The Universalist. [volume], August 28, 1897, Page 2, Image 2

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Ought We to Affiliate with the Unitarians?
By K. C. SWKKT8KH, I>. I>.,
Philadelphia.
IX view of the disposition which
has recently been manifested in
several quarters to associate the Uni
versalist with the Unitarian body
as by the bolding of union meetings
and joint conventions, and the ap
pointment of fraternal delegates—it
seems advisable that certain facts
should be stated in order that we
may not act in so important a mat
ter without a full understanding of
what is involved.
Unfortunately, when this subject
came up at the Y. I’. C. U. Conven
tion lately held in Detroit, no oppor
tunity was given for discussing it
except in a very brief and imperfect
manner,and the probability is that but
few of the young people who voted
upon it were aware of its full signifi
cance or its real bearing on the wel
fare of the Universalist Church. In
so far as the affirmative vote which
was taken indicated a desire on the
part of the young people to co-oper
ate with those of another denomina
tion who were supposed to hold sub
stantially the same Christian faith,
it was highly creditable to them; and
the more we all have of that spirit
the better. But while the motive
was a good one, the action, we ap
prehend, was not so, inasmuch as it
was based on a misunderstanding as
to the actual position of the Unita
rian denomination with reference to
that Christian faith for which our
own denomination has stood from
the beginning, and to which our Y.
P. C. U. is triumphantly committed
both by its title and by its motto—
“For Christ and His Church.”
For the sorry fact is that the tni
tariau denomination dees not stand
as a whole for that Christian faith. It
does not stand for faith in Christ.
Time was when it did; and even now
there are unquestionably some Uni
tarians who hold to the Biblical doc
trine which Channing proclaimed,
and which is a fundamental article
of the Universalist belief, that Jesus
of Nazareth was not merely a good
man, or a prophet, to be ranked with
those of Old Testament times, or
with such men as Mohammed and
Confucius and Buddha, but that he
was—as Simon Peter said, and as he
himself testified when on trial before
the Sanhedrim—“The Christ, the
Son of the living God.” But since
Channing’s time the Unitarians as a
body have very widely departed from
that Biblical doctrine. and those
among them who still hold to it,
comparatively few already, are be
coming fewer year by year. If the
question were whether as Universal
ists we should fraternize ecclesias
tically with that small number of
Unitarians who still avowedly stand
for faith in Christ, the problem
would be much less serious than
now. But the question cannot be so
limited. The conservative Unita
rians are a part of the whole Unita
rian body, and it is with the body as
a whole that we have to deal in set
tling the question now before us.
That the Unitarians as a whole do
not stand for faith in Curist is evi
dent from the following facts, net to
mention some others which might be
quoted.
At the meeting of the VV estern
Unitarian Conference, in 1886, after
an earnest and prolonged discussion,
it was voted by more than a three
fourths majority to adopt a purely
ethical basis of fellowship, leaving out
all reference to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and admitting to full membership
any person of good moral character
who sympathized with the ethical
aim of the Conference. Under that
action, any person of ordinarily good
moral character, though confessedly
unchristian or atheistic in doctrine,
can be a member of the Western Uni
tarian Conference. The dissenting
minority withdrew from the confer
ence because of that action, but
neither their protest nor their revolt
had any power to arrest the so-called
liberal movement which the vote of
the majority represented. On the
contrary, that movement steadily
gained in power, and in 1894—only
three years ago—this is not ancient
history—the debate was renewed at
the Unitarian National Conference,
held in Saratoga, and there too, the
radical element, which is opposed to
a recognition of Christ, gained the
victory. The constitution was so
changed as to leave out all mention
of the Christhood of Jesus, and the
only statement of faith which it now
contains is as follows: “These
churches accept the religion of Jesus,
holding in accordance with his teach
ing, that practical religion is summed
up in love to God and love to man.”
It is further said that even this state
ment of belief is not to be regarded
as an authoritative test, but that the
fellowship of the Conference is open
to all people, of whatever belief, who
are in general sympathy with its
spirit and aims.
Taken by itself, apart from its is
tory,such a statementof belief would
not prove that the body which
adopted it was non-Christian; but
taken in its relation to the former
constitution, and in the light of the
discussion which preceeded its adop
tion, it is seen to represent a victory
for the non-Christian element, being
more significant in itsomissions than
in its positive declarations.
