Young people's societies

Chapter II. — The International Order of The King's Daughters and Sons 22-27

First Circle of "The King's Daughters," 22\ "Declaration of Independence," 23, 24; Permitted Co-operation, 24, 25; Order Opened to Men and Boys, 25; Wonderful Growth in Ten Years, 25, 26; Periodical, Constitution and Inclusiveness, 27.

Chapter III. — The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor 28-33

Independent Beginnings, 28; Organization of the First Society, 28; Growth in Succeeding Years, 29-31; The United Society, What It Is, and How Managed, 31, 32; Its Periodical and President, 32; Dr. Clark's Four Trips Abroad in the Interest of C. E., 32, 331 Christian Endeavor Principles, 33. (See also, 223-225.)

Chapter IV. — Some Kindred Societies 33-44

1. The Epworth League, Why Formed, 34; How Formed, 35; Modification in the Epworth L^agtt^, So^itji, 35; Liberal Policy of the Canadian* LeaTgues, 36; a Like Comprehensive Organization in Other Orders, 36, 37; Official Information^ .37.

2. The Baptist Young People's Union of America, "General Basis of Organization," 37 (see also, 225-227); Relation of Union to the Local Societies, and Official Information, 37.

3. The Luther League, Special Reasons for

vii.

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its Existence, 38, 39; Its Uniting Bond, its Extent, its Official Information, 39, 40.

4. The Young People's Christian Union of the United Brethren, its Affiliation With the Y. P. S. C. E., 40; Circumstances of its Origin, and Official Information, 40, 41.

5. The Young People's Christian Union of the Universalist Church, a Lineal Descendant of the Y. P. S. C. E., 41; Its Management and Liberal Attitude, 42; Scope of its Work, 43; Official Information, 44.

Chapter V. — The Brotherhoods 44-55

1. The Brotherhood of St. Andrew, Doubk Reason for its Organization, 45; Its Growth, Conventions, Policy and Official Information, 46; Declaration of its Essential Principles, 46 (see also, 228, 229).

2. The Daughters of the King, Like the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, Confined to the Protestant Episcopal Church, 47; Not to be Confounded With "The King's Daughters," 48; Its English Chapters, 48.

3. Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip, First Chapter, in the Reformed Church, 48; Other Denominations Admitted, 49; Growth and Statistics, 49; Brotherhood Committees in Other Orders, 50.

4. Brotherhood of St. Paul, a Methodist Order of the Fraternity Type, 50; Supplements the Work of the Epworth Leagues, 51; Objects and Principles, 52; Scope of Work, 53; Its Influence and Official Information, 54, 55.

Chapter VI. — Types of Constitution 56-60

How Shall We Organize, 56; For Unselfish Service, the Lend-a-Hand Club, 56; If Evangelical Basis is to Be Emphasized, The King's Daughters and Sons, 57; For Self-improvement, Church Co-operation, and Enthusiasm of Members, the Original or Specialized Forms of the Y. P. S. C. E., 57; For Exclusively Denominational Purposes, the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, and the Daughters of The

CONTENTS. IX

PAGE King, 57; For Still Narrower Specialization, With Wide Interpretation, the Young Women's Christian Temperance Union, or the Boys' Brigade, or the Knights of King Arthur, 58; these Distinctions Not Exclusive, 59; Good Deeds, and Good Heart Presuppose Each Other, 59, 60.

Chapter VII. — Pledge, Covenant or Vow 60-65

The Pledge Constitutive, Whether Informal or More Specific, 60; The Y. P. S. C. E. Pledge as Type, 61; Its Solemn Nature, 61; Not to be too Specific, nor too Extra-Scriptural, 62; the Terminable Pledge, 63; the Christian Endeavor Pledge, a Full Testimony of Christian Faith, 63; Why Those Who Take it Need Not All be Church Members, 64; Why They Probably Should Be, 64; Tendency in This Latter Direction, 64, 65.

