especially the _method_ of Jesus, which consisted not of
mere teaching but of _help_--which touched not only the issues of the
sin-sick soul, but the weakness and want of the body. To the demoniac,
to the leper, to the impotent man by the pool, he brought not abstract
truths, but words of healing and works of practical deliverance. How
striking is the fact that the freshest and noblest charities of this
nineteenth century are only developments of the manner in which the
Redeemer soothed the sorrows and vanquished the evils of the world! For
those institutions which especially excite the public interest at the
present day, are those whose plan it is first to remove the children of
the poor from those wretched and foul _conditions_ upon which I have
laid so much stress, and to lead them to a higher culture by extending,
first, the hand of temporal relief. They aim to break up the sockets of
custom, and to introduce the degraded child to fresh motives of action
and fields of endeavor; to throw around him the atmosphere of a true
home, and to blend intellectual, and moral, and religious training with
that true charity which teaches one how to assert his own manliness, and
support himself by the honest labor of his own hands. Now I do not wish
to be invidious, I am glad that such a constellation of philanthropic
promise has risen upon the dark places of the abject poor. I point with
pleasure to what has been accomplished in the Sahara of the Five Points,
and in what still remains to be done I discern a field broad enough to
prevent collision and dispute--broad enough to employ the means and the
generous energies of thousands. With equal pleasure I refer to that
"Juvenile Asylum," with its noble interposition ere the feet of the
erring boy shall take the _second_ step in crime, and which has recently
rendered still more efficient its system of labor and relief by
extending the benefit to girls. But as I wish this evening to
concentrate your sympathies, I call your attention especially to the
institution known as "The Children's Aid Society," the general character
and the practical results of which I will briefly state. Its main object
is sufficiently indicated by its name. Its machinery is simple, and acts
upon the principle just laid down. It seeks first to remove the poor
child from the coil of evil influences which have been thrown around
him, and which have been daily strengthened by the sharpest pressure of
animal necessit