ous committees representing the different denominational congresses to be held in September are at their busiest just now, getting out the preliminary programmes. These will be sent to each member of the general councils, made up of representative men and women in the different lines of work and thought represented, before receiving the final touch. So far as my present knowledge goes, the Universalists are the only ones who have printed and circulated this preliminary programme, though the Swedenborgians have published a partial list of suggested names and topics. The Unitarian committee, consisting of Rev. J. Ll. Jones, chairman, Rev. W. W. Fenn, Rev. T. W. Milsted, Mrs. Marion Perkins, secretary of the Women's Conference, and Mrs. Woolley, held a long and laborious session at the Western headquarters on the 12th, planning for a session of four days, with two social gatherings, one at Unity Church, with an address of welcome from Robert Collyer, and a closing reception at the Messiah. You have not space, even if this was the time, for an extended report of the programme, which, it is enough to say, is meant to cover the entire field of Unitarian thought, in its historical development and its philosophical and practical bearings. Unitarians are accustomed to think of themselves as a small and not overresourceful body, but it does not appear so when the attempt is made to select for such a programme. Our poverty in numbers and in inspiration stares us in the face so many times in other ways that it was a new and pleasant sensation to feel this sudden embarrassment of riches. The choice of speakers and the division of topics may not meet universal approval, there is always room for improvement in such matters, and no one's judgment is infallible,-but outside members of the committee whose names appear on the long list of the advisory council will have an opportunity to put in their suggestive word of approval or objection when they receive the printed copy of the programme.

Chicago Unitarians are naturally pleased and grateful for the helping word of the Unitarian on the, to us, lamentable vote of the National Council to hold the National Conference at Saratoga. This is known to be a mistake by all Western Unitarians,

Year

and from the first has been felt to be one by many of our Eastern friends; and there are now signs which show that this number is increasing. It is by no means too late to rescind this vote. If there is one need larger than another in our Unitarian household, it is that the East and the West should know each other better. We should improve every opportunity for individual and associative contact that is offered. after year Western Unitarians make loving pilgrimage to Boston, and will continue to do so; but a time and an occasion like this is precisely the kind when the elder members of the household should pack valise and carpet-sack to leave home for a space, in order to see what the children are doing farther on. The National Conference could in no way demonstrate the nationality of its spirit and purpose so well as by accepting the invitation of the Congress Committee to hold its next session in Chicago. Second judgment is so often wiser than the first that every legitimate pressure should be brought to bear on those having this matter in charge to induce a changed verdict; for the present decision seems in many ways to us here at this end of the line to be a verdict which blights and cuts off many hopes relating both to the success of the Congress and to the strengthening of social and spiritual bonds.

The most significant feature of the week of religious congresses will be the Parliament of Religions, the work of which is absorbing all the time of the chairman, Rev. John H. Barrows of the First Presbyterian Church, not strictly given to his pulpit work. Dr. Barrows is bringing to his efforts here a generous enthusiasm and breadth of sympathy and understanding that show how fitly he was selected for the post, and which are still more indicative of the spirit of the times. He is assisted by that paragon of enthusiasm and energy, Mr. Jones, who is a devotee of faith and cooperative usefulness in the World's Fair, and all that pertains to it. In some future letter I will speak more at length of the programme of the Parliament of Religions.

The same hearty and tireless labors Mr. Jones is expending on the World's Fair he and his church are also employing in aid of the new university, especially in the extension work. All Souls' Church is the

South Side centre for this work, inaugurated by a course of lectures on the literary study of the Bible by Prof. Charles Moulton, which is now ended, but being repeated on the West Side, along with other courses in Faust and Shakspere from the same source, all commanding large and enthusiastic audiences. Another Bible course in present progress Sunday evenings at All Souls' is on "The Monumental His

direction in New York. A teetotum clubhouse has been opened at No. 153 Essex Street, with three stories devoted to the use of the club. The front of the ground floor is a store where cooked food is sold at a moderate price. There is a separate bill of fare for each day of the week. Soups are sold at prices ranging from 5 to 10 cents a pint, meats from 10 to 20 cents a pound,

