Another organization which has attained large membership and has become international, is that of the King's Daughters. As its name indicates, it was primarily intended for women, though as it extended, it added as an adjunct a membership for men as King's Sons. It also was inter-denominational in character, and its objects were more directly identified with the philanthropic side of the religious life than were those of the societies previously mentioned. It originated in a meeting of ten ladies, held in New York, in 1886, at which plans were discussed for aiding the poor, the unfortunate and the distressed in mind, body or soul. They were all Christian ladies who recognized the duty of ministering in Christ's name to those who were in need and so fulfilling His injunction of kindly service. The plan finally adopted was to organize circles of ten members each, who should be pledged to use their opportunities, as far as they were able, for Christian ministration. Each member agreed to wear, as a badge of the Order, a small silver Maltese Cross, bearing the initials, I.H.N., representing the motto, "In His Name." Every circle was to be left free to apply the principle of service as it saw fit, or as special circumstances might suggest, and all the circles to be under the direction and limited control of a central council. The plan, subsequently modified as experience suggested, was widely adopted. The circles have worked in a variety of ways, visiting hospitals and prisons, making garments for the poor, raising funds for the needy, aiding the churches and rendering service in various ways in which kindly Christian women are so effective.
Still another form of combination in Christian work has distinguished this century. In 1844 George Williams, a London dry goods merchant employing a large number of young men, made an effort to provide them with a species of Christian club. His own experience as a young man fresh from a country home, suddenly inducted into the temptations of city life, suggested to him the kind of help such young men needed. A Christian friend in a great city to help a new-comer, to find him wholesome amusement in the evenings, and to put him on his guard against the pitfalls that were set for his unwary feet, might, Mr. Williams was convinced, save many a young man from ruin. To provide them with such friends and to furnish a place of meeting for reading, converse and amusement, was the problem the kindly Christian man attempted to solve. Out of his effort grew the institution we know as the Young Men's Christian Association, which has its mission in nearly every large town in this country and in England. The young man of this century can go into no considerable town without finding a commodious hall, with well-equipped library and reading-room, generally with a gymnasium attached, and with a host of young men ready to make his acquaintance and surround him with Christian influences. In many towns, the institution has developed from the purely religious enterprise into a many-sided effort to give practical educational training and to attract young men to it by the help it renders them in secular pursuits. The institution as it now exists, must be counted as one of the most beneficent in its far-reaching influence that the century has produced.
Humanitarian Work.
Kindred in spirit, but differing essentially in operation, is the institution, peculiarly a product of nineteenth century religion, which we know as the Social or College Settlement. Though it does not claim a distinctively religious character, its principles are so thoroughly identical with Christianity, that no survey of the religious life of the century would be complete without a recognition of it. It is the spirit that brought the Founder of Christianity to the earth, to live a lowly life among men, which inspires the Social Settlement. It is generally an unostentatious house in some crowded neighborhood, where the people are poor and life is hard. In the house are a number of college-bred men, or women, who come in relays and live there for a week or a month or longer. They do no missionary work, do not preach, or denounce, or instruct their neighbors, but they live among them a cleanly, helpful, friendly life, welcoming them cordially as visitors, advising them if advice is sought, rendering help in difficulties and being neighborly in the best sense of the word. There are concerts in the house, exhibitions of pictures, children's parties and amusements of various kinds to which all the neighbors are welcome. Charity is no part of the Settlement's programme. It does not give, but it extends a brotherly hand, and in a spirit of friendship and equality seeks to do a brother's part in brightening lowly lives. Hundreds of such institutions are in operation on both sides the Atlantic. To the credit of this century be it said that it has seen in these institutions the Parable of the Good Samaritan made a living fact in intelligent organization.
Tending directly toward the same object, is the religious enterprise now commonly known as the Institutional Church. It is a distinct gain to the church if the people in its vicinity discover that it is anxious to help them to a better and happier life in this world, as well as guiding them to happiness in the next. The Divine Founder of Christianity never ignored the fact that men have bodies which need saving, as well as souls, and some of His followers are following His example. Their churches do not stand closed and silent from Sunday to Sunday, but are open every day and evening, busy with some form of practical helpfulness. Temperance societies, coal clubs, sewing meetings, dime savings banks, gymnasiums, boys' clubs, and a host of helpful associations tending to the betterment of life, find their home under the roof of the church, and the pastor and his helpers are finding out the social and economical needs of the people by actual contact with them and devising means to supply them. The critics say this is not the business of the church, but they are not found among the people who derive benefit from this form of thoughtful interest in their welfare.
The Sunday School.
Of all the products of this prolific nineteenth century, the one most extensive and most profitable to the church still remains to be mentioned. Though this century did not see the birth of the Sunday School, it has witnessed its wonderful development. In June, 1784, Robert Raikes published his famous letter outlining his plan for the religious instruction of children on the Lord's Day, and before the close of the year, John Wesley wrote that he found Sunday Schools springing up wherever he went, and added with prophetic insight: "Perhaps God may have a deeper end therein than men are aware of. Who knows but some of these schools may become nurseries for Christians?" Within five years, a quarter of a million children were gathered into the Sunday Schools. So much had already been done before the beginning of the century. But even then men did not realize whereunto the movement was destined to grow. Probably no enterprise has really exerted a deeper and stronger influence on the religious life of the time. Children have entered the schools, passed through their grades, have become teachers in their turn, and their descendants have followed in their footsteps, until now we can scarcely bring ourselves to believe that a little more than a hundred years ago the Sunday School was unknown. The organization of Sunday School Unions, the introduction of the International Lesson System, and the City, State and National Conventions are all the developments of this century. The thought that a million and a half of Sunday School teachers are now engaged in every clime, Sunday by Sunday, in teaching the children and young people the truths of Christianity is enough to fill the mind of the Christian with thankfulness and hope.
Pulpit And Press.
It would be beyond the scope of an article of this character to attempt to recall the names of the eminent preachers of the century. It has been singularly rich in men of eloquence, depth of thought and high culture. A few, however, are distinguished among the noble army by the phenomenal character of their work. Of these probably no name is so widely known as that of Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, D.D. One of the most remarkable phenomena of the religious world in this century, is the fact that every week one preacher should address an audience numbered by millions. The fact is unprecedented. Of all classes of readers, the number of those who read sermons is considered the smallest, yet this century has produced a preacher whose sermons command a public larger than that of a fascinating novelist. For thirty years the newspapers have been publishing Dr. Talmage's sermons in every city of his own land, in every English-speaking land and in many foreign lands where they are translated for publication. It is a significant fact, which should gratify every Christian, that the man whose words reach regularly and surely the largest audience in the world should be a preacher of the Gospel.