through his life and work and influence in it; and gladly submits to the teaching of Christ and the influence of the Spirit, that he may learn how to do this good work, and keep the impulse to do it alive. Third: The open door. Not long ago, in the familiar conversation of a club composed of business and professional men, a man who is a member of a Congregational church remarked: "I cannot conceive of any way by which my boy can ever get into the church." The boy was not in any way exceptional. He had no special hostility to religion. As a matter of fact, he has since been confirmed in the Episcopal Church. What the father meant was that it was practically out of the question for that boy, or for hundreds of healthy, normal boys just like him, to go some evening to the prayer-meeting, and at the close go up to a committee of elderly saints, state his theological views and religious experience to them, and then be formally propounded in the church on Sunday morning, and thereby set himself up as a model and marvel of superior piety to his fellows. To be sure, in the fifteen years during which I have been connected with that church, I have seen three boys in that community of seven thousand people go through that ordeal. But they were boys of exceptional strength and independence and earnestness of character. But a door through which only three young men can be induced to go in a decade and a half is not a very wide open or attractive door. And our statistics indicate that the door in this church is about as wide open, and the passage through it about as much frequented, as that of the average Congregational church in t: State. There should be regular seasons in the year when, at the close of a period of special instruction, the young people should be expected to come in groups from the pastor's class into the church. An intelligent and earnest desire to enter should be considered sufficient evidence of fitness to do so. The air of awful solemnity and mystery that hangs about the entrance to many churches should be dispelled, and young people should come into the church as naturally and gladly as the young man casts his ballot when first entitled to do so on election day. The emphasis should be placed on the

Christ they confess and the goodly fellowship they enter, not on the profession they are able to make of their own experience and attainments. It is not likely that many who are spiritually unfit will seek to enter. And even if some should, it is better to have one undeserving sheep in the fold than to keep ninety and nine righteous ones standing outside in the cold. By all means let us take down the bars and bolts with which tradition has closed up the Church from the young, and welcome them at the open door.

Fourth: Reasonable and broad requirements of members. We must not pick out a lot of specific amusements, like theater-going, dancing, card-playing, and the like, and say to our young men, "You cannot be good Christians, you cannot be members of the Church of Christ, if you do this or that." We may not care to do these things ourselves; we may, if we can, show others good reasons why they should not care to do them; but the decision in all such matters must rest finally with the individual Christian. For the Church of Christ is not a cult of ascetics. So long

as there is the honest desire to worship and obey God, to follow Christ, and to cultivate the Christian spirit, we may not venture to lay down special prohibitions to bind individual consciences. I do not say that it is desirable that all young Christians should engage in these and kindred forms of amusement. But until a young man can do these things, provided his conscience does not condemn him in it, and still remain in good and regular standing in the Congregational Church, that branch of the Church will remain, in its practical appeal to multitudes of young men, a sect and not the Church.

On the other hand, beyond such attendance upon and support of public worship and such habits of private devotion as one may find most profitable for his growth in the spiritual life, we must not impose specific duties and obligations upon tender consciences.

In particular, participation in prayermeeting must not be erected into an expressed or implied obligation of church membership or Christian character. The ability to do that is a valuable gift, to be prized and used by those who have it. But no stamp of even implied inferiority must be put upon those who find it more

natural to express their Christian faith in the gentle ministries of home, in the upright conduct of business, in the generous devotion to public duty, and in the generous support of charity and reform. There are twelve gates to the heavenly city; and we must allow our fellow-Christians to go in and out freely at whichever of these gates they find most convenient and serviceable.

