The record-union., 1896-02-01

sacrament OF penance. IhlS is a phase
OF things alike instructive and amusing
to those who are familiar with the his
tory of the so-called Reformation in
England. There is material in that his
tory to justify in large measure the
claims Of these persons, and also an
abundance of material to justify their
opponents. We undertake to say, and
are ready to show, that a. more incon-
sistent history the world never saw
than the history of the Established
Church Of England from the day that
Henry VIII. broke with the Pope till
this hour. The Protestant Episcopal
Church has its own troubles, histor-
ieally considered, and its early rela-
tions to this country and to the Church
OF England are as interesting as any
romance. All classes of the contro-
yersy on the other side appear to be
nesting or struggling in its bosom
the ritualists and the anti-ritualists,
the Catholics and the anti-Catholics.
Meanwhile, at the summit or at the
base of the pyramid, according to cir
cUmstances, stands Heber Newton, a
solitary watchman, playing upon his
mandolin variations of the subjunctive
mood upon doctrine, Scripture, and
everything else that he touches; always
on the verge of intolerab1e heterodoxy,
but, like the boy who terrified his
mother sitting upon the bridge with his
feet in the water, certain never to
plunge in. According to the compre-
bensive theories Of some, this is as it
should be. They will not regard us
with disfavor for stating it as we see
it, or for suggesting that the condition
Of affairs has a powerful bearing upon
the question Of our responding to the
invitation to come out of the everlast-
ing contentious of the sects into the
qUietness and peace which the bosom
of the mother church viii afford US"
''Those who have maintained the de-
cline of the influence of the ministry in
this country, and who perhaps would
not be moved by any argument based
upon its moral power. must face the un-
answerable fact" says the Christian
Register" CUnit) of Boston, that the
salaries of ministers have steadily in
creased in this country, and that the
minister is supported in a degree of
comfort that does not compare unfavor-
ably with the other professions. A pro-
fession which under a, perfectly volun-
tary system the people, without con-
straint of any kind, consider worth sup
porting, cannot be said to be losing
its influence in the money market; and,
when we think of the religious interest
which the money raised for this purpose
represents, it means a corresponding
influence upon the minds and hearts, as
well as the pockets. of the American
people. We do not mean that all min
listers get all they are worth, judged
merely by commercial standards, or all
that their abilities might earn if en-
ployed in some other profession; for
many ministers labor for parishes that
are unable tor pay them financially all
they are really worth, just as many
doctors give their services or reduce
their bills to those who are not able TO
pay the full rate. The worth of the
minister's work can never be fully
translated into terms of silver and gold.
The best pay which he receives is that
which comes from doing his work, and
the same is true of the physician, the
poet, the artist, or the mechanic. The
chief attraction of the ministry must al
ways rest in this moral and spiritual
reward; it can never be simply in the
Ioaves and fishes. We firmly believe
that the better physical basis of sup
port which the ministry has secured in
this country has been attained at no
sacrifice Of its spiritual power
THAT branch of the Presbyterian
Church to which we belong has nearly
a million communicates and nearly
1000 Minister'S says the New York
Evangelist" (Pres). Such a church
cannot live on narrow lines. If many
men are of many minds, more men rep
resent a still greater variety. But
large church cannot do it, nor is it the
part of wisdom to try. A majority, en-
deavoring to enforce strict doctrinal
uniformity, brought on the disruption
Of 1887, a calamity to American Protest
antism. The ecclesiastical action of the
last four years, designed to suppress all
divergence of view, if carried out would
lead to a second disruption. Fortunately,
to carry it out is simply impossible.
None the less is the attempt a grave
mistake, and the results so far have
been a grave misfortune. Not excision,
but comprehension, within proper linn
its, should be the watchword of great
church like ours This is the platform
on which the Evangelist" stands, and
which viii command more and more the
approval of the wisest men in the
church. And this is from no lack of
appreciation of the value of truth.
Truth is of infinite value. We should
buy it at any price. and cling to it. But
the more we look at the price, the more
we see that it is many-sided."
There are few things that do more
-, r,r,.
church quarrels," says the Watch
man" CBapt) Of Boston. ''Ninety-nine
times out Of a hundred they would be
easily avoided if the parties to them
were willing to drop the attitude of
partisans and adopt that of judges. But
that is not the method to which re-
course is always had One man or his
friends has a grievance against an
other man and his friends. It may not
be wholly groundless, but, instead of
looking at it in a large-minded and can
did way, they cling to it as a. dog clings
to a bone, and think of nothing but the
bone. They are bound to carry their
point. and they do carry 1t, if not to the
disruption Of the church, to the perma-
nent injury of its best influence OF
late the American people have espoused
the cause of arbitration with such vio-
Ience that they have appeared to be
willing to fight for it. 1t must have oc-
Cured to some church members that,
if this principle of the peaceful adjust
uent Of international differences is so
important, it is at least worth acting
upon when a church is divided into
warning factions. The common excuse
for this lack of judicial fair-mindedness
is that some principle has been assailed,
and that its defense is a matter Of con-