That this is not an erroneous nor
a prejudiced view of it may be shown
from the comments of Unitarian ob
servers, some of whom were members
of the Saratoga Conference. Rev.
A. J. Rich, for example, in an article
which he wrote for “The Non-Secta
riau’ shortly after the conference ad
journed, made use of this language
in regard to the new- statement: “ I
need hardly say that this is a great
improvement on the old wording,
which savored very much of evan
gelical phraseology, such as ‘The
Lord Jesus Christ,' and like expres
sions. * * * It meant a step in
advance; it meant the results of the
study of comparative religion; it
meant the Parliament of Religions in
Chicago, and that we have fully
learned that Religion is one, and is
the mother of all religions and sects,
and that, as Pacific, Indian, Atlantic,
as applied to the one ocean, are parts
of one great whole, so Christian and
Mohamedan, and Hebrew, and Budd
histic are parts of one religion of
humanity, the universal religion. It
meant that religion, like astronomy
under Galileo, has become scientific;
that as astronomy is heliocentric, and
not geocentric, so religion is theocen
tric and not Christocentric; for we
have struck oat the terms of religious
provincialism in the cinstitution.
In January, 1894, “Unity,” the
leading organ of Unitarianism in the
western part of the country, said,
in an editorial article: “As to the
charge that Unitarians are un-Chris
tian in faith, we think it true of very
many Unitarians, and we should have
no objection to finding it so of all.”
So, too, if we look to other coun
tries where Unitarians have a foot
hold. In England, no longer ago
than last year, Rev. E. A. Voysey,
(formerly, we believe, of the Church
of England), applied for Unitarian
fellowship, distinctly stating to the
Unitarian Advisory Committee, which
corresponds to a Uuiversalist com
mittee of Fellowship, that he was
not a Christian, and was not willing
to be called so, inasmuch as he did
not believe “ either that Jesus was
God, or that he was a mas with in
fallible divine power to proclaim
absolute truth about God” or that he
was the best, and therefore the only
example which men ought to follow.’
He based his application for Uni
tarian fellowship on his explicitly
stated understanding that the Uni
tarian denomination was not speci
fically Christian; and the committee
granted it, recommending him as a
qualified minister to the Unitarian
churches. In an editorial comment
on this incident “ The Outlook” said
in its issue of Oct. 10, 1896:
“The whole affair significantly
illustrates what American Unitarians
of the most pronounced liberalism,
like Dr. Minot J. Savage and the Rev
Joseph May, have felt themselves
bound to protest against as ‘the un
dervaluation of Jesu9’ in the Unitar
ian churches!”
In Japan, the same “undervalua
tion of Jesus” is shown in connection
with the Unitarian Mission. A few
years ago our own missionaries in
that country were in favor of forming
some sort of a union with the Unitar
ian Mission, but today they are op
posed to it, being better acquainted
with the non-Christian character of
the Unitarian movement. Dr. Perin,
since his return, has expressed his
change of opinion in regard to that
matter; and Mr. Cate has said, in
The Universalist of June 8, 1895:
"We thought the Unitarian Mission,
while supporting a school not die
tinctively Christian, claimed to be
itself distinctively Christian. We
have discovered, however, that we
were mistaken in this view. From a
a letter written to Mr. Xakanishi by
Mr. MacCauley, and published in the
“Shukyo,” we learn not only that the
Unitarian Mission in Japan does not
claim to he distinctively Christian,
but also that Unitarianism by its
very principles cannot justly claim to
be Christian * * "“Moreover, we
are given the startling information
that although Unitarianism has its
source within Christianity it has out
grown and passed beyond Christian
ity. It is something better and
greater than Christianity or Budd
hism or any of the historic relig
ions.”
In the same article Mr. Cate well
says: "Our readers ought to be able
to infer from the above remarks that
Universalism does not stand in the
same relation to Christianity and
other religions as Unitarianism. We
believe Universalism is true Chris
tianity. It is distinctively Christian.
* * * We do not believe in low
ering the standard of Christianity,
but rather we believe in bringing hu
manity up to its standard. Until we
have received a revelation more au
thoritative than the Unitarian revela
tion we shall cling to this belief.”
Our church in this country may
well take to itself the lesson which
our Mission in Japan has thus
learned. Otherwise it will certainly
suffer from Unitarian influence. Rev.
