eatness of human life is almost wholly out of sight. Perhaps in our
presence the most heroic deed on earth is done in some silent spirit,
the loftiest purpose cherished, the most generous sacrifices made, and
we do not suspect it. I believe this greatness to be most common among
the multitude, whose names are never heard." Most beautifully has the
poet expressed the same fine thought:

"Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

These pure gems need to be discovered and polished, and these sweet
flowers cultivated and utilized by Christian culture. It is idle to
talk of developing these hidden resources of intellectual and moral
wealth but by true culture, and this can never exist apart from
Christianity. Christianity is the spiritual power that vitalizes the
culture of our age. So evident is this that even a Fichte was compelled
to confess that, "We and our whole age are rooted in the soil of
Christianity, and have sprung from it; it has exercised its influence
in the most manifold ways on the whole of our culture, and we should be
absolutely nothing of all that we are, if this mighty principle had not
preceded us." Culture and Christianity can not now be divorced. Those
who would array culture against Christianity are themselves under the
influence of that which they oppose. The very imagined imperfections of
Christianity must be discovered by the light of Christianity, "just as
he who seeks to discover spots in the sun, must for this purpose borrow
the light of the sun itself." Culture and Christianity are so
interwoven that we may never expect either, separate from the other, as
a blessing to the world. The very fact that the Protestant nations of
the earth, where God is honored by a free Bible, are the chief
exponents of true culture, attests this connection. So vital is this
relation that, "United they stand; divided they fall."

Another important end to be attained in the culture of the masses is
independence of thought. We need to cast off the yoke of human opinion
and cultivate the individual judgment. We are too much the slaves of
fashion. We are disposed to dress our minds as well as our bodies,
after the fashion of the times. This destroys originality and
independence of thought, and renders our lives tame and insipid. We
need connection with other minds to exci