Published Monthly by LUTHER LEAGUE REVIEW, 318 W. 39th Street, New York City. Entered as Second-Class Matter Aug. 9, 1900, at Post Office, New York, N. Y., under Act of Mar. 3, 1879 Subscription price, 75 cents per year. Luther Co League Luther League of Americ 1 Organized at Pittsburgh, Pa., October 30 and 31, 1895, by delegates representing State, District and individual organizations from twenty different States in the Union and District of Columbia. OFFICERS President, C. T. A. ANDERSON, 35 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, Ill. First Vice-President, O. C. ROHDE, 1422 Birchell Rd., Honeyville, Toledo, Ohio. Second Vice-President, GEO. W. RAPPS, 2312 Chestnut St., Milwaukee, Wis. General Secretary, HARRY HODGES, 427 Drexel Bldg., Philadelphia, Pa. Composed of the President, Vice-Presidents, General Secretary. Literature Secretary, Treasurer, and the following members: Hon. E. F. EILERT (Chairman), 318 W. 39th St., New York City, N. Y. I. S. RUNYON, 502 W. 136th St., New York City, N. Y. Rev. G. F. Gehr, D. D., 521 N. High St., Bethlehem, Pa. Rev. M. J. BIEBER, D. D., 1316 W. 25% St., Minneapolis, Minn. O. C. C. FETTA, 511 K. of P. Bldg., Indianapolis, Ind. Rev. LUTHER M. KUHNS, Litt. D., 458 Saunders-Kennedy Bldg., Omaha, Neb. Rev. H. C. ROEHNER, D. D., 30 Mulberry St., Mansfield, Ohio. WILLIAM C. STOEVER, Esq., 727 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. All communications should be addressed to the General Secretary, Harry Hodges, 427 Drexel Bldg., Philadelphia, Pa. LUTHER LEAGUE OF ILLINOIS President, KENNETH HURST, Carthage College, Carthage, Ill. Secretary, ALICE CHRISTENSEN, 4224 N. Kostner Ave.. Chicago. Treasurer, CHARLES IVERSON, 3721 Montrose Ave., Chicago. LUTHER LEAGUE OF OHIO Pres., E. R. KOCHHEISER, 214 Lexington Ave., Mansfield. Sec., GRACE KRUSE, 925 W. North St., Lima. Pres., Rev. J. S. ALBERT, 117 Frederick Ave., Oshkosh. Sec., MARGARET HENNECKE, Milwaukee. Pres., ARTHUR A. DAVIS, 111 W. 22nd St., Indianapolis. Sec., LOUISE NEES, 1002 St. Paul St., Indianapolis. Treas., W. F. RENZ, 3416 Webster St., Fort Wayne. LUTHER LEAGUE OF IOWA Pres., PEARL J. ANDERSON, 544 S. 9th St., Cédar Sec., EARL HANSEN, 226 Oak St., Clinton. LUTHER LEAGUE OF SOUTH DAKOTA- Sec., MAGDALENE NELSON, Aberdeen. Treas., R. B. SWANBERG, Sisseton. LUTHER LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA Pres., Rev. CARL H. BARTSCH, 3111 29th Ave., Minneapolis. Sec., Miss CORA CLEMENT, Albert Lea. Pres., FREDERICK RETTENMEYER, 16 Howe St., Meriden. Sec., Miss CELE KLEIN, 76 Harriet St., Bridgeport. Treas., WILLIAM REISCH, Plantsville. LUTHER LEAGUE OF OREGON-WASHINGTONPres., C. R. STUDER, Pullman, Wash. Sec., MARTHA WALLAND, 1928 S. L. St., Tacoma, Wash. Treas., C. E. JAEGER, Chehalis, Wash. LUTHER LEAGUE OF NEBRASKA Pres., Rev. K. DEFREESE, Hooper. Sec., BERTHA DUERFELDT, Barada. Treas., EDNA SNELL, 6303 Binney St., Omaha. LUTHER LEAGUE OF KANSAS President, EDGAR W. HOLDEN, Greenleaf, Kan. Secretary, ERNA ACKELBIEN, 912 Union St., Emporia, Kan. Treasurer, WALTER LANTZ, Chapman, Kan. LUTHER LEAGUE OF MICHIGAN Acting Pres., MR. O. JOHNSON, 11 West Fort St., Detroit. Sec., R. S. BRULAND, 240 Philadelphia St., E. Detroit. Treas., A. ELFERS, 183 Helen Ave., Detroit. LUTHER LEAGUE OF NORTH CAROLINAPres., GEO. W. NELSON, Lutheran Seminary, Columbia, S. C. Sec., HIGH RHYNE, Lenoir College, Hickory, N. C. Treas., BERTHA CLINE, 621 N. Front St., Statesville, N. C. District Leagues in States Not Organized Sec., DOROTHY ROEHL, 583 34th St., Oakland. SCOTIA Pres., Mr. JESSE E. HIRTLE, Bridgewater. VICINITY Pres., JOHN METZGER, Martin's Ferry, Ohio. Sec., Miss ESTELLA SHEPP, Bridgeport, Ohio. Treas., Miss MARIAN SEYLER, Marietta, Ohio. Of the Church - By the Church - For the Church Luther League Review THE "CAUSE" OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS The "cause" of the American Red Cross is the cause of Humanity. The needs of Humanity for aid in War time or Peace time challenge it. War time demands upon the "Great Mother" were many and varied. The peace time demands-while differing materially are equally numerous. The Red Cross never forgets the needs of our Service men, whether in hospitals, at home or with the Army of Occupation in Germany. Preparedness against disaster-wherever, whenever it occurs is imperative. Twenty minutes after the Wall Street explosion occurred in New York, September 16th, Red Cross nurses and doctors, with plenty of Red Cross supplies were at the scene of disaster. Over one thousand Red Cross nurses are in the "home field" today-fighting disease and ignorance and teaching health habits. Their work includes rural nursing service, school nursing and infant welfare. The Red Cross is teaching the Care of the Sick, Hygiene and First Aid and establishing Health Centers in its effort to reduce the needless