Newspapers / The Christian Sun (Elon … / Aug. 14, 1890, edition 1 / Page 1
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The Christian Sun. TERMS OF 8UB8CRI?TI0Nl (cash in advawcx.) One year, pontage Include*..•* Six months. “ *• .... '00 TERMS OF ADVERTII8MQ1 One square, ten lines, first Insertion..91 On For each subsequent Insertion.. 50 One Bquarethree months. * 00 One square six months. 8 One square twelve months.15 00 Advertisers changing weekly must make a special agreement Yearly advertisers will pay monthly or quarterly In advance. Transient advertisements to be paid for on nsertlon. IN E8HENTIALS, UNITY; VOL. XLIII. ■v IN NON-ESSENT^VLS, LIBEItTY ; IN ALL THINGS, CHARITY. RALEIGH, N. C., THURSDAY, AUG. 14, 1890. NTTMRR'R 1Q The Christian sun. PUBLISHED EVBT THU BSD* T BT R«v. J. PRESSLEY BARRETI OUR PRINCIPLES: 1. The Lord Jeeus Christ Is the only Head of the Church. 2. The name Christian, to the exclusion of all party or sectarian names. 3. The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, a sufficient ule of faith and practice. 4 Christian character, or vital piety, the only test of fellowship or membership. f>. Thi right of private judgment and the liberty of conscience, the privilege ami duty o', all. How To Be a Pastor. REV. THEODORE h. OtJYLER. What is the chief object of the Christian ministry? It goes without saying that it is to win iouIi to Jesus Christ. The chief element of power with every true miuister should be heart-power. The majority ol all con gregations—rich or poor—are reach ed,not so much through the intellect al through the affections. This is au encouraging fact; for only one man in leu mny have the talent 10 be a very great preacherjbut all the other nine,if they love Christ and love human souls, can become great pastors. Nothing gives a pastor such heart power as personal attentions to his people, for everybody loves to be no ticed. Especially is personal sym pathy welcome in seasons of trial. Let a pastor make himself at home in everybody's borne; let him come otten and visit their sick-rooms, and kneel beside their empty cribs and their broken hearts and pray with them; let him go and see the business men wheD they have suffered reverses, and give them a word of cheer; let him recog niae and speak kindly to the children, and he will weave a cord around me hearts of his people that will stand a prodigious pressure. His inferior sermons (for about every minister preaches such sometimes) will be kindly condoned, and he can iauncb the most sharp and pungent truths at them from the pulpit, and they ill not take offense. He will have won their hearts to himself, and that is a mighty step toward drawing them to the house of God, and winning their souls to the Saviour. ‘A house going minister,' said Chalmers, ‘makes a Church going people.’ The chief end of a minister’s work must never be lost sight of. It is to awaken the careless, to warn the en dangered, to comfort the sorrowing, to help the weak, and to edify believers; in short, it is to make bad people good and good people belter. Preach ing strong gospel sermons is one of the most effective means to this end. But ' it is not the only one. Outside of the pulpit every messenger of Christ can come to close quarters with the indi vidual soul and preach eye to eye; no one can dodge such preaching, or go to sleep under it. If the shepherd can only save the sheep by going after the sheep, then woe be unto him if he neglect his duty I As many souls are won to Christ outside the pulpit as in the pulpit. Every discourse, too, can be made thoroughly practical, and can be lodged more securely in the hearts of the pedple by constant and affec donate intercourse with them during the week. I am firmly persuaded that if many a minister would take part of the time that he now spends in polish ing his discourses, and devote it to pasforal visitation, he would have larger congregations, and a lar larger L number of conversions to Christ. He would be a ueailiner man ior me physical exercise; he would be a more fluent speaker from the practice he would gain m personal conversation; he would be a much more tender, eloquent, and heart-moving embassa dor of Christ. ‘How shall 1 become such a pastor?' To this question 1 would reply, Deter mine to become one, cost what it may. It you are shy aud bashful, conquer your diffidence; a man has no business to be a shepherd if he is atraid of the sheep, if you are naturally reserved and reticent, unlock jour lips. Go and talk with your people about any thing or everything until you get in touch with them; and theu if you have any grace or ‘gumption,’ you can cer tainly manage to say something to them about the ‘one thing needful.' It is not best that a minister should talk exclusively about things spiritual. Talk to them about their business, and show your interest in what they are doing. Encourage them to talk with you about your discourses; you will _discover what shots strike, aild What