The Universalist. [volume], November 06, 1897, Image 1

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I VOL. XIV. _CHICAGO AND CINCINNATI, SATURDAY, .jjuVEMbEK 8, 1897._rH\NoTOv0K^WT-f NO 45
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* RELIGIOUS AND FAM:LY WEEKLY
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CONTENTS.
CHICAGO. SATURDAY, VOV. 6, 1*97.
Put One.
From Boyhood to Manhood.
The Royal Road to Greatness.
The Reading Habit.
Page Two.
The Fatherhood of God.
The Financial Secretary.
Literary Matters.
Page Tnree.
The Sunday School Lesson.
Page Four.
Editorial:
The 250tli Anniversary of the Westmin
ster Confession.
The Woman’s Temple.
The “When” of the Kingdom.
A Japan Letter.
Views of the Editors.
Page Five,
Church News and Correspondence.
Page Six,
The Family Page, Farm, Garden and Oalry.
Page Seven.
Our Boys and Girls.
Page Eight
News of the Week.
Church Notices and In Memorlam.
OUR CONTRIBUTORS.
FEOM BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD.
BY MARY LOWE DICKINSON.
Dirt and Don't Care Period.
Some one says that the only points
that the feminine mind can appreciate
are interrogation points. True or not
the small boy topic fairly bristles
J with these points. The mothers of the
world seem to have entered upon an
era of asking questions of each other
at a rate that leaves them oblivious
of the fact that only now and then
are their answers a solution to any
problem
It is our turn at questions now, and
we would like to ask first why rnoth
' ers are so universally sorry to see
their boys grow up? The joy of
mother life ought to be that she has
brought a man child into the world,
and one would suppose that the
faster he moves on toward manhood
the happier ate would be. Yet here
ia the fact that, while hia father ia
glad when the day cornea that hia
long curia fall before the shears of
the barber, the mother preserves
every lock and hides it away among
her treasures, as she guards the prec
ious reminders of those who are dead
and gone. It is a proud day for the
lad himself, and for bis father, wheu
the kilt is abandoned and the small
legs are encased in trouserp, and the
small hands plunged into the depths
of their first pockets; but the mother,
while she t-miles with the rest, in her
heart is a trne Rachel mourning for
her children “because they are not."
It is the loss of her baby that takes
v hold of her heart. The wee laddie
who has been all her own, whose
home was her arms, whose heaven was
her eyes, is gone and in his place there
is only “papa’s little mao.”
From his dainty babyhood, how
rapidly he has climbed to these first
trousers! And from this stage how
rapidly he rushes on to the dirt and
don’t care period, when the problem
of what to do with him deepens. How
are we to bring him through it, pre
serving the wholesome sweetness of
his heart and life? This is the puzzle
of many a maternal heart.
We closed a recent article with the
statement that “the best way to help
a boy is to know how to be a boy your
self." We believe it is even more
difficult for fathers to remember wbat
they were as boys than it is for a
mother, with her tender, intuitive
knowledge, to come into sympathy
with boyhood in its rougher stage.
She can understand what the little
fellow meant who, when asked wbat
made him so noisily naughty, said he
would burst if he didn’t be bad; he
had got so much more in him than
there was room for.
We believe this having “moie in
him than there is room for" is the
secret of a great deal of so-called
naugh,iness "I make it a rule,” slid
a wise mother, “to only see one third
of Tommy’s mischief, for I believe in'
the theory that it is only the wicked
ness that we are conscious of that
affects the character. If my boy
knows he is doing wrong, he is sin
ning against his conscience, and that
is a hurt to the moral nature, but
about two-thirds of his performances
are not wrong to him until after I
have chided him and made him feel
that he is in disgrace. There is so
much that I am forced to correct,
that I assure you I do not see any
thing that I can possibly avoid.”
This was a wonderfully wise moth
er. We have known a child to be
seriously harmed by being constantly
blamed for things that were an in
convenience and annoyance to his
parents, while the thing that was
morally wrong, if it made no trouble,
was allowed to pass unheeded. If
it is wise not to see two-thirds of
the deficiencies and mistakes, in the
other third it is wise to discriminate
between the errors in manners and
in habits, and the actual moral sins.
