little 
 time for prayer with Studd. 
 
 " Good-bye little mother, I am very full of joy and 
 peace. May He keep thee and all the loved ones. 
 " Lovingly thy soh, 
 
 "Hugh McA. Beaver." 
 
 to a friend 
 
 " E. Northfield, Mass., July 20, 1897. 
 "We have had a great time here and I'm 
 mighty sorry to pack up and leate. The Training 
 Class did not do much toward training for personal 
 work, but God used it so that they were made hungry 
 for souls. . . . Take a good rest and may the Lord 
 of peace Himself grant you peace at all times and all 
 ways. ' ' 
 
 That a new freedom and joy of service had 
 come to Hugh his letters Indicate, but they only 
 241 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 faintly suggest the anointing of tlie Spirit of God 
 that came upon him at this Confference and made 
 his work there the opening of the portals of the 
 Kingdom of Heaven to many college women. 
 What he did is related in part in the following 
 account by one of the students from Smith Col- 
 lege who was in his class : 
 
 " The members of the Young Women's Conference 
 at Northfield, in July, 1897, count it one of the 
 greatest privileges of their lives to have known Hugh 
 Beaver. To have known him in what he felt to be 
 the greatest service God had ever.given him to per- 
 form, in what those who love him realize now was 
 the crowning preparation for the higher service be- 
 yond, is to have received into one's life an abiding 
 source of spiritual power. To know him there was 
 to know Jesus Christ as He is seldom revealed in any 
 human life. No influence could be compared with 
 his in those days at Northfield for beauty or for 
 power. That influence flowed out into the Confer- 
 ence through three main channels, of which the first 
 to be mentioned is the morning Bible Class. 
 
 "This met for an hour each morning, and was 
 called a training class for personal work. It was in- 
 deed such a training, because full of the spirit of love 
 without which personal work is valueless. But no 
 plan of technical preparation was followed. For the 
 first two sessions a little pamphle^ on personal work 
 was used, and some attempt was made to discuss 
 methods. There was power preseitt even then. Still 
 it was limited power, confined within lines that man's 
 hand had drawn. Many of the young women be- 
 fore him not only had never brought any one to Jesus 
 242 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 Christ, but had never really come to Him themselves. 
 In the realization of this, and the knowledge that a 
 discussion of methods would be- useless when the 
 motives for soul-winning did not exist, he laid aside 
 any scheme for 'the class which he might have had. 
 From that moment the fire of the Holy Ghost seemed 
 to fall upon him. 
 
 "One cannot describe his plan of carrying on this 
 class, for the power of it lay in the fact that he him- 
 self had no plan. Often when the hour was over he 
 would say, ' Do you know, I didn't intend to say 
 what I did this morning. He just,swept all my plans 
 out of sight.' Truly they were not the words of men 
 that he spoke to us there. Sometimes he would 
 stand with hands outstretched and }iead thrown back, 
 his face all radiant with the glory he was soon to 
 share speaking of the love of God in Jesus Christ, of 
 the beauty of a Christ-filled life. And the message 
 was as sweet and tender as the words of Jesus must 
 have been to the weary disciples when He called 
 them apart to rest with Him when the day's work 
 was done. Or again, with tightly-clasped hands, 
 and tear-filled eyes, he would lean forward, speaking 
 words whose fire burned home to every listening 
 heart. 
 
 " Greatly as God used him in those morning hours 
 it was in his talks with individuals that his greatest 
 work was done. Some restless, hungry-hearted girls 
 saw in his face the peace which had before been to 
 them nothing but a name. Some who had been 
 fighting doubts in their college life felt in him a tri- 
 umphant faith which knew no question. All recog- 
 nized in his strong, buoyant young personality 'the 
 life more abundant ' for which all yearned. So they 
 came to him. And through the long hours of the 
 243 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 afternoon, in quiet talks on the hillside, he led many 
 of them, one by one, out ' into the marvellous light.' 
 The fire which through him the Holy Spirit kindled 
 in scores of hearts in those summer days, is burning 
 in many colleges now. 
 
 " Truly the work in the Bible Class was great, this 
 individual work was greater still, but the greatest 
 work which he did at Northficld,- and the source of 
 all the rest, was his work in prayer. The surest way 
 to judge the spiritual life of any man is not in his 
 preaching but in his prayers. No one, to whom has 
 ever been granted the privilege of hearing Hugh 
 Beaver pray, can doubt the reality and the beauty of 
 his relations with his Lord. The prayers which he 
 offered in the Bible Class and from the Auditorium 
 platform, are among the deepest memories of the 
 Northfield conference. 
 
 "Yet not of these, but of his secret communion 
 with God does one think in speaking of his work in 
 prayer. More than any other fofce did his prayer 
 life shape the development of that Conference. Back 
 of the speakers, as they addressed the audiences, 
 stood the power of his prayer. The secret of the 
 wonderful hours which he spent among men lay in 
 the hours which he spent alone with God. For it 
 was his custom, at the beginning of each day to 
 spend not minutes, but hours in prayer — in the quiet 
 of his room, or out on the hillside under the pines. 
 Often as the days went by, he spoke of that week at 
 Northfield as the happiest of his life. And in the 
 next breath the reason followed — ' I have never had 
 so much time alone with the Lord before.' 
 
 " This communion with God was the habit of his 
 life. Strong and vital as was his hold on this life of 
 ours, he lived in constant touch with things unseen. 
 244 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 He spoke of them always as simply and as naturally 
 as of anything in this visible world. For him the 
 appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ was an ever-pres- 
 ent thought, an illuminating hope. Truly he lived 
 •as seeing Him who is invisible,' and was thus pre- 
 pared for that ' face to face ' vision for which he 
 yearned with all the ardor of his loving heart." 
 
 In a small memorandum book Hugh wrote 
 down after returning to Bellefonte the outlines of 
 his talks to his class after abandoning the small 
 printed pamphlet. They consist of the merest 
 summary of catch words, suc-h as "Monday, 
 July I2th, Importance of Persdnal Work; Dr. 
 Gordon; SirLaunfal; Billy Moore; Toby. Tues- 
 day, July 13th, Incentives; Princeton; Indian 
 
 Training Class Case; Indif. S ; Jer. iii. 36. 
 
 Meaning to me. July 14th, No class. July 15, 
 Qualifications; Huntingdon; Negro ; Myers' Paul ; 
 
 Tom Coon; M . July 16, Hindrances. . . . 
 
 July 17, Following up; Peter; Arizona; Conwell. 
 July 19, Last lesson; Open idoored to God; 
 C ; Dream of Dutch; 'Coming'; W. & J. 
 
 S ." 
 
 One member of the class preserved these frag- 
 mentary but fuller notes of h|s free, familiar 
 talk: 
 
 On Monday, the opening morning, in speaking of 
 his own beginning in personal *ork, Mr. Beaver 
 
 said; 
 
 245 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 " I had never done any personal work before, I 
 had only addressed some meetings. I met an old 
 railroad engineer near the car tracks in Altoona. The 
 latter only knew of me as having tried to do some 
 little work for Christ in addressiiig meetings. The 
 old engineer asked me if I found it ' hard to feed 
 the sheep ' ? I had to admit that I did not know 
 whether I fed them much, and that I found it much 
 more difficult to feed them singly. 
 
 "The old engineer said the n£cessity for it had 
 been forced on him as follows : at one time he was 
 very much overcome with the necessity of doing 
 something to help on Christ's cause, and resolved 
 that he would never let a day pass, without speaking 
 a direct word for Jesus. He founi it much easier to 
 speak to strangers, than to his home acquaintances 
 and friends who knew his past life.' Therefore when 
 his engine would run into a station at the other end 
 of the line, he would go across the yard, and speak 
 to some stranger on the subject. He had two fire- 
 men who went out with him on alternate days, but 
 found it very difficult to speak to them. One of 
 them was called 'Tim.' One morning the feeling 
 came over him so strongly that he must speak to Tim 
 that he resolved that he would do so. He came 
 down to the yard at about four a. m., and found 
 Tim just firing up. He found his courage oozing 
 ^out so fast, that he just started in at the middle, 
 and broke out ' Tim, don't you think that it is about 
 time for you to come out and give yourself to Jesus? ' 
 Tim said, 'That is what my mother down at the 
 house has been praying for these last twelve years. I 
 left her praying for it just now as I left the house. I 
 intend to do so some time, but not just yet, and I 
 wish you would not speak to me about it again.' 
 346 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 ' Well,' he said, ' if that is so, I wijl not speak to you 
 again about it, unless God impresses it upon me very 
 strongly to do so. 
 
 " ' A week after that I pulled outrone morning with 
 the other fireman, (Tim being on the preceding sec- 
 tion of the train that morning), and rounding a curve, 
 on the straight run ahead, I saw, by the light of the 
 moon which was shining, something dark on the 
 track, and tried to stop the train the best I could. 
 We ran by it, and I went back with the fireman to 
 the obstruction, and found by the side of the track 
 the body of a man, which the other train had run 
 over, with just a spark of life left, which I saw was 
 Tim. He opened his eyes and looked up in my face 
 and said, very distinctly " It's too late, it's too late," 
 and then the little spark of life flickered out.' 
 
 " ' My brother, God spare you ever having to bear 
 the thought of some one in your life to whom you 
 might have spoken, and to whom you speak too late.' 
 Often," said Mr. Beaver, "when in doubt about 
 speaking to some one, the scene of the old engineer 
 and the dying fireman whispering, ' It's too late, it's 
 too late,' would come before my eyes. 
 
 " In my senior year in college,, a man who stood 
 high in his class, one of the strongest men in his 
 class, one whom I respected, touched me on the arm 
 one day, and asked me if I would .come to his room 
 as he wanted to speak to me. There he said that he 
 had long wanted to speak to me about himself. He 
 confessed himself a slave to a deijion which had al- 
 most overpowered him. Time and again during that 
 conversation, he brought his clenched fist down upon 
 the table, saying 'Beaver, be practical, eternity is 
 hanging in the balance, and I fear that it is too late.' " 
 
 At a subsequent meeting of the'class, Mr. Beaver 
 247 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 spoke of two Princeton students, one an intellectual 
 giant in his class, the other an average man (a pygray 
 comparatively), and the latter said, " O, what a 
 power you would , be if exerted for the cause of 
 Christ." This was all he said, and he thought he 
 was mighty plucky to say as much as that. 
 
 Twenty years later this giant, in ^\s work in a little 
 town, told how it was he came to Christ, and he said 
 it was through that speech. 
 
 " Ambassador Bayard was criticised here for some of 
 his speeches in England because they were not in 
 close touch with the home government. Let us try 
 and keep in close touch with the home government." 
 
 In speaking of the Indian School at Carlisle, Mr. 
 Beaver said that the Bible Class for Personal Work 
 came in one by one at four o'clock in the morning, 
 and sixteen Indians always came, to it. He asked 
 the leader how it was that they all came so regularly. 
 " O," said he, " I always go aroqnd about half- past 
 three and call to each one in his tent. Fellows, be 
 up and about the Father's business." "Let us too 
 be up and about our Father's busiriCss." 
 
 The case under discussion this morning was one of 
 a young woman who at one time had been a profess- 
 ing Christian and assisted in Christian work, but had 
 become utterly indifferent to the entire thing. In 
 dealing with it Mr. Beaver said, '' Some verses have 
 had such an influence on my own life and I have 
 used them so frequently that I do not feel like re- 
 peating them," and then called, for verses which 
 248 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 members of the class would use in such a case. After 
 a number of these had been given, Mr. Beaver then 
 said : " The question in this case is whether she had 
 ever really been converted and ever "known the joy of 
 Christian work," and he then gave John x. 28, "And 
 I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never 
 perish ; neither shall any man pluck them out of my 
 hand"; John vii. 17, "If a map will do His will 
 he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God 
 or whether I speak of myself," and Mark viii. 36, 
 "For what shall it profit a man if he should gain the 
 whole world and lose his own souli* " 
 
 In Boston, one not a Christian sfkyed to an inquiry 
 meeting by request of a friend. God's love was pre- 
 sented to her by one of those in the room. At the 
 close of the conversation, though not a word had 
 been spoken on the subject, she said, " I don't care 
 what you say, I don't believe in eternal punishment." 
 The one speaking with her rather lost his temper, and 
 said, " Well, I can't help what yoti believe; I know 
 that if you go out from here without accepting Christ, 
 and if you reject that love, ' the wr§.th of God abideth 
 on you.'" Early next morning, before he was up, 
 she came to his house to say that she had, not slept all 
 night and that she could not let the day pass without 
 peace. 
 