aie; wily .thank c,ariyidge8._. Watch yoUi- chance Id put in a timely and loving word tor your Master. You are Christ’s man on Christ’s business. If you can only gam your point by go ing often to the house, then go often. Oue soul won wins others. You can reach the parents sometimes by reach ing the son or daughter. These per sonal conversations with individual souls will train you to be a closer, more suggestive, and practical preach er. They will make you colloquial and simple and direct in the pulpit. Half of all the preaching is fired into the air. By knowing your auditors thoroughly you can learn how to take aim. You will gather also most pre cious material for your sermons, by going about among your people, and finding out what they are doing, what they are thinking, what they are sut fering and wliat they need. Resolve to devote a portion of every day to pastoral service. To visit a large congregation consumes a vast amount of time, but can you spend it more profitably elsewhere? Be on the look-out for sermon-hints wherevei you go; one hour with a live man may teach you more than two hours with s dead book. Do your hook work anr your Bible-study in the forenoon,wlier your mind is fresh; devote your after noons to making or receiving visits Your evenings can be used for religi ' 1 ous services and tor some social recreations, and Tor occasional pastor al visits and for general reading. But be wise enough not to burn out your brains in writing sermons by lamp light. Morning is the time which God gives you for study; midnight is ibe time which some fools steal from needed sleep. A minister who does not sleep during the week will uot long keep an audience awake on the Sabbath. I Go about your pastoral work sys tematica lly. Try to visit every family din ing each year, aud some families will require your visits oftener. Go where you are needed most. Never neglect ’he poor and the unfortunate. If some querulous folk complain that you do not come Often enough, and greet you with, ‘0 what a stranger you are; we thought you bad forgotten usl’ do not pay any attention to such grumblers. Do yourutmost duty, and even then there will be some who will not slop growling until they get to heaven. X It is a blessed encouragement that the humblest minister can hecome a faithful pastor. God never intended that this world should he saved by pulpit geniuses,or else he would create more of them. The average Chris tian must save this world, if it is saved at all. Every minister of the Lord Jesus Christ who loves his Mas ter, who loves his Bible, who loves his feilowman, and who hungers to win souls to the Saviour,can be a good pastor it he honestly tries. When you are studying Jesus Christ never lose sight of the fact that he was a model Pastor. _^I am the Good Shep herdjtbe Shepherd knoweth his sheep; he calletb all his sheep by name.’ A Terrible Record. God Against this Lottery—Re cently the Rev. J. W. Carter, i>. D., pastor of the First Baptist Church of Raleigh preached ou ‘the wickedness of Provoking Others to Sin.’ He used several strong illustra tions and analogies, and among olh ei things he touched upon the Louis iana State Lottery as an agent pro vocative of sin. He gave a short but remarkable history of the effects of that company to get its charter re newed by the State, in which he said: The charter of the Louisana State Lottery is about to expire. To get that charter renewed requires an amendment to the constitution, and a two thirds vote of both houses of the legislature is necessary to carry this amendment. An amendment which will permit a renewal of the charier of tue lottery was passed in the house by a two thirds vote. Then the bill went to the senate. The lottery people worked with the senate by their peculiar methods until they felt certain that they had secured the necessary two thirds to carry the measure through that body. A seoa tor who went to the legislature, pro fessing to oppose the lottery, but who afterwards agreed "to support it, died. His successor was against the lottery, and another man had to be secured. When he was secured the senate met one day to vote on the bill; but when the senate met, a lottery senator fell down in a fainting fu and the matter had to be postponed. Another day when the senate met lo vote, another lottery senator was taken violently ill and sick, and again the matter had to be deferred. An other day, the leader ot the lottery party took the floor to make a speech, but the heavens suddenly grew dark and flamed with lightnings; the thun der roared and rolled until the voice ot the speaker was drowned; the lightning disturbed the electric wires and put out the lights in the capitol. Again the legislature had to adjourn, while the word went around that God IS AGAINST THE LOTTERY. But the measure finally passed ihe senate by aj wo-thirds vote. i.