go once more the way of unbelief. The present believing clergy were educated by men like Hengstenberg, Kahnis, Luthardt, Delitzsch, Beck, and others. We have yet some believing professors of eminence, especially Cremer at Greifswald and Schlatter, who has now been called to represent orthodoxy at the Berlin University, but they are few. Our young divines and through them many candidates of theology and young ministers are under the charm of the Ritschl school. It is not quite easy, especially for laymen, to understand and to give a clear idea of this new school. At all events it leaves no room for the atonement. The danger of this theology is that it gives no clear answers. Ask a man of these views if Christ is risen or not-he will not answer "yes" or "no," but he will say, "It is of no importance for our religion: He may be risen or not, the moral lesson taught by the idea of the resurrection remains all the same." The chief representative of that school, Professor Harnack, in Berlin, openly says that "no intelligent man can believe the Apostles' Creed," for instance these words: "conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary." To him Christ is the son of Joseph, but nevertheless filled with divine life. Luckily Professor Harnack's outspoken way has opened many eyes to the danger, and a large rallying around the old creed of Christendom has been the consequence.

Our students of theology are really in a very difficult position. If they adopt the teaching of their professors they become practically unfit for the ministry. It is therefore of the highest importance that other spiritual influences should be made to bear on the students. This is being done in a preparatory way by Bible readings among the elder pupils of our higher schools-a hopeful new mission work-and for the students themselves by our Young Men's Christian Associations, and by special conferences for students. For the last four years an annual conference has taken place, in 1892 and 1893 at Frankfort-on-the-Main, to promote spiritual life among students. The number has been annually increasing, this year to about one hundred, and most of those who attended the former conferences were present again and came forward as decided Christians.

The vast majority of our Protestant population belongs to the different state churches. They are Lutherans, Calvinists, or United Evangelicals. The dissenters, especially the Methodits.

and Baptists, are gaining ground, but very slowly. It is remarkable that Germany has never proved a fruitful soil for free churches. There is now a movement for obtaining greater independence for the churches from the state. This movement will undoubtedly increase and perhaps obtain some concessions from the government, but it seems to me very doubtful whether the attempt to make a state church gradually more independent will ever really succeed. The introduction of a synodical representation of our churches has in reality, though it was much dreaded at the time, proved useful. It has roused many more formal church members to a sense of their duty. Our churches are getting more alive. Since the new church constitution has been given, a number of salutary church laws have been promulgated.

The law on civil marriages in 1875 made a number of people who had hitherto been obliged to seek the pastor in order to be married, quite free from all church restraint. Our churches then realized that real voluntary activity was necessary to bring these people back to the church. This very decided increase of ecclesiastical life is perhaps one of the reasons why the spirit of the Evangelical Alliance did not gain so much ground as we would have desired. Let me explain it by an example. Up to 1875 baptism was compulsory. Now ministers, church elders, city missionaries, try to induce all these people who neglect to have their children baptized to seek the ordinances of the church. This makes them reluctant to join with Baptists. In every respect the desire to raise the position and influence of our churches is aimed at, and this of necessity fosters a sectarian spirit. Nevertheless the flag of the Evangelical Alliance is held up in Germany. We are going to have the first national German conference of the Alliance in November in Berlin. The increasing dangers of the age will not fail to bring Christians closer to each other. On the other side we cannot but welcome the increase of church-work. A great help has come in this respect from our imperial throne. The Emperor has the development of religious life at heart, and the Empress is a living and earnest Christian in the deepest sense of the word. While in the last twenty-five years only three churches have been built in our large capital, while the population increased from half a million to a million and a half, we see now twenty-five churches built in about three years. It is a pleasing sight to see our young sovereign

and his wife driving to the openings of new churches in those poorer parts of the town where royalty is seldom seen, and where now a hearty welcome is made visible at almost every window.

