of this change can be felt in the greater tolerance and broader charity extended by all denominations toward one another. It is probable that the first important result, foreshadowing the final union of all churches, will be the uniting of the socalled liberal churches upon such grounds as are common to all, allowing minor distinctions to remain in the background as matters of individual belief.

There seems to be no good reason why, for example, Unitarians, Universalists, Christian Scientists, and advanced Spiritualists (as contradistinguished from Spiritists) should remain separate and distinct organizations; and their union is only a matter of time. They hold practically the same opinions concerning the existence of evil, the progressive condition of the future life, man's relation to God, and many other questions of a purely spiritual nature; while upon those that pertain to social and economic problems the most advanced thinkers in every denomination are in harmony.

The different shades of opinion held concerning the "miraculous" origin of Christ are not of sufficiently vital importance to stand in the way of progressive and united effort for the good of humanity. All liberal churches accept Jesus as a great teacher, while in the truest and broadest sense they consider every child brought into the world as of divine origin. The church of the future shall be founded upon Truth, not only as taught by Christ but also as revealed through many others. and most of all to every soul according to its special needs. We shall learn to recognize Truth from whatever source it comes, and to know that God speaks to man just as truly and as forcibly through other lips to-day as He did through those of the Nazarene. More than this, the truth that comes to us today must, according to that law which has ever seemed to govern its revelation, be better adapted to the intelligence of the present day than that which was given to the world nineteen hundred years ago. Jesus himself said, "When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come He will lead you into all truth." It was not

the man Jesus who was sent to be a light unto the world, but the Spirit of Truth that spoke through him. It has been speaking constantly through the mouths of other mediums ever since, and never more plainly than to-day. Some time, somewhere, it shall indeed guide every soul "into all truth."

Let us, then, welcome all efforts, from whatever source, that have for their object the betterment of human conditions and human life. There is no such thing as a great work or a small work, so far as individuals are concerned. The humblest toiler in the vineyard has just as important a service to perform as one whom the world calls great.

The liberal churches are doing much in the way of educating the people to a better understanding of man's oneness with God. It is no longer considered blasphemous to speculate concerning the Divine attributes, and the more we study these the more clearly do we recognize the Fatherhood of God—through perceiving which we are led to an acknowledgment of the Brotherhood of Man. The practical as well as theoretical acceptance of this great truth, though it may be a long time in coming, will certainly be required before the establishment of the Universal Church, for it is upon the principles of altruistic philosophy that this Church shall rest. To such a Church will come all who are enrolled under the banner of Christian Socialism, for to these the universal brotherhood is more than creeds. and dogmas; and gradually all sectarian churches will grow into harmony with these principles and be gathered into one fold. All great social problems will be solved, or cease to annoy, when all shall recognize the brotherhood of all.

When established upon these broad principles it is not to be supposed that the energies of such a Church will be devoted to the promulgation of any particular theoretical doctrines, but rather shall it strive to cultivate that germ of religious instinct which exists in every soul and a thirst for spiritual knowledge which God is ever ready to supply. As has been said, it has always been the aim of the churches to arouse this instinct, and

thus far they have been instrumental for good. Their fault has been that they have also sought to govern and direct the current of thought into narrow channels, to fetter and trammel the intellect, to stifle the spirit of inquiry, and to set bounds to the field of investigation. It is man's prerogative to think for himself, and no man, however gifted, has a divine commission to control another's opinions.

Among the most notable features that shall distinguish the future Church will be the absence of ceremonial forms and a higher understanding of the meaning of true worship. There will be no more instructing of the Deity, and no more explanations in regard to human needs and human conditions; no importunities even for spiritual blessings, and no abject prostrations of mind or body. In the place of all these we shall have the expression of lofty aspirations, the striving toward higher ideals, the spirit of joy and thanksgiving; while above all shall be manifest a firm and abiding faith that what is best for us will come to pass.

In truth it is quite possible to find, among the advanced churches of to-day, very many of the characteristics of the ideal Church already present. These features become more noticeable every year; every day the spiritual light of the world grows brighter, and it requires no great prophetic vision to discern the dawning of that glorious morn when not the hills and valleys of old Judea alone shall resound with the song of victory, but from mountain-top to mountain-top, in every land and in every clime, shall reëcho the strains of that first Christmas anthem "Peace on earth; good will to men." For this, the old, old story, whose meaning has never yet been fully grasped, shall still be the gospel of the New Dispensation.

THE pure in heart not only see God themselves, but they become a medium for transmitting his thoughts to others. It is at last as if God were thinking through every look and movement of the purified soul.—Lucy Larcom,

MEMORY AND IMPRESSIONS.

BY ALWYN M. THURBER.

Let him who hath a good memory be assured that his gift is a priceless one. The thinker who hath the will to keep his memory undimmed and active is an adept. The pupil in school, the messenger with ears and eyes alert, the accountant, the orator-all who fill places of trust and seek knowledge and are looked up to as responsible factors in the various thought circles are adepts to the degree that they are masters from within, masters of their trend and quality of thought, masters and keepers only of such memories as are worthy and beneficial to themselves; and of such people volumes of praise could be written. They are the ones who make history, who sway the masses, and who plant seeds of reform in fertile places.

But very closely allied to our faculty for remembering details and scenes is our proneness to impression. A single word may leave an impression with us that cannot be effaced by years. We may not have understood the word correctly; yet, though we learn our mistake later, the first impression will hover about us for months after. Memory is the storehouse, and our impressions are the minutiae of our experiences stamped upon our minds in various shadings and colorings, according to our thought associations or habits of thinking. A good memory helps to preserve and quicken all our other gifts. The inventor, though he may observe only casually a complicated mechanism, sometimes catches at sight a dozen principles or details of motion, and in his future study is able to improve upon them as suits his needs; while another designer may see as much, but having a less retentive memory he gets less actual profit from his observations.

Retaining an impression, however, is not always an evi

dence of memory. "It is my impression," says one, “that the incident you name has taken place." So subtle-and we might say meddlesome-is the thought-laden ether about us that the impression we have may be very far from correct. We absorb unconsciously and give out to others accordingly. The adept or master mind must needs understand this, and by habitual demonstration be able to know at all times whereof he speaks.

We can look back and enumerate many an odd impression of our early days. They came most frequently to us in school, when the mental states were most active. I remember reading for the first time Campbell's famous poem, beginning:

"On Linden, when the sun was low,

All bloodless lay the untrodden snow."

Being a lad of deep sympathies and keen imagination, the impression upon my memory was the reverse of the idea intended to be conveyed. The terms "bloodless" and "untrodden" were beyond me, while "blood" is one of the first words of moment that enter a child's understanding. So, accepting my first impression, I saw with the quickness of a flashlight a field of snow covered with gore, and, to carry the dread of warfare to a rational sequence, I clothed the scene with a glamour of leaden twilight instead of sunlight-all because the text was just a trifle beyond my understanding. I never recall the poem with an entire absence of that early and erroneous impression.

About that age I was living with a family of farmers, and in those days cheese-making was a common household duty. At intervals my foster-mother would ascend to the upper room where the cakes of cheese were kept and rub some oily substance over them. With a child's inquisitiveness I asked what the stuff was. In those days many a short-cut was resorted to when instructing the young. To make sure that I would not meddle with the cheese-coating the good housewife told me it was poison. Indeed, how plain it all seemed to me! I saw at a glance why people removed the rind before eating the cheese;