bers of Protestant churches, now estimated at only thirty-five per cent of all, sensibly increased. It permits no theological discussions, and accepts no responsibility for the dogmatic beliefs of its members.
(i) The Christian Endeavor Society was practically the first of a new type of religious organization for both sexes. It owes alle- giance only and altogether to the church with which it is connected and to which it reports, and all its acts are subject to revision and veto by 1 Strategic Points in the World's Conquest, by J. R. Mott. New York, 1897, SOCIAL INSTINCTS AND INSTITUTIONS 423 the church of which it is a part. Its fellowship with sister organiza- tions throughout the world is based on a common pledge, methods, organization name, and State, national and international conven- tions. Its junior branch of boys and girls under fourteen reports to it. It has information, Sunday-school, calling, prayer-meeting, music, missionary, flower, temperance, relief, good literature, and sometimes other committees, each of which is expected to magnify its office into more or less of a specialty, both for its own benefit and that of the society and the local church. Active members must believe themselves Christians, associate members must be of worthy character, and affiliated or honorary members need be " no longer young." There are badges, charms, banners, a copious literature of books, and especially leaflets and periodicals, songs, diplomas, programs for rallies and other special meetings, masses of sugges- tions, " credit systems," " next steps," methods, temperance pledges, etc. The devotion and organizing ability of the founder are undoubted.
The preparatory members, whose parents are not ready to approve the full pledge, sign the. following: " I promise to be present at every meeting when I can, and to be quiet and reverent during the meet- ing." The model constitution says " they will be expected to attend meetings regularly." x Thus the first duty of these young chil- dren, mostly from seven or eight to twelve, is meeting-going when- ever they " can " — a word of as many meanings as there are tempera- ments and moods. The temptations to juvenile casuistry here opened as to what they can and can not do are already enough studied to show that at least in some cases a tender conscience often becomes either flabby or callous under this precocious strain.
Each 'Junior member signs a pledge "that I will pray and read the Bible every day," and " I will be present at every meeting of the society when I can and will take some part in every meeting," as well as that he will try to lead a Christian life and do what Jesus would like. The response to every monthly roll-call is considered a renewal of the pledge. Against this last Gesinnungs promise to try added for this grade I have nothing here to say. It probably does good and is a vow of a very different order. Some soon doubt whether Jesus wishes them to take part in every meeting, because it is too hard or because others can edify so much more, and fear thus that in keeping one part of the covenant they violate another. They find themselves reading Scripture and praying daily because they prom- ised, and so are sometimes constrained to do both when it must be under such adverse conditions as to be mechanical, or they do it be- cause they fear the awful sacrilege of a broken vow to God. They might do both on Sundays with due solemnity of spirit and under- standing, and they often wish this had been the extent of their cove- nant. It is not quite clear to me that the average normal child of 1 The Christian Endeavor Manual, 1903, and Training the Church of the Future, 1902, both by Francis E. Clark, D. D.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE these tender years ought to be constrained to pray or read the Bible daily alone, still less to do the former in public, or that he can do so without rubbing some of the bloom off these solemn exercises at the time when they acquire a great access of inner meaning, for reasons stated in Chapter XIV; nor am I sure of the propriety of his attend- ing and taking part in every meeting under pain of expulsion for three consecutive and unexcused absences from monthly meetings, or of the nature of the work of the committee to obtain excuses and reclaim those grown indifferent to their pledge. Some can be true Christian " endeavorers " without participating in or even attending meetings, and this recruiting feature is made too central. This kind of pledge to a specific ecclesiastical function is indeed a new thing in religious history. Children are impressionable and easily guided by adult or clerical advice to mortgage their lives in the interests of the Church, and the evils of an analogous pledge to attend school and to recite or to study at home daily would be apparent.