-y Then the Governor met it - with a brave, ringing, slinging veto. The house promptly passed, it over the Governor's veto, and again it went to the senate. Then another lot ery senator was taken sick. A time was fixed when he should be brought to the senate cham ber on his sick bed to vote for it. But the time came, tiie rains poured down and he could not be broitgbt. Then it was proposed that the senate should meet in the sick senator's room to give him an opportunity to vote for the wicked measure; but death came and defeated thtrplau. Then both branch es of the legislature hurriedly passed a resolution, declaring that the Gover nor had no right to veto the measure and adjourned, and now it will go to the courts. If many people were to t;ead in the old testament a record of such a series of events, they would declare that the record could not be true; but these things have recently occurred in the State ot Louisana. My Substitute. BY V. F, P. Who can take my class ? This is the yearly thought of most teachers ] and then comes an anxious review ol any and all who might supply tin vacancy. How often the only answer is, ‘No one'! - Some years ago, this annual ques tion came to me, and, as ‘no one' re plied, and the difficulty must be set tled, the very necessity solved the problem. In a back number of The Westminster Teacher had been an account of how one teacher, often absent, from sickness, held the reins always of her class. She wrote a let ter to one or another about the lesson, and thus taught in her own absenue. Would not this do for mv class ? It would be a six weeks' or two months’ vacation, and it was a very important class,—just passing from the frequent flashings of temper into well-ordered calm and great interest, which must be maintained by the same love that alone had been the controlling power for some years. Taking a blank sheet, the date of each Sunday during my absence was carefully written down, with a blank opposite for each schoolar's name who would be my substitute. One bv one the blanks were filled up, by more or less willing would be teachers. One paper was left in mv class drawer, while a copy went with me up to Maine. Lack week a letter was duly posted "in that far-off village post office, or rather two letters in one envelope; for the young teacher must have her own private letter, merely tnendly, describ ing walks or sails, the stormathat sent the breakers in so far, the lighthouses with their red or flxttl or revolving lights,the large fleetof mackerel-hoate that made the horizon like a Venetian scene at night as they hung out each light. There was nothing too trivial to be interesting, because it was told by one who loved enough to be will ing to spare time in a holiday for the stay-at homes. Really, that was the chief element of the great success ot the plan. Then, the four page lesson had all sorts of practical applications, and at least one verse apiece to be hunted up in the Bibles ‘teacher’ had trained them always to carry to Sunday School. There was reference to the lessou plan of the question-book or question leaf, and the questions there in might be noted, with timeaud place, and any other important mat ters. ‘Mary feels big when she gets her letter. She likes to teach,’ said oDe German mother to me, as I stood in the doorway, at the end of a visit, one autumn. ‘Lillie told me you were away- in summer, but the girls like to teach that way,’ said a new schular, as I unfolded to her, recently, my substi tute idea. Certainly, teaching teaches far more than being taught, and when all gather once more about their teacher, fresh and rested after long absence, there is far more sympathy between pupils and instructor than ever before. The former now begin to realize whaf teaching is, and how much prepara tion is implied in that eager flow of words and questions from the lips of the latter. They have been put in her place; the p actical experience of at tention given or withheld is an object lesson not soon forgotten. ‘I got along well enough/ said Mamie, when she came to me after teaching some little children. ‘I could kcpp them quiet, but I did not have much to say.’ Mamie thought it would be so hard to teach such ‘big girls’ as mine, but was willing to try,after thinking about the lesson-letter. She had had no such help with the children’s class. Then each substitute writes an an swer, telling of those present and those absent. ‘And now I have scrap ed together all the news I can,’ ended one, after a list of all accidents and funerals that had occurred while 1 was awav; and it was not till years after ward that 1 found those summer let ters had not only won the affection of a very dull girl, but had convinced the part of one they only - saw oqe.a WHsnyr The fourth year for this plau begins now. It will be1 somewhat varied in a few details this summer. In the drawer will be left some articles not usually there,—a class book, with maps of Palestine and the Runyan Empire, as well as the list of sub stitutes; for maps are an essential to good teaching, and it is so much easier to explain about Luke, ‘the be loved