New-York tribune., 1902-12-23
Books ano pnbllratlons.

principle fundamental to the rights of man
politically and more applied TO the
rights of the soul religiously. The Old World in
terrelation of church and state was finally dis
placed so naturally and gradually that the first
generation to inherit the conception of free
church received il a truism and would have
wondered had any one denied II. This book
has so far. place exclusively its SO far
as we are aware it is a pioneer In a field where
the material is ample and inviting Though it
provokes more questions than it answers. it
is by means a ragged unfinished produc-
ton
Mr. Earnest Hamlin Abbott's Religious Life
in America is not history but series Of
observations. based upon fitting inspection
of present day religious conditions made during
a three months tour of the States. Mr.. Alb
bott is a shrewd unprejudced and exceedingly
lively commentator, and made good use Of his
time in his Journeys East. West and South
The emphasis of his book lies in his treatment
of the relations between the church and the
laboring classes. He derived his facts and opin-
ions from hand to hand interviews with all
kinds of people, representing different points of
view and various attitudes of mind. He seems
TO have found repeated in all quarters senti-
rnent amounting TO a consensus of agreement
that the working man, meaning always the hand
laborer, is generally out Of sympathy with the
church. and that the church as at present
manned and constituted, largely fails TO reach
and interest the workingman The conversations
reported indicate a fixed belief on the part of
the workingmen, especially CT those belonging
to the unions that the church is aristocratic.
is controlled by their employers is concerned
with theoogies and theoretical and conven-
tional ethics mostly belonging to the past, and
is quite out of touch with the actual needs that
the average poor man, and especially the union
laborer, feels to be strongest and most i'm
perative in his life. Ministers are generally
reckoned by them belonging on the "other
side" With exceptions freely acknowledged.
they are accused OF being either hostile to the
principle of the unions or Indifferent in their
preaching to the things of interest to the work
ingman. The churches are alleged TO be cold
and uncordiaI to rough handed and poorly
dressed men, and the atmosphere such as to
repel them from church doors These opinions
and more to the same effect, Mr.. Abbott ellclted
and on the other side encountered some cor
roboration Of them in the Indifference shown
by some ministers and other Christians here
and there. He found however. a percentage or
ministers and Christian workers who realized
the breach between the church and the working
man, though there were few who had any I'M
mediate remedies to suggest. On the whole
there is an increasing interest in Christian cir
cles in the problem, and some beginnings have
been made in solving it. In refreshing chap
ter on the Revolt against Convention" Mr.
Abbott notes the increasing tendency Of the
younger clergy to react from the Journalism
and traditionaIisn and especially from the
cant phraseology of former generations, and to
speak and act in accord with the and
language Of men in the secular walks of life
a return to natural methods and disposition to
at hand. He says that these reactions add
to the multiforn assaults that being made
upon the defending spirit Of religious pretence
and hasten the day Of its overthrow"
The Anglican Episcopate in the American
Colonies appears the ninth volume of the
Harvard Historical Studies, published from
the income or a fund. and developed from a
dissertation written originally for a degree
essay at Harvard It is of the nature of a
special study Of subject of technical eccesias-
teal interest that by its nature and purpose
does not bid for any general and popular read
ing The fortunes of the Church Of England
in the colonies is concisely traced, including the
successive attempts to found an American
episcopate, which did not finally appear until
time some years later than the establishment
of the independent nation Q7S9) DR.. Cross
does not accept the opinion of John Adams that
the opposition of the Americans to the Church
of England contributed greatly to the causes
Of the final revolt. He remarks that while
there ground for this opinion, on the
whole it was the political stress that accentu-
ated the religious differences rather than the
religious opposition that caused the political
revulsion. Those who regard the religious con-
ditions inpelng cause of the breach
between the colonies and the mother country
exposed oUr author thinks, TO the crit
icism Of putting the effect for the cause There
would seem to be danger, however, of under
estimating rather than overestimating the in
huence of religious reactions of that day.
writer at the beginning of the twentieth CEN
tury. breathing the extremely liberal air of Har-
ward. is not particularly well placed. 1t may be-
for the task Of reproducing In his thought the
sharp accents and powerful feelings that went
into and were placed upon the religious differ
ences OF the eighteenth century Adams was far
nearer TO the time Of the conflict and his iudg-
ment on this point is weighty. He declared IL
as his belief that the reaction against a trans
atlantic episcopacy and an Old World eccle-
siesttcal domination was OF the prime causes
OF the Revolution and the separation This book
cannot appeal TO a large general public owing
10 Its technical dryness, but 1t comprises a val
ueple and thorough study Of a srasmentarv
question OF ecclesiastical and political history 10
oe preserved In libraries and To stand ss a
reverence Tor ho of,aav ish