To do such things because they have been vowed is to act from a relatively low motive. The phobia of breaking a pledge is often intense, as we saw in Chapter IV. This obscures higher motives and robs these acts of the spontaneity that is half their charm and all their virtue. The rewards of conscience for doing them are those of simple honesty, which is very different from the exaltation of soul by .true worship. One meeting, prayer, testimony, or one Bible-reading a year, out of a full heart, expresses and fosters more true piety than a daily but constrained service. For parent or religious teacher to ask it on this motive is also a lazy shirking of their higher duty to develop these exercises on the basis of love and spontaneity. Would an iron-clad oath upon honor in a French class in a boarding-school to speak French only, at breakfast, and in English to read a little Shakespeare daily, or to attend every exercise when they can on pain of expulsion, promote a love of these things, and would teachers thereby tend to more or less impulsion to make their work interesting and attractive for its own merits? As I have observed the working of this part of the Junior pledge, it seems sometimes a cheap and easy and almost cowardly trick to ease the conscience of parent or religious teacher by devolving on the child what they should do themselves by higher but harder motives; and the smug complacency of adults at having secured and counted these pledges as if they had thereby discharged in any sense their duty seems a pious delusion that veils a partial abdication of the highest function of parenthood. For the young child it is giving his religious life and nurture precociously over into his own keeping at the very age when he most of all needs constant adult aid and is least able to assume responsibility for the keeping of his own soul.
The vow of the full active member, called the backbone of the society, repeated in concert and each phrase made the basis of exegesis and exhortation, is still more formidable, and is as follows [italics mine]: SOCIAL INSTINCTS AND INSTITUTIONS 425 "Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength, I promise Him that I will strive to do whatever He would like to have me do; that I will make it the rule of my life to pray and to read the Bible every day, and to support my own church in every way, especially by attending her regular Sunday and mid-week services, unless prevented by some reason which I can conscientiously give to my Saviour; and that, just so far as I know how, throughout my whole life, I will endeavor to lead a Christian life."
"As an active member, I promise to be true to all my duties, to be present at, and to take some part, aside from singing, in every Christian Endeavor prayer- meeting, unless hindered by some reason which I can conscientiously give to my Lord and Master. If obliged to be absent from the monthly consecration meeting of the society, I will, if possible, send at least a verse of Scripture to be read in response to my name at the roll-call."
The associate members' pledge is as follows: " I promise to attend the prayer-meetings of the society habitually, and declare my willingness to do what I may be called upon to do as an associate member to advance the interest of the society."
Preparatory and associate members vow only meeting and society duties, and here, too, these are, relatively to Christian living, far too prominent. An oath to support one's own church in every way may involve unchristian conduct in many an emergency; to do all duties is absolutely impossible, as any knowledge of ethics would show, and to vow to do what is asked by another member is a gross violation of the high prerogative of personal liberty. Any real religious or moral maturity requires that great personal problems like these be not prematurely closed. The religious oath-craze may go further, and those who desire may become " Comrades of the quiet hour " by vowing as a rule of life " to set apart at least fifteen minutes every day, if possible in the early morning, for quiet meditation and direct communion with God." The vow of the Tenth Legion is the " practise " " to give God the tithe." The Home Circle pledge is to endeavor " to maintain family worship in the home, and to strive to make it, through kindness, courtesy, and mutual helpfulness, a house- hold of God."
Add all these oaths, which with their implications cover the entire field of life, and we have almost a non posse peccare without incurring the awful curse of perjury. The judicial oath to tell the whole and only truth in a specific case, supported by ordeals and compurgating wraithsmen, contracts to pay or do definite things; pledges of general loyalty, fidelity, allegiance, and of good endeavor, all have their place, as do temperance and white cross pledges, perhaps as individual remedial instrumentalities. Society and business rest upon trust and confidence and the fulfilment of promised obligations. The Jewish dispensation was a contract with Jehovah.1 The oath instinct that 1 Das Eid im Alten Testament, von Julius Happel, p. 92. 66 420 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE violates the precept " swear not at all " is very strong in youth,1 and its moral leverage is great and needs more study to utilize aright, but the endeavorer's method, even if more good than harm is done on the whole, is clearly and certainly unfavorable to those capable of higher moral and religious development.
