The Portland daily press., 1895-11-04
THE UNITARIAN CONFERENCE.
Rey.J. Carroll Perkins Speaks on Its Work
at the First Parish.

l
on the recent Unitarian Conference IN
Washington, and in the course of his re-
marks, said:
The Unitarian churches of America
| have two national organizations, the one
purely deliberative body, the other an
executive body The latter is the Anne
rican Unitarian Association, established
| in 1924. The former is the National Con-
j ference of Unitarian churches, established
in 1864. Its sessions are held bl-ennlally,
and on account of the usual meeting al
Saratoga, is known as the Saratoga Con-
ference This year the conference was
held at Washington, Oct. 2l-24 Great in
terest centered in the conference, be-
cause it is the first since the adoption
with absolute unanimity of something
! like a statement OF faith. Ihese
churches accept the religion of Jesus,
holding in accordance with His teaching.
that practical religion is summed up in
love to God and love to man." A year S
discussion of this watchword has resulted
in no dissentions, but has proved instead,
Il veritable. "Unity of the spirit in tho
bond of peace" And more than that,
the possibilities of such a. Abatement have
seemed to some to involve ideal achieve
ments
The following resolution was presented
and adopted:
| Resolved, That the National Conference
give the above statement the widest pos
sible publication as sufficient basis not
only for Christian unity, but for religious
unity Of the world.
The programme of the conference in
cluded names of the same high order of
excellence as in previous years. DR. Ed
ward Everett Hale was prevented from
being present by the death of his son and
the illness of his wife. 1t was glad
surprise, however, to hear an address
from Rev. VIM. H. Furness of Philadel-
phia who is SO years old, the oldest liv-
| ing graduate of Harvard College, and as
sociated with the Unitarian church at
Philadelphia for the last 70 years, where
he occasionally breaches.
The opening sermon OF the conference
was preached by Rev. M. j. Savage OF
Boston. Other names prominent on the
programme were President 6. Stanley
| Hal of Clark University, Rev. David N.
Beach of Cambridge, DIR. Charles Car
roll Everett and Prof. /. 6. Peabody of
Cambridge, John Fiske, Hon. Carroll
D. Wright, Hon. Horace D. Wadlin, Rev.
Howard lRtsly RsHs 9aled W g tG Ganns hngs
J. H. Crooker, Paul Revere F1othing--
ham, Mrs. Emily Fifleld, supervisor of
schools in Boston. The papers of the
highest merit by specialists in their de-
partments, Were: Pedagogical Methods
in Sunday school work. by President
in America, 4" by Prof Fiske; 'Our Uni
tartan Theology by Prof. Everett;
ssThe Norwegian System in Temperance
Reform" by Rev. David N. Beach
Prof Fiske closed his address as fol-
lows: There is all about us restless and
world wide influence at work, OF which
the temporary and local causes already
ing servants. Our knowledge has grown
more and more from the discovery of
America, the astronomy of Copernicus,
and from Gallileo down to the universal
doctrine of evolution in our own time,
there has been one grand, coherent ana
| consecutive story of ever enlarging life.
| Our orthodoxies have ceased to fit the
world as we know it, and have dropped
away from us in spite OF all our efforts
to retain undisturbe bed their venerable and
hallowed associations. In this inevitable
struggle there has been more or less pain,
and hence free thought has not been
popular; it has come to our love feasts
as a RueSU uHDluucu anu uiiWoiooiHo.
But it has proved more congenlal than
was expected, and deadening fnality
has lost it's charm"
Prof. Peabody showed how influential
Unitarians had been in social reform in
the following words:
''The historian of U nitarianism in its
relations to social questions will find
beginnings of temperance reform in Uni
tartan hands in the organization of the
Society for the Suppression of Intemper-
ance in 1918, and the dramatic conflict of
John Pierpont, minister of Hollis street
church. He will. describe the epoch
| made in American education by the work
of Horace Mann, also the kindergarten
other HAND the development of Harvard
University under seven successive admin
| istrations of Unitarian presidents. He
will review the work of Noah Worcester
| in the international peace, of Floronce
Nightingale in alleviating army suffer-
ing in the sanitary commission presided
over by DR.. Bellows. He will remem ber
the benefactions of Peter Cooper, Ezra
Cornell and Enoch Pratt.
| Sin the anti-slavery movement a large
part of the strongest agitators, with the
exception of Mr.. Garrison, were drawn
| from the Unitarian church. In 1888
Charming said, in discussing the social
|
to a great approaching modification of
society which shall express the essential
truth that the chief end of the social
state is the elevation of all its members
as intelligent and moral beings" Joseph
Tuckerman Of Boston, the friend and
classmate of Claiming. first expounded
the modern ideas of scientific charity.
DR.. Samuel Gridley Howe the most
picturesque figure in modern philanthro-
| nv began the teaching of the blind in
| 1882 Said Horace Mann, 1T would rath-
er have built up the blind asylum than
to have write II Hamlet" F" Dorothesa
Dix is another great name in the annals
of Unitarian philanthropy. At the be-
ginning of this century there We're but
four insanessasylums in the United States.
and but one of these was the property of
state. Before Miss Dix's death she had
converted 20 states to a rational care for
| this class of unfortunates. 4"
| THE MUNICIPAL COURT.