 The lesson on Friday was on hindrances to personal 
 work. Mr. Beaver said: "If each of us will ask 
 the Holy Spirit to show us what it is in our life keep- 
 ing us from service. He will showit to us. It may 
 not' be a sin at all. One man had an impediment in 
 his speech and he couldn't work. He asked God to 
 remove the impediment. The impediment is gone, 
 and last year he led 100 men to Christ. Jesus 
 said : ' If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto 
 249 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Me.' If we realize that it is not we who are to draw 
 them, but it is only by holding up Christ that we are 
 to work, this may aid us." 
 
 He then mentioned conceit, andsaid: " Can you 
 imagine the Pharisee trying to lead'that poor publican 
 who needed help so much ? " He said that at Prince- 
 ton an average player said to the pitcher, the captain 
 of the nine, a magnetic man, " I am a mighty poor 
 Christian myself, but you would be a so much better 
 one." The latter just broke down right there. 
 
 Under love of ease he said : "This stands in the 
 way of most." 
 
 "In men's Bible classes I have* asked them to say 
 what stood in the way of their coming to Christ, and 
 they replied, ' Gambling and other sins in the lives 
 of professing Christians.' " 
 
 In regard to touching the lives of those nearest and 
 dearest to us, he said : " It is more difficult to speak 
 to those who know that our lives have inconsistencies and 
 failings in them. At one of my classes, after speaking of 
 this subject, a white-haired woman came forward at the 
 close of the class, with tears in her eyes, and said 
 that she had lost both sons, and both had died be- 
 fore she spoke to them. 
 
 " Are we willing to touch them? 
 
 "Never since He left the earth has He revived His 
 work except by some human being, and if we were 
 willing we might be that one." 
 
 In speaking of the consciousness of an inconsistent 
 life, he mentioned the case of one girl (among others) 
 who was unwilling to come to Christ because of in- 
 consistencies in the lives of inconsfstent Christians. 
 
 ' ' I am very sure that any one who loves Jesus 
 Christ will draw men to Him. I look back at my 
 college days and know I did very, very poorly, and yet, 
 250 
 
Women's Conference at: Northfield 
 
 after two years there a college man came to me and 
 said he wanted to speak to me. I look back with 
 sorrow at those days for I was in sin. So even if 
 there is only a little of Christ in us it will draw men." 
 
 In speaking of being too polite to speak to others 
 about their private matters, he cited a verse from 
 Ezekiel : "If thou warn the wicked of his way, to 
 turn from it ; if he do not turn from his way he shall 
 die in his iniquity ; but thou hast delivered thy soul " 
 (Ezekiel xxxiii. 9); and also the verse from Acts, 
 ' ' There is none other name under Heaven given among 
 men whereby we must be saved" (^Acts iv. 12). 
 
 " WTien we realize what it means to go down with- 
 out Christ, will we not speak ? " 
 
 "If you say to me, ' I have not seen any one who is 
 hungry,' I reply, ' Then your eyes have not been 
 opened ; they are all about you.' " 
 
 "What is the hindrance? Our unwillingness to 
 put our lives in His,— to live the abiding life in 
 Christ. (This is the secret of Mr. Studd's life and 
 power.) " 
 
 " Perhaps it is one little chamber of the heart kept 
 back. In such a case God says, ' If you cannot trust 
 Me with all, do not trust Me at kll.' Never since 
 Calvary has He forced His way into that chamber 
 and overpowered any man's will." 
 
 His last talk to his class was more carefully re- 
 ported and was printed at the time in Northfield 
 Echoes with a few introductory words : 
 
 "Northfield was the last scene of Hugh Beaver's 
 
 active service in the body, and those days were, as he 
 
 said just before his departure, his f' happiest days on 
 
 earth. ' His joy was the joy of one on fire with love for 
 
 251 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 souls, and who sees those with whom he has been 
 striving come, one after another, into the light and 
 liberty of the gospel. In God's hands Hugh Beaver 
 was the means of bringing hundreds of young women 
 at Northfield into closer touch with God and into 
 more consecrated and zealous devotion to His serv- 
 ice. The daily morning Bible class for the study of 
 motives and methods for personal work will ever be 
 memorable to the 150 young women who attended 
 them as hours of rich personal blessing, when all 
 hearts were fired with a new desire to live Christ 
 among men and to bring others to know Him. In one 
 of the morning hours Mr. Beaver said : ' If we repre- 
 sent Jesus Christ in our lives people will come to us 
 to ask us about it. If in these ihorning hours we 
 come into communion with Christ, 9ur lives are going 
 to bear the impress of His character, and not by 
 what we say but by our lives will pieople be drawn to 
 Him.' And again: 'When we love those about 
 us with the love that led Christ to\iie for us, we can 
 speak to them about Him. If we long to do this work 
 God will teach us how. People all about us are 
 hungry for the peace that passeth understanding.' 
 
 " None of the members of the Bible class will ever 
 forget the earnestness, the simplicity and entire un- 
 consciousness of self which characterized the leader. 
 He was in the hands of the Lord and He spoke 
 through him mightly. 
 
 " MR. beaver's last HOUR WITH HIS CLASS. 
 
 "Speaking on the importance of the study of God's 
 Word, and of communion with Him, Mr. Beaver said : 
 
 " ' One of the great influences on my life has been 
 through the railroad men. I remember one poor fel- 
 low in our town whose life was Wretchedly bad; I 
 252 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 can't think of any man that I have ever met whom 
 it was so hard to like. One dayt in the end of a 
 baggage car he told me that .one time, under 
 conviction of sin, he had gotten up in a meeting and 
 asked the people to pray for him. The minister 
 hadn't noticed him standing there and hadn't paid 
 any attention to him ; he went back the next day, 
 but wasn't touched a bit by the sermon, and came to 
 believe that the Spirit had ceased to strive with him. 
 On this day, utterly miserable, he went up into this 
 baggage car and got down on his knees and began to 
 talk to God. He said that when his mother was on 
 earth he had heard her say something about " peace 
 that passeth understanding," and then it just swept 
 over his life. Sometimes as I wouljd sit down by that 
 man he would put his arm around me and say : "I 
 just had such a sweet message from the Lord this 
 morning. I don't know how it is with you college 
 people, or how you get along without feeding on 
 the Word, but I know for Frank Crossley that unless 
 he gets a good grip on the Lord he will go down." I 
 am perfectly sure that unless we ■get a grip on the 
 Word of God during these summer months the peace 
 of God is going to leave us. The nurse of full-grown 
 souls is solitude, and it is when the Master takes us 
 apart a little while to rest, and we get the clearest 
 vision of His face, that we go out able to carry on 
 His work in the way He wants us to carry it on. If 
 that is what is standing between ypu and Him, have 
 you decided that you are going to put time into the 
 study of His Word ? Some morning you won't feel a 
 bit like it. I tell you, my sister, when you feel least 
 like praying, you need to pray the most. May He 
 lead us to that place, where, trusting Him day by 
 day, we shall learn to know the King in His beauty. 
 253 
 
A Memorial of a Tme Life 
 
 " ' Some day God is going to ask us to give account 
 of our stewardship and for all these marvellous days 
 we have had here. He is going to ask us some day : 
 " What use have you made of that talent which I gave 
 you? Oh, I gave you a mighty privilege in bringing 
 you to Northfield. Did you go down to the valley 
 and lift men up to Me ? " 
 
 "'May God forbid that any of us in the eventide 
 of our lives, when the sun is going down for the last 
 time, and we are coming back from the harvest field 
 at His command, when we hear that last call, " Come 
 home," should have to go empty-handed. May He 
 so fill us with that life that we have been pleading for, 
 may His love so take possession of us, that we will go 
 out to bring in the sheaves. "Be; ye also ready, for 
 in an hour that ye think not, the Son of Man 
 cometh." 
 
 " ' It may be in the evening, 
 
 When the work of the day is done, 
 And you have time to sit in th*e twilight 
 
 And watch the sinking sun^ 
 While the long bright day di^s slowly 
 
 Over the sea, 
 And the hour grows quiet and holy 
 
 With thoughts of Me. 
 While you hear the village children 
 
 Passing along the street, 
 Among those thronging footsteps 
 
 May come the sound of My feet. 
 Therefore I tell you. Watch 
 
 By the light of the evening star. 
 When the room is growing dusky 
 
 As the clouds afar ; 
 Let the door be on the latch 
 
 In your home, 
 For it may be through the gloaming 
 
 I vfill come.' 
 
 254 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 "'Perhaps it is not intended that we should 
 have very many days down here. Let us realize 
 that He has left us here that we might make use of 
 them. 
 
 " 'If you will pardon a very personal allusion that 
 comes to me now — I do not feel njuch like telling it. 
 I do not believe in dreams, but in my college days 
 there was a man whom they called one of the hardest 
 cases in college, and one day I met him during a week 
 of prayer going through the halls, arfd I said, " Dutch, 
 come into the meeting," and Dutch turned on me and 
 he was surprised, and I coaxed him and I prayed 
 silently, and finally Dutch went in. When I got up 
 to speak that evening I saw him in the rear of the 
 room, broken down by the power, of God, in tears, 
 and that day, just as clear as an audible voice, the 
 words came to me, " Go and speak to Dutchy," but I 
 said not a word to him. The next night he came of 
 his own accord, and I said, "I will speak to him." 
 As I went out a man put his arm around me and said, 
 "I believe God will give you Dutchy to-night; speak 
 to him," but I did not. 
 
 " 'After that I dreamed that the time came when 
 God said, ' You will not walk again on earth." I re- 
 member how I said good-bye to the nearest on earth. 
 I wasn't very sad ; I was glad I was going. Ire- 
 member the only thing that touched me was my 
 younger brother crying, and then I went home. I 
 remember the Master came to meet me, and He said: 
 " Do you remember back in the old State how I asked 
 you to ask Dutchy to come to God ? and do you re- 
 member how you slighted me and said you couldn't?" 
 The Lord said, "Do you want to go back to bring 
 him? " Then I said, " Yes, God," and I went back 
 on earth to bring Dutchy to Him. It seemed to me 
 255 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 that I couldn't bring him, I tried so hard, but he is 
 coming now. 
 
 " ' Oh, in the name of Jesus Christ, in the name of 
 our King, may we be true in our lives to Him ; and 
 during these summer months may We live so close to 
 Him that His own life seen in us shall draw men to 
 Him. I pray that God may use every one of ycu to 
 His glory.' " 
 
 Some other brief words of his to his class were 
 printed subsequently as a little leaflet for the 
 young women : 
 
 "But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a 
 mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into 
 the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the 
 Lord the Spirit." 2 Cor. iii. 18. 
 
 "And they that turn many to righteousness," shall 
 shine " as the stars forever and ever." Dan. xii. 3. 
 
 Mr. Beaver's life while here exemplilied the first — 
 his life now the second. May this record of his last 
 and most loving messages which, he gave to us at 
 Northfield bring each one of us clbser to the Master 
 "whom he now sees face to face." 
 
 "I pray God to make you a power, a tremendous 
 power for Him — not half but all for Christ — give 
 yourselves to Christ now and the rest will be easy. 
 For He says in 2 Cor. xii. 9, ' My;grace is sufficient 
 for thee, for My power is made perfect in weak- 
 ness.'" 
 
 Qualifications for power we find in John xv. 7. 
 "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye 
 shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you." 
 256 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 John xiii. 35. " By this shall all men know that 
 ye are My disciples, if ye have \ovi one to another." 
 
 John xiv. 26. "The Comfortesr, even the Holy 
 Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He 
 shall teach you all things, and bring to your remem- 
 brance all that I have said unto you," 
 
 John xvi. r3, 14. " Hovvbeit, when He tfee Spirit 
 of truth is come, He shall guide you into all truth : 
 for He shall not speak from Himself; but what 
 things soever He shall hear, these shall He speak: 
 and He shall declare unto you the things that are to 
 come. He shall glorify Me ; for He shall take of 
 Mine, and shall declare it unto you." 
 
 " Seekest thou great things for thyself, seek them 
 not " — " Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His 
 righteousness." Matt. vi. 33. 
 
 " My prayer for you all is, that you may so come 
 to know Him that the great joy of your lives may be 
 the use of your talents in His service. ' Not my own, 
 my time, my talent, freely all to Christ I bring, to be 
 used in joyful service in the honor pf the King.' " 
 
 " Make me willing, dear Lord, to be counted a 
 fool for Thy sake." 
 
 " It is easy enough to make man think we are 
 good, that we are living a gloriously consecrated life, 
 but Father, we want to be such a power that Thou 
 wilt think we are good and canst say, ' Well done.' " 
 
 2 Tim. ii. 15. " Give diligence to present thyself 
 approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to 
 be ashamed, handling aright the wjbrd of truth." 
 