The little lad who rebels against be
ing washed and combed, whose voice
is a compromise between a shriek
and a shout, who filh his mouth too
full at the table, who doesn’t answer
when he ought to and talks whenever
we wish he would be silent, who seemB
to love dirt for dirt’s sake, and whose
behavior keeps you on pins and
needles in the face and eyes of your
friends whose little boys are models
of nicety—may be all this and yet be
bo sweet and sound in his heart, so
lovable and true, that he is charming
to you, even with all his racket and
wayward quirks. And ten to one his
defects in these particulars are due
to the training or the lack of training
that you yourself have given him.
Be that as it may, the chances are
that this is the same boy who later
will polish himself until he shines in
every particular, and find no trial so
severe as a spot upon his immaculate
attire. This rough stage, when noth
ing irritates him like being forced to
take time to be tidy, is usually the
chrysalis of the stage of the dude.
Let him be guided as gently through
it as possible. The one thing of real
importance is that the inward nature
remain tender and manly and true—
that the mind be kept in healthful
activity and the heart full of genuine
love.
Above all things, in this time,
when there is “more in them than
the;e is room for,” and his life tries
in every way to find the freedom of
expression that is natural, do not
cramp and confine the nature more
than must be for his highest good.
On no account let him have the sense
that it is necessary to watch him in
order to keep him right. We all re
member the story of the little boy
who had it so impressed upon him
that God was following and watching
him every minute that he could not
bear the watching of anything or
anybody else. So when going out
from the house his pet dog followed
him, he roughly sent him back and
went on alone. Looking back a few
minutes later, he found the dog still
stealthily creeping after, and again
said: “Go back, Rover; go back
home! I won’t have you following
me!” Still a third time he heard the
patter of the dog’s paws upon the
pavement behind, and, turning an
grily upon him, he stamped his little
foot with, “Go back, I tell you; go
back home! I won't have you fol
lowing me. It’s bad enough to have
God tagging after me day and
night!’
The story sounds exaggerated.
The feeling that it expresses we have
actually known to exist in the heart
of more than one child. One little
fellow said: “Thou God seest me”
was the “baddest text” he ever had
to learn, and when questioned as to
the reason for his dislike he said:
“Every night I cover up my head in
the bed because over the bed there
is always rolling the great all-seeing
eye. The eye didn't have any head
and it didn't have any face, but it
frightened me, and I didn’t like to
think about God.” And yet this was
a conscientious child who didn’t need
to be constantly watched.
Let the child be taught that the
whole life is really lived in the pres
ence of God, and that this is a loving
presence watching over him for his
protection, and in tenderness, even
greater than that of his mother. The
thought of God’s eye watching for
the evil and sin that he may commit
fails too often as a restraining influ
ence in the life of a little child.
Whatever line our thoughts may
take with reference to this subject,
we come back constantly to the one
great thought that, in these early
years, while the boyish nature is
struggling to find expression for the
great forces shut up within it, love
is the one restraining force, and the j
one developing force that on no ac
count must be allowed to fail. The
child-heart is not like a beefsteak—
all the tenderer for being pounded—
and they must be loved into grace
and goodness if we would hope to
see them gracious and good.
New York City
THE ROYAL ROAD TO GREATNESS.
BY REV. A. B. CURTIS, PH. D.
“When JeauB said to bis followers
“whosoever would be first among you
shall be your servant,” he was laying
down the royal road to greatness
Service, noble, true, manlike, woman
like service is what goes to make up
greatness. Mr. Alfred Austin has said
recently that “It’s the greatest great
ness to be good;’ and so it is when
rightly defined, but there is a good
ness which is as the Italians say, “good
for nothing.” The true test of good
ness is service; and this word, my
friends, includes your calling as well
as mine; it embraces the shop girl and
the boot black as well as the lawyer
and the banker.
“All service ranks the same with
God,—whose puppets, best and worst,
are we,—there is no last nor first.”
