too prone to act for the approval of our brothers, and to forget that "Thou God seest me." It is so easy to find excuses for leaving our Bible unopened, for neglecting some of the various church services; but if we realize clearly that the only true ground for the sufficiency of an excuse is that we would be willing to offer it to Christ, many a neglected Christian duty would be performed. It is by no means the least service of the Christian Endeavor that it seeks to train its members to be truly conscientious in these matters.

II. The Adaptability of the Christian Endeavor Society to the Conditions existing in any Church. The first society was in a Congregational church, and for several years this denomination preponderated in number of societies. It proved too good to be monopolized, and to-day societies exist in thirty different denominations. Of the sixteen thousand and more societies which have been reported to the United Society, over four thousand are in Presbyterian churches. The Congregationalists come next, with over three thousand five hundred; the Baptists and Methodists have each over two thousand, among the latter many Epworth Leagues of Christian Endeavor, while the Christians (Disciples) have nearly a thousand. These figures show the great flexibility of the society.

The reason for this is the fact that each society is a part of the church to which it belongs; a pledge to certain Christian work is, we might say, all that is common to all the societies. As regards the methods of work, there is the greatest latitude; experience has shown that certain methods have proved most successful, and, therefore, they have been adopted by most of the societies. This is especially true of some phases of the committee work. We could consider the Lookout Committee almost a necessity to the society-a committee whose duty it is to "look out" for the members, and to have a general oversight of the society, to reclaim members who are remiss in keeping the pledge, and to advise as to new members. A Prayer Meeting Committee is necessary to take charge of the prayer meeting, and their duties may stop with merely selecting the leader, but will most wisely go much farther and include a general and prayerful supervision of the meeting.

Most societies, too, will wish to have a social side, and so the Social Committee has its raison d'être. Most societies have these three committees and usually several more; Sabbath-school, Missionary, Calling, Flower, Good Literature, Music, and many other committees all suggest duties which many a pastor will wish his young

people to perform. As the society is a part of the church, the pastor and officers of the church will be ex officio members, and have actual complete control of the society; they may not wish to exercise their prerogative, but they have, of course, absolute veto power on every action of the society. This enables each society to be kept strictly in denominational lines. We sometimes hear of a society which has strayed away to some extent from the rules and customs of its church, and I have heard some criticism on such societies, and even on the Christian Endeavor movement on this ground, but in every case the fault must rest wholly on the pastor and officers of the church. Far more societies are injured by too little attention from the pastor than by too much. In this respect the Christian Endeavor Society stands on precisely the same basis as the Sabbath-school. It would indeed be strange if a body of young people, however zealous in the Master's work, did not occasionally swerve from the course, if the elders never take a hand at the helm. I have spoken of the pledges which have been proposed by the various committees, but I do not mean it to be understood that it is in any way requisite that the last of these pledges, or indeed any one of them, must be adopted by any society; each society is perfectly free to adopt any pledge which seems to them and the officers of the church the wisest and best fitted for the work of their individual church; the only point being that if it is to be a "Christian Endeavor" Society, it should include the essential features of the movement, of which I have already spoken. There may be reasons in certain churches, and even denominations, why it would, for them, be better to modify the pledge in certain particulars, and this has been repeatedly done; while in many churches of our own denomination the young ladies fulfil their pledge of taking part in the prayer meeting by reading a passage of Scripture, which may be made to more or less express their own individual feelings on the subject; in many other churches this would be deemed inadvisable. I had some little correspondence a few months ago with Dr. Clark, the founder of the first society, and recognized leader of the movement, seeking to learn his views as to whether this would be any barrier to a Christian Endeavor Society. His opinion coincided exactly with that which I had already formed, that a modified pledge could be adopted by the ladies of such societies, they pledging themselves to be present at each meeting and to do such committee work as might be advisable, while the young men would take the ordinary pledge; or again, that a true Christian Endeavor Society might be organized with only male mem

bers, the young ladies attending the prayer meeting or not, as might be deemed expedient. Indeed, I know of a society of this latter class in another denomination, the ground of the exclusion of ladies being, however, that the young men are afraid to take part in their presence. In general, experience has shown that the pledge proposed by the convention has given the best results.

This leads me to a consideration of the place occupied by the United Society. This is, perhaps, best expressed by an extract from the report of Secretary Baer, at the Minneapolis Convention. "The relation of each local society to the United Society is only the bond of a common name, common methods of work and a common warfare against a common enemy. The United Society exerts no authority over any local society, levies no taxes and asks for no contributions; every society can be affiliated with its own denominational union and conference, and can, at the same time, have the delightful fellowship that is to be found in interdenominational conventions such as this." The United Society is a self-supporting missionary organization for the dissemination of information on the Christian Endeavor Movement. Its board of trustees is made up of eminent men, from all the leading denominations, and no denomination has a predominance. This board sanctions the publication of such literature, on the subject of the Christian Endeavor movement, as seems to them will be the most useful to the cause, and by this means all who desire are enabled to readily gain information with respect to Christian Endeavor. This board is like the society itself, strictly interdenominational.