Chapter VIII. — Saving OneJs Own Soul 65-68

Our Master's Warning (Matt, xvi, 25, 26), 65; Its True Meaning, 66; the Two Principles of Young People's Societies, Objective Truth, and Altruistic Service, 67; the Edification of Scripture Quotations, 68.

Chapter IX. — Prayer 68-74

"The Prayer-meeting of Old," 68, 69; Its Defects Due to Decay of Faith, 69; Some Uses of Prayer: 1, as a Health-lift, 70; 2, as a Rhetorical Device, 70; 3, as a Vehicle for the Display of Pathos or Eloquence, 72; Will Prescribed Prayers Guard Against These Dangers? 73; the One Dominating Law of the Prayer-meeting, 73.

Chapter X. — Singing in the Young People's Meeting 74-77

Various Uses of Music, 74; Singing in Worship, Serious Business, 75; What is "Good Singing?" 76; Studying Hymns, No Help to Worship, 76, 77.

Chapter XL— Service 77-87

Two Cautions, Against Selfishness and Priggishness, 77; Christianoid Charity, 78; the Outward Look, 78; Theoretical Danger of

X CONTENTS.

PAGE Priggishness, 79; Practical Avoidance of it in Young People's Meetings, 80; Shall Women Speak in Meeting? 80; Some Impossible Exegesis of I Cor. xiv, 34, 81-83; the Spirit of Paul's Instruction, 83, 84; No Moral Coercion, the Privilege of Keeping Silence, 86; Advantages and Disadvantages of Society Composed of Separate Sexes, 86.

Chapter XII. — The Constituting of a Young People's Society 87-91

Begin With Few, 87; Dr. Clark's Suggestions, 88; Do Not Hurry, 89; Quotations From Handbook of St. Andrew, 90; the Purging of Gideon's Army, 91.

Chapter XIII. — The Form of Constitution... 91-99 Organization Below the Minimum, 91, 92; Shall the Organization be Without or Within Church Lines? Arguments pro and con, 93, 94; Without Church Lines, if for Service in Charitable Work With Widest Diversity of Operation, there are Lend-a-Hand Clubs, 94; if for Spiritual Edification and Service there is the Order of King's Daughters and Sons, 95; Both of these Orders Open to Church Circles, 96; Within Church Lines, there are Several Forms, the Greatest of All is Christian Endeavor, 96; Its Interdenominational Spirit, 96; Five Choices Open, 97, 98.

Chapter XVIII. — The Constitutions of the Christian Unions 139-141

1. Young People's Christian Union of the United Brethren in Christ, 139, 140; Close Resemblance to Y. P. S. C. E.

2. Young People's Christian Union of the Universalist Church, 140; Christian Endeavor Inspiration; Suggestive Topics for Devotional Meetings, 141.

Chapter XIX. — The Working of a Young

People's Society. I. — Its Meetings 141-167

1. Meetings for Worship and Inspiration, 142-147; Hints on Prayer-meetings, 142-144; the Prayer-meeting Pledge in the Various Orders, 144, 145; the Consecration Meeting, -146; the Prayer-meeting Means Effective, Intelligent and Humble Service, 146, 147.

2. Meetings for Instruction, 148-167: (1) The Bible, 148-151; Place and Power of Bible Study, 148, 149; Bible Study Among the King's Daughters, 148; Among the Endeavorers, 149; in the B. Y. P. U., 150; in the Epworth League, 150, 151; Among the United Brethren, 151. (2) Missionary Study, 151-157; Missionary Revival Parallel With the Young People's Movement, 151; Missionary Work in C. E. Societies, 152; in Epworth League, 153; in B. Y. P. U., 153; Scheme of Conquest Missionary Course, 154-156; the Giving Part of Missionary Work, 156. (3) Temperance Study, 157, 158; Wide Range of Material Involving Need of Care in Reaching Conclusions. (4) General Culture, 158-165; the Epworth Reading Course, 159; the Baptist C. C. C. Courses, 160; Advanced Courses, 160, 161; Prescribed Courses of Reading for Epworth Leagues, 161, 162; Books Studied by the Y. P. C. U. of the United Brethren, 162, 163; Rev. H» E. Wise's Method of Conducting His

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Christian Culture Courses, 163-165; What the Lutheran Young People are Reading, 165. (5) Christian Citizenship, 165-167; Emphasized by Endeavorers and the Universalist Young People; Value of the Periodicals Published by the Several Orders, 167.