physician/ when' Rome can be pointed to as the locality of t lip col lege of physicians, and the gain from the Roman mastery in the transmit ting of intelligence, or the parts of Palestine Jesus visited, or the small size of it as compared with the rest of the world. There are pencils, too,— one apiece,—that each may put in her note-book the word or words mat sum up the lesson study. ‘Our Days/ with reference to Exodus 31 : 13, Ezekiel 20 : 12,20, for one lesson, ‘Love and Service’ for the second quarter's re view. (At home they were asked to go over the lessons, and see if that title fitted into each lesson.) Thus they run, varied at each schdar’s discretion. There would be the maps, il in the letter it was necessary to speak of any locality; there would be the pencils for each to keep up in such memory helps through the summer; aud the chain that binds us together is only united the closer, absence not making a real separation. The advantages from this plan may satisfactorily be thought of, surely, after a four years' trial. It has been used for brief as well as lengthy ab sence, in cases-of sudden illness, or any providential detention. ‘Though the dreadful storm kept you home last week’ (having been ill), said the assistant superintendent one morning, ‘I saw your letter to your girl; so they were provided for ' He thought it helped his labors. Certainly, it isiard on the supenuten dent when clajw are left entirely un provided for. "'wLce ihere always wilt be some absentees, cannot others help in this way ? The mutual benefit is very great. Love conquers the dif ficulties. Try it, and see it you do not profit also.—From Sunday School Timex. Germantown, Pa. In the Weary Honrs. I BY SYDNEY DAYRE. W, Mrs. Rand tbok her knitting and walked across the back-yard and through a pasture and finally along a green lane winch brought her to the farmhouse winch was ihe home of her friend, Mrs. Baker. She found her just finishing the last pieces of a huge ironing. With a sigh ot relief she set the heavy 'flat' on the back of the stove to cool, and sat down with the mend ing-hasket on her lap. ‘How are you to-day, Sarah?' asked Mrs. Rand. ‘Poorly enough. My headaches seem to be coming oftener and oftener, nowadays.’ The two were Old friends—had been schoolgirls in their young days, had lived near neighbors ever since they had married, confiding in each other such cares and sorrpws as may be confided. ‘They cohie as much from iretting as anything else, I’m atraid,’ said Mrs. Rand. ‘Perhaps so/ said her friend, with a weary shake of the head. . ‘I wish you and I could do less fret ting. Sarah.’ •So do 1. It does no good, as both ot us know. I’m sure. And those that talk about it say its sinful and un grateful to God for his mercies. But ah, me!—who can help fretting. The two looked iDto each other’s oyoo with nr. expression r>o!f *-ppo*xl ing. half hopeless. ‘You work too hard. You keep worn out all the time,’ said Mrs. Rand. •If you could take a rest, things would not look so discouraging to you. ‘But bow can l take a rest? There is the family to do for. I don’t be lieve the work would hurt me so much if I could see any hope in it;. Bpt to slave on and slave on, doing the best l can, and never sparing my self, and, for all, never seeing things look any better,—I tell you, Hester, that’s enough to break anj’ woman down.’ ‘Yes, I see, said Mrs. liana, syrnpa thizinglv. She fully knew the weight of the burdens the other was bearing —a husband full ot good intentions, but shiftless and thriftless to a degree which seemed to make it only a mat ter of time to work out the sum of bis fortunes. j. ., The farm was mortgaged beyond hope of redemption, and ever at its mistress’s side, in her daily round of toil, stood the grim specter of the future, holding up a glass in which she saw a picture of her children homeless. * ' ‘Give me a needle,’said Mrs. Rand, taking up 'One of the pieces of mend ing, __„_■ _i_ ‘You’d better not work,’ said the other. ‘You're not looking well your self.’ ‘No, 1 don’t sleep very well mights^’ said Mrs Rand with a s gb. ‘And you know as well as I do what the night hours are when our hearts are heavy aud every nAv thought that • comts -seems a-uew^paiu —-w-.—..™ Mrs; Baker thought of the row of lrttie graves m the country churchyard telling tbetr sad tales of the desola tion ot the hearthstone in the comfort able home at the other end of the lane, and of j,he things she bad lately heard about* Robert Rand, the only one left, leading a wild life in the city. In the overflow of affectionate sympa thy for her friend’s sorr >ws, so dif ferent trom her own, a feeling of thankfulness entered her heart as she thought of the bright laces and healthy frames of those ehilaren for whose future she was so deeply concerned. ‘What did you think of the sermon, Sunday?’ asked Mrs. Rand, helping herself to a needle and picking out the yarn to match a well-worn st'oek ing. ‘Well, now, I do remember the text -—‘Ousting all your care,’ wasn’t that it?