e place.
Christian nurture--_a continuous process_--in which development is the
key-note, not conversion, a sudden transformation, a terrible wrenching
of the whole being, is the church's present method of growth. Oh! the
old has not entirely gone--here and there we occasionally see evidences
of its presence. Professional evangelism we call it to-day. I ran across
it in a recent trip East. A big, barnlike structure had been erected
which was called "the tabernacle." Its floor was of sawdust sprinkled on
the ground. Here for about a month a professional evangelist had
harangued the curious crowds in immoderate, and oftentimes immodest
language. Wit and sarcasm and slang and emotion had been freely used in
his efforts to make sinners "hit the sawdust trail," to use his own
spectacular language, as well as to extort money from the pockets of the
attendants. He left the town $5,000 richer than when he entered and also
carried with him, as advertising material, a long list of so-called
converts. A travesty on the sacred work of the church! But such methods
are to-day the exception and not the rule, and the exceptions merely
prove the rule.

And to-day church membership is graciously held out to all who need help
in the work of perfecting character--to all who need assistance in
leading the Christian life, as well as to those whose battles have
already been fought and won. The question asked is no longer, "Have you
attained?" but rather, "Do you wish to attain?" When an individual,
child or adult, seeks entrance at the doors of an educational
institution, the only condition imposed is assurance of his desire to be
a learner. The doors swing open. And thank God the church is at last
coming to the same position. And so we see her to-day well started upon
the fourth stage of her development, accepting as her one great work
that given her at birth so long ago--the religious development of the
child and the race.

THE SCHOOL

The American school is a wonderful institution. In its absolute
universality and impartiality, in its fine spirit of democracy both of
teachers and pupils, there is nothing like it elsewhere in the world. It
is a product of the genius of our people. Product? Yes, but, also,
successively, the most influential cause of the genius of our people.
From the first, in a somewhat remarkable degree, we have been a people
knowing no social classes or distinctions. The caste idea, so prevalent
in European countrie