 "I want more than I can ever express that you 
 should realize that we pass this way but once, that 
 what is done for Christ must be done now. Oh ! 
 may you never live to have any one' say it is too late." 
 
 " Father, we would just draw close to Thee. Draw 
 857 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 nigh to God and He will draw niglj to thee." James 
 iv. 8. 
 
 " Jesus Christ is able to save and to keep. Know 
 Christ." 
 
 "The Lord is at hand. In nothing be anxious ; 
 but in everything by prayer and supplications with 
 thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto 
 God. And the peace of God which passeth all un- 
 derstanding, shall guard your hearts and your 
 thoughts in Christ Jesus." Phil. iv. 6, 7. 
 
 Isa. xlii. 16, The Lord's " I will." " And I will 
 bring the blind by a way they know not ; in paths 
 that they know not will I lead them : I will make 
 darkness light before them ; and crooked places 
 straight. These things will I do, and I will not for- 
 sake them." 
 
 Isa. xii. 2, Our " I will." " I will trust and not 
 be afraid." 
 
 "O Father, gather Thy little ones together that 
 they may come apart and rest awhile with Thee, safe 
 in Thy arms." 
 
 In the midst of all his earnest spiritual work 
 he was still full of playfulness and of kindly 
 little thought for the comfort of others. He in- 
 sisted on carrying a chair each evening for one 
 of the older women to use at the open air meet- 
 ing under the pines on the little hill called Round 
 Top which looked out over the Connecticut valley 
 with the silver thread of the river in its bosom 
 and the Green Mountains to the west growing 
 dusky and solemn under the letting sun. He 
 was full of little courtesies to the young women, 
 858 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 and the most knightly attentions, which were yet 
 devoid of all assuming or distance and were most 
 sunny and sincere. He made a little covenant 
 with two of them to see how much they could 
 learn about prayer in a year, with the understand- 
 ing that they would meet and report at the year's 
 end. He was constantly expressing his apprecia- 
 tion of the "jolly" promises given to Christians, 
 though he only spoke of them so to those whom 
 he knew would not misunderstand. To some of 
 the girls over-anxious about their friends who 
 were outside of the fullest privilege he quoted 
 Philippians iv. 6, adding, " But you know I don't 
 mean that the Lord doesn't want us to agonize 
 for souls." He suggested to some of the girls 
 that they should give a larger -place to others 
 than themselves in their prayers, and they noticed 
 that that was his own practice. The leader of 
 one of the college glee clubs who came into his 
 class and saw the radiance of his face said as she 
 went out, " I wish I could see a light like that in 
 my brother's face." When told of this remark 
 he laughed and said that it was a good thing that 
 no one could monopolize it. The light of a di- 
 vine joy played over his life and mellowed as his 
 life deepened and drew to its early close. 
 
 " His face, his manner, and above all, his prayers," 
 writes one member of his class, '<' showed that he 
 lived with God. And yet I think I have never seen 
 259 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 a Christian worker who had such -a. whole-souled in- 
 terest in people and things around him. Doubtless 
 the one was the cause of the other. , . . He was 
 an indefatigable worker. . . . He had the greatest 
 desire to make every one realize God's tenderness and 
 yearning for them. He told us this story one morn- 
 ing to make us see more clearly God's great and un- 
 ceasing love. ' During the Civil War a man went all 
 through the Union army searching for his son and 
 constantly calling, "John Thompson, your father 
 wants you." Finally he found him very ill, in a 
 hospital, and took him home. Our Father is search- 
 ing everywhere for us because He' wants to bring us 
 to Himself.' One thing about Mr. Beaver's class 
 particularly impressed me ; the hymn that he invari- 
 ably chose at the beginning of the hour was ' More 
 love to Thee, O Christ ! ' I think there was not one 
 meeting of his class at which we did not sing that 
 hymn. It seemed so strange that kny one who lived 
 so near to Christ should feel such need of more love 
 and closer fellowship. I suppose,- though, that it is 
 those who are nearest who long most to come even 
 nearer." 
 
 The conference closed on Monday, July 19th. 
 His words at the farewell meeting were pre- 
 served with a brief introduction in the Northfield 
 Echoes : 
 
 "But Hugh Beaver's earnestness was not manifested 
 in the classroom alone. Hours were spent in personal 
 conversation with those who were seeking light and 
 power. His eagerness that God's power should be felt 
 in the Conference knew no bounds. He prayed with- 
 260 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 out ceasing ; he sought to have the subjects presented at 
 the platform meetings which would be most calculated 
 to stir the hearts of the young women with greater 
 love for Christ and for souls. Communion with God 
 seemed to be as natural to him aS conversation with 
 men, and more constant. As a result, of course, his 
 humility was ever evident. He coiild not be induced 
 to make a platform address, and he only consented to 
 say a few words on the closing evening of the Con- 
 ference because Mr. Moody said, ' Well, I'll not speak 
 if you don't.' Another marked characteristic of Mr. 
 Beaver was his power in public prayer. He talked 
 to God as simply, and directly, and earnestly as 
 though he were seeking a desired- blessing from an 
 earthly father, and carried those whose prayers he 
 voiced right into the very presence of God. 
 
 "We close with a report of Mr. Beaver's last 
 words at a Northfield gathering — his last public ut- 
 terance on earth, and a message which, a week later, 
 was obeyed in a sense that no one imagined at the 
 time. 
 
 "A PARTING MESSAGE 
 
 " ' I have no speech to make, but I want to tell you 
 of a little incident in my own life, yesterday. I had 
 had a great many personal interviews, some of them 
 somewhat sad. I felt a bit weary^t is the end of a 
 hard year's work — and 1 went alone with the Lord 
 and talked to Him a little while. Then I just asked 
 the Lord for a message from His Book, and when I 
 opened it — or He opened, I guess — this is the mes- 
 sage that He gave me, " Come ye yourselves apart 
 with Me into a desert place and rest awhile." After 
 the twelve had been sent out, and had been doing 
 miracles in the power of God, they came back to 
 261 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Jesus — I guess they, too, were tired that day — and 
 the Lord said these words to them> "Come ye your- 
 selves apart with Me into a desert place and rest 
 awhile." I think that perhaps, after all, this is what 
 we most need — ^just to come apart with Him and rest. 
 
 " ' As I look into your faces, some of them very 
 familiar to me now, I fear that, after all, perhaps the 
 greatest difficulty has been that we have been looking 
 too much at ourselves ; we have beSn seeing too much 
 our own imperfections ; we have failed to look up to 
 Him enough. 
 
 " ' Just now there came into my mind a little inci- 
 dent that happened a little while ago on a railroad 
 train in Pennsylvania. One day.I noticed on the 
 seat opposite to me a father who seemed very much 
 concerned about his little son, who was running up 
 and down the aisle. As the train came near a tunnel 
 he called his boy and said, "It is going to be dark 
 very soon." The little fellow looked at the windows 
 and saw the sunshine out there, and then he looked 
 up into his father's face and smiled as though he 
 thought his father didn't mean it, and he kept on 
 playing in the aisle. But by and by, as we came 
 near the mouth of the tunnel, and the mountain 
 loomed up on every side, the little fellow began to 
 work his way along the aisle until he came to where 
 his father sat, and then he climbed on the seat. 
 Then we rushed into the dark tunnel. I waited until 
 we came out into the light and then I saw that the 
 little fellow had his arms tight around the neck of his 
 father and his face was buried on his shoulder. I 
 thought of a home I had just left after a long visit. 
 The Father in heaven had been calling a certain one 
 in that home to come closer to Him, but everything 
 had been bright and that one had not heeded the 
 262 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 call. Then there came a great dark cloud over that 
 home, and a little high chair was put away from the 
 table, and there was an aching vaid in that one's 
 life. Then, in the shadow of that sorrow, was 
 learned the love of God, the blessedness of being 
 near to Him. 
 
 " 'Oh, may we not make it necessary that some 
 great cloud should come over ourlives before we go 
 apart and rest with Him a little while. Some of us 
 are very weary to-night, physically, and feel that 
 above all things we need rest. Some may be dissatis- 
 fied with their own lives. Oh, come apart and rest 
 with Him a little while alone, for never, never can 
 we be transformed into His image by looking into our 
 own life. You remember how Paul puts it, " But we 
 all with unveiled faces reflecting as a mirror the glory 
 of the Lord, are transformed into the same image, 
 from glory to glory." If we are to be like Christ 
 it must be by just coming apart to rest with Him ! 
 May we learn that lesson now and not wait until the 
 clouds have come. In the sunshiile of His own love 
 let us learn to keep very close to Him ! May He 
 help us!'" 
 
 This was Hugh's last service of his Master, 
 and it was the most loving and most fruitful 
 service of his short life. When he "slipped 
 awa' " scores of testimonies poured in from 
 women, young and mature as \yell, to whom he 
 had come with his happy radiance and shown 
 them Jesus. These were some, of the letters of 
 the teachers and leaders of theConference who 
 lived with him in the same house at the Confer- 
 
 263 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 ence and saw his life in the*test of its daily 
 routine: 
 
 " He sat next me at meals," wrote one. " It was 
 a pleasure to talk with him — brimming with fun and 
 brightness, showing his sweet, affectionate nature so 
 unmistakably, but beyond everything else so earnest 
 for the souls of those who, for a tinae, had been com- 
 mitted to his charge. So often, when we asked him 
 to take some part — to do something special in the 
 Conference, in such a matter-of-course way, he would 
 answer : ' I don't know about that ; I don't know 
 whether the Lord wants me to do that; I'll see, I'll 
 let you know this afternoon.' I can never tell you 
 what he was to our Conference^to those college 
 girls. I feel sure you are going to hear constantly of 
 some of the blessings he was used to bring to them. 
 His words and teaching were with the power of the 
 Spirit, and the Spirit worked with him in preparing 
 and blessing the souls of those girl^. But I know his 
 own prayer life and whole-hcaftcd allegiance to 
 Christ was a living epistle and object lesson as great 
 as any of his words to them. I am mourning his 
 loss, personally, and I can never cease to feel that 
 our Conference has been crowned with a peculiar 
 sacredness by the fact that it was his last public labor 
 of love for his Master. Surely he went home with 
 his hands full of sheaves to lay at that Master's feet." 
 
 " His nature was so sweet and wholesome," wrote 
 another, "we grew so fond of him. As we said 
 afterward, it seemed to us that we had known him 
 years instead of weeks. 
 
 ' ' Mr. Beaver said after the first few lessons he had 
 to put aside notes and outlines and talk to the hearts 
 264 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 of the girls. His messages, which were so on fire 
 with the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, have sunk so 
 deep into their hearts, that it must mean much fruit 
 for the Master during the coming year and years. In 
 his last prayer in his class, he asked, oh ! so earnestly, 
 that we might meet in an ' unbroken circle ' at the 
 Father's throne. He was so happy in the thought of 
 seeing the Father ' face to face ' and, as one of the 
 girls wrote me, I like to think he; is now 'asking so 
 much ' of the dear Lord Jesus for us." 
 
 Another wrote : 
 
 " I know that Heaven is just so much richer to us all 
 but the world so much the poorer for the loss of a life 
 which must have been a blessing wherever he went. 
 Now his consecration and sweetness of character must 
 impress itself more deeply as we dwell on it." 
 
 Another, a well-known medical missionary, 
 wrote : 
 
 " He felt after the Conference that it had been 
 God's will for him to do that work. I wonder if he 
 had a premonition that it really might be one of his 
 great opportunities. He warned us against neglect- 
 ing such and his sudden death will put the seal upon 
 that lesson to some of us. He was ready to go but 
 how the world will grieve for him,! I did not know 
 him well but admired him and loved him for what he 
 was to us all. When we saw him, so young and so 
 attractive, we felt the dangers of his position. He 
 was such a good comrade and so absolutely without 
 self-consciousness or affectation. He was enthusi- 
 astically in earnest and filled with the Holy Spirit. 
 265 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 His marvellous influence seemed due but little to his 
 attractive personality. To that winsomeness was 
 added an Intangible something that warded off all 
 foolish sentimentality and drew the girls to him, be- 
 cause of the Christ in him. We sometimes wondered 
 how the man in him was not spoiled when nearly the 
 whole Conference sat at his feet> It is clear now. 
 Like his Lord, he was not to be touched, because not 
 yet — but oh ! how soon to be — ascended to his Father. 
 What we felt and admired was the radiant likeness 
 which now in His presence satisfies his loving heart. 
 . . . Sometimes I saw his hand tremble and feared 
 he was living at too high a pressure, but after a day 
 or two he was so happy in his conviction that it was 
 God's plan for him and so glad, because it was all 
 right with his mother, that we coujd not really ques- 
 tion his decision. We must trust that it was truly his 
 beloved Master's wish that he should make this his 
 last sweet public service. He lived as seeing one 
 whom we do not always — many of 4is — see so clearly. 
 I cannot tell you all that he was of strength and 
 steadiness and inspiration in the Conference. The 
 testimony will come and may it help to comfort and 
 make more joyful your hearts." 
 
