PRESBYTERIAN 
 
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HON. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN 
 
 MEMBER OF NATIONAL COUNCIL 
 
PRESBYTERIAN 
 
 MEN 
 
 ADDRESSES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
 
 FOURTH NATIONAL CONVENTION, 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD OF 
 
 AMERICA, HELD AT ST. LOUIS, 
 
 MO., FEBRUARY 21, 22, 23,1911 
 
 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 OF AMERICA 
 
 509 So. Wabash Ave., Chicago, 111. 
 1911 
 
•#• 
 
 ^° 6 
 
 
 Copyright, 1911, 
 
 by 
 
 The Presbyterian Brotherhood of America, 
 
 Chicago, 111. 
 
 Published May, 1911. 
 
 9 
 
 ©CIA 289851 
 
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CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hon. William Jennings Bryan Frontispiece 
 
 Preparatory Service: 
 
 The Brotherhood of the Body of Christ. William 
 
 Hiram FoulJces, D. D 9 
 
 In Memory of Our Brethren Departed. Prayer by 
 
 Karris H. Gregg, D. D 32 
 
 The Communion Service. Charles Little, D. D 36 
 
 The Men and Eeligion Forward Movement: 
 
 The Men and Eeligion Forward Movement. Clarence 
 
 A. Barbour, D. D 49 
 
 Men and the Kingdom. James I. Vance, D. D 67 
 
 Open Conference. Judge Selden P. Spencer 84 
 
 Prayer and Intercession. John Timothy Stone, D. D. . 102 
 
 The Local Church and the Brotherhood : 
 
 The Brotherhood and Individual Eesponsibility in the 
 
 Church. Maitland Alexander, D. D 115 
 
 The Farmer's Club in the Country Church. Warren H. 
 
 Wilson, Ph. D 127 
 
 Eeport of the National Council. Charles S. Holt 143 
 
 Open Conference on Brotherhood Activities: 
 
 Things Accomplished. Ira Landrith, D. D 159 
 
 Brotherhood Ideals. W. E. Jones, D. D 182 
 
 Present Day Problems. Thomas E. Hodges 196 
 
 The Brotherhood and the Bible. Charles E. Erdman, 
 
 D. D 213 
 
 The Life That Wins Charles Gallaudet Trumbull 227 
 
 The Errand of America. James D. Rankin, D. D 247 
 
 The Fruits of the Tree. Hon. William J. Bryan 275 
 
 5 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Brotherhood and the Boy: page 
 
 The Boy Problem. Eugene C. Foster 307 
 
 Open Conference on Boys' Work. Eugene C. Foster. . 316 
 
 World Wide Vision and Opportunity: 
 
 The Distinctive Trnth of Christianity. Andrew V. V. 
 
 Raymond, D. D 331 
 
 The Missionary Appeal. A. W. Ealsey, D. D 345 
 
 Christian Civilization. Hon. Chase S. Osoorn 360 
 
 Closing Messages of the Convention: 
 
 Harvesting the Eesults of the Convention. Nolan Bice 
 
 Best 373 
 
 The Future of the Brotherhood. Walter Getty 383 
 
 The Conversion of Power Into Work. John Douglas 
 
 Adam, D. D 386 
 
 Appendix : 
 
 Program 405 
 
 Minutes of the Convention 410 
 
 Convention Statistics 424 
 
PREPARATORY SERVICE 
 
"THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BODY OF 
 CHRIST." 
 
 BY REV. WILLIAM HIKAM FOULKES, D.D., 
 PORTLAND, OEE. 
 
 My Brethren in Christ : — It may seem to be 
 an unwarranted license that joins two such dis- 
 tinct realities as "Brotherhood" and "Body" 
 in one phrase. The paradoxical form of my 
 theme will not long interfere with the disclosure 
 of its real meaning. The figure of the body is 
 scientifically dignified, scripturally worthy and 
 beautifully symbolical. Even though the mili- 
 tant note will be doubtless the loudest and clear- 
 est that will be sounded during this gathering, 
 there is one more fundamental; for, one day, 
 "wars shall cease and ancient frauds shall fail" 
 and "He must reign until He has put all enemies 
 in subjection under His feet. ' ' In that great day, 
 He will present to His Father the host of the 
 redeemed as His glorified body. It is the out- 
 shining truth, concealed in this common concep- 
 tion of the Church as the body of Christ that has 
 given me boldness to bring you a message today 
 concerning The Brotherhood of the Body of 
 Christ. 
 
10 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 At the outset stands this first axiom challeng- 
 ing our acceptance. 
 
 (1) The Eeal Belation of Christian 
 Brothers is a Corporate Unity in the Body of 
 Christ. 
 
 The atoms of a substance have a chemical 
 unity in the grosser molecule; the cogs of a 
 machine have a mechanical unity in the com- 
 pleted mechanism ; but the highest unity of all is 
 the corporate unity of the many members in 
 one body. A body, whose members realized 
 their highest unity in chemical terms, would be 
 a corpse; in mechanical terms, an automaton; 
 but in corporate terms it would be an organism, 
 " composed of different organs or parts per- 
 forming special functions that are mutually de- 
 pendent and essential to life." 
 
 This unity, being larger, includes the others, 
 which are lesser. The body has chemical con- 
 stituents and passes through a complex chemical 
 process constantly ; the body includes a mechan- 
 ism with articular and muscular elements that 
 operate under the universal laws of physics and 
 mechanics, but the body is a living organism. 
 As such it subordinates the chemical and me- 
 chanical elements to its own organic function, 
 and bids chemistry become the maid-servant and 
 mechanics the man-servant of Conscious Life. 
 
 The real relation of Christians in the body of 
 Christ is not infinitesimally and impersonally 
 chemical, with individuality absorbed ; it is not 
 automatically and inexorably mechanical, with 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 11 
 
 freedom, and therefore personality, lost. It is 
 rather corporate. In such a unity the several 
 parts become individually perfected in the per- 
 fection of the whole ; the various organs become 
 vitally energized by the forces of life which flow 
 through the entire organism ; the many members 
 become united in the identity of the one body. 
 
 Is Jesus Christ essentially real? That de- 
 pends more vitally upon you and me, my 
 brothers, than we may be willing to admit. 
 With His essential pre-existent Godhead ; with 
 the glory that He had with the Father before 
 the world was, we have little to do ; but we have 
 everything to do with His divine-human reality 
 now: we have everything to do with the glory 
 that He has among men and is eternally to have 
 before the whole universe in the ages to come. 
 The reality of Jesus Christ upon earth is a 
 corporate reality. Our exalted head is glorified 
 in the body of His humiliation, which is still 
 being fashioned upon earth. Is Jesus Christ 
 corporately real? That depends upon His body, 
 which we are. It depends upon you and me. 
 Our chiefest end is to glorify God by making 
 Jesus Christ real. 
 
 It is not alone perilous — it is tragic, for Chris- 
 tian men to seek any other and deeper unity 
 than the corporate unity of Jesus Christ. That 
 peril confronts us, and, in some places, the cur- 
 tain is all but rung up on that tragedy. The 
 peril is imminent and ominous before the great 
 Brotherhood movement. It has come insidi- 
 
12 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 ously, in part, from the example of the great 
 fraternal societies, whose successes have almost 
 filled ns with envy. Their rapid rise and their 
 definite appeal, if not to the sensuous, at least 
 largely to the social instincts of men, have be- 
 come a lure to those eager for the outstanding 
 progress of Christian Brotherhood. We need 
 seldom, if ever, antagonize these various socie- 
 ties; but we are in grave peril of capitulating 
 to them. Their genius is not our glory. So- 
 cieties that get their names and their ruling 
 principles from the names and characteristics of 
 birds, beasts and fishes may have a place in the 
 development of fraternalism, but the Brother- 
 hood of men in Jesus Christ is of a different 
 order. An echo of Paul's resurrection rhapsody 
 will be consonant with this truth. * ' God giveth 
 us bodies as it hath pleased Him, and to each 
 seed a body of its own. All flesh is not the same 
 flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another 
 flesh of beasts and another flesh of birds, and 
 another flesh of fishes. There are also celestial 
 bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of 
 the terrestrial is one and the glory of the celes- 
 tial is another." 
 
 0, Brotherhood of Christian men, "there are 
 celestial bodies and bodies that are terrestrial," 
 but the glory of our Brotherhood is celestial, 
 and not terrestrial. God has not fashioned for 
 us a body of birds or beasts or fishes, but He has 
 fashioned us into the body of His only begotten 
 Son. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 13 
 
 Our peril in these formative days of Brother- 
 hood activity, before the movement has become 
 fully conscious of its mission and become com- 
 pletely incarnate in an organization, is not that 
 of apparent failure. Our dire danger is that of 
 seeming success, gotten upon a basis that is 
 radically wrong. Brotherhood suppers and ban- 
 quets are fine, but they are not fundamental. We 
 are in peril of substituting the chemical and the 
 mechanical union for vital unity. 
 
 The Presbyterian Brotherhood needs to be 
 kept from being either a comedy or a tragedy. 
 There are men in the Church, wise and conscien- 
 tious, no doubt, who are pursuing the policy of 
 holding aloof from the Brotherhood because 
 they fear a farce. They would not think of 
 coming to a Brotherhood convention because 
 they are sure it will only issue eventually in a 
 fiasco. They see at long range, 
 
 ' ' The Brotherhood band of two thousand men 
 
 March up Convention Hill and then march clown again. ' ' 
 
 The fears of these timid folk are unfounded. 
 The Brotherhood movement is too secure in its 
 footing to be laughed off the stage as a farce. 
 It is not the comedy of a dwindling, dissipated 
 enthusiasm that we need to fear so much as the 
 tragedy of misdirected, unspiritualized energy. 
 There are enough men who believe in the 
 Brotherhood in the Church at large, and in most 
 local churches, to give it momentum enough to 
 carry itself through the Church. It is a move- 
 
14 THE PRESBYTERIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 nient, a force that must be reckoned with. Cyn- 
 ical pastors and captious laymen cannot stay 
 its progress. To all such critics without, as 
 well as to the hosts of enthusiastic men within 
 its ranks, the Brotherhood lifts up pleading 
 hands. "Brothers of the body of Christ, I can 
 find my reason for being, my raison d'tre only 
 in the embodiment of Jesus Christ upon earth. 
 This is my high calling ; to bring to the men of 
 the Church the inescapable conviction that they 
 are members of the body of Christ, and to lead 
 them in their mutual exercise as many members 
 of one body. ' ' Shall this plea of the very genius 
 of our great movement be unheard by those 
 without and unheeded by those within? 
 
 II. Our Christian Brotherhood Not Alone 
 Finds its Corporate Unity in the Body of 
 Christ, but It Is Under the Law of Perfect 
 Obedience to the Will of Its Exalted Head. 
 Than this my lips could utter no more imper- 
 ious truth. The glory of the body is submission 
 to the purpose of the head. The more perfect 
 the obedience, the more complete the glory. 
 
 We can well afford, this sacramental after- 
 noon, before coming into the heart of this great 
 convention (wherein we doubtless will be dis- 
 cussing many of the weaknesses, as well as 
 much of the power of the body) to contemplate 
 anew the infinite perfection of our exalted head. 
 The Lord Jesus Christ, who by His Incarnation 
 and Passion entered so perfectly into our hu- 
 manity that He became literally the head of a 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 15 
 
 redeemed race, by the power of His Resur- 
 rection and his Ascension was exalted by the 
 will of God Almighty, and "was made to sit at 
 His right hand in the heavenly places, far above 
 all rule and authority and power and dominion, 
 and every name that is named, not only in this 
 world, but also in that which is to come, all 
 things having been put in subjection under His 
 feet : and, by that same will of God, was given to 
 be head over all things to the church which is 
 His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in 
 all." (Eph. 1:21-23.) The inexhaustible re- 
 sources of the ascended Lord, the treasures of 
 wisdom and knowledge which have been hidden 
 in Him, the fulness of the Father which dwells 
 in Him, all of these, my brothers, constitute the 
 essence of our life : they are our life ; He is our 
 life, for, "To us to live is Christ." If Christ 
 lives on earth He must live in men. He wills, 
 exalted upon His mediatorial throne, to live on 
 earth. He energizes His body. He communi- 
 cates His will to every member. He gives His 
 life in its immeasurable fulness to His body, as 
 yet imperfect. He seeks to vitalize and to keep, 
 humanly and divinely quickened, both the sens- 
 ory and motor nerves of every member. He is 
 no mystical Buddha upon the throne of a con- 
 sciousless Nirvana ; sensitive to no want of any; 
 desirous of supplying no need of any ; removed, 
 passionless; aloof. He is, rather, the tireless, 
 redemptive energy of Almighty God, incarnate 
 in the only begotten Son, passionate for the lost. 
 
16 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 Is the heart of any great commercial system 
 busy? Do its electrical nerves quiver under the 
 multitude and variety of the commands and in- 
 hibitions that radiate from yonder nerve center? 
 Shall we deny to our exalted Head, to whom 
 physical forces are the least significant of all, 
 that divinest of all joys — the capacity for infi- 
 nite service without tiring? 
 
 The Brotherhood of the Body of Christ leaves 
 no doubt as to how it is governed. Humanly, we 
 may prefer Cabinets or Councils, Presidents or 
 Moderators, Bishops or Presbyters. If we be- 
 long to the Exalted Brotherhood we will be 
 under the most inexorable sovereignty the world 
 has ever known, its single law, "Perfect obed- 
 ience to the will of its head." "But this is 
 tyranny!" It depends upon the head. But if, 
 Lord of life, to enter fully into the fellowship 
 of thy body on earth means tyranny, then 
 tyrannize us speedily and effectually, subdue us 
 graciously unto thyself ! Teach us the glory of 
 human wills that have been so wondrously re- 
 vived by a healing touch like one of old, that 
 they can transmit and transmute the will of 
 Jesus Christ into daily thought and action and 
 into eternal life ! 
 
 Turning for a moment to the field of human 
 government in the quest for a word, one cannot 
 escape the conclusion when his quest is crowned 
 with success that the word is universally odious, 
 "Anarchy!" There are bold and brutal folk 
 who want to prey upon others, who hate all 
 
ST. LOtJXS CONVENTION tf 
 
 that is good, with all the passion of ignoble 
 souls. Apart from this dangerous but self- 
 destructive band of iconoclasts, there is little 
 friendship for the word anarchy. To me it is a 
 more loathsome word than hated, for I always 
 see it first in its physiological aspect, — "head- 
 less!" — a ghastly trunk, a pallid torso, a human 
 body robbed of its glory by the guillotine and 
 made the most gruesome thing on earth. 
 
 There is no single sight which makes the 
 angels in heaven shudder more grievously than 
 that of the body of Christ on earth attempting 
 to live without perfect and vital union with its 
 exalted head. A Brotherhood of men, naming 
 "the name that is above every name," but bow- 
 ing the knee to Mammon, morning, noon and 
 night, — living for hours and days, yes, even 
 weeks at a time, without having had conscious 
 communion with the Eisen Lord ; running here 
 and there and everywhere on a thousand greater 
 and lesser concerns, but not at all on the King's 
 business, — is not this spiritual anarchy of the 
 deadliest sort? 
 
 0, my brothers, the very essence of our 
 Brotherhood movement is to give us fellowship 
 in our obedience to the will of our exalted head. 
 Let no brother think himself above the provision 
 of this sovereign law ; and let no brother think 
 his commonest action beneath its searching, 
 sweeping imperative. 
 
 So far, I have suggested two fundamental 
 truths concerning the Brotherhood of the Body 
 
18 THE PKESBYTEBXAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 of Christ. First, that the true relation of Chris- 
 tian brothers is a corporate unity in the body 
 of Christ. Second, that every member of the 
 body is under the law of perfect obedience to 
 the will of the exalted Head. Let me suggest a 
 third underlying reality. 
 
 III. The Beotheehood of the Body of 
 Cheist Must Gathee Togethee A Myeiad of 
 Oegans in the One Oeganism, Many Bloods in 
 the One Blood, Many Membees in the One 
 Body. 
 
 If the implications of modern science be true, 
 then the whole cosmic process has converged 
 toward one point, so far as the earth is con- 
 cerned, the creating of a congenial atmosphere 
 in which to bring forth the finished product, the 
 human body. There it stands at the apex of 
 the whole scheme. Many colors, many forms, 
 many fashions, but one body, the habitat of 
 primal humanity. From this high vantage 
 point, which is but a foot-hill of the eternal 
 range of the mountains of God's glory, I bid 
 you look to the celestial heights and catch the 
 full-orbed vision of that mightiest peak of all, 
 with its glistening head far above the clouds in 
 the azure of heaven, and see its body, — the habi- 
 tat of a redeemed humanity, fashioned out of 
 many soils and through many ages, the body of 
 the exalted Christ. This is the end of the whole 
 cosmic process. When Christ shall have com- 
 pleted His body on the earth ; when every mem- 
 ber shall have been brought into conscious rela- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 19 
 
 tion with the head, when every organ shall have 
 responded to the purpose of the great organism 
 and the will of the head, when all bloods shall 
 have been touched by the holy cross and shall 
 have been transformed into the blood of life; 
 then the head that was once wounded shall be 
 eternally healed and shall present unto His 
 Father a glorified body, — not having spot or 
 wrinkle or any such thing, but filled with His 
 own eternal fulness. 
 
 Today, my brethren, we are doubly sharers 
 in this marvellous process by which Christ is 
 preparing an eternal habitation for Himself. 
 We are both a part of the proces so far as our 
 individual lives and service are concerned, and 
 also with respect to our relation to the members 
 not yet conscious of their function. 
 
 Let us think for a moment of our own con- 
 cern in the body of Christ. The thought which 
 almost overpowers my spiritual consciousness 
 at times is the one which I suggest first. The 
 Lord has a definite function for me to perform 
 as an organ in the organism to His body. He 
 depends upon me to fulfill that function accord- 
 ing to His will, not for my sake alone, but for 
 His body's sake. If I do not discharge my duty, 
 if there is no organic health in me, then the 
 whole body of Christ suffers. It is true that 
 not every member may be conscious of my lapse, 
 my atrophy, or palsy or paralysis, but the body 
 as a whole suffers loss, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ suffers pain in me. On the other hand, 
 
20 THE PEESBYTE&IAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 just as surely, if I do fulfill my function accord- 
 ing to the will of my glorified Lord, the whole 
 body of Christ shares in the blessing which 
 flows from the health of even an insignificant 
 member like me ; and, best of all, the Lord Jesus 
 Christ has joy in me. Another corollary, eas- 
 ily deducible from the third axiom, "that the 
 Body of Christ must gather together a myriad 
 of organs in the one organism of His body," is 
 that no two organs can ever fulfill the same func- 
 tion. Of all unseemly contests over position 
 and precedence, none is more shameful to those 
 who engage in it, and more painful to Christ, 
 than the rivalry between different sections of 
 Christendom. The full force of His intercessory 
 prayed is never grasped until we couple His two 
 petitions for the unity of His followers together, 
 "that they all may be one; even as thou Father 
 art in me and I in thee, that they also may be 
 in us, that the world may believe that thou didst 
 send me. And the glory which thou hast given 
 me I have given unto them; that they may be 
 one even as we are one ; I in them and thou in 
 me, that they may be perfected into one; that 
 the world may know that thou didst send me, 
 and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me." 
 The unity for which He prayed is not primarily 
 that we may have comfort in an undivided fel- 
 lowship, but that through it the world may know 
 that Christ is sent of God and is one with God. 
 We are not merely hindering our own organic 
 development in the body of Christ, but we are 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 21 
 
 putting the Son of God to an open shame and 
 are wounding if not crucifying again our glori- 
 fied Head. By the unhappiness of our divi- 
 sions, we are missing the force of the fulness of 
 Christ's blessing for ourselves and keeping it 
 from others. 
 
 Yet, but a moment ago, I dared to assert that 
 "no two organs can fulfill the same function." 
 It is the consciousness of the truth of this de- 
 duction applied to the body of Christ that would 
 practically make impossible such jealousy and 
 rivalry. The hand would be content to be a 
 hand, and would not try to keep the eye from 
 seeing. The right foot would be content to walk 
 straight forward and not to trip the left. The 
 ear would not burn with envy because it could 
 not smell, and the eye would not shut itself 
 because it could not talk. There is no such 
 thing as uniformity among the members in the 
 body of Christ. There is unity, but not uni- 
 formity. 
 
 One practical difficulty that besets many a 
 local Brotherhood is that which ensues when a 
 series of methods and duties devised to meet 
 other conditions entirely, are imposed upon a 
 group of men temperamentally and otherwise 
 unfitted to use those methods to discharge those 
 duties. As leaders of the Brotherhood, men of 
 the St. Louis Convention, we have a higher func- 
 tion than the taking back home of a plan, with 
 its intricate parts, and the trying to work that 
 plan out on the members of the home church 
 
22 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Brotherhood. If that is the best we can do, we 
 will be only makers of a great manikin, putting 
 hands where feet ought to be, and asking eyes to 
 hear and ears to talk and tongue to see. If we 
 can, on the other hand, carry back to our 
 brothers in Christ, — blood-brothers by the holi- 
 est and best blood on earth and in heaven — this 
 great ideal and make it real, — "We are every 
 one members or organs in the body of Christ, 
 We are under the law of obedience to do His 
 will. Let us come together in the holy fellow- 
 ship of His blessed body on earth and find our 
 functions, grow into the proper knowledge and 
 discharge of our duties, and thus become vitally 
 joined to our Head," we will have done more 
 for our local churches than by a hundred work- 
 able plans for large meetings and interesting 
 banquets, and novel successes. 
 
 The axiom under which I have been reasoning 
 turns its face away from us, as well as toward 
 us. It points to others. Since "the Brother- 
 hood of the Body of Christ must gather together 
 a myriad organs in the one organism, many 
 bloods in the one blood, many members in the 
 one body," it surely follows that the body will 
 never be perfected until the myriad organs are 
 gathered ; restored, if they are lost ; quickened, 
 if they are lifeless; healed, if they are hurt; 
 bound up, if they are bruised, and brought back 
 again unto the fellowship of the body of Christ. 
 This is also the mission of the Brotherhood, — to 
 help complete and perfect the body of Christ on 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 23 
 
 earth. The figure opens before me illimitable 
 vistas into a great and precious truth. Would 
 that I had time to enter its region with you 
 today. Let me only suggest the vision of that 
 vista nearest at hand. If we, as members of 
 the Presbyterian Brotherhood of America want 
 to get very near the heart of our Master, we 
 can do it in no way better than this. Make our 
 outstanding task this ensuing year the restoring 
 of lost and wayward brothers to the fellowship 
 of Christ. What a multitude of our fellows 
 have lost heart and faith. How many "ex" 
 Sunday-school superintendents and elders and 
 deacons there are ! It is strikingly true in the 
 great Northwest, but it is true everywhere. 
 Must we not believe that He who went about 
 touching blind eyes unto sight, maimed limbs 
 unto service, dumb tongues unto praise, will fol- 
 low us with a rare blessing as we seek for their 
 sake, and for His sake, the lost members of the 
 body of Christ? 
 
 Is this too much for the Brotherhood of the 
 Body of Christ to do? Does not the human 
 body with its marvellously interactive systems 
 and organs challenge us? When disease grips 
 any member, any organ of the body, does not 
 the heart rush its life-giving blood in abundance 
 to the spot ; do not the lungs respond valiantly 
 to the call "more oxygen ! more oxygen ! ' ' ? Do 
 not all the organs and channels of all the sys- 
 tems, circulatory, lymphatic and eliminatory, 
 with all the rest, rush relief to the rescue of 
 
24 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 \\ »"' i r 
 
 every sore spot? It must be so in the body of 
 Christ on earth. "If we say we love God and 
 hate our brother, we are liars. (I. John 4:2.) 
 If we have even this world's goods and see our 
 brother in need and shut up our compassion 
 from him, how does the love of God abide in 
 us?" (I. John 3:17). 
 
 I said that this axiom of the myriad organs 
 in the one organism points to others. We have 
 felt the pricking of conscience, no doubt, as our 
 glorified Christ whispered to us in the face of 
 some unlovely man in some plight more awful 
 than pitiable, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one 
 of these least my brethren, ye did it unto me. 9 } 
 Ah ! it is there, my Presbyterian brothers, that 
 the larger truth grips and holds us. What we 
 do unto the miserable, the helpless, the hope- 
 less, we are doing unto our head. There is 
 nothing pleasant in putting your arm around 
 a drunken man and taking him home, and bath- 
 ing him, and putting him to bed and staying 
 with him till, through you, your Christ gets 
 hold and holds fast. It is not pleasant in the 
 thinking of it, as those know best who do it 
 most; but, oh! it is glorious in the doing of it 
 when we do it unto Him ! There are countless 
 men in the church, in honorable positions today, 
 who were brought back into the body of Christ 
 by the love of the Brotherhood, by the ministry 
 of the love of the Son of God. 
 
 The final phase of this axiomatic truth of the 
 many members in one body struggles for utter- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 25 
 
 ance. It is this : The body of Christ on earth 
 can be nothing less than earthwide. If there 
 were no other reason why I cannot help being 
 a foreign mission enthusiast, this ^ould suffice, 
 "that Christ may have His complete body on 
 earth." "When will He have it!" do you ask? 
 Ask not me, and I think, wisely, refrain from 
 asking Him. Better yet, ask your own heart, 
 "Am I doing all that I can to help Him realize 
 His body on earth?"; and then, best of all, ask 
 Him, without the reserve of that false humility 
 which is pride, "0, my exalted Lord! into what 
 fellowship of service may I not enter with thee 
 that thy body on earth may be made more 
 gloriously complete?" If you are young, He 
 may answer, "Go to China! There are those 
 of another color and another clime whom I must 
 yet have by the millions upon millions before 
 my body will be made glorious ! ' ' And if you 
 cannot go in person (and He never transplants 
 an organ in the organism of His body that can- 
 not stand the strain) He will lay upon you the 
 burden and the fellowship of such intercession 
 and such devotion that prayer will become a 
 daily miracle and giving a daily delight — for 
 the sake of the faraway members of His body 
 on earth. 
 
 A final truth makes my message four-square 
 to this mighty Brotherhood gathered from the 
 North, the South, the East and the West. It 
 comes as the crowning conclusion to the princi- 
 ples already outlined. 
 
26 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 IV. Isr the Brotherhood of the Body of 
 Christ, the Life of Our Exalted Head is Com- 
 municated Through the Body to Every Mem- 
 ber, and Every Member Has Life in the Head. 
 
 The end of the perfect body is not symmetry 
 of form, but life. The purpose of the myriad 
 organs in one organism is not unity, but life. 
 The meaning of many members in one body is 
 not harmony, but life. 
 
 The body of Christ on earth is intended to be 
 a living body, whose life is supplied by the 
 Lord Himself. "I am the Life/' He declares. 
 "I am come that ye might have life and that ye 
 might have it abundantly," He proclaims. "I 
 give unto them eternal life," He assures. Let 
 the Christian remember that it is his Lord's life 
 and not his own that he is living. There is no 
 life in me apart from Him. ' ' I live, yet not I, 
 but Christ liveth in me. ' ' 
 
 This may seem to be a hard saying. It is not 
 exactly fit for sensitive worldly ears, for a heart 
 that has fashioned its life without taking Jesus 
 Christ into account; but, brothers in Christ, it 
 ought to be music to our ears and joy to our 
 hearts to know that the Lord of Life, "the 
 blessed and only potentate, the King of kings 
 and Lord of lords who only hath immortality, 
 dwelling in light unapproachable, whom no man 
 hath seen nor can see," lives in us, filling the 
 little crevices of our cramped personalities with 
 the infinite riches of His grace ; until we cease to 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 27 
 
 be vessels and become channels of life through 
 which He may reach and fill others. 
 
 Nothing short of the complete and perfect 
 fulness of Jesus Christ will suffice for the least 
 of us. Could a mother ever persuade her most 
 timid child of her genuine love unless she could 
 reveal herself to that very child in the utter 
 abandon of her love? Does a human father's 
 heart have less affection for the second child 
 because there has been a first? Each member 
 of the circle of the family must have all the 
 love of every other member. It is none the less 
 true in the divine circle of life in Jesus Christ. 
 Every member of "his redeemed Brotherhood 
 which He has gathered to Himself by the bonds 
 of faith and made a member of His body on 
 earth must have all of His life. Do we have it, 
 my brothers in Christ? We have it, but, un- 
 fortunately, we do not possess and appropriate 
 it. It is as good as gold in the bank or water 
 in the fountain or light in the sky. We have 
 the life of Christ in its immeasurable fulness 
 for our very own. He withholds nothing. He 
 hides nothing. He lavishes Himself upon you and 
 me. How then, more than pitiful, how terrible 
 it is, for any of us to try to live lives of self- 
 righteousness ; self-centered, self-expanded, self- 
 satisfied lives, when He seeks to live in us ! In 
 the hour of heart depression, a saline solution 
 is often injected to supply the lack of the rich 
 corpuscular blood which has failed. The saline 
 solution is a gracious emergency substitute. 
 
28 THE PKESBYTEBIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 What would we say of the member that deliber- 
 ately constricted its supply of blood from a 
 heart that never failed, and then injected into 
 its arteries the saline solution because it pre- 
 ferred it rather than blood ? How many of us are 
 doing that very thing with our spiritual lives ! 
 That precious blood in which all bloods are 
 made one flows in a never-ending ever-pulsating 
 stream from the heart of the Son of God, to 
 you and me. But we rob the heart-throb of the 
 Eternal Christ of its power to give us full and 
 perfect life and then inject the saline solution 
 of worldly wisdom, with its attendant exhil- 
 aration, but with its final impoverishment of 
 our lives, into our inmost hearts. There is no 
 more pathetic sight than that of a seriously 
 anemic child, a breathing corpse, a walking 
 skeleton, an imprisoned soul. It is just so of 
 the anemic members of the body of Christ on 
 earth ; weak, wan and wasted for lack of blood. 
 But the blood is there, is here, is everywhere. 
 It flows ceaselessly and graciously. 0, brothers 
 of the body of Christ, will we not let Him live 
 in us to the very fulness! Do not let us wait 
 to empty ourselves ! Let Him empty us of all 
 that is evil by supplying us with His perfect 
 blood! Let Him crowd out the carnal life by 
 the flood-tide of His eternal life ! 
 
 As I close my message today, I want to turn 
 this last truth around, to let you see the glory 
 of its other side. "He lives in us." Ah, yes, 
 but we live in Him. We are saved in Him. We 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 39 
 
 have peace in Him. We are confronted in Him. 
 We are one in Him. It is infinite condescension 
 that He should be willing to live in us, but it is 
 eternal grace that He should be willing to have 
 us live in Him. If we can take the word "vicari- 
 ous, ' ' over which so many men stumble, and rid 
 it of every vestige of narrowness by which we 
 make it apply to the one single and sublime 
 event, and match it instead against the whole 
 round of our connection with Him, how glori- 
 ously vicarious Christ is! How marvellously 
 we stand completed in Him ! How patiently He 
 bears the brunt of our misbehavior, the shame 
 of our shamelessness, the hurt of our sin ! 
 
 Does it mean nothing to us that at the head 
 of our great fraternity of life we have an elder 
 brother, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh? 
 No doubt it means much, but it might mean 
 much more. As we gather together the mean- 
 ings of our separate lives, we find them all 
 centered in Him. We can sing with the immortal 
 Wesley — 
 
 "Thou, O Christ, art all I want, 
 More than all in Thee I find." 
 
 I will be bold enough today to change the per- 
 fect tense in one of our old hymns to a present 
 imperfect. Instead of listening to the risen 
 Lord as He tells the story of His one great 
 sacrifice for sin, hear Him recounting the ever- 
 lasting sacrifice of Himself for His saints as 
 He says, 
 
30 ?HE PBESBYTERIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 " I am giving my life to thee. 
 "What art thou giving for Me?" 
 
 May we all be ready to answer in the words 
 of that other hymn, 
 
 "Here, Lord, I give myself to Thee, 
 'Tis all that I can do." 
 
 Members of the Presbyterian Brotherhood, 
 great and godly men will knock at the door of 
 this convention during these brief but memo- 
 rable days. We will gladly open and let them 
 in, with their messages of inspiration and coun- 
 sel. In a moment, under the leadership of our 
 honored Moderator and his colleagues, we will 
 sit together in the heavenly places. But, my 
 brethren, we may hear even now, if we will but 
 listen, the sound of the knocking of a nail- 
 pierced hand at the door of our hearts, and the 
 voice of one saying, "Let me in! Let me in!" 
 Shall we not first, and now, let the King of 
 Glory in, crying — 
 
 11 come to our hearts, Lord Jesus 
 There is room in our hearts for Thee ! ' ' 
 
 and He will come in and sup with us; He will 
 come in and abide with us ; He will come in and 
 show us His hands and His side, and we will not 
 be faithless, but believing. 
 
 Then, blessed ministry of grace, when the 
 bread is broken and the cup is poured, He will 
 rise before us, Lord and Master of us all ; and, 
 stretching out His hands to every man in this 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 31 
 
 presence He will say: "Ye are my body, my 
 fulness, my life ! ' ' 
 
 What a glorious heritage is ours, men of the 
 Brotherhood of the Body of Christ! May the 
 Holy Spirit of God make us worthier of our 
 high calling in Jesus Christ our Lord ! 
 
IN MEMOEY OF OUE BRETHREN 
 DEPARTED. 
 
 John H. Converse, Member of National Council, 
 1906-1910. 
 
 James W. Axtell, Member of National Council, 
 1907-1910. 
 
 Henry E. Rosevear, Secretary, 1908-1909. 
 
 Mr. Holt: — You have noticed the black 
 margin on the memorial page for our brothers, 
 and perhaps have thought, as I did, that the 
 glorious vision of the Brotherhood of Christ's 
 Body set before us, is not only as wide as the 
 world, but as long as the ages, embracing not 
 only every one living now, but every one who 
 has lived and every one who by faith in Christ 
 shall through all the ages be members of His 
 body. That Brotherhood has suffered, as we call 
 it, the loss of three strong, helpful souls ; yet not 
 lost, 
 
 1 l For all the children of the King in earth and heaven are one. ' ' 
 
 It seems fitting that we should now, without 
 any attempt at eulogy, join in a memorial service 
 of prayer and song. We shall be led in prayer 
 by Dr. Gregg, pastor of this church, and join in 
 singing the hymn, "For All the Saints Who 
 From Their Labors Rest." 
 
 ' ' Part of the host have crossed the flood, and part are crossing 
 now." 
 
 32 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 33 
 
 Memoeial Peayer. 
 by eev. haeeis h. geegg, d.d., st. louis, mo. 
 
 Father, we praise thee for this hour of wor- 
 ship ; we come into thy presence to worship thee 
 and glory in thee and praise thy great and holy 
 name ; and to rejoice with one heart in the spirit 
 of our Lord and Saviour, who became man that 
 He might die for us men and our salvation; 
 and then didst rise from the dead, who is now 
 seated at thy right hand. He remembered the 
 truth and the life of His people ; He came not to 
 be ministered unto to but to minister. We 
 would have no confidence in ourselves ; looking 
 at that cross, we would boast of thy sufficient 
 grace and the work of thy own love and spirit 
 in the hearts of those men whose names have 
 been mentioned before thee and us today. 
 
 We thank thee for that strong man, John H. 
 Converse, to whom thou didst long ago show 
 thyself. In all the simplicity of a child he rose 
 up, and at thy word sought to tell the world of 
 thee ; with a heart full of love, with a heart en- 
 larged like the sands of the sea, that he might 
 make known thy love to all the children of men. 
 He dwelt in the cloud of the mountain with thee, 
 yet he walked with God in the valley with us. 
 We thank thee that, having run his course with 
 us, he is in the mountain with thee. We pray 
 that his mantle may fall on many a business 
 man in our beloved church in the land. 
 
34 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 We thank thee for the brother, James W. 
 Axtell, who lived in the great place of the Most 
 High, and was so richly equipped by thy spirit, 
 speaking wisdom, and with the law of kindness 
 on his lips. We thank thee he was in the spirit 
 and heard thee speaking beyond him the things 
 he has seen, the things that are, and the things 
 that shall be after thee. 
 
 We thank thee for that efficient life and for 
 the service of our brother, the beloved Secretary 
 of this Brotherhood, the disciple whom Jesus 
 loved, who also saw the vision of his Lord and 
 heard His voice, and, seeing the veil rent, was 
 taken within the veil. We thank thee he was a 
 minister of the true sanctuary ; he stood by the 
 altar and pointed to the blood. He ministered 
 at the table and showed the bread of life, and in 
 the light of the candlestick spoke of Him who 
 was the light of the world, and not only went 
 in but helped others in, his thought reaching 
 unto the uttermost part of the earth. We thank 
 thee he serves thee face to face. 
 
 As we praise thee for all these men, we 
 would praise thee for all the officers and the 
 members of this organization. We ask thee, 
 Lord Jesus, that our lives may be changed be- 
 cause we meet here. We pray thee to send us 
 forth indeed, as laborers in thy vineyard. We 
 pray thee to equip us. We pray thee to make 
 us all and individually men of God, men of faith, 
 men of prayer, men of the Word of God, men 
 who walk in the light of thy countenance, walk- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 35 
 
 ing humbly before thee in thy grace and in the 
 power of thy might. Eemind us that thou art 
 all sufficient to the day and the hour. Let us 
 find our sufficiency in thee. Let us know that 
 thou art the same yesterday, today and forever. 
 Speak to us that the scripture cannot be broken ; 
 tell us again and again, as we heard today and 
 through the conference, thy Church shall be 
 built. Let us hear thee saying, as on the eve 
 of the Transfiguration the disciples heard it, 
 "I will build my Church and the gates of hell 
 shall not prevail against it." Let us see thee 
 building; and oh, builder of the house of God, 
 let us see the plummet in thy hands and know 
 that He that was the foundation and laid the 
 foundation, is also the chief cornerstone. May 
 we hear thee say to us, "Till I come." 
 We ask it all in Christ Jesus' Name. AMEN. 
 
 Memoeial Hymn. 
 
 For all the saints who from their labors rest, 
 Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, 
 Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Alleluia ! Alleluia ! 
 
 Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might : 
 Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight; 
 Thou, in the darkness drear, their light of light. Alleluia! 
 
 Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, 
 
 Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, 
 
 And win, with them, the victors ' crown of gold. Alleluia! 
 
 Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine! 
 
 We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; 
 
 Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia! 
 
THE COMMUNION SERVICE. 
 
 Rev. Chaeles Little, D.D., Wabash, IncL 
 Moderator of the General Assembly of the Pres- 
 byterian Church: — It is understood that the 
 pastors of the St. Louis churches will pass the 
 elements to us. and after the preliminary re- 
 marks Dr. Niccolls will give to us the bread and 
 will lead in the communion prayer; and after 
 him Dr. Cannon will lead in the administration 
 of the cup. Then the concluding word and 
 prayer from Dr. Fullerton. announcing also the 
 concluding hymn. 
 
 Certainly we have been led by the voice of 
 prayer and address and song to this season of 
 joy. as our Chairman has just said to us, and 
 our Heavenly Father can bless all human agen- 
 cies to our own good. Is it not fitting, brethren, 
 that a Brotherhood, such as this, should come 
 to the table which has been spread for us by our 
 Elder Brother? "We remember, as we read the 
 story of this institution, that our Lord had with 
 Him as disciples, His associates. His brother.-. 
 and through them the message was to be given 
 to the world, as the message is also to be given 
 to the world through us ; is there any other body 
 of Christians who can more properly introduce 
 their tarrying together by such a service than a 
 Brotherhood? The very word '''Brotherhood" 
 
 36 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 37 
 
 has been brought to us by our Elder Brother. 
 The very word " Brotherhood" teaches us 
 unity; that we are all one and equal to the 
 other. I read that the Duke of Wellington went 
 back to his Parish Church, and as he went up 
 one aisle to the altar, a very humble man went 
 up another, and they came and knelt side by 
 side at the altar. Some suggested to the more 
 humble man that he should step aside until the 
 noble Duke had had his personal communion 
 with God. But the other man, the man more 
 honoured in the affairs of this life, reverentially 
 laid his hand on the arm of the humbler man 
 and insisted that he should remain by his side, 
 and then added words of sufficient emphasis to 
 be understood, "We are all of us equal here." 
 
 We have come from our different homes, dif- 
 ferent in years, different in circumstances, dif- 
 ferent in relationship one to the other, to the 
 outer world; but we are all of us equal here. 
 It is our Father's house; it is our Father's 
 table ; it has been spread for us by the one who 
 was my Elder Brother and the Elder Brother 
 of us all equally. Surely the Brotherhood can 
 rejoice ; it is a season of joy for us. 
 
 What is the thought as we come here ? Some 
 of us are thinking of the marvelous goodness 
 of God in so permitting us to come. If we so 
 think, let us by the mercies of God beseech our- 
 selves to present our bodies as a living sacri- 
 fice. Or if we are thinking of our own un- 
 worthiness, God comes to us in His marvelous 
 
38 THE PKESBYTERIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 love, and bids us look up to Him and possess 
 the greatness of God in Christ. 
 
 Is this a sacrament? The very thought of 
 the sacrament and what God has done for us, 
 suggests we renew our vows. 
 
 Is this a Communion season? How we should 
 rejoice with each other; for, as suggested by 
 the early creed, "I believe in the communion 
 of saints," we are all sharing and sharing alike, 
 a communion with each other. 
 
 Is this a supper, as the second thought that 
 comes to us? We are glad that it is a supper 
 rather than one of the other meals of the day. 
 In the early morning hour some of you business 
 men have gone from home eager for the busi- 
 ness efforts and the children have not risen 
 from bed, and in the noon hour you have re- 
 mained away from home. It was only the 
 broken family. In the evening the shadows 
 are beginning to come ; when the shadows come, 
 then we all gather at home, and we tarry one 
 for the other, and we have gotten through with 
 the day with its victories and its defeats. "What- 
 ever may have been the condition, we are home ; 
 and it is the supper hour, the hour that means 
 strength for our bodies, for a new day's work. 
 This is our supper. 
 
 I conjecture if some noted man of this city 
 should invite some of us to his house, he would 
 place on the table that which we might most 
 need, as we shared his fellowship; and so our 
 Lord, the Chief among ten thousand, the one 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 39 
 
 altogether lovely, has prepared this table for 
 us, for our spiritual strength, for our spiritual 
 elevation. He has prepared for us that which 
 our needy souls may require. It is not only a 
 supper; it is our Lord's Supper; it is an im- 
 mortal supper He has prepared for us. We are 
 celebrating now the death of our dear Lord. 
 Only a few days ago in many a town the birth 
 of Mr. Lincoln was celebrated, and tomorrow in 
 many a town the birth of General Washington 
 will be celebrated. We celebrate the birthdays 
 of our great men, but we are meeting this after- 
 noon, and in the Cross of Christ we are glory- 
 ing; we are remembering our dead. It is His 
 death and His love which has prepared this 
 table for us. Our leader has spoken the right 
 word when he says it is our joy to have this 
 table spread for us. 
 
 It is a blessed occasion. I believe I have been 
 specially honored in being permitted to intro- 
 duce this service to you. We are all specially 
 honored because our Elder Brother said, "I, if 
 I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me. ' ' May 
 our hearts burn within us as our Saviour talks 
 with us by the way. 
 
 Samuel J. Niccolls, D.D., LL.D. : — Coming 
 down through the ages with wondrous accent 
 are these words, "On the same night in which 
 our Lord was betrayed, He took bread and 
 blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to His dis- 
 ciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my body which 
 
40 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 was broken for yon. This do in remembrance 
 of me. After the same manner also, He took 
 the cnp and gave it to His disciples, saying, 
 This is the cnp of the New Testament, — my 
 blood which was shed for many for the remis- 
 sion of sins. Drink ye all of it." 
 
 These are the words of the institution, and 
 how tenderly and how touchingly does onr Lord 
 Jesus call our attention to Himself in this ordi- 
 nance which we are about to celebrate. From 
 His hand we receive this sacred bread of His 
 love. It is all radiant with that wondrous love 
 which He showed to man in giving Himself for 
 us. There is no other thought to come to us at 
 this time than the thought of Jesus Christ in His 
 richness. We come to receive the pledge of a 
 finished redemption from His hand; the token 
 of His undying love and care for us. 
 
 As you have heard these words did you not 
 discover a wondrous personality in them? Blot 
 out those little pronouns "my," "me," "I," 
 and the ordinance is nothing. It is the won- 
 drous personality that is in it that leads us to 
 bow before Him as we come into this presence. 
 Oh, there is a real presence in the holy sacra- 
 ment, — the living Christ who is putting Himself 
 before our hearts. We are to be assisted 
 through our senses in finding Him, but after all 
 the touch and the taste are only to quicken 
 within us the senses of the soul, that looking out 
 into another world we may see Him. 
 
 Long years ago when that storm of bloody 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 41 
 
 strife was sweeping over our land, at the close 
 of one of the fiercest battles, the chaplain went 
 over the ground and found a wounded soldier. 
 Approaching him, he said : 
 
 "Is there anything I can do for you?" 
 
 "No," he said. 
 
 "Is there nothing you want?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "But, my man, you are dying." 
 
 "Yes, I know. But there is one thing, Chap- 
 lain, you can do for me. Just cover my face 
 with my blanket ; I want to shut out everything 
 but Jesus." 
 
 That is what we wish to do at this sacred 
 hour, so that we shall stand as did the beloved 
 disciple when his own teacher pointed him to 
 one who was walking in solitude before him, 
 "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away 
 the sins of the world." Our sins, our infirmi- 
 ties, our doubts and our fears, — let us shut 
 them all out and just look at Him who is all in 
 all to us. 
 
 It is fitting that in such an hour as this we 
 should come to Him and renew our allegiance 
 to Him ; and know that the Christ who died for 
 us, the Christ who lived for us and lives now 
 for us, calls us now to His service. On the 
 same night in which our Lord was betrayed, He 
 took bread and blessed it. Let us look to God, 
 following His example : 
 
 Oh, God, the Father eternal, immortal, in- 
 visible. Oh, God, the Son, uncreated, eternally 
 
42 THE PKESBYTEKIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 begotten. Oh, God, the Spirit, proceeding from 
 the Father and the Son, one God, we adore 
 thee; unto thee do we lift up our hearts with 
 adoration and praise. We rejoice before thee 
 that thou hast created us in thy image, made 
 us capable of certain things. We give thee 
 thanks for thy wondrous care over us, but es- 
 pecially do we praise thee for the gift of thy 
 love to us in sending thy only begotten Son to 
 be born of a Virgin, to redeem us by His sacri- 
 fice on the Cross. We thank thee for His un- 
 speakable gift of the very bread of life for our 
 souls. As we look out into that wondrous love 
 shining on us in the face of Jesus Christ, more 
 and more do we humble ourselves before thee, 
 and confess our unworthiness. Never is our 
 sin so shameful as when we remember thy love 
 in our transgressions and wandering from 
 thee; we humbly confess our transgressions, 
 asking, oh, God, for Christ's sake, be merciful 
 to us, blot out our transgressions; and, receiv* 
 ing from thee the pledge of thy forgiveness, 
 may our hearts rejoice in thy redeeming love. 
 Eternal God, we have come before thee after 
 the manner and example of our blessed Lord 
 and Master, our Intercessor, and we ask thee 
 that thou wouldst bless this bread and this 
 wine, which in accordance with our Lord's ex- 
 ample we set apart to a holy and sacramental 
 use, that they may be as sacramentally the body 
 and blood of Jesus Christ, and in receiving them 
 in accordance with His appointment we may be 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 43 
 
 fed on the benefits of His passion. Grant, we 
 pray thee, thus to bless to us the ordinance of 
 thine own appointment. 
 
 As we receive the pledge of our Eedeemer's 
 love bring us into such fellowship with Jesus 
 Christ that our hearts may burn within us ; give 
 us such a vision of Him today that we may 
 have the realization in greater power of His 
 own word in which He said, " I, if I be lifted up, 
 will draw all men unto me." Lord, let us feel 
 the drawing power of thy love so that we shall 
 surrender ourselves unto thee. We ask thee for 
 thy Name's sake, Amen. 
 
 The same night in which our Lord was be- 
 trayed He took bread and brake it, saying, 
 "Take, eat, this is my body which is broken 
 for you. This do in remembrance of me." He 
 was wounded for our transgressions; by His 
 stripes are we healed. The chastisement of our 
 sins was upon Him. "I am the bread of life. 
 Feed on me." 
 
 Eev. J. F. Cannon, D.D. : — After our Lord 
 had blessed and broken the bread and distrib- 
 uted it to His disciples, we read, "He took the 
 cup and gave thanks." As we think upon it, it 
 fills us with wonder. "He took the cup and 
 gave thanks." It was the emblem of His own 
 blood ; He knew what it would cost Him to fill 
 it; He knew He must pass through the agony 
 of the Cross; He must taste the bitterness of 
 death and endure the hiding of His Father's 
 
44 THE PKESBYTEKIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 face ; and yet, knowing that as the meaning of 
 the cup, He took it and gave thanks. It does 
 seem to me that if Jesus gave thanks before 
 taking the cup it behooves us to give thanks 
 before receiving. Let us look to Him in thanks- 
 giving. 
 
 Oh, Lord, our Saviour, lead our hearts in 
 thanksgiving to thee that thou hast shed thy 
 blood for us. We thank thee that we have been 
 given, not corruptible things as silver and gold, 
 but that we have been given thine own precious 
 blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without 
 spot. We thank thee that in drinking thy blood 
 we have life, everlasting life. We thank thee 
 that thy blood was shed for many for the remis- 
 sion of sins. We take the cup at thy hand to- 
 day with praise and thanksgiving in our hearts. 
 Grant that we may understand more of the 
 need of thy blood that was shed for us. May 
 thy Spirit take the things that are thine, may 
 He unfold to us the fullness of the meaning of 
 thy grace and bring us more completely under 
 the power of thy grace and enable us to ap- 
 propriate the spirit of thy sacrifice as our own 
 spirit and as the word of our lives. Grant 
 that we may find thy blood is drink, indeed. 
 We ask for thy Name's sake. Amen. 
 
 He took the cup, and when He had given 
 thanks He gave it to His disciples, saying, 
 "This cup is my blood of the new covenant, 
 shed for many for the remission of sins. Drink 
 ye all of it." Just as freely as the cup is given 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 45 
 
 and taken, so freely are all the spiritual bene- 
 fits which it symbolizes offered to us. Drink 
 all ye of it. i ' For as often as ye drink this cup 
 and eat this bread ye do show the Lord's death 
 till He come." 
 
 Eev. Baxtee P. Fullekton, D.D., LL.D. : — 
 Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, whose life and death 
 have been brought so vividly before us this 
 afternoon, incarnate thyself in each one of us 
 as we go hence to meet life's responsibilities 
 and life's privileges. No man can tell what the 
 day may bring forth. We do not know what 
 awaits us tomorrow, but with thee and in thy 
 strength we can meet it all and triumph over 
 all difficulties. Oh, God, bless us, we pray, as 
 we have taken the bread and the wine this 
 afternoon; God grant that we may discern 
 through it the blood of our Lord and from such 
 discernment may we get a real conception of 
 what Jesus Christ is to us and of what He is to 
 the world to which we minister. Oh, God, let 
 thy blessing come upon the men gathered here ; 
 keep us, we beseech thee ; send us forth as Jesus 
 sent His disciples forth to the world, unto 
 which Jesus gave His life and for which He has 
 commissioned us. Let thy benediction be on 
 us now as we close this hour of service, for Jesus 
 Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
THE MEN AND RELIGION 
 FORWARD MOVEMENT 
 
THE MEN AND KELIGION FORWARD 
 MOVEMENT. 
 
 BY. REV. CLARENCE A. BARBOUR, D.D., NEW YORK. 
 
 Mr. Holt : — In the last four years there has 
 been a great deal of questioning, internal and 
 external, as to the objective of the Brotherhood. 
 There is a great deal to be said on this subject. 
 Some of it may be said before we get through 
 with this convention. We have all been look- 
 ing and longing for at least one thing in which 
 the Brotherhood could enlist itself without sus- 
 picion of narrowness, — a purpose and aim 
 which was worthy to enlist the activity and 
 sympathy of every Presbyterian man the coun- 
 try over. Under God, we believe that such a 
 movement has now arisen and it will be pre- 
 sented to us tonight by one of the men best 
 qualified to tell us about it. An enterprise that 
 will loom large in the deliberations and, as we 
 trust, in the resolves and effects of this conven- 
 tion. Without anticipating what he is going 
 to say to us, and without repeating what many 
 have been familiar with, I take great pleasure 
 in introducing to you the Secretary of the Re- 
 ligious Work Department of the International 
 Committee of the Young Men's Christian As- 
 sociation, long a beloved pastor, Rev. Clarence 
 
 49 
 
50 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 A. Barbour, D J)., of New York, to speak to us 
 on "The Men and Beligion Forward Move- 
 ment." 
 
 De. Baebotje : — Mr. President and Gentlemen 
 of the Convention : — I count myself as possess- 
 ing a peculiar privilege tonight in standing 
 in this presence and speaking upon this theme. 
 The President has said that we have been look- 
 ing for objectives in the Brotherhood. I have 
 the honor of serving on the Executive Commit- 
 tee of one Brotherhood; I think I have some 
 little knowledge of the other Brotherhoods of 
 the land, and I believe that we all of us realize 
 that while we may feel about for a time for our 
 objectives, that whatever work we have to do 
 has to be done in the pretty immediate future. 
 David Starr Jordan said recently, "Today is 
 your day and mine, the only day we have, the 
 day in which we play our part of a great whole ; 
 we may not understand, but we are here to play 
 it, and now is our time." 
 
 I think we shall agree that one of the charac- 
 teristics of the day is the fact that the day is a 
 time of thinking in terms of the Kingdom of 
 God. It is admitted at once that some of the 
 thinking is misty and some of the teaching has 
 no body of clear thought behind it, but never- 
 theless, the conception of the Kingdom has come 
 and come to stay. The field is the world, said 
 the Master; any smaller conception is a belit- 
 tling of our faith, a caricature of Christianity ; 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 51 
 
 anything short of the conquest of the world for 
 the Christian is an ideal unworthy of the Chris- 
 tian name. Let no one misunderstand ; we are 
 not of those sentimentalists who decry ecclesias- 
 tical or denominational organization; we coun- 
 sel no sacrifice of conviction to a going forth 
 in the spirit of our Divine Lord, i ' That they all 
 may be one ; even as thou, Father, art in me, and 
 I in thee, that they also may be in us, that the 
 world may believe that thou didst send me." 
 That is the purpose. Oneness of believers, that 
 the world may believe that the Father of our 
 spirits sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the 
 world. 
 
 One of the Christian statesmen of this day 
 has said, "It needs no prophet to foretell that 
 this movement in the direction of federating 
 and uniting and consolidating Christian forces 
 is bound to increase in volume and momentum. 
 Men may question, criticise and resist it, but it 
 can no more be held back than the tides of the 
 sea. Christian laymen, in the light of their busi- 
 ness experience, will not be longer patient with 
 existing conditions. The most discerning min- 
 isters are those earnest in their advocacy of a 
 change ; surely a closer drawing together of the 
 bands of their followers cannot but be pleasing 
 to our Lord and Master." 
 
 The foreign missionary achievements of the 
 Church in Asia, India, Latin America, in rela- 
 tion to Christian comity, union schemes of edu- 
 cation, philanthropy and evangelism, have been 
 
52 THE PEESBYTERIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 such as to inspire confidence in the same oppor- 
 tunities and methods in the home fields. How 
 much better and wiser would it be, instead of 
 resisting this movement, or, by indifference, 
 prolonging the period of waste, inefficiency and 
 failure, to exert and exercise true statesman- 
 ship in aggressive, masterful effort to bring 
 about this federation and consolidation. 
 
 The Men and Religion Forward Movement, — 
 if I might venture to make a definition of it, 
 which has never been made in this form, — cer- 
 tainly is a federation of Christian men's or- 
 ganizations, and of Christian men individually, 
 for the purpose of lovingly, earnestly and per- 
 sistently urging the claims of Christ in an un- 
 usual manner upon the men and boys of North 
 America. Now, there is a man's religion. I 
 was reading again today in the Book of the Acts 
 about some examples of a man's religion. For 
 example, when the Apostle Peter, with John, 
 was brought before the Sanhedrin, as given to 
 us in the fourth chapter of the Acts, Peter said, 
 "If we this day are examined concerning a good 
 deed done to an impotent man, by what means 
 this man is made whole; be it known unto you 
 all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the 
 name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye 
 crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even 
 in Him doth this man stand here before you 
 whole. He is the stone which was made the 
 head of the corner and in none other is there 
 salvation; for neither is there any other name 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 53 
 
 under heaven, given among men, wherein we 
 must be saved." "Now when they beheld the 
 boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived 
 that they were unlearned and ignorant men, 
 they marvelled; and they took knowledge of 
 them, that they had been with Jesus." 
 
 Or look in that later chapter of the same 
 book, where the Apostle Paul is before Festus 
 and Agrippa. Paul said, "I am not mad, most 
 excellent Festus ; but speak forth words of truth 
 and soberness. For the king knoweth of these 
 things, for I am persuaded that none of these 
 things are hidden from him ; for this thing was 
 not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believest 
 thou the prophets ? I know that thou believest. 
 And Agrippa said unto Paul, With but little 
 persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Chris- 
 tian. And Paul said, I would to God, that 
 whether with little or with much, not thou only, 
 but also all that hear me this day, might be- 
 come such as I am." Then, perfect gentleman 
 that he was, he added, " Except," of course, 
 "these bonds." 
 
 Pass from the Apostle Peter and the Apostle 
 Paul, to the Master of them both and the Mas- 
 ter of us all. When He is presented, as He 
 ought to be presented, men recognize that there 
 is a man's religion. 
 
 Now, brethren, let us get together in the 
 presentation of that religion. I remember a 
 Cornell-Princeton football game some years 
 ago, when the ball was in Princeton's posses- 
 
54 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 sion and being carried on further to Cornell's 
 goal, until at last it got down to the five-yard 
 line and only one down ; two downs yet and only 
 five yards to go. The Cornell men, as if by 
 common consent, rallied to the side lines and 
 shouted; and this was their slogan, "Get to- 
 gether, Men. Get together, Men. Get togethek, 
 Men." There was something in that slogan 
 that got into the blood and nerve of the Cornell 
 men, and presently it was Cornell's ball, and 
 was going far toward the Princeton goal once 
 more. 
 
 Whence came the idea of men and religion 
 in this, The Men and Eeligion Forward Move- 
 ment? I suppose if there is any man living who 
 is more responsible for it than another man, it 
 is splendid Harry Arnold, who tonight is at 
 Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks fighting for 
 his health and his life. I suspect that Harry 
 Arnold was one of the pioneers in the advanc- 
 ing of this idea. There came together a group 
 of the International Y. M. C. A. men and little 
 by little there was worked out some such plan 
 as that which is proposed today in The Men 
 and Eeligion Forward Movement. When that 
 plan, thus systematized, was brought to one of 
 the Secretaries of a Brotherhood, he listened; 
 and from a pigeonhole in his desk he brought 
 out an almost similar plan, which had been 
 evolved by Brotherhood men. When the plan 
 was taken to Marion Lawrance, of the Inter- 
 national Sunday School Association, he list- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 55 
 
 ened ; and then from a pigeonhole in his desk he 
 brought out a plan which the International Sun- 
 day School men had worked out, very, very simi- 
 lar to the plan I am to present to you tonight. 
 So, when you ask whence came the idea, I think 
 we would best say the idea was born, reverently 
 we may say it, in the heart and in the mind and 
 wisdom of Almighty God, and was intimated by 
 Him to more than one of His servants, and to 
 more than one group of His servants. 
 
 What organizations have already agreed to 
 participate in The Men and Eeligion Forward 
 Movement? There are in the first place the 
 Brotherhoods of every evangelical church in 
 America. There is The Gideons, that splendid 
 organization of Christian commercial travelers. 
 There is the International Sunday School Asso- 
 ciation, and there is the International Commit- 
 tee of the Y. M. C. A., with their state and local 
 organizations, the continent over. I venture to 
 say, gentlemen, that there never has been such 
 a union of Christian men's organizations upon 
 the face of this earth in the history of man as is 
 assured in the movement of which we now 
 speak. 
 
 What are the means to be used? Let me men- 
 tion them briefly: — 
 
 First :— Publicity. Such publicity, through 
 such methods as have never been so fully used 
 before. For example, contracts have already 
 been entered into with such men as Justice 
 Hughes, and Governor Harmon, and Governor 
 
56 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Woodrow Wilson, men who stand high in the 
 eyes and the honor of men, to write articles for 
 the leading magazines beginning next fall, urg- 
 ing the claims of the Christian religion upon 
 the men and boys of America. Already ar- 
 rangements are being made with the leading 
 journals of the continent, the daily journals, to 
 give at least a column a week to the furthering 
 and giving of publicity to the idea which is here 
 involved. Besides this, from pulpit and from 
 lecture platform, on billboards, through street 
 car advertising, in every legitimate and effec- 
 tive way, the claims of Christ upon men and 
 boys are going to be given a publicity in the 
 next eighteen months, which we venture to say 
 they have never had before. 
 
