nostic philosophy. They were strange views to come from an Episcopal pulpit, and yet they served, undoubtedly, to kindle some warmth of religious spirit in breasts which had been chilled by Mr. Frothingham's icy negations. But strict Episcopalians were scandalized by such utterances, and they sought to silence Dr. Newton. Bishop Potter is a prelate of great tact, and he calmed the opposition of the Protestants and prevented troublesome and perhaps dangerous controversy by begging the preacher to be more cautious in the expression of his views.

Thus quiet was secured for several years, and Dr. Newton fell into comparative insignificance. At least, he was no longer a cause of discord in the New York diocese, though he never pretended to change his convictions in any respect. Then the Rev. Mr. MacQueary of Ohio published a book, which, strangely enough, would have aroused little or no controversy in the Episcopal Church except for its denunciation by Bishop Potter himself. Mr. MacQueary questioned the virgin birth of our Lord and rejected the doctrine of the resurrection of the body as taught in the Apostle's Creed; but probably his views would have been passed by as the vagaries of a young man, if Bishop Potter had not written a letter to an Episcopal paper censuring his selection as a speaker at the Church Congress at Philadelphia, a purely voluntary association of no ecclesiastical authority. Probably he was invited simply for the sake of making a more varied program. As the result of the Bishop's letter Mr. MacQueary was brought to trial and convicted as a heretic, and new fuel was thus added to the flames of the religious controversy, in which the public generally had begun to take a keen interest. His conviction, as a matter of course, revived the outcry against Dr. Newton, from whom Mr. MacQueary declared that he had obtained the philosophical principles on which he proceeded. Thus Bishop Potter's letter came back to vex him, and he had a heresy case on his own hands.

Dr. Newton seems to have no fear of the ordeal of an ecclesiastical trial, and perhaps he might come out of it with less harm than the Episcopal Church itself would suffer. That Church includes so wide a variety of theological opinions in its ministry, extending from extreme ritualism to simple evangelicalism, and from orthodoxy to the limit I-Aug.

of pure rationalism, that it is hard to tell where a vigorous hunt for heresy might end. Even the Rev. Phillips Brooks, its most illustrious pulpit orator, is assailed as heretical in his tendencies and his election, as Bishop of Massachusetts has been hotly opposed on that account. Ritualistic practices have been carried to the verge of Romanism, if not actually far into Romanism, by a party which seems to be increasing in power at New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, and elsewhere. If, therefore, theological controversy once got full headway in the Episcopal Church, it would be likely to spread far and wide and provoke numerous partisan conflicts; and for that reason Dr. Newton seems to be in no anxiety as to the result, so far as he is concerned individually.

Prof. Charles A. Briggs has been for many years a professor in the Union Theological Seminary of New York, and until recently his theological views have never been assailed in the Presbyterian Church, which has prided itself in him as one of its most distinguished scholars. He is a man of great learning and deep piety, but he is impatient under the criticism of men whose knowledge of the subjects to which he devotes himself is sometimes as superficial as his own is profound. Hence when he began to be attacked because of his methods of Biblical interpretation he showed his contempt for his critics too openly. One good man lost his temper; but the provocation was great. He could talk with calmness to scholars, but the ignorance of the people who misunderstood him excited his wrath, and he said in his heat what seemed very heretical. But, at the bottom, we imagine that Dr. Briggs is a good Presbyterian, a believer in the Bible, and a man who is conscientiously striving to make the veneration for the Scriptures more reasonable and less superstitious. The faith is not in danger from such a man as he. He may knock over some dogmas, but the foundation will be unimpaired. He is a devout man, spiritual and on the side of the Church as against its foes. Moreover, he is sustained by the Board of Directors of the Seminary, all of them stanch Presbyterians, pillars of the Church, and bountiful givers to all its benevolences. Very probably, and as a matter of legal necessity, the present formal compact between the Seminary and the General Assembly will be dissolved, the counsel of the school questioning the power of the board to make such an arrangement; but the

school of theology, attended in the future, as it has been in the past, by students of various evangelical denominations, drawn thither by the distinction of the corps of professors whom its magnificent endowment enables it to obtain.

The passage of the Rev. Dr. Bridgman from the Baptist to the Episcopal Church is not an event of much significance. He probably prefers the Episcopal order and liturgy; for as to the doctrine of reprobation, the two denominations are in substantial agreement. Such a transfer of ecclesiastical allegiance would have provoked only casual comment at another time. He seems not to have been at ease as a Baptist, and there is no indication that he is the leader of any movement which will trouble the Baptists. He has no followers, but goes away by himself whither

him. His revolt against the bitterest explanation of the punishment for sin is not peculiar to him. It is quite general.

