Etkical A<l<lf<isses
Felix. Adler
170.6
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ORTH WESTER
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E V A N S T O N
ETHICAL ADDRESSES
SERIES IV. No. 3. MARCH, 1897.
HOW FAR DOES THE ETHICAL
SOCIETY TAKE THE PLACE
OF A CHURCH?
BY
FELIX ADLER.
PHILADELPHIA:
S. BURNS WESTON, 1305 Arch Street.
Published Monthly (except July and August.)
(Entered at Philadelphia as second-class matter.)
Yearly, $1.00. Single Numbers, 10 cts.
Ethical, Addresses
FIRST SERIES 1894
Contents: What Do We Stand For? by Felix Adler ; An Eth¬
ical View of Life, by W. M. Salter ; What Does It Mean to
Be Religious, and What is Religion ? by W. L. Sheldon ; The
Religion of Ethical Culture, by M. M. Mangasarian ; The
Modern Saint, by Felix Adler; Morality—What Does It
Mean ? by W. M. Salter ; True Liberalism, by W. L. Sheldon ;
Teaching and Teachers, by M. M. Mangasarian ; Prayer and
Worship, by Felix Adler ; The Highest Rule of Life, by
W. M. Salter.
SECOND SERIES—1895
What We Mean by Duty, W. L. Sheldon ; Our Besetting Sins,
M. M. Mangasarian ; " Ethical Agnosticism," Wm. M. Salter ;
Consolations, Felix Adler ; Worship in the Spirit, W. L.
Sheldon; The Freedom of Ethical Fellowship, Felix Adler;
" Ethics or Religion ? " Wm. M. Salter; The Four Types of
Suffering, Felix Adler ; Octavius B. Frothingham Memorial
Exercises, Edmund C. Stedmam, George Haven Putnam, Jus¬
tice George C. Barrett and Prof. Felix Adler.
THIRD SERIES—1896
The Monroe Doctrine and the War Spirit in the United States,
by Felix Adler ; The Venezuelan Question, by Wm. M.
Salter ; The New Woman, by W. L. Sheldon; Bad Wealth
and How It Is Sometimes Got, by Wm. M. Salter ; Address
of May 15th, 1876, by Felix Adler ; Twentieth Anniversary
of the Society for Ethical Culture of New York, addresses by
Alfred R. Wolff, Wm. M. Salter, M. M. Mangasarian
and Felix AdlER ; Armenia's Impending Doom, by M. M.
Mangasarian ; The International Ethical Congress, by
Felix Adler ; Woman's Influence in Public Affairs, by Mrs.
Lydia Avery Coonley and Mrs. Mary J. Wilmarth : Good
and Bad Side of Novel Reading, by W. L. Sheldon.
Each Series, bound in fine cloth, $1.00. Single copies, 10c.
Special Offer.—Series I, II and III, bound in cloth (three volumes),
will be sent to any address for $2.25, or they may be had together with
subscription for 1897 for $3.00. Any two volumes to one address, $1.50.
FOURTH SERIES—1897
January—The Cause of Ethics, by W. M. Salter.
February—Our Faith and Our Duty, by S. Burns Weston.
March—How Far Does The Ethical Society Take the Place of
a Church? by Felix Adler.
Yearly, $1; Two copies to one address, $1.50; Three to one address, $2.
Address
S. BURNS WESTON, 1305 Arch St., Philadelphia.
HOW FAR DOES THE ETHICAL
SOCIETY TAKE THE PLACE
OF A CHURCH ? *
BY FELIX adler.
For nearly two thousand years the church has stood
among mankind fulfilling its beneficent function. No
one can fail to see that the power of the church to-day,
among large portions of the community, is waning or
gone. Can the world get along without any institution
like it? Do we not need some equivalent of it? If we
agree that some substitute is needed, then how far does
the Ethical Society take the place ? This is my question
this morning.
