But the question is an important one; how may such a modification be secured? We suggest three methods: : 1. By discussion upon this point. Much has been said of it in private conversations, but almost nothing in more public. ways. As the time draws near for another session, this subject should receive candid and patient consideration. This matter of the vote is the very point at issue, and yet it is probable that only a small proportion of the constituency of the National Council has ever had it fairly brought to their attention. This change would bring the churches to a basis on which all could agree. Those who desire more than this in such a body will not deny the benefit of thus much, and none desire less than this. 2. By instruction to delegates, empowering them to take part in the National Council so far, and only so far, as it shall be a Conference or Congress; and charging them either to vote against every attempt to express opinions on questions on which advice has not been asked and the purpose to offer it previously announced, or to enter respectful protest in every case against such action. If the delegates from Connecticut to the next Council shall fully carry out the spirit as well as the letter of the resolution which accompanied their appointment, they will do much to limit its power for evil, and to make it a medium of "Christian communion, consultation, and coöperation," and that only. 3. By overtures to the National Council itself. Connecticut has requested its delegates to communicate its action to the Council. Rhode Island, three years ago, took action very much like that of New Jersey, but failing to instruct its delegates to give the message, they put the resolutions into that particular pocket on which they could sit most firmly, and by heroic efforts kept them from rising into view. New Jersey's overture was heard, at least by reason of the broadside by which it was annihilated. The author of the answer to it will represent Connecticut this year, and hesitates to carry the incendiary document from that State into the great assembly, but another brave pastor from the same city, has expressed his willingness to carry the explosive in his carpet bag, and it will doubtless get there. If several other State associations shall do the same, it will have some effect, and possibly thus the protest may grow until it shall be larger than the Constitution itself. This is a serious question, upon the right decision of which it will largely depend, whether Congregationalism will maintain the principles by which it is differentiated from the denominations which live around about it, or whether it will yield them up in its ambition for rule, and persist in saying, against all the historic sense and consensus- 66 Nay, but we will have a King to reign over us, that we also may be like all the nations." ARTICLE V.-A CHAPTER OF MAINE HISTORY. A DIVERTING chart of an early geographer represents the territory of which Maine now forms a part, as detached from the continent to which it was welded in the beginning, and drifted out into the Atlantic, as if its affinity were with the Old World. A political chart of Maine, constructed in the recent days when violence and disintegration were threatened, might have shared in the fancy of the quaint geographer, and portrayed the State as separated from the New England formation. of government, and floating on the sea of storm and change toward France, with its appetite for revolution; toward Spain, with its shifting political scenery; toward other lands over the ocean where the will of the people, lawfully expressed, is but a minor factor in the problems of State. It is with these late developments in that State that this paper has to do. One of the crises in the physical history of a man is experienced when he has numbered his three score years. A physiological prophet would say, "about this time" expect the signs of change, and possible decay. The shock from which Maine is suffering overtook that body politic as the State entered the sixtieth year of independent life. The system is changed; whether it be seriously weakened, it may be too early to affirm or to deny. At quite equal intervals the State has been excited and alarmed. In 1837 it was beset by the evil spirit of speculation. The "Eastern Lands" were wrapped in a transitory lustre, and the whole country was stimulated to invest in corner lots and larger divisions of territory. Cities were to arise, and the westward movement was to give place to an ingathering of happy multitudes who were to convert the Eastern wilderness into a glad place, and transform the quiet towns into centers of crowded life. The plow sometimes brings. to the surface the surveyor's stake which was to determine the bounds of habitation, and the thick ranks of the pines shade the streets which fancy had beheld thronged with the people who were to forsake the slowly developing regions of the country, and find homes in a State which was to outstrip all others in its course. The delusion left the State, and the country at large, with the burden of indebtedness which might have been anticipated, and this youthful trial gave to Maine food for reflection, and taught it wisdom. This financial per turbation was followed by the moral convulsion which the commonwealth experienced in common with sister States. The years of anxiety and disquiet which the slavery discussion bequeathed formed another crisis in the annals of the State. The conscience of the people would not suffer them to be at ease. The encroachments of the power whose might is now broken, were the theme of debate in the house and by the way. The political platforms were shaken; the pulpits cried aloud; the vision of violence and garments rolled in blood was the portion of all who soberly considered the coming conflict, inev itable, irrepressible. The map of political probabilities showed the storm center which already was sending out its lightnings. The blackness of moral darkness was visible to the men and women who thought upon the significance of holding men as property. The practical question of submitting to the law which laid its hand on the fugitive was always in full view. The repeal of restrictions and the sought-for enactment of new methods of widening the sway of the slave power forced men to go to their own political place; and Maine was not behind in the endeavor to protest effectually against the extension of ser vitude. A few more years and the heavens were hung with black, and there were thunderings and mighty voices. The war found the State mature in thought, and not wanting in material resources. The will and the deed were not dissociated. This third epoch in Maine history was honorable and memorable. Seventy-five thousand sent to the front; twenty-five thousand dying on the field or by sickness; that is the simple summary. The formal figures give material for infinite suggestion. The story of offering and sacrifice gathers to itself a vast variety of incident. Its outlines are not less than the whole space visited by the war. Its light and shade partake of the intensity that belongs to the portraiture of war the world over. The sweetness of dying for the country-the pains of death being loosed; the clear shining of devotion which was not called to make the supreme offering; the immeasurable trouble which. visited the home and the heart-all this Maine knew, passing through the trial with steady courage and unfailing vigor. And now the stated interval being ended, the fourth crisis has come. The war, which cemented the Union and consolidated each State, is so near, that some who have been a part of the contest for possession of the State government carry unhealed wounds, and yet feel the pangs which the Rebellion strewed. In 1876, in an address on the State history, at Philadelphia, General Chamberlain spoke for Maine, and was warranted in characterizing her people as "not fanatical," but as sober, conservative, and unwilling to follow in all things the more radical mother, Massachusetts. Three years have passed, and the eulogist of Maine is summoned to protect the State property against. the possible assaults of fellow citizens who have suddenly shown that fanaticism has crossed the State boundaries, and possessed the minds of men who were included in the goodly fellowship of the "sober" and the "conservative." Our political image-breaker, Mr. Charles O'Conor, in his recent letter on our system of government, suggested changes which would reduce the ruling force to its lowest terms. He gravely submits the proposition that the Chief Executive be chosen, by lot, late in each month, for the ensuing thirty days. Thirty-day Presidents are suggestive of the temporary histories which these Maine happenings may render necessary. Late in each month, the history of the State will be issued, "good" for the following month. If governments are revolutionized, histories must share their fate. These strange revelations in a New England State enforce a suspension of the historical judgment. The title of this paper has regard to this unlooked-for condition of public affairs. Chapter is a convenient term, since a certain elasticity belongs to it. The succeeding pages in Maine history may be quite unlike those which record the recent occurrences in that jurisdiction; but the very disharmony will serve to emphasize the novelty, the excitement, the alarming features of the dark days when usage and |