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January 1, 1913 ]
THE BRIEF i.
By Rfr, Geo. L
"Always taeJp under dog" is a
homely saying, a quasi-proverb, that
meets a kindly response In evory heart.
Somewhat In this spirit may 1 venture
n word in behakf of that friendless
waif, "The Brief Popular Statement?"
This Is now in progress of preparation.
will 'be submitted to the next AaaAmhiv
nti.i will then run the usual
gauntlet, If indeed It has not already
begun. For, as 1 remember, scarcely
a word of commendation or approval
or defense has yet been uttered, save
one voice (beyond the sea. Dr. Matthews
of London; while per oontra there has
been quite a chorus of crttlciem and
condemnation, begun ere the Assemfbly
adjourned, and continued alrooat to the
present
Now, without formally replying to
any of these objections, there are several
considerations that really aneet
them', and tend I thdmk to show the
i>ftBOA?aWanaoe /V# fha wvminot on A ?f-V*o
use and value of trtie Brief Statement
rhould It be adopted.
And drat, an Illustration. Here is
an army- of conquest and occupation.
It has been long at work, and with
vary ing fortunes has made great advances
and many permanent conquests,
yet "there remaineth very much iand
to be possessed," and Just now there
is renewed interest (and greatly Increased
efforts to go up and possess
this unoccupied country. In all this
work the artillery has played a most
important part; the "heavy artillery"
in permanent batteries and on gTeat
warships, the "field batteries" with the
armies and taking part in great battles,
and the "horse artillery" with guns
of lighter weight as part of the cavalry
equipment; these all after 'thorough
trial and proved most useful and effective.
But Just now in thiu new, aggressive
campaign it has been found
that none of these weapons -uro available
at certain times and places; the
advance guards, the scouting parties,
and those on the firing aud picket
lines have been greatly annoyed and
retarded by a sort of guerilla warfare,
and by frequent attacks from "bushwhackers"
who strike suddenly and retire
quickly. Js'o guns now on hand
avail here: what seems to he needed
are a few Gatllng gurre, or other small
and light rapid-fire guns, that can be
carried anywhere, used instantly, and
with deadly effect. So the officers lr
comi:wa<mJ apply to the war department
for a supply of these light guns, s?
much needed, so easily supplied, and
which they are sure wild prove so effective
In this great forward fovement
What response would be given
should -be given, to such a request!
Why granted of course, all would say
Rut suppose instead of a favorable answer,
this suggestion and reouesl
should meet froni some officials aiul
soldiers only coldmess, Indifference
neglect and even ridicule with hints ol
cowardice or at least lack of a true
heroic spirit; while others remlni
these malcontents, as they term them
of the splendid equipment already pos
M'ssod and of the magmiftcent worl
done In the past by this arm of tin
service thus equipped, and then ex
hort that they cease talking counsel o
their fears and looking for newer an?
better weapons, hut rather eultlvati
n different mui ?**? ?*? ?*?
I hearts of the soldiers themselves, to
the gTeat neefl is not different -weapon
'nit a different esprit de corps, not nei
snns hut new men, real men, jenuinsoldiers.
One can hardly imagjlne Mmch rdpUe
*<> ?uch mrggestlons and ra^ue^f, Ye
(AC Hlltttttl.
STATEMENT
Leybnm, D. D.
is not this very much the way in whioh
some good brethren, and even one or
two Presbyteries, have regarded this
request for a shorter and 'more easily
understood statement* of what Calvinism
is and what Presbyterians believe
and teach? I know very well that no
lllustration is ever perfect and complete;
but I believe that this is a fair
illustration and substantially complete.
And if 60. it largely meets the difficulties
and answers the Objections
brought against the proposed brief
statement, as well as suggesting the
reasons for It and the benefits to flow
from it.
"Let me further ask two simple, prac
tical questions: Here is a plain labor
ing man, sensible, intelligent and in
comfortable circumstances, a fair average
man of the great middle class
or "common people" such as "heard
Himi gladly." He comes to a Presbyterian.
pastor and sayB: We are strangers
here, live near your church, go
to your Sunday school, and we like
what we have seen and heard; but
before Joining jour church l? want to
know what Presbyterians believe, and
teach. What would this pastor do?
