ly-destructive extreme. The supreme need of child life to-day lies along the line of an awakened conscience to the supremacy of divine and civic authority. Play is generally the gratification and glorification of selfcentered needs and desires, rather than the cultivation of unselfishness and reverence. To give into the hands of sport the one day of moral and spiritual uplift, since the moral and religious instruction of the dayschool has been banished, is worse than a crime. It is the suicide of the higher and nobler self, and of all that is most vital in Christian civilization. It will supplant liberty with license and anarchy, for which liberty is often mistaken. Quoting Judge Quinn: "Liberty is the obedience to law." THE HOME AND LAWLESSNESS SAMPLES OF APPALLING RURAL Whichever way one turns it is pain- A cause of our difficulty is the general decay of authority in our civilization, especially in the home. It has been remarked that there is just as much authority in the home as ever there was, but that now it is exercised by the children. Is it that the doctrine of evolution, superficially understood, has taken the heart out of the categorical imperative, so that duty of any unconditional kind is now resented? Certainly parental authority is now feebly. asserted and stoutly resisted, church authority has waned, and the majesty of the law hardly survives the current explanations of its origin or the current criticism of its administration. But the child who has not learned to obey has been deprived of one of the best parts of his heritage. Unless con An instance which one hopes is less typical is cited from Vermont. There in a territory seven by thirteen miles in area there is only one place where Christian worship is ducted, and that is in a schoolhouse, for there is no church building in the whole district. In this territory within the past fourteen months there. were two murders, three suicides and thirteen illegitimate births. It is declared that almost every house in this whole section covers someone who is regarded as "a little off" mentally, either a member of the family or a farmhand.-Continent. THE "FAR LOOK" FOR EYE A literary lady once consulted an oculist with regard to a trouble in her eyes. The oculist said: "Your eyes are tired, you need to rest them. Have you any wide views from your house?" "Oh, yes, from the front porch I can see the noble peaks of the Blue Ridge-from the rear windows I can. look out upon the glorious Allegheny foothills." "Very well, that is just what you need. When your eyes feel tired, look steadily at your mountains for ten minutes-twenty would be better. The far look will rest your eyes." The "iar look"-off toward the hills of heaven-would bring rest and renewed invigoration to many a now weary believer, overborne with work and distracted with care. The Sabbath may be called "the day of the far look". Its countless blessings to the higher man are precious beyond value. It is the soul's day. THE DAY OF REST How the Strict Observance of the Puritan Sunday Has Given Place to the Free Observance of the Modern Sunday. The weariness of the Puritan Sunday of our boyhood is completely outdone by the yawning insipidity of the average modern day of rest. The family breakfast is no more. In its place we find a long-drawnout meal to which the weary-eyed members of the family trail down, one after the other, at irregular intervals. Everybody is tired, especially those that have been out Saturday evening. What apology for conversation there is deals with the play visited on Saturday, the moving-picture show, the dance, or baseball. By the time the church bells ring the entire family, save perhaps father and mother, are buried in the blanket sheets of the Sunday newspaper. In fact, one newspaper does not contain sporting news enough to go round, so two have been purchased; and the comic supplement is a favorite. In the afternoon the house is deserted. One member of the family is motoring. Another is canoeing on the river. A third has gone driving with a friend. The others are out walking. Mother and father are at home, and their first task is to gather up the litter of papers that the young folks have left behind. The Puritan Sunday may have been a mistake. It certainly filled some children's minds with distaste for religion. But the modern Sunday is a still more gigantic blunder. It offers absolutely nothing of value to life, and it destroys the power of quiet meditation, of sane thought, of preparation for the duties and the tasks of the week. If the Puritan Sunday did violence to the social nature, the modern Sunday does far more violence to the religious nature. The social instincts are so strong that no strict rules could utterly crush them; but religion is a tender plant which withers if it is not properly cultivated. The Puritan Sunday may have developed sombre souls; the modern Sunday kills the soul most effectively with indifference. Surely we can do better with the Lord's Day than make it forbidding on the one hand, or morally destructive on the other. We must get back the old-fashioned idea of a day of rest and reverence. These things are vital for our welfare. We need a Sabbath that brings peace.