Chapter XX. — The Working of a Young People's Society. II. — Its Activities 167-178

Transition From Meetings to Activities Made Through Social Committee Work, 168; What- a Young People's Social Should Be, 168-170; Breadth of Activities, 170, 171; a • Leaf From New Jersey, 171, 172; Significance of the Mottoes, 173; Some C. E. Christian Citizenship Work for the Year 1894, 174-176; • • Business Meetings, 176, 177; Flexibility in Working, 178; Ritual, 178.

Chapter XXL — Junior Societies 178-181

The Juniors Organized in All Orders, 179; the Junior Society and the Sunday-school, 179, 180; Forms of Junior Pledges, 180, 181; Objects, Equipment and Relations of Junior Work, 181.

Chapter XXII. — Younger People's Societies. 181-188 The Many Forms and Names, 182, 183; Dr. Forbush's "Manual of Boys' Clubs," 183; the Boys' Brigade, 184-187; the Church Temperance Legion, 187, 188.

Chapter XXIII. — Conventions 188-196

The Local Unions, 189; State and International Conventions, 190; the Endeavor Conventions, 190, 191; Epworth League and B. Y. P. U. Conventions, 191, 192; the Fellowship of these Three, 193; Wider Fellowship, 193; Conventions of Brotherhood of St. Andrew, !93> 194; and of Andrew and Philip, 194, 195; of the Young People's Christian Union of the Universalist Church, 195; the Conventions, Great Summer Schools, 196.

Chapter XXIV. — Federation 196-204

The Early Co-operation, 197; the Threatened Competition, 198; the Wider Co-operation, 198, 199; Why Not Still Wider? 200; Closer Relations Attempted Between C. E.

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and Epworth League, 201; "Shall the Young People's Societies be Federated?" — Symposium in "The Independent," 202-204.

Chapter XXV. — Results 205-221

1. Results Aimed At, 205-206; Training for Christian Character and Service.

2. Results Achieved, 206-216; in the Membership, Consecration and Inspiration for Service, 206; in the Churches, More Systematic and Vigorous Work, 207; Results Secured Through Senior Societies, 208; Churches Organized on C. E. Plan, 209; Increased Membership in the Churches, and More Gifts for Missions, 209; Temperance and Good Citizenship Revivals, 210. Are the Societies Doing All that is Expected of Them? 210, Is too Much Expected? 211; Some Satisfactory Results in Attendance and Participation, 212; The Societies Not to be Held to Any One Thing, 212, 213; the Time Element Overlooked, Dangers, 213; Criticism of Epworth Leagues, 214; English Strictures on C. E. Work, 214; Twelve Manner of Fruit, 215.

3. Results Expected, 216-221; in the Line of Covenant, the Most Satisfactory Pledge, 216; the effects on the Churches, 217; in the Line of Culture, Increased Interest in Church and General History, and Scripture Study, 218; in the Line of Civics, Better Citizenship, Especially Along Temperance Lines, 219, 220; in the Line of Missions, Work at First Hand, Relief of Boards and Treasuries, 221; Provision for Indefinite Continuance of Results, 221.

PART I.

HISTORICAL.

Chapter I. Lend-a-hand Clubs

One conspicuous distinction of the Christianity of the nineteenth century, especially in America, is its tendency to large organization. It belongs, indeed, to the essential nature of the Christian faith, that wherever it prevails it organizes itself. Love toward Christ's brethren is an invariable sign of spiritual life in Christ ; so that wherever Christians are, there must needs be the church ; and wherever churches are, there is manifested, in spite of all hindrances and perversions, the movement toward that general fellowship of holy souls which is defined in the Apostles' Creed as "the holy catholic church."

