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May 12, 1909. THE PRESBYTERIAN As to spiritualism itself, we suppose there is no doctrine or scheme that is covered by such a cloud of fraud and deception. Its leading and most successful I promoters and exhibitors in this country and abroad have been thoroughly exposed as frauds, and have |,?U? ...... 11 ? 1 A. r . ? .^v.i ?.<-mii|jcucu 10 coniess tnat tney were humbugs and fakirs of the basest kind. An unanswerable objection is in the fact that in no case has any communication been received that has been of any value to mankind. Nothing has been learned whatever of the life beyond. The so-called communications have been sometimes false, usually empty and absurd, and always of a kind within the intelligence of the professed medium. It makes death but the more to be dreaded if there is l iic pro Da di my tnat in another world one will become so absurdly weak, so pitifully occupied with the smallest things that concern us here, liable to foolish blunders and falsehoods. The possibility of communication with spirits disembodied may not be denied. Rut undoubtedly the tenor of the Scripture is a warning against our seeking such communication. And the history of spiritualism through the ages, and especially in modern *?i? --- 1 - - - nines, iiraciics us 10 snun any contact with it. It has betrayed many into unbelief and the rejection of the supernatural altogether. It has probably led more into mental disorder and carried them to the asylum. It should be enough for us to bide God's time, to be satisfied with his word, and to wait patiently for the great day of revelation in the world where nothing is ^ false and "we shall know even as we are known." THE SOLUTION OF MORAL PROBLEMS. The prevalence of immorality, or perhaps the public.ty given to multiform unrighteousness, has occasioned very general and urgent inquiry as to the source of public disorder and the remedies to be applied. The answer that we usually find in literary magazines, in daily papers and in many religious periodicals, is "education,"?the teaching of practical ethics in the public scnoois, in charitable and reformatory institutions, as well as in the homes of our lan^l. This summer, lecturers at conventions and institutes all over the land will ring the changes on teaching truthfulness, honesty, industry, temperance, and the whole list of moral precepts to the young, as the adequate remedy for political, economic and social corruption. It is the old fallacy of applying lotions and plasters to cure organic disease. Assuredly qtoral precepts are J' ? ? lnuispensaDie. i nere must be a clear understanding of the dangers and penalties of wrong-doing. The beauty of right conduct is to be exhibited and the value of a . strong, pure character to be impressed. ' But, after all, this preceptive training is only preliminary and almost incidental. Society will never be transformed by books and lectures on right conduct. Societies for ethical culture might be multiplied indefinitely. and our prisons and safety vaults and police o*:ii i 1 * ,rs' uuiiiu .-mi uc uccasa. i ne worst criminal understands the revolting monstrosity of his crime quite as well as the most upright citizen. The drunkard knows the shame and tyranny of strong drink. The murderer trrt'S 'vjf.TT P OF THE SOUTH. 5 knows the fiendish passion that masters him, as noother man can know it. Corporation extortioners are experts on the criminality of their profession. Grafters in public office are not the innocent victims of circum stance nor are they blind to the moral deformity of their crimes. The unchaste in high social life, as well as in the slums, are fully aware that their characters are reeking in moral filth. They have been taught these elementary truths in childhood, and have been drilled in them by daily contact with the world. They have moral intuitions that have never failed to pronounce a just judgment against their crimes, and conscience, however outraged, is yet a faithful sentinel. There are those whose consciences are seared. There are those wno, not liking to retain the knowledge of God, are given over to believe a lie, but these are scarcely appreciable in the great mass of lawbreakers and corruptionists. The world at large is not expected to appreciate, much less to apply, the radical and effective remedy for evil. Moreover it is outside of the province of the State. It is, however, high time that educators should 1. ? i : xt-_. ? uc teaming mat saives and plasters will not drive poison from the blood. "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of (lod." The stupendous task before the Church is to inculcate reverence for God's authority, a sincere belief of his Word, an acceotance of Christ k tVio sin, the constraining power of his love and sanctifying agency of his Spirit' and the assured hope of immortality through his redeeming blood and abounding grace. The souls of the multitudes niust be brought under the power of Omnipotence, their lives illumined with a more than earthly light, and their hearts purified by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. SPIRITUAL CULTURE IN COLLEGE. t )ne of the most significant events of recent times in the realm of education was the convention of the Religious Education Association held in Chicago. In its personnel it was broad church as might he expected, including Jew and Gentile, Unitarian and Trinitarian with many intermediate types. But herein we find a chief value of the convention, for with one voice these men sounded warnings against the present danger of a purely secularized education and declared in favor of moral and spiritual culture as of primary importance in all grades of institutions of learning. They believed that character should be* put first in educational processes and protested that the spiritual element must not be ignored in university education. It was agreed that not only the welfare of the church but the perma f A : : ? ? ' ? * * yi /liiikiadii iiistiimiunb is uepenaent on religious education. The figures show that to every ordained American missionary there was an average of forty-one members added to the Church abroad last year. The increase in membership in the foreign mission fields was twelve per cent against one and one-half per cent at home.