The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-04-11

sympathics have been accompanied all
 these years by capacity to bring
 things to pass that is seldom equaled. The extent of pr. Fishers productivity is hardly more remarkable than it's ease. What used to surprise us was the fact that, with no apparent haste or | effort, he was continually adding to the l worlds best books volume of decided ] value and Importance. His has never 1 been a noisy, hurried life He has al- | ways seemed to have leisure enough for the ordinary amenities Of daily inter
 course. The intensity of many a mod
 ern worker is never reflected on Dr.
 Fishers placid face But though he moves about quietly and makes little parade of his activities and intentions, before you know it another book has dropped from his facile pen. And what ! a series of contributions to history and
 theology they now cons stitute!
 When asked which of his books he liked best, Dr. Fisher responded, with
 out fully indicating his own preference, that The History of the Church, The ] Outlines of Universal History and The I Grounds of Christian and Thestic Be- lief had perhaps betn received as well
 as any, particularly in England, while | the Protestant Reformation, too. has | had a very wide sale. Into the little | volume entitled The Christian Religion he put much force and animation, | called out as it was, by Robert lnger-
 soils attack on Christianity published l in the North American number of
 years ago. This reply, which occupied | sixty pages in the North American, while it did not mention MT. IngersolP6 | name, was as admirable a refutation of | the conventional arguments of unbelief | as has eyer been printed. IL was sub asequently adopted as textbook by the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific cir cle, as well as his Manual of Christian ! Evidences.
 Professor Fishers custom is to think | himself full of his subject and then to write rapidly. He believes that most ministers make great mistake in stay l ing too long at their table meditating on their subject. "The great trouble is they do not know what they are going to say, but when the theme has been clearly thought out perhaps during walk under the open heavens, then
 man goes to his writing desk with zest. He has something that he wants to say, and the heat of thought furnishes a vo- cabulary." Ut is a good thing" said Dr. Fisher again, ito start fresh in the morning and then plan to reach a good
 stopping place by dinner time. I say
 good evening to my manuscript when
 I stop writing. I don't carry about in
 my head an unfinished section"
 He has never employed stenograph
 CT, but in his own delicate chirography
 books. He showed me certain pages of
 manuscript to which he will devote
 some of the leisure that is soon to come to him. The copious intsrlineations and
 revisions showed how painstaking he is
 with every page. He does not do much
 writing in the evening, though he reads
 much then. He has always been fond
 of novels, tossing them off by the hand full, so to speak.
 Some men come to the end of their public life respectfully and seem at a loss to know to what to devote their en- ergies thenceforth, but Professor Fisher has himself initiated and co-operated effectively and willingly in carrying out the recent changes, whereby his work now is to devolve upon younger shoul- | ders. He rejoices much in the appoint ment of Prof Wiliston Walker, now of Hartford Theological seminary, as his successor It is doubtful if another man in the country could have been found more satisfactory from Dr. Fish CTS point of view as well as that of the seminarys constituency in general. |
 Moreover, as respects general public | questions, Professor Fisher is not in the i position of one who has laid down his | armor or abated his interest I projec- | ted several queries regarding matters l under discussion to-day, and his replies l were characteristically frank and well | considered. Respecting the great ques- ton of church unity, he said that he had | always believed in the many folds for the one flock. 'The folds are mere | pens, and to-day, instead of criticising the other pens as we used to do, we are trying to see the merits of our fellow Christians in other denominations and | devising measures that look toward peace and unity" He believes that all the drift of the times is toward closer federation, and he sees, as does Dr. Jo- seph Parker and other leaders in Eng land, that the weakness of Congrega- tionalism Is the tendency toward disor- ganization. He believes that, while the principle of Independence will always take care of itself in Congregationalisnl, the principle of fellowship needs to be fostered, or we shall lose what subsist- ed formerly and what ought to subslst.
 pr. Fisher thinks it a mistake to sub stitute a stated supply system for an ministry, and he is inclined to believe that the number of able men who enter the ministry to-day is per haps somewhat legs than a half-century ago. With regard to federation of our Congregational benevolent societies, he thinks that the foreign missionary in- terest of the churches is so distinct a that it may perhaps call for a separate meeting each year, and that the cause might suffer if it were con- solidated with our home work.
 DO you grow more or less conserva- tive as you grow older?" Dr. Fisher nesitated moment and said: "I have always found it a little difficult to de- inc what company I train in. On the