—aud l settled to listen to it with all mv might, lor I’m sure if any body needs to do it, I do. But l must confess that my mind ran away so, on wondering how I was going to get the children fixed for school this winter that I didn’t follow it out.’ i *My thoughts tiofien serve me that way, but l did happen to hear what ! Mr. Russell said about worldly cares —-the canting, grinding, corroding cares, be called them, which take all the light out ot the sunshine and the sweetness out of the daily life, and the rest away from the pillow. And, Sarah, I’ve got a new plan for you and me.’ ‘A new plan? Well, I'll be glad to know it if it's any good.' ‘Perhaps it will be it we only try it. It’s about those hours at night when we can't sleep. 1 tell you Sarah, Mr. Russell’s had a taste ot them, some how, poor man! Any one that knows could tell it to hear him. He spoke of the hours when all the sorrows ot our hearts come to us and find us helpless. When they come one by one and show us all their blackness and all their heaviness. When all onr trials and sins of the past, all our cares ot the present, and all our dreads tor the future seem to come and trample us down.' A mute pressure of the lips told ot her friend's full realization of the force of every word. ‘And,’ went on Mrs. Rand, ‘he begg ed us to try this—to turn our backs resolutely on the sorrows and the piti ful repentings and repinings, and just—pray.’ ‘Why, it’s hours and hours,’ said Mrs. Baker. ‘Yes, and what do you suppose hours and hours ot prayer might do for us? Sarah, I’ve been thinking we don't get enough out of our religion. If there’s a power in it which will lift people above the trials of this sad world, who needs it more than you and I do?’ ‘Not mauy—and yet how do we know wb&i sorrows other people have?' ‘Now/ went on Mrs. Rand, eagerly, ‘what it you and I, Sarah, eould do something different from what we ever have done before with those burdens of ours? What if, instead of turning them over and over, and looking at them on every side until our heads are wearv and our hearts breaking, we could just give them over into the Lord’s hands—trusting him to do what he thinks best with them, trying to believe with all our souls that whatever comes, no matter if it seems the worst to us that can come, is right if he wills. If we be lieve what he promises, it must be so, you know.’ •What you say makes me think of a hymn I learned when I was a girl,’ said Mrs. Baker. ‘One verse in it says: \ ‘Were half the breath thus vainly spent, To heaven in supplications sent, Our cheerful song could oftener Hear what fthe Lord has done for ‘Well, now, I’ll try it it you will. Will.you promise?’ ‘I will-^as far as I can/ said Mrs. Baker, slowly. Did they try it? And with what re sult? Dear friends, try it for your selves and you will be able to answer. be, me. Our Girls. BY MARY SWEET POTTER. ‘What to do with our girls' is a question that is being at present dis cussed by many able and earnest wri ters and thinkers, and many excellent suggestions are made by those who have fell moved to answer the impor tant query: yet have 1 tailed to read with satisfaction one entire article on the subject. Most of those which 1 have read place particular stress up on the injunction to ‘teach the girls how to become good wives and moth ers.’ Now, >s that the main consideration in the education of our daughters ? Should we from the day of their birth keep an inevitable future stale ot marriage iu view for them, ignoring a possible inborn inclination toward celibacy ? Must we, a3 soon; as.lbey reach's teachalile age, endeavor to teach them ■Iiot’ to- secure- tuiufe huebaudfe' who may not prove themselves worthy ot a tithe of the loving service we have been so officiously faithful in pre paring tor them ? Or, if he be great and noble as the greatest and noblest, is not the love and companionship of a pure, cultivated Christian woman who may not have been trained with special reference to Ins comfort and convenience worthy of his grateful acceptance ? /Those who claim to think otherwise have hot takeu into consideration the tact that many lack by nature the qualification or inclination for the state ot wifehood and maternity which no training could possibly supply, [n dealing with such, an insistent course of the sacred and delicate lectures advocated by some who have express ed opinions on the subject as being necessarv to the development of the female child into the worthy wife and moth,er, would be worse than thrown away; they would be a siufut waste ol time and useless teaching. For, in my opinion, every woman need noi necessarily to her own good or that of her fellow-creatures, become a wits and mother. I believe that all neces sary qualifications for the conditions in question are inborn and instinctive needing no interference of ours tc I perfect their development. As we! go out and teach the birds how to build their nests and rear their young. What, then, shall