thousands of deaths each year. Abroad there remains much for this great organization to do. In the fight against typhus alone the knowledge, equipment and experience of the Red Cross is a great factor. Give your dollar at the time of the Fourth Annual Roll Call, November 11 to 25, that its work for humanity may go on. CROOBY, Amsterdam, Leyden, Ply- doing the bidding of bishop and crown. mouth, these were the chief centers of the development of the Pilgrim movement. The history of its progress and growth covered practically the entire seventeenth century, from the time that a handful of Separatists fearfully met in each other's home in Scrooby to study the Word of God, until Plymouth was absorbed by the Colony of Massachusetts. Keenly disappointed and often shocked because of what they regarded as empty formality and disgraceful worldliness in the Established Church, which, they declared, still retained many of the evils of the Roman Catholic Church of that day, they determined to "shake off the yoke of anti-Christian bondage," and joined themselves by solemn covenant "into a church estate in the fellowship of the Gospel, to walk in all its ways, made known, or to be made known unto them, according to their best endeavors, whatever it shall cost them." This was their bond of union in Scrooby and throughout their history as a Church. Naturally this determination met with much hostility and opposition. They were not free to conduct their services as they wished. They had no church building, but met instead in the homes of their members, in small groups, under most adverse circumstances. No bell summoned them; no tap of drum; they needed constantly to be on their guard. Frequently they met in the woods and in secluded gravel pits. Later, the persecution of the Pilgrims became more severe. It is said that at this time the prisons of London "were crowded with Protestant prisoners and the public executioners were busy with rope and torch, hurrying into eternity the souls of men who were brave, true and loyal, and whose only offense was their earnest faith in Christ and their desire to worship God in the simplest and most direct way." Others were put into prison and condemned to remain there until their lives were slowly worn out. The persecution of the Pilgrims in England came from three sources-the Church, the State, and their neighbors. How extensive this persecution was has been variously estimated. It may not have been very wide, for the Pilgrims were a paratively small body, and so escaped marked attention. But such as it was, it has much to do with the departure of the Pilgrims from England. com Public officials were turned into spies and charged to be alert and unsparing in There was no relief save in flight. The Pilgrims were Puritans, originally, but they withdrew from that body because it was believed that the Puritans were untrue to the "light," as they accepted or condoned certain practices of the Established Church to which the Pilgrims took exception. The Puritans sought to reform the Established Church from within. The Pilgrims preferred to abolish it altogether. It is significant that ten years after the arrival of the Pilgrims in America the practices which the Pilgrims so heartily detested were discontinued, and later, in America, the Puritans accepted practically the entire program and policy of the Pilgrims. The migration of the Pilgrims, first to Holland and then to America, was not for the purpose of adventure nor for the sake of building up a prosperous economic community, nor was it primarily for the purpose of establishing trading posts which would result in great financial gain, but to establish a free colony where they might worship God in their own way, to study and apply the Word of God as they pleased, and to set up a Christian commonwealth which should support and sustain the Church. Had they been seeking freedom only, they might well have remained in Holland. for this country offered them all they desired in this respect-except that they were greatly limited in their economic progress because of their unwillingness to become Dutch citizens. But they were not content to enjoy freedom within a society to which they did not belong, and "so they went out into the Unknown in order to create a society in which they might enjoy freedom begotten of their own spirit." The fourteen years spent in Holland had given them an experience which they believed fitted them for the Great Adventure. It was a question as to whether they would go to Guiana or to Virginia. Both these proposals were rejected by a vote of the people. It was finally decided to secure a "patent" for a settlement in Massachusetts-but less than half the Pilgrims decided to leave Holland, it being agreed that the majority, whether they went or stayed, should retain the services of their