The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-10-06
MORE BOLD THAN WISE.


CONCLUDED FROM PAGE 49,
greatest OF debaters. Or. j. M. buckley,
and another whose absence through Illness
has been strkingly felt is Rev. Hugh Price
Hughes, who was aptly described the 9TH
er day as the most interesting personality
In modern Methodism." But MIR. Hughes,
though not present. sent q letter to the
conference, and he did not fail to give vent
in it to one OF his ruling passions, for his
letter said that the one great essential to
Method.sm's continued success was organ
lie union. Representatives of all the small
er English bodies spoke in favor of union,
and Or. T. Bowman Stephenson, one of
the most influential representatives of the
largest Of the English churches, seemed
to also favor ii. They had been counting
so long, he said. and had grown TO know
and like each other so well, that the next
inevitable step would have to be marriage.
a c~ourtship, he said, might last so long
as to make marriage impracticable; such
courtships sometimes led to actions for
breach Of promise.
This seemed distinctly favorable, and a
resolution was offered and passed declar-
ing ultimate union to be the will of God
and expressing confidence that in due time
IL would come about. An effort was made
to add TO this a recommendation that all
the bodies in Observation-Disclosures wasn't in
c~luded-shOuld at once take this subject
OF organic union into consideration. But
this addition did not pass. 1t was not put
TO vote. 1t was pleasantly bowed out of
court, the master of ceremonies being that
scholarly, suave, persuasive, harmonizing
gentleman, DR.. w. 7. Dawson, president
OF the British Wesleyan Conference. Sup
pose the different churches did take this
question into immediate consideration,
and suppose some should vote for union
and some against-would that" he asked,
advance or would it not rather retard
union?"
What DR.. Dawson favored was the grad
ual. enforced growth of sentiment on the
SUBJECT. until sentiment should of its own
gentle force bring them all together. He
mildly and wittily dissented from DR.. Ste
phenson's figure Of a couple counting, pre-
liminary to wedlock. They were rather,
he said. in the situation Of a number OF
young people of opposite sexes who had
been walking out together in good-natured
fellowship for some time and were now at
that delicate point where different ones
might at any moment pair off and begin
to talk with each other more seriously.
But, oh my he said, how dangerous at
such a moment TO try TO force matters
or for any third party TO offer advice!'
PROGRESSIVE METHODISM.
In the tolerant and intelligent attitude
OF the conference toward the live question
OF Biblical criticism there was nothing 10
encourage oldfogvism. but everything to
indicate that Methodism was bent upon
being liberal. hopeful. progressive. This
subject naturally came up again when
'modern unbelief'' was under review. and
just as the discussion was about to close
DR.. Jesse Bowman Young, of Cincinnati.
got the platform, and, with the express
sion Of one who had Unexpectedly escaped
intellectual martyrdom, thanked God. TO
the accompaniment Of hearty hear, hears
and amens, that he had not that day heard
anyone express the hysterical fear that
Biblical criticism was destroying the BIZ
BILE, 1t seemed TO be conceded, he said,
that a man could be sound in the Chris
tian faith and still believe tina Moses
didn't write Deuteronomy and that there
were two Isaiahs instead Of one. In his
judgment it had been worth while for them
70 come TO that conference-if only 20 hear
on this one subject the intelligent and ad-
vanced u~tterances of men like DR.. Tigert.
! of the United States. and prs. Beet and