Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-05-25
Y.M G. A. CONFERENCE.
The Locnt Associations in Session ~
Hrnttleboro.

An ABSTRACT or THE rArEhS fNE0ENIh"
-AppRrsS BY REV. MIR HARRINGTON OBJ
KEENE.
The first conference " the Young Men IS
Christian dissertations of Keene Mt Her.
mon. Saxtons River aud Brattleboro, he'll
i'm this place ON wednesday aud Thursday,
was well attended. aud every session prov
ed full Of interest and profit 10 all present
The meeting for organization, appointed at
5I5PM. Wednesday, adjourned ~ the
following morning. after choosing com
mittee to draft a constitution.
The Baptist church was filled 70 over
flowing Wednesday evening, 10 hear - j..
Moody, who gave one Of his characterlsti,
talks b. young men-informal. practical
and earnest His topic was The Bible
and the address might bee briefly summed up
in this wise Young men, beiiere the bl
ble-believe dH Of it; dUdV the Bible
lire the Bible fedch the Bible Some pee.
pie. the speaker said, will tell you that the
Bible is true in the main, but not IN certain
special instances. Don't believe what they
say. The very things men cavil at are the
ones Christ set his seal upon by reminding
his disciples Of them. Some say they ar
cept the New Testament but reject the Old.
The absurdity Of this is shown 10y the fact
| that the New Testament contains hundreds
Of illusions 10 aud direct quotations from
| the Old Testament the two books must
stand or fall together. Others say. - Ice
ieve only what ! can understand. Yet
| the fact that no one can " holly comprehend
| the Bible is what makes it the most won
derful aud fascinating Of books, aud Is one
proof that it Is not Of human origin. lnh
/ dels are going about the land telling us the
Bible is getting obsolete. This is not true
| More Bibles have been printed IN the last
eight years than in all the 1900 years pre-
vious Mr. Moody would have the Bible
used more in the Sunday school; lesson pa
| pers and quarterlies cannot take its place
| He also made a plea for more exposit0ry
| preaching. using DR. Bonar As an illustra
ton Of the powerful influence exerted 10y
this manner Of presenting the gospel
The address was preceded by praise
service conducted by l.. W. Ha"ley, with
solos by Arthur Smith Of Somervile, aud
"A selection los the Rho quartet Of the local
association. whose members are Sherman J.
Howe, Thomas Cain, II j. Nnton aud Geo.
| Ninton.
The conference met in the Methodist
church at . O'Clock Thursday morning, aud
effected permanent organization Icy the
choice Of the following officers:
Vice Presidents $ VI Cathcart of Mt llernun
! T. A. TherTirn pf SiKton, River
Secretary aud Treasurer " u Fuller of Brat
/ teboro.
Executive Committee. T. II Van Dporn NJ Brat
| tlrburu, II G. Allrch Of krrn-. > u. Anderson Of
Mt llcrrnpn, j l. easy of SHNtonS River
Several excellent papers were presented
and at the close uf each the writer became
a SORT Of target toward which the members
II the conference aimed all sorts Of qucs
tons pertaining t. the subject under con
sideration, thus bringing out many valuahl,
suggestions, albeit at times a wide dversit,
Of opinion. Fred Fitch of Keene DISGUISE,
The secret Of successful local work lh,
first factor Of success is harmony Of thought
aud action among the members little diff
feren,rs Of taste and opinion must not b,
allowed to stand in the way of the greater
good. The president must Ice "A mau o
-potless Christian character. man of en
ergy, well thought Of in the community
with love for young men and beloved 10y
them. The officers should be u men %
God. % men Of intelligence. 90 men tru,
t. the church Of God But the life an,
power ot AN association is in it, committees
These should he chosen with the creates
care, and Ice composed Of men whose hear
is in the work aud who will be Mt their post
every time. The rooms must be- comfnrta
bile and attractive. Reading matter shoul
be abundant aud we'll selected, Of "a chara.
acter To- interest aud instruct. aud grca
care being taken that mo- questionable pa
pers or books are allowed 4 traniu.
class j. a necessity; without it. an associa
tion Is like an army going into battle wei
armed, but with no knowledge how to lis
their weapons. Last but not least. Of TN
secret of successful work every memhe
must feel "A personal responsibility for it
must realize that he must do his part faith
fully, no matter what stands in the way
e. F. Richardson thought the best line
Of association work in academies were t.
be found in connection with individual etfor
and devotional meetings Work in the col
leges, while it has special advantages. ha
also special limitations. aud il these are kcu
III mind the course to be- pursued will l.
