rried out this theory, you must guard yourselves here. The Troy
Association has drawn the eyes of the church throughout a large part of
the country upon itself by its course in this matter. It is thought by
many a bold experiment. By many it is openly denounced. Many predict that
the result will be the ruin instead of the salvation of young men. If you
would silence and convert your opponents, if you would convert the
wavering into enthusiastic supporters of your policy, guard well the
religious side of your work. Infuse the gospel spirit into everything.
Strictly enforce the rules which Christian prudence lays down for the use
of means and attractions not distinctively religious. Let the word
_Christian_ be in the largest letters on your sign. Remember your great
object, the duty thrown upon you by the nature of the case, thrown upon
you by similarity of age, by congeniality of taste and pursuits, thrown
upon you by the church, thrown upon you by Christ; the church's head, is
the _salvation_, not the entertainment of the young men. You use these
appliances to entertain, only that thereby you may bring other forces to
bear, which may make them Christians, add their power to the various
churches of the community, and unite them with you in the work of saving
others. The moment you forget this, Ichabod will be written upon your
banners, and the cause of Christ receive a blow which all the good you
have heretofore accomplished can scarcely heal.

The practical working of this theory is the best answer to its opponents.
We have this answer among us to-day, and I am thankful from my inmost
heart that the Young Men's Christian Association is to-day, what it was
not two years ago, among the great religious forces of our city. Those who
have opposed its later proceedings have some stubborn facts to get round.
These facts demonstrate this: that since the Young Men's Christian
Association inaugurated the policy of _attracting_ youth to its
head-quarters, its _distinctively religious force has increased ten-fold_.
As one evidence of this, the city missionary says, "since we entered upon
our present plan, a larger number of young men than ever before have been
brought to sympathize with me and my work, are ready to sit up with the
sick, to visit the needy, to labor for the spiritual good of their
fellows. Our rooms have resulted in increasing the effective force of
spiritual co-laborers with me, more than _ten-fold_." Last month, the