 Second: — There ought to be ninety cities, — 
 from seventy to ninety cities, — selected, each of 
 which is to be a center of the campaign. Those 
 ninety cities, in part, have been selected already. 
 You understand, of course, that no city is ac- 
 cepted as being one of the centers of this cam- 
 paign, except on certain, definite conditions, 
 which will insure, or at least will make probable, 
 the success of the campaign in that city. In 
 each of these cities there will be organized a 
 committee of one hundred of the biggest and 
 best and brainiest Christian professional and 
 business men who will be the executive and 
 campaign committee for that city, and not only 
 for that city, but for contiguous cities also. Let 
 me call your attention to the chart which hangs 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 57 
 
 over the President's head. This gives you De- 
 troit, which is one of the cities furthest ad- 
 vanced up to date in the organization of the 
 campaign. Here are contiguous cities going 
 as far as Bay City, ninety miles away, and there 
 are some other cities over on the other side of 
 the river which might be added. In each of 
 these cities there is to be a sub-committee of 
 four, a pastor and three laymen, who are to co- 
 operate with the committee of one hundred in 
 the center city. That enlarged committee guar- 
 antees that the main program of the Detroit 
 convention, which will be one of the features of 
 the year in Detroit and other cities, will be re- 
 produced in each one of the cities named, — the 
 contiguous cities. So that we are going to reach 
 not ninety cities, but, as near as we can figure 
 it out, thirteen hundred and fifty cities through- 
 out the continent of North America. 
 
 Third: — A third feature of the movement is 
 the organization of three teams of experts. 
 These experts will be not only from America, 
 but from across the sea. If there are ninety 
 cities, there will probably be four teams of ex- 
 perts. If there are seventy cities, there will 
 probably be three teams of experts. These 
 teams will be made up, for example, of the best- 
 available experts on Bible Study, on Social 
 Service, on Shop Work, on Men's Work, on 
 Boys' Work, on Evangelism, and the best leader 
 of Gospel Singing for men that can be secured. 
 There will be seven or eight men on each of 
 
58 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 these teams, if I may call them so. The visit of 
 these teams to any center, like Detroit, will be 
 about seven days in duration. During those 
 seven days the whole rounded message of the 
 Gospel of Christ to men and boys will be pre- 
 sented and the best known methods, the best as- 
 certained methods for dealing with men and 
 boys in the all round message of Jesus Christ, 
 will be presented not only in platform addresses 
 but in normal institutes. 
 
 Let me illustrate. Here is a great city like 
 Detroit or Chicago. That city will be divided 
 into sections. On a certain evening, for exam- 
 ple, the expert on Bible Study will be in a cer- 
 tain quarter of that city, and also in the after- 
 noon, to reach all those in that quarter of the 
 city who desire to come in contact with the most 
 approved and up-to-date methods in Bible 
 Study. Then that expert will pass on to the 
 next quarter and an expert on Social Service in 
 the same quarter will take his place. The next 
 day the expert on Men's Work, etc. So that 
 during the week in every quarter in every one 
 of those cities there will be set forth, both, let 
 me repeat, in platform addresses and normal 
 institutes, the salient features of the all-round 
 message of the Gospel. 
 
 Now, please understand, that the visit of a 
 team like this to a city is not the whole sum and 
 substance of a year's work. It is merely an 
 incidental matter, an important incident, no 
 doubt, but an incidental matter after all, because 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 59 
 
 beginning with Bally Day in September of next 
 year, up to Culmination Day in May the year 
 following, there is to be a year of unusual meth- 
 ods and effort for the salvation, body, mind and 
 soul of the entire body of men and boys in that 
 city. Of course, no movement like this is going 
 to succeed except as it lays the stress, as it must 
 be laid, on the individual local church, and in 
 the last analysis, upon the local, individual man. 
 No outside team is going to be able to do this 
 work for the churches and for the Christian 
 men of those churches ; but the incoming of new 
 methods and the incoming of the inspiration of 
 this vast movement is going to mightily help the 
 local churches, and mightily help the body of 
 Christian men in any city. It was proposed that 
 these teams should begin, for example, one in 
 the South and work from East to "West ; another 
 in the extreme North and work from East to 
 West, and another in the middle between the 
 two and work from West to East. The plan is 
 now to take the continent territorially, and that 
 all the teams, say for a month, will go into one 
 territory of the continent. For example, when 
 one team is in Atlanta, another team may be in 
 Charlotte, North Carolina, or Charleston, South 
 Carolina. While one is in New Orleans, an- 
 other may be in Memphis, or Mobile, or Bir- 
 mingham, and after the campaign as far as the 
 teams is concerned has been carried on in the 
 South for a month, or six weeks, or two months, 
 all of the teams will be transported, perhaps, to 
 
60 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 the Pacific Coast, and will give the whole coast 
 the simultaneous inspiration of the presence of 
 all the teams at once on that coast. 
 
 Fourth: — Another feature of the campaign 
 will be the Exhibit. It is proposed to have with 
 each team a traveling exhibit of what the Chris- 
 tian Church is doing for the welfare of men and 
 boys. Such a pictorial and concrete exhibit, I 
 think, has never been given before. That is go- 
 ing to be one distinguishing and very valuable 
 feature of the movement. 
 
 Fifth : — A fifth feature will be collateral and 
 co-ordinated efforts for specific classes among 
 men and boys. For example, while these cam- 
 paigns are going on in the cities, there will be 
 unusual and special effort made to reach rail- 
 road men as a class. There will be unusual arid 
 special effort to reach students in our great col- 
 leges and universities as a class, and such men 
 as Mr. Mott are already thoroughly committed 
 to this collateral and co-ordinated work. 
 
 Sixth: — There is to be presented the insist- 
 ence that this year, or this eighteen months, of 
 work is to be only a beginning. That this thing 
 is no spasm, no thing for a week or for a year, 
 but that by all the teaching of these methods 
 there is to go on from this Men and Religion 
 Forward Movement Campaign such a continual 
 and cumulative effort for men and boys as will 
 never cease until the kingdom of our Lord 
 among men and boys has come. 
 
 Let me say a word in regard to the financing 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 61 
 
 of this whole matter, because I know some will 
 inquire about that. There is a central commit- 
 tee of ninety-seven. Looking over the list of 
 the committee I find Charles T. Thompson of 
 Minneapolis ; William Jennings Bryan, Lincoln, 
 Nebraska ; James D. Husted, Denver ; Hugh H. 
 Hanna, Indianapolis; Ealph W. Harbison, 
 Pittsburgh; Charles S. Holt, Chicago; A. A. 
 Hyde, Wichita; Ira Landrith, Nashville; Henry 
 B. F. McFarland, Washington, D. C; Judge 
 Selden P. Spencer, St. Louis; Charles Stelzle, 
 New York. 
 
 I think you will agree that these men are not 
 mere sentimentalists, and these, as a part of the 
 Committee of Ninety-seven, have not gone into 
 a hare-brained scheme. A budget has been pre- 
 pared with great care that will take care of the 
 matter of the salaries of experts on these teams 
 and all matters that rightfully belong to a cen- 
 tral committee. The amount of money sub- 
 scribed is a considerable one, and is being rap- 
 idly and generously provided. A local city, like 
 Detroit, will, of course, take care of its local 
 campaign. It will entertain these gentlemen 
 on the expert teams while they are there. It 
 will pay no salaries, and it will have no part as 
 a city in the payment of the salaries; that is 
 taken care of from the central body ; but it will 
 naturally, as in every great campaign, take care 
 of its own local, legitimate expense. 
 
 Now as to the importance of the all-round 
 message. I wish I had an hour to speak on that, 
 
62 THE PBESBYTERIAN BROTHEKHOOD 
 
 but I am no thief of time, and I am going to 
 yield to Dr. Alexander when my time is ex- 
 hausted. Let me call your attention again to 
 the salient features of this message. 
 
 First: — Bible Study. A layman said to me 
 not forty-eight hours ago, an honored layman 
 in a Christian church, that his grown daughter, 
 now a wife and mother, asked him during fam- 
 ily prayers, when visiting in the home, whether 
 Moses and Jesus were contemporaries. The 
 leader of a student Bible class in one of our uni- 
 versities told me also within forty-eight hours, 
 that in a class of fourteen sophomores this past 
 year only one of the class knew in what town or 
 village Jesus was born. Now you may credit 
 these things or not ; the source of them in each 
 case was eminently credible. I have no ques- 
 tion whatsoever that they were literally and 
 strictly true. The fact is we talk so much about 
 the immense number of Bibles that are printed 
 and circulated that we forget that there is such 
 a thing as the existence of these facts together 
 with an appalling ignorance of the Bible. There 
 needs to be a tremendous campaign entered 
 upon for a sane, wholesome all-round study and 
 knowledge of God's "Word as the lamp of our 
 counsel and the light of our path. That feature 
 certainly is needed. 
 
 Second: — Social Service. Anybody who has 
 his ear near the ground today and hears the 
 widespread mutterings of discontent will not 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 63 
 
 need to have it proved to him that there needs 
 to be also a sane and wholesome message of so- 
 cial service on the part of those who represent 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Third: — Shop and Factory Work. Many of 
 these men under present conditions will not 
 come to our churches to hear the truth of Christ. 
 The only alternative is that we take the Gospel 
 where they are; and, gentlemen, as I think of 
 some of the shop meetings which it has been 
 my pleasure to address in the last ten years, I 
 know that men in the shops give a welcome 
 hearing to the presentation of a man's religion. 
 
 Fourth: — Missions. The Laymen's Mission- 
 ary Movement has opened the door here, and 
 we can assure you that the Laymen's Mission- 
 ary Movement is going to cooperate strongly 
 in this feature of the Men and Eeligion For- 
 ward Movement. 
 
 Fifth : — Boys 7 Work. Brethren, if we are go- 
 ing to reach the college students of this conti- 
 nent in very large numbers we have got to begin 
 with the high school boy. I heard one of the 
 best qualified men to speak on this theme say 
 within a few days that within his memory the 
 sins which were formerly sins of freshmen and 
 sophomores in colleges have gone back a stu- 
 dent generation and today are the sins of 
 Freshmen and Sophomores in the high school. 
 If your eyes and ears are not open to the awful 
 need of work, corrective and preventive work, 
 
64 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 among boys, you don't know very much of what 
 is going on today. When I was in San Fran- 
 cisco a little while ago a boy was dragged over 
 the cliff of Telegraph Hill. Here is the account 
 of it from the San Francisco paper, "Kite drags 
 boy over cliff. The boy was flying his kite out 
 on Telegraph Hill; a large kite held by a very 
 strong cord. The wind was blowing in tre- 
 mendously from the Pacific. The kite drew the 
 boy toward the edge of the cliff; he, unwilling 
 to lose his kite, held on too long until he was 
 dragged over and fell 200 feet a mangled and 
 crushed mass of flesh upon the rocks below." 
 Now, listen, the boy's father said that night, 
 "I did not see the accident, and have received 
 contradictory reports about it, but in whatever 
 way the accident might have occurred, it could 
 have been prevented if there had been a fence 
 there. The neighborhood has long felt the need 
 of a fence at that spot above the quarry; per- 
 haps, the death of my boy will result in one be- 
 ing put there." 
 
 Perhaps the death, the moral death, of not 
 one but a multitude of boys, may result after a 
 while in Christian men getting together to put 
 a fence around the cliff. 
 
 Sixth and Last : — Evangelism. This is an all- 
 round message. Bible Study, Social Service, 
 Shop and Factory Work, Missions, Boys' 
 Work, Evangelism, and if you leave out the last 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 65 
 
 you leave out the greatest essential of all, 
 Evangelism. 
 
 They say there is a coal mine down in Penn- 
 sylvania which has been burning for fifty years. 
 They have tried to put out the fire, but ever and 
 again columns of smoke rising through crevices 
 of the roof have told that the fire is still going 
 on. At length the fire approached a mass of 
 anthracite coal, four hundred million tons in 
 weight, representing a cash market value of two 
 billions of dollars. Then owners of coal lands 
 planned to sink, and did sink, a solid wall of 
 cement wide enough and deep enough and thick 
 enough, in the path of the advancing flame, to 
 save that mass of valuable coal. A fire has been 
 burning more than fifty years on this continent, 
 and unless there be a united effort to sink a 
 solid wall of wholesome wise evangelism in the 
 way of the advancing fires of sin, we are going 
 to lose more than our coal, we are going to lose 
 our men and our boys. 
 
 Men and Eeligion. Herbert Carroll says in 
 his "Promise of American Life" that there are 
 some foolish men who believe that the promise 
 of American life is destined to automatic ful- 
 fillment. Without religion this nation is going 
 to die as other nations have died. You know 
 the poem of the ships : — 
 
 "If all the ships I have at sea 
 Should come a-sailing home to me, 
 Ah, well ! the harbor could not hold 
 So many sails as there would be 
 If all my ships came in from sea. 
 
66 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEKHOOD 
 
 "If half my ships eame home from sea, 
 And brought their precious freight to me, 
 Ah, well ! I should have wealth as great 
 As any king who sits in state — 
 So rich the treasures that would be 
 In half my ships now out at sea. 
 
 "If just one ship I have at sea 
 
 Should come a-sailing home to me, 
 
 Ah, well ! the storm clouds then might frown : 
 
 For if the others all went down 
 
 Still rich and proud and glad I'd be. 
 
 If that one ship came back to me. 
 
 1 1 If that one ship went down at sea, 
 
 And all the others came to me, 
 
 Weighed down with gems and wealth untold, 
 
 With glory, honor, riches, gold, 
 
 The poorest soul on earth I'd be 
 
 If that one ship came not to me." 
 
 Gentlemen, you will find the whole program 
 set forth by such men as John R. Mott, Pro- 
 fessor Robinson, Fred B. Smith and Marion 
 Lawrance, and Ira Landrith and James G. Can- 
 non, — you will find the whole program in a little 
 book that is for sale on the table yonder, the 
 profits of which not one cent goes to any indi- 
 vidual. These books are fifty cents each, and I 
 cannot counsel you just at this moment to buy 
 any book in preference to this book, called " Men 
 and Religion," which is a perfect gold mine of 
 Christian thought, a perfect forest of Christian 
 instruction regarding this Movement, which, 
 please God, is going to be the mightiest Move- 
 ment for the coming of his Kingdom among men 
 and boys that the world has seen. 
 
MEN AND THE KINGDOM 
 
 BY EEV. JAMES F. VANCE, D.D., NASHVILLE, TENN. 
 
 Dk. Vance : I have been a Dutchman, as Mr. 
 Holt says, that is, a Eeformed Presbyterian, 
 and I am now back in the Southern Presbyte- 
 byterian fold. There is not so much difference 
 between us, after all. One is the Presbyterian 
 Church in the U. S. A., and one is the Presby- 
 terian Church in the U. S., and that is just a 
 little difference. Once the line which divided 
 us was red, — war red; and now it is blue, — 
 Presbyterian blue. Some day it will be white, 
 — the white of our common Christianity; and 
 the day after it is white it will not be at all. 
 
 I am to speak to you to-day about men and 
 the kingdom. 
 
 MEN. 
 
 First, Men! The modern man is far from 
 being a pigmy. He is not what he is going to 
 be. He has some things to forget and much to 
 learn. Mr. Thomas A. Edison, in a recent arti- 
 cle, is reported as saying: "We are only ani- 
 mals. "We are coming out of the dog state and 
 getting a glimpse of our environment. We don't 
 know; we just suspect a few things. It will 
 take an enormous evolution of our brains to 
 
 67 
 
68 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 bring us anywhere." There may be some truth 
 in this statement. If there is, it was said in a 
 finer way long ago by him who, writing by 
 inspiration of God, said: "It doth not yet 
 appear what we shall be, but we know that when 
 He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we 
 shall see Him as He is." 
 
 But for all that may characterize the present 
 as the dog-age of the world, there is abundant 
 evidence that man is not degenerating. The 
 pessimists who chant a dirge over the present 
 and proclaim that all greatness is behind us, are 
 short on facts. The modern man is the finest 
 of his kind in all the files of time, and he is 
 doing today things which his predecessors in 
 the dead centuries never so much as dreamed of. 
 
 It is a day of great things in subduing and 
 controlling the forces of nature. Mr. Edison 
 declares in the article I have referred to, that 
 the day is coming when manual labor will be 
 a thing of the past; when men will chain the 
 forces of nature to their machines, and make 
 machinery do that which is now done by physical 
 toil, while man's part will be merely that of a 
 superintendent, watching the machinery to see 
 that it works right. The earth, the sea, and 
 even the prince of the powers of the air, are all 
 becoming subject to man. This modern man 
 digs a ditch to connect the waters to two world 
 oceans and divide the "Western Hemisphere into 
 two vast island continents ; hangs his messages 
 on the wireless currents of the sky, and sends 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 69 
 
 them to the ends of the earth ; plucks his news 
 items from empty space; reports the progress 
 of events in the moon, and makes a geography 
 of Mars. Nothing is too daring or too difficult 
 for the modern man. 
 
 It is a day of large things in the battle with 
 disease, and in the conflict with the foes of life 
 and health. Already some of the most dreadful 
 contagions, like smallpox and diphtheria, have 
 been disarmed of their terrors ; tuberculosis has 
 had to yield its awful secret, and it is only a 
 question of time when the White Plague will be 
 numbered among the dead ; and even that worst 
 scourge of our races, cerebro-spinal meningitis, 
 is about to capitulate before the advance of med- 
 ical science. What is there that man is not 
 doing or attempting in the interests of sanita- 
 tion and health? No cost is too high, and no 
 sacrifice is too severe. The modern science of 
 conflict with disease is one of the wonders of 
 the world. They tell us that the soldiers of the 
 blood are the white corpuscles, and that when a 
 hostile germ enters the system, immediately 
 these soldiers rush to the attack. Eecently the 
 papers reported that a physician had gathered 
 the white corpuscles out of the blood of a rabbit 
 and administered them to patients sick with 
 pneumonia, and that, while he was not ready to 
 dogmatize, and his work was still in the experi- 
 mental stage, the result of his experiments 
 showed a diminution of 11 per cent in the fatali- 
 ties of the cases thus treated. 
 
70 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 It is a day of large things in the realm of 
 finance. Nothing is too big for the modern man 
 to finance. It is a day of great things in phi- 
 lanthropy, in education, in government, in ad- 
 ministration. Wherever man turns his face, 
 and to whatever he sets his hand with grim 
 determination, there is achievement. 
 
 The modern man has his face towards the 
 morning. He is not held in the dead hand of 
 an effete conservatism; he believes in the fu- 
 ture. Perhaps now and then you will find a 
 man who hates a thing because it is new. In 
 the State of North Carolina there is a habit of 
 naming the country churches after streams on 
 which they are located ; — one is the Eocky River 
 Church. It was served for many years by a 
 devoted minister, Brother Pennick, who was 
 succeeded by Dr. Mack, the father of Dr. Ed- 
 ward Mack of Lane Theological Seminary. Like 
 most ministers, when Dr. Mack became pastor 
 he had some new ideas he wanted to introduce. 
 The congregation protested. They said what 
 was good enough for Brother Pennick was good 
 enough for him. At last Dr. Mack grew very 
 tired of this and one morning he went into the 
 pulpit and told them of a dream. He dreamed he 
 was dead, and he went to heaven and asked at 
 the gate of Saint Peter if the Session of the 
 Rocky River Church was there. He said, "No, 
 they are not here." "This is strange," said Dr. 
 Mack; "the last time they were seen they were 
 headed in this direction." Saint Peter said, 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 71 
 
 "They did come up, and asked me what place 
 this was, and I said, 'It is the New Jerusalem/ 
 
 " 'The New Jerusalem,' they said. 'What 
 music is that we hear on the inside?' 
 
 " 'The new Song.' 
 
 " 'The New Song! Come on, brethren; 
 Brother Pennick is not here; there is too 
 much new-fangled business about this place. 
 We will find him further on. ' " 
 
 I suppose now and then we have survivors 
 of this dead age in our churches, but the men of 
 to-day for the most part have their faces toward 
 the future. 
 
 The modern man is a giant. We may be liv- 
 ing in the dog-age, but it is rapidly changing 
 into the man-age. The reign of the bark and 
 bite, the reign of brute force, is over ; ideas are 
 on the throne ; war will soon be a thing of the 
 past. There seems to be absolutely no limit to 
 the possibilities of man's future. He would 
 seem to be equal to well nigh anything. Let 
 but the undertaking be named, and somewhere 
 you will find hearts bold enough and brains big 
 enough. Some day man will cook his food and 
 heat his house with imprisoned sunshine, and 
 some day he will run his factories and do his 
 work with power captured from the restless, 
 tireless sea; for man is more like God than 
 anything else in the world, and the making of 
 the future world is a man's business. 
 
72 THE PKESBYTERIAN BKOTHERHOOD 
 
 THE KINGDOM. 
 
 Next, the Kingdom ! It is the New Testament 
 name for the future world. It is the name 
 given to the civilization Christianity proposes 
 to establish in the earth. We have had a civili- 
 zation called Babylonian, and another called, 
 Egyptian, and another called Grecian, and an- 
 other called Eoman, and we have a civilization 
 called Anglo-Saxon ; but the coming civilization 
 will be Christian. It will be the age of the 
 world when the teachings of Christ will become 
 the common practice of mankind. To this civ- 
 ilization the New Testament gives the name of 
 Kingdom, and there is no higher, holier aspira- 
 tion than to pray and no loftier service than to 
 toil for its coming. 
 
 Let us think of the origin of this Kingdom. 
 It started in the heart of God. It is not a 
 human production. It was born in the brain 
 of the Deity. It is God's vision for humanity. 
 It is the finest dream of the Eternal for the high- 
 est of His creatures. 
 
 Let us think of the character of this King- 
 dom. It is built on the two great fundamental 
 laws of love to God and love to man. It is lo- 
 cated in human experience. The Kingdom is 
 within you. It consists not of meat and drink. 
 It ministers not to the carnal appetites and ma- 
 terial instincts, but to the soul and character 
 of man. It consists of righteousness and peace 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost. Its business is to 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 73 
 
 make a man right and friendly and happy ; and 
 when you have made a man a right man and a 
 friendly man and a happy man, what is there 
 that remains to be done for that man? 
 
 Let us think of the Kingdom's extent. It is 
 world-wide, and touches all life. It is a dream 
 of universal dominion. It is to take in all 
 classes and nations and races. It is to realize 
 the great human brotherhood, and translate into 
 fact true fraternity. The thing men have been 
 groping after in their Orders and Lodges and 
 Circles is coming, but not that way. It is com- 
 ing, but not through hate or class rivalry or 
 the competition of selfish interests. All these 
 human organizations are but dumb reaches 
 after the great ideal. True fraternity will 
 come as the Kingdom comes, as Christ comes 
 in the characters of men, and no faster. 
 
 "Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain 
 
 shall meet, 
 Till earth and sky stand presently at God's great judgment 
 
 seat; 
 But there is neither East nor West, border nor breed, nor 
 
 birth, 
 When two strong men stand face to face, though they come 
 
 from the ends of the earth !" 
 
 That will do for a pagan song, but it will not 
 do for Christianity, because Christianity sings 
 not only of the Brotherhood of "two strong 
 men," but of two whatever their condition. One 
 may be a millionaire and one a pauper; one 
 may be a sage and one unlettered ; one may be 
 a black man and one a white man ; one of them 
 
74 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 may be a Christian man and the other a heathen 
 man ; one may be the best man in the city and 
 the other the worst man in the city; but they 
 are brothers. This is the strong note of Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 Let us think of its permanence. The King- 
 dom is coming to stay. It will be enduring. 
 God will not stop until He has things His way, 
 and once He has gotten them His way, they 
 will stay His way. It is an everlasting King- 
 dom. The gates of Hell shall not prevail against 
 it. Other civilizations come and go. Already 
 we are studying their ruins, but this civiliza- 
 tion of the Kingdom will never be in ruins. Its 
 glory will never wither, and its music will never 
 die. 
 
 Let us think of the future of the Kingdom. 
 It will not only last, but it will spread and 
 grow. There is no dead line to its progress. 
 Of its increase there will be no end. Like the 
 River of Vision proclaimed by the ancient 
 prophet, it will go on and on, growing wider, 
 deeper, higher, swifter, sweeter, stronger, be- 
 nigner, diviner, forever and forever. 
 
 Such is the Kingdom, and the bringing in of 
 this Kingdom, the merging of every other into 
 it, and the establishment and maintenance of 
 its dominion over the future world, is a man's 
 business. 
 
 MEN AND THE KINGDOM. 
 
 Now for the union. Men and the Kingdom! 
 The Kingdom needs men. This was the way 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 75 
 
 Christ began His work : He called a dozen men. 
 They were not remarkable men. They were 
 doing nothing to stir the world. Some were 
 common fishermen ; one was a tax gatherer ; 
 others were ordinary peasants. There was not 
 a great philanthropist or financier or explorer 
 among them; but Christ called them. He 
 packed Himself into those men and said to 
 them: "Go and preach my Gospel/' and the 
 effect was wonderful. The Gospel climbed over 
 the snow-capped peaks of Mount Lebanon, swam 
 the Bosphorus, captured Greece, conquered 
 Borne, spread to Gaul, and filled the earth. 
 
 Think of what it would mean for the King- 
 dom if the manhood of the modern world were 
 as thoroughly enlisted as that little company of 
 Apostles! Suppose Christ could pack Himself 
 into the men who are subduing the forces of 
 nature, who are chaining electricity, who are 
 conquering the air, who are driving disease out 
 of the world, until they and all that they do 
 are for the Kingdom, until they recognize the 
 leadership of Christ and cast their crowns at 
 His feet, and toil "like unto men that wait for 
 their Lord"; where is the barrier that could 
 stop the progress of the Gospel? Where is 
 the sea wide enough or the mountain high 
 enough to block the way of the Kingdom? 
 
 And what more magnificent enterprise can 
 there be for the manhood of the modern world 
 than this? If it be worthy of a great man's 
 powers to dedicate his best ability to chaining 
 
76 THE PRESBYTERIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 electricity to a dynamo, that it may run a fac- 
 tory and do the work of the world, is it un- 
 worthy of any man's ability to dedicate his best 
 to that divine dynamic which is the power of 
 God's Holy Spirit? If it be something to dig 
 a ditch and wipe out the barriers between world 
 oceans, is it not something to efface barriers 
 between races and nations and peoples? If it 
 be an achievement for one to fight his way 
 through fields of Arctic ice and wave a flag at 
 the North Pole, is it not a far greater achieve- 
 ment to endure all hardships and privations in 
 order to find and rescue a lost brother in this 
 winter world? If it be worthy of a man to irri- 
 gate a desert and change it into a garden, to 
 make coal produce one pound more steam to 
 the bushel, to invent a machine that will shorten 
 human toil, is it not something to have a share 
 in the bringing in of the Kingdom of whose 
 increase there shall be no end? 
 
 This is the high call of God to the best man 
 of the modern world. It is the call which is 
 sounding out in the Men's Missionary Move- 
 ment, and in the Men and Eeligion Forward 
 Movement, which are in some respects the great- 
 est movements of the Christian Church since 
 the days of the Eeformation. It is a summons 
 to men to enlist for the Kingdom, to dedicate 
 themselves to Christ's cause, and to give their 
 lives to be built into the civilization that is to 
 stand forever. 
 
 It is evident that the appeal of this Kingdom 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 77 
 
 is an appeal that appeals to men. There is 
 something in this heroic vision of the Kingdom, 
 this dream of world conquest, that captures the 
 imagination and fires the heart. The response 
 has been tremendous already. The men of the 
 Christian nations are waking up to the fact 
 that Christianity is a man's religion, that it is 
 worthy of his best, and that the highest type of 
 man is that man who toils "like unto men that 
 wait for their Lord," that never is any man 
 so much a man as when he is from heart's cen- 
 ter to his finger-tips, everywhere and always, a 
 Christian man, striving with all his powers and 
 resources of property and personality to estab- 
 lish the Kingdom in the world. 
 
 WHAT CAN MEN DO FOE THE KINGDOM? 
 
 They can get interested in it. They can make 
 themselves felt. There are numbers of men in 
 .the church today who belong to the church, but 
 they are not interested in the Kingdom. The 
 trouble with them is not that they lack ability, 
 but that they lack interest. The best steam 
 engine that has been invented gets only about 
 15 per cent of the energy out of coal. The re- 
 mainder is wasted. Some gas engines, it is said, 
 get from 20 to 25 per cent; but in this day, 
 when the fuel supply of the world is running 
 short, we are wasting at least 75 per cent of our 
 coal. Is there not as great a waste of power in 
 the unused, undeveloped, uninterested manhood 
 
78 THE PKESBYTEEIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 in our churches ? What we need is to lay hold 
 of this latent power. Man, wake up! Ac- 
 knowledge your obligation to Christ. Whatever 
 you do, whether you sell goods, or make thread, 
 or write insurance, or run a bank, or drive a 
 wagon, do it for the kingdom. Let your place 
 of work have a window from which you watch 
 like unto men who wait for their Lord. What 
 irresistible power the church would possess if 
 every man in it were alive and aggressive, in- 
 terested to his full capacity ! Men, Christianity 
 is our business ! 
 
 The men of the Christian Church can shame 
 and silence the dirge of hostile criticism of 
 Christianity and the Church which may be heard 
 on almost every side today, chanted by people 
 who have nothing else to do. 
 
 Friendly criticism is not to be feared, but 
 welcomed; but hostile criticism, the criticism 
 that defames and misrepresents and opposes 
 and resists the church, is to be opposed, shamed, 
 silenced and refuted. It is a weapon of the foe. 
 The air is full of this kind of criticism today. 
 Books and magazines and newspapers are at 
 work trying to say that the Church is played 
 out, that the Gospel is a back number, and the 
 Bible untrustworthy. 
 
 All this is hurtful. You could not run any 
 business on a program of calamity. If you are 
 a banker and have in your employ a clerk who, 
 on every possible occasion, intimates that the 
 business methods of that bank are questionable, 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 79 
 
 that its securities are bad, and that the bank 
 itself is shaky, do you think yon would be likely 
 to recommend him for an increase of salary? 
 Yon would tell him either to shut up or get out, 
 and you would treat him right. Suppose you 
 are in the insurance business, and a man who 
 represents your corporation is found disparag- 
 ing its methods of transacting business, and 
 suggesting that there is something rotten in the 
 enterprise; would you regard him as a friend 
 or a foe? Suppose some one is sick in your 
 home, and the doctor and nurse put on a look 
 of despair every time they enter that sick 
 room, and say to the patient: "You look worse 
 today. We are afraid you are not going to get 
 well." How long would it take you to fire 
 them? Confidence is what the world needs to 
 transact any kind of business, and nowhere is 
 confidence a bigger asset than in winning the 
 world to Christ. Believe! Do not criticize — 
 but believe ! The men who believe are the men 
 who achieve. 
 
 These criticisms are usually based on igno- 
 rance. A friend of mine met the author of a 
 book entitled "Social Unrest," and spoke to 
 him about the great Laymen's Missionary 
 Movement Convention that was then about to 
 be held in New York City. This gentleman 
 asked what the convention was about, and he 
 was told that it was in the interest of Foreign 
 Missions; that the men who were coming to- 
 gether were trying to convert the world. The 
 
80 THE PEESBYTEKIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 author of " Social Unrest" expressed great sur- 
 prise. He said to my friend : ' ' You don 't mean 
 to say that these people are trying to make 
 Christians out of heathen; that they are try- 
 ing to convert a Chinaman and make him a 
 Christian!" My friend said: "That is pre- 
 cisely what I mean." "Why, I did not know 
 that anybody believed in that sort of thing any 
 .longer," replied the gentleman who had written 
 on "Social Unrest." He was ignorant of the 
 greatest social movement of the day. He had 
 gone into a cave and, sitting down in its dark- 
 est corner, had written about "Social Unrest," 
 unmindful, and perhaps ignorant, of the only 
 thing that will ever cure social unrest. 
 
 If there be one thing that men can thoroughly 
 believe in, it is the Kingdom. Its success is 
 unmistakable. 
 
 The men who know the facts are the men who 
 are most thoroughly enlisted. Mr. James Stew- 
 art Kennedy, who recently left to the Boards 
 of the Presbyterian church several million dol- 
 lars for their missionary work, knew what he 
 was about. The "Portland Oregonian," a news- 
 paper that never loses an opportunity to fling 
 at Christianity, said, in an editorial comment- 
 ing on Mr. Kennedy's will, that Mr. Kennedy 
 was evidently a back number; that he knew 
 nothing about modern charity and philanthropy, 
 or he would never have left his money to Church 
 Boards. The "Oregonian" was ignorant of the 
 facts. Mr. Kennedy was a thoroughly up-to- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 81 
 
 date philanthropist. He built the United Char- 
 ities Building in New York City ; he endowed a 
 School of Philanthropy; and by his direction 
 and generosity the great Presbyterian Hospital 
 was so developed as to minister to the needs 
 of people without reference to sect or class. 
 As men get nearer the facts, criticism expires, 
 skepticism dies, and they become enthusiastic 
 for the kingdom. 
 
 But men can do more than become interested, 
 more than shame and silence the hostile criti- 
 cism of the Church and its work. They can 
 hasten the kingdom. They can engage in per- 
 sonal Christian work. They can lead their fel- 
 lowmen to Christ. They can become living links 
 between the lost world and the Saviour. They 
 can see to it that the mission of the Church is 
 accomplished. They can get to the firing line 
 themselves. The Men and Eeligion Forward 
 Movement, if I understand it, is trying to sound 
 through the Church this note that shall send 
 Christian manhood out on the sort of service 
 that those early disciples served when they 
 found their brothers and brought them to Jesus. 
 
 Man can pray for the kingdom. Do you men 
 pray for the kingdom? Is it so on your heart 
 that it is in your daily prayers? Mr. J. Camp- 
 bell White told us of a man who came recently 
 into his office and said : i i My ambition has been 
 to be worth a million dollars, but my ambition 
 now is to do something to spread the kingdom 
 of Christ in the earth. I have a son at Prince- 
 
82 THE PBESBYTEBIAN BBOTHEBHOOD 
 
 ton College, and I pray twice a day that lie may 
 become a missionary." 
 
 We can give our money to this work. There 
 are some of you who are saying that the Church 
 is always after money. Yes, the Church is 
 always after money, but it is not always getting 
 what it is always after. If it were, perhaps it 
 would not have to go so often. It is one thing 
 to be after money, and it is another thing to 
 get it. But is it not to the credit of the Church 
 that it is after money? It is a sign that the 
 Church is doing something, that it is busy, that 
 it is growing. It is a dying Church that has no 
 need of money. 
 
 We can give our personal service somewhere 
 — here — yonder. We can make our personali- 
 ties felt as Christian men, and as men do this, 
 the age ceases to be the dog-age of the world. 
 It becomes the man-age, the Son-of-Man-age, 
 the Christ age. 
 
 What are you doing? What is the kingdom 
 to you, and what are you to the kingdom? It 
 is said that a pound of coal has enough power 
 in it to carry it around the world. If the sun 
 can shine energy into a dull, dead thing like 
 a lump of coal and store it with power like that, 
 is it too much to believe that the God who has 
 been shining His love and His power into the 
 human soul from the first moment of its ex- 
 istence, meant it to have a shorter circuit? How 
 far are you making yourself felt? In your per- 
 sonal moods and conduct? You must go further 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 83 
 
 than that. In your family, among your neigh- 
 bors, in your church, in your community and 
 your nation? You must go further than that. 
 You must send your influence, your energy, 
 yourself around the world, for you can. 
 
 One day, on the streets of Chicago, a man who 
 was very active in Christian work was shot 
 down. He lingered for many hours in great 
 pain. His pastor, a friend of mine, who was 
 with him, said : 
 
 "I want to ask you this question, whether 
 you are to go or whether you are to stay, can 
 you say to God, 'Thy will be done'?" 
 
 Without a moment's hesitation, he said: 
 
 "Of course I can. I have no use for my life 
 except to serve the will of God. ' ' 
 
 What use have we for our lives? What are 
 you waiting for? What are you watching for? 
 What are you working for? How big is your 
 business? How wide is your sky? How lofty 
 is your horizon? "Like unto men who wait for 
 their Lord?" 
 
OPEN CONFERENCE. 
 
 Led by Judge Selden P. Spencer, St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 Judge Spencek: — I read the footnote on the 
 program that this conference will be open for 
 free discussion and will help to relate the 
 Brotherhood vitally to this movement, and I 
 call your attention to the fact that this is a con- 
 ference and not an address on the subject. 
 
 Already the Council by its unanimous vote 
 has related the Brotherhood to "The Men and 
 Eeligion Forward Movement." The import- 
 ance, therefore, of knowing what it is, and why 
 it is, and when it is and where it is, and how it 
 is to be conducted, is manifest ; and it is for that 
 purpose, first, that this conference is to be held ; 
 and, secondly, this conference is to be the prepa- 
 ration for the more important topic of prayer 
 and intercession which immediately follows this 
 open conference. How many men here heard 
 Dr. Barbour last night on "Men and Eeligion"? 
 Now will those men who were here, but have not 
 in any way up to this time participated in this 
 Men and Eeligion Forward Movement, will you 
 kindly raise your hands? 
 
 I will ask the Vice Chairman of that move- 
 ment if he is in the house, in a moment, to tell 
 us what The Men and Eeligion Forward Move- 
 
 84 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 85 
 
 ment is ; and before I ask him I want to ask the 
 audience that any question that suggests itself 
 to the mind of any man is probably a question 
 that would suggest itself to the minds of other 
 men, and please be prompt in asking it. I call 
 your attention to the further fact that the ac- 
 celerated motion of this movement is in the 
 increasing participation of laymen, and we are 
 a part of it; and doubtless this afternoon there 
 will be suggestions the wisdom of which and the 
 practicability of which will be of immense use- 
 fulness in the carrying out of this movement ; so 
 please be prompt in suggestions, as well as 
 prompt in question. I give this word of per- 
 sonal testimony before God, I have never known 
 of a movement for the presentation of Jesus 
 Christ to the manhood of North America that 
 began to equal in the wideness of its scope, or 
 in the greatness of its possibilities, this Men 
 and Religion Forward Movement, about which 
 we are to confer today. Is Mr. Thompson, Vice 
 Chairman of the Committee of Ninety-seven, 
 here? 
 
 Charles T. Thompson: — I will endeavor to 
 leave plenty of time for those who are to follow 
 me. When I was asked just before the adjourn- 
 ment this morning to speak to the topic, I en- 
 deavored to prepare in my own mind a concise 
 definition of this movement. I found it a diffi- 
 cult matter, but I would express it in this way — 
 this is an organized, united effort on the part 
 of the men of the Evangelical Protestant 
 
86 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 Churches of North America to awaken and 
 quicken the religious sense in the hearts and 
 minds of men and boys in North America, — a 
 very comprehensive thing. In order to tell you 
 what it is, I am going to tell you what it is not. 
 
 First : — It is not exclusively a laymen's move- 
 ment. Bear in mind, you who are pastors, we 
 expect your assistance in this work. We lay- 
 men have taken upon ourselves the responsibil- 
 ity of putting this machinery in operation. We 
 have had the assistance of multitudes of conse- 
 crated noble pastors, men who represent large 
 churches, but this is not exclusively a layman's 
 work. It is for the men, laymen and clergymen, 
 to take up and carry on. 
 
 Second : — It is not exclusively an evangelistic 
 movement. The first objective we have is to 
 reach, consecrate, and bring to the feet of the 
 Saviour men and boys throughout the United 
 States and Canada. 
 
 The reason for this is clear. The men and 
 the women in North America are about equally 
 divided as to sexes. There are about the same 
 number of men as of women, and yet it is a fact, 
 a startling fact, an alarming fact, at the present 
 time there are in round numbers three million 
 more women and girls in the Evangelical 
 Churches than men and boys ; and the primary 
 object is to bring these three million to the feet 
 of the Saviour. Our work is to be more far- 
 reaching, and to conserve the Christian forces 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 87 
 
 that are just brought into the church and are 
 already in the church. 
 
 Third: — It is not a permanent organization. 
 It is the desire of this movement to set in mo- 
 tion this machinery to produce certain results 
 and link them up to the life of the Christian 
 Church. "We do not want to set aside the; 
 Church. We do not want another organization 
 working outside or in the Church. We are a 
 movement to produce certain results and then 
 to link up to the Church, the organized Church 
 of Christ, which we emphasize at all times, 
 whatever we have been able to conserve. 
 
 Fourth : — It is not antagonistic to the Church. 
 At the Conference at Buffalo we adopted cer- 
 tain resolutions. There are two or three hun- 
 dred copies of this program which has been 
 sent out by this movement, which have been 
 placed in the front vestibule of the church, which 
 you can have, and which will give you an idea. 
 "We emphasize our belief in the Church of 
 Jesus Christ as the one instrumentality ap- 
 pointed by Him for the salvation of the world, 
 and that the organizations united in this move- 
 ment are only agencies of the Church, through 
 which it can carry on its ministry, etc." You 
 see how we emphasize the Church. 
 
 The next thing. Its aim is to take the men 
 and boys already in the Church and those who 
 may go in, and make them just as effective as 
 possible for the service of our Lord and Mas- 
 
88 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 ter, and through their agency make the Church 
 itself effective for the salvation of the world. 
 
 Our objectives are these: We desire "to se- 
 cure, on the part of the men and boys of this 
 generation, personal faith, leading them to the 
 conformity of their wills to the will of God." 
 We aim "to enroll men and boys in the sys- 
 tematic and daily study of the Holy Scriptures." 
 We aim "to continue and increase the emphasis 
 of the Christian religion as the one and only 
 hope of the world, and make the abiding mis- 
 sionary enterprises of the Church, at home and 
 abroad, the most vital and permanent element in 
 Christian life," etc. 
 
 In brief, it is this : First, win the men and 
 boys who are out of the Church to the feet of the 
 Saviour. 
 
 Second, take those men and boys and the 
 men and boys already in the Church, put the 
 spirit of Christ more and more into them if we 
 can, give them an objective, and show that the 
 religion of Jesus Christ is the greatest affair 
 that can be offered in this world. Make it as 
 efficient as we can. Find the means by which we 
 can do it and take them all ; link them up as a 
 permanent factor in the life of the Christian 
 Church we love so dearly. 
 
 Judge Spencek : — What questions suggest 
 themselves to anyone? 
 
 Me. Holt: — What is the precise thing any 
 presbyterial brotherhood can do to help this 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 89 
 
 forward, whether in a large city or small vil- 
 lage? 
 
 (From the floor) : — Is it an undenominational 
 movement? 
 
 Judge Spencer: — Yes, sir, absolutely. 
 
 Mr. Thompson : — The following Brotherhoods 
 have been pledged to it : 
 
 The Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip. 
 
 The Baptist Brotherhood. 
 
 The Brotherhood of Disciples of Christ. 
 
 The Congregational Brotherhood of America. 
 
 The Gideons (Commercial Travelers). 
 
 The International Sunday School Associa- 
 tion. 
 
 The Lutheran Brotherhood. 
 
 The Brotherhood of St. Andrew. 
 
 The Methodist Brotherhood. 
 
 The Otterbein Brotherhood (United Brethren 
 Church). 
 
 The Presbyterian Brotherhood of America. 
 
 The United Presbyterian Brotherhood. 
 
 The International Committee of Y. M. C. A. 
 
 They are all pledged to it. 
 
 Mr. Bowe, Toledo, Ohio: — What is the first 
 step to take to affiliate our local societies with 
 this movement? 
 
 Judge Spencer : — If you are one of the ninety 
 cities, that matter will be taken care of by your 
 local committee. I throw out for information, 
 
90 THE PKESBYTEKIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 but not for discussion, that it has been sug- 
 gested that the Eoman Catholic Church might 
 well participate in this forward movement. It 
 is an effort on the part of Christian organiza- 
 tions, let us get this clear, and Christian lay- 
 men in North America, to present Jesus Christ 
 to the men of North America for salvation ; and 
 the service of Jesus Christ to the men of North 
 America for life. That is the purpose of the 
 movement, confined to North America. Is there 
 any need for it ? That map back of me has three 
 colors in each circle. The yellow color repre- 
 sents the non-Christian element in each state, 
 and here (indicating) the proportion of the non- 
 Christian element in the United States. The 
 data for Canada are not yet available. The red 
 portion in each state and in the aggregate, in 
 the larger circle, represents the Eoman Cath- 
 olic population. The green represents the 
 Protestant population. The proportion is evi- 
 dent by the space occupied by the several colors. 
 The little space of white is all other sects of 
 people that are not included in one of the three 
 larger divisions, non-Christian, Eoman Catholic 
 and Protestant. I want to ask a question why 
 this movement is necessary, and Mr. Husted, if 
 here, I want to answer it. But before he an- 
 swers it, I call attention to the fact that the 
 movement is in progress now. It has started. 
 In ninety cities which have been selected (they 
 will be called the center), in each one of these 
 ninety cities the program which at your leisure 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 91 
 
 you can read (from these two charts upon my 
 left hand and your right hand) — in each one of 
 these ninety cities there will be conducted a 
 plan of campaign that will be outlined in a mo- 
 ment. We will commence in September of this 
 year 1911, and will end in May, 1912, and be- 
 tween now and September, 1911, there will be 
 preparatory work in each one of these ninety 
 centers. 
 
 James D. Husted, Denver : — If there is an ex- 
 planation, or a definition, it would take more 
 time than I can give ; yet I think the very fact 
 stated this afternoon as to what is to be at- 
 tempted will indicate the underlying feeling in 
 the thought of Christian men that the need ex- 
 isted to do the things. Now once for all in the 
 history of the past five years there has come to 
 us a conviction that the Christian men of Amer- 
 ica are to arise to an opportunity for service; 
 for the kingdom has need for the biggest men 
 of the country. We see that we ourselves as 
 business men have not measured up to the de- 
 gree of activity and usefulness we have dis- 
 played in our business lives. Within the last 
 twenty-five years perhaps, in their active, 
 earnest, intelligent, business effort they have de- 
 veloped more skill, more training and more abil- 
 ity to reach the other man in their business life 
 than they have in their Christian life. The rela- 
 tive importance of a Christian man should be 
 maintained. The conviction has come, on the 
 part of many Christian men, that, having at- 
 
92 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 tained that reasonable degree of success to 
 which they have looked forward legitimately, 
 that their strength may well be applied for the 
 remaining years of their life definitely toward 
 the extension of the kingdom of God. 
 
 The suggestions have been made to us as to 
 the tremendous growth of this country. Mr. 
 Cannon, the President of the Fourth National 
 Bank of New York City, and the Chairman of 
 the great committee having charge of the for- 
 warding of this movement, said to me, that so 
 far as he was concerned, the reason he proposed 
 to give his time and strength and money was 
 because he observed that over this country there 
 was a tremendous increase of wealth ; and if we 
 should not bring men in by some organized 
 movement which would bring all the existing 
 organizations into active co-operation, he him- 
 self feared for the future of this country; be- 
 cause men not led into the kingdom, and pos- 
 sessing great wealth and having large influ- 
 ence, if they should continue to use their money 
 along the lines to which they had given their 
 thought, would far outstrip the Christian men, 
 who, having the same ability to accumulate 
 money, were not using it to the utmost develop- 
 ment in Christian things. That motive alone is 
 .enough to force us into the movement. 
 
 Then will you consider the tremendous army 
 of young men and boys growing up, not thor- 
 oughly equipped, not thoroughly educated along 
 the line of Christian service. You know how we 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 93 
 
 fail nowadays to train our young men in the 
 Word of God as they should be trained. In 
 your own community, as it is with all of us, 
 there is no such training given as existed a gen- 
 eration ago. Shall we, possessing our own op- 
 portunity in our own time, allow these young 
 men coming into manhood to slip away from the 
 only thing that is worth while? Get your fig- 
 ures; it will astonish you the number that are 
 going to make the first use of their franchise 
 this year. I think it is a grand thing that a 
 large number of men, moved by a simultaneous 
 feeling that something should be done to bring 
 together the Brotherhood Organization, the 
 Sunday School Organization, and the Gideon 
 Organization, should all unite together in one 
 movement, in which cooperation should be the 
 most marked of all its features; and with the 
 use of time, strength, force and ability on the 
 part of these strong men of the country, there 
 should be brought to bear on the feeling of un- 
 rest abroad in the land, that with our increas- 
 ing knowledge, culture and money, we never- 
 theless are laying hold on the strenuous needs 
 of the time. 
 
 A movement, for the first time in the history 
 of the country, where all forces should be united 
 for inspirational and educational effort and 
 turn the work over to the Church, is what leads 
 me to voice the reason why the movement should 
 be supported. 
 
94 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Delegate :— I would like to ask where the sta- 
 tistics for that large map were obtained. Surely 
 that cannot be the situation in our country. 
 
 Judge Spencer: — The statistics, if I am not 
 mistaken, were taken from the United States 
 Census Eeports and based primarily upon 
 church membership — Protestant, Roman-Cath- 
 olic and non-Christian. 
 
 I want to ask another man to say a word, if 
 he is here, how this movement is to carry on this 
 work. Before he speaks, I call attention to 
 what Mr. Thompson said a moment ago. I do 
 not suppose if a man was asked what was the 
 most important thing in our life, he would hesi- 
 tate for a moment to say, the religion of Jesus 
 Christ. I have no doubt men whom we work 
 with, or men who work under us, or men who 
 see us in profession or factory, may well have a 
 doubt as to whether from our conduct we really 
 think that Jesus Christ is the most important 
 thing in our lives. That is the reason for the 
 difference between the laboring man and the 
 Church today, or one of them. That is one of 
 the reasons why three million more women are 
 in the Church than men. That is one of the 
 reasons for the doubt and indifference that is 
 growing toward matters of Jesus Christ in 
 North America. To meet that, as Mr. Husted 
 so well said, there is to be a concentrated effort 
 on behalf of Christian Organizations and Chris- 
 tian Men, to present to the men and boys of 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 95 
 
 North America the religion of Jesus Christ, 
 and to do it by a simultaneous effort that shall 
 confine it within a definite time for its begin- 
 ning, so that its results may run on through the 
 years to come. 
 
 Key. Ira Landrith, D.D., Nashville, Tenn: — 
 I do not believe that there has at any time, any- 
 where, been stated more definitely and more suc- 
 cintly the purpose of this Movement than is 
 stated in the report of the National Council to 
 this convention. I think The Men and Religion 
 Forward Movement is a great united effort, to 
 do in a short while much of the work which the 
 Presbyterian and other Brotherhoods are do- 
 ing, but more slowly than is practicable with a 
 passing generation. This work is to be done as 
 was explained last night by the organization of 
 ninety cities, each with a committee of one hun- 
 dred of the best religious life of all denomina- 
 tions in that city. This committee of one hun- 
 dred, if nothing were done but to organize that 
 committee and set it to work on the moral life of 
 the men and boys, if no experts came, would be 
 well worth the effort. The cause of religion in 
 any city needs the communion and co-operation 
 of all the workers in any special line of religious 
 activity, and if you will throw together the hun- 
 dred best religious workers in St. Louis and 
 keep them in compact religious activity for 
 eighteen months it will do tremendous things 
 for the religious work of this city. The plan is 
 
96 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 for a ten days' campaign, when there shall come 
 ten or twelve of the world's greatest specialists 
 along the lines given to yon, who will give a 
 well ronnded religions life message to the men 
 and boys of this city. If no Committee of One 
 Hundred were organized, and yon conld get 
 the men of the community to listen, the pastors, 
 the religions leaders to listen, at the feet of 
 these ten world-famed specialists in evangelistic 
 work for men and how to do it ; in work for boys, 
 and how best that work is to be accomplished; 
 in social service, and how the churches may go 
 on and do this service ; and in all the other lines 
 of activities proposed — that would be worth all 
 it costs. Long before the time comes, and many 
 a year after it has gone, the trained community 
 in which the meetings have been held, the 
 trained ninety centers, will be centers of light, 
 down to every city and village and country place 
 within reach of that city; and, as has been said, 
 this movement is not to end in 1912, it is merely 
 to begin in 1912, and that campaign upon which 
 we have entered is a campaign for twenty years 
 and not for one. I hold in my hands the names 
 of the Committee of Ninety-seven, from which 
 I read the names of men, whose very names 
 when they are spoken, make every newspaper 
 man sit up and take notice. Men who, when 
 they speak, will get the opportunity of utter- 
 ance through the press of this country as no 
 religious movement has had persistently for 
 many months at a time ; men who will create an 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 97 
 
 interest in the cause of humanity to set every 
 man in a street car talking. 
 
 Tomorrow, in the city of New York, four 
 members of this Presbyterian Brotherhood out 
 of the eleven members that have absolute charge 
 in an executive way of this whole movement 
 were expected to meet to choose the ninety cities 
 and set to work the great movement; so if Pres- 
 byterians do not have their own way, or as much 
 of it as it pleases the Lord to let them have, it 
 is because the Presbyterians are too modest; 
 but our friends have never accused us of that 
 vice. 
 
 Judge Spencer: — For a moment, putting in 
 the form of a picture that which Dr. Landrith 
 has stated, let us look at Detroit. Supposing 
 that Detroit were selected as one of the ninety 
 cities; they have not all been selected, — none 
 will be selected except those cities who greatly 
 desire it and care to carry out the plan after the 
 work has been done in that city, — suppose De- 
 troit were selected as one of those cities. In 
 the city of Detroit there would be selected a com- 
 mittee of one hundred laymen, interdenomina- 
 tional, who would commence at once by publica- 
 tion, by billboard advertisement, if it were 
 deemed wise, by street car advertising, by space 
 in the daily paper, by articles in the weekly and 
 monthly magazines, to impress on the people of 
 that community that men were interested in 
 the salvation of other men. If any man in this 
 
98 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 audience has been identified with a political 
 campaign, the same kind of aggressive putting 
 forth of information about the relative merits 
 of the party to which you happen to belong, is 
 the foundation of the publicity department 
 of this Men and Eeligion Forward Movement. 
 That would start at once; the necessary sub- 
 committees would start and their preparatory 
 work along those lines would continue until 
 some time between September, 1911, and May, 
 1912. During those months, in the city of De- 
 troit, there would be concentrated an eight-day 
 campaign, in which a team would be brought 
 from the outside, consisting of a Bible student, 
 like Scofield; an Evangelist, like Chapman; a 
 singer, like Alexander; and shopmen familiar 
 with work among the shopmen, like Willis; a 
 worker among boys, like Eobinson ; and men fa- 
 miliar with machinery, like Stelzle. Eight or 
 ten teams would go into that city for a final ef- 
 fort for eight days. I asked Dr. Barbour what 
 he considered the most important part of the 
 Men and Eeligion Forward Movement. He said 
 at once, it is not the team work, it is the prepa- 
 ratory work of the local committee. The team 
 work is the ending, the gathering in of the work. 
 During these eight days in Detroit, that team 
 of Bible students, of religious work among 
 working men, of evangelistic services for men 
 and boys, branching out into stores and shops, 
 would culminate in great meetings for the pres- 
 entation of Jesus Christ in Detroit ; in that city 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 99 
 
 the eight-day campaign would end as the team 
 left on a similar campaign in another one of the 
 ninety cities; but that would not end Detroit's 
 work. One of the obligations of the central com- 
 mittee is that Detroit agrees to see to it that that 
 same campaign which has just been finished in 
 Detroit, shall be duplicated in the cities around 
 Detroit, as far off as Bay City, Monroe, Mount 
 Clemens, and cities contiguous to Detroit with- 
 in fifty or a hundred miles ; and those cities in 
 turn duplicating the general plan of work which 
 has just been had in Detroit agree that when 
 that work is finished that those cities shall dupli- 
 cate it again in the towns immediately surround- 
 ing those secondary cities; and thus the work 
 for years, as Dr. Landrith outlined it, continues. 
 It is not for the day. 
 
 Nolan E. Best, New York City: — I should 
 like to express the hope, which I rather think 
 would be reflected in the mind of this conven- 
 tion, that we shall be very careful of the democ- 
 racy of this whole movement. I do not like to 
 criticise Dr. Barbour in his absence, but one 
 could not help noticing when he described the 
 composition of the committee of one hundred 
 which are to be in control, he spoke of them as 
 being composed of the leading professional and 
 business men of the city. It was an accident of 
 speech, yet one cannot help seeing in the compo- 
 sition of this Committee of Ninety-Seven that 
 it is exclusively of the business and professional 
 
100 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 classes, if I mistake not in my knowledge. I 
 hope that will not be pressed in the ninety cities. 
 Since this Committee of Ninety-Seven is so 
 elastic that it contains one hundred and ten 
 members, I hope that there shall be added the 
 names of important and influential laboring- 
 men in this country; and of those of us who, 
 while we cannot call ourselves laboring men, are 
 fain to call ourselves salaried men. It is known 
 to us with great delight that the Secretary and 
 the Treasurer of the National Federation of 
 Labor are earnest evangelical churchmen; and 
 many of the leaders of the constituent labor 
 unions are likewise earnest Christian men, and 
 they ought to have by all means their voice in 
 this movement. We shall not detract anything 
 from the professional and business men who 
 are leading them, if we add strong and repre- 
 sentative working men to the committees at 
 least. We shall have no difficulty in finding 
 them; there is not such a complete severance 
 between the Church and the workingman that 
 it will be any task to hunt out men who will be 
 leaders in this work, as the bankers and profes- 
 sional men of all sorts already identified with 
 it. We must remember if this movement is to 
 express itself it must be a democratic move- 
 ment; it must not address itself, for lack of a 
 better term, to the upper classes; but must in 
 all its relations spring democratically and spon- 
 taneously out of the heart of the Church, know- 
 ing no classes but including all. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 1Q1 
 
 James D. Husted, Denver, Colo. : — A word il- 
 lustrative of the sentiment of the local com- 
 munities. I have just come from the organiza- 
 tion of the Committee of One Hundred in our 
 own city. One of the most influential members 
 is a cook on the dining car of a railroad; an- 
 other most influential member of that commit- 
 tee is foreman of a machine shop, who is looked 
 upon as a leader of Christian workers in Den- 
 ver. "We mean by "leading men," the men 
 who go out and do things for Jesus Christ re- 
 gardless of the fact whether they are known as 
 business men or not, and I think that is abso- 
 lutely the true measure of the activity, the in- 
 fluence, and the power and standing of the 
 Christian man, whether he does things or not. 
 Another man whom we love to honor is a man 
 who is superintendent of a Eescue Mission, and 
 for six years was a man who was dodging the 
 officers who were trying to arrest him for a 
 crime which he had committed, and when he 
 found Jesus Christ he took his place among the 
 most influential men in the truest sense. 
 
PEAYEE AND INTEECESSION. 
 
 BY REV. JOHN TIMOTHY STONE, D.D., CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 Gentlemen, before we enter upon this subject, 
 let us all unite in prayer: 
 
 Our Father and our God, we know that thou 
 art here to guide us, and we know that we are 
 thy children, but we would feel closer to thee ; 
 we would realize our weakness as we realize thy 
 strength. We would realize thy power and our 
 personal relationship to thee in the exercise of 
 thy power. Oh, God, we pray that we may learn 
 during these moments together, with the re- 
 newed energy of expression in our lives, what 
 it means to be co-laborers with thee; what it 
 means to be the expression of thy power to 
 man; what it means to let thee clothe thyself 
 with us ; and may we gain the presence of thy 
 Spirit so definitely that we may see Jesus Christ 
 in His manhood, in His reality, and feel that 
 we are with the Son of God, as thou dost walk 
 with us in the way and as thou dost make real 
 to us the teachings of thyself as to what we 
 should do for our fellow men. We ask thee to 
 use the few moments at the close of this session 
 to show us thyself and make us instruments of 
 
 102 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 103 
 
 thyself that thou mayest use us. We ask it in 
 Christ's name. Amen. 
 
 The former speaker used some small, strong 
 words for expression. I want to use some as 
 well ; they are effective words. Let us take the 
 words with, from, for, and in. The unlimited 
 with God; the inexhaustible from God; the im- 
 possible for God ; and the final in God. 
 
 Now if we have the meaning of these great 
 truths and realities, we have guaranteed the 
 success, from the very beginning, of this whole 
 Movement. The present strength of democracy 
 is the use of personal forces. The Church of 
 the living God today is going to solve the prob- 
 lem for the future, in the right use and the 
 proper administration of that which she now 
 possesses. We have all the machinery we need, 
 as we know. The question is, is God going to 
 use that machinery or is man to use it? We 
 have been learning, as the years have gone by, 
 the rare human danger of personality apart 
 from God, personality centered in man, rather 
 than controlled by God. This movement is to 
 be a movement of permanency if it is to be 
 strong. The organization, we have heard, is 
 not to be permanent, but the work is to be per- 
 manent. The revival that comes and goes is 
 not a revival as God defines religion. God 
 said, "Let there be light," but that light was 
 eternal, and that light was from the begin- 
 ning and shall continue. I believe we want to 
 realize from the very first that the unlimited 
 
104 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 with Him is ours in prayer. That the inex- 
 haustible is ours. "My God shall supply all 
 your need according to His riches in glory in 
 Christ Jesus." That we are to attempt that 
 which is absolutely impossible, for Him; and 
 we are to realize that the final is ours as He 
 Himself is to accomplish all. 
 
