England.

LONDON: STOKE NEWINGTON. In the Band of Hope Recitation Competitions for the medal given by the United Temperance Conference, the medals have been awarded to Annie North and Charles Bigg.

MANCHESTER UNITARIAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION.-The annual scholars' festival was held in the Free Trade Hall. Mr. W. H. Mellor (president) took the chair; and the service was conducted by Rev. A. H. Dolphin, Pendleton. Hymns from "Hymns and Choral Songs" were sung; and the choir sang the anthems "Praise ye the Lord" and "But the Lord is mindful. Mr. J. W. Allen conducted, and Mr. G. M. Little again presided at the organ. Rev. A. H. Dolphin's address was short, lucid, and practical. The good attendance (over three thousand), good singing, and good address made a festival which was, in every sense of the word, a success. Mr. C. Renshaw was the very able marshal.

Farmington, Me.-The services at Temple continue to draw large congregations, and a church organization is in process of formation. The May fair at Farmington was a great success financially and otherwise.

Framingham, Mass.-Rev. Charles A. Humphreys of Randolph made an address on Thursday, June 18, in Plymouth Church, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the installation of Rev. L. R. Eastman over this Trinitarian Congregational church. Rev. M. J. Savage, who was once settled over this church, sent a letter of congratulation.

Humboldt, Ia.-The Sunday-school reported for year ending April 5: number enrolled, who have attended five Sundays or more, 74; average attendance, 43; number of services, 47; largest attendance, Jan. 26, 1896, 64; smallest attendance, Aug. 18, 1895, 21; total collections, $51.95; average collections, $1.10; total paid out, $40.81; balance, April 5, $11. 14.

The Ladies' Circle reported for year ending April 1: twenty-seven afternoon meetings, six sociables, and a fair, from which sources there have been received $209.18,

most of which has been applied on parsonage debt.

The secretary of the Unity Club reported: thirty two meetings announced, thirty-one were held, one being adjourned because of bad weather. Of the thirty-one meetings seven were of special interest; and the audiences were much larger than usual, the average attendance being 140. For the remaining twenty-four meetings the average attendance was 49, a better average than Unity Club has had for years. Three entertainments were most successfully conducted. Last September there were 94 cents in the treasury. The receipts for the winter have been $51.90.

Iowa City, Ia.-Reports come to us of a promising outlook for this society, under Miss Gordon's vigorous management.

Milton, Mass.-On the evening of June 23 the parish parlors were glorious with a wonderful profusion of June roses; but these were almost forgotten in the quickly gathering company of gayly attired and happy-faced children, girls, matrons, and men, which thronged eagerly around the minister, Rev. Roderick Stebbins, to congratulate him upon the tenth anniversary of his ordination and installation as minister of this church. The high esteem and true affection in which Mr. Stebbins is held is the best possible proof of the growing value and success of his ministry; and the hearty greetings he received on this occasion and the joyous faces of all his parishioners must have been a deep source of holy satisfaction to him, while the presence of many brother ministers, among whom were Rev. Messrs. James De Normandie, Theodore C. Williams, William H. Fish, Henry F. Jenks, told of sympathetic relations beyond the parish limits.

Services during the summer are to be held in the parish parlor while the interior of the church is undergoing thorough redecoration, recarpeting, etc.

Newburyport, Mass.-Our church observed Flower Sunday" June 21. The stately edifice was made beautiful with an abundance of flowers, furnished and arranged in exquisite taste by the King's Daughters. Six children were baptized, and four young persons were confirmed. At the session of the Sunday-school interesting services were held, it being the seventy-second anniversary of its formation. Six members received graduating diplomas from the infant class.

Plymouth, Mass.-The corner-stone of the new First Church in Plymouth was laid on Monday, June 29, at four o'clock in the afternoon. Work on the new structure began April 10. The foundations have been laid in a solid and workmanlike manner, and the walls are now ready for the

flooring. The people of the parish and of the town are much pleased with the progress thus far made, and with the prospects for the future. The society hope to occupy the Sunday-school rooms by December.

Presque Isle, Me.-New lesson courses for several of the Sunday-school classes have been secured. Young men and women, as well as older members of the congregation, are invited to join the advanced class. Strangers are always welcome.

Saco, Me.—Everything is as usual in the church affairs. The Sunday services and Sunday-school are well attended. A recent visit from Rev. Dr. Blanchard of Portland, in exchange with our pastor, was greatly enjoyed. Another barrel has been sent to Tuskegee.

