Middletown transcript., 1914-06-27
cold SAINT ANNES"

her bosl1y surroundings uOoNiy ii'e--'
able from the events that cldster about
them. in one Of young Summers rare
June days, largely attended reunion
Of its members and friends was held
with appropriate exercises in thatVener-
able and historic temple.
The occasion was signalized in the
morning by a fine sermon at once his
torical and dOctrinal, spoken by the
Bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev.
Frederick ]. Kinsman; while in the af-
ternoon, an address admirable not only
for eloquence but for nobility of thought
and sentiment, was delivered by E. j..
Cattel Esq, of Philadelphia there be-
ing present in both instances, large and
delighted audiences.
The exercises were held to mark the
building Of a handsome brick wall
around this venerated old edifce and
its adjacent Gods acre wherein sleep
the ancestors of many of the people
now or formerly resident in the vicin-
age.
1t is eminently proper that the men
should lead in this movement today to
preserve the temporalities of "0ld St.
Anne's' seeing that the women in the
early days rescued both its temporali-
ties and its spiritualities, for the
church's historian, Rev. William J.
WiIkie quotes the Rev. H. Lyon Davis
D. D. as saying that in 1882 the parish
was Sin sad condition-not a single
male cOmmunicant being found among
its people"
He does not despair however: ''The
dry bones may yet live" he says, be-
cause of "a body of faithful women who
adorn the doctrine of God their Savior
IN all things" and because of ga Sun
day School numbering ninety pupils,
conducted with much diligence and
ability" y"-no doubt by the women also
But this incident in the history of
this church is only type Of what has
always and everywhere been witnessed
since the founding Of the Christian
Church.
Too much praise - cannot justly be
spoken of those I'd 1Vbut women not a
few, whose epiety and devotion preser-
ved this church when its male members
like those earlier disciples "all fOrsoOk
Him and fed"
But for Woman, no Savior Of the
world, kin alike to God and man, had
been possible; and SO from the earliest
ages of Christianity woman has ever
been, as she is today, the main prop
nG stay of the Church whose divine
Head she was honored in incarnating.
ReH hove her hand from the church in
this ye IF Of grace 1914, and the temples
of God would presently fall into empti-
ness and ruin; remove her transforming
touch frcSml the child in the formative
period Of its life and character, and
Z society would ultimately return to
something like the rude barbarism out
Of which it arose.
And yet until within comparatively
recent times even in so-called Christian
lands woman has not received anything
like just recognition of her rights
civilly, legally or politically, while in
Mohammedan Turkey and in many
heather lands even the possession of q
soul has been denied her!
The condition Of its women is barom-
eter that measures a nations civil
cation and development, just as accur-
ately as its consumption of soda ash
measures the amount and value of it;
business in the commercial world.
Therefore it is not the result of any
chance that this country of oursh be
come so great, SO rich and prosperous
for it is here more than in almost any
other land that Woman has received
something like that just consideration
and treatment due her as creature Of
God equally endowed by common
Creator as her male mate who has
through all the long centuries of the
worlds history, arrogated to himself Z
pretended superiority, which in truth
though, waslbased upon nothing but I
selfish conceit.
The old folly, the ancient lie Of thil
superiority of man over woman, dies
hard, buttressed as it seemingly is By
the sanction Of Holy Writa as where St
Paul says, Let your wonqen keep 81
Ience in the churches, for 7 is not per
mitted unto them to spealk k;" or agar
lre - 49,. MI