But that large organization of which we have spoken as distinguishing the American Christianity of the nineteenth century has its own characteristic forms. A wonderful quickening of religious faith all over the inhabited continent, in the early years of the century, resulted in the institution of national charitable and missionary societies, first without regard to sectarian division, afterwards within the lines of the several sects.

About the same time sprang up the system of l8 YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES.

Sunday-schools, attaching themselves to individual congregations as part of the parish equipment, and by and by entering into mutual leagues and creating for themselves a vast literature.

In the middle of the century, the Young Men's Christian Association was imported from London, and so fitted itself to a rapidly growing need of American cities, as to become established in great vigor and wealth in all parts of the country, and by a system of mutual correspondence and confederation to grow into a national institution.

The wonderful expansion and cheapening of transportation, travel and postal communication came to have the effect of rapidly nationalizing any successful local method of organization. Illustrations of this are to be found in the history of many "orders," "granges," "unions," and other like combinations, for social, business or mutual insurance purposes. One of the most striking and admirable instances of the sort is found in the great and swift expansion of the Chautauqua movement. Beginning with a fortnight's picnic of a few Sunday-school teachers in a grove beside Chautauqua Lake, in New York State, in 1874, it has grown like a banyan tree, striking root from its branches, until after two decades, it has covered the continent with what is, in some respects, almost tantamount to a national university, numbering its students by scores of thousands.

It was into the midst of a people thus predisposed to organization on the grand scale that the Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale, in the year 1870, sent forth his extraordinary little book, entitled "Ten Times One Is Ten." In form, it was a Utopian fancy wrought out with that lively realistic detail in which its author excels all other English writers since De Foe. In effect and impression, it was a translation of the Acts of the Apostles into the dialect of nineteenth-century America. It reminds one of the New Testament scenes depicted in modern costumes and surroundings by von Uhde or L/Hermitte. It tells how ten very unlike persons, inspired to a life of good service by the surviving influence of one noble character, were scattered in all directions bearing in their hearts the inspiring mottoes :

Look up and not down; Look forward and not back; Look out and not in; and Lend a hand.

The original ten was multiplied by ten every three years, until at the end of twenty-seven years the whole world accepted faith, hope and love as the rule of life. It was characteristic of this beginning that it was without constitution or compact or other form of organization, but only with a vital principle. As in the story, so in the practical results of it. Little knots of helpful persons began to form themselves without mutual correspondence and without any effort of propagation. The first club was formed in 1870, the year of the publication of Dr. Hale's story. At the end of twenty-five years, the Secretary of "The Ten Times One Corporation," which had been formed and chartered as an agency for the common business of the clubs of various names that had adopted "The Wadsworth mottoes/' reported :

"It is simply impossible to know the number of people who have chosen these mottoes for their own. It has escaped, if ever it was held by the Central Office. Orders are formed that have multiplied with vigor. Clubs are reported, of whose existence the Central Office never knew. New clubs are forming and old ones are disbanding. Though they do disband, often single members, cherishing the mottoes, wait until the time shall come, when, in faraway towns or countries, they form a new Ten."

In accordance with the ideal of the man who gave them a start, the common organization of the "Lend-a-Hand Clubs" and "Ten-Times-One Clubs" was of the simplest and slightest. In fact, they were not organized together at all, to begin with; they simply grew and multiplied, and had more or less, or none at all, of mutual correspondence. In 1874, a "Look-up Legion" was formed at Chautauqua, and gave occasion to Dr. Hale and his circle of friends at Boston to publish successive circulars, which by and by gave place to a monthly "Journal of Organized Beneficence/' entitled "Lend a Hand." What followed upon this jnay best be told in Dr. Hale's own words :