 Yet another wrote : 
 
 "It was a magnificent closing service. I wish 
 some of you had been there, for you can never know 
 how clearly and earnestly his voice rang out in resist- 
 less pleading for better lives and service, and many 
 were broken in tears. He seemed then so ready for 
 the more abundant, joyous life, that I can only think 
 of him to-day as having stepped over directly into it 
 — almost translated." 
 
 266 
 
Women's Conference at'Northfield 
 
 This was the impression he rrtade on all. Mr. 
 Delavan L. Pierson, the editor 6f the Northfield 
 Echoes, adds a man's testimony : 
 
 "I never knew a fellow of his age to have such a 
 love for souls or to be more blessed in winning them 
 to Christ and bringing them into closer fellowship 
 with Him. His influence here, bo.th in his class and 
 outside of it, was simply wonderful and under God I 
 most heartily believe that it was due to him that the 
 young women's 1897 conference was the most power- 
 ful for good of any ever held here. . . . 
 
 "Every one that came into contact with Hugh 
 loved him and loved his Master better for what they 
 saw of Christ in Hugh." 
 
 And another wrote : 
 
 "Very few of us have ever met any one who so 
 beautifully reflected his Master as did he. Standing 
 on the very threshold of Heaven, he paused to give 
 us his last message, full of love and trust in his Sav- 
 iour, and then in answering the Father's call ' Come 
 home,' he added a strange, new seal to our lives, an 
 inspiration to live more deeply the, true Christian life 
 — even as he did." 
 
 Mrs. Margaret E. Sangster adided her witness 
 and her word of sympathy for Hugh's mother: 
 
 "May one who is to you an entire stranger come 
 
 and sit by your side and mingle her tears with yours, 
 
 over the loss (to you and the world) of your noble 
 
 boy. Not a loss to the Master wihom he loved and 
 
 267 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 served, for Hugh Beaver has gonp to stand in His 
 presence and there is higher service appointed him 
 there. I spent ten bright July days in Northfield 
 and was a guest at Betsey Moody Cottage where he 
 was also staying. I saw much of him and of his 
 beautiful work, and I have never' in my life met a 
 man of his age who more fully gained my respect 
 and admiration. To have had such a son is a crown 
 of rejoicing to a mother. I am grieving for and with 
 you, but I think of the sheaves he has won and the 
 Lord who has welcomed him home^ and I cannot but 
 rejoice for one whose course has been so splendid and 
 whose reward has so early been given." 
 
 But perhaps none of these could know so well 
 the depth of the work done by the Spirit of God 
 through Hugh as the young women themselves. 
 One of these had given to him- on July i6, this 
 note: " I have given it all up — my life for self — 
 all to Christ. I feel a joy beyond words but oh, 
 pray for me that I may not fail, that I may not 
 look back — that I may be strengthened." And 
 this same girl wrote later : 
 
 " I went up to Northfield — a delegate from my col- 
 lege to the Young Woman's Christian Association 
 Conference, — a girl whose sole ambition in life was 
 to become known to the world— to become great 
 through herself and for her own glory. I had been a 
 member of the Church since a child and considered 
 myself a Christian, but even my. good works were 
 bent to one end — self glory. But there at Northfield 
 it was all changed. There, as I sat in Mr. Beaver's 
 268 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 class — a college man as I am a college woman — who 
 must have known the temptation of personal ambition 
 — and heard him tell of his Christ ^nd of the infinite 
 love of the Father who has for us gifts far above any 
 that we could ask or plan for ourselves — if we only 
 let Him plan for us — I saw it all— the folly and self- 
 ishness of my life. As in a vision I saw your son's 
 Christ and He became mine. Nbw I live for Him 
 and oh ! the sweetness and the beauty of this life. I 
 have never known anything like it," 
 
 Other members of Hugh's class also saw there 
 the great vision : 
 
 "I cannot be thankful enough that the Lord per- 
 mitted me to know Mr. Beaver and to be in his Per- 
 sonal Workers' Class. I went into it hoping to find 
 why, in my seven years of professedly Christian life, 
 I had not been able to lead a soul to Christ; and the 
 Lord used Mr. Beaver to show me that my own soul 
 was not entirely the Lord's and -my life had never 
 been fully surrendered. That hour was the most 
 blessed of my life, when I gave up everything to the 
 Lord." 
 
 "I am so thankful that I was permitted to come 
 under the direct influence of such a man as Mr. Bea- 
 ver. What a blessing he was in the world ! Do you 
 remember that among his last words at the last Bible 
 Class meeting were • Be ye, therefore, ready, for at 
 an hour when ye think not the Soii of Man cometh ' ? 
 Surely no one was more ready than he. I feel as if 
 something had gone out of my life; such a strong im- 
 pression did he make upon me. Never shall 1 forget 
 the way he shook hands with me that last night, when 
 269 
 
A Memorial of a Tilie Life 
 
 my voice almost failed me as I tried to tell him all 
 that the class had meant." 
 
 " There is so much joy about this too. I just want 
 to sing sometimes, when I think of how happy he is, 
 resting with Jesus, and of all the sheaves he was able 
 to bring with him — and then tears come to my eyes 
 as I remember him, so sweet and so strong, so full of 
 the Spirit of Christ. Shall you ever forget how he 
 stood before us at that mornings class, his hands 
 reaching out to us, his mouth with its beautiful smile, 
 and the tears in his eyes, pleading with us to work 
 for our Master ? " 
 
 " I think we must all feel the same about it : — the 
 wonderful help and inspiration his life was to us all, 
 especially so now since he is gone ; the joy that we 
 ought to feel that he so soon could come into the 
 presence of the Master whom he so deeply loved and 
 served, and perhaps most of all, what his death has 
 meant. When I first heard that he had gone, the 
 sorrow and sadness of it almost overwhelmed me, but 
 that long since has passed away, and in its place has 
 come the most satisfying peace I. ever experienced. 
 The holy memory of his life must be a lifelong in- 
 spiration. How much we have to be thankful for 
 that we were allowed to know him* so well." 
 
 " Another wrote that his life had made her feel as 
 never before something of what Christ's own young 
 manhood might have been and I have felt that too. I 
 certainly never knew any one whose life was so hid 
 in Christ as his. I don't believe fever fully realized 
 what that meant, until I knew him." 
 270 
 
Women's Conference at Northfield 
 
 During the months that have passed since this 
 conference closed and Hugh's life ended, the in- 
 fluence he exerted has gone on. Such testimonies 
 as these have come to those who had invited him 
 to do this work at Northfield : 
 
 "It would be impossible for rrie to tell you the 
 wonderful influence that came in^o my life through 
 Mr. Beaver's Bible class." 
 
 " I pray that the hundreds who were blessed by the 
 Holy Spirit through him, may be filled with the same 
 overflowing Spirit that was his." 
 
 " It was the spirit of Mr. Beaver's whole life in its 
 absolute consecration and in its passionate devotion 
 to the Master whom he served, more than what he 
 said that has influenced me and has been the greatest 
 inspiration," 
 
 "I am more and more thankful every moment for 
 those days at Northfield. I came to know and to see 
 through Mr. Beaver's Bible class, the possibilities of a 
 young consecrated life. What a tremendous power 
 he was." 
 
 "It is just a month ago to-day since the Lord 
 Jesus showed us girls at Northfield c "in such a wonder- 
 ful way, His power to answer pAyer. Oh, I pray 
 that he may keep us so wholly His own that He can 
 use us in whatever way He will to bring our college 
 girls the blessing they need." 
 
 "I have come to realize that the life with Christ 
 of which Mr. Beaver gave us a vision at Northfield is 
 871 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 the only true life. ' Thou shalt keep him in perftct 
 ■peace whose mind is stayed on Thefe.' It is the ' per- 
 fect peace ' that I have come to waiit." 
 
 "Mr. Beaver's last public messages were to us 
 girls at Northfield. The responsibility seems some- 
 thing tremendous, but we must trust, and may God 
 give each one of His listeners the strength to do His 
 will gladly and with the joy which was Mr. Beaver's. 
 All the chief things I remember of his sayings, were 
 exhortations to watchful, earnest work. My ears ring 
 with 'We pass this way but once; let us pray the 
 Father constantly, "Lest we forget, lest we for- 
 get.'"" 
 
 The belief expressed by Mrs. Dwight L. 
 Moody has been vindicated: 
 
 "I believe that the good that Hugh accomplished 
 in Northfield the last few days he was here will never 
 be fully known in time. His work is still going on, 
 for many lives we feel sure were impressed by contact 
 with him and his death does not bring his work to a 
 close. His words are still ringing m the ears of many 
 and the happy, earnest face still speaks of the fullness 
 of blessing that his Master had given to him and that 
 he urged so many young people to receive." 
 
 272 
 
"THE FAIR, SWEET MORN AWAKES " 
 
 '* He confessed, he'says. 
 Many a dying person, never one 
 So sweet and true and pure and beautiful, 
 A good man ! " 
 
 —Browning, The Ring and the- Book, CaponsaccHi. 
 
 " Good-night, sweet prince, 
 And flights of angels sing thee to, thy rest." 
 
 — Shalcespeare, Hamt'et, Act K., Scene 11. 
 
 " 1 REMEMBER," said One of the workers at the 
 Young Women's Conference, "*and indeed have 
 thought of it several times since, a remark he 
 made to me just before he left Northfield. 1 had 
 said that I did hope that he would soon be well 
 and strong again and would be none the worse 
 for attending our conference. He replied, ' Well, 
 I shall never be sorry that I stayefd. It is the best 
 conference 1 ever attended and, if my work is 
 ended, I am ready to go! ' " 
 
 Very happy and very weary Hugh came home 
 from Northfield to Bellefonte. "I was so tired 
 after reaching home that 1 left all my mail go for 
 a few days," he wrote to Mr. Bard on July 27th, 
 but he offered to go to Harrisburg to discuss the 
 question of the right man as his successor. As 
 
 273 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 soon as he was settled at honje he took up his 
 morning Bible studies, having procured a new 
 book in which to write the results of his study. 
 Only three studies were written in this new 
 book. The first on Monday, July 26, was upon 
 John i. 1-18, and closes with the prayer, "We 
 thank Thee, Father, that though we cannot 
 understand the doctrine of the Trinity we have 
 received Thy Son and know by the witness of 
 Thy Spirit that we are sons of Thine." The 
 second study was on the following morning on 
 Luke's Gospel and closes w'ith this prayer, 
 " Father, we thank Thee for a Gospel that gives 
 us full knowledge of the c^ainty of these 
 blessed truths (of Christ's life). Grant that they 
 . may have a greater place in our lives and that He 
 who is the Way and the Truth may become more 
 and more to us through the study of His life. In 
 His Name we ask it. Amen." The last study 
 was on July 28th, on the Two Genealogies. The 
 last words written in the book are the closing 
 prayer of this study, "We rejoice, our Father, 
 that though men may stumble over the line of 
 descent of Jesus Christ, we know Him to be 
 Thy Son and in and through Him we have eternal 
 life. Help us to live more fully in His life, hid 
 with Him in Thee. We have great boldness for 
 we come asking it In His Namet Amen." 
 The fragrance of another life lay on Hugh these 
 274 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morn Awakes" 
 
 days. The mercy of Immanuel was expanding 
 to an ocean fullness before hj^n and his eyes 
 looked away with a new wistfulness to the land 
 that is afar off and to the King in His beauty. 
 One of his closest friends recalls some of his 
 ways and of the thoughts he pxpressed during 
 this last week: 
 
 " He said over to me time and again, ' / am 
 changed.' 'I know my sins have been forgiven, 
 and things that have been a temptation and terrible 
 weakness in my life have all gon^.' I asked him if 
 he thought they could return after he had recovered 
 from the present influence of the conferences — his 
 answer was a decided 'No. I never expect them to 
 return, I am changed.' 
 
