gaged in it, or what is the nature of the business. On this Jericho road of business, then, there are these robbers; though there is, thank God, the good Samaritan, who tries to conduct his business in the spirit of human sympathy, human love, and mutual service. Let me hint that the whole progress of humanity has been by the way of this old Jericho road from the beginning. Every new step, every new invention, every new improvement, every higher, finer thing that has come to the world, has meant - what? It has meant poverty, heartache, wounds and blood to some one flung aside, left in the dust of the road. It is for the general good, indeed. We would not have it otherwise. And yet think of the field there is here for the work of the good Samaritan, not in trampling down with your new improvement, your new invention, but in helping and lifting others, and trying to stand them on their feet once more, and making them capable of continuing this great struggle for life. You will find one more illustration this summer. Whether you are in the mountains, the country, or by the seaside, you will find that this great Jericho road runs through every hotel, every cottage, every boarding-house. Some of the saddest cases of this need of help I have found during my vacation at the summer resorts. Frequently they were persons with smiles on their lips, with gay countenances, with beautiful clothing, with all that the world ordinarily thinks a person needs for happiness; but in some hour of revelation, of confession, I have found minds bewildered, discouraged, patiently seeking the path, and so grateful for the little help and suggestions that are the oil and wine poured into the wound, a suggestion that could lift them out of the dust and put them in a place of safety and peace. I have found hearts broken, bleeding, too proud to let the world know, fearing that their very sorrows might be made the material for gossip, but so grateful for a little help, a little sympathy, a little cheer, a ray of light thrown on the dark pathway of the world. Wherever you go this summer, friends, you will find that you are on the Jericho road. You will find some one cast down in the dust, you will find some that you can help, it may be with a little money, it may be with a hand-shake only, it may be with a kind word. No matter what or how, if you will, you can play the part of the good Samaritan, and thus grow into the finest ideal of what is human and what is divine. - But remember right here, in the face of so many criticisms now and then expressed as to the closing of churches during the summer, remember that the possession and the exercise of the truest religion do not depend upon the church being open or closed. The priest, after he had passed the wounded man, may have gone up to the temple in Jerusalem, the Levite may have followed him, and both may have engaged in some solemn ceremonial; but God, the real religion, was not there. It was here in the dust of the Jericho road, where the kneeling Samaritan was helping up the fallen Jew. That was where God was, that is where religion was. So, wherever you are, if you cherish and cultivate this spirit, taking it with you, living it out in deed, in thought, in word, in smile, in service, you will have God by your side; and you will be engaged in the noblest and sweetest religious service that it is possible to conceive. Remember what Coleridge at the close of the "Ancient Mariner" has sung, "He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small; As a closing hint, the Jericho road is the true road to heaven; for it is by cultivating these qualities to which I have referred that we become like God, and it is only as we become like God, wherever we may be, that we are in heaven. Father, we are glad that, as we go out this summer, we may be conscious, wherever we are, that we are in Thy presence, that we are serving Thee, and may know that every step of service we take is towards Thee. And, since Thou dost fold in Thy arms all our treasures of love, as we travel towards Thee we are travelling towards the realization of all we desire, the finding and the folding to our hearts in an eternal embrace of the objects of our love. Amen. The preface by Mr. Savage gives the reasons, clearly and concisely, why a book like this is needed. It answers a great demand, and it will supply a serious deficiency. Having had the privilege of reading the contents very thoroughly, I gladly record my satisfaction in the character of the work, my hope of its wide acceptance and use, my appreciation of the author's motives in preparing it. The questions and answers allow of supplementing, of individual handling, of personal direction. It is not a hard-andfast production There is a large liberty of detail, explanation, and unfolding. The doctrinal positions are in accord with rational religion and liberal Christianity, the critical judgments are based on modern scholarship, and the great aim throughout is to assist an inquirer or pupil to a positive, permanent faith. If any one finds comments and criticisms which at first sight seem needless, let it be remembered that a Unitarian catechism must give reasons, point out errors, and trace causes: it cannot simply dogmatize. I am sure that in the true use of this book great gains will come to our Sundayschools, to searchers after truth, to our cause. EDWARD A. HORTON. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. This little Catechism has grown out of the needs of my own work. Fathers and mothers have said to me, "Our children are constantly asking us questions that we cannot answer. Perfectly natural! Their reading and study have not been such as to make them familiar with the results of critical scholarship. The great modern revolution of thought is bewildering. This is an attempt to make the path of ascertained truth a little plainer. This is the call for help in the home. Besides this, a similar call has come from the Sunday-school. Multitudes of teachers have little time to ransack libraries and study large works. This is an attempt, then, to help them. by putting in their hands, in brief compass, the principal things believed by Unitarians concerning the greatest subject. The list of reference books that follows the questions and answers will enable those who wish to do so to go more deeply into the topics suggested. It is believed that this Catechism will be found adapted to any grade of scholars above the infant class, provided the teacher has some skill in the matter of interpretation. GEO. H. ELLIS, Publisher, 141 Franklin St., Boston, Mass. The Minister's Hand-book. For Christenings, Weddings, Sacred Songs for Public Worship. A Hymn and Tune -75 Leather 1.00 1.50 Mr. Savage's weekly sermons are regularly printed in pamphlet single copies, 5 cents. Subscription price, for the season, $1.50; GEO. H. ELLIS, Publisher, 141 Franklin St., Boston, Mass. |