"London. -Rev. Dr. James Martineau attained his ninetieth birthday on April 21, 1895, when various addresses were presented to him on the occasion, and it was arranged that a marble statue of the venerable doctor should be placed in Manchester College, Oxford, in commemoration of the event.

"Forward Movement.-On five consecutive Sundays, beginning on Feb. 10, 1895, special Sunday evening lectures were given in the London chapels simultaneously by the respective London ministers on the following subjects: The Old and the New Thought of the Bible,' 'The Old and the New Faith in God,' 'The Christ of the Gospels brought back,' 'Practical Christianity the Salvation of Society,' 'Heaven and Hell: Here and Hereafter.' A special fund was raised for this purpose, Mr. G. L. Bristow of London acting as treasurer. Forward Movement Lectures' were also given at Carlisle, Cirencester, Guildford, Hastings, Kirkcaldy, Mountpottinger, Portsmouth, Reading, Ringwood, Rotherham, and at other country places.

"Welsh Unitarian Movement.-A few friends interested in the progress of liberal Christianity among Welsh people resident in London commenced classes and meetings in July, 1895.

"Islington.-A stained-glass window was presented to Unity Church, Islington, by Mr. J. T. Mackey of Duncan Terrace in 1895, as a memento of his wife's attachment to the church. The subject portrayed is 'Eunice,' with the following inscription, 'Sarah Jane Mackey. Born 1838. Died 1895.'

"Limehouse. The new 'Durning Hall' erected by Miss J. Durning Smith, in connection with her mission carried on for several years by Mr. John Toye in Limehouse, was opened on March 8, 1895. Mr. Edwin Lawrence presided. Miss J. Durning Smith, Rev. R. Spears, Rev. Dr. Brooke Herford, Messrs. J. T. Preston, W. Blake Odgers, Q.C., David Martineau, J. P., Hugh Stannus, Rev. W. Copeland Bowie, and Rev. F. K. Freeston also spoke. Mr. Arnold S. Tayler, A. R. I. B. A., was the architect.

"Mrs. Edwin Lawrence opened in January, 1895, the new Sunday-school and class-rooms which have been built through the liberality of her sister, Miss J. Durning Smith."""

place; and Rev. W. D. Simonds was most heartily and unanimously re-elected. The audiences at the Sunday evening lectures have outgrown the church building, and will be held this winter in the Fuller Opera House, one of the finest auditoriums in the State.

Milford, N.H.-A correspondent writes: "The pastor of this church, Rev. A. J. Rich, preached his fifth anniversary sermon last Sunday. The fifth annual course of lyceum lectures held in the town hall and church has been a success, being the only course held in town. The third course of free Sunday evening lectures on 'Great Subjects,' to which some of the best scholars in New England colleges and churches contribute their wisdom, are patronized by the thinking people of the community, irrespective of church relations. This year several of these lectures are being given by laymen, the leading statesmen and educators of the State, the last one given being on 'Good Citizenship,' by Hon. F. G. Clarke, late Speaker of the House, the next one to speak being the State superintendent of schools, Hon. Fred Gowing, his subject, 'What the People should expect of the Schools, and What the Schools should expect of the People. The church cheerily faces the new year with funds in the treasury."'

New Orleans, La.-A free art school has been established at the Church of the Messiah for the benefit of all those who choose to avail themselves of it. It is held in a small basement room of the church, the members of the congregation having undertaken to defray the necessary incidental expenses, and the able instructors giving their services two evenings of the week. Although the school has been in operation but one week, already the applications for admission far exceed the scanty room at the command of the management. The work that is being done is, of course, elementary; but it is thorough, and the pupils were all seriously in earnest. Rev. Mr. Pierce has also arranged for a free class of mathematics, which Prof. Brown of Tulane has kindly undertaken to instruct.

Northboro, Mass.-The ordination and installation of Josiah Coleman Kent as pastor of the First Congregational Church took place January 1. The sermon was by Rev. Joseph Henry Allen of Cambridge, and the ordaining prayer by Rev. G. M. Bartol of Lancaster. Rev. G. F. Pratt gave the charge to the minister, Rev. Benjamin H. Bailey addressed the people, Rev. W. F. Greenman gave the right hand of fellowship, and the new pastor was welcomed to the town by Rev. C. L. Chute, pastor of the orthodox church in Northboro. Original hymns by Rev. F. L. Hosmer and Thomas W. Silloway formed a part of the service.

Palo Alto, Cal.-A correspondent writes: "There has recently been organized the Unity Society of Palo Alto, of which Prof. Hoskins of Stanford University is president. Meetings have been directed by Mrs. Wilkes for some time past, and it is sincerely hoped by all the members that she may remain here. A building lot will soon be owned by the society, and on it a suitable chapel will be erected. The society will surely prosper, and be a help and benefit, not only to its members, but also to all that come under its influence."