Toe role which the word “servant”
plays in the language of religion is a
very interesting ous. It reaches back
in its origin to the early days of
totemism when every tribe or clan
had its special deity and all the mem.
bers of the clan were the slaves of
that deity. To disobey the command
of the God issued through the tribal
chieftain was either excommunication
or certain death. As we follow on
down through the ages the idea of
God is transformed, modified and
purified of its heathen elements, but
the word servant still retains its place,
and as we look at it carefully we see
that it too has been transformed.
From its idea of bond-servant it has
passed to that of the servant who is
also called the master’s friend, and
knows his plans as well as his will.
From conveying exclusively the idea
of bondage it came to carry also the
meaning of worship, even eloquent
worship. The old Obed Edom was as
his name indicates the slave of the
God Edom; the modern Obed is the
servant of the Most High.
Service leads through bondage to
freedom. He who rebels against na
ture is her slave. She crushes all who
ignore her laws. He who serves her
obediently, eloquently, is her master;
he penetrates to her very heart and
wins from her her secret. Do you re
call that fine passage in the Bonnie
Brier Bush said in praise of the doc
tor of the old school? “He hasna
sinned against nature, and nature ’ill
stand by him noo in his oor o’ dis
tress.”
So in the laws of God his story is
the same, through service to freedom.
Whoso disobeys God is his slave
in chains, but who obeys is God’s
freeman. The truth makes all who
love it free. Long ago Paul noted
this paradox of service and he makes
of it a universal message of rejoicing.
“Rejoice,” says he, ‘O slave, that you
are become a freeman through obedi
ence to the Gospel. Likewise, O free
man, rejoice, because to you is ac
corded the royal honor of becoming a
servant of Christ.”
Again service leads through sel
fishness to unselfishness. All begin
nings are selfish. The young life
wants not only the moon but the
earth. The first days of one’s relig
ious life are pre eminently selfish.
The rush to get saved, the enthusi
asm for the new interests crowd out
all else. Any great passion or desire
intensifies selfishness. But as we go
on unto perfection, as we follow our
new found occupation to all its diver
sified ramifications, little by little the
selfish enthusiasm and zeal slip away.
Service is founded not on the idea of
selfness but of otherness. He that
seeketh his life shall lose it; he that
loses himself in service for others has
really found life. Jesus has set us
the example towards which my
thought is tending in the words, “for
their sakes I sanctify myself that
they also might be sanctified.”
How often we enter into life sel
fishly. QWe are in it for what we can
get out of it. We will attempt noth
ing till we have beforehand the prom
ise of the plana. We, as students,
look forward bo the school year aud
ask ourselves how much can I
get of it, how much of pleasure,
friendship, honor? Or again it is the
business year and the question asked
is how much can I make this year of
fame, of money, or of applause? Per
haps it is the social year that charms
us. How much can I get out of it of
personal pleasure, of selfish gratifica
tion of social advertisement? Ah,my
friends, these aims and ambitions are
all wrong, if not wrong iu themselves
they are at least pointed iu the wrong
direction. ‘‘Not to be ministered
unto but to minister,” these are the
words that should give direction and
inspiration to our lives and not those
other words, “what can I get out of
it?” The worth of life is in i's trans
mission capacity, in its power to server
and by serving hand on to others its
possessions. “There is nothing glor
ious about possession” says an elo
quent divine, it is the giving, the ser
vice that is glorious.
“Only the prism's obstruction shows
aright
The secret of the sunbeam^”
and only service with its daily drudg
ery on this side and its silent beckon
ing on that reveals the true secret of
the soul. “Not what I have but what
I do is my kingdom.”
Binghamton, N. Y.
THE HEADING HABIT
BY REV. C. C. CONNER.
[Paper read before the Unity Club, of
La Crosse, Thursday evening, October
14.]
Reading is to the mind much what
eating is to the body. We form, of
necessity, the habit of feeding,
whether mental or physical. Habit
should become part of a wise order.
It should be the method of faculty,
the tributary of strength, the servant
of man and woman. It should re
quire at length no thought uoratten
t on from us. We should be self
regulative. We do not waut to ex
pend our strength in the act of eating
and at the end of a meal feel ex
hausted. Nor must the effort to keep
ourselves in band, t.o follow a line,
to master letters and definitions, de
mand all our energies. If the valleys
that lead to the sea should absorb all
the moisture the great ocean basin
might be vacant. But the river
bottom is so saturated and glazed
that the whole volume of water flows
over it and is a perfect tributary to
the sea. And habits should claim
nothtng in the end, not a thought,
and should serve us perfectly.
