10 (730)

[May 2 9, 1 890.

THE INDEPENDENT.

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NEW YORK. MAY 29th 1890.

For Subscription Terms see Page 39-

CONTENTS.

P-tan.

Points :—The Name on a Door. Louise Chandler Moullon; The

Night,-I-[aWk_ Lharlzn G. D. Roberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

The Vatican Library. Philip Scha]. D.D.. D.C.L. . . ..

Literature and Drudgery. Georoe Panto-ns Lolhrop. The Chignecto Ship Railway. A. W. Strofon. (EB ........ .. .

The Heavenly Fellowship of Christ. Samuel T. Spear. D.D. .. .. 3.

The Westminster Confession and the Old Testament. ll. Professor

(‘hurles 4. Brings. D.D ............................................... .. 4.

Berlin Notes. The Countess von Krockuw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. E.

Our Washington Letter. Kate Fbole ........... .. » . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 6.

Di-:P.\R'riu:s'rs:-Fine Arts—'l‘he Genesis of an Etching. Harare

Townsend: Science: Personalities; Pebbles: Sanlu1ry—-Disposal

of Town Refuse of All Kinds: Music: The Sunday-School ........ ..7—-9

l-Jur'rost.u.s:—l-‘rom Revlsir n tn a New Creed; Passage of the Mc-

Kinley Bill in the House; The Annexation of Africa .. . .. . . I0. ll

Eu TORTAL rlurls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ll, l2

Rll.l0\0US lNTIl.lJbIN(‘I:— Work of the Presbyterian Assembly.

The Rev. Charla L. Tltampimn. I) D.; Regular Report of the

Proceedings. The Rev. John B. Derim; The Baptists in Council.

An Eminent Baptist: The Southern Methodist General Confer-

ence. A Special Corm-pondml: The Southern Presbyterian t- en-

cral Assem bly. A Sprctul C-orrupondenf: The Southern Baptist

Convention C. E‘. W. Doblu. D.D ................................... .. l3—iZl

iitursrsnlan itsotsrsn .............................................. .. ill

l.r1'su.h'rL'ru::—Atllssionary's Scientific Diversions; Proytlsor A.

S. Par-karrl; Eiiglisb Quarterly Reviews; Some New Greek and

Latin 'l'ext-Books; iilinor Notices; Literary Notes; Books ot

the Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 32—~3-i

I-‘INANCIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

C0\fhtIB.GlAL.. INSFEANCI ............................................................ .. 40, ll

Onn A.\'l) YOUNG:-The Passing of an Eastern Saint (poem).

Augusta Larhetl; In the Ore. Itebecca Harding Davis; Open Ses-

ame (poem). Charles Wushthqton Coleman: A Letter and Its

Story. E. H. Haqer; Billy Wren's Housekeeping. Margaret

M 111:1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4"»—4'\

PUZZLIDOI ..... ... . . . . .. 45

I-‘Au AND GARDEN ............................................ (R. 47

w

J"

-tau 0-are-—

FROM REVISION TO A NEW CREED.

WE do not propose here to repeat the report which we

have given at so great length in our columns this week

of the action of the General Assembly. We can only

refer to the great outcome.

This will be known as the Revision General Assembly,

but only as the first of the name, for the next Assem-

bly will have to carry on the work. and it may be that a

number will be required to finish it.

It may be also called the Unanimous Assembly. The

Doxology, the prayer of thanksgiving and the hymn,

“ Blest be the tie that binds ” have all been called into

requisition again and again, to express the thanksgiving

to God which the Assembly felt that they have had

grace to act and agree without harshness and almost

without difference.

It was declared with great emphasis and solemnity

that the decision of the question, how revision should

be made, was the most important that should come he-

fore the Assembly. However this may be, the expres-

sion indicated the burden and solemnity with which the

Assembly entered upon its labors. Our special corre-

spondent, ex-Moderator Thompson's letter and our full

report sl ow how a unanimous conclusion was reached

on this matter. really yielding the point to those who

were not satisfied with having twothirds of the presby-

teries conclude the matter, but who held that the As-

sembly itself should afterward enact any change in the

Confession of Faith. Whether the General Assembly

should confirm and enact, or whether the presbyterles

alone shall enact, seems to us unimportant. But the

agreement of all parties was very important and was

the presage of harmonious action when the serious ques-

tion of revision should come up.

The method of revision being settled, the Assembly

was ready to pass from the vestibule into the temple.