It is evident that there are points of likeness between
ourselves and the churches, and I want to dwell upon
some of these points of likeness first. There is the fact,
to begin with, that we assemble on Sunday morning, at
the hour when the church-bells ring. This is not an
accident. At the present time there are a great many
persons who cease to hear that summons ; to whom, if
they hear it at all, it comes touched with memories like
the echo of a far-off childhood, but without any living
appeal. Take, for instance, the busy lawyer; he brings
home on Saturday night the overflow of the week's
office work. He looks forward to the quiet Sunday
* A lecture given before the Society for Ethical Culture of New York.
(41)
42
HOW FAR DOES THE ETHICAL SOCIETY
morning with anticipatory relish ; he is determined to
clear things up for a fresh start on Monday morning.
The medical practitioner, in whose hands are the issues
of life and death, upon whom are the constant claims of
human suffering, is excused in any case. But even the
merchant, and, in increasing numbers, the workingmen,
cease to think that the Sunday is anything more than a
day of rest. The strain of work nowadays is so exces¬
sive that mere rest has come to be looked upon as one
of the greatest boons " Let me then," says the toiler,
"prolong sleep on Sunday; let me feel that on Sunday
morning there are no pressing claims ; that on one day
in the week those duties that must be fulfilled at stated
times, are absent; that I can do as I please." The
sense of being at one's ease, of being able to do as one
pleases, is certainly a very pleasant one.
And then there are the children ! The father of the
family says to himself that Sunday, being the one day
in the week when he can unreservedly devote himself to
his home, he wishes to give as much time as possible to
the children, of whom at other times he sees too little ;
to romp with them, to enter into their games, to listen
to their prattle; or to spend with the partner of his life
a few hours in earnest, quiet talk about the things that
concern them in common, about the problems they
must meet in common. Is there any better way of
spending the Sunday ?
Admitting the full force of these statements, we
nevertheless believe that the habit of meeting together
for the consideration of the most serious topics of human
interest in solemn public assembly is too precious to be
lost. We think that rest is indeed very important, but
TAKE THE PLACE OF A CHURCH ?
43
that a change of occupation is often the best kind of
rest; that it is better, after having given the whole week,
or almost the entire week, to bread-winning occupa¬
tions, or to professional pursuits, to give up a part of
the Sunday to a totally different kind of occupation;
and that so far as our children are concerned, they are
by no means defrauded if their parents spend an hour
or two in such assemblies as we have here in mind, be¬
cause the impressions received there must import a finer
flavor, a more sanctified atmosphere into the home itself.
We believe, therefore, in keeping up the custom of pub¬
lic assemblies on the Sunday.
Again, there are occasions in life when new ties are
formed, as in marriage, and when old ties are severed, as
in the hour of bereavement; and it seems, if one can
judge by experience, that on such occasions of joy or
sadness there is needed an interpreter; that people are
not satisfied, on the one hand, with the cold, formal,
legal words of a magistrate who merely expresses the
legal side of the marriage relation; and that on the
other hand, on sad occasions, they are not satisfied with
the mere broken utterances of a friend. The formation
of ties and the severance of ties produce or ought to pro¬
duce profound moral changes in the persons they affect,
and it is felt on all hands that there should be some one
to interpret these changes and their meaning. There
are needed institutions to furnish such interpreters, and
the Ethical Society is such an institution; it is in this
sense like a church. There are a great many persons
who do feel that need, and in moments of gladness or
sorrow they come and ask of those institutions which
exist for such purposes that they furnish them the ser-
44 HOW FAR DOES THE ETHICAL SOCIETY
vice they require. They feel the need of the service,
but they never stop to reflect on the duty of supporting
the institution without which that service could not be
rendered.
