The Universalist. [volume], August 28, 1897, Image 1

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VOL. IlFV tT,,,?5t.VxVS;.'“T'l CHICAGO AND CINCINNATI, SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1897. fraS’TC0M’Tl NO.- 86 •
• - - —
The Universalisti
A REliGIOUS AND FAMILY WEEKLY
fJniversalist Publishing House,
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E. F. ENDICOTT, General Agent
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Field Agent, T. I. MOORE.
CONTENTS.
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, AUG 28, 1897.
Page One.
Editorial Briefs.
Life and Work of Trained Nurses.
The Creed Question.
Universalist Thought.
Page Two.
Ought We to Affiliate with the Unitarians?
Higher Uses of the Imagination.—II.
Forthcoming Books.
Well Known Persons.
Page Tnree.
The Sunday School Lesson.
Page Four.
Editorial:
Progressive Revelation,
la It Really Login?
Pantheism.
An Explanation.
Observanda.
Universalist Personal.
Page Five,
Church News and Correspondence.
Page Six,
The Family Page, Farm, Garden and Hairy.
Page Seven, j
Our Boys and Girls.
Page Eight*
Church Notices and 111 Hemortam.
News of the Week.
EDITORIAL BRIEFS.
BY PRESIDENT I. Jf. ATWOOD, D. D.
The cess of President B'.nj. An draws
of Brown University, is becoming a
great public question. The fame which
President Andrews has not attained by,
his books and his occasional articles he
is likely to gain by accident. His ad
ministration of Brown University has
been marked by stir, by self-advertise
ment, and by a persuasive personality.
Just where the president’s power re
sides, an outsider, who had attended
only to his published words, could never
guesB. We have read his speeches, let
terB, introductions, books, articles, with
out ever coming upon anything that
evinced mastery of the themes he has
discussed so freely. But those who have
personal and official relations with him
seem agreed in the opinion that he is a
strong man and a natural leader.
—In the economic divisions of the
day he is classed a9 a free-trader; in the
financial, as a bimetalist, with decided
leanings to the free coinage of silver at
a 16 to 1 ratio. It happens that the
trustees of Brown are on the opposite
side on both these questions. The in
jury to the University which the Presi
dent's “ pernicious activity,” particular
ly in behalf of silver, appeared to them
to be working, led to the appointment
of a committee to confer with him. The
committee seemBnot to have been happy
in their mode of stating the desire of
the trustees, and Dr. Andrews at once
resigned, using in his letter the best
English we ever saw from him. That
action has been followed by much news
paper discussion, and by communica
tions from a portion of the faculty and
from members of the board of trustees.
The communication signed by about
two thirds of the faculty was a protest
against the action of the committee of
conference, and was a very clear and
effective piece of reasoning.
—The corporation has been unfortu
nate in having for their spokesman the
Hon J. H. Walker, of Worcester. Mr.
Walker may know some things well, but
he does not know how to discuss a deli
cate question. His last letter to the
public and incidentally to the faculty,
is diffuse, rambling, inconsequential,
The case of the trustees is capable of
clear and forcible statement. A master
of the art would have so presented their
side as to show at once what the posi
tion of the trustees is, and the force of
it. But Mr. Walker is confused and ir
relevant. In the meantime the merits
of the debaters threaten to supersede
the merits of the question. It is trans
parent that a large liberty should be
enjoyed by the president or professor;
it is equally clear that a mau could not
long hold his place in a college nor be
useful in it, who could be widely at
variance from his board of trustees on
burning questions. It is not alone a
question of liberty of teaching; it is
also a question of adjustment to the
practical requirements of the place.
— The judgment of Harnack on the
leaf of alleged sayings of Jesus recently
discovered in Egypt by Grenfell and
Hunt, differs somewhat from that of
Rendel Harris and Prof. Bacon. He
would date it from the second or third
century. Its coloring is Semitic rather
than Greek, and it is probably taken
from the so-called Egyptian gospel. It
is either an excerpt from that or more
likely a memorandum of scattered sen
tences taken here and there from that
document, as no logical connection be
tween the sayings is apparent. Prof.
Thayer, of Harvard, we notice, says "to
conclude that the Logia which, accord
ing to Papias, Matthew composed in
Hebrew, consisted merely of a similar
string of disconnected aphorisms—like
this leaf,—would be a hasty inference.”
