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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS. SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1907.
THE CHILDREN’S SUNDAY
By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD,
Pastor Universalist Church
A MONG all tha encouraging evl-
donees of the genuine progress
which the world Is making to
ward that disinterested righteousness
which Is true civilization, one of the
roost significant and beautiful Is the
changed attitude of the world toward
the child. From the very uncertain
position of an absolute chattel of tho
parent. In the earlier days of human
history, the child has reached the po-
.itinn of safety and assurance, where,
? “not actually a citizen, he Is at least
a ward of the state, a position where
there may come to him a practical ren.
dering of the psalmist’s assurance.
"When my father and my mother for
sake me, then the Lord will take me
up ." whenever any people has reached
that state of altruistic intelligence which
recognises In the child the Btate's most
valuable asset, then we may safely
prophesy that for that people, social
and economic salvation Is on the way.
Religion, or more correctly speaking,
theology, has also shown encouraging
progress In this direction, and the cen
tury Just closed has been Indeed re
markable for Its advance. The child
Is now conceded a soul, even before It
reaches tho age of accountability, and
that life Is also reckoned to be as pre
cious in the eyes of the one Father
as that of any seasoned saint of ex
tended spiritual experience and many
theological campaigns. In scarcely any
group of Intelligent and enlightened
worshipers would the preaching of one
hundred years ago. concerning tlie-eter-
nal damnation of unelect Infanta and
the total depravity of unshrlven chil
dren. be listened to with complacency
in this twentieth century of newer Ideul
In this twentieth century of newer Ideals
of deity and wider spiritual horizon. The
Son, when that transcendent lover of
the children answered the bigoted com
plaining of his Ignorant disciples in the
words dear to the knowledge of every
child, and precious In the memory of
every true parent: “Suffer the little
children to come unto Me. and forbid
them not. for of such is the kingdom
of heaven." . .
The very architecture of the modern
church shows the advance made in this
direction. The houses of worship which
have come down to us as a legacy from
an earlier civilization reveal no, pro
vision made for the child. The children
went to the church, It Is true, but It' is
difficult to persuade a man of the pres
ent century that they went out of any
earnest personal desire or love for the
service. They were a part of a serv
ice in which they could have no Intel
ligent part. They were' compelled to
keep their weary little bodies erect and
their drowsy little eyes awake during
a discourse stretching through two, and
sometimes three hours, and In which
even those portions which might be
within their intellectual grasp were
hardly calculated to furnish satisfac
tory material for the beautiful pictures
which normal childhood should always
be able to fashion In the fertile valley
of dreams. Dogmatic theologians may
possibly bo made happy by hearing
constantly of the devil, the place of
endless torment and the unending
wrath of God. but it requires a tre
mendous stretch of the Imagination to
conceive of a little child fattening a
healthy mind upon such theological
pabulum. The early church had no
place or time for the Sunday school. It
was too busily occupied In escaping the
wrath of God to pay any attention to
the spiritual culture of the child.
Hehold tho change! Truly -the Lord
has "lifted upon us the light of His
countenance and been gracious unto
us." Tho church of the twentieth cen
tury which falls to make adequate pro
vision for th eneeds of the child in Its
services. Its ritual. Its curriculum, and
Its edifice. Is a spiritual and economic
abnormality, doomed by its very ec
centricity to speedy decay and death.
Truly the child it coming Into his own.
The Sunday school is coming to be
considered to stand In equal Importance
with the church Itself, In Its conscious
relation to society. Tho successful
church architect now provides as care
fully for the needs of the children as
for the needs of their parents In the
house of God. and In many of the more
progressive churches It Is now believed
to be as Imperative to have carefully
trained and adequately compensated
teachers In the Sunday school as It is
to havo an educated and sufficiently
paid preacher In the pulpit.
Fiftieth Anniversary of Children’s
Sunday.
One of the beautiful customa which
have grown out of the world's changed
attitude toward the child, celebrates
this month Its fiftieth anniversary. The
custom of setting apart one Sunday In
each year for a religious service for
the children, of the ctilldren and. very
largely by the children, has grown
gradually during the past half century,
until now It occupies an established
place In the calendar of the leading
religious denominations of this coun
try. Whatever credit or praise may
attach to the Institution of so beautiful
and so beneficent a custom. Is now
very generally conceded to the Univer
salist denomination, since It was one of
the churches of that body which began
IIHIHMIHMMMHIMMIHnHI
REV. E. D. ELLENWOOD.
and profit to the religious world.
