household of God.

Another characteristic of adolescence is to be found in
gregariousness, or what has been sometimes called the _gang spirit_.
Boys, and to almost as great a degree girls, form themselves into
companies or gangs, which frequently possess a high degree of
organisation. They elaborate special languages, they have their own
form of shorthand, their passwords, their rites and ceremonies. The
gang has its elected leader, its officers, its members; and although
it is liable to sudden disruption and seldom outlasts a few terms of
school-life, each succeeding club or company is for the time being of
paramount importance in the estimation of its members. The gang spirit
may at times cause trouble and lead to anxiety, but if rightly
directed it may be turned to good account. It is the germ of the
future capacity to organise men and women into corporate life--the
very method by which much public and national work is readily
accomplished, but which is impossible to accomplish by individual
effort.

3. Changes in the Religion of the Adolescent.--The religion of the
adolescent is apt to be marked by fervour and earnest conviction, the
phenomenon of "conversion" almost constantly occurring during
adolescence. The girl looks upon eternal truths from a completely new
standpoint, or at any rate with eyes that have been purged and
illuminated by the throes of conversion. From a period of great
anxiety and doubt she emerges to a time of intense love and devotion,
to an eager desire to prove herself worthy, and to offer a sacrifice
of the best powers she possesses. Unfortunately for peace of mind, the
happy epoch succeeding conversion not unfrequently ends in a dismal
time of intellectual doubt and spiritual darkness. Just as the