unite their work. The necessity of the re-union of the two churches is emphasized by every tendency of the world's progress and a refusal to respond to such a universal call can find no adequate defense.

The widest interests of this republic seem to insist upon the re-union of Episcopal Methodism. Warned by the universal failure of national churches and moved by a desire to preserve religious faith from all hurtful allegiances, the founders of this nation wisely separated church and state. This was done in the interest of religion, and the unprece dented prosperity of the Protestant churches in America is an overwhelming vindication of the policy. In no other nation on the earth has religious faith been so zealous, and the soundness of religious doctrines been preserved with a holier care.

While this republic has no national church and defends no special religious creed, yet there is no other nation whose existence and prosperity are more vitally dependent upon the purity and teachings of the Protestant churches. Nor is it going too far to say that Episcopal Methodism by the co-incidences of history, the democracy of its spirit, its steadfast faith in human liberty, and its patriotic fidelity has been one of the most potent forces in the building of our national power and influence.

There are many vital reasons that give national significance to the condition and influence of Episcopal Methodism. With its large membership, including all classes of people and reaching into every community of the republic, its purity and its fidelity are of supreme importance in the character of the nation. And at no previous period has there been such pressing necessity for the fullest exercise of all possible power of Methodism in the life of the nation. The multitudes of foreigners, untrained in the lessons and principles of freedom, given over to a life of abandonment, poisoned with all the hatreds of a hard experience, and unconcerned about the welfare of society and government, present a situation full of the most direful prospects. The evangelization of this abandoned multitude is one of the supreme tasks before the American people, and the evangelizing spirit and

energy of Episcopal Methodism were never before of more importance in the nation's life than they are at this time.

Every patriotic American should be constantly reminded that this republic is the world's greatest experiment in the principles of democracy and self-government. Such a government is, more or less, always in a crisis. Its very virtues become sources of danger. The hopes which it inspires tend to breed dangerous discontents, and the liberty which it confers tends to engender a reckless disregard of law. So in a democracy like this there must be a constant and a persistent training in the soundest principles of morals. In this and in this alone lie the safety and perpetuity of our republic and the final establishment of republicanism as the soundest form of government.

In working out these national principles to their highest destiny no other organization in America should render gladder and more efficient service than Episcopal Methodism. In the early period of the nation's history, when every idea was crude and every task of government difficult, American Methodism, through its itinerant ministry, was the most active force in laying the foundations of religious truth and teaching morality to the early settlers. Their labors were the conserving force of democracy at the moment of its greatest danger. And the work which the pioneers of Methodism did in the early stages of the nation's life must be repeated with increasing zeal as the nation advances in power. These national necessities should appeal to every patriotic impulse in Episcopal Methodism and cause it to unite all its resources in the most active form of service. And certainly nothing else could send forth into the nation's life a greater thrill of hope than the re-union of the divided churches, thus put ting this greatest Protestant organization in the best shape to serve the nation's welfare.

But there is another consideration that should appeal with irresistible force to every lover of his country. Especially should it appeal to the two branches of Episcopal Methodism and hasten their re-union. The founders of this republic intended to organize under one central authority a number of separate governments, thus conserving the idea of local self

government. The problem from the beginning was a complicated and difficult problem. Yet this government was to be a union of commonwealths not confederated by weak ties of agreement which could be severed in any moment and for any sort of a cause, but it was to be a government united by the strong bonds of a central authority. Such a government was unique and could not be made in a day. It was exposed to all the dangers of dissolution. The first hundred years of the nation's life was spent in trying to interpret the meaning of union. The long and bitter discussions, the rise and fall of passions, the growth of sectional oppositions, and the final crash of arms is the bloody route by which the end was reached. This republic is a union, and every patriotic citizen glories in the fact.

It will forever abide a sore memory in the thought of this nation that its history has been marred by an unfortunate sectionalism. This is the saddest blot upon its record. Patriotic Americans in every section feel it to be the sorest calamity that has yet befallen our national glory and strength. To heal the breach and restore every section of the nation to the bonds of an indestructible fellowship are ends which appeal to every genuine American.

It is highly creditable to the spirit of commerce and industry that they have set aside all sectionalism and united their resources to upbuild enterprises in every region. It is discreditable to the spirit of political parties that they depend upon the prejudices of sectionalism as a chief asset of party power. By every principle and every ideal of the Christian religion it would seem that the churches of America should be the most active leaders in restoring and re-enforcing the union. One cannot understand why sectionalism should have its most stubborn stronghold about the altars of the church of God. Is the Christian religion an unpatriotic religion? Does it foster animosities and estrange fellow-citizens? Will Episcopal Methodism add honor to its record by perpetuating a division which is a constant menace to national strength and national influence?

The real bond of this Union is not in the strength of its arms, the wisdom of its Constitution, nor the extension of

its wealth. It is in an inner sense of fellowship. And religion is the mightiest bond that unites mankind. It would be difficult to think of a greater contribution to the strength of the American Union than the coming together of the largest Protestant church in the nation. To effect this union of the two branches of Episcopal Methodism is an achievement in which all American citizens have vital interest. It carries with it immeasurable consequences to the prosperity and strength of the nation and should engage the thought and efforts of all Americans.

Literary Fashions*

BY BLISS PERRY,

Editor of the Atlantic Monthly

To those who really love literature, even its most transient modes have a certain meaning and interest. To one who does not love literature for its own sake, I fear any comment upon its passing, ever-varying forms may seem merely trivial,a grave treatment of things not grave in themselves. The reading public is made up, indeed, of many who are not born readers, just as many persons go to the horse-show who are not real lovers of the horse. But at the horse-show there will always be found genuine admirers of horse-flesh. They establish the scale of values. They know by instinct the thoroughbred from the scrub. They have their whims, their temporary fashions, their insistence upon this or that arbitrary quality of action or of blood. The horse-show is a place of fads. It exhibits extravagancies of taste and fancy. But in the last analysis the horse-show is established upon the pure delight in a good horse. Literature, likewise, rests back upon love of a good book. The book may be enjoyed in solitude, as one may like to ride alone along a woodland path; and yet the reading of a good book, like the sight of a spirited animal, may give delight to thousands of admirers at once without lessening any one man's pleasure.

A book is, indeed, a thing to be tasted by one's own palate, to be read for the profit of one's own soul. But the book is also a product of its generation and its hour. It affords some evidence of the prevalent standards of conduct or of taste. Read by a crowd, it reflects the lineaments, the vagaries and passions of the crowd. An Elizabethan book, a Georgian book, a Victorian book will give you not only three different varieties of literature, but will reveal the habit of mind, the outward bearing, of three different types of Englishmen. To study their changing literary tastes, their whims and en

*An address delivered May 24, 1906, at the commencement exercises of Wake Forest College.