St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-20
SUNDAY SALAD.

The current month is one of active
religious movement in this country.
The Quadrennial conventions of three
of the leading Protestant denomi-
nations, the Baptists, Methodists and
the PresbyterlanS, are now in session,
and as questions of unusual Importance
will arise in these assemblages, it is ex-
epoch in the religious history of this
country. as it will probably be product
i've of changes in both theological
sentiment and in the form of church
government. This is particularly true
as it relates to the Methodist and
Presbyterian denominations.
~
Singularly enough, the first perpleX-
ing subject touched upon by both the
Methodists and the Presbyterians is a
sectional question. This is all the more
singular because we are apt to imagine
that If there were any place where the
aSperities and animosities engendered
by the late civil strife should have been
wiped out, it would have been in the
churches of the land, whose mission it Is
to teach charity and to spread the Cos
pei of good will. The soldiers, the
men who fought the battles of the
war, have long ago clasped hands over
the bloody chaSm, and are dwelling to-
gether to-day in spirit of the utmost
harmony. The preachers and the poll
ticians seem to be the only ones who
fail to realize that the war is over
and that the country is reunited. The
efforts that are now being made in New
York to bring the Northern and South
ern MethOdistS together, and in Phila-
delphia to wipe out the distinctions be-
tween Northern and Southern Presby-
terians, is an encouraging sign that the
churchmen are at length beginning to
realize the righteousness of the atti-
tude they have been in for the last
twenty years.
The general Methodist conference has
been confronted with another perpleX-
ing problem, and while it has been tenn
pOrarily disposed of, there is every evil
dence that it will reappear at the next
general conference in more vigorous
form than it now presents. 1t is the
question Of woman representation in
the church. The sisters made an III
gent demand upon the conference
for admission on an equality with
the male delegates, and they
came very near getting what they asked
for. Heretofore the policy of all the
churches has been to permit the women
to do the spiritual work, while the men
looked after the temporal interests.
Hereafter the sisters will demand an
equal division of labor and benefits,
and the prospects are that PAUL's adj
vice to women to keep their mouths
closed in ''meetin'" will undergo re-
vision.
Next Thursday, the 24th inst, the
Presbyterians will celebrate at Phila-
delphia the centenary of the organiza-
ton of the first general assembly in this
country, and it will also be the 250th
anniversary of the establishment of a
Presbyterian church in this country.
The Presbyterians had obtained a foot
hold in the colonies nearly century
and half before the organization of a
general assembly. They had a church
of the Dutch branch in New York as
early as 1919, or one year before the
landing on Plymouth Rock. In 1850 a
band of Scotch PreSbyterianS, driven
hither by the persecution of the
STUARTs, established a colony in Vir-
ginia. And in 1855, Immediately after
the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. a
colony of HuguenotS settled i'll the Caro-
linas. The first preSbytery was formed
at Philadelphia in 1705, and twelve
years later the first synod assembled
there. When the first general assem-
bly, was organized in 1888, the body con-
sisted of representatives from twelve
preSbyterieS and four synods. The Pres
byterian church in America has ALWAYS
been distinguished for its conservatism
and for its prosperity in worldly affairs.
HENY CLAY once remarked that the
Union could never be divided as long
as the Presbyterian church remained
united. 1t is stated that the aggregate
of wealth among Presbyterians is
greater than in any of the other Protest
ant churches, and therefore they have
always exercised an influence in the
community .disproportionate to their
numbers, which are limited as COM
pared with the Baptists or Methodists.
-"
1t has only been within late years
that there has been manifested in the
Presbyterian church disposition to re-
Taxation in the old ways and tenets to
which PresbyterianS have chung with
peculiar tenacity through all the history
of their church. The theological mind
of to-day does not take to strict Calvin
ism with the same readiness that it did
in times past. According to latest au-
thentic statistics there are about 1,3OO.-
600 Presbyterians of one kind and an
other in this country to 100000 Meth
odists and 3.725, 600 Baptists.
The MUNHAI.L revival resulted in the
conversion of just about one in 100 of
the city'S population. In round num-
bers there were 1900 converts and the
city's population is estimated at 200. 900.
A clergyman who has been making
some figures estimates that 60 per cent
of our population are protested Christ
ians or church members. According
to that estimate the MUNHALL revival
resulted in the conversion of one out of
forty of the unconverted. Now the
churches ought to combine forces and 20
for the other thirty-nine.