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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