Mr. Sunderland said at Detroit that
the Unitarians and the Universalists
have the same gospel, and from that
premise he reasoned to the conclu
sion that the two denominations
ought to hold union meetings. If
his premise were true, (01 that it
were! O, that their rock were even as
our rock!) his conclusion might fol
low; but how can it be sustained in
the face of such facts as are here
set forth ?
Certain it is that the Unitarian de
nomination is rapidly losing the po
sition which it formerly held as one
of the leading forces in the religious
life of this country. Its decline may
be dated from the time when it ex
changed Dr. Channing’s Unitarian
i8tn for that of Theodore Parker and
his still more ultra successors; and
unless it shall face about, as does
not seem at all likely, the way in
which it is now going will soon end
in its death.
It it perhaps not to be wondered at
that some of the more conservative
Unitarian people should wish to form
a union between their denomination,
of whose sickness they are conscious,
and ours, whose growing vigor is at
tracting their notice. They may hope
that, by means of such a union, their
own denomination will receive a
transfusion of our denominational
blood and be saved. There is no
likelihood, however, that such a hope
would be realized, and for us the
risk of such an experiment is alto
gether too great. Our only safe course
is to hold aloef from that body so far
as ecclesiastical fellowship is con
cerned, lest the infection of its for
tunes take like hold on us. Already
our denominational growth has been
hindered by the belief, somewhat
prevalent, that Universalism and
Unitarianism are substantially identi
cal, thousands of people who sympa
thize with our belief in the salvation
of all men being prevented from join
ing us, or from granting us their fel
lowship, by what they suppose to be
our denial of the Lordship of Christ.
Some of them, no doubt, would re
gard anything less than a belief in
the Trinity as sufficient ground for
ecclesiastical ostracism, but multi
tudes of them would be strongly
drawn to us if they were persuaded
of our belief in the Christhood of
Jesus according to the plain teaching
of the New Testament Scriptures.
We never can win them, or make a
great many converts from any quar
ter whatever, as long as it is com
monly supposed that we do not thus
believe in Christ. To fraternize with
Unitarians in the manuer which
some have proposed would be to con
firm people in that opinion concern
ing us. It would give color to their
suspicion that we are not distinctive
ly Christian. Birds of a feather nock
together, and if we would not be
suspected of a lack of Christianity it
behooves us to be careful as to the
company which we keep. If we are to
prosper as a Christian church we
must let our Christianity be apparent
to all men, not allowing ourselves to
be led astray by a mistaken idea of
liberality or a fal-e notion in regard
jo progress. True liberality does
not consist in surrendering one’s
principles or in subjecting them to
misunderstanding, nor can any pro
gress be made by a Christian church
unless it adheres strictly to the lines
of the Gospel. A locomotive off the
track is not more impotent to make
real progress than a nominally Chris
tian church which does not hold fast
to the Gospel of Christ. The more
progress the better, on the track
which the Saviour himself has laid
down for us.
“For Christ and His Church" is a
glorious motto. If we are faithful to
it nothing can prevent our prosperity.
Let us resist all enticements to com
promise our fidelity, as Nehemiah re
jected the proffered assistance of
non-Israelite people in rebuilding
Jerusalem, and refused the invitation
of their principal men that he should
go down from the mountain and
hold a conference with them. To all
such propositions from any people
so ever who do not occupy an un
equivocally Christian position, let
our church say, as he said, “I am do
ing a great work and I cannot come
down."
1’HIl.APBLi'HlA. Pa.
—“The Boston Transcript'' recalls a
story of Edwin Forrest daring one of his
Boston engagements. A poor artist called
several times to see him at the old Win
throp House. Each time be brought a
picture which he had painted; he finally
left it with a note stating that he was in
needy circumstances. Forrest read the
note, and took the wrapping from the pic
ture. It proved to bit a painting of him
self as Spartacus. Forrest gazed upon
it a moment, and then ejaculated to the
clerk: “Give him #10. If he is as poor as
his picture he must be on the point of
starvation!”
HIGHER USES OF THE IMAGINA
TION.
BY MARION D SHUTTER, D.D.
II.
What is the office of Imagina
tion in Religion?
The answer to this question is in
volved in what has already been
said; but there is something yet to
add. This divining and picturing
faculty of the soul is the most impor
tant factor and instrument in our
moral education. No progress is pos
sible without its help. We do not
walk, let me repeat, we do not walk
by sight, but by faith. We are not
shaped and molded so much by the
seen as by the unseen.
