going astray; and when its members have
realized the power of the Christian principle, then they will not be men
if they do not unite to see that the rest of the world experiences the
same emancipation and reaches the same happiness of release.

I believe in the Young Men's Christian Association because I believe in
the progress of moral ideas in the world; and I do not know that I am
sure of anything else. When you are after something and have formulated
it and have done the very best thing you know how to do you have got to
be sure for the time being that that is the thing to do. But you are a
fool if in the back of your head you do not know it is possible that you
are mistaken. All that you can claim is that that is the thing as you
see it now and that you cannot stand still; that you must push forward
the things that are right. It may turn out that you made mistakes, but
what you do know is your direction, and you are sure you are moving in
that way. I was once a college reformer, until discouraged, and I
remember a classmate of mine saying, "Why, man, can't you let anything
alone?" I said, "I let everything alone that you can show me is not
itself moving in the wrong direction, but I am not going to let those
things alone that I see are going downhill"; and I borrowed this
illustration from an ingenious writer. He says, "If you have a post that
is painted white and want to keep it white, you cannot let it alone; and
if anybody says to you, 'Why don't you let that post alone,' you will
say, 'Because I want it to stay white, and therefore I have got to paint
it at least every second year.'" There isn't anything in this world that
will not change if you absolutely let it alone, and therefore you have
constantly to be attending to it to see that it is being taken care of
in the right way and that, if it is part of the motive force of the
world, it is moving in the right direction.

That means that eternal vigilance is the price, not only of liberty, but
of a great many other things. It is the price of everything that is
good. It is the price of one's own soul. It is the price of the souls of
the people you love; and when it comes down to the final reckoning you
have a standard that is immutable. What shall a man give in exchange for
his own soul? Will he sell that? Will he consent to see another man sell
his soul? Will he consent to see the conditions of his community such
that men's souls are debauched and trodden und