Evening journal., 1898-05-02
WESTMINSTER STANDARDS
THEIR 25oTH ANNIVERSARY TO BE
CELEBRATED ON WEDNESDAY.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-SOMB
PROMINENT SPEAKERS EX-
PECTED TO BE PRESENT.
The Presbyterian Alliance OF Will |
mington will celebrate the 250th an |
niversary of the Westminster Stand |
ards in West Presbyterian Church in
Wilmington on Wednesday. A num-
Der OF prominent speakers from diff
ferent parts OF the country will be
present.
The Assembly OF Westminster Dl-
vines, composed of the most distinH
guished clergymen of England and
Scotland OF that day, met in the ce,e-
brated Jerusalem Chamber at West
minister Abbey in July, 1643 and con-
tinued their sittings until February,
1919, giving to the world, as a result
OF their labors, the Directory OF Pub
lie Worship" the Confession OF
Faith" and the Larger and Shorter
Catechisms," which remain practically
as then adopted the standards Of all
branches OF Presbyterianism to the
present day. The handsome chamber
in which the assembly met is one Of the
most celebrated places in England. Dur
ing the Catholic supremacy 1t was oc-
cupied as a chamber by the abbot of
| Westminster, and here Henry ", when
stricken with. his last illness, rs he
J knelt at the shrine of the cOnfessOr, on
the eve of his departure TO the Holy
Land, was carried and laid upon the
| pallet before the ''goOd tyre" On re-
| covering consciousness the king ask
ed where he was. He was told, lin the
chamber OF the abbot of Westminster. %
| What is its name?" he asked. 'Jeru-
SALEM" was the reply. Then said the
| king "Laud be tothe Father ofHeaven,
| for now l know l shall die in this
| chamber according to the prophecy Of
me aforesaid, that / should die in Jeru-
SALEM" Shakespeare's version follows
this closely in his drama Of King
Henry the Fourth.
King Henry:
Doth any man particular belong
Unto the lodging where l first did
swoOn?
| Warwick
'Tis called Jerusalem, my noble lord.
King Henry:
Laud be to God, even there my life
must end.
Il hath been prohpesied to me many
years.
I should not die but in Jerusalem;
Which yainly l supposed the Holy
Land;
But. bear me to that chamber; there I'll
lie
In that Jerusalem shall Harry die.
In the reign of James the First the
translators of the Bible met in this
. / ~. ff1a for l.
mated in the publication OF the Au-
thorized Version, or king James
Bible. in 1911. In our own century II
was the scene Of the revision Of the
? Authorized Version, which began in
1870 and resulted in the publication OF
the revised New Testament in 1881 anC
! of the Old Testament in 1885. OF this
last assembly Dean Stanley writes
"There were bishops of the Establish
ed Church delegates from
e our historic cathedrals and collegiate
l churches. our universities, our par
r ishes, and OF our chief ecclesiastica
I assembly: and with these. intermingle'
without distinction, were ministers o
r the established and Of the free churcl
T Of Scotland, and of almost every non
@ conformist church in England-lnde
pendent, Baptist, Wesleyan, Unltar
/ ian"
The bodies Of the great have at time
laid in state in the Jerusalem cham
l. Der, among them being Addison. 81
Isaac Newton, and the poet, Camp
+ bell. After 500 years the histori
i apartment is, to all appearances, in
e perfect state Of preservation, and Wi
= doubtless carry forward into the ccm
8 ing centuries the associations whlc
g have made it memorable in the pas
n and invest it with its present charm
It The public is invited to attend the lee
g ture at West Church.