love. Sincerity and frankness, with a solid backing of goodness, will win the love of any parish. A minister with that outfit can have all the freedom he can use. He need never cross the street to avoid any one; and he may feel perfect liberty in any gathering of his parish, and always know that he will receive a cordial and hearty welcome. The great thing is to gain the confidence of the people, for confidence is always a sure indication of love. If you will permit me to say it, I think that social gifts are even more needed now than ever before. I think it is also clear that a minister, in this social time, needs to have an "all-around" preparation for his work,more so than heretofore. Pulpit work is of course of the first importance, and nothing can take its place or serve as a substitute for it. But there are in every parish large numbers of young persons, and many older persons, who are not developed. All these must be looked after as well as the others. Every class in the parish must be considered, and their needs supplied.

Among the young, of course, the imaginations and emotions play the largest part; and, so far as my own observation goes, I have yet to see a thoroughly prosperous church that did not lay special emphasis upon the care of its young people.

Do not, I beg of you, my young friend, ever forget that you are a minister. I know that it is often said, and with an appearance of freedom, "that ministers are just like other men." Permit me to say that I regard this as heresy,—a real, genuine heresy. A minister is not like any other man, or, if he is, he ought not to be. He has dedicated, consecrated, set himself apart, for the express purpose of raising the standard of humanity; and, if he is to go down to their level on every occasion or any occasion, I can't see how he is to accomplish his work. So my advice would be (and you may take it for what it is worth), Never forget that you are a minister, not even with your most intimate parishioner. Besides, with all this talk concerning the qualities of minister and layman, even in the face of that familiar phrase of our dear old friend Dr. Hale, that "we are all priests and kings," it won't do to take that saying too literally. A minister must have a certain reserve, not "put on," as the saying is, but a certain ability to good

naturedly stop at certain limits, doing it as naturally and inconspicuously as possible. One other point; that is, concerning finances. On this subject I feel like speaking with more authority than any other, because I have had more experience in this line than in others; and I say unhesitatingly to every minister, old or young, Upon your settlement in a parish, always insist upon a plainly written agreement as to just exactly what is understood to be the fact concerning the details of your settlement, naming not only the amount of your salary, but the time of its payment. Then, when the pay-day comes round, insist upon it that the parish shall keep its part of the contract.

Laymen are sometimes very unreasonable concerning the ministry; and I think the ministers ought to be conscious of this fact, so that they may not be surprised into betraying an undue amount of indignation when it comes to them in their daily life, unexpectedly. The difficulty with the layman is that he has an idea that the work of the minister is very easily performed. He has little conception, for example, of the amount of labor that is required in the preparation of a sermon. He knows nothing of the exhaustion of the vital forces produced by the delivery of a sermon or the conduct of a public service. Do not let this discourage you. The average layman never knew by experience that he ever had a nervous system. He says sometimes to himself, and sometimes, unfortunately, aloud, "It is an easy job to fix up one or two sermons when a man has a whole week to do it in." He has no idea what it costs to preach a sermon, attend a funeral, or do many of the less conspicuous things that belong to a minister's life. He compares it constantly with his own business. If he could only be persuaded to try his own hand in the preparation of one sermon, and be compelled to preach it, he would be a silent observer of ministerial labors forever thereafter. He would find not only his intellectual apparatus fully tested, but, when his sermon was ready, he would find how much courage it needs to face a congregation, with only one's ideas to protect himself from criticism, sarcasm, or, what is worse than all, from pity.

I suppose I shall be expected to say some

thing concerning the present outlook of our own work, especially as it relates to the work of the ministry. I believe there never has been a time in the history of the Unitarian denomination more encouraging to consecrated ministers than it is to-day. I am sure that, if our young men throughout the country knew the wide field of usefulness that was open to them in this department of activity, they would crowd into it in greater numbers than they do at present. The statistics in the Year Book need give you no uneasiness whatever. I think it is safe to say that the unemployed list, which at a rapid glance seems very large, will, when analyzed, be found to contain nothing discouraging.