(Aud thds is imy first question.) Would
he give him the Confession of Faith,
paying, Here, you will find fully stated
all you wish, to know? Would >he? "I
trow not" Certainly not, if he was
n wise man. Because he knows that
to give the Confession a thorough and
satisfactory examination three things
are needful, viz., Time, for it cannot
be done in an hour, or a day, or a
week. Ability, good sense and a trained
Intellect ae well; and will, a strong,
determined purpose to do this hard
work and carry it through to the end.
But the fact is that not many average
men have any one of these, while not
one in a hundTed possesses all three.
What then? Why he would igive him
"WKnt ViaHava " nr "W.hv T otyi n
Presbyterian," or "The Creed of Presbyteriane,"
or some such books and
tracts. Would he not? Wouldn't you?
Again. Here is a man of the same
class and character out on the frontier.
He comes in the same spirit to one
of our Home Missionaries (this is not
an imaginary case). And he says, We
are about to join -with you people, but
our neighbor's preacher heard of it,
I and came over and said, You are not
( going to Join that Presbyterian church.
are you? Do you know what they be(
ileve? Their Book teaches that Jesus
died only- for the elect, sa.re whom God
has chosen from eternity; that all the
rest were foreordained to eternal death
before they were born, their names are
, known and their number fixed, so that
they cannot be saved no matter what
they do; tha: all Christians are 1101
t only sinners, but are all the time sinj
?in-?, that even the best of them <lt
every day break God's commandments
?some of them, all of them?In thought
, word and deed; and that while soim
I infants dying In infancy, the elect ones
are saved, the rest must be lost.
Now, continues this friendly am
c honest Inquirer, I want to know abou
? this; !>lease lend me your book am
- mark the places so I can see for aiy
f self. And this is done. What then
1 In a few days perhaps he returns, look
* ing troubled, and says: You book seemi
a to teach very much what that preach
r er said, If I understand it; and tha
s surely is not the way God talks atoou
v these subjects in the 'Bible as I read It
* Now, what Is this domestic mission
sry to do? (This is my second ques
s tion, and one not very easy to answer.
!t But two things at least he must tr;
*
A. M Of X B JB SOUTH
and do. One and the hardest, he muet
show that the Confession does not i
mean and teach certain things charged
against it; the other, that what it really
does teach and mean is Scriptural
and true. In any case he has a hard
jdb, and 'will be a happy man if he
holds this inquirer and his family for
the Presbyterian church.
Now. I ask in all candor, would it
not be a good thing in such and similar
cases to ihave a brief statement which
could be used with a remark like this:
"Here ie what Presbyterians believe
the Bibfle teaches: 3t Is plain, short,
easy to understand, yet authoritative
and complete, covering the whole
ground and including all important
truths and vital doctrines. PreSbyte
i lane iftiiu v^auiuiDio uuiu anu yicavu
nothing other or different from -what
Is found In this." What a godsend
such a Brief Statement would be to
many on the frontiers, and to many
elsewhere as well! And what possible
barm could come of It?
Ix>s Angeles, Cal.
COMMUTING THE SENTENCE.
Edward E. Lane.
Just a month ago there st re aimed into
the capitol in Richmond, Virginia, a
long line of people, lawyers, judges,
business men, an author of note, society
women, ministers. Many carried sheaves
of petitions signed by thousands of
people, praying the commutation of the
sentence of death of a young mountaineer.
He was a imurderer and had
tried to escape, hut the strong arm of
the law had reached into the coves and
the silences of the forest, and had
drawn him out to trial and to sentence
of death. In impassioned words and
with tears, those who plead for him.
told of his youbh, the (bonds that bound
his clan together, the false mountain
Ideals of honor, the bad example that
had led him to join in the murder and
destruction of a Virginia court. They
begged that justice mdght (be tempered
with mercy, and that his youth and his
heedlessness of consequences might
mitigate the heavy penalty of death.
In the mountains of Virginia thouson/la
Vavq on^ o-trla tiro im^Ar RATI
tence of ignorance, Illiteracy, and lawlessness,
perhaps some day the penitentiary
and death. They are our own
blood brothers, chlldrens of the same
race. Their ancestors fought with ours
under fJcotch end English banners on
many a blooded battle field. Their
forefathers were part and parcel of the
Invincible Infantry that followed "Washington
through the Revolution to Independence.
