The work of Christ is the work of Christianity. By the "radical forces of Christianity," we mean the simple spirit of the Master, in its original and energetic operation. We are dealing with no abstractions, neither are we considering the operation of human agencies. What Christ was in his earthly ministry, that Christianity is, because of His living presence {157} in the church to-day. Wherever we discover the working of those principles which were exemplified in his life, there He is present in living power, the inspirer of the endeavor, and the strength of it. The claim that the work of the American Missionary Association makes upon our attention, may be presented in a variety of forms. Its work is commended to us, for example, because it is patriotic, that is, it makes its appeal to our self-interest. The instinct of self-preservation demands that we sustain it. Four and a half millions of Negroes in our Southern States are utterly illiterate. Half that number of Southern whites are in the same deplorable condition. These men are citizens. They hold the ballot. Our free institutions are not safe in such hands as these. Education is an absolute necessity. This wide-spreading and dense ignorance, among masses of free American people, must be speedily overcome. We do not wonder, therefore, that Andrew D. White in his scholarly address, "The Message of the 19th Century to the 20th," puts the education of the South first among the many great and pressing problems that claim the attention of statesmen. It is a matter of self-interest and self-preservation. This work commends itself, also, because of its justice. It appeals as a duty, to every enlightened conscience. The ignorance of the Negro, and the degradation of the Indian, are more our fault than theirs. We owe it to them, as a matter of simple justice, that we now make reparation, as best we can, for the wrong done to them in the past. If we, as a nation, have helped push them down, we ought to help lift them up. It is a burden which stern justice lays upon us.