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October 6, igog. THE PRESBYTERIA!
AN INVIDIOUS COMPARISON.
The "Cumberland Presbyterian" of September 25
publishes a comparison of the numbers received on
profession of faith by the churches of the Southern
Presbyterian Church, and by the churches of the Northern
Presbyterian Church (including the Cumberland
churches) during the year just past.- It limits the
scope of its comparison to certain Synods, along the
line of the Mississippi river, namely, Alabama, Mississippi,
Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma
and Texas. It excludes from the comparison
Louisiana, Florida, Georgia and all the Atlantic States.
Its conclusion is that in the Synods named the
cnurcnes ot tne i\ortnern ^anci L-umDeriana unionist;
persuasion received on confession 8,212 persons, while
the churches of the Southern Presbyterian Assembly
received only 7,211. Its inference is that this "shows
a healthful evangelistic spirit among our (U. S. A.)
people, notwithstanding the distinctions," etc.
In its statistics we note that while one thousand
i _ _i i * i_ _ * A! i . _ i i _ i
surplus is ciaimea in mat article, tue surplus in ukishoma
(filled with immigrants from the North) is 1,127.
So that omitting Oklahoma, the Northern statistics
show no surplus at all.
We rejoice in every advance of every evangelical
church, and find pleasure in noting the outpourings of
the Spirit everywhere. We trust the congregations of
our sister church may be blessed more and more. For
in proportion as the spirit of piety advances in any
community, in that proportion will our own work
progress.
Yet in this publication by the "Cumberland Presbyterian,"
there is a minimizing of the work of our Southern
Presbyterian Church which is not just. The prosperity
of a church is to be measured not alone by the
number of members received, but bv the number who
persevere. Several sister denominations exceed us
year by year in the number of accessions, but not in
permanent growth. How many of these members hold
out?
To ascertain this we have calculated the "net gain"
of these Synods in our own Church and of the corresponding
Synods of our sister Church.
In our Church the total membership in these eight
Synods was as follows: In 1907, 117,926; in 1908, 119,234;
and in 1909, 125,513.
In our sister Church, the total published membership
is as follows: In 1907, 145,270; in 1908, 121,283; and in
1909, 120,478. Instead of a gaiti, it shows a decrease.
Doubtless the decrease in 1908 was due to a purging
of the rolls?by omitting Cumberland churches
which ought never to have been counted. But the*
fact that in 1909 there was a decrease instead of an in
urease in tne memnersnip 01 tne iNortnern cnurcnes
might well have restrained the "Cumberland Presbyterian"
from publishing that which seems to disparage
the Southern Church.
Recently the will of Mrs. Elizabeth Stewart, of Hillsdale,
Mich., was recorded in Chicago. In it she directs,
L "that no part or parcel of this property be spent in
R dancing or card parties, in games of chance or theatre
m going." Would that others would join with lier til'
% these evils be restrained.
/
N OF THE SOUTH. 3
A SABBATH IN PARIS.
I promised that if a ship would come and take me
home I would write no more letters. But the ship did
not come. Europe is full of Americans, and they all
want to come home at once. As a result it is difficult
to get return passage just when you want it at this
time of the year.
After T left T.nndnn I snent a week, including a
Sabbath, in the heart of England. I saw Cambridge,
Oxford, Stratford, Warwick, Kenilworth, Winchester,
Salisbury and Stonehenge. That was the greatest
week of all. Every one of these places is full of interest.
But I give Oxford the palm. It is the most beautiful
and most interesting place in England. I could
spend weeks there. When I came to Addison's walk
I felt that I had found the most beautiful and most
entrancing spot on earth. I was tired of stained glass
and tombstones, and Norman arches. I was in a
mood to enjoy to the fullest the lush meadows and
charming walks of Oxford.
Stratford is beautiful too, and interesting to the lasi
degree. If you will visit Stratford you will have no
further doubts as to whether Shakespeare wrote his
own plays.
I may give an incident just here to show how little
some classes in England know of us. There are a halt
dozen little steam launches on the Avon. One of them
is named "The George Washington." What an anach
ronism! But it is a fine advertisement. A half
grown boy was calling me to come and ride on his
boat, "The George Washington." They can spot an
American every time. I asked him what he knew
about George Washington. "He was a gryte (great)
poet, next to Shykespeare, wasn't he?" was the reply.
I was telling the little incident to the general manager
of the launch company, a middle aged man with an
intelligent face. He enjoyed it immensely and his
sides shook with laughter, as he exclaimed, "Why,
George Washington was one 01 your presidents,
wasn't he?"
I finished my journeys in England at Southampton.
It did my heart good to learn that they have a park
there called "The Watts Memorial Park," so named in
honor of Dr. Isaac Watts, the great hymn writer, who *
was a native of Southampton. I found it a beautiful
park and in the center of it is a splendid monument to
Watts, with an excellent statue of him. England has
a way of honoring the memory of her Christian leaders
that we have not yet learned.
From Southampton I passed over to Cherbourg and
Pans. My French was of the very latest style but 1
soon discovered that they understood me better if I
wrote what I had to say. I had quite a palaver with
the customs house officers before they were convinced
that my suit case was not filled up with liquors and
cigars, the two things for which French custom officials
search.
The first thing that struck me in Paris was a funeral.
Evervhodv was walking exceot the man who drove the
hearse. I thought at first that it must be the funeral
of some very poor person, but the presence of a great
profusion of flowers soon convinced me that I was
mistaken. I was then assured that 1 was looking at a
regulation funeral in Paris, whether it was for rich or