The church has always been a center of good works,
a reservoir from which the waters of charity have been
distributed in manifold channels throughout the social
organism. The Ethical Society aims to be a church in
the same sense. There was a time when people ber-
lieved that only a church having a creed could support
charity. This Society seeks to demonstrate that this is
a mistake ; that a creedless church, a church for the un-»
churched, such as this is, can be no less effective in the
same direction. Why, the very life of the Society is in
its practical work. I do not know whether the strangers
who come within our gates and merely sit with us on
Sundays, have an adequate idea of what the Society
stands for. They certainly cannot if they have not
come in touch with its practical work, for it lives in its
work. It would never have lived a day, much less
twenty years, if it had not been for that vitality which it
gained by trying to become itself a vital force, a factor
of progress and improvement in the community.
But the question will be asked why should there be
churches, or substitutes for churches, to sustain the
charities of the world ? Why cannot we get on per¬
fectly well with the secular societies that are now multi¬
plying ; the charity organizations, the societies for the
prevention of cruelty, etc.? These charitable institutions
have no connection with any church. Why, then, do we
need churches to keep up the charities of the world ? I
answer that these secular societies are excellent in their
TAKE THE PLACE OF A CHURCH ?
45
way, but the reason we need churches, or substitutes for
them, is that we must have hearths at which the spirit
of charity may be kindled; that we must have institu¬
tions in which the motives may be engendered that shall
lead men to charitable action; otherwise these great
secular societies will become, as they always tend to
become, mechanical, cold, covered with red tape as a
tree is sometimes covered with parasitic vines. You
cannot run a system of electric cars unless you have
power, and you must build here and there power¬
houses in which the motor fluid may be generated; and
so the church or the institution that takes its place is de¬
signed to be a power-house in which the electric fluid
that moves the world's charities is to be engendered.
In the next place, the church has been a school of
virtue. The Ethical Society hopes to become that also,
and chiefly that. But I fear that some one of my friends
of twenty years ago may ask if this is not a strange
statement to make: that the church is a school of
virtue. Have we forgotten the lessons we used to
recite when we sat at the feet of the radical masters ?
Have we forgotten the moral evils for which the church
is held accountable ? Have we forgotten the Inquisi¬
tion, the hard, bitter fanaticism of the Puritans, the Jew-
baiting of the middle ages, and similar facts ?
Are not these facts ? Certainly. And the radical as¬
sailant of the church emphasizes just these facts and
these only. But, without at all attempting to put a dif¬
ferent color upon such facts as these, we are bound to
remember that there is also another and different set of
facts. I see and I cannot help admitting that with the
birth of Christianity there came into the world the
46 HOW FAR DOES THE ETHICAL SOCIETY
promise of a new spirit of brotherhood. I cannot close
my eyes to the self-sacrifice so often displayed by the
Christian clergy, especially in times of pestilence, in
bringing comfort to the bedside of the sick, though they
might be dying of the most loathsome diseases. I can¬
not forget that it was the Christian church that sent
out its missionaries to that bleak island of Iona, for in¬
stance, which I lately visited, off the western coast of
Scotland. Out there into the darkness and the storm
and the bleakness went those courageous men to bring
their religion, and also to bring civilization.
And it seems to me that if we really wish to be fair
we must be willing to see both sets of facts ; and we
must furthermore recognize that the church, apart from
exceptional examples of moral heroism, does mingle a
great deal of valuable moral teaching with other
doctrinal teachings to which we may object. It is
an institution for inculcating the primary virtues of
honesty, charity, obedience and reverence. In all its
teachings it does bring moral influence to bear. And
I think that the main reason why there have been
those enormities to which reference has been made
is to be found in the fact that faith was made to
precede virtue; that the highest place was assigned
to a formula, to a belief, on the supposition that no man
could be virtuous who had not previously accepted a
certain faith. Hence quarrels about the right belief
were inevitable; hence it was perfectly natural that
there should be religious wars, that men should hate
those whom they suspected of entertaining the wrong
belief, because the wrong belief meant, in their view, the
destruction of virtue.
TAKE THE PLACE OF A CHURCH ?
47
Of course, in the church, as in other organizations,
there have been designing, crafty men, who used the in¬
stitution with which they were connected for their own
ambitious purposes. But it is ridiculous to say of the
church that it is founded on priestcraft and cunning.