M. Price. Chicago has felt the fresh impulse and inspiration of her new university from the first. Her civic pride is fully awakened, and she sees plainly the new opportunity that is before her. The age of pork and mere material activity has passed, if it ever existed, which a loyal Chicagoan is loath to admit. Never was the subject of education under such wide and earnest discussion, with some new enterprise, some new act of beneficence in this direction challenging public attention every day or

two. The last of these at the time of this writing, though it may not be the last when these lines reach the reader, is the gift of three millions from Mr. Philip Armour of packing-house fame, endowing a Manual Training-school, designed primarily for the same class of poor and unfortunate boys reach. This is a bequest of exactly the right kind; for, so far, manual training, like the kindergarten, has been a luxury for the sons of the rich and well-to-do. Each has partial and tentative lodgment in our public schools, but neither is as yet supported with that heartiness of faith or liberality of purse on the part of our educational board which their plain merits demand. Nevertheless, the good work goes on, and as rapidly as one could expect, even for Chicago. CELIA P. WOOLLEY.

which his mission school has aimed to

A NEW YORK TEETOTUM.

A "teetotum" is a London institution, a "people's club," with a restaurant attachment for cheap, wholesome food; with provision also for games and musical entertainments, a reading-room, and a bright, simple mission service on Sunday. There are twelve of these teetotum clubs in successful operation in London. They fill, too, a very large place of usefulness among the poorer people of the great metropolis. An auspicious beginning has been made in this

bread 3 cents a loaf, hot tea and coffee 5 cents a pint, and cocoa 7 cents a pint. These prices are for outside customers: to club members there is a discount. The residents of the neighborhood have been invited, and many have already accepted invitations to become members of the club. Any man over eighteen years of age, of respectable character, with testimonial to that effect from a clergyman or his employer, may become a member. The dues, payable quarterly in advance, are twentyfive cents. The projector and manager of the club is Mr. Charles James Wills; and the money needed to equip and maintain it is given by Mr. R. Fulton Cutting, who has done so much to provide improved dwellings for the poor of New York. It is hoped and expected that in due time this club, like those in London, will become selfsupporting, and that others of like character will be established. It is to be hoped that the good work may be abundantly prospered. It is a counter attraction, and will draw away from the saloon,- a practical method of reform by substitution.

TRANSFIGURED.

IN MEMORIAM A. A. L.

A gray November sky,
The hills in snowy white,
An angel presence standing nigh
Whispered of heavenly light,

Where lay upon his bed

A pure soul white as snow, A fragrance round his pillow shed, As angels only know.

Dim were those lustrous eyes;

The sweet smile on his face The beckoning spirit in disguise — Was messenger of grace,

Whose gentle touch awoke

To life this battered clay, Which in impressive silence spoke As it transfigured lay.

The Message of the New Year.

I asked the New Year for some motto sweet, Some rule of life with which to guide my feet.

I asked, and paused: he answered, soft and low,

"God's will to know."

"Will knowledge then suffice, New Year?" I cried;

And, ere the question into silence died,
The answer came, "Nay: remember, too,
God's will to do."

Once more I asked, "Is there no room to tell?"

And once again the answer sweetly fell, "Yes: this one thing, all other things above, God's will to love."

Thank God that God shall judge my soul,

not man!

I marvel when they say,
Think of that awful day!

No pitying fellow-sinner's eye shall scan
With tolerance thy soul,

But his who knows the whole,

The God whom all own is "wholly just."
Hold thou that last word dear,
And live untouched by fear.

He knows with what strange fires he mixed this dust:

Fear not he made thee dust.

Cling to that sweet word "just": All's well with thee, if thou art in just hands. -Anne Reeves Aldrich.

WEDNESDAY.

What a Year gives.

What does God give in a year of time

To the narrowest life and the poorest heart?

Pomp of dawns and glory of eves,

Noons with a splendor undreamed of art, Nights of a calm magnificence,

By side of which the days are dim,Spicy odors, sweet orchard blooms,

And the rhythmic beat of the sea's great hymn.

What does he give in a year of time?

The woodland's echoes of songs without words,

The oratorio of the waves,

The matins and vespers of countless birds, Music of winds in the deep-voiced trees, And lyric outbursts of angry storms, The bee's soft alto, the pine-trees' bass, The chorus of myriad insect forms.

What does he give in a year of time?

The ordered change of the rolling sphere, The spring's sweet tumult, the summer's glow,

And the ruddy autumn's wealth of cheer, The dazzling drift and the sheeted ice,

The clouds of jet and the lightning's glare, The velvet softness of moss-green turf, And the breath of violets everywhere.

What does he give in a year of time?

Nights with a glory of moonlit beams, Nights where the stars are clustered thick, Nights when the world is a world of dreams,

Morns with a trailing purple mist,

Morns when a red sun hangs above, Dewy freshness on upland glades,

And the multitudinous voice of doves.

