The Christian
By J. O. Atkinson.
IN ESSENTIALS—UNITV. IN NON-ESSENTIALS
Established 1844.
ELON COLLEGE, N. C, WEDNESDA
INTIALS-^ABERTY. IN
NESDAY, JULY 18, 1
IN ALL THINGS—CHARITY.
81.50 The Year.
906.
•me LVIIL No. 28.
Editorial Comment.
........•...
"“Fishing In Virginia,” and a
Contemporary.
The esteeemed Times-Dispatch
of Richmond in a recent editor
ial deposeth thus: “Fishing is
one of the most satisfying and
healthy pleasures that a busi
ness man can enjoy. It requires
neither the expensive equipment
of a steam yacht or automobile,
nor does it make the demands
on the body that are involved
in long tramps or mountain
climbing. The very rush and
speed of our modern life has
served to make the peaceful pur
suit of the wary fish more and
more attractive.’ "We copy
that much of our contempor
ary’s editorial to give it our
hearty, sympathetic and un
qualified approval. It is alto
gether sane, sensible and satis
factory. Our neighbor then di
verts to the fact that the Gov
ernment is beginning a most no
ble work in behalf of the fish in
dustry in the waters of the Old
Dominion and thus coiqpludes
“This is a form of governmen
tal control that means a great
deal of innocent, helpful and real
happiness for the people, and
The Times-Dispatch is glad to
see the interest being shown in
the restocking of the streams of
Virginia with fish. ” In the light
of a few facts known by many
outside the good commonwealth
of Virginia that concluding sen
tence from this otherwise timely
.article is a jolter. Since due
and appropriate praise is given
to the National Government in
testof/ ' - the ’ ams with fish
_,al f jjppiness” of the
for tl
‘ -peop
«ou
tie
-t
i.ndeed be a
preadd informa
ter tqrary would
it cote of Virginia
b <! ^ keep her
oft this source
c is she
v r"tue helpful
appiness” al
writer not
i’6rd “the expen
rfjb "of a steam
unfortunately not
>d with the willing
the demands on
it are involved in
’ has hied him more
t these last ten years
mis oi v lrgima to
c the most satisfying and
Ithy pleasure that a business
can enjoy,” but to our sor
, and we think to the discred
md neglect of our sister com
jnwealth, be it said that the
isking there is not to be com
pared with what it was ten
"ears ago. We have never in
our lives seen such “slaughter of
the innocents” as is now going
on in certain Virginia waters.
■“Pounds” a mile long, some of
them seemingly two miles long,
are planted near the mouth of
.some of her most noble and pro
ductive streams and every day
through the long fishing season
hundreds and hundreds of bar
rels of fish, lacking' in nothing
for the fisherman’s v reel or the
tradesman’s stand, save age
aud size, are carted away to fer
tilizer establishments or shovel
ed lifeless and decaying back
into the friendly stream. And
how much cheaper are fish on
the market? None that we can
gee The small fisherman, with
his single line and canoe, is be
ing done away with and the
large capitalist whose dollars
buy and operate the “pounds”
is doing a work of devasation
and ruin among the pleasure
giving, life sustaining finny tribe
that is shocking to behold and
sickening to contemplate. So if
the esteemed Times-Dispatch is
really interested in the fish in
dustry of its Commonwealth and
desires that its streams shall be
stocked “with solid happiness,”
we spectf ully suggest that it turn
some of its editorial attention to
protecting the supply that is
there as well as praising the
Government for increasing a
supply that her own fisheries
seem ruthless and reckless to de
stroy.
Uniting the Nations.
One by one the nations of the
earth, by one means and anoth
er, are drawn closer and closer
together. Electricity has been
and is a mighty factor in this
union. When it is made possible
for us to speak to each other
within a few brief moments we
invariably feel drawn closer to
gether.
These columns recently gave
messages sent directly from the
United States to China and from
China back—all within a brief
period. Last week these mes
sages were exchanged:
His Majesty the Emperor of
Japan, Tokyo:
“I am glad to send to your
Majesty over the American ca
ble, which has just been com
pleted between Guam and Japan,
and thus unites our two coun
tries across the Pacific, a mes
sage of sincere good will, and
the assurance of the earnest
wishes of the Government and
people of the United States for
the welfare and prosperity of
your Majesty and your Majesty’s
empire.”™
Theodore Roosevelt.