The moving principle of the church has been the desire
to build up among mankind the love of virtue, and it
was only because the right belief was deemed so indis¬
pensable that churchmen became persecutors. All the
more is it necessary to profit by the warning lesson of
the past, to extract from the church this poison of dog¬
matism, to establish it simply on the foundation of the
virtuous life, to take a new attitude toward creeds.
And this leads me to speak of the points wherein we
deviate from the churches.
I do not say that creed is unimportant. Let every
one think out his own creed. But we must not attempt
to force our creed upon others. We must not make
creed the bond of fellowship ; we must not say, Unless
you believe as we do you cannot be virtuous. Rather
must we insist that virtue is capable of standing on its
own feet; that every one can be, ought to be, irrespective
of his faith, virtuous. The Ethical Society is an institu¬
tion for cultivating the virtuous life without having for
its basis any accepted, subscribed formula or creed. The
importance of this deviation is obvious.
People say and have said to me many times, "It is
impossible ; you cannot do it. How are you going to
induce men to live the right life unless you have some
authority back of you, some book to lean on or some
creed?" My answer to that is that the method we pur¬
sue is simple enough ; it is to put men in the midst of
48
HOW FAR DOES THE ETHICAL SOCIETY
crowds. We rely on men, not on books, on men who
are themselves enamored of the good, men who are
deeply convinced of the supreme excellence of virtue.
And what a man feels he can make others feel; what
a man sees he can make others see, and what a man
wills, if he wills the right, he can make others will.
Ethics is propagated just as art is. Did you ever
hear of an artist propagating the love of art with the
help of some formulated art theory or some artistic
creed ? The artist is a man who loves the beautiful and
who loves it so much that he can make others love it;
who sees the beautiful and can open the eyes of other
people to see it. And in like manner is virtue spread in
the world.
But again it may be asked, " How are these personal¬
ities, who are to be the centers of influence, to be devel¬
oped ? And what manner of personality do you look
for ? " The answer may seem paradoxical: We want
men of the world. The common use of that phrase, " a
man of the world," is all wrong. By a man of the
world is commonly understood a man who knows
human nature on its mean side, who can tell you every¬
thing that is base in it. He knows the selfishness of it;
he knows how to steer clear of people's selfishness and
how to take advantage of it. He knows all the wicked¬
ness. He is not ignorant of the dark stream that percolates
underneath the life of great cities. He knows to what
depths man can sink when the bestial part of him comes
uppermost, and when, because he is a rational human
being, he is apt to become fouler in his ways than any
animal. A man of the world must know about all these
things—not that he necessarily will steep himself in
TAKE THE PLACE OF A CHURCH ?
49
this foulness, but he must know about it or else he
shall not be called a man of the world. But I protest
that such a man knows only half the world. He does
not know all the possibilities of the other side. He does
not know the possibilities of goodness. He does not
know the infinite delicacies of thought and feeling that
enter into the daily converse of those who put the mean
ends like dirt beneath their feet; he does not know the
sublime dramas that are often enacted in the souls of such
persons, dramas that may sometimes be tragedies but that
none the less have their climaxes of divine compensation.
He does not know how clear the air is in the upper, illu¬
minated regions of the soul. I take it that a true man
of the world is a man who knows both sides. But you
cannot appreciate both sides unless you know by experi¬
ence the good side. A man who knows the good can also
estimate the bad. A man who knows only the bad can¬
not properly estimate the good. Therefore the person¬
alities who are to influence society, who are to be put
into the midst of crowds, should be men of the world,
men who know the good and the bad and who can
compare them and decide between them—as those who
know only the bad cannot. And any other sort of
preparation is at least of subordinate importance. The
men who are to be leaders of the Ethical Movement,
who are to infuse ethical influence, must be men who
have decided that the relish of the good is good and
who so keenly realize its worth that they wish for noth¬
ing so much as to make their fellow beings realize it as
they do.