The Social Circle had a sale and entertainment, the proceeds to go toward remodelling the vestry. Supper was served on the European plan, and the entertainment attracted an audience that filled the vestry to its utmost capacity; and we hope to have the building put in good shape during the

summer.

The meetings of the Alliance have been well attended during the winter; and, while not having great things written on the pages of its records, the Alliance has made itself felt in various ways, to some extent at least, outside of purely home affairs. An afternoon meeting was held at the house of Mrs. Mason, at which Mrs. L. J. Burgess of Portland read a very fine paper on "The Value of the Bible in Literary Study." A small admission fee was asked, and the proceeds devoted to our St. John donation.

Salem, Mass.-The work of our churches is practically suspended until September 1. During July and August union services will be held at the First Church.

Salem, Ore.-Though the hard times have severely injured the society, yet the people do not despair, but work more earnestly than ever. The Columbian fête, under the superintendence of Miss Matthews, of Chicago, was recently given with great success, and added quite a sum to the treasury of the Women's Auxiliary. On Sunday night, May 10, a society of young people was organized, with the purpose of "welding together those who love, in the service of those who suffer." It is called "United Guild, and now has thirty members. Mr. Copeland, after an illness of a month, is well again, and has been lecturing to large congregations on the X-ray and its relations to mind-reading and kindred topics, also calling attention to the religious side of the new discoveries which are attracting so much attention.

San Diego, Cal.-The First Unitarian Society of San Diego has taken a new lease of life. The average attendance at the

Sunday evening service since January 1 has been two hundred and thirty-seven; and indications are that this average is rising, in spite of the departure of the tourist population. A club of young people, called

The Unity League," has just been organized, whose purpose it is to promote the social life and intellectual interests of the young people. The lectures of the pastor, Rev. Solon Lauer, given on week evenings, have been largely attended. The subjects have included several phases of Psychical Research, Psycho - therapeutics, Food, and other topics bearing on practical life problems. An illustrated lecture on the Adirondacks, and several exhibitions of fine added to the interest and the income of stereopticon views by Mr. Lauer, have the society. The Sunday-school, under the efforts of Mrs. Covel and her corps of teachers, has steadily grown in numbers and interest. Plans are drawn for a new building for the society; and, if the Loan Fund extends some aid, the building will The Universaprobably soon materialize. list society has discontinued its meetings, and most of its members now attend service at Unity Hall. A "Society of Silent Unity" has been recently organized, which meets in Unity Hall once a week, under the leadership of the pastor, for the study and application of the laws and forces of mind.

Sheffield, Ill.-This society has had a prosperous year. It has always been an independent and self-supporting society. The membership and attendance are steadily increasing, though in a small place like this the raw material for recruits must necessarily be comparatively small. Just now the Ladies' Society, with Mrs. Will Dewey as president, is remodelling the parlors of the church. The Ladies' Society provided the dinner to which the high school alumni sat down. The dinner was pronounced a culinary and financial success.

Under the able leadership of Mr. C. H. Townshend, who has conducted the choir for nearly twenty years, that body has rendered most excellent music. It is ungrudgingly accorded the palm of talent of any choir in the neighborhood.

The

The guild has closed for the season. Sunday school has a faithful body of workers. A successful and beneficial feature is the kindergarten class, originated At and carried on by Miss Lila Williams. the close of the exercises the pastor reviews the whole school in the lesson of the day.

The Sheffield church has just raised $50 to find a permanent home for some homeless child, under the auspices of the Illinois Children's Home Society, the Guild, the Ladies' Society, and the Sunday-school supplying about half this amount, the rest being made up by individual subscriptions. This is a good work, reforming at the be

ginning, and a work which our Western churches might more often participate in.

The next near event is the marriage of the pastor, Rev. Stanley M. Hunter, the bride-elect hailing from Salt Lake City, where she has been one of the earnest workers of the Unitarian society of that inter-mountain capital. Much added usefulness to the labors of the Sheffield church is naturally looked for from the consummation of this event, and the Sheffield church already congratulates itself upon the prospect.

Sioux City, Ia.-The new plan of giving a song service every Sunday evening is meeting with success and approval. The audience joins very heartily in the singing of the familiar hymns, while the selections sung by the quartette and choir and played on the organ seem to be appreciated. services will be continued into the summer.

The

The noted evangelist, Williams, has been invited by the Ministerial Association of this city to hold a series of revival meetings here. A corner quite centrally located is being prepared for the erection of a large tent, which, it is expected, will be daily and nightly filled with anxious souls. Whether we approve of his methods or accept his doctrines, we cannot deny that the liberal church would do well to emulate his zeal, energy, and enthusiasm.