The light which a compilation of later
date than the canonical Gospel is able
to shed on their origin cannot be vivid
one would think. Prof. Thayer regards
these sayings as “distinctly of a second
ary character,” which coincides with
Harnack’s view.
—Rich men who give liberally of their
riches to their denomination are a great
source of denominational strength. Mr.
Rockefeller has this year lifted the
Baptist Missionary Society out of the
depths by pledging $250,000 on condi
tion that the remainder of the required
$450,000 should be raised by the church
es. Under the stimulus of that pledge
of course the money was raised. Quite
different was the proposal of one of our
rich men to give 85,000 for Universalist
missions provided the denomination
should raise half a million! There are
and there have been many rich Univer
ealists. A few of them have been gen
erous to their faith and its enterprises.
But the most discouraging fact con
nected with our history is the uniformity
with which our rich men provide that
their money shall never help their
church. We have no institution and
no enterprise which would not be amply
furnished with the means of the largest
usefulness if the Universalists who were
supposed to be interested in their de
nomination and who left great fortunes,
had done what was reasonably expected
of them.
—How paralyzing it is to doubt, how
helpful it is to believe, is beautifully il
lustrated by universal childhood. The
child naturally trusts, and growB in
heart as well as in intellect by the things
which it does not know and cannot
know but assuredly believes. The great
unknown is peopled by its spontaneous
mind with innumerable and glowing
realities. So long as this impulse of
nature is availed of to conduct the pro
cess of the child’s development its life iB
luxuriant and Bweet. But let doubt
take the place of faith; let the child
learn to suspect and distrust; let its
eager leaps into mystery be restrained
by continual suggestions that this is
“not so,” and its soul shrivels, its face
becomes prematurely old, a devil of mis
trust lurks in its eyes, and the fair
freedom of its life is destroyed at the
root. The ideal, the spiritual, the an
gelic is nourished in us by trust.
—Mrs. Eddy, "our mother,” as the
homage of her disciples now designates
her, said in her remarks at the Fourth
of July assembly in her honor, “truth is
potent, error is impotent.” This ap
pears to be a cardinal tenet of Christian
Science. It wbb repeated in various
forms in the course of Mrs. Eddy’s ad
dress. If her meaning iB, that truth is
naturally superior to error and iB des
tined at last to triumph, she is certainly
right. The truth and the truth alone,
has intrinsic permanency. But if she
means, as she appears to mean, that
error is always impotent, the history of
the world is flatly against her. At this
very moment, as Mrs. Eddy must con
cede since the vast majority of man
kind are not believers in Christian Sci
ence, error is far more influential than
ttuth. Error yet holds the field in gov
ernment, in social science, in morals, in
religion. We may wish it was other
wise; we may believe it shall sometime
be otherwise; but we must not blink
the present fact.
—The departure ever and anon of
gome quiet man, known by hie friends to
have been a person of extraordinary
gifts or of exceptional knowledge, but
almost unknown to the world, impresses
the fact that human nature is rich and
that our age is one of high intellectual
development. The other day Dr. J.
Hammond Turnbull,of Hartford, passed
away. Outside of Connecticut he was
hardly known. Yet he was a man of
rare powers and of such uncommon at
tainments as lifted him into a niche by
himself. In certain historical and lin
guistic specialties "he was the foremost
living authority.” Dr. Turnbull’s case
does not stand alone. Almost weekly
we have the record of eome patient
scholar, or thicker, or experimenter
who was willing to be unknown but who
was not willing to be without knowl
edge.
Canton Th ho logical school.
—Rejoice! Be glad! Be cheerful! of
e. merry countenance, of a emiling face.
Be of gobd courage—never Bombre, sad,
or gloomy. Let the joy of the Lord be
your strength. Bubble up and run over
with joy; let it well up from a great
heart of love like a reservoir of God
from which you and every one else can
draw inexhaustible supplies. Make
everybody happy, be full of exultant joy.
Your business is to bless; your mission is
o bind up the broken-hearted; to lift
up the fallen; to inspire and encourage
the despondent and fainting; to make
every one to be glad and to rejoice.—
[ The King's Messenger.