And, with the help of such men, we hope to make
of an Ethical Culture Society a school of virtue, with-
50
HOW FAR DOES THE THICAL SOCIETY
out any formulated creed, with nothing imposed which
may be accepted to-day and rejected to-morrow, with
no intellectual fetters of any kind. All are free to come,
provided they come in the right spirit, provided they
have that feeling which has always characterized the
members of a church. The members of a church
have always been willing to admit that they are person¬
ally in need of amendment, that they are in need of moral
development. There is a good deal of hypocrisy in the
churches. But the spirit of the church itself has always
been that of humility. It seems indispensable that any
one who truly belongs to a church should feel that he
himself personally has not finished his moral education ;
that he is still in need of moral development. And the
same sort of feeling I should like to see spread among
the unchurched, I should like to have fill this church of
the unchurched", that spirit which leads men to confess
that they have not finished their moral education. I do
not say there is no moral health in us. I do not think
man is hopelessly depraved. I feel that we have trav¬
eled a little way on the road, but I think that we need
more light and more strength. And that is the reason
why Ethical Culture Societies, or something like them,
should exist and why the individualist, the liberal who is
sufficient to himself, seems to me to take the wrong
standpoint. There must be methods found of procur¬
ing more light and of getting more strength, and the
very fact that one belongs to some such an association
ought to give one more strength. He who thinks that
he has found the light and that he is forever strong is
Very near unto destruction, and his light is darkness.
The more I see of the life led among the so-called un-
TAKE THE PLACE OF A CHURCH ?
51
churched (I do not say they are either better or worse
than others), the more I feel what a great need there is
for something to supply the place which the church did
try to fill, did fill to a certain extent; for some means of
counteracting the moral evils of this age. I find that
among men who are respected, who stand in the foremost
ranks of the professions, and who in some ways deserve
respect, there are those who, on closer acquaintance,
exhibit the most astonishing anti-nomianism in theory
and in practice ; who, with all their education, have not
yet learned the A B C's of morals. I find that it is no
uncommon thing in these days for people of so-called
culture to go about in the community teaching that
ethics is just as much an exploded superstition as relig¬
ion ; that there is no such thing as morality except it
consist in a set of conventional rules; that you can
change your morality with the climate and that any¬
thing like absolute principle in morality is out of the
question. And they will instil this poison into the ears
of young people, who need the very opposite sort of
teaching.
I find that there are young men going to perdition
every day simply because they have not been trained. I
find that there are men and women who make a wreck
of their lives, in marriage for instance, simply because,
with the best of intentions, they are not morally disci¬
plined ; because they do not know how to govern them¬
selves, their tongues, their tempers, their demands.
I think that a society or an institution which aims to
be a school of virtue has a place to fill; that the sort of
work it must try to do is indispensable work, work that'
is crying to be done.
52
HOW FAR DOES THE ETHICAL SOCIETY
Finally, the church has given an answer to the ques¬
tion, What makes life worth living ? and the Ethical
Society would also submit an answer of its own. The
answer the church has given has been practically this :
this life is worth living for the sake of the life that
comes after. Here is the labor, there the reward ; here
is the sowing, there the reaping; here the preparation,
there the completion. It is a view that looks upon this
life as the oil in the lamp, which, when it shall have
passed through the narrow aperture of the grave, will
blaze up into immortality at the top ; that looks upon
this life as the root buried in the soil which, when it
shall have pushed above the sod, will bloom into elysian
flowers. But the hope of immortality to many minds
has become so uncertain, and this uncertainty is so little
likely to be turned into certainty, that it is not safe for us
as public teachers to stake the value of life upon a hope
which to many is vague, upon an argument which to
many is altogether inconclusive. No, I take it we must
find something right here, now, that shall give to life
its worth, independently of what may come after.
And, indeed, perhaps the very best argument for immor¬
tality is that which Emerson used when he said that we
must find something in this life so good that we can
but believe that it will be followed by something still
better.