Springfield, Mass.-The Sunday-school of the Church of the Unity gave a lawn party at the Col. Thompson place Friday evening, June 12. The proceeds will be used in charitable work. Sunday, June 14, the members of the Sunday-school had a written examination on their year's work, "The Life of Saint Paul."

June 21 was "Flower Sunday." There was a union service of church and Sundayschool, the sermon being addressed to the children. Two infants and several Sundayschool scholars were baptized. Prizes for scholarship and for prompt and regular attendance at Sunday-school were awarded, the girls carrying off the honors in the former and the boys in the latter. Cut flowers were distributed to the scholars at the close of the service. There will be no further sessions of the Sunday-school until fall. The evening services have been discontinued for the summer months.

Toledo, Ohio.-Rev. A. G. Jennings, pastor of the Church of Our Father, will preach on the two Sundays prior to the usual vacation, as follows: July 5, "The Church and State"; July 12, "The New Unitarianism."

Washta, Ia.-The time for which Mr. Van Sluyters was engaged to preach for us, in connection with the Cherokee society, is about to expire; and it is probable that his relation with us will then terminate. Mr. Van Sluyters's work has been very satisfac

tory to us. His sermons are scholarly, practical, and helpful; and he goes from us with the esteem and best wishes for the future of every member of our society. Hereafter lay services will be held, some member of the society preparing and reading a paper; and the Washta society will keep on in its usual self-reliant and independent way. Under the masterful leadership of Mr. H. M. Ferrin, our Sundayschool is in a vigorous condition.

Wollaston, Mass.- When our church was built, no one dreamed that the time would come so soon when we should need a larger building. Now we really need more room; and a larger, more convenient structure is what we must look forward to in the near future.

More than one organization has been started in connection with our church during the past three years in which Mr. Bagley has been our pastor. We have the Unity Club, the Altar Society, the Sunny Hour Club, the Guild of the Good Shepherd, and the Angelus Brotherhood, each of which is an eminent success, and in a flourishing condition. All of these, in addition to the good old Ladies' Aid, which has been the strong right arm of the church ever since its foundation! And yet, tireless workers as we Wollaston Unitarians are, we must needs have one more organization; and so on April 9 of this year a meeting was called to consider the advisability of establishing in connection with

our church a Branch of the National Alliance of Liberal Christian Women.

At this meeting, which was held in the vestry, Mrs. Lombard of Plymouth, Mass., gave before the seventeen ladies present a most interesting paper on "The Alliance: Its Work and Needs," at the conclusion of which, after a very brief discussion, an organization was completed which now has the following persons as its board of directors: Mrs. Charles Crane, president; Mrs. James E. Bagley, secretary; Mrs. Eugene Sprague, treasurer; Miss Hattie Turner, Mrs. W. E. Simmons, Mrs. Fred Merrill, vice-presidents.

Yarmouth, Me.-The Lend a Hand Club and the Willing Workers are doing something in the way of making clothing for children to whom it is acceptable. These are live clubs, eager to do. All who thus work for others are really doing more for themselves in the noble traits they are establishing. Let the good work go on.

To get up every morning with the firm resolve to find pleasure in duties, and do them well, and finish the work which God has given us to do, that is to drink Christ's cup. The humblest occupation has in it materials of discipline for the highest heaven.-F. W. Robertson.

Volume XI.

Number 8

I have been reading with profit and delight the Life of Whittier, and am moved to preach a Quaker sermon,—a sermon on the Inward Light.

When we read a passage of Scripture, a poem, an essay, a letter from a friend, or even an item of news, how is it that we are able to take the meaning? Is it not because our intelligence is of the same kind with that which produced the writing? How could we understand each other's speech, how exchange signals in any way with our fellow-beings, unless our minds were constructed on the same principles and worked by the same process? And must not this intelligence which all men share, this light which lighteth every man, be copied or derived from the Perfect Mind?

The

This intellectual faculty in man seems no less noble, but all the more sacred, because it is shared in varying degree by inferior orders of life, by beasts, birds, fishes, and insects. Every creature, from archangel to oyster, is gifted with the faculties necessary for its place and part in creation. lower animals all know something: they perceive with their senses; they find their food; they distinguish between what is useful and what is harmful, in many cases quite as plainly as we do. If our faculties serve for higher purposes, it is because they are of a higher rank and are adapted to a higher range of facts and relations. With the outward eye the dog may see what his master sees, but with the inward eye the

master sees what the dog cannot see. The difference in their language is probably no greater than the difference in their thoughts. The inward eye is as real as the outward: the light which shines in the mind is as real as the light of the sun.