We may cultivate a taste for foods
and for kinds of literature. We may
follow inclination wk«n we have be
come rightly inclined. Howells could
say: “I have never got any good
from a book that I did not read law
lessly and wilfully, out of all leading
and following, and merely because I
wanted to read it.” And no one
should read from a sente of duty
alone. If we are not interested in a
book it can impart nothing to us, as
we shall get no good from viands
which we do not relish. Interest is a
sort of mental saliva, without which
digestion or assimilation shall be
poor. And we should early cultivate
a taste for the beBt. The substan
tial of truth should be chosen first,
the lighter things secondarily. In
literature is the food of the soul. W’e
want that which shall strengthen
character, help us to think truly
to live, above all. Thoreau bas ad
vised, “Read the best books first, or
you may not have a chance to read
them at all.”
The best is found in no one class
of literature, accepting what, in ap
proved foim, ministers to the mind,
to the heart, or enriches the inner
being, the soul. In history, poetry,
fiction, philosophy and science alike
may be found our rpental nourish
ment, our spiritual food. We ought
not to limit ourselves to any one class,
or read one very largely to the exclu
sion or neglect of other classes. As
to his body, man is omnivorous, we
are told. He thrives on variety. As
to his mind, he is a microcosm, re
lated to the universe which (en
spheres him. He should glean in
all the fields of truth. We may get
the food of life in a work of fiction as
certainly as in a book of philosophy.
We may study some of the novelists
as well as some of the essayists. We
may get helpful ideals from poetry
a-4 surely as suggestive facts from
history. We need only take the ap
petite for truth to any table to get
both enjoyment and strength, if the
materials are before us; if they are
not thtre, we shall quickly know it
and turn away.
Should we read simply for enter
tainment! Rarely, if ever, I would
say. We may take an occasional dish
of ice cream with cake, but we should
not be wise if we attempted to make
it our reguler diet. We may read
once in a while a novel for the pleas
ure it gives us; but it might be bet
ter if we weie to make it, by the way,
a kind of study of life. No one iB
plated here for his or her pleasure
simply. W7e are to serve. And we
are to ask each thing to serve us that
we may extend the significance of it.
Our reading must be related to mor
ality as our daily bread has some
connection with woik. We should
not hoard truths, but embody them,
live them, disptnse them.
We should acquire the habit of
reading thoughtfully, reflectively
We should take each author into a
kind of companionship. There
should be two of ns, at least. The
power to skip and skim we must re
serve to ourselves. We must not
linger where the places are to us de
sert. Bancroft said that he would no
more think of reading all of a book
than of going into his garden and
eating all the apples on a tree. We
should sight what we want as the
eagle his food. While our author
teaches us, we are to ask him to cease
talking for some moments that we
may tnink and make ours what he
says. If in the silence we think many
thoughts of our own inspired by his
presence, it is well. We do thuB but
emphasize our claim to his compan
ionship. Better if we put the book
aside at limes and write. We do not
forget then that there are two of us.
It is not enough to mark, as we ad
vance, passages which strike us.
When we pass that way again we
may pause and sit in judgment upon
ourselves. But we shall doubtless
see as we retrace the grounds with a
clever writer that the very finest
things he wrote had not been marked
by us. And some authors, as Emer
son, Swing,Bagehot, might tempt us
to make a continuous line from top to
bottom of each page. Coleridge used
to scribble all over the margins com
menting on what he read, and the
comment outweighed in cases the
text. Pnillips Brooks annotated
books which he read. The amplitude
of one’s thought is reached only by
expression, and the helpfulness of an
author shall depend much upon what
he inspires us to think or gives us to
see. And we musi remember, too,
that his helpfulness to us goes in
equal step with our co operation with
him.
Mr. Mabie has observed that “in
every audience there are listeneis
who have almost as much to do with
the speaker’s felicity and eloquence
as he has himself; they are persons
who listen actively, not passively.