 I want to recall to your minds scripture which 
 brings this out very clearly. I wish those of 
 you who have Bibles or Testaments with you 
 would turn to the third chapter of Ephesians. 
 Paul, in the eighth verse in the third chapter of 
 Ephesians, says, "Unto me, who am less than 
 the least of all saints, is this grace given, that 
 I should preach among the Gentiles the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ ; and to make all men 
 see what is the fellowship of the mystery" — 
 that is where the faith comes in, — "which from 
 the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, 
 who created all things by Jesus Christ; to the 
 intent" (here is the purpose of it), "to the in- 
 tent that now unto the principalities and powers 
 in heavenly places might be known by the 
 Church the manifold wisdom of God. ' ' This is 
 a movement of the Church of God universally. 
 There is no word substitute for the great word 
 Church of God. Men and Eeligion means that 
 the Church of God, in all her varied functions, 
 is accomplishing God's work. The Young Men's 
 Christian Association is just as much a part of 
 the Church of God. It is not an organization 
 which relates itself to the Church; it is the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 105 
 
 Church acting in a different capacity. Every 
 organization is the Church of God. Again no- 
 tice this verse, "to the intent that now unto 
 principalities and powers in heavenly places, 
 might be known by the Church the manifold 
 wisdom of God." Every business man, every 
 artisan, every laboring man, is the manifold 
 wisdom of God. 
 
 Now note, — it started from the beginning, — 
 "according to the eternal purpose which he pur- 
 posed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we 
 have boldness and access with confidence 
 by the faith of him. "Wherefore I desire 
 that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, 
 which is your glory. For this cause I bow my 
 knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, ' ' here is the catholic element in it all, the 
 catholicity of God's great truth, "of whom the 
 ivhole family in heaven and earth is named, that 
 He would grant you, according to the riches of 
 His glory, to be strengthened with might by His 
 Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell 
 in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted 
 and grounded in love, may be able to compre- 
 hend with all saints, what is the breadth, 
 and length and depth, and height ; and to know 
 the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, 
 that ye might be filled with all the fulness of 
 God." He does not stop; this is the reason 
 he prays, "Now unto Him who is able to do 
 exceeding abundantly above all that we ask 
 or think, according to the power that worketh 
 
106 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 in us, unto Him be the glory in the church by- 
 Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world with- 
 out end." 
 
 Now, men, the power is God's. God is going 
 to use this movement just in so far as you and 
 I believe that God is in this movement; and 
 what the world wants today is less emphasis 
 upon human personality and more recognition 
 of the power of God. And when we realize that 
 no set of men or no organization which we our- 
 selves may form, in itself, can be sufficient to 
 do this work permanently and constructively 
 in the Church of God, then we shall use aright 
 every organization that comes to us, as God- 
 sent and God-used, and depending upon Him 
 will receive the blessing. Men, if ever we 
 want to believe in prayer, we want to be- 
 lieve in it now. The Church of God must 
 work as it prays. When Baltimore was burn- 
 ing up, we did not know where to hold our 
 evening service; more than a hundred of our 
 people were being burned out in their places 
 of business. Ten young men who had confessed 
 Christ in the morning saw their places of busi- 
 ness burned to the ground before night. We 
 decided to have a meeting in the prayer-meeting 
 room. Word came to some of us that they 
 needed some reinforcements to go to the city 
 hospitals. After closing the prayer meeting, 
 and exchanging Prince Albert coats for sweat- 
 ers, we ran down town, but we were praying 
 as we ran. What the Church wants is a pray- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 1Q7 
 
 ing force as we work; active prayer, working 
 as we pray. 
 
 When I was a lad I was placed in charge of 
 forty or fifty Sunday School children on a pic- 
 nic. We were all in one of those large carry- 
 all wagons. We had stopped at a little tavern 
 to get another driver, but the horses took 
 fright and started to run away. In my help- 
 less fright as I came out the door I instinctively 
 ran into an orchard and under an apple tree I 
 kneeled down, and poured out my soul in prayer 
 for the safety of those children; but if I had 
 known more, I would not have gone under that 
 apple tree; I would have taken my legs down 
 after that team, praying as I ran. What we 
 want is an active sympathetic spirit in activity. 
 
 We need also an absolute dependence on the 
 Almighty. We need to believe that nothing 
 which we can do, can substitute for what He 
 must do if the work is to be effective. It was 
 my privilege Sunday morning in preaching be- 
 fore the students of the University of Chi- 
 cago to say, there is no power, mental or phys- 
 ical, in the name of religion, which can substi- 
 tute for the supernatural in our faith. A stu- 
 dent came up to me later and said, "that is 
 the one thing I need, and that is the definition 
 of a faith which means reality to my life." 
 
 Men, the world wants that truth. The world 
 wants us to believe in God and believe in prayer. 
 Talk about prayer, but live prayer and act 
 prayer. A few years ago at the Mohonk Con- 
 
108 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 ference there came before us an Indian, and 
 on his face were those lines of character and 
 force that make us respect those who trod these 
 shores before we trod them. He stood before 
 that assembly and looked into our faces and 
 never uttered a word. We were embarrassed, 
 but he was not embarrassed. He stood a mo- 
 ment, he stood two moments ; and the room was 
 as still as the very silence of death, not a smile. 
 And then in a deep wholesome tone that came 
 from nature, and it seemed as though it came 
 from the very recesses of the forest, he told us 
 in a simple way, that "what the Indians of the 
 United States wanted was Jesu; what they 
 wanted was to know how to talk and read Bible ; 
 and how to pray and how give life for fellow 
 Indian; and how to help squaw and how to 
 help child and how to make schools ; but what 
 Indian wants is to know that Jesu is in his 
 heart, and that he is praying all the time, and 
 that he is living with the One who loves him, 
 and with God his Father." Tears were in that 
 audience. Mr. Smiley rose afterward and said : 
 "Do you know the Indians of this tribe have 
 a custom before they speak, of looking into the 
 faces of their audience as they pray; they want 
 to look into the face of men as they look into 
 the face of God. All the time our brother was 
 standing before us he was praying that he 
 might say what we needed and that God might 
 voice his thought. ' ' This is what we need. Men 
 do not want to hear us. Men are sick of hear- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 109 
 
 ing men that have to say something, instead of 
 men who have something to say. There is a 
 great difference. If we are born of God and 
 God is using us, and like Gideon of old, if God 
 ' ' clothes Himself with us, ' ' if we are filled with 
 all the fulness of God — (I do not know what 
 that means, I want to know) — if God, as with 
 Gideon of old, clothes Himself with us, how will 
 this Men's Movement vitalize and release every 
 quality that is Godlike in every human heart. 
 How it will surely thrill. 
 
 "Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, 
 neither hath it entered into the heart of man 
 the things" (not there, the things here), "which 
 God hath prepared for them that love Him." 
 Into the great ranks of the Church of God uni- 
 versal, we need the strong iron in the blood, we 
 need the reality of a manhood, that speaks and 
 appeals to the man outside the Church, — labor- 
 ing man, banker, professor, whatever he may 
 be ; and tells him that God in Jesus Christ will 
 have him. And he may live and die in the 
 intensity of a purpose to represent Him; to 
 give Him to the world in this ordinary, sane, 
 and singular spiritual religious Movement. 
 
 Now men, may we pray for this ? I want the 
 last few moments of this half hour to be spent 
 in earnest petition that God may tell us what 
 to do. Let us in all the sincerity and earnest- 
 ness of our manhood, ask God to give us 
 the power of believing, determined, persistent 
 prayer here and constantly, that God may use 
 
HO THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 us in our churches. Let us bow in prayer, and 
 as you are led by the Spirit of God, sincerely 
 and directly and specifically, will you lead us 
 in prayer now ; and let there be no vacant mo- 
 ment, but if there be one, let us plead with God 
 unitedly in silent prayer. 
 
 Nolan E. Best: — Our Father in Heaven, we 
 earnestly pray this great vision which thou hast 
 given thy servants at this time, for the bring- 
 ing into thy kingdom and for the quickening of 
 the life of those who have hitherto given their 
 allegiance to thee, we beseech that thou will 
 consecrate and fill it with thy power ; and grant 
 that this may be the time of breaking forth of 
 new streams of pure life-giving power. In the 
 name of our Saviour. Amen. 
 
 Chaeles S. Holt : — Wilt thou forbid that we 
 should be so wrapped up in the thought of 
 machinery as to forget our own souls' needs. 
 As we contemplate this great opportunity, we 
 cast ourselves at thy feet for the cleansing 
 power of the Holy Spirit that we may be instru- 
 ments for use. 
 
 Eev. Andeew V. V. Eaymond, D.D. : — Our 
 Heavenly Father, we realize our weakness, but 
 thou art mighty; and our prayer is thou wilt 
 help us to turn to thee all our hearts in such a 
 way that thy might and power may come into 
 our lives ; that thou wilt help us to realize that 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION m 
 
 the work is thine and the power is thine; and 
 may we as we look back to the days when our 
 Lord and Master sent His disciples forth, real- 
 ize how impossible it was for them to do the 
 work He commanded them to do until they were 
 filled with His Spirit ; as we talk of His work, 
 grant we may pray each for His Spirit, without 
 which our effort will be in vain. 
 
 Bless, we pray thee, the one in responsible 
 charge of this movement. May the spirit of 
 the living God possess him; grant that in all 
 of his purposes and plans, in every word he 
 utters, the wisdom and power of God may be 
 revealed. 
 
 May the whole land be awakened as never 
 before by the appeal of Jesus Christ ; and may 
 God be manifest in so many lives that multi- 
 tudes may be brought to believe in Him and 
 have Him to reign over them. In the Name of 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN. 
 
THE LOCAL CHURCH AND 
 THE BROTHERHOOD 
 
THE BEOTHEEHOOD AND INDIVIDUAL 
 
 EESPONSIBILITY IN THE 
 
 CHUECH 
 
 BY REV. MAITLAND ALEXANDER, D.D., 
 PITTSBURGH, PA. 
 
 Fellow Members of the Presbyterian Church : 
 —I come to speak to yon here tonight in the 
 face of all that we have heard today, and of a 
 great deal that we have heard in the past few 
 years, concerning some great movements which 
 have characterized the modern advance in 
 Christian practice; to speak to yon in behalf 
 of the underlying thing which makes what we 
 have heard tonight of men and the Christian 
 religion a possibility. That institution and or- 
 ganization upon which every part of the super- 
 structure of the conquest of the world for Jesus 
 must rest. That organization is the Church of 
 the living God. My subject has been given to 
 me: "Our Brotherhood and Our Personal Ee- 
 sponsibility to the Church," and before we can 
 get any further in this discussion it is necessary 
 for us to understand definitely what we mean 
 when we speak of the Church of God. "What is 
 our view of this organization which has come 
 under the fiery tongue of criticism, which has 
 
 115 
 
116 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 had to bear the brunt of great opposition, and 
 from which sometimes we ourselves feel that we 
 need to be lifted by some new inspiration and 
 new power, because we have got into what we 
 call a rut? 
 
 There are many views held of the Church of 
 God. Some hold the corporate view, and be- 
 lieve it is a corporation gathered to do a cer- 
 tain work. Some believe the Church of God 
 is an educational institution, for the propaga- 
 tion of certain truths in its possession which 
 men must learn. A great many people think the 
 Church is a kind of club, or an association of 
 like-minded men and women, and we are in dan- 
 ger of forgetting that the Church is a divine 
 institution, put into the world under the sanc- 
 tion of Almighty God through His Son, Jesus 
 Christ. We are, I am afraid, drifting away 
 from the idea that the Church is the Ark of 
 God, and over and above it and in it is the 
 Shekinah which indicates the presence of the 
 Glory of God. We are sometimes forgetting, 
 too, but we were reminded of it in the first 
 address today, that the Church is the Body of 
 Christ, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, the finished 
 work of Jesus, and that for which He died that 
 it might one day be presented without spot or 
 wrinkle or any such thing before the throne of 
 His Father. I believe we can not take too 
 high an idea of the organized Christian Church. 
 It is good for us to go back again to those early 
 days when from the Mount of Olives, twelve 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 117 
 
 men, the organized Church, went down to Jeru- 
 salem to wait until the power of the living God 
 should come down upon them and endow them 
 to accomplish their mission. One of the most 
 humbling things to me in all the divine revela- 
 tion is that into the hands of us men has been 
 given this body of truth, this trust. It is a trust 
 of knowledge, it is a trust of faith, and it is a 
 trust of power ; and it has been given to us by 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I stand to the 
 world in the position of Trustees for this great 
 thing, this gospel, which has come to us from 
 the hands of God; which shall issue, if we are 
 faithful, in the regeneration of the world, and 
 in the bringing of all men to a saving knowledge 
 of Him whom to know aright is life eternal. 
 
 One of the most touching things in all the 
 Bible is the idea which Jesus Christ Himself 
 had about His Church. Do you remember that 
 day when He had about Him that little company 
 of the apostles, and the great conversation took 
 place between Simon Peter and Himself about 
 His Diety? Jesus Himself understood that 
 Peter would stand in the judgment hall and 
 deny Him. He foresaw that Judas would take 
 the thirty pieces of silver. Jesus understood 
 that the twelve disciples would forsake Him 
 and flee, but in the face of the inconstancy of 
 these first members, the Master flings back into 
 the face of the opposition of all History, His 
 personal pledge that the gates of hell should not 
 prevail against His Church. 
 
118 THE PEESBYTEKIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Who constitute the successors of these first 
 members of the Church? The membership of 
 a Church, as I understand it, is composed of 
 men and women who have taken upon them- 
 selves to publicly confess their faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, and to 
 take, whether verbally or silently, a solemn, 
 sacramental obligation in which they promise 
 they will do what Christ would have them do 
 for the advancement of His kingdom, for the 
 spread of His truth, and the glory of His name. 
 I do not think that any Christian Church can 
 contravene that definition of what it means to 
 be a member of the Church. Here we have 
 the divine side; yonder we have the human 
 side. Here we have the promised power ; there 
 we have the sacramental obligation. Here we 
 have God revealing to man the whole splendid 
 plan of redemption for the world. There we 
 have men earnestly, unconstrainedly, longingly, 
 lovingly, taking into their hands from His 
 pierced hand this sacred trusteeship that His 
 will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. 
 Uncoerced, we men have accepted His service ; 
 now we must see to it whether our work is being 
 done faithfully. 
 
 I am sorry to believe that men are drawn out 
 from the definite work of the Church by calls 
 which seem good of themselves, but not directly 
 in line with the work of the kingdom. I can 
 think now of an elder in the Presbyterian 
 Church, a good man, a strong man, but who 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION H9 
 
 felt that he could not find in his own church 
 work for his enthusiasm, and so he got to tak- 
 ing up outside things — religious things in a 
 measure, a certain type of religious and philan- 
 thropic service, all very good in its way; but 
 that man let go the things he had promised to 
 do when he united with the Church of God, and 
 obligated himself to do in his own church. He 
 does not go to his evening service. He does not 
 get to prayer meeting. He does not do the 
 things that belong to the routine work of the 
 kingdom. He does not keep his pew full of 
 unchurched men; does not do any of. the things 
 he ought to do in support of his own personal 
 and individual church. I do not believe that is 
 right. I believe it is subversive of the very 
 spirit of his pledge, and the underlying princi- 
 ples which he professed when he became a 
 Christian. For there is nothing in the world 
 more solemn than the vows of your sacramental 
 obligation ; there is nothing so high as the ideal 
 standard set for you by Jesus Christ, the head 
 of the Church. 
 
 You ask me to state for you tonight, if I can, 
 what I believe to be the place of the Brother- 
 hood in the Church. I believe the work of the 
 Brotherhood in the Church of Jesus Christ is 
 to emphasize the sacramental obligation which 
 every man took on uniting with the Church to 
 do his work in his own church where God has 
 put him. I believe when every Presbyterian 
 man and every other Brotherhood man in the 
 
120 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 Church of Christ throughout the world does 
 his work in his own church, we will have come 
 so far along the road to the coming of the king- 
 dom that we will not be able to recognize the 
 dusty battlefield on which we work today. Here, 
 then, is our call. I believe in a worldwide evan- 
 gelism. I believe in civic righteousness. I be- 
 lieve in social service, in these great, tremen- 
 dous movements that belong to our modern day, 
 but I believe a great deal more — and as the 
 underlying basis of it all, that every man must 
 be found faithful first in his own church where 
 God has seen fit to put him. The Brotherhood 
 man's first duty is to give his church his best. 
 The man who does not give his home his best is 
 not a worthy man. He may not be able to spend 
 much on his home ; he may not be able to have 
 that home like many another; and it may not 
 be filled with the vital interest of some other; 
 but after all it is his home, it is the place where 
 he owes his tenderest love, his inspiration, his 
 care — he is the head of his home. I believe it 
 is true about the Church. You owe it the best 
 you can give it in every way. Fellow Presby- 
 terians, it is a very easy thing to follow in the 
 assent to great platforms; it is a very easy 
 thing to be swayed by tremendous movements 
 with splendid predictions; it is a very easy 
 thing to believe in great reforms ; it is easy to 
 .assent to schemes that you yourself do not 
 have to carry out; it is a very easy thing to 
 follow along with a great crowd having intense 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 121 
 
 enthusiasm, led by magnificent leaders who do 
 the work; but it is a very much harder thing 
 to go back to your obscure church or your 
 great church, and fit yourself so that when you 
 are ready you can take a class of boys or girls 
 and teach them the.word of God. It is a differ- 
 ent thing for you to go back to your church and 
 there bring your best thought and influence, 
 that you yourself may be able to bring about a 
 great advance movement along the lines of the 
 church's efficiency. You remember the man 
 whom Jesus healed said: "I will tell all men; 
 I will go here and there and witness what you 
 have done for me. ' ' And the Master said : " Go 
 home and tell them what great things God hath 
 done for thee." I believe this is the emphasis 
 which the founders of this Brotherhood put on 
 the Brotherhood work. One of the things that 
 impressed me was how the first president of 
 this Brotherhood, in the city of Indianapolis, 
 went around to his friends' houses, and re- 
 cruited men for his own church prayer meet- 
 ing, and that has been the symbol of the creed 
 of what the Church might expect through its 
 Brotherhood men. Its aim must be not to 
 spread out into side issues, but to lay hold on 
 men with sufficient force and power to make 
 them work on the line of their own duty in the 
 Church. 
 
 I believe, first of all, this responsibility in- 
 volves the study of the individual interests of 
 your own church. How few men there are who 
 
122 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 are willing to do that; who will study the re- 
 ligious development, the religious opportunity, 
 the financial problems, the enlargement of the 
 congregation, the Sunday School, the Young 
 People's problems! We will interest our- 
 selves in things that will not touch us too 
 closely. We need to have a resurrection. Our 
 own church's development — what are its lines 
 for advance, and how can we, without an 
 individual work of our own, hope to be a power 
 for our King? Sometimes it seems as though 
 the brains of the Church were wrapped up in 
 a napkin instead of being invested in the work 
 of the kingdom. 
 
 There must be a far-sighted policy all along 
 the line, whether it be in big things or little 
 things, and until the laymen come to the point 
 where they are willing to do this, the Church 
 will be under the criticism of those who oppose 
 it. But when you and I to whom have been 
 committed this sacred trust hold fast to our 
 principles ; when we do our work as we ought 
 to do it, and plan for the kingdom with the best 
 that we have, then we will find the Church will 
 rise up and be in every community where it 
 stands the power of God unto salvation for 
 every one who believes. 
 
 The second thing, I think, in this obligation, 
 involves a preparation on our part to do this 
 work. Preparation of the unprepared. I live 
 in a city where there are great industrial enter- 
 prises, where every year there are hundreds of 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 123 
 
 young college men come to work. I find the 
 men who rise are the men who especially pre- 
 pare themselves for efficient service along the 
 line of the industry's needs. A man who is 
 willing to throw himself into the learning is 
 the man who ultimately works out his own suc- 
 cess and proves a power in the concern. A 
 young Yale man went to work in one of the 
 industrial concerns in Pittsburgh. There was 
 a great deal of reconstruction going on. After 
 that plant was finished I, happening to be inter- 
 ested in him, asked the head of the plant 
 whether he was worth his salary. "Why," he 
 said, "do you know that man, I believe, could 
 sit down and tell you the price of everything 
 that went into that plant, the quality of it, how 
 it was put together. He has fairly lived and 
 slept and eaten and worked with it until he 
 knows the construction of this concern as it 
 stands today as well as I know it." Why did 
 he do it? Because he wanted to make himself 
 indispensable to the man for whom he worked* 
 How many of you are making yourself indis- 
 pensable to the Head of the Church? I do not 
 mean to your pastor, minister, or officers, but 
 how many are fitting yourselves by study to 
 do your assumed work? Men are standing up 
 in crowds and saying: "I am not fitted." In 
 the name of God, be fitted by your own efforts, 
 by your own work, and by the Holy Spirit in 
 you. Moses said : "I am not fit ; " Isaiah said : 
 "I am a man of unclean lips;" Paul said: "I 
 
124: THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 have persecuted the Church of God;" but God 
 did not take these excuses. The rod was given 
 to Moses, the live coal was laid on the lips of 
 Isaiah, the sight of the risen Jesus was given to 
 Paul ; and they were sent out to do the things 
 God wanted them to do. Men, you must learn 
 how to teach, learn how to pray, learn to win 
 souls ; learn how to constructively build up the 
 Church and be true to the responsibilitv of your 
 call. 
 
 Everything I have said thus far is dependent 
 on your personal conviction about Christ. You 
 can not make strong men in the Church who 
 have not any conviction about the Church or 
 about the King and Head of the Church. I 
 deprecate with all my heart this sentiment 
 which seems to be arising more and more that 
 it matters little about aggressive, positive, virile 
 conviction ; that all that is needed is social serv- 
 ice. There is not anything that can be done in 
 the world, least of all in the kingdom of God, 
 without convictions that are born out of a stu- 
 pendous yet sometimes trembling faith; con- 
 victions about God, about His Son, about the 
 power of His grace; convictions about the 
 grandeur of His Kingdom, about the other 
 sheep not of this fold whom Jesus desires to 
 bring that they may hear His voice ; that there 
 may be one shepherd and one fold. Look at 
 those disciples as they sought for power, with 
 inadequate equipment, poor position, intense 
 opposition. Look at us, with all the parapher- 
 
ST. LOOTS CONVENTION 125 
 
 nalia of Church extension, with the magnificent 
 testimony of the ages of the Church's history 
 to stand behind us, with the miracles of grace 
 that are wrought throughout the world to tes- 
 tify to the Church's power, with talent, influ- 
 ence, and money, and social position. What 
 are we doing in order that we may make 
 Christ's kingdom count? Fellow Christian 
 men, let us listen, if we can, to the testimony 
 of Jesus Himself concerning the predestined 
 and transcendent triumph of His Church, for 
 to me it is a solemn fact that you and I may 
 be derelict to our conviction in the Church of 
 God, but it is not going to make any difference 
 in the advancement of the kingdom. It may 
 stay the progress of the kingdom's chariot for 
 a day ; it may retard the millennium year a lit- 
 tle, but God's kingdom is surely going to come, 
 and His will is going to be done on earth as it is 
 in heaven, and you and I may, if we will, be 
 among those who with the King shall lay down 
 before His Father's throne that unspotted and 
 unsullied and triumphant Church, or we may 
 let go our chance to march with Him to the ulti- 
 mate victories of His Cross. 
 
 To me the secret of the whole life of the 
 Church lies in our response to God's call in 
 our own churches. Have you ever stood in the 
 field in the autumn, and seen the birds get- 
 ting ready to migrate — how they fly around and 
 around until at some mystic signal they cut 
 through the air, and start to answer in the sun- 
 
126 THE PBESBYTEBIAN BBOTHEBHOOD 
 
 shine and among warm breezes the call of 
 their Creator ? Sometimes amid the fluctuating 
 masses of men moving in the world there comes 
 to men the call ; it comes to every man, but all 
 do not heed it; and when it comes, like the 
 birds, we who hear it must fly that we may 
 do the bidding of Him who calls. 
 
 If the triumph of the Church is to come, as 
 it will come, when the King asks you whether 
 you have been faithful, what will you give 
 Him as the evidence of your fidelity? Will you 
 give Him some great general assent that you 
 have given to the propositions of the Gospel; 
 will you tell Him of your endorsements to move- 
 ments, your attendance at conventions ; or will 
 you bring Him proofs of your own work in the 
 place which represents in your life that for 
 which He died? 
 
THE FARMERS' CLUB IN THE COUNTRY 
 CHURCH 
 
 BY WARREN H. WILSON, PH.D., NEW YORK 
 
 Mr. Holt: I am sure none of us will feel 
 that it is any descent into the parochial and 
 narrow, when we turn to the subject of the 
 claims of the country church. Our topics have 
 balanced and supplemented each other, and I 
 am sure there are many men who want to take 
 home a word to their smaller parish and Broth- 
 erhood. There is not a man in the United States 
 who can give us a more effective message on 
 that subject or any other subject he sees fit to 
 take up, than Dr. Wilson, who will now address 
 you. 
 
 Dr. Wilson : We are in the midst of a period 
 of rapid organization of country people. The 
 aspect of social life in the country is swiftly 
 changing under the pressure of exploitation of 
 land, and of all the resources in the country com- 
 munity. This exploitation may well be lamented, 
 but it is fundamentally a normal process of re- 
 adjustment. It means the redistribution of the 
 values of land. The farmer is by this exploita- 
 tion profoundly disturbed. He seeks in the 
 meantime for every kind of organization that 
 
 127 
 
128 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 will give liim either social, economic, political or 
 religious stability. The need of such organiza- 
 tion has not been satisfied, although the number 
 of societies is so many as to be already a burden 
 to the farming population. 
 
 It is important, therefore, that, in the first 
 place, the organization of farmers proceed on 
 permanent lines; in the second place, that the 
 organization proposed to a country community 
 shall be in the interest of the farmer himself; 
 and, in the third place, that the organization 
 have national bearings which shall lift it out of 
 mere localism. I realize that, in speaking to 
 this National Brotherhood of our great his- 
 toric church, these three essentials are, in the 
 Brotherhood, satisfied. I want to urge, there- 
 fore, the organization of the Presbyterian 
 Brotherhood in country communities, on an eco- 
 nomic basis, in the interest of the farmer and 
 under the close supervision of the National 
 Brotherhood. 
 
 The best farmers in America, according to 
 the authority of the professor of economics in 
 Harvard University, are the Mormons, the 
 Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and the Pennsyl- 
 vania Germans. All three of these classes are 
 religious in their associations. They are bound 
 together by their faith. All of them farm the 
 land in close association with one another and 
 their social organization is religious. These 
 three groups of exceptionally successful farm- 
 ers have exceptionally successful and strong 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 129 
 
 country churches. I am not an authority on 
 economics, but on the country church I am 
 prepared to lay alongside of Prof. Carver's 
 endorsement of their farming the carefully 
 ascertained fact that the Mormons, the Scotch- 
 Irish Presbyterians and the Pennsylvania 
 Dutch have the best country churches in 
 America. 
 
 Two of these classes come from Pennsylvania, 
 a state with which all Presbyterians have close 
 association, because in that state are many of 
 our strongest and oldest churches. One of these 
 classes of most successful farmers and success- 
 ful churchmen is our own. The Scotch and the 
 Scotch-Irish churches in the country have gone 
 through the recent period of reorganization 
 without essential change. In the southeastern 
 corner of Pennsylvania, in Illinois in the central 
 and northern portions, in Ohio, and elsewhere, 
 are Scotch-Irish communities in the country 
 whose organization, essentially religious and 
 neighborly, based upon kinship, economic unity 
 and common religious faith, has survived the 
 acid test of exploitation of land. I want to 
 call to the attention of ministers here present 
 who think they have reached the dead line of 
 forty-five, the pastorate of Eev. J. S. Braddock, 
 D.D., Middle Creek Church, Winnebago, 111., 
 in the Presbytery of Freeport. 
 
 Dr. Braddock went to the Middle Creek 
 church when he was forty-eight years of age. 
 He retired recently, in his ninetieth year, after 
 
130 THE PEESBYTEKIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 a pastorate of forty-two years, and he left the 
 church in a perfect state of efficiency so far as 
 my most critical inspection could discover. The 
 secret of his pastorate was evidently that social 
 organization of kindred who support one an- 
 other in economic affairs and are bound to- 
 gether by the most intimate social ties, and are 
 organized by a religious inheritance of faith, 
 which we call the Scotch-Irish, for these were 
 his parishioners. 
 
 I want, therefore, to commend to you the bid- 
 ding of Sir Horace Plunkett, the Protestant 
 statesman who has done so much for Ireland 
 in the country-life movement, which is inde- 
 pendent of politics. Sir Horace has given his 
 life to the conservation of the soil, of com- 
 munities, and of the people of Ireland. Turn- 
 ing aside from the well-known political policies 
 so much agitated, he has believed that unless 
 the people in their voluntary associations are 
 benefited, they cannot be helped by political 
 agitation or by changes of law. Sir Horace, in 
 his book about American conditions, insists that 
 the economic betterment is first; that when we 
 approach country people we must come to se- 
 cure their prosperity and to build up the wel- 
 fare of the household and of the community. 
 He declares that no religious or social or educa- 
 tional movement can have value in the country, 
 whatever may be true in the town, unless it is 
 fundamentally concerned with the economic 
 affairs of the people. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 131 
 
 I come to you also supported in the same 
 demand that our country churches shall be 
 economic and religious in their ministry, by the 
 words of a merchant and philanthropist in our 
 Board of Home Missions, who said at the time 
 I entered this service under the board that "it 
 would not be sufficient to promote evangelism in 
 the country community; but the Presbyterian 
 Church must undertake to promote the economic 
 welfare of the farmer and to build up the coun- 
 try community." This man who so spoke was 
 Mr. Eobert C. Ogden, whose experience in busi- 
 ness, as well as at the head of large agencies 
 for education, commends his word to us. 
 
 I believe, therefore, that in every country com- 
 munity there should be the Brotherhood pro- 
 moted by the churches, in the interest of the 
 farmer as a farmer. It should contain members 
 of all churches, if possible, and it might well 
 receive others than working farmers. But its 
 purpose should be pinned down to the promo- 
 tion of the economic welfare of the community. 
 Such a Brotherhood cannot exist without much 
 social pleasure. It should have, I am sure, the 
 service of prayer and song at every meeting, for 
 I do not believe that any Brotherhood should as- 
 semble or be dismissed without at least a brief 
 liturgy of praise and worship. But the funda- 
 mental business of the farmers' club in the 
 country community is the education of the 
 farmer and his son in the problems of modern 
 agriculture. 
 
132 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 In a community in Lancaster County, Penn- 
 sylvania, there has been such a club in existence 
 for the past twenty years. Its membership is 
 not very large, for it contains the more intelli- 
 gent, progressive farmers, but its influence 
 reaches to every boundary of the community, 
 and it has taken up every new policy, being con- 
 cerned at the present time with the study of 
 the boy problem in that countryside. The 
 essential business, however, of this club is the 
 critical study of farming in that neighborhood. 
 The club meets at the house of a farmer in 
 regular course at ten o'clock in the morning. 
 Until dinnertime the members inspect the build- 
 ings and the machinery and the care of the 
 crops on the farm where they are meeting. 
 After the bountiful dinner, which every Penn- 
 sylvania man can imagine, the first business of 
 the club is the criticism by the members present 
 of the farm economy, of the care of machinery, 
 of tillage of the soil, the storing of the crops, 
 and the condition of the animals on the farm 
 of their host. 
 
 The second business of this club is the study 
 of that phase of scientific farming which is of 
 immediate interest to them in their community. 
 They inherited from their fathers a generation 
 ago a soil which, never as good as that held by 
 the Pennsylvania Germans, their neighbors, 
 had been depleted by constant tillage. It has 
 been their business to restore the soil and to 
 transform the husbandry according to the needs 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 133 
 
 of the market. By so doing they have main- 
 tained a permanent population. By no other 
 method than this transformation could the 
 population have been maintained in that com- 
 munity. Without better farming no inducement 
 could have retained their sons on the farm. 
 Some of the members of the farmers' club in 
 this neighborhood are now grandfathers, and 
 their grandsons are inheriting the land, better 
 tilled and more fertile year by year because of 
 the influence of the farmers' club. 
 
 But the end I have in view, and the test of 
 the success of this process, is right here. The 
 country church in that neighborhood has been 
 maintained. Its membership is large, its gifts 
 for home and foreign missions are worthy of 
 honor. That church is an exception among coun- 
 try churches because it is based upon a perma- 
 nent country population. There is no price 
 upon the acres about that church. The farmers 
 do not desire to sell. They are getting a good 
 and satisfactory living in the country, and the 
 highest element in that living is worship of God. 
 The reason that the country church in many 
 communities is undermined is simply the lack 
 of permanency in the population. Without 
 securing the economic success of the farmer this 
 permanency cannot be secured. 
 
 The need of an organization which shall ex- 
 press the farmer's desire for betterment as a 
 farmer is due to the wide variety and the ex- 
 tended character of those agencies which can 
 
134 THE PKESBYTERIAN BKOTHEREOOD 
 
 help the farmer. The individual countryman is 
 using the daily mail and the daily paper and is 
 more dependent upon them than is the towns- 
 man for the purpose of securing help, sugges- 
 tions and guidance from all sources in the pro- 
 found problem of successful and permanent 
 agriculture. The farmers ' club brings together 
 in the country community intelligence from all 
 sources and interprets that intelligence through 
 discussion for the needs of the local community. 
 
 It is enough to mention the National Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture, in its varied forms of serv- 
 ice to the farmer ; the State Deparment of Agri- 
 culture, which interprets the peculiar problems 
 of that particular commonwealth; the various 
 State Universities and Colleges of Agriculture 
 and the Normal Schools, which are studying 
 rural poblems in the preparation of their teach- 
 ers. These sources are widely separated. The 
 farmers' club can be the clearing house of all 
 the material available for that particular com- 
 munity from these sources. 
 
 The Presbyterian church at Vincennes, Ind., 
 has undertaken as one of its side issues the 
 maintaining of the farmers' institute, which 
 had fallen into disuse in that community, and 
 has created out of nothing a populous and influ- 
 ential school of scientific farming. This illus- 
 trates the value of a farmers' organization in 
 connection with the church. The relations be- 
 tween the rural economy and the country church 
 are so delicate and so intimate that the one can 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 135 
 
 more than double the value of the other. Just 
 as in the Scotch-Irish community, the farming 
 builds the church and the church betters the 
 farming, so I am urging that in every Presby- 
 terian community a farmers' club shall be the 
 organizing center for building the community 
 itself. I am just as anxious that it be religious 
 as I am that it be concerned in the economy by 
 which the farmer gets his living. 
 
 Here is the secret also of federating the 
 churches. We never learn the secret of any 
 future course until we are driven to the wall. 
 In the country community we are today driven 
 to the wall by the overlapping of churches. 
 Think of Center Hall, Pa., with twenty-nine 
 country churches placed in a radius of four 
 miles from a given point. What shall be done 
 in this community to save Christianity? Pere 
 Hyacinthe is quoted as saying: "In the six- 
 teenth century Christianity divided in order to 
 save the churches. In the twentieth century 
 the churches must unite in order to save Chris- 
 tianity." This remark is a true statement of 
 the dire necessity under which country com- 
 munities are. Christianity is helpless there, if 
 it be longer a divided Christianity. These 
 twenty-nine churches in a community will all 
 together die. Out of this situation of necessity 
 we are learning the expedients by which the 
 churches can be saved. One of these expedients 
 is the organization of the farmers under the 
 
136 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 leadership of the men of the churches in the 
 interest of the country community. 
 
 Nothing is more difficult than to find the way 
 out of the present condition of overlapping in 
 the country community. The denominations are 
 organized for pugnacity, but not for peace. 
 They are militant states to whom even the gos- 
 pel of arbitration has not yet become practi- 
 cable. I do not myself see how of their own 
 forces they can come into federation. Only by 
 some such methods as this great Brotherhood 
 furnishes can our church by organizing the men 
 of the community bring the churches together. 
 
 There is another and a choicer aspect of all 
 this work. It is the creation of leadership. My 
 years as a pastor gave me hope that the Pres- 
 byterian Church with its splendid equality be- 
 tween the minister and the layman, in which 
 the carpenter and the farmer stand shoulder 
 to shoulder in the leadership with the ordained 
 minister, is a college of leadership for common 
 men. I remember in particular a young me- 
 chanic whom I trained to be a leader of the boys 
 in my church who devoted himself to their in- 
 terest with such zeal that I have never been 
 sure but that he gave his life for them. Cer- 
 tainly his influence on their lives was that of a 
 consecration. My assertion here is that his 
 success was not born of his talents, but his devo- 
 tion. That whatever the cost to him, he had 
 five years of leadership among men; and they 
 were the greatest years of his life. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 137 
 
 I think also of other men, and in particular 
 of one who is the active head of a Brotherhood 
 now eight years old. He has grown with his 
 own leadership and enlarged with his responsi- 
 bilities. He has developed an eloquence such as 
 few men have and a social gift which amounts 
 to genius, all because in the spirit of Christ he 
 became a leader of men. He devoted to the 
 Presbyterian Brotherhood a fine convivial spirit 
 and a passionate human warmth that once 
 might have been the source of his temptations, 
 but now became the fertile ground of the largest 
 fruitfulness. I am sure that if he were asked 
 today what is his greatest honor and pleasure 
 he would say that the Presbyterian Brother- 
 hood is the greatest experience of his life. 
 
 The country community needs leadership. Of 
 two things out of which grows the progressive 
 spirit this is one. These two parents of prog- 
 ress are leadership and dire necessity. If you 
 want to see dire necessity, go to the country 
 community, visit the average country church, 
 and you will find the farmers disturbed and 
 confused, feeling their way slowly out of pov- 
 erty and not yet accustomed to the apparent 
 prosperity which has come to them, and without 
 leaders for the new day. "What I am urging 
 upon you is that this great organization shall 
 develop in the country community the leader- 
 ship which makes for progress. Necessity is 
 called the mother of invention. I hereby intro- 
 duce you to the father of invention — leadership 
 
138 THE PBESBYTERIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 — and it is yours to send this leadership forth 
 among the farmers. 
 
 Gentlemen, the providence of God has put at 
 the head of the country-life movement today 
 Christian men. The agricultural leaders are 
 all, I think, without exception, members of 
 Christian churches and men of personal piety 
 and devotion. There may be exceptions, but I 
 do not know them. These men are the presi- 
 dents of colleges, secretaries of departments, 
 field agents, and superintendents of bureaus 
 which exist for the service of the farmer. There 
 is something about the country life movement 
 which enlists the patient devotion of such Chris- 
 tion men as Gifford Pinchot, L. H. Bailey, 
 Henry Wallace, Kenyon L. Butterfield and 
 Theodore Eoosevelt. These men are pleading 
 with the churches for the leadership of the 
 country community. They have done, and are 
 doing, so much that they feel the need of a reli- 
 gious motive before the rest can be done. It is 
 for us to meet them more than half way. They 
 have demonstrated to us, as our churches in 
 Pennsylvania, the Scotch-Irish churches and the 
 Pennsylvania Dutch have demonstrated, that 
 the rural economy and rural religion are one. 
 Agriculture is essentially a religious occupa- 
 tion, and the Old Testament is its book. As 
 was recently said by the president of the Coun- 
 try Life Commission, Director L. H. Bailey of 
 Cornell, "The soil is holy." If this be true, 
 and I believe it is, then the greatest act of the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 139 
 
 country community is worship. Then the true 
 association of farmers is religious and the mor- 
 ality of country people is expressed nowhere 
 else than in the teachings of the Old Testament 
 prophets and of Jesus Christ. 
 
REPORT OF THE 
 NATIONAL COUNCIL 
 
EEPOET OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL. 
 
 The Pittsburg Convention in February, 1909, 
 directed that the next National Convention be 
 held in November, 1910, but, for various reasons, 
 this was found impracticable; hence, the pres- 
 ent report covers a full period of two years. 
 
 Death of Mr, Eosevear. 
 
 The history of the Brotherhood during this 
 period has been marked by great encourage- 
 ments, but also by great and mysterious sorrows 
 and hindrances. Its most outstanding incident 
 is the sudden and lamented death, on Septem- 
 ber 7, 1909, of Secretary Henry E. Eosevear, 
 who, after a year of most fruitful service as 
 Associate Secretary, had just been designated 
 to the full Secretaryship upon the retirement 
 of Dr. Landrith from the office of General Sec- 
 retary to that of Editorial Secretary. The re- 
 moval of this patient, wise and self-effacing man 
 from the direction of a work whose possibilities 
 he was just beginning fully to grasp, and whose 
 efficiency he had already done so much to pro- 
 mote, and to which he seemed in truth so indis- 
 pensable, is one of the mysteries of Providence 
 
 143 
 
144 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 before which we can only bow in trustful sub- 
 mission and reverently feel that the Lord must 
 have had very important work to be done else- 
 where to call such a man away from His work 
 here. Personally and officially, the Council de- 
 plores his loss with a depth and sincerity of 
 feeling that cannot be expressed in words. 
 
 The Secretaryship. 
 
 The filling of the vacancy thus created has 
 been the chief concern of the Council during the 
 many months that have followed. If it has 
 been supposed by any one that the members of 
 the Council have been slack or indifferent in 
 the search, or unmindful of the vital importance 
 of securing an executive officer at the earliest 
 possible moment, nothing could be farther from 
 the truth. Scores of names have been carefully 
 canvassed, and proposals have been made to 
 several men, each of whom would have been glad 
 to accept, but, after very earnest deliberation 
 (occupying, in the aggregate, nearly or quite a 
 year), have felt that they could not honorably 
 withdraw from other responsibilities to which 
 they were committed. Other names are under 
 consideration, and the search will be continued 
 until under God we shall be led, as we trust, to 
 the man of His choosing. 
 
 In the meantime, the members of the Execu- 
 tive Committee have given such attention to the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 145 
 
 general interests of the Brotherhood as their 
 other duties permitted, but have realized more 
 painfully than any one outside could do, the 
 very narrow limits of their possible service, 
 and the absolute need of a strong man who 
 should make the Brotherhood the first and only 
 object of his thought and labor. 
 
 Convention and Convention Secretary. 
 
 The absence of a Secretary hampered the ar- 
 rangements for the Convention, and when the 
 cordial invitation of the Brotherhoods of St. 
 Louis was received, it was found necessary, for 
 national as well as for local reasons, to fix the 
 date in February rather than in November. 
 The Council was most fortunate in securing, as 
 Convention Secretary, Mr. "Walter Getty, a Stu- 
 dent Volunteer, just ordained to the ministry, 
 and providentially detained by family circum- 
 stances from the foreign field, where he expects 
 to begin his labors during the present year. Mr. 
 Getty has won the love and admiration of all 
 who have come in contact with him in his work 
 for the Brotherhood, and the Council would 
 gladly have called him to permanent service in 
 the Secretaryship, had he not felt constrained by 
 the prior and paramount call to the uttermost 
 parts of the earth. He will continue to serve 
 as Acting Secretary pending a permanent 
 selection. 
 
146 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Brotherhood Magazine. 
 
 In the spring of 1909 the Council, regretfully 
 recognizing the impossibility of Dr. Landrith's 
 return to the active duties of the General Sec- 
 retaryship, were fortunate in retaining his serv- 
 ices as Editorial Secretary. Under his guidance, 
 the Brotherhood magazine has proved a factor 
 of increasing power in Brotherhood life. It 
 seems likely that it will soon be found advisable 
 to publish the magazine oftener than quarterly, 
 perhaps six or even eight times a year. This, 
 with other questions of permanent policy, will 
 naturally receive the careful consideration of 
 the new Secretary when appointed. 
 
 Council Membership. 
 
 The Council, in common with the Brotherhood 
 and the Church at large, mourns the loss, since 
 the Pittsburgh Convention, of that prince of 
 Christian laymen, John H. Converse of Phila- 
 delphia ; also of Mr. J. W. Axtell of Nashville, 
 a man of no less fidelity and devotion to the 
 service of the Church and the Brotherhood. 
 
 Mr. John L. Severance, of Cleveland, has felt 
 constrained by other duties to press his resigna- 
 tion, which was presented a year or more ago. 
 
 Upon the resignation of Mr. E. W. Johnson 
 of Corsicana, Texas, Mr. William G. Bell of 
 Austin, Texas, was elected to fill the vacancy. 
 His term will expire with the coming Conven- 
 tion. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 147 
 
 In addition, the terms of office of the follow- 
 ing members of the Council will expire at this 
 time: Charles W. Dabney, Hugh H. Hanna, 
 Ealph W. Harbison, Charles S. Holt, Cyrus H. 
 McCormick, A. B. T. Moore. 
 
 Peogkess; Objective; Method. 
 
 In spite of all disappointments and draw- 
 backs, there has been unmistakable progress 
 during the two years, especially in a deeper and 
 wider conviction of the value of the Brother- 
 hood idea, and a truer and more general under- 
 standing of what that idea is, and also of what 
 it is not. In former reports, the Council has 
 endeavored to express its conception of the 
 true function of the Brotherhood, viz.: to pro- 
 mote and stimulate men's loyalty to the Church 
 and to every organized activity in and through 
 the Church for the doing of all the things that 
 the Church ought to do. This conception we 
 see no reason to modify; and while it obtains, 
 it forbids the national organization to shut itself 
 up to any special enterprise or activity as its 
 sole or primary "objective." By as much as 
 local interests, opportunities and abilities vary, 
 by so much will the objective of the national 
 Brotherhood vary, as it tries to help forward 
 one thing, or another, or another, according to 
 time, place and circumstances. Some things, 
 like prayer, Bible study and church attendance, 
 are needed everywhere and always; other 
 
148 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 things, like Big Brother work or Civic and 
 Social Beform, may be practicable at one time 
 and place and not at another. Uniting all Pres- 
 byterian men on the broad platform of loyalty 
 to Christ through the Church, the national 
 Brotherhood seeks to help the local Brotherhood 
 find avenues of usefulness for themselves, and 
 pursue them ; to caution against mistakes, cheer 
 in discouragement, conserve the results of suc- 
 cessful effort, and stimulate the discovery and 
 pursuit of new lines of endeavor. 
 
 It will often happen that in a city, a Pres- 
 bytery or a larger territory, opportunities will 
 arise for special service on a scale broader than 
 that of the local Church, yet not of national 
 proportions; for example, a city evangelistic 
 campaign, or an anti-saloon movement in a 
 County or State. In such cases, it is the pur- 
 pose of the national Council to work, through 
 synodical or presbyterial Brotherhoods, or 
 through other available channels, so that the 
 force of the national body shall be felt behind 
 the more local enterprise. 
 
 Men and Eeligion Forward Movement. 
 
 And occasionally, some great nation-wide 
 movement will arise in which the national 
 Brotherhood ought to enlist, so far as possible 
 the interest and enthusiasm of every Brother- 
 hood and every Brotherhood man. Such was 
 the Laymen's Missionary Movement of 1909- 
 1910, though the Brotherhood, with its crippled 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 1_±9 
 
 forces, was able only partially to meet the op- 
 portunity. Such is the impending Men and Ke- 
 ligion Forward Movement, which will occupy 
 a very large place at the St. Louis Convention, 
 — a colossal attempt by wise and thorough meth- 
 ods to challenge and command the attention of 
 the men and boys of America, in and out of the 
 churches, to the claims of Christianity upon 
 them for salvation and service. This movement, 
 proposed originally by the International Com- 
 mittee of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion, has enlisted with the Association forces 
 in a common promotion and control the Brother- 
 hoods of the various denominations, together 
 with the Gideons and the International Sunday 
 School Association. Our own Brotherhood is 
 most deeply committed to this enterprise ; our 
 Treasurer is the Vice- Chairman of the General 
 Committee of Ninety- Seven ; five members of 
 the Council and the Editorial Secretary are 
 members of that Committee, along with many 
 other Presbyterian Brotherhood men. It will 
 be the aim of the Council to relate the Brother- 
 hood to this mighty effort so broadly and closely 
 that every Presbyterian man will have a definite 
 part and receive a personal stimulus and inspi- 
 ration. 
 
 It is interesting to notice that, while the For- 
 ward Movement seeks to reach men outside the 
 kingdom and bring them in, its primary func- 
 tion is to do broadly and intensely, for a limited 
 time, what the Presbyterian Brotherhood aims 
 
150 THE PEESBYTEKIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 to do continuously in its narrower field, viz.: 
 to make men more loyal to the Church in all 
 her varied activities, and so to make her more 
 helpful and attractive to the men of this and 
 coming generations. 
 
 Synodical and Pkesbyterial Organization. 
 
 During his whole term of service, and espe- 
 cially from the Pittsburgh Convention until his 
 death, Mr. Eosevear gave much thought and 
 attention to synodical and presbyterial organ- 
 ization, the importance of which was emphasized 
 in the report of the Council presented at Pitts- 
 burgh. His careful scheme of suggested synod- 
 ical and presbyterial constitutions, co-ordinat- 
 ing them with the national organization and 
 with the local units in the churches, has proved 
 valuable and in its general lines has been fol- 
 lowed or used as the basis of a large number of 
 organizations completed or proposed. The older 
 synodical brotherhoods of New Jersey, Illinois 
 and Oklahoma have continued their activity with 
 successful conventions and other forms of stim- 
 ulation to effective work. Formal Brotherhood 
 organizations have been effected in the synods 
 of California, Oregon and Washington, as the 
 direct result of the campaign of visitation here- 
 inafter mentioned. Most of the Eastern and 
 Central synods have given attention to Brother- 
 hood work through strong committees. Highly 
 successful synodical conferences have been held 
 in New York, at Eochester, on the evening and 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 151 
 
 day before the regular meeting of synod, and 
 in Ohio, at Lima, on an independent date, cov- 
 ering a day and two evenings. The synodical 
 committee of Pennsylvania is planning for a 
 similar conference at an early date. A consid- 
 erable number of new presbyterial Brotherhoods 
 have been organized along various lines. The 
 functions and particulars of such organizations 
 will be a subject of conference at the St. Louis 
 Convention. It may not be invidious to men- 
 tion the particular Brotherhood of the Pres- 
 bytery of New York, which, after a year of 
 effective service, has offered itself to the Council 
 as the host of the next annual Convention. 
 
 This distribution of responsibility, incomplete 
 as it is, has nevertheless proved invaluable in 
 the crisis arising from the long vacant Secre- 
 taryship. Much of the impulse of Mr. Eose- 
 vear's work has continued since his death, and 
 his successor will find the work far less disinte- 
 grated than if it had been held more closely in 
 the hands of the central organization. 
 
 Pacific Coast Campaign. 
 
 One of the most interesting features of the 
 two years was the Brotherhood campaign on 
 the Pacific coast, organized by Mr. Eosevear's 
 efforts through co-operating committees in San 
 Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Spokane. In 
 June, 1909, following the meeting of the general 
 assembly at Denver, the moderator, Dr. Barkley, 
 with the President, General Secretary and Asso- 
 
152 THE PKESBYTEEIAN BROTHEEHOOD 
 
 ciate Secretary of the Brotherhood and repre- 
 sentatives of the Boards of Home and Foreign 
 Missions, attended carefully prepared and en- 
 thusiastic conventions in each of the cities men- 
 tioned, where steps were taken as indicated 
 above for the organization of synodical Brother- 
 hoods and a mighty impulse was given to Pres- 
 byterian men's work throughout the whole 
 region. 
 
 Statistical. 
 
 The records now show 875 societies directly 
 affiliated with the national organizations, report- 
 ing 45,000 members. These figures, however, 
 are misleading because many local organiza- 
 tions are affiliated only with and through their 
 presbyterial Brotherhoods. This dual relation- 
 ship was one of the somewhat puzzling details 
 to which Mr. Eosevear was giving special 
 thought and attention, and since his death it 
 has been impossible to make progress upon it. 
 It is probably safe to say that the number of 
 Brotherhoods thus indirectly affiliated would 
 swell the total by 30 per cent. 
 
 Unaffiliated Societies. 
 
 It is also true that there are many local organ- 
 izations which are not affiliated, directly or indi- 
 rectly, with the National Brotherhood. This is 
 a source not only of regret to the Council, but 
 of serious concern with reference to the welfare 
 and usefulness of the Brotherhoods themselves. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 153 
 
 While the Council has never thought it wise to 
 adopt any prescribed form of local organiza- 
 tion, or to insist upon uniformity of name or of 
 declared purposes among the local organiza- 
 tions, it will not do to overlook or underestimate 
 the value of conscious corporate unity on the 
 platform of Church loyalty and service. Em- 
 phasizing, as we do, the necessity of local initia- 
 tive and variety in work, we emphasize no less 
 earnestly the importance to each local organiza- 
 tion of close touch with others interested in the 
 same object. It is well for men to fight the 
 battles of the Kingdom, even separately or in 
 small and scattered detachments ; but it is bet- 
 ter if, like a mighty army, they move forward 
 under a common leadership and control. 
 
 Pastoks and the Bkotheehood. 
 
 It is worthy of consideration whether all pas- 
 tors have caught the full conception of the 
 Brotherhood as an implement in their hands for 
 setting their men at work at the particular thing 
 that needs to be done in their particular cir- 
 cumstances. Church loyalty, which is the foun- 
 dation of the Brotherhood idea, implies loyalty 
 to the pastor and a willingness to render the 
 service which, in the nature of the case, he is 
 often best able to plan. Many pastors have 
 borne grateful testimony to the help and sup- 
 port they have received from the Brotherhood 
 organization, and to its enlistment, in united 
 service, of men who as individuals held back 
 
154 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 from the things that needed to be done. It 
 would be a blessing to the pastors and to the 
 Brotherhood alike if all would learn to make 
 use of this engine of service, and by such use 
 develop the "Spirit within the wheels," with- 
 out which all the machinery, of Church and 
 Brotherhood alike, is vain. 
 
 Finance. 
 
 The interruption caused by the vacant Secre- 
 taryship has again hindered the development 
 of a permanent financial plan. The pledges at 
 the Pittsburgh Convention, showing a consider- 
 able shrinkage in collection, have been supple- 
 mented by individual gifts so as to cover the 
 reduced budget down to this Convention. "With 
 the employment of a Secretary and the en- 
 largement of activities which must take place, 
 Brotherhood and individual subscriptions must 
 be largely increased. It is hoped that a finan- 
 cial policy may speedily be worked out which 
 will provide a large part of the national budget 
 through some form of per capita contribution 
 on the part of the affiliated Brotherhoods. 
 
 Inter-Brotherhood Belations. 
 
 The cordial though informal relations with 
 other Church Brotherhoods mentioned in the 
 last report have been continued and strength- 
 ened. Conferences were held at Pittsburgh just 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 155 
 
 after the Convention of February, 1909, and at 
 Chicago in connection with the Laymen's Mis- 
 sionary Congress of May, 1910. The most con- 
 crete expression of this Inter-Brotherhood fel- 
 lowship is the joint observance of a world-wide 
 week of prayer for men. At present, for special 
 reasons, it has seemed necessary for the Young 
 Men's Christian Association to continue its spe- 
 cial week of prayer in November and for the 
 Brotherhoods, cordially co-operating in this ob- 
 servance, to unite in their own service at another 
 date. This year the Brotherhood week of 
 prayer will be observed during the week pre- 
 ceding Easter, April 9-16 inclusive, and the gen- 
 eral topic will be Sanctification for Service. A 
 singularly rich and helpful series of suggested 
 sub-topics and meditations thereon has been 
 prepared for this week and published in a leaf- 
 let, which it is hoped may find wide circulation 
 among the men of our Brotherhood. 
 
 The Men and Eeligion Forward Movement 
 has already furnished and will increasingly fur- 
 nish a new field for shoulder-to-shoulder co- 
 operation on the part of the various Church 
 Brotherhoods. 
 
 By order of the Executive Committee. 
 
 Charles S. Holt, President. 
 
OPEN CONFERENCES ON 
 
 BROTHERHOOD 
 
 ACTIVITIES 
 
"THINGS ACCOMPLISHED." 
 
 LED BY REV. IRA LANDRITH, D.D., NASHVILLE, TENET. 
 
 Dr. Landrith : — This is to be an open confer- 
 ence. An open conference that shuts up is a 
 bad thing. I am here merely to be an animated 
 corkscrew to ascertain your contents, and I am 
 not from Kentucky, either. I have no disposi- 
 tion to make an opening address; I have an 
 opening to a sixteenthly, but I will make them 
 as we go along. We will commence with the 
 things the Brotherhood has done locally, in 
 groups, in unions, in presbyteries, in synods, in 
 the general council. The report which has just 
 been read of the Council covers the most of what 
 I know of what the Brotherhood has done in 
 a general way, and there is not anybody in the 
 house but you who knows what the Brotherhood 
 has done in local fields. If I could make it any 
 more plain than I have, that this is your meet- 
 ing, then I would like to know it. If you don't 
 speak, it is your fault. If you speak too long, 
 I have a hammer — three of them — and the Pres- 
 ident has retired. I hope, however, that you 
 will speak long enough to make your point and 
 give us the information we need. 
 
 The Presbyterian Brotherhood is designed 
 
 159 
 
160 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 for the promotion of the well-being, spiritually, 
 of the men of the community. Its unit is the 
 local Brotherhood, and the local Brotherhood 
 exists in order that the men who belong to it 
 may become better men and more efficient Chris- 
 tian workers, and that the men whom they may 
 reach as agencies of the Lord, may be brought 
 into proper relations to the Church of Christ. 
 Of course, the local Brotherhood is an institu- 
 tion of the local Presbyterian church, and it 
 works for the welfare of that church, the while 
 forgetting no good thing that can be done in 
 union with other Brotherhoods, or for the gen- 
 eral religious welfare of the community, either 
 inside or outside of the Church; but, as was 
 said so well last night, the Brotherhood's pri- 
 mary work is church work, and because it is 
 a Presbyterian Brotherhood, it is Presbyterian 
 church work. 
 
 The Presbyterial organization exists merely 
 for the purpose of making the local work more 
 efficient and for increasing the number of local 
 units. It has no great activity outside of that, 
 though there may be some work which the Pres- 
 byterial Brotherhood can do which the local 
 Brotherhoods can not do. 
 
 The Synodical Brotherhood exists for increas- 
 ing the activity and practice of the presbyterial 
 Brotherhood and for the benefit of the local 
 organizations also. 
 
 There are represented on this floor some inter- 
 denominational Brotherhoods, some Presbyte- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 161 
 
 rial Brotherhoods, and some Synodical Brother- 
 hoods, and it has been suggested, and wisely, 
 that we might well afford to hear from one or 
 two individuals at the opening, representing 
 each one of these forms of organization. For 
 the sake of getting this open parliament open, 
 I am going to ask Mr. Jefferis, of Philadelphia, 
 to tell us something about the Brotherhood work 
 in his own Presbytery, or in the local organiza- 
 tion of which he is a member. I have not seen 
 Mr. Jefferis himself, and I am going to assume 
 that he is going to do this ; if he does not, please 
 remember that the middle one of these gavels 
 is made of stone. 
 
 J. H. Jeffekis: — I have but a few things to 
 say, and one is I am thoroughly converted to 
 the Brotherhood idea. The Brotherhood has 
 taken entire possession of my heart. There are 
 two things in Chester Presbytery, from which 
 has been evolved the Chester plan of evan- 
 gelism, which have come into my life, — personal 
 evangelism and the Brotherhood, — and I have 
 practically surrendered every other line of work 
 outside of my particular Church work to those 
 two things, which we call twins. They are 
 brothers, — Brotherhood and Evangelism, — one 
 works together with the other; and we have 
 found such a development in our Chester Pres- 
 bytery that has been astonishing to those of us 
 who are working along these lines. The men of 
 our Presbytery have been so stirred by these 
 
162 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 two things working together, that today we have 
 men, between forty and fifty men of our Pres- 
 bytery, who last spring went out into country 
 districts and held evangelistic services in our 
 chapels, some of which had not been open, prac- 
 tically, for years. They conducted evangelistic 
 services to such an extent that many were 
 brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ 
 through the personal efforts of our Brotherhood 
 men, 
 
 The Brotherhoods in our Presbytery have de- 
 veloped a class of men who have moral and 
 spiritual backbone, — men who are standing for 
 something definite in the line of good in the 
 Church and in the community. I find they are 
 standing against the effort in all sections of our 
 Presbytery to break down the Lord's Day. We 
 find them standing for civic righteousness ; we 
 find them standing for what I think best of all 
 — clean life in themselves. I will never for- 
 get a Brotherhood man who had lived a fast 
 life before he came into the Brotherhood. He 
 was an Irishman from the North of Ireland, and 
 he got up in the Brotherhood meeting one Sab- 
 bath morning and said, "I have a burden on my 
 heart in regard to a clean life. I feel if I have 
 to speak to my brother men I am to be clean 
 myself, and you know how I have loved my to- 
 bacco; but I have made up my mind since I 
 have been a Brotherhood man that I cannot go 
 to my brother and speak to him about the Lord 
 Jesus Christ with a corncob pipe in my mouth 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 163 
 
 or a chew of tobacco." It struck me that one 
 of the best things the Brotherhood was doing 
 in our midst was leading our men to live a 
 clean Christian life, and when you get a Chris- 
 tian man clean, you have a man of some power 
 which God can use; for I believe God can use 
 anything but a dirty one. We must remember 
 that, if we want God to use us. Let us be clean 
 for the Master's use. 
 