Fifth Each member must be given a specific work to do. It must be something more concrete and definite and difficult than talking and praying and singing. It may be to take his place on a working committee in some form of institutional work for the better intellectual, social, or economic life of the community. It may be personal work in his own home or neighborhood to increase the happiness and uplift the character of individuals. It may be a battle with bad habits and base impulses within his own breast. But unless a Christian is fighting some form of evil and doing some form of good, you may be sure that he is dead. People will not care to belong to an institution which gives them nothing to do. It is the pastor's most important function to make sure that each member of his church is strenuously engaged in some form of struggle against wrong and service of the right; to share that struggle with him, and to encourage and guide him in it. Unless the pastor has this intimate sympathy with the personal problems of each. member of his church, his preaching will go out into the empty air, and return unto him void. It is this abstract address to men in general, without the individual understanding and personal sympathy behind it, which makes much of our preaching the fruitless and ineffective exercise it is.

On the contrary, the pastor who knows intimately the specific service each individual in his church is trying to render, who shares his difficulties and discouragements, who brings to him personally the motives to sustain and strengthen him in the contest, will find his public preaching growing more vital and powerful. Every Sunday will bring its opportunity to say to this, that, and the other individual in the congregation the word of warning or encouragement he needs. Subjects will crowd upon him for expression; and the

hard thing will be, not to find something to say, but to decide which of the score of things he wants to say, and his people need to hear, shall take precedence of the rest. So simple and vital and fruitful does preaching become as soon as the pastor knows intimately and sympathetically the spiritual tasks and problems of his individual hearers. Preaching then, by ceasing to be an end in itself and becoming a means to the life and growth of individual souls, becomes direct, simple, earnest, and therefore eloquent and effective. In the language of golf, it is driving the ball, instead of simply addressing it. And inasmuch as each individual member of the Church is hard at work in doing something for the glory of God and the good of man, and he finds personal help in doing it, both by private counsel and sympathy and by public exhortation and supplication, he finds out for himself, and tells his young friends, that church membership is really worth while. Until church members can say that as naturally and sincerely as they would urge their fellows to join a political or social or athletic club, we may not expect to see the numbers of church members greatly increase. A practical, spiritual work to do, and help in doing it, though I have placed it last, is, after all, the main condition of church growth, to which all the others are subordinate.

There are to-day, scattered through the various communions, local churches in which, thanks to the leadership of a Beecher, a Field, a Brooks, a Hale, or a Van Dyke, or a pastor or layman of kindred spirit but lesser fame, these five conditions of a real church obtain. No denomination has a monopoly of them. In all denominations they are still in the minority. Perhaps we Congregationalists have as large a proportion of such churches as any denomination. Our polity is exceptionally favorable to the growth of such local churches as shall be worthy representatives of the one true catholic Church.

If we degenerate into a sect, our days are numbered, as they ought to be. A broadened, liberalized, modified Episcopacy will come in to take the place which we leave vacant. If, on the other hand, we identify the Church with the great company of those who are trying to do all the good they can in the world for the glory of God and the love of man; if we train

our youth in loyalty to the Christian principle of unselfish service; if we keep the recruiting stations open, and have stated times when we expect them to enlist; if we impose on them no form of words, no abstinence from wholesome pleasure, no special obligation save such as the Spirit working in their hearts spontaneously confirms, then, and not otherwise, the Congregational body will represent the true Church of God, young people will rejoice

I

Books

to be counted as its members, and it will survive by virtue of its fitness, because nothing better or broader can rise up to occupy its place.

It is the earnest hope of such continued and increasing prosperity for the beloved churches of our order that has constrained me to gather these unwelcome facts, criticise certain well-meant but dangerous tendencies, and point out these radical but I trust effective remedies.