There are reader?,” he continued,
“who hang like dead weights on the
skirts of a writer, and there are those
who walk beside him buoyant with
his strength, eager with his energy
of spirit, and kindled with the glow
of his thought. These are the read
ers who make a true exchange with
the writer, who are not weakened by
many books, who select the best
and become companions of the heart
as well as of the mind.”
The habit of thinking, of pausing
to note our thought, of turning truth
into the channel of the mind, and
bringing its power into the soul
shall be a restriction upon quantity
and this is greatly needed now. We
are in danger of overfeeding in the
matter of reading today. The bill of
fare is too long and too cheap. Pa
pers are flying from the press at a
penny a piece, magazines are served
at ten cents a mea), and books are
becoming garbage. A paragraph in
a late number of Scribner’s Magazine
is pertinent. “In primitive times,”
it runs, “when men waudered about
in the woodB and roosted in trees at
night, they ate what they could find
wherever and whenever they found
it. As food grew more plentiful they
only ate when they were hungry, and
gradually they got the habit of being
hungry at stated intervals. Then,as
the variety of victuals increased, they
developed the civilized practice of
using certain kinds of food for par
ticular meals, and came gradually to
the sophisticated method of having
things served by courses, and vary
ing their diet according to the hour
of the day and the state of the
market.
No civilized New Yorker complains
because there are more kinds of fish
in Fulton market than his palate can
test or his stomach occommodate. If
he has smelts for his breakfast and
salmon after bis soup at dinner he is
thankful and tries not to eat over
much of either of them. He must
teach himself to take his literature
in the Bame enlightened manner,
reading according to hiB appetite
and his necessities, as he would eat;
not gorging himself because the mar
ket is geuerous; not eating a pie for
breakfast nor beginniug his dinner
with coffee, but taking things as they
ought to come.”
A newspaper ought never to make
other than a light luncheon for us.
We want to spend little time with it.
A magazine may betaken as a picnic
repast. History, philosophy, essays,
scientific, moral and literary, should
be our staple diet. We may demand
that these shall be well served and
made palatable. Biography is al
most or quite a companion to share
our board, adding to its pleasure,
and assisting in the life assimilation.
Fiction is to be taken as a tauce or
dessert, and we may find some real
nourishment in it. It is possible that
some of us take too much sauce and
not enough of the solids. Poetry, I
was about to say, is the grace at the
meal. It is worship of the Highest.
The working day might be well be
gun in communion with its ideals
and in company with its rythm. It
may set ub in harmony with the di
vine, it may help us live as God wills
And we may turn often to its shrine
and depart never without a benedic
tion. _
The General Convention.
REPORT OF GENERAL MISSIONARY. 0
H. SHINN. O.U.
I will report as briefly as I can a sum
mary of my work as General Missionary
for thirty-two months, from February 1,
1895, time of my appointment, to September
80, 1897. I have done work in thirty-four
states and two provinces, (Quebec and On
tario. I have traveled, estimating dis
tances from place to place, and not miles
traveled in cities and towns, 71,912 miles.
Much time has been given in fostering
movements which I started before begin
ning work under the auspices of the
General Convention. In the two years
and eight months, I have preached 731
sermons, an average of twenty-three per
month, made 153 addresses, organized
eight churches, four State, Conferences,
two State Young People's Unions,twenty
five local Young People’s Unions, six
Ladies’ Aid Societies, 3 mission circles.
Received into church membership 349,
Christened 15 children, attended 30 State
Conventions and State Conferences, ad
dressing them all, not uifferent ones. At
tended 20 State Young People s Unions,
and three National Conventions of the
Y. P. C. U. Gave addresses before the
District Conferences of the General Con
vention held in Chicago and Atlanta, Ga.
Held three summer meetings at Weirs,
N. H., and two grove meetings at Sebago
Lake, Me. Assisted in conducting weeks
of meetings in various states and encour
aged struggling churches in many parts
of the land.