 It has developed men so that they shall go 
 out with great longing and desire to win men 
 for Jesus Christ. It develops a man of prayer, 
 and brings other men to a knowledge of the Mas- 
 ter who has saved them. That is one of the 
 great features of our Brotherhood work. It 
 has gotten our men together, to stand together, 
 to work together; but, as I have said, one of 
 the great developments we have had in Chester 
 Presbytery is that it has sent men out in the 
 country districts to seek other men; it should 
 put in us that burning desire to go out and reach 
 the other man. 
 
 Dr. Landrith: — This Open Conference is de- 
 signedly without form and void. So far as I 
 know, the speaker who has just spoken is the 
 only man prepared, and he assures me his prep- 
 aration began at the door when he came in. If 
 a man has a thought in his heart and experience 
 he would like to relate, this is his opportunity. 
 While you are making up your mind I wonder 
 if any other good thing could come out of 
 
164 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Pennsylvania. What would the Presbytery of 
 Pittsburgh tell us? Will Dr. Jones talk? 
 
 Dr. Jones, Pittsburgh : — Dr. Landrith said he 
 was not from Kentucky; he did not say where 
 he was from. Dr. Landrith said I am from 
 Pittsburgh. That is true. I am not ashamed 
 that I come from Pittsburgh. Mr. Chairman, 
 one failure in the Brotherhood work in all the 
 states is that we are not well enough organized 
 in the Synod and in the Presbytery. Now, there 
 are enough Brotherhood men here to represent 
 the whole Church, and represent almost every 
 state, and if we carry home the Brotherhood 
 spirit we get in this Convention, we will do won- 
 ders. I notice in many Presbyteries taking up 
 the Brotherhood, while they appoint their com- 
 mittees, they are not very active, and it often 
 happens that the men who compose the commit- 
 tees do not have the real Brotherhood spirit. I 
 believe we can do as much for the Brotherhood 
 spirit for the work of this organization as we 
 could in any other way, if we go home and see 
 to it that wide-awake Brotherhood men are on 
 our committees in the Presbyteries and Synods. 
 
 We have our Council of twenty-one men, and 
 we keep in close touch with all the Brotherhoods 
 in the Presbytery. We have a very correct list 
 of all the Brotherhood men, not only the 
 Brotherhoods, but the name and address of 
 almost every Brotherhood man in the Presby- 
 tery. We have just sent out a letter to the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 165 
 
 Brotherhood men, telling them what has been 
 accomplished by other Brotherhoods; telling 
 them what lines of work have been suggested 
 for Brotherhood men ; and I believe our organ- 
 ization in Pittsburgh owes its success to the fact 
 that our Central Committee has kept in touch 
 with all the Brotherhoods and members of the 
 Brotherhood, from the organization to the pres- 
 ent time. Above all things, the Brotherhood man 
 should be very active and busy in the Synod 
 and Presbytery, keeping in touch with other 
 men and their organization ; giving them all the 
 direction it is possible to do. I think, perhaps, 
 the reason they have died out in some sections 
 is because the leaders in the movement have not 
 kept in active touch. 
 
 Dr. Landrith : — I have purposely called these 
 Presbyterial reports because I think if there 
 is any need above another, it is effective Pres- 
 byterial organization. President Taylor is here 
 from Illinois. 
 
 President A. B. Taylor, Decatur, 111. : — Illi- 
 nois takes pride in the fact that its synodical 
 organization was the first formal organization 
 in the Union. We have been working on lines 
 familiar to all. One thing we have learned is, 
 we should not expect too much in the way of 
 immediate results for the Brotherhood in the 
 Synodical organizations, in the Presbyterial or- 
 ganization, or in the local organization; and 
 
166 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 that it is necessary for us to educate not simply 
 the laymen, but the pastors as well. In a careful 
 study of the field, some of us are well satis- 
 fied that we are dependent to a great extent 
 on the direction of the pastors ; that the pastors 
 are not aware of the fact; that it is difficult 
 for us to get away from the fact that they are 
 the leaders of the Church, and the instruction 
 must come from them. The general movement 
 is in about the same condition as in other states, 
 where Synodical and Presbyterial organizations 
 have been made. We believe that we have 
 brought forward a large number of men in the 
 Church who were formerly not taking an active 
 part in it. Night before last, at a gathering 
 of the Brotherhood in our own Church, we dis- 
 covered the fact that there were some twelve 
 or fourteen men who organized themselves 
 under the direction of the officers of the Brother- 
 hood into a flying squadron. This squadron 
 placed itself not only under the direction of the 
 pastor, but the President of the Brotherhood, 
 and they have been doing a surprising amount 
 of work in strengthening the various organiza- 
 tions of the Church. I think myself that the ex- 
 pression used last night and used here this 
 morning shows what we are doing in Illinois — 
 we are "getting together''; we are discovering 
 that there are vast amounts of valuable, usable 
 material in the various churches of our state 
 lying dormant. If we can get in touch with it 
 and develop the spirit of unity, the best and most 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 137 
 
 valuable material and most helpful material in 
 the Church will be used for the advancement of 
 our Master's kingdom. 
 
 We are of the opinion that it must be a mat- 
 ter of education and instruction. Our Synodical 
 Council as well as our Synodical Committee are 
 working together, and after some three years' 
 experience we are working together more ear- 
 nestly and more eagerly than ever before ; and 
 we have a sufficient sum of money in our treas- 
 ury to send out circulars to stir up the brethren. 
 
 Dr. Landrith : — Can any one get up in four or 
 five minutes and tell about a city Brotherhood? 
 
 Charles T. Thompson, Minneapolis : — I have 
 seen a concrete example of what a local Brother- 
 hood can do, which was so striking I want to 
 present it to you. In Portland, Oregon, I saw 
 walking up and down there a young man with 
 a Brotherhood button on. I introduced myself 
 and asked him what he was doing. He said, "I 
 wear no other button, because I believe in that 
 organization. I belong to a number of others. ' ? 
 I said, "What are you doing?" "I will tell you 
 what I am doing. I come from one of the larg- 
 est and most growing towns in one of our West- 
 ern states, and I am a member of the largest 
 church there. About a year and a half ago our 
 pastor left, under trying circumstances; our 
 church was practically split from top to bot- 
 tom. I got the men of our congregation to- 
 
168 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 gether. We had the form of a Brotherhood ; we 
 determined that, God helping us, that church 
 would not go down ; we would stand back of the 
 organization, back of the elders and deacons. 
 We went to work, carried on all the services of 
 the church and put a Brotherhood man in the 
 pulpit because we could get no supply. At the 
 end of the year we had received a hundred into 
 the church, mostly on confession. We had 
 given to all the benevolences of the church fifty 
 per cent more to the carrying on of the work of 
 the church; we have a splendidly equipped 
 church, and the work is going on, and it is the 
 most prayerful religious organization in the 
 city. That is what our local organization has 
 done, and that is worth while. I think it is worth 
 while wearing that button." 
 
 Dr. Landrith : — This conference is about 
 open, ready for you to walk in. Before you do, 
 however, it is desirable for us to have another 
 word from the movement known as the Brother- 
 hood City Union, another form of Presbyterial 
 organization. It is desirable in a city where 
 there is a number of Brotherhoods to have 
 Brotherhood unions. Is there anybody here 
 who has had experience of that kind? 
 
 James D, Husted, Denver, Colo. : — I want t<? 
 speak in reference to the work done by our city 
 union, as we call it in Denver. We have some 
 good local organizations of Brotherhoods, who 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 1G9 
 
 have been responsible for the conduct of large 
 men's Bible Classes; but in the city organiza- 
 tions which have been under way there seemed 
 but little definite work for us to do, until it 
 occurred to us that the Synodical College, or 
 Westminster College, needed great support in 
 time of extreme difficulty. The men interested 
 in the city union of Denver made up their minds 
 that was their work ; so, instead of meeting, as 
 they had previously done, without anything 
 more definite for an object except to listen 
 to excellent addresses, they decided upon a defi- 
 nite campaign involving the city of Denver; 
 and did it so effectively and took up the work 
 the Synod desired to have done, and organized 
 the men so completely, all the men in each 
 church and general committees as well, that 
 the college, which had been languishing and in 
 great difficulty, but looked upon by the Synod 
 of great necessity for the work of the state, was 
 put squarely on its feet and a great deal accom- 
 plished in the rousing of the business men of 
 the community as well as the Presbyterian men. 
 In the conviction of the Board of Trustees of 
 that college at this time, the college enterprise 
 was really saved by the definite concentration 
 of effort on the part of the local union in Den- 
 ver, and great good accomplished for the good 
 of the Church and glory of God, which could 
 not have been done by any other organization. 
 This was done by the city union. 
 
170 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 A Delegate: — Was it a financial campaign 
 for the college? 
 
 Mr. Husted: — Both the getting of students 
 and a financial campaign, and the conduct of a 
 business organization in the disposition of cer- 
 tain assets ; also in the construction of an inter- 
 urban branch railroad to the college building, 
 which was accomplished largely through the 
 definite concentration of the committee ap- 
 pointed to do that thing. 
 
 Dr. Landrith : — That is the first Brother- 
 hood that has ever successfully undertaken the 
 building of a railroad. If our friend, Mr. Taft, 
 Canal, he will know where to apply. 
 
 E. B. Wilson, Indianapolis : — Mr. Chairman, 
 the Indianapolis Presbyterian Church Brother- 
 hood was organized at the time of the National 
 Brotherhood. We have been doing some things, 
 as an organization, but the acts of omission are 
 on our minds in Indianapolis more than the 
 acts of commission. We have assisted in estab- 
 lishing a Newcomers' Bureau through the state 
 of Indiana, so we may look after them and see 
 they get into churches, and we have done other 
 things to help the foreigners. We have as a 
 city organization the members of the local 
 churches, who sign application cards and pay 
 should have any difficulty with the Panama 
 fifty cents; but we are now going to organize 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 171 
 
 local churches and help the local churches to do 
 all of the work the local church demands ; not 
 to follow some plan which the National Council 
 may give us, but make each man know he must 
 do something for his own local church. The city 
 Brotherhood will be a clearing house. I believe 
 if we devote our efforts in this way, we will 
 have no more articles asking what is being done 
 and what can it do? It stands for everything 
 you as individuals stand for, and nothing less. 
 If we get busy in our churches as city Brother- 
 hoods, they will not only do what we have done, 
 but vastly more; they will become clearing 
 houses so that each church may increase its own 
 work. 
 
 E. C. Phillips, Middletown, Ohio: — I am 
 from Middletown, Ohio, a small manufacturing 
 town in the southwestern part of the state. The 
 Presbyterian Brotherhood has done more in 
 our town than any other organization, regard- 
 less of its congregational affiliation. We started 
 out after the Indianapolis Convention with 
 forty-eight. We now have 200, adult and junior 
 Brotherhood. We have our own headquarters, 
 club house, gymnasium, swimming pool, taking 
 the place in our city of the Y. M. C. A. We 
 have no Y. M. C. A., and that is our principal 
 object at present. The life of our institution 
 has been the Bible Class. Membership in our 
 association is limited to Presbyterians, or men 
 who have no church affiliations. Just at present 
 
172 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 we have a guarantee fund of $75 a month, and 
 we are looking for a young man, Presbyterian, 
 as manager of our institution. We have a phys- 
 ical director, but we need a young man, prefer- 
 ably a Presbyterian, as a manager. There is a 
 devout spiritual feeling throughout the entire 
 membership. We are looking forward to a pros- 
 perous year. 
 
 Andrew Stevenson, Chicago : — I think one of 
 the most remarkable prayer groups is in the 
 church where Mr. Jefferis is a member, and 
 the next is the club of the Fourth Church in 
 Chicago. I think, gentlemen, that the men's 
 club of the Fourth Church has done a great 
 work in Chicago. They decided to build a $500,- 
 000 plant, and $384,000 was subscribed— $265,- 
 000 by members, by nineteen members. I think 
 a large part has come through the work of that 
 club, and when Dr. Stone comes I wish we might 
 hear of that. 
 
 Mr. Humphrey, Chicago: — Our Brotherhood 
 has not been very active this past year, but one 
 thing they have done, which is very promising. 
 They have about forty boys and have elaborated 
 a system of credit marks in which there is a 
 chance to give them a credit for everything they 
 do. The Sunday School teacher gives them a 
 credit for attending Sunday School, for the 
 Bible reading; when they come to church they 
 get a credit and when they bring their fathers 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 173 
 
 or mothers it is another. It has resulted in our 
 church swarming with boys; we have to get 
 there early to get our pews. There is a prize 
 which is given to the ones getting a large num- 
 ber of credits. I don't know just the prize. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln, Joliet, 111. : — I think Professor 
 Lewis gave a fine lecture on the boys of the 
 country. Professor Lewis is the son of old Dr. 
 Lewis, who was a minister at Joliet. If any of 
 you in any way will get that lecture that he 
 has on the Boy Question, it will be worth all 
 your while. It is one of the finest things that 
 has ever been given in the Church or outside of 
 the Church. 
 
 Dr. Landrith: — That lecture has been pub- 
 lished by the Chicago Brotherhood. You can 
 get a copy of it from them. 
 
 F. M. Eobinson, Kansas City, Mo. : — I believe 
 no Brotherhood can show any good reason for 
 its existence unless you give them something to 
 do, and that which you give them to do must be 
 intensely spiritual in its real object. Dinners 
 and entertainments are all right if they lead up 
 to something better, but without something bet- 
 ter they are sounding brass and tinkling cym- 
 bals. Linwood Church discovered a suburban 
 field in Kansas City. Our Brotherhood took 
 it up and built a chapel ; a Brotherhood man is 
 superintendent of the Sabbath School, another 
 
174 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 leads the evening service, and another leads the 
 Thursday evening service. In three or four 
 months a church will be organized, and then we 
 will discover another suburban field and build 
 up another church. We have the best pastor 
 in the United States — Mr. Eogers. He is the 
 man behind the gun, but the Brotherhood men 
 do the work. He pulls the string and we do the 
 work. We have a great men's class at ten 
 o'clock in the morning. You cannot have a 
 Brotherhood without the weekly meeting of the 
 class. We have about a hundred business and 
 professional men. They insist upon meeting at 
 9 :30 for prayer, and you know what that means 
 to the pastor. He preaches the best sermons 
 because he knows what is going on before 
 church. The men stay to church. We hold 
 these men, the captains, responsible. This re- 
 quires work all the time, seven days in the week 
 and every week in the year. 
 
 Eegarding the Brotherhood magazine, recent- 
 ly we adopted a resolution that hereafter, com- 
 mencing with each month, every annual dues 
 of $1.00 will include a subscription to the maga- 
 zine. We will get 125 subscriptions. We have 
 organized the Kansas City Presbytery, and 
 we are going to organize the Synod of Mis- 
 souri. We are of the conviction that the con- 
 vention of 1913 will be held in Kansas City. 
 
 Charles S. Holt : — One of the best single, 
 practical suggestions made, is that for the ex- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 175 
 
 tension of the influence of the magazine. Every 
 Local Committee should appoint a committee to 
 see that the magazine gets into the hands of 
 the Brotherhood. I offer a resolution to that 
 effect to be referred to the Business Committee. 
 
 Max C. Both, Toledo, Ohio :— Out of the fruit- 
 fulness of our life and spirit, I want to give 
 you one work we are doing of which I am spe- 
 cially proud. We have 200 members ; part of 
 these men have banded together and pledged 
 themselves, from the fruitfulness of our spir- 
 itual life, over $300 a year to the support of 
 a mission in China. We have paid for two years 
 and we intend to continue it. 
 
 A. B. T. Moore, Cedar Eapids, Iowa: — I 
 understand this is an hour in which we tell 
 what has been accomplished. I think in every 
 Brotherhood one thing especially has been ac- 
 complished; our President has referred to the 
 doctrine of fried chicken; I believe our 
 Moderator has referred to it as the apostasy 
 that is taking hold of many of the Brotherhoods, 
 making them social instead of religious. I want 
 to emphasize two things that must be the basis 
 of any successful Brotherhood work — the 
 Prayer Union and the Bible Class. These two 
 things must be the foundations; they must be 
 the platform on which the successful Brother- 
 hood is built — the united prayer of the men of 
 the individual church for its own welfare, its 
 
176 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 pastor, its meetings, its progress — the study of 
 God's word, the blessed book, the message and 
 only message we have from the Father to know 
 His will concerning us and to know ourselves. 
 
 William 0. La Monte, Chicago, 111.: — The 
 Men's Sunday Evening Club of the Second 
 Church, of which I am a delegate, has recently 
 taken on a new work in cooperation with the 
 women's societies of the Church. We conduct 
 a social, helpful service called the Pleasant Sun- 
 day Afternoon in our parish house, where we 
 get a distinguished speaker upon a civic or so- 
 ciological subject. The best men and women of 
 the city are willing and anxious to come; we 
 have a little music and then a light luncheon 
 for the men and women of the neighborhood 
 who live in boarding houses and have no proper 
 place to spend the Sunday afternoon. These 
 meetings are helpful, and we are enabled in 
 that way to build up our Christian Endeavor 
 Society, which has been in the last year the 
 real striking element of our church life, be- 
 cause we adjourn directly to the Christian 
 Endeavor meeting. We are planted in a neigh- 
 borhood where we must minister to men, and 
 we dare not shirk that responsibility, and we 
 are enabled to do it. We had a meeting last 
 Sunday, where Colonel Smith spoke of the Civil 
 War. We invited a company of the Boy Scouts. 
 We impress upon the young men, students, 
 many of them, that the men who are doing 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 177 
 
 things in the affairs of our city are Christian 
 men, these men who speak to them. I would 
 like to ask the question, how can we get the indi- 
 vidual man in our Brotherhoods to work with 
 other men? Let me say to Dr. Taylor: Bear 
 the information to your flying squadron that 
 Sunday before last Chicago opened a college of 
 aviation, and we must keep up with that. 
 
 Herbert T. Folsom, Lincoln, Neb. : — We have 
 taken up the work and have a live minister and 
 a live church. We have a man who is doing a 
 great work, Last Sunday five students joined 
 churches in Lincoln, largely through the work 
 of our student pastor. Our Brotherhood is 
 responsible largely for the Y. M. C. A. In addi- 
 tion to that, we are largely responsible for the 
 fact we have no saloons in Lincoln. 
 
 Dr. James E. Clarke, Nashville, Tenn. : — In 
 a little town of Kentucky, the men of the 
 churches have organized an interdenominational 
 Brotherhood and have closed up the places 
 where the boys are led astray. 
 
 H. D. Ward, Indianapolis : — Our church is the 
 Memorial Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis. 
 We have no organized Brotherhood there, but 
 every man in the church and in the Sunday 
 School is a live wire, so to speak. We have a 
 men's class which averaged last year 127 mem- 
 
178 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 bers per Sunday, and in the last five weeks this 
 one class, for one thing in particular, subscribed 
 for 432 Bibles to be placed in the largest hotel 
 in Indianapolis, which has 320 rooms. Three 
 hundred and twenty would have been enough 
 Bibles, but 432 will give us enough to supply 
 another hotel in the city. We have no Brother- 
 hood, but we will soon organize one. 
 
 Eev. Glenn L. Sneed, Dallas, Texas: — I am 
 the representative of a small church, and I want 
 to say in their behalf, when I went to the church 
 where I am now pastor we had no Brotherhood, 
 and the men did not seem well acquainted, so 
 I asked them to come to my house, and intro- 
 duced them as they came in, and each man said, 
 "I think I have seen you on the car." They 
 did not remember seeing each other at church, 
 although they had been there. We had a talk, 
 and we decided to organize a Brotherhood. As 
 a result of that, every Sunday morning the 
 Brotherhood comes in and holds a five or ten 
 minute prayer meeting with the pastor before 
 the preaching hour. Another definite result — 
 we are calling each other over the telephone to 
 talk over the work of the church. It is a decided 
 sign of progress. 
 
 A. G. Butler, Overbrook, Philadelphia, Pa.: 
 — Just three things. I can say them in a few 
 words. We have an organization consisting of 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 179 
 
 fifty members; they have charge of one prayer 
 meeting a month. A while ago our Sunday 
 School needed a piano. In a short time out of 
 that organization we raised $450, and put the 
 piano in the Sunday Schood. We needed a new 
 carpet, which cost $300. This in an organization 
 of two or three years. They are not intensely 
 spiritual, but intensely financial. 
 
 William A. Peterson, Chicago, 111. : — If you 
 don't consider this Brotherhood movement is 
 an excuse for you doing something, leave it 
 alone, and the farther away you keep, the better. 
 The criticism they hand out about the Brother- 
 hood is that we have visions and don't do any- 
 thing; if you don't, go back and act the part. 
 We laymen are going around and talking about 
 the wonderful things we have done, and forget 
 the dear ministers, who have been eating out 
 their hearts; and, mind you, we ought to be 
 ashamed of ourselves, that we didn't do it be- 
 fore, and it is not the ministers ' fault at all. 
 
 E. C. Oakley, Minneapolis, Minn.: — Our 
 Brotherhood is intensely evangelistic. Also on 
 two week night evenings, these men are the 
 instruments in God's hand to save souls. In 
 another mission, the Children's Mission, this 
 same work is going on and the same results ob- 
 tained. There are calls from our weaker 
 churches, and the smaller outlying churches; 
 our men go out two by two, and conduct serv- 
 
180 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 ices where the pastor is sick^ or have no pas- 
 tors, regardless of denomination. We have 
 prayer meeting before the service. We have 
 Bible classes conducted by the laymen. 
 
 W. M. Cleaveland, Joplin, Mo. : — The men of 
 our church have an organization five months 
 old, a hundred members. I call up every man 
 on Saturday afternoon. If they are not out to 
 church the next day the men take it for granted 
 they are sick, and they either go or send flowers. 
 
 Frank J. Durham, Chicago : — We have a 
 Junior Brotherhood in Chicago. Last Commu- 
 nion fifteen boys of high school age joined the 
 church. 
 
 D. W. McDonald, Decatur, 111.: — Two men 
 brought together the men in their community 
 in a home and got them acquainted with each 
 other. Four or five men in that community are 
 attending church because they were brought to- 
 gether. Men will come to church if they know 
 men who are in church. Many times we can 
 get them in the home when we cannot get them 
 in the church. 
 
 Warren Husted, Greenville, Ohio : — We have 
 a Junior Brotherhood. A Senior Brotherhood 
 took it up a month ago, and last Sabbath morn- 
 ing we had two seats of Juniors and a Junior 
 representative here today. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 181 
 
 Dr. Landrith: — This open conference is just 
 beginning and just getting started; but we 
 turn it over to the tender mercies of the man 
 who takes it up tomorrow. 
 
BROTHERHOOD IDEALS. 
 
 LED BY REV. W. A. JONES, D.D., PITTSBURGH, PA. 
 
 Dr. Jones : — What the Brotherhood should 
 do and how to do it ! We had a very lively con- 
 ference yesterday on the "things accom- 
 plished. " I believe that you are all thoroughly 
 interested and inspired by what has gone on 
 before, and I am sure you will occupy the time 
 now without any trouble. If this convention 
 does nothing more than inspire us, it will not do 
 very much good. I believe there is a burden on 
 the heart of every man here who has been at- 
 tending the sessions of this convention, as to 
 what you are going to do in your local Brother- 
 hood when you return. You may carry a little 
 of the inspiration and fire of this convention 
 with you, but we must do more than that : we 
 must resolve to do something in the work more 
 than we have ever done before. I think it is a 
 dreadful thing for a Brotherhood or a minister 
 or a member of a Brotherhood to ask, "What 
 can we do?" There is so much to do and so 
 much has been accomplished, and there is so 
 much to do in the Church and the Kingdom ; it 
 is just waiting for us, and the Brotherhood with 
 its strong shoulders should get under it. I am 
 
 182 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 133 
 
 pastor of a church where there is a Brother- 
 hood membership of 250 active members ; it is 
 not a new organization to burden the pastor and 
 for him to look after. If it is guided rightly and 
 wisely as it is possible for us to guide it, it is 
 the strong right arm of the pastor and the 
 church; and instead of its being a heavy load 
 on him, it lifts him up and helps him in the work 
 of the Kingdom in the local church. We have 
 looked upon the Brotherhood and the Brother- 
 hood Convention as largely a laymen's move- 
 ment and a laymen's convention. I would like 
 to know how many ministers are in this audi- 
 ence. Please rise. Thank you. I call attention 
 to this. Also on the program there are seven- 
 teen ministers and seven laymen. This is no 
 criticism or anything of that kind ; the point is 
 this: the Brotherhood cannot get along with- 
 out the minister, and the preacher cannot get 
 along in this day without the Brotherhood. 
 And it is a great pity there are some minis- 
 ters in some sections of our Church who do not 
 look with favor on the Brotherhood; but it is 
 gaining every day, and the pastor who will give 
 himself to the Brotherhood will find it an organ- 
 ization on which he can lean and find it profit- 
 able in his work. 
 
 In looking at the large proportion of minis- 
 ters, it reminds me of a little story of a mother 
 hen who had three little chickens, two little 
 daughters and one little son. The old lady was 
 very tired, and wanted to go away for a while. 
 
184 THE PKESBYTERIAN BBOTHERHOOD 
 
 She said to the two little daughters : ' ' Take care 
 of your little brother, because he is the only 
 little brother you have. When you go up to the 
 door of the house for food, you listen, and if 
 you hear them saying the preacher is coming 
 this week, take your little brother by the wings 
 and start for the woods.' ' 
 
 The old lady went away and stayed about two 
 weeks, and when she came back the two little 
 daughters met her at the train, and she said: 
 " Where is your little brother?" 
 
 They said that one day when they went up 
 to the house they heard them talking about the 
 preacher, and they took to the woods, but little 
 brother fell behind and was overtaken, and you 
 know what became of him. " Didn't I tell you 
 to take your little brother with you ? " " Oh, yesj 
 but he could not run as fast as we could, and 
 they overtook us, and he was taken." "That is 
 very sad, ' * said mother. 
 
 "Yes," said one of the little sisters, as the 
 tears ran down her feathered cheeks ; i c our little 
 brother has entered the ministry." 
 
 The mother said: "That is all right, for I 
 never thought he would make a very good lay- 
 man* ' f 
 
 This is a men's movement, and there is no 
 distinction here, and the question before us is, 
 What is the work the Brotherhood should do, 
 and how to do it? I like that word "do." If 
 we go home with the inspiration and nothing 
 more, it will not do us much good. What are 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 185 
 
 our plans for the winter? Without taking fur- 
 ther time, let us enter into discussion of 
 this question, What the working Brotherhood 
 should do? 
 
 Me. Gillian, of Wisconsin: — Let me say to 
 the brotherhoods in the small churches and with 
 small memberships, that I am speaking now 
 for their sake, and representing that kind of 
 church. Our Brotherhood, organized four or 
 five years ago, is in existence and alive. They 
 have sent me twice to the convention and they 
 are poor men, too. We have kept our Brother- 
 hood alive and it is growing. The other Brother- 
 hoods have died at the dining table. I almost 
 shrink from telling you what we are trying to 
 do. First of all, we stand back of the movement 
 which will end in the establishment of a tuber- 
 culosis hospital; all denominations are with 
 us, and trained women who are supported by 
 the contributions of the men who find out the 
 needy cases and distressed cases and take care 
 of them. We have mapped out a program ; we 
 have eleven ministers and sixty laymen in this 
 Federation. The plans are at work by which 
 we hope to build a hospital, and hope to bring 
 into our fellowship every Christian man and 
 every good man. We hope to have in connec- 
 tion a big farm in the woods by a lake. At one 
 end a place for boys and another for girls, 
 whose fathers and mothers are too poor to take 
 care of them. In connection with that farm we 
 
186 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 hope to have a convalescent home and a Nurses' 
 home, and make the farm provide the vegeta- 
 bles, milk, etc. 
 
 We have a plan so big that it staggers us, but 
 we hope to do it. More particularly we have 
 been able to secure the co-operation of Eoman 
 Catholic priests, by the permission of Father 
 Shannon, to take their turn at the city mission. 
 We have our ministers catalogued, and two 
 nights a week the priests take it. Last year 
 forty thousand men went through that mission. 
 We are trying to bring all the Protestant 
 Brotherhoods into our fellowship. Our most 
 difficult thing is to get all the ministers into 
 harmony with us, and to sympathize with us. 
 Fellowship is our inspiration. 
 
 Rev. W. F. Weir, Ashtabula, Ohio :— We have 
 had the Brotherhood supper for a good while, 
 but we were careful to guide the social function 
 to spiritual ends. We have now a Brotherhood 
 Bible Class. Our members are more than the 
 Brotherhood members. We have also what 
 is a new thing, in so far as we know, a Brother- 
 hood Council. The Brotherhood monthly social 
 meetings attended by one hundred men ; a Bible 
 Class, with an enrollment of more than that; 
 and a Brotherhood Council which meets Sunday 
 evening before the service. This Council con- 
 siders the larger business problems. I called 
 this body of men one Sunday night, and they 
 have met every Sunday night since to deal with 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION jg? 
 
 Church problems, and they have helped me 
 with one or two important things. Then we 
 have boys' nights, where every man brings a 
 boy. They have taken charge of two Sunday 
 nights. Sunday evening is an open hour and 
 you can have your men come together for spirit- 
 ual conference. The monthly Brotherhood 
 meeting is a meeting with the Brotherhood 
 Bible Class and Brotherhood Council. 
 *^v\^ % ^f\^\ fa\fP^ **** ^ ^ "**> -^^f w^ 
 
 Mr. McCluskey, New Decatur, Ala.: — The 
 Brotherhood is practically new in the State of 
 Alabama and the southern states. I noticed the 
 representation is largely from the northwestern 
 states. It is my prayer this morning, that this 
 convention, that the spirit of this movement be 
 spread over the southern states, and we may 
 get the benefit ; and we may learn more to carry 
 on God's business than we have heretofore. 
 
 Chairman Jones :— When I awoke this morn- 
 ing, I thought I was in Pittsburgh from the 
 atmosphere here today. Dr. Alexander has two 
 representatives on the floor and I think we 
 would like to hear from them. I will call on 
 Mr. Parker, of Pittsburgh. 
 
 C. Ellsworth Parker, Pittsburgh : — One 
 thing that we have planned to do this winter 
 and we are doing, is carrying on a club Sunday 
 afternoon for unchurched men. When we 
 started this club we were just a little bit afraid 
 of making it too religious. We started with 
 
188 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 twenty-eight; ran up to sixty and a hundred. 
 We found we are not in the Master's business 
 to talk social betterment, but we are here to 
 talk Christ and Him crucified. We have been 
 preaching straight Gospel sermons, and our 
 attendance has increased, and men are coming 
 and giving their hearts to Jesus Christ. We 
 give these men a little luncheon and they are not 
 all panhandlers. We have got to beg these men 
 to stay and have a cup of coffee. They come 
 for the Gospel. You will pardon me if I use 
 these plain words, but I am tired and sick of 
 some of the things they tell us; that we have 
 got to take in the priest and the Hebrew to help 
 us out to make our things go. Let us give them 
 Jesus Christ and give it straight in the old- 
 fashioned Presbyterian doctrine. There is Dr. 
 Alexander; he will help us to do anything we 
 ask him to do, but he is going to let somebody 
 else do their part. We are in a peculiar field. 
 We cannot make any grandstand display. We 
 are a downtown church; some come five or ten 
 miles. We found people coming twenty-eight 
 miles and we asked them, "Are there no 
 churches near you? Why do you come here?" 
 And they said, "Because Dr. Alexander is a 
 man's preacher.' f In his own pulpit, he preaches 
 the straight Gospel to men, and that is what we 
 are trying to do in our Brotherhood. They have 
 taken charge of the prayer meetings. Those 
 that come in street cars and automobiles and 
 walk, — they all get the same; it is urged upon 
 
ST, LOUIS CONVENTION ig9 
 
 them the value and importance of prayer in the 
 daily life. There has been one hundred pei* cent 
 increase. The thing for this association to do is 
 to get in line, through the study of God's word; 
 and he will send us out into the Brotherhoods 
 to do what there is to be done. 
 
 Rev. Charles Schall, Greensburg, Pa.: — I 
 think that the presiding officer of this confer- 
 ence ought to tell us about the addition to his 
 church. At that communion service, ninety-two 
 men were added to the membership of the 
 church of which Mr. Jones is pastor. 
 
 Nolan E. Best, New York : — Mr. Walter Guy, 
 of Chicago, is developing a thing as Chairman 
 of the Junior Brotherhood which ought to have 
 attention from all of our Brotherhoods, — a plan 
 which ties up the boys, which gives them credits 
 and demerits for anything, worthy or unworthy, 
 of the Christian life. A very direct attack, how- 
 ever, on a difficult problem ; and for Mr. Guy and 
 for his committee I want to say that they are not 
 only willing but eager to distribute their litera- 
 ture to anyone who applies for it, at 509 South 
 Wabash Ave., Chicago, and anxious that their 
 plan should be put to a test elsewhere ; as they 
 are beginning to put it to the test and eager 
 for you to report on the reflections of what is 
 their experimental endeavor on a problem they 
 feel is vital. 
 
190 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Eev. "Wm. L. Barrett, Belief ontaine, Ohio : — 
 My experience in Brotherhood work is that the 
 Brotherhood which does things is the Brother- 
 hood that studies the Bible. There is a class in 
 Bellefontaine, Ohio. The teacher is here and 
 ought to be heard from. They have organized 
 a Brotherhood Bible Class, beginning with nine 
 men. They have an enrollment of four hundred 
 and twenty-five, and that Brotherhood is doing 
 things for every part of the church, because it 
 makes a supreme study of the Bible. 
 
 Charles T. Thompson, Minneapolis: — I tell 
 you brethren there is one thing that is laid to 
 my conscience and heart, and it is this : These 
 outside works in which our congregations are 
 interested, I believe in them all, but I tell you 
 the thing for a Brotherhood man to remember is 
 when he gives himself to the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 he has consecrated himself first and foremost to 
 do all that he can to make the work of that par- 
 ticular church and of the pastor of that church 
 as effective as possible to the advancement of 
 the world and advancement of His Kingdom. 
 That is the primary object, and if I thought the 
 Brotherhood meant anything less I would not 
 be a member. You think you have business com- 
 mon sense, and you have. Take your business 
 common sense; come together; use that busi- 
 ness common sense; find out the problems of 
 your congregations and go to work and assist 
 your pastors and elders to work out the prob- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONTENTION 191 
 
 leins ; and if you will do that you will do more to 
 advance the work of Jesus Christ. I am just 
 sick sometimes when I hear one of the grand 
 causes presented, the cause of ministerial relief, 
 home missions; magnificent causes that ought to 
 inspire our hearts and bring from our pockets 
 such amounts that the treasury of the Lord will 
 be overflowing. I doubt if three per cent at least 
 of our churches know what the ministers are 
 talking about. Get them interested in the work 
 of the church. Get them to solve the problems, 
 which are there, to equip your Sabbath Schools, 
 how to provide the teachers, prepare the men 
 and women to teach the classes; and above all 
 things, brethren, try to make your individual 
 church, try to make the pastor of your indi- 
 vidual church just as effective in the Providence 
 of God as you can possibly do it, and if you can 
 do that you will be a real Brotherhood man. 
 
 Bev. W. L. Barrett, Belief ontaine, Ohio: — 
 When you have a Bible Class carry out the 
 International Sunday School lessons and not 
 social problems. I want to say to you that the 
 Brotherhood of Bellefontaine has all kinds of 
 men in that class. Men who are church members 
 and men who have not been in church for thirty- 
 five years, and they all attend regularly. We 
 have followed the Sunday School lessons. 
 
 A Delegate: — We are educating the people 
 for enterprises in our church. Three or four 
 
192 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 years ago the Brotherhood assumed the Sabbath 
 evening services. One of the features is occa- 
 sionally to have one of the great enterprises 
 of our church presented. We have the freed- 
 man's problem presented and the Missionary 
 enterprise. It was interesting to the people. 
 Our president presides, reads the Scripture, 
 some member of the Brotherhood leads in 
 prayer, and that evening the pastor takes a 
 back seat. 
 
 Dr. Harris H. Gregg, St. Louis, Mo.: — The 
 men of this church desire that the men who 
 leave this convention will not only talk about 
 studying the Bible, but take it up. I asked 
 Mr. Springer to get a number of copies of the 
 "Crowned Christ/' Such a book about the per- 
 son of our Lord is invaluable for your own per- 
 sonal life. We have a table of tracts this morn- 
 ing in the vestibule. On your way home we 
 would suggest that you win a soul to Christ. 
 That you may do that, you may get a leaflet, 
 "Safety, Certainty and Enjoyment.' ' Ask the 
 Lord if he will not give you a soul on the way 
 home. The first soul I ever led to Christ was 
 on the New York Central; he had been away 
 from his home for seven years and everything 
 had gone to pieces. He went home to his mother, 
 a widow, telling her he had accepted Christ. 
 
 A Delegate : — The Brotherhood of Washing- 
 ton, Ohio, has made two solemn promises, to 
 attend the evening service in a body; the other 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 193 
 
 to attend the Bible Class every Sunday morning 
 or have an excuse. 
 
 A Delegate: — Our Brotherhood is planning 
 in the next two weeks to make a religious can- 
 vass to locate the young men in the various 
 rooming and boarding houses ; and the Brother- 
 hood is to be divided into certain companies to 
 be responsible for each district. Each member 
 of the Brotherhood will try to bring one young 
 man into relationship with the Saviour. We are 
 looking forward to a season of spiritual devel- 
 opment. 
 
 Chairman Jones : — I will close this conference 
 on time. What you have asked for is hard to 
 speak of in two minutes and a half. Just this. 
 On Bally Day, the last day of September last 
 fall, we had a large congregation present and 
 were very much pleased, all of us, with the serv- 
 ice. Next day I visited an old gentleman and 
 when through telling him about it he asked me, 
 "Was anyone converted? Were there any con- 
 versions that day?" And I did not know that 
 there were. It came to me as it never came be- 
 fore, and I called the session together and told 
 them about it; and they suggested we begin 
 with the Brotherhood and work through the 
 Brotherhood, and lay our plans and get the 
 Brotherhood together. On Sunday afternoon 
 the Brotherhood met to hear the plans. One 
 hundred men that afternoon signed a card prom- 
 
194 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 ising to lead one soul to Jesus before the com- 
 munion season. The session kept in touch with 
 them, and we also gave to each man who signed 
 a card the name and street address of three or 
 four persons to be called upon, to present this 
 matter to them, and from the pulpit and every 
 opportunity we had we kept this thought before 
 them. We promised them they were not to be 
 asked to unite with the church or to come to 
 the church services, but to put to them the 
 question of their personal salvation. You will 
 be surprised how gladly men will receive you 
 when you go to them about their personal salva- 
 tion and try to point them to the Lamb of God. 
 On the morning of our Communion Service, 
 ninety-four persons were received into the mem- 
 bership of the church ; fifty- two were men, and 
 all were ready to testify that they had been 
 spoken to by men of our Brotherhood on this 
 question. That work is going on yet. We had 
 our church, which seats nearly seven hundred, 
 on that day, filled fifteen minutes before service. 
 Had to turn them into the lecture room ; had to 
 call a minister in to administer the Lord's Sup- 
 per to them. We are progressing on the same 
 plans towards the Communion in April, when 
 we hope to receive, if not one hundred, at least 
 half a hundred through this personal campaign. 
 Here is what every Brotherhood can do and 
 here is how you can do it : the work of personal 
 evangelism. There were men in our Brother- 
 hood who said, "I do not believe you can get 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 195 
 
 our men to do it. ' ' A hundred signed cards and 
 they did it. They were gladly received through 
 the community and this is a work which any 
 Brotherhood can do. I thank you for your great 
 assistance as well as for your patience. 
 
PKESENT DAY PBOBLEMS. 
 
 LED BY MR. THOMAS E. HODGES, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF WEST VIRGINIA, 
 
 MORGANTOWN, W. VA. 
 
 Mr. Hodges : — I am glad, indeed, to have this 
 privilege. I am unworthy to fill the position 
 assigned me here, but I am glad to have some 
 hand in taking up the discussion of these pres- 
 ent-day problems ; and let me say they are not, 
 perhaps, more present-day than the other prob- 
 lems we have been discussing, for this has been 
 a convention of problems, and that is why we 
 like it; they challenge for solution, and that is 
 where it gets close to us men. We have had here 
 the problem of the Men and Eeligion Forward 
 Movement, of the Evangelization of America; 
 we have had the problem presented to us of 
 the Bible and its study. We have had the prob- 
 lem of the world-wide work of the Church iij 
 Missions. We have had the problem of indi- 
 vidual loyalty; we have heard the problem of 
 the rural church. Here, grouped together, this 
 afternoon we have three or four problems, to 
 which we must give a little time. 
 
 We think, doubtless, our problems are great 
 problems, and I suppose they are; if they were 
 
 196 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 19^ 
 
 not they would not be worth while for us to 
 consider. But men, it has been the privilege 
 and high mission of the church of Jesus Christ 
 to solve great problems all through her history. 
 There were problems in the days of Paul ; there 
 were problems in the day of Luther and Calvin 
 and Knox, and those of later days; and yet 
 under God they were solved. The problems of 
 the twentieth century are not for contempla- 
 tion, they are for solution, and they appeal to 
 men. In the time for these problems this after- 
 noon, perhaps little more can be done than to 
 state them. Do you not know that a problem 
 clearly stated is well on the way to solution? If 
 we could get nothing more done than a clear 
 statement of the problems before us, as follow- 
 ers of Christ, he will lead us to their solution. 
 I do not know what the speakers will say, and 
 it is well, of course, that I do not. I have but 
 one thing to bespeak for them. That they shall 
 be on the plane of Christian optimism ; they will 
 not present these problems as insurmountable 
 barriers, but show them to us in a way to make 
 us feel that the solution of them is to be, in part 
 at least, attained. The first one is the splendid 
 problem of Eeligion in the Home. I know of 
 no one more able to discuss that than Professor 
 Erdman ; he needs no introduction. 
 
 Religion in the Home. 
 
 Eev. Chables E. Ekdman, D.D. : — There are 
 no insoluble problems in this world ; and in the 
 
198 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 sphere of religious experience that is especially 
 true. This problem of Eeligion in the Home 
 is so vital and important just because it is so 
 inseparably connected with all the other great 
 problems that come to us for our consideration 
 and solution. For instance, if we were speak- 
 ing of the matter of ignorance of the Bible ; if 
 Professor Phelps, of Yale, is telling us of the 
 ignorance of the student, it is because of the 
 ignorance in the home. If Mr. Mott gives him- 
 self for three years to the study of the problem 
 of the decline of candidates for the ministry, 
 he says chiefly and specifically it is because of 
 the decay of religion in the home. If we should 
 go on to discuss Sabbath Observance, we see it 
 is because of the decadence of religion in the 
 home. We know all these things and we ap- 
 preciate the problem. 
 
 What has the Brotherhood to do with this 
 vital problem? That is what we want you to 
 consider this afternoon when I have done. What 
 can the Brotherhood do ? The Brotherhood can 
 present to the men of the Church as represen- 
 tatives the problem ; and it can ask the men to 
 assist with the solution. Our individual 
 Brotherhood meetings should be reflections of 
 this great convention, and we should present 
 these problems and enlist the sympathy and 
 prayer and interest in the thought of our men. 
 What can you do, brothers? How much does 
 it press on your own hearts, religion in your 
 family circle? What can we do? We can create 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 199 
 
 in our own home circles an indefinable Chris- 
 tian atmosphere, suggested, for instance, by Mr. 
 Trumbull. When the father of the family, when 
 the husband, the head of the family, may bring 
 every question and view it in the light of the 
 conscious presence and power of the divine 
 Saviour and Lord, an atmosphere can be created 
 which may be indefinable, but all powerful. 
 Specifically and definitely, I suppose the prob- 
 lem centers around the family altar. I need 
 not repeat the statement that the family altars 
 are falling down, and if they are falling down 
 in our homes it is because of the indifference 
 of the men. There is the responsibility of th& 
 men. 
 
 Not long ago I was called to the beside of a 
 woman said to be dying. After I prayed there, 
 I spoke to the husband in the next room. I said, 
 "Do you have a family altar in this homer' 
 He said, "No." "If the Lord answers the 
 prayers,' ' I said, "that we have been praying 
 together; don't you want to promise me and 
 your Lord that henceforth you will always have 
 family worship in the morning?" 
 
 With tears in his eyes he said, "Until I was 
 married I always read my Bible every morn- 
 ing." 
 
 "Do you think the reason you have no family 
 altar is because this dear little wife is at fault?" 
 
 1 ' Oh, no ; of course not. ' ' 
 
 Why is it we have no family worship in our 
 homes? How far are we responsible? I know 
 
200 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 it is a problem. I know in some cases it is al- 
 most impossible for the father to have family 
 worship; he leaves home before it is light and 
 gets home after the children are abed. I know 
 it is so. If we go back to our homes and churches 
 to see what we can do I am sure we will see 
 changes worked and altars erected. The blessed 
 influence of these altars ! How many souls have 
 been brought to Christ through the influence of 
 the family altar? I have in mind a family; and 
 there came into that home two Swedish serv- 
 ants, and these maids were not Christians, either 
 one. I was surprised to learn in that home cir- 
 cle, while no word had been spoken concerning 
 Christ or religion to either one of these 
 girls, how within three months' time they 
 had both been brought to a personal knowledge 
 of Christ as Lord and Saviour. How? Because 
 they had been invited to the brief morning wor- 
 ship, and they had heard the Scripture, and they 
 had followed the prayer, and they had found 
 Christ. It is not only upon those that are 
 not Christians the influence comes; it is 
 upon the father that reads. The sainted 
 pastor of this church, Dr. Brookes, found at 
 his own family altar a marvelous blessing 
 which blessed a large number. The first 
 time I heard Dr. Brookes speak, he said: 
 "What led me to the study of prophecy was 
 an experience in my family worship. I had 
 been reading in the New Testament and had fin- 
 ished Jude, and said that as the next book was 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION £01 
 
 Revelation, and we did not understand it, we 
 would not read it. I went to my study after a 
 while and I thought of what I had said, and 
 what I had done, and I thought I would take up 
 that Book of Revelation and read it myself ; and 
 I took it up and read, l Blessed is he that readeth 
 the words of the prophecy of this book.' The 
 thought came, have I been denying that to my 
 family circle ?" He read the book again and 
 again, and he was led in this way to a study of 
 prophecy. Have we been denying something to 
 our family circles? Have we been denying the 
 Word of God ! Have we been denying prayer,— 
 the influences which we might exert in our fam- 
 ily circles ; those influences which will abide for- 
 ever? They used to tell us an old fable of the 
 submerging of an Island on which there was 
 a monastery, and in which there was a chapel ; 
 and that a bell had been heard to ring out over 
 the dark waters until the Island was submerged. 
 The story was, after it had been submerged, 
 long years after, the sailors on a quiet night 
 would still hear the sounding of the bell that 
 had been submerged. We do not believe it. We 
 do believe this, — there is not a man today who 
 can look back in his quiet times, and when he 
 listens cannot hear the sound of his father's 
 voice as he knelt in prayer; the message from 
 God as it came to him as a boy by the family 
 altar; he is cheered and strengthened and em- 
 powered for the service of his Lord. Solve your 
 own problem in your family, then see if you 
 
202 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 cannot lead your brothers in Christ into the 
 blessed privilege of a family altar. 
 
 I was asked to reserve the last two minutes 
 for any that might ask questions. 
 
 A Delegate : — What is done when there are 
 Catholics and Protestants in the same home? 
 
 Dr. Erdman : — I can say frequently that Cath- 
 lic members of households appear willing to 
 come to the family altar. I should always invite 
 them. 
 
 Chairman Hodges : — It is a far cry from the 
 conditions of fifty to seventy-five years ago, 
 when men labored for themselves and sold the 
 product of their labor chiefly. Now we have the 
 division into employers and those who work for 
 others. It is a matter of great pride that our 
 Church is setting itself to grapple with this 
 problem and its solution. We are going to give 
 a little time this afternoon to the problem of the 
 Church and the Laboring Man, and it will be 
 discussed by James J. Phillis, Coraopolis, Pa. 
 
 The Church and the Laboring Man. 
 
 James J. Phillis, Coraopolis, Pa.: — I come 
 from the Railroad World. I come in my humble 
 way to try and present to you the claims of the 
 laboring man. I cannot help but think of the 
 text of the Master when he spoke of the sheep of 
 the other fold. The laboring men are the sheep 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 203 
 
 of the other fold. I might illustrate this by a 
 personal experience within the last three 
 months. I was riding on the freight elevator 
 in one of the large department stores in Pitts- 
 burgh, and started up a conversation with the 
 operator and began to present to him in short 
 time the claims of Jesus Christ, and left him 
 after I had in my weak way done the best I 
 could. He reached in his pocket the next time 
 he saw me and said, "Here is something I would 
 like you to read. ' ' I remember this about it ; it 
 stated that a real live pastor out on the western 
 sections wanted to know why the working man 
 was not in the church. He prepared a stereo- 
 typed letter and mailed it to laboring organiza- 
 tions with certain questions. One of the or- 
 ganizations, a typographical union, appointed 
 a committee to investigate. I don't mind all the 
 answers; I do mind this one, "If the men that 
 are at the head of our organization are church 
 members, and we see them going to church, and 
 if the church stands for that kind of men who 
 want to hold us down to long hours and less 
 money, we don't want any of it." That is the 
 solving of the problem ; what part have you and 
 I and what are we showing to the men? Are 
 we standing for these things, less wages and 
 longer hours? That was the reason they did 
 not want any of it. 
 
 Men of the Presbyterian Church, we have got 
 to get away from such a standard. We have 
 
204 THE PBESBYTERIAN BROTHEBHOOD 
 
 got to set the standard higher, if we want to get 
 the workingman into the Church. I recall last 
 Sunday I was out on some automobile work 
 under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A. in front 
 of the Union Station. I was introduced to make 
 a little address, and next day there came a 
 young man and said he heard the address and 
 wanted a position. I was instrumental in get- 
 ting him a position. We hold a shop meeting 
 every few weeks; I believe in carrying the re- 
 ligion to the men; so we hold a shop meeting. 
 On the platform one day we had a Presbyterian 
 minister from the South Side. After the meet- 
 ing was over I was telling about this young fel- 
 low I had hired there. He moved to the South 
 Side ; he had separated from his wife and they 
 had two little children, and after he had found 
 work we got his home started again. This min- 
 ister said this man was a Lutheran and the wife 
 was a Methodist, and we got them into the 
 Presbyterian Church. The Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ was being preached around the platform 
 and places of business; it is our business to 
 carry the gospel in the shops. They are ready 
 and waiting for it. They do not want to hear 
 any tommy- rot or baby-talk. They want to hear 
 the real story of the Cross ; they want to hear 
 of the saving power of Jesus Christ. I recall 
 a young fellow who at one time was left $12,- 
 000, and went abroad and came back with noth- 
 ing. I said to him: "Jack, I would like to see 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 205 
 
 you use your life for Jesus Christ. I will not 
 ask to cut out drinking or to cut out your card 
 playing; I will ask you not to do anything but 
 ask Jesus if he would want you to do those 
 things. " " Oh, no, ' ' he replied, ' ' I could not do 
 any of those things if I should do what you want 
 me to." We have not that conviction to stay 
 away from theatre parties, and card parties; 
 yet the working man, down and out, has that 
 vision and knows what we ought to do and what 
 he ought to be. 
 
 I believe we ought to do this work because 
 of the bigness of the problem. It is a big prob- 
 lem, and that is the reason that it appeals to the 
 manhood, to you and us as Presbyterian men, to 
 organize a little meeting ; we can get the work- 
 ingmen there and you can get the strongest 
 men in the church to come and give them the 
 Gospel. We can get Dr. Alexander and Dr. 
 Young; they are glad to give the men the Gospel 
 and tell the story of Jesus and his love to the 
 men who are waiting for it. 
 
 Chairman Hodges: — That is what we might 
 call a warm member. We will think about this 
 when it is all over and perhaps when we get 
 back to the work in our homes we can carry out 
 the suggestions thus presented to us. 
 
 Now we come to the problem, "The Place of 
 the Church in the Life of the Community. ' ' This 
 is to be discussed by George E. Raitt, of Pitts- 
 burgh. 
 
206 the presbyterian brotherhood 
 
 The Place of the Chuech in the Life of the 
 Community. 
 
 George E. Baitt, Pittsburgh : — Mr. Chairman 
 and Brethren of the Convention : — If there were 
 time this afternoon, I wish I might convey to you 
 the respects of the men of the United Presby- 
 terian Church, and tell you we are all very pro- 
 foundly praying for the time when we will all be 
 united (applause) Presbyterians. (Laughter.) 
 I feel very much at home here. You have ex- 
 alted Jesus Christ our Master so much; I feel 
 anybody, any Christian, would feel at home in 
 this gathering. I have been asked to speak on 
 The Place of the Church in the Life of the Com- 
 munity. I know of no better definition of the 
 Church of Jesus Christ than given to the man to 
 whom Jesus Christ said: "On this rock I shall 
 build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not 
 prevail against it." Peter, speaking to Chris- 
 tian men, says: "Ye are an elect race, a royal 
 priesthood, an holy nation, a people for God's 
 own possession," and I do not know where you 
 will find a more scientific definition of what the 
 Church of Christ is than those terms. "Ye are 
 all this that ye may show forth the excellency 
 of Him who hath called you out of darkness 
 into His marvelous light." There we have the 
 place of the Church in the community. It ought 
 to be uplifting in the educational forces. I be- 
 lieve the Church of Christ ought to be a social 
 feature, not only of the rural community but in 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION £07 
 
 the city. I believe the Church of Christ ought 
 to be an economic force, and we will not be 
 brought into the golden age until people begin 
 to regulate their own life by the golden rule. 
 The peace of this world, — we will never know 
 what peace is until the Prince of Peace reigns 
 in the hearts of the people. That is not the 
 purpose of the Church. The great purpose is 
 to show forth the excellencies of Him who has 
 called us out of darkness. How are you going to 
 do it? Suppose you want to have one man 
 know another. How are you going to do it? 
 By telling how he looks ? By talking about what 
 he does ? Not until you bring the other man into 
 contact with your man and let him have a meet- 
 ing and acquaintance with that man. The Church 
 of Christ is the Body of Christ, and just as the 
 body is the medium by which we know human 
 souls, so this body is the medium by which we 
 can get men to know Christ. If nothing more 
 had been said at this Convention than was said 
 by Mr. Trumbull, it would have been well worth 
 while to go from San Francisco to St. Louis to 
 hear it. God has given this world many remark- 
 able gifts ; given us great blessings ; but God has 
 only given this world one unspeakable gift, and 
 until the Church of Christ makes its chief busi- 
 ness to make Jesus Christ known to the com- 
 munity it is failing of its purpose. 
 
 May I give you an illustration before I sit 
 down. Until about three months ago I was pas- 
 tor of a church in Philadelphia. There came to 
 
208 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 that church for about five years a cultured fel- 
 low, a man up in all the questions of the day. I 
 used to wonder why he came to church ; I could 
 not get near to the man. Two weeks before I 
 left my church I was sent for by this gentleman. 
 When I came into the house he said to me, ' l Mr. 
 Eaitt, I have been convinced that there is such 
 a thing as spiritual power, and I believe as never 
 before that Jesus Christ can live in the life of 
 a man ; and I want to tell you that I believe that 
 is worth more than all the millions of Kockef el- 
 ler, or anyone else in the world. I am bound I 
 shall have it for myself if possible. ' ' I told him 
 that I believed God meant it when he said, 
 "They that search for me will find me." The 
 last Sabbath I spent in that church I had the joy 
 of not only receiving the man but his little ten- 
 year-old boy into the Church of Christ; and I 
 went home with him, and I asked him if he would 
 kindly tell me what it was that convinced him 
 that there was such a thing as Jesus living in 
 the life of a man. He told me of the illness of 
 the wife of a man in the church. "As a good 
 neighbor I thought I should offer my sympathy. 
 ' I appreciate your kindness,' he said, 'but I 
 want to tell you kindly, if your sympathy was 
 all I had to depend on I would be in a sorry 
 plight, but I have a power buoying me up that is 
 more than in any man. ' I told my wife he had a 
 power that I did not know anything about. I 
 watched that man from that day to this." And 
 after I talked with him about it, I talked to the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 209 
 
 other man, and he said: "I used to wonder 
 why he came over so often. ' ' My friend told me 
 that, l ' after watching him for three years, I am 
 convinced that Jesus can live in the life of a 
 man and is the best thing any man can have." 
 I asked him what would be his advice to a pastor 
 and he said, "Get such and such a man (calling 
 him by name), and these other men like them, 
 and get them to themselves and reveal to them 
 Jesus Christ, and send them out; and I want to 
 tell you, Mr. Eaitt, that I never knew what life 
 was until Jesus came to live in my life." 
 
 A young man volunteering to go to Africa as 
 a missionary passed a creditable examination, 
 and after it was all through they said to him, 
 "My friend, you have passed one of the best 
 examinations that a man passed before this 
 board. Before you receive your appointment, I 
 would like to ask one more question. Suppose 
 after you have been in Africa ten years and 
 been successful, King Leopold would come to 
 you and offer you ten thousand dollars a year 
 to go in his employ, what would you do?" The 
 young man, who was sincere and thoughtful, 
 looked down a few moments and replied, "If 
 King Leopold would make me an offer like that 
 I think, I don't know, but I think I would take a 
 good look at the Lord Jesus Christ and I would 
 say no." My brothers, can we not as members 
 of the Church of Jesus Christ have Christ living 
 in us, so that our brethren living in a community 
 can see Christ when they see us ? 
 
THE BROTHERHOOD 
 AND THE BIBLE 
 
THE BROTHERHOOD AND THE BIBLE 
 
 BY PKOF. CHAELES B. ERDMAN, D.D., PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Mr. President: Bible study and prayer are 
 inseparable sources of the spiritual strength de- 
 manded for the service of the King. Prayer is 
 the necessary atmosphere for profitable Bible 
 study, but habitual Bible study alone secures 
 perseverance and power in prayer. George 
 Miiller, the famous founder of the Bristol or- 
 phanages, was a famous modern examplar of 
 the ministry of intercession; yet he stated that 
 he failed in his plan and purpose of beginning 
 each day with a season of prayer, until he 
 adopted the method of first opening his Bible ; 
 and then, as he read, he found himself instinct- 
 ively returning thanks and offering petitions. 
 As God spoke to him through the Word, he was 
 impelled to address God in prayer. 
 
 And this relation which Bible study sustains 
 to prayer it sustains to all departments and 
 forms of Christian service. It thus suggests to 
 our Brotherhood both a worthy objective and 
 also a means of increasing the efficiency of all 
 other lines of work. There are many such lines. 
 The "Things Accomplished' ' are very numer- 
 ous. A recent issue of "The Presbyterian 
 
 213 , . j 
 
214 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Brotherhood " contained a list of, not "57 varie- 
 ties," but 87 varieties of service which the 
 Brotherhood has undertaken with success. It 
 included almost everything, from the promotion 
 of sociability to the prevention of tuberculo- 
 sis ; from preaching to baseball. Some hungry 
 brotherhoods seem to "eat to live," some "live 
 to eat"; some idle or hibernate in the atmos- 
 phere of "smokers," while some take them- 
 selves very seriously and seek to superintend 
 the earth. But in this curious catalogue of en- 
 deavor, my eye fell on a golden aphorism: 
 "Found — that the Bible Class gives immortal- 
 ity to the Brotherhood organization." This is 
 a striking way of stating the thesis that the 
 stimulation of Bible study, or the increase of 
 Bible knowledge, is not only a worthy end in 
 itself, but given inspiration and guidance to 
 every legitimate form of Brotherhood work. 
 