What seems to me to be the most hopeful, however, is the increase of deep spiritual life and all the consequences connected therewith. The representatives of this movement meet at conferences in Gnadau, a small Moravian settlement. The conferences are always highly refreshing by the spirit of prayer and unity. The tendency going out from them is: 1. Gathering of believers to closer fellowship; 2. Sanctification; 3. Lay work; 4. Evangelization. The gathering of believers is done by conferences for the deepening of religious life. Such brotherly conferences are held in various parts of the country. In Berlin we have now since eight years a noon prayer-meeting. All these meetings tend to promote spiritual life. Our new Young Men's Christian Associations in Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Stuttgart, and many other places also work on that line. Formerly there was much talk and discussion about lay work, now we do not argue the principle, but we show it practically. Our Young Men's Christian Associations are conducted by laymen and are a school for lay work. We have been able to introduce many young men into voluntary religious work. We have even made a successful beginning with open-air meetings. This is quite a progress. Though it was impossible in those places which were the chief resorts of the socialists, we had during the last four years very good meetings in our large western park, the Grunewald. We have only twice been disturbed in these four summers, and always had a large number of attentive listeners, many remaining during the whole meeting.

The work of evangelization is chiefly carried on by a very able and efficient evangelist-Mr. Schrenk. He receives now a great many more calls than he can attend to. In many cities his work has given a new, strong impulse to religious life. He has not many fellow-workers yet, but a few are coming out, and the Johanneum at Bonn, the training-school for evangelists, founded by the late Professor Christlieb, is supplying the want. The men who undertook to help before this have chiefly been trained at the Crischona, near Basle. I must also mention a voluntary layevangelist, Lieutenant-Colonel von Knobelsdorff, who has taken

up the cause of the blue ribbon in Germany, and is doing general gospel work.

The very strength of all these new movements is demonstrated by the fact that quite recently an opposition has been roused against them on ecclesiastical grounds. They are styled Anglo-American and alleged to be opposed to sound church. principles. This will not stop the work. We take what is good from wherever it comes. We gladly received from this country the Sunday-schools which have been such a help to us and which steadily increase in our country. Almost all our voluntary Christian workers have begun to work in the Sunday-schools. We also received from you the impulse to remodel our Young Men's Christian Associations. We are deeply grateful for these things, but we think that aggressive Christianity is not the special privilege of any country. This opposition will have one advantage, however; that is, to make our critical friends increase their own work on church lines. The works of home missions are numerous now in all parts of the country.

Even our so-called "liberal" churches see that they must do something, and they have therefore started a new society for foreign missions, working in Japan on what I might call a Unitarian basis.

On the whole, foreign mission work also has received a new impulse by the German colonies. We hear here and there a disdainful word on Protestant missions by men who are apt to admire the outward strength and discipline of the Church of Rome, but even from people who are not personally Christians the work of Protestant missions is more and more being recognized.

I can sum up: we have many adversaries and many dangers to meet, many problems yet to solve, but powers of light are increasing on the field through God's mercy.

THE RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF GREAT BRITAIN.

BY LORD KINNAIRD OF LONDON.

MR. DODGE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I would divide what I have to say, first, in regard to the present condition, as I understand it, of the work of the churches in our land. The subject that I have got is so large that I can of course only touch upon it. I may say at the beginning that I take a very hopeful outlook for the future of Christian work through Great Britain and throughout the world. I am not one of those who like to look on the dark side of things. I could, no doubt, if any one specially wanted it, give you a good many things which would make you very sad, and would send you away wishing you had not come here. But I prefer to look on the bright side, and to tell you of the wonderful progress which even in my short life-for I rejoice to consider myself a young man still, though I am afraid young men don't consider me so-but if one looks back on the five and twenty years, which is about the time I have been working, and thinks of what has been accomplished by the churches of God, I can only say we must put a new stone of Ebenezer, and say, Hitherto has God helped us. We have done what one would have thought was impossible, even in a lifetime, and we have a good part of our life still before us; and we are not only to work at railroad speed, as we used to work, but now we are learning to go at telegraphic pace also. Here, I may say, in the reference that I make to each subject, I will look at the opposite for a moment, and I hope to encourage sensible people that we are going forward. There is a danger when we go forward as we do. A danger in going so fast is that we may look at the amount rather than at the class of work. I think possibly there is many a church which outwardly appears to be most successful-it has got its buildings, its parish house, its church house in connection with it; you look at its work and its figures-as a business man I very naturally often look at the financial side of a church's