St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-11-12
MISSIONARY MEETINGS
Work in Foreign Countries Discussed
The Trouble in Mexico


On Thursday evening and Friday
meetings were held here in the ID
terests of home and foreign missions,
being one of a series of gatherings
that are now being held throughout
the state under the auspices of the
leading evangelical denominations Of
New England.
The opening meeting was held in
the Methodist church on Thursday
evening. The pastor of the church
presided and the church quartette
choir furnished the music. The first
speaker was Rev. DR.. F. E. Lendrum
of ST. Adams, who has spent the
past four years as teacher in theo-
logical seminary in Mexico. He
spoke most interestingly upon the
present conditions in that turbulent
republic. Beginning with a reference
to some of the early traditions of the
country, which has a history more
ancient than that of the children
of Israel, he viVid1y described the
beautiful scenery of the country.
But the people are ignorant, lazy and
superstitious. Labor is SO cheap
that in some Of the large mines the
days wage is only 81 cents, while
women in other positions receive
much less. The poems are almost in
a state of slavery, human life is
cheap and rarely are the murderers
caught or brought to justice. The
land laws took away all the land
from the Indians, the original own
ers, and this has contributed largely
to the unsettled condition of affairs.
The speaker ~then briefly touched
upon the events that led up to the
10 he
great sin of the situation was the
treachery of the European nations.
Had it not been for for their treach-
cry President Wilson could have
brought order out of chaos.
Rev. DIR. Brewer Eddy of Boston,
one of the secretaries of the Amer
lean Board, was the last speaker and
in an eloquent manner dwelt upon
the unity of purpose in all the de-
nominations at the present time to
spread the gospel both at home and
abroad. He wildly touched upon
the great movements for liberty and
religious awakening in Corea, India,
China, Japan, Turkey, and last, but
not least, Albania, saying it was all
the manifestation of Gods pow
er to bring the peoples of the nations
to a knowledge of Christ.
AL the SESSION T T1Udy at
the First Baptist church there was
conference of the pastors of this
section upon the general theme,
money, Literature and Men" Those
who took turns in presiding at this
conference were Rev. Brewer Eddy,
Rev. DR.. c. H. Merrill and Rev Ralph
F. Lowe. There was a lively partici-
patton in the conferences and at it's
close dinner was served by the ladies
of the First Baptist church.
The afternoon session was held
at the South church and the speakers
here were Rev. Charles G.. Merrill of
Reading, Mass, secretary of the Con-
gregational apportionment board,
and Mrs. George p. Knapp, an Amer
lean Board missionary in Turkey.
Mr.. Merrill explained the methods
of organizing campaigns in the in
terests of missions, illustrating his
talk with numerous charts and dia-
grams.
The closing session was held in the
North church in the evening, the
pastor of the North church presiding.
The first speaker was Rev. DIR. J. G.
Robbins of Boston, joint secretary of
the Baptist missionary societies, and
the last speaker was Rev. Charles G. |
Merrill. DR.. Robbins has spent
some of his life in the Philippines and
frequently illumined his address with |
vivid pictures of the awakening in
the orient.