minister, John Robinson. Thus Robinson remained in Leyden, although nominally he was also pastor of the Plymouth Pilgrims. On September 6, 1620, one hundred and two Pilgrims sailed from Plymouth, Eng STORY OF the pilgrIMS were land, on the "Mayflower," the original After suffering great hardships aboard ship, on a voyage which required sixtyfour days, and after spending five weary weeks in search of a site suitable for founding their settlement, the place already designated as Plymouth was selected. They first landed on what they later called "Clark's Island." Governor Bradford, in his history, gives us particulars regarding this point in their history: "In the morning they find the place to be a small island secure from Indians. And this being the last day of the week, they here dry their stuff, fix their pieces, rest themselves, return God thanks for their many deliverances, and here the next day keep their Christian Sabbath. The next day, Monday, they sailed up to the shore below us, and, stepping on Plymouth Rock, made the exploration which ultimately determined them to fix upon this place as their plantation." During the first year, half the people died because of a disease which gripped them. Ten years after settlement, Plymouth numbered but 300 souls. In 1643, when the New England confederacy was formed, the - population of Plymouth was about 3,000. The "Mayflower" Pilgrims were plain farmers. They were without social recognition. Social recognition would have been more likely to make them acquiescent and contented with things as they were. There were a few trained artisans among them, who had learned, through a rather discouraging experience in Holland, some of the rougher trades. During the first three years they had much difficulty in adjusting themselves to the new conditions, but after repeated disappointments they finally established their colony upon a sound economic basis. A cheap wit has sometimes made the Pilgrims appear ludicrous and often their attitude toward certain social and legislative matters has seemed narrow and bigoted, not to say heartless and unscrupulous. For example, it has been charged that the early legislation of the Pilgrims was noted for its severity above that of any other country. But those who make the charge know little of the history of criminal law, 5 The Compact, drawn up and signed in the cabin of the "Mayflower," was the fundamental law of the new state. In their legislation the Pilgrims were guided by the conception of equal rights and common duties announced in this great instrument. Of this Compact it has been said: "The Mayflower Compact is an immortal document. It is justly counted one of the most important contributions made to the civic thought of the world." In 1636, there were among the Pilgrims only six crimes which were punishable by death. These were treason, murder, witchcraft, arson, rape, and crimes against Only ten persons were convicted by the Pilgrims during the seventy years of their independent existence. nature. At the time the Pilgrims left Scrooby, the English law books enumerated thirty-one crimes for which a man might be deprived of his life. In 1819 there were 223 offenses which, in the judgment of British parliaments, might be suitably punished by death. In their first codes, Massachusetts and Connecticut each had twelve capital offenses. There were no convictions for either treason or witchcraft, or arson, or assaults on virtue, among the Pilgrims. When the Pilgrims were framing their laws England and Scotland were burning and hanging witches. At the date of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, as earlier and later, belief in witchcraft was well-nigh universal. It is worth while to remember that the Colony had a remarkable scarcity of witches within its bounds, and a decided indisposition on the part of the authorities to convict persons charged with this crime. From first to last there were only two cases brought to trial. Neither of the two was convicted. Likewise one hears occasionally about the unjust treatment of the Indians by the Pilgrims. A very common bit of wit is that which declares that "first the Pilgrims fell upon their knees, then they fell upon the aborigines." But, with the exception of a few incidental skirmishes with a very few Indians, the Pilgrims were at peace with the red men, and a treaty was made that was faithfully kept by both sides for fifty years. The Pilgrims were scrupulously honest with the Indians in the payment of debts and in the keeping of contracts. Occasionally, individuals among the Pilgrims took an unfair advantage of them, but the Colony as a whole was fair and dealt with them in good faith. They also dealt squarely with their creditors back in England. In 1627, the Colony bought up the old stock of the merchant (Continued on page 7) |