The committee which tabulated the answer of the pres-

byteries gave a satisfactory report which made it plain

that practically two-thirds of the presbyteries favored

revision of some sort; and Dr. Patton, leading the anti-

Revisionists, gracefully yielded to the right of the

Church to do what it had determined to do by so large

a majority. From this time he oflered no obsti-uction,but

gave his help for such conservative revision as would

satisfy the majority of the presbyteries.

The method of appointing a. committee to formulate

revision having been satisfactorily settled, the General

Assembly on last Saturday voted to appoint such a com-

mittee and gave it its instructions. This committee is

directed to meet early in the fall and to proceed with

all dispatch to formulate such amendments as shall not

be inconsistent with the system of doctrines held by the

Church. The committee will be at liberty to consider

that the special points of revision which have been sug-

gested by the presbyteries are not inconsistent with the

theology of the Church. It is perfectly clear that they

must formulate amendments in such matters as “ elect

infants," the harsh expressions in reference to reprobn-

tion, the love of God to all mankind, and the denuncia-

tion of the Church of Rome. Not much farther than

his will the committee be able to go; but we see at pres-

ent no special reason why the committee should not be

able, as it is positively directed, to prrsent its scheme

of 1'0Vl.~lOll to the next General Assembly, which may

send it down to the presbyteries for approval. It is true

that something may come up meanwhile to delay the

amendments; and it is possible that the public sentiment

may grow in the Church meanwhile in favor of a declar-

atory statement. or of making the new creed a practical

substitute for revision; but it does not now look proba-

ble. The fact is that as it now stands the one-third of

the presbyteries opposed to revision may be depended

upon to stand by the one-third of the presbyteries, more

or less, that desire a very conservatiye revision, and

that they together will easily outvote the one-third or

so who desire to put the old Confession on the shelf.

A much larger matter than revision is that of a new

creed; and we can hardly withhold the expression of

our surprise and our delight that almost without dis-

cussion and almost unanimously, the General-Assembly

on the same day that it had voted for revision also ap-

pointed a committee with directions to prepare a new

creed. This could not have been done were it not the

fact that a considerable conservative element is in favor

of the new creed. The new creed has the support of the

two extremes. Those that would be glad to lay the Con-

fession on a dusty shelf want the new creed, and such

conservative men as Drs. Patterson and McCosh also

wantit. They want it as an utterance of the faith of

the Church in its mission work, something that can be

flung to the breez*. something more usable than the

present Confession. something that can be read at a

sitting, something than can be understood of the people.

That the new creed is needed—if any creed beyond the

Bible is required—is beyond question. W_e appreciate

heartily the position of those who hold that creed

subscription is unwise and that‘ it is sufficient to

trust to the leading which the Holy Spirit will

give to his Church; but a Church which has a creed and

requires subscription to it, should_at least be able to af-

ford a creed which its common members can read and

uiiderstand; a creed that shall be brief, compact and

Christian. Such a creed the Presbyterian Church does

not have in its Confession of Faith, and will not have

in that Confession of Faith when revised. Such a creed

is needed to unite all the branches of the Presbyterian

family. The work of this committee will help the work

of the Presbyterian Alliance in preparing a creed for all

the.I’resb_vterlan denominations. But it must be re-

membered that when that general creed is prepared it

will not be distinctly Calvinistic; it will be distinctly

Evangelical. The Presbyterian denominations are not

all Calvinistic; and this is a very fortunate thing for

the creed when it shall be prepared. Being Evangelical

and not Calvinistic it will prepare the way for the con-

federation of all Protestant Churches.

And this introduces a yet more important matter

which came before the Assembly, that of Confedera-

tion of Churches. Dr. McCosh, in his eightieth year,

leads all the Christian hosts in this matter. We thank

him most earnestly. He stood before the Assembly like

the Apostle John, repeating the prayer of our Lord that

his Church might be one. This result can be achieved.

We rejoice in the revision of the creed; we rejoice in

the preparation of a'new creed, chiefly as it looks for-

ward to that great consurnmstion—tbe union of Christ’s

Church in one conscious fellowship. We do not ask now

for a consolidation of denominations; but we do ask

that all denominations shall know that they are but

fragments, and that these fragments shall have a vitally

formal as well as a. vitally spiritual unity. This result

may be nearer than our doubting Thomases have sus-

pected. Dr. McCosh‘s earnestness is infectious. Per-

haps the Cburch only needs to be told its duty in order

to be ready to do it. Perhaps formal agreements be-

tween denominations can be entered into so that they

shall, for all practical purposes, form one great body.

We believe that this session of the General Assembly

is memorable as having marked the step for this for-

ward movement.

PASSAGE OF THE McKINLEY BILL II THE

HOUSE.

