The record-union., 1896-12-06

never have been thought of. A check in
any direction is too often looked upon
not as an obstacle to be overcome by
the same patient devotion that has
proved successful in the past, but as
crisis which endangers the very life of
that particular phase of work We be-
come ambitious not for the greater, but
the greatest. We want to convert the
world by wholesale, do in a decade
more than a millennium has accom-
plished in the past. Under such cir
cumstances it is well to look a little
more closely at what is being done,
and as we realize how the greatness
grows, how each decade, indeed each
year, shows it's advance, to call to
mind the words of the Savior and re-
member that we have cause for de-
vout gratitude that our generation is
so privileged rather than for complaint
that still greater things are not done"
1.-The meetings which Messrs. Moody
and Sankey have been carrying on in
this city for the past ten days are re-
vival meetings in the true, but not in the
usual acceptance of the word" says the
New York Evangelist" Pres.), "and for
that reason they have by no means
aroused the excitement of twenty -one
years ago, when great crowds thronged
the Hippodrome, nor equaled the long
record of conversions then made. 1t is
not the sinners that Mr.. Moody is now
calling to repentance, but the righteous
and Notwithstanding the apparent di-
vergence from our Lords method, his
present work is quite as important as
that he carried on a generation ago.
The quickening of the religious life in
the souls of men and women who pro-
feSs religion, making it potent in their
daily conduct, in business and in pleas
ure, in the amassing of money and in the
spending of it-this is quite as impor-
tant to the well-being of society and of
the church as the evangelizing of the
outside multitudes. 1t was the careless
daughters, not the wicked ones, who
brought destruction upon Jerusalem, as
Isaiah perceived; it was the wrong busi-
ness methods of the men of Micah's and
Amos time that so honeycombed the
nation that it fell before the destroyer.
Making haste to be rich, and the luxuri-
Gus uses of wealth are not nineteenth
century sins; they are as old as the de-
struction of Samaria and the captivity
of Judea. Why should not protesting
Christians of to-day open their eyes to
see, in the mirror of the past, the mean
ing of their own conduct"
fo, FOL,
dency in colleges to make attendance on
religious services voluntary, and hence
the experience of those institutions
which have tried the experiment is valu-
able" says the New York Christian In
telligencer" (Ref). 1.-THE contention of
| those who favor the continuation Of the
time -honored custom of compulsory at
tendance has been that with the temp
tations which surround the college stu
dent and which lead him to abuse the
liberty exemption from home restraints
offers, the morning chapel and Sunday
service are certain to be more and more
neglected unless they be made obliga-
tory. This will result less from a de-
termined intention of absenteeism than
from a thoughtless and gradual yielding
to what seem more pressing claims.
This view has received repeated confir-
nation where the voluntary system has
been tried The latest deliverance on
| this subject comes from President Har-
per of Chicago University. He says:
Is it that the religious service has been
dull and uninteresting? Yet it is true
| that the men who have conducted it
| have been the strongest men on the uni
versity staff and the strongest men in
| the pulpits of the city of Chicago. Is
| it that sufficient effort has not been put
| forth to induce students to attend? Eff
| fort after effort has been made without
avail. Is it that the chapel service is
thing of the past and no longer needed
| in university? If this is true, prayer
| itself is farce and religion is a delu-
sion. Is it, after all, that in student life
| as in every life, there is needed in the
performance of many of the higher
duties a sense of obligation coming
either from without or within? And
| is it possible that the policy of required
| attendance is perhaps better?' The
| Christian Intelligencer' has no hesi-
| fancy in saying that it isl