THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR CONVENTION
By C. M. Snow
[From our own correspondent.] THE great Christian Endeavor Convention of 1897, which has been taxing San Francisco's capabilities of hospitality to their fullest extent, has mustered out its members, its legions are disbanded, and are now speeding hither and thither, some on pleasure bent and others hurrying homeward. The unanimous verdict is, It was a great convention. Californians vied with one another in the attempt to make visiting delegates appreciate the fact that they were warmly welcomed; and the appreciation was also manifest. One of the visitors expressed her sentiment on that point in these words: “They’ve done everything they could for us, and if we didn’t appreciate it, we ought to be sent home till we did.” That this convention was a representative international one will be seen from the fact that delegates were in attendance from Hawaii, Canada, Scotland, France, England, Palestine, Japan, China, Australia, South America, India, Ceylon, and Mexico. Germany sent no delegate, but was “present by letter.” Letters of greeting were received at the society headquarters in San Francisco from numerous organizations not represented at the convention and from a number of foreign countries, some of whom also had representatives in attendance. Something of the size of the convention, as regards numbers in attendance, may be judged by a few statements from the standpoint of the railroad. On one day there passed through the city of Sacramento thirty trains loaded with Endeavorers, while at Ogden on July 6 there were reported to be eight miles of cars similarly occupied. With such numbers there was naturally a great deal of enthusiasm, and this was constantly manifest both on the trip across the country and during the convention, in a rather loud and worldly way. Each of the State delegations had a representative “yell,” patterned after the “yells” of football and baseball teams, and these were given with a will wherever opportunity offered. It may be easily imagined that religious sentiments, if present in these demonstrations, were of microscopic dimensions. There were many pleasing things about the convention, and this particular function could have been omitted and the program enhanced thereby. The preparations for the great gatherings at the two main pavilions were elaborate and complete even to the minutiae. There were separate booths for nearly every delegation, and in a prominent place on these booths were installed the coats of arms of each of the delegations represented. The colors of these symbolic devices, together with the gay trappings of the pavilions themselves, made a gorgeous livery for these improvised tabernacles. The convention was formally opened on the evening of July 7 by President Francis E. Clark, who has just returned to this country from a tour of the world. In giving a cue to the matters which would be considered at this convention, President Clark said: “The one thing after which we strive is the deepening of the spiritual life. Interdenominational fellowship is another expanding influence and result of the work, for which we ought to be thankful. Good citizenship is another direction in which the quickened spirituality has manifested itself. If the conventions have wrought anything for which we ought to be thankful, it is a development of homogeneousness of spirituality among our people. Christian Citizenship will come in for its share of discussion, as well as temperance and other branches of our work.” Simultaneous with this meeting of the convention, eleven others were held in various churches in cities around the bay, and a corps of noted ministers and evangelists from eastern cities occupied these pulpits on several occasions. President Clark, in his annual address, gave as the watchwords of the convention, “The world for Christ; the nation for Christ; the family for Christ; myself for Christ.” This address was an earnest appeal to Endeavorers to seek a closer walk with God, and to cultivate more of a self-sacrificing, missionary spirit. The annual report read by Grand Secretary John Willis Baer contained many interesting features. He likened the Christian Endeavor movement to the river spoken of in Ps. 46:4 and Eze. 47:12. He stated that during the sixteen years since the first society was organized in Portland, Maine, the movement had grown until it now numbered 50,747 local societies, with a total membership of 3,000,000. The statement that “California has no Sunday law,” was continually heard on the lips of those who spoke during the convention. They had been urgently requested by the officials of the California Christian Endeavor Union to ring the changes upon this matter at every possible opportunity, with the hope of bringing Californians up to the place where they would successfully demand a law prohibiting all work on Sunday except works of necessity and humanity; and for the furthering of this end the Rev. Wilbur F. Crafts invented the following “yell,” which was the official “yell” of the Ohio State delegation:— “O H I O,
Saloon must go;
The Sabbath must stay;
The lawless must obey
O H I O.