There are vacancies in Unitarian parishes to day in considerable numbers that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to fill promptly and satisfactorily. The demand for good ministers was never stronger than it is to-day. Would that the Holy Spirit might descend upon every young man when he is ordained, so that, whatever he was before, he might thereafter become a powerful and successful worker in the ministry! But that is impossible. A man may be good, honest, the very pattern and model of all that is sweet and lovely in Christian character, and still be utterly unfit for the ministry. Good ministers are not made by theological universities nor by ordination councils. I shall not attempt to submit any formula for the manufacture of ministers, nor set up any standard upon this subject. I can only say that, when we have the men in the ministry that are able and willing to perform the work that is needed, I heartily believe that the laymen of this country will rally to their support, and that they will find doors opening to them on every hand. I do not criticise the laymen for their indifference in some matters in the present. While the work of church extension is one that is ripe for carrying into execution, it is probably true, as we all know, that we could not to-day man many more churches than we have until our supply of ministers is increased.

Just how we are to settle this question I confess I am at present unable to determine. Consecration, self-denial, and self-sacrifice are called for somewhere. I believe laymen will be found to contribute money to any

reasonable extent, when they see the men who are capable of doing the work that is necessary to be done. But whether the men will come forward in this spirit of self-sacrifice of which we have spoken, and prepare themselves, with faith that this can be done, remains to be seen.

Our Unitarian churches are growing stronger in every part of this country to-day in the face of the financial depression, and with the competition in theology that comes from the "liberal orthodox." There is no doubt in my mind that, when the present financial depression passes away, our churches will enter upon a career of growth and usefulness that will exceed the history of the past in every respect. I believe that our leaders and our ministers generally, are coming to a fuller appreciation of the magnitude of the work we have in hand and its entire adaptability to human needs. I trust that the men who are coming into the ministry will bring a new and devoted consecration to the highest and best interests of the church.

If the Unitarian Church is to amount to anything in the world, it must show why it exists and wherein it differs from others; and, having once outlined its position and defined its faith, it must stand by it manfully, openly, on every occasion,—not offensively, but bravely. I, for one, have no respect for that timid and hesitating, apologetic way of stating that we do not disagree with anybody. We do disagree with many people, and we have reason for it. We stand for the latest and best revelation of God to his people,-for the living God, the living truth, the living Christ; and, if we are not prepared to take our banner in our hands and carry it forward, then we have no right to be here.

One more word, and I close. I have already said that the only solid and lasting foundation for a church is religion. It is the business of the church to make men religious; that is, keenly alive and susceptible to the influences which spring from, grow out of, their relations to the Supreme Power that governs the universe. These relations are expressed in the beautiful watchwords of our denomination,-"Love to God and love to man." Ours is the church of the two great commandments. Let us stick to our business, and leave the old disputations to

those who can find no better way to employ their time. Let us build, not tear down. We have plenty of truth. God in the universe. Man divine by nature. Immortality a consciousness. Christianity a life. Jesus a spiritual model. Goodness, justice, righteousness. The principles needed for happiness in this and in all lives.

THE NEW LAW IN RELIGION.

A Review of the Life-work of Henry Drummond.

BY FREDERICK B. MOTT.

Henry Drummond was of that race which in these recent years has somehow seized the laurels in so many departments of literary skill, now holding the minds and hearts of all English-speaking people in philosophy, theology, science, and fiction. To this brilliant roll of honor, including Caird, Blackie, Stevenson, Barrie, and Watson, Drummond adds the name of another Scotchman.

He was born in 1851 at Stirling, that city of kings and castles, close to the historic field of Bannockburn. His father was a successful and wealthy merchant, and destined his son for the ministry in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

He was

sent to Edinburgh University, and afterward to Germany. There he became deeply interested in physical sciences; and after returning to Scotland, though taking up with great enthusiasm certain evangelistic missionary work and accompanying Moody and Sankey for more than a year in their English tour, during which his brilliant oratory attracted attention, yet he did not become an ordained minister, and very soon accepted a professorship at Glasgow University.