 For instance, certain brotherhoods are en- 
 deavoring to do something for the betterment 
 of civic and political conditions ; but the Bible 
 is the very foundation of our free institutions, 
 the palladium of our national life. Amidst the 
 present confusion of social theories, there is one 
 infallible guide : it is the Word of God. Chris- 
 tian principles and Christian ideals must mold 
 our civic and national life. The Bible alone can 
 give the light for intelligent activity, the motive 
 for unselfish service. In a public square of an 
 eastern city stands an imposing bronze statue 
 of a Pilgrim, who, with confident step and de- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION £15 
 
 termined look, is moving forward to aid in the 
 establishment of an imperishable state ; and in 
 his arm he is clasping a massive copy of the 
 Bible. This is to be his counselor, his instructor, 
 and his guide. For us, as citizens, nothing can 
 be more patriotic, no social service can be more 
 real, than the stimulation of the study of the 
 Word of God. If we are going to follow in the 
 footsteps of those who gave us our national 
 freedom, it will be only as we too are uphold- 
 ing the Bible, and seeing to it that Bible truth 
 is made known to the men and boys of our na- 
 tion. We like to pause today and pay our trib- 
 ute of respect to one whom God gave us, the 
 great hero, who was " first in war, first in peace, 
 and first in the hearts of 'his countrymen. ' ' If 
 we are true to such leaders we shall see to it 
 that this Book has a first place in our churches, 
 in our schools, in our homes, and in our per- 
 sonal lives. 
 
 Or again, our purpose may be the advance- 
 ment of evangelistic work. "The Brotherhood 
 and the Gospel" is our Convention theme. Our 
 hearts are thrilled by the prospects of the "Men 
 and Eeligion Movement/ ' How better can men 
 be prepared for this great enterprise than by 
 having placed in their hands the Word of God? 
 I see in vision another "Pilgrim''; he is being 
 pointed by "Evangelist" toward the wicket 
 gate and the way of life, toward the Cross and 
 the Celestial City. He is so eager to receive 
 guidance because, while there is a burden on 
 
216 THE PEESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 his back, there is a Book in his hand. The book 
 has told him of his need and awakened within 
 him a longing for light. We must place this 
 Bible in the hands of men if we would have 
 them aroused to their deepest needs, and started 
 on the path of life. So, too, if workers are to 
 be found, personal evangelists seeking to guide 
 individual souls, it will be among those men 
 who know the truths of the Bible, and the Christ 
 of the Bible, and who believe ' i there is no other 
 name given among men whereby we must be 
 saved. ' ' 
 
 Or again, if the Brotherhood is to be an ag- 
 gressive missionary force ; if it is to be inspired 
 by a true breadth of vision ; if it is to encour- 
 age mission study classes, and to worthily sup- 
 port the supreme enterprise of making Christ 
 known to all the world, it will only be as its 
 members are keeping in vital contact with the 
 Word of God. The Bible is the missionary 
 book; it outlines the missionary programme; 
 it voices the missionary appeal ; it inspires the 
 missionary motive. As was well said by a 
 speaker at the Edinburgh Conference : Men will 
 not be moved to missionary service by the state- 
 ment of how many heathen are without Christ, 
 or how much money will be required to evan- 
 gelize the nations, but by a clear vision of how 
 much it cost to redeem the world. "He loved 
 me and gave Himself for me" — that is the 
 thrilling message of the Bible — which men who 
 would have a missionary spirit need to read 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION '217 
 
 again and again, until they are eager to live 
 "no longer for themselves, but for Him who 
 for their sakes died and rose again." 
 
 So, too, for all phases of Brotherhood work, 
 the stimulation of Bible study will result in 
 new efficiency and power. Nor is the task novel 
 or difficult. It seems to be agreed that no other 
 effort has proved so easy to inaugurate or so 
 certain of results. The easiest thing is not 
 usually the best thing, and the hardest tasks 
 make the most powerful appeal to strong men ; 
 but some of us are of such unheroic mold as to 
 confess to ourselves that we are not the less 
 willing to undertake tasks of supreme impor- 
 tance when we are assured of measurable suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Bible study can be stimulated by the organi- 
 zation of Bible classes; this first and most ob- 
 viously. The Brotherhood is here not usurp- 
 ing the place of the Sabbath School, but only 
 rendering invaluable and needed aid. The Sab- 
 bath School problem is one of the most vital in 
 the present life of our Presbyterian Church. It 
 is stated that 85 per cent of all the additions 
 to our church are from the Sabbath School; 
 but 75 per cent of our Sabbath School scholars 
 never unite with the church. This last startling 
 assertion is based upon the fact that less than 
 3 per cent of the scholars are received into full 
 church-membership each year, and the average 
 period of attendance is about ten years. Of 
 this 75 per cent of Sabbath School scholars who 
 
218 THE PKESBYTERIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 leave the school without uniting with the church, 
 the larger proportion are young men. Here is 
 the opportunity for the Brotherhood. Its plan 
 of organization, its social features, its flexibility 
 of method, make it a fit instrument for the for- 
 mation of classes, which will not only retain 
 the interest of young men who have been mem- 
 bers of the school, but which will secure the 
 attendance of men who have been connected 
 with neither school nor church. In the estab- 
 lishment and conduct of such classes, the en- 
 deavor should be (1) to retain a vital and or- 
 ganic connection with the Sabbath School, 
 whether new classes are formed or groups of 
 classes are united or federated by the Brother- 
 hood. (2) Bible study must be the actual work 
 of these classes. The teaching must not assume 
 the form of mere desultory lectures on social 
 and moral and religious themes. (3) The aim 
 must be efficiency rather than a large enroll- 
 ment. Success must be measured by results in 
 awakened interest in the Bible, in personal ded- 
 ication to Christ, in zeal for Christian service. 
 (4) The effort must be to reach men most in 
 need of religious influence, and least likely to 
 have opportunity for Bible instruction. These 
 most needy groups will often demand the adop- 
 tion of extraordinary methods, such as those of 
 the Home Department of the Sunday School, 
 the Extension Bible Class, the Shop Meeting, or 
 the "Bailroad Service' ' of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association. (5) Men must be encour 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 219 
 
 aged to fit themselves for Bible-Class leaders. 
 Here is the crux of the problem of the modern 
 Sabbath School and of the related department 
 of Brotherhood work. The supreme need is of 
 teachers and teacher-training classes. Surely, 
 the organized men of the church will not fail 
 to respond to the cry for leadership in this 
 important field of Christian work. 
 
 Interest in the Bible can be increased by occa- 
 sional courses of lectures on Bible themes, de- 
 livered under the auspices of the Brotherhood. 
 A layman, a former member of this very 
 (Compton Avenue) church, recently delivered 
 at Princeton a lecture on "The Tabernacle, ' ' 
 using an admirable model, and deeply interest- 
 ing an audience of men to whom such matters 
 might be regarded as familiar commonplaces; 
 but real knowledge of the Bible is surprisingly 
 rare, and a true setting forth of its contents is 
 of perennial interest. "The Bible and His- 
 tory," "The Bible and Modern Excavations," 
 "The Bible and Social Problems," "The Bible 
 and English Literature," are examples of 
 themes which do not fail to attract audiences of 
 thoughtful men. 
 
 The Brotherhood can stimulate interest in 
 Bible reading by systematic efforts along the 
 line of distributing copies of the Bible, or of the 
 New Testament, or of the Gospels. Most of us 
 are perfectly familiar with the work of the 
 "Gideons," the "Christian Commercial Trav- 
 elers ' Association of America, ' ' who have placed 
 
220 THE PEESBYTERIAN BROTHEBHOOD 
 
 some sixty thousand Bibles in the bedrooms of 
 hotels in the United States and Canada. The 
 proprietor of a hotel near St. Louis noticed 
 that the introduction of these Bibles resulted in 
 doubling the electric light bill, but was willing 
 to have it even larger if occasioned by Bible 
 reading. And ' ' the entrance of the Word ' ' does 
 "give light." A young man from Georgia tes- 
 tified: "I went into my room at a hotel some 
 months ago, and saw on my table a Bible bear- 
 ing the "Gideon stamp,' ' the first Bible I had 
 seen for many years. It reminded me of my 
 mother. I sat down and read it, finding many 
 of the passages she had read to me in my boy- 
 hood days, and I confess it went to my heart as 
 nothing ever did before. That night I went to 
 prayer meeting, found Christ, and have been 
 serving Him and carrying a Bible in my grip 
 ever since.' ' 
 
 Most of us, also, are acquainted with the 
 Pocket Testament League, each member of 
 which is given a special copy of the New Testa- 
 ment, on promising to carry in the pocket the 
 Testament or some part of the Bible, and to 
 read at least one chapter every day. In this 
 way hundreds of thousands of Testaments and 
 Gospels have been distributed, and countless 
 lives transformed. An engineer took a copy of 
 the Gospel of John and gave it to the tower 
 man. Three weeks later he came back and said, 
 "I have read that book through four times; I 
 am a different man." He was a most unclean 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 221 
 
 man before that time. His wife said, "We 
 have a different home now because of the 
 Book." 
 
 It would be well if each local Brotherhood 
 should enlist its members in some such definite 
 work, with a view of placing an inspired mes- 
 sage in the hands and hearts of men. 
 
 The Brotherhood can adopt methods for se- 
 curing the more regular reading of the Bible in 
 the homes of its members, and of their friends 
 and acquaintances. Our family altars have 
 fallen ; the voice of God, speaking through His 
 Word, is seldom heard in our family circles. No 
 greater calamity could have come to our Church 
 and our land. Let the men of our Church, or- 
 ganized for Christian work, make a definite 
 effort towards securing for the children of our 
 homes, the blessed influences which molded the 
 lives of earlier generations, which impressed 
 divine truth on hearts at an age most ready 
 to receive such messages, which inspired abid- 
 ing impulses : 
 
 "Thoughts which wake to perish never; 
 
 Which listlessnes nor mad endeavor, 
 
 Nor man nor boy, nor all that is at enmity with joy, 
 
 Can utterly abolish or destroy.' 7 
 
 Above all, the Brotherhood must endeavor to 
 guide and stimulate its members, in methods 
 and habits of personal Bible study. The matter 
 should be discussed at Brotherhood meetings, 
 and counsel and encouragement frequently 
 given. Men should be made to feel that this 
 
222 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 study is to be daily. They should be persuaded 
 that it is possible. Time can be found. All 
 are conscious of the difficulty, and need encour- 
 agement to persevere. Dr. Weston read the 
 New Testament through once every month for 
 forty years. "Enoch," a negro porter em- 
 ployed by the Pennsylvania railroad in Phila- 
 delphia, like the Enoch of old, "walks with 
 God." He does so by means of his daily Bible 
 study. He must be at work by seven every day, 
 but he rises in time to read, before breakfast, 
 a chapter or Psalm, the number of which corre- 
 sponds with the day of the month (it might be 
 the twenty-second Psalm today) ; he then com- 
 mits to memory some one verse he has read ; his 
 soul feeds on this message all day. It is not 
 a remarkable method; the remarkable thing is 
 that for seven years he has never been known 
 to fail in memorizing his verse. We can find 
 the time, if we will. 
 
 While sitting here this morning I was re- 
 minded by the presence of a dear friend of a 
 visit to the home of his dear father, who was 
 known throughout the length and breadth of 
 the Church. This dear friend took me up to 
 the room adjoining his father's bedroom, and 
 showed me a table and on that table a book. 
 For one hour each day that busy Presbyterian 
 layman, that man who had so many interests, 
 that man for whom much might be waiting in 
 his office, would go and read his Bible and speak 
 with his Lord. When he was dying, his son told 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 223 
 
 me, he asked, "I wish you would bring me the 
 Bible. " "I brought him this book ; it fell down 
 on his breast, and he looked up with tears in his 
 eyes, 'If I could take this book with me'; and 
 for the time he was forgetting the loved ones ; 
 he was thinking of his book that brought him 
 nearer to Christ, his Savior, and gave him 
 strength for the service in the Kingdom. ' ' 
 
 This study must be definite. We must have 
 some purpose in view. We may read for knowl- 
 edge, or to aid us in worship, or to prepare us 
 for service, or for growth in grace. There must 
 ever be an aim in view, if the study is to be 
 fruitful and helpful. 
 
 Above all, it must be devotional, and that in 
 the simplest, truest sense. It must be with a 
 desire to secure a better knowledge of Christ, 
 of His person and work, of His power and pres- 
 ence, of His purpose and His will; but with a 
 conscious willingness to yield ourselves, our 
 lives, our plans, our all to Him. 
 
 The stimulating of such Bible study is 
 the highest, holiest service the Presbyterian 
 Brotherhood can render to its members, to our 
 homes, to our churches, to our land, and to our 
 Lord. 
 
THE LIFE THAT WINS 
 
THE LIFE THAT WINS. 
 
 BY CHARLES GALLAUDET TRUMBULL, 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
 There is only one life that wins ; and that is 
 the life of Jesus Christ. Every man may have 
 that life ; every man may live that life. 
 
 I do not mean that every man may be Christ- 
 like; I mean something very much better than 
 that. I do not mean that a man may always 
 have Christ's help; I mean something better 
 than that. I do not mean that a man may have 
 power from Christ; I mean something very 
 much better than power. And I do not mean 
 that a man shall be saved from his sins and 
 kept from sinning; I mean something better 
 than even that victory. 
 
 To tell you what I do mean, I must simply tell 
 you a very personal and recent experience of 
 my own. I think I am correct when I say that 
 I have known more than most men know about 
 failure, about betrayals and dishonorings of 
 Christ, about disobedience to heavenly visions, 
 about conscious fallings short of that which I 
 saw other men attaining, and which I knew 
 Christ was expecting of me. Not a great while 
 ago I should have had to stop just there, and 
 
 227 
 
228 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 say simply I hoped that some day I would be 
 led out of all that, I knew not how, into some- 
 thing better, I knew not what. But, thanks be 
 to His long-suffering patience and infinite love 
 and mercy, I do not have to stop there this 
 morning, but I can go on to speak of something 
 better than a miserable story of personal fail- 
 ure and disappointment. 
 
 The conscious needs of my life, before there 
 came the new experience of Christ of which I 
 would tell you, were definite enough. Three in 
 particular stand out: 
 
 1. There were great fluctuations in my spir- 
 itual life, in my conscious closeness of fellow- 
 ship with God. Sometimes I would be on the 
 heights spiritually; sometimes I would be in 
 the depths. A strong convention, such as this ; 
 a stirring address from some consecrated, victo- 
 rious Christian like Speer or Mott ; a searching, 
 Spirit-filled book, or the obligation to do a diffi- 
 cult piece of Christian service myself, with the 
 preparation in prayer that it involved, would 
 lift me up ; and I would stay up, — for a while, — 
 and God would seem very close and my spirit- 
 ual life deep. But it wouldn't last. Sometimes 
 by some single failure before temptation, some- 
 times by a gradual down-hill process, my best 
 experiences would be lost, and I would find 
 myself back on the lower levels. And a lower 
 level is a perilous place for a man who calls 
 himself a Christian, as the Devil showed me 
 over and over again. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 229 
 
 It seemed to me that it ought to be possible 
 for me to live habitually on a high plane of 
 close fellowship with God, as I saw certain 
 other men doing, and as I was not doing. Those 
 men were exceptional, to be sure ; they were in 
 the minority among the Christians whom I 
 knew. But I wanted to be in that minority. 
 Why shouldn't we all be, and turn it into a 
 majority? 
 
 2. Another conscious lack of my life was in 
 the matter of failure before besetting sins. I 
 was not fighting a winning fight in certain lines. 
 Yet if Christ was not equal to a winning fight, 
 what were my Christian beliefs and professions 
 good for? I did not look for sinlessness. But 
 I did believe that I could be enabled to win in 
 certain directions habitually, yes, always, in- 
 stead of uncertainly and interruptedly, the vic- 
 tories interspersed with crushing and humiliat- 
 ing defeats. Yet I had prayed, oh, so earnestly 
 for deliverance; and the habitual deliverance 
 had not come. 
 
 3. A third conscious lack was in the matter 
 of dynamic, convincing spiritual power that 
 would work miracle-changes in other men's 
 lives. I was doing a lot of Christian work — 
 had been at it ever since I was a boy of fifteen. 
 I was going through the motions, — oh, yes. So 
 can anybody. I was even doing personal work, 
 — the hardest kind of all; talking with people 
 one by one about giving themselves to my 
 Saviour. But I wasn't seeing results. Once in 
 
230 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 a great while I would see a little in the way 
 of result, of course; but not much. I didn't see 
 lives made over by Christ, revolutionized, 
 turned into firebrands for Christ themselves, 
 because of my work; and it seemed to me I 
 ought to. Other men did, why not I? I com- 
 forted myself with the old assurance (so much 
 used by the Devil) that it wasn't for me to see 
 results; that I could safely leave that to the 
 Lord if I did my part. But that didn't satisfy 
 me; and I was sometimes heartsick over the 
 spiritual barrenness of my Christian service. 
 
 About two years ago I began, in various 
 ways, to get intimations that certain men to 
 whom I looked up as conspicuously blessed in 
 their Christian service seemed to have a con- 
 ception or consciousness of Christ that I did 
 not have, — that was beyond, bigger, deeper, 
 than any thought of Christ I had ever had. I 
 rebelled at the suggestion when it first came 
 to me. How could any one have a better idea 
 of Christ than I? (I am just laying bare to you 
 the blind, self-satisfied workings of my sin- 
 stunted mind and heart.) Did I not believe in 
 Christ and worship Him as the Son of God 
 and one with God? Had I not accepted Him as 
 my personal Saviour more than twenty years 
 before? Did I not believe that in Him alone 
 was eternal life, and was I not trying to live 
 in His service, giving my whole life to Him? 
 Did I not ask his help and guidance constantly, 
 and believe that in Him was my only hope? 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 231 
 
 Was I not championing the very cause of the 
 highest possible conception of Christ, by con- 
 ducting in the columns of The Sunday School 
 Times a symposium on the Deity of Christ, in 
 which the leading Bible scholars of the world 
 were testifying to their personal belief in Christ 
 as God? All this I was doing: how could a 
 higher or better conception of Christ than mine 
 be possible? I knew that I needed to serve 
 Him far better than I had ever done ; but that 
 I needed a new conception of Him I could not 
 admit. 
 
 And yet it kept coming at me, from directions 
 that I could not ignore. I heard Jowett of Eng- 
 land preach a sermon on Ephesians 4:12, 13: 
 "Unto the building up of the body of Christ; 
 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, 
 and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto 
 a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stat- 
 ure of the fullness of Christ" ; and as I followed 
 it I was amazed, bewildered. I couldn't follow 
 him. He was beyond my depth. He was talk- 
 ing about Christ, unfolding Christ, in a way 
 that I admitted was utterly unknown to me. 
 Whether Jowett was right or wrong I wasn't 
 quite ready to say that night; but if he was 
 right, then I was wrong. And I came away real- 
 izing that I had heard what was to me the most 
 wonderful sermon I had ever listened to. 
 
 A little later I read another sermon of Jow- 
 ett 's, in the Eecord of Christian Work, on 
 "Paul's Conception of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
232 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOB 
 
 As I read it, I was conscious of the same uneasy 
 realization that he and Paul were talking about 
 a Christ whom I simply did not know. Could 
 they be right? If they were right, how could I 
 get their knowledge? 
 
 One day I came to know Dr. John Douglas 
 Adam, who speaks the closing message of the 
 convention to you to-night. I learned from him 
 that what he counted his greatest spiritual 
 asset was his unvarying consciousness of the 
 actual presence of Jesus. Nothing bore him up 
 so, he said, as the realization that Jesus was 
 always with him in actual presence; and that 
 this was so, independent of his own feelings, in- 
 dependent of his deserts, and independent of 
 his own notions as to how Jesus would manifest 
 His presence. Moreover, he said that Christ 
 was the home of his thoughts. Whenever his 
 mind was free from other matters, it would 
 turn to Christ; and he would talk aloud to 
 Christ when he was alone, — on the street, any- 
 where, — as easily and naturally as to a human 
 friend. So real to him was Jesus' actual pres- 
 ence. 
 
 Some months later I was in Edinburgh, at- 
 tending the World Missionary Conference, and 
 I saw that Dr. Eobert F. Horton was to speak 
 to men Sunday afternoon on "The Eesources 
 of the Christian Life." His book on "The 
 Triumphant Life" had helped me greatly, and 
 I went eagerly to hear him. I expected him to 
 give us a series of definite things that we could 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 233 
 
 do to strengthen our Christian life ; and I knew 
 I needed them. But his opening sentence 
 showed me my mistake, while it made my heart 
 leap with a new joy. What he said was some- 
 thing like this : 
 
 "The resources of the Christian life, my dear 
 friends, are just Jesus Christ." 
 
 That was all. But that was enough. I hadn't 
 grasped it yet ; but it was what Paul, Dr. Jow- 
 ett, and Dr. Adam, were trying to tell me about. 
 Later, as I talked with Dr. Horton about my 
 personal needs and difficulties, he said earnestly 
 and simply, "Oh, Mr. Trumbull, if we would 
 only step out upon Christ in a more daring 
 faith, He could do so much more for us." 
 
 Before leaving Great Britain I was con- 
 fronted once more with the thought that was 
 beyond me, a Christ whom I did not yet know, 
 in a sermon that a friend of mine preached in 
 his London church on a Sunday evening, a 
 young Welsh minister, the Eev. Eichard Eob- 
 erts. His text was Philippians 1:21, "To me to 
 live is Christ. ' ' It was the same theme, — the un- 
 folding of the life that is Christ, Christ as the 
 whole life and the only life. I did not under- 
 stand all that he said, and I knew vaguely that 
 I did not have as my own what he was telling 
 us about. But I wanted to read the sermon 
 again, and I brought the manuscript away with 
 me when I left him. 
 
 It was about the middle of August that a 
 crisis came with me. I was attending a young 
 
234 THE PBESBYTERIAN BBOTHEKHOOD 
 
 people's missionary conference, and was faced 
 by a week of daily work there for which I knew 
 I was miserably, hopelessly unfit and incompe- 
 tent. For the few weeks previous had been one 
 of my periods of spiritual let-down, not uplift, 
 with all the loss and failure and defeat that such 
 a time is sure to record. The first evening that 
 I was there Bishop Oldham, of India, spoke 
 on the Water of Life. He told us that it was 
 Christ's wish and purpose that every follower 
 of His should be a wellspring of living, gushing 
 water of life all the time to others, not inter- 
 mittently, not interruptedly, but with contin- 
 uous and irresistible flow. We have Christ's 
 own word for it, he said, as he quoted, "He 
 that believeth on me, from within him shall flow 
 rivers of living water." He told how some 
 have a little of the water of life, bringing it up 
 in small bucketfuls and at intervals, like the 
 irrigating water-wheel of India, with a good 
 deal of creaking and grinding, while from the 
 lives of others it flows all the time in a life- 
 bringing, abundant stream that nothing can 
 stop. And he described a little old native 
 woman in India whose marvelous ministry in 
 witnessing for Christ put to shame those of us 
 who listened. Yet she had known Christ for 
 only a year. 
 
 The next morning was Sunday, but I did not 
 go to church. Alone in my room, I prayed it 
 out with God, and I asked Him to show me the 
 way out. If there was a conception of Christ 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 235 
 
 that I did not have, and that I needed because 
 it was the secret of some of these other lives 
 I had seen and heard of, a conception better 
 than any I had yet had, and beyond me, I asked 
 God to give it to me. I had Eichard Boberts' 
 sermon with me, "To me to live is Christ," and 
 I rose from my knees and studied it. Then I 
 prayed again. And God, in His longsuffering 
 patience, forgiveness, and love, gave me what 
 I asked for. He gave me a new Christ, — wholly 
 new in the conception and consciousness of 
 Christ that now became mine. 
 
 Wherein was the change? It is hard to put 
 it into words, and yet it is, oh, so new, and real, 
 and wonderful, and miracle-working in both 
 my own life and the lives of others. 
 
 To begin with, I realized for the first time 
 that the many references throughout the New 
 Testament to Christ in you, and you in Christ, 
 Christ our life, and abiding in Christ, are literal, 
 actual, blessed fact, and not figures of speech. 
 How the 15th chapter of John thrilled with new 
 life as I read it now! And the 3rd of Ephe- 
 sians, 14 to 21. And Galatians 2:20. And 
 Philippians 1 :2L 
 
 "What I mean is this. I had always known that 
 Christ was my Saviour ; but I had looked upon 
 Him as an external Saviour, one who did a sav- 
 ing work for me from the outside, as it were; 
 one who was ready to come close alongside and 
 stay by me, helping me in all that I needed, 
 giving me power and strength and salvation. 
 
236 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 But now I knew something better than that. At 
 last I realized that Jesus Christ was actually 
 and literally within me; and even more than 
 that : that He had constituted Himself my whole 
 life, my body, mind, soul, and spirit; my very 
 self. Was not this better than having Him as a 
 helper, or even than having Him as an external 
 Saviour: to have Him, Jesus Christ, God the 
 Son, as my own very life ? It meant that I need 
 never ask Him to help me again, as though He 
 were one and I another; but rather to simply 
 do His work, His will, in me and with me and 
 through me. My body was His, my mind His, 
 my will His, my spirit His ; and not merely His, 
 but literally a part of Him; all He asked me 
 to say was, "I have been crucified with Christ, 
 and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth 
 in me." Jesus Christ had constituted Himself 
 my life, — not as a figure of speech, remember, 
 but as a literal, actual fact, just as literal, just 
 as actual, as the fact that a certain tree has 
 constituted itself this desk on which my hand 
 rests. For "In Him were all things created, 
 . and in Him all things consist"; and 
 we are a part of the body of Christ. 
 
 Do you wonder that Paul could say with 
 tingling joy and exultation, "To me to live is 
 Christ"? He did not say, as I had mistakenly 
 been supposing I must say, "To me to live is 
 to be Christlike, ' ' nor, " To me to live is to have 
 Christ's help," nor, "To me to live is to serve 
 Christ. " No ; he plunged through and beyond 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 237 
 
 all that in the bold, glorious, mysterious claim, 
 "To me to live is Christ." I had never under- 
 stood that verse before. Now, thanks to His 
 gift of Himself, I am beginning to enter into a 
 glimpse of its wonderful meaning. 
 
 And that is how I know for myself that there 
 is a life that wins : that it is the life of Jesus 
 Christ ; and that it may be our life for the ask- 
 ing, if we let Him — in absolute, unconditional 
 surrender of ourselves to Him, our wills to His 
 will, making Him the Master of our lives as 
 well as our Saviour — enter in, occupy us, over- 
 whelm us with Himself, yea, fill us with Himself 
 "unto all the fulness of God." 
 
 What has the result been? Was my experi- 
 ence of last summer only a new intellectual con- 
 ception of Christ, more interesting and satisfy- 
 ing than before ? If it were only that, I should 
 have little to tell you to-day. No; from that 
 hour to this it has meant a revolutionized, 
 fundamentally changed life, without and within. 
 If any man be in Christ, you know, there is a 
 new creation. 
 
 Do not think that I am suggesting any mis- 
 taken, unbalanced theory of perfection or sin- 
 lessness in what I have been saying. The life 
 that is Christ reveals to a man a score of sins 
 and failures in himself where he only saw one 
 Christ; and my life since the new experience 
 of which I speak has recorded shamefully many 
 failures and sins of such resistance. But, men, 
 the fighting has been on higher levels than it 
 
238 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 ever used to be ; and the restorations after fail- 
 ure are wonderfully blessed and complete, — 
 made so, I think, by "keeping short accounts 
 with God. " 
 
 The three great lacks or needs of which I 
 spoke at the opening have been miraculously 
 and satisfyingly met. 
 
 1. There has been a sustained fellowship with 
 God utterly different from and infinitely better 
 than anything I had ever known in all my life 
 before. Christ has permitted no extended, 
 dreary fluctuations or barren intervals in my 
 spiritual life. 
 
 2. There has been habitual victory over cer- 
 tain besetting sins, — the old ones that used to 
 throttle and wreck me. There is yet infinitely 
 much ground to be occupied by Christ ; of that I 
 am more painfully aware than I ever used to 
 be ; and I know also that there is in my life, as 
 Bishop Oldham said, "a vast area of undis- 
 covered sin" that I have not let Him, as I must 
 by ever completer surrender and obedience, even 
 open my eyes to. But many of the old constant 
 and sickening, soul-destroying failures are done 
 away with by Him, and, as I have faith to be- 
 lieve, forever. 
 
 3. And, lastly, the spiritual results in service 
 and fruit-bearing have given me such a sharing 
 of the joy of Heaven as I never knew was pos- 
 sible on earth. Six of my most intimate friends, 
 most of them mature Christians, have had their 
 lives completely revolutionized by Christ, laying 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 239 
 
 hold on Him in this new way and receiving 
 Him unto all the fulness of God. Two of these 
 are a mother and a son, the son a young busi- 
 ness man twenty-five years old. Another is the 
 general manager of one of the large business 
 houses in Philadelphia, with branch houses in 
 San Francisco, Savannah, and Eichmond. 
 Though consecrated and active as a Christian 
 for years, he is now letting Christ work out 
 through him in a new way into the lives of his 
 many associates, and of his salesmen all over 
 the country. A white-haired man of over sev- 
 enty has found a peace in life and a joy in 
 prayer that he had long ago given up as im- 
 possible for him. Life fairly teems with the 
 miracle-evidences of what Christ is willing and 
 able to do for other lives through any one who 
 just turns over the keys to His complete in- 
 dwelling. 
 
 Jesus Christ does not want to be our helper ; 
 He wants to be our life. He does not want us 
 to work for Him; He wants us to let Him do 
 His work through us, using us just as we use a 
 pencil to write with. 
 
 When our life is not only Christ's, but Christ, 
 our life will be a winning life : for He cannot 
 fail. But remember, a life cannot win unless 
 it serves. A prize fighter may win, but he does 
 not serve. It is only a small part of life, and 
 a wholly negative part, to overcome: we must 
 bear fruit in service if we would really enter 
 into life and the joy of the life that is Christ. 
 
240 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 If we are not bearing fruit, constantly and 
 habitually, as a life-habit, we cannot ever do 
 the lesser thing of habitual winning. 
 
 And remember that Christ Himself is better 
 than any of His blessings; better than the 
 power, or the victory, or the service, that He 
 grants. God creates the electricity that drives 
 cars, and carries messages, and lights our 
 houses; but God is better than electricity. 
 Christ creates spiritual power; but Christ is 
 better than that power. He is God's best; He 
 is God; and we may have this best: we may 
 have Christ, yielding to Him in such complete- 
 ness and abandonment of self that there shall 
 be nothing to us but Christ. Will you thus 
 take Him? 
 
 SEASON OF PRAYER AND DEVOTION. 
 
 LED BY MR. TRUMBULL. 
 
 " Abide in me," Christ said, "and I in you. 
 As the branch cannot fear fruit of itself except 
 it abide in the vine, so neither can ye except ye 
 abide in me. If ye abide in me and my words 
 abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it 
 shall be done unto you." 
 
 Mr. J. H. Jefferis, Philadelphia: — We hun- 
 ger and thirst for this new life of Jesus Christ. 
 We ask thee just now to baptize us with the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 241 
 
 Holy Ghost, as we pray that this message which 
 has been sent to us may be received with open 
 and tender hearts. Oh, blessed Jesus Christ, the 
 Saviour of the World, our Saviour, come just 
 now and abide with us, guiding us, working in us 
 to will and to do thy good pleasure. Oh, God, 
 as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so 
 our souls long after thee ; that all of self should 
 die, and that Jesus Christ might live in us, the 
 hope of glory. Oh, thou blessed Son of the liv- 
 ing God, at this hour manifest thyself in every 
 heart, as men of the church, as disciples of 
 Jesus, as blood-bought men of the Kingdom. 
 Come thou blessed Spirit, with thy almighty 
 power, and fasten these words of life experience 
 into every soul. Grant that we may go from this 
 meeting just now with that hungering and 
 thirsting that nothing shall satisfy but Jesus 
 only. Amen. 
 
 Me. Trumbull: — Our Master, wilt thou en- 
 able each one of us to say with Paul, "I have 
 been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I 
 that live, but Christ liveth in me." 
 
 Dr. Magill, St. Louis: — Our blessed Master, 
 we are so thankful that thou didst come to im- 
 part thy life to us who are dead in trespasses 
 and sins. "We are glad of the teaching of the 
 Word, and what it proposes to do for us. And 
 we are glad of the testimony of thy children, of 
 what they did accomplish in thee; that they 
 
242 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 could say they are crucified in Christ and the 
 life they live is by faith in the Son of God. We 
 are thankful for the clear cut testimony of thy 
 servant who has spoken to us. We are thankful 
 that our brethren have listened so attentively, 
 and we believe the good Spirit will take the 
 testimony of this brother and carry it home with 
 a conviction for the good of each one of us. We 
 pray that we may be delivered, that we may not 
 be simply slaves, servants, goaded by a sense of 
 duty. Grant we may be thy children, we may 
 live, we may enjoy, we may have the conscious 
 sense that the blessed Master is within us. 
 Send this body of God's men as flaming heralds 
 of a living God, who saves men, and help them to 
 save others; and all the praise shall be to thy 
 name forever. 
 
 Mr. Trumbull: — "It has been manifested to 
 His saints, to whom God was pleased to make 
 known what is the riches of the glory of this 
 mystery which is Christ in you. ' ' Paul 9 a prayer 
 again is ours, ' ' according to my earnest expec- 
 tation and hope, that in nothing shall I be put to 
 shame, but that with all boldness Christ shall be 
 magnified in my body. For to me to live is 
 Christ. " 
 
 Algernon G. Butler, Overbrook, Philadel- 
 phia, Pa.: — I love to tell the story, because I 
 know 'tis true. It satisfies my longing as noth- 
 ing else can do. Take this One in this story and 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 243 
 
 put Him in our lives ; may He work in us and 
 through us and we will not want for a full ex- 
 perience, an experience as rich and as broad 
 and as glorious as the author, Jesus Christ. 
 
 Mr. Trumbull: — "For this cause we bow our 
 knees unto the Father, that He would grant 
 you, according to the riches of His glory, that 
 ye may be strengthened with His power through 
 His Spirit in the inward man ; that Christ may 
 dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end 
 that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may 
 comprehend with all the saints the length and 
 depth and height, and to know the love of Christ 
 that passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled 
 with all the fulness of God." 
 
 Let us be sure that far more than anything 
 that has been said here this morning will be 
 granted unto all of us, far more than anything 
 we find in the Bible will be granted unto us, be- 
 cause we have God's word for it in this our 
 closing prayer. "Now unto Him that is able to 
 do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask 
 or think, according to the power that worketh 
 in us," and that power is Jesus Christ, "unto 
 Him be the glory in the church and in Christ 
 Jesus unto all generations forever and ever. 
 Amen." 
 
THE ERRAND OF 
 AMERICA 
 
THE ERBAND OF AMERICA 
 
 BY EEV. JAMES D. RASTKIST, D. D., WILKINSBURG, PA. 
 
 MODERATOR OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 
 
 UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 
 Mr. Holt : It was at Cincinnati that we first 
 met under the arch that thrilled our hearts with 
 its motto, "The Men of America for the Man 
 of Galilee. ' ' When the Man of Galilee has given 
 us the men of America, what is He going to do 
 with us? I have an idea that that pertinent 
 question will be answered in the address of our 
 next speaker. We had an impressive assembly 
 of present and former Moderators serving at 
 the Communion Service yesterday; we are hon- 
 ored today with the presence of a Moderator of 
 another branch of our Presbyterian family, and 
 it is with great pleasure that we are to listen to 
 Dr. Eankin of the United Presbyterian Church, 
 who will speak to us on The Errand of America. 
 
 Dr. Eankin: In an eastern art collection is 
 the statue of a woman standing with hand to her 
 ear in listening attitude. It is named "What 
 Does the West Wind Say?" It represents the 
 awakened Orient listening in wonder to the story 
 of Western civilization. Well may she listen, for 
 the pen of Providence will write nothing more 
 
 247 
 
248 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 thrilling. Its opening chapter points to the 
 cradle of liberty rocked by the quivering storm 
 of the world's hatred, and the closing one will 
 unveil its throne or sepulchre. 
 
 Xo thoughtful person will doubt that this 
 land was raised up by God to play some im- 
 portant part in the development and redemption 
 of mankind. Its influence on the world will be 
 one of the largest chapters the historian will 
 write. 
 
 Nations are like migratory birds, which at 
 the changes of the seasons follow a leader to 
 the cool, healthful lakes of the North or to the 
 malarial swamps of the South. America will 
 lead the world through the twentieth century. 
 
 Half a century ago, Lyman Beecher asserted 
 that "The world's hope and destiny depend on 
 the United States.' ' Prof. Phelps* said: "As 
 goes America, so goes the world in all that is 
 vital to its moral welfare." Matthew Arnold 
 said: •"America holds the future." Prof. Park 
 said: "If America fails, the world will fail." 
 Emerson said: "America is but another word 
 for opportunity ; our whole history appears like 
 the last effort of Divine Providence in behalf of 
 the human race." Alexander Hamilton said: 
 "It is ours to be either the grave in which the 
 hopes of the world shall be entombed or the 
 pillar of cloud which shall pilot the race onward 
 to millennial glory." Prof. Hoppin, of Yale, 
 said: "America Christianized means the world 
 Christianized." Josiah Strong said: "If this 
 
ST. LOUIS CONTENTION 949 
 
 generation is faithful to its trust. America will 
 become God's right hand in His battle with 
 the world's ignorance, oppression and sin." 
 These are not the oratorical flights of the 
 Fourth of July declaimer. but the deliberate 
 testimony of the profoundest students of the 
 time. They are based on our resources and the 
 character of our people. Throw the searchlight 
 upon these for an instant : 
 
 Omitting Alaska and the Philippines, our 
 territory exceeds the combined territory of 
 China. Japan. Sweden. Norway. Belgium, Hol- 
 land. Portugal. Greece. Turkey. Palestine. Swit- 
 zerland. Denmark. Spain. Italy. Austria. Ger- 
 many, France. England. Scotland and Ireland. 
 Gladstone said: "The United States is the 
 base for the largest continuous empire ever 
 established by man. ' ' 
 
 Our resources are in keeping with our area. 
 Although their development is but in its in- 
 fancy, we produce one-third of the agricultural. 
 mining, manufactured and commercial output 
 of the world. Our agricultural products have 
 amounted to 87.000.000.000 annually for several 
 years. This year it will be $8,000,000,000. 
 
 At the opening of the nineteenth century we 
 were too poor to be rated among the nations of 
 the world. Our wealth has now reached $130.- 
 000,000,000. "We have accumulated more in the 
 last ten years than the whole race had saved 
 from the Creation to the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. Link our area and resources, remem- 
 
250 THE PEESBYTEBIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 bering that we have but commenced their de- 
 velopment, and you have the most colossal heri- 
 tage ever given to man, and the germ of the 
 most boundless wealth and power the world has 
 ever known. 
 
 The development of our resources is matched 
 by the growth of our population. One hundred 
 years ago we numbered 4,000,000, now 80,000,- 
 000. Gladstone said: "By the close of the 
 twentieth century the United States will have 
 500,000,000 of people." At the present rate of 
 increase we would number 713,000,000. Green, 
 the English historian, said: "By the close of 
 the twentieth century the nations of Europe will 
 have shrunken into insignificance beside the 
 United States.' ' Mr. Bryce, the British ambas- 
 sador to this country, said: "By the close of 
 the twentieth century the United States will 
 contain one-half of civilized mankind, and Con- 
 gress will be the scene of tremendous struggles 
 in ages far distant, when the parliaments of 
 Europe have shrunken into insignificance. ' ' 
 
 These statements might be duplicated by 
 many others showing that the greatest states- 
 men and historians of our day are convinced 
 that this country will lead and dominate the 
 civilization of the future. 
 
 While we will influence the whole world, three 
 parts will receive the chief impress because 
 they are in a formative state. They are like 
 plastic clay, easily moulded, but they will 
 harden and centuries cannot change them. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 251 
 
 The First of These Fields Is the Southern 
 Part of Our Own Continent. Few realize the 
 greatness of South America. It furnishes the 
 physical base for a larger population than does 
 North America. Its largest political division, 
 Brazil, is almost as large as the United States, 
 including Alaska. An article in the Technical 
 "World, two years ago, claimed that it will be 
 the continent of the future. It says that it is 
 the one country which surpasses the United 
 States in area of accessible agricultural lands. 
 It has some of the richest mines yet discovered, 
 though the mining industry is in its infancy, 
 and the mineral resources may outrank our own. 
 Its forests are illimitable ; it is rich in precious 
 woods; easy access to most of the country is 
 obtained by its unequaled waterways. Al- 
 though much of it lies in the Torrid Zone its 
 altitude gives it a fine climate. This country 
 is developing at a rate that shames our own. 
 
 We will almost certainly determine the civili- 
 zation of this vast continent. Our own land is 
 fast filling. We are beginning to cry for room. 
 Not only will the immigration from Europe 
 and Asia soon turn from us to that land, but 
 our own people are turning to that country in 
 an ever increasing tide. American capital is 
 rapidly absorbing the mines, plantations and 
 other assets of Mexico, Central and South 
 America. The stream bids soon to be a swell- 
 ing flood. The opening of the Panama Canal 
 will hasten it. The end is easily foreseen. 
 
252 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Europe, held back by the Monroe Doctrine, can- 
 not gain a dominating influence in that land. 
 The jealousies of the petty republics which con- 
 stitute that continent will hasten a protective 
 alliance with the great republic to the north. 
 The capital of this country invested there will 
 strengthen our influence. This is destiny enough 
 for any nation. 
 
 Let us pause a moment over this mighty pos- 
 sibility. Our country will dominate this conti- 
 nent. Do you know what that means ? It means 
 that we will determine the character of more 
 than one-half the human race. 
 
 A country's productive power determines its 
 ultimate population. After an exhaustive re- 
 search, geographical experts tell us that Asia, 
 Africa and Europe have 10,000,000 square miles 
 of good agricultural land, and that this West- 
 ern Continent has 11,000,000. Therefore, by 
 the distribution made of productive power, Di- 
 vine Providence has decreed that the Western 
 Continent shall have a population one-tenth 
 larger than Europe, Asia and Africa combined. 
 Prof. Guyot says that this continent can and 
 will support a population of 2,000,000,000. By 
 Divine foreordination, more than one-half the 
 human race will live on the Western Continent, 
 and the United States will determine their char- 
 acter. Our character and ideals are the mould 
 in which this great future will take shape. What 
 we are, politically, intellectually, religiously, 
 will determine what it will be. The building of 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 253 
 
 the Panama Canal is hastening that time. It 
 was a thrilling moment when Henry Clay, stand- 
 ing on the summit of the Alleghanies, placed his 
 hand to his ear and exclaimed: "I hear the 
 tramp of coming millions." He listened to the 
 tramp of millions, we to the tramp of billions. 
 It is ours to shape this Western Continent, 
 which is to be the mould of half the population 
 of the globe. This is a part of the Errand of 
 America, and should stir the American Church 
 as would a voice from the White Throne where 
 the Eternal dwells. 
 
 But our Errand is not to this Continent alone, 
 but to the world. The crisis in the Orient is 
 thrilling. Those ancient peoples have experi- 
 enced a marvelous awakening.- They have seen 
 the falseness of their religions and the failure 
 of their civilization, and are reaching hungry 
 hands for our civilization, our schools, our po- 
 litical methods. More or less, they are sepa- 
 rated from European nations by jealousy and 
 fear of absorption. But all look to America 
 without these feelings, which gives her an influ- 
 ence greater than any other. The question at 
 once forces itself forward: "What kind of a 
 civilization are we giving to them?" We are 
 sending our missionaries with a pure gospel, 
 but this is not our only — our chief — gift. We 
 are touching them in a thousand ways. Thou- 
 sands of their people are visiting our land; 
 thousands of their brightest young men are 
 being educated in our great colleges and uni- 
 
254 THE PKESBYTEBlAtt BKOTHEBHOOB 
 
 versities. Our ships visit their lands ; our fleet 
 encircles the globe; our diplomats represent 
 our government at their courts ; our consuls live 
 in all their great cities. These are the chan- 
 nels through which our mightiest impact is 
 made. Our diplomats, our traders, our sailors, 
 our schools, are missionaries. What kind of a 
 gospel are they preaching? A stream cannot 
 rise higher than its source. Let us be honest 
 with ourselves. How much of our civilization 
 is such as Christ taught? How much of it is 
 sheer Materialism? Are these missionaries 
 carrying a pure Christianity, a regenerating 
 force, or are we sending a materialism? Let 
 us not deceive ourselves. Battleships preach 
 more eloquently than missionaries, and to larger 
 audiences. Commerce wins a thousand converts 
 where the Church gets one. It is futile for us 
 to hope that by a little band of individuals sent 
 over the world we can preach the gospel of 
 peace if in all our organized life we are preach- 
 ing the gospel of strife, of selfishness, and of 
 distrust. It is vain to hope that we can send 
 to the world the message of God's love by a 
 few individuals who represent the Church, if 
 by the voices of commerce and diplomacy and 
 secular education we are preaching to those 
 same people a gospel of hate, deceit, selfishness 
 and unbelief. Not by a few voices, but by the 
 impact of our whole national activity, we must 
 commend to all mankind the God and Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 255 
 
 Another fact must not be overlooked. It has 
 been our traditional policy to confine our polit- 
 ical activities to this continent. The Monroe 
 Doctrine was a two-edged sword. It not only 
 meant that Europe must keep hands off this 
 continent, but that we would keep hands off 
 other continents. After pleading and protest- 
 ing until patience had become a sin, we took 
 up arms in behalf of a few trampled blacks off 
 our southeastern coast, and in a day, unthought 
 of, unwanted, an island empire on the threshold 
 of Asia was thrust upon us. In spite of our- 
 selves, we have been compelled to plant our 
 flag and our institutions on the threshold of 
 Asia, the storm center of the twentieth century. 
 We will necessarily be an actor in the mighty 
 movements which Providence has scheduled for 
 the Orient in the near future. 
 
 These, and facts like them, are a hint of the 
 .Errand of America. The old philosopher said 
 that if he could get a lever long enough, and 
 somewhere in space a fulcrum, he could lift the 
 world. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the lever 
 and America is the fulcrum. To win America 
 for Christ, and make Christian the influence 
 which goes out therefrom to dominate the 
 world, is one of the most colossal and far-reach- 
 ing missions committed to the Church in all its 
 God-given history. 
 
 A few citadels loom large, which must be 
 captured by the Church, if America becomes a 
 dominating Christian force. 
 
256 THE PBESBYTEEIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 I. The Immigrant. 
 
 They are coming at the rate of a million a 
 year. Such an inflow of foreign people must 
 profoundly affect our national character. They 
 are an element of racial strength. A mixture of 
 races produces a higher type of character. A 
 composite picture in photography is made by 
 bringing a number of faces before the camera 
 for an instant, but not long enough to make a 
 perfect picture. In this way the strongest fea- 
 tures of each are caught and the weakest ones 
 dropped out, thus forming a face made up of 
 the strongest features of all. Something like 
 this occurs in a mixture of races. The strongest 
 characteristics of each are preserved and the 
 weaker ones lost, thus forming a stronger race 
 than any of its constituent elements. To this 
 tendency, Mr. Darwin attributed the marvelous 
 progress and accomplishments of the American 
 people. Herbert Spencer predicted that from 
 this cause would come the most powerful type 
 of man the world has known. If this be true, 
 it reveals another argument for the christian- 
 izing of this people. What is the influence of 
 immigration upon our national life? Fifty 
 years ago, ninety-nine per cent of our immi- 
 grants came from northwestern Europe. 
 Twenty-five years ago, seventy-five per cent 
 came from that section. To-day only twenty- 
 five per cent comes from those countries, while 
 seventy-five per cent are furnished by Asia and 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 257 
 
 the countries of southeastern Europe. Italy, 
 Austria, Poland, Eussia, now furnish the large 
 proportion. You have but to recall the differ- 
 ence to realize the new aspect of this problem. 
 Many of these are material for noble citizen- 
 ship; many are favorable to our institutions; 
 but it is useless to ignore the fact that most of 
 them are of a totally different class from those 
 who formerly came. How shall these be made 
 an element of strength instead of weakness? A 
 part of the problem belongs to the statesman, 
 but he will sadly fail without the Church. The 
 Gospel is the only solvent which can fuse them 
 into a Christian citizenship. Untouched by 
 the healing hand of Christ, they are a menace to 
 our Christian institutions. Our schools will 
 help to solve the problem, but they are not suffi- 
 cient. The education of the head does not take 
 corruption out of the heart. I marvel that we 
 have been so slow in comprehending our oppor- 
 tunity and responsibility. 
 
 II. The Fkeedman. 
 
 I approach this question with extreme hesita- 
 tion. It can scarcely be discussed without 
 awakening discord. It is one of the most diffi- 
 cult questions that any nation ever faced. Too 
 many overlook the real point of difficulty — the 
 difference in the white and black races. The 
 Civil War did not settle, but created, the Negro 
 problem. It destroyed slavery as a form of 
 
258 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 subordination, but did not change the thickness 
 of a shadow the Southern idea, imbedded in 
 its civilization, that the black race was intended 
 by the Creator to be the subordinate of the 
 white race. Force cannot destroy an idea. It- 
 destroyed slavery as a form of subordination, 
 but in every Southern breast, strong as ever, 
 rests the profound conviction that some new 
 form of subordination must be substituted. 
 There would be no difficulty if the two races 
 could live on the old basis of master and slave, 
 but to force the political equality which has 
 been given to the negro, or to reach after the 
 social equality which follows the political as 
 shadow follows substance, is to enkindle a con- 
 flagration of hate in the breast of every white 
 man. Lincoln foresaw the problem which eman- 
 cipation would bring, and asked Congress to 
 appropriate $1,000,000,000 to deport the freed- 
 men to Liberia, where they might establish a 
 negro nation. He said: "There is a physical 
 difference between the races which will forever 
 forbid them living together on terms of political 
 and social equality." Prof. Kelly Miller, next 
 to Booker Washington their greatest educator, 
 says : "It is impossible to conceive of two races 
 occupying the same area, speaking the same 
 language, enjoying the sarae civil and political 
 privileges, without ultimately fusing. " These 
 two men have placed the Negro problem square- 
 ly before us. On the one hand is a physical 
 difference which has begotten an intolerance to 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 259 
 
 social and political equality, which blazes into 
 a conflagration at any attempt of the black race 
 to secure this boon. On the other hand is the 
 black race, with the same ambitions and aspira- 
 tions as the white race, and to whom the law 
 has given political equality. 
 
 This difference is increased by the illiteracy 
 of the negro, and is intensified by the rapid in- 
 crease of the colored people. During the last 
 century they increased from 1,000,000 to 9,000,- 
 000, and the first decade of this century has 
 added another million. Some claim that by the 
 close of this century they will number 60,000,- 
 000, a figure that is probably too high. 
 
 Education is a step in the solution of the 
 problem, but it will not solve it. Their illiteracy 
 is a menace, but its removal will not touch the 
 race difference, which is the real difficulty. 
 
 It is coming to be more and more understood 
 that industrial education is the need of the 
 negro. He is long to be a laborer, and the 
 more efficient he is, the better for him. But it 
 will intensify the overmastering issue, for it is 
 fitting him to be a rival of the white man instead 
 of a servant, the very thing the white man will 
 not endure. This is the condition that faces us. 
 On the one hand is the burning intolerance of 
 equality on the part of the white race; over 
 against this is the black race, with that un- 
 quenchable desire for equality which lives in 
 every human breast, being fitted to compete 
 with the white man and if necessary wrest 
 
260 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 from him by force his supposed rights. We are 
 building up a nation inside of a nation of two 
 races, irreconcilably different. 
 
 I have a theory, but it is personal, and there- 
 fore of little interest to others. The negroes 
 are drifting south, and are driving out the white 
 man. Why may this not continue until the 
 southern part of this country will be negro, or, 
 better still, why may they not drift across the 
 border into Mexico and South America, whose 
 dark-skinned people have not the same repug- 
 nance to amalgamation that the Anglo-Saxons 
 have? Whether this assist in the solution or 
 not, we have before us one of the most tremen- 
 dous problems ever laid upon any nation. The 
 only final solution is a force that will soften 
 prejudice and inspire a broad spirit of charity 
 and in some measure restrain race jealousy. It 
 is one of the loudest calls ever made upon the 
 Church. 
 
 II. The third citadel to be taken if America 
 remains a Christian power and gives a Chris- 
 tian influence to the world, is the City. 
 
 Unquestionably, this is one of the most crit- 
 ical points in this struggle. The relative growth 
 of cities is the most striking fact in the prog- 
 ress of modern civilization. One hundred years 
 ago there were only six cities in America over 
 8,000 ; now there are 600. In 1790 one-thirtieth 
 of our population lived in cities ; now one-third. 
 In fifteen states more than one-half, and in 
 eight states two-thirds of the population is in 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 261 
 
 the cities. Our agricultural states are decreas- 
 ing in population and the towns are rapidly 
 swelling. One-half of our counties and two- 
 thirds of our small towns have decreased in the 
 last few years. Ere long more than one-half of 
 our population will live in the cities. The cur- 
 rent has set in and is growing swifter every 
 decade. 
 
 The city gives character to the whole country. 
 Here are massed the forces that rule — the edu- 
 cational, social, political, financial powers. The 
 city is the nerve center from which the whole 
 body is controlled; the heart that sends the 
 rich or poisoned blood through the arteries of 
 the nation. From them will go forth an influ- 
 ence for weal or woe, for good or evil, for plac- 
 ing the scepter in the clutch of Satan or the 
 Scarred Hand, such as will come from no other 
 place. The country will be what the towns are. 
 This makes their character vastly important. 
 What a strange mass of heterogeneous popula- 
 tion is in our great cities ! What alien faiths 
 and no faiths struggle for standing room! 
 Here are the strong and the prosperous, the 
 hungry and the discontented, the saint and the 
 criminal. Here are the palace and the hovel, 
 the happy and the discontented. Here the press 
 is the strongest, here the strongest men reside. 
 The city grows wicked in geometrical ratio as 
 it increases in size. A city four times as large 
 as another is sixteen times as bad. Cities are 
 hotbeds of intemperance and crime. The pol- 
 
262 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 itics of our cities is deplorable. Corruption 
 runs riot. The saloon is defiant. The broken 
 fragments of the Sabbath are being trampled 
 under the feet of greed and pleasure. An angel 
 who had never visited the earth asked another 
 whose mission often called him hither, to guide 
 him through space, that for himself he might 
 behold the world for which the Son of God had 
 died. On the way his mind was filled with glad 
 anticipations of the fair scenes upon which he 
 was soon to gaze. At length they paused to 
 rest, and it chanced that they stopped just 
 above Cape Trafalgar when the British fleet 
 under Lord Nelson was engaged in deadly con- 
 flict with the allied navies of France and Spain. 
 Long the angel watched with horror the bloody 
 scene, then, turning to his companion, said: "I 
 asked you to take me to earth, but you have 
 brought me to hell." "Oh, no," said his guide, 
 "they do not thus in hell." There are many 
 whose minds would be filled with as sad amaze- 
 ment if, when dark night has settled down on 
 our great cities, some angelic messenger should 
 lead them forth to gaze on scenes nightly en- 
 acted there. Passing from the gilded palaces 
 of sin that stand on the best avenues to the dens 
 of iniquity that crowd the alleys, the cry would 
 be forced from their white lips, "Surely this is 
 hell." On the other hand, the forces for good 
 are massed here. Church rescue missions, phil- 
 anthropic institutions, with bare arms, are fight- 
 ing for their control. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 263 
 
 Into these cities two streams are flowing. One 
 comes from foreign lands. We have already 
 seen its character. They congregate in certain 
 parts and make them a menace. Here is an 
 open door for the Church. 
 
 The second stream comes from our country 
 homes. A teeming multitude of young people 
 constantly pours into the city. The most sol- 
 emn time that ever comes to a young person is 
 when, leaving the sheltered home of childhood, 
 he goes to the city to fight life's battles alone. 
 Much of the appalling waste of young life dates 
 to this time. They are dazed and bewildered 
 by the rush around them. They find their ways 
 into our stores, offices and manufactories, or go 
 to swell the great army of the unemployed. 
 They crave companionship, but walk the streets 
 as though in a desert place. No one speaks to 
 them. In the church at home all knew them; 
 now no one notices the stranger. He is to be 
 pitied and feared who can look, unmoved, upon 
 the tide of young life which, every evening, is 
 poured from store, office and manufactory upon 
 our streets. Temptations never dreamed of 
 press upon them. This is the climax of peril 
 and opportunity. If the Church is strong, ac- 
 tive, awake, these may be captured by Christ, 
 Alas ! thousands are caught in the downward 
 drift. Here is the very pathos of Home Mis- 
 sions. 
 
 If America is to be won for Christ, the cities 
 must be saved. The Church should throw itself 
 
264 THE PKESBYTEKIAN BEOTHEKHOOD 
 
 eagerly, systematically, persistently into their 
 political and social regeneration. There should 
 be such organization and co-operation between 
 the churches that every part of our great cities 
 could be reached at once. Oh, that the Church 
 could hear the trumpet call echoing and re- 
 echoing through our great cities ! 
 
 I believe in the land in which we live ; I be- 
 lieve that the heart of the people is still un- 
 tainted; I believe in the Church of God. It 
 cannot be that the world is to roll on in the 
 old recurring circles of light and darkness. It 
 cannot be that the ruins of Thebes and Babylon, 
 Palmyra and Eome, shall find their history re- 
 peated in America. I please myself with bright- 
 er visions. The Gospel of the Son of God has 
 found its way into the blight of the world and 
 is changing all. Our progress is steadily up- 
 ward. The vision of the Seer of Patmos will be 
 realized and the song of brotherhood will drown 
 the wail of discord that rises from our indus- 
 trial centers, and amid the shout of angels 
 the Holy City shall descend from God out of 
 heaven. 
 
 IV. The fourth citadel which must be cap- 
 tured if America is held for Christ and its influ- 
 e nee on the world be Christian, is the Material 
 Machinery and Resources of our land. 
 
 When, seventy-five years ago, Nature bowed 
 her neck to the yoke which man's inventive 
 genius had discovered, a great forward leap 
 was made in material development. Steam and 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 265 
 
 electricity, twin steeds, harnessed by man, 
 opened a new era. They annihilated time and 
 space. With threads of steel they knit state to 
 state and with the black shuttles of commerce 
 wove continents. Through their assistance, 
 earth's treasure houses have been unlocked, 
 methods of production have been revolutionized 
 and their capacity increased almost beyond com- 
 putation. They have given us unparalleled 
 wealth. They have placed wonderful machinery 
 in our hands for reaching and influencing our 
 fellowmen. 
 
 The supreme problem before the American 
 Church is to secure the consecration of this 
 machinery of modern civilization. New and 
 potent instruments have been placed in our 
 hands, but whether they will be tools to build 
 the City of God, or weapons for its destruction, 
 will depend upon the character of those who 
 hold them. They are as potent for evil as for 
 good. Let me illustrate my meaning. Science 
 has discovered a method of producing alcohol, 
 an agent almost indispensable in the arts, but 
 it has given birth to the Drink Traffic — the 
 overshadowing curse of modern civilization. 
 
 Man's inventive genius has harnessed steam 
 and electricity to machinery. The good cannot 
 be estimated. It has made a new world, deliv- 
 ered man from drudgery, filled his home with 
 comforts. To these agents must be attributed 
 the greater part of the material civilization of 
 our day. They have given us comforts beyond 
 
266 THE PRESBYTERIAN BKOTHERHOOD 
 
 the wildest dreams of our grandparents, and 
 wealth that is beyond the power of man to 
 compute. 
 
 On the other hand, by revolutionizing the 
 methods of production and transportation, by 
 making possible vast combinations of capital, 
 by changing our country from an agricultural 
 to a commercial and manufacturing power, they 
 have made possible the vast accumulation of 
 wealth in a few hands, have brought conflict 
 between labor and capital, and are accountable 
 for the greater part of our Sabbath desecration. 
 They have produced the magic growth of cities. 
 
 It is the unchangeable verdict of history that 
 wealth and luxury have led to the ruin of almost 
 every great nation of the past. They lead to 
 avarice and place in the hands of a few unscru- 
 pulous men the power to debauch domestic and 
 political life. 
 