Twentieth century knights are we,
Ohio shall be free.” The Sabbath Observance Committee of the convention met at the Central M. E. Church in San Francisco, on July 9. President Reid, of the California delegation, stated that the meeting was called to consider some of the best means of conducting sabbath reform. He said that there had been 300 Lord’s day committees organized in this State since the first of last March, and that California had won the banner offered by Mr. Crafts to the State union earning the most points for work done in advancing the cause of Sunday observance. After deprecating the fact that California had no Sunday law, he said:— “The societies can be depended upon to do what they are asked to do. None of the societies in California have objected to working for the Lord’s day observance. Every society in the State should have a Lord’s day committee. The Endeavorers have been effectually aroused from their slumber to the necessity of entering this work. Many of them have not been content with their pastors preaching upon this subject, but have gone out themselves to perform work along this line.” The president then referred to the work that had been done in certain towns in closing stores and post-offices and in getting the press to assist them in their work. Continuing he said:— “When we see a chance to strike a blow, we strike it and strike hard, and that we believe is the duty of the Christian Endeavorers. We need to organize Lord’s day committees and go to work, and then we will see something done. I have rejoiced at the way the Epworth League has joined with us in this work of promoting a better observance of the Lord’s day. It only requires persistent, insistent work; keep at it, keep at it, and you will win.” Reports from the different States were called for. The representative from New York spoke chiefly upon the efforts in the State to prevent Sunday baseball. The representative from Wisconsin said:— “I am pleased that the banner for the most points gained for work in behalf of Sunday observance has come to California, a State that has no Sunday law. However, we are told by our best judges that the sabbath in America is to be maintained by common law without the State law, and that any desecration in California can be suppressed by law if you appeal to the Supreme Courts of the country. “The land is full of very queer notions regarding the Sabbath, and many Christians have a vague understanding of it. They regard the Sabbath as a Jewish institution, just as the Egyptians regarded the Nile as an Egyptian river, never thinking that the river was running hundreds of miles before it ever came to Egypt; and so it is with the Sabbath. It was in existence before the first king was born, before Abraham was born—it had existed all along. It passed through Jewish institutions, the Jewish Church, and received some glory in passing through; but it is not at all Jewish. Our Lord himself said that the Sabbath was made for man, not for the Jew, not for the American, but for man wherever found. It seems impossible in these days of machinery and corporate activity to have a Sabbath or a day of rest without a civil law. We have found it so in Wisconsin, and I believe that you will soon find it so in California. However, the arm of the law and the teachings of the church should not be mingled. The law of the land can only give a civil rest; but it is from the church that the holiness and worship must come. The holiness of the day is the soul of it. Without that it becomes a dead corpse, something that will fill the land with poison, and the land would be ready to bury the Sabbath whenever the soul is taken from it. We must teach the workmen of the land that in order to secure the rest part of the day they must keep it holy. These things must be taught in some way. I would be in favor of having a small catechism prepared that would bring out the principles, history, and nature of the Sabbath day, holding the sacred and civil aspects of the day together in a sense and yet separated in another sense.” Chairman: “We admit that the Sabbath must be maintained. We stand upon that ground without any argument. We also stand upon the ground that Sunday, the first day of the week, is the day for which the Christian Endeavor Societies are striving to obtain rest. This question of the seventh day or the first day will not be considered at this time. What we want to know is what you have done and what is being done. If the Sabbath is worthy of being maintained, why not maintain it? And if it is to be maintained, who shall maintain it rather than we?” Miss Matilda Kay, of New York, representing the Woman’s National Sabbath Alliance, gave a report of the work of that body. She read the following pledge of that society, which the committee unanimously voted to recommend for adoption by the International Convention:— “We women of America, recognizing the American Christian Sabbath as our rightful inheritance, bequeathed to us by our forefathers; as the foundation of our national prosperity; as the safeguard of our social, civil, and religious blessings; as the conservator of the rights of the wage-earner; do hereby pledge ourselves to resist, by precept and example, whatever tends to undermine Sunday as a day of rest and worship; such as the Sunday secular paper, Sunday social entertainments, and Sunday driving and traveling for gain or pleasure; and we further pledge ourselves to use our influence to create a right sentiment on all aspects of the Sunday question, especially in reference to traffic of every kind on that day.” This society is now at work organizing auxiliary societies in every city and town in the country, and have a field secretary going about among the newly organized societies instructing them in this branch of work. The representative from Santa Fé, N. M., gave a report of the work which he had done in that city in restraining Sunday desecration. He said that all the butchers and barbers and merchants in Santa Fé with one exception now closed their doors on Sunday. “Some signed the agreement to do so through fear of being boycotted. While I am not generally in favor of that way of treating people, yet I believe