ply a descriptive title, covering only what it ought to cover. It is honorable because it costs something to wear it, and it means something of which any individual or society may be proud.

We lose much in summer, because Unitarian families are so apt to take a vacation from church-going. They allow their young people to drift into other churches, and great efforts are made by certain churches to attract and hold our young people. Now, it is not bigotry to keep the youth of our churches instructed in, and in sympathy with, the great ideas which have made a place for us in American life. Why will not groups of Unitarian families at mountain resorts and at the seashore, without waiting for the services of a minister, organize themselves for summer worship? Let one of them read a sermon: let some one conduct a simple service of worship. "All play and no worship makes Jack an irreverent boy." With our small organization it is impossible to maintain services at summer resorts all along the coast and elsewhere, as some churches do. But good missionary work can be done by intellectual lay men and women. They who do it will bring into their churches in the autumn a freshness of life and zeal which will be felt throughout the winter's work.

The Association intends during the coming year to give more attention to small groups of people not large enough at present for the support of a church. These groups may be divided into two classes. The first will contain those in towns so small that they cannot hope to establish self-supporting churches. The second class will include those in cities and large towns where, with a sufficient increase of interest and numbers, it will be possible to establish self-supporting churches in time. Now, both these classes may for the present get most of the advantages of a church if only men and women can be found who are willing to take the lead in conducting services, reading sermons, and organizing Sunday-schools and young people's societies. In such ways, scattered liberals, who are lonely and in need of sympathy, may support one another, and make their protest against the popular creeds respectable. It is often the case that men and women meet each other for years without suspecting each other of being heretics. Dread of an odium to be incurred by professing Unitarian belief often cuts such persons off from mutual support and sympathy. The Association will encourage the formation of such societies in the hope of meeting the needs of both classes,-those who may and who may not expect to found permanent churches.

Another purpose of the Association, expressed in its Annual Report, will need fre

quent repetition and explanation. Appropriations, other things being equal, will be "made primarily to churches, societies, a organizations which have developed through local interest and enthusiasm, and as far as possible concentrated on important enterprises." It is not the intention of the As sociation to force itself upon the attention of unwilling communities by establishing permanent missionary stations. We have good reason to believe that there are scattered through the country places enough to call for all the money at our disposal in assisting promising church-building enter prises through the first stages of growth. It is also considered the part of wisdom to establish churches at centres of influence. Wherever one strong church has grown up, other churches tend to group themselves around it. The Association has no desire to extend the list of churches in the Year Book. But it is anxious to make all our churches sound, strong, and influential cen tres of religion, morality, public spirit, and a benefit to society in its parts.

GEORGE BATCHELOR,
Secretary.

SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.

New editions of the following manuals have recently been issued by the Unitarian Sunday School Society:

"A Life of Jesus for Young People," seventeenth edition, by Rev. Howard N. Brown.

"Teachings of Jesus," second quarter, by Rev. Henry G. Spaulding.

"Questions for Bible Study, Part I.," fourth edition, by Rev. Charles F. Dole.

tion, by Rev. Messrs. M. J. and W. H. "Beginnings of Christianity," third ediSavage.

"A Catechism of Liberal Faith," paper covers, second edition, by Rev. Charles F. Dole.

"Lessons on the Old Testament," primary, by Mrs. J. C. Jaynes.

"Sunday Helps for Little People," by Miss Alice C. Dockham and Miss Lucy F. Gerrish.

"A Baptismal Service," by Rev. Albert Walkley.

"Statement of Faith,' by Rev. Charles

F. Dole.

The lessons issued the past year on the "Teaching of Jesus" and the Beginning form ready for sale by the 1st of August, of Christianity" will be put into manual These forty lessons, covering the school year, which have proven so successful, will make two distinct courses, each one containing twenty lessons. "Teaching of Jesus, Primary grade, prepared by Mrs. J. C. Jaynes, twenty-four-page illustrated leaflets in manila envelopes. Price 12

Sunday-school rooms, 25 Beacon Street. Miss Brown and Miss Hosmer will be glad to serve our friends in any way they can, thus facilitating the work of the society's secretary, Rev. Richard W. Boynton. Mr. Boynton's address is Roslindale, Mass., or 25 Beacon Street, Boston. He will be glad to correspond with all persons desiring aid in temperance work, or who wish to cooperate with our society.