What does he give in a year of time?

The varied tints of the Feast of Flowers, The snowy drift of the fruitful trees, The crimson hue of the rose-hung bowers, Purples of every royal shade,

And gold of the latest autumn days, Pink like the sea-shell's inmost heart, And blue of the distant mountain's haze.

Ah! great the gift of a year of time,

If we count but the things we can hear and see!

The outspread year to the poet-soul

Is a dream, a rapture, an ecstasy.
But greater than all is the priceless gift
Of a work we feel to be all our own,
And every gift of an added year
An opportunity ours alone.

-Hattie Tyng Griswold.

Not knowing, we go onward day by day;

And, if this day be full of grief and pain, We think to-morrow will be brighter far, And for each loss there will be some sure gain.

Oh, it is well for us our Father keeps
Securely hidden from our mortal eyes
The rough and rugged pathway we must
tread
Before we reach our home beyond the skies!
Oh, it is well! for, stumbling blindly on,

We reach like little children for his hand, And, clasping it, take courage, knowing well

He'll bring us safely to the better land. -A. W. Curtis.

SATURDAY.

The Worth of Time.

O Time! ne'er resteth thy swift wing; Thy minutes make no stay.

Yet what vast treasure do they bring, What treasure bear away!

O richly laden hours, ye fly!
Yet ye lay down your load.
O minutes, freighted awfully!
Your freight is all bestowed.

Ye bring the world's consuming care;
Ye bring the tempter's wile.
Ye bring the glorious strife of prayer;
Ye bring the Father's smile.

Yes, Lord, our days may be divine,
Our hours may golden be;
The brightness of their light may shine
Through all eternity.

We mourn not, hours, the wings ye take,
If your blest dower be given:
Fly on, bright minutes, if ye make
Our souls more meet for heaven!

Yes, parted years, still sweetly breathe!
Still blessedly appear,
And glory and delight bequeath
To the eternal year!

-T. H. Gill.

EDITORIAL NOTES.

We invite attention to the article found on another page on "The Universalist World's Fair Congress," which shows how fully our Universalist brethren realize the importance of the opportunity that is offered them, not only to take the place which belongs to them (too often withheld) side by side with the other churches of the country, but to put their thought before the world under more favorable conditions than were ever presented to them before. The thoroughness and care with which they are making their preparations for this Congress, and the excellence of the programme arranged, are worthy of praise and emulation.

We invite attention also to Mrs. Woolley's "Chicago Letter," which gives important information as to what has been done by our Chicago committee in preparation for our own Unitarian Congress, and also presents reasons which seem strong to most Western Unitarians why the next meeting of our National Conference should be held in Chicago, thus throwing the whole strength of the denomination into the Chicago meeting instead of dividing our denominational strength and interest between this and a competing meeting at Saratoga.

Nothing is more gratifying than the word that comes to us from the Pacific Coast, telling of the earnest and strong work that is

being done by our workers there, and of the splendid progress that our cause is making from Southern California to Northern Washington. At Los Angeles we have one of the very largest regular congregations in the denomination. In Oakland a church of great strength has been built up in half a dozen years. In San Francisco not only have we a vigorous beginning for a second church, but a Unitarian headquarters for the coast has been established, around which many useful activities are gathering. The American Unitarian Association's Superintendent for the coast is making plans with a breadth of view and a courage that are inspiring to the whole denomination, and carrying them out with an energy that knows no slackening. Some preliminary steps have been taken looking in the direction of the establishment at a not distant day of a theological school at Berkeley, the seat of the State University. And now the little Guidon started a year ago has been enlarged into the Pacific Unitarian, a monthly of which its constituency may well be proud. Nor is this all. Looking through the pages of the new monthly for December, we see reports of vigorous work being done in most of the places where we have churches, and of many openings in new places, which we are invited to enter. Last, but not least interesting, is the report of two orthodox ministers, one the pastor of the First Baptist Church in San José, and the other a Congregationalist pastor in Oakland, who have just renounced their old

views and declared themselves candidates for our ministry.

None rejoice in all this prosperity of our cause in the far West more than we who are farther East. The cause is all one.

Nor, in pointing to the prosperity of the Pacific region, must we be understood as implying that elsewhere our cause languishes. On the contrary, we have the impression that never before was our work going forward so well, the country through, as now. Here and there a society languishes; but the indications are unmistakable that generally our churches are gaining steadily in strength, influence, and usefulness. New churches are being established in all parts of the country, and our Post-office Mission and literature distribution work is increas