PREFACE. 5 



earlier editions. Some short passages have been omitted 

 to make room for new and more important matter, 

 which has been added to ev^ery chapter but one. A 

 chapter on Peril to the Public Schools has been added, 

 the greater part of which was read before the seventh 

 triennial session of the National Council of Congrega- 

 tional Churches at Worcester, Mass. , October 14, 1889. 

 The chapter on Romanism is almost entirely new and 

 much enlarged. 



The map and most of the diagrams which appear in 

 this revision are from "Leaves from ' Our Country,'" 

 illustrated by Rev. C. C. Otis, of Springfield, 111., pub- 

 lished by the American Home Missionary Society in 1888, 

 to which society I am indebted for their use. I desire 

 also to express my thanks to the many gentlemen, 

 too numerous to name, who have kindly aided me 

 with courteous answers to my inquiries for informa- 

 tion. 



The outlook is distinctly brighter than it Avas a half 

 dozen years ago, not because there are fewer perils to 

 face, nor, with one or two exceptions, because they are 

 any less threatening, but because the public mind is 

 being aroused to some appreciation of them, and the 

 Christian Church is beginning to awake to the magnitude 

 of her opportunity and obligation. The awakening how- 

 ever, is only a beginning, and leaves very much to be de- 

 sired. 



The difference in the situation to-day and five years 

 ago is not such as to warrant the sHghtest relaxation of 

 effort, but should rather stimulate endeavor with new 

 courage. 



This work is an attempt to present some of the perils 

 which threaten our future, and to point out the magni- 

 tude of the issues which hang on the present. I have in 

 preparation a work which is more constructive in char- 

 acter, and which will endeavor to show what action is de- 

 manded by existing conditions. This book is for the 

 most part, a diagnosis ; the forthcoming one will venture 

 to suggest some remedies. Josiah Strong. 