Dedicated nine churches, in the follow
ing places: Lamonte, Ashley, Windsor, in
in the state of Missouri; Friendship and
Brewton in Alabama; Consolation, Ky.;
North Hatley, P. Q., Magnolia, N. C.;
and Austin, Minn. I raised money for
other churches that have been dedicated,
and for the two to be dedicated in Decem
ber, namely, Chickamauga, Ga., (this
church is now completed) and Mountville,
S. C. I will add here that I encouraged
the building of the church which has been
erected in Lone Star, Texas, and raised
money for the church which is ready for
dedication in Bowie, Tex., (Rev. C. H.
Rogers.) Subscriptions are begun and we
expect soon to erect buildings at De
Fuuiak Springs, Pensacola and Cottage
Hill, Florida, and near Canton, N. C.
A good building lot has been purchased in
Pensacola and one donated at Cottage
Hill. Rev. F. L. Leavitt, pastor at Brew
ton, Ala., supplies these two places.
I may say here that all the churches I
have dedicated within the thirty-two
months, and the three new' ones in Mis
souri not mentioned, and also the three
new ones dedicated in Georgia within si
months, have pastoral care, except two or
three. Austin, Brewton, North Hatley
and some others have resident pastors.
I have had part in the ordination of
four ministers, including Rev. Thos. E.
Wise, colored.
I have received for services from the
various places and sent to our Financial
Secretary $1,409.70. 1 have collected from
other sources and sent to Dr. Rugg
$1,045 00. I have secured .300 Cent-a-Day
pledges. I have secured by personal can
vass for the churches built and for mis
sions, $8,968.75. At the three summer
meetings held at the Weirs, pledges were
taken to assist in supporting pastors at
Kansas City and Tacoma, and for build
ing a chapel and school building for our
colored church at Suffolk, Va., to the
amount of $2,702. Most all of this has been
or will bo collected, making in all $14,
124.75. If all the Cent-a-Day pledges are
paid, the total sum will be $15,241.65.
The churches that have been dedicated
and deeded, or will be deeded, to the
General Convention or State Convention
for which I raised all or a part of the
money, are valued at $17,000. The beau
tiful church at Brewton, Ala., has quite
a debt, but it has rich and generous men
who assumed it all. I think all others are
virtually out of debt.
In about all the cities where I have
started movements, some work is beiDg
done to day. Lay services, Y. P. C. U’s.,
Sunday-schools and Ladies Societies are
kept up in Spokane, Tacoma, Wash.,
Portland, Ore., Los Angeles, Cal.,
and Columbia, S. C., Ladies’ Societies,
working on building funds in Little
Hock, Ark., St Louis, Mo., Sheldon,
la., St. Paul, Minn., and several smaller
places. I expect to keep our loyal people
together in St. Paul until the time comes
when we can take a stronger step. Four
members of that society are present in
this Convention. In Little Hock, where I
have a church of eighteen members, we
have devoted workers; one wealthy man
who wants a Universalist church. A few
places in the Northwest, where the ladies’
societies have some money, are inactive.
I have organized on the plan that Uni
versal ists can do something without pas
tors, and in the majority of cases I have
been surprised at their achievements.
But I have encouraged the hope that they
would have pastors sometime. For my
faith has been strong that we would have
miuisters with the missionary spirit and
of talent who would be ready toenterthe
new mission Helds. In this I have been
disappointed. And because of this disap
pointment I have refused to oreauize in
places where we have yearning souls who
want to join the church. Everyman who
wants to unite with our church should be
given the opportunity. In Houston, Tex.,
a good number of good true Universaliats
want to join the church. What are we to
do? Refuse to organize? We have excel
lent material in Raleigh, N. C., in Mo
bile, Ala., and many other important
cities. Any other denomination would
Jump at the chance to begin with such
material. In Mobile we have people of
wealth who are loyal to the faith.
In Knoxville, Tenn., in Atlanta, Ga.,
in Kansas City,; we began with poorer
materia], (in; numbers and means) than
in several of the places 1 have named.
Now we have located pastors—and your
missionary was instrumental in getting
them settled in these three important
cities,—and we are to have churches
built. In Kansas city the building site is
secured, the money for the most part
raised,and the building is soon to be
erected.
This is only an outline of what my
work has been. Only by visitation are
the movements kept going. I keep in
touch by frequent correspondence and see
them once a year, when possible oftener.