1. The Imagination is indispensa
ble in forming ideals of life.
In order to progress one must con
stantly see before him something he
has not achieved. The imagination
opens his eyes to the possibilities of
life. He beholds, by its aid, fairer
lands than any of which he has yet
taken possession. There are green
grasses, waving flowers, sparkling
waters—the whole bright realm of a
better life. The things of religion
are not appreciable by the senses.
Thev are not discovered by the sight
of the eye or the touch of the hand.
Salvation, or character, newness of
life, righteousness, justice, purity,
hope—these are not creatures of mat
ter or images of clay. They can not
be seen with the natural vision They
are the mightiest things in the uni
verse, but we can not weigh and
measure them. They are realities
most tremendous. They are stronger
than tornado or volcanic outburst.
But they are spiritually discerned.
The soul is drawn towards them by
the idealizing faculty which per
ceives in them something higher
than the old life has held—some
greater moral beauty to be attained,
some loftier peak of courage and
strength to be scaled.
2. The imagination penetrates be
yond the risible earth and heavens,
and beholds bark of these “the great
white throne, and him who sits upon
it."
To the imagination, the material
universe is but a manifestation of
something we do not see, some mys
terious power that operates through
it. “All men believe in God,” says a
French philosopher, “unless you
undertake to prove his existence.”
“When we try to bring God within
scientific formularies, he vanishes.
He cannot be confined by them. He
breaks through all definitions, as
Samson breaks the green withe3 of
the Philistines. It is only as we
give the wings of imagination to our
souls, that thev rise above human
limitations and repose in the bosom
of the Eternal.
3. The. Imagination is necessary to
bring us into sympathy with, our
fellow men.
W’e cannot judge others truly un
less we can put ourselves in their
places, understand the way in which
they have come to be what they are,
and appreciate their circumstances.
There is one of the Dreams of
Olive Schreiner which illustrates this;
An angel came down and led a man
whose heart was bitter against hiB
neighbor to a certain spot. They
looked upon the soul of that neigh
bor. They saw its past, its childhood,
the tiny life with the dew upon it; they
saw its youth when the dew was melt
ing, and the creature raised its tired
mouth to drink from a cup too large
for it, and they saw how the water
spilt; they saw its hopes that were
never realized; they saw its hours of
intellectual blindness, men call sin,
they saw its hours of all-radiating
insight, which men call righteous
ness; they saw its hours of strength
when it leaped to its feet crying, “I
am omnipotent;” its hour of weak
ness when it fell to the earth and
grasped dust only. Tne angel asked,
“Who is it?” The man answered,
“lt^is I myself!” Again the angel
bade the man look, and he saw with
in his neighbor the stirring of a
strange and beautiful life; and the
man bowed his head and whispered,
“It is God!” The angel covered the
man’s eyes, aad when he uncovered
them, there was one walking from
them a little way off,—for the angel
had re-clothed the soul in its outward
form and vesture. “Do you know
him?” “I know him!” And the angel
said, “Have you forgiven him?” The
man could only exclaim, “How beau
tiful my brother is!” The angel
looked into the man’s eyes, and he
shaded his own face with his wing
from the light. He laughed softly
and went up to God. His mission
was ended. But the two men were
together upon the earth. It needs
but a glimpse of the soul to reconcile
the world’s differences.
4. The Imagination is indispen
sible in interpreting the Bible, the
great literature of religion.
How much of that book it is utter
ly impossible to interpret by the let
ter! The great mistake of thousands
has been the endeavor to make prose
out of poetry and mathematical pro
positions out of the language of
emotion.
(1.) The anonymous epistle to the
Hebrews affords some notable exam
pleB of the use of imagination to con
vey a practical lesson.