—Christian Endeavor World. FIFTEEN ADVERSE BILLS IN THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE ALONE 1913 promises to be the banner year in attempts to open Sunday. Fifteen bad bills are already introduced in the House and Senate of Massachusetts, though only two have been printed to date. These bills seek to extend the hours of sale of liquors and soft drinks, fruit, bread and other commodities on the Lord's Day. The retail and wholesale bakers' unions are already awake to the danger and every good citizen should be. There seems to be a general assault by the forces of greed as every New England state has or has had this session, similar legislation pending. These bills should be defeated. Three bills to legalize amateur sports and baseball on Sunday are in the Massachusetts House. This is the same old attempt repeated year by year by the sporting crowd and so far defeated. "These bills if passed, would legalize by statute the principle of Sunday baseball, a thing all baseball fans ardently desire. This would be the first step, and a long step, towards securing professional Sunday baseball. The second step always follows the first step. When the first step of legalizing amateur baseball is taken, the second step of legalizing professional baseball will logically follow. If the principle of Sunday baseball is once legalized, then its advocates will argue that morally there is no more harm in playing baseball well than in playing it poorly on Sunday; that is, there is morally no more harm in professionals than in amateurs playing baseball on Sunday. Hence, after we have taken the first step of legalizing Sunday amateur baseball, we will find ourselves seriously embarrassed when we object to taking the next natural step towards professional baseball on Sunday. The passage of these bills would certainly be disastrous in themselves, and also the entering wedge for professional baseball." A tremendous protest should be made all over the state. Will every reader send one to his state Senator or Representative, immediately? FIVE FALLACIES PUNCTURED (Rev. Harry Adams Hersey of Caribou, Me., gave an address recently before the ministers of Aroostook Co. They requested its publication in full, which we hope will be done, and wide circulation will be given to it. We wish that we might print the address in The Defender, but our space limits us to a condensed statement of the five principal fallacies found in adverse Sunday bills, in state legislatures.) I. The local-option-fallacy. The matter is of more than local interest and influence. 2. The Sunday-afternoon-fallacy. The religious uses of the day do not end at I P. M. The 3. The individual-liberty-fallacy. rights of the individuals who would preserve the day are fully as valid as of those who would destroy it. 4. The fallacy of Sunday Sports,-assuming that those who go to church and support religion go from exactly the same motive as those who would attend ball games, theatres, etc., that is, personal pleasure alone. 5. The fallacy concerning morals,-assuming that an "open day" would produce results at all comparable to those which the Christian observance has produced. It never has done so where tried. GET THE BEST FOUNTAIN PEN A prominent pastor in Boston said to us the other day: "I want another of those Fountain Pens, which I got through The Defender to give as a Christmas present to a friend. I have used a good many pens, but this is the best I ever used. It is perfectly splendid and fills so easily. How can you sell it so cheap?" See page 30. LIFE MEMBERSHIP AND MEMORIAL LIST (This list furnishes a permanent fund, the interest of which is used in the work of the League. One hundred dollars or more constitutes a life member. When fully paid, a certificate for framing is sent the donor, who is entitled to the literature of the League, and all privileges. Those marked "c" are charter members, are deceased, and "L" gave legacies. Memorial members are put on the starred list by friends or organizations on payment of $100 and upwards. Upon death, Life-Members become memorial members.) *Abbott, Dr. & Mrs. J. *Allen, Mrs. R. G. *cAmes, Mrs. M. E. *Andrews, Mrs. Anna B. Anderson, Mrs. F. E. *Bailey, Mrs. Elizabeth Bates, Jacob P. *Benn, George W. *Blackman, Mrs. C. F. Bigelow, Mrs. Eleanor J. Billings, Mrs. Julia Bissell, Miss Sophia *1.Botsford, Charles B. Brayton, Mrs. H. A. *c Brown, John *Burgess, Miss Martha C. *Buttrick, James G. *Buttrick, Miss Martha M. Buttrick, Ernest Gates *cByington, Ezra H., D.D. Cabot, Miss Mary