Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-20
ACTIVE IN RELIGION.
Large Audiences Gather for Sunday
Services at Chautauqua.
BIBLE STUDY Is THE FEATURE.
An Excellent Sermon on the Prodigal Son
From Doctor Wright.
PROF. HARRIS LECTURE ON EDUCATION
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPATCH.1

weather at the Summer City" had the
effect of bringing large audiences at the ser.
vices to-day. Although the Sabbath is day
/ of rest here, this does not mean that peopl,
lounge around all day reading, writing, Oh
sleeping. Sunday at Chautauqua means
day of religious activity, day full of Bible
study, Sunday school work and song ser
vices, supplemented with other religious
duties Prof Burroughs, of Amherst Col
lege, opened to-day's programme by a very
interesting Bible study on the "Book o.
Ruth" This was held in the Amphitheater,
and despite the early hour many Chautau.
quans were in attendance to learn of the
| beautiful story of Ruth and Naomi. The
regular sermon Of the day was preached in
| the Amphitheater at II o'clock byithe Rev.
William Burnett Wright, of the Presbyte.
rian church of Buffalo. Prof. Lessons full
| chorus rendered the anthem "Jubilate, by
| Smart, with good effect.
In the afternoon Miss Allen conducted
| the primary Sunday school work in the
Hall of Philosophy; DR.. Duncan, the adult
class in the Temple, and President Miller,
| the Assembly Bible class in the Amphithe-
ater At P. NJ. the Society of Christian
Ethics was addressed by Prof. F. Starr, of
New York, and at P. NJ. was held the reg
ular Chautauqua vesper service in the Hall
of Philosophy. This was beautiful ser
vice of singing and responsive reading, with
two interesting addresses by President w.
r. Harper and Prot. Burroughs, of Am
herst. AT 7:30. the regular Sunday evening
service of song was held in the Amphithe-
ater. The chorus, under Prof. Leason, sang
the grand anthem, Daughter of Zion. "
This closed the days exercises, but many
of the visitors on the grounds seized odd in
tervals to renew old friendships.
The Sermon of DIR. Wright.
DR.. Wright's sermon this morning was
from the text in Luke, viii. 81: Father, I
have sinned against heaven and in Thy
sight" Said the speaker: "Christ addresses
this parable, not to the younger, but to the
elder brother. 1t was spoken not for the
encouragement of prodigals, but for the re-
buke of the elder brother Overlooking
this fact, preachers have chosen it as par
ticularly. appropriate for schools in the
poorer districts of the city and for chapel
preaching in the prisons. The hint that
they are worse then other people has barred
the hearts of such hearers against the
preachers appeal"
The speaker said in the course of his re-
marks that many people have in them the
seeds of King Lear, Macbeth or an
Othello, and lay the responsibility for their
misfortunes on anybody but themselves.
The breastworks and battlements of Belize
bulbs kingdom are made up of ''buts" and
''ifs." The world makes distinction re-
garding sins committed that God does not.
The world regards poverty as the unpardon-
able sin and sends a boy to prison
for stealing loaf of bread because he is
hungry, but falls down to worship man
who will steal railway stretching across
the continent or part of every loaf of
bread on the continent by grand corner in
Chicago. Such man is called great busi-
ness man by society.
A Scorching for Young Sinners.
The younger son in the parable had
sinned in way that society had agreed to
resent, but the elder brothers sin, malice,
envy, hatred, was infinitely blacker and
society would condone these in rich man.
The speaker was particularly severe ON the
class of young men, married or single, who
leave beautiful homes for. a short absence
and slip into vice and immortality. Said he:
81 would rather go into the slums of a great
city and try to save those who have never
heard of Christ than waste my work on the
rotten-hearted elder brother, who, after re-
ceiving the embrace of wife or mother, can
walk down street to the painted forms of
DEATH"
The. address of DR.. w. T. Harris, the
United States Commissioner of Education,
yesterday afternoon was exceedingly inter
esting. His subject was the question of
"What Shall We Study in the Schools" He
said there are five windows in the human
soul, through which it looks out upon the
world, or inward upon the nature of what is
human or divine. Two of these windows of
the intellect look out upon nature in time
and space and three of the windows look
upon the character and actions of man and
God. The former survey Of nature includes,
first, its inorganic aspect, as q matter and
force, and the school study of arithemetic
opens this window and gives the intellect
an insight of the mechanical laws by which
nature may be subdued and made of service
to supply human want. Mathematics
enable man to divide and conquer But
the second phase of nature is the organic
one, the plant and animal, which offers to us
the spectacle of struggle on the part of
higher principle to subdue the mechanism
of matter and motion by means of the prin-
ciple of life.
The Outlook From Geography.
The school study that opens the mind of
the child to this aspect is geography. The
outlook from geography is survey of the
world of productive industry. The veil of
spectacle of the production, collection, dis
tribution and consumption of property for
use, ornament, amusement and culture, in
all climes, on all soils, by all races of men
and with divers manners and customs. This
study gives the child an idea of the net re-
suits of the various sciences, those of nature
and society. Political forms are treated
and religion, as well as costumes, manners
customs.
The school studies that give an insight
into human nature and divine nature are
history, grammar and literature In history
the window opens upon the deeds of man
and reveals the higher self that
organizes institutions, especially the
nation, and protects the institution.
The individual self looks out upon its in
stitutional self-history. In grammar the
pupil is given a glimpse of the inward
workings of mind itself In discriminating
the parts of speech the youth learns to dis |
tinguish substance from accident, quality,
quantity. activity, passivity and relation.
In short he gets training in the use of |
logical categories, which helps him to
analyze all problems of life Finally, in
literature, such even rs is served up in the |
school readers, he finds gems selected from
the great poets and prose writers OF the |
language, which voice for him the various
situations of the soul and make them con- |
scious and articulate for ever after.
Opening the Souls Windows.
Thus it appears that the instinct of the |
people has developed course of study that |
opens the five windows of the soul toward |
the five divisions of human learning, and |
initiates the child, even in the elementary |
uohoo1 into the laws of structure and da