OUR CONTRIBUTORS.
LIFE AND WORK OF TRAINED
NURSES.
BY MISS MARION E. SMITH.
Chief Nurse Philadelphia Hospital.
II.—Hoapital Employment.
The duties and privileges of a perma
nent graduate nurse in charge of a hos
pital ward or floor are numerous and
varied. To begin with, before she is put
in such a position, she must have been
proved to be a woman of strength of
character sufficient to enable her to man
age many minds and temperaments.
She must be fearless of others’ opin
ions in matters of conscience, with a
sense of duty strong enough to make
her hesitate not a moment to report ne
glect of duty or infringement of rules.
She must, under all circumstances, be
unfalteringly honest, sober-minded, nev
er flippant in speech or act. She has
charge of both nurses and patients un
der her care, and this Bhould be made
as nearly complete bb possible, scope
being given her to carry out her own
ideas, as far, and only so far, as they
concur with the general management
and system of the hospital. She must
be held responsible for the nursing, com
fort, cleanliness, feeding, conduct and
discipline of her patients and the gener
al morale of the floor. She will see that
the wards are clean, and this includes
everything in them—'‘so clean that they
cannot be made cleaner;” orderly, quiet
well-ventilated and of the proper tem
perature; that bath rooms and water
closets are in perfect order, clean and
disinfected daily. She should personally
daily inspect ice-chests and see that
they are odorless and Bweet, vessels,
cupboards and closets; should see that
dining-room and kitchen are free from
roaches and that the food is served hot
and punctually; that linen closets and
supplycupboards are well stocked and
always ready for inspection; that the
medicine and treatment and diet lists
are corrected daily and are neat and ac
cessible. She will see that ward and
corridor walls are swept once a week
with a long-handled brush, and that all
paint is clean and spotless. She is re
sponsible to the superintendent of ths
training Bchool for the work of all her
subordinates, the ward-maids, scrubbers
orderlies, and, of course, the nurses. To
her belongs largely the practical train
ing of the pupil nurses—a very serious
and responsible undertaking.
Upon her report of a probationer the
head of the school necessarily has great
ly to depend, and her judgment must
be good and her perception quick, or how
can she determine the difference be
tween stupidity and slowness in a new
pupil; or, again, distinguish shyness,
and its attendant short answers from the
intentional bad manners of a self satis
fied and opinionated probationer? The
blunders of ignorance must be weeded
out from the natural awkwardness which
no training can undo or alter, and the
untidy ward, resulting from overwork,
from that due to habitually unsystem
atic methods.
She must be perfectly impartial, just
and firm, yet withal this she will need
also to be kind, patient and persevering,
remembering that “eternal vigilance is
the price of success.’’ Though the
routine work be wearisome, it must not
be neglected in any detail, no matter
how trivial it may appear (though it is
doubtful it anything connected with
hospital work can be justly deemed
trivial.) Let her strive against that nar
row-mindedness which comes to some as
a result of institution work, and which
magnifies near-by objects so as to shut
out those at a distance, unimportant
- matters assuming great proportions.
She should maintain harmony, if pos
sible, and be a bond of peace, never
fault-finding or quarrrelsome. She
should know accurately the physical
condition of her patients and make
rounds with the physicians when prac
ticable. She will instruct the proba
tioners personally by the bedside and in
the ward, as to taking of temperatures
and of all clinisal records, making beds
and giving out medicines until the pupil
has grasped the subject Bed can be
trusted alone.
She will attend such clinics as require
patients from her ward or floor, and will
be held responsible for the condition of
all such. What tone she gives to her
floor will be reproduced even down to
the patients, and she will have to watch
herself carefully, to be Bure that repro
duction does her credit. In a large
hospital there are always many different
dispositions among the head nurses,
and this probationer is sent to one be
cause she needs encouragement and
will get it, while another, fully able to
hold her own and rather inclined to be
aggressive, is sent to a second, by whom
such undesirable trait will not be toler
ated—and so it goes.
As she herself has learned to obey im
plicitly, so she will command obedience,
and no matter how important the posi
tion she may eventually till, she should
never forget the lesson and valueof obe
dience, nor become like Kipling’s
heathen:
“-E don’t obey no orders unless they
is 'is own.”
—a very unhealthy condition even for a
heathen!
