THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
37 
moulded, the direct and the unconscious. I 
will take as my share in our contemplated work 
the former method, and so shape our conversa¬ 
tions and studies, as to lead the minds of our 
young visitors to clearer and brighter concep¬ 
tions of the Creator’s works and ways. As to 
the second method, the unconscious influence, 
let us strive so to entertain them as to make 
them feel the charms of a social life that is 
stimulated and controlled by a cheerful, joy¬ 
giving Christianity. They need to learn that 
there is something better and nobler than seek¬ 
ing after mere earthly good, and that the soul 
is worth more than the body. Let us try to 
teach them that the subordination of the lower 
to the higher does not bring gloom and discom¬ 
fort, but gives the truest and most satisfactory 
enjoyments. 
To tread in the way of true happiness is a 
surer guidance than to point it out with the 
clearest definitions. To manifest in our lives 
the joys of salvation will better instruct trans¬ 
gressors in the right way than the most lucid 
exposition of truth. Too often, through a mis¬ 
taken conception of what constitutes vital god¬ 
liness, there is an effort to put on a spiritual 
4 
