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THE PULPIT. AN ELOOUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY THE REV. H. MARTIN, PH. D. Subject: The Abundant Life. Brooklyn, N. Y.—Sunday morning, In the First Church of Christ (Disci¬ ples), the pastor, the Rev. Herbert Martin, Ph. D., preached on “Religion and Life.” The text was from John 10:10: “ I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly." Dr. Martin said: Christ came not to teach a theol¬ ogy primarily, if at all, hut to give life, more life. He came to give life to others rather than live a self-cen¬ tered life. I came that they may have life. He came to give life here and now. His emphasis was upon the present life. He that hath the Son hath life. Life in the future is a corailary to present life. To have life here and now is the only guarantee, tho only possibility of future life. The value and need of religion for the present life are being emphasized to-day as at no time since the early Christian era. This identification of religion and life tends to make re¬ ligion a normal phenomenon in hu¬ man experience. Religion has long suffered because of its almost ex¬ clusive other-world emphasis. Its re¬ moval to the future as the proper sphere of its activity, Its other-world advantages caused men to regard It ns an abstract, vague and unreal, and to treat it as having little practical benefit for the present. Under such conditions religion would be disre¬ garded, or, If accepted, it would be In nn almost altogether objective way as a precautionary measure, and thus never become a vital element in the program of daily life. Tho normal man is intensely Interested in the present, and in the sweet, by-and-by only as it is related to his present interest. If religion is to cut any real figure in this life it can do so only as it links itself to and identifies itself with his present interests. And this religion is capable of doing, and Is doing. The Master identified Himself with the life of the people; In fact, He came that Ho might give life to the people. The same hopeful sign is discovera¬ ble in the edflcatlonal world. Com¬ pare the curricula of the schools and colleges of other days with those of to-day and how ovidont is the differ¬ ence. Education as preparation for living in the far future, even of the present life, does not and never did appeal to the normal mind unless the appeal was effected through a liberal application of physical force. Since the days of Rousseau education as mere preparation has gradually and beautifully fallen into disrepute. Ed¬ ucators have discovered the practical¬ ly complete absorption of the child in tho present. They have discovered, furthermore, that even the young child must live while being educated, and that ns such it. must enjoy certain rights. As a result of these discov¬ eries education is no longer a mere formal process whose goal is utterly remote from the present life inter¬ ests. Education aims to equip the student for present living since he must live while he is in process of being educated. You cannot take a hoy of fifteen years and educate him for some position at thirty and ex¬ pect him to fill that position satisfac¬ torily if you wholly disregard the fact that he lives and must live from fifteen to thirty. Modern education takes noto of this and seeks, while looking toward the future, to qualify the student in the largest way to live the fullest life in the present days and by so living will he be able to realize those future expectations. In addi¬ tion to form, education gives content, or better, to-day minds are formed and fashioned by giving them a con¬ tent. Education and religion seek to vitalize tho present and out of it to make possible the future. Their aim is one, inspired by the Master, to give more life. Jesus came with life for the peo¬ ple and brought it to the people. He sought the people. He went out af¬ ter them instead of waiting for the people to come to Him. His life was one of faith in God and service to and among men. He came to min¬ ister, and did minister. He tame to give life and He gave it every day. The life of men was being enriched and ennobled Vo as He gave Himself, His life them each day. The giv¬ ing of His life on the cross was, from this point of view, the final act of that life which was, par excellence, the life-giving lifer Organized re¬ ligion is beginning to go out after and to the people. Churches have long since ceased to be built whose entrances are guarded by Iron gates and padlocks. “Strangers welcome,” that condescending phrase, does not appear so frequently on our church signs. Religion has girded herself for service. She is working in the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations, and Is found In settlement and slum work. Her voice is heard in the factory noon-day meetings, on the street corners, in the theatres and in all the busy haunts of men. Organized religion is hearing the Master’s voice, is catch¬ ing His inspiration who said, “1 came that they may have life.” So of edu¬ cation. It is being given to the peo¬ ple. It is no longer the peculiar privilege of the few. The people are being sought out and compelled to be educated. Education is for the peo¬ ple and is being given to the people. Education aims to give more fife to the individual, and more life for more individuals. It is true