FRANCIS E. CLARK 125 The subject was in solutioiiy as it were, the world over ; and the experiment at Williston church, of Feb. 2, 1881, simply gave it shape." If **the subject were in solution the world over,'* tremen- dous transitional forces should be discovered preparing for the movement. A search uncovers many factors. The educa- tional world had begun its evolution from supreme emphasis on the subject matter in education to greater emphasis on the unfolding life of the child. It was destined soon to consider the boy not a man in embryo, but a living being with his own laws of development. For future manhood he should be trained, not by manhood *s lore alone, but by encouragement of the fullest expression of his normal boyhood life. In that ex- pression he should develop physical, mental, and spiritual powers that would bring him normally to maturity. New edu- cational ideals stirred the church, and awakened it to the con- viction that it had neglected the stimulation of children's normal religious growth into church activities. Through evan- gelism it had sought the conquest of the unchurched adult, while it had neglected the riper field of Christian education. True the church had for decades felt its way toward educa- tional methods. The religious world had conducted success- fully the Sunday School movement, which even in its imma- turity was a powerful educative force. As the Christian world realized the great need for educational work within the church, an abundant literature crystallized the sentiment for more eflScient service to youth and by youth. Thoughtful men read this literature, clarified their own views, and set in mo- tion the forces that wrought tremendous changes. Dr. Clark refers appreciatingly to one literary production which influ- enced him profoundly in those initial years of the Christian Endeavor movement :
- The most fruitful book of recent times relating to Chris-
tian nurture is doubtless Bushnell*s great little volume with that title. It turned the thought of the modem Christian world to this subject, and compelled the church to acknowledge that there must be growth within as well as conquest from without if she was to hold her rightful possessions as well as to extend her boundaries.