Now, what is that good thing that makes life worth
living? It cannot be pleasure, although pleasure is a
good, because there is so much pain, and unadulterated
enjoyment is so rare, that if we were to make pleasure
the object, then life in many cases would not be worth liv¬
ing. Even the author of that magnificent composition, the
TAKE THE PLACE OF A CHURCH? 53
Ninetieth Psalm, has said: "The days of our years are
threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength
they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and
sorrow ; for it is soon cut off and we fly away." And
this is the burden of modern pessimism. The pessimist
is a person who regards pleasure as the only good, and
who puts on one side the pains of life and on the other
the pleasures, and finds that the scale of pain outweighs
the scale of joy. You may say that if people were wise
this would not need to be, but the fact that they are un¬
wise seems itself to argue radical defect in the nature of
things. At all events the pains do predomniate, and
therefore the pessimist concludes that the world is bad
and life is worthless.
But suppose there were some good other than
pleasure and that that good were attainable by every¬
body, at all times, under all circumstances ! I think
there is a good that answers to this description,
and that good is, in my estimation, effort; effort itself,
strenuous effort, together with the moral growth which
is its consequence. We cannot call effort a pleasure
because it is often accompanied by pain, and the
satisfaction which is implicated in it is so different from
ordinary pleasure that the two cannot be mentioned
in the same breath. But we all realize that it is a
good and that there is no circumstance or condition
in life in which it is not within our reach. Take
the most protracted physical or mental anguish, due
to a creeping mortal malady, or to affliction, or to
a disappointment of the affections ; the pain is great,
the pleasure gone, but the effort is possible, the effort
to bear the pain. The power of pain-bearing is one of
54 HOW FAR DOES THE ETHICAL SOCIETY
the sublimest faculties of men, one of the most authentic
testimonies to the existence in us of what is called
a soul—that is to say, of something not bodily, which
in its integrity is not menaced by the bodily affections,
which says to pain, " I master thee ; thou shalt not mas¬
ter me !"
And so again in the case of those appetites or pas¬
sions that are such thorns in the flesh : effort is not only
possible but is elicited by them. Such pains are the ex¬
quisite jeers of the demons that rouse the slumbering
angels in us to do battle. And every form of adversity
is a provocative of effort, and with the effort we grow.
That is what we are here for, to grow in spiritual power.
That is what makes life worth living, the effort and the
growth which is its consequence. I say to the pessimist,
" If life is so evil as you make it out to be, then why do
you not make an effort to change it, that there may be;
less evil hereafter and less suffering ? Is not that some¬
thing to live for?" He replies, "Well, but how shall
I know that anything that I may do will avail?" The
best intentions are often foiled. The wisest schemes
of benefit often turn into their opposite." He is quite
right, but we can make the effort and the effort will
react upon ourselves. The trying will help our moral
development, will be a benefit to us, no matter whether
it will benefit the world outside of us or not; and the
human race will progress, so far as we are concerned;
the human race will advance in us. And that is the
best contribution, after all, that we can make to the
world's progress—to see to it, not in the bitter language
of Carlyle, that at least there shall be one rascal less in
the world—no, but to see to it that there shall at least
TAKE THE PLACE OF A CHURCH ?
55
be one more who honestly tries to lead a clean, straight,
true life.
In modern psychology a good deal is said about dual
personality. I have often thought that there is such a
double personality in every one of us. What I mean is
this, that the root I, the essential I, my very self, is
something distinct from that creature which is called by
my name, from that creature with which I am to a cer¬
tain extent identified and for which I am responsible.
And this I, this superimposed I, this lorldly over-ego,
looks down upon this creature, and recognizes all his
weaknesses, all his foibles, all the hereditary disposi¬
tions to evil that are in him, but recognizes also certain
better qualities. And the I feels that it has to work
over this being, to shape him anew and to re-make him,
as any sculptor would with a crude block of stone, to
try to win beauty out of his ugliness, harmony out of
his discord. And if the being is weak, why then the
lord, the over-lord, must give him strength ; and if
cowardly, he must give him courage, and if he has the
taint of carnal appetite in him, must work out that
taint and if he has the shuffling gait and downward
look of the self-seeker, must put an erect head on his
shoulders and give him the air and manners of a free
man.