 This is enough to suggest the power for good 
 or evil which inheres in the wealth and machin- 
 ery which God has given to us. God has placed 
 tremendous weapons in our hands for the sal- 
 vation of the world, and yet they can be turned 
 to the world's destruction. If the Gospel shall 
 control this machinery, it is impossible to tell 
 to what millennial heights the race may come 
 in this century. The most enthusiastic seer can 
 but dimly see the heights to which we may come. 
 But if this machinery is not controlled by spir- 
 itual forces, it will carry us to luxury, worldli- 
 ness, social dissension — the swift forerunners of 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 267 
 
 national decay. The mere fact that a man lives 
 in a modern house and reads by electricity does 
 not make him a better citizen or more helpful 
 to his fellowmen. It is vastly better, instead 
 of riding in a stage coach fifty miles a day, as 
 our grandparents did, to ride in a Pullman car 
 fifty miles an hour — provided your errand is 
 good. It is very convenient to press a button 
 and flood your home with electric light — unless 
 you intend to do something wrong by the light. 
 Then it were better that you were back to the 
 "tallow dip." It is a great thing to call up 
 "Central" and talk with a customer one thou- 
 sand miles away, but if you intend to defraud 
 him, it were better that you had to travel by ox 
 cart. The vital thing is not the speed with 
 which you travel, but the errand on which you 
 go; not the brightness of your home, but the 
 thing you do in the light ; not the distance you 
 talk, but what you say. It is what we are, not 
 the machine that multiplies our power, that 
 counts for good or ill. The telegraph, the tele- 
 phone, the Twentieth Century Limited, the 
 greyhounds of the Atlantic, the colossal wealth 
 piled up in bank and mine, will not save Amer- 
 ica and make her a redeeming power in the 
 world unless they are controlled by the spirit 
 of Christ, What avails it to yoke steam to our 
 chariot if Black Care still sits behind the 
 driver? What avails it to wing our thoughts 
 with lightning, if they are no happier, no kinder 
 than before? The spiritual must control the 
 
268 THE PRESBYTERIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 material. By the gift of religion the Church 
 must prepare men for the gifts of science. They 
 tell us that the school will do this. It will not. 
 Education enlightens, but it does not renew 
 human nature. Education fits a man to accom- 
 plish more, but does not determine whether that 
 "more" shall be a blessing or a curse. It mul- 
 tiplies the man, but does not regulate his pas- 
 sions or control his moral nature. The crum- 
 bling marbles of the Parthenon, looking down 
 on the degraded descendants of Plato and Soph- 
 ocles; the guillotine, following close upon the 
 age of Louis XIV, speak with no uncertain voice 
 of the peril of divorcing culture from religion. 
 
 I am not decrying this material splendor ; I 
 glory in it. But I want it placed in the hand of 
 a spiritual power. I am pleading for the devel- 
 opment of a spiritual force that will make this 
 machinery what God intended it to be — the 
 chariot in which He will ride forth to the con- 
 quest of the world. Social conditions will never 
 be right until men are right. Change the atoms 
 and you change the mass. Regenerate the citi- 
 zen and you save the state. The soul of reform 
 is the reform of the soul. The religion of Jesus 
 is the only power that can do this. The Church 
 is the only power that can make this vast ma- 
 chinery a power for good. 
 
 The greatest peril that faces America today 
 is that money is becoming supreme and blinding 
 us to the higher things of life. We are driving 
 after it at racing speed. There is a fever in 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 269 
 
 our veins — the fever of wealth. We drive under 
 high pressure; we quicken the oar stroke to a 
 continuous rush ; we travel as far in an hour as 
 our fathers did in a day; we talk over wires; 
 we send our messages by lightning and grumble 
 because we cannot travel by lightning and take 
 the chance of breathing on the way. Oh, that 
 the Gospel could ride forth on this rushing 
 machinery ! 
 
 I have kept you long and have given only a 
 glimpse of the Errand of the American Church. 
 Surely, in such a battle the armies of the Lord 
 Jesus should stand in unbroken ranks and not 
 waste their resources in childish skirmishing 
 with each other. In such an hour jealousy be- 
 tween denominations is treason to our common 
 Lord. That denominationalism has had a mis- 
 sion, few will doubt. To each great historic 
 denomination has been entrusted a special truth 
 or a special way of presenting truth, and until 
 that truth has been assimilated by the universal 
 truth, that work may not have been completed. 
 But why should a minor difference separate 
 those who are one in spirit, purpose and alle- 
 giance to Christ ? 
 
 A new spirit is abroad. This convention, 
 composed of the representatives of various de- 
 nominations, is one of its witnesses. We are 
 minimizing our differences and exalting our 
 agreements. The current of Church life is hur- 
 rying on to the great ocean of need, leaving the 
 temporary things that so long separated us as 
 
270 THE PRESBYTERIAN BKOTHERHOOD 
 
 debris on the scarred hills, marking the height 
 of the flood tide of controversy. Many denomi- 
 nations have united, and more will. Where or- 
 ganic union cannot be reached, there will be a 
 closer federation. The formation of the Fed- 
 eral Council of Churches of Christ in America 
 has been pronounced by an illustrious English- 
 man to be the greatest gift America has yet 
 made to the world. In that federation are gath- 
 ered the thirty-four leading Protestant denomi- 
 nations, with a membership of 19,000,000 and a 
 following of 40,000,000. It is difficult to exag- 
 gerate the importance and promise of this Coun- 
 cil. It stands for the greatest effort towards 
 the unity of Christendom which the world has 
 seen since it first stood divided against itself. 
 Think of the value of its pronouncements be- 
 cause it represents a united Church. A united 
 Church is mighty. Think of the American Bible 
 Society, which has existed for nearly a century, 
 and distributed 82,000,000 copies of the Scrip- 
 tures ; the American Tract Society, whose par- 
 ish is the world, which sends out literature in 
 174 languages; the Young Men's Christian As- 
 sociation and the Young Women's Christian As- 
 sociation, mighty organizations, doing what no 
 denomination could do, because they are uniting 
 all denominations in effort. Think of the Young 
 People's Society of Christian Endeavor and 
 the Student Volunteer Movement, voices pro- 
 claiming that in union there is strength. These 
 are mighty because they are not denominational 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 271 
 
 but Christian. I hope and pray for the coming 
 of a time when all good men and women who 
 worship in spirit and in truth shall be gathered 
 into a mighty federation, Protestant and Catho- 
 lic, Aryan and Semitic, a fellowship that shall 
 include all who bravely live, a federation that 
 shall include all who love for the sake of all who 
 suffer. 
 
 We must economize our resources and our 
 energies. Our divisions and overlappings and 
 petty rivalries, if there be such, are a sinful 
 waste of the Lord's money. In this twentieth 
 century, with the world driving on the rocks, it 
 is time to drop our minor differences and unite 
 in one mighty host. The Scriptures point the 
 way to the Church's triumph, when they tell us 
 that "One shall chase a thousand and two put 
 ten thousand to flight." Two will accomplish 
 five times as much working together as working 
 separately. There is mighty esprit in a large 
 force. The charge of a well disciplined army is 
 incalculably more than the skirmishing of the 
 same number of independent fighters. Forces 
 which, acting alone, are impotent, are resistless 
 when united. A twisted rope has more strength 
 than the sum of its strands. The whole is 
 greater than the sum of its parts. Schiller said : 
 "Divide the thunder into single tones, and it 
 becomes a lullaby for children ; but send it forth 
 in one quick peal, and the royal sound will shake 
 the heavens." 
 
THE FRUITS OF THE 
 TREE 
 
THE FEUITS OF THE TREE. 
 
 BY HOX. WILLIAM JENNINGS BBYAN, LINCOLN, NEB. 
 
 Ladies axd Gentlemen : — It was ray privilege 
 to attend the first meeting of the National 
 Brotherhood of the Presbyterian Church. It 
 was organized under circumstances that gave 
 every assurance of its growth and growing 
 work. I am glad that I can be here at this time 
 to participate in this returning gathering. This 
 is one regiment, so to speak, or if that is not a 
 large enough term, one division, of the Christian 
 army ; and I have been impressed during the last 
 few years with the length and strength of the 
 tie that binds Christians together. I had been 
 joining for many years in the singing of the 
 song, 
 
 " Blest be the tie that binds 
 Our hearts in Christian love. 
 
 but I never appreciated that song before as I 
 did in the southern extremity of Japan, when I 
 heard it sung one day in a Christian meeting, 
 the words being in the Japanese language. Then 
 I began to think of the ties that bind us together. 
 There is the family tie, the oldest and the one 
 most quickly recognized. Then there was the 
 
 275 
 
2?6 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 tribal tie ; and we have the national tie, the race 
 tie, the language tie. These bring together 
 sometimes millions; but I was impressed, as I 
 heard this song, sung by people of another 
 shore, of another language and another nation, 
 that the longest and the strongest tie of all the 
 ties, is the tie that binds our hearts in Christian 
 love. 
 
 I am pleased to meet tonight with those of 
 this branch of the Christian Church who are 
 bound together by that tie, and are here that 
 they may assist as far as they can in the exten- 
 sion of that tie to all the world, and to the 
 strengthening of it everywhere. 
 
 Last June it was my privilege to attend the 
 World's Missionary Conference at Edinburgh, 
 Scotland, a conference at which were gathered 
 together some eleven hundred delegates repre- 
 senting every Christian country on the globe, 
 and the leading missionary fields. I enjoyed 
 participation in that conference, which I feel I 
 can say without exaggeration was, in some re- 
 spects at least, the most important religious 
 gathering that has assembled on the earth since 
 the beginning of the Christian era. At that 
 meeting we were discussing one branch of Chris- 
 tian work ; and when I was invited to speak at 
 this time, looking over the subjects that might 
 be selected, I thought that I could not render a 
 greater service than present here some thoughts 
 upon the subject which I presented there. I 
 have been asked to preface what I shall say un- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 377 
 
 der the subject, "The Fruits of the Tree," by 
 making brief reference to the work in the For- 
 eign Mission field, and to some of the objections 
 that have been raised to it. As this is entirely 
 in harmony with the address that I desire to 
 deliver, I shall follow the requests. 
 
 A member of the church from the time I was 
 fourteen, I have been interested in all branches 
 of the Church's work, and in the missionary 
 work as well as in other forms. I had heard 
 returning missionaries tell of their experiences 
 in the non-Christian world, but I was never im- 
 pressed by the missionary work as I was when 
 I went among the missionaries, and had a chance 
 to see those who represent the Christian 
 churches in the missionary field, and those 
 among whom they are at work. 
 
 I had heard objections made to the foreign 
 missionary work, and I shall just suggest a 
 few of them with the answers that I would give 
 from my own observations. I have heard it 
 said that we cannot spare work or money to 
 send abroad, when there is so much work to do 
 at home. I know there is much to do at home, 
 but I am persuaded that the money sent abroad 
 is not subtracted from the total that would be 
 given if there were no contributions to Foreign 
 Missions. I am satisfied that if there were no 
 gifts to the world outside, the gifts at home 
 would be smaller than they are. I am satisfied 
 that giving to Missions abroad is a scattering 
 that increaseth, and that the interest that is 
 
278 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 aroused by our giving to those to whom the 
 Gospel has not been brought, makes us even 
 more anxious to carry the Gospel to those who 
 live under our flag. In fact, I believe that the 
 Church would be very much weaker than it is 
 if it could be indifferent to the call that comes 
 from without ; and that if the Church could hear 
 and not heed the cry that comes up from other 
 lands, it would soon die of dry rot at home. 
 
 I remember when I was a boy hearing a story 
 told of two men who had traveled on the Alps 
 and one finally sank down exhausted and ready 
 to die. The other was strong enough to go fur- 
 ther, but instead of leaving his companion he 
 remained with him and rubbed him and worked 
 with him trying to keep him alive. As the 
 story goes, the very effort that he put forth to 
 save the life of his companion, kept him alive 
 until both were rescued. I am convinced that 
 the effort that is put forth to help those who 
 live in heathen lands has its reflex action, and 
 makes the Church stronger for the work at 
 home. 
 
 I have heard it said that it is presumptuous 
 for us to try to help others when we are so 
 imperfect ourselves, and I recognize that there 
 is great plausibility in that argument. But I 
 know not how to judge groups except to apply 
 to them the rules that apply to individuals ; and 
 if we will just apply that rule to the individual, 
 if the individual will refrain from efforts to 
 make others better until he himself is perfect, 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 279 
 
 he can postpone, for this life at least, any active 
 good to others. The Bible does not say, "Let 
 the perfect help the imperfect. ' ' It says, ' l Let 
 the strong help the weak." So, my friends, I 
 believe that our nation cannot wait until there is 
 nothing to do at home before it tries to do good 
 abroad. We will never reach the time when 
 there is nothing to do at home. If it were pos- 
 sible for us to secure today by united effort the 
 removal of every abuse, the remedying of every 
 evil, the righting of every wrong, it would not 
 mean that tomorrow we would be ideal; for 
 when we have done some great good, when we 
 have accomplished some great work, we rise 
 upon that and can see further, and new work 
 is brought within the range of our vision. So, 
 if this nation is going to help at all, it must 
 help before perfection is reached at home. 
 
 I glory in the help that this nation is render- 
 ing. Travel through the Orient and you will 
 find an unbroken chain of centers of civilization 
 established by American money. You will find 
 schools and colleges and churches where men 
 and women from the United States are at work, 
 the leaven that is to leaven the entire lump. 
 When I followed these places where civilization 
 has been planted, when I had followed this chain 
 for some six thousand miles, I felt that if our na- 
 tion could boast that the sun never sets on its 
 possessions, it has a prouder boast that the sun 
 never sets upon American philanthropy. (Ap- 
 plause.) And the sun never goes down on one 
 
280 THE PEESBYTEKIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 of these centers of ' civilization but it rises on 
 another, and the boundaries of these centers are 
 increasing; after a while they will meet, and 
 when the Orient is redeemed our nation will 
 deserve the largest share of the credit. 
 
 I have heard it said that the progress of our 
 missionaries is slow, that but few in each place 
 are converted. "We may admit that the prog- 
 ress is not as rapid as we would like, but where 
 is progress as rapid as we would like? He must 
 have little zeal whose zeal does not outrun his 
 accomplishments, and he must have little inter- 
 est in the salvation of the world who is not im- 
 patient at the slow progress of our religion. 
 But, my friends, if we are inclined to be im- 
 patient because the converts are not more nu- 
 merous ; if we are impatient because the prog- 
 ress of the Church is not more rapid in foreign 
 lands, let us learn patience with our mission- 
 aries by considering the situation at home. "We 
 are not making as rapid progress in the United 
 States as we would like. In this country more 
 than half the adult males do not attend church. 
 In this country, where we see on every hand the 
 evidences of the blessings of Christianity, more 
 than half the men do not lend their influence to 
 the church by their presence. Here, where all 
 the influences tend to bring people into the 
 church, we find a large number outside. Let us 
 be patient, then, with those who work in for- 
 eign fields ; for we must remember that the con- 
 vert abroad must often suffer social ostracism, 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 281 
 
 and be discredited by his family and often by 
 his community. 
 
 I have heard it said that our missionaries 
 may make mistakes and that their mistakes may 
 get us into trouble. I am not disposed to deny 
 anything that can be established so easily as the 
 statement that missionaries may make mistakes. 
 My only regret is that we have not a group of 
 people who do not make mistakes upon whom 
 we might call for missionary work; but I am 
 afraid that if we had such a group, the pressure 
 upon them for work at home would be so large 
 that we could not send them all away. (Ap- 
 plause.) Of course, our missionaries will make 
 mistakes. They are simply human beings and 
 to err is human, and it is possible that they may 
 even by their mistakes get us into diplomatic 
 difficulties occasionally. But, my friends, I think 
 that those who go abroad to make money are a 
 thousand times more apt to get us into trouble 
 than those who go to spend money abroad for 
 their people. Our navy is not nearly so apt to 
 be needed to protect people who go because they 
 love their God and their fellowmen, as it is to 
 protect those who go to exchange their courage, 
 and their audacity, and sometimes their impu- 
 dence, for foreign cash. (Applause.) 
 
 I think that commerce is more likely to get us 
 into trouble than religion. I think religion is 
 more apt to make us real friends throughout the 
 world than trade is ; and when I say that I be- 
 lieve in trade and regard it both as an instru- 
 
282 THE PKESBYTEEIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 ment in behalf of peace and in behalf of civili- 
 zation. But my observation is, that people from 
 other lands know when people come from a pure 
 motive, a high motive, or a pecuniary one, and 
 they are human enough to love more those who 
 love them, than those who come simply from 
 love of the money that can be made. 
 
 I have heard it said, as an excuse for not send- 
 ing missionaries into heathen lands, that God is 
 too merciful to punish in the next world those 
 who have not had a chance to hear His gospel in 
 this world, and that has even been carried a 
 step further, and some have argued that as the 
 heathen are safe now if they do not hear, and 
 as they take some chances if they hear and re- 
 ject it, it may be a kindness to them not to in- 
 jure their future by not preaching the gospel to 
 them now. That is a complacent philosophy and 
 comforting to a man to keep in his pocket, 
 money which he should send abroad. 
 
 I shall not assume to sit in judgment on God's 
 plan. I do not feel wise enough to attempt to 
 announce, without possibility of mistake, how 
 God may deal in the next world with those who 
 have not heard of Christ in this ; but I have seen 
 the heathen in this life, and I believe we owe it 
 to them as a Christian duty to carry the Chris- 
 tian conception of life unto them that they may 
 have the benefit of it on earth, regardless of 
 what the future may have for them. (Ap- 
 plause.) There may be room for conflicting 
 opinion when we discuss theories and theology, 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 283 
 
 but there can be no room for difference of opin- 
 ion when we have seen the people blessed by 
 Christianity and the people who know it not. 
 It was this consideration of the needs of those 
 among whom our missionaries go, that led me to 
 the conclusion that if we could not find preach- 
 ers to send abroad to preach the gospel to the 
 heathen, if we could not send teachers to teach 
 the heathen, if we could not find medical mis- 
 sionaries to send to toil in the name of the Mas- 
 ter, it would be well worth while to send Chris- 
 tians among them to live among them, and 
 show how Christ can convert man's life into 
 a living spring that pours out constantly that 
 which refreshes and invigorates. 
 
 You are sometimes told that while our re- 
 ligion may be good for us, their religions are 
 better for them. I would have no faith in our 
 religion if I thought there was a spot of earth 
 where it might not be at home, or one human 
 heart that it could not reach and purify. (Ap- 
 plause.) If our religion is a religion at all, if 
 our religion has back of it a divine origin, and 
 under it a divine foundation, it must be good 
 in all places, at all times and everywhere. 
 
 Crossing the ocean, in anticipation of the ses- 
 sions of the Conference, I was trying to arrange 
 my thoughts so as to present a subject for the 
 consideration of those assembled ; a subject that 
 would embody the presentation of Christianity 
 in life; for I have long since reached the con- 
 clusion that a religion that is not shown in a 
 
284 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 life does not deserve the name of religion, and 
 that the life is the best way and about the only 
 way of manifesting a religion to others. So I 
 tried to group together the things that most 
 appear in a Christian life, and when I had re- 
 duced them in number to the least possible num- 
 ber, I found that I could not make them less 
 than twelve without leaving out some that it 
 seemed to me could not be omitted. Then I took 
 my Concordance, and I thought I would run 
 through the Bible and see if twelve would be an 
 appropriate number ; and I looked at every ref- 
 erence from the beginning to the end, and I 
 found twelve mentioned many times. The Twelve 
 Tribes, the Twelve Apostles, many, many refer- 
 ences to the number; but I continued to read 
 until I reached the last reference in the last 
 chapter of Eevelation, and there I read that the 
 Tree of Life bore twelve manner of fruit and 
 brought forth its fruit twelve times a year, and 
 I thought the number twelve was not an inap- 
 propriate number to use, if I would speak of 
 "The Fruits of the Tree." 
 
 Speaking of the fruits of the tree, I am apply- 
 ing Christ's test to life, for it was Christ Him- 
 self who, following in this instance the plan He 
 always followed, of presenting truth through the 
 illustrations taken from everyday life, — it was 
 Christ who gave us as the test, the natural, 
 everyday test, "by its fruits the tree shall be 
 known." So, if the Christian life is to be a tree 
 bearing fruit, and I can find no better illustra- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 285 
 
 tion of a Christian life, then I may without im- 
 propriety, and possibly with some advantage, 
 emphasize twelve fruits that every Christian 
 life must exhibit. 
 
 I recognize that it would require more time 
 than I could properly use tonight to present this 
 subject with the elaboration that it deserves. 
 But I am speaking to a people who are in the 
 habit of studying religious things, and I am sure 
 that those who listen will be prepared to furnish 
 any amplification of each one of these heads that 
 it may deserve. 
 
 The first thing that must appear in the Chris- 
 tian life is a belief in God. A belief in God as 
 Creator ; God as Preserver ; God as a Heavenly 
 Father. There can be no foundation upon which 
 to build until man recognizes a supreme being; 
 the author of the world and the author of his 
 existence. My friends, I believe that the first 
 thing we need to do, as we take the young man 
 and the young woman fresh from the schools 
 and the colleges, sometimes disturbed by the 
 study of science, which they are sometimes led 
 to believe conflicts with religion, the first thing 
 to do is to take the young men and young women 
 and plant their feet upon the solid rock and let 
 them begin with God. (Applause.) We need 
 not be afraid to meet the challenge of the ma- 
 terialist. The Bible goes farther back than any 
 book of materialism does, so there is no reason 
 to be frightened at the questions they ask. I 
 think it is time Christianity began asking ques- 
 
g86 THE PBESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 tions of materialism instead of spending time 
 answering. 
 
 The first word in the first chapter says, "In 
 the beginning God created heaven and earth." 
 What theory of creation goes back of that? 
 What theory of creation goes back to the be- 
 ginning? Take any theory which is presented 
 for acceptance and analyze it, and it begins by 
 assuming that something existed before that 
 time. Whenever an apothesis starts with the 
 assumption that matter existed and force ex- 
 isted, that matter existed in particles infinitely 
 fine, why not finer? It is as fine as we can think. 
 Why not greater? That is as far as we can 
 think, but the theory does not explain how mat- 
 ter came into existence, or why. It does not ex- 
 plain how force came into existence, or why. It 
 does not explain why there was any force and 
 agency to act on matter, why there is any mat- 
 ter and willingness to be acted on; no attempt 
 at explanation. The theory assumes these theo- 
 ries to begin with, and having assumed that 
 there were things existing before the theory, 
 begins to work according to the theory, — force 
 working on matter creates a world. We have as 
 much right to assume as the materialist and 
 Christian prefer to assume, a designer back of 
 design, a creator back of creation. We must 
 start somewhere, begin with something. The 
 Christian begins with God and that is sufficient 
 for me. My mind cannot conceive of a world 
 like ours without a creator back of it. My 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 281 
 
 mind cannot conceive of a structure like our 
 world and our society without a constructor 
 back of it. I care not how far along they draw 
 out the process of creation. I cannot conceive 
 of anything that is intelligent coming from that 
 which is not intelligent ; so that no matter how 
 far they would take me back by their theories, 
 when they have reached the end and gone as far 
 as they can go, I go a step farther and say, 
 1 i Back of all that was God; He was the Begin- 
 ning." (Applause.) 
 
 My friends, not until a man understands that 
 he is a part of a divine plan, is he prepared to 
 understand life. Not until he understands that 
 he is responsible to a Creator, to a Preserver, 
 for all he has and is; for every thought and 
 word and deed, is he prepared to live. Without 
 this conception of life, a man is at sea. Nothing 
 will take the place of it. You cannot get enough 
 policemen around a man to keep him straight 
 if he has not within the policeman who never 
 sleeps, and while he is there needs no aid from 
 the police outside. It is only when a man 
 recognizes the presence of a God in whose sight 
 he lives, and to whom he must render account — 
 not until then is he prepared to plan for large 
 things. So, I would say, the first thing that 
 must appear in the Christian life is belief in 
 God, in responsibility to God. 
 
 The second thing is belief in Christ, as Son, 
 as Saviour, and as example. 
 
 In the discussion of the sonship of Christ, of 
 
gg8 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 His Divinity, I have found no other book that 
 gave me as much assistance as that little book 
 most of you have probably read — a little book 
 written by Carnegie Simpson, entitled "The 
 Fact of Christ." He starts with a proposition 
 that Christ lived, an undisputed fact ; and from 
 that he builds his argument in favor of the 
 divinity of Christ. If we attempt to prove the 
 divinity of Christ by the theory of salvation, 
 the man to whom we are addressing our argu- 
 ment may dispute that and say he is not yet 
 convinced. " If we try to enforce the argument 
 by reference to the miraculous birth of Christ, 
 or the miracles of His life and resurrection, the 
 man may say he is not yet convinced by these 
 things ; but when we point him to the fact that 
 Christ did live, that this young man reared in 
 a carpenter shop, who never had access to the 
 wisdom of the past and never came in contact 
 with the sages of the past, when about thirty 
 years of age gathered a few disciples, preached 
 for a few months, presented a code of morality 
 which the world had never known, which it has 
 not yet learned, a code of morality which could 
 not be equaled today if with all our civilization 
 we gathered the best of every land and asked 
 them to prepare a superior code. When we 
 trace the history of the influence of Christ, how, 
 crucified, His disciples scattered, it has grown 
 until hundreds, yes, thousands of millions have 
 taken His name with reverence upon their lips, 
 and millions have been ready to die rather than 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 289 
 
 surrender the faith He put into their lives. 
 When we point them to this greatest fact of 
 history, to this fact that cannot be brushed aside 
 or scoffed at, when we point out the fact that 
 this great character rising through the centu- 
 ries, has for nineteen hundred years been 
 moulded in the hearts and thoughts and lives of 
 men, and exerts more influence today than ever 
 before, there is proof that cannot be answered ; 
 and then, we ask, is it not easier to believe Him 
 divine than to explain in any other way what 
 He said and did and was? And when the divin- 
 ity is once accepted, all other things become 
 easy of explanation. 
 
 But, my friends, that is not the only proof 
 that will affect the reason of man. Christ was 
 divine because the task that He came to perform 
 was more than a human being could perform. 
 No human person, no human being aspiring to 
 be a God, could do what He did and what He 
 does. It required a God condescending to be 
 a man, to lift man from his sin and selfishness 
 and give him a new birth, with a new vision 
 of life. The work to be done was a work that 
 no human being could do, as the work that He 
 has done is a work that no human being could 
 have done. Not only did He come to perform 
 more than a man's task — He came to set an 
 example that a man could not set. The best 
 of men have their imperfections and their lim- 
 itations; and if we attempt to imitate a man 
 we are more apt to imitate his faults than his 
 
290 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 virtues. It required a perfect man, one in 
 whom no fault could be found, one who spake 
 as never man spake, one who was tempted in 
 all points like as we are, and yet without sin. 
 These things must appeal to the mind of the 
 man who is open to argument. Our religion 
 does not trample on the reason; it meets the 
 requirements of reason; and I am not willing 
 that those who call themselves more liberal 
 than Christians should take so narrow a view 
 of life that they cannot admit that the Spirit 
 has a place in this world. 
 
 The third thing that man must exhibit in his 
 life is belief in the Holy Spirit. It is not neces- 
 sary to explain what the Holy Spirit is, in lan- 
 guage that will give a mathematical definition. 
 Man could understand what lightning was be- 
 fore he knew the character of the fluid that is 
 now imprisoned in the man-made wires. So 
 that we can understand that there is a spiritual 
 current that may come from the suns, that will 
 illuminate our lives and warm our hearts and 
 give us an energy that is infinitely greater than 
 the energy which we borrow from the electric 
 current. His life is poor, indeed, that has not 
 come in touch with this Spirit. 
 
 If you had been at the conference at Edin- 
 burgh, you would not doubt that there is such 
 a thing as a Holy Spirit; that it can pervade 
 a meeting; that it can touch the heart; you 
 could not go through the door and come into 
 the presence of that congregation there, with- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 291 
 
 out feeling that you were in a holy place. There 
 is a line of communication that can bring the 
 Spirit above into communication with the man 
 below; and whether this Spirit touches us, 
 whether it makes itself known as the still, small 
 voice, or pours itself forth in Pentecostal flood, 
 the Christian knows that there is a Comforter 
 and there is an inspiring voice. 
 
 The Christian must have faith; and it is not 
 hard for him to have faith if he begins with 
 belief in God, belief in Christ, and belief in 
 the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that it is 
 impossible to please God without faith; that 
 is a very conservative statement of the truth. 
 It is impossible to do anything else of any im- 
 portance without faith. Faith goes first and 
 works afterwards. It is only as one believes 
 that he accomplishes, and we need faith today 
 as it has been needed through all the past. The 
 martyrs had faith; they could not see. Faith 
 is the spiritual extension of the vision. It is 
 that moral sense that reaches out toward the 
 throne and takes hold of those verities that the 
 mind cannot grasp. And this faith is necessary. 
 We cannot see very far ahead in this life. The 
 martyrs could not see the effect of their death. 
 They were told if they would just recant, that 
 they might live to serve their God some other 
 day ; but they refused, and by their death they 
 accomplished more than they could accomplish 
 had they lived a thousand years. The Chris- 
 tian does not know, he cannot inquire, whether 
 
292 THE PBESBYTEEIAN BROTHEEHOOD 
 
 he is to live for his faith or die for it; but if 
 he has that faith he ought to have, he is as 
 ready to die for it as to live for it, and not 
 until he is ready to die for it is he able to find 
 out what truth is able to accomplish. The great 
 things of this world have been accomplished 
 by those who have attempted to do what is 
 seemingly impossible, and prove what man with 
 God's aid can do. This, my friends, is a very 
 practical thing, because today, as throughout 
 all history, faith is the one thing needed. It is 
 the faith that makes men stand, if they stand 
 alone ; and not until they do stand are they able 
 to find out how many stand with them. It is 
 this faith that takes hold on the unseen, that 
 enables one to accomplish that which makes 
 the world go forward. What would have been 
 the fate of the Christian Church if the early 
 Christians had not had faith? How long would 
 it take today to bring the time prophesied when 
 every knee shall bow and every tongue con- 
 fess, if all who confess themselves Christians 
 had the faith that the martyrs had? How long 
 would it take the Christian body in this world 
 to impress their faith on those who doubt and 
 denjj if they gave evidence of their conviction 
 by their willingness to die for their conviction, 
 if necessary? 
 
 Then the Christian must have in his life that 
 desire, first and above everything, to find the 
 kingdom of God. That must be his first pur- 
 pose. It does not mean that he is indifferent 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 293 
 
 to other things, but it means that in every life 
 there must be a paramount thought ; there must 
 be a purpose that rises above all other pur- 
 poses. There must be a controlling principle 
 in a life. When we are told that the search for 
 this kingdom, that the desire to first find God's 
 will and do it, is man's supreme duty, we don't 
 mean that a Christian husband will be less a 
 husband because he puts his duty to God first. 
 That a Christian father or mother or child, or 
 brother or sister, will be less devoted and 
 faithful in every relation of life because God 
 comes first. We simply mean that until a man 
 has fixed his relation to God, he is not in posi- 
 tion to see life's relations in their proper pro- 
 portion. We would not want to trust our lives 
 on a train if the engineer was in doubt as to 
 whether it would be better for him to stay on 
 the track or run off. There are certain things 
 that come first and others that come afterwards. 
 There is no conflict between truth; each truth 
 fits into every other, and it is true that when 
 one has sought first the kingdom of God and 
 His righteousness, the other things will be 
 added. 
 
 Next in the Christian life comes love as the 
 law of life. Love is the greatest thing in the 
 world. I am not a theologian; I joined the 
 church at such an early age that I did not know 
 anything about the creeds of different churches ; 
 and I soon became busy with other things, and I 
 have not yet had time to study creeds, and it 
 
294 THE PKESBYTEKIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 looks now as if it would be several years before 
 I could. In fact, I don't realize that I am 
 any more anxious now than I was years ago to 
 study creeds. I am not prepared to answer 
 every question that can be asked about the 
 Bible, and I do not spend time trying to recon- 
 cile passages that seem to conflict. I have long 
 since decided that if we just try to live up to 
 the things we can understand, we will be kept so 
 busy doing good, that we will not have time to 
 worry. 
 
 If any one asks me to tell him just why 
 Christ's salvation was planned as it was, I 
 tell him that it is not necessary that I shall 
 be able to explain it in all its details and to 
 everybody's satisfaction, any more than it is 
 necessary that I understand how a vegetable 
 grows before I use it to sustain life and pre- 
 serve my health. I tell him that it is not nec- 
 essary that I should understand of what the 
 sun is made to feel the influence of its rays. 
 It is not necessary that I shall be able to under- 
 stand why it is that in water there is a peculiar 
 characteristic that makes it different from 
 other things. Other things decrease in volume 
 from the effects of cold. Water decreases in 
 volume until freezing point is reached, and then 
 the rule is reversed, and it becomes colder and 
 increases in volume; a mysterious thing, but 
 I am not going to wait to find out why it is ; I 
 am thirsty, I drink. 
 
 But, if I had to explain why Christ's plan of 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 295 
 
 salvation is as it is, I would say that He could 
 not have found anything to build a religion 
 upon that was to be universal and eternal, ex- 
 cept love. That love is the greatest thing in 
 the world, and that sacrifice is the end of love, 
 and that when Christ so loved the world that 
 He was willing to die for it, He gave the high- 
 est evidence of His love; and it is the telling 
 of that story that touches the hearts of people 
 everywhere. You can resist the one who wants 
 you to do something for him, but you cannot 
 resist the one who wants to do something for 
 you. You can resist those who are trying to 
 take from you, but not those who are trying to 
 bestow upon you something that you need. It 
 does not bother me that the one who suffered 
 was not the one to enjoy; it does not bother 
 me that it was suffered by one for the salva- 
 tion of another, because that is no new doctrine 
 in this life — you see it every day. I know you 
 know that there is nothing good in this world 
 that has not been bought by suffering and sac- 
 rifice by those who were willing to die for others. 
 Freedom of speech and all other blessings have 
 been purchased by sacrifice. We find conclusive 
 proof that man was made in the image of his 
 Creator, from the fact that all through the ages 
 men have been willing to die, that blessings 
 denied to them might be enjoyed by their chil- 
 dren and children's children. Why should not 
 Christ have taken the best known principle in 
 the world and built His religion on it? It is 
 
296 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 enough for us to know that this love is sufficient 
 unto all things. That the example that He 
 set of His love is the example that we can fol- 
 low for our own welfare and benefit of all about 
 us. I am so glad that there is something that 
 is permanent, something that cannot be ex- 
 hausted, something that does not give out. We 
 are always troubled about the conservation of 
 our natural resources, and we are speculating 
 about how long it will be before the coal gives 
 out, and before the iron ore gives out, and before 
 the timber is all gone, and we are speculating 
 about what will happen when these times come, 
 and as wise citizens it behooves us to conserve 
 and economize. I am glad that there is some- 
 thing that you don't have to economize with, 
 something that you don't need to be afraid will 
 be exhausted, for love is that inexhaustible re- 
 source; the more you use of it, the more you 
 have left to use again. I hope the day will 
 come when there will be no war. I hope the 
 day will come when nation will not rise up 
 against nation. Aye, I shall say more than 
 hope, I am sure that the time will come. (Ap- 
 plause.) For did not the angels sing " Peace 
 on earth, good- will toward men"? Did not the 
 prophet declare that he would be called "The 
 Prince of Peace"? When that day comes, love 
 will still be at work. Love's roll call will still 
 be sounded and people will be summoned to that 
 higher warfare in which they will try to help 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 297 
 
 each other instead of hurt, try to save instead 
 of kill. 
 
 In New York one Sunday I heard a sermon 
 by Dr. Parkhurst. He compared force and love. 
 He said force might be represented by a ham- 
 mer acting on a piece of ice ; each piece would 
 still be ice. He likened love to a ray of sunshine, 
 which fell upon the ice, and though it acted slow- 
 ly, in a little while there was no ice. Love is the 
 weapon for which there is no shield. Love was 
 given as the law of life. Christ, as some one 
 has said, differed from other teachers in that 
 others filled the minds of hearers with formula 
 and directions; Christ lived the life and gave 
 love as the law of life. Love is intelligent; 
 love is not blind. Love finds the prisons where 
 sin is ; love finds the sick ; love sees the weak- 
 ness in boasted strength, and love can detect 
 the strength in humility and weakness. 
 
 The expression of love that Christ pressed 
 upon His disciples was forgiveness, and that 
 must be one of the fruits of the tree. I may be 
 mistaken, but I believe this spirit of forgive- 
 ness is the most difficult of all the Christian 
 virtues to cultivate ; yet it is so important that 
 when Christ gave His disciples a form of 
 prayer, He made their willingness to forgive the 
 basis of their own forgiveness ; it is so human 
 to desire revenge, and time was people boasted 
 of it. It was written on the monument of one 
 man that he repaid both his enemies and 
 friends more than he received. That was not 
 
298 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 the spirit of Christ. When at last He was 
 brought to the most disgraceful of all deaths 
 and nailed to the tree, the spirit of forgive- 
 ness rose above the sufferings, and He prayed, 
 ' ' Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
 they do." I am not sure that we appreciate 
 fully the reason that Christ gave in His dying 
 breath; I believe that Christ gives us a rea- 
 son for forgiveness that the world has been 
 too slow to accept, and that is, that ignorance 
 is the cause of sin. The world needs enlighten- 
 ment more than it needs the rod. Even those 
 whose hearts are full of malice and who cherish 
 revenge, do so because they have not learned 
 how much more there is to be found in forgive- 
 ness than in hatred; and I am satisfied that 
 when Christ gave this distinctive feature of 
 His religion He intended it to take a prominent 
 place. However, if I were called to name the 
 one thing more than any other that distin- 
 guishes the moral code of Christ from the code 
 of the uninspired teachers. I would say it was 
 the doctrine of forgiveness. And Christ, I be- 
 lieve, did not give it entirely for the forgiven, 
 but for the benefit of those who should for- 
 give ; for a load of revenge is the heaviest load 
 that a human heart can carry. It will break 
 anybody down who tries to carry it. Why, my 
 friends, it is only occasionally we have a chance 
 to get even with an enemy, but we are hurting 
 ourselves more than we can hurt any one else. 
 If a Christian life is to bear fruit, it must 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 299 
 
 recognize the doctrine personified by Christ, 
 that example is the method of propagating the 
 truth. Christ said, so let thy light shine that 
 others seeing thy good works may be con- 
 strained to glorify the Father. What blood- 
 shed would have been prevented if Christians 
 had been willing to save by their lives, to teach 
 by example. There is no reason why Chris- 
 tians should quarrel. Eeligion is the one thing 
 that people have not any excuse for quarreling 
 about; each one should live his religion and 
 then the world can tell which is the best. You 
 can answer a sermon and answer a speech, but 
 no one has yet lived who can answer a Christian 
 life. It is the unanswerable argument in sup- 
 port of the Christian religion. 
 
 The Christian must exhibit an acceptance of 
 Christ's measure of greatness. When the dis- 
 ciples quarreled amongst themselves as to who 
 would be the greatest, He rebuked them. Serv- 
 ice is the measure of greatness. It is true 
 today, it will always be true, that he is great- 
 est who does the most of good, and how this 
 earth will be transformed when this measure 
 of greatness is the measure of every life. We 
 have had our quarrels, it is true, but it is be- 
 cause we have been trying to see what we can 
 get out of the world. There will be peace when 
 we try to see what we can put in the world. 
 The divine measure of a human life is its out- 
 growth, its contribution to the welfare of the 
 human world. This conception Christ gave to 
 
300 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 the world, this measure of greatness, is the 
 revolutionary force that is working in the world 
 today. The effort has been to escape service, 
 the effort has been to rise to a position where 
 there is least work for you. Confucius taught 
 his disciples to try to become superior persons, 
 that others might have to work for them. 
 Christ's doctrine is to make us stronger to bear 
 heavier loads ; and when we once take hold of 
 this conception of life, we are prepared to make 
 life something worth living. When one under- 
 stands that his greatness is to be measured by 
 his service, he prepares for large service. He 
 is ashamed to bring a physical wreck to his 
 Master's service; ashamed to give to the Mas- 
 ter's work a dull and sluggish mind; ashamed 
 to enter his Master's covenant, until he has 
 a purpose so high that it can be seen from 
 both sides of the river that separates him from 
 eternity. It is only when he is conscious of 
 the importance of his preparedness, he is ready 
 to multiply his strength that his service may 
 be large, that he may stand among those who 
 manifest their appreciation of their obligation 
 to God and to His Son. 
 
 Christ has given us what has been called the 
 Golden Rule. It differs from the Golden Eule 
 of Confucius, in that it is positive, while the 
 Chinese Philosopher gave a negative rule. Con- 
 fucius said, "Do not unto others what you 
 would not have others do unto you." Christ 
 said, "Do unto others what you would have 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 301 
 
 others do unto you." One enjoined a life of 
 negative helpfulness ; the other enjoined a life 
 of positive helpfulness. There is all the differ- 
 ence in the world in the two rules, and you see 
 the rule exemplified in the world today. You 
 see the Christian nations reaching out in an 
 altruistic effort attempting to bring good 
 throughout the world ; you find Christians con- 
 tributing, voluntarily, twenty-five millions of 
 dollars a year to carry the gospel to those who 
 know it not. You find Christians attempting 
 to do as they would have others do unto them; 
 not content to simply refrain from acts of in- 
 jury or injustice. 
 
 Another fruit of the tree is belief in immor- 
 tality. How different is this conception of life 
 that Christ has given us, to the conceptions out 
 in some of the countries of the old world ! Take 
 Buddhism, for example, that presents life as a 
 calamity from which you escape by loss of indi- 
 vidual identity. Christianity presents life as 
 an opportunity, with a heaven as a reward at 
 the end. Who can measure the peace and con- 
 solation and joy that have been brought to the 
 human heart by this belief in immortality? 
 Who can measure the influence that this belief 
 in immortality has exerted in building society 
 upon a foundation of justice? If a man believes 
 that the grave is the end, if he believes that 
 he has only to conceal his wickedness from 
 those about him while he lives, he is not as 
 strong as he ought to be to resist temptation; 
 
302 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 but let a man believe that after this life there 
 is another, a life in which the secrets of the 
 heart shall be made known, that he shall live 
 with those who knew him here, and what a re- 
 straint it is ; for while we have no way of know- 
 ing just what there is awaiting us, or what 
 punishments are in store, it would be some pun- 
 ishment for one who had deliberately done in- 
 justice to his neighbor here, for a selfish rea- 
 son, to have to stand uncovered through unend- 
 ing ages and let his neighbor know how small a 
 man he was on earth. 
 
 There is no human philosophy that fits into 
 the life, as Christ's philosophy does, and it is 
 because this philosophy meets every need and 
 provides for every relation of life, that we find 
 this tree growing and growing throughout the 
 world. Its leaves are indeed for the healing 
 of the Nations. And each individual, as he 
 brings his life into harmony with this religion 
 and makes his life a fruitful tree bearing these 
 fruits of the Spirit, does his part in hastening 
 the coming of the day when all shall know and 
 believe. 
 
 I am glad to be a member of this Brother- 
 hood; glad that it stands by the side of other 
 Brotherhoods; glad that increasing numbers 
 gather in all these Brotherhoods ; for I am one 
 of those who believe that these Brotherhoods 
 are a part of the great movement that is bring- 
 ing Society together and making us understand 
 that after the Fatherhood of God comes the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 303 
 
 Brotherhood of Man. It was Christ's purpose 
 to establish this Brotherhood on earth, and to 
 His disciples He gave commandments that we 
 now appreciate the meaning of, more than ever 
 before. When at last the world is gathered 
 into one great brotherhood, when at last we 
 understand the indissoluble tie that binds every 
 human being to every other human being, we 
 will find that the one great influence that has 
 brought this Brotherhood about, is the recog- 
 nition of the teachings of the Man of Galilee, 
 who came, and by His voice and in His life, 
 gave us the example that enables life to be 
 fair, to be what life ought to be. (Prolonged 
 applause.) 
 
THE BROTHERHOOD 
 AND THE BOY 
 
THE BOY PROBLEM. 
 
 BY EUGENE C. FOSTER, DETROIT, MICH. 
 
 Considering the importance of this gather- 
 ing, I set about to reduce an hour's talk so it 
 could be made in half an hour, thinking a pro- 
 vision for discussion would be made. I find 
 no such provision has been made. I am on the 
 program for the subject, The Boy Problem. 
 It is not exactly the phrase I sent on to the 
 printer, but the proofreader having made me 
 stand for this too old subject, I am going to 
 state it in algebraic form, suspecting that most 
 of you will remember with pleasure when you 
 studied that delightful mathematical science. 
 I am going to state it in this form — x = the 
 boy. I don't like to do it that way, but to be 
 in accord with the popular conception, the boy 
 is an unknown quantity, y stands for training, 
 and that factor was a tremendously known 
 quantity; that was a fixed mould; and the 
 whole proposition was, pour him into the mould 
 and you will have y + x = manhood. It was 
 the supposition that that factor had to be rigid, 
 fixed ; that it was fixed as the laws of the Medes 
 and Persians, and there has been a tremendous 
 amount of training along that line. The mould 
 
 307 
 
308 THE PKESBYTEEIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 was all right; and we missed out and we de- 
 served to miss out, and it is part of the re- 
 sponsibility for a great many failures that lies 
 in the interpretation of that equation. I ask 
 you if it is right, — you may call the boy x if 
 you please, — is it right to consider him such an 
 unknown and variable quantity? How he has 
 been studied? The last few years have turned 
 the light of science and 'ologies on boy life. I 
 have a notion we know a great deal more than 
 we did ten years ago, and we are going to know 
 more as years go on. There has been so much 
 of analysis ; so much of weighing and measur- 
 ing; so much of scanning of his life subject to 
 all the analyses that can be suggested; until 
 we do know a little more about him ; sometimes 
 even yet we get off the track. 
 
 We are told almost universally, the boy of 
 twelve is a selfish being and we have got to get 
 him out of the selfishness. About a week ago, 
 passing along a street in Detroit, not far from 
 our building, I saw three boys who had been 
 at work on a pavement ; and one, who was evi- 
 dently the boss of the job, stayed on the job 
 and finished the shoveling, and called to the two, 
 "Get all youse can for a cent, so I can give you 
 all some." I suspect it was a variation of the 
 rule we have that a boy is selfish. We have him 
 under many conditions. For the benefit of those 
 who have not yet heard it, I want to say that 
 the boy of today is very much alive and active. 
 I like to think of the two men passing down the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 309 
 
 New York street, who were discussing whether 
 the street boy was really as alert as they were 
 said to be. One of them touched a boy on the 
 shoulder and said, "What time is it by your 
 nose?" Quick as a wink, he turned and said, 
 1 'Mine ain't running; is yours?" 
 
 I remember a little observation which I made 
 in Philadelphia. I was going down our nar- 
 row Chestnut street on a car. It was just about 
 dusk, and a newsboy was on the street crying 
 under the car windows the paper he was sell- 
 ing ; the crying of a famous trial, an infamous 
 trial in New York City; crying at the top of 
 his voice. At that instant a fire truck came on 
 him. The fire truck passed our car like a flash 
 and it had scarcely passed the window where 
 I was sitting before he was around again and 
 was calling, "Extry, extry, all about the big 
 fire." I take it that the part of the problem 
 in dealing with the boy is that you and I have 
 not been sufficiently awake. He is tremendously 
 awake along the time I am thinking of, between 
 twelve and sixteen. 
 
 I want to study that other factor, the training 
 of the boy, the influences that come about the 
 boy ; and I want to see if that has anything to 
 do with the men of the Presbyterian Brother- 
 hood of America. I hold, knowing the boy as 
 we do, every man has a threefold obligation 
 upon him with reference to the boy, and I sus- 
 pect I can just barely state the threefold oblig? - 
 tion. As it seems to me, the obligation is defi- 
 
310 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 nitely upon every Christian man, every man 
 who has arrived in his Christian life, every man 
 who has fought through the problems of boy- 
 hood and young manhood and feels as if he 
 was standing on solid ground; it seems there 
 is an obligation to be a guide to an indi- 
 vidual boy. It might be your own son, or 
 it might be your own younger brother. It 
 might be several sons or younger brothers, 
 but hardly would there be any two at the 
 same time. This business of playing guide 
 to the boy when he is going into what the 
 Germans call the storm and stress period, 
 and some of us, if we were honest, could say 
 that is the hardest fight a man ever has in his 
 life; to be a guide to the boy at this time; if 
 you have not either son or younger brother, to 
 some other boy. I cannot conceive by what man- 
 ner of Christian reasoning, how any man can 
 live without being guide to some boy of that 
 kind. I want to be a bit personal. About the 
 age of fourteen or fifteen, when I needed him 
 most, there came a young man into my life; 
 he did not know anything about the psychology 
 of adolescence, or anything else, but he knew a 
 young boy of fourteen or fifteen needed a young 
 man friend, and he came to me when I needed 
 him ; plain and simple he was, having very little 
 time; a printer, working ten hours a day in 
 those days ; evening time and Sunday time and 
 such holiday time as he had, he gave very 
 largely to me. He saw me through the time 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 31 1 
 
 when I know I was ungrateful to him; he saw 
 me through the time when I knew more than 
 all the universe beside ; he saw me arrive at 
 maturity before he let go. Long years have 
 passed since German Charlie's body was laid 
 beneath the Southern sod. and in the light of 
 that experience, rnen, when I grew to maturity 
 and realized what Charlie did for me, I said 
 never again will there be a time when I am 
 not attached definitely as a young man guide 
 to some boy. 
 
 God has helped me to keep that vow. There 
 has been no boy in my own home; my con- 
 stituency at the present time has been estimated 
 at about 30,000 boys in the city of Detroit. I 
 have the one boy, I make no excuse that so 
 many boys are demanding my attention. Some 
 one said to me today: "Tell them the story 
 of that boy you told me about." I said: "I 
 cannot; it would take the full hour." He 
 is now the straightest little fellow of fourteen 
 years that you would want to see today. I 
 have kept my vow. I hope you will get some 
 suggestion from this, that no man can live his 
 Christian life without being attached to some 
 one boy. 
 
 I believe he has a second obligation — to at- 
 tach himself to a group of boys. Such groups 
 without adult advice are dangerous. I could 
 go on and prove that out of a long experience. 
 Xo man has fulfilled his obligation who simply 
 relates himself to a boy: he has a further clutv 
 
312 THE PEESBYTEEIAX BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 — to relate himself to a group of boys. I would 
 not fix the group; that is for the man to do. 
 It may be a Sunday School class, and God knows 
 the men are needed for this. I had a letter the 
 other day from a church in Brooklyn: "Come 
 over to Brooklyn; we are going to have all 
 the men of the church together; we are going 
 to have a supper; we are going to feed them 
 until they feel so good they will do anything, 
 and we will pump them full of the boy matter." 
 I said, "I cannot go." That letter was from 
 a young woman of the church, and to my posi- 
 tive knowledge she has been working for two 
 years to get those men to consent to come and 
 listen. I could not go, and I got a letter from 
 a man saying that the women gave them this 
 supper and every woman retired from the room 
 and left this boy subject to the men to talk it 
 over. We go about the country and forty to 
 fifty per cent of the teachers of boy classes are 
 women, many of them doing a magnificent work, 
 many of them doing a fine work. Many of us 
 are here because of fine women teachers in days 
 gone by, but I plead that more men shall become 
 teachers. 
 
 It may be in the shop you work in, the office, 
 there is a group of boys that needs a man for 
 a leader. I plead with you, relate yourselves to 
 the group of boys in some capacity, Sunday 
 School or elsewhere. 
 
 I say there is a third obligation which seem- 
 ingly rests on a man as I see it; and I think 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 313 
 
 I can speak in this convention with freedom 
 and with unusual emphasis, because I am talk- 
 ing* to the men who in a large measure help to 
 mould community influence. I am thinking of 
 your relationship to boyhood, not the individual 
 boy, not groups of boys, — all the boys who live 
 within reach of your influence. I wish I might 
 make it clear to you ; so much is your influence 
 needed in this line. 
 
 Some time ago the National Child Labor Com- 
 mission met, and investigated the Messenger 
 Boy Service at night in some of the cities of 
 the United States. I know enough to know that 
 men are here from some of the cities they inves- 
 tigated. Do you know, when I tried to get a 
 copy of the report, they told me it would have 
 to be sent to me by express, as the sending of 
 it through the United States mail would vio- 
 late the Federal Statutes, it was so vile and 
 filthy. Do the communities care where those 
 things were found out ? Some communities have 
 found out. I made an investigation of some 
 fifty who were going out to save those messen- 
 ger boys, and not one of the fifty cities had 
 cared enough to try to save those boys through 
 any legislative enactments. It was so easy; 
 these boys were not Presbyterians, or Meth- 
 odists; perhaps not sons of our Brotherhood; 
 not from our Sunday Schools ; their poor little 
 warped, twisted, soiled lives did not affect us 
 at all, and it is so easy to let it go at that ; yet 
 there is a class of boys any twenty men of rep- 
 
314 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 resentative Brotherhoods could set to save if 
 they would, and you could bring such a pres- 
 sure to bear on those companies that they would 
 not employ any one under twenty- one to do 
 their dirty work at night. I would not offend 
 you this morning or disturb the sweet influences 
 in this church ; I do not want to shock you, but 
 how they need you to help them ! 
 
 Have you looked into the high school condi- 
 tions in your city? I have not any intention 
 of speaking of information of any particular 
 high schools; but do you know that there are 
 high school conditions that are beyond descrip- 
 tion? I walked along the street of a suburban 
 town of our great cities. I passed a high school, 
 and to my friend I said, "Is the condition in 
 this place as serious as I have heard stated?" 
 He replied, "I have lived in this place quietly 
 for four years. My work is such that I spend 
 little time on these matters, but in the four years 
 that my wife and I have lived here there have 
 come to our attention, without our seeking, four- 
 teen cases of illicit relationship between boys 
 and girls in the high school; and no one cares 
 and no one lifts a finger in this place of twenty 
 thousand people, to take a step against it. ? ' 
 
 It relates to the boyhood of your city. There 
 may be a girl in your home who may be affected 
 by this condition. I want to plead for you to 
 be responsible for the conditions; that some- 
 how you sum up the conditions for good and 
 evil against which the boy goes, and somehow 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 315 
 
 through your Brotherhood work you make it 
 possible to increase the sum total of good and 
 decrease the sum total of evil. There are a hun- 
 dred ways to do it. I want to state my equation 
 again in a different way : x represents the boy, 
 if you will not say unknown, as you used to 
 think; y — let it represent the influence that 
 comes upon him to represent right manhood, 
 and y for you Brotherhood men. You are the 
 determining factor in the equation, which makes 
 for the boy's manhood; and may God help you 
 to be responsible and responsive to the trust. 
 
OPEN CONFERENCE ON BOYS' WORK. 
 
 LED BY EUGENE C. FOSTER, DETROIT. 
 
 Mr. Foster: — Mr. Chairman, I am not going 
 to make a speech at this time. Frankly, I sup- 
 pose if I chose to do so I might possibly, for the 
 time that is left me, interest you with some 
 stories of boys that I have known, and tickle 
 your ears in a way and send you back saying, 
 "That was interesting and, perhaps, profita- 
 ble." But I rather choose to say very little, 
 and then to ask you a question or two; so you 
 are to have the speech-making of this hour. 
 
 I want to close the speech of the morning, 
 which I did not get closed, by saying that in 
 my estimation we ought to try to carry the 
 thought further. I tried to show you that it 
 was the obligation of every man to relate him- 
 self to the boy life somewhere, and I would 
 like to have made it a little more plain if I 
 could, that even if you are relating yourself 
 to the boy in your home, there is some other 
 boy that needs you mighty bad that has no 
 father like you are to your boy. I tried to show 
 you that I thought a man should relate himself 
 
 316 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION gl? 
 
 to a group of boys, and I tried to show you that 
 I believe it to be his duty to relate himself to 
 boy life. Now let me make another application. 
 If it is not the Brotherhood's business as an 
 organization to relate itself to the boys, then I 
 don't know whose business it is. I don't know 
 of any church organization upon which the bur- 
 den of seeing that the boys of the community 
 are provided for, rests more heavily than upon 
 the Brotherhood. So I want to make it indi- 
 vidual, and lay it upon you as a Brotherhood 
 to see that things are done for the boys, and 
 done right. 
 
 Now, I want some of you to tell us what 
 your Brotherhoods are doing. Don't tell us 
 anything else. Don't tell us what you are doing 
 as a Sunday School class unless you represent a 
 Brotherhood, and please tell it in ten-word tele- 
 grams, and not get mixed up in night letters. It 
 does not need much explanation if it is as clear 
 as it ought to be. To get this before us, I want 
 you to tell us what your Brotherhoods now are 
 doing. Won't you tell us now, in a very few 
 words ? 
 
 Member (from Joplin, Mo.): — We have 
 pledged the Juvenile Court that we will get back 
 of the Court and help it. 
 
 Mr. Foster: — Have you been able to work 
 that out? 
 
 Member : — We are going to do the business. 
 
318 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Mr. Foster : — Does the Court welcome it? 
 
 Member : — Yes, I guess so. 
 
 Member (from Kansas) : — We are conducting 
 an Athletic Club. 
 
 Member (from First Presbyterian Church, 
 Pittsburgh) : — We employ a man for work 
 among the boys — Mr. Hazel. He will speak 
 about his work. 
 
 Mr. Hazel : — Well, it would take too long for 
 me to describe my work. I have found, as you 
 outlined it, as you only could, that you have 
 got to love the boy and have to have your heart 
 saturated with the love, and with that you can 
 get the boy, and in no other way, so far as I 
 know. And perhaps a man trained as I am 
 trained is able to reach boys more than the 
 average man, because when you have a boy in 
 your office stripped before you for examination, 
 you have the chance to talk to him as you could 
 not in any other way. I have one school in 
 Pittsburgh in which there are two boys that 
 drive me nearly crazy. I cannot get next to 
 them. Well, I have tried everything I possibly 
 could try. I have prayed about it, and I have 
 prayed with them and joked with them. I was 
 talking with the principal of the school the other 
 day, and he said, " There are two boys with 
 whom I don't think you will accomplish any- 
 thing. One is hopeless, but of the other boy 
 there may be some hope. " I invited them to my 
 
ST, LOUIS CONVENTION 319 
 
 home. One of them came, but the other got 
 cold feet. We had a splendid evening together. 
 My wife went away to some function that night 
 and left us to ourselves. Emphasize that spirit 
 of love for the boy. 
 
 Mk. Foster : — That is a very real thing. 
 
 Member (from Second Presbyterian Church, 
 Chicago) : — We employ a physical director two 
 nights in the week. 
 
 Mr. Foster : — The Church or the Brother- 
 hood? 
 
 Member: — The Church and the Brotherhood 
 are one in our church. 
 
 Member (from Middletown, Ohio) : — We have 
 provided our boys a gymnasium and swimming 
 pool, and have a physical director. We are lov- 
 ing our boys and trying to get next to them. 
 We have a guarantee fund of nine hundred dol- 
 lars a year, and at this time we are looking for 
 a man, preferably a young Presbyterian man. 
 We think there is a great field in our town for 
 work for boys that have no other church fel- 
 lowship. 
 
 Member (from First Church of Altoona, 
 Pa.) : — We provide athletics and evening games 
 for the boys on our regular meeting nights. 
 
 Member (from First Church, Kansas City, 
 Kan.) : — We are getting behind a campaign for 
 a $200,000 Y. M. C. A. 
 
320 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Member (from Normal Park Church, Chi- 
 cago) : — We are trying to furnish teachers for 
 boys in the Sunday School under sixteen years 
 of age. We have furnished five teachers for 
 this class within two years. We are coming 
 into the "Big Brother" movement, and many 
 of our men have signed cards agreeing to be 
 a big brother to a boy. 
 
 Mr. Foster: — What system do you follow? 
 Have you a committee, or is it through men 
 who work with the Sunday School Superin- 
 tendent? 
 
 Member: — We work under the direction of 
 the Superintendent. 
 
 Delegate: — We have one of the best organ- 
 ized works for boys in the state of Missouri, 
 for boys from the cradle up to sixteen. We 
 have a secretary for boys' work, gymnasium 
 instructor, and we look after all the interests 
 of the boy, even to getting him a job. 
 
 Mr. Foster: — I knew that you would fill us 
 full of ideas of things which are being done. 
 Let me emphasize, please, that little matter 
 which might have escaped you, in which I asked 
 about the Chicago church. I had on my list 
 the furnishing of Sunday School teachers for 
 classes in the Sunday School; but there is 
 always a possible conflict there — that the 
 Brotherhood Committee shall unwisely suggest 
 or insist that so-and-so be made a teacher. But 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 321 
 
 do you see how wisely they have worked it out, 
 working under the Superintendent of the Sun- 
 day School, exactly where they ought to be? 
 
 Now, think of these things that have been 
 suggested. I wish me might enumerate some 
 more here, but I want to ask another question. 
 I am glad your Brotherhood has not organized, 
 and I am going to get on thin ice here, I expect 
 — I am glad that your national organization has 
 not organized a Boys' Division or Boys' Depart- 
 ment and called it a Junior Brotherhood. I am 
 not glad that you have not organized it, but I 
 am glad you have not organized and called it a 
 Junior Brotherhood. I believe you can get any 
 number of boys into such a Brotherhood, but 
 I believe the experience generally is that the 
 boy will not stay in the Junior Brotherhood 
 during the seventeen, eighteen, nineteen year 
 periods, or even the sixteen-year period; and 
 while you get them as boys, you will lose out— 
 you will have to get them back again. The boy 
 objects to being in the Junior Brotherhood as 
 he gets older. Don't use a name having 
 "Junior" attached to it. I believe if you will 
 think that through you will find that I am right. 
 
