nd radiance; to spirit states a nearness, and to soul a
reality. Nor do these experiences rob one of one's individuality; the
petty _personality_ to which mortals cling is, happily, forgotten or
cast aside, but the _individuality_ cannot be lost, merged in another,
or governed, except for its good. When the _personal_ is cast aside,
one is grateful for the impersonality of the _individual_.

Trailing clouds of glory accompany me across and into the barriers of
time and sense, and when the sharp contrast is over--which the guide
ever prevents from being too sudden--I realize the great sweetness of
the gardens of paradise by the fragrance that is filling the earthly
dwelling, and I know that being aware of the visitations of angels,
and of somewhat of the light which is theirs, does not hinder, but
helps human endeavor and accomplishment.

THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CIVICS.

BY HENRY RANDALL WAITE, PH. D.

The standard represented by popular institutions will seldom be
higher, and as time goes on may become lower, than that set for
themselves by the majority of the people who established and are
intrusted with the duty of maintaining them. They may represent noble
aims and point to high ideals, but the extent of their duration and
salutary influence must always be dependent upon a sufficient
manifestation of the spirit which called them into being.

Institutions and laws, however perfect in other respects, cannot,
therefore, safely omit from their functions provisions for the
fostering and developing of the spirit which gave them birth. This
spirit, it is to be remembered, may, and too often does, without
extinguishment, actually become a thing so much apart from the
machinery which it has established, as to have little appreciable
influence in controlling its operation.

The institutions and laws of the United States, in their inception,
represented the spirit of a people who were actuated by the highest
concepts of human duty, and who sought to establish a political system
which should realize the highest ideals. The possibilities of the
system have been demonstrated by the experience of more than a hundred
years. Functionally considered this experience has made painfully
evident the failures which have attended the system in its operation.
It is evident to every intelligent student of American history that
these failures have been chiefly due to the fact that the spirit which
gave life to the American Rep