We may therefore conclude that by the present theological controversy nothing has been settled, though it has shown that the severity of the old theological doctrines is yielding under the influence of the sweeter religious sentiment now prevailing. But when before in the history of Christianity were its cardinal principles so generally discussed as now? The controversy has made religion the great subject of conversation and discussion even among men who before had no place for religion in their thoughts. Every newspaper is now a religious organ. Everybody is a theologian. That is the great gain, the glorious fruit of the controversy now going on.

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION has no better opportunity than is furnished in the "Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle." If by University Extension is meant a course of reading in the home, then the C. L. S. C. provides it; if it asks for a course of lectures on literary and scientific, historical and practical subjects, the opportunity is furnished in the Local Circles; if it designs to promote the study of the languages, the C. L. S. C. graduate may find in the Schools of Correspondence and in the Chautauqua College of Liberal Arts the facilities already provided. Indeed, all students whose desire for culture and knowledge prompts them to adopt a plan of education may turn with hope to the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, which has been tried by a great multitude of people and has always been found helpful and profitable as a system of home education. Dr. Herbert B. Adams says, "Experience has shown that the best opportunity for University Extension is at Chautauqua itself and in the nearly sixty Chautauqua Summer Assemblies."

THERE is a renewal of the old conflict in the political world and especially in the political press, over the new order of things in the National Government. The President and his Cabinet do not remove every man

from office or a clerkship who does not hold the same political faith as the administration. This does not please the men who make politics a profession; therefore the bosses and party managers antagonize the President's policy. Mr. Cleveland was lenient to the Mugwumps who held office in his time; President Harrison is making a record for civil service in some places, but the machine politicians want all the spoils and they seek to create discontent, talk about civil service being a failure, and presume to teach the people that political bosses are statesmen. The growth of a true public sentiment will keep competent and faithful men in office, making changes only for unfaithfulness, incompetency, or immorality.

THE multiplicity of grand jury investigations in cases of alleged violation of the interstate commerce law is beginning to excite the apprehensions of not only the shippers and railroad managements but the general public as well. The passage of the interstate commerce act was regarded by many as being the solution of the perplexing problem of railway tariffs and methods. Having provided the remedy, at the best an experiment, the result seems to have been a relaxation of public watchfulness. If the interstate commerce act is to serve the pur

pose for which it was at first intended, and escape becoming a dead letter, the work of the commission must be facilitated by the granting of new powers, supported by increased legislative acts.

THE transfer of the U. S. Weather Bureau from the War Department to the Department of Agriculture and its assumption of a civilian character will serve to increase its value to the public, and especially to the farmers of the country. The selection of Mark W. Harrington, the professor of astronomy at the University of Michigan, and editor of The American Meteorological Journal, as chief of the Bureau, is a good indication of its future efficiency. The work of the Bureau will be extended and made more valuable to general interests and with the aid of the trained scientists and the large corps of men engaged in the special work of the Agricultural Department, the farmers of the country will be given much practical information.

THE impression has for a long time prevailed that the manufacture of tin-plate in the United States was an impossibility, owing to atmospheric conditions. It has developed recently that the only drawback to the successful operation of the industry is in the lack of skilled American labor and improved appliances. For years more than three-fourths of the Welsh output has found its way to the American market. From American consumers these same Welshmen have been paid, in twenty-five years, $320,000,000. In addition to being the chief support of the tin-plate manufacturers of the districts of Wales, Americans have been paying from 60 to 100 per cent more than a fair price. American enterprise will not be slow to take advantage of the opportunities offered in the favorable climatic conditions, and the exceptional natural resources, aided by wholesome protective legislation.

To the thoughtful student of the history of the colored race, there is presented by Francis A. Walker a highly interesting problem in the following figures: "The first census in 1790 found the colored population of the country 757,208. The cenзus of 1810, two years after the abolition of the slave trade, found this element numbering 1,377,808." He further states that while the total population of the country has, during the century, increased sixteen fold, the colored element has increased but ten fold. In 1790 the colored

element constituted nearly one fifth of the population and in 1890 less than one eighth. It seems that the tendency of the colored people is to settle in the cotton states and that in population they have been decreasing, by reason of a very high death rate among their race in the higher latitudes. What effect liberty and a more liberal education will have upon their future is yet to be developed.

"IT would have been a physical impossibility for the people of the United States, unaided by foreigners, to have controlled and subdued nearly the whole North American continent, to have built 170,000 miles of railroads, to have opened and improved enormous waterways, and to have populated 1,500,000 square miles of territory all within a single century," so says Oswald Ottendorfer. All of this we concede, but is it not true that a large majority of American born citizens of to-day point to parents who were born in other lands? It does not require fifty years to change the foreign population of a nation into a native population. The element of birth comes into these questions of emigration and foreigners controlling the general government.