How is this spark of intelligence first kindled? No mortal can tell. We can only say that it is of the essence of our being, and is a part of the original gift of life. Show us how life originates, and we shall know how thought begins. But, with all our ignorance, we are sure of this: we do not come into existence unfurnished,-we come equipped with faculties, and supplied with resources suitable and adequate to the kind of life we are meant to live. Every creature in every rank is set up with the capital necessary to transact the proper business of living. There are men who suppose that thought is secreted by the brain as bile is secreted by the liver, that intelligence is a product of bodily organization, that impressions made on the senses give rise to internal movements, which we call mental processes, affections, desires. But this explains nothing. It does not tell me who this being is that I call myself, this being that can say, "I am," and can take note of all that goes on without and within, and can pass judgment even upon its own thoughts and feelings. What meaning would there be in the click and clatter of a thousand telegraph machines if no intelligence presided at either end of the wire? What is this

personality that sits within the brain, and sends or receives the reports that pass through the nerves of sense?

We have to leave the origin of personality, the origin of consciousness and reason, just where we leave the origin of life and organization, or the origin of the forces and movements that have brought into being the ordered universe of worlds. We can only say with Herbert Spencer, "There is an Infinite and Eternal Energy from which all things proceed." Such is the modest translation which science gives to the sublime opening sentence of Genesis, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," or that mystic saying of the Fourth Gospel, "God was the Word; and without him was not anything made that

made."

was

"There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding." That saying in the ancient dramatic poem which is called the book of Job may stand until we get a better one. In short, our life is a part of the Universal Life, our reason is a part of the Universal Reason. The Kosmos is an expression of intelligence: our minds are a share of that intelligence. "We are his offspring," said the Greek poets, Cleanthes and Aratus. "We are his offspring," repeats the apostle Paul. Call him "our Father," said the great teacher of Galilee, who has become teacher of all mankind. According to some other philosophers there is an original deposit of wisdom in each man's mind; and all which we call education is simply an unfolding or manifestation of what is waiting its turn, as a seed waits for the spring. "God hid the whole world in thy heart," says Emerson. picture-writing made with invisible ink is brought out by the sunlight. Human faculties are gently opened by the touch of experience. Thus each man rises from the dust like a new Adam, and finds himself a living soul. As fishes in dark, underground waters have no eyes, yet have an undeveloped optic nerve, which would become an eye if they were born into sunlight, so the human idiot holds the germ of all wisdom in waiting for favoring conditions.

The

According to others, we are like empty vessels waiting to be filled; and all the life or intelligence we receive is continually flowing in from the unseen Fountain of

being. The creative Power operates on dead or inert substance, and fashions both bodily and mental organisms for its own habitation. But we cannot trace or verify the method. We can only say that all life comes as a gift, that we are merely receivers, and that our life expresses itself as light or intelligence.

One thing is sure: the quantity of life can be increased. A child can grow. A feeble man can become strong. A sick man can be made well. A man who seems to be dead can rise again. These things happen every day, and they could not happen without an increase of the quantity of vitality.

Another thing is sure: the quality of life can be improved. Slowly, by careful breeding, culture, and training, the florist, orchardist, and cattle-raiser find it possible to produce superior plants, fruits, and animals. Slowly, as generations come and go, some portions of the human race have grown up out of low earthy conditions, and flowered out into civilization and enlightenment. And in every age and land there have been individuals who underwent intellectual and moral transformation. Foolish people have become wise, bad people have become good, low motives have given place to high ones. Was the transforming power inborn, or was it "a new infusion of the spirit" from the creative source? Is virtue merely our own higher nature asserting itself? Or is it a divine guest that comes to take up its abode in our heart and will? Perhaps it is both in one. Perhaps this is that truth in the doctrine of the divinity of Christ which has been too narrowly interpreted. Is the beauty of the flower due to the quality of the plant or to the sun? There would be no plant if there were no sun; yet every plant has its own native genius and capacity of appropriation.

"Since Eden it keeps the secret

Not a flower beside it knows,
To distil from the day the fragrance
And beauty that flood the rose.

"Silently speeds the secret

From the loving eye of the sun
To the willing heart of the flower,
And the life of the twain is one.
"Of all sweet mysteries holiest,
(Faded are rose and sun!)
The Highest hides in the lowliest:
My Father and I are one!"