No lesson is of more value than that
which discipline teaches us, and if, while
a subordinate, she was dealt with what
seemed to her unnecessary sternness, it
should serve to make her temper justice
with mercy; but on the other band Bhe
must never let sentiment interfere with
duty. She eheuld be held to strict ac
count for all hospital property, its con
dition and care, and should keep an ac
curate list of all articles in use and in
stock. At least quarterly she should
make an inventory or carefully compare
the last one with the stock on hand.
She should practice and preach econ
omy, and the value of property as such
and should be as thoughtful—yes, more
so, of the way all articles are used, than
if they were her own. Many pupil
nurses are careless because they have
not been taught carefulness—an essen
tial part of their training, which the
head nurse must not forget.
The head nurses of the Philadelphia
Hospital “are graduates of its training
school, selected because of distinguished
ability, faithfulness and prudence.”
The first two attributes having been well
attested by their work as pupils, so that
we are Bure they know just bow much
to expect of those under them, while
prudence is a very necessary virtue to
possess—a discourager ot gossip in the
first place, and so prudent in tongue.
Prudent in conduct also must Bhe be,
“well balanced,” stopping to think be.
fore issuing an order and under no pres
sure of excitement being anything but
perfectly calm and self-possessed. But
though quiet, she must be ready for any
emergency, knowing just what to do and
how to do it. She should know some
thing of the individual characteristics
of all her subordinates, or she will never
govern them properly, and the knowl
edge of minds and methods thus gained
will be invaluable. She hae great oppor
tunities for developing any executive
ability she may possess, which will help
make her, some day, if she so desire, the
head of a hospital or training school.
There are still, strange to say, more hos
pital positions than there are women of
the right sort to fill them, while there is
no scarcity of the other kind.
If a woman has the unuBual gifts ne
cessary to govern others, such as firm
ness of character, an absolute sense of
right, a sensitive conscience, moral
courage, infinite patience and a willing
ness to bear what is beyond remedy with
unwearying effort, intuition by which
she can tell the false note in speech and
tbo false ring of cb- a, tor, if she be
systematic and can make others so, and
has a high standard of life and its
duties, with a dignity of presence which
makes her respected, with good health
and a cheerful and kindly disposition,
so that she is loved bb well as obeyed
(for surely no place on earth needs such
tender words and hearts and such bright
faces as does a hospital)—she will not
only be able to obtain a responsible
position, but will be sought for by hos
pital managers and can command a very
fair salary. Those nurseB who have
previously served as head nurses are
better adapted for such a place. The
advantage of such is that she comes in
contact with the attending physicians,
many of them men of note, who do aot
forget her if she is skilled, and who
often help her afterward, either by
themselves employing her or by refer
ring others to her, so that if she takes
up private nursing she finds herself not
a stranger even in the beginning. If
she be a conscienctious woman, she will
try to exert a good influence over all
with whom she comes in contact, and
will leave an impression often lasting
many years. Her virtues and her faultsi
too, will be passed down to genera
tions of head nurses and of pupils.
Let her take heed that she make the
“ legends” of the hospital holy ones, and
that her example bring high ideals and
ambitions and lofty desires to all who
follow. It is a noble work, and an un
selfish life to all who choose to make it
such. Let our head nurse take for her
motto the beautiful words of Browning:
For truth and right, and only right and
truth—right, truth, on the absolute
scale of God;
No pettiness of man’s admeasurement—
In such case only, and for such one cause,
Fight ycur hearts out. whatever fate be
tide;
Hands energetic to the uttermost!”
FHU.ADKI.eHIA, Fa.
HER CREED.
BY MABY C. BILLINGS.
This the substance of her creed,
Gentle word, and kindly deed;
Simplest truth, to hold and heed;
Help for those who stand in need.
Lightsome cheer, and honest thought;
Faithful work in patience wrought;
Honor, aeither sold, nor bought;
Flattering praises never sought.
Tender love for hearts that bleed;
Faith, in sowing precious seed.
Rightful cause, to help, and speed—
Not for fame, nor gold, nor greed.
Gilded book, nor costly fane
Are not needed, to contain—
Neither preacher—to explain,
Creed so simple, and so plain.
Hico, Texas.
—It is not unmanly to be religioue.