About this time he became very intimate with Prof. Geikie (afterward Sir Archibald), the famous geologist, and with him came to America, and made a study of the geological curiosities of this country.

Returning to Scotland, he began to work out into literary form the thought that had been gathering strength in his mind: that the discoveries of science were not destructive of religion, but were real revelations of God; that the divine truth was there written in the strata of the Rocky Moun

tains, engrossed upon the isolated bowlders scattered down the Atlantic Coast, and engraved upon the imbedded fossils dug up in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. But, somehow or other, he did not say this. Either the bias of his strict theological training or the naturally fervid enthusiasm of his soul led him to invert the statement and distort the conclusion. He did not write, therefore, a great prophetic book, proclaiming “all law God's law"; but instead he wrote a subtle, brilliant, sensation-stirring apologetic, entitled "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," in which he began by graphically and in an exceedingly popular way outlining some of the latest conclusions of science, and then by brilliant special pleading soothed his own conscience and appeased the astonishment of his evangelical relatives and friends by declaring that all these natural laws were only additional proof of oldfashioned, creed-crowned Orthodoxy.

That book satisfied nobody, but it agitated every one. Its originality in drawing illustrations from the new knowledge of vegetable and animal life, its splendid language, its winning freedom from theological animosity, immediately secured an unusually large number of readers; and every reader was stimulated to fresh thinking, orthodox and liberal alike. Some were surprised out of old ruts of thought. Others were stimulated by his method, and the possibilities he suggested, to go on to more liberal conclusions. Although at that time Prof. Drummond himself did not admit it, and his personal friends did not believe it, yet the very arguments he advanced, suggestively in this first book, were evidence of the coming destruction of the old dogmas. What he really accomplished that was most practical and beneficial was to open the eyes of thousands to the fact that the Divine Face was to be seen, not only in the past, in the old revelation, in the days of the fathers and the Scriptures, but now, in moss beds by the river brim, in the rocks along the mountain pass, the insect swarms that fill the radiant summer air, the changing seasons, the rise and fall of all the myriad forms of nature's changes.

He made, therefore, a valuable book, fresh in treatment and likely to awaken the spiritual life.

That it failed to really satisfy its author is

abundantly evident. After putting the book in the hands of a publisher, he determined upon a more intimate and careful study of primitive life, and started upon a scientific exploration to the heart of Africa. It was there, far up the Zambesi River, without a single white companion, that he first heard of the wonderful success of his book. On his return he found himself famous; and his fascinating account of his experiences, entitled "Tropical Africa," had a wide circulation.

But it was in the field of religious thought that he had moved the hearts of his readers; and he was besieged by publishers, universities, institutions of learning everywhere, to give some more definite statement of his religious views.

Some said he was a destructive evolutionist. Some maintained that he was no such thing, but a firm supporter of the established faith. Which he was no one knew, and he could not enlighten the public; for with them he was equally ignorant. He was himself in the process of evolution. The bird on the edge of the nest hardly knows how far it will fly. This only he knew he was seeking the Divine Face.

An urgent demand to deliver an important lecture at Oxford compelled him to make some public utterance; and it took wonderful form in that picture of the universality of love, entitled "The Greatest Thing in the World." Slight as the pamphlet was when published, its sale was enormous, a quarter of a million copies being demanded at once.

Prof. Drummond must have wondered why. Did it confirm the Scotch Presbyterians in their hope that this man was to be the new champion of the old faith? Certainly not.

human intelligence; but it supplies at least the most essential spiritual nourishment, and reveals in the common path the Divine Presence. It seems to do for us what spring does for the flowers, when

“Daffodil, lily, and crocus,

They stir, they break from the sod;
They are glad of the sun, and they open
Their golden hearts to God."

-Ch. G. D. Roberts.

So this breath of earnest human love bids us simply open our hearts to God, and tells us the greatest thing a man can do for his heavenly Father is to be kind to some of his other children.

So the world responded to this call, and Henry Drummond's name became a household word.

But his dearest friends were greatly puzzled; while those who knew him least, anxiously waited for more knowledge.