The clean facee, lithe
bodies, nnd eagle eyes of these children
of the hills tell of a race of pos
slble plants. They should htave be?n
, swept into the fcTeat currents of enlightenment
and process. Their misfortune
Is to have been stranded in the
backwaters of the stream' of life.
The Presfovtery of .Montgomery, and
, through It the Women's Missionary So,
cietles of the Synod of Virginia, are
. undertaking to lift the sentence of fall5
ure and despair from the mountain children,
On Shooting Creek, in Floyd
county. Virginia, are one hundred and
seventy-five foovs and girls. without
1 school or chnrch. There are an equal
f n timber of children at another place
' In nlmnct aa destitute a state. The
Presfbvterv erf Montgomerv wishes to
bull<? end enuln two schools. Money Is
greatly needed. TT onlv one of these
' mountain oMldren was under sentence
of desth. ten thousand voices would
1 rrv, "Save the cdilld." Is the heart of
4 Virginia not tender enowrh and loving
enough to guard all the children of the
~ coves and the vallevs from-the ways of
" death? Who will help commute the
) sentence? The tragerfles of the mouny
tains now challenge the church to carry
"T' (1431) 17
ner message of Jlfe. Who will take up
the challenge?
Change your sympathy into money
?nd send It to Rev. D. J. Woods, Treasurer,
Blaoksburg, Virginia.
MID-CHINA MISSION.
lue annual meeting or tne MlseiOli
is usually held in the latter part of
the summer, and on Mohkanshan, just
before returning for work: and 19 the
occasion for balancing books, reviewing
the past year's work, and making
plane for the next. It is then that we
pause to eee where we are, whence
we have come; and, as far as we can,
whither we go.
Looking at the work as a whole, there
is much far which to be thankful, for
though it has been neceseary to do the
work under most trying and unprecedented
conditions, yet there has been
progress all along the line. And while
the gains numerically have been small;
yet there has been, almost universally,
a gradual and healthy growth. And.
If in spite of the disintegrating influence
of a revolution and its paralyzing
effect on trade and life in general, and
in a year of famine and famine fevers
which demanded toll of Christians as
well as heathen, as was the case in
H<angohorw, the Chirrch is able to make
progress, it is surely not the work of
man alone. And we would certainly
not fail to mention, the growth in spirituality,
and a growth not In spite of
the conditions but ratherr because of
them, for In one of the reports from
Kiaogyin, after a description of the
wild excitement and abject fear on tbe
part of the people, which ended in a
stampede In which about sewen-tenth
of the people left, we read: "The Christians
stood calm. Oh, how they prayed
and fasted, and God only knows how
much this time of waiting upon Him
In prayer meant to all."
In listening to the reports from the
various stations, It was impressive to
uuiMje wii.il wiiHi rwguiainiy cne open
door was mentioned and dwelt -upon.
Upon every side you hear that It Is so
much easier to gain access to the people?that
the attitude toward the foreigner
is greatly improved?that those
in higher circles are more sympathetic
and willing to listen. The opportunities.
like the riches of Christ, aTe truly
limitless. Heretofore, on accorunt of
the fact that the country people were
more accessible than those in the city,
much work was done in the country
from' the city, and in getting to this
work one would pass out from amonpst
throngs who knew h-im not. Thus remdndini;
us that our Saviour left the
populous western shore of the Sea of
Galilee and crossed over to the other
side to heal the demoniac, and that he
went down to the coasts of Tyre and
Sidon to cast the devil out of the
daughter of the Syrophenician woman.
And while we thank God for the. country
work and Christians who during
all these years have been more responsive,
It fills our hearts with Joy that
the upper classes in the cities?for as
a rule that Is where they live?are
more Inclined r.o look on our message
with favor. And as a result of this
Increase of IntTes*; or we might porhmps
better say, as a result of the slackening
of orpposition, o\ir'Mission together
with two others have secured land
right in the heart of the city of Hantgchow,
where a great union evangelistic
work Is hoped to be carried on.
The Chinese <have not only done
things politically?casting off the Manchn
reglTine?'bnt have laid aside their
religions to a great extent. One worker
said that she asked a Chinese "woman
what they were doling now since
they had left off serving idols, and t<he
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