The writer is exhorting to Chris
tian perseverance and fidelity. His
figure is drawn from the games of
the amphitheater. Press forward, be
in earnest, a noble goal is before
you. You are running a race, and
multitudes of spectators watch the
contest. By a few strokes of his
magic wand, he makes the past of
the nation live. Abel is summoned
from his sacrifice under the ruined
walls of Eden; Abraham from his
journey toward the land of promise;
Moses who “endured as seeing him
who is invisible,” from the courts of
Pharaoh; Gideon, Barak, Samson,
Jephtha, David, Samuel, and the
prophets: all who “through faith
subdued kingdoms, wrought righte
ousness, obtained promises, stopped
the mouth of lions, quenched the
power of fire, escaped the edge of
the sword, from weakness were made
strong, waxed mighty in war, put to
flight the armies of the aliens.” Not
only are the heroes of the nation
summoned; but the children of mis
fortune also, who endured thro’
faith—“who had trial of cruel mock
ings and scourgings; yea, moreover,
of bonds and imprisonment,”—these
are all made to live again. They
crowd the sides of the amphitheater.
They look down upon those who are
today put to the test. They watch
the bearing of the new generation.
They lament the failure and rejoice
in the triumph. This, O, my brethren,
—the poet of the epistle seems to
say,—this is our inspiration. They
are the spectators around the arena,
—those who strove and ran of
old. The eyes of the past are upon
us. Let us do nobly and not put to
shame our ancestral hosts. “Where
fore, let us also, seeing we are en
compassed about with so great a
cloud of witnesses, lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before
us, looking unto Jesus, the author
and perfection of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before him, en
dured the cross, despising the shame;
and hath sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God.”
(2) In the closing part of the
first epistle attributed to Peter, the
author rises into true poetic feeling,
gives wings to his imagination, in
what we shall call “The Song of
Trust.” It is addressed to those who
labor, but who sometimes grow
weary in their work.
He points them to the crown of
victory that shines in the heavens,
and to Him who sits above the hea
vens, yet cares for the weary and
discouraged on earth.
“Tend the flock of God which is
among you.” Go on with your work.
“And when the chief Shepherd shall
be manifested, ye shall receive the
crown of glory that fadeth not away.”
And this is the spirit in which you
shall work. “All of you, gird your
selves with humility, to serve one an
other; for God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under
the mighty hand of God, that he may
exalt you in due time; casting all
your anxiety upon him, because he
careth for you.” But you will need
vigilance and courage, as well as hu
mility. “Besober,be watchful; your
adversary, the devil, as a roaring
lion walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour; whom withstand, stead
fast in the faith.” And what is the
outcome of it all to be? What]is to be
the result of patience, and faith, and
struggle against adversaries? “The
God of all grace, who called you with
his eternal glory in Christ, after that
ye have suffered a little while, shall
himself perfect, stablish, strengthen
you. To him be the dominion forever
and ever!”
(3.) In the second epistle, there is
a noble vision of the outcome of hu
man history.
The rank injustice that is practiced,
the blood that the sword of ambition
has caused to flow, the tears that
have rolled down the face of sorrow,
cry out: “How long, 0 Lord, how
long?”
The poet begins the answer in a
gentle strain; “Forget not this one
thing, beloved; that one day is with
the Lord as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day. The
Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as some men count slackness,
but is long-suffering to youward, not
wishing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance.”
Now he rises to a more impassioned
strain: “But the day of the Lord will
come, as k thief; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great
heat, and the earth and all the works
that are therein shall be burned up.”
Iniquity Bhall not flourish forever;
its doom is certain. But over the
ruins of the old, whatt The imagin
ation of the writer now rises supreme.
“According to his promise, we look
for a new heaven and a new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
Over the old earth, scarred by battle,
stained with blood, drenched with
tears, defiled by sin, rises a new
heaven and a new earth where right
eousness dwells, where love is on the
throne!
(5.) Finally, imagination takes the
things of the present and builds up
on them and out of them, the struct
ure of the future.
Mr. Beecher has imagined an Es
quimaux striving to obtain some idea
of the tropics from the missionary's
description. “What has he to form
an idea from, but the moss and
stunted shrubs, that scarcely grow
higher than his foot, and the flowerB
that blossom in the midst of northern
glaciers? Would he form a concep
tion of the brilliant fruits of the trop
ics? He has to grub the ground for
berries which are all the frigid zone
knows. And from the creeping vine
of the wintefgreen berry, and from
the huckleberry and such like things,
he has to form his idea of those mag
nificent parasitic plants which fill the
tropical forests. These little berries
are his oranges, and bananas, and
pine-apples. He attempts, shivering
in the mid-summer sun under the
ice berg, to form a conception of the
everlasting pomp and glory of the
equatorial regions; and when he has
formed his conception of it, he cheers
himself and sighs and wishes he
could see it. Oh, it is so beautiful
to his imagination. But what does
he know of it? What is an Esqui
maux s idea of equatorial pomp and
glory? The reality transcends un
speakably any conception he can
form of it!’'
