The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-02-03
BY D. V. FRANCIS.
Special to The Tribune.

NEW YORK. Feb. 2.-po you know |
paragraph. which halls from quic. aud |
literary Boston, may suffice as well as
any other Introduction which might be |
made OF Silas McBee:
The. editor Of the Churchn.n, a big.
sandy haired. hard headed and hard
hitting sc9teh,Irishman. a man with
heart; scholar and student 'Sho, az
though not theological seminary grad
uate, knows church history. biography
aggressive American. who wields i'm
mense. power In and out Of his church.
Mr. McBee Is no respecter OF persons
NAL church In this county. he has not
allowed its Journalism TO quench his free
spirit. He Is impusve and generous and
cordial. Yet with 1t all he has caution.
No issues or schisms find any support IN
him He Is always for the biggest thing,
emnn sadness. to some pious clergymen
Of his church that the editor OF the
Churchman Is q layman. But II seems
to me an evidence OF breadth and
man TO conduct its chief Journal aa long
as he is competent. When a church has
in 1t such suman dynamos as Silas Nc
Bee and John w. Wood o! the Mission
ary society It's of no consequence
whether they have Rev. before their
namea or not. Indeed, IL spoils the fond
to note such really big men in and lead
ers OF the church-men who would com
mand ten times their saalry in the busI-
ness world"
Prominent in Influence.
l think that after such An Introduction
as that you will feel that you woulG like
10 meet the gentleman yourself. That is
what occurred TO me. and l happened in
on him In his sanctum this afternoon and
GOT him TO tell me what he was doing
In nfr1o IN - md yph
so Important factor In the laymen's
missionary movement. which recently
had its convention In New York. should
have allowed himself to be detained
abroad when he was so much needed at
home.
How, did It happen" ] asked him.
that the laymen's missionary move
ment should have found 1t necessary 10
send him TO England at the very height
OF their most interesting campaign In
this country"
"Tbe laymcns missionary movement
had nothing to do with my going
abroad, he answered.; "it was the work
OF commission VII OF the international
committee preparing for the Edinburgh
conference which took me TO England"
And then, of course, / had TO gather my
mental faculties together and nnodestly
ence might be suppose every one who
reads this paper Will know all about 1t.
That was the impression 1 gathered from
the sad glance of the man bef5-e me
rance on the subject. However, / am go
ing to tell you some things / found out.
First OF ALL, you ought 10 know whom
IL was that Mr.. McBee went to consult
with in England in order that you may
better appreciate the Importance OF the
occasion. and after that I will take UP
shat the chairman of this important com
mission or committee who sent Mr.. Nc
Bee telegram which started him OFF to
England on three days notice is no less
j
late lieutenant governor OF Bengal who
at the time he left India was the ruler
of approximately S5.o00.000 people. That
seems pretty good to start with. Ev-
n man. Next to him comes the vice
chairman, whom I was happy TO find was
2nr :rI friend, Mr.; silas MeBee; hmself
uals who ought TO have attended tho
meeting OF the committee, but 1 shall
give you merely the names OF those who
were actually present: The Rev. w. H
Findlay. secretary Of the Wesleyan Meth
odist Missionary society In London; the
Rev. Prebendary TT. r. Fox, honorary
clerical secretary OF the Church Mis-
sionary society Of London; the Rev, w
Fl. Frere. from Mlrneld. I might men
ton that Father Frera has lately been
chosen head of the Society OF the Resur
rection, one OF the most enterprIsing and
aggressive Of the organizations which
seek TO emphasize on every possible oc
casion that the Church OF England is the
NItIODC EUUTcn IN E0PllDu, Next comes
the Rev w. y. Fullerton of the Baptist
Missionary society, London, and Rev. j.
II. .Ritson: secretary of the British Bible
society. The right reverend bishop OF
Southwark. D. d. should have been
present to have added the dignity of the
English episcopate 10 the gathering. but
unfortunately missionary duties detained
him in India. he was. however, ably rep
resented by Archdeacon Escreet. who was
present by his lordship's special ap,
pointment;, Some people, perhaps would
mission was the Yer yRev. the Dean Of
Westminster, and last. but not least, we
find Bishop Wasso OF the Moravian
church.
Men Who Rank High,
Surely you Will agree with me that
resentatiyes OF the religious thought o;
the present day. and | fancy that you
like myself would be drawn to inquire
as to how they had been appointed and.
ton Into being, For, mind you, the
names ! have given are only Il part OF
the committee known as Commission
VIII. and the other seven commissions
are made up of men we'll known in every
walk In life. and remarkable most Of
them. for the leadership they have
they occupy, Permit me to mention In
passing our friend Seth Low OF Brook
yn, one time mayor OF New York, the
Rt. Rev. Charles Gore. d. D., bishop of
Birmingham. Mr.. George Wharton Pep
per of Philadelphia foreign missions o:
the Presbyterian church. There are
also German scholars and Swedish mis-
sionaries and religious leaders from
Switzerland. Last OF all / really must
mention our distinguished citizen, Ad-
miral Mahan.
l asked Mr. McBee who appointed
these commissions
"You see" he said; there is an inter
national committee"
who" ! interrupted. lis the master
mind that called into being this intcrne-
tiona committee?" Then it was that l
caught one of those remarkable express
sIons which sometimes steal over the
face OF this enthusiastic worker. The
same flash was in his eyes which ! had
noticed before. His fist WAS clenched
with the same expression Of domineer-
ing energy, but aside and apart from all
these evidences OF n maSterful temper
was a tender. faraway expression that
suggested The humble man keenly alive
TO the sacred character Of the work IN
which be was engaged. There is no one
man TO whom this undertaking owes It's
inception he said. 1T is all a won
derful growth and remarkable develop
ment. Twenty years ago such thing
had never been heard OF as the idea OF