The President, Washington:
“I have just received with
great interest and appreciation
the kind message sent by you
over the cable which has recently
beeu laid between Guam and Ja
pan, and which will shortly be
open to the public. I am highly
gratified to know that the first
telegram by this new line which
unites our t wo countries should
convey to me the assurance of
the friendly sentiments of the
Government and people of the
United States for myself and my
people. I most cordially recip
rocate your expressions of good
will and good wishes.”
Mutschito.
Not long and every nation un
der the sun will fee in direct
speaking with every other na
tion- This should have, and
doubtless will have, the effect of
putting the nations of all the
earth upon better and more in
timate terms.
Denmark lias decided to send
a large warship to the James
town Exposition,
The Sunday Question.
I would be glad to have you'
give your readers an expression
of opinion as to the right and
proper observance of the Sab
bath for the Americwi citizen
who is occupied pretty^ steadily
six days in the week—not in pil
ing up a big fortune, but in earn
ing a living and enough more to
educate his children and to keep
himself from becoming depend
ent on others when he is incapa
citated for work. We are com
ing to tl*e season when thous
ands of our people go moun
tain, lake, and shore fok a,longer
or shorter stay; tnenr regular
habits are broken into,-'and the
temptation to neglect church
services and indulge in bathing,
boating, fishing, b icy ling. golf,
tennis, automobiling, etc., on
Sunday is very strong. And as
it is easier to acquire the lax
Sundav-observance habit than
the strict Sunday-observauee
habit, a part of those v&io grow
lax during their summer outing
remain so permanently. Thus
we see a growing laxity in Sun
day observance—-thecontrast to
day with ten or twelve years ago
is veryjmarked. If, as is claim
ed by strict Sabbatarians, the
Christian Sabbath has been one
of the strongest bulwarks of our
American liberties, and largely
responsible for our Nation’s in
telligent development and pros
perity, then it becomes a serious
question for Christian citizens to
consider to what extent they
ought and may be able, by pre
cept and example, to resist the
tendency to lax Sunday ober
vauce.—Inquirer.
This letter suggests.two reflec
tions.
1. The question of Sunday ob
servance cannot be considered
apart from the question of the
true end of life. A man enters
the American race eager, if not
to distance, at least to keep pace
with, competitors. His doctor
tells him he ought to take exer
cise; hs rei
His wife
meals m
I have
clamor f
at home and ah occasional day
off; he replies, “I have no time.
His work spills over into Sun
day, or he works so hard and
rests so little through the week
that he has no inclination for a
service at church or any forth
giving fellowship at home; to
the whisperedfrebukes to his con
science, he replies, I have no
time.
What does this “I have no
time” mean? It means that he
is so busy making a fortund or
earning a living that he has no
time and little inclination for
higher life—for culture, worship,
home.
What is the remedy? Not
rules prescribing hours for sleep,
or meals, or children or worship.
Such rules are better than noth
ing. But the real remedy is a
radical change in the point of
view. Life is the end of life. To
live purely, nobly, to cultivate
the mind and develop the affect
ions, to reverence God, love
our fellows, make sacred our
home, inspire and instruct our
children—this is what we ate^on
sartli for. This involves giving ;
to the children a roof for shelter, I
iood to eat, clothes to wear: but
this is only the beginning. It al
so involves giving to them, and
jiving to society, something
more and higher than shelter,
food and clothes. Not until a
man lives that he may himself
reverence God and love his fel
lows, and that he may inspire
them with reverence and love
—not until this is the end of his
life, and.the material conditions
take their proper second place
in his estimation, is he prepared
to consider the Sabbath ques
tion. Not till then can he rea
lize that the Sabbath is a pri-j
vilege, not a prohibition; not till
then can he realize that the spir
it of the Fourth Commandent
is this—For one day in seven
you are released from the law, in
the sweat of thy brow shall thou
earn thy daily bread; for
one day in seven the cherubim
sheathe the flaming sword, and
we are invited out of the wilder
ness with i‘s thorns and thistles,
to return to Eden, where labor
is not toil, and the sighing is
turned to song.