"Quite, without any conscious plan on the part of any of us, so soon as the magazine "Lend a Hand" was established, there flowed in upon its office a great variety of appeals and suggestions for charities, which no one of our clubs alone could attend to. In an informal way, the editors and other persons interested in the work met these appeals as best they could. From time to time, in one way or another, we printed public reports of what we had done with money entrusted to us, and sometimes we made

YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES. 2I

appeals for such money to the public at large, in addition to the circulars which we sent to the several clubs. At last, the business thus transacted was so large that it seemed to me desirable that, in the event of my death or of the transfer of the magazine to other publishers, some arrangement should be made for carrying forward this sort of work, — at least, for preserving the property, in the shape of stereotype plates or printed leaflets, which belonged to the Central Society. This wish of mine led to the incorporation of the society on the 20th day of November, 1891. All contributions made to the various charities of the Central Clubs are really made to this corporation, and in the event of my death such charities would go on as directly as if they were carried on by me."*

The motto to characterize the common order of these affiliated clubs might be, "Go as you please — only go." The central office, which offers them facilities for mutual correspondence and co-operation, has set forth the following statement :

Any club, or society, of whatever name, is a Ten-Times- One or Lend-a-Hand Club, which accepts the Wadsworth mottoes:

Look up and not down; Look forward and not back; Look out and not in; And lend a hand.

It should have for one, at least, of its objects, the uplifting of some person, neighborhood, or institution outside of the Club itself.

A Club may organize as it will.

Each -Club may choose its own name, make its own constitution and select its own work.

^Annual Report of the President of the Ten Times One Corporation, 1894.

The badge is the Maltese cross; the watchword, In His Name. But neither badge nor watchword is compulsory.

On no other basis than this of Faith, Hope and Love, of which words the four mottoes were accepted as a paraphrase, a very large number, not only of clubs and societies, but of affiliations or orders of clubs, have grown up. Among them may be named :

The Look-up Legion,

The Commercial Temperance League,

The Order of Send-me,

The Lend-a-Hand Clubs,

The I. H. N. Clubs.

A monthly magazine, "The Lend-a-Hand Record," is "devoted to the interests of Lend-a-Hand Clubs and humanity. " It is published at No. I Beacon street, Boston.

The President of the Corporation is Rev. Edward Everett Hale, D.D. ; the Secretary is Mrs. Bernard Whitman.

Chapter II. The International Order Of The King's Daugh- Ters And Sons

One of the earliest organizations springing from the inspiration of Dr. Hale's story of "Ten Times One Is Ten" was a circle in New York, that took the name of "The King's Daughters." The birth of it, as told in a letter afterwards written to Dr. Hale by Mrs. Davis, the Secretary, was on this wise ; "In October, 1885, I went to Mrs. Bottome, who received the outline of the 'Sisterhood' which you sent, with enthusiasm. I read 'Ten Times One' before her class in her husband's church to-night. . . . . She is carried away with it." The "leaven which a woman took" wrought effectively. January 13, 1886, ten women met at Mrs. Bottome's house and organized themselves into a "Ten," adopting the four mottoes, the watchword, "In His Name," and the badge, a silver Maltese cross, that were common to the societies of various names that had sprung from the same fruitful stock.

The position of this Circle, and some special gifts and aptitudes among its members, constituted it a natural centre for counsel and co-operation among the many like Circles that at once began to multiply about it. But, following the example of the prototype at Boston, it scrupulously avoided the error of "governing too much," "disclaiming any purpose to control any Circle in its choice of a field of labor."

A curious incident, not difficult to explain on obvious principles of human nature, marked the early history of this sisterhood. It issued among its "leaflets," a "declaration of independence" in the following terms :

In answer to the repeated question that comes to us, "Do you belong in any way to the other 'Tens,' 'Lend-a- Hand Clubs,' 'Look-up Legions/ etc.?" we desire to clearly state that we have no connection with any other orders whatsoever.