The annual meeting of the Unitarian Temperance Society was held at King's Chapel, Boston, on May 25. Rev. Christopher R. Eliot presided. In the absence of the secretary, Rev. George W. Cooke, Mr. Eliot made a brief statement of the year's work, emphasizing especially the distribution of tracts and the work done for Sundayschools. The society has now been in existence ten years. It has won for itself an honorable though not a large place in the Unitarian Church. It has kept the subject of Temperance nearer to the front among us, and been a constant reminder of the great need of temperance work. Mr. Eliot stated that his connection with the society as president had covered the whole of its ten years of life, and that on account of increasing work in other fields it would be his desire to resign in favor of some one else. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunities the office had brought, and for the hearty sympathy and co-operation of the board of directors with whom it had been his privilege to work. He was grateful to them for the spirit in which they had accepted his resignation, and prophesied for his successor the same cordial relations and sympathetic appreciation.

The treasurer's report showed that the society stands at the beginning of a new year financially sound, with a fair amount of money for its work. The recent change in the financial year, which begins now on March 1, and the new plan of collecting all subscriptions upon that date, make it possible to report satisfactorily at the annual meeting, the balance reported being the working capital for the coming year. This balance amounts to about $500 this year.

After these reports the following list of

officers was elected :

President, Rev. George H. Hosmer, Neponset; vice-president, William H. Baldwin, Boston; secretary, Rev. Richard W. Boynton, Roslindale; treasurer, Frank B. Thayer, Boston; directors, Rev. Charles F. Dole of Boston, Rev. Lyman Clark of Andover, N.H., Rev. James De Normandie of Boston, Mrs. M. F. W. Homer of Belmont, Rev. William C. Gannett of Rochester, N.Y., Mrs. Abby C. Woude of Boston, Miss Mary O. Rogers of Boston, Rev. William W. Fenn of Chicago, Rev. Caroline J. Bartlett of Kalamazoo, Rev. George H. Hos

mer of Boston, Rev. William I. Nichols of Brooklyn, Rev. William G. Eliot of San Francisco, Rev. Francis G. Peabody, D.D., of Cambridge, Walter H. Evans of Montreal, Rev. Č. R. Eliot of Boston, and Rev. E. J. Prescott of Kennebunkport, Me.

Addresses were made by Rev. Stephen H. Camp of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. J. J. Myers of Cambridge, and Rev. Charles W. Wendte of Oakland, Cal.

Mr. Camp spoke most kindly and in a thoroughly appreciative spirit of the work of the society. He very justly pointed out the impossibility of estimating such work by statistics. The devotion of the society's leaders and members, though comparatively few in number, is what counts. He knew well the difficulties and discouragements of such work. It is no small thing to be simply faithful to the temperance ideal. The Unitarian Temperance Society has been faithful. It opens the door for service, and offers to the Unitarian Church an opportu nity. Mr. Camp expressed himself as heartily in sympathy with restrictive measures as a part of the temperance reform, but chiefly emphasized the need of unselfishness and the self-sacrificing spirit.

Mr. Myers gave a practical and earnest talk upon the work accomplished in Cambridge during the past few years for temperance. The hearty co-operation of all classes and churches in the no-license campaigns, knowing neither denominational nor party lines, has been most noticeable and commendable. It has given rise to the phrase "the Cambridge Idea," as represent ing such co-operation upon broad citizenship lines. The results have been success in driv ing out the saloon and great gains in the happiness and prosperity and good morals of the people.

Mr. Myers spoke warmly against using the funds derived from liquor licenses to reduce the taxes of the people and to help pay the police. He felt that "rum and public revenue should be divorced entirely." The element of private gain should also be eliminated from the liquor traffic, a proposition at the basis of the Norwegian system. The hope of private gain is the cause of the

saloon.