True manhood is always religious. For
religioD cultivates the sturdy elements
of character, prepares a man for the
efforts of everyday life, aod gives him
insight into his present relatione to the
spiritual world.—Bishop Vincent.
THE CREED QUESTION.
--
“MANY MEN OF MANY MINDS.”
[Under this caption we will publish
from time to time articles on the proposed
change in our creed. The General Con
vention of 1895, in session at Meriden,
Conn., proposed the following as a substi
tute for the Winchester Profession, and
it awaits final action of acceptance or re
jection at the Chicago session of 1897.]
The Proposed Creed.
1. We believe In the Universal Fatherhood
of God and In the Universal Brotherhood of
Mas.
1. We believe that God, who hath spoken
through all His holy prophets since the woild
began, hath spoken unto us by His 8on, Jesus
Christ, our Kxample and Saviour.
3. We believe that salvation consists In spir
itual oneness with God, who, through Christ,
will finally gather in one the whole family of
mankind.
SONE EMPHASIS.
In an article entitled “A Study in
Creeds” is found the following clos
ing words. “Would that its rejection
would end the controversy.” To
which I most heartily shout, in the
good old Methodist style, Amen;
Amen!
O! how much valuable time and
brilliant ability have been expended
in creating doubts and magnifying
differences among our ministers, and,
perhaps people, upon unimportant
matters in our Profession; and, in the
vain effort to do an impossible thing
—make an exact, definite and truth
ful statement of faith, to which no
one would object, that should have
been spent in the endeavor to con
solidate our effort for the spread of
our faith, building churches, and
elevating the human race! For
eighteen years or more, now, the very
learned and conscientious divines
have been striving for some “amend
ed” or “new and more advanced,”
“exact,” and “logical statement of
our faith, more in harmony with the
spirit of the times;” and have finally
agreed upon a mongrel, without
a Bible, any affirmation of the final
triumph of right, or any distinctly
Christian flavor. May its rejection at
the coming General Convention for
ever end this folly and wickedness.
I read in another article on this
matter of our creed, that “from re
cent articles and church papers and
speakers at conventions, there seems
to be an unnecessary warmth and
even bitterness of feeling” and urg
ing all to “keep cool, and discuss the
matter purely on its merits.” Which
good Christian advice I most earn
estly emphasize again and again!
For it requires constant caution, the
utmost calmness, and self-control to
keep cool when a person’s home is
being pulled down over his head.
And more exciting and even exas
perating than such a procedure is an
effort to misrepresent, undermine, or
destroy what a person holds most
sacred, dearer than life! But in our
day, among the cultured, advanced
thinkers, it seems to be considered
plebeian to believe any one thing
more sacred than every other in rela
tion to man and his environment. But
I wish to emphasize the fact that there
are some things almost universally
esteemed more sacred than all others;
and our religious opinions are emi
nently so. The noble, conviction
creating masters will never, can
never yield their religious faith, or its
false statement, to the decision of a
“free ballot and fair count.” And to
my mind it shows a very slight con
ception of the sacred convictions to
view such a procedure as a matter of
indifference or of small moment in re
sult.
This is said in no haat and in no
unkindness, but in all seriousness
and sincerity; for I have no purpose
to “ pose,” not being dependent upon
my popular utterances for my bread
and butter.
Let us reason.
After careful investigation I thor
oughly believe Christianity to be the
true religion as related to all others.
The Bible is its only foundation,
“The Holy Scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments contain a reve
lation of the character of God, of the
duty, interest and final destination
of mankind.” This is fundamental;
this revelation is true; truth never
changes; a single truth is an infalli
ble truth, and the Bible contains an
infallible guide in this matter. This
truth 1 accepted without elaboration,
and without the slightest mental
reservation or evasion. I have seen
no reason to waver in that acceptance.