 Then you can go a step further in your work 
 and make your Brotherhood absolutely respon- 
 sible for seeing that a training class for older 
 boys is established and properly conducted. 
 Training a teacher for the Sunday School is 
 generally better than finding a teacher. I tried 
 an experiment last year. I selected a group 
 
322 THE PRESBYTERIAN BBOTHERHOOD 
 
 of six high school boys average fifteen and a 
 half years of age, and gave them a fourteen 
 weeks' course in studying to teach. Five out 
 of the six are this winter teaching Bible classes 
 of fourteen and fifteen year old boys, under 
 my direction. Now, that thing is possible. But 
 to do it ! You may not have a man that can 
 do it. It may cost you something to get a rec- 
 ognized teacher to come in and train them ; but 
 get it done somehow. Some of you can pay 
 for getting that done, that cannot do other 
 things that are mentioned. I believe that you 
 can become responsible for seeing that there 
 is a definite phase of boy work in your church, 
 other than the Sunday School work, between 
 Sundays. 
 
 Now, don't mistake me. There is one busi- 
 ness I have on earth. Don't mistake what I am 
 for. I want to tie a boy up to Jesus Christ and 
 bring Jesus Christ into his life as a personal 
 Saviour. Don't think I have an idea of working 
 along some other line. 
 
 Now, I believe you can do something which 
 is concrete, and which is tremendously interest- 
 ing. I believe you can appoint some one or 
 some committee, especially in the smaller com- 
 munity, who would be responsible for finding 
 out the conditions under which your boys live. 
 How blind we are to conditions ! I can go into 
 a city and know more in a week about such con- 
 ditions than people who have been there twenty 
 years. You ought to know what are the most 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 323 
 
 serious temptations your boys have to face. 
 What are the influences which are pulling down? 
 Your Brotherhood ought to know that ; and you 
 can appoint some one of your Brotherhood to 
 find out. Take, for instance, this matter of the 
 messengers that I spoke about. Suppose, when 
 an ordinance was introduced providing for the 
 regulation of messenger traffic, what would have 
 happened without vigilance? The outcome would 
 have been that it would have been smothered 
 in the committee. Can you not, as a Brother- 
 hood, become responsible for the measures 
 which legislate for the suppression of vice? 
 Can you not help along these lines, and can you 
 not do it through a definite individual, or a defi- 
 nite committee? You can become a co-oper- 
 ative force with other organizations for the 
 betterment of boys. At least four times within 
 a year I have been appealed to by an organiza- 
 tion, national in character, to leave my work 
 and go out for the youth; but I have refused 
 every time, because I have got a job where I 
 am that takes all the time I have. But the last 
 time these national authorities appealed to me, 
 I said, "I will not make any change. I believe 
 I am where God wants me to be." Then I 
 challenged them with a challenge that I thought 
 they would not meet. I said, "I will not give 
 my time to this enterprise, but if you will 
 authorize the employment of a man who will 
 come to Detroit, I will supervise his work, sub- 
 ject to certain conditions." 
 
324 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 They said, "What are the conditions ? " 
 I said, "He is not to make a speech for a 
 year." They said, "We will accept that." Then 
 I began to get scared. Then they said, "What 
 else?" 
 
 I said, ' ' Study this condition absolutely from 
 the laboratory standpoint, and study this 
 Church problem with me, and not open his 
 mouth for the year." And now it is up to me 
 to get the man. But I wish this Presbyterian 
 Brotherhood, or some laymen who could afford 
 it, would say, "We will put a man in the field, 
 to simply sit down with our Presbyterian 
 churches and study this problem of the boy," 
 and come to our next convention and tell us 
 about it. 
 
 A Question : — If all these things can be done, 
 why are you not doing them? 
 
 A Member: — The difficulties in a small city 
 are too great. We have no physical directors 
 we can call upon ; we have no man. qualified to 
 do boys' work. 
 
 Mr. Hazel: — Where is that man from? 
 
 Mr. Foster: — Stand up so he can see you. 
 You and Mr. Hazel get together — not now, but 
 after a while. 
 
 A Member: — The great difficulty is that the 
 men do not believe in "Fostering" boys. That 
 is the problem we have today in our church. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 325 
 
 We are trying to solve the boy problem. A 
 man is giving all Ms spare time without com- 
 pensation, but he has not been accepted by the 
 Brotherhood. We have started, but have not 
 launched the movement. In one of the Sunday 
 School classes the teacher was explaining the 
 Boy Scouts, and a member of the church ses- 
 sion said, "This man is not teaching the Sun- 
 day School lesson; he is teaching something 
 else." Now, if the men in the church do not 
 understand these things, it is high time they 
 were studying them. The trouble is, the men 
 do not know the condition of the boy. 
 
 Mr. Foster: — I wonder if it is very general 
 that church officials block the work. Let us see 
 the hands of those who find it so. There is a 
 condition I did not expect to find. This is more 
 serious than I thought it was. 
 
 A Member : — How are we to bring them in as 
 a junior organization, when we do not have the 
 sympathies of the parents and influence of the 
 boys ' homes ? You cannot expect a few of them 
 to keep in touch with that boy all the time. 
 
 A Member : — In behalf of the parents, I want 
 to say it would take a Pinkerton detective to 
 watch the boys. 
 
 Mr. Foster: — I would like to see a show of 
 hands of the men who know the conditions of 
 the communities in which you live. That is 
 good. Better than I expected. The worst show- 
 
3^6 THE PRESBYTERIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 ing we have had is that condition of church 
 officials standing in the way. Of course, the 
 church officials will say they objected to it be- 
 cause it has not been wisely conducted. But 
 about the detective: It depends. The boy I 
 have in mind, who was the worst boy in Detroit, 
 got into a fight; and he came to me and told 
 me of the fight that he had been in the day 
 before. It did not take a detective for me to 
 find that out. 
 
 A Member: — A boy told me something that 
 horrified me. He said his father thinks he 
 ought to fight his own way out. 
 
 Me. Fostee : — The point is that in all respects 
 I am the father of this boy except in a physical 
 way. 
 
 A Delegate : — How do you get the boy inter- 
 ested in Bible Study? 
 
 Me. Fostee : — First, I let it sweep me off my 
 feet until he realizes that there is nothing in 
 the universe so interesting to me as the Bible 
 Study of the hour. I do not like to teach Bible 
 Study on routine lines. I want to teach it in 
 a different way. In other words, I think it is 
 worth time and thought and ingenuity and plan. 
 I have set out a Bible Study Eeview for several 
 groups of boys that will be a game through and 
 through, and they will play it to beat the band, 
 if you will excuse the expression, and they will 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 327 
 
 have no less respect than if they studied and 
 reviewed it in the old-fashioned way. 
 
 A Delegate : — Do you mean the boy wants to 
 be good rather than bad? 
 
 Me. Fostee : — Oh, yes, indeed, my dear 
 brother. I have run into some Presbyterian 
 doctrine here ; I ought to have been more care- 
 ful. Let me tell you, if I did not believe that 
 of every boy that I meet, until he convinced me 
 to the opposite, I would not get far with boys. 
 I will at least give him the benefit of the doubt. 
 Out of quite a long experience in meeting boys, 
 I hardly know that I could name enough excep- 
 tions to cover the fingers of one hand. 
 
 A Delegate : — What is your opinion and 
 judgment of the Boy Scout movement as a par- 
 tial solution of this problem? 
 
 Me. Fostee : — I was in a discussion in Illinois 
 and it swept the discussion. If any one wants 
 to know about it, I will meet any group. The 
 Boy Scout Movement, I think, is excellent, and 
 I see no reason why it should not be one of the 
 best movements ever introduced in our cities. 
 
 A Membee: — My question grows out of this 
 question about the Scout movement. Our leader 
 said that they had so many boys that they were 
 hanging out of the windows. I suppose he had 
 Presbyterian boys, and Congregational boys, 
 and all kinds of boys. How are you going to 
 handle that situation? 
 
328 THE PEE3BYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 Me. Fostee : — It so happened that these boys 
 were not anything "else before they got to the 
 Methodist Church. I suspect that a church will 
 have in its membership sometimes, if they don't 
 look out, boys from other churches. I had a case 
 where I was waited upon by a mother because 
 her boy, a Methodist, was going to a Presby- 
 terian Sunday School. I am a Methodist, and 
 I appreciated her position. What I did was to 
 go to the Methodist Sunday School and get a 
 band of Boy Scouts organized, and now they 
 have the boy. 
 
 Why are you not doing it? I want this ques- 
 tion to ring in your ears all the way to Denver, 
 if you live there. One of the most outstanding 
 propositions in the program is to help the 
 church do its own boy work. 
 
 A Membee : — I have fifty or sixty high school 
 boys in my class, and I have not time to brother 
 them or father them through the week. Should 
 I stay in the leadership of that class? 
 
 Me. Fostee : — I do not know, but if you have 
 that many boys, I suspect you should. I believe 
 you can take that leadership and develop the 
 older boys and make leaders of them. 
 
WORLD WIDE VISION 
 AND OPPORTUNITY 
 
THE DISTINCTIVE TEUTH OF 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 BY KEV. ANDREW V. V. RAYMOND, D.D., BUFFALO, N. Y. 
 
 Presbyterians for over three hundred years 
 have prided themselves on their accurate and 
 comprehensive knowledge of the laws and ways 
 of God, and have been willing to stand an ex- 
 amination, a competitive examination, with any 
 other denomination that might be named, as to 
 what the Bible teaches with regard to sin and 
 salvation. That makes it hard to speak within 
 the limits of the catechism. But in these mod- 
 ern times religious thought has pushed beyond 
 the old boundaries, and has set up new bounda- 
 ries, wider boundaries ; and if we Presbyterians 
 are to keep our distinctive place in the religious 
 world, we must find and formulate the new and 
 larger truth which God would teach and is 
 teaching to His children. If we would keep our 
 distinctive place, we must go further than that 
 — we must let that truth find us and form us, 
 so that our convictions upon it are as positive 
 and our obedience as instinctive as the convic- 
 tions and obedience of our fathers to the truth 
 that God gave them. Note this principle: 
 Progress or growth of religious truth is funda- 
 
 331 
 
332 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 mental and essential to any religion that is 
 going to hold its own in this day of human 
 progress. This does not mean that we are to 
 become wise beyond what is written. This is 
 the wonderful thing about the Bible, that it 
 contains, I believe, all the truth that the world 
 will ever need. But it does mean this, that we 
 are to follow the light of revelation as it leads 
 us into spiritual regions, and further and ever 
 further into the righteousness of the Kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 The proposition which I make this afternoon, 
 or which I submit this afternoon, is this, that 
 despite all the progress we have made and de- 
 spite all truth which we Presbyterians have got- 
 ten and have given to the world — despite all 
 this, we are only beginning to understand 
 Christianity ; we are right on the verge of what 
 might be called the real Christian era, or the 
 beginning of it. To show what I mean, let me 
 give expression to an idea that has received 
 applause now for generations, " An honest man 
 is the noblest work of God." Do you believe 
 that? I don't, and you don't. He is a noble 
 work — let us all admit that, verily — but not the 
 noblest. At some time in the past he may have 
 been the noblest work of God. He is not now, 
 because increased knowledge calls for some- 
 thing more, and every new stage of progress 
 calls for a new statement. Animal life ap- 
 peared on the earth ; that advanced, and human 
 life appeared. Man could not have lived in the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 333 
 
 carboniferous age ; trees were the noblest work 
 of that age; they are not now. A sculptor 
 works in the figure in the earth; it is the best 
 he can do with certain tools he uses, not the 
 best he can do with finer instruments in the 
 marble. So I believe God has certain laws for 
 the beginning of human development, and other 
 laws, different laws, for the completion of 
 human development. The honest man might 
 have been once the noblest work of God, but the 
 requirements are now something more than 
 honesty. 
 
 Let us consider the savage, as we were all 
 once in our ancestry; savage developed into a 
 civilized condition. Now, as a savage, the only 
 law he knows is his own desire ; what he wants 
 he gets, if he can. If he wants another savage's 
 dress suit of beads and feathers, he gets it if 
 he can. If he wants his life, he gets that if he 
 can. His only law is that of his own desire, 
 and the only limit to that law, the only bound- 
 ary, is set by his own ability. Wherever that 
 is true, a man is a savage, whatever Christian 
 dress he may wear. Where the only law of his 
 life is his own desire, and the only limit to get 
 is his ability to get, that makes every man a 
 savage. 
 
 Now, if this man is to be developed, he must 
 come under some other law than that of his 
 own desire; he must come under the law of 
 restraint, which will say to him when he 
 reaches out his hand to take something that 
 
334 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 belongs to another, ' * Thou shalt not, ' ' and when 
 he lifts his hand to take another's life, "Thou 
 shalt not ; ' ' and to get that into the savage man 
 is difficult. First, he takes just a little ; instead 
 of killing another man, he half kills, and prides 
 himself on his restraint; he has denied himself 
 something. That will progress until he has es- 
 tablished the fact that he does not take any- 
 thing that belongs to another; so he emerges 
 from his savage state an honest man and a 
 possible citizen, and there he stands, the noblest 
 work of God. I believe in all such laws of re- 
 straint; but are you ready to say that he is 
 the finest type of man because he has learned 
 to keep his hand out of another man's pocket 
 and his hands from another man's throat? Is 
 the highest type of virtue, in other words, not 
 doing wrong to any other man? Now, let us 
 admit at once that it is high virtue, and perhaps 
 rare virtue, but it is surely not the highest 
 virtue. 
 
 This man, whose development we are tracing, 
 comes under a new law, emerges from one 
 school, enters another, enters the law of con- 
 straint and says, "How will it do to give him 
 something that belongs to you? Take nothing 
 from him that belongs to him; how about giv- 
 ing him something that belongs to you? He 
 has no claim upon you other than the claim of 
 his need. You are perfectly honest towards 
 him now ; how will it be to be generous toward 
 him ? ' ' That is a new opportunity, a new prin- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 335 
 
 ciple altogether, and, as the old principle, it 
 might work slowly at first. He gives a little, 
 and then he fairly glows with pleasure. The 
 men who get the most satisfaction are those 
 who are just beginning to give. This law con- 
 tinues its operation because the needs of these 
 other men, as he regards them, rise higher 
 and higher in his estimation, until they stand 
 abreast of his own; and the more the needs 
 rise, he feels he must give ; and when they get 
 abreast of his own they don't stop, but rise 
 above his own. He is then willing to deny him- 
 self for the other, and then he stands the noblest 
 work of man, even like his Master, who came 
 not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and 
 to give His life as a ransom for many. 
 
 We simply follow the course of progress of 
 civilization, until we face the gate of the flam- 
 ing sword in the Garden of Eden. I don't 
 know much about Adam before he fell, but I 
 know a good deal about Adam after he fell; 
 and the race to which Grod began to reveal Him- 
 self in the days of Abraham was a cruel, rapa- 
 cious and bloodthirsty race. And so the burden 
 of the first requirements, "Thou shalt not," 
 stands out at the beginning of seven of the 
 commandments — practically stands at the be- 
 ginning of nine, the only exception being 
 "Honor thy father and thy mother." The 
 Israelites were chosen as a nation to be put to 
 school to learn what they should not do, and 
 it took two thousand years to get into their 
 
336 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 minds and their hearts the principle of negative 
 virtue, the things they should not do. But they 
 learned that lesson, and when Christ came the 
 Jews were the moral leaders of the world — 
 moral in the sense that -they had learned what 
 should not be done. I am speaking of the nation 
 as a whole; they stood far above all the other 
 nations of the earth in their recognition of the 
 things that were not to be done, the very funda- 
 mentals of moral character. 
 
 But Christ came to lead men higher, and He 
 put all the emphasis on the things that should 
 be done. He had very little to say about nega- 
 tive virtues. I sometimes like to go through the 
 gospel story to find out just how much Christ 
 had to say in the way of positive teaching, in 
 the way of direct teaching. Concerning the 
 Mosaic law, that had all been done before — the 
 foundations had been laid. Christ came to 
 build upon them; He did not abrogate them 
 in any sense. Instead of coming to teach over 
 again, '-Thou shalt not kill," He said, "A new 
 commandment I give unto you, that ye love 
 one another." All the force of His ministry 
 was placed on the positive virtues, the things 
 that men were to do to make them righteous. 
 He called a group of men about Him for that 
 purpose. To make them moral? Not at all. 
 The first Apostles, so far as we know, were 
 moral men, in good and regular standing in 
 the Jewish Church. They had learned the Law 
 of Moses and were keeping the Law of Moses. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 337 
 
 He did not call them out of their world to make 
 them moral men, but He called them to make 
 them servants of others. And how they hated 
 to learn that lesson! not because they were 
 Jews, but because they were men. It is inher- 
 ent in humanity to hate to serve, for man loves 
 to rule; but Christ kept these men about Him, 
 and by precept and parable, and example espe- 
 cially, He manifested the truth. 
 
 You know these precepts. It is not enough 
 not to curse back. We think that is about all 
 that is expected of us, if we don't curse the 
 men who curse us. " Bless them that curse 
 you." That is Christianity. "Pray for them 
 that despitefully use you." If a man injures 
 you, instead of feeling that you have done all 
 that can be required of any mortal by not strik- 
 ing back, learn from Christ what Christianity 
 means — doing good to the man who injures you. 
 That is Christianity. 
 
 Take His parables. We are so familiar with 
 their teachings we fail to keep in mind, I think, 
 in any positive way, the real distinctive teach- 
 ings of those parables. Take that most familiar 
 parable of all, the Good Samaritan. The Priest 
 and Levite were honorable men, and did not 
 owe anything to that man that fell by the way- 
 side. They passed by on the other side ; their 
 skirts were clear. The Good Samaritan did 
 not owe him anything ; yet Christ points to him 
 and says to the whole world, "Go thou and do 
 likewise." Be more than honest— be helpful. 
 
338 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 In the same way the man who had the big 
 crop, you remember, whose fields brought forth 
 twofold, so he could tear down barns and build 
 others. That was not against him — the mere 
 fact of his inheriting property. There is noth- 
 ing suggested as to his defrauding the men who 
 worked for him. Probably he paid the current 
 wages to the men who harvested his crops and 
 built his barns, perfectly honest in a business 
 way; but because he proposed the selfish en- 
 joyment of his riches, God said, "This night 
 thy soul shall be required of thee." 
 
 I could go on multiplying illustrations, but 
 they are not necessary. We see it all in Christ's 
 life ; His whole life was a sacrifice on the altar 
 of humanity. "Though rich, He became poor, 
 that we through His poverty might be made 
 rich." I talk about that as representing Chris- 
 tianity; then look at the life of today and ask 
 if it is thoroughly Christian. As I have said, 
 His disciples did not like to learn the lesson 
 of unselfish service. You remember how, after 
 being with Him three years and receiving from 
 Him constantly, they quarreled just before His 
 death as to which should be greatest; and even 
 after His death, at the time of His resurrection, 
 they expected that the King should come to 
 Jerusalem. And what were they thinking of? 
 That when His Kingdom came, they thought 
 they would be high in power ; they were going to 
 share the glory of it absolutely without any idea 
 of service to be rendered ; looking out for them- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 339 
 
 selves all the time. But the day of Pentecost 
 came ; and that spiritual experience revolution- 
 ized their whole nature, and then they saw 
 Christianity as it was, and Christ as He was, 
 and began to be Christians. And we hear them 
 saying, "We who are strong ought to bear the 
 burdens of the weak." There was an obligation 
 just as binding upon them as Christians as any 
 law of honesty that Moses had taught. "Bear 
 ye one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of 
 Christ.'' They learned the lesson and went out 
 into the world. 
 
 What I have said has been to indicate the 
 general direction of the teaching of the Old 
 and New Testaments, the one supplementing 
 the other. We recognize, of course, that in the 
 Old Testament there were many teachings that 
 led men out of themselves; but the burden of 
 instruction in the Old Testament, especially at 
 the beginning, was in the direction of restraint, 
 as I have said; and the direction of teaching 
 in the New Testament was in connection with 
 the principle of service, the law of constraint — 
 a new commandment. 
 
 So we find that the Old Testament Church 
 was a self-contained body ; it existed for itself. 
 They were the chosen people, elect, called out 
 from all the world. The rest of the world could 
 go where it pleased; they were the chosen of 
 God. That idea was fostered by all the religion 
 that gathered about the teachings of Moses. 
 But Christ came to say, "You are chosen, you 
 
340 TH E PBESBYTERIAN BKOTHEBHOOD 
 
 followers of me, you are chosen; but you are 
 chosen to go out into all the world." The influ- 
 ence of the one was centripetal, the influence 
 of the other was centrifugal. And God was 
 wise in this progress from the Old Testament 
 to the New, in giving a body of truth, first of 
 all, and then commissioning men to go and teach 
 it to all the world. The disciples went forth, 
 as we know, and what did they meet? They met 
 barbarism again, ethically speaking. Eoman 
 civilization and Grecian civilization had not 
 lifted the world a hairbreadth in the matter of 
 morality. You remember the picture which 
 Froude draws of the Eoman Empire, a Pagan- 
 ism still, the high society of Rome become a 
 society of animals with an enormous appetite 
 for pleasure. They had to meet those condi- 
 tions, which meant they had to begin all over 
 with the first precept of restraint, and that was, 
 "Thou shalt not." And for nineteen hundred 
 years that has been the foundation of the right- 
 eousness which is at last to reach to the heavens 
 — laying the foundations in the law of restraint. 
 And only within the last hundred years of our 
 modern Christian era have we seemed to come 
 into anything like real appreciation of the dis- 
 tinctive spirit of Christianity. After all these 
 years we have learned what we should not do, 
 and you take the Christians by and large, they 
 are moral men. They do not have to be taught 
 "Thou shalt not steal," and "Thou shalt not 
 kill." The Church has been established in these 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 341 
 
 principles of a negative morality. And the old 
 Puritans were the chosen of God, and the Pres- 
 byterians the elect of God; and we have felt 
 it all along; but after our own salvation, just 
 like the old Jews. But now we are beginning 
 to learn the new truth, and Christ is saying to 
 us, "If you are elect, you are elected to carry 
 my Gospel to all the world. You are elected 
 for my work in the world, not for your own sal- 
 vation alone. Chosen for my work." And that 
 is His message to the Church which bears His 
 name. 
 
 We have come to recognize that the essential, 
 the distinctive, the keynote of Christianity is 
 the note of universality. We are coming to 
 understand the meaning of that term, that 
 Christ applied or chose for Himself, "the Son 
 of Man," the Brother of all humanity, the One 
 with all men, everywhere. We are coming to 
 understand, and the keynote comes out clear 
 and strong in this age, that the whole world is 
 coming together ; and the nations of the world 
 cannot live apart, and the Islands call to the 
 Continent. In this age, when governments are 
 seeking to become world powers and business is 
 looking to the ends of the earth for the exten- 
 sion of trade; in this age, this keynote of 
 Christianity sounds clearer and stronger than 
 it has ever sounded before since Apostolic days ; 
 and if we are not ready to follow that call, we 
 shall lose our distinctive place among the re- 
 ligions of the world. I do not know just how 
 
342 THE PRESBYTEKIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 to put this, it seems to me so perfectly evident. 
 If Christianity were a little thing, it would die 
 under the conditions that exist in this age of 
 great big enterprises, and if we make it a little 
 thing it will die. The only hope we have to 
 make Christianity a conquering power is to 
 make it a great big enterprise that will chal- 
 lenge the respect of the men who are doing big 
 things in the world. Christianity has not got 
 this note of universality from modern condi- 
 tions, because it is the spirit of the age to speak 
 of the ends -of the earth ; it has been the spirit 
 of Christianity from the beginning. And you 
 men who are ready to fall down before every- 
 thing that is great in spirit and talk about the 
 greatness of this age because of its worldwide 
 interest, fall down first of all before Jesus 
 Christ, whose love reached out to all humanity, 
 and who encompassed the world in His purpose 
 of blessing with an eagerness which, if we only 
 recognize, would fill us with a devotion to Him 
 that would make us do His bidding, whatever it 
 cost. When governments are seeking their 
 spheres of action, of influence, in foreign lands, 
 and business men are talking of foreign trade, 
 if we Christians cannot talk about foreign mis- 
 sions soon there will be nobody to listen to us. 
 Men are not going to respect us in this age if 
 our business as Christians is not big enough to 
 include the whole world. What I want to em- 
 phasize is this. This has been the spirit of 
 Christianity from the beginning. The only 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 343 
 
 Christ we know is the Christ who said He was 
 the Son of Man, and who ignored all national 
 barriers, all racial distinctions, in His mission 
 to humanity. The only Christ we know is the 
 Christ who told of the Father of all mankind, 
 not of the Jews only nor of any group of men. 
 The only Christ we know, my brothers, is the 
 Christ who died for all men, and if you can 
 accept a type of Christianity as yours that does 
 represent worldwide interest and desire to bless 
 all humanity, you are accepting a type of relig- 
 ion that is indeed Christianity. There is but 
 one Christ. He is the Christ who died for the 
 world. There is but one Christian Church, and 
 that is the Church that is living for the world. 
 "What kind of a church have you? A church 
 which pays its own expenses pretty fairly, and 
 if it comes out with a small balance, congratu- 
 lates itself on a most prosperous year? Is that 
 your kind of a church, and do you call it a 
 Christian church? Is the emphasis which you 
 put in your thought upon the world or upon 
 your own congregation? Is any church a Chris- 
 tian church that does not have somewhere dis- 
 played about it these words, "This church ex- 
 ists for those outside of it?" Is any church a 
 Christian church that spends ten, fifteen, twenty 
 thousand dollars for itself in a year and gives 
 ten or fifteen hundred only for Christ's work in 
 the world? It is time we learned the thing that 
 is distinctively Christian, and that is service; 
 and time that we understand that no church 
 
344 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 is worthy the name of Christ that does not bear 
 upon its heart the burden of the world's needs. 
 That is what this new movement of men means. 
 I have been longer than I should. I want to 
 say a word in conclusion. At the first session 
 of the great Edinburgh Conference, Lord Bal- 
 four stood up after the devotional services and 
 said, with great impressiveness, "I am the 
 bearer of a message from the King;" and then 
 he delivered that most gracious message of His 
 Majesty, King George, congratulating the con- 
 ference in meeting in one of the capitals of the 
 Kingdom, and so on — a message which made a 
 profound impression. I stand before you today 
 with no title of lordship, but I am the bearer of 
 a message from the King, the real King. It 
 is a message of sympathy, a message of con- 
 gratulation, a message of love for you; for it 
 is the message of a King and it ends with a com- 
 mand: "Go ye, my subjects, into all the world 
 in my name and preach my gospel to every 
 creature. I am with you always: I am with 
 you only as ye go." 
 
THE MISSIONARY APPEAL 
 
 BY KEV. A. W. HALSEY, D.D., NEW YOKK. 
 
 The subject assigned me is "The Missionary 
 Appeal." Let me change it to read "The Mis- 
 sionary Appeal to Presbyterian Men." The 
 content of the Missionary Appeal is the same 
 for all ages. It is the appeal of the missionary. 
 The accent of the appeal varies with the point 
 of view, with the personality of the missionary, 
 with the providential openings of each succeed- 
 ing century. When the far-sighted seer, in 
 vision clear, saw Him whose name was to be 
 called "Wonderful Counsellor, Almighty God, 
 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the in- 
 crease of whose government and peace there 
 should be no end," heard the summons, "Whom 
 shall I send and who will go for me?" he re- 
 plied, "Here am I; send me." One greater 
 than Isaiah gave us the full meaning of the 
 missionary appeal in the wondrous statement, 
 "As the Father hath sent me into the world, 
 even so have I sent you into the world." The 
 greatest of the apostles said, "Unto me, who 
 am less than the least of all saints, is this grace 
 given, that I should preach among the Gentiles 
 the unsearchable riches of Christ." 
 
 345 
 
346 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 William Carey, in his little shoe shop, with 
 telescopic vision seeing the lost world, gave the 
 missionary appeal in his wondrous message, 
 "Expect great things from God; attempt great 
 things for God." His successor, David Living- 
 stone, had caught the accent of Carey when he 
 said, "I must open up Africa or perish." He 
 perished. Africa is open. The world is open. 
 This is the problem before the Presbyterian 
 men today, "How can the opened world be 
 reached ? ' ' 
 
 Here lies the emphasis: 
 
 First: We have a united Presbyterian army 
 on the far-flung battle line of missions. Abroad 
 we are one ; it is not so in the home land. You 
 can stand on either side of the Eio Grande 
 River; on one side you have a noble band of 
 Presbyterian men and women often competing 
 with each other; on the other side you have 
 your Presbyterians all united in one organiza- 
 tion. At the last meeting of our Board of For- 
 eign Missions, the Mexican Mission requested 
 the Board to give its approval to an action of 
 the Mission, whereby the Mission agreed to 
 send the boys from the Presbyterian Churches 
 under the care of the missionaries of our Board 
 to the Graybill School, which is under the care 
 of the missionaries of the Southern Presby- 
 terian Board, on condition that the mission- 
 aries of the Southern Presbyterian Board 
 should send their girls to the school at Saltillo, 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 347 
 
 which is under the care of the missionaries of 
 the Northern Presbyterian Church. 
 
 In Brazil there is one General Assembly com- 
 posed of Presbyterians representing churches 
 of both the Northern and Southern branches of 
 our Presbyterian faith and order. The Church 
 of Christ in Japan is a group of Presbyterian 
 and Reformed Churches united under the name 
 of the Church of Christ in Japan. In Korea, 
 the Australian, the Canadian, the Southern and 
 the Northern Presbyterian Churches are united 
 in one Presbytery. In China there are not less 
 than sixteen branches of the Presbyterian 
 Church — Irish, English, Canadian, all forming 
 one Chinese Presbyterian Church. I make bold 
 to assert that there is practically not a single 
 Presbyterian organization at work in foreign 
 lands competing with any other Presbyterian 
 organization. There is even broader church 
 union than the denominational one. We are 
 united by federation, or by various forms of 
 co-operation with nearly every other large mis- 
 sionaiy board at work in the territory where 
 the missions of the Presbyterian Church are 
 located. It was one of our own Presbyterian 
 missionaries who proposed the evangelical 
 union in the Philippines — a union that has 
 been most richly blessed, practically all the 
 denominations co-operating, not competing. In 
 ten years, fifty thousands Christians in the 
 various Protestant Churches, and a spirit of 
 
348 THE PRESBYTEEIAX BKOTHEBHOOD 
 
 unity, harmony and aggressive cooperation 
 worthy of all praise. 
 
 In China, Presbyterians are united with the 
 Disciples, with English Baptists, with Ameri- 
 can and English Congregationalists, with Meth- 
 odists, with Anglicans, and with others. 
 
 The Christian Church has long recognized 
 that the missionary is faithful, self-sacrificing, 
 and willing to do and dare for his Master. A 
 good many men, however, have questioned the 
 efficiency of the missionary work because of 
 waste through competition. The missionary 
 appeal has its accent to the Presbyterian 
 Brotherhood today, because on the foreign field 
 the Presbyterian Church is in the forefront of 
 the churches of the world in pleading for unity 
 and every form of co-operation and joint action 
 which will lead to greater efficiency. 
 
 Second : On the foreign field there is a united, 
 militant, aggressive Spirit-filled Church of 
 Christ. We are accustomed to think that the 
 work abroad is all done by the missionary. The 
 best work in foreign lands in the past few years 
 has been done by the native Christian Church. 
 Christianity has become naturalized. A few 
 years ago we were told, especially in China, that 
 the Christian religion was the religion of for- 
 eigners. This is no longer true ; the Gospel has 
 become indigenous. Innumerable illustrations 
 in recent mission literature can be given as evi- 
 dence of this fact. Last fall, a group of Chinese 
 Christians at Koo Chow, China, sent a letter 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 349 
 
 to the Board. Twenty years ago the Board 
 established the mission in South China; now 
 a group of Christians at their own initiative 
 send a letter to the Board, from which I give a 
 short quotation: 
 
 ' ' All the world is one family. The Saviour has proclaimed 
 the Gospel to all the world alike. The manner in which you 
 have expressed God's love and Christ's beautiful teaching, not 
 discriminating between China and the West, truly is becoming 
 to disciples of Christ. Since you have manifested this gracious 
 heart toward us, we truly must without limit tender thanks to 
 you. We are constrained at the earliest date possible to write 
 you of our heart's gratitude. To write even is not becoming; 
 we should in person thank you, bearing our respects; hence 
 we are ashamed. 
 
 "We greet all the brethren and sisters with peace, praying 
 the Heavenly Father's blessing be upon you. " 
 
 Think of a group of Chinese Christians, hard- 
 ly out of the darkness of their non-Christian 
 faith, beginning a letter with the statement, 
 "All the world is one family!" 
 
 There are Presbyterian men, possibly some 
 of them before me today, who have not yet 
 learned that "all the world is one family." 
 
 An even more significant illustration of the 
 development of the native church is found in a 
 letter sent last October by the Church of Christ 
 in Japan to the Presbyterian Church in Korea. 
 We all know how vigorous and intense has been 
 the strife between Korea and Japan. We know 
 something of what it means for one great nation 
 to attempt to rule over another. Bearing this 
 fact in mind, think of the Japanese Christian 
 Church sending to the Korean Church a letter, 
 from which I quote : 
 
350 THE PRESBYTERIAN BEOTHERHOOD 
 
 Tokio, October — , 1910. 
 To the Presbyterian Church in Korea, 
 
 Dear Brethren: The Synod of the Church of Christ in 
 Japan, at its recent meeting near the city of Osaka, appointed 
 us to write to you a letter expressing its most cordial greetings. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in Korea and the Church of Christ 
 in Japan are sister churches, bound together by a common 
 faith and order. In a peculiar sense, therefore, your joys are 
 our joys and your griefs our griefs. 
 
 We render unfeigned thanks to God, the Father, that He 
 has revealed His Son to so many thousands of you. We 
 rejoice to hear of your zeal in making known the Gospel of 
 Christ. We sympathize with you in your many difficulties and 
 trials; and we pray that your faith and patience and joy and 
 love may abound yet more and more. May you be as trees 
 filled with all the fruits of righteousness which are through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 This letter will be delivered to you by the Rev. Shiroshi Tada 
 and the Rev. Rempie Minami. These brethren beloved are 
 ministers of the Church of Christ in Japan, and they have 
 been appointed by the Synod to convey to you its greetings. 
 They will tell you of its earnest desire that this may be but 
 the beginning of a fellowship in Christ that shall ever grow 
 closer and closer. 
 
 For the Synod of the Church of Christ in Japan. 
 
 K. Ibuka. 
 
 K. KlYAMA. 
 
 We know how powerful racial and sectional 
 prejudices are in the world. Our two great 
 Presbyterian churches, North and South, fifty 
 years after the Civil War, have not yet been 
 able to unite. Many of the high-bred Japanese 
 look down on the Koreans as an inferior race. 
 Think of the transforming power of the Gospel 
 that would lead the Christian Japanese to write 
 the letter which I have quoted to the Christian 
 Koreans. We have a right to make an appeal 
 to the Presbyterian men because of the Chris- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 351 
 
 tian virility of the men across the sea, who are 
 the fine fruit of our missionary propaganda. 
 
 We listened last evening to an address by a 
 distinguished statesman, who said he was not 
 a student of theology. Let me give you a bit 
 of an address from one who was not a states- 
 man, nor a student of theology, but whose teach- 
 ings are remarkably in accord with those of the 
 distinguished gentleman who spoke so elo- 
 quently and forcefully last evening. A poor 
 Korean colporteur, named Kim, in speaking of 
 the need of the Holy Spirit, said : 
 
 "Bight here in this town I knew a gambler 
 who lost all he had, and to break himself of 
 gambling he cut off the thumb with which he 
 drew out his cards. With his hand tied up, he 
 hung around the gambling rooms, watching the 
 others. By the time he had his bandage off he 
 was sitting among his old friends, drawing out 
 his cards with his first and second fingers. That 
 was because he had not believed and received 
 the Holy Spirit. When the spirit is in a man's 
 heart the evil spirit opens the door of his heart 
 a little crack, looks in, sees the Holy Spirit 
 and runs away as fast as he can." 
 
 There is not a man listening to me at this 
 hour but who knows that the whole battle of 
 life, the question of temptation, the problem 
 whether you will conquer sin or not, lies in the 
 crude but truthful statement of this Korean 
 colporteur, that when the Holy Spirit is in the 
 
352 THE PRESBYTEEIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 heart of a man, the evil spirit looks in and 
 runs away. 
 
 A good test of development in the Christian 
 life, as we all know, is the financial test. Your 
 fellow-Christians in the churches under care of 
 the Board in non-Christian lands gave last year 
 over $400,000 for various educational, religious 
 and philanthropic purposes in connection with 
 the work of the Church. This should be multi- 
 plied by at least ten, if we wish to have an 
 adequate basis of comparison with our gifts 
 in the home land, for wages in the lands where 
 your fellow Christians live will average about 
 fifteen cents a day, and $1.50 a day is not a high 
 average for our entire country. After making 
 due allowance for a part of the above sum which 
 may have been given by non-Christian persons 
 for benefits received educationally, or from the 
 medical missionaries, there still remains the 
 fact that while the Church at home raised about 
 $1,500,000 for Foreign Missions, the Church 
 abroad gave what would be equivalent to 
 $3,000,000. 
 
 Sometimes I hear a business man speak of 
 the high cost of administration of the work of 
 Foreign Missions. I submit that to the $1,500,- 
 000 raised on the home field must be added the 
 $3,000,000 or more raised on the foreign field, 
 if we are to calculate cost of administration on 
 the per cent basis. The strength of Christian 
 character, however, is the point of emphasis. I 
 bring before you the simple fact that your fellow 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 353 
 
 Christians in that Spirit-filled church abroad 
 contributed last year practically twice the 
 amount given in the home land for the existence 
 of the Kingdom abroad. 
 
 The spiritual life of the native church is mani- 
 fested in many ways. The day before I left 
 New York a letter came from Africa. In it was 
 a letter written by a poor Christian, a Bulu, in 
 the heart of the Kamerun country, German 
 West Africa. It is written to his teacher. It 
 reads as follows: 
 
 "I desire you to think of the people in the Beni tribe, 
 because they have no person to tell them of the Word of 
 God. ; ' 
 
 I submit to you men that this poor Bulu, who 
 yesterday was in the depth of African darkness 
 and superstition, but now has so far advanced 
 in his Christian life that he wishes men of an- 
 other tribe to hear the Word of God, has cer- 
 tainly attained to great things in the spiritual 
 life. I know men in the home land who have 
 no such view of the Gospel. 
 
 Last year in Korea they had a campaign in 
 which the slogan was a million souls for Christ. 
 Twenty-five years ago not a Christian in Korea ; 
 today, a great campaign in which more than a 
 million copies of the Gospel of Mark are either 
 sold or given away; banners are hung across 
 the street, on which is inscribed the marvelous 
 verse, John 3 :16. Here is evidence of great 
 spiritual life. 
 
 The missionary appeal to men is based on 
 
354 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 the virility, the generosity, the spirituality, the 
 broadminded view of the men who have been 
 brought to Jesus Christ by the preaching of the 
 Gospel through the word and work of our mis- 
 sionaries. 
 
 Third: — We have a great appeal to men in 
 the fact that the Gospel is for the whole man. 
 Never was a greater misstatement than that the 
 Gospel appeal is only for the life that is to 
 come. This statement was never true in the 
 home land ; it is not true in mission lands today. 
 
 If we look on the non-Christian world, we see 
 it is a sick world, it is a deaf world, it is a 
 blind world, it is a sinful world; and the mis- 
 sionary seeing this is led like his Master to re- 
 lieve this great ignorant, blind, deaf, weary, sin- 
 sick world. In the past few weeks the treasurer 
 of our Board has sent by cable many thousands 
 of dollars for the poor sufferers in North China 
 who are dying by the hundreds and thousands 
 of famine. But this is no new story. John Liv- 
 ingstone Nevius, that great missionary to the 
 Chinese people forty years ago, was a leader in 
 the distribution of famine relief. John Living- 
 stone Nevius was a great translator, a great 
 preacher, a man of wonderful spiritual power, 
 yet he spent many long and weary months in 
 distributing relief to sufferers by famine. 
 Today, if you go to northern China, you will 
 find fruits and vegetables growing in luxuriance, 
 the seeds of which were brought by this far- 
 sighted missionary. He looked at the things 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 355 
 
 unseen, but he had an eye for the things seen. 
 He is a typical representative of the whole mis- 
 sionary army. 
 
 Not long ago we bade farewell to Dr. Wan- 
 less, who went back to Miraj, India. In a single 
 year, in hospital and dispensary, he and his as- 
 sistants treated not less than 30,000 patients, 
 coming from 800 districts. Every one of these 
 patients heard the Word of God and went away 
 with some passage of the Word of God in their 
 hands. So efficient is the work of this one mis- 
 sionary that last year the Maharajah of Kol- 
 hapur, through the influence of Dr. Wanless, 
 gave to the Board a hospital for women, the 
 entire expense being borne by this Hindu ruler. 
 Yet Dr. Wanless is only one of a hundred men 
 and women physicians under the care of our 
 Board, who last year were instrumental in treat- 
 ing more than 500,000 patients. Think of what 
 it means to treat in non-Christian lands a half 
 million people, relieving them from pain, bring- 
 ing joy where there was sorrow, and cheer 
 where there was gloom. This medical work is 
 closely related to the spiritual. At Soochow, 
 China, last October, there was brought to the 
 hospital a woman with her body badly burned. 
 She was the keeper of a house of ill fame. She 
 said to the doctor : "I will not go into the hos- 
 pital.'' "Why not?" said the missionary phy- 
 sician, a godly woman, who loved the Chinese, 
 "Why not?" The poor, burned woman replied; 
 "the evil fire spirit would go in and destroy 
 
356 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 your hospital as it has my house. " "Oh, no," 
 said the doctor, "come in; we are not afraid of 
 the evil fire spirit." She came. She was healed 
 in body. She found Christ. She led her hus- 
 band to Christ and then together they started 
 to save the poor girls, many of whom before 
 she had helped to draw down into the pit of 
 death. 
 
 If time permitted I could tell you of a won- 
 derful work among lepers. I could show you 
 home after home where orphan or famine chil- 
 dren are cared for. I could tell you of great 
 philanthropic and humanitarian work where 
 blessings for the life that now is are indis- 
 solubly linked with blessings of the life which is 
 to come. 
 
 The Oriental is ignorant. We have an igno- 
 rant world to deal with in non-Christian lands. 
 Have you any conception of the vast educational 
 work which your own Board is doing? Ten 
 colleges and universities; ten seminaries; six 
 schools of medicine; five nurses' training 
 schools ; fourteen industrial establishments ; 
 1,800 day schools; ninety boarding and high 
 schools — in every one of which the Word of 
 God is taught, and the influence of the lives of 
 the Christ-filled men and women is daily felt. 
 Last year the entire cost per scholar was only 
 $2.53. The Orient is going to school. A few 
 years ago the Mikado of Japan declared that 
 he did not want a single village with an ignorant 
 family, or a single family with an ignorant mem- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 357 
 
 ber. Today 96 per cent of the school population 
 in Japan are in school. In 1898 the Chinese 
 Emperor issued an edict that every boy over 
 eight years of age must go to school. In ten 
 years, if that edict is carried out, there will be 
 45,000,000 pupils in school in China. Some 40,- 
 000 schools have sprung up in the last few years. 
 The head of the educational system in Turkey 
 declared a few months ago that by the end of 
 1911 there would be 65,000 elementary schools 
 in the Turkish Empire. 
 
 In India only a very small percentage of the 
 women and a very limited percentage of the men 
 can read. Yet India is awake and going to 
 school. The whole Orient is going to school, but 
 to whom? Think of the possibilities for weal 
 or for woe of 800,000,000 people passing through 
 a great renaissance and being eager for all new 
 knowledge. This is the opportunity of the mis- 
 sionary. Education alone will not suffice. It 
 was not a distinguished theologian, it was not 
 even a Christian statesman, but a great Japa- 
 nese, Count Okuma, who recently in a public 
 address declared, " Every one knows that the 
 origin of modern civilization is to be found in 
 the Sage of Judea, by whom alone the moral 
 dynamic is supplied." Japan is facing the 
 question of morals and ethics. Africa is facing 
 the question of morals and ethics. The Orient 
 is facing the question of morals and ethics. 
 Who is to be the teacher? 
 
 We propose to ask the church for $5,000,000 
 
358 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 and equipment fund for the greatest educational 
 work that the Presbyterian Church is now ac- 
 complishing. Surely this is an appeal to men 
 who believe ' i that education without religion is 
 the world's expedient for converting farthings 
 into guineas by scouring." If the Orient is to 
 be saved, it must be saved by the Gospel. 
 
 The appeal of the missionary is an appeal to 
 the whole world. The unoccupied fields of the 
 world are calling to us. Dr. Dodd, of the Laos 
 Mission, has recently returned from a long trip 
 taken from Chiang Eai through Laos, through 
 Southern China. He found 16,000,000 people 
 of the Laos or Tai race in this vast territory 
 unoccupied by any Protestant missionary. He 
 traveled 1,000 miles without seeing a mission- 
 ary. The Presbyterian Church has a definite 
 responsibility for the evangelization of this 
 great people. We are responsible for millions 
 in North Persia, in India, in China. One hun- 
 dred million people in the non-Christian world 
 represent the work which we have to do in world 
 evangelization. Last night we sang "My 
 Country 'tis of Thee " ; we did not sing the ad- 
 ditional stanzas written by our own poet- 
 preacher, Henry Van Dyke. Let me give you 
 one of his stanzas : — 
 
 li l love thy silver Eastern strands, 
 Thy golden gate that stands 
 
 Fronting the West, 
 Thy flowery Southland fair, 
 Thy sweet and fragrant air; 
 O land beyond compare, 
 
 Thee I love best." 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 359 
 
 Dr. Van Dyke had to add the new stanzas to 
 Francis Smith's poem "America," since it was 
 written for an "America" that was practically 
 New England. The poet of tomorrow must add 
 still other stanzas which will go out beyond the 
 Pacific. 
 
 Forty years ago I stood in the old church of 
 my father's, and confessed Jesus Christ. To- 
 day, after years of study and travel and much 
 thought, I renew my confession. It is simple, 
 it is in the words of St. John. I pray it may be 
 your creed and your confession: — "In Him is 
 life, and the life is the light of men." 
 
CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION. 
 
 BY GOVEKNOE CHASE S. OSBORN, LANSING, MICH. 
 
 Mr. President and Brothers : — I am here be- 
 cause I want to be here. It seems to me a 
 work of this character ought to mean a great 
 deal to all our country and the Christian, not 
 only to-day, but for all time to come. So many 
 people coming here from very important en- 
 gagements, means that laymen are coming to a 
 fuller realization and finer conception of our 
 duties as Christian citizens. 
 
 That you may judge a little of my right to 
 speak on this subject, I may say, within mod- 
 esty, that I have visited every Christian coun- 
 try in the world and every non-Christian 
 country that has its own autonomy, including 
 even the little Balkan States, where the fric- 
 tion has been so great between Mohammedan- 
 ism and Christianity; and little San Marino 
 in the heart of the Appenines, where there has 
 been a little Christian republic only six miles 
 square, sustained by its Christian zeal and pur- 
 pose since the days of Christ Himself. I think 
 I have seen enough of the Christian civilization 
 of the world, and of what has made for its 
 perpetuation and endurance, to know some- 
 
 360 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 361 
 
 thing of it, — not as much as I wish to know, 
 but enough to thank God for it and to know 
 that it is doing more for the world than any 
 other influence. When we consider that the 
 banners of Christianity are being floated by 
 four and one-half hundred millions of the in- 
 habitants of the world; that Brahminism has 
 three hundred millions, and Buddhism six hun- 
 dred millions, and the Mohammedans between 
 three and four hundred millions, three civili- 
 zations as great as the Christian in point of 
 numbers, we come to realize that we are com- 
 peting in this world for the good we may be 
 able to do. And if we have such gatherings 
 as this over the country from time to time, 
 we are going to be better able to compete. I 
 only wish that we as Presbyterians might put 
 Brotherhoods all over the world; not confined 
 to North America, as your resolutions express 
 it, but all over the world, in order that all 
 peoples might know the sweet and delightful 
 effect and inspiration of the finest form of 
 Christianity. This is the work we are to do, 
 and we must keep on endeavoring if we are 
 to break over the sky-line of Christianity and 
 widen the horizon of the greatest influence the 
 world has ever seen. 
 
 Ever since the first days of Brahma (who 
 in a sense symbolizes the Good Father), since 
 the dawn of history, darkened and shadowed 
 in the nebulous mists of theology and mysti- 
 cism and legends, the followers of Brahma 
 
362 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 have never had anything more to do in the 
 world but just to live in order to die. They 
 have not known the song of the brain; they 
 have not known the fine liberties and the high 
 ambitions that go with Christianity. We see 
 in India among the various castes no relation- 
 ship, no correlation, no brotherhood, no deep 
 sympathy whatever. The myth that arose rep- 
 resents Siddartha leaving his father, the en- 
 vironment of luxury, his regal palace, to go 
 into seclusion in an endeavor to discover some- 
 thing that would help the people ; and after a 
 number of years he emerged from seclusion 
 and announced to the world five hundred years 
 before Christ that he had discovered the great 
 truth and solved the impenetrable mystery. 
 His solution was that all the wrong and sin 
 in the world comes from selfishness, and there 
 is a good deal of truth in that ; but he brought 
 no cure for selfishness. 
 
 Then there is Buddhism with its six hundred 
 millions, and you may go to their temples, in 
 some places where Christian missionaries have 
 worked and sometimes have died, as in the mas- 
 sacre of Pao-ting-fu, and see such names as 
 that of Marco Polo as a god ; or any other that 
 may appeal to their superstition ; with no rela- 
 tion to the needs of the people whatever; and 
 that religion has come to be just as false as 
 the belief in Brahminism, with its four thou- 
 sand Vedas appealing only to the intellect; 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION <>,63 
 
 and yet Buddhism and Brahminism are doing 
 absolutely nothing for the world. 
 
 Then we come to another great civilization, 
 and I suppose it may be considered a fact that 
 civilizations are no more than the reflections 
 or repetition of the dominant contemporary 
 religion. The contemporary religion of that 
 civilization is Mohammedanism, it being six 
 hundreds years after the Nazarene when Mo- 
 hammed undertook a revival of religion which 
 should fill all the world with reward and sensual 
 delights. He promised to his people, physic- 
 ally and spiritually, the reward that if they 
 were good Mohammedans they might have a 
 loaf of bread as big as the world, and an appe- 
 tite to eat it, and for dessert three hundred 
 dishes in plates of gold, and the last one should 
 taste just as well as the first. Also they should 
 live by singing fountains and where birds 
 carolled blithely, and everything should be free 
 and soft and relaxing. That is in reality the 
 religion of Mohammed, and it is followed by 
 four hundred millions or more ; and they storm 
 the cannon's mouth in their fanaticism. 
 
 Confucius, three hundred years before 
 Christ, sought to teach in an ethical way, ap- 
 pealing to the mind. His law states one of 
 the eternal verities, something almost the same 
 as our Golden Eule, "Do not unto others as 
 you would not have others do unto you"; but 
 Confucius left out something and his rule did 
 not and would not satisfy. 
 
364 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 In Japan, Shintoism has been declared the 
 official religion, and it is doing no more for 
 that country than the others. The worship of 
 ancestors, it is true, ennobles human life, but 
 makes nothing for hope, nothing that goes for 
 salvation as the Christian people understand 
 salvation, and nothing for the improvement or 
 uplift of the people in the land. A million 
 women in that land have worked today from 
 morning to night without food. 
 
 So I have endeavored to compare, in a cursory 
 way, the other civilizations of the world with 
 those of Christianity, and it seems to me as I 
 stated at first — that those peoples who have 
 the God-given privilege to live under a Chris- 
 tian civilization, ought to be devoutly thankful 
 every moment of their waking lives. Men ought 
 to come from all over America to meetings like 
 this, to help the work and needs of Christianity, 
 because we have nothing left to interpret Chris- 
 tianity and apply it and make it meaningful 
 except the Church. They have taken the Bible 
 out of the schools; the teaching of the Chris- 
 tian religion out of the common places of life ; 
 it is left to the Church to perpetuate religion. 
 
 I believe the Church is equal to this great 
 work ; I believe that we owe to the Church this 
 great politico - moral recrudescence we have 
 seen in these past five or ten years ; a new idea 
 of Brotherhood in religion. Not only the Chris- 
 tian spirit which makes you and me come to- 
 gether and worship, but the Christian spirit 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 365 
 
 that fills the heart with love, for it is a fact 
 that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. 
 We must do the things we think in our hearts. 
 In our country, the states themselves are taking 
 over the problem of doing for the weaker 
 brother, in recognizing in a public and organ- 
 ized way that we are in reality our brother's 
 keeper. Because of that, we are proposing in 
 many states to legislate that there shall be ade- 
 quate workingman's compensation in case of 
 injury, and in some cases, as in Christian Ger- 
 many, we are going to take care of our old 
 men and women who work ; just as humane men 
 take care of old, pensioned horses. In the 
 yesterdays, man found expression for the kind- 
 ness of his heart in a patting on the head of a 
 dog, or in the caress upon the neck of a horse; 
 and if his horse became lame, he had him cared 
 for and more perfectly shod, or sent for the 
 best veterinary, and, if possible, stabled him 
 and fed him on balanced rations. But in the 
 yesterdays, the men who worked were stabled, 
 if you will permit the crude expression, as they 
 might stable themselves. They were not looked 
 after. The employer rarely knew whether the 
 man's little ones were ill at home, or whether 
 his wife was being overworked, or whether he 
 was living in a suitable place or not. Oh, there 
 was not the human touch of love and brother- 
 hood between the employer and the employees 
 that there should have been, and because of 
 that fact, and because Christian preachers and 
 
366 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Christian men have been teaching the doctrine 
 of Christian brotherhood and the love of 
 humanity, there has come an influence over this 
 land that is going to make for better things all 
 the time. In that regard I believe the people 
 are taking these things as seriously in a polit- 
 ical as in a private way. Everywhere, in Chi- 
 cago, St. Louis, New York, Philadelphia, Pitts- 
 burgh, Detroit, you will see men looking to the 
 welfare of their workingmen; and this for two 
 purposes. They know it will pay them econom- 
 ically from a financial standpoint to look after 
 them ; and, again, as I want to think, the Chris- 
 tian spirit is awakening in them, and the real, 
 effective, practical day of Brotherhood is soon 
 to dawn all over our land. 
 
 When I have compared Christianity in this 
 country with Christianity down on the plains 
 of Armenia, or in Greek-Christian Eussia, or 
 some of the other countries of Europe, I hope 
 it is not vanity but only understanding that 
 leads me sometimes to think that the God of 
 Heaven, who sent the Christ, really has chosen 
 the American people to be the torch-bearers of 
 Christianity to all the world. Because in this 
 fair land where liberty inspires hope and hope 
 brightens into the best endeavor we find the 
 highest and best expression of Christianity. 
 Here Christianity has come to mean more in 
 reality than anywhere else in the world. It 
 is not perfect yet even here; the day of the 
 superman has not come; but we are on the 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 367 
 
 road, my friends, we are on the road. When 
 we consider how our ancestors crouched in the 
 caves ages ago, and mark and measure the im- 
 provements from then to now, to-morrow is 
 full of Christian hope. We are to accomplish ; 
 we are to achieve ; we are to be strong ; under 
 the fiery tongue of criticism we are to be faith- 
 ful and true ; and you who are social and com- 
 munity leaders, it is for you to show all about 
 you what it means in a practical way to be a 
 Christian. It is not enough to go to church 
 or to Brotherhood meetings, or to give out of 
 your purses. It means that you shall in reality 
 love your brother and help him every day ; and 
 we do not need to go off in the vague some- 
 where to find opportunity to be Christian men 
 and women ; we can find the opportunity every 
 single day in our attitude toward the people 
 about us, in our relationship to our servants 
 and those who come near to us every day. I 
 believe the time will come when we will not 
 ask a servant to do what we will not do our- 
 selves; when we will give to those who serve 
 all the comforts of life. I think you all realize 
 that when the Creator made mankind, He gave 
 him his senses, and sugar tastes just as sweet 
 to the poor man as to the rich man. Let us 
 divide the sugar fairly. 
 
 I am moved to tell you why I became a can- 
 didate for Governor of Michigan. I did not 
 talk politics once, though I made a thousand 
 and fifty-seven speeches or addresses. But after 
 
368 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 having gone through China, taking my good 
 wife farther than any white woman and farther 
 than any missionary had been, after seeing the 
 woe of that land, and after being in some of 
 the Eoman Catholic South American countries 
 in the fastnesses of the Amazon, and in India 
 among the millions starving, I came back with 
 my heart full, thanking God that there was an 
 America with all the Christian civilization that 
 surrounds us here. So I wanted to go out and 
 talk citizenship without any regard to partisan- 
 ship whatever, and I think I talked as much 
 Christianity as citizenship in the abstract ; and 
 that is one of the things that we ought to do. 
 I believe the man who addressed you last night, 
 Hon. William Jennings Bryan, is greater to-day 
 as a preacher than he ever was as a politician. 
 I say, strength to his voice and clarity to his 
 mind, for no matter whether he may have fol- 
 lowed a false god in politics, he is following 
 the real God in his religion. I say that in a 
 non-political way as one who admires him as a 
 man. I wish I could have heard him last night ; 
 I would have liked to compare notes with him. 
 I visited Tolstoi when he was giving out those 
 sparks of Christian brotherhood, some of which 
 are quoted in the bulletin issued by this brother- 
 hood which I received yesterday. The whole 
 note of our Christian civilization, the thing that 
 makes it sublime, makes it potential, makes it 
 in everything supreme to the old or present- 
 day civilizations or the religions of the other 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 369 
 
 parts of the world, is that one thing of love. 
 That will cure the selfishness of the Brahmin, 
 of the Buddhist, of the Mohammedan. And 
 then you add to love that which makes the 
 Christian not only revere the Teacher of Naza- 
 reth, but makes him look to God on high for 
 his discipline, for his direction, for his care 
 and providence in every way ; and just there in 
 that sublime belief in God and in heart-felt, 
 soulful love to Him, you find the great supe- 
 riority, the real reason of the strength and 
 vitality of Christianity and our Christian civi- 
 lization as compared with any other civilization 
 or any other pretended religion in the world. 
 
CLOSING MESSAGES OF 
 THE CONVENTION 
 
HAEVESTING THE EESULTS OF THE 
 CONVENTION 
 
 wm 
 
 By Nolan Eice Best, New York 
 
 Friends of the Brotherhood: — One can 
 imagine that the committee constructing this 
 program came to this place in its work with a 
 certain feeling of doubt and anxiety, a feeling 
 which perhaps is reflected in all our minds this 
 afternoon. We have been enjoying the exceed- 
 ing rich privileges of these days that we have 
 been sitting here together ; our hearts have been 
 stirred with a new understanding of problems 
 of the kingdom, with a new desire to prove our- 
 selves good soldiers of Jesus Christ. But the 
 thing that is creeping over us this afternoon 
 with a suggestion of doubt and fear, is the dread 
 that some place between this house and our own 
 homes the force of intention which is now stir- 
 ring in our lives will be dissipated and pass 
 away. 
 
 We have had that experience in conventions 
 before. We climbed high up the mountains and 
 caught the sunshine of the upper skies and 
 breathed the air of a stronger spiritual purpose 
 than we had breathed before ; and yet when we 
 came down, in the valley again, to our own grief 
 
 373 
 
374 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 and chagrin, we found ourselves unable to cast 
 out the devils of the life around us. This after- 
 noon, we are trembling with the fear that this 
 experience will be ours again. There are men 
 who on this very account have decided that con- 
 ventions are dangerous, or at least not worth 
 while. They have begun to complain that these 
 conventions stir men's emotions too much; and 
 the reaction from their intensity of experience 
 breaks down life rather than building it up. So 
 some men are saying they will not go to con- 
 ventions any more, and other men are coming 
 in fear and going away in trembling. 
 
 But we are mistaken, men, when we say that 
 it is the emotion that does the harm. So far 
 from having too much emotion in our lives, all 
 of us have too little. God forbid that we should 
 be willing to be but partial men on that side — 
 men who have never known the thrill and stir of 
 an appeal to our loyalty and love; men who 
 have never known what it is to be challenged 
 by a great enthusiasm. Let us thank God for 
 the emotion. But if we want to harvest results 
 from the great experiences of these days, we 
 must bring up the other resources of our per- 
 sonality and fortify ourselves in this moment 
 in the new life and on the new levels of life to 
 which we have risen here. If winged horses 
 have dragged our chariots to a higher height, 
 God gives us brakes for the wheels to keep 
 them from rolling down hill again. There are 
 other factors of personality which, after emo- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 375 
 
 tions have been stirred, we must call into ac- 
 count for God's service — our wills and our pow- 
 ers of thinking. These we need this afternoon 
 — need to hold us at the high level of our emo- 
 tions. 
 