Mr. Wendte called attention to the noble record of the Unitarians in temperance work. They have not worked so successfully as an organized body, it may be; but, individually, they have done noble service. The following resolutions were presented by Rev. George H. Hosmer, and unanimously passed :

"Resolved, That the Unitarian Temper ance Society earnestly protest against the sale of liquors in the public parks of Bos ton, as positively injurious to the peace, good order, and safety of men, women, and chil

dren to whom these parks are now a blessing, which would be seriously affected, should such sales be allowed within the precincts of the parks or near by.

"Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to represent this society at the hearing on Thursday, the 28th inst., to present a protest to the police commissioners." Rev. George H. Hosmer, Miss S. F. King, and Mr. Charles H. Stearns were appointed as the committee to present the resolutions. After the singing of a hymn the annual meeting was closed, with earnest hopes for the future.

The committee appointed to attend the hearing upon the question of granting

licenses for the sale of beer and wine at res

taurants in the Boston public parks fulfilled its duty; and its protest proved to be one of many. Rarely has any temperance hearing called forth so universal and vigorous a protest. The room was crowded, and petitions to the number of over fifty were entered. It was felt that the commissioners could scarcely fail to recognize so strong a protest, and we are glad to say that two or three weeks later the licenses requested were refused.

CHRISTOPHER R. ELIOT.

GUILDS.

The Young People's Guild connected with the Unitarian church of Chelmsford celebrated its fourth anniversary on the evening of May 22 with appropriate exercises in the church auditorium.

Mr. William Hall, the president of the guild, made appropriate introductory remarks, and presented the speakers. Rev. Mr. Fisher, pastor of the First Universalist Church of Lowell, with twenty of his young people, was present and gave an address, pressing home to the young people the importance of cultivating their powers and making themselves useful in the church. Rev. Mr. Simons of Billerica, with several of his young people, was also present, and made strong and helpful remarks. The Baptist minister of the village lent the help of his presence, and spoke with sympathy and wisdom.

The pastor, Rev. Mr. Pierce, added a few closing words. There was a very good congregation in attendance, several young people from the Baptist and Congregational churches of the village joining in the exercises.

After the exercises in the church auditorium the audience repaired to the vestry, where the members of the guild served refreshments. Altogether the exercises were very pleasant and helpful.

The guild is quite alive, and is doing a

good work. Its meetings are held every Sunday evening in the church vestry, the pastor alternating with the members in leading the same.

A Junior Guild has been formed at Exeter, Mass., and starts off with good courage. Its meetings are held at four o'clock each Sunday afternoon. A pleasant relation exists between our Junior Guild and the Junior Endeavor Societies in town, and profitable visits are interchanged.

Our Senior Guild, just completing its ninth year, proposes to hold services in our vestry on July Sunday mornings, at the regular hour for church service. If the plan now proposed is carried forward, some member will read a sermon every Sunday. Thus half the vacation time, when our pulpit is unoccupied, will be provided with religious exercises by our young people.

BOOKS.

Life of Saint Francis of Assisi. By Paul Sabatier. Translated by Louise Seymour Houghton. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.-To understand the true nature of such a character as that of the founder of the Franciscan order, and the motives which moved him, requires a sym

pathy with spiritual things not very commonly found in modern France.

From whatever cause, the modern French race is spiritually myopic. With great and noble powers in other directions, it seems to have lost the religious sense, to be unable any longer to discern the things which must be discerned spiritually. It is the more remarkable, therefore, that the present volume should have been written by a French

man.

Mrs. Oliphant's delightful work will retain its place, the first place, in the affections of English-speaking admirers of the saint; but henceforth M. Sabatier's "Life" will be indispensable to all who wish to know more of this marvellous career than Mrs. Oliphant's brief masterpiece supplies.

The secret of the life of Francis was a consciousness of the presence of God, so real that it can only be described by a physical and sensuous symbol. It was like the ordinary man's consciousness of warmth and light. He was in love with this presTo understand him, we must understand this.

ence.