THE McKinley Tarifi Bill passed the House on W€dn@B-

day of last week by a vote of 164 to 142. The minority»

which does not represent the i'ull Democratic strenitth.

nine Democrats having been absent, included one Re-

publican’-Mr. Coleman, of Louisiana, recently a Demo-

crat—and one Independent, Mr. Featherston, of Arkan-

sas. The fulllteipublican-strength is 173. Six Republicans

were absent, two voted against the bill, and one—Speaker

Reed—did not vote at all; but all the RepubliC8l18 W130

were absent were paired. This is a much larger VOW 1'0!

the bill than its opponents were willing to allow when

it was introduced. We were given to understand that

many of the Western Republican representatives, as

well as some from the South, would finally vote in op-

position to the bill; and it was" predicted that the disaf-

fection would amount to from twenty~~five to forty votes;

it really amounted to three. Mr. Coleman voted against

the bill, and Messrs. Butterworth and Adams did not

vote at all. This indicates a. remarkable unanimity

among the Republican representatives, and it was not

secured under caucus pressure or the party lash. Coming

from different sections of the country and representing

varied interests. it was of course impossible to frame a

Tariff bill which would meet the views of all. We do not

believe that any committee could have made a. better

bill. The work of the committee was so thoroughly done

that when it was reported to the House the re was com-

paratively little to be done in the way of amendment.

Most of the amendments adopted were proposed by the

Ways and Means Committee itself, and all the amend-

ments it proposed were adopted save three.

We have been impressed. during the progress of the

debate, with the superiority of the leaders on the Re-

publican side. Mr. McKinley, despite the disparaging

thingssaid of him by the opposition, has proved himself

to be a competent general. No man on the floor

of the House has evinced a larger or more minute knowl-

edge of tbe various schedules under discussion than he.

and his manner in carrying the bill through its various

stages has been most admirable. He has not lost his

temper; he has not been dictatorial; he has not been dis-

courteous; and he has not been unfair. .

Substantially as it came from the Ways and Means

Committee the bill goes to the Senate. It is now said

that the Senate Committee has decided to report a sub-

stitute for the McKinley bill for the consideration of

the Senate, this being the course taken in the tariff

legislation of 1883. It is thought that by this method there

will be far less difliculty in harmonizing the views of the

two Houses. The opponents of the McKinley bill are

predicting that the Senate will cut it all to pieces, but

probably the wish is father to the thought, for the Mc-

Kinley Bill is in substantial harmony with the Senate

‘bill of 1888, and we have no idea that there will be a seri-

ous disagreement between the two Houses.

It is thought that the Senate bill will be reported by

the first of June. There is a far greater disposition to

consume time in discussion in the Senate than in the

House. Senators are talking the silver question to death,

and there will be a strong temptation to proceed in the

same way upon the Tariff. The discussion should be

limited in some way so that the final vote may be reached

at an early day. The country is waiting in suspense for

the outcome, and while the rights of the minority should

not be trampled upon, it is important that the bii ishould

be placed in the hands of the President at aaearlg a dale

as possible.

{iii

THE ANNEEATION OF AFRICA.

THE African question is just now a more absorbing

question in London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Rome

than any question of European politics. Toe great con-

tinent ot Africa, the interior of which nobody knew

about or cared about—at least as a possession—until

Stanley's return, is now the object of a desperate strug-

gle. The Spheres of Influence, which were marked oil‘

by Great Britain and Germany in Eastern Africa a year

or two ago for the convenience of commercial com-

panies, are now assumed to be German and British terri-

f0l')'. !‘88P9¢l-ively; and a mutual jealousy exists between

these powers for fear that one or the other will over-

step the boundaries of its Sphere of Influence and in-

vade that of the other. Germany, a. little more alert

than England, closed an agreement with Emin Bey al-

most as soon as he had reached the coast from his lost

provinces in Sfldan, to return to the great lakes at the

head of a German exploring expedition. The announce-

ment of this arrangement was a bitter surprise for Eng-

land; and the ex-Governor was accused of base ingrati-

tude to his rescuers; for it was an English company, who

at the expense of English capitalists, marched to his re-

lief and brought him in safety to the coast. There are

reasons for accusing him of being ungrateful. not be-

cause he accepted employment under the German Gov-

ernment at a good round salary, but because be had said

mean and uncomplimentary things of his chivalrons

rescuer, Henry M. Stanley.

No man ever started on a more desperate enterprise

than Stanley did when he set out from the mouth of the

Congo to rescue the beleaguered Governor of Stldan.

Now that he has accomplished a task that probably no

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