bear, he never reached the Promised Land,' he yet 'had fervid visions of it'; although he never set foot on the topmost rung of the scala perfectionis, when, as the mystics affirm, the soul is 'oned' with God, he did indeed set his seal in no uncertain manner to the mystical doctrine that, if only it be properly directed, 'the madness of love is the greatest of heaven's blessings.'1 Where better than in the burning words of this Song which so vividly recalls the songs of St. John of the Cross?

'Lord, when the sense of thy sweet grace
Sends up my soul to seek thy face,
Thy blessed eyes breed such desire,
I dy in love's delicious Fire.
O love, I am thy Sacrifice.
Be still triumphant, blessed eyes.
Still shine on me, fair suns! that I
Still may behold, though still I dy.

'Though still I dy, I live again;
Still longing so to be still slain;
So gainfull in such losse of breath,
I dy even in desire of death.

Still live in me this loving strife
Of living Death & dying Life.
For while thou sweetly slayest me
Dead to my selfe, I live in Thee.'

FRANCIS E. BARKER.

1 Plato, Phaedrus, transl. Jowett, I, p. 440.

F

VOL. XCVI.-NO. CXCI.

ART. IV. THE CHURCH IN AMERICA.

The Church in America. By WILLIAM ADAMS BROWN, Chairman of the Committee on the War and the Religious Outlook; Secretary of the General WarTime Commission of the Church. (London and New York: Macmillan. 1922.)

THERE is no present-day religious question of more interest than the relation of Christianity to American Democracy. As we approach New York, the port by which millions of emigrants have found their way to the American Continent, we see the famous statue of Liberty flashing out its message that all citizens are free to think, speak, and act as they like within the constitutional limits of the Republic. There, in a country still capable of infinite expansion, the newcomer finds himself welcome. The population is immense, over a hundred and five millions, but except in some of the great cities the stranger will find ample room for development of mind and body. There are free opportunities for everyone in the way of life-excellent schools, well-equipped universities, magnificent libraries, and a general understanding that a man counts for what he is worth. The old-world fetters are reserved for the museums, where they may be inspected with curiosity. Here is a country where the race is for the swift and strong, and where all are taught to run and overcome. Democracy has justified herself—and in the sphere of materialism she has achieved great things.

But the question arises: 'Is this all?' Is there nothing but an intelligent materialism, nothing beyond the resources of civilization? No one can say that. For out of the midst of this universal craze for the almighty dollar so unhappily prominent, out of this youthful boast of doing

things as they were never done before, of railway stations larger, houses higher, public libraries more sumptuous, municipal and political buildings more splendid, underground and overhead facilities more rapid and effective than anywhere else in the wide world, there emerges again and again, not rarely but frequently, not in select magazines but in a Press greatly inferior to any with which we are acquainted, a strain of Idealism which always finds a responsive echo in the breast of the people. The idea of the League of Nations, which first found an effective expression in America, was no doubt widely popular, till it got caught in the political whirlpool, and distrust was quickly sown by those who had been overridden by its originator. So too 'Disarmament' was warmly backed at Washington by the American Press, and as in the main it was kept free from intrigue it went through.

Now these and such-like ideals, whence spring they? There is but one source, the Christian consciousness-that alone inspires them. The question then as to how that is awakened and maintained is of vast importance. And that is the purpose of this article.

On leaving Europe, a man, if he is a Christian, wonders what helps he will find to encourage those religious truths which in the land from which he comes are in evidence at every turn of the road. Every town had its commemoration, every Church its saint, and every stage of life was illuminated with divine messages; but the country to which he comes, though rich in wealth is poor in history, though strong in material resources is weak in spiritual records; her heroes have been political leaders rather than ecclesiastical saints. Where is the Church he knew and loved so well, and what influence is it having on the fashioning of Democracy? It is not easy to answer. If he is a Roman Catholic he will find a well-organized and intelligent body fifteen millions strong with a new and surprising energy which will tax his purse and seek to enlist his active support. If he is an Anglican he will be disappointed to find that his Church, though probably more influential amongst thoughtful people than any other, yet only numbers a

fraction of the people, and in many places needs to be sought out in order to be found. If a Nonconformist, he finds some two hundred sects ready to welcome him and claim him as a brother. There is no question as he walks through an American town that Christianity is in evidence. Spires and towers on good sites shew this, and the bells, though not so often rung as on the Continent, confirm it. And he would be mistaken if, judging from the universal desire to make money and the low tone of the Press, he was to come to the hasty conclusion that his new American neighbour was irreligious. Dr. Brown's judgement from a large experience and wide survey quite contradicts that impression.

'The young American believes in God, in a life after death, and has some connexion, at least nominal, with the Christian Church. . . . He does not wish to acknowledge that no Church claims him. In Camp Denver in Massachusetts, during wartime, a religious census was taken of the soldiers. There were over 25,000 men in camp, but only 586 failed to express some Church preference. This does not mean that they are Christians in thought. Not only does the difference between the different Churches play but a small role, but even the differences between Christianity and other religions. God was a power controlling destiny to whom one prayed, but His character was ill-defined, and He could almost as easily be identified with the fatalistic God of Mahomet as with the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Prayer was instinctive and chiefly for personal and private matters. Christ was a vague and ideal Figure, not the personal Saviour of traditional religion. The sense of personal sin was conspicuous by its absence, and on the whole Christianity was regarded as a self-centred and a negative religion having to do primarily with one's own personal welfare here and hereafter.'

And yet with all this vagueness in religious thinking, there is widespread agreement that the men are responsive to worship. We are told

'They liked to attend services-and even of the Holy Communion it was true to say that it was widely observed and apparently much appreciated. And happily in spite of the

after-war reaction the habit of Church attendance has not slackened. Indeed, taking the country at large,' writes Dr. Brown, 'it is doubtful if there has ever been a time in our history when more people were in the habit of attending Church every Sunday.'

This is the more surprising as there are very disturbing factors everywhere present. The absence of religious education in the schools, the breaking up of family life, the shifting of population from country to city, the increase of women's work, particularly in factories, and the consequent neglect of the children, the growing love of excitement, the increasing pace at which life is lived, make a permanent religious life more and more difficult, and the wonder is that the numerous Churches find anything but a scanty attendance.

But it is time to inquire what lies behind this widespread religious consciousness, what organizations form it, what are the elements that make up American Christianity, how have they been affected by Democracy and in what directions are they shaping it. It is this that The Church in America, a study of the Present Conditions and Future Prospects of American Protestantism, seeks to answer. Though, as is seen by the explanatory sub-heading, the author's survey leaves out altogether the great Roman Church which numbers as many as the three most powerful denominations put together, it is a formidable task, for American Protestantism includes over two hundred religious bodies and it is not easy to put in a definite way for what they all stand or to mark out the path along which they are moving together.

It will be convenient in order to avoid confusion in the study of so large a subject if we consider

(1) What the Mission of the Church in America is conceived to be.

(2) How it is affected by the modern life of the Democracy in which it moves.

(3) What steps she is taking to realize it.

(4) What success she has met with.