Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1895-05-24
K. BRATTLk BORO, FRIDAY, MAY "a, 1895.

where every home has its papers, book
clubs enter every other house, each church
has its own books, the public shelves TEEN
with them, all the magazines are on the
tables at the Brooks library, our boarding
houses are notably homelike, and young
men have free run of their parlors, and there
is hardly any element like the usual facto-
ry or railroad, or lower grade of population
of some other towns? As for educational
work, we have adequate advantages, and
there is no call for a department in that
line, nor has it ever attracted patronage
worth noticing OF social receptions, we
have in all the churches too many already;
far too large proportion of energy is
there bestowed in view of more important
work. A separate centre for revival
agencies is not required in this abundantly
churched town, especially if made propa-
ganda for special views, putting it out of
touch with important elements whose good
will is necessity. As for maintaining an
evening rendezvous for young men and
boys, the former have not, so far as my OBJ
servation goes, been accustomed TO fire.
quent it, and the boys are better off at
home and ought to be there Far bet
ter agencies and methods for athletics than
the gymnasium are readily at hand, for ex-
"setting up" drill The experiment of
running the association on the cd lines
has, in my judgment, been tried to a con-
clusiOn.
Here then, contribute to the discussion
a plan. Two needs there are, as matters
stand and as feeling prevails One, TO
maintain the evangelical basis of the or
ganzation; the other, to secure the sym
pathy and cooperation of the whole town.
The second must be met for good Wills
sake. Antagonist just destroys the work
for the ends to be gained, the young men
to be helped, the boys to be influenced are
sure to make occasion of such hostility.
Moreover it must be, for efficiency's sake,
that the best talent may be engaged irsall
branches of the work for the whole town.
But the first must also be met for these
reasons; for the sake of the connection,
held most dear and important by many,
with the international and national depart
ments of this great work, and so for the re-
lation of work done here to that of other
places with interchange of favors; also, for
the great value of smaller, responsible,
well-defined body, wanting TO do certain
work in its own way, a way clearly meas
ured and understood by all and therefore
taken into account in all broader coOpera-
ton, and freely granted This adequately
guards all personal feeling and compromises
no one.
The plan, then, is as follows First, to
have a corporate body of, say, 200 men,
related to- though not necessarily members
of, the evangelical churches. The object
is-the root of evangelical view and
thought, which is the requirement of the
larger outside organization. Men whose
opinions and beliefs and personal faith are
in accord are proper persons for this body.
These men shall give So each yearly, and
the total expense of the more limited side
of the work shall not exceed $1,000 This
work shall include the employment of a
secretary, providing a pleasant Office, and
allowing, say, 800 for printing and Incl
dentals. This secretary's work shall be to
look after young men, strangers, needy,
sick, any he can help throughout the town.
Beyond this, however, he is to be the agent,
gladly supplied by the above body, as its
contribution to the general good, for other
and more extensive work. | should omit
reference to that building we have talked
about so much. do not believe we want
or could we use building" to any profit
able purpose. This so-called corporate"
body should also elect board of directors
of not more than seven men, who should
employ this secretary, and also take the in
itiative in the work now to be described.
Secondly. All other work, and this in
cludes, of course, the great lines of COM
mon effort, should be conducted by COM
mittees from all churches and the town in
general, and should embrace, in every case,
the very best men for the specific work to
be done. These committees are to be APP
pointed by the board of directors; and that
the best opinion may be had, men outside
the evangelical connection should certainly
be represented upon this board by election
of the corporate body, or at their invitation.
The spirit, wisdom, and freedom from all
prejudice and bias on the part of that board
is the one essential thing in the whole plan.
Funds for the special and positive work
should be raised by these committees and
expended by them, as much or as little as
the case may be, and according to the feel
ing of the town toward the special object
at any given time.
This suggestion of citizens committee
thus appointed is naturally taken from the
very successful and feasible method of ar
ranging for the recent addresses of Bishop
| Hall, but carried into the relations of per
manent organization. The importance of
a vigorous secretary for cooperating with
these committees in raising funds and car
rying out their aims is, as in that case, evil
| dent.
This larger work might be fourfold
Athletic; with the best men enlisted, and
such funds as friends of athletics would
| give, spent, through their committee, by
the men who give the money and for their
own object. Intellectual; and here a
splendid opportunity opens. Instead of
mixed entertainments, preGmpted reserved
seats and general public uselessness, raise
from friends of the community a generous
fund for course of, say, ten lectures, upon
science, literature or art, instructive, illus
trated, popular, as our neighboring pro-
fessors are abundantly able to give; then
make them absolutely free, like the Lowell
Institute lectures in Boston; no tickets, no
reserved seats, but doors wide open, as at
the bishops addresses, and let the public,
rich and poor, pour in, and have the mind
filled full from the riches of Gods world
and this as a united and permanent thing,
in the hands of the most competent and
cultivated people in the town. Year by
year we should be lifted stage after stage
up into a common taste for and conscious
ness of the true, the beautiful and the good
Then, moral reform work, with a citizens
committee embracing our strongest men
who should take it in charge, with all good
people behind their back to straighten out
some of our moral crookedness, and make
this town morally clean and wholesome
For certain it is, that this is the thing need
full, contrasted with which the providing o.
any number of facilities is like The
| mole hill to the mountain. or like doctor