R. Camp, Mrs. W. H. *Chamberlain, Mrs. H. S. *Chase, Mrs. Martha S. Cheney, Miss Alice S. Clum, Mrs. Eliza J. *Coburn, Mrs. Stephen Coffin, Mrs. Julia S. Cole, Miss A. E. *cConverse, Hon. E. S. Copeland, Mrs. J. H. *Craft. Emerline H. & S. A. Crane, Senator W. M. Crane, Zenas Crane, Rev. W. M. Cummings, Mrs. A. E. LCummings, Miss M. A. *Curtis, Miss Harriet M. *c Day, W. F. Delano, Edward F. *Dow, Hon. Neal *Durgin, Wm. B. *cDurrell, Oliver H. Dutton, Miss Mary H. *L.Ferren, Ebenezer cFoster, Enoch Foucar, Mrs. Mary M. Freeman, Miss Mary *French, Mrs. Mary D. LITERATURE *c Frost, Miss E. C. G., C. E. Mrs. Gill, Mrs. Rachel M. Greene, Rev. Dr. J. M. cGuptill, Dr. L. H *L.Gurney, Mrs. C. B. *Hale, Mrs. Lucy B. Hall, Mrs. E. S. *Hall, Miss Evelyn S. Harris, Mrs. Martha S. cHeymer, F. W. *Holmes, Mrs. Caroline Hooker, Miss Sarah H. Jefts, Mrs. L. T. cKeith, Preston B. *Kendall, Miss S. A. Kendall, Hon, Edward LKimball, Oliver I. Kimball, Mr. & Mrs. R. J. *Kingsbury, F. J. Kingsbury, Mrs. S. E. *Kitson, Miss C. F. Kittredge, Mrs. S. N. *c Kneeland, Mrs. Jonathan cKneeland, Martin D. Knight, Mrs. William Knowles, Mrs. Hester A. *Lane, Joshua A. Lasell, Mrs. J. K. cLearned, H. J. Lewis, Mrs. S. L. Lewis, J. B. Lyon, Mrs. Caroline F. *Major, Mrs. Harriet N. LManson, Mrs. John Thos. Marsh, Hon. E. W. *LMartin, Miss C. M. *Masten, C. E. *LMcClure, Mrs. Maria M. McLean, Alpine *Maynard, Wm. *LMayall, Mrs. Esther B. "Alma of Hadley Hall." By Louise Breiteneach. L. C. Page & Co. Price $1.50. Nothing appeals more forcibly to a young person than a tale of school life. This story has not only a picture of the usual and unusual occurrences of the boarding school but also brings out human life in natural colors. *Merrill, Rev. H. E. Miller, Miss Margaret *Mitchell, Mrs. Mary A. *cMcDonald, Rev. Dr. P. M. *cMetcalf, Albert *Moody, Miss Frances S. *c Morse, Hon. E. A. *Moulton, David C. Moulton, Mrs. D. C. Nichols, Mrs. B. P. *cNichols, Mrs. L. B. *Noble, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Osgood, Mrs. H. H. Peck, Miss Carrie L. Perry, Mrs. F. M. *Perry, Mrs. G. W. Pevear, H. A. c Pickford, Mrs. C. J. c Pierce, Mrs. Sarah C. Pierce, Miss Clara C. *c Potter, Whipple N. *Proctor, ex-Gov. F. D. Proctor, Henry H. Richardson, Mrs. A. M. *Rudd, Rev. E. H. *Russell, Daniel Sawyer, Mrs. Fanny W. *Scott, Thomas A. Skinner, Joseph A. Spaulding, J. L., Jr. Spencer, Mrs. Lucy I. Sprague, Mrs. S. S. *Stimson, Joel G. *Stoddard, Rev. James T. *Sturtevant, Mrs. B. F. *Swett, J. H. & L. J. *Thomas, Rev. Dr. Reuen *Thomson, Mrs. Bertha P. *Thompson, Mrs. H. A. *Vose, Miss I. M. Warner, Mrs. Esther M. *Watson, Mrs. D. P. *Wells, Mrs. S. E. P. Whitcomb, G. Henry Whitin, Mrs. J. C. Willard, Miss Caroline Woodbury, George A. *Wright, Charles, 2nd "Our Little Polish Cousin." By Florence E. Mendel. L. C. Page & Co. Price .60. The Little Cousin series" of books do not confine themselves to idle tales, but they bring in a good deal of history and portray the customs of the country sometimes with marked success. The Polacks or Poles become familiar and interesting persons as we read this volume. "The Girls of Friendly Terrace." By Harriet Lummis Smith. L. C. Page & Co. Price $1.50. Girls' character is depicted in a charming story with such a spirit of truth and reality that all girl readers will feel very much at home with this volume, and wish that they had lived on Friendly Terrace. "Our Little Danish Cousin." By Luna May Innes. L. C. Page & Co. Price .60. The land of Hans Christian Andersen, the famous and beloved story teller of Denmark, is made vivid to us in these pages, and all boys and girls will read them with real interest and profit. "Naomi of the Island." By Lucy Thurston Abbott. L. C. Page & Co. Price $1.25. This is a New England story and brings before us "down Maine folk" in an interesting and sympathetic way. A vein of pathos and humor pervades the story. It would not touch the heart or bring out the genius of the author were it not a love story full of charm and beauty. "The Biography of Arthur T. Pierson." By his son, Delavan Leonard Pierson. Fleming H. Revell Co., N. Y. $1.50. The author brings his father back to life in this volume, which portrays SO vividly the man and his public work. Friends and admirers of Dr. Pierson will read with great interest and appreciation these pages. Those who did not know him will feel as they read, that they are in the presence of an honest soul. He was a man of principle, whose first desire was to do God's will. We wish that more of his inner home life had been given by his son. 1913 Annual Holiday Catalog Sent free to any Sunday-School worker on request. 80 pages containing illustrations and descriptive matter of choice new goods for the Sunday-School. Special features on every page. Goods all new and originated by us. Write to-day. David C. Cook Publishing Co. ELGIN, ILLINOIS |