Los Angeles herald., 1891-09-13
PREACHER R--AUTHOR.
Rev. MinOt ]. Savage Coming.
to this City.
The Views of This Noted BOs-
ton Divine.
he Tells About Liberalism i'll Relig
ion and Its Growth.
Mans Assent to Salvation All That is
Required - Talks About Spencer
and Lowell - Formerly
Californian.

Church of the Unity, Boston, will arrive
here next Saturday. He is one OF the
most prominent divines in the United
States, having attained a high position
by reason of his power as preacher and
by his liberal views.
Mr.. Savage was interviewed recently
by a San Francisco Chronicle reporter,
and talked freely of his religious and
literary work, and his views on the sub
ject of creeds and doctrines. "The re-
ligious unrest everywhere evident" he
said, sis only surface symptom of the
process of disintegration going on among
the old orthodox beliefs. 1t may be five
years or 500 years before the result is
accomplished, but the outcome is inev-
table. The religious change now TAX
ing place is not revolution, but evolu-
tion, process of growth. The ortho-
dox theory of the fall OF man is crum-
bling before the advance of intelligent
thought and inquiry. Its machinery OF
creeds and doctrines aimed to save man
kind from the supposed consequences of
that fall, will one day be put aside as
useless and obsolete. The new theory
is that mans assent to salvation is all
that is required of him.
SIN the forefront of the struggle are
such orthodox churchmen as DR.. Park
hurst and Heber Newton of New York,
Thomas and Swing of Chicago and Ly-
man Abbott of Brooklyn. The faces OF
these great thinkers are set toward the
sunlight"
OF his own belief Mr.. Savage said /:
eighteen years ago read and thought
myself out of orthodoxy was Con-
gregational minister-and ever since
have been champion of liberty and in
dividuality of thought, and have
preached the broad views of Unitarian
ism. Apart from our belief in the unity
of God as opposed to the trinity. and
our refusal to accept the divinity of
Jesus Christ, we Unitarians give no
bonds that we will not believe new
found truth when it is definitely estab-
lished. That is, briefly, the whole diff
ference between Unitarianism and the
old orthodoxy"
Socially and through his literary work
Mr.. Savage has made the acquaintance
of some of the greatest men OF the times.
Speaking of Herbert Spencer, whom he
knows we'll, Mr.. Savage said; "He is, in
my Judgment, the greatest and most
comprehensive thinker the world has
ever seen. In every phase of human
thought you meet him and his views
face to face. He has so written himself
into the center of all great issues that
at every turn his opinions have to be
dealt with. He is past 70 and in
feeble health. He has to nurse his
strength carefully to do any. work
at all, and l am afraid he will never
complete his last literary scheme, the
real and crowning work OF his life. For
tunately he has indicated so clearly his
views on the problems with which he
hopes to deal that, even if he should
portant views and theories could be
learned. 1t is a curious thing that
Spencer received general popular recog
milton in America before he did in Eng
land. That was largely due to the Ell
forts of Mr.. Youmans, OF New York,
now dead"
James Russell Lowell was also an ac-
uuaintance of Mr.. Savage. OF him he
said: "Some years ago, when Mr.. Low
ell was appointed minister to Spain, he
was accompanied down the harbor by
party of distinguished men. Longfellow
was there, and Emerson, Holmes, Eliot,
and others equally famous. twas then
first met James Russell Lowell. l
have one valuable token to remind me
of him. Soon after his last poem, My
Book was published, he sent me the
manuscript, three or four pages, all
written in his own hand and signed.
This l keep and prize very highly, for
aside from his personal qualities Mr..
Lowell was, think, beyond all question
the greatest literary critic of America.
More than that, he had the most deli
cate and refined wit of his country, to
my thinking"
Mr.. Savage has had some previous
experience OF California. In 1864, when
he was 23 years old, he graduated from
the Congregational Theological semina-
ry at Bangor, Me-, and came west, be-
ginning his ministry in little school
house at San Mateo. There he preached
for over year, going thence to Grass
Valley. His services there lasted over
a year and half, and then he went
back to the east, preaching two years IN
Massachusetts,. Following this he oc-
cupied pulpit at Hannibal, Mass, for
nearly four years, and that ended his
connection with the Congregational
church. His views had changed SO rad
ically that in 1873 he accepted call to
Unitarian church at Chicago. His
pulpit utterances and the broadness of
his beliefs attracted much attention,
and in 1874 he was called to the Church
of the Unity, the leading home of I'm
itarianism in the United States, whose
pulpit he has ever since filed. For over
sixteen years his sermons have been
published in pamphlet form every week,
going to Unitarians and personal admir-
ere all over the civilized world. He has
also found time to develop his literary
abilities, and has published twenty-four
volumes, many OF them of religious
character. The list includes book OF
poems and a novel.
Mr.. Savage enjoys the distinction OF
being the only clergyman who is regu-
lar member of the Boston Press club,
and enjoys it rightfully by virtue OF
many contributions to the columns of
the leading secular journals of the Hub.
He writes frequently for the dailies,
much of this work being in the editorial
line.
A Valuable Patent.
Messrs. Russell & Koeberle have
secured a patent on a new lawn sprin-
kler, which has already been seen on