What moved him was not a sense of duty, but a passionate, exalted love for an ideal

personality. He may have used mistaken means. In some respects his views may have been narrowed by the narrowness of his times. Nevertheless, it is probable that this happy and joyful tormentor of the flesh, this self-forgetful lover of God and man, approached nearer than any other to the fulness of the measure of the stature of Jesus Christ.

Council of Trent. Lectures at Oxford. By James Anthony Froude. New York: Scribner's Sons.-The criticism of Froude as a scientific historian, which was especially noticeable after his appointment to the chair of modern history at Oxford, is much like the disturbed content of a body of comfortably settled clergymen of orthodox doctrine and precise MSS. upon the sudden appearance of a natural preacher who has a "message" and a tongue of flame with which to declare it. Froude treats all the facts of history as living material. In his hands the musty old council papers scintillate. As in his volume on the "Life of Erasmus" the bursting of the Reformation cloud was described so vividly that the reader felt himself in the thunder-storm, so in this story of the Council of Trent one is involuntarily carried into the passion of the rising tide of lay intelligence against the ignorance, tyranny, and immorality of the great priest caste. No more forcible summary of the conditions which brought about the Reformation, and gave to Luther's theses the immense and immediate support which they received, has ever been written than the opening chapters of this book. The volume lacks completeness, but that is rather the fault of the subject; for the questions raised still lead us on, and we find ourselves plunged into the very thick of the struggle which we are now largely able to regard as that of the evolution of modern Christianity.

Oliver Wendell Holmes: Life and Letters. By John T. Morse, Jr. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.- The character of Holmes was ideal for his biographer, for he was not a genius only in the transient moments of literary inspiration, giving all he had to the permanent work by which he became famous; but his overflowing talents ran through the quiet hours of even his most secluded days, and filled his most casual correspondence with brightness and the fascinating tints of genius. That his external life was comparatively uneventful does not in the least make his biographical record tame: on the other hand, it seems to have saved from dissipation in action the flow of his reflective faculties, and so to have filled with a progressive, meditative,

yet exceedingly wittily expressed philosophy his quiet days.

This account of his life, with the extracts from the early diary, and the entertaining later letters, gives us a close, clear view of the man who, of all modern men of letters, was, perhaps, already better known in his domestic life than any other. Yet there seems to be absolutely nothing in Dr. Holmes's most private life which does not increase our admiration. In which of his many capacities he is likely to be most remembered is only for future historians to record. It is possible that his moral earnestness, his attacks upon the hardness of existing creeds, his fight for freedom of the soul, his appeals for more humaneness, may in the future identify his name with those of more clamorous reformers. It is certain that kindliness, geniality, and human sympathy will never be dissociated from his memory.

Mr. Morse deserves much gratitude, as also does the Houghton Publishing Company, for the excellence in every way of this book.

Louis Agassiz: Life, Letters, and Works. By Jules Marcou. New York: Macmillan & Co.-Two handsome volumes here preserve a most personal and delicately conceived history of the life of the great naturalist. Mr. Marcou had the great advantage of being a countryman of Agassiz, as well as a professional contemporary. He is critical as much as sympathetic, and the complete presentation of his subject is well done. The subject itself is quite fascinating, even to unscientific readers.

The boyish joyousness with which the early scenes abound permeates the whole story. It seems to have been largely owing to this grand enthusiasm that Agassiz rose so rapidly, taking by storm the friendship of reserved and difficult scientists like Humboldt; and, doubtless, this tremendous flow of animal spirits alone made possible the accomplishment of the appallingly vast amount of original research embodied in his works.

In an appendix Mr. Marcou gives a list, covering forty-four pages, and enumerating 425 papers, essays, and books, from Agassiz's prolific brain. The two volumes form altogether the most satisfactory and thorough life of Agassiz yet published, and will probably remain a permanent authority.

Escape from the Tower. By Emma Marshall. New York: Macmillan & Co.Mrs. Marshall, who also wrote "The Master of the Musicians," in this book has given us a very vigorous, healthy story, which will keenly interest while it broadly instructs. The story of the heroine, Winifrede, Countess of Nithdale, is taken from authentic records of the Jacobite rising in 1715.