The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-24
HELD ANNUAL RECEPTION.
The Presbyterian Alliance at the
Masonic Temple.

1
Masonic Temple.
The annual reception of the Presby-
terrain Alliance OF the District of Column
bia took place last night at Masonic Tenn
| pie. The alliance is composed OF all the
| Presbyterian churches in the District OF
Columbia. and the reception was attended
by members of nearly every church. Ma
sonic Hall was deliberately decorated in
honor of the occasion. Large flags hung
over the windows and doors. streamers
of bright ribbons were strung from the
walls to the chandeliers overhanging the
| floor, while punches of smilax were sus-
| pended from the walls and ceiling The
stage, on which a string orchestra was
stationed was banked with palms.
bountiful buffet lunch was served in
an anteroom adjoining the hall by a num-
Der OF young ladies OF the various
churches. After a musical programme
had been rendered by the orchestra an
address was delivered by Commissioner
II. B. F. mcfarland Mr. Macfarland
said:
The Presbyterian Alliance must help
TO save the city by helping to save the
| citizen. There is no city apart from the
citizens, and all the effort at saving the
and not practical. This is the vital error
Of most municipal reform movements.
Communities cannot be reformed in the
mass, any more than they can be reformed
by resolution or by statute. Only the
transformation of the individuals can
transform the community. The Kingdom
of Heaven is within you.' 1t is God dwell
ing in man; he has no other temple now.
He that inhabiteth eternity yet conde-
scends to dwell In human hearts. 1t is
only. thus that ne can live in city. The
City of God. which poets and philosophers
have seen in vision. can only be made UP
of such citizens. We members of this al
lanes, and the thousands of Presbyteriang
whom we represent, can make the Ma
tiOnal Capital the city OF God If we will
to be such citizens ourselves. The lives
we Their would live would draw all others
by the irresistible power Of Gods love
to take his citizenship. Then there would
be no more problems stamped with sin
or sorrow. Then there would be no more
need Of courts or jails, for the two SUI
preme commandments of love to God and
love to man would be well-kept laws. and
their fruit would be righteousness and
peace. Impossible you say? No, only
ideal. But unrealized until everyone of
us honestly takes its inspiration for prac-
teal living. We can make our city what
ever we really want Ii to be- Prayers
and sermons, rites and ceremonies will
avail no more than political movements or
ethical declarations to make the Capital
as beautiful within as 1t is without. I'M
less the separate units of its populatio
are brought into living harmony with the
will of God.
THE Presbytery can no more make this
a holy city by declarations than Congress
can by legislation The enactments of
bodies of men. whether ecclesiastical or
political, can only affect external condi-
tions. and cannot directly touch the spir-
itual life of city. which is the spiritual
life of Its individual citizens We all as
sent to this, in spite of our inconsistent
faith In the power of human laws and
declarations, and our pathetic appeal TO
them as we think of our municipal evils.
The misgovernment of our cities, and the
misdeeds of their rulers, which put us to
shame before the world; the things which
are wrong, even in the Well-goyerned
District of Columbia, which is the recog-
nized and distinguished exception among
our municipal governments, these things
which are here so plainly the work of
individuals. cannot be made right eycept
by making right the unrighteous men who
are responsible for them. Would to God
that We could carry that intellectual as
sent which, perhaps, makes us think of
these statements as truisms; would TO
God that we would convert this assent
into a high resolve and an Interchangeable
determination to begin the transforma-
tion of these conditions with the trans
formation of ourselves. With men IL is
impossible, but with God all things are
possible, and we who believe this should
live by 1t. Unless We do, we are not
good citizens, we are not good patriots
we are not good Christians. And we. not
others. viii be responsible for the con-
sequences it, like the rich young ruler, we
make the great refusal and sacrifice
the city to our selfshness."
The Rev. Wallace Radcliffe, of the New
York Avenue Presbyterian Church, spoke
on "The Twentieth Century in the
Church" In a general way. he reviewed
the progress made by The Presbyterians
during the century just closed and antici-
pated what its course would be in the
new age. He exhorted those present to
give their assistance to the accumulation
Of the twentieth century fund for the
building of new churches and the carry
ing on and extension of the works of the
Church in the District.
Addresses were delivered also bv the
Rev. Frank l Willis. pastor of AssemblYs
Church, and Frank /. Middleton, pastor of
Berwyn Presbyterian Church. An origi-
nal poem on the occasion was read by the
Rev. DR.. Easton. Mr.. Maddert rendered a
trombone solo and several musical selec-
tions were provided by the Berwyn Quar-
tette.
The reception was conducted under the
immediate direction Of committee on ar
rangements consisting Of the following
B. Il. Warner, DR.. Wallace
j. Z. Lambie, Dr. Mcfarland,