The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-07-07
PAN-PRESBYTERIAN.
The Great Church Council Assem-.
bIed at Edinburgh.

PAN-PRESBYTER
The Great Church Council Assem-
bIed at Edinburgh.
From cablegram to the New York
Herald, from Edinburgh, dated July 9TH
concerning the great church council rs
sembled in that historic city, the follow
ing interesting extracts are taken:
As far as weather went, u better day
could not be granted IN this land of mist
and passing cloud Never dld the old
city lock better. BliLhe SUI shine gilded
the commanding emlnences and Int up
the grassy slopes between the ridges that
give the capital OF Scotland its uphill
and down-hiil character.
THE DELEGATES IN TOWN.
Many OF the three hundred delegates
arrived At the end OF last week and pass
ed tne time before the meeting OF the
Council in visiting the places of heroic
interest which abound in the old towL
and In admlring the beauties OF the new.
To many, of course it was simply II re-
newal of early love, for Edin burgh Is al.
most as dear to the Presbyterian as
Geneva. Indeed, It's interest Is
more direct, rs the bold sledge-
hammer polemics OF John Knox are
more vIvldly present TO him than the
more subtle work Of Calvin. Hence,
after the well known quietude OF the
Scotch Sabbath, many u Presbyterian
pilgrim wehded his way TO the old
house of John Knox, in High street,
with its quaint inscription above the
door, "Lule GOd abut all, and ye nyCht.
bour as ylselt" So you see Presbyterian
ism has its shrines and MecCss, tor oil its
iconoc!asm in the times when its faith
was no with its fOrcIble rupture from
the oliyT creed.
A WARM RECEPTION.
The municipal government and, in.
ICED, all the townspeople, are keene.y
alive to the significance OF this great
Protestant Council being held in their
midst. All the public Institutions libra.
ries, colleges and monuments have been
thrown open. The msjority OF the yisi-
tors are lodged in the splendid streets OF
the new town but they may be met al
over the ci Y, wandering about led by
old residents, or, guide book in hand
now inspecting Mons Meg, the great
cannon or the crown jewels at the Cas-
tie or pOking in and out under the lofty
old houses among the closes and wynds
ot what is still fairly described Ms "Auld
K ekle."
THE ORGANIZATION.
The Committee of Arrangements hsv-
ing previously decided with happy tact
that the two great bodies Of the Presby-
terian Church IN the United States,
North and South. should be represented
IN the officers of the first meeting oflhe
Council, appointed the Rev. Howard
Crosby, d. D.. Chancellor OF the Uni-
vcrsI,y OF New York, and DR.. Stuart
Robinson, OF Louisville, KY, to preside as
Moderators.
FREE CHURCH AND ESTABLISHED.
The subsequent sessions of the Coun-
ell will be Moderated by the Rev. DR..
Goold. of the Free Church, and the Rev
DR.. Phinn, of the Established Presby-
terian Churcn of Scotland. The repre-
sentatives OF the oldest and the Youngest
bodies OF PresbyterlsnIsm will thus sit
side by side AS brethren and friends. 1t
Is now iOrty-four years ago since the
Free Church parted from the Establish
ment on the question ot State interference
in religious matters, and this Is the first
effort ut atiihation or union made since
thst time.
OTHER BODIES HoEoRED.
The other churches represented in the
Moderatorship Of the Council are the Re-
formed Dutch Church OF America, by the
Rev. DR.. Ormiston, of New York; the
l. nited Reformed Synod of France, by
Pastor Fi.ch, of Paris, VINO will be re-
membered - y delegate o:h Evangelical
Alliance. which met in New \ ork in 1873
HISTORIC EDIFICg.
In the hear. OF the old town on high
street stands n venerable tane OF lrreGu.
Isr and remarkable exterior. The old
Gothic work upon /, h4' been touched
Inktnd'v by hand o. time aud the hand
ID. man. but its square :ower, surmounted
bv arches which unite IL the centre and
support spire that rises one hundred
and sixty feet into the sIr, is wei! known
10 those who have followed IN the foot
steps OF ,John Knox. This is the Cathedral
-. Giles. named after Edinburgh's
tutelsry saint at the time when saints
counted for something even in Scotland.
How long ago II WAS erected no one
Knows Tradition says that .or thou
sand years the spot has been sacred To
Christlan worship. but the earliest
knowH reference to the Cathedral Is IN
1850. when good King David IL. reiGr-
Ell. \ century later 1t l. spoken OF ~ =
rollesiste church with forty sltsrs, and
with its nave over two hundred feet long,
must have been shrine where religious
awe might well have been inspired.
A SIMPLE SLAB.
1t witnessed msny historic scenes, but
f Won pass round the church to Parlis-
nent Square, where the equestrian
statue OF Charles 1. stands in rich cosl-
psrison, you may have slab pointed
mt to YOU in the pavement with the let
ers j. X. upon it. This Is where AL
bs. js mortal OF John Knox, the great
.eformer, lies waiting for the last trump
% sound, and where be was laid to rest
.tter y life "a stormy IS st. Pau! the
4 postle's, IN November, 1872.
THE CHURCH OF KNOX.
You now get 8 clue TO the reason why
he Presbyterian leaders CHOSE st. Giles
or the first meeting OF the Council,