From our Exchanges

with contributions from William J. Bryan

One of those great periods of emancipation is upon us now, a great uprising of the religious instincts of men in defiance of the prescribed forms of thought and means of culture. That which is called so fluently the irreligion and impiety of to-day, is a tremendous revival of religion in its dominant and eternal form, the outcry of men for God with no hindering agencies or conditions to get between. The crisis demands first of all to be recognized, and then we must adapt our whole religious machinery to these new conditions. To stand in the tracks of good men gone before, and by iteration of the old formulas try to curb and convert this new giant to our old ways, is a folly of which a man convicts himself by preaching so as to divide men rather than to unite them. The man who in his religious teaching seeks to separate himself and his following from the uprising of the whole people in a new impulse of worship, a new desire to know God, and to be on good terms with Him, is a type of selfishness and bigotry that has been condemned a hundred times in the last seven centuries of the Christian civilization.

The Christian Work and Evangelist.

Service is the measure of greatness. He is the greatest who does the most good. There are two methods by which good may be promulgated. There is the forcible method, but in that men spend so much time in trying to coerce each other that they have little time left in which to do good. The second method is to overcome evil with good. No power can compare in this world with the power of a good life. It is a slow process,—yes, but so sure. You can calculate the influence of a body upon another body, of mind upon mind, but not the influence of one human heart upon another. I thank God for the democracy of the heart, for it is upon the subject of the heart that we all meet.

William J. Bryan.
Dayton (O.) Herald.

A falling off in the number of students preparing for the ministry is reported in England. We have heard of one important theological seminary in this country where the students applying for the next year's class number only one. There has been a marked decrease also in the number of theological students at the German universities. In 1887 the universities had 4,634 students of theology; but this year, in spite of the growth of population, there are only 2,553, or little more than half.—The Universalist Leader.

There is an eternal and unchangeable difference between right and wrong, and it is proper to recognize it at all times and under all circumstances. It is not necessary to be rich. It is not necessary to succeed in business. But it is necessary for a disciple of Jesus Christ to be on the side of righteousness. We cannot accept the principle that it is right under any circumstances to do evil that good may come, or to sacrifice in the smallest degree truth and righteousness to obtain business or any worldly success.—The Watchman.

Public opinion may cause those who exhibit moral and social symptoms which are obnoxious to the public to shrink from observation, but the disease itself is prevented only by removing the causes of disease. When that is done, the symptoms take care of themselves. An enlightened public opinion must turn attention to the germs and conditions which cause moral disorders. That done, the diseases will vanish.—The Christian Register.

If there is one question more than another which should engage attention to-day, it is that of Christian attitude toward wealth—its accumulation, possession, and distribution.—The Congregationalist.

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