Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-12-07

In a conservation congress held In
the South one man made the point
that it is better to get the great idea
of conservation, or what another
called the principle of salvation, into
peoples minds than to teach them all
the methods of conservations extant.
Plans are merely the product of a
purpose. Methods are the output of
motive. Get the big idea into peo-
pies thinking and they may be trust
ed to find all the practical outwork-
ings of it that are necessary. The best
program of moral and national re-
form is passion for Righteousness;
details will take care of themselves.
When one of China's greatest
statesmen told me that he felt that
his nation needs to adopt Christ tian-
ity, he did not have in mind any
complete system of theology; he does
not know anything about scientific
theology. But he did see clearly that
the Christian ideal, and the Christian
spirit, are China's present needs.
Give China the Book, and let her
people grasp it's genius, and she will
make port in her troubled venture of
constitutional form of government.
Give her only the forms and meth
DDS of constitutionalism with the old
individualistic and selfish spirit, and
she will make shipwreck of her great
experiment. The clear need of China
Of lnw t. I 60
to vitalize the new forms of this
changing day.
Better Than Strong Walls
The Great Wall of North China, or
the walls about Peking and Marking,
are not any more obsolete and inef-
fective for purposes of defense in
these modern times than were the
newly-built wall of Nehemiah to
| keep out the most dangerous foes OF
Jerusalem. They might thwart San
ballat, Tobiah and Geshem, but they
were unavailing against the selfish
! ness, pride, idolatry and godlessness
of the wandering hearts of the Jews
| The need of the returned Jews was
| for the protection that would save
them from themselves. What says
Amos r. Wells?-
CLOSER is the Lords protection, thar
a near investing wall;
Closer than a moat about me, closer
than a tower tall;
Closer than suit of armor, or my
hands and feet can be;
! For against mine own assailing, His
protection keepeth me-"
The Jews who had returned from
| the Babylonian exile were in a capi-
tai position to adopt an electic reli-
gion; and they had leaning that way
! They were surrounded by an assort.
ment of creeds. There were more
| gods than virtues. Most of the pop.
ular divinitieS were easygoing, ask
| ing nothing of their devotees in the
way of moral straitnesS. There wa:
/ free rein for all passions in the serV'
ice of the gods of the nations. Tha
| is why the Jews We're so often tempt
| ed to stray from Jehovah. A man il
glad to cloak the indulgence of hi
| frailities under the cover of some re
! ligion.
The popularity of all sorts of cult
/ in our own time is to be explained II
| this same way. Their moral obliga
tions are not rigid and exacting
! They profess scorn of the old legal
| ism of the Mosaic law. Natural re
! ligion,' is a veritable highbrow faC
in our times. 1t is an easy creed. l
will let a man indulge his selfishnes
to any extent, so long as he is mind
full to burn incense to the goddess o
Good Form. Be polite and conven
tional, and you may do whatever yol
please within these wide bounds, say
natural religion, which deifies th
worst as we'll as the best of man.
nature.