I think it is this that makes life worth living, this task
with which we are charged, this responsibility. The
Ethical Society is designed to assist us in the perform¬
ance of our task. We feel that it is an institution as
sacred as any church, though its sanctity is not derived
from any forms or ritual. We come here in this almost
bare hall, with just this brief song before and at the
56 THE ETHICAL SOCIETY AND THE CHURCH
close of the address. It is all as simple as can be, and
yet I think that sometimes at least it is a sacred
hour—the hour in which we meet here ; that some¬
times at least it is a time in which noble purposes are
planted in our hearts and pure and holy resolutions
are taken.
THE BULLETIN.
New York Ethical Society.
Although the Board of Relief Works of the New York Society
for Ethical Culture has the care of supporting and managing the
philanthropic work which has been formally adopted by the So¬
ciety, there is a great deal of educational and charitable work
being done which is not under the direction of the Relief Works.
Two branches have been added very recently—the Hudson
Guild and the Children's Guild. The work of the Hudson
Guild grew out of a Boys' Club that was begun by some young
men of the Society under the direction of Dr. Elliott. From a
single club of about forty members, renting a few rooms in the
spring of 1895, the Guild has slowly grown until it now has a
long lease of a house, which is being fitted up for club and class
work. There are now four clubs for boys between the ages of
eight and twenty-five, and a kindergarten for the little children
of the neighborhood. The boys of the Society for Ethical
Culture and members of the Girls' Ethical Class have undertaken
the founding of a library. Although the members of these
classes are all under twenty, they have already shown how
much service can be rendered by boys and girls still in school,
by gathering unused books from innumerable small libraries and
bringing them together and putting them into the hands of those
who will use them. A considerable sum has also been raised by
these energetic young people for new books and magazines.
Many of the older young men and women have taken charge
of clubs and classes at the Guild House, teaching the boys and
young men such things as will interest and instruct them and
indirectly help their manners and morals. While these teachers
are specialists in the branches they teach, they are all volun¬
teers. There are no paid workers connected with the Guild.
So while the work is effectual, it is very inexpensive. Such a
social settlement can in a comparatively short time be made
self-supporting, the only requisites for its success being energy
and thought. Of course there are commodities not easily pro¬
curable, but if our Society stands for anything it stands for the
ii
THE BULLETIN.
arousing of energy and the directing of thought. It would be
hard to find a better means of rendering social service by those
who cannot give their whole time to such work than by forming
societies where the rich and the poor, the learned and the
unlearned come together for the purpose of mutual benefit. The
Children's Guild does the same work for little girls of the poor
that the Hudson Guild does for the boys and young men. Its
workings will be described in a future number.
The Chicago Ethical Society.
Mr. Salter's opening lecture for March was entitled "A Gospel
for an Age of Doubt," and must have proved helpful to those
who have passed from the old faiths and still feel something less
than comfortable assurance in the new ; to those who have not
clearly defined to themselves what they do feel sure of; and to
those who like another's phrasing of their own ideas. The chief
points in this Gospel were : We live in a world of order and law
in natural things ; in a world of progress or evolution ; and it
is our duty to carry forward this progress as far as we can. The
Publication Committee had this lecture printed and placed on the
tables at the Hall the following Sunday.
"William Morris : An Artist's View of Life," was the subject
of the second lecture of this month.
The West Side Ethical House recently provided a social even¬
ing for the members from all sides of our large city; but great
distances make it difficult for many to reach any but a centrally-
located meeting-place.
Miss Jane Addams and the Radical Club gave a reception for
Mr. and Mrs. Salter at Hull House on the 22d—a pleasant
expression of welcome and good will.
