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the Holy Spirit, but he conquered also by the twelve men whom he sent out. If we have not the power of consecrated men to stand between God and the people who are to be brought to God, then, indeed, we have no resources upon which to rely.

We have in this country no religious establishment. A religious establishment, in other countries, means that every acre of the land is under the influence of a state church. Our people threw all that behind them. Our forefathers said, "Our country and our people are able to take care of themselves in religious matters." We were then a country with a widely distributed religious population. Now, the movement of our time has taken our people out of the country and massed them in the cities, as well as poured into both country and city this strange heterogeneous emigrant population of which we have heard so much. We have, therefore, country districts in which there is no knowledge of God taught, and we have city districts in which there is no knowledge of God prevailing. Until we bring into that city district and that country district the most eminent power to preach the word of God in its fullness, we shall not have brought the resources of our country fully to bear upon Christian work. And when we have once brought that, all

else will follow.

What we need to-day is the means of bringing the most powerful men into the fields where the most difficult work is to be done. We want more ministers; everywhere, even from the South, whose religious condition has been so happily described to us, comes up the cry that the supply of able ministers of the New Testament is failing. But when we have them, we want to be able to place them where men's hearts are coldest and men's difficulties are greatest, and to proportion the ability of the man to the importance of the work which he has given him. A man must not be compelled to leave a hard field of work, for which he is well equipped and prepared, because the necessity of the proper training and education of his family call for greater resources than he can there obtain. It is better to spend thousands of dollars in supporting properly, good and strong men at needy points, than in the erection of buildings and the opening of secular and philanthropic agencies.

Unite rich and poor in one church by carrying the rich to the churches of the poor. We can do that if, in those churches, the men are to be found who can give the best exhortation, comfort and instruction. For that we shall need enlarged contributions and

endowments; but what does that mean, except that we are willing to put our most material and earthly resources, our money, at the service of our highest and most spiritual resource, our consecrated man. A celibate ministry we have forever rejected, and we know the blessing of the family life in connection with our ministry, as a center of pure and ennobling influences. We put that among the resources of our modern Christianity. But that we may keep and use our ministry, with its sphere of usefulness and influence thus enlarged, we must recognize its importance more clearly than ever; we must put it above all other considerations, and give to it of our best, whether it be the sons from our firesides or the money from our purses. For their personal strength and comfort the laity appreciate the ministry. They provide for them, and they give to them of their abundance. But as the great evangelizing power of the land, worth for what they accomplish far more than they can possibly cost, this value seems to be little understood. Our parishes provide for themselves strong men, but to place and maintain such men in the fields where the prospect is darkest and most discouraging, that is a policy of which as yet we see but few signs, and the inauguration of which would be a result well worthy of such a Conference as this.

THE CHAIRMAN (General Hawley): Mr. Dodge asks me to make a few remarks. I would have no objection were the hour earlier. The subject is one not only of overwhelming importance, but it has also its fascinations. Pessimistic views very largely prevail in this country. It is a daily matter of conversation. Discussions of the future of our country, among men, even of intelligence, seem to excite the gloomiest anticipations. It does not seem to me that there ever was such a task placed before the people of any nation of the world, as is placed before the United States. There are coming here to us large numbers of people of all varieties of religion, and some of no religion at all. Some men come here because they love our form of government; others, not because they care about that, but hoping that in some way or other they will get an easier living here. Of course, one can make a gloomy picture out of such material.

It seems to me, however, that no man who has any belief in the Christian religion has any right to be a pessimist. [Applause.] I was not so taught to interpret the Bible. I was taught to believe in the future glory and absolute, final, magnificent triumph of our

institutions. It is a safe prophecy that, given a new, unoccupied continent, with a free school, a free press, free religion and a free ballot, in the end the truth, justice and wisdom of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will win the fight. [Great applause.]

MORNING SESSION.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9.

Rev. J. G. Van Slyke, D. D., of Kingston, N. Y., and Rev. O. H. Tiffany, D. D., of Philadelphia, conducted the devotional exercises.

REMARKS BY MR. DODGE.

Mr. DODGE said: We have been together for two days, and nave talked earnestly and thoughtfully of our perils, of our glorious opportunities, and of the great Christian resources, used and unused, of this country.

This morning we devote our thought to what, after all, is the turning-point of our whole work here-how, as Christian brothers, we can co-operate so that in aggressive work there shall be an advance along the whole line, wherever there is service to be done for the Master we all love. We know that in many things nothing can be done unless we are willing to co-operate and work together as servants of one Master, and we know that work can be done without touching our differences of ritual, or dogma, or thought, or form of worship. It is only as servants of Christ, loving one Lord and striving to save our country for him, that we shall best learn how to do his work.

We are pained and disappointed that the Rev. Dr. Storrs, the warm friend of this work, who expected to be with us this morning, has been prevented by illness, but he has prepared a careful paper which touches this point most closely, and which I know will interest everyone. It will be read by his friend and ours, Rev. Dr. Chamberlain, of Brooklyn.

NECESSITY OF CO-OPERATION IN

CHRISTIAN WORK..

PAPER BY REV. R. S. STORRS, D. D., LL. D.,
BROOKLYN.

The argument on this subject can be put in small compass. It requires no expansion, or extended illustration. Indeed, the argument has been already effectively presented; and all which needs to be done in this paper is to state the conclusion to which the preceding papers and debates must have conducted, with irresistible force, those who have given attention to them.

The perils which threaten the Christian civilization of our land, in our times, have been clearly set forth, without exaggeration, and certainly with no superfluous emphasis. There is a positive peril arising from the aggregation of vast multitudes in cities, of all races and tongues, of all possible varieties of faith and unbelief, among whom are many of the more resolute and skillful of the criminal class, among whom even those who desire to lead a quiet and orderly life have often few local attachments, with few confirmed neighborly sympathies, and where in the excitements and hurry of life it is hard to generate or to maintain a wise and controlling public sentiment. Other perils have also pressed themselves successively on our view; from the immense foreign immigration continually pouring into the land, and bringing elements of ignorance, superstition, a degraded and hopeless poverty, a distrust of law as aristocratic and oppressive, with, not unfrequently, a distinctly anarchic socialism, constitutionally hostile to our liberal and Protestant institutions, and even to established social order; from the misuse of wealth; from illiteracy; from the power of the saloon in political management, and in the direct control of votes; from the estrangement of probably increasing multitudes from the church. There is peril to the family, from prevailing disregard of the sanctity and obligation of the marriage relation, from the social

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