The Daughters of the King recognize that they are indebted to these friends for admirable suggestions, which they have thankfully adopted. Ours is distinctly a spiritual organization, based on strictly evangelical principles. Our foundation is Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose atonement alone we rely for salvation, and by whose power, and in whose name and to whose glory all our work is done.

Our Order has assumed unexpectedly large proportions, and we feel God has chosen His daughters as instruments of great blessing to multitudes. Let us not "limit the Holy One of Israel." God has promised to pour out His spirit on His handmaidens in these latter days. Let us be emptied vessels, that He may fill us, and use us to the pulling down of Satan's strongholds and the bringing in of the kingdom of our Lord, "whose we are and whom we serve." Let us see to it that our basis be distinctly understood that we may have the confidence and co-operation with all with whom we are one in a common faith in the ever-blessed Trinity — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

Indorsed by the Central Council of the Order of the King's Daughters.

This somewhat ostentatious display of dogmatic orthodoxy looked like a bold act of excommunication fulminated against the first founders of the societies from which The King's Daughters had sprung. It seemed as if the Order was instituting a censorship of religious opinions, and preparing to found a religious sect. But the sequel showed that practically it was only an expression of the lively and demonstrative zeal of some of the leaders of the young movement, and meant nothing more. It was officially announced that the Order

demanded no uniformity in choice of labors. It declined to make of its Central Council a Board of Examiners into the theological views of its members. It had no right to question the love of those who accepted a call to commit themselves to labor for His sake and in His Name. It did not found a Church. It only summoned women to greater and sweeter service, in and beyond their own churches.*

So plain a declaration as this puts the Order of King's Daughters indistinguishably on the same basis as the original "Tens" from which it was derived, and gives it free course, and saves it from an easily besetting peril.

Another limitation to its wide effectiveness was removed in 1887, when "after urgent request, membership in the Order was opened to men and boys." Its corporate style is now "The International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons."

The growth of this Order has been wonderfully great and rapid. At the end of its first ten years, it was able to report :

From the organization of the Order, in January, 1886, with ten members, it has attained, in 1896, to a membership approximating 400,000.

At the present time it exists in greater or less numbers in North and South America, in Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Denmark and Turkey, in Europe; in India, China, Japan and Turkey, in Asia; in Australia, New Zealand, the Hawaiian Isles; in the Bermudas and Bahamas. There are individual members and some Circles in Palestine, effective bands in Smyrna, and several hundreds of members in mission fields abroad. In many of these places organization is well advanced, and there is not only a steady increase of membership, but, what is far better, there are evidences of consolidation, classification and adaptation to many practical lines of helpful work.

Silver Cross Leaflets," No. II.

The Order has passed beyond such sentimentalism and sensationalism as was born, not of its principles, or its general management and conduct, but of its excessively rapid growth. This growth proved two things: first, that its projectors had been quite right in the supposition that there were multitudes of women eager and desirous of making their lives of value to themselves and of use to the world; and, second, that what they needed was not stimulation in order to make them willing to work, but education in the world's needs, and instruction as to the best methods of battling with its misery and sin.

But the transformation of this mass of womanhood into companies of well-trained soldiers, ready for an aggressive and successful movement against any one form of suffering or sin, has been a mighty work. The marvel is, not that it should have been so imperfectly accomplished, but that such wonderful progress should already have been made. And how largely the movement was of God, and not of man nor of woman, is proven by the fact that even under the prolonged period of experiment the interest and enthusiasm have not died out, and the uplifting purpose is dominant in thousands of women's lives who have not yet found out the best way to make the most of themselves or to do the most for the good of others.

The measure of this work is not in the number of large buildings erected, not of new enterprises successfully carried on; its object has ever been the training of character until it should be a quiet, helpful force in good work already existing. Yet the Order can point to such an amount of new and aggressive work as would be a grand record if there were nothing else to be considered.