(/) The Epworth League originated in 1872 in an effort toward a uniform organization of the young people of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and received its formal endorsement of the General Con- ference which made it a part of the Church work in 1892. Its ob- ject is " to promote intelligent and loyal piety in young members and friends of the Church, to aid them in the attainment of purity of heart and in constant growth in grace, and to train them in works of mercy and help." There are prescribed reading courses with diplo- mas therefor with seals affixed, suggestive plans for meetings, etc. The league is offensive and defensive, and exists to increase love to every Christian Church, and to make its own a power in the land. Although in relations of cordial sympathy with the Christian En- deavor Society, which it resembles in spirit and methods, it has its own badges, pledges, literature, methods, etc. The Epworth Guards is an auxiliary organization to develop Christian manliness in young men and boys who are members and adherents of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and is organized in companies, regiments, battalions, etc. The Junior pledge is as follows: *' I do hereby promise, with the help of God, to try always to do right; to pray every day; to read every day in the Word of God; to abstain from profane lan- guage, from the use of tobacco, and from all intoxicating liquor; to attend the morning church service and the regular meeting of the Junior Epworth League."
The regular pledge is: " I will earnestly seek for myself and will do what I can to help others attain the highest New Testament standard of experience and life. I will abstain from all those forms of worldly amusement forbidden by the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church. I will attend, so far as possible, the religious meetings of the chapter and the church, and take some active part in them."
Every member of the Guards must, in the presence of an officer, both repeat and sign the following obligation: " I do, upon honor, solemnly promise and pledge that, while a member of the Epworth Guards, I will not use tobacco, profane or obscene language, or intoxi- cating liquors as a beverage; that I will keep myself pure, will be loyal to my country, will obey faithfully the laws and rules of the Epworth Guard, and all of the officers over me; and that I will, at all times, endeavor to be an example of good conduct, and strive to develop Christian manliness in myself and others."
Here, too, besides the pledge of effort to lead a moral and relig- ious life, there are still more specific pledges, even that to abstain 1 M. H. Small: Methods of Manifesting the Instinct for Certainty. Fed. Sem.t SOCIAL INSTINCTS AND INSTITUTIONS 4*7 from forms of amusement which the Church disapproves and obe- dience to the rules of the order, so that on the whole this pledge is perhaps most objectionable of all.
(&) The Brotherhood of St. Andrew is an Episcopal organiza- tion and originated in Chicago in 1883 on St. Andrew's Day. In 1897 there were 1,223 chapters with 13,000 members pledged to pray and work together. The national brotherhood is simply a federation of parochial societies, and holds an annual meeting. Every member must pledge to obey only two rules so long as he shall belong to the society. The first is, " to pray daily for the spread of Christ's king- dom among young men, and for God's blessing upon the labors of the brotherhood." The second rule of service is, " to make an earnest effort each week to bring at least one young man within the hearing of the gospel of Jesus Christ as set forth in the service of the Church and in young men's Bible classes." It is thus a praying band with a mission motive of bringing individuals to the Church. The order was without precedent in this Church, and was from the start ag- gressive, and had to antagonize many prevalent modes of life and thought. It, too, has a boys' department, and for all, there is a special service of admission, and 'a litany for chapter meetings. Altogether it helps to spread the ideal of a simple, manly, earnest Christianity and Churchmanship. A university settlement has been proposed for the study of social facts.
(/) The Lutheran Church undertook this work only in 1888, and its national league was organized in 1895. It lays less stress upon oaths. The object sought is to stimulate the young to greater activity in their respective churches; to assist in keeping those who have been confirmed true to their vows; to secure the active aid of youth in advancing local church work, to cultivate friendship, and to guard the young against vice and unbelief.
