Evening star., 1901-10-29

urated. 1t stands for encouragement, for
stimulation and for decision day. 1t stands
for better teaching through teachers meet
ings, teachers training classes, home de-
partments, primary unions and the cradle
roll. 1t stands for the best in Sunday
school architecture, equipment and man
agemenrG
Ideal OF Citizenship.
The address Of the evening was delivered
by Rev. Beniah L. Whitman, DID,, recently
president Of the Columbian University. and
a regular participant in the services of CAL
vary Church. The convention was the oc-
casion for his first visit to the church after
accepting a charge in Philadelphia, and
the meeting took on very much the charac-
ter OF an enthusiastic welcome to DR.. Whit
man.
When I ran up the steps this morning
on my way to the boys and girls in Column
bian chapel" he began. II found my heart
beating very fast, and 1t was not at all
with the exertion OF running up the steps.
My heart Is beating rapidly now. A man
does not come among his friends after a
long absence without all that is deepest
and truest in his nature being stirred to its
depths. My heart runs before my words.
"As citizen Of Philadelphia 1 suppose
ought to feel that Philadelphia is the first
city In the world. 1 suppose Philadelphia
is all right. But 1t isn't Washington.
"A longer time ago than the law should
permit my subject was accepted as The
Ideal of Citizenship If I could, moved ias
1 am now moved, should change that SUBJ
ject to include the whole subject of char
acter and the portion of the Sunday school
teacher as a molder of character. When
the District of Columbia can be governed
by men such as now control the affairs of
the city of Washington We do not have to
look very far to see the embodiment of. the
ideal of citizenship. What was it Webster
said of Massa chusetts? There she is. She
speaks for herself If you want to know
the good citizen look at the presiding Off
Ger Of this convention, Commissioner Mac
farland. There Is the ideal citizenship. It
speaks for itself
The Patriot.
'The core of our question is what shall
constitute the nature of the man who lives
the ideal of citizenship. AS we listen the
name drops from every lip as though in
prayer. 1t is that Of the citizen of Wash
ington, the patriot who walked the ways
of high Office as he walked the ways of
humble citizenship; whose faithfulness to
duty since the coming of the light and
darkness of those awful days of September
have helped us to realize the ideal of
citizenship. The nature needed is that of
mana man of honor, of will to do good,
of courage to stand before danger; of the
strong man who lives above the fog both
in public station and in private convrrsa-
ton.
who is the man who shall discharge
office worthily? He, and he only, who con-
ceives life as the appointment rom God,
and Will step into the duties of civil life as
ne will step into heaven. The farmer is
GOD workman tilling the ground for Gods
children. The carpenter is Gods workman
building houses for Gods children. The
shipbuilder is Gods workman building the
craft that shall carry the plenty of one
region to the starvation of another. The
scholar is Gods workman teaching and
speaking the truth The trader is Gods
workman carrying the commerce of the
world wherever needed. The citizen is
Gods service in the civil life humbly and
earnestly"
Sowing and Reaping.
The speaker then developed the processes
through which the level Of workman SER
vice was raised, defining culture In all it's
phases-clearing the ground, putting into
the ground that which would produce the
harvest and garnering the crops. The par
allel between agriculture and the uplifting
OF character was carefully and minutey
presented Physical culture and intellectual
culture were only part of the agriculture of
life
Both the gross materialst and the true
1dealist viewed the spirit of man as the
real man. In the culture of that spirit
therefore, lay the real field for the culture
of men. The soul was Gods gift. It's de-
velopment in the heavenly way was Gods
design. Its coronation with eternal life
was Gods care. The sweep of life was to-
ward God. All science and all philosophy
spoke ultimately of the spirit.
To be at peace with the spirit was to be
ready for all the obligations of ideal cti-
zenship To realize the obligation of the
soul was the problem of the Individual-st
task plain enough for the simplest and
easy enough for the humblest. Yet that
peace, the most natural thing of the earth
ly life, had become the most unnatural
4 inp he Hach ho1 a
spirit.
What Life Lacked.
The trouble with life was that it lacked
unity, harmony and concord. The divine
method of curing sin, Of restoring the
unity, harmony and concord Of life, was
sacrifice. The higher must suffer for the
lower. God had always been the Supreme
Sufferer for humanity. Man. as we find
him, was ghastly failure. But the ground
plan of man was right.
The core of every problem was SIM Heav-
ems task was not the repair of the char
acter that sinned. 1t was to make 1t anew.
To the outcast it was a refuge To the
weary 1t was rest. The opportunity of
the Sunday school teacher lay in this in
depreciation Of Gods truth. AS the farm
er, carpenter, shfpbuider and trader were
Gods workmen. the missionary was Gods
messenger to carry the light into the dark
places Of the world, and the Sunday school
teacher Gods appointee to teach the dis
charge of civil obligations with the hands
of each citizen joined with those Of his EEL
lows everywhere.
Committees Appointed
Committee appointments were made as
On resolutions: Rev. Stanley Billheimer,
pastor Of the West Washington Lutheran
Church; A. L. Dietrich. E. A. Muir, Grant
Leet and Arthur Robb
On nominations: A. NJ. McBath, E. ], Boor-
aem. w. ]. Bowman, ]. E. Dawson and DIR.
H. H. Seltzer.
The exercises Of today began at 2:l5 this
afternoon. Rev. A. H. Mckinney delivered
the chief address of the first session. his
subject being, THE What, Why and How
OF Normal Work" Later in the afternoon
talks on How l Conduct an Adult Class''
are to be made by Judge Stanton J. Peelle,
Francis w. Vaughn and Miss Katherine J.
Laws. DR.. Mckinney will apply the teach
ings of his discourse by teaching a normal
lesson with the audience for a class, A
round table, or conversational lesson. on
normal training classes is to conclude the
meeting.
Evening Program.