And now, gentlemen, learned, influ
ential D.Ds.,this faith is vital to my
life; does any one suppose for a mo
ment that a vote of a convention say
ing my belief was erroneous would
change my conviction? Or cause me
to accept as a statement of my faith
one without a single word on this es
sential truth? The supposition is
preposterous! It is an easy matter
for those without serious convictions
to feel and say: “And so it would
seem that the opponents of change
had sentiment and reverence for the
fathers on their side, while the ad
vocates of change had logic, the spirit
of the age and the forward look on
their side.” But I want to emphasize
the fact that some preachers and
many people have convictions on this
subject; it may be called bigotry,
narrowness, illogical and unphilo
sophical; but it is scriptural, a con
viction, a sacred conviction intelli
gently formed, and can never be
changed by a “vote!” If all the world
should vote me wrong, I would still
stand in my convictions of right until
proven wrong. Votes do not deter
mine truth: policies and procedures
may rightfully be determined by ma
jorities; but right and truth, Never!
Thomas J. Vater.
Indianai-oms, inu.
THE SOLUTION OK THE CREED QUES
TION.
i Head at the Ministers’ reception to Kev.
Dr. F. A. Bisbee,of Philadelphia, at
Pasadena, Cal., July, 20, ’97.)
I. —The Winchester Profession of
Faith is the best modern creed in exis
tence. It has two inestimable qualities,
brevity and comprehensiveness. It is
shorter (94 words) even than the re
ceived form of the Apostles’ Cieed (115
words), and it contains more of the uni
versal element of the Christian religion.
Therefore, the UniversalUt Church has
the proud distinction of possessing the
shortest and most comprehensive creed
in Christendom. The authorship of the
Winchester Profession is not one of the
least of the proud distinctions of the
Universalist Church.
II. —This Profession of Faith stood for
nearly seventy yearssimply as a declara
tion of Principles. It was rarely used,
or even thought of as a test of fellow
ship. Ministers were examined and ad
mitted to fellowship without any al
lusion to the Profession. Societies all
over the land were organized, and adop
ted their own statement of faith, and
I doubt if one was ever rejected or dis
fellowshipped during those jears for
not adopting the Winchester Profes
sion.
Nominally, it may have been regarded
as a test of fellowship by its authors. But
in practice it was rot; for t^ey distinctly
stated when they adopted it, that every
society or association should have the
right to formulate its own statement of
principles so long as they were not con
trary to the fundamentals of the Pro
fession.
This was the usage, and under it our
church grew to great proportions. Less
than thirty years ago, the present form
of church government was adopted, and
in it the Winchester Profession was
made the basis and test of admission
into its fellowship. But it has never
been Btrictly or generally observed, es
pecially in the organization of parishes,
and it has seemed impossible to enforce
it, and little effort has been made to do
■o.
Nor has it been satisfactory as a test
of fellowship. That which stood for
seventy years unchallenged as a declar
ation of principles, has never been gen
erally used, or heartily approved during
the twenty-seven years it has stood as
a test of fellowship. And for eighteen
years of the twenty-seven, it haB been a
bone of contention. For several years
we tried to amend it, but without suc
cess. Latterly we have been trying to
adopt a new one as a substitute, with
little better resulte.
Our wisest men have wrought upon it,
and the time and strength and best
talent of our General Convention has
been given to its discussion. And the
end is not yet. When the new creed
which was adopted at Meriden in '95; is
voted down at Chicago next October, as
it is sure to be, we shall be as far from a
final solution of this vexed question as
ever.
Are we going on another eighteen
years, in the same unsatisfactory way?
Or shall we learn wisdom from the past,
and try some other solution? What
does the past teach us.?
First, That we can never have a
united chureh with the Winchester
Profession as the only and final test of
fellowship in our church.
Second, that it can never be amended
so as to make it satisfactory to all inter
ests of the denomination.
Third—that no new one can ever take
its place.
It we have learned these things, then
I can see but three ways to settle this
question and settle it right,—i. e., to the
general satisfaction of all parties.
1. We might keep the Winchester
Profession as it stands. Then leave all
parishes and churches to adopt such
particular forms of statement as would
best suit their needs, provided they do
not disagree with the fundamentals of
our faith or the Bpirit of the Winchester
Profession. Thus those who cannot
accept the Winchester Profession could
phrase their own, and so the friends and
critics of the present creed would all be
satisfied. This was the usage of our
church for the first seventy years of its
growth; and they were prosperous
years.
2. We might keep the Winchester
Profession for alt who prefer it as a
standard, and adopt a more general state
ment, free from all the objectionable
features of the Winchester Profession,
out embodying the fundamentals of our
faith in euch form as would be accepta
ble to thoee who object to the Win
cheater Frofeeeion.