The birth element is likely always to keep the native population much larger than the foreign population in America. In the judgment of some writers the objectionable character of certain immigrants seems to bring reproach on all immigrants. This is unjust and is being regulated by recent legislation.

DR. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, of the New York Central Railroad and the most popular orator in New York City, has been one of the defendants in a singular lawsuit. As an officer of his road he was indicted for heating cars with stoves; this was contrary to a recently enacted law; trouble came by reason of stoves in the cars and Dr. Depew with six other officers of his road was indicted for the offence. It is not pleasant for a man of Dr. Depew's standing in business, in society, and in the church to be arraigned by the officers of the law, especially when as everybody knows, he did not intend to harm any one in violating the law. It was an incident in his life and in railroad history. It gives emphasis to the requirements of the law, but the end came in the dismissal of all the cases by the court and jury, nobody being fined and nobody sent to jail.

IT is a sad state of public morals which

condemns cheating at gambling while the gamblers go free and the gambling is condoned. Old fashioned morality leveled its blows at the game of chance and counted it a crime. The Prince of Wales, through the friends of the Crown, has made it appear that cheating at baccarat is a public offence which should be punished by law; but the gamblers, of whom the Prince was the chief, having carried the gambling paraphernalia as part of his baggage, escape the penalty of the law and the ostracism of society, while Col. Cummings, who cheated the gamblers, is made the scapegoat. The exposure of the Prince of Wales as a gambler is complete, and it is declared by certain men of the press in England that his title to the throne is in danger as the result of his corrupt character and extremely bad habits of life.

SIR JOHN MACDONALD, the late Premier of Canada, was one of the widest observed and most closely studied of the public men of modern times. He was a consummate politician and a great statesman. On the tidal wave of every popular movement of his government he managed to ride to a position of leadership. The secret of this remarkable success lay in his ability to adapt himself to the tendencies of the hour. With all the energy of his strong intense nature he threw himself into the leading questions of the day, and labored only a little less strenuously, perhaps, for the interests of the people than he did for his own personal aggrandizement. The Dominion of Canada has sustained an almost irreparable loss in the death of the man who since 1866 has governed the Province, and who secured for it a good position among the nations of the earth.

MR. PARNELL married Mrs. O'Shea in Steyning on June 25th. The plans were kept a secret even from newspaper men till the day of the marriage and then the ceremony was performed by an officer of the civil government. This will be a notable instance of a great politician entering matrimony to remove a disgrace which had impaired his political power. Mr. Parnell thinks that his marriage will enable him to be reinstated as leader of the Irish party in Parliament. A strong impression prevails in the House of Commons to the same effect. English Liberals, it is thought, will regard him as a man who has done his best to atone for his fault. The Irish of his own party cheer him, while

the Catholic clergy will not accept the marriage as condoning his offence.

A STATUE of Henry Ward Beecher by J. Q. A. Ward which stands in front of the Brooklyn City Hall was unveiled on June 24th. It is a fine tribute to the memory of the great preacher. The figure is bronze and rests on a Quincy granite pedestal. The whole is nineteen feet high. On the right side of the pedestal a slave girl is kneeling and laying a palm branch at the feet of Mr. Beecher. On the other side is a boy holding up a little girl, both barefooted, and the girl is placing a wreath at the feet of Mr. Beecher. The statue cost over $36,000, and $35,642.31 had been paid by the subscribers on the day it was unveiled. In a country where the church is separated from the state and supported by voluntary contributions, it is a climax of ministerial popularity when a statue is prepared and dedicated by the people to a Christian minister. The friends of Mr. Beecher may justly consider this tribute as a new evidence that history will make his fame secure.

MRS. MARY CLEMENT LEAVITT, who was sent out in 1883 by the World's W.C.T. U. as round-the-world missionary, has returned to America, and will be present at the National Temperance Convention which meets at Saratoga July 15. During her eight years' absence, Mrs. Leavitt has organized and set to work 86 W. C. T. U's, 24 men's temperance societies, and 23 branches of the White Cross; she has held over 1,600 meetings, has traveled 100,000 miles, and has had the services of 229 interpreters in 47 languages.

ON June 15 was celebrated the marriage of Elaine Goodale to Dr. Eastman, an Indian of the Sioux tribe. The bride, a cultured woman of New England, is widely known as a writer of both poetry and prose. She is a contributor to THE CHAUTAUQUAN, her latest article, "A Woman's View of the Indian Troubles," having appeared in the March impression of the present year. She has been deeply interested in the welfare of the Indian race and has done much toward securing for it a higher recognition, and fairer treatment on the part of her own people. The groom is a highly educated gentleman, having graduated from Dartmouth College in 1887, and having taken later a diploma from the Boston University School of Medicine.