2. When one has this concep
tion, as our correspondent
seems to have, the question
still remains, How shall one use
this day of privilege to the best
advantage, for himself, for his
family, and for society?
Not by attempting to go back
to the Purtain idea as it is ex
pressed in the Westminster Con
fession of Faith; not by a re
solve to be “taken up the whole
time in the public and private
evercises of worship, and^* the
duties of necessity .and mercy.”
Any such continuous concentra
tion of the mind upon one theme
is equally destructive of rest and
of spiritual culture. It is psycho
logically. impossible; and is in
consistent alike with the teach
ing of^ Scripture, witn reason,
and with experience.
by congesting it into a weekly
composite of Thanksgiving Day
and Fourth of July. Tnisis not
to give either body or mind the
best rest; it is not to give the
life any real inspiration; and is
generally to purchase a more
than dotrbtful pleasure by de
priveing one of needed rest and
refreshment.
Make it first of all a day of
rest. Escape from the cares and
worries of life. Lay aside the
current problems. If you take
a Sunday paper, do not read it
until evening. At least leave
politics and the markets till
Monday. So live on Sunday as
to prepare yourself to take up
the week’s work on Monday with
a fresh mind.
Make it a home day. Give it
to the wife and the children.
Remember that you cannot
make it sacred to them unless
yofti make it dear to them. “‘Call
the Sabbath a delight,” says
Isaiah. He who would make the
Sabbath sacred to his children
must know how at make it a de
light to them.
Turn the L -+ of the
time to public anu Zer
oises of worship. If posing, do
this with other in a church ser
vice. This is sometimes impossi
ble. Sometimes there is no
church accessible. Sometimes
there is no church that can be
made inspirational, attractive,
or even more than ba rely endura
ble. Even when the church
service is barren and inadequate,
rest, inspiration, and joy may
often be found in the endeavor
by one’s presence and co-opera
tion to improve it. And there is
always possible the church in the
home. Where the service of song
is possible, it fuses the hearts of
the family in one experience by
uniting their voices in one voice.
further than this one cannot
prescribe for another. We cer
tainly can give no Sabbath rules.
^ e cannot say that golf is right
and tennis is wrong, or *that
riding is right and boating is
wrong. One may make nature
a sacred temple; one may make
the cnurc-h a secular meeting
place for the performance of an
irksome duty. The church choir
may be a burden; the bird choir
may be an inspiration. Yet he
who has human sympathies
should find his spirit uplifted by
sharing his penitences and liis
aspirations with others for an
hour. If one has no such sym
pathies, we cannot advise him.
A. worship which is unpleasing
to the worshiper cannot well be
pleasing to God. We can only
say that the Sabbath is ill spent
if it sends us back to our weekly
work irritated, wearied, reluc
tant, and the Sabbath is well
spent if it sends us bgpk refreshed
in body, mind, and spirit', to
take up a rouiid of daily dut:
and unselfish serfer^W^r'
inspiration
and patience.
llie best oi
substitute for
aud we cannot
interpret tha
ing George
Itetiou:
“O Da
a.
It of this, th
WM bi.
I he week were dark, but far thy Mgb*
Thy torch doth show the way.”
—The Outlook.
Honduras has declared war*c
Guatemala. A poor day with
our neighboring republics across
the line when they chnnot hatch
a revolution or declare war.
Some one says that a distiller j
rides in a steam yacht, the 4
wholesale dealer in an automo- f
bile, the retail dealer in a car-/
riage, but the purchaser is pulled •
around by the hair of his head V
by a policeman.—Ex.
One of the most touching cd
the many touching stories relab* ;
ing to the San Francisco disaster
is that of the meeting of
hundred lepers of the Molokai
Colony in Hawaii, their passing ~
of resolutions of sympathy, and
their raising of a fund, consist
ing 'of five cents or more from
each person, which has been sent
to San Francisco. Surely suffer
ing softens hearts, and does not
always harden them.—Ex.