3. We might adopt a short and gen
eral statement ae a test of fellowship
and keep the Winchester Frofeeeion in
tact, as a declaration of faith.
This last plan I believe is the one
recommended by the Boston ministers’
meeting after much investigation and
careful di scuseion. I am ready to adopt
this plan, or either of the three that
will remove the reproach resting upon
our church, of iiving*under and con
tinuing laws which we do not and can
not enforce, and secure greater unity,
harmony, and strength to our beloved
church. E. L. Conger.
t’ASAOKNA, Cal.
^ Universalist Thought^
^ OUB OWN WRITERS. . Jjjjji
All a Part of the Whole.
Each member of the human family is
an integer of one stupendous whole;
therefore, one member of society can
not afford to tread upon another; the
success of the whole depends upon the
success of each. The Doctor of Laws is
no better, or more essential to the wel
fare of humanity, unless he possesses
more manhood, than the peasant that
follows the plow; the one cannot live in
dependent of the other.
Let the freshet of spring flood the
meadow and strew it with debris and a
long while and much toil will be re
quired to restore it to its former beauty
and productiveness; so let failure come
to one or many in a community and a
long period is required to make repara
tion, putting affairs into prosperous op
eration. The high and the low, the
rich and the poor, the strong and the
weak, the sick and the well, mutually
depend on one another and cannot live
without co-operation.—Dr. S. H. Me
Collester.
The Gospel of DespairINot in Favor.
Taking a superficial view of the de
velopment of what we please ourselves
by calling civilization, Thomas Hobbes
easily came to the conclusion that war
is the natural condition of human so
ciety. and by parity of reasoning that
the estate of peace was artificially im
posed! A certain school of naturalists,
seeing through the microscopic lens the
conflicts in which insects devour one
another, might be tempted to echo the
philosophy of Hobbes. The fact familiar
to all that the big fish swallows the
little one is often appealed to by those
who, not seeing a deeper meaning, glide
into the theory that the course of na
ture is malignant. A survey of all the
facte, particularly of the riper issues,
leads to a higher conception of the plana
of the Creator, for the educing of good
from evil is palpable to all who look into
the trend of nature and the outcomes
of human annals. The Psalmist was
doubtless wiser than he knew for he
rose to the higher conception: "The
Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice.”
The Gospel of despair has no favor with
us in our higher moods.—Rev. Dr. Em
erson.
Obligations of Isolated Universalists.
If the large and often well-to do class
of isolated Univerealists could be awak
ened to a sense of their obligations to
do something for the faith which has
done so much for them, they could be
made a valuable auxiliary to the general
work of the church. Many of them en
joy the privileges of our denominational
schools and press and often make use of
the pastors of our parishes nearest to
them upon funeral and other special oc
casions. Yet if it were not for the Uni
verealiets who have been in the past
and are now, the supporters of cur par
ishes, we should have neither schools
nor publications worth patronizing nor
manv preachers ready to answer the
calls of the more or less isolated Unh
verealists, whose only visible connection
with our church is in their desire for
the ministrations of its faith upon fu
neral occasiona They read the publica
tions and use the schools which the toil
and self-sacrifice of others have pro
vided for them. Upon funeral and other
special occasions they send for the min
isters whom others, often at great sacri
fice, have located and supported within
calling distance. Many of these people
are in more than comfortable circum
stances and very many of them contri
bute little or nothing to the churches of
their vicinity on the plea of lack of sym
pathy with tteir doctrinal position. If
they could contribute to the general en
terprises of our church one-quarter or
even one-tenth, as much as is contri
buted by their brethren ccnnected with
our parishes, a goodly sum would thus
be added to the financial resources of
that work.—Rev. C.L. Waite.
—The city of Nuffar, the ancient Nip
pur, the ruine of which have been un
earthed by the American expedition
under the direction of Mr. Haynee, ia
spoken of by a writer in the London
Times as the oldest city in the world,
be thinks that the foundations of the
city were laid some six or seven thous
and > ears before the Christian era. Over
26,000 tablets have been recovered, some
of them written before Abraham was
born, and some of the icecribed bricks
bear th e stamp of kings who lived B. C.
i a,800.