Bethany College - Bethanian Yearbook (Bethany, WV)

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Archibald McLean Forty-seven years ago Bethany College graduated from her halls Archibald McLean ; on the fifteenth of last December came the sad news of the final and immortal graduation of this former student and president of Bethany College. In his death Bethany lost a loyal and noted alumnus ; the missionaries of the home and foreign fields, a companion and friend ; the world, a great leader and scholarly prophet. It is indeed fitting that the BETIIANIAN should set aside some space for a proper appreciation of the life and work of one who has come to be recognized, intellectually and spiritually as one of the outstanding leaders of the day, who has so lived and died as to cause the halo of his reflected glory to adorn his beloved Alma Alater. One, who, by his long years of service in the cause of missions has done honor to the college that trained him. Yet who is capable to pen a tribute to one so righteous in principle and so noble in living? To a man whose life of prayer and sacrifice earned for him the title of best loved of the disciples. Best loved, because through his daily actions there shone the light of an inner glory; a glory, not of man but of God; the reflection of the ] Iaker in a great and noble soul. His was the glory that comes of conse- cration. ' ell might A. McLean be proclaimed the Apostle Paul of the Twentieth Century. His was a most powerful personality. Pastors and missionaries alike turned to him for guidance; children crept instinctively into his arms; the inhospitable welcomed him; for he was the friend of man, and his were glorified ministrations. Best loved, not merely because of his wonderful personality but loved for his achievements. Thirty-nine years of life devoted to one cause alone, that of foreign missions. To this man belongs the credit of well establishing that great agency for the betterment of man, the foreign missions work of the Disciples of Christ. A ' here once there was darkness, today there is light and the credit is A. McLean ' s. When a friend once asked him why Scotland had erected no monu- ment to John Knox, Mr. McLean smiled and replied: John Knox- needs no monument, Scotland is his monument. Just as truly might it be said of A. McLean that the missionaiy enterprise is his monument. But A. McLean is gone. His great and noble soul has passed away. Yet in the passing of one so saintly and so good, whose life has been spent in so consecrated a manner, there is a reflected glory that drives the shad- ows away. For A. McLean has gone to receive the great reward, and the lesson of his life remains, a great and shining example for those who are left behind.