The Portland daily press., 1898-02-03
DR.. CLARK SPOKE.
Addresses Gathering of Christian En-
deavorers at Lee, Mass.


deavorers at Lee, Mass.
Lee, Mass, Feb. 2.-The founder of the
Christian Endeavor Society and the pres
ident of the United Society, the Rev. F.
C. Clark, d. D., attended here today the
fifteenth anniversary of the Lee Endeavor
Society. He accepted the invitation to
be present partly because the society was
among the earlier societies organized.
This is Endeavor Day throughout the
world the end of the sixteenth, the begin
ming OF the seventeenth, year of Endeavor
history. DR.. Clark was accompanied by
Prof. Ames r. Wells, managing editor
of the Christian Endeavor World who
delivered an address this afternoon ON
"The Tenth Legion" whose members
pledge one. tenth Of their income to the
Lords work. 1t was formed In New
York city, in:ls9j by Mr.. Amerman, pres
ident of the New York City Union. He
wrote pledge, signed it, and then in
duced others to sign it. In 1887 the New
York Union turned over the Tenth Le-
gion to the United Society. 1t has grown
at the rate of nearly 200 mem bers per
week. The occasion was recognized by
the presence of numerous members of the
Berkshire Endeavor Union and many
pastors ana young people of all the evan
gelical churches in the county. Angus
tus r. Smith, one of the ex-presidents of
the Massachusetts Endeavor Union, was
moderator. Professor Wells contrasted
the bills of expenses for many articles in
common use with the expenditures for
missions. On the one-tenth contributed
for the Lord work, he said, the church
upon it, Christian Endeavor work de-
pends upon it. On it depend foreign mis-
sions, the mission church at home. the
distribution of Bibles. the cause of tenn
perance. Upon this tenth hang freedom
for the slaves in Africa. safety for the
prosecuted Armenians, food for the starv-
ing Hindoos, enlightenment for the idola-
ters of China; yes, hope and happiness
and life for all this SHINING, suffering
world.
The denomination that gives the most,
in the aggregate, says Editor Wells, gives
each year for foreign missions only ID
cents q member. The denomination that
makes the next largest contribution gives
s.. 90 a member. That denomination is
smaller than the first, and SO gives a
smaller gross amount, though the average
contribution is larger. The next gives
81. 80 a member. The fourth gives II
cents a member. The fifth gives Sc
cents q member. The other denomina-
tions bring down the average, SO that the
gifts to foreign missions of our rich ma
tion's Protestant churches do not average
40 cents member.
Now the wealth of this country is in
tho hands of Christians. Their average
income surely exceeds $500 year. II
they gave one-tenth to the Lord, and only
one fourth Of that tenth to foreign mis-
sions, the average gift from each Chris
tian would be increased more than thirty
times.
President Clark, in beginning his lad ad7
dress, gave the up-to-date acts In En-
deavor history. He said:
s'Our seventeenth birthday has come.
Christian Endeayor has passed its child
hood days, and has become sturdy
youth. All the anticipations of its earii.
est days have been fulfilled thousand
times over. Its most eager advocate then
never dreamed of the work God had for
it to do. Like all such movements in the
church, it came not OF the will of man
nor of wisdom of man, but OF God. Its
beginnings were feeble and inconsp1cu-
Gus, its early sponsors were unknown
and uninf1uential; it has never had
great denomination to back 1t and advo-
cate it; yet it has found home in every
land. Its constitution has been trans
lated into forty languages. Its pledge
has been subscribed to by fully five mil
lions of adherents. Its conventions have
been held in every large CITY OF the world,
and its union meetings in almost every
considerable town. Forty-fve denomina-
tions have been brought into closer touch
and larger and more genuine sympathy
than they ever knew before. Yet this
has all been done SO quietly and obtru-
sively that each forward movement at
the time has been almost unobserved.
Human agency has been but little ap-
parent and the leaders all over the world
have felt like exclaiming every day, Not
unto us, not unto us, o Lord, but unto
Thy name be the glory
his last year, the sixteenth In our
history has, in many respects, been the
best ofsall. The movement has extended
more widely than ever before throughout
all the world. Germany, Scandinavia,
India, New Zealand, Tasmania, South
Africa, China, have felt the impress of
Christian Endeavor as never before.
Christian citizenship and missions and
work for the unfortunate and the crimi-
nal have been prosecuted as never in the
past. Above all, it has been a year of
the Quiet Hour, and in many respects
this is the greatest advance step which
Christian Endeavor has yet taken, for it
has put tremendous emphasis upon
character upon reality, upon being, and
will, believe. infuse into all our activi-
ties new life and power, and make us all
better citizens. better nsighbors, better
friends, better Christians. From the year
of the Quiet Hour think will date the
most prosperous and fruitful era that
Christian Endeavor has ever known.
This will surely be SO if we learn the les
son, not Of what we can do, but of what
God can do through Christian Endeavor."
MURDER AND A LYNCHING.'-