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Contributed
"BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM."
By Rev. S. D. Boggs, D. D.
The subject of home missions is being
more widely and thoughtfully considered
at the present time than ever before and
well it may, tor it is the greatest theme
upon which any American can write or
to which any company of Americans can
give attention. Ralph Connor said, "I
believe the next ten years will decide
the following fiity years," and the sequel
proves the truth of *. or?_, i^v now
we must work for fifty years befov't we
will overtake the lost ground, and meantime
a multitude die, thousands of good
men are lost.
The same distinguished home missionary
wrote, "At first I thought it hardly
worth while for a man of my ability and
education to throw myself away upon
lione missions, lr l had heen going to a
great field like China or India, or taking
a tig congregation in Toronto, that would
have been more up to what I thought 1
was fitted for; nevertheless I went. I
soon realized not that I was too big to
throw myself away on the work, but I began
to wish that I had been a great many
big men rolled up into one, so that I
could command a great many lives to
spend in that work." One dollar given
now is worth many times that sum ten
years hence, one missionary now is
worth five missionaries ten years hence,
for this is the formative period. Towns
are springing up and the tide of population
is flowing in fast. This is preeminently
the time to gather the boys
9nH fHrla into tho SnnHflv.fifihonl nnH
mould them for Christ.
Work in the Appalachian Mountains.
The next forward step In the discharge
of the debt we owe to the growing boys
and girls in their Appalachian mountain
homes, is to build, as did our fathers, in
the earlier years of our civilization, the
Christian school by the side of the
church. We believe Dr. R. L. Dabney
and others were right In their contention
that education severed from the Bible
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wuuiu piuve a, euiae moicau ui a uicoa*
ing. We believe the problem of education
in the mountain districts will find
its solution in grafting the industrial
feature upon our schools and colleges.
We are moving along this line in the
schools alreadv established. At Phelps
Collegiate Institute we have a sewing
class for the girls, and we are trying to
raise the money with which to buy fifty
acres of land for farming purposes, which
will give employment to the boys. There
are other industries that we hope to see
in successful operation at Argo and Freeburn,
the last a new mission in process
of being established within five miles of
our central station at Phelps.
The Secular Schools Inadequate.
The secular schools established by the
State can not in the very nature of the
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\ QDC uc 1 CllglUUO IIIOLIIU HV/lIO| auu IUCJT
:f.re Inadequate to supply the need of this
IE PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
wide territory. I can locate a district
in Kentucky, within a given area, embracing
eighteen hundred children where
less than nine per cent, attend school,
where a majority of the teachers are notoriously
immoral and several hold third
class certificates. As this condition is
not exceptional, it is evident that there
can be no improvement along educational
lines unless the teachers are imported,
and the only hope of any uplift must
come from denominational schools. The
Church must furnish the teachers or
leave the children exposed to the degrading
influences of immoral and incompetent
teachers.
What tongue can tell or pen portray
the power for good of a cultured, Christian
woman who gives her life in the day
school and Sunday-school to the children
at the most impressible age. What a revolution
is wrought in their ideals of life
from her example, to say nothing of the
sweet Gospel songs they catch from her
tongue and the spirit of the Master they
see illustrated in her life. Such a work
is being done at the new mission established
four months ago at Argo, in Pike
county, with the help of the General Assembly's
Home Mission Committee and
other generous friends of the work.
A great change has been wrought at
this place since the time the writer stood
under an arbor on the very spot where
now stands a church and about him were
gathered scores of little children who
had never heard of the Lord's prayer,
and from a large congregation assembled
for worship came the response,
"There are no Christians in this country."
Here is a sncaaaHnn tn mir vrama-^r
? OO ?vv J ^u?ibvi
ministers. Before decidiing on your life
work, learn the facts. Go to the rapidly
developing centers and really study the
facts; see the situation and you will conclude
that the possibilities and opportunities
of the home field deserve immediate
and heartfelt attention.
It has been well said, "Every man is
facing inevitable and eternal bankruptcy
except as he invests his life and his
treasures in spiritual things, for spirit
uai tilings alone can abide."
Oh! for a baptism of the Holy Spirit that
will gird the Church of God with power
for the accomplishment of her mission
in the home land; then, indeed, will the'
love of God be known far across the sea,
and the light of God's truth will illumine
the nations sitting in darkness and to His
name shall be the praise forevermore.
Louisville, Ky.
There is a parable in the photographic
plate. Expose it to the glare of the glowing
sun outside of the camera and thp
flood of sunlight which falls upon it will
not take a picture. But shut it up in the
dark box, admit only the rays that can
force their way through the lens, and a
photograph will be outlined distinctly
and clearly. There are results in life that
the full flood of prosperity can not produce.
But confinement in narrow bounds,
and the darknesB of privation and isolation,
may produce marvelous results.
UTH January 12, 1910.
THE BIBLE IN VENICE.
I am asked, "What sense is there in
equipping with the Scriptures the Italian
returning to Venice?" My answer
is, "Common sense."
It is to be admitted that it does look
strange. The symbol of the city is, as
all visitors know, a lion with a Bible in
his paw, and the words "Pax tibi, Marce
Evangelista meus" (Peace to thee, Mark,
my evangelist). The lion is taken from
Revelation IV, 7 and Ezekiel I, 10, as
representing St. Mark. The motto is
explained upon the legend that St. Mark
was wrecked on the rialto ("riva alto,"
high bank) when an angel hovered over
him, proclaiming that the day would
come when the bank on which he lay
would be the site of a flourishing city.
That lion, "the lion of St. Mark," with its
open Bible, is seen everywhere. Visit
the Duomo, and your first impression is
of that figure surmounting the center
door. Admire the old cerulean clock
miii us star-spangled lace, In the gray
old tower of the Merceria, and there it
is again, looking down on you. At the
palace of the doges it guards the entrance.
Away up on uie noble granite
monolith of the Piazetta it crowns a
splendid summit. On the banners of the
boats on the grand canal it floats emblazoned.
On the public buildings and on
many of the private buildings it is conspicuous.
Always, everywhere, that
symbol. Additions are frequently made
to the motto. Among these we find
Benedictus nos Deus. (Bless us, O
God!) and Soli Deo laus, honor et gloria.
(Only to God be praise, honor, and
glory!)
All this, together with the frequent
crosses, would seem to indicate that
Venice must be biblically religious. But,
do you know, there would be no exaggeration
in saying that if you asked every
one of the 125,000 inhabitants of Venice,
"What book is that which is seen represented
everywhere?" probably not one in
500 would be able to give a definite answer.
Try the question, and with a profound
shake of the head, they answer,
"O, it is a book!" Always "a book," and
never, by any elasticity of meaning,
' The Book."
If we go to the beautiful old Church
of San Marco, there la nn nnn
more striking than the pictorial Bible
which is spread out before the eyes.
There the contents are held up everywhere
by the paw of the lion, and exhibited
and explained. We admire the
mosaics of the corridor and the domes,
and find that they all deal with scenes
from the Old Testament. We walk
through the church, admiring still more
the mosaics of living color that incrust
the walls, and discover that all are representative
of the New Tpstampnf That
which Is perhaps the most striking is the
one above the Inner door, where Jesus
sits, garbed in a long, flowing, blue oriental
robe, with an open Bible in one hand,
and the other hand raised as in the attitude
of teaching. Look close at the text
on the open page, and we read, "I ana
the door; by me if any man enter in he