Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-23

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on L; Brazil. 3: Argentina, 3; Mexico.
J: Cuba .; Philippines. 1: Levant, j.
One of the mast striking and encouraging
advances has been the more than three
fold increase during this period in the
staff of native secretaries from sixteen 70
fifty.
1t has been a remarkable era Of building
campaigns for the foreign associations.
scribed for this purpose fully $9o0ooo.
The committee submits the following
The continuance of the following de-
partments of the home work:
One. Office and publication; - business
and finance; 3, association men; \. field;
5. country; q, railroad: Z. industrial; q,
81, army and navy; 10. colored;
[. religious: L., educational; H. physical;
Ia. boys; 10, secretariai.
The continuance of the foreign work on
the lines approved by the best experiences
during the past three years.
The report is signed by Lucien c. War
ner, Alfred f. Marling. William d. Muir.
ray and Frederick B. Schenck, officers Of
the international committee.
DR.. Parkhurst's Address.
In an address on the Divine Element
in Character Building" delivered yester-
day afternoon at Y. NJ. c. A. convention.
Rev. DR.. c. H. Parkhurst said:
II could have wished that some one else
had been selected to sound the keynote to
this series of proposed conferences. for II
is of utmost Importance that the note be
pitched high and be ringingly clear. Along
wha variety of lines of effort the Y.
M c. A. expends itself-contemplating as
1t does, among other things. both mental
and physical eauipment-the organization
is fundamentally religious one. and re-
ligious in the Christian sense: that 10 to
say, a religion with a God in II, God re-
vealed in the Christ. and the story Of the
Christ authoritatively set down In the
pages of the New Testament Scriptures.
That is a foundation broad enough to in
close within it's area all that will be
spoken here in the ensuing days. and the
only foundation suitable to sustain the
things that ought to be spoken here in the
ensuing DAYS.
Now. religion may be conceived OF as
being either fund of sentiment. a sys
tenn Of thought. scheme of service. or a
reservoir of power. A brief preliminary
word in regard to each of the first three
of these.
Discrimination Necessary.
Sentiment is not to be spoken Of light
ly and should be sharply Disseminated
from sentimentality; but II is like a bios
som in this respect, that 1t retains its vi
tally and beauty only so long as it re-
mains attached to some parent stalk. I'm
sustained, uninvigorated by superior force,
sentiment Is what we might designate a
means of meeting the worlds
necessities. 1t Is the distinctive genius Of
technically so called. As
contrasted with the dynamic of Niaraga
1t Is kind Of swamp-water method Of
ameliorating machinery. We do
not criticise 1t for what It is, but for what
1t is not. 1t is invertebrate. The quality
am characterizing is an element in our
unassisted humanness. and does not rise.
therefore, to the altitude Of a heaven-in-
famed Observation-Disclosures in the
old Greek sense of "Ev Oeos," God in
us Like everything else that Is unaid-
edly human, 1t is not dependable. 1t Is
like certain timepieces Of the old-fash-
Toned type; it may keep fair time when 1t
goes, but you are not at all sure that 1t
will go. The acknowledgements the
term in the sense we are now attributing
to It's like brook that gathers It's huc-
tuating supply from the surface Of the
ground. as contrasted with an artesian
well that connects with unintermittent
sources of replenishment away back some
where in the heart of the high hills.
As System Of Thought.
Next in order is religion considered as
a system Of thought, of doctrine, If you
please. Theology is not a thing of which
We can afford to speak disdainfully.
Every man has a theology; that is, he has
II he has had any religious experience ana
is intelligent enough to translate that ex-
perience into terms of thought Theology
II genuine is simpl va deposit that is left
by experience. the dregs at the bottom of
the bottle. 1t concerns itself. Of course,
with religious matters, but has in II ma
more OF the vital genius of religion than
does astronomy or geology. 1t is religion
viewed speculatively instead of appro.
priated experimentally. Religious expe-
rience is bound to produce theology, but
H. AL fr to-,
experience. AS a branch of philosophy Il
Is admirable: as substitute for religion
1t is abominable. and is no more like re-
ligion than the pressed flowers in an
herbarium are like the fragrance Of a
clover field or the blossoms of a rose gar
den. And to be thoroughly versed in all
the best theology that was ever produced
would in itself lift me no nearer heaven
than to be thoroughly schooled in all the
truest astronomy that ever has been writ
ten would lift me nearer the planet Jupi-
ter or to the distant star Alcyone.
"Our third specification was religion con-
sidered a scheme OF service. There is
so much of the idea of service involved in
an organization like yours that this third
matter REQUIRES to be handled with very
dertake to say that service is not religion
any more than theology Is. 1t may be
symptomatic of religion: it may be a
product of religion: 1t may be a means OF
making religion effective. But considered
in itself 1t is simply performance, and
when you have added I'D whole column
of performance there is not necessarily
any religion in the footings.
Tendency to Hustle.
1.-The whole American tendency Is to
hustle, to do things. a lot of them. wheth-
err we have ever learned how to do them
or not. and whether we have or have not
been irnbued with the spirit that makes
the doing of them effective and productive
While it Is true that there Is a sense In
which work develops the spirit of work.
and in which Christian service rendered
to others imbues with Christian impulse.
yet it is evident that individual activity
constituted but an insignificant part OF
the discipline wherewith Christ qualified
his disciples for their mission. We are
not questioning the contributory value OF
service. but it's substantive value. What
channel for the conveyance Of current
channel We must not confuse water and
preacher. a prayer meeting conductor.
ter, bookkeeping instructor. Is to be un.
derstood to be simply form OF ma
chinery by which a certain kind OF raw
material becomes converted into Finished
personal product.
1.-The question then comes on what we
have just called the raw material. and
this introduces us to what Is the fuuda-
mental purpose of my address. The basal
and practical fact upon which we require