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13? the presbyters
infirmaries and sanitariums.
We should rejoice at the increased attention that is
"being given to supplying the temporal comforts and
relieving the nhvsiral rlictrocene i..-1 t>??
0 ,?j - v.wi. \ji nici11is.iiiu. i nere
is little danger that religion will degenerate into mere
philanthropy, though there are some perversions of religion
that professedly assume that form. That which
gives philanthropy a genuine stability and permanent
effectiveness is the faith of the Son of God who loved
us and gave Himself for us. Vital godliness is so pervasive
in its influence, and so multiform in its manifestations
that it imparts its character in some degree to
those who are not its immediate subjects and who are
unconsciously and perhaps unwillingly constrained by
its holy principles. Romanism is today changing
character under this constraint, and Mohammedanism
is beginning to feel and be moved by its mighty im
pulse.
Nothing is plainer in reading the gospels than that
our Lord in his ministry gave a large po'vion of his toil
nnrl tli^nrrlit ^1 ?1 * *
?^ ivy supply mg me pnysicai wants ot his
fellow-men and relieving their suffering. We delight to
call him the great physician of whom it is said that
"great multitudes followed him and he healed them
all." His holy nature was burdened with solicitude
for immortal souls, but not to the exclusion of profound
compassion for the sufferings of the people, and of
devoted ministration in relief of that suffering.
If his followers are to faithfully live the life to which
he called them by precept and by his example, they
must be responsive to the appeal for sympathy and
help wherever it may fall upon their ears. It is not
simply a humane act to come to the relief of want or
pain; it is Christ-like, and to regard the ills of suffering
fellow-beings with stoicism is un-Christian.
It is not just possible that insufficient emphasis has
been placed upon the need and the opportunity in this
department of Christian service. Our country has
grown rich. Many educational institutions have grown
rich in endowment beyond the dream of a few years
ago. Appalling sums are spent by cities, States, and
the general government on public officers and on commercial
and diplomatic experiments. A billion dollar
congress is the order of the day, but how little has been
expended hitherto in sanitariums and sanitation. We
are awaking to the mighty task, and the long, loud cry
of the neglected sick and infirm has secured a hearing,
but there is urgent need for prompt, generous, heroic
action.
This is an age of method. Systematic organization
is essential to the best efficiency in any field of large
achievement. If Church or State is to render its besi
service, it must be through intelligent organization and
concert. This is eminently true of any adequate attempt
to relieve the physical sufferings of the masses
of the people, and check the ravages of disease.
In many States already there are health commissioners
who are rendering valuable aid to the commonwealth
by publishing information and employing preventive
agencies against the spread of disease. In behalf
of such public service, we would enter an earnest
plea. Let it be supported by an appreciative public
sentiment, and let it be developed by liberal endowment
from the public treasury.
Why should not the churches in all large centers of
i /
lN OF THE SOUTH February 2, 1910.
population found hospitals or endow those that are already
founded, and this, not for the benefit of the
wealthy, but for those who can not afford the expense
of the best medical treatment? In all our cities and in
rural communities are invalids who are dying by slow
stages, whose lives might be saved to their families
and to the community, if only they were able to secure
needed nursing and medical or surgical treatment.
\\ ny should not the btatc or municipal government
provide institutions for the proper treatment of its invalid
citizens who arc unable to bear the expense themselves?
Physicians all over the land are giving their
services freely and generously to such ministration, but
they can not provide needed appliances, and care in
multitudes of cases, and to place the entire burden on
them is unjust. The State provides schools for the
mental training of our children. Is it not consistent
with such a policy that the State shall make provision
for the physical welfare of its people? In times past
the task seemed too formidable; public resources did
not justify such an undertaking, but the wealth of the
people and public revenues have been multiplied in
recent years, and the barriers arc correspondingly removed.
As the case now stands in most communities, hospitals
and sanitariums arc available for the prosperous.
The expense can be met without embarrassment, but
to those dependent 011 daily wages, or limited incomes,
the necessary cost is prohibitive, and every day invalids
are wasting away with disease when they might /
be restored to health under the skillful treatment that
modern medical science is able to bestow.
Shall not those, who, in the providence of God, have
been entrusted with wealth, endow institutions where
thpir miffprintr nnrl f?l1 ?- , ,
icnuw-men snail be cured
of disease and restored to the active duties of useful
citizens? Does not the anguish of physical suffering
appeal to our sympathies, and shall we not ally ourselves
with him "who went about all Galilee teaching in
their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom,
and healing all manner of sickness and all manner
of disease among the people"?
THE MESSENGER AND HIS MESSAGE.
On the occasion of the celebration of the one hundredth
anniversary of the New York Bible Society, Dr.
David James Burrell preached a sermon in the Marble
collegiate Church, New York, on "The Present Bible
Famine in the Land." In this remarkably interesting
and forceful discourse the speaker said some very plain
and timely things about preachers and the subject-matter
of their preaching. Before concluding he was careful
to say, "If I have given the impression that the
Church generally is suffering from this famine of the
Word, I have greatly missed my purpose. For I beleive
that the Church generally is loyal to the Book and
loyal to the great doctrines contained in it. I have
spoken not of a theory, but of a condition which in
some quarters is an indisputable fact."
The Bible conceptions of the minister is that he is
the herald of the gospel of the grace of God. He has
a divine commission, a divinely given message, and has
the assurance of divinp r?rv..r~- ?. ?
__ - iu maKe his message ef- J
fective. Upon this point the speaker said:
"There is nothing greater than to be a preacher of