Some of the brethren have suggested
that time is wasted in going to isolated
Universalists. Don’t they know that all
our churches can be traced to this kind of
work? Then I preach week-nights on my
way. School - house meetings, grove
meetings, outdoor services in warm
weather, and if turned out after a church
is promised I have out-door meetings in
winter. Had a splendid one in Alabama
the twenty-seventh of last December. On
my way to this Convention 1 stopped and
preached five sermons in Hopkinsville,
K.v., where the church is without a pas
tor. They got all kindled up. We had
large audiences before the meetings
closed.
In Sturgis, (Black Hills,) South Dak.,
we have a church organization with some
twenty members, and a Ladies’ Aid which
has purchased lots and has two or three
hundred dollars toward a chapel. They
urged me to go? I went at last. They
want a religious home, even if they have
to conduct lay services. Did I do right to
go? At Wessington Springs, ,S.; D., we
have Isome brave souls who are hungry
too. They keep up lay services—have for
several years. Never had a minister
visited them. They have begged me to
come.
Shall I go? Our people, many of them,
talk as if all we have to do is to take care
of what we have. If we settle down to
this business we shall surely lose what
we have. This is a law.
Ohio Associations.
MONTGOMERY ASSOCIATION.
This organization held its annual
meeting with our church at Greenville,
October 7—10, and as usual was largely
attended. The Association did not al
low its disfranchisement by the adoption
of the new constitution by theOaioUni
versalist Convention to interfere with its
usefulness, but has continued to hold its
regular sessions with enlarged benefit to
the local interests of the churches with
in its territory.
The session for 1897, began with a
sermon on Tursday evening by Rev. J.
H. Blackford.
On Friday morning, Bro. I. S. Wenger
led a spirited conference meeting, after
which Mr. F. M. Eidson, in behalf of the
church and people of Greenville, extend
ed a hearty welcome to delegates and
visitors, to which Rev. J. H. Blackford
responded in appropriate words.
Ihe remainder of the morning session
was devoted to the discussion of the
topic: "Delegates to church conven
tions: (1.) Who should they be? (2.)
How can they benefit the church? (3.)
Should the church bear expenses?”
The subject was fully discussed under
its different headings, and no doubt will
increase the interest in the work of the
State and General Convention.
The Y. P. C. D. Meeting.
In the afternoon, the following ques
tions were discussed under the auspices
of the Y. P. C. U. (1.) Whathasthe Uni
versalist church contributed to the re
ligious thought of the world? (2) Is its
W 'rk done? If not to what end shall its
efforts be directed? (3.) The church and
its instrumentalities. These questions
were all considered in a profitable man
ner, and no one expressed the opinion
that the work of the Universalist church
had ended; but to the contrary, it really
had only fairly begun.
In the evening, after devotional ser
vices conducted by Rev. John Richard
son, Mrs. Crosley delivered an interest
ing sermon based on the words “Thou
shalt have no other gods before me.’>
Her pieeentation of this command was
somewhat original, yet reasonable, and
wbb well calculated to arouse a larger
appreciation of the worehipof God.
At 9 a. m. an excellent conference and
prayer meeting was conducted by Mrs.
Letts Bull, of Platteville church. The
president named the following as Com
mittee on Nominations and place of
meeting for 1898. Messrs. O. Schred, F.
H. Sleeter and Mrs. H. Munford. The
■ emainderof the morning session was
devoted to discussion of the question:
"Which best represents our thought, the
Winchester Profession of Faith, or the
i proposed new one? (Now defeated. Ed.)
Id the afternoon Mrs. George Kimmell,
of Eldorado, read a paper on "What can
be dune to increase the devotional spirit
in the Woman's Missionary Alliance?”
The sentiment of the paper was for a
deeper and broader understanding of
the nature of missionary work. Interest
ing remarks were made.
The topic: "What Relation do the
Sunday school, the Y. P. C. U. and the
Missionary Alliance sustain to the
church?” was then considered. Mr.M.R.
Jeffries, of Palestine church, read a paper
on the work of the Y. P. C. U , showing
(CONTINUED ON FIFTH FAUN.)