Philadelphia, Pa.- In honor of the seventy-first anniversary of the installation of Rev. W. H. Furness, D. D.. as minister of the First Church, and of the twentieth anniversary of his successor, Rev. Joseph May, LL.D., a large company of their friends assembled in the parlors of the church, which had been beautifully decorated for the occasion, on Monday evening, January 13. Dr. Furness, having apparently recovered from a severe cold contracted while officiating at a funeral, looked remarkably well and happy, as he received the congratulations of those present, among whom was Rev. Robert Collyer of New York. On the Thursday evening following Rev. John W. Chadwick of Brooklyn addressed the Unitarian Club, his subject being "Octavius B. Frothingham. At the conclusion of his very eloquent address President Miller expressed the appreciation of the club, and introduced Rev. Dr. Miel, minister of the French Protestant church of this city, who spoke of his very pleasant relations with Mr. Frothingham, whose hospitality Dr. Miel's congregation in New York had enjoyed for a year, meeting in the evening in the hall which Mr. Frothingham's society occupied in the morning. Mr. W. M. Salter, lecturer of the Ethical Culture Society, expressed his pleasure at being present, and said that he had met Mr. Frothingham only once, and had then been much impressed with his apparently strange indifference to the thought of a future state of existence. At the next meeting of the club Hon. Carroll D. Wright will treat of "The Real Labor Question.

Pittsfield, Mass.-At the quarterly meeting of the Parish Committee of Unity Church, Pittsfield, held on Tuesday evening, January 7, the following resolutions were passed :

"Resolved, That the committee of Unity Church desire to express their profound sorrow at the loss sustained by the church and liberal Christianity in the death of our late pastor, Rev. C. W. Park, the earnest and devoted servant of the truth.

That, while his ministry among us was but of short duration, we would long cherish the memory of his religious sincerity, honesty, and faithfulness to his inmost

convictions, the broad Christian spirit ever manifested in his life and teachings, and the eloquence and zeal with which (as long as his strength remained) he proclaimed the great verities of the Christian faith,the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men.

"We desire, therefore, to record our deep sorrow at the loss sustained in the death of our late friend and pastor, and our sympathy with his widow and family in their bereavement. Signed for the committee, C. W. Sloper, G. W. Gardner, R. E. Birks."

Salem, Mass.-The union services of the Unitarian churches for Sunday evenings in January were held in the First Church. Rev. W. B. Geoghegan of Beverly assisted Rev. G. C. Cressey at one of these services, the subject being "Liberal Orthodoxy: Is it Equal to the Demands of the Present and Future?" A large audience was present.

-There is much activity in the Unity Club and the guild of the East Church. -A large audience gathered at the North Church Sunday afternoon, January 12, to hear Rev. E. E. Hale, D. D., preach the memorial sermon to Rev. E. B. Willson. A beautiful marble tablet was placed upon the wall of the audience-room of the church in memory of Mr. Willson.

-The Barton Square Alliance held a meeting on Friday, January 17, to which it invited the Alliances of Salem and vicinity to hear Miss Sarah L. Arnold of Boston speak on "The Habits of the Home." Α social time followed, and afternoon tea was served.

The

Salt Lake City, Utah.-The services at Unity Hall December 22 were commemorative of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth Rock on Dec. 22, 1620. musical programme consisted of appropriate patriotic hymns, rendered by the choir and congregation; and the stirring solo, "The Breaking Waves dashed high, was given with fine effect by Mr. George Lawrence. Mr. Hudson read, also, the poem of N. Albert Sherman on "The Landing of the Pilgrims," which was published in the Tribune during the late meeting of the Eisteddfod, at which Mr. Sherman's poem received the prize for poetic excellence. The theme of Mr. Hudson's discourse was "Our Inheritance from the Puritans and Pilgrims." He referred briefly to the historical facts, and said that it was especially fitting that the congregation assembled in Unity Hall should commemorate the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, who had established the foundations of religious liberty in this country. At the conclusion of the service it was announced that on the first Sunday in January the congregation would meet in the new hall, first floor of the

Denhalter Building, 28-30 West Third South. Meantime the hall will be entirely refitted for the purpose.

Since Mr. Hudson's advent, the church has experienced a real revival. The increase of the congregation has compelled the securing of a larger place of worship. A new hall was secured on Third Street South, which was first occupied January 5. The congregation was two hundred and seventy-five. Fifteen new names were added to the membership roll. The Sunday-school has over one hundred scholars. At a dedicatory supper three hundred guests filled the tables, among them many of the most prominent citizens. The Salt Lake Tribune, in a lengthy report, speaks in terms of high praise both of the church and its pastor. The president of the society writes, "We have taken a big step forward, and everything points to a prosperous year.