So the imagination which is not de
ceptive in the other spheres, let us be
well assured will not deceive us here.
The reality will not fall below that
which is pictured. In the life which
is to come, as in this life, as experi
ence follows with slower pace in the
flying footsteps of the ideal, it finds
the lifeof righteousness more blessed
than the brightest colors ever made
it. The peace of God passes all un
derstanding; the kingdom of God is
joy and peace. Those who have
crossed the silent sea find, without
doubt, the same life of righteousness
expanding into delights and rapture*
unknown to us here. For here, noble
as it is, we have but the stunted
shrubs and frosted berries of the Es
quimaux; but there the soul’s life
will unfold into equatorial pomp and
splendor. Our imagination does not,
will not, deceive us. Bring from all
directions, — whatever we may of
beauty, of grace, of art, of sentiment,
of music—to adorn the mansions in
our bathers house. Bring every
scriptural image of golden pave
ments, pearly gates, waving forest,
opening blossom. Take all these im
ages represented to us. Put into that
life all the treasures of love, the de
lights of home, the bliss of friend
ship, the ardor of devotion. Let the
wise master-builder of the soul, the
imagination, construct from these
rich and glowing materials, the pict
ure of the future life and state of the
spirit; and we may be well assured
that the reality will not disappoint
us, but will be as far in advance of
our picture as the tropics are in ad
vance of the Esquimaux's fancy!
There are voices from that unseen
sphere that break through every
tempest of life and send their mess
age of cheer across the crests of every
storm. When worn and weary with
our burdens and cares, while sitting
solitary at the gates of the sepulcher,
we hear a great voice out of heaven,
saying unto us: “Behold the taber
nacle of God is with men; and he
will dwell with them, and they shall
be his people, and God himself shall
be with them and be their God. And
God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no
more death; neither sorrow nor cry
ing; neither shall there be any more
pain; for the former things are
passed away!”
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publication in connection with the Lon
don publishers, of a new and important
work, "Women Novelists of Queen Vic
toria's Reign, a book of appreciations by
Mrs. Oliphant, Mrs. Lynn Linton, Mrs.
Alexander, Mrs. Maquoid, Mrs. Parr,
Mrs. Marshall, Charlotte M. Yonge,
Adeline Sergeant, and EdnaLyall. They
also announce the publication in about
a fortnight of “Lady Hamilton and
Lord Nelson,” an historical biography
based on letters and other documents in
the Morrison collection by John Cordy
Jefferson author of "The Real Lord
Byron.”
The Century Co. are soon to publish
"An Artist’s Letters from Japan,” by
John La Farge. The volume will be
fully illustrated, and promises to be a
valuable addition to our knowledge of
artistic Japan. The Hoa. James Bryce's
"Impressions of South Africa,” some
chapters of which have already been
printed in the "Century," will be soon
published. The book has been re
written and made strictly up to-date.
—Canon Knox-Little told a good story
once at a church congress. He said he
remembered a lych-gate in front of a
beautiful church, which had been restored
and made very nice. There was painted
over the door, “This is the Gate of Heav
en," and underneath was the large notice,
“Go round the other way.”
—Professor William Thierry Preyer,
who died in Wiesbaden recently, was one
of the best-known physiologists in Ger
many. He was a native of England, but
became a “privat docent” in 18(55 at Bonn.
One of his most widely read books is “The
Soul of the Child.” He was one of the
most ardent advocates of Darwinism in
Germany.
—The gentleman who made the presen
tations to Lafayette at his public recep
tion in Concord, N. H.. could not remem
ber the name of a tailor whom he had
employed. And when the surprised man
said, “I made your breeches,” introduced
him to Lafayette as Major Breeches.
“Ah ! delighted to see you,” said Lafay
ette. — “delighted to see you, Major
Breeches.”
—The Countess Miranda, better known
as Christine Niisson, lias just made a trip
to Sweden, her native country, where
she visited the exposition at Stockholm.
Her visit was a constant succession of the
proofs of public admiration, and crowds
of people waited in the street for her to
pass. She sang only once, at Upsala, the
old university city, where the students
came to serenade her.