that knowledge enlarges one's world and contributes to his survival. His hori¬ zon is widened, his ideas and ideals are enlarged, he discovers a deeper meaning in things, life takes on other and better aspects; in short, he pos¬ sesses a larger life. This larger life, more life, Is becoming possible for more Individuals. While this is true, there remains yet much to be desired in our public schools, high schools and colleges. Let us remember that in our system the higher the grade the fewer the pupila; that out of one hundred pupils who enter public schools only twenty-five stay long enough to read and write; that only twenty out of one hundred stay longer than the fifth grade; that less than one out of one hundred who enter our public schools graduate from the high schools; that a small proportion of high school graduates enter col¬ lege, and that a small percentage of those who enter college remain until graduation; all this in the face of the fact that our system is graded largely toward the university. If ed¬ ucation gives life it should give more life to a greater number of indi¬ viduals. Jesus taught that the ninety and nine that were safe within the fold could not furnish an excuse for the neglect of the one that was away. With these things in mind should we rest content with that system which saves the one to the neglect of the ninety and nine? To produce snch a result, no one cause is adequate. It has been fre¬ quently said, and with truth, that the course of study does not have suf¬ ficient vital contact with the life and interest of the pupil, and consequent¬ ly, because of its lack of interest for him, fails to hold him. Rapid pro¬ gress, however, Is being made In our own city toward the correction of such undesirable conditions. Anoth¬ er cause, more deep-seated and more serious, Is the growing commercial spirit of the day. The dollar Is the circle of life. Men sell the.r own souls and put under tribute their Children’s for dollars. There Is great need for resolute struggle against the allurements of dollars. Too many altars are being bullded to the god of gold; too many souls are being sacri¬ ficed upon these altars. It 1 b hard, yes, well nigh Impossible, to trans¬ mute commercial ideals, dollars and cents Into more abundant life. Our course of study may well need revision, may require a radical change in content. But our greatest need is larger and truer Ideals established firmly in the hearts and minds of our boys and girls. A greater emphasis must be placed upon moral and Ideal than upon material and commercial values. The voice In defense of the child’s inalienable rights, his heritage of moral and religious ideals, should ring deep into the hearts of parents. Parents need to learn that the dollar Is not the goal of life, that the child Is more than the victim of a parent’s base ideals; that he is more than a money-making machine. They need to learn that the child ha3 a self-hood to he developed, a soul to be cultured, and a destiny to be achieved. To take a child out of school and compel him to earn money is to deny him his rights, is to degrade him. For parents to do so 1 b Belfish, brutal, im¬ moral. 1 repeat that one of the great¬ est evils that threaten our nation i3 our too complete allegiance to com¬ mercial Ideals. Our mad rush for gold makes us a nation of individuals rather than a democracy. Christ says, “No man llveth unto himself.” In Now York it sometimes seems as though every man reversed that prin¬ ciple. Individualism is a menace to the life of the republic. There is, as never before, a crying need for parents and teachers to exalt moral and spiritual values; a need to de¬ throne the god of gold and to re¬ enthrone the God of old; a need to engrave upon the very physical and spiritual fiber of the child’s nature the exceeding, the incomparable worth of moral character. Parents themselves need to possess and prop¬ erly estimate these ideals and then to instill them and give them first placo in the hearts of their children. Such ideals of truth and righteousness, im¬ plying as they do a profounder sense of social obligation, will contribute in tho highest degree to the enrichment of human life, to a more abundant life. Mighty possibilities are resident in the teacher's vocation because of tho material with which he works. Eter¬ nal consequences follow therefrom. The true teacher spends little time waiting for pay day to come. His is a worthier work than that of a mere wage earner. He is a maker for social betterment, not a mere hire¬ ling. As with the preacher, right¬ eousness is his concern; with God he is a co-worker. That our teachers might feel that they are called of God and are doing God’s work, there was a Man sent from God who was named Teacher. He Himself says His mis¬ sion was to give a more abundant life. That was His mission, that was His religion, that was His life. The religious aspect of the teacher’s work, the religion of education, if you will, is a subject worthy of more thought than it has received. While there is an imperative need for teachers with ideals, we must not forget that the ideals must be of pos¬ sible attainment. We need, then, sane teachers, teachers balanced by perspective. False ideals, ideals be¬ yond the realm of the possible, held up before the young, defeat tho teacher’s purpose. Hold up before a boy an impossible ideal, making