we teach our girls ? First ol all, I answer, teach them to be Christians; then teach them everything else that tney care to learn, if your means permit; if not, then Just as many of them as von possibly can, taking care that at least one of the things you teach them be a self supporting accomplishment trade which will insure them an in dependent living in case they are by a turn of Fortune’s capricious wheel thrown upon their own resources. Keep their minds occupied and their bands busy, that their attention may not too easily be turned toward mat ters matrimonial, exclusively, as is too often the case Oh, the misery brought into young, innocent lives by premature marriage, by the taking up on themselves by those not yet be yond childhood, grave, sacred re sponsibilities, and cares too heavy for their young shoulders. I say, teach your daughters that marriage is not the main object in life; but if they in due season incline toward that state, see that they enter it not lightly. If you, being a (Jhristian mother (and being else than a Christian you should not have the training of a child), have properly taught your daughter the gentle tenderness and forbearance of the Christian manner, one toward another, she will have no need of aught else (except a knowledge of her husband’s peculiarities or human imperfections, which she could by no previous training have learned) to in sure her success as a wife and mother. If you are wise you will give her very little advice as to the management of her husband or household; acting solely upon the impulse of her ripened Christian judgment she will do what is right and best, and if she has chosen well she will be happy, and so will her husband So much for those who eventually marry; to those who choose to live on m the home nest, blessing the lives of parents or other friends,or who choose to go out into God’s free beautiful world so ful' of work which only wo man can do worthily, I say that God will speed and prosper them. There are places for the Christian woman everywhere, in every department of the world’s great work strop, and God be thanked that it is so. She need not feel now, as formerly, that the position of wife is the sole honorable one open to her, .Though there ia.nonn liifrher provided the relationship be entered into with the reverent motives belong ing to it. there are others where she may be as happy and useful, and still fulfill her ‘mission.’ In my opinion, then, the question resolves itself thus; we should teach the girl, first, Christianity, pure and simple, all homelj household duties, a self-supporting art or trade, and whatever else she wants to learn. She will thus develop into a grand worker in hef Lord's vineyard, and, as a natural sequence, she will become a good daughter, mother, wife, sister, friend. Which Will Ywi Tahe. Entering tbe office ot a well-known merchant, I lifted my eyes and found myself confronted with the most thrilling temperance lecture I ever steered myself against in the whole course of my life. It was an inscrip tion marked with a pen on the back of a postcard, nailed to-the desk. The inscription read as follows WHICH? WIFE OR WHISKEY? THE BABES OR THE BOTTLES? HOME OR HELL? ‘Where did you get that, and what did you nail it up there lor ?’ I asked the merchant.- ' • ‘I wrote that myself and nailed it there,’was his reply, ‘and will tell you the story of that card.’ ‘Sometime ago I found myself fall ing into the drink halnt. I would run out once in a while with a visiting Customer, or at the invitation ol a traveling man, or bn every slight thf ea.-4«i! that -ottered.. I found' that my business faculties ..were becoming dulled, that my stomach was contin ually out of sorts, my appetite failing, and a constant craving for alcoholic stimulants becoming dominant, 1 saw tears in the eyes ot my wife, wonder depicted on the faces of my children, and then l look a long look ahead. One day 1 sat down 'at this desk and half unconsciously wrote the inscrip tion on that card. On looking at it upon its completion, its awful revela tion burst upon me bke a flash; 1 nailed it up there and read it over a hundred times that afternoon. 1 hat night 1 went, home sober, and 1 have not touched a drop of intoxicating liquor since. You see how startling is its alliteration. Now I have no literary proclivities, and I regard that card as an inspiration. It speaks out three solemn warnings every tine I look at it. The first is a voice from the altar, the second from the cradle, aird the third and last from-^- ’ Here my friend’s earnestness deepen ed into a solemn shaking of the head, and with that he resumed his work. I don’t think 1 violate his confidence by*repeating the story of that earth In fact, if it should lead to the writing of similar cards to adorn other f desks I thiuk he will be immeasurably grati fied.—Saturday Evening Call. Securing Order. BY W. W. STUMBLES. ‘Have you been to Sunday School to-day, my little man ?’ I said to a bright little boy who was amusing himself on the sidewalk one Sunday aft« rnoon. ‘No, sir: 1 have not been there for two Sundays, but I am going next Sunday.' ‘Have you oeen to school. to-dav, sir V he asked, in a tbne which plainly indicated that more questions would follow if I an swered ia the affirmative. ‘Yes,’ 1 re plied. ‘Well, do you own the school ?’ ‘1 do not quite understand you; all Sunday Schools are free to any one who chooses to join,' 1 said. *Are you the man that stands up by the big desk to talk ?’ ‘Oh, I understand now ! Am 1 the superintendent, you mean V Yes, sir.' ‘No; but 1 am a teacher of a class cf good boys, who are very regular in attendance at school, and well behaved while there.’ How often I thought, as I passed on, does the manner of a superinten dent warrant the assumption of the little cnes that he owns the school ? Here is a superintendent wtio adopts the most stringent rules to secure order, and requires unswerving obedi ence to these rules. Every boy and girl, at a particular moment* is expect ed to listen to the same unchangeable form of dry and monotonous ques tions, it may be, concerning the lesson; and if the required degree ot order is not reached as quickly as a regiment of soldiers is brought to attention at • he word of command, he proceeds lo ring the bell, and waits with stern and relentless expression ot lace tor me scholars to become so still that a pin might be heard to fall on the floor. If the stern look and persistent ringing of the bell do not secure breathless silence, then scolding is resorted to, and odious comparisons of conduct made. The central truth of the lesson for the day may be the great patiepce shown by David as he was hunted by Haul, and his forbearance when the latter was delivered into his hand, and from which the superintendent intends to inculcate the virtues of patience and forbearance. But what success can be expected when he suddenly displays feelings of annoyance and irritation accompanied by an outburst of language like the following, once heard by the writer: ‘Are you Zulus or Hottentots, or what are you ? home ?’ Respect cannot be secured in this manner; and,if it is not gained, submission will be like the partially quenched fire that only needs a slight wind to fan it into its former state. It is utterly impossible to get healthyf vigorous children, to remain more than a moment as still as it their feet were in stocks and their arms en closed by a straitjacket. Some will un consciously shuffle their feet or move in their seats to secure more comfortable and easy positions. Tnis wdl more especially be the case when nothing is said or done to interest the mind or rivet the attention but scolding, or ringing a bell. Surely me me t nous - employed in a factory w large estab lishment where rigid rules are necessa ry in order that every moment ot time may be usefully employed, need not be introduced into the Sunday-school. Nor is it necessary for the superinten dent to assume an air of ownership of the school, or think that it is rapidly— falling into disorganization and in exercises to the body—ra means of expanding our, mental and spiritual energies, and developing our moral strength. Bui to be content to live in an atmosphere of uncertainty about matters of the deepest moment to our selves and others, and never to strive to rise out of it,this is a proof of weak ness of character, while it imperils our eternal safety. In fait, iudecisiou in religion,., ; whatever may be its cause, i3 decided ly unmanly. ‘A double-minded man,’ writes St. James (i. 8), ‘is unstable in all his ways.’ One who cannot make, __ up- bis mind as to.what course be will take iu life; Sud Whieli ffl'asttT hn Wttt"*”** St'rVe, but is always halting between two opinions, is sure to act feebly and inconsistently. Men will have no con fidence in either his judgment or his principles. Belonging distinctly to neither the Church nor the world, he is viewed with suspicion by both. Tossed about by opposing currents, be is ready to be carried down by the stream much farther from the right and sate course than l^g ever intended ^ James the First, of England, and the Sixth, of Scotland, was a man of this stamp. Though conscious ot this fatal defect, he is said to have, on a certain occasion, appointed a min ister to preach before him who was singularly apt in his choice of suita ble texts. The preacher, with the ut most gravity, announced his text as from James the first and sixth, ‘He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. The witty, monarch felt, the force ol the allusion, and said aloud, ‘He is at me already/ What effect the dis course produced upon his mind we are not told, but it would be well if all waverers would take the warning to themselves. Think twice before telling any one • what some sine-else said.
The Christian Sun (Elon College, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 14, 1890, edition 1
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