Morning journal and courier., 1884-05-26

been an interesting study from the first
 Some other men, who stood high in popular. ! favor At the begining, have gradually declined 1 iR infuence, until to-day the remarks they | offer are barely tolerated. With hin1it has been entirely different. His chief work has ! been donN in the committee on episcopacy, where his hobby has been the appointment | of bishop to Africa. heard his first sE eech \ on this subject He stammsrsd little at the start from natural bashfulness, and the
 knowing ones winked at each other in sly de- rision of the speaker. As he proceeded, however, they Gwoke to the fact that man of conviction and learning was addressing | them, and so powerful was the impression made on this and subsequent occasions, that | his plea fer the dark continent finally pre- vailed, not only with the committee, but with the conference. 1es
 The man who has been set apart for the episcopal supervision of the work in that country, and the one whose advocacy did so much to bring the conference to see that such supervision was necessary, are, by happy coincidence. namesakeS, the former | being no other than the world-renowned Fay Tor, of missionary antecedents, who came to ! the body as lay delegate from India. A
 man past sixty, though looking much youn- ger over six feet in height and having I strong, sinewy frame; with beard of patri- | archal length and fullness, and a head just II of his massive forehead lisdaining the com forts of Iife and of such a strongly marked | Individuality as to be not little eccentric in habit and manners, this strange and re- marksbls man'Wiu convey to the minds of | the people of Africa vivid suggestion of the old prophets of Scripture, and undoubtedly | his appearance and personal peculiarities will give him uncommon power as a leader among them. Add to these things Mir. Taylor's long | and varied experience in conducting mission | ary work, his knowledge of foreign tongues, his broad acquaintance with the world, his whole-souled devotion to the cause of the Gospel, and last, though not least, the high esteem in which he is held by the great mass of Methodists in this country, and it will be-
 come obvious at once to all candid minds that in electing him to the position of mis- sionary bishop for Africa the conference has done one of the grandest and wisest things
 that have yet marked it's proceedings. This Taylor, like the other, furnishes an instance of how, by perseverance, consistency and talent men may rise superior to difficulties and attain front rank in the church, though circumstances are against them. For some
 years the self-suppcrtfng missions maintained
 in India and South America by William Fay
 Tor have seemed to conflict with the opera
 lions in those countries of the regular mis-
 sionary society, and, in consequence, the
 powers that be have shown disposition to
 rather sit down upon that gentleman Under
 
 the present conference. Early in the pro
 0eedings he presented Q resolution, which l
 he called ''the prayer of William Taylor
 and which declared in it's opeRing sentence
 ''that it was lawful and right to get souls l
 converted, and to organize them into self 1
 laughed at the idea of 8 body of Methodists I
 being asked to make such a declaration as
 this, but the point was appreciated, and so
 far as securing the favor of the delegates
 was concerned, this happy hit may be said
 to have made Mr. Taylor's fortune. After
 that he could speak as he pleased and the
 brethren were sure to shake their sides at his
 oddities Finally, when bishop for Africa
 was resolved upon, an inspiration seemed to come upon the assembly pointing to this strange genius as pre-eminently the man for the place. All, it is true, did not fall in with this view. The bishops, I am told, did not, and it is quite certain that Drs. Curry, Bing- ham and Lanahan, who, when they saw how the cat was going to jump, made, successive ly, the motions to postpone to Friday, to | postpone indefinitely and to adjourn, were not pleased with the turn things had taken. But the conference took the bit between it's teeth, and after laying these dilatory motions on the table in quicker time than it takes me to tell 1t, the balIoting began, resulting in the election of the great missionary hero by 250 votes out of 355. The other votes were scattering, and were nearly all cast for col pred men. It is expected that this new mis- sionary bishop will establish his headquarters on the Oorgo, and there are many who pre- f dict that he will shortly open up that vast country to the operations of the church whose commission he has accepted in the 1 same broad sense in which Stanley is opening 1t to civilization.
 After electing 8 colored man to church authorship, and ordaining another man of ,olored sympathies as bishop for the conti- 1uha he hail ha conference felt, no doubt, that it could let 1p 8 little along this line, and it did so to-day n manner which the colored membership may not think entirely satisfactory. Very early in the proceedings of this body 1t be- ,ame evident that g desperate efert would be made to get an expression from it fayora- ole to the most pronounced form of social equality between the white and coIored races Colored men had been excluded from certain schools and churches of this denomination, and this crusade proposed to remove these barriers to negro freedom and to make all he institutions of the church accessible on 1 he same conditions to black and white alike. This question threatened for time to be a serious bone of contention in the conference, l put now, through little strategy, the trou- ole seems to have been gotten rid of- Yes ;erday the committee on the state of the ,hurch, of which Governor Patterson, of his State, is chairman. adopted report pro- Tiding for just such an expression as the most radical advocates of the equality theory had desired. The vote was 8 tie-25 against 25- and the casting vote of the chair, democratic
 though it was, went in favor of the resolu
 ion. With such a report as this impending over it. what was the conference to do? To pass it would mortally offend some white = people in the South, and to vote it down would be equally offensive to the colored people Such was the dilemma, from which
 his 0morning the brethren extrieated them Ielves by a piece of tactics which would have lone credit to @ Hannibal or a Richelieu. The point was to get this question passed lpon before the report from the committee ,n the state of the church came in, and for Rnately there was report iyIng upon the able from the committee on fresdnan's aid which afforded an opportunity for doing this. This report leaves things virtually as they lave been in the past. It sfirms the theory
 If equality, but leaves the practical working
 f it to the wishes of the different commu- Iities and sections in which the church ope- stes. Strange to say, by an almost unani- nous vote, this report passed; and yet It IS
 ot strange, for the radicals who voted for It id so. no doubt. with the understanding that rbat they failed to get under this action they Yould at least have c fair chance of getting ,hen the other report came up. while the were slyly chuckling at the noueht that the subject was being finally isposed of. Thus there are tricks in all .ades. It is just possible this matter may 8 aeitated again, but not probable, and the ,nference may congratulate itself upon hay ig found an easy way out of what threat led to be very serious muddle.
 Since my last, book agents have been elect as folio Ws: Eastern eoneern-J. M. Phil ps and Rev. Sandford Hunt, D. D. West
 n coneern-Earl Cranston, D. D., and '. P. Stowe, D. D. Dr. Cranston is the new an elected to succeed Dr. Walden, who has zen made a bishop. He is at present 8 ernber of the Colorado conference, but has K longed formerly to one of the Indiana and.
 several of the Ohio conferences. He is |. le preacher, genial gentleman, and man
 good business qualities. The correspond P secretaries elected are the following issionary society-J. N. Reid, D. D., and E
 C. McCabe, D. D. Church Extension so- ,ty-A J. Kynett, D. D. Freedman's Aid siety-R S. Rust, D. D. Sunday School lion and Tract society-J. Fl. Vincent, D.
 The only new man in this list Is O. 0. sCabe, kno VII all over the country as Chap n McCabe, whose valuable services have sn given for many years to the raising of lney for new churches on the frontier. Dr. ,Oabe takes the place made vacant by the ction of Dr. c. H. Fowler to the episcos