The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-07 00:00:00

THE PILGRIM FATHERS.

The occurrence this year of the two hundred and fiftieth
anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims is to be made
by the Congregationalists the occasion of a general reor-
ganisation of their forces. It is their jubilee year, and is
to be celebrated in a variety of ways. Primarily, there
will be a vigorous and united effort to strengthen the de-
nomination, by collecting its scattered forces, by healing
old wounds, and cancelling old enmities in the body
ecclesiastic, by removing unfriendly obstacles wherever
they exist, and by a large pecuniary contribution to aid
the work of spreading its doctrines. The observance of
the year is also to be a tribute to the virtues of the
Puritans. Congregationalism will sit at the foot of
Plymouth monument and draw fresh lessons of
zeal and courage from the spirits of those whom it com-
memorates. And it will endeavour to renew in the minds
of all men that reverence for the Pilgrim Fathers which
is such an essential pillar of its own structure. Finally,
it is proposed by this denomination to fix upon a centre—
or to use a military term, headquarters—for purposes of
convenience. This centre is to be the location of a sort
of executive office of the sect, and it is there that the
archives and all official documents are to kept. This pro-
position has, as we understand, no theological significance.
The general office will not be rejarded in any sense as the
supreme council of the organization, but as a common
depository for its papers and publications. This
explanation may quiet the apprehensions of
timorous persons, that the proposed central ' office
will be a sort of Congregational Vatican, and that some
unsuspected doctor of divinity will crop out into a perfect
pope, infallibility and all. These are the outlines of the
proposed commemoration. It takes the form of three
specific measures. The first is the raising of three million
dollars in aid of the theological seminaries of the denomi-
nation. The sum is to be raised by private subscription,
by church offerings, by Sunday school collections, or in
any way that is proper and profitable. The second mea-
sure is the liquidation of church and parish debts. This
is recommended not only as a measure of relief
to those churches which are oppressed by their
pecuniary liabilities, but indirectly as a means
of strengthening the denomination at large. The
third contribution of the jubilee year will be for the pur-
dose of building the "congregational house" in Boston—
the central depository of which we have spoken. The
"Jubilee Executive Committee " have prepared a sub-
scription book, and recommend that every church procure
one for the entry of its own subscriptions, and those of its
members. Each- donor will be allowed to direct to which
one of the three objects his gift shall be applied. The in-
ception of the " Jubilee " is due to the Church of the Pil-
grims at Plymouth. In response to its call a convention
assembled at New York early in March and drew up
the plan which we have just described. An executive
committee was appointed to have general superintendence
of the arrangements, and Reverend R. S. Stoors, jun., of
Brooklyn, was requested to deliver an address at a com-
memorative meeting to be held either at Boston or at
Plymouth, on the 21st day of December. The Pilgrim
Memorial Convention at Chicago, the last of April, ratified
this general plan, and added some unimportant details and
suggestions. It will be seen that the commemoration
promises to be worthy of the Puritan Fathers and of the
powerful sect which looks upon their memory as its
special inheritance.—Boston Advertiser.