 Back in our homes tomorrow and the day 
 after, we will not feel the strong sweep of this 
 emotional hour which nerves us today to high 
 living. Our fellowship here will not be repro- 
 duced when we get back to the comparative lone- 
 someness of our homes. Then the thrill we 
 feel here will no longer support us. But good 
 strong Christian determination can save the 
 purpose which has lifted us so high, and the 
 purpose is our clear gain. We can go home de- 
 termined we will not slip back to former indif- 
 ference. We can go home laying hold of the 
 ideals of this convention, with grim determina- 
 tion, with a tremendous will, to say that what 
 ought to be done shall be done. This "will to 
 do" is the great thing we must carry home. 
 
 Perhaps some of us have been disappointed 
 at the comparative paucity of methods here; 
 perhaps you were disappointed that Mr. Fos- 
 ter so totally denied the request from the floor 
 for methods. Friends, in this age that brings 
 everything ready-made to our hands, we want 
 even our thinking ready-made. We neglect the 
 intimate consideration for ourselves of the ele- 
 ments of life that press upon us, and satisfy 
 ourselves with other people's views. We call 
 ourselves, with some dignity and even conceit. 
 
376 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 men of independent thought, but we are not. 
 Let us determine we will not ask other men to 
 think out questions for us. You have come 
 here and had your full reward in a new present- 
 ment of problems. You have no right to expect 
 the problems solved. All that a man ought to 
 ask from any convention is that a new electric- 
 ity may be sent along the currents of his life to 
 run his dynamo — not that he shall be connected 
 up to some one else's dynamo. 
 
 So the great benefit of the convention is that 
 we are going back to our churches with our 
 hearts quickened to see the things to be done. 
 We must go back not to apply somebody else's 
 method, but to study our own situation, and in 
 God's name and by God's grace to work out 
 His plan for our places. men, we have not 
 enough faith in our own right to claim that 
 promise, "If any man lack wisdom, he shall 
 ask of God." What did our spiritual fore- 
 fathers contend for in the Eeformation? Was 
 it not to establish our right to go straight to 
 God, past any priest or past any human inter- 
 mediaries? Yet we are always asking our ex- 
 perts to be intermediaries of God's methods. 
 God knows we don't want any more conceit of 
 our own ideals, any more conceit of ourselves ; 
 we have already too much of that. But God 
 knows we do need a more tremendous faith in 
 the reality of our access, humbly but directly 
 and actually, to His own wisdom. Let us go 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 377 
 
 home and claim it; let us go home and ask 
 God what His plan is for our place. 
 
 How we have felt the importance of teaching 
 the men in our community the Bible — practi- 
 cally as it relates to twentieth century life! 
 How we have felt the stress of promoting this 
 Men and Eeligion Forward Movement in our 
 towns ! How we have felt the absolute, the es- 
 sential, importance of a personal evangelism, 
 man to man ! How we have felt the importance 
 of this as it touches the saving of the whole 
 man ! How we have been stirred with the deter- 
 mination to do something for the boys of the 
 community! Now let us do it. In what fash- 
 ion? By what method? Well, let us ask God! 
 God has a revelation for us when we get home 
 — how we shall do this thing, and who of us 
 shall do which job. 
 
 Some have feared that the tendency of the 
 Brotherhood is too diffuse ; that we are trying 
 to do too many things. Of course we must 
 keep first things first. We must certainly in- 
 sist that the spiritual message of Jesus Christ, 
 whereby men are saved from temptation, lifted 
 out of sin, brought into harmony with His life 
 and identified with His being, is first and the 
 main message of the Church. But we cannot 
 compress the gospel into those terms alone — 
 large and world-comprehensive as they are. 
 They have a hundred corrolaries; they have 
 scores of implications. So while we work in 
 evangelism, and for this Men and Eeligion For- 
 
378 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 ward Movement, we shall surely have power 
 besides to do the social service demanded of 
 the Church ; we shall have strength left to take 
 our part for civic purity and uprightness; we 
 shall surely be able to pay our due attention to 
 such problems as child labor, social vice, and 
 industrial injustice; we shall answer to the 
 whole of the great round circumference of the 
 gospel message. 
 
 Surely, this life that Jesus Christ brought 
 into the world touches the whole world; it in- 
 cludes all points ; it surveys the entire horizon, 
 and responding to all its varied calls there are 
 surely enough of us to face every way. More 
 than that, God testifies to us that He has given 
 us gifts differing. Not only the multiplicity of 
 the needs of the world challenges us to do many 
 things through our Brotherhood organization, 
 but the multiplicity of the abilities that God has 
 given us. There are men in your Brotherhood 
 who can do this boys' work better than any one 
 else ; put them at that. Another man can teach 
 a Bible class; let us get him at it. What the 
 Brotherhoods do in the line of civic purity is 
 not an excuse for not having religion nor a 
 substitute for spirituality ; it is simply the best 
 outlet of Christian energy for a certain man or 
 group of men in your Brotherhood who are bet- 
 ter adapted to that labor than anything else. 
 There are men in your Brotherhood whose busi- 
 ness, because their aptitude, is to go out among 
 the poor and lonely and brother them or to 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 379 
 
 stand up in the community and fight for a jus- 
 tice which will do righteousness to the weak, 
 and bring the fair chance of life to the handi- 
 capped. 
 
 The Brotherhood is moving forward on a 
 great line of battle, and we have enough men 
 to man the whole battle line. There are plenty 
 of us to fight the whole fight if we will all get 
 in; to thrust forward not the right wing now, 
 the left wing after a while ; but thrust forward 
 left and right and center together and carry 
 the whole fortress of evil at one grand rush. 
 We can do it, each man in his place. 
 
 men, let us try to rise to the greatness and 
 the grandeur of the task that is before us. Let 
 us not complain that it is multiplex. Let us 
 thank God it is multiplex, so that it gives every 
 man a chance to do his best in it. The Chris- 
 tian army is so organized that in its advance, 
 while men lead in their various places, doing 
 their separate work, there is such a mystical 
 union of the body of Christ that each can have 
 and ought to have, the support, the backing and 
 the momentum of all. 
 
 God grant that we may take home with us the 
 will to fulfil His will by the Christian grace of 
 patience. How we fail here, men! Men say, 
 "Our Bible class is a failure." "How long did 
 you try it?" "Six months." Men say, "The 
 Brotherhood won't work in our church; it went 
 to pieces." " How long did you try it ? " "Three 
 months." Men say, "We cannot do this boys' 
 
380 THE PKESBYTEKIAN BKOTHEKHOOD 
 
 work ; the boys broke the windows in the church 
 and made a riot, and we had to give it up." 
 1 ' How long did you try it ? " " One meeting. ' ? 
 
 Have you looked in the Bible to see the pa- 
 tience that Jesus Christ and His apostles 
 taught? John, when he described the Brother- 
 hood of the Church, said he was partaker with 
 the rest of the Church in "the tribulation and 
 kingdom and patience which are in Jesus 
 Christ.' ' Peter bade those to whom he wrote, 
 to supply in their self-control patience; and 
 James exhorted, "Let patience have her perfect 
 work." Paul prayed that he and those whom 
 be loved might be directed into the love of God 
 and patience of Christ. And Christ Himself 
 said: "In your patience you shall win your 
 souls." And indeed in our patience we shall 
 win the souls of our neighbors and win all our 
 problems. 
 
 Your will will carry you over. This conse- 
 crated will will refuse defeat and go at it again 
 three, four and five times. Sisyphus rolled his 
 stone up hill interminably. Wiser than Sisy- 
 phus, we may have the grace to roll the stone 
 up in a little different place, and find a lodg- 
 ment perhaps, and get the thing done at last; 
 but we will not get it done with one trial or 
 two. Everything that God puts before us to 
 do we can accomplish; He never set anything 
 impossible. We have got to keep on doing, and 
 doing until He makes it come to pass. 
 
 And another necessary grace is ambition. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 381 
 
 You say that is the sin by which the angels fell. 
 Yes, the ambition that wants its power for it- 
 self. But the ambition which is unwilling to 
 be less than it may be ; that ambition which in- 
 sists, if G-od has given us a gift, on returning it 
 to Him at the full value ; that ambition which, 
 having a vision of one's own particular place 
 in the world, then determines that that place 
 shall be filled full; that ambition to be all we 
 can be — God give us that ambition. Oh, for the 
 men who will say, "Whatever I am, I will not 
 be second-rate." 
 
 And love — we know no will of ours will bring 
 us into love. But will can hold us true to our 
 task, and the task makes love. And when love 
 has dominated all else, love will find a way. 
 When you once have loved the boys in your 
 town and loved the man in the gutter; when 
 once you have loved the city in which you live ; 
 then all tasks are accomplished and methods 
 spring out of the ground. 
 
 We are going home determined not to fail 
 our Master. As we serve in a loyalty that by 
 sheer will at first we hold ourselves fast to, 
 love for Him begins to grip us and we must 
 serve because we love; we must serve fully, 
 because love takes us more and more, to make 
 us love more fully. The ancient Mosaic statutes, 
 as you know, recognize slavery. They had vari- 
 ous methods of alleviating the curse of slavery, 
 — that a slave must at the end of seven years 
 have his chance of manumission. But a more 
 
382 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 wonderful thing is written in those statutes, — 
 a recognition of the fact that slavery may some- 
 times pass through love into the most exalted 
 state a human being can attain to. For it is 
 written in these statutes, that when the master 
 gave his slave at the end of the seven years his 
 liberty, the slave might refuse the manumis- 
 sion because he had learned to love to serve 
 under his master and realized that the best of 
 life could come to him as he continued to do 
 the will of the master whom he loved. And so 
 it was provided that solemnly, as unto a sacra- 
 ment, the slave might approach the tabernacle 
 door and take his solemn vow, "I love my mas- 
 ter, I will not go out free." 
 
 men, may love lift us up to that slavery, 
 that joy of slavery, which Paul felt when he 
 boasted he was the bond-servant of Jesus Christ. 
 Through us all may there thrill this afternoon 
 the full meaning of these words, realized in our 
 hearts as we look up to Jesus Christ, whose 
 will commands our will, whose service is our 
 joy, and whose master passion of salvation it 
 is our greatest honor and blessing to help fulfil 
 — may we look up to Him, and with all the 
 solemnity of a sacrament at the door of the 
 tabernacle, where the Shekinah is, may we be 
 able to say this afternoon, "I love my Master; 
 I will not go out free. I choose the perpetual 
 service of Jesus Christ my Lord." 
 
THE FUTURE OF THE BROTHERHOOD 
 
 BY WALTEE GETTY, CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 L, VXXlVilUU, 
 
 It seems only right that a word should be 
 given regarding the work of the Brotherhood 
 during the coming months. I want to assure 
 every man that immediately after this conven- 
 tion the results of the convention will be fol- 
 lowed up in a definite manner throughout the 
 country. We plan during the next three or 
 four months to institute a campaign which we 
 trust will put the Brotherhood work on a defi- 
 nite basis; especially are we anxious to link 
 up the Brotherhood with the great Men and 
 Religion Forward Movement, of which we have 
 heard at this convention. During the months 
 of March, April, May and June, we want to 
 bring into line every Brotherhood in every local 
 church, in every Presbyterial organization, and 
 every Synodical organization. I want to ask 
 tonight, as we leave this convention, that every 
 man will go back to his church with the vision 
 we have had these past days, with a determina- 
 tion that he will do his part faithfully and well 
 in doing the work in his church, upon which 
 emphasis has been laid many times these days, 
 to make it the success the Master would have 
 
 383 
 
384= THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 *: » ifrift \ -*?§ y «* : fe- %€ ?; %^ ; : _. § S ^ IP 
 
 him make it. I would ask that every church, 
 every presbyterial and synodical center, would 
 write to me at Chicago, suggesting a possible 
 time when we might meet with you to put the 
 work on a better basis, and follow up the work 
 of this great convention in this large way. I 
 ask that you let me know the times suitable for 
 these meetings, so that working together we 
 may be able to carry forward this work for the 
 Master. 
 
 This further thought. I know there is the 
 thought upon our hearts as we think of the work 
 that will be done in the coming month, that 
 the work may be somewhat unsettled. Have we 
 not received at this convention a vision of such 
 power that our faith may become strengthened, 
 so that we shall be faithful to God, rather than 
 be concerned with the difficulties of the work? 
 With His power upon us, we shall do our work 
 well, wherever we are placed. As I look over 
 this body of men, nine hundred or a thousand 
 men, gathered in these meetings, and each man 
 going out under the power of God, stimulated 
 by the thoughts and impressions we have re- 
 ceived here, with a vision of our Master before 
 us, as we have had it so vividly today — these 
 men going out in this way from this meeting, I 
 tremble at the possibilities that are before the 
 Presbyterian Brotherhood of America. Let us 
 take this thought, that every man shall go out 
 in surrender to his Master, to be faithful in 
 the place where God has put him. Shall not we 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 385 
 
 all, as we go out from this meeting, go back to 
 our Brotherhoods with this same spirit of 
 prayer, filled with the Spirit of the living God, 
 as He has been so manifest in these meetings ; to 
 carry out the lessons learned here ; to be faith- 
 ful to our Lord and Master ? 
 
 During the coming months we hope to push 
 forward the work in no uncertain manner. Let 
 us go back to our Brotherhoods throughout the 
 country, resolved to make this year the best in 
 our churches and communities of any year we 
 have yet spent in His service. 
 
THE CONVEBSION OF POWER INTO 
 WORK 
 
 BY REV. JOHN DOUGLAS ADAM, D.D., 
 EAST ORANGE, 1ST. J. 
 
 Mr. President and Brothers: — I must ask 
 you now to turn from the consideration of the 
 larger themes so brilliantly spoken of tonight 
 by the Governor of Michigan, to our more per- 
 sonal relation to the work of God. 
 
 I suppose there may be members of some of 
 our families looking for a new accent of spirit- 
 ual helpfulness in us when we return home. 
 There may be some members of our families 
 expecting to see a new something. God forbid 
 that they should be disappointed. Perhaps our 
 minister at home may be wondering, even at 
 this moment, whether he may count upon us, 
 when we return into that small inner circle of 
 people in every church who have power in be- 
 lieving, intercessory prayer. Whether he will 
 really find us one of the vital forces in the inner 
 circle for the bringing in of the kingdom of God. 
 There are some people in all the churches in our 
 local communities who are longing for the com- 
 ing of some gracious, Spirit-possessed man who 
 will bring a holy, brotherly fellowship into the 
 
 386 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 387 
 
 church life of the entire community where we 
 live. And our country, in its genesis, is looking 
 tonight for men who will bring more of the 
 moral and spiritual underpinning to support the 
 vast superstructure of our material bricks. Our 
 country is looking tonight for men who, in their 
 lives and in their homes, in their business, in 
 their testimony, will spiritualize the ideals of 
 success in the hearts and minds of our young 
 men; looking for men who can think through 
 the problems that need solution in this land that 
 God meant to be the light of the world. I be- 
 lieve that this is the only nation since the begin- 
 ning of time that was born Christian ; the only 
 nation that was cradled with the cradle songs of 
 spiritual reality ; the nation which our fathers 
 meant to say should be a spiritual democracy. 
 And away beyond our own nation, in the dark 
 world where superstition and fear has its tem- 
 ple, man is calling for light upon the attitude 
 of God, saying, "Does God care? Is God near? 
 Is God approachable?" 
 
 Yes, my brothers, from that boy lying sleep- 
 less tonight in our home, wondering how he may 
 receive the forgiveness of God, to the teeming 
 millions who sit in the darkness and shadow of 
 death, comes a challenge to this meeting. From 
 the unit to the universal, from our own boy 
 to the last man in the islands of the sea, there 
 comes a challenge at this moment to your life. 
 Will you meet it? 
 
 We stand tonight where the Church stood at 
 
388 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Pentecost. We have the same problem, too; 
 but, thank God ! we have the same power. The 
 same Spirit that overshadowed and possessed 
 that gathering in the upper room is here to- 
 night. That is no poetic utterance; that is no 
 hyperbolical statement, The Holy Ghost that 
 was in the upper room is here, the same Spirit. 
 The Spirit who converted Augustine and Bun- 
 yan, the Spirit who was in the work of Wesley 
 and Whitfield and Finney and Moody is here; 
 and our problem now is this, as we turn our 
 faces homeward tonight, how shall we link our- 
 selves on with that mighty power which has 
 achieved everything in the past? How shall 
 we turn that power into use as we come into 
 contact with the world in our own home town? 
 That is the question tonight, brothers — no other 
 question. How shall I link my life onto the 
 power of God that has made Christendom what 
 it is? How shall I go as a flaming energy back 
 to my town tonight, and be what the Church of 
 God has been in all the past? That is your 
 problem. 
 
 Now, God help us to keep our minds steadily 
 on it for twenty minutes. How shall we obtain 
 the power of the Holy Ghost in order to face 
 the task which has been revealed to us during 
 these meetings? That is the question. How 
 shall we obtain now the power of the Holy 
 Ghost so that we shall go back and achieve? 
 That is the question. 
 
 Now, brothers, the Holy Ghost is here, and 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 389 
 
 the Holy Ghost is in our lives now. Let us settle 
 this. We don't need to pray tonight, 
 
 "Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, 
 With all thy quickening power. ' 7 
 
 He has come. He is now in your life at this 
 moment. Yes, tonight, here. You say, "I don't 
 feel it." That does not matter whether you 
 feel it or not. You say you are not worthy of 
 it. That does not matter at all. The Holy 
 Ghost is in your heart now, whether you feel 
 it or not, or deserve it or not. The same Spirit 
 that indwelt Paul is in you. 
 
 Now, brother, let us not take that back. We 
 must believe it. "Beceived ye the Spirit by the 
 works of the law, or by the hearing of faith!" 
 Faith is the instinct that relates us to the eter- 
 nal world, and it is sheer faith now that links 
 us on to the great fact of the indwelling pres- 
 ence of the Holy Ghost. Oh, that He might 
 bring it home to you and me now, just at this 
 living moment, that He is in us, that we do 
 not need to feel His presence in us in order to 
 know; we do not need to earn His presence. 
 It is because we are the children of God. That. 
 too, is the greatest fact in our lives. There 
 is a great fact in sin ; we are sinners ; all that 
 is a terrible reality, but, thank God! it is not 
 the greatest reality. No. Nor is our ignorance, 
 nor our weakness ; no. The greatest fact at 
 this moment in your life and mine is, that we 
 are indwelt at this moment by the power of 
 
390 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 the Holy Ghost. That is the greatest thing in 
 your life. Not your feelings, not your atti- 
 tudes ; not your symptoms ; not your sins ; but 
 the indwelling presence of the power that was 
 in the life of our blessed Lord and Master, Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 But it is one thing to possess the Spirit and 
 it is quite another thing for the Spirit to pos- 
 sess us. That is the question. It is like the 
 difference between the ship in the dock and a 
 ship on the sea. A ship in the dock is not in 
 its element; it is waiting for its cargo. Its 
 place is in the sea. And there are men here 
 tonight who have the Holy Ghost in their life, 
 but the Holy Ghost does not possess them. It 
 is only when the Holy Ghost masters us, when 
 we are the servants and He is the Master, that 
 we can possibly achieve. He is ready to do it 
 now ; He is waiting for His opportunity to take 
 possession of your life and mine entirely. 
 
 That is the second question. Does the Holy 
 Spirit wholly possess us? Does He? Now the 
 question arises, if so, how may the Holy Spirit 
 possess us entire? How may the Divine Spirit 
 become Master of the entire inner situation in 
 our life? How? I will tell you how. He comes 
 in on the next thought in your mind, into full 
 possession. The next thought that you think 
 can be the hour of the Holy Ghost into the trend 
 of your personality — the next thought. Just 
 let Him grip that thought of yours; let Him 
 concentrate your mind from woolgathering — 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 391 
 
 not tomorrow when you get home — now, at this 
 moment, let the Holy Ghost grip your mind. 
 The first thing the Holy Spirit of God does 
 when He grips a man is to concentrate his mind. 
 Show me the man who has mental concentra- 
 tion ; I will show you a man who is strong men- 
 tally. I do not care what rapture he may have ; 
 I don't care how long he may pray; if he has 
 not the power of mental concentration, he has 
 lacked the Holy Ghost; put it away back into 
 the last place in his life. Because the first thing 
 the Spirit does, insists on, is that a man shall tie 
 his mind down to what the Holy Ghost wants. 
 That is the first thing. That is the test as to 
 whether I am willing to have the Divine Spirit 
 pass from being in back of my life, to having 
 the entire charge of my life. Am I willing to 
 concentrate on what He is willing for me to 
 think now? 
 
 It is an easy thing for a man to sit here to- 
 night and say, "I am going to be a different 
 man when I get home. ' ' That will not do. You 
 must be a different man now, this moment. The 
 Holy Spirit insists upon first gripping the little 
 things in life, not the big things. When you 
 light a fire, you don't put a match to the coal, 
 nor to the wood, but to the paper, and the paper 
 ignites the wood and the wood the coal; and 
 that is how the Holy Spirit acts in a man's life. 
 He takes the passing thought now, and that 
 passing thought now takes what is back of it 
 and so on until the life is gripped by a flame 
 
392 THE PBESBYTERIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 of Divine fire. Will you let him do it? Now? 
 How sanguine we are about the future. How 
 sanguine about what we are going to do to- 
 morrow. Oh, my brothers, it is the eternal now 
 with the Holy Ghost. 
 
 How may I enter into the fulness of the 
 Spirit? By the concentration of my mind at 
 this moment upon His will now. And further, 
 by the relinquishing of my will. There are 
 certain things we seek to lay hold on in our 
 own lives ourselves. For example, Jacob was 
 a man haunted by religion. He had visions 
 of angels ascending and descending. He went 
 on for twenty years a successful merchant, but 
 the Holy Ghost had not a grip on Jacob's life; 
 he was hedging, but God did not master the 
 man. When he came home to meet his brother, 
 that night, under the Syrian stars, when he sent 
 his family across the river, he wrestled until 
 the breaking of the day; and that man rose a 
 new man at the breaking of the day; a new 
 man, after twenty years of eluding God. So 
 we elude God. 
 
 He wants a grip of the whole life, present, 
 past and future. Can we risk giving our lives 
 to the Holy Ghost to-night? Can we trust our 
 whole future? That is the difference between 
 spiritual enthusiasm and faith. The atheist is 
 not a man who denies the existence of God 
 merely ; the spiritual atheist is the man who is 
 unwilling to commit his life to the government 
 and guidance of the Divine Spirit ; that is athe- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 393 
 
 ism. We enter into the fulness of the spiritual 
 life when we are able to surrender our life to 
 the Spirit. That is not a difficult thing to do, 
 but a difficult thing to make up our minds to 
 do. If a man is hanging by a rope over a preci- 
 pice it is hard to make up his mind to let go 
 the rope. That is just the position to-night. 
 It is not hard to do, but can you do it, mentally? 
 You have seen a man's face almost convulsed 
 as you saw the outworkings of an agony within 
 him; then he said, "I will settle it." In that 
 crisis, which Eobert Browning so constantly 
 depicts in his poems, that five minutes, in quick 
 double time can man change in his character by 
 act of divine resolution or confession; that is 
 the hour in which the Spirit of God grips a man 
 for all his days. In that five minutes you can 
 live a year — in five minutes, when a man makes 
 up his mind to go out under the guidance of 
 the Holy Ghost. There must be the surrender 
 of the whole of our life to the Spirit. 
 
 These are the two things, it seems to me, 
 friends, that lift us from having the Spirit to 
 the Spirit having us — the surrender of the next 
 thought, and the surrender of the outworks of 
 life. Let God drive us where He will. That 
 is faith. Shall we do it? Shall we do it now? 
 
 But, third, how shall we retain the power 
 of the Holy Spirit? How shall we possess the 
 Holy Spirit when we get home ? Or how, rather, 
 shall the Holy Spirit possess us when we get 
 home? It is all right here, but when we get 
 
394 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 back into the cars? First of all, brothers, He 
 shall conquer us when we get home if we let 
 Him conquer us on our way home. And the 
 first thing God does when He grips a man is 
 to bridle his tongue. God forbid I should be 
 censorious of my brother. I say, when we leave 
 a convention, one way by which we lose the 
 power of the Holy Ghost in our life is when 
 we become loquacious, and we talk religious 
 gossip instead of listening and waiting, and 
 letting the Spirit of God bridle our speech as 
 well as our thought. Depend upon it, if you 
 let the Divine Spirit grip your life, He will 
 keep out of your lips things that you would 
 otherwise say. I am not pleading for morose- 
 ness, God forbid; the Spirit of God will sweeten 
 it a hundredfold; He will bridle your tongue, 
 as you go out of the church to-night, if you 
 will let Him. After a gathering like this there 
 may be a reaction. We know the laws of our 
 life ; there are actions and reactions ; and when 
 a body of men have been gathered to talk about 
 these things, there is an exhaustion, and this 
 reaction may take place when you get out of 
 the door to-night. The question is, how shall 
 I be able to retain the fulness of the power of 
 the Holy Ghost in my life in view of the re- 
 action that will take place when I leave this 
 meeting? How shall I conserve all that has 
 come into my life and not lose one atom of holy 
 power from the great task that awaits us? That 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 395 
 
 is the question. I answer, by the regulation of 
 our speech. 
 
 What else ? By prayer. Prayer is the great 
 insulator in the life of a Spirit-possessed man. 
 It insulates against loss. I do not mean ask- 
 ing things of God. That is not what I mean, 
 but that the insulation through prayer is rather 
 the contemplation of the Lord Jesus Christ; 
 just thinking of Him and letting Him do some 
 talking to us. Is it not possible we talk too 
 much to God, and don't give Him a chance to 
 talk to us? On the way home, as we are tired, 
 let us to-night let the living Lord Jesus speak 
 to us. He knoweth our frame; He remember- 
 eth we are dust. That attitude of quiet rest- 
 ing in the Lord Jesus, tired as we are. We 
 will insulate the power, and we will not lose a 
 drop if we only have the attitude of contempla- 
 tive rest in Christ. If you are speaking through 
 the telephone to some one who never has a 
 chance to answer, you may doubt whether he is 
 there. That is why some people may doubt 
 whether God is there; they never give Him a 
 chance to answer. That is the time when Christ 
 would speak to us, after we go from this meet- 
 ing to-night. Give him a chance to speak, my 
 brother. 
 
 These two thoughts — how shall we go from 
 this meeting to our homes, preserving the power 
 of the Holy Spirit ? First, by chastened speech ; 
 second, by prayer in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 When we are tired at home some kind heart, 
 
#96 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 who knows the hour of reaction has come to us 
 after a weary day, reads to us and it is re- 
 freshing. Let the Lord Jesus Christ speak to 
 us on the way home. You know there is a 
 great temptation for us to seek the point of 
 least resistance, and to find our refuge in the 
 newspaper, but going from a place like this is 
 a perilous moment, and we are running a risk 
 if we find our rest in the newspaper. Many 
 a man has been led out another door when he 
 has given his mind to the reading of a news- 
 paper. In going away from here, it is a par- 
 ticular moment ; it is a particular attitude. This 
 is different from the ordinary life ; we are going 
 into a new relation, and when we are going into 
 the new relation we must be careful to observe 
 laws along which the Divine Spirit operates. 
 
 Fourth, how shall we express the power of 
 the Spirit when we get home? Suppose we 
 have gone home with the same faith that the 
 Divine Spirit is living in us; and we are back 
 amid the old scenes, how then? Brothers, I 
 believe we shall preserve the power of the Spirit 
 when we go home, first of all, by concentrating 
 our minds upon the fact that we have the Spirit, 
 rather than concentrating our minds upon dif- 
 ferences between what we find here and there. 
 Sometimes a man surrenders to the colder at- 
 mosphere ; he is tempted to give his personality 
 into the conditions, and like Samson of old, he 
 is bound with cords. When we go home, let 
 us remember the triumphant fact that no mat- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 397 
 
 ter how chilly the atmosphere is, the great dom- 
 inant fact is that the Holy Ghost is in us, the 
 same Spirit that filled Paul ; that is the supreme 
 fact. You will be tempted when you go home, 
 perhaps, to tamely and weakly surrender to 
 that atmosphere. When you do that you have 
 lost your battle and you have lost your testi- 
 mony. Or, you may be tempted when you go 
 home to assume a superior air, a kind of con- 
 tempt for the other man, a contempt for his 
 ignorance. Brothers, let us remember that 
 pride is a non-conductor to power, a great bar- 
 rier that is fatal to the outworking of the Holy 
 Ghost in any community. We shall be tempted 
 when we get home to become impatient if things 
 do not go our way quickly. I can hear a man 
 say, "I thought this was all coming out this 
 week, when I came back from St. Louis ; but I 
 guess I am not the man; I will drop it." The 
 spirit of God has a program for your life and 
 mine. At home there is not an hour in our life 
 in which the Spirit of God is not making over- 
 tures to us. The Spirit of God is making over- 
 tures to you now, if you will but listen to Him. 
 He speaks continually in a man's life. There 
 is not a moment of our waking existence in 
 which the Spirit of God is not making over- 
 tures in a life. But He emphasizes the near 
 thing ; we are tempted to think of the far things. 
 Remember, the Spirit of God is the spirit of 
 order and exactness. We cannot play tricks 
 with the Holy Ghost; He is as full of law as 
 
398 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 the natural world is full of law. You cannot 
 get steam until the temperature is at the exact 
 point. You cannot get ice until the tempera- 
 ture is just there ; and the Holy Ghost marches 
 with exactitude. I am not talking Puritanism, 
 I am talking biology. The Spirit of God is the 
 spirit of spiritual biology with an exactitude; 
 the law in the spiritual life that is immutable. 
 Don't blame me, I am just trying to discover 
 the laws of the Holy Ghost; I am not dogma- 
 tizing ; it is the Spirit who is the dogmatist. If 
 a biologist unfolds to us the laws of biology, 
 he is not dogmatic ; he is simply revealing truth. 
 The Holy Spirit emphasizes the near things 
 first. What does He want when we leave this 
 room and take the train tonight and tomorrow? 
 Brothers, I tell you He wants you and me to 
 be at our best when we go home. Eemember, 
 there is a certain sensitive attitude on the part 
 of those who are home; they have a mental 
 picture of what we should be when we get home. 
 God forbid they should be disappointed if that 
 mental picture should not be realized. God 
 forbid that it should be the old time attitude; 
 perhaps a habit that has not been wholly broken. 
 Before we can be our best at home we must 
 have a margin of time for prayer and study of 
 the Bible. You cannot have your real soul to 
 breakfast without that margin of time. I know 
 how hard it is to get that margin, to get that 
 time. The temptation to get down to the let- 
 ters, get down to the breakfast, and to say, 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 399 
 
 "Well, another time." The battle field of our 
 day is in that margin of time in the morning; 
 for our prayer and Bible study are the guaran- 
 tee of our being at our best when we get down 
 stairs ; and it is that being at our best that the 
 Holy Ghost is looking for, an atmosphere of 
 dependent spirituality in our home life. Not 
 that we have to be conscious of exerting an in- 
 fluence. There is something sickly about a man 
 trying to make an impression at home after a 
 conference. It is too sweet, it is sickening. The 
 only way is to live the life in His atmosphere. 
 Atmosphere is a by-product of living, and that 
 by-product is in the keeping of the Holy Ghost. 
 On the locomotive the stoker attends to the fire, 
 the engineer attends to the by-product — steam. 
 We are the stokers, we attend to the living — 
 the Bible Study, the prayer of obedience; and 
 then we will be developing the by-products of 
 atmosphere which the Holy Ghost will take in 
 charge in your home and mine; and we don't 
 need to worry about it. And it is as unavoid- 
 able as the sunrise itself, a part of the mathe- 
 matics of the divine life; and you cannot get 
 away from it, my brother, you cannot get away 
 from it. You cannot hide near the Spirit of 
 the living God; He submits to no tricks. Yes, 
 that is the first thing I believe the Spirit asks, 
 that we create through living, a sweeter atmos- 
 phere at home. 
 
 Then the Spirit of God is continually insist- 
 ing upon two things that are in the forefront 
 
400 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 of the life of Jesus Christ, after that, after we 
 are right at home. He discovered the value of 
 the individual soul and the power of prayer; 
 these are the two things Jesus discovered — the 
 individual soul and its value, and what can be 
 achieved by prayer. That is what we are to 
 be led back by the Spirit of God to do. Eead 
 right through the Acts and see how many peo- 
 ple the Spirit of God led to do individual work. 
 Intercessory prayer will be about the first thing 
 you will do after you live that life, and by the 
 Spirit of God create that atmosphere at home. 
 Praying definitely for other people. The death 
 of all prayer is indefiniteness. Indefinite prayer 
 tends to absolute impotence. Let us have one 
 life for whom we pray and personal conversion 
 will follow. It was by personal prayer that 
 Christianity grew. For three centuries the 
 Church of Christ went like a flaming seraph 
 through the world. If this company tonight 
 would simply vow before God we shall speak 
 to others about Christ fearlessly, there would 
 be a national awakening tomorrow morning. I 
 speak the words of soberness and truth. What 
 else would happen? We would be committed 
 to a holier life. Let us speak tomorrow to some 
 of the men in our town about the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and that very stand will help us be 
 holier men right off. We cannot say the things 
 or have the attitude we have assumed after we 
 have nailed the colors to the mast. Because 
 they never told anybody about it, there are vast 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 401 
 
 numbers of men who used to sing "Oh, happy 
 day that fixed my choice," who have lost the 
 assurance. You will get it back if you will tell 
 others about it. It is only as we testify, we 
 love. 
 
 That intercessory prayer; that dealing with 
 individuals. What then? That will lead us in- 
 evitably to our larger program. The Holy 
 Ghost has a large program for every man here 
 if you take it His way ; and the light will break 
 upon us, light after light, peak after peak, 
 height after height, until we are lost in the 
 ineffable glory of God. 
 
 Let us pray. Let us pray in silence for a 
 moment. 
 
 Lord Jesus, we surrender to the Holy Spirit 
 who is in us. We would let Him now, in the 
 attitude of mental concentration, we would let 
 Him now take our minds, our whole mind, and 
 we would take our hands off the future, and 
 we would study to be quiet. And we would go 
 resting in thy love, Lord Jesus, that love that 
 forgives, and that love that strengthens, that 
 love that is a communion all the way. Holy 
 Ghost, give us grace to concentrate our minds 
 upon thy law and to give our tongues into thy 
 keeping and all the future. Bless our dear ones 
 at home. Bless our beloved ministers and fel- 
 low workers in the Brotherhood. Oh, gracious 
 God ; may they not be disappointed in us when 
 we go back carrying heavy burdens, waiting 
 for the man of power, the man of hopefulness, 
 
402 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 the man of God. Oh, Spirit of God, that we 
 may be that man. We may. We believe we 
 shall, because thou hast the right of way in 
 our lives. For the Glory of Christ, for the 
 coming of the Kingdom. AMEN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
PROGRAM OF THE CONVENTION. 
 
 Director of Music — Mr. Erskine Reed, of 
 St. Louis. 
 Assisted by Mr. J. A. Hubbard, of St. Louis. 
 Organist — Mr. Paul J. Bierman, of St. Louis, 
 
 TUESDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 21. 
 
 Charles S. Holt, Chicago, Presiding. 
 
 2 :30 — Devotional Address : The Brotherhood 
 of the Body of Christ. Rev. William Hiram 
 Foulkes, D. D., Portland, Ore. 
 
 In memory of our brethren departed. 
 
 John H. Converse, member of National Coun- 
 cil, 1906-1910. 
 
 James W. Axtell, member of National Coun- 
 cil, 1907-1910. 
 
 Henry E. Rosevear, Secretary, 1908-1909. 
 
 Prayer by Rev. Harris H. Gregg, D. D., St. 
 Louis, Mo. Hymn No. 12, "For all the Saints 
 who from their labors rest." 
 
 3 :00 — Communion Service. In charge of Rev. 
 Charles Little, D. D., Wabash, Ind., Moderator 
 of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church; Assisted by Rev. Samuel J. Niccolls, 
 
 405 
 
406 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 D.D., LL.D.; Eev. Baxter P. Fullerton, D. D., 
 LL.D. ; Eev. J. F. Cannon, D. D., ex-moderators, 
 of St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 TUESDAY EVENING. 
 
 7 :45 — Song Service and Devotion. 
 
 8 :00— The Men and Eeligion Forward Move- 
 ment. Eev. Clarence A. Barbour, D. D., New 
 York. 
 
 8:45 — The Brotherhood and Individual Ee- 
 sponsibility in the Church. Eev. Maitland 
 Alexander, D. D., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 
 WEDNESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 22. 
 
 9 :00 — Prayer and Praise. 
 
 9:05 — Business Session. Appointment of 
 Committees. Eeport of National Council. 
 
 9:45 — Eound Table Conference on "Things 
 Accomplished." Conducted by Eev. Ira Land- 
 rith, D. D., Nashville, Tenn. (Personal testi- 
 mony on the work the Brotherhood has done, 
 after which the subject will be open for ques- 
 tion and discussion from the floor.) 
 
 11 :00 — Men and the Kingdom. Eev. James I. 
 Vance, D. D., Nashville, Tenn. (With special 
 reference to the Men and Eeligion Forward 
 Movement.) 
 
 11 :30— The Brotherhood and the Bible. Prof. 
 Charles E. Erdman, D. D., Princeton Theologi- 
 cal Seminary, Princeton, N. J. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 407 
 
 WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. 
 
 2 :00 — Devotional Service. 
 
 2:05 — The Distinctive Truth of Christianity. 
 Eev. Andrew V. V. Raymond, D. D., Buffalo, 
 N. Y. 
 
 2 :45 — The Errand of America. Rev. James 
 D. Rankin, D. D., Moderator of the General As- 
 sembly of the United Presbyterian Church, Wil- 
 kinsburg, Pa. 
 
 3:30 — Open Conference on the Men and Re- 
 ligion Forward Movement. Conducted by 
 Judge Selden P. Spencer, St. Louis, Mo. (This 
 conference will be open for free discussion and 
 will help to relate the Brotherhood vitally to 
 this Movement.) 
 
 4:30 — Prayer and Intercession for the Men 
 and Religion Forward Movement, under the di- 
 rection of Rev. John Timothy Stone, D. D., 
 Chicago, 111. 
 
 WEDNESDAY EVENING. 
 
 Coliseum, 7:45 o'clock. 
 
 James J. Parks, St. Louis, Presiding. 
 Song and Prayer. 
 
 Address : The Fruits of the Tree. Hon. 
 William Jennings Bryan, Lincoln, Neb. 
 
 THURSDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 23. 
 
 9 :00 — Prayer and Devotion. 
 9:05 — Business Session. Reports of Com- 
 mittees. Election of Officers. 
 
408 ™ E PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 9 :50— The Boy Problem. Mr. Eugene C. Fos- 
 ter, Detroit, Mich. 
 
 10:20— Bound Table Conference on "Broth- 
 erhood Ideals." Conducted by Eev. W. A. 
 Jones, D. D., Pittsburgh, Pa. (The work the 
 Brotherhood should do and how to do it; fol- 
 lowing short addresses, the question will be 
 open for discussion from the floor.) 
 
 11 :15— The Life That Wins. Mr. Charles G. 
 Trumbull, Philadelphia, Pa. (Followed by 
 prayer and intercession led by Mr. Trumbull.) 
 
 THURSDAY AFTERNOON. 
 
 » - | — r ~ f """ • 
 
 2:00 — Prayer and Praise. 
 
 2:05 — The Farmers' Club in the Country 
 Church. Warren H. Wilson, Ph.D., New York. 
 
 2:40 — The Missionary Appeal. Eev. A. W. 
 Halsey, D. D., Secretary of the Board of For- 
 eign Missions, New York. 
 
 3:15 — Symposium on " Present-Day Prob 
 lems." Conducted by Mr. Thomas E. Hodges, 
 President-elect, University of West Virginia, 
 Morgantown, W. Va. 
 
 1. Religion in the Home. Prof. Charles E. 
 Erdman, D. D., Princeton, N. J. 
 
 2. The Brotherhood and the Laboring 
 Man. James J. Phillis, Coraopolis, Pa. 
 
 3. The Place of the Church in the Life of 
 the Community. Eev. George E. Eaitt, Pitts- 
 burgh, Pa. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 409 
 
 4 :30 — Harvesting the Eesults of the Conven- 
 tion. Nolan Rice Best, New York. 
 
 THURSDAY EVENING. 
 
 7 :45 — Song and Prayer. 
 
 8:00 — Christian Civilization. Gov. Chase S. 
 Osborn, Lansing, Mich. 
 
 8:45 — The Conversion of Power into Work. 
 Rev. John Douglas Adam, D. D., East Orange, 
 N. J. : i *«fr! !] i|i 
 
MINUTES OF THE CONVENTION. 
 
 The Fourth National Convention of the 
 Presbyterian Brotherhood of America was held 
 in St. Louis, Mo., February 21, 22, 23, 1911. 
 The sessions were held in the Washington and 
 Compton Avenue Presbyterian Church, Eev. 
 Harris H. Gregg, D. D., pastor, with the excep- 
 tion of the public meeting on Wednesday eve- 
 ning, February 22, which was held in the 
 Coliseum. 
 
 LOCAL PREPARATION. 
 
 The local committees appointed to have 
 charge of the Convention were as follows : 
 
 James J. Parks, Chairman Executive Committee. 
 J. W. Happel, Treasurer. 
 
 PUBLICITY COMMITTEE. 
 
 J. M. Patterson, Chairman. W. P. Robertson. 
 
 G. T. Coxhead. George Harkness. 
 
 W. D. Trueblood. H. C. Mauze. 
 
 J. Clark Streett. J. A. Parker. 
 
 ARRANGEMENTS COMMITTEE. 
 
 T. H. Cobbs, Chairman. A. M. Finlay. 
 
 F. E. Andrews. Breckenridge Long. 
 
 Stewart Scott. George W. Jones. 
 A. N. Edwards. 
 
 ENTERTAINMENT COMMITTEE. 
 
 Charles C. Nicholls, Chairman. E. II. Semple. 
 C. R. McAllister. W. R. Compton. 
 
 W. R. Johnson. J. M. Wood. 
 
 A. H. Frederick. 
 
 410 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 41 1 
 
 FINANCE COMMITTEE. 
 
 L. F. Smith, Chairman. J. P. Keyes. 
 
 J. T. Templeton. E. W. Douglas. 
 
 O. P. Blake. A. S. Partridge. 
 C. S. Blood. 
 
 RECEPTION COMMITTEE. 
 
 J. I. McClelland, Chairman. C. H. Flach. 
 
 C. J. Free. W. Scott Hancock. 
 
 H. E, Marlatt. C. H. McClure. 
 
 Frank E. Meyer. Dr. E. E. Vaughan. 
 
 EEGISTEATION COMMITTEE. 
 
 George B. Cummings, M. Bogard. 
 
 Chairman. A. W. Behfeldt. 
 
 G. D. Barnes. C. H. Maschmeier. 
 
 G. D. Burkholder. A. E. Glass. 
 C. H. Hall. 
 
 TEANSPOETATION COMMITTEE. 
 
 Alexander Hilton, Chairman. W. H. Brill. 
 W. H. Bissland. E. B. Cowles. 
 
 J. W. Happel. 
 
 PASTOES' CO-OPEEATIVE COMMITTEE. 
 
 Eev. J. L. Eoemer, D. D. ; Eev. Merle H. Anderson, D. D. 
 
 Chairman. Eev. E. N. Orr. 
 
 Eev. H. H. Gregg, D. D. Eev. C. M. Bauch. 
 
 Eev. J. L. Mauze, D. D. Eev. Jerrie Johnson. 
 Eev. W. F. McMillan. 
 
 The amount of money raised by the local com- 
 mittee was $2,500. In addition to this, this com- 
 mittee provided the meeting place for the Con- 
 vention, and the Coliseum building for the 
 Wednesday evening meeting. The publishing 
 of 30,000 copies of the "Convention Herald," 
 the official bulletin of the Convention, was in 
 the hands of this committee. 
 
412 THE PKESBYTEBIAN BKOTHEEHOOD 
 
 CONVENTION PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 The sessions of the Convention were presided 
 over by Charles S. Holt, its president, with the 
 single exception of the public meeting in the 
 Coliseum, on which occasion Mr. James J. 
 Parks, Chairman of the local Executive Com- 
 mittee, presided. 
 
 Mr. J. A. Parker, Secretary of the local 
 Brotherhood Union, was appointed Recording 
 Secretary of the Convention. 
 
 Mr. E. B. Wilson, of Indianapolis, presented 
 the following resolution, which was passed by 
 the Convention at its first session : 
 
 Resolved, That the following committees be 
 appointed by the Chair : 
 
 1st, a Committee of fifteen on Business, to 
 whom shall be referred without debate all reso- 
 lutions offered, and all proposals affecting the 
 business or policy of the Brotherhood, except 
 such as may be considered by the Convention 
 by unanimous consent. This Committee shall 
 report at the business session on Thursday fore- 
 noon upon all matters referred to it so far as 
 practicable. 
 
 2nd, a Committee of fifteen on Nominations, 
 to recommend candidates for vacancies in the 
 Council. 
 
 3rd, a Committee of seven on Correspond- 
 ence, to consider communications received from 
 other bodies and from individuals and to make 
 suitable reply thereto. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 413 
 
 In accordance with this resolution the Presi- 
 dent appointed the following committees : 
 
 BUSINESS COMMITTEE. 
 
 Frank M. Robinson, Kansas City, Mo. (Chairman.) 
 
 J. H. Jefferis, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 William A. Peterson, Chicago, 111. 
 
 E. C. Brownell, Topeka, Kan. 
 
 Rev. Albert Evans, Loekport, N. Y. 
 
 A. T. Folsom, Lincoln, Neb. 
 
 Rev. W. M. Hindman, D. D., Chillicothe, Ohio. 
 
 J. H. Tobias, Altoona, Pa. 
 
 W. R. Compton, St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 P. S. Livermore, Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 Rev. R. C. Dobson, Highland Park, 111. 
 
 George T. Coxhead, St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 R. B. Wilson, Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 Samuel P. Mead, New York City, N. Y. 
 
 E. C. Phillips, Middletown, Ohio. 
 
 NOMINATING COMMITTEE. 
 
 E. H, Semple, St. Louis, Mo. (Chairman.) 
 
 W. F. Dalzell, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 
 Judge S. S. Anderson, Charleston, 111. 
 
 Eev. W. F. Weir, D. D., Ashtabula, Ohio. 
 
 Sidney Whittemore, New York City, N. Y. 
 
 Rev. C. J. McConnell, Superior, Wis. 
 
 James R. Smart, Evanston, 111. 
 
 N. R. Adriance, St. Joseph, Mo. 
 
 J. W. Morrison, Frankford, Ind. 
 
 C. F. Stark, St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 A. G. Butler, Philadelphia, Pa, 
 
 Robert E. Ross, Chicago, 111. 
 
 Rev. C. E. Hays, Decatur, 111. 
 
 John Grant, Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
 E. C. Oakley, Minneapolis, Minn. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE COMMITTEE. 
 
 Carl H. MeClure, St. Louis, Mo. (Chairman.) 
 
 W. Scott Hancock, St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 Rev. C. Y. Richard, Sterling, 111. 
 
 Sam Stewart, Jr., Kansas City, Kan. 
 
 Prof. A. H. Gilbert, Lexington, Ky. 
 
 C. E. McBride, Mansfield, Ohio. 
 
 Joseph Grindley, Detroit, Mich. 
 
414 THE PBESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 The following telegram was received from the 
 Brotherhood of Chanceford Presbyterian 
 Church, of Woodbine, Pa. : 
 
 Bridgeton, Pa., February 22, 1911. 
 The Presbyterian Brotherhood of America, St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 The Brotherhood of the Chanceford Presbyterian Church of 
 Woodbine, Pa., now meeting in their first annual banquet, send 
 most cordial and fraternal greetings. One is your Master, even 
 Christ; all ye are brethren. 
 
 W. W. Keyser, President. 
 C. E. Doane, Secretary. 
 
 The following reply was sent in answer to 
 this telegram: 
 
 St. Louis, Mo., February 23, 1911. 
 W. W. Keyser, President, Bridgeton, Pa. 
 
 Your fraternal greetings received with pleasure by this Con- 
 vention. The keynote of this Convention is that the Brother- 
 hood of the various churches should constantly keep before 
 the membership that Christ is our Master, and we are all 
 brothers. 
 
 The following telegram was received from 
 Fred B. Smith, Campaign Leader of the Men 
 and Religion Forward Movement : 
 
 February 20, 1911. 
 Chas. S. Holt, Presbyterian Brotherhood Convention, 
 St. Louis, Mo. 
 Warmest greetings to the Brotherhood Convention. We are 
 deeply solicitous for the Convention's success. Wonderful days 
 are ahead of us as these great men's organizations unite in a 
 continental campaign. May God 's blessing be with you in every 
 session and in all of your planning. Fred B. Smith. 
 
 Also a telegram from First Presbyterian 
 Church, of Topeka, Kan. 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 415 
 
 At the session on Wednesday morning, two 
 gavels were presented to Mr. Holt, the presid- 
 ing officer, one from Bev. J. M. Barkley, D. D., 
 of Detroit, Mich., the other from the Presby- 
 terian men of St. Louis. The one from Dr. 
 Barkley was in remembrance of Mr. Holt's serv- 
 ices as Vice Moderator of the General Assem- 
 bly of 1909. It was made of Colorado marble, 
 the plate being made of Michigan copper, and 
 was presented by William R. Farrand, of 
 Detroit. 
 
 The second gavel was made of wood from 
 four churches in St. Louis — the First Presby- 
 terian Church, the oldest church west of the 
 Mississippi River; the Grand Avenue Presby- 
 terian Church (Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States) ; the First United Presbyterian 
 Church, and the First Reformed Presbyterian 
 Church. The Presbyterian Brotherhood Union 
 of St. Louis is composed of the men from these 
 four families of the Presbyterian Church, 
 hence such a gavel fittingly marked the spirit 
 of the Convention. It was presented by James 
 J. Parks, of St. Louis. 
 
 At the session on Thursday morning, an ear- 
 nest plea on behalf of the Board of Ministerial 
 Relief was made by Rev. Alexander H. Young, 
 D. D., of Binghamton, N. Y. 
 
 At this session, also, the following reports 
 were made by the Convention Committees: — 
 
416 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Eeport of Nominating Committee. 
 
 To fill the vacancies in the Council caused by 
 the death of John H. Converse and J. W. Axtell 
 and the resignation of John L. Severance : — 
 
 J. H. Jefferis, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 C. L. Brokaw, Kansas City, Kan. 
 Foster Copeland, Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 To fill the vacancies in the Council caused by 
 expiration of term of office : — 
 
 Hugh H. Hanna, Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Ealph W. Harbison, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 Charles S. Holt, Chicago, 111. 
 A. B. T. Moore, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 
 William Jennings Bryan, Lincoln, Neb. 
 Livingston P. Moore, Chicago, 111. 
 Henry P. Crowell, Chicago, 111. 
 
 The report of the Committee was adopted 
 and these gentlemen elected to the National 
 Council unanimously, the President stating that 
 Mr. Bryan had expressed his desire to attend 
 such sessions of the Council as he found 
 possible. 
 
 REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE OK RESOLUTION'S AND 
 
 BUSINESS. 
 
 The following resolutions were reported and 
 recommended by the Committee, and voted 
 upon and passed by the Convention: — 
 
 Resolved, That this Convention express its 
 hearty approval of the campaign designed for 
 men and boys of America, known as the Men 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 417 
 
 and Eeligion Forward Movement, and earnestly 
 call upon all state, city and local church Broth- 
 erhoods, Bible classes, and affiliated bodies, to 
 cooperate with all agencies in their communities 
 in furthering this movement for saving men 
 and boys to Christ and His Church. 
 
 Whereas, It is evident that God is calling 
 men to take a more active part in the work of 
 extending the Kingdom of Christ, therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That our Brotherhood extend 
 greetings to all men's organizations of the 
 evangelical churches of America, and hereby 
 pledge ourselves with them to put forth our 
 best effort in forwarding the Men and Eeligion 
 Forward Movement. 
 
 Resolved, That whereas the National Council 
 needs additional funds to carry on the effect- 
 ive work of the organization, and that the bur- 
 den of the work shall not fall on a few, but on 
 the general membership throughout the coun- 
 try, we recommend that each Brotherhood or 
 affiliated organization be requested and urged 
 to contribute to the treasury of the National 
 Council at least 25 cents per annum, for each 
 member thereof. 
 
 Resolved, That "The Presbyterian Brother- 
 hood," as the official organ of the Brotherhood, 
 and as the best instrument for keeping alive 
 an intelligent interest in Brotherhood work on 
 the part of Brotherhood men, ought to be regu- 
 
418 THE PEESBYTEEIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 larly received and read by every member. To 
 this end, it is recommended that each member 
 of the local Brotherhood shall receive one copy 
 of the magazine on payment of his annual dues, 
 such subscription to be forwarded to the editor 
 of the magazine by his treasurer. Also, that as 
 soon as resources and circulation will justify, 
 it be more frequently published. 
 
 Whereas, The work among the boys and the 
 problems arising therefrom, being, in the opin- 
 ion of this Convention, of great and ever grow- 
 ing importance, therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That the National Council is au- 
 thorized, if its judgment approves, and suffi- 
 cient financial assistance is found, to secure the 
 services of a man trained in boys' work, or to 
 cooperate with other organizations in securing 
 such a man, whose duty it shall be to investigate 
 the conditions existing that concern and closely 
 affect boys and their surroundings. That the 
 report of such person on investigation, if made, 
 be given by the National Council to our next 
 National Convention, to the end that our Broth- 
 erhoods may be properly informed and directed 
 in their efforts in this needed work. 
 
 Whereas, There being a lamentable neglect 
 of family worship in many Christian homes, 
 therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That we earnestly recommend that 
 all Presbyterian Brotherhoods make a definite 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 419 
 
 and systematic effort, through a special commit- 
 tee or otherwise, to revive and maintain the 
 family altar in all homes within their reach. 
 
 Whereas, The work of the Board of Minis- 
 terial Belief and Sustenation appeals in a pe- 
 culiar way to the laymen of our church, there- 
 fore be it 
 
 Resolved, That in giving to this Board our 
 strongest sympathy in its blessed mission, we 
 suggest that all Brotherhood men do their ut- 
 most in the support of its needs. 
 
 Whereas, Through the press of business and 
 what we believe to be the thoughtless disregard 
 by the public of every man's right to one day 
 in seven for rest, the delivery of mail to its 
 citizens by this government on the Sabbath has 
 become a menace to the proper regard and rev- 
 erence for the Lord's Day, therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbyterian Brotherhood 
 of America express its earnest desire that the 
 Postoffice Department may see the wisdom of 
 confining its mail deliveries in all cities to six 
 days in the week, as far as it is possible to do 
 so. 
 
 Resolved, That the selection of the time and 
 place for the next National Convention be re- 
 ferred to the Council with the recommendation 
 that, if the way be clear, the Convention be held 
 in New York City during the earlier half of the 
 year 1912. 
 
420 THE PRESBYTERIAN BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Appreciating the faithful service, the liberal- 
 ity and the consistent Christian example of our 
 brother and officer, Hugh H. Hanna, Chairman 
 of the Executive Committee of the National 
 Council, we wish to express our sincere regret 
 that he has been providentially kept away from 
 this Convention, and to assure him that we are 
 earnestly praying that God will grant to him 
 restored health and vigor, that he may have 
 more than a full measure of days for continued 
 service in His name. 
 
 Mindful of the splendid team work, in which 
 our President Holt was a yoke fellow in all 
 these things with Chairman Hanna, we sin- 
 cerely declare our indebtedness and our grati- 
 tude for the great advances made in things ac- 
 complished under the leadership of these 
 capable men and their faithful coworkers, the 
 officers and counsellors and committeemen of 
 the national organization. We would also 
 pledge to those who are to direct us this coming 
 year our sympathy, our energies and our 
 prayers. 
 
 Eeport of the Correspondence Committee. 
 
 The following resolutions were presented and 
 recommended by the Correspondence Commit- 
 tee and were passed by the Convention : — 
 
 Resolved, That this Convention hereby ex- 
 presses its thanks to God for the thoughtful, 
 devoted addresses that have been delivered be- 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 421 
 
 fore it, and its appreciation and gratitude to the 
 many speakers who came to us — some at great 
 inconvenience — to give us these messages, which 
 we recognize as solemn and responsible instruc- 
 tions to our utmost future service. 
 
 Resolved, That this Convention extend its 
 hearty thanks to the Brotherhood of St. Louis 
 for the many courtesies extended to us during 
 our stay here, and that we thus express our ap- 
 preciation of the careful management and at- 
 tention to detail in handling this Convention so 
 successfully, and for the Christian Fellowship 
 so generously and uniformly expressed. 
 
 Resolved, That we extend to the Washington 
 and Compton Avenue Presbyterian Church our 
 thanks for the use of this church as a convenient 
 auditorium, and our appreciation of the many 
 conveniences placed at our disposal; and that 
 we especially appreciate the gift to the dele- 
 gates of the Bible Study booklet, "Bightly Di- 
 viding the Word of Truth." 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention 
 be, and they are hereby tendered to the Century 
 Company, for the donation of the hymnals used 
 during the Convention. 
 
 Resolved, That it be the sense of this Con- 
 vention that we extend our grateful thanks to 
 Mr. Erskine Beed, of St. Louis, the leader of 
 song throughout the Convention; to the choirs 
 of the Tyler Place, Lafayette Park, Second and 
 
422 THE PEESBYTEEIAjNT BEOTHEEHOOD 
 
 West Presbyterian Churches; to the orchestra 
 of the Kingshighway Church ; to the local Y. M. 
 C. A. quartette ; and to Miss Beatrice Boberts, 
 for their assistance in our services. 
 
 The Committee further reported that all tele- 
 grams had been answered in the name of the 
 Convention. 
 
 At the session of the Convention on Thurs- 
 day, as well as at the meeting in the Coliseum, 
 subscriptions were taken from those present 
 to carry on the work of the Council for the en- 
 suing one or two years as the work should de- 
 velop. Statement was made by Mr. Chas. T. 
 Thompson, treasurer, of Minneapolis, that thus 
 far in the work of the Brotherhood to a very 
 great degree, the funds had been subscribed by 
 three or four individuals, and in a work of this 
 privilege and magnitude all laymen should par- 
 ticipate throughout the land. The subscriptions 
 at this time amounted to $883.58. 
 
 In explanation of the resolution that a con- 
 tribution of twenty-five cents per member be 
 asked from each Brotherhood for the work of 
 the National Council, Mr. Holt stated that while 
 it did not seem best to make a compulsory 
 assessment as a condition of affiliation, yet such 
 a contribution was imperatively needed to carry 
 on the work. Mr. Thompson stated that there 
 had been expended for the two years, February 
 15, 1909, to 1911, $10,046. Of that amount, 
 about $3,000 was raised at the Pittsburgh Con- 
 vention — $5,400 was given by five men, the rest 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 403 
 
 came in smaller contributions. It was shown 
 that a budget of ten to fourteen thousand dol- 
 lars is needed to carry on the work in a proper 
 manner. 
 
 Mr. Thompson reported to the Convention 
 that the National Council, at its election held 
 that day, had elected the following officers : — 
 
 President — Charles S. Holt, Chicago, 111. 
 
 Vice-President — Ealph W. Harbison, Pitts- 
 burgh, Pa. 
 
 Chairman Executive Committee — Hugh H. 
 Hanna, Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 Eecording Secretary — William E. Farrand, 
 Detroit, Mich. 
 
 Treasurer — Charles T. Thompson, Minneapo- 
 lis, Minn. 
 
 Editorial Secretary — Ira Landrith, D. D., 
 Nashville, Tenn. 
 
CONVENTION STATISTICS. 
 
 Eegisteeed Delegates. 
 
 Alabama 4 
 
 Arkansas 9 
 
 Colorado 3 
 
 Florida 1 
 
 Georgia , 1 
 
 Illinois 174 
 
 Indiana 19 
 
 Iowa 15 
 
 Kansas 11 
 
 Kentucky 6 
 
 Louisiana 2 
 
 Michigan 10 
 
 Minnesota 7 
 
 Mississippi 8 
 
 Missouri (outside St. Louis) 133 
 
 St. Louis, Mo 437 
 
 Nebraska 5 
 
 New Jersey 5 
 
 New York 19 
 
 Ohio 27 
 
 Oklahoma 3 
 
 424 
 
ST. LOUIS CONVENTION 425 
 
 Oregon 1 
 
 Pennsylvania 38 
 
 Tennessee 14 
 
 Texas 9 
 
 Virginia 1 
 
 West Virginia 5 
 
 Wisconsin 6 
 
 Canada 1 
 
 Japan 1 
 
 Total 975 
 
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