N the season's books on art one of the most sumptuous is the large volume containing illustration in photogravure of "Fifty Masterpieces of Anthony van Dyck," and the sympathetically illuminative comment by M. Max Rooses. (J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.) The term "Masterpieces " seems rather extreme unless we remember that the painter left nearly a thou sand canvases, most of them of exalted merit. The pictures which find place in this volume were all shown at Antwerp in 1899; the book is therefore a fitting souvenir of a notable exhibition. Those who have been unsatisfied with previous appreciations of the painter will gladly welcome this splendid volumesatisfactory in text and in illustration, but not in binding; those content with the appreciations already written may be surprised to find how easily and inadequately they were satisfied. From first to last M. Rooses emphasizes the fact that Van Dyck was essentially a poetical painter. Yet, intensely artist-nature as was his, and painter's painter as he was, he did not derogate from a gentleman's dignity under the specious plea, proffered in every age, that genius excuses. True courtliness showed, not only in the master's uncommonplace life, but in the distinction of his every picture. The robust exhilaration of most Flemings too often sensually clogs their native sensuousness, weights their brilliancy with grossness, impedes their higher growth. In Van Dyck's career, however, masculine vivacity was prominent but not oppressive, grace became neither effeminate nor heavy but well-nigh ethereal, and the note of nobility was natural, not forced. Yet M. Rooses is true to his Low

Country vigor and thoroughness, and, with all his admiration for Van Dyck, conscientiously shows that the very earliest canvases were perhaps too Flemish in a certain weight, and the later too English in a decided thinness. We would add that, ideal as are most of Van Dyck's portraits, his religious pictures, with all their consummate taste, do not, as a whole, always compel the highest reverence. Even that admiration evoked at Antwerp and elsewhere is somewhat due to the proximity of Rubens's work and to the glaring proof that the pupil's is marked by infinitely more sensitiveness and refinement than is the master's.

Most critics,

we believe, while giving these religious canvases a great place, would not set them as high as does M. Rooses. Few artists have reached the spiritual height attained by such men as Fra Angelico and Hans Memling.

One of the best new "popular" works on art is Mrs. Bell's "Representative Painters of the XIX. Century" (E. P. Dutton & Co., New York), really an epitome of the century's painting. Nor is the work entirely retrospective; to a certain extent it deals with present tendencies and with prophecies of the future. Mrs. Bell has chosen fifty representative painters; there is a characteristic illustration in photogravure or half-tone of the work of each artist, together with a notice of the leading facts in each man's career, an analysis of the controlling principles of that career, and especially of those qualities which distinguish the particular painter's worth from that of others. While lacking the accent of authority, the text is extremely informative, vivacious, and comprehensive. Nearly half of Mrs.

Bell's list is made up of Frenchmen, beginning with Géricault and ending with Degas. Englishmen, beginning with Turner and ending with Walker, form a quarter of the list. America is represented by Whistler, Sargent, and Abbott Thayer, and Holland also by three notable names, Israels, Mesdag, and Mauve. There are two Belgians, two Germans, and one each from Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Spain. While in general the selection is good, there are many names-Fromentin, Len. bach, Knaus, the Marises, for instancewhich might as fitly find place as some of those included in the present list. We hope, therefore, that this is but the first of two volumes to be issued under one title.

In point of binding, the most remarkable book of the year is that entitled "National Worthies." It is a selection of over a hundred and fifty portraits from the National Portrait Gallery, London. In an appendix of eighty-odd pages we have short descriptions of the subjects of these portraits, descriptions much after the manner of those in "Who's Who." It is a pity that these might not have been a little more elaborated, and it is especially a pity that each might not have been printed on a page following the a page following the

portrait which it in some measure describes. However, the work is, we believe, the first of its kind, and the collection of portraits at London being so particularly valuable on account both of its worth to art and its worth to history, the book should receive wide circulation. We hope that the publishers may see fit to publish it ultimately in a less expensive form. There are many admirers of that prince of portrait-painters, George Frederick Watts, who will be anxious to possess a collection which includes such celebrated portraits of his as those of Gladstone, Manning, Tennyson, Browning, Matthew Arnold, Shaftesbury, Carlyle, Lord Lawrence, Stuart Mill, and others. While Watts seems the most important of all the painters of any epoch represented in the National Gallery, there are also such superb portraits included in this collection as those of Van Dyck's "Children of King Charles the First," Sir Peter Lely's "Mary Davis" and "Charles II.,' Sir Godfrey Kneller's "Dryden" and "Sir Christopher Wren," and Sir Joshua Reynolds's "Blackstone." We mention these names that the dignity and worth of the volume should be particularly known to our readers. (E. P. Dutton & Co., New York.)