—Pestered beyond all endurance by the
numerous foreian visitors from every
quarter of the globe, Bmperor Menelek
has now made known that no one will be
allowed to enter or travel in Abyssinia,
unless intrusted with some official mission
bv his Government to the Court of the
Negus, or else provided with a permit by
the latter, which will only be granted in
cases where the traveller is properly
indorsed and warmly recommended by
the recognized executive of his native
country.
General Baratieri. the Italian com
mander, who has until now borne the
odium of the terrib'edefeat and annihila
tion of his army at Aboucarina, is on the
eve of publishing a book full of fac-simile
letters of Crispi and of confidential dis
patches, destined to show that it is the
ex-Premier who was mainly responsible
for the disaster. The General adds that
he would have remained silent had not
Crispi. formerly his most intimate friend,
gone out of his way during the last few
mouths to assail him on every possible oc
casion, both in speech and in print.
—The new Minister to Korea, H. N.
Allen, was the first missionary ever sent
to that country, and was there during the
first Korean war. At that time, when the
King and Queen with a number of guests
were at a banquet, an attack was made
on them by the Japanese and a large num
ber of the guests were massacred. The
Queen’s nephew was badly hurt and his
life was despaired of. The King sent for
Allen, who saved the boy’s life, and from
that day to this he has had the greatest
influence at court. Mr. Allen was ap
pointed during President Harrison’s Ad
ministration as Secretary cf the United
States Legation in Korea, which position
he has held up to the present time.
—Gen. Horace Porter in the current
number of the Century gives this inter
esting glimpse of Alexander H. Stevens
as he appeared in 1865 Mr. Stevens was
wrapped from his eyes to his heels in a
coarse gray overcoat about three sizes
too large for him, with a collar so high
that it threatened to lift his hat off every
time he leaned his head back. This coat,
together with his complexion, which was
as yellow as a ripe ear of corn, gave rise
to a characterization of the costume by
Mr. Lincoln which was very amusing.
The next time he saw General Grant at
City Point, after the “Peace Conference
he said to him in speaking on the subject,
“Did you see Stevens’ greatcoat?” “Oh,
yes," answered the general. “Well.”
continued Mr. Liucoln, “soon after we
assembled on the steamer at Hampton
Roads, the cabin began to get pretty
warm, and Stevens stood up and pulled off
his big coat. He peeled it off just about
as you would husk an ear of cern. I
couldn't help thinking, as I looked first
at the coat and then at the man, ‘Well,
that’s the biggest shuck and the littlest
nubbin I ever did see,’ ’*
—The author of “Bismarck’s Table
Talk’’ says that some one was speaking
to Bismarck one day about his unusual
attainments as a linguist. The Prirce,
who is specially proud of his knowledge
of the Russian language, spoke of the
great difficulties of mastering that ton
gue. “You must have great talent in
that direction,” said his interlocutor.
“Well,” answered the Prince, “I had
unusual advantages when I was learning
the language at St. Petersburg. I lodged
in the house with a Russian and a bear.”
Bismarck, who had worn himself out in
the service of Germany and his Emperor,
rarely referred to his labors for the
fatherland. One morning he and the
Emperor William were riding together in
the park. They had not gone far when
Bismarck complained of fatigue. The
Emperor, who was quite fresh said, some
what testily: “How is it that, though I
am an older man than yourself, Prince, I
can always outride you?” Bismarck’s
reply was as reproachful as it was epi
grammatic. "Ah, sire,” he said, “the
rider always outlasts the horse. ”
Renan had a great contempt for mere
words, however eloquent. One evening
he met at a sort of literary dinner, M.
Caro, the philosopher, beloved of tine la
dies, who set himself to disprove the ex
istence of God. His eloquent assertions
did not seem to interest the rage. In
the middle of one of his most sonorous
periods M. Renan attempted to make
himself heard.
But all the ladies were intensely in
terested; they would not have their
pleasures spoiled.
“ In a moment, M. Renan, we will lis
ten to you in your turn.”
He bowed submissively.
Toward the end of the dinner M, Caro,
out of breath, stopped with a rhetori
cal emphasis. At once every one turned
towards the illustrious scholar, hoping
that he would enter the lists, and the
hostess, with an encouraging smile,
said:
“Now, M Renan—”
“ I am afraid, dear lady, that I am
now a little behindhand.”
“No, no!”
” I wanted to ask for a little more
potato.”—Anon.