III. Fellowship. The third characteristic of the Christian Endeavor movement, which has contributed to its growth, is the fellowship existing between the different societies. In doing the Lord's work in what we believe the wisest and best, perhaps we might say, right way, we are too liable to forget that those who are working with other methods, of which, perhaps, we may not approve, are nevertheless doing the Lord's work. The points of similarity between Presbyterians and Baptists and Methodists and the other Evangelical denominations, are far greater than their differences. We all believe in Christ as our only Saviour, and we are all laboring to bring lost souls into his kingdom.

A speaker at the Minneapolis convention, referring to the poem. "No sects in Heaven," said it was no less true that there are no sects in hell. In time past there has been too much attention given to fighting other denominations, instead of concentrating all the efforts of

Christians everywhere for a simultaneous attack upon the forces of the evil one. Not that denominational lines should disappear, not that any denomination should yield any of its principles, but each should remember that it is but one of the divisions of the great army of Christians, arrayed against a common enemy; not a union of belief, but a union of work. This is what the Christian Endeavor movement is tending to bring about. By emphasis on the principle of loyalty to his church, it is making the young Presbyterian a better Presbyterian, the young Methodist a better Methodist, the young Baptist a better Baptist; at the same time it is teaching each of these that he is not alone in the contest with evil; that all over the world there are others, differing from him in many points of belief it may be, yet serving under the same banner of Christ. This was expressed in the watchword of the society year before last, "We are laborers together with Christ;" it is expressed in the watchword of the society last year, again adopted for the present, "One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.” And so the different societies come together occasionally for union meetings and conventions. In this city we have some four meetings of the local Christian Endeavor Union each year; we have also an annual State convention, lasting three days. A similar practice obtains in other States; once a year an international convention is held. These conventions are not delegated bodies, they are open to all Endeavorers; they are not legislative, and they have no power over the members of the societies; they are gatherings for the purpose of receiving and giving good; no one is so weak he cannot help his neighbor, none so strong he needs no help. Addresses by Christian Endeavor workers, on Christian Endeavor and kindred topics, is the chief feature of these conventions, and I think none who have attended them have failed to come away better Christians, and more willing to work in the Master's cause. The recent convention held at Minneapolis was probably the largest religious gathering ever held; over eleven thousand were registered as present, while the total number in attendance must have been nearly, if not quite, fifteen thousand. The great exposition hall, which holds easily twelve thousand, was again and again filled to overflowing. The inspiration of such a gathering as this is felt by every one; no one who has been present can forget it—a body of twelve thousand young Christians taking counsel together how best to work for the Master, and carrying home with them. what they have learned, to the greater body of over a million young men and women, pledged together "For Christ and the church." In

the address of Dr. Clark before the last convention, on "Fidelity and Fellowship," after referring to fidelity to the individual church as one of the great underlying principles of the Christian Endeavor movement, the speaker expressed the relation of the society to fellowship in the following words: "Fidelity and fellowship, the two wings which will bear upward and onward the Christian Endeavor cause to final victory.

"I believe in the Communion of Saints. This sentence of the Apostles Creed has awakened an echoing sentiment in every church and in every Christian heart. We have an opportunity of showing, not only of saying, but of demonstrating, in a way never before possible, for young Christians in the history of the world, that we believe in the communion of saints. The church has waited long for the glad day when, without yielding conscientious scruples, or sacrificing the principles that her different branches hold dear, she might unite, not only in singing, but in living the hymn:

'Blest be the tie that binds

Our hearts in Christian love;

The fellowship of kindred minds

Is like to that above.'

"Now for a million young hearts in thirty evangelical denominations, in every realm of the globe, the day has come when Christian fellowship is an inspiring reality. Thank God that the prayer of the ages has been answered, in some degree at least, in this great convention of youthful Christians. Thank God that without endangering a doctrine for which our fathers fought, without imperilling a rite or custom that any sensitive heart holds dear, without weakening a tie that binds any soul to his ancestral church home, we can come together in this fellowship, that is as broad and deep and lasting as the love of Christ."

Since the spread of the Christian Endeavor idea, several denominations have taken up the idea of purely denominational societies. The only one of these that has attained any prominence is the Epworth League of the Methodist Church. Had they adopted the pledge principle they would have stood upon the same platform as the Christian Endeavor, save that they would have cut themselves off from the help which the feeling of fellowship with similar workers in other denominations gives. As it is, they are organized on a broader (?) basis than the Christian Endeavor, in this respect, that they take in all the young, and not those alone who are willing to pledge themselves to active