San Diego, Cal.-Rev. Solon Lauer has accepted a unanimous call from the Unitarian society of San Diego, Cal., and enters upon his new field of labors with the new year.

Scandinavian Work.- The Scandinavian work has received new impetus since the arrival of Rev. Herman Haugerud at Minneapolis. He has taken hold of the work with great energy, and is rapidly uniting the somewhat divided elements. The departure of Rev. Axel Lundeborg left the Swedish Unitarians of Minneapolis without a leader; and they have wisely concluded to disband their organization, and to unite with Mr. Haugerud's church. In the Red River Valley there is much interest in Unitarian ideas among the liberalminded Norwegians. Rev. Mr. Erickson reports large and enthusiastic congregations at Crookston, Minn., and Petersburg, No. Dak., during the holiday season, and great attention in numerous other towns in which he gives week-night addresses. From Winnipeg comes report of quiet, steady progress among the Icelanders. Rev. Mr. Skaptason has organized an English Sunday-school for the children of his congregation. They need very much a Sunday-school library. Who will aid them in securing it? Mr. Skaptason spent January in making one of his tri-yearly pastoral visits to the northern settlements, preaching, baptizing, confirming, and marrying after the old country rural fashion.

Springfield, Mass.-The Springfield Branch of the Women's National Alliance held its opening meeting for the year 1896 in the chapel of the Church of the Unity on January 15. Annual reports were listened to with interest, after which the speaker of the afternoon, Mrs. Glendower Evans, was introduced. Her subject was the proposed establishment of a children's

bureau to take the friendless children, who are the wards of the State, out of the hands of the State Board of Lunacy and Charity. A bill to this effect, which Mrs. Evans helped to prepare, was presented to the last legislature. Petitions are now being circulated; and another hearing will be given by the legislature, probably in the latter part of February. Mrs. Evans made it very clear that the work of caring for about two thousand State children, scattered as they are in homes all over the State, needs more supervision than can be given by the Board of Lunacy and Charity. Hence the demand for a separate children's bureau. After the address an informal tea was given, Mrs. Enos Smith and Mrs. Abram Whitcomb presiding.

The meetings of the Women's Alliance will be held the third Wednesday in each month, from January to May inclusive, at 3 P. M., the programme being as follows: February 19, "Charity Organization Societies, 77 Mrs. Charles Lowell of New York; March 18, "Literary Instincts in Children," Miss E. M. Reed, principal Tapley School, Springfield; April 15, "Denominational Work and Opportunities," Mrs. Theodore Brown of Worcester; May 20, business meeting.

Streator, Ill.-The Church of Good Will has just distinguished itself by bringing to a successful issue a great fair. In its conception and conduct this enterprise was wholly unique. It was taken out of the realm of charity, and put squarely on a business basis. Manufacturers and jobbers were requested to send as much of their products and goods as in their judgment would pay for one week's advertising in a daily paper, a week's display in a large hall, and our personal efforts to bring their goods to the attention of the people. Buyers were induced to come and get full value, and more, for every cent they expended. The result was such a display of the very best materials in nearly every line of human needs as is seldom seen outside of our great stores and expositions. And these materials were sold in legitimate business ways. There were no chances, no raffles, no importunities.

The result was an all-around success. The generous contributors had their goods advertised in a most striking and effective way, the buyers all went away fully satisfied, not only with the value of their purchases, but with the courteous treatment and entertainment they received, and the church is about $2,000 ahead in cash toward a building fund which some day will go into a church which will be more than an ornament to the city. The church, having just closed its third year, finds itself stronger than ever. Last year our receipts from all sources were something over $3,500.

Volume XI.

Number 3

To the great Aristotle thought seemed not only the divinest attribute of man, but also the source of his purest joy. He wrote: "Since the intellect is the noblest thing within us, therefore, as far as contemplation extends, so far does happiness; and whoever have more capacity for contemplation (or intellectual activity) have more happiness, so that the energy of the Deity, as it surpasses all others in blessedness, must be contemplative (or intellectual), and therefore of human energies that which is nearest allied to this must be the happiest."

And the Brahman of India, in his forest seclusion, meditating on the deep meaning of the mystical term Om, as the symbol of the transporting thought that the human spirit is of the same essence as the Infinite Soul, is a striking illustration of that religion of the head which Aristotle described. In him we have pure speculation turned toward the Divine Mystery,-Inner Life,without any external human manifestation in service or helpfulness. In his life all social duties are ignored, and every contact with outward realities is broken. It is a religion where altar, priest, and sacrifice are pure thought,-a piety of abnormal reverence, where devout contemplation becomes almost a selfish passion, a form of intellectual intoxication.