This because "the greatest thing in the world" was so broad, so universal in its application, it might mean anything when you came to test by it a man's faith. And on all sides, with a new astonishment, people began asking, If a man is not a Christian, not baptized, not confirmed, and yet is governed by a loving heart, that cannot make him a Christian? Does Drummond throw over the Westminster Catechism? Does he declare all the doctrine of the Church so much waste paper?

Then followed those wonderful essays,"Pax Vobiscum," "The Changed Life," "Dealing with Doubt," and, at last, "What is a Christian?"

In every one we feel the author faithfully searching in the simplest and nearest things. He says: "God never made mountain tops to be inhabited. But streams from the mountain tops are to be found in the lowest valleys."

misleading. They all imply the very things that a Christian is not. The Christian is not a man whose great aim in life is a selfish desire to save his own soul, nor the man who goes regularly to church in order to purchase admission to heaven.

The real programme of Christianity is, "To bind up the broken-hearted, to give liberty to the captives, to comfort all that mourn, to give beauty for ashes, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."

"If any man wants to know how to begin to be a Christian, all that I can say is that he should do the next thing he finds to be done, as Christ would have done it."

After this Drummond made a tour of the world, lecturing in many places, and every where inspiring and quickening the higher spiritual life and winning the affection of all his hearers by his modest and gentle

manner.

Meanwhile his thought ripened; and he prepared what is undoubtedly the great work of his life, and which he first gave to the world through the course of Lowell Lectures delivered in Boston in 1893. This course was afterward published, entitled "The Ascent of Man." It placed Prof. Drummond definitely and securely in line with the great prophets of the Unitarian faith (it is really Martineau's philosophy put in a popular, taking form and with marvellous insight, beauty, and feeling). He comes out clearly and definitely for the evolutionary theory of man's origin by a "strictly natural development" upward from lower to higher.

He says evolution includes the whole man, and all that is in man, and all the work and thought and life and aspiration of man; "and this, therefore, means not only a change of opinion about the great truths of religion, but a change in a man's whole view of the world and life."

"Only by bringing religion into harmony with all nature and into harmony with all our other knowledge can religion possibly retain its vitality."

"There are reverent minds who ceaselessly scan the fields of nature in search of gaps,-gaps which they fill up with God, as if God lived in gaps!" But evolution shows God everywhere; "and which is the nobler thought, occasional God or all God?"

"Positively, the idea of an immanent God, which is the God of evolution, is infinitely grander than the occasional wonder-worker who is the God of the old theology." Evolution is the ceaseless expression of God, the divine features in everything. "It is revelation."

"It enables man to discern the prelude to his destiny in the heart of Nature." "It is a light revealing in the chaos of the past a perfect and growing order. Men begin to see an undeviating ethical progress that from eternity has never turned.

"Galileo discovered that the earth moved from west to east. Evolution adds that it moves from low to high, that all things are rising,-worlds, planets, stars, suns, bodies, souls. An ascending energy is in all things. The universe is on the side of the man who aspires."

This has long been understood, of course, by all real appreciators of Emerson and Martineau; but we owe a great debt of gratitude to Drummond for making the best of Emerson's teaching practical and real, adding the new evidence and leading the faltering human mind into the inner presence of the secret of the one God by such plain and logical stages that the wayfaring man cannot err therein.

Prof. Drummond's early death is a tremendous loss to the progressive religious thought of the time. It was his intention to continue his study of the "ascent of man," to give us the evolution, not only of the primary faculties, but of the more complex, -the evolution of society, the evolution of religion. For as he said: "The miracle of evolution is not so much in its beginnings and process as in its results. . . . Evolution is not progress in matter: matter cannot progress. It is progress in spirit, in that which is limitless, in that which is at once most human, most rational, and most divine."

Let me conclude by quoting his advice to those who asked him, in the light of these new ideas, how they should live,—how would it be possible any longer to know what was God's will or to be led by him? Prof. Drummond replied:

"First, pray. Second, think. Third, talk to wise people, but don't take what they say as final. Fourth, don't be afraid of your own inclinations. God never un