in boycotting every shop that will keep open on Sunday.” This sentiment was loudly applauded by the delegates present. Mr. Hale, of Niles, after giving a report of the work of the Endeavorers in that town, said: “I think that the great obstacle in the way of sabbath observance in California is the lukewarmness and inaction of the Christian people, and I heartily believe that if in every town and city represented here there were Endeavorers who were ready to work, we would see a great result accomplished. We must be about the business of our Master.” The chairman stated that when all the stores and shops of a town were closed on Sunday, and the merchants saw the money that would otherwise be flowing to their tills going into those of the saloon, they would turn around and help to get a law that would compel the saloon-keepers to keep their places of business closed on that day also. The representative from Berkeley, Cal., stated that at a disgraceful political convention in this State the Sunday law of the State was blotted out, and now the cry of California to the other States was the Macedonian cry, “Come over and help us,” that this State may stand in line with the other States of this great republic. After hearing reports from other cities throughout the State, the committee adjourned. In line with the work of this committee a Sunday mass-meeting was held at the Mechanics’ Pavilion on Sunday, July 11, which was addressed by a number9of prominent speakers. In introducing the main subject of the day, the chairman, Dr. Francis E. Clark, said:— “There is no more important subject on our program. Is it not a significant fact that the convention where this fact was emphasized the most was the California convention of ’97? More conspicuous attention has been given to this subject here than at any other convention; and it is because our California friends themselves desired to have it emphasized. You know they have the banner this year, because they have put forth the most strenuous efforts for the preservation of the sabbath. It is a good sign of the times that here the Christian people are most alive to this idea and the movement is most vigorous; and this great subject will be revivified in our hearts and more strenuous efforts be put forth in the east because of the influences from California and the Pacific Coast. I believe that this vast meeting and this important theme and the influence awakened by this convention, is an indication that what I have said will be true, and that the sabbath-keepers of California will not only be a source of blessing to their own State, but to all these commonwealths, and to all these cities, and to all these provinces, by sending back this splendid reflex wave of influence for the Lord’s holy day from this convention which we are now holding.” Miss Matilda Kay, of New York, secretary of the Woman’s National Sabbath Alliance, was the first speaker, and chose for her theme, “Woman’s Part in Securing Sunday Observance.” She began her remarks with a history of the organization which she represented, and told of the work which they were trying to do, giving some simple incidents which had very little connection with the subject under discussion. Rev. W. H. G. Temple, of Tacoma, Washington, was the second speaker, and his topic was “Modern Forms of Sabbath Desecration.” He said: “The last thing that a speaker ought to be called upon to defend in this Christian country is the Christian sabbath. And yet we have to stand guard over it with drawn swords lest some new form of iniquity put its hoof upon this sacred institution.” The speaker stated that while he would not wish to return to the Puritan Sabbath of our ancestors, he would advocate the beginning of a preparation for Sunday on the Saturday evening preceding, and gave an eloquent appeal for the better observance of and preparation for the sabbath in the home—an appeal which would have had real weight had it been directed to the keeping of the day which God has blessed and sanctified and given to man as a memorial of his rest from the work of creation. As enemies to the sanctity of the Sunday sabbath he mentioned the “hand of a godless rationalism,” “the hand of corporate greed,” “the American saloon,” and “the hand of unsanctified pleasure.” During the consideration of the first he said, “O, shall we not plead that our God shall have his sabbath—yes, our sabbath, observed according to his law?” Referring to the second foe he said: “We ought to glory in our ambition. Ambition and industry make a splendid team. This race for gold is a magnificent race, and may you all be worth a million before you die—only do not let that ambition lead you to desecrate the Lord’s day.” The third foe was referred to in these words: “This blear-eyed, rum-faced, leprous-handed, basilisk-hearted thing turns our boys into drunkards, spoils our homes, and now it wants our sabbath. O, Christian Endeavorers, make a solemn vow to God that as long as you have a voice to raise, or an influence to use, or a vote to cast, you will use these three mighty engines of power against the saloon and in favor of our American Sunday.” The speaker was willing to allow the “poor, dear, tired working people” to go out into the fields or to the museums on Sunday, but they “must have the purest possible motives in so doing, or else that would be dangerous.” Excursion trains should not be run, excursion steamers should not leave their docks, and the theaters ought to be compelled to close their doors. Continuing he said: “If you destroy the American sabbath, you strike directly at the foundation of this nation. You, the American people, are responsible for the character of the nation to which you belong, because the government has been committed into your hands. I adjure you, see to it that this nation shall have a sabbath, and that it shall come to it with its holy hush upon its great multitudes.” This address was followed by two musical selections rendered by the Policeman’s Glee Club. As they retired, the chairman arose and said: “When California gets a Sunday law, which she will one of these days, these guardians of the law will help to enforce it.” A Civil Sunday Law Wanted.