plain. The paper closed with a number q
good suggestions in regard to the conduc
Of devotional meetings which are equal
applicable to meetings held outside of acad
emies or colleges
W. II. Cambridge Of Saxtons River pr,
sented very interesting and compreher
sive paper on the good which active mem
bers oil school associations might do durin
the long summer vacation He referre
especially to students going into small conn
try villages. suggesting that they bring tn
religious and intellectual stimulus whic
they have received at school Ia bear upn
their less fortunate companions at home i
social life in the Sunday school and tn
prayer meeting. He said
We need not expect To shout Sleeping CON
muuity into artiyitv W., uust l.ud "A l,,,J ,
creating surroundings which shall keep il auaL,
III many community there II Christian ..-,i,
10 ~ h"ur IA trimming the lamps Ia the pray Ell
meeting room or sweeping the tipur uf the Clurci
Tor Whatever We can de- e. add to the attractiN,
mess of Gods huusr, either In cleanliness Is.aut,
90 10 the s'rVitt-, Is part Of the work God wuul
have uS do aud il what will convince. thns4 arltt
us that Christianity with a, j. "a practical thiui
worthy 81 emulation Th-tyrrN whrr,. r,-,,,guill
hulA "i speaking with aud praying for thuS.. ul
q" NhIlNt DONG what We arr able tp do bV att.n,
au,r AMI support IF church s-rvic- r,.inrnls.riu
thousand littr cuutt,-s,.s To Older burden ar
ih the Lord huus,. the mplt-st suggestion nf iu
, P"Nrinrt~ a. We s-t' The need. AL thess- Wit
. . even thr most mental services heretofore. ma
done or lrtt altogether, belong u a we'll spent y;
I I cation ~ any community needing thru. Th. 10.
low who can uspir. uu associate la h.. NOR. th.,
"A rlud ur help "a s-cpiug church tn aWak. Ia me-.
P'sNlnlilIltS, need have no regret for lack OF oI
/ poItuhlty. ana how many Of us. going To SUI.
communities, have just thess. chances h.for,. AZ
l<t ls, whether IA a small or great ,.lmmunit,
surrounded by helps or hindrancy.s. put far frni
US ana forever, The thought uf a dividing line b.
tween Important and unimportaut duties, Is.t,y..
u somebody duties and our duties ami uuh,sita
4, ! mglN do Tor the Master thu. common s..ryir. Al
UNSEEN anu by man unackuOW lrd..i littlt thiuq
chunks IN the wall but Of great value. a. Uii
VINO seth all, II only c-mentl by our love. Nov
II never lE'iun. let uS find IN every man a br,tl
y ! IT. III very sinner hulE; begin to lend "A han
e u every struggler towani the light and hitter
prayer Tor the soul that will not struggle 1T d
. Throw open the doors, that Christianity may u.
meat" every part 1T our lives aud SHIN. forth i
that highest tllE- IT gentleman Christian mni
: nIou' lrt T. g@ with Us in every work We undo
IlN'' Tor the Christian religion is not diShonor-
ny Idlthtul service, however small Inn il MIN
smg p' ,, M"rh ahI tllr i"rr with 1t. We l-4
y vp+,li ana our hands ready for work l..ng ai,l
. | "a dnty, content to honor with our best thouyl
r N3rk winch outwardly gives no honor in r.turl
. | Millng 10 inspire strengthen and helm others ,
4 10y them hr inspired strrugt hru,4i and holm.
e nady To profit In our own growth hv tLe stn,n,
a uun al"unu US regarding nothing in thrworld
""l'l""tahl, but Taking up the most trivial ,lut
ts the most serious, Ia add 10 il i'm us.rf,rt,a,,,
A the lliStr" of Christian principle
j. q. l.. Durham Of Brattleboro answer.
3 the question, How can the bnys' denim.
meht ht made to contribute more To- the fl
j ture working force Of the association - TN
j rooms should Ice made attractive tp then,
T. they should have a hearty reccption and 4
treated kindly and respectfully hooks sun
, ed to their taSte--history, travel adv,
r. lures, stories-should be provided certai
1 hours allotted TO them for class work i'm M
i gymnasium indoor aud outdoor eutertni,
4 ments gotten mp for them When iunio
!. "el'''V 'Aoht Is organized, let the bows then
r. selves do as much Of the work as possibl,
learning how 10 conduct meetings accor,
T. 10 parliamentary usage and being active Il
: committees, let the boys have devotioni
meetings ct their own, and use every mean
: 70 maze tlem interesting and full Of pra,
= liSai thoughts and helpful suggestions sui
4 ell to the needs of boy life.
n On Thursday afternoon T. Cree il.
q OI Mt. Harmon mnln IA st,u,,.. - q