"On the second Sunday In June, 1857,
the First Universalist church In Chel
sea, Mass., celebrated children's Sun
day as an establshed day in Its church
calendar. For a number of years pre
ceding the pastor, Rev. Charles Hall
Leonard, now the venerable dean of
the Crane Theological School of Tuft'
College, had set apart one Sunday In
the early summer In which the church
service was devoted to the young and
which he called variously. "Rose" or
"Flower” or "Children's Sunday." The
practice hail won such response and
such hearty Indorsement that It was
deemed wise to fix the second Sunday
In June as a permanent Children's Fes
tival Sunday.
No attempt was made at that time
to encourage other churches to Join In
the custom, but the beauty of the serv
ice and Its eminent fitness and utility
appealed to neighboring churches of
the Universalist faith, and five years
later It was quite generally observed
In and around Boston and In 1867, ten
years after Its establishment, so wide
spread was the Interest that at the ses
sion of the Universalist general con
vention In Baltimore the following res
olution was adopted:
"Resolved, That we commend the
practice of those churches In our order
that set apart one Sunday In each year
as Children’s Day, when parents bring
to the altar their most precious treas
ures and give them to the Lord by ap
propriate and sacred rites."
That the interest had already spread
beyond denominational lines was mani
fest when the next year, 1868, the
Methodist general conference recom
mended the setting apart of the second
Sunday In June as Children's Day, and
In 1872 made it a law of the Methodist
church to observe the day. In 188J the
Presbyterian church adopted the day
by a hearty vote, and the same year
the Congregatlonallst body through n
committee appointed for that purpose,
recommended the observance of the
second Sunday In June as Children's
Day, and In 1886 the National Council
approved of this action."
In 1897 It was claimed that more
than half of the Congregatlonallst
churches observed tho day, and this
year, fifty years after Its establishment.
It seems safe to say that tho large ma
jority of Protestant churches, will be
partakers In the unquestioned benefits
of this beautiful custom.
In many of the Universalist churches
who were tho earliest followers of the
most excellent example of Dr. Leonard,
the day was first known as “Christen
ing Sunday," and on that day parents
w*ere especially urged to bring their
children to the altar for dedication in
Christian baptism. In the year 1867,
on the -econd Sunday In June, being
the tenth anniversary of the establish
ment of tho day by Dr. Leonard, the
pastor of the Universalist church In
Charlestown, Mass., christened one
hundred and twelve children, pinking
the day Indeed a memorable one for
many loving and anxious hearts.
The day has always been observed In
the Universalist church as one of truly
serious Import and deep spiritual sig
nificance. On that day we bring Into
the house of Ood His three best gifts
to man—children, flowers and music,
and by dedicating them all tcrHIs wor
ship and His service do we render most
acceptable thanks for His goodness.
Larger Significance of the Day.
It Is fitting that we should give
hearty thanks also at this time, for the
larger spiritual significance of this day.
The world's changed attitude toward
the child Indicates that we are really
getting on toward civilization. We
have not yet arrived. It Is true, but we
are on the way. We are not ready to
declare that children are even in our
day receiving the sort of religious nur.
turc to which they have a divine right.
Until our religious educators shall dis
cover some method of imparting the
—— w rudiments of moral Instruction to the
the custom, and revealed its beauty plastic soul without cramming a lot of
entirely Indigestible theology Into the
tender, expanding mind, we shall
scarcely have reached the goal of re
ligious Instruction. So long as mythol
ogy U given to tho child as fact, and
tradition has precedence over science
and reason In tho curriculum of the
Sunday school, and implicit belief
which staggers even childish creduli
ty. Is declared to be absolutely essential
to righteousness, so long must wo face
me humiliating discovery that very
much of the-most careful and con
scientious work of devoted teachers
shall bo Inevitably undone by tho
mind's later contact with tho world of
prosaic and unescapable facta.
