The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1901-10-10

! the power OF the Declaration of Inde-
| pendence TO belt the earth with free
| dom
| This is no time to voice the glories of
| the Scriptures or "a expect honeyed words
| and Illuminated figures of speech 10 en-
| shrine the truth in the hearts of Ameri-
| can youth. Dwight l.. Moody will live:
] not In his powerful speech: not in the
| rspturous song which always accom-
| panied his appeals. hut through the or
ssnized forces at Chicago. at Mt Her
! mon and at Northfeld This closing
meeting Of this association OF the nine
! teenth century viii live; not I'm any utter
| ances from this platform. but I'm the way
| In which organization shall answer the
questions. How? Where? when? BY
| whom?
IMPORTANT PROBLEMS.
First. then: How shall the Bible be full
~ appropria ted IN the 10Th century? The
| 10Th century Is 10 he the worlds great
| era for solving economic and sociological l
| problems. II would be more consoling
20 think of IL as bringing US examples
| instead of problems. An example is
| very simple matter. IL is merely a sam
, pie, To perform which we haze but to ex-
tend or complete by processes simple
and direct, so that If We know that two
and two arc four. that seven mines are
63, and kindred exact facts and processes
We can perform the example. With a
problem the conditions are changed.
This is something hurled at us a chal-
| lenge for us 10 see through II we can
We have 10 loosen IL so that we can see
the relations of the mazed threads weav-
( ing IN and out with puzzling intricacies.
In the case OF the knotty problem the
! threads have been drawn terribly taut
and the time of the strain has been so
long as TO make the difficulty OF loosen
! ing the grip almost insurmountable. The
| 10Th century is ia bring us multitude of
/, problems, snotty problems many Of them
Ihey viii concern the rural towns and
the greatest metropolitan centres; they
VIII anect the laborer and the capitalist
the child and the woman; they will reach
from the Acadians in Aroostook TO the ne
groes OF Alabama and the natives Of the
philippines. These problems will be loos-
ened by those who have the instinct for
leadership. who can take hold OF time
cursed conditions, and so handle them
that we may look into them so clearly
as to make their solution possible 1t is
OF the utmost importance to the church
that such leadership should come from
Christian men and women. The real
question then. as We step upon the
threshold of the century, is whether or
not there are to be among the rank and
hle of the American people the Christian
men and women from whom leadership
will come.
There Is no other agency that can reach
the children and youth Of the land with
the truth OF the Scriptures so directly
ana ana ieryidly as can the Sunday school.
Inc public school has its limitations. IL
cannot definitely aud forcibly use the
Bible The earnest private church schools
are few, not enough 70 effect the rank
brings within It's range the great ma
1ority, OF children, and could. with com
paratiye ease, reach them all The sun
gay ga seno9i presents no problems, merely
We have the sample. and need only to
extend II by the use of processes s di
rect as the fundamental rules i'm arith-
metic. Let us assume that the lessons
from the Bible will be wisely selected:
that each school has well-equipped SUI
perintendent; that thers arc sufficient
number of men and women with ade-
guate scholarship. character and devotion
lor teachers. Assuming all this for all
SUNDAY schools, the work Of the TWEEN
ueth century, with the Bible, will not
and cannot even then be accomplished.
How do the American merchants and
alirements OF the twentieth century.
There is commercial museum in Phil
adeiphia with remarkable display for
business purposes, of every commercial
product OF every country on the globe,
with every helpful fact about soil and
climate. customs and habits. markets and
tarins contracts and credits. For Illus
tration: Several rooms are set apart
for good samples OF wool. i'm every va
riety; from every. wool-growing state in
the Union, and from every country on
the globe. There is also adequate com
mercial information regarding every inn
portant producer, manufactures and mer-
chant in every line OF business In the
world A manufacturer OF hats and caps
IN Boston or In Honolulu can arrange 10
be FURNISHED reeularly with every desired
fact about the styles. contracts and mar
ket for hats and caps in every CONNER
cial centre on the earth.
Every item OF importance regarding
hats and caps Is az his disposal so that
he need not suffer from lack OF knowledge
of any trick OF the trade. II even goes
,So 50 far r,tl,,,. that u he wishes test made Of
It's strength. endurance polish. finish.
nexibility. II will be made for him in
ss Of this ,Smmercis ,Sn ma
Industry Is equally true of every other
line Of commercial activity. No manu-.
aisser stssr ba,, or msrShsn 81 the en,sd
or whose material comes from any dis
tance. can keep pace with the twentieth
SsR,SrS Seeu wseon the isryss of this 5 mas :.
Icopardized " he Is not IN touch with this
institution. and the cost 10 him is q mere
expended UPON Il hundreds of thousands
of dollars that she may place this at the
disppsal Of the merchants and manufac-
turers of America. and the first taxpayer
is 10 be discovered who whines al the
annual expense of more than s20ooo0. The
most remarkable feature Of this grand
depository OF mercantile wisdom is the
fact that ~ was not I'm existence was
not even IN the brain OF man eight years
ago. ~ has come az by magic. and yet
with the perfection % ages.
IN answering the question as 10 how
the Bible is 10 be adequately presented
20 the youth Of the twentieth century.
80 that they shall know, eniov and make
its truth their own. II may he said that
We need a SUNDAY school museum which
shall do for the American pastor. super
intendent, librarian and teacher what the
Commercial museum r. doing for the bust
ness interests Of the country Such q