THE AGASS1Z ASSOCIATION 



353 



December 18. 

 "1 do not approve of one part of your 

 scheme, and I presume it is vital from your 

 standpoint. Of course I approve of the study 

 of 'nature,' but not of confounding 'nature' 

 and God. I have no use for a God of any 

 kind whatsoever. To deify nature in these en- 

 lightened days is to drop back to the days of 

 darkest heathendom. It is to encourage super- 

 stition in the minds of children, and to burden 

 their minds with a falsehood that must work 

 barm and retard their intellectual growth." 

 ******** 



December 25. 



"Permit me to say that I have raised no 

 objection to 'questions of nature in a strict 

 scientific spirit.' Whatever I am able to do 

 in answering such questions, I shall aways be 

 most willing to do. ... I noticed that you 

 spoke of your Organization as one for the 

 Study and Love of Clod's Works,' and that 

 towards the end of your 'Plea' you say the 

 study of nature 'means In its a companionship 

 and an intercourse with God Himself.' 



"Most people who view nature in this light 

 are shocked when they meet a naturalist who 

 declares himself an atheist. The superstition 

 of the past has held the 'infidel' in horror, and 

 although infidels have become numerous in 

 science those who call themselves Christians 

 are generally shy of contamination. 



"Feeling that the time has come for present- 

 ing the facts of nature just as they are, with- 

 out disguising them as the work of a Deity, 

 I should hesitate to put myself in any position 

 that would be misleading. Herein you may 

 see why I would not wish to be identified in 

 any way with an organization dominated by 

 deistic conceptions or designed to encourage 

 the decaying ideals of religious worship. 

 With the greetings of the season." 



Now this question conies home to 

 you, Christian Is this spirit of Christ 

 the Naturalist, as expressed by Louis 

 Agassiz and followed by the Associa- 

 tion for more than the third of a cen- 

 tury, to be driven out, or shall it grow 

 to prosperity and disseminate in every 

 land the doctrines for which it stands? 

 It is for you to decide. So far as we 

 knew, we are the only organization 

 that can thus appeal to you at this 

 Chnstmas season. 



Atheistic science in many and high 

 places has had the aid of millions of 

 dollars from Christian people. The 

 Agassiz Association, the only organiza- 

 tion in existence professedly and effec- 

 tively promulgating nature from 

 Christ's view point, has, in all its 

 thLty-five years' experience, been aid- 

 ed by only a few thousand. Are you, 

 Christian people, more interested in 



atheistic science than in the point of 

 view typified by Louis Agassiz, and 

 carried on by hundreds of his money- 

 less but devoted followers? 



Shall people ho indifferent to nature 

 or shall they have Christ's point of 

 view ? 



All over the land wo have prosper- 

 ous V. M. C. A. or Y. W. C. A. insti- 

 tutions in almost every city and even 

 some of the villages, where young 

 men and young women assemble in the 

 name of Christ These so far as they 

 go have done excellenl work in promul- 

 gating Christ's love of outdoor life. 

 Thousands of dollars in many cities 

 have been given them for that purpose, 

 but have not they devoted more time 

 to the swinging of dumb-bells and In- 

 dian clubs, and to other forms of mus- 

 cle training, than they have in taking 

 the wider view of Christ in studying 

 and in being inspired by the objects of 

 nature? Christ walked on the country 

 road for his exercise. He did not swing 

 Indian clubs, lie went alone into the 

 garden. He did not go to the syna- 

 gogue for his best. He led his pupils 

 to the top of a mountain. Whether 1 lis 

 spirit in relation to nature and to our 

 highest inspiration through nature, is 

 great enough to continue to impress 

 our young people, or whether the 

 school of atheistic science shall have 

 sway, is the most important question 

 that can come to you, Christian, at this 

 season of the year when you are cele- 

 brating with the emblems of nature the 

 Birth of this great Naturalist. 



Report of the Halcyon Chapter. 



The Halcyon Chapter of the AA. lo- 

 cated at Halcyon, California, was re- 

 organized last June. The primary pur- 

 pose of the Chapter is to make a study 

 of the natural sciences, in connection 

 with educacional work at that place. 

 Halcyon being located close to Oceano 

 Beach, one of the finest on the Pacific 

 Coast, and but a few miles from the 

 rocky beach shown in the picture 

 Fine opportunity is afforded for study 

 of ocean life, animal and vegetable. 



Seaweeds, anemones, crabs, sea ur- 

 chins, starfish, abalones, clams and sea 

 birds of numerous varieties abound in 



