The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-08-02
Fourteenth Annual Convention
of the Y. P. 5. G. E., Bos-
ton, July 1O-I5, 1895.
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Special report to the OPINION.

Kew. II. II. CldTK, preacher III eiS " -.
ton church, Portland, Maine, realizing the
Importance of gathering together the young
men and women in christian work, lnViteo
TO his house one evening few OF the i've,
active young people of his church AS
result of this meeting they formed soclety
called the Y. 7. 5. g. Il ana hao pracIlc,aiay
the same constitution and plans OF work as
the present society. This banding togetheI
of the Young was soon initiated by other
churches until in short time there were
so many societies that Local ana otate
Unions were formed and later an lnterna-
tional Union with Or, f. h. Clark oT as nr
is called by all loyal Endeavorers, "fatner
Endeavor Clarke as president, which once
he has held ever since. TAI, .,o
People not earlier acquainted with the
movement began to be aware OF us lllpoI-
tance in '91 when ten thousand EndeaVoreIs
since then have been held in st. Louis,
Montreal, Cleveland and the present year
in Boston, Each of these International
meetings have been much larger than me nae
one before it, until this year over oo,Ooo
Christian Endeavor delegates registered
and received badges. ..,,oo ,oa
to 4I,229 and from a dozen members 10
nearly two and one-half millions, Represent
ing over 30 denominations and every coun-
try on the globe except Italy. Russia, Ice
land, Sweden and Greece, also repressSe9mnEo
yellow, los, 400, black and 2, S43, 56O Whlte.
These two and one-half millions OF En-
deayOrers have given nearly one hal1 MIL
lion dollars to missions during the past year.
1t can be well said of Dr., Clark, "He
builded better than he knew"
1t would be utterly Impossible TO give
anything like a full report OF this great
convention. the greatest religious gathering
ever held in the world, and when tell you
that in the preparation for and during the
weeks of the convention over TWO CnouSanu
meetings we're held and that complete re- re,
port which will be ready in September VIII
fill a book Of three hundred pages you VIII
readily see how impossib'eit is to give much
of an idea of the many, very many interest,"
ing, instructive and inspiring thoughts eX-
pressed there. | only hope L may interest,"
YOU enough in these conventions so that
You will all wish to attend the next one TO
be held IN the beautiful city OF washington
in '96.
The meetings this year were held in Me-
chanics Building and two immense tents
called ''WIliStOn' and "EndeayOr' erected
on the common. About ten thousand peo-
ple could be accommodated in each place;
Opening meetings which were addressed
by speakers from all over the world were
held in twenty of Boston's largest churches,
Wednesday evening. But the convention
proper began Thursday morning when Me-
chanics' Hall and the tents were thrown
the meeting held in Mechanics Hall. Here
two hours before the time appointed for the
opening of the meeting the seats were NIL
ing very fast, and twenty minutes before
opening the doors were closed and crowds
turned away disappointed.
Just here let me speak of the grand work
done by the ushers. Four hundred loyal
EndeaYOrers handled these immense crowds
always keeping the aiSleS open and looking
out for everyoneS comfort in polite and
gentlemanly manner.
Mechanics Building has doubtless seen
enthusiasm of many kinds but never any
thing like this. You could feel the pent-
up enthusiasm of that immense audience
- and every few minutes 1t would break ou
ina G. e. song, started by some one in fal
corner and quickly caught up by these
around him till the very walls seemed t(
"echo the sweet refrain and the decora
lions to give forth melody. This was {
pleasant feature of AL the meetings, in fac
one would hear c. E songs everywhere, IL
street cars, on street corners, and as TIT
crowds were making their way into tint
building they were invariably singing.
At precisely $50 Mr.. Percy Foster, thu
much honored musical director, stepped
forward. the splendid tones of the great
Centennial organ rang out, and ten thouS
and eager voices Joined in the grand Ole
hymn coward Christian Soldiers" Who
ever heard this hymn lead by choir OF
an audience will never forget it.
After a short praise service, Pres. Clarl
stepped forward to the platform amid on
of the grandest Chautauquan salutes eve
received by anyone. I'm the name of tn,
thirty-siX thousand Y. p. 5. G. E. of tn,
venton to ORDER" were his words, tapping
at the same time with a gavel which haC
been presented by the Salem, Oregon, dele
gates and which was made from Oregon
wood and bore an inscription in Oregon
gold. Then Rev. Smith Baker of Boston
conducted the devotional exercises. a
psalm was read in response, followed by
very fervent prayer including the Lord
prayer, in which the thousands impressive
ly joined.
Rev. ST Smith, author of our fine nation
al hymn America" had written "Hyml
of Welcome for the occasion which the au
dience read i'll concert before it was sun!
by the chorus, l should like to speak Vi
the manner in which it was read. A per
son looking on could not fail to be impress
ed with the expression and feeling whicl
were put into it and none could fail to Sc
that the audience which could read so wei
was made up of educated people. Thl
fact of the intelligence of the c. E. peopl
impressed one at all times, it is so seldom
in fact it seems impossible, that $4,000 sucl
bright American faces can be gathered TO
any other purpose.
by Rev. A. II. Plumb for the city pastors
Hon. S, B. Capen for the committee of '95.
and Gov Greenhalge for the Stat of Mas
sachusetts. Mr.. Capen's address was earn
est and practical, pervaded by broa'
christian charity. He said that that grea
concourse people had gathered Their
because of loyalty to Christ and that tn
cross of Christ rose above all the flags o
the nations. He also spoke of how man,
characters are being formed in the G. I
meetings all over the world and that W
must "be manly for Gods sake and godl
for mans sake" He said, ''SOme peopl
think religion is good for old men an
women. We want to show them it is jus
as good for boys and girls. 1t is a goo
thing to die by but let us show the worl
it is good thing to live by.' He enforce'
the idea that patriotism and piety are one
and spoke in pleasing terms of the wcrl
which the c. E. society has done in recen
years to promote good citizenship. III
closed by paying glowing tribute to Gov
Greenhalge which broughtforth cheer afte
cheer from the audience and was repeate
as the Governor stepped forward. TIL
Governor said, at matters not who plant
nor who waters, ii is, now and forever Go
who giveth the Increase" As he took hi
seat the audience, following a suggestion
made by Pres. Clark, shouted in one voice
"God save the Commonwealth of Massa