The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-10-05
GENERAL ITEMS.

Services expressive of respect to the memory
of the deceased President were held in the chapel
OF Hampdeu Sidney College on Thursday morn
ing the 22d ult.. at IL AM. A most appropriate
invocation and prayer was made by Rev. DR.
Peck, of Union Theological Seminary. and an
address was delivered by Rev. DIR. Dabney AT.
ter Introductory remarks suitable to the occa.
sion, the Doctor spoke
1. OF the exceeding wickedness of the crime
OF assassination. and of the loathing and con-
domination it ought universally to receive.
2. Ofthe sympathy that should flow from all
hearts and from men of all political creeds for
the bereaved family
3. OF the Righteousness of resistance to that
kind OF political recklessness that deals in un-
measured abuse of the opposite party, and
showed that there was but step between the
effort to destroy reputation and the effort to
destroy life itself-that indulgence in the first as
exhibited in our present mode of political warfare
will lead to the other.
Again, he spoke of the absolute necessity of
the purlhcation of our political policy the
necessity of moderation the elimination of mere
partisan modes of political warfare.
The tenure of Office system; as now practiced
was referred to- He gave the origin and his
tory of the doctrine that to the victor belong
the spoils, and characterized it as malignant
ana atroclous. 1t met with severest condemna.
ton. Civil service reform" was alluded to as
practiced under the English Government and as
1t ought to be in our own. And the speaker
concluded that unless such reform was adopted
not simply in theory, but as matter of settled
policy and practice-we must perish The
discourse was eminently practical and instruc-
tive
The Presbytery of Wooster some years
ago struck from Its rolls the name of the Rev. A.
w. AIcott for the avowal of his rejection of some
OF the doctrines of the Confession of Faith He
went w ,bo., 1.
formed Cumberland Presbyterian church at
fredericksburg Ohio. But Mr.. Alcott has made
another advance; and is now in full sympathv
with what Is known as Free Religion" and
denies the Inspiration of the Scriptures and
other truths. The Cumberland Presbyterians
are awaking to the fact that he is assailing
doctrines which they hold tenaciously. and the
Presbytery of Wooster is fully justified in its
Judgment by the subsequent career of Mr.. Alcott
-UNBELIEF IN THE XVIII CENTURY.
The reflections" with which DIR. Cairns con
cluues MS book on the above topic are es-
peclally worthy of the attention of the Chris
tians OF this generation. He maintains that
However lamentable in their own case, and
injurious to others, the reasonings of unbelievers
have not hindered on large scale the progress
OF Christianity: They have often been the
means OF arouslng attention and of arrestine
declension. They have shamed into renento
needed such rough surgery and the wound
wnlch mas cleared the system has been turned
into a blessing Always the church has suffered
more from the Inconsistencies OF its friends than
the menaces and violences of its adversaries and
the apologlst has been less needed than the
preacher OF righteousness. Christianity has not
been saved to us In Britain mainly bv the ar
guments of Butler and Sherlock but bv the
SLOW yet sure revival that began to spread over
the whole English speaking world nor was
Germany rescued from ratlonalism, in so far az
1T has been, merely by professors and theolo-
grams meeting negative criticism, but by the re-
turn of visible Christianity. and bv the caIIino
forth of prayer which has power with Cod
Here as everywhere, faith has brought vic
tory. Christianity is not promoted bv
changing either Its type of doctrine or its stvIe
OF evidence Wherever it has survived the
flood OF scepticism. and hourished anew ite
progress has been in direct proportion to ITS
G GI reasseruon OF Its supernatural character
IL was emlnently so in connection with the
Methodist revival in England, which sooner or
later stamped on the whole of Anglo. Saxon
christianity the impress of such doctrines cen
tered In the New Birth, as were more family
held before Its advent; and in like manner on
the continent, wherever Christianity has come
with greatest power, it has not been in nronor
ton as it has made compromise with Iineerino
elements Of unbelief, but as it has cast them
out. We shall not succeed in overcoming
the world by timid, deferential. and alarm
ISL sPirlt-as If, IN the face of alleged advances
OIL human knowledge, the revelations of Scrip
ture were waning in their light, and could not
be too soon revised and conformed to other AN.
thorities." ''"0i "u
--LIBRARIEs AND READERs.-Since
1873 there has been a marked decline in tbe
membership Of the subscription libraries in and
around New York, and a similar effect has been
produced from one cause or another in the same
class OF institutions in other cities The New
YORK Mercantile Library is the most notable
instance In this region. In ten years its c1rcu
lation OF books has fallen off $4,000. or 46 per
cent? the number of its members 1854. or 20
per cent; and its income $4,000, or about 40
per cent The New York Society Library. the
oldest In the city also shows serious decline
In It's circulation, and the Apprentices Library
Is In a like condition. This apparent decline Of
popular interest in libraries has a1so ertendod
to those which arc free to the public Tins the
number Of readers at the Aston Iibrary, do
creased from 53, 252 in 1873, to 81. 725 in 1870
and 1850 in 1880. The record for the nroooni
year VIII doubtless show still further reduc
ton IN the number Of frequenters of the library
Inc brooklyn Library seems to have Jared bet
yer than similar institutions in other cities
During last year the circulation of books was
about 100000, showing decline from the nre.
ylous year of less than 1000. or 6 per cent
The number of subscribers has been reduced in
the same time from 1900 TO l 300. or about 5
per cent. The Peabody Institute of Baltimore
also reports large falling off in the applica-
tons for the privileges Of the library. The