 " On our last drive together he had been telling me 
 of the work and classes at Northfield and of a num- 
 ber of the personal interviews with troubled souls. 
 With no special reference to the preceding thoughts, 
 he turned to me with such an earnest look and asked 
 me if I thought any one on earth had ever seen the 
 Lord's face while still on earth since the time of the 
 Disciples. In reply to my answer he said with more 
 feeling in his manner and words than I can ever re- 
 peat to any one — '/ do,' and after driving on for 
 quite a distance in silence he added, 'If I ever 
 should see the Lord's face before'I die, which I be- 
 lieve I shall, I could never mention it to any one, not 
 even the one I loved best on this earth.' Something 
 in his words, voice and face made me feel that he had 
 had an experience that he could not reveal to anyone. 
 Later on during the drive he looked up into Heaven 
 with so much joy in his face and said, ' I do not know 
 275 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 why it is, vvlietlier it is because I am tired and worn 
 out or not, but sometimes I feel that it will not be very 
 long before I am with my Master;' And again he 
 told me that often when he prayed he was surprised 
 not to see his Master's face on opening his eyes, he 
 felt so near Him. 
 
 " Knowing him as he said I did, better than any one 
 else, I feel it might be helpful to others who are 
 working for the Lord to know that Hugh's life was 
 not free from severe temptations and weaknesses, and 
 that it was only through the grace of our Lord and 
 Hugh's unflinching faith in the cleansing through 
 His blood that he was able to live the beautiful life 
 he did in Christ. His struggles, and battles were 
 numerous, hard and not always victorious ones, but 
 as he said from the first of June, 1897, there was a 
 change, and what had seemed to him impossible to 
 conquer had faded out of his life. Just before he left 
 me on that last drive he repeated that little piece of 
 poetry : ' It may be at Morn,' and on looking back 
 over those few days there were so many things he said 
 that have led me to believe that he had a feeling that 
 perhaps he would not be here long. The last words 
 he said to me were that he prayed the Lord to keep 
 me until we met again. 
 
 " He told me his Bible reading was another thing to 
 him and that for the moments he had spent in prayer 
 in the last few years he had speijt hours in the last 
 few weeks. He spoke of the joy in prayer at Nor-th- 
 field. That for the first time in his life he rejoiced 
 when called upon to pray, for he felt so near his 
 Lord and so full of praise that it was hard for him to 
 be quiet. On his return from Northfield he always 
 endeavored to be alone at twilight for a short time 
 with his Master." 
 
 276 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morri Awakes" 
 
 Hugh had come home from Northfield more 
 weary than he thought. He did not make any 
 complaint, but in a few days appendicitis de- 
 veloped, of which as was afterward learned, he 
 had had unheeded premonitions. It ran its 
 course very rapidly, and he suffered greatly but 
 with the same joyful cheeriness which had 
 marked all his life. He felt that it was the end 
 drawing near and his thoughts were of his mother 
 and the grief his death would be. to her. He told 
 some of his dearest girl friends, "If I go home 
 before mother does you must go' to her and com- 
 fort her all you can." The day before the last he 
 said to his father, " If I am to go home this time 
 1 hope it will be soon. I would.love to go, but I 
 am afraid it will be too hard for dear little mother." 
 He strove in every way to prevent the sight of 
 his suffering from paining others. It was not 
 necessary to strive long. His disease ran its 
 course so swiftly that in spite of the most dis- 
 tinguished medical care and attention the end 
 came on August 2, and he slipped away out of 
 our bondage into God's liberty,- out of our dark- 
 ness into His marvellous light.; So Sir Galahad 
 found at last the Holy Grail. 
 
 Among the first messages that came was a 
 
 telegram from Northfield from Mr. Moody: "All 
 
 Northfield greatly moved. His influence touched 
 
 every one. Only Eternity will reveal all the good 
 
 277 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 he did." On the same day on which Hugh's body 
 was laid away for its rest at Beilefonte a me- 
 morial service was held at Northfield. Mr. Moody 
 spoke, as one who was present ^ wrote: 
 
 "With all the love and pathos of a father and 
 said he had known no other sucH young man, and 
 that no other visitors to Northfield had left such im- 
 pressions here as Hugh and Professor Drummond." 
 
 Mrs. Moody wrote out Mr. Moody's simple 
 words : 
 
 "Seldom has a young man crossed my path who 
 made such an impression on me as Hugh Beaver. 
 
 "With his earnest spirit, he had such a grasp of 
 Bible truths that I felt I would like to secure his aid 
 at Mt. Hermon School, in teaching the Bible, but 
 when I spoke to him of it he felt he could not do it. 
 
 "Frequently during the Young Women's Conven- 
 tion, where he conducted one of the Bible classes, he 
 came to me and asked if I would not preach on cer- 
 tain topics, as he thought that I would answer some 
 of the difficulties that had risen in the minds of some 
 of the students and that they had brought up, as he 
 had talked and prayed with them. When I preached 
 on these subjects that he was so anxious about, I 
 could see that he was there, perhaps in a back seat, 
 but his bowed head as I spoke assured me that he was 
 praying that the message might gs home, and do its 
 work. 
 
 " I tried to get Mt. Beaver to stay over to the next 
 Convention, but he said he must get home and see 
 
 'The Rev. Teunis S. Hamlin, D. D., ofWashington. 
 278 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morii Awakes" 
 
 his mother who was not well. I could urge no longer 
 and we said good-bye ! Little did I think that in 
 ten days I should receive a telegram telling me of 
 Hugh Beaver's death, or that he had gone to his re- 
 ward. 
 
 " I felt we could ill afford to lose such a young man 
 when the need is so urgent now for such. I cannot 
 understand it, except that the Lord* had another place 
 of higher service for him and so»called him. May 
 his mantle fall on thousands ! " 
 
 The Rev. Dr. R. A. Torrey spoke as follows: 
 
 "I. Hugh Beaver made a deeper impression upon 
 me than any other young man that'I ever met. That 
 which impressed me most of all was his absorbing and 
 consuming love for souls. Whenever I was to speak 
 at the Conferences, he would come to me beforehand 
 and ask what my subject was, anti when I told him 
 he would say to me, in an earnest and almost dis- 
 tressed way, ' Are you not going to tell them, some- 
 time, how to win souls lo Christ ? ' Time and again 
 I heard, in one way and another, of his going here 
 and there and spending hours trying to lead some 
 one to Christ. 
 
 "The second thing about him that impressed me 
 was his remarkable gift of prayer. .One night I heard 
 him offer, in this building, a prayer that moved me 
 and helped me as very few prayers. ever have. 
 
 "The third thing that impressed me was his rare 
 humility. He always tried to keep in the back- 
 ground. It was with difficulty thjt he could be pre- 
 vailed upon to speak or pray. On one occasion I 
 was very anxious that he should lead in prayer before 
 I spoke. He insisted that this one or that one could 
 279 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 do it so much better than he, and only consented, 
 finally, because I would have no one but him. 
 
 "II. There is one more thought tliat I wish to 
 give you to-day. Hugh Beaver is not dead. ' Jesus 
 Christ hath abolished death and hath brought life and 
 immortality to light through the Gospel.' What we 
 call death is simply a departure to be with Christ, 
 which is very far better. Our brother has completed 
 his work and entered into rest early, but, to-day, he 
 has entered into a life far more abundant and glorious 
 than he knew here among men." 
 
 And then the service closed with the hymn 
 Hugh had used so constantly at Northfield: 
 
 "More love to Thee, O Christ, 
 
 More love to Thee I 
 Hear Thou the prayer I make 
 
 On bended knee; 
 This is my earnest plea 
 More love, O Christ, to Ttjee, 
 
 More love to Thee. 
 
 " Once earthly joy I craved,* 
 
 Sought peace and rest; 
 Now Thee alone 1 seek 
 
 Give what is best: 
 This all my prayer shall be 
 More love, O Christ to Thee, 
 
 More love to Thee I 
 
 " Let sorrow do its work 
 
 Send grief and pain; 
 Sweet are Thy messenger/ 
 
 Sweet their refrain. 
 When they can sing with me, 
 More love, O Christ, to Tllee, 
 
 More love to Thee. 
 
 280 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morn Awakes" 
 
 "Then shall my latest breatli 
 
 Whisper Thy praise; 
 This be the parting cry 
 
 My heart shall raise, 
 This still its prayer shall be 
 More love, O Christ, to Thee, 
 
 More love to Thee." 
 
 At the funeral service in Bellefonte, Hugh's 
 pastor, the Rev. William Laurie, D. D., recalled 
 some of the characteristics of the sweet life that 
 had grown suddenly full and glorious : 
 
 " And the one that is just gon^, how he has been 
 honored here ! Hardly seven years since he professed 
 his faith in Christ. I remember as yesterday, when 
 I received him here into the Church. Eleventh of 
 October, if I remember, 1890. And how much he 
 has done in that time ! Naturally we all know what 
 he was, and I hardly need to tell you. Manly — was 
 he not that ? You never could think he would do a 
 mean, unmanly thing. Energetic — he was so full of 
 it that he simply wore himself out. He did not take 
 the measure of his own strength, when he was to 
 work for God and for man. Conscientious — another 
 one of the characteristics as clearly marked as the 
 others. What is right ? What is wrong ? What 
 ought I to do? and the o«,g'^/' controlled. And then 
 with a wide, kindly, loving heart, going out and out; 
 taking in all that needed hira, all that could be 
 reached. And he was so thoughtful of others. In 
 these days of sickness he would not have his mother 
 see the pain, when it would wring his heart and write 
 itself on his face. And, when he approached people 
 in his own kind way, there was a whole-heartedness 
 about him that won hearts. The congregation here 
 281 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 to-day tells the story of hearts that were won. The 
 Lord Jesus gave the usual, when He said, 'A prophet 
 is not without honor, save in his own country and his 
 own house,' but this is one of the exceptions. One 
 of the hardest places a man can speak in, is the church 
 in which he grew up ; but, when Hugh Beaver was to 
 speak in his own church, many would gather ; every- 
 body was drawn ; he was loved and honored in his 
 own home, in his own church, in his own community, 
 and we see it here to-day. And he was a ready 
 ispeaker. Not what the world would say eloquent. 
 It was a different kind of eloquence — eloquent, and 
 yet not. It was an eloquence that never thought 
 about eloquence ; it was an eloquence that had some- 
 thing to say and spoke it right to the heart and never 
 thought about itself — never thought about how it 
 would affect him, but how to reach hearts. Living 
 so near to Christ as he surely did, there was a mar- 
 vellous spiritual power. In old days they used to call 
 it unction ; it was a something that somehow touched 
 the old and touched the young. Little boys in this 
 community I have been told, since he was taken, 
 would say, ' If Hugh Beaver is to speak at the Chris- 
 tian Endeavor every Sabbath, I want to go every time 
 and take a front seat.' The children were touched. 
 They felt the power; and what was it? It was the 
 spiritual power of a good man, a consecrated man. 
 Another thing about his speaking was good sense. 
 Sometimes you hear people making fine speeches, but 
 they spoil it with something that is unwise. I have 
 heard him many a time and I never heard him use an 
 extravagant expression. It was jilways marked by 
 good sense. It was also always direct. It was from 
 the heart ; and it was to the heart, 
 
 . ^ )|s Jj! 1^ ^ I|£ 
 
 282 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morn Awakes" 
 
 "In one of the last weeks of his life, let me give 
 you a few sentences that he wrote to a friend. He 
 seemed to be ripening for the home in the heavens. 
 Near the close of the Young Women's Conference, 
 he writes, ' Another beautiful Sabbath has come and 
 I look back upon the best week of all my life.' What 
 a thing to write ! He did not know that it was about 
 the last week. ' We have had won(^erful times." He 
 did not know that he was in the vestibule of heaven. 
 ' Unfavorable circumstances made me all the more 
 dependent upon God.' There is where his power lay. 
 Dependence upon God ! Feeling= that he was noth- 
 ing ; that he could do nothing ; that all he could be 
 was God's instrument to do whatever He wanted, and 
 he was ready to be that. Another sentence. ' I have 
 never known anything like these last days.' No, he 
 never did, but he knows something now far more 
 wonderful. Never known anything like that ! What 
 a privilege it was for those that were with him in these 
 last days, when the saint was nearly fit for the home. 
 He goes on, 'My class has been so large and the 
 girls so different in their needs that I hardly knew 
 how to deal with them, so I just left the Master to 
 lead the class and through it He led many to Him- 
 self.' Nothing about himself. The Master was do- 
 ing everything. He was only the tool and his Mas- 
 ter the hand that wielded it ; His was all the glory. 
 In one of these last days a mother came to him and 
 said, ' Mr. Beaver, I want you to talk to my daughter. 
 She is not in the kingdom yet ; I want you to talk to 
 her.' 'Oh,' he said, 'I cannot do that; I never 
 force a conversation on that subject. If she would 
 like to see me, I would be glad to talk with her.' 
 When the mother insisted he said, ' Do you believe 
 in prayer ? ' and, when she answered, yes, he said, 
 283 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 ' Well, let us pray about it, and I will go to the hotel 
 and wait on the porch ; if God wants me to meet her, 
 she will come to me there.' He went there and he 
 hardly reached the place till the young lady came up 
 to him and said, ' I want to have* a personal talk 
 with you.' Then and there she found the Saviour. 
 After the meetings closed, people would insist on 
 talking with him about their spiritual difficulties, 
 until, as he wrote, ' I have had to cut a good many 
 meetings, for my own sake and because I had no time 
 to myself, unless I did.' " 
 
 Mr. S. M. Bard, the general secretary of the 
 Young Men's Christian Associations in Pennsyl- 
 vania, whom Hugh had been wont to call " Gen- 
 eral," because to him he made his reports and 
 from him received his directions, spoke for the 
 young men of the state. 
 