But there are others who find it easier to love man than to search for truth. They

seek to establish the kingdom of heaven by compassion rather than by contemplation. Their ideal and spirit of life are well expressed in these lines of our sweet singer:

"O brother man, fold to thy heart thy brother!

Where pity dwells, the peace of God is there.

To worship rightly is to love each other; Each smile a hymn, each kindly deed a prayer."

And some of the legends of the mediaval saints picture for us the very incarnation of infinite compassion, particularly that of Saint Benedict, to whom our civilization owes so much, and especially that of Saint Francis, whose tenderness was so urgent and comprehensive. These legends bring before us a character that is the embodiment of an all-embracing love. The personality described is all emotion. There is boundless sympathy for sinners, profound pity for unfortunates. Life itself is one mighty current of tenderness: religion is one prolonged exhibition of brooding sentiment. There is no intellectual discernment, little rational power, slight practical sense, im. perfect moral discrimination, but impassioned good will for all and forgiveness for every one. Here we have a religion of the heart, overflowing in tears for the distressed, in yearnings for the wayward, and in blessings for the neglected.

Besides these there are others who live nearer to the practical tasks of the passing day. They cannot soar on wings of venturesome speculation to the empyrean of abstract truth. They have no gushing fountain of tremulous emotion which spends itself in tears and sympathetic speech. But they have a clear eye for the grim necessities of life, and a brawny hand ready to work. They make no theories; they indulge no fancies; they dream no dreams; they pay little attention to sentiment. But they stand guard over the humble sanctities of our common life. They know how to obey and toil and suffer; and to them honest deeds are symbol and sacrament. Their piety may seem very cold and commonplace, but it is the piety of those craftsmen whose handiwork makes the world secure and habitable. Without pretense or profession, with no ecstasy of worship or flame of enthusiasm, they simply desire to do something, and also to do it well. And their rule of life was written out in Gothic speech in the words put by George Eliot into the mouth of Adam Bede, a typical representative of these practical coworkers. with God: "And there's such a thing as being over-spiritual. We must have something besides gospel in this world. God helps us with our hands as well as with our souls. It's plain enough you get into the wrong road in this life if you run after this and that only for the sake of making things easy and pleasant to yourself. It's better to see when your perpendicular's true than to see a ghost." And this practical piety is that which we like to find in the man who builds our house and tills our farm,-the religion of the honest and efficient hand.

And yet all these forms of religion, while excellent in some respects, are imperfect. They are a fractional faith, the religion of only a part of man. The God-intoxicated Brahman dreams his life away, leaving more than one half of his powers unused and undeveloped, while also leaving humanity unserved and unblessed. The emotional saint, a dwarf on the side of reason, misdirects his energies, while he also debilitates humanity by his excessive good will and indiscriminate charity. The earnest workman, with no overarching ideals and no impassioned moods, becomes at last a mere beast of burden, with no thought be

yond the waiting task, and no light of the spirit shining through the dull monotony of his handicraft.

-a

We need a religion of the whole man,every faculty and power from the body up consecrated to high purposes that simultaneously reach godward and manward, head, heart, and hand working in unison; philosopher, saint, and workman rolled into one symmetrical life, a comprehensive piety. Thought ought ever to be lighted up by emotion, sentiment ever guided by reason, the hand ever obedient to the ideal. A catholic faith will spring from feeling deeprooted in that realm where human and divine associate. It will obey and incarnate every truth that rises above our mental horizon: it will flow out in streams of healing and refreshing through manifold ministries, so that our whole being will be ensphered and penetrated with sentiment, thought, and activity.

We need a religion that brings thought into direct contact with facts and encourages the freest use of reason, that satisfies the demands of our rational nature, whose bread of life is truth, and whose natural attitude of worship is inquiry, that gives the soul the broadest intellectual exercise, the richest life experience, and that opens out windows to the light all around the circle of being, thus insuring the largest acquaintance with the universe,—the manifestation of Infinite Power that is everlasting love!

The Brahman, in his forest meditation, breaks contact with facts, and enters an unreal world. And such thought as his, cut loose from reality, is often poisonous. What he grasps as verities are often little more than mere phantoms. Religion must have some greater respect than this for the framework of creation,-the orderly ways of natural providence without which there could be neither security nor sanity. The truth of things must be its altar fire and revelator of duty. So that thought, to be relig ious, must walk on the stepping-stones of fact; and meditation, to unfold in holiness, must run parallel with reality. There is as much piety in obeying the laws of matter, in their proper realm, as there is in worshipping divine ideals.

Religion ought to encourage the open eye and the open mind rather than dreamy medi