The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-07-22
A MODERN ~E.DCCATION.

IFA!cf MePtinS Topic OF the Young
Peoples Societies. Christian En-
oeasor' etc, for July -. mission
airy Essentials. Home and Abroad.
L. Information" Acts 15:12-.s.
by William r.. Ellis
4 ~falr-traveled American said re-
Gently, II l could say a word to
All students today. it would be to aG-
wise them to study chiefly history and
literature. They must know the life
OF the race II they are to live wisely
and effectively" He might have ad-
ded, And history should include our
own times For there arc world
movements afoOt today which equal
those of the age of the Caesars and
OF Napoleon. The well-educated per
son knows what is doing in his own
day. And here enters a significant
truth: The persons who are most
alert to world tides of the present
century are the students Of missions.
Take any normal group # men or
ONE and it will be found tina those
who best comprehend the meaere dis
patches from Asia and from eastern
Europe are familiar with missions.
All that the press has had to say of
Elate concerning China has been clear
est TO those persons who, from the
missionary standpoint, have been
studying China for years. The same
is true with respect to present discus
sions Of the japanese. There has been
a real education for m%ultitudes of
persons in the missionary meetings.
resentative knowledge concerning
Christian missions is sure to be an
advocate of the enterprise.
OF the many-sided services which
foreign missions have rendered to
the homeland, none has been greater
than the charging and vitalizing Of
the conception of patriotism. Can
ada has seen no more natiOnally-use-
ful event for a decade than the recent
missionary congress in Toronto. Thou
sands Of men in the Southern States
have caught their first real glimpse
of Americas character and destiny at
the great missionary conventions. The
best patriot is the least p~rovincial;
he understands the relation of his
own land to the whole earth. The for
eign missionary thus has been a min
lister to the best national spirit at
home, as well as to the national pres
tige broad
Flour mills need grain. looms need
thread, and minds need themes for
thought. Would it embarrass the
average person if somebody with au-
thority were suddenly to demand of
him what material he has for profit
able mental operations? Baseball is
mo an adequate grist for the mill
OF the male mind: nor clothes for the
brain Of his sister. The trivaIities Of
gossip; God and daily routine are.
broadly speaking, wholly insufficient.
II ones intellectual machinery is to
do the work for which it is designed.
it must have something worth while
to operate o and something OBJ
jective at that. Whether this thought
leads is plain. The principles, the
personalities and the performances of
Christian missions are a vast and
profitable subject for thought. They
constitute, with their correlatives, an
adequate life interest. They are broad
and broadening: deep and deepening:
high and frightening. They deliver
from small-minde1ness. and expand
ones Intellectual horizon. Missions
are a point OF contact with all that
makes earth and all thai makes
heaven.
To have great friends is inspiring.
Most of US, however, cannot know in
person lives which the world has ac-
knowiedged as great. Through biog-
raPhy this is possible. An intimate
acquaintance with some Of the he
roes OF missionary history is possible