 " The keen edge of this affliction strikes so deeply 
 into my own heart, that I had mudi rather sit silent 
 with you, with tear-stained face, than to speak — and 
 yet, if word of mine will bring onfe whit of glory to 
 his Lord, I gladly unite my voice with these others 
 over our dear departed friend. 
 
 "It has been my privilege during the two years 
 just past to see more of Hugh's life perhaps than any 
 of you save his own kin. You of Bellefonte knew his 
 life in this community, how he knew all alike and 
 had as genuine a greeting for the smallest school 
 urchin, as for the men of his own circle, if he knew 
 any circle that did not include all. 
 
 ' ' In the field of work to which he was called of 
 God, the College work of our State, his life was 
 284 
 
" The Fair, Sweet Mom. Awakes " 
 
 centred. He lived only for others. A burning zeal 
 to bring glory to his Lord characterized all his work. 
 I cannot begin to tell you what I know of his influ- 
 ence with the great student body of our State. His 
 visit to each institution was like a benediction, and 
 at his going, he left behind always, the Christian 
 student filled with new zeal for serVice, and wry fre- 
 quently, others, who through his efforts, for the first 
 time acknowledged Jesus as Lord. 
 
 "The very last letter in from the college field, one 
 received just a few days ago, bore one of the bright- 
 est testimonials concerning a recent visit made them 
 by Hugh. It was from a member of the faculty who 
 spoke of the great power of this young life — no not 
 of his life — but of the Holy Ghost who ruled it, and 
 manifested himself in power, as Hugh touched the 
 students of that institution. He was as intense, as he 
 was enthusiastic, and usually carried with him to the 
 end of his purpose those with whom he mingled. 
 Thus he could easily lead to Northfield, student dele- 
 gations double those of any other State in the Union. 
 
 " We who knew him well, were impressed with his 
 ability to adapt himself to men of qll classes. It was 
 hardly adaptation. He seemed naturally to be of the 
 class with whom he mingled. ' Made all things to all 
 men that I might by all means save some.' 
 
 " What a chasm seems to lie between the student 
 and the railroad man ! When Hjugh was with stu- 
 dents he was one of 'them in rollicking college song, 
 in intelligent discussion, in the room prayer group, 
 in Gospel meeting, or in personal work with his arm 
 over the shoulder of his fellow student, as he pointed 
 out to him the way of Life. 
 
 "With railroad men he was qpe of them; his 
 smile as joyous as theirs ; his hand clasp, as the 
 285 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 Jtnan's who twists the brake; his voice as loud as 
 theirs in ' When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be 
 there ' ; his prayer as fervent and* deep-pleading as 
 theirs ; so that they had grown to look upon him 
 and love him as one of their own*. Only to-day a 
 railroad man assured me that Hugh never seemed 
 more at home than with railroad men. One of the 
 trials in our work was to write ' We cannot let him 
 come ' in answer to appeals from the Railroad Associ- 
 ations for Hugh's services in their Gospel meetings. 
 
 " But the power of our brother,'s life was not and 
 could not be confined within the limits even of our 
 great Commonwealth. I read from a letter at hand 
 from Mr. Richard C. Morse, General Secretary of 
 the International Committee of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association. ' How can I ever tell you the 
 inexpressible pain and shock of that dreadful tele- 
 gram. I cannot fully realize the awfulness of the be- 
 reavement it conveys. It seems as if I had never 
 realized how Hugh had entered into my life, and 
 thoughts concerning the best welfare of our work — 
 the great work of the Young Men's" Christian Associ- 
 ation of America. What a beautifully lovely life it 
 has been, with the clear shining of his Master's face 
 in it all — a reflection of the King in', His beauty, of the 
 One altogether lovely.' 
 
 ' ' And now in closing — you have thought him gone 
 — not so. He lives and will live on and on and the 
 power and influence of his young life will widen and 
 deepen as the days go by, and his absence in the 
 body ceases to be noticed. But »I sorrow with you 
 that we shall no more see his almost always smiling 
 face, hear his voice, or feel his hand clasp. 
 
 " His time of service here was very brief; less by 
 a full year than his Master's beforelthim. But we are 
 286 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Mora Awakes" 
 
 so glad for even that brief stewardship. Had it been 
 our privilege to choose for him, could we have con- 
 ceived a walk so full of opportunity, so endless in its 
 influences, whose every step brought him in touch 
 with those who have gone, or are to go out from 
 these great centres of education to mingle in every 
 one of life's callings, multiplying indefinitely \kit gooA 
 wrought in their own lives by our brother Hugh ? 
 
 " The crown was quiclcly won, but its luster shall 
 be ' As the stars forever and ever.' " 
 
 And the Rev. Charles Wood, D. D., of Phila- 
 delphia, a friend of young men, suggested some 
 of the lessons from Hugh's life to each other 
 young man. 
 
 ' ' It was the glory of our friend who has gone from 
 us, not that he believed in Heaven, for we all believe 
 that, but that he gave his whole life to bringing 
 Heaven down to this earth, — in trying to make men 
 see that the kingdom of God is ,very near us. It 
 needs only a step and we shall find ourselves in it. 
 How much he did you have heard already to-day. 
 Telegrams have come from the Northfield Conference 
 on the one side and the Carlisle Indian School on the 
 other, and messages from a great multitude of hearts. 
 It is my privilege to read you jusf a sentence or two 
 from the letter of one who shared with Dr. Laurie 
 the privilege of being his pastor. He speaks at 
 length of the beauty of this life, and he says at the 
 close: • Yours is the blessed hope of reunion. Life 
 is more solemn ; death is less repulsive ; Heaven is 
 nearer ; the Divine promises are rnore personal ; the 
 Lord Jesus is more real than ever before. ' 
 287 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 "This town of yours is a better town to live in. 
 This world of ours is a better world to live in, be- 
 cause Hugh Beaver was here for twenty-four years. 
 A shorter ministry it was said than'that of his Master, 
 but, as some one else has said, 'he went like his 
 Master in the full flush of his strong manhood.' We 
 cannot but surmise as to the futurq.. We cannot but 
 think of our loss, when we pause for a moment to 
 contemplate what he might have done, had the little 
 more than one-score years lengthened themselves out 
 into the three-score years and ten. In twenty years 
 more he might have been as famous as that Scotch 
 Professor who was laid in his grave only a little while 
 ago amid the tears of all the English speaking stu- 
 dents of the world. Who can put a limit to what 
 such a man, with such gifts and, thank God ! with 
 such consecration, might have done? 
 
 " His theology was as simple as that of the great 
 Dr. Alexander of Princeton who ^aid on his dying 
 bed : ' All my theological knowledge can be summed 
 up in one word, Jesus.' And all.the philosophy of 
 Hugh Beaver's life was to do what he believed this 
 Jesus wished him to do; and all the hope of his life 
 was that by every truth he uttered and by every act 
 he did he might make his Master seem more beauti- 
 ful to his fellow men. The whole tone of his life was 
 totally alien from that of the mediaeval saints. He 
 had no longing for the cell, no wish to spend his 
 days in prayer from which there was to be no out- 
 come. He went out into the world. He mingled 
 with men. He was a man, like his Master, amongst 
 them. He was just as full of eagdtness as they were 
 for all their sports and for all their recreations, he 
 was a little more eager than they were for study and 
 for prayer. 
 
 288 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morn Awakes" 
 
 "He came with a rich and abundant and over- 
 flowing message of life. It was what he had to talk 
 about. He himself was the best illustration of it and 
 the young men — as you have heard to-day — whether 
 the young men of the schools or the young men of 
 the shops, with their tense life— they could not but 
 listen to such a message as that. There is no mys- 
 tery about it. It was simply the power of a man pos- 
 sessed with the life of God. 
 
 " And he came with a message^ of joy as well as a 
 message of life. Young men don't care for dirges 
 and they don't care for moans but they love to sing 
 the song of him who triumphs and that was always 
 the message of Hugh Beaver's words and of his life : 
 ' This is the victory which overcometh the world — 
 our faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord.' Ah ! many a 
 man through long years yet to come shall be lured by 
 the heavenly hope that he may b^ as good a man as 
 Hugh Beaver. 
 
 "Those last weeks that he spent here on earth 
 were spent just as he would have wished them. In 
 that New England village that was very dear to his 
 heart, in an atmosphere all alive with faith and hope 
 and zeal and love, he sat at the ffeet of the Teacher 
 who was dear to him, and he himself was permitted 
 to teach many, some of whom hadi not yet learned to 
 love his Master ; and, as with generous hand he 
 broke to them the bread of life, his own soul was fed. 
 'Never again,' he said, ' Never again, shall I be the 
 man I was.' He saw that there wa,s a high plane still 
 above him that he had begun to press with his feet. 
 And then the home coming. Onjy a few days here. 
 Every morning of every day spent in studying the 
 life of Jesus Christ. That he might use it, you say, 
 in the work that he was called to 7 Ah 1 that he 
 289 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 might use it in the upbuilding of his own soul. I am 
 permitted to read two of the prayers that he wrote at 
 the close of these daily studies. This one was writ- 
 ten last Tuesday on the opening verses of our Lord's 
 life in the Gospel of Luke : ' Wei thank Thee for a 
 Gospel that brings good tidings tp the outcast, that 
 gives us full knowledge of the certainty of these 
 blessed truths. Grant that it may have a greater 
 place in our lives and that He who is the way and 
 the truth may become more and more to us through 
 the study of His life.' And here, are the last words 
 in all probability that he ever wrote. Last Wednes- 
 day at the close of that morning's study (he was 
 taken ill you know on Wednesday night after prayer- 
 meeting) : 'We rejoice,' he says, 'we rejoice, our 
 Father, that we know Him to be Thy Son, and in 
 and through Him we have eternal life. Help us to 
 live more fully in His life, hid with Him in Thee. 
 We have great boldness, because we ask it "In His 
 Name." ' Already he was climbing the heights, and 
 suddenly there broke upon his vision the gates of 
 pearl and the streets of gold. 
 
 " Oh happy Home ! oh happy children there ! 
 Oh blissful mansions of our Father's House ! 
 Oh walks surpassing Eden for delight ! 
 There are the harvests reaped — once' sown in tears — 
 There is the rest by ministry enhanced ; 
 Crowns, amaranthan crowns of victory ; 
 The voice of harpers harping on theii* harps ; 
 The crystal river of the spirit's joy ; 
 The bridal palace of the Prince of Peace ; 
 The Holiest of Holies— God is there," 
 
 and he is there. 
 