Actual Business Dictator (The): A Collection

of Verbatim Business Letters for the Use of Teachers and Students of Amanuensis Stenography. The Ellis Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich. 54x84 in. 135 pages.

Angels and Their Ministrations (The). By Robert M. Patterson, D.D., LL.D. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 42x7% in. 133 pages.

75c.

Animals of Æsop (The). By Joseph J. Mora. Illustrated. Dana Estes & Co., Boston. 74x91 in. 211 pages. $1.50.

Æsop's Fables go on from one generation to another, and this is an arrangement, for children, of the animal stories, copiously illustrated.

At Odds with the Regent. By Burton Egbert Stevenson. The J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. 5x734 in. 365 pages. $1.30.

Between the Andes and the Ocean. By William Eleroy Curtis. Illustrated. Herbert S. Stone & Co., Chicago. 54x9 in. 437 pages. $2.50. In the artistically bound book containing Mr. Curtis's experiences in South America we find

no map. This omission would seem strange if these experiences were confined to one or two countries; as a matter of fact, Mr. Curtis visits half a dozen on his journey down the west coast between the Isthmus of Panama and the Straits of Magellan. The illustrations, however, are frequent and genuinely illustrative of the text. Mr. Curtis lands at Colon, one of the few places in South America where steamers can go up to a dock, and finishes his journey in Tierra del Fuego-another promising Klondike, he says, though the climate is severer than that of Alaska. Between the Isthmus and the Straits Mr. Curtis has many other not-realized facts to convey to his readers. His book is distinctly readable and profitable. Brahman: A Study in the History of Indian Philosophy. By Hervey De Witt Griswold, M.A. Cornell Studies in Philosophy, No. 2. The Macmillan Co., New York, 6x9 in. 89 pages. Breaking the Shackles. By Frank Barrett. L. C. Page & Co., Boston. 5×7 in. 38 pages. $1.50.

Cap and Gown in Prose: Short Sketches Selected from Undergraduate Periodicals of Recent Years. First Series. Edited by R. L. Paget. L. C. Page & Co., Boston, 4×7 in. 298 pages. $1.25. Child of the Sun (A). By Charles Eugene Banks. Illustrated. Herbert S. Stone & Co., Chicago. 6-8 in. 166 pages. $1.50. Indian child-life and Indian traditions and myths, all touched with sentiment and poetic charm. The color-printing of the illustrations is deserving of high praise, and Mr. Betts has put character into his drawing.

Comfort and Exercise. By Mary Perry King. Small, Maynard & Co., Boston. 52x7% in. 138 pages. $1.

Constantinople. By William Holden Hutton.

Illustrated. The Macmillan Co., New York. 4×7 in. 41 pages. $1.50.

Admiration for this " Mediæval Towns" series increases with every new volume. Physically the books are so well planned that in pocket size and good type we have still a literary treatment of adequate proportions. Mr. Hutton tells the dramatic story of Constantinople, crowded with episode and tragedy, with animation and also with accuracy. Nowhere else can a single-volume book be found dealing with the subject in so satisfactory a manner. It is the work of a careful historical scholar, but it is also the work of a clear writer who can hold the attention of the average reader. Chinaman (The) as We See Him and Fifty Years of Work for Him. By the Rev. Ira M. Condit, D.D. 5×7% in. 233 pages. The Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. $1.50.

The general reader will not be greatly interested in this book save in its valuable chapter on treaty making and breaking, but those who care for missionary enterprise in general and Presbyterian in particular will find much of

moment.

Das Mädchen von Treppi. By Paul Heyse. Edited by Edward S. Joynes. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston. 4x61⁄2 in. 124 pages. 30c.

Defense of Fort Henry (The): A Story of Wheeling Creek in 1777. By James Otis. Illus trated. A. L. Burt, New York. 5x7 in. 365 pages. $1.50.