him struggle toward its realization until one day its utter absurdity dawns upon him, and with what result? His cherished idol falls and with it there come tumbling down all his ideal con¬ structs. In this day when our college presidents are little more than money gatherers, when our school principals are little more than clerical workers, there is a positive need for teachers with lofty ideals, but ideals within the realm of possible achievement. Impossible ideals made for lawless¬ ness rather than for righteousness and the betterment of life. We need, finally, to rediscover the meaning of life, to learn that a man’s life eousisteth not in the abundance Everything to Build With. We have recently purchased the Harris Manufacturing Company’s lumber plant and stock and will devote our exclusive attention to the builders supply busines in tho future. Our very complete stock includes Brick, Lime, Sand, Cement, Fiber Wall Plaster, Paris Plaster, Laths, Framing—rough or sized to order; Weatherboarding—several grades; Sheeting. Shingles, Prepared Rooting, Kiln Dried Flooring and Ceiling, the kind that don’t crack open—several grades; Doors— plain, and fancy glass front doors; Sash and Blinds— in usual sizes; Window Cords, Weights and Pulleys; Mantels, Columns, Balusters, Brackets, Mouldings, Wainscoting, Corner and Plinth Blocks; Turned and Sawed Work Made to Order; Door and Window Frames; Sherwin-Williams Paint, Oils and Varnishes; | Guaranteed Roof Paint. IN FACT j Everything to Build tilith Bring us a list of the material that you want, or a plan of the house you anticipate building, and let us convince you that our prices are right. Fort Valley Lumber Company. of the things that he possesses. We need to rediscover the fact of God, and that in Him we live and move and have our being. He is the source of our life and to find Him is to find fuller life. There is need to re-em¬ phasize the fact of Christ as the Re vealer of the true life which is the life of service. The life of the world has received a new impulse in Him. His faith and practice were that the only way to find life is to give life. Christ gave His life in deeds of loving service oven unto death that the life heritage of humanity might be en¬ riched. He thus emphasized in teach¬ ing and in life social obligation. For Him every enriched life was an in¬ creased social asset. From Him wo learn that the inheritance of life into which we have come must be shared with our fellows and passed on to others enhanced in value by reason of our participation. To give life is to make life more abundant. , FEMININE NEWS NOTES. Dr. V. A. Latyam, of Chicago, and Miss Mary A. Booth, of Springfield, Mass., are said to be the only expert women photomicrographers in this country. The wife of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria is the president of the Bul¬ garian Woman Suffrage Association, which ha sa membership of about 3000 women. Miss Vera Wentworth, a British suffragist, was kept in Holloway jail a day beyond her companions for cutting “Vote For Women! » II on the wall of her cell, Miss Ross Becker has been ap¬ pointed a claim agent and United States pension attorney in Missouri. She has been known for years as one of the most successful women in St. Louis, being a notary public and an insurance agent. To overcome the objection on the part of some women to high-heeled shoes, because of their danger to weak ankles, a Virginia woman has devised a T-shaped piece of metal, to be inserted in the heel of a shoe and extending on either side of the foot to support it. Mrs. A. F. Goddard, of Abington, Mass., has resigned her place as church organist after a service of forty-four years, said to be the longest term of any woman in the church history of New England. She has been a successful director of choruses and quartettes and has pro¬ duced several popular musical compo¬ sitions. FAR EASTERN NOTES. Japan is buying more American iron and steel pipe each year. Japanese business men entertained merchants from the Pacific Coast at a banquet in Tokio. Egypt’s sugar cane crop this year is only 400.000 tons, against 500,000 tons in 1907 and 700,000 tons <n 1906. The sailors of the American fleet at Amoy, China, contested in various sports and the winners received prizes. Things are getting better in British India. The number receiving -State relief is now 639,000 instead of 1,- 375.000. British Columbia’s mineral output in 1907 was of the value of $25,882,- 560, an increase of $902,000 over that of 1906. Taotai Yun in an interview on the Chinese-American alliance at Pekin declared the idea had in it no menace toward any nation. India sends us many rugs. All the pay the good weavers get for making them is sixteen cents a day. Head weavers get $15 a month. The Chinese Government has or¬ dered the total abolition of the cuti vation of the poppy in many prov inces, beginning with the end of the year. Five Chinese pirates of a number who murdered many passengers struggling in the water in the recent shipwreck near Tungan were sent to Amoy to be beheaded. Shanghai in 1907 imported more electrical apparatus and materials, railway materials, bicycles, typewrit¬ ers, graphophones and music boxes than in any prior year. W. H. HAFER, DENTIST. Fort Valley, Georgia Office over First National Bank. C. Z. McArthur, Dentist FORT VALLEY, GA. Office over Slappey's