Hardly any class of people has been forgotten in its ministrations. Among the poor and the sick, in kindergartens, hospitals and jails, among the victims of flood and fire and disease, the little cross has gone with its loving service. Missionaries in foreign lands, and the Indians on our own vast plains, have been helped. Special interest has always been shown in the care of the aged and of little children; and the distinctively educational work, in school and college extension by correspondence, among members of the Order, has no insignificant place among the varied activities of the King's Daughters and Sons.*

"The Official Representative of the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons" is a weekly paper, "The Silver Cross/' published by the Central Council, New York.

The Constitution provides for "Circles" and "Chapters of Circles" and State secretaryships, under the general direction and advice of the Central Council, with which they are expected to keep in closest correspondence. Every branch or Circle may choose its own special work, adopting its own Circle name and motto and its own plan of operation.

"In the development of the idea the direction specially emphasized is, first, the heart, next the home, then the Church and after that the great outside."

The Order does not make an age limit, and contains many who, while no longer young, still seek to serve. It is interdenominational in the fullest sense. The members of its Circles often belong to one Church. Quite as often they belong to different Churches. They may belong to no Church at all. They may be Protestants or Catholics. Responsibility is unto "the King, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

""Silver Cross Leaflets," No. III.

Chapter III. The Young People's Society Of Christian

ENDEAVOR.

We have had a notable illustration of the preparedness of the country for rapid and widely diffused growths of religious organization. But a more impressive illustration of it is the subject of the present chapter.

The beginning of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor had no traceable connection with the multifarious organizations that sprang from the good seed sown by Dr. Hale's story of "Ten Times One Is Ten." It grew from its own root.

In February, 1881, there was planted by the Rev. Francis E. Clark, the young pastor of a young church in Portland, Me., a little society of the young people of his own congregation, designed to promote the spiritual culture and useful activity of its members. The details of its organization will be the subject of our future study; but it will not be easy to discover in its very simple Constitution the explanation of the great consequences that followed from this small beginning. It was on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 1881, that 35 boys and girls, including some of a little maturer age, gathered in the pastor's parlor, and signed their names to the draft of a Constitution by which they pledged themselves to be regularly present and take some part in a weekly prayer-meeting, which once a month should be "a consecration meeting," in which vows of fidelity should be exchanged. Among the committees of the society was to be a "look-out committee/' charged with recruiting new members and reclaiming any that might grow negligent of duty. These are really all the essential points of the organization that has since been carried round the world and numbers its members by millions.

At the end of twelve months there were twenty Societies of Christian Endeavor, framed upon substantially the same plan.

The next year, 1883, there were reported fifty-six societies.

At the third annual convention of Young People's Societies of Christian Endeavor, October, 1884, there were reported 156 societies, and 8,905 members. Among them were societies in China, India and the Hawaiian Islands.

Nine months later, at the fourth annual convention, there were reported 253 societies, with nearly 15,000 members.

In 1886, there were 850 societies, with 30,000 members, representing eight different denominations, distributed through thirty-three States, Territories and Provinces, with seven societies in foreign lands.

In 1887, there were 2,314 societies; they were multiplying in the Western States and in foreign countries.

In 1888 were reported about 4,000 societies and 310,000 members. The annual conventions of the Order began to be recognized as events of national importance, attended by annually increasing throngs gathered from the ends of the land and of the world.

At the convention in Philadelphia, in 1889, were reported 7,062 societies, with 485,000 members.

At St. Louis, in 1890, after an interval of only eleven months, the societies were found to have increased to over 11,000, and the 485,000 members to 660,000.

With great fitness, the tenth anniversary of the founding of the first of the Christian Endeavor Societies was celebrated by a convention at its birthplace, in Portland, Me.

In 1891, the addition of 6,200 brought up the number of societies to 16,274; the membership numbered 976,440.

In 1892, notwithstanding the withdrawal of several hundreds of societies to join the Epworth League, the roll of societies counted 21,080, and the membership 1,370,200.