Your correspondent has been absent from the city giving a few
informal talks upon ethical subjects before some School societies
in Milwaukee, and enjoyed a visit to the Ethical Society House
of that city and the Sunday morning lecture given by Mr. Carleton
Brown, of St. Cloud, Minn. Such a building gives great facil¬
ities for work, and it is to be hoped a permanent lecturer may
soon be found for the Milwaukee Ethical Society, the members
still feeling a good deal of enthusiasm.
THE BULLETIN.
iii
On February 24th All Souls Congregation (Unitarian) tendered
a reception to Mr. and Mrs. Salter and Mr. and Mrs. Vrooman,
which turned out to be also a "Good speed" to their pastor,
Jenkin Lloyd Jones, who had been presented with a seven-weeks'
trip to Italy by one of his parishioners. Mr. Vrooman is the
newly-appointed associate of Dr. Hiram W. Thomas. The even¬
ing was cordial, pleasant and inclusive. The chief guests and
others spoke briefly and informally, showing the fraternal feeling
between the liberal societies of Chicago. This is being still
further shown by the formation of " The Union of Liberal Sunday
Schools," which includes Unitarian, Universalist, Independent
and Ethical Schools. It is proposed to have monthly meetings,
with brief papers upon the topics or problems of common inter¬
est, followed by a live discussion that, it is hoped, will prove
helpful. The next two papers will be by a member of All Souls
School and a member of our Society, a worker in our Ethical
School.
The three Ethical Schools are demonstrating the wisdom of
local schools, instead of one central school, with all its disadvan¬
tages of distance and down-town dangers for the children. It is
hoped there may be monthly meetings of the teachers from the
three schools with Mr. Salter for discussion and suggestion that
will promote the work. The schools are interesting and show
vigor.
West London Ethical Society.
This Society, of which Mr. Leslie Stephen is president, and
Dr. Stanton Coit the regular lecturer, has had a considerable
increase in membership and attendance since it began to hold its
Sunday morning meetings at Kensington Town Hall. Dr. Coit
has recently started an afternoon class for adults for the study of
Immanuel Kant's Ethical Philosophy. There is also an ethical
class for children on Sunday mornings at the same hour as the
lecture, so that members and friends who attend the lectures can
bring their children with them.
The Society holds a regular quarterly social meeting, at which
subjects of special interest to the Society are discussed. The
subject for discussion at the March meeting is, "Whether It Is
iv
THE BULLETIN.
Within the Province of an Ethical Society to take any Definite
Position in Relation to (i) the Groundwork of Politics or (2) any
Social or Economic Question."
During February, March and April Dr. Coit is giving a course
of eight lectures on "Some Modern Prophets." The special
subjects are "Voltaire," "Shelley," "Carlyle," "John Stuart
Mill," "Emerson," "George Eliot," " Matthew Arnold," and
" Robert Browning."
Music at each meeting is furnished by a string quartette.
South London Ethical Society.
This Society holds regular Sunday evening meetings;.?! Surrey
Masonic Hall, Camberwell, and Dr. Coit lectures frequently.
The Sunday-School meets in the morning at 11.15.
East London Ethical Society.
This society, now in its eighth year, has lectures every Sunday
evening. In addition to this, Dr. Coit is giving a course of six
lectures on the Labor Movement on six consecutive Monday
evenings, beginning March 8th. The Ethical Sunday-School
meets in the afternoon at 3 o'clock. The Society has a Library,
which loaned out 830 books last year. There is also on active
Neighborhood Guild connected with the Society. Among the
features of this work may be mentioned a monthly free concert
and occasional excursions for the children to the country and to
the public museums and galleries.
The Cause,
(Monthly, save June to September) edited and published by
William M. Salter, 1018 Warren avenue, Chicago, 111., aims
within its modest limits to communicate ethical ideas and im¬
pulses as widely as possible in the community in which it is pub¬
lished. It is a missionary publication and is given away freely
at the meetings of the Chicago Ethical Society. It looks for its
support from those who believe in what it stands for. Contribu¬
tions above a regular subscription will be acknowledged in its
columns. Subscriptions (50 cents) insure its delivery by mail.
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