Drug Store. A. C. RILEY, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW, WRIGHT BUILDING, Fort Valley, Ga. Practice in all the courts. Money loaned. Titles abstracted. fire $) Ofe Insurance flL D. Skellie. Office Phone No. 54. FORT VALLEY, GA. C. L. SHEPARD, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW, J Fort Valley, Ga. Office Over First National Bank. TONSORIAL ARTIST For anything in the tonsorial lino don’t fail to call on WILLIAMS Next Door to Post Office. Experienced workmen and courteous at* tention to all. Everything up-to-date. PROMINENT PEOPLE. Richard Croker decided to leave Ireland for a visit to the United States. President C. W. Eliot, of Harvard, resigned, and his resignation, to take effect May 19, 1909, was accepted. Howard Gould won the honors for chrysanthemums at the first day of the National Flower Show in Chicago. Seth Low succeeds James R. Morse In the presidency of the American Asiatic Association, now eleven vears old. Dr. Sven Hedin. the Swedish ex¬ plorer, says that he has discovered the true sources of the Bramaputra and Indus. DeLancey Nicoll, attorney', of New York City, said that Howard Gould’s income had been cut down $300,000 and was now only $400,000. One of the best known mining men in the country, Walter Fitch, has re¬ signed as superintendent of the Cal¬ umet and Hecla properties. Duchess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein was married in Berlin to Prince August William of Prussia, fourth son of the Emperor. R. W. Gilder, of the Century, said that the Kaiser article was not with¬ drawn because of anything in it likely to cause international complications. Kenyon Cox, the painter, is also an accomplished writer. He is a son of General Jacob D. Cox, Secretary of the Interior in President Grant’s first Cabinet. Amid great ceremony the Czar of I Bulgaria convened the National As sembly for the first time since claim ! ing regal dignity, and was enthusias tically cheered by the people, Henry P. Davidson, vice-president j of the First National Bank of New i York, and Professor A. P. Andrews, j | members Commission, of have the National returned Monetary from j an official trip to Europe. Running water helps to run the farm. ' UU> or L E I’VE CAUGHT NO FISH TO-DAY. Oh, Bobby Bear and Bubhy Bear one day For lines a-fishing they went; found bits of for hooks pins some they bent. string— some They angled in the goldfish globe for nearly half a day, While Baby Bear just waited to see what they would say. After they’d fished a long, long time, said Bobby Bear, “ I wish You’d go away , dear Baby Boar—I fear you’ll scare the fish.” “Dey isn’t any fish," said Baby Bear, for, I yesterday, af’aid you’d hurt ’em, I frowed was so ’em all away! ” —St. Nicholas. AMONG GIRLS. “Does she know her to talk to? it “No, only to talk about.”—Smart Set. £3 MISINTERPRETATION. $ 5 A The Peddler—“Peach-es! ” One of the Spinsters—“Flatterer! » —Brooklyn Life. ONE ON HUBBY. n What is an able seaman, ma?” a A man who can stand any number of schooners.”—New York Press. AN APOLOGY REQUIRED. «I Young man, you rescued my wife from the water. it “I beg pardon, sir. I thought it was your daughter.”— Judge. ».4;~ obstacles. * * You would be a good dancer but for two things.” “What are they?" i - Your feet.”—Baltimore American. true both ways. * i The die is cast! > i hissed the vil lain. Then, shaking their gold locks, the chorus bounded on. “It seems,” the critic murmured, < < that the cast is dyed, too.”—New York Press. IN 1910. Elevator Man—“Fiftieth story. Far as we go!” Uncle Hiram (getting out)—■ Gosh, Mandy, that conductor forgot to collect our fares. Come along, quick! We’re a dime in.”—Boston Transcript. $3 SEEKING INFORMATION. 11 Whither away?” asked the cam¬ paign manager. “To join the society of psychic re¬ search,” answered the candidate, “to see whether I have a ghost of a show. 11 —Washington Star. HOW IT HAPPENED. < c Mr. Scribble, how did you happen to write this wonderful work, so pal¬ pitating with human heart interest?” “Oh, my butcher was dunning me very hard for something on account, and my landlord wanted his rent.”— 1 Kansas City Journal. THE ANXIOUS FATHER. Emily (playing “house”) — “Now,. I’ll be mamma and you’ll be papa, and little Ben and Bessie will be our babies.” Willie (after a moment, anxiously) -—“Ain’t it about time to whip the children?”—Tit-Bits. THE POOR MILKMAN AGAIN. The milkman was boiling over with indignation. “And you mean to say my milk don’t look right?” he snapped. “Why, lady, this can of milk is a picture.” “Ah, yes,” laughed the keen house¬ wife, “a fine water color.”—Chicago News. THE SAME THING. i < You have advocated a great many reforms.” “Yes,” answered the statesman. “Yet you are now silent. Are you discouraged?” “No; I’m not discouraged. But tho audiences seem to be.”—Washington Star. CHANGING HIS ORDER. • e Has your order been taken?” 1 asked one of the waiters. “Yes,” said Mr, Welbroke, “fifteen minutes ago. If it isn’t too late, I’d like to change it.” t * To change your order, sir?” “Yes, if you don’t mind, I’ll change to an entreaty.”—Chicago Tribune. INVENTION. “Now that we have an airship, It the progressive man, “what will the next important invention?” “I don’t know,” answered the un person, “unless it i 3 method of enabling the man is running the ship to know ex¬ What it is going to do.”—Wash* Star.