Usually where these societies elect their own officers they must first be approved by the church, which not only organizes but otherwise controls their actions as much as college fashions and requirements dominate fitting schools, often to their great harm, as we shall see in the next chapter. Many if not most of the younger societies are led by women at an age when, if adult dominance is desirable, a man is a far more wholesome influence for boys. At this age, too, no sponta- neous boys' organizations that really represented their spirit would admit girls. The most fluent in public talk and prayer are often just those that need repression, and to tiptoe up to an experience that is beyond them and does not fit their stage of progress makes the present seem more unreal. True re- ligious experience seems at this age to come and go in great, 428 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE strong, but unfrequent rhythms with a cadence that is perhaps more nearly seasonal than diurnal or weekly. The juvenile branches of these oath-clubs are not only " girly " in spirit, in the boys' sense of that term, but they offer little incentive or opportunity for physical or athletic exercise, which is a necessary ingredient of everything which captivates a boy's soul, and do little to cultivate moral fiber, to promote ethical or civic and communal virtue, or to awaken and feed the in- tellect, but they center in ecclesiastical functions. Children should minister in every helpful way to' the Church, but should not be indentured to it in ways analogous to those which factory laws forbid in industrial life. The long contract system of securing labor from aborigines may be as cruel as slavery itself despite the signed agreement into which the innocent human nature is beguiled.
The above list could be greatly extended, and embraces juvenile associations of all kinds, from those for some one specific object to fairly complete organizations of the entire life, like the George Junior Republic. Girls accept earlier and far more kindly than boys organizations made by their elders for their benefit. Some societies are more, and some less, ex- otic, and there is always danger that virtues thus cultivated will be premature and of the hothouse variety, incapable of bearing much strain and liable to languish later in life. In several in- stances such clubs have flourished with every sign of vigorous life, and then, on the death or marriage of some good woman who had put her life into them, have suddenly died and left no visible sign even of regret. Modern city life, to a degree which it is hard to realize, is artificial and unnatural for youth. His racial forebears at the stage he represents were rollicking, fighting, hunting, courting, as they roved with wild freedom in the open in quest of adventure. He is especially divorced in city life from the steadying laws of recapitulation which insure emergence in due season into a higher state, and so is all the more plastic, helpless, disoriented, and in need of succor. Hence, in large part, comes the immeasurable waste of adolescent life. Church, home, school, and all social life ought to be organized about youth like placenta, and should restore, if possible, all of the lost phyletic elements that are needful, while adult leaders should strive to actually get back to the real SOCIAL INSTINCTS AND INSTITUTIONS 429 life of youth, which is almost like another incarnation, such as theology describes as the supreme deed of Jesus. Most grown-ups are unnatural in their talks and even attitude to youth, and it is not the true self of the latter that goes out in response to such efforts. Teaching is commonly a falsetto thing and not an infection. So, too, if reserves are not re- spected youth responds by disguises, unconscious though they be. Too much adult invasion makes boys artificial, while their deeper nature cries out for guidance that is not coddling. Youth is in the ethical far more than in the spiritual stage, and this the religious shepherds of the young find it almost impossible to realize, and so leader and led sustain a long and mutually pleasant flirtation with each other that does not ripen even to that deep and lasting friendship which the young so readily develop, witfc lifelong and enthusiastic gratitude for those that really serve them. Experience is slowly teaching some elements of the wisdom as to ages, numbers, the propor- tions and themes for personal work, its modes and degrees, ends, organizations, the focalization of effort in " key-boys," fruitful and unfruitful topics, etc., that need to be collated and sifted from organizations of all kinds, and expert knowledge is contributing an ever growing body of facts and laws, but both need to be welded into a born genius for tact, taste, and sympathy of a rare and special type before we have a true mentor able to preside aright over the budding social instincts of this most gregarious of all periods of life.
The following conclusion at least seems warranted. Every adolescent boy ought to belong to some club or society marked by as much secrecy as is compatible with safety. Something esoteric, mysterious, a symbolic badge, counter- sign, a lodge and its equipment, and perhaps other things owned in common, give a real basis for comradeship. This permits, too, the abandon of freedom in its yeasty stage, which is another deep phyletic factor of the social instinct. Innocent rioting, reveling with much Saturnalian license, vents the anarchistic instincts in ways least injurious to the community and makes docility and subordination more easy and natural in their turn. Provision of time and place for barbarisms or idiotic nonsense without adult restraint helps youth to pass naturally through this larval stage of candidacy to humanity.
43° THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADOLESCENCE Their celebration of their dawning future in an ascendent age and race is in many a curious way the counterpart of the Indian ghost dance which invokes and worships a lost glory in its evening twilight. The commemorations of the lost para- dise of the red men of the stone age are in some respects a re- markable intaglio of the perfervid ways in which youth hails the golden age to come.1 Such an organization must select its members according to the natural instincts of affinity, with power to discipline or expel those found too unlike-minded. It will probably have a ritual of initiation, with grades of ap- prenticeship in the novitiate, the lowest involving much sub- serviency, almost like that of a villein to a manorial court, and all perhaps symbolic of putting off the old isolated self by regeneration into a larger new social existence. There will be intense consciousness of the machinery of organization, constitution, by-laws, rules of order and procedure, debate, election, and perhaps ritual, etc. If such a spontaneous organ- ization of boys in the later teens has any inner work, it is not likely to be the direct promotion of piety or any form of out- side social service, but is most likely to be dramatic or musical, or next to this, to promote debate or declamation, and to cul- tivate a peculiar form of group-honor, the best form of which for this age, as we shall see later, is the idealized court of King Arthur. In cultivating friendship intensely for a small circle, conscious of representing the corps to others, as gentlemen practising noblesse oblige, many academic youth would owe more to this circle than to the curriculum and faculty. But as enjoyment and self-culture must slowly yield to service, so neither this nor any one type suffices, and every youth should connect himself with as many other associations of diverse kinds as is practicable, for at this age, while individuality may be lost in one group only, it is saved and developed by several. In fine, group-selfishness is the first step in overcoming individual isolation. The clansman's group-loyalty involves some, and perhaps the first subordination and renunciation of self that is free and not enforced by those older, stronger, or wiser. Hence, tribal allegiance means the spirit of con- 1 James Mooney: The Ghost Dance Religion. Report of Bureau of Ethnology, SOCIAL INSTINCTS AND INSTITUTIONS 43 * fraternity where each is a member of a larger whole. The exquisite pleasure of merely being, thinking, feeling, acting together, with at first a wide, miscellaneous range, and, with increasing age, more specific spheres of associations, tends to broaden and exhaust each stage of development before passing to the next and thus makes against both extreme precocity and tardiness. For most, humanity is too large a sphere of altruism to have more than a sentimental development, and to-day, when so many interests are taking on cosmic dimensions, may be liable to weaken demotic or yet narrower spheres now within the range of practical every-day duties. Metchnikoff,1 Ost- wald,2 Des Jardin,3 Giddings,4 Laponge,5 Rene Worms,6 Novicow,7 Boutroux,8 and others, have presented aspects of this theme which suggest that, as philanthropy may be so diffused as to interfere with pl^ain, humble obligations to do the nearest and most immediate thing, so, too, many organizations may direct sympathy in so many ways at once as to paralyze practi- cal service. The biological school of sociologists, Lilienfield, Schaffle, Worms, which emphasizes the analogy between cells in a body and individuals in society, suggests a limitation of personal range of coordination to avoid hypertrophy of the soma or of an organ in it, and Le Bon shows how a crowd lowers the standards of every member in it. Youth is pecul- iarly prone to enthuse for great and distant causes and grow myopic for homely every-day social duties, and to seek only personal enjoyment in this companionship. The social in- stincts of girls are perhaps now still more in danger of too wide irradiation, for their normal sphere of influence is more per- sonal. A weak glow of zest in all that is great and good, true and beautiful, at the expense of fidelity to the small and dis- agreeable, and the American rage for overorganization and social machinery, to act with Church, party, class, secret order, trade or industrial order, business consolidation or trust, or