St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-06-17
c. d. Hubert, vice pres't; C. S. Smith,
sec'y; j. c. Emery, treasurer.
AFTERNOON MEETING

c. ID. Hubert, vice pres't; c. 5. Smith,
sec'y; j. L. Emery, treasurer.
AFTERNOON MEETING.
In the afternoon the attendance was
large. Rev. Mr.. Wild, corresponding
secretary of the convention, read a
carefully prepared report on the state
of the churches of the convention, from
which we CLEAN the following facts
OF the 1917 churches in the state -
were formed before the year 1900, and
one-ninth of them are more than a
hundred years old. There have been
$50 complete pastOrates the average
length of the pastorates has been {
years, 3 months and - days $40 pas
torates have been less than the aver
age length, and - per cent. of then
more than the average; forty three o
them were - years in length; 2I4 pei
cent. of them between 10 and p years
and ten per cent. less than two year,
in length. The report showed tn,
churches in the main, in good condi
ton.
At the close of this report, Rev. Mr.
Pierce, a delegate of the state Baptis
association, presented the greetings o
that body to the convention.
President Buckham, of Vernon
University, then read an essay on tn,
relations of the family to the state
He said there were three national soci
cites of human beings-thc family, thu
state and the church. The man VIII,
holds aloof from these relations is like
ly to suffer diminutiOn of his facul
ties. A man without home, without
country, and without Il church i,
quite likely to be vicious and danger.
Gus. The divine plan is evident in al
these relations. The state is the union
of Il multitude of families to promot,
interests both social and political
which masses of men have in common
The ultimate aim of these three sys-
tens is one and all the samc-thcy al
tend toward the development and
perfection of the individual, and to
this end are human agencies instru-
mental. All these relations are Deepen
dent and helpful the state is Deepen
dent on the family, and vice versa
but the family prccedcs the state with
i'll itself; families associate and form
states because they thus become more
powerful to accomplish public enter
prises and are better able to protect
themselves. As the state rises out OF
the family, under the tutilage of the
family, so in all its stages the state is
dependent on the family for the train
ing of its citizens. This was the point
on which the speaker mainly dwelt
endcavoring to show the necessity of .
pure training within the family. In
Independence serves to fashion the
family idea. Were it not for the train
ing of the family, men would grow NJ
in spirit of egotism, and society
would have to wage perpetual wal
against this spirit. The child who does
not learn obedience Mt home will never
learn it elsewhere. The school has ne
natural authority it can supplement
home training, but can never supply
the lack of it. Patriotism is nurscd AT
home; when men lose interest in rclig-
ion and in home, their patriotism is
gone. Fidelity, too, is constituent
virtue of well ordered home. TIL,
speaker advocated marriage and do.
nestle ties as conducive to Il settled
public condition and an interest il
things which make for the welfare o
the community.
On the other hand, the family is de.
pendent on the state, and has Il right
to expect protection from it. tn,
crimes against the family should he
set forth in such manner as to portray
their awful nature. The state SHOULD
encourage religious marriages in pre-.
ference to civil it should deal Will
them as it does with oaths.
TIE EVENING MEETING.
The evening assembly of the convcn-
ton was attended by II large number
of people, the church being pretty wei
filed. The first address was made by
Rev. Mr.. Tcnuy, who spoke in behalf
of the state Bible society, giving an ac-
count of the sOcicty's methods and aims
During last year 5000 families were
visited in seventeen towns of these
500 families were found without 4
Bible, and 80 of these were Protestant
families. One family in fifteen were
found without Bibles-and this sug-
gcsts the importance of the sOcicty's
work. tnceds the sympathy of Chris
tians; it needs also increased contribu-
tiOns of money. Only - out of the I97
churches in the state had contributed
during the past year, and the amount
was SLIGO. He spoke of the parent so
ciety in New York and the magnificent
work it was doing.
Next came an address by Rev. DR..
Tarbox on the workings of the Amcri-
can College and Education Society.
The speaker explained the reason for
the organization of the society and the
objects it attempted to accomplish.
He referred to the origin and growth
of the work, which began in 1915. The