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| [a] Sydney....later RF |
Julia Lacher is a proud native of Des Moines, Iowa, and
graduated from Beloit College in May with a double major in Anthropology and
History and a minor in Museum Studies. She is the only intern working with
William Edgar Geil's papers at the Doylestown Historical Society who did not
take Professor Rob LaFleur's class on "The Accidental Ethnographer," and
is currently wondering what she got herself in to.
Please
note that all items marked "DHS" are property of the Doylestown
Historical Society, and used with DHS permission. If you wish to use an
image, you need permission of the Society. Please contact Robert LaFleur
(lafleur@beloit.edu), and he will put you in contact with the
appropriate people.
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| [b] Headline DHS |
In the summer of 1902, William Edgar Geil left the United States to bring his evangelism and preaching to the inhabitants of Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia had been formed only a year earlier in January of 1901, and Geil appears to have been eager to bring his special brand of evangelism to the new country.
Geil's gave a series of sermons in Melbourne, Sydney,
Ballarat, Bendigo, Adelaid, Perth, and Brisbane called "The Simultaneous
Mission." He spoke on numerous subjects: props, dancing, sinners, hell,
aborigines, evangelists, and missionary work.
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| [c] Lecture DHS |
His sermons were hugely successful, filling meeting
halls, churches, and theaters to capacity and earning rave reviews from local
papers.
However, it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. This
cartoon was published in a Perth, Australia, in the summer of 1902. The
headline reads "Come and See Geil, the Simultaneous Coin Extractor,"
and features a drawing of Geil, dressed as a clown, surrounded by his
colleagues. A collection box placed next to him bears a plaque that states
"Place a coin in the slot and receive salvation/Notice - must be gold or
silver coins - gold preferred/copper will not work." In addition, Geil is
pictured holding a fat goose labeled "The Public."
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| [e] Personal DHS |
One of the most striking images in this picture is that of
Geil dressed as a literal clown. The comedic effect of his costume is
heightened by its contrast to the dour, somber outfits of Geil's colleagues,
who surround and applaud him. The clown costume is also there to signify Geil's
American-ness -- he is literally wearing the stars and stripes. The artist of
this cartoon obviously did not see Geil as a serious evangelist and interpreted
the humor and Americanisms in Geil's speech as a cheap trick, designed to set
him apart from the crowd of more subdued (but no less corrupt) preachers.
The fear that Christian preachers are there not to save
souls, but to line their pockets, is not a new one. The idea that the church
uses fear to rip off the devout goes back to the Medieval Catholic Church and
the sale of indulgences. The cartoonist in this situation is playing upon such
fears, portraying Geil as a masquerading clown whose purpose is not salvation
but his own personal gain. The depiction of the public as a dead goose shows
the artist's belief that the people are willing participants in their own
deception.
Was Geil merely out to make a buck? Or was he sincerely
invested in saving people's souls? Perhaps in the coming weeks we will get a
clearer view of Geil's motivations, but it is likely we will never fully
understand them. In the meantime, Geil was making plans to continue his
missionary work in places even more far flung than the new commonwealth of
Australia.
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| [e] Far-flung RF |
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