But. notwithstanding tho crudities
and contradictions of our present re
ligious educational system, we are get
ting on: Certainly the children aro not,
as heirs of religion, so generally neg
lected In our homes and churches as
they were fifty years ago. Training
schools for Sunday school teachers are
on every hand. It Is no longer a bur
den, a duty, a task to teach a class In
the Sunday school. It has become on
eagerly prized privilege. Bible schools
Increase and multiply, and some of
them there are whoee leaders have
been given sufficient wisdom from on
high to make them more anxious to
Indues their students to seek the ett-
tain benefits of a careful and reason
able and rational study of the 8acred
literature than they aro to prepare
these students to defend the Bible from
attack. Men aro really becoming more
willing to study the Blblo than to quar
rel with each other concerning Its ori
gin and Its nature.
And may we not also catch an en
couraging hint or that spiritual and
fraternal unity which God has evident
ly designed should come through diver
sity, that so many religious bodies of
differing creeds should gratefully ap
propriate and use as truly the com
mon bounty of a common Father, a
beautiful and valuable religious ob
servance, even though-tho way thither
was shown, and the Jewel revealed by
a body so long regarded as a theo
logical pariah?
"In the fellowship of this common
blessing we join with the editor of Tho
Congregatlonallst In tho wish that ‘this
festival may be fostered and kept for
these purposes by all our churches, os
coming generations holding its bless
ings tenderly In their memories trans
mit It to their children and their chil
dren's children.’." ,
A Busy Day at the White House
By JAMES J. MONTAGUE. '
Just send word to Ohio, Loeb, to whoop It up for Taft,
Thru cot an artist am! a horse, sod hart* me photographed;
Announce that any army man who can*t Jump twelve feet niue
Upon hla horse may never more be officer of mine.
Wrlto Burroughs that his article on cowaUjm is mistaken—
Cows never slip-then get my gnu and have my picture taken.
Jnst cable old King Kdwnrd, Loch, to take no steps until
I get a little time to draft a brand new Irish bill.
Advise tho Kaiser that the plans he’s trying to get through
To keep his people satisfied and happy will nut do.
Inform tho Csar that he's In Imd—hla Government Is tainted.
Write Chapter Six of "1 and Me," then get my portrait painted.
Apprise these senile scientists who seek to Isolate
The cancer bug that they've not got their theories on straight.
Who's at the door? Taft? Garfield? No! I can't see them today.
You say It's a photographer? Admit him right away.
Jacobs* Prescriptions
There is more to the proper filling of a prescription than la appar
ent at first glance. The success of ths physielsn, the health, the very Ilfs
of ths patient is dependent upon the care and judgment of ths com
pounder, and tha quality of tho material he uses.
Accuracy is everything, and the pharmaceutical chemist must give
his entire mind and thought to this one particular line, if he Is to give
the best that is in him.
Jacobs’ Prescription Department
has prepared for this contingency, and In this department maintains four
expert pharmacists who devote their entire time to the filling of prescrip
tions, They have no other duty and no other thought, and their experi
ence, coupled with the use of the most complete laboratory of drugs and
chemicals in the United States, supervised by the same executives whoee
care has been the cause of our success, assures both physician and pa
tient
Accurate Service—Fresh Drugs
Reasonable Charges
In building up this unusual establishment we have borne In mind that
the rudiments of the druggist'e succees is tha proper dispensation of drygs.
Our service Is prompt. We maintain a messenger service that will call
for and deliver your order,
Jacobs* Pharmacy
6-8-10 Marietta Street. 23 Whitehall Street.
INDEPENDENT ICE CO.,
349 WHITEHALL STREET
Manufacturers of Pure Distilled Water Ice. Prompt deliveries
mads in the city. Carloads shipped to country points. Bell phone 536,
West, Atlanta phone 4343, E. B. HARVEY, Manager.
YOUR GIRL
Will Appreciate a Visit to the
V. D. L. Company’s
Soft Drink Parlors. -The Prettiest and
Mott elaborate of ita kind
In the 3outh.
CORNER BROAD AND MARIETTA
8TREETS.
BELL PHONE 520.
We Clean Clean and Dye
Prompt and satisfactory service—on*
trial makes you a regular customer.
Franklin Cleaning and
Dyeing Company.
166 Whitehall StreeL