Rev. Josiah Strong, president of the Evangelical Alliance of New York, was the next speaker. He said in part: “I think if we had some hundreds of thousands of such policemen scattered throughout our country as these to whom we have just listened, our sabbath laws, where they exist, would be better enforced. If our efforts in behalf of workable sabbath laws are to be intelligently made, we must understand that we observe two sabbaths, which are quite distinct in their origin, their authority, and their character. One is divine and sacred, the other human and secular. The latter is the civil sabbath, of which I am to speak.” The speaker gave a sample of arguments pro and con in reference to the validity of sabbath laws, in which the supporter of such laws was usually worsted in argument because of his failure to distinguish between the civil and sacred rest day, and then produced an “argument” which could be used to secure the same ends and still be “logical,” holding that liberty of rest for all could be secured only when there was a law of rest for all. He said:— “If there ever was an age of the world that needed a sabbath law, it is this present, feverish age; and if there is a State in the Union that needs a sabbath law, it is the State of California. It is the duty of the State to protect the day from such uses as will prove detrimental to the public morals. There are certain amusements which are hostile to the morals, because they are hostile to the religious observance of the day. These amusements which entice away from the church, are detrimental to the popular morals and should be forbidden by law, not because they are detrimental to religion, but being detrimental to religion, they are detrimental to morals, and morals are essential to the life of the State. “Sabbath laws are the friend and bulwark of popular liberties, and our popular liberties are bound up with the civil sabbath. It would be entirely practical for these young people’s societies to sow the whole State with literature which would show the character of the civil, spiritual, intellectual, and physical sabbath. Our individual influence may be as light as air, but with these young people in a mass moving together we can shake the continent.” “The Claims of God—Keep It Holy,” was the subject assigned to Rev. Robert Johnson, of London, Ontario. He said:— “There are two institutions without which no nation can grow great; these are the family and the Lord’s day. We find in the Garden of Eden these two institutions laid down as the foundation of all social living and religious living. The foundation which lies at the basis of all religious life is the Sabbath, which he established in that garden when he rested on it and sanctified its use. The one table of the law looks manward, the other looks Godward. God laid the foundation of that when he separated the Sabbath day from the others and kept it holy for himself. Religion goes if the Sabbath goes. The church is lost if the Sabbath is lost. You can not retain your Bibles if you do not hold onto the Sabbath. God by his example, by his precept, by his oft-repeated exhortation, emphasized the thought that the Sabbath was to be kept holy unto himself—by his example in Eden, when he withheld the manna on the seventh day while giving it on the other six days, by his exhortation through the prophets, reminding them that it was the sign and seal of their covenant to be his—and then came the Messiah; and tho Jesus Christ freed the Sabbath from many of its rituals, yet never by word or deed or influence did Jesus Christ detract from the holiness, the sacredness of that day as a day that was to be the Lord’s and spent Godward. The apostolic example follows in the same line; and so through the ages we have one line of testimony, as if God by every avenue through which he could reach man’s soul would write this word upon his heart, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. The Sabbath lies at the root and foundation of the religious life of the individual, the religious life of the church, and the religious life of the nation. So I summon you to the defense, protection, and preservation of the Lord’s day as a day holy unto himself.” The closing meetings of the convention were marked with considerable enthusiasm, meetings in various churches around the bay being again addressed by prominent speakers from abroad, as well as the overflow meetings in San Francisco. The meetings of the Junior Endeavorers were also important gatherings. There is no doubt that this convention will have a great influence upon the inhabitants of California in regard to securing a Sunday law for this State. Rev. E. R. Dille’s remarks in this respect have considerable significance. He said: “You have poured a mighty torrent here like Niagara and the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence, enough to start a great dynamo of enthusiasm. But what good is a dynamo unless it is hitched onto something? I suggest that this mighty power be hitched onto all our activities.” California is now preparing to “hitch” this power onto her Sunday-law agitation, and strenuous efforts will be put forth to bring about the object for which they strive and to which all other work in California is now subservient,—the enactment of that law.