 "To us Christians here to-day, 1 am sure that the 
 message that comes from Hugh Beaver's life is like a 
 290 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morri Awakes" 
 
 trumpet call. Let us close up th'e ranks. Let us 
 press more earnestly on ; let us strive to be as de- 
 voted, as whole-hearted as he was. And to you, his 
 townsmen of Bellefonte, to you, strong young men — 
 strong some of you in your appetites and your evil 
 desires— to you who stand just on the threshold of 
 the Christian life but never yet have entered, surely 
 you cannot close your ears to this* voice that comes 
 ringing across the ages, that beats upon your ears and 
 upon your hearts, ' Let this Christ be your Christ. 
 Follow this man whom you revere and whom you 
 love, as he followed Christ.' " 
 
 Frederick Denison Maurice points out in tiie 
 Gospel of Lulce tiie enlarging circles of the in- 
 fluence of Jesus, — household, family, Nazareth, 
 Galilee, the whole nation, the world. A true and 
 normal life should develop ever thus and can 
 scarcely be worthy of wider influence if not true 
 to the opportunities of the smaller sphere. Hugh 
 Beaver did not leap into a public influence over 
 strangers without commanding the loving con- 
 fidence of those closest to him who knew him 
 best. He made himself the joy of his own home, 
 and he was loved nowhere more than in his own 
 town, one of whose leading lawyers with a wise 
 and discerning estimate of values in character 
 and service spoke of him in a memorial service 
 as "our most distinguished citizen." On the 
 day of his funeral a stranger asifed a man at the 
 railway station the way to (general Beaver's 
 
 291 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 house. "Oh!" said the man, his Iiat off and 
 tears running down his face, "you have come to 
 Hugh's funeral. He led me to Christ." Another 
 shabby and sometimes ill-doing man exclaimed, 
 "No matter what I've been, no matter what I 
 am, Hugh Beaver was never yet ashamed to put 
 his arm in mine and wallt down the street with 
 me." And the Democratic Watchman, one of 
 the local papers said on the week of his funeral : 
 
 "Hugh McAllister Beaver, unselfish as a child, 
 honest as a boy, intrepid as a youth, noble as a man, 
 lives to-day only in the memory of those who loved 
 and revered him. His short life, so full of joyfulness 
 and eager efforts for his Master's cause, must indeed 
 have been cherished in heaven, since it was left for 
 mortals to profit by so small a portion of it. 
 
 " No stone-cut epitaph need there be to speak to men 
 of that sweet, pure life ; that daily manifestation of full 
 communion with Christ that made him the ever ten- 
 der, frank, fearless soul ; the light-hearted leader in 
 all manly pastimes, the son. whose only thought was 
 loving duty. The world is better that Hugh Beaver 
 has lived in it. Let it profit by the precious heritage 
 his passing has left." 
 
 The Secretary of the Young Men's Christian 
 Association of Bellefonte, Mr. I?. H. Cota, bears 
 testimony to his earnest, fresh, winning help 
 there : 
 
 "His first active Christian work was in the Belle- 
 fonte Association, during a week of special meetings for 
 292 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morn Awakes" 
 
 young men, in February, 1894. His special forte at 
 that time was in getting men to aftend the meeting. 
 There was a magnetism about hitft, that impelled 
 men to go with him to the meeting. Some personal 
 work was done which resulted in men accepting 
 Christ. At the close of the week''s meetings, which 
 was on Sabbath afternoon, his first public testimony was 
 given. We do not recall the exaft words used, but 
 there seemed to be a deep joy in his soul, because so 
 many men had accepted Christ ; that he also made a 
 deeper consecration of himself to the Master. From 
 that time his life was one of continual growth in 
 Christ. It is something remarkable, the influence and 
 power he had over the young men in his home town ; 
 not so much the better class, who always regarded 
 him as an upright Christian young man ; but also the 
 poorer class or workingmen. He seemed to be 
 drawn toward them, and they toward him. When- 
 ever it was announced that he was to conduct the 
 men's meeting, there would always be a large attend- 
 ance, and the simple talk and prayer was often the 
 means of bringing men to decide for Christ. His 
 efforts were not confined to inside work, but upon the 
 street he was ever on the lookout to help some one. 
 On one occasion, (it was at night.) his attention was 
 drawn toward a crowd of men ; and learning that two 
 young men were fighting, he broke through the 
 crowd, separated the men, and took one away with 
 him. Many remarked on the courage he showed in 
 doing such an act; and commended him for the 
 same. He was a favorite with the little boys on the 
 street ; always giving them a kind word and pleasant 
 smile. 
 
 " Upon one occasion he was asked to contribute to 
 Christian work, when his reply was, ' I must first find 
 293 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 out what the Lord wants me to give.' It is known 
 that he responded very liberally for the object speci- 
 fied in the request. This little act made a deep im- 
 pression upon a number of young men who knew of 
 the circumstance. It showed that in all his gifts to 
 Christian work he made it a subject of prayer." 
 
 In his own town he just won his way in his 
 merry, helpful fashion into every heart that was 
 open. An older woman writes in illustration of 
 his knightly, considerate friendship: 
 
 " As a boy I did not see much of him, but in 
 some unconscious way we grew to be very fast friends, 
 and the memories connected with the friendship and 
 confidence of such a young man are very tender and 
 precious to one in older life. As they come throng- 
 ing into the mind it is hard, so very hard to realize 
 that the springing step, the bright eye, the lovely 
 smile and warm grasp of the hanti are to come no 
 more, and the heart aches as thet thought rises that 
 the vacant place cannot be filled, for such friendships 
 as that between Hugh and myself are rare. He came 
 and went so freely in our home that it seems it must 
 surely be he is only away for a lilttle while soon to 
 come again. Often he would leave a group of young 
 people for a quiet talk with me, telling of his beloved 
 work, doubts and difficulties as to plans for the 
 future, etc. Then that last comiiig, how vividly it 
 is before me, his running in on tbe way home from 
 the train, his face radiant as he told of the glorious 
 work at Northfield — who could think there were only 
 a few more days we might have him with us, only a 
 few more days for the dear boy to,work on earth for 
 294 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morri Awakes" 
 
 his beloved Lord. Most gladly and lovingly do I 
 bear testimony to this lovely life here among us who 
 knew and loved him well. Surely the influence of that 
 life only eternity can unfold. As to incidents showing 
 characteristics and peculiarities, I feel at a loss. 
 That of the clock shows his delight to tease, not 
 sparing his older friends. The clock was not the 
 big one on the stair, but a smaller one with a shrill 
 piercing stroke. Something had gone wrong with the 
 striking part and it was not to be Wound on that side. 
 This Hugh had found out and the result was that as I 
 lay awake one night in the ' wee sma' hours ' I 
 counted over one hundred strokes ; the hope was it 
 would soon run itself out. This Spirit of boyish fun 
 mingled with true manly Christian life was peculiarly 
 -attractive. Some lines of James Whitcomb Riley's 
 seem to me just to describe my feeling to him now : 
 
 " ' I cannot say, and I will not say, 
 That he is dead, he is just away. 
 
 " • With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand 
 He has wandered into an unknown land 
 
 " ' And left us dreaming how very^ fair 
 It needs must be since he lingers there. 
 
 " • And you, oh you who the wildest yearn 
 For the old time step and the glad return 
 
 " ' Think of him faring on, as dear 
 
 For the love of There as the love of Here.' " 
 
 And a poorer boy whose love Hugh had won 
 
 wrote modestly: 
 
 295 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 " I did not know Hugh as intimately as many of 
 his friends did, yet the influence he exerted on my 
 life would be hard to estimate. His daily life and 
 his talks in Y. M. C. A. and Endeavor have helped 
 me many times to live nearer to Christ. It seems to 
 me that while those nearest him were helped the 
 most, yet his greatest glory will be that no one ever 
 came in contact with him without being better for it." 
 
 To these may be added the testimony of 
 Hugh's pastor in Harrisburg, the Rev. Dr. George 
 S. Chambers: 
 
 "What a strange Providence it is. 'His sun has 
 gone down while it is day.' A life full of beautiful 
 promise has ended its earthly couj-se, and begun its 
 heavenly fruition. But it was more than a life of 
 promise. By God's grace it had' become a life of 
 achievement and realization. Hugh was an illus- 
 tration of a young manhood beautified, ennobled and 
 made grandly useful by consecration to the living and 
 loving Lord. In an age of ambitious manhood, when 
 so many are seeking the success of wealth and 
 station, he exemplified the ambitions of the Christian 
 as these reached after likeness to Jesus Christ and 
 service for Him in work for young.men. Hugh had 
 special qualifications for this service^ Gentleness and 
 strength were united in him. A winsomeness of 
 manner which was free from all that was artificial 
 and impressed the beholder with its simple natural- 
 ness, his unaffected piety which never degenerated 
 into cant, his knowledge and love of God's Word, 
 his sympathy with young men as one of them — all 
 contributed to his attractiveness and usefulness as a 
 servant of Jesus Christ. . . . 
 296 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morn Awakes" 
 
 "Our Heavenly Father has many purposes to ful- 
 fill in such an event. These will be revealed as the 
 years pass by, but already this ilesson shines out 
 brightly and beautifully that there is nothing in this 
 world more attractive and useful than a consecrated 
 young manhood." 
 
 Having been faithful in less God gave him op- 
 portunities for more, and his influence reached 
 out through the whole extent of his dearly loved 
 state. As the wise and loving pastor of a college- 
 town church writes: 
 
 " He was enthroned in the regard and affection of 
 thousands and thousands of God's dear people, old 
 and young, and especially in our beloved Common- 
 wealth. His record is exceptional in its power and 
 his character a rare one in its beauty and symmetry 
 and sincerity. 
 
 "2d Kings, iv. 9. ' I perceive that this is an 
 holy man of God that passeth by us continually.' 
 These words define his character, his influence and 
 his method of testimony and service. 
 
 "'An holy man of God.' 'I perceive' — (This 
 woman was reading off from her own mind and heart 
 the impression which was made upon her) — 'which 
 passeth by us continually,' the daily life, going and 
 coming, day by day — on and on. 
 
 " This was Hugh McAllister Beaver." 
 
 After his death Captain Pratt telegraphed in 
 behalf of the Indians in the Carlisle school, that 
 they had counselled together and must express 
 their deepest sympathy in a sorrow which was 
 
 297 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 theirs as much as it was the sorrow of Hugh's 
 own. And from students of the University of 
 Pennsylvania, Lafayette, Diclclnson and other 
 colleges and from presidents of the state's largest 
 Normal Schools and others capie these testi- 
 monies: 
 
 "A sweet, lovable boy, my heart went out to him 
 at once. Too much cannot be said about him, but I 
 simply want to say that I loved him and that is what 
 a man does not often say of another. He was a 
 blessing to every college man with whom he came in 
 contact — a striking illustration of the power of a 
 magnetic personality, when filled with the Spirit of 
 God. Our Association felt his influence as did my 
 own life. Although several years Bis senior, I looked 
 up to him, and his life was an example and inspiration 
 whose influence will always remain." 
 
 " He was an inspiration to me ; and his life, al- 
 though he was much younger thaii I, had a vast in- 
 fluence over mine, leading me to be more thoughtful 
 and sincere in my devotion to the principles of 
 righteousness and truth. ... I remember as well 
 as if it had been to-day the last time I heard 
 his voice in our Y. M. C. A. room as he stood 
 before a company of young men pleading for 
 them to devote their lives to God — his face full 
 of intense love for the fellows, his eyes filled with 
 tears of affection. He was influential in changing the 
 course of many lives." 
 
 " His pure, good life made me desire to be like 
 the Christ whom he so desired to honor. Since our 
 298 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morrj Awakes" 
 
 first meeting I have been a better man for knowing 
 him." 
 
 "When I came to Lafayette the name of Hugh 
 Beaver was a synonym for the ideal Christian college 
 man. The college men of Pennsylvania had become 
 deeply attached to his pure, Christlike life." 
 
 " I will never forget his address to the students, so 
 direct and so full of earnestness. The Holy Spirit 
 was certainly with him, else he could never have 
 spoken as he did, for it seemed as though there was 
 something more than human looking out from his eyes 
 as he spoke on ' Enduring Hardships for Christ.' " 
 
 "It is but a few weeks since the school here en- 
 joyed an address by him on Sunday evening, and it 
 made a very deep impression. One of our teachers 
 said afterward that he thought it was the most im- 
 pressive address he had ever heard. He won a warm 
 place in the hearts of those who cooperated with him 
 here. His was a spirit ready to enter upon the 
 higher life. ' His works do follow him.' " 
 
 An agnostic student, who was sure that he 
 could not be sure of the things which Hugh 
 knew, wrote of being sure of one thing, that he 
 "really loved" Hugh. 
 