A stirring record of the settlement of Wheeling in the colony of Virginia. A full account of the deeds of the woman hero, Elizabeth Zane, is here given, and, as a foil, the inglorious acts of the dastardly Simon Gritty. Down Among the Crackers. By Rosa Pen

dleton Chiles. The Editor Publishing Co., Cincin nati. 58 in. 328 pages.

England, Egypt, and the Sudan. By H. D.

Traill, D.C.L. Illustrated. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 51x64 in. 242 pages. $5. In this book-well printed and gratefully light to the hand-the late Mr. Traill describes events in northeastern Africa from the establishment of the Khedivate to the Marchand affair. The larger part of the book is of much historical worth. Mr. Traill's closing chapter, however, will attract greater attention because of its description of present politics, and especially because of his explanation why England continues to occupy Egypt. He justly declares that the institutions which England has given to Egypt are unworkable without the continual support of those who introduced them. Especially is this true re

garding the restoration to Egypt of that vast stretch of country rent sixteen years ago from the Khedive's dominion.

Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
(An). By David Hume. (The Religion of Science
Library.) The Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago.
5x71⁄2 in. 180 pages. Paper bound, 23c.
Episodes from "The Winning of the West,"
1769-1807. By Theodore Roosevelt. G. P. Putnam's
Sons, New York. (The Knickerbocker Literature
Series.) 5x7 in. 247 pages. 90c.

An excellent book for boys.
Expansion. By Theodore Marburg. (Re-
printed from The American.) The John Murphy
Co., Baltimore. 44x7 in. 80 pages. 15c.
Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights.

Illus-
trated by T. H. Robinson. The Macmillan Co.,
New York. 4x6 in. 287 pages. 50c.
Pleasantly retold; daintily printed.

For the Honor of the School. By Ralph Henry Barbour. Illustrated. D. Appleton & Co., New York. 52x8 in. 253 pages. $1.50.

A spirited story of school life and interscholastic sports, and finely illustrated. Fair play and high honor are presented in a praiseworthy manner, and the force of the story centers itself in showing how study must supersede play. High spirits, good fellowship, and manliness breathe from its pages.

For the Liberty of Texas. By Captain Ralph Bonehill. Illustrated. Dana Estes & Co., Boston. 5x74 in. 298 pages. $1.25.

This is the first book in a series of three volumes under title of The Mexican War Series. It has little to do with Mexico, but shows how the struggle for liberty in Texas led up to what followed. Such a story cannot fail to prove interesting, revealing, as it does, how bare historic facts may be as wonderful as the best-laid plots of fiction. The movements of Americans, Mexicans, French, Spaniards, and others within that vast territory, their encounters with Indians and with one another, are as romantic as brain could devise, while the exploits of dashing Sam Houston and the maneuvers of Santa Anna will prove a delight to boy readers.

Fortune of a Day (The). By Grace Ellery Channing-Stetson. Herbert S. Stone & Co., Chicago, 44X7 in. 319 pages. $1.25.

The title, "The Fortune of a Day," covers a collection of simple and charming if somewhat too finely spun out stories.

Friendship and Other Essays. By Ralph Waldo Emerson. Dodge Publishing Co., New York. 5x6 in. 90 pages. $1.50.

A pretty edition, half spoiled by an absurd frontispiece.

Forward Movements of the Last Half Cen

tury. By Arthur T. Pierson. The Funk & Wagnalls Co., New York. 5x8 in. 421 pages. $1.50. This volume covers a wide range of religious and benevolent enterprises. With what it more obviously suggests it includes such subjects as the "Keswick Teaching," the "Culture of the Grace of Giving," and the "Growth of Belief in Divine Healing." So far as it treats of things attempted and done, it is a stimulating record, and its emphasis on the spiritual motor-force is both strong and whole some. In view of this, one may forgive the author his whimsical concluding chapter on