The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-12-16
EPW0RTH LEAGUE' UNION
DELEGATES OF LOCAL UNI5ON HOLD
 THEIR FTRST 1IEETINYG,

Presidents-Address by Rev. E. S. Ripple
 of New York CIty-TweIve Gnu rches Represented.
 The first meeting of the Epwo,rth
 League union was held at the First !M.
 l. church last evening, Delegates wef e
 present from twelve churches of the,
 city and vicinity. After a pleasant so-
 cial hour spent in the parlor of the
 church the delegates adjourned upstairs
 where an interesting meeting was held.
 Rev, B. M ripple of the Epworth M E. church, president of the union, presid- ed. The four vice president, Mrs Chad wick of Grace M. F. church, Ashley P.
 Willis of Trinity M. E., Mir Stannard
 of the First M. E., and MT Beach of
 the First M. E., reported for the sec [ eral sections of the city. The secretary
 is MT. Crawford of East Pearl street.
 Prayer was offered by Rev pr, Gilbert
 of Trinity, Miss Barnum of Epworth
 sang very acceptably, Calvary" The benediction was pronounced by Rev. MT. Dent of St. Andrews.
 The address of the evening was given
 by Rev. E. s. ripple, Ph. D., of St.
 James M. E, church, New York city.
 He is the brother of Pastor ripple of
 Epworth M. F. church. His able
 and eloquent address is given in the
 main below:
 In book recently published there is
 striking passage in which is describ-
 ed the thrill which swept through a
 n Frenoh i,,
 rlble September of 1870, when from the
 endless lines of camp fires which mark
 ed the bivouac of hundreds of thou
 sands of men in the valley of Moselle,
 a mighty shout arose-one single voice
 issuing from those thousand throats"
 It was Luther's choral, The majestic
 prayer seemed to fill the heavens; it
 spread OCT the horizon so far as there
 were German compfres and German
 men," We recognized at that mo-
 ment,' says the writer, the power
 which had vanquished us; it was not
 the superior force of regiments, but
 that one soul, made up of so many souls, tempered In faith, national and
 divine, and firmly persuaded that it's
 God marched by it's side to victory" tiSAS ID NiNINiApbo pONSl Ill liIS lSStS u- ing of Christian hearts, moved by a common purpose, united in common faith, led by the one captain of our
 salvation. It is a sublime spectacle the young people of our Methodism banded together into a league "offen-
 sive and defensive" for the destructoin
 of the works of the devil. It is enough
 to make the angels of God shout for
 joy. It is a holy and inspiring sight.
 God be praised for the splendid army of young, people in our churches united for glorious conquest. At this sign of triumph satan's hosts doth flee; helPs foundations culver; the day of deliver
 ance draweth near; the world moves
 into light.
 But there is danger in this eXhilira- ! ton of concerted effort. We are likely
 to minify our personal responsibility.
 Our personality is merged in the per sonality of the multitude. We forget
 that the unit is the important factor in religious work, The individual,
 rather than the army, shall have em- phass tonight. I want you to see
 your privilege and fell your responsbil- ity. Many of the pastors are about to begin special services. It was the in- | dividual that Christ came to save. It | was likewise the individual worker that He wanted. Come James," | Come John" Come Andrew, and I I will make you fishers of men" This is | the Christ call to every one of us.
 We are talking god deal these days | about "the masses" Iahominate that so 4r
 | We question whether they have souls. 1 We speak of them as brutes. How of- | ten we think labor for them is thrown awayl Every once in while we ask, | Does it pay? People go to heaven or | he'll not by the masses, but one by one. | We must therefore believe not simply | that Christ came to seek and save the ! lost, the masses, but that Jesus died | for that boy, that girl, the individual souls in the crowds. God is definite, l He singles out. q made him.
 There are some qualities which are | absolutely essential to highest success. l God expects us to be at our best He | calls us to be fishers of men, that is,
 as the literay rendering of the passage | is, "to catch men alive" To be expert | HIGH CdlIIclS NC ilibsot lGlNC dItI IiIc95.
 use this word in it's primary sense of
 readiness for, bodily activity. Venture | someness-H How timid we aret How we hesitate about undertaking commits | sons for our king! It is such holy dar- | ing, such abandon, such venturesome- ness, begotten of fullest confidence in the unlimited power of God, which feels with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me-" that the knight-errapts of the dawning
 twentieth century need for personal work. Adaptability-TO the tempted We must show ourselves tempted, yet knowing a door of escape, to the sin
 ming, a sinner saved by grace, to all we
 must disclose the ability of Christ to answer every legitimate doubt, to meet every crisis, to give grace for every temptation, to grant pardon for every sin. Heart-John Burroughs in his es- say on "Speckled Trout" says that the
 secret of successful angling is just this
 heart In his own words: Whatever
 bait you use, worm or grasshopper, grub
 or fly, there is one thing you must al- ways put upon your hook, viz, Your
 heart When you bait your hook with your heart, the fish always bite" Tho+ ic Go6'G caorat crpttipcr ,,1ap