old ocean derelict that had become partially imbedded in one of your harbors, sometimes endangering traffic at low tide. It was before the days of modern advanced mechanics, and many unfruitful and unsuccessful schemes had been tried to remove this obstruction. At last an old practical sailor, an old sea dog, said if they would give him the equipment and the help he thought he could remove it. Then the story told how he took two old scows or flat boats and anchored them over the obstruction in the harbor. Then he placed a great beam across from one to the other, and around this fastened cables and chains, and, at low tide, with the proper help, securely attached these to the obstruction below, and then sat down on a box and lighted his stub of a sailor's pipe and began to smoke, and to wait for the tide to come in. And by and by it came creeping in, and began to get under those old scows, and the chains and cables became taut and began to creak and groan until it seemed the great beam would be snapped in twain; still the tide came creeping in, and at last the old obstruction was dragged from its imbedded moorings of years and carried triumphantly out to sea. The old sailor had solved the problem because he had harnessed the mighty lifting power of the great ocean to his task. That is what God wants of the church; it is the means by which he wants to harness the redeeming power of his love revealed in his Son, our Saviour, to the world's need. "The field is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom." Once we catch this vision, and come under the sway of this ideal, we will gather up the local intensiveness such a program will generate, and transform it into ecumenical extensiveness until the prophecy shall be fulfilled, that, "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun His kingdom stretch from shore to shore May the Great Spirit of our Father God, who knoweth no limitations of time or space, brood over every heart in all Christendom to-night and inspire us to this splendid achievement. Let me close with this little incident, which has at least historic background, related to me by one of your prominent Boston pastors, some years ago. It was, he said, during the famous Indian mutiny, when old General Havelock was sent to the relief of Cawnpore. He had made forced marches, and his troops were tired and hungry and footsore. One night they halted near Cawnpore, and, in their extreme weariness, they threw themselves down on the wet ground, in the rain, without food, to sleep. Soon the scouts, that had been sent out, brought back the word that, in Cawnpore, the women and children were being massacred, and the men were starving. Then, it is said, the old general aroused his men and said to them, "Men, we have had a hard struggle in these forced marches; you are tired and hungry and footsore and sick; but, men, in it all have I borne my part?" And they answered, "Yes, general; more than your part." Then he said, "Men, yonder in Cawnpore the women and children are being murdered, and the men are starving; all of you who are willing to march with me to-night to the relief of Cawnpore, lift up your hands." And then, it is said, that in the darkness and the silence he said, "Men, in the darkness I cannot see your hands, but I know they are there; make ready to march to-night." Brooding over this world to-night, his heart breaking over its sin, its sorrow and its burdens, I see the Great Captain of our Salvation; and down from rock-ribbed Calvary and up from dark Gethsemane, I seem to hear his gentle voice saying, "Have I done my part?" Shall we not make the cry ring round the world to-night, "Yes, Master; more than your part." And then, shall we not rise from our slumber, and every man in line, and every line in action, move steadily forward, a vast army of righteousness, armed with the weapons of truth and love, under the invincible banner of the Cross, to the conquest of the world? And if in our path some thorns be found, let us remember Him who wore them on His brow. Ah, yes, undaunted, unconquerable, let us remember that Infinite Power, Infinite Wisdom, and Infinite Love are ours to command in the ever-present spiritual personality of our Lord and Master. Then, in the glory of each new morning calm, and in the splendor of each eventide, we will sing as we toil and triumph with our own sainted Dr. Brand, who once set the throbs of his great heart to the music of verse and cried aloud so all the world might hear, "Mountains and rivers may sink and decay, God never forgets. Time with his restless wings onward may flee, Till he dips his gray plume in Eternity's sea, God never forgets. Youth, with his buoyant hopes, painting the sky, - May fold his proud pinions, bleeding and torn, "Old age, with his silver hair reverend with years,— In the cold vale of sorrow may pillow his head, "Come, then, ye who weep at the close of the day, God never forgets; Come with your bonds and your cares and your tears, God never forgets." Him will we trust, Him will we serve; walking in the light as He gives us to see the light; doing the right as He gives us to know the right, until some day out of the blue and stillness of otherwhere we shall hear Him say, "It is enough." And we shall go in to come out no more. Unto that great day, Lord, make us faithful! THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF OUR YOUTH. REV. MARION LE ROY BURTON, PRESIDENT OF SMITH COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON, MASS. The past decade has been marked by a deep interest in the whole field of religious education. Organizations have been formed; large conventions have been held; educational, religious, and psychological literature has been produced; new courses of study have been formulated, and many practical experiments have been tried. As a consequence, much valuable experience has been acquired, new truths have been discovered, and larger hopes have been awakened. But, despite all of this interest and activity, much vagueness still pervades the whole question. Few of the results have been systematized, and many of the fundamental principles are not generally agreed upon nor clearly enunciated. While there is every reason for gratification over the progress that has been made and the widespread interest that prevails, there is a corresponding demand for an attempt to formulate clearly some of the more generally accepted truths relating to our subject. I. THE AIM OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. With this need in mind let us endeavor to formulate the aim of religious education. That no inherent contradiction exists between education and religion is perfectly apparent. Education, in the last analysis, is the training of personality for efficient service in life. It is the process by which a person is brought into true relationship with every factor of his environment. Religion is not theology nor ecclesiasticism, but life. It is man's life lived in relationship to God's life. The perfect compatibility and inner spiritual unity of all true education and real religion is therefore obvious. The aim of all education is not only to store the mind with the detailed facts of various fields of knowledge and to develop that mental acumen which will enable the student to attack any problem, but also to transmute that knowledge into action, to create character, to build manhood and womanhood, to equip our youth for citizenship and give them world-wide. sympathies and interests. The particular aim of religious education is not only consistent with this standard, but builds upon it and utilizes it. It aims not so much to teach theology or biblical literature as it does to give knowledge about how to live. All education by the very nature of the process deals with the intellect. While knowledge is not necessarily virtue, nevertheless knowledge may and often does determine action. Although there is no positive assurance that the wise man will be good, there is every reason to feel confident that knowledge is more potent in character building than ignorance. Therefore the religious educator endeavors to use this agency for molding the life of our young people and to do so by dealing specifically with that field of knowledge which concerns most intimately the best methods for right living. His hope is thereby to secure noble character and true manhood. His object is to establish those habits which will make the child when he reaches adult life a useful and worthy citizen. His supreme desire is so to relate the youth to himself and to his nation and to the world that he will always stand for the right against the wrong, for the just against the unjust, for the true against the false, for the genuine against the fictitious, for the beautiful against the ugly, for the good against the evil. The religious educator goes even farther. He endeavors to establish those ideals which will serve as anchors in the stress of life. He strives to put the child in touch with the eternal sources of inspiration which will insure the permanence and stability of character. He attempts to link the youth to his God and to thrill him with the tangible ideals of the life of a spiritual Master. Unquestionably the supreme aim of religious education is to teach our youth how to live. The emphasis is not upon ethics or theology or facts, important as they all are, but upon character and life and ideals. II. SOME SIGNIFICANT FACTS. The task of the religious educator in his attempt to realize this ideal is greatly complicated by certain conditions peculiar |