these movements are an indication of the spirit of the time.  As one of the leaders has said, their aim is not so much to remove the fences which divide the denominations, as to lower them sufficiently to enable those who are within them to shake hands over them.  In no previous century since the disintegrating tendency began to manifest itself, has this spirit of brotherly recognition of essential unity been so general, or has taken a shape so hopeful of practical beneficence.

ORGANIZED ACTIVITIES.

Effective influence to the same end has been set in motion, incidentally, by an organization which was originated for a different purpose.  This is the Christian Endeavor Society, which is one of the latest of the important religious movements of the century.  It was primarily designed to promote spiritual development among young people.  It had its birth in 1881 in a Congregational Church at Portland, Me.  Dr. Francis E. Clark, the pastor of the church, had a number of young people around him who had recently made public profession of faith in Christ and pledged themselves to His service.  Precisely what that implied, may not have been definitely understood by any of them.  As every pastor is aware, the period immediately following such a profession is a critical time in the life of every young convert.  In the college or the office, or the store, the youth comes in contact with people who have made no profession of the kind, and he is apt to ask himself, and to be asked, in what way he differs from them.  The early enthusiasm of his new relation to the Church is liable to decline, and he may become doubtful whether any radical change has taken place in him.  He does not realize that he is at the beginning of a period of growth, a gradual process, which is to be lifelong.  Taking his conception of personal religion from the sermons he has heard and the appeals that have been made to him, he has a tendency to regard conversion as an experience complete and final, an occult mysterious transformation, effected in a moment and concluded.  Disappointment is inevitable, and when non-Christian influences are Strong, there is a probability of his drifting into indifference.  Dr. Clark was aware of this fact, as other pastors were, by sad experience, and he sought means to remedy it.  Some plan was needed which would help the young convert and teach him how to apply his religion to his daily life, to make it an active influence, instead of a past experience.  The plan Dr. Clark adopted was of an association of young people in his Church, who should meet weekly for prayer and mutual encouragement and helpfulness, with so much of an aggressive quality as to exert an influence over young people outside its membership.  The plan succeeded.  The religious force in the soul, so liable to become latent, became active, and the young converts made rapid progress.  Dr. Clark explained his experiment