 It would be wrong to suppose that there was 
 anything weak or yielding about Hugh because 
 so many spoke of loving him. He had the most 
 positive convictions on politics, on all public 
 questions and most of all regarding the foun- 
 dation principles of Christianity. He was not 
 
 299 
 
A Memorial of a Trtie Life 
 
 acquainted with systematic theology but he was 
 working out his own opinions from the impulse, 
 not of desire for intellectual satisfaction, but of a 
 passion for souls like His who hungered for them 
 and who made it His meat and drink to win 
 them. Hugh won men's love by the strength of 
 his love for them and interest in them and in all 
 that is wholesome and true. He was a member 
 of the League of American Wheelmen and the 
 Pennsylvania Division, in session at the time of 
 his death, made earnest recognition of its loss. 
 How firmly he laid hold on all classes of men in 
 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was shown 
 by the brief memorial service at the State Con- 
 vention of the Y. M. C. A. after his death. Mr. 
 Charles E. Hurlburt, who waS conducting the 
 meeting, said: 
 
 " I know of no life — in the twelve years that it 
 pleased the Lord to keep me in the organized work 
 of the Young Men's Christian Association, in the four 
 different cities where I worked, or the many others 
 that I visited — I know of no life that exemplified so 
 rarely the words of the hymn that we have been sing- 
 ing, as that of Hugh Beaver. I lived across the 
 street from him for two years. I* saw him in the 
 college, I saw him when he came home for the 
 vacation seasons. And while many of us thought 
 that we needed rest, and that he needed rest, he 
 seemed to find it in doing the will of his Father. 
 There was no great duty about it for him. It was the 
 natural thing of his life. We walked along the 
 300 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Mom Awakes" 
 
 street, going to . the Gospel meeting on Sunday after- 
 noons, and it was not an uncommon thing to see him 
 run across the street and take by the hand some poor 
 fellow, in his working clothes, and talking with him 
 with all the enthusiasm and earnestness of an old 
 friend, walk him up to the meeting and sit down be- 
 side him. I shall never forget the Presidents' Con- 
 ference at State College, when Mr. Mott was leading 
 the meeting, and one of the men, on the football team 
 sat near the front. Hugh sat beside him ; and while 
 the Gospel message was being presented, Hugh just 
 kept tapping, tapping on his hand, until the 
 fellow rose and said: • I want to be a Christian.' 
 And then Hugh, manly fellow as you and I know 
 him to have been, burst into tears, for he had been 
 praying for months that this fellow might know 
 Christ — the longings of a life that was doing, from 
 day to day, what God wanted him to do — his mind, 
 his thought centred in ' What would Jesus do now ? ' 
 and doing that thing as the natural work of his life. 
 
 "You know the power of that life. You who are 
 college men know how he couldn't come to the col- 
 lege without stirring in your hearts a great desire to 
 be like Christ. And you said of him, as it is re- 
 corded of Enoch, 'He walked with God.' He, like 
 Moses, lived and ' endured as seeing Him who is in- 
 visible.' Jesus Christ was real to him, because he 
 surrendered the things in his life that would hide the 
 face of his Lord, and turned them aside, in order 
 that Christ might be the greatest reality of his life." 
 
 Another Delegate : 
 
 " I want to speak of the, love that the rail- 
 road men had for Hugh Beaver. ' He didn't belong 
 to the college men. He was too big a inan to belong 
 301 
 
A Memorial of a Trtie Life 
 
 to any set of men. He belonged to every man who 
 knew him. A short time before he died, he did 
 some work among the D. L. and W. men, and those 
 who knew him learned to love him with a very sin- 
 cere affection indeed. He had the gentleness of a 
 woman and the strength of a stropg man combined. 
 And I want to say that, never in the life of any maa 
 have I felt the Christ-life breathed out as I did in the 
 life of Hugh Beaver." 
 
 Delegate : 
 
 " Many of us who attended the Conven- 
 tion at Erie, a little while ago, will not forget Hugh 
 Beaver. I shall never forget how, coming down over 
 the Philadelphia and Erie, I happened to start that 
 good old hymn, ' Where He leads me, I will follow,' 
 and several times coming down the road, he would say, 
 ' Start that hymn again.' I don't think he wanted to 
 sing it just because of the peculiar sweetness of the 
 tune, but because he wanted that to be the keynote of 
 his life — ' Where He leads me, I will follow.' " 
 
 Delegate : 
 
 " I shall not forget that same trip and that 
 same picture. Whenever a station was called, and 
 delegates were getting off the train, Hugh would have 
 us get out and sing, ' God be with you till we meet 
 again.' And he didn't just sing it, but he would 
 have the delegates stand around and put their hands 
 on one another's shoulders, and sing, with the one 
 who was to leave in the centre, ' God be with you 
 till we meet again.' I learned rpany lessons from 
 him, and one of them was this : To feel that I am 
 doing the Master's will when I am trying to do some- 
 thing for someone else." 
 
 302 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morrf Awakes" 
 
 Delegate : 
 
 " He wrote to a sick friend of mine, ' I tell 
 you what it is my brother, 1 sometimes think, when 
 our friends are passing to the Homeland, I'm a little 
 homesick to be there too.' It was this that filled the 
 life of our beloved brother, Hugh :^eave^— full of love 
 for men and love to God. He was so filled with 
 Christ that to be on earth was a great thing, but to be 
 in Heaven was more natural. Go(|; called him." 
 
 Delegate : 
 
 "I don't suppose there is a man here that 
 has had the close relations with Hugh Beaver that it 
 has been my privilege to have in the four years before 
 his death. He spent his vacatioiis at home, prin- 
 cipally, and every afternoon he used to come around 
 to the Association Room, and say, ' Cota, let's take a 
 walk.' And so it has been day aftqr day. We would 
 go into the country, four or five miles, and it did 
 seem as if it was like the two disciples on their way 
 to Emmaus, and Jesus was with us. His life, men, 
 has been a great benediction andl blessing to me in 
 my work for young men." 
 
 Delegate : 
 
 " I just want to say that the shadow of sor- 
 row fell very heavily on Lincoln *hen we heard of 
 the death of this our beloved brother. I remember 
 well his last visit to us, and maijy were the lessons 
 that were stamped upon my heart, that shall never be 
 forgotten. But the greatest lesson taught me by his 
 life is that in this man I have seen the possibility of 
 a young man living the Christlike life. And as I 
 looked at that text on the wall, I was impressed how 
 true it was of his life,^ — ' They that turn many to 
 303 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 righteousness shall shine as the stars forever,' and if 
 anybody did this, this man did." 
 
 Mr. Bard: 
 
 " I should like to say very many things 
 about Hugh's life had we the time. Some of you 
 have called him ' the boy ' ; others ' the young man ' ; 
 ' the young fellow,' ' the man,' ''Beaver,' — various 
 terms that show your familiarity with him, and your 
 conception of his life. He was but a boy; he was 
 only twenty-four years of age when the Lord called 
 him to his reward ; but in the two years that he gave 
 himself definitely to Christian work*, he wrought mar- 
 vels through the power that was in him, not of him- 
 self. Your testimony is proof of that which was true 
 of him to a remarkable degree. He was a railroader, 
 or college man, or a soldier with the boys in camp, 
 or a civilian with the boys in the Association. That 
 was a peculiar gift that Hugh had. He could be ' all 
 things to all men,' that he might ''by all means save 
 some.' That was one secret of his peculiar power ; 
 his prayer life was another. Hugh didn't go to his 
 knees or have to take any particular attitude in 
 prayer ; it was as natural for hin\ to talk with God 
 standing, or sitting, or reclining, or kneeling, or 
 lying down, or in any position, as it would be for 
 you to converse with your deares't friend. It was 
 very apparent that his life was a life of constant con- 
 tact with his dear Lord. Mr. MOody asked him to 
 come to Mount Hermon as one of the teachers in his 
 school — a very flattering offer. Some one raised the 
 question of his fitness for the place, his extreme youth 
 and inexperience being against hini. Mr. Moody is 
 said to have replied : ' A man who can pray like Hugh 
 Beaver can do anything.' Isn't it true, fellows, that 
 304 
 
"The Fair, Sweet Morn Awakes" 
 
 as we have turned our gaze toward Hugh's life this 
 morning, that our vision has really focused beyond 
 him, upon Jesus Christ ? And shall we not learn 
 this lesson from his life : That we Should so live that 
 men, as they look upon our liveb, shall, after all, 
 have their visions converge and focus beyond us, 
 upon the Son of God, who gave Himself to die, that 
 we and the lost men about us might live? " 
 
 A judge wrote from the western part of the 
 state, "We all loved Hugh. He was such a 
 noble young man. He had a strong, active 
 mind and brave heart. He was honest, frank, 
 manly and kind, and his death leaves the world 
 and mankind poorer." And an editor wrote 
 from the eastern end of the state, ' ' We loved 
 him as a son and admired him as a man and 
 Christian. He always shed sunshine." A col- 
 lege professor adds, "Without hesitation I re- 
 peatedly say that he was the most Christlike char- 
 acter I ever knew intimately. He seemed to live 
 continually in the presence of the divine One and 
 every time it was my honor td come in contact 
 with him, I felt a greater nearness to our Master. 
 . . . One of the last things I remember his say- 
 ing to me as we returned from a little walk that 
 he took while I studied my Bible lesson was, ' I 
 have just been out with a vet»y dear Friend of 
 mine.' He had sauntered across the campus of 
 our school with his Testament' in hand and had 
 305 
 
A Memorial of a True Life 
 
 been in prayer." And a paper called Our Young 
 Men, published in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, said, 
 "How we shall all miss his outshining face, his 
 clear, intense voice, and the touch of his surren- 
 dered life, as we met him from time to time." 
 
 It were idle to inquire as to what Hugh Beaver 
 might have accomplished had he been allowed to 
 work on in the world. He did all God had for 
 him to do here. No man can do more. Like 
 his Master he finished the work the Father had 
 given him to do. He not only ended it. He 
 finished it. It was done completely. He could 
 go home to the larger service of the city that lies 
 above the fogs and mists and clouds of earth, 
 where the servants of the King come in but go 
 no more out forever and where they see the 
 King's face and serve Him. As.Mr. Wanamaker 
 said of his going, " Great as is the loss of service 
 to the Church and the country, much greater is 
 the blessing that has come to the garnered and 
 glorified life." But after all, there is no loss. As 
 one of the foremost of the younger Christian 
 leaders of our day writes : 
 
 "It does not seem possible that he has gone out 
 from among us — and he has not. He will be a more 
 intimately nigh and a more potent: factor in our lives 
 than ever. He will live a wonderful life in our col- 
 leges next year and in the lives of all who knew him 
 during the years to come. The more I think upon it 
 306 
 
" The Fair, Sweet Morn, Awakes " 
 
 the more strongly the reflection takes shape in my 
 mind that from an earthly point of view even (and 
 surely from God's view-point) Hugh's life was a 
 finished life. I mean finished more in the sense of a 
 complete life. It was full-orbed. My life seems like 
 patchwork, when I think of the beautiful symmetry 
 of his. He left just such a spiritual record and in- 
 fluence in his own college as every Christian student 
 will wish to have left, when he catches the perspec- 
 tive of eternity. JVIay God help nie to be true to the 
 ideal which his life has left in my memory ! " 
 
 It has been proposed to erect a building for the 
 uses of the religious life of the students of Lin- 
 coln University, an institution for the higher edu- 
 cation of young men of the negro race, in Chester 
 County, Pennsylvania, as a memorial to Hugh 
 Beaver. But his lasting memorial is in the hearts 
 and lives of men and women, college men and 
 women, railroad men, soldiers, — :all who heard 
 the voice of divine love and sa,w the beckoning 
 of the divine vision in him. For it was the 
 Christ lifted up in him that drew men to him. 
 What Hugh was, Christ made him. Surely Christ 
 is ready to do the same work in us, and Hugh 
 Beaver's life still invites men tO let Christ do in 
 them what He did in him. As a young lawyer 
 writes : 
 
 ' ' I want to tell how much gooS Hugh Beaver has 
 done me. Many of the influences, though always 
 impressed on me, have come and abided with me 
 307 
 
A Memorial of a Trae Life 
 
 since he has left us for his greate*_ sphere of useful- 
 ness. Life has new phases now, and the great wealth 
 Hugh experienced holds out inducements beyond my 
 former appreciation. It is worth seeking after. This 
 thing of being out on the curbstone peering in is most 
 unsatisfactory, especially when you know of the riches 
 within. When I was over in February last, we were 
 talking of the possibilities in view, and I suggested 
 what of prominence and money his circumstances 
 and ability offered him if he turned his attention to 
 professional or business life. He replied in his cheery, 
 happy way— 7' Mitch, I'm not laying up my treasure 
 here.' My suggestion was inquisitive, though I had 
 no doubt of his delight in his work, and his reply 
 has remained with me to think on ever since." 
 
 " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the 
 earth," "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God," 
 these words of the Saviour's were favorite verses 
 of Hugh's and they were the principles of his 
 life. He was here to serve, and he served with 
 hearty good cheer. This is the meaning of life. 
 
 " What are we set on earth for ? Say, to toil ; 
 Nor seek to leave thy tending of the vines 
 For all the heat o' the day, till it declines, 
 And death's mild curfew shall from work assoD. 
 God did anoint thee with his odorous oil, 
 To wrestle not to reign. . , 
 
 "So others shall 
 Take patience, labor, to their heart and hand, 
 From thy hand, and thy heart, and thy brave cheer/ 
 
 308 
 
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