cient belief that the Christian religion was an exclusive revelation. These studies, prosecuted by a multitude of distinguished scholars, have had everything to do with disabusing the popular mind of the belief in the miraculous writing, preservation, and authority, of biblical literature, and with leaving us free to read and interpret, to accept and to reject, according to the canons of enlightened reason. On all hands there has been a great liberalizing of knowledge and belief about the Bible. At the time I entered the ministry, there were some epoch-making discussions going on, such as the Colenso controversy in England, and here among us liberals the controversy between naturalism and supernaturalism, and between Christianity and the absolute religion, brought on by the Transcendentalists. Since then, as I have already intimated, Spencer's "Philosophy of Evolution," and Darwin's "Origin of Species," have ruled the public mind, and given rise to a vast literature of philosophy and religion. Matthew Arnold's "Literature and Dogma" has brought in a new criticism of the Bible. The doctrine of eternal punishment, like some dread giant, has been felled by one of its own household, the doughty Canon Farrar. Formerly we turned always to Germany for critical scholarship; but Holland has now given us a school of critical scholars who have corrected for us the chronology of the Bible and given us new readings of Jewish history. Scotland, also, has produced a school of preachers in full sympathy with the trend of our liberal faith. And here comes the great Encyclopedia Brittanica into all households with its articles upon religious history, philosophy, and biography, written over from the advanced knowledge and broader feeling of the age.

tal, so far as it goes; but, instead of being, as some seem to suppose, an enlargement of the bounds of liberty, it is a distinct and definite contraction of them. It leaves out of account two of the main elements and forces of human life-the God-Ideal and Religion. We may say of man, in Emerson's words: "Himself from God he could not free."

He cannot escape God any more than he can escape the horizon, or his own heart-beat. No matter what your theory may be, God is the most real reality of life. This word has not been, and is not now, a dogmatic limitation. The God. Ideal and Religion are two factors of human life so large that they can not be ignored or left out of the platform of any movement that proposes to be wide enough for the growing life of humanity to stand upon.

We are beginning to see that
"Our little systems have their day,
They have their day and cease to be;
They are but broken lights of Thee,
And Thou, O Lord, art more than they.'

It is a shame and a disgrace to the Christian name that Christendom should be rent into so many factions. To the honor of the Christian Church be it said that this has always been felt, and many attempts have been made to unify the Church of Christ. But the unification was conditioned on the practical surrender of diverse organizations to some one sect. Hence the failure. The difficulty was to find a basis of union broad enough for all. Where should we seek this except in the words of the Master himself? And what better basis can there be than the great commands of the law which Jesus exalted above everything else to love God with our heart and mind and soul

FUTURE.

The Church of the Future will not be founded, as some think, upon the platform of simply "liberty of thought, and the physical, intellectual and moral elevation of mankind." What is the matter with such a platform? It is capi

selves. Yea, so all inclusive is this that Jesus said that whoever should do the will of the Father in heaven-and law is simply the expression of will-was to him a brother or a sister. Think of the resources of that relationship, closer than to be a friend or a follower, or a

member of any church- -a brother or a sister to the Master, by the doing of the two great commands of the law. Though we seek through all the realms of faith we can find no other basis than this.

It was in this spirit and in this belief that a number of ministers of Chicago and vicinity have for several years been trying to effect a union on such a basis. Mr. Beecher was consulted shortly before his death, and he heartily approved of the attempt and bade us godspeed. The organization was recently effected under the name of "The Liberal Christian Alliance."

A few words as to this name. Some wished to substitute "religious" for "Christian." But the belief prevailed that the way of Christ is, and will ever be, the way man must go. Science and philosophy prove this. And "Christian" is the only word expressing the best and highest aims of modern religion and civilization. Others again wished to discard the word "liberal"; but no other could be found to take its place. The word has been abused, as has the mother word, "liberty"-"O liberty, what crimes have been committed in thy name!"-but no other word so well expresses the working of the leaven of the new theology as opposed to dogma and tradition. By it is meant neither more nor less than the loving, reasonable faith which characterizes the great preachers in the pulpit of America to-day; or, as one speaker said, it means Christianity as opposed to Churchianity.

That the Alliance is decidedly Christian is seen in the text of the opening sermon, which was the keynote of all the meetings-"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Christianity will not pass away; because it voices the eternal needs of the human soul and holds before us the eternal vision.

The constitution adopted declares that the Alliance exists to work for the unification of Christendom "on the basis of the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the spiritual leadership of Christ." It invites the co-operation of all willing to work on

this basis. Two results would follow: first, a broader and more spiritual interpretation of Christianity. The essentials of our faith are here emphasized, and many would be won to it if the beauty of Christ's own faith could take the place of the dogmas of the schools. Secondly, co-operation among the various denominations in religious and philanthropic work. In many small towns and cities the forces which ought to come together to make one or two strong churches are scattered in maintaining half a dozen in a feeble existence. There is no fervor and enthusiasm in the nearly empty churches, and the resources are exhausted, leaving nothing for charitable work. In a farming country, when the grain is meager, the fences are most conspicuous; let the grain and produce of the fields be abundant and the fences are hidden from sight. The denominational fences are the most conspicuous signs in many a field of the Lord, which should be hidden, rather, by an abundant harvest of heavenly things. Let the churches unite on essentials, and the unessentials will be hidden from sight.

Next to the emphasis which this movement lays on the oneness of the seamless robe of God's truth, the corollaries of which are the oneness and possible unification of Christendom, together with co-operation for Christian work, the further emphasis is that it is not a new denomination. Many different denominations came together in Chicago, and the denominational affiliation, or the autonomy of any church is not disturbed. Prof. Swing and Dr. Thomas are the two chief officers. The aim is to have different churches and denominations fellowship together and become one, as did the apostles and early Christians. Though they were of different names and diverse characters, they were of one spirit, and churches can likewise be made one. All the sects came out of Christianity by emphasizing some one thing unduly. They will go back into Christianity by overleaping their limitations and becoming one with the full circle of religion. Different churches and denominations will, indeed, have

different names by way of distinction, as individuals, cities, nations have. Bands of veterans who fought in the war take the name of some departed hero --not that he was the only patriot, but taking his name is a tribute of loving remembrance. And churches will continue to be named after some theological hero, or will commemorate some important movement or phase of faith. But all denominations and churches will, in God's good time, be filled with, and guided by, one common Christianity. Then one Lord, one faith, one baptism, within and through and over all; and as there is one God and one humanity, there shall at last be one shepherd and one fold.-T. G. Milsted in the "Christian Union."

A UNIVERSAL RELIGION.

A universal religion can come more easily than a universal language, because in language humanity must become one in minute details, while in religion unity may be perfect when all minds agree in great cardinal ideas. Indeed, a universal religion will come as rapidly as civilization appears, because the logical faculty is able at last to reach only one result. As the European and American mind is rapidly tending toward one definition of man, is assigning him equality of right and unity of physical nature, is passing by as insignificant the facts of color, height, and weight, so the same mind resolves the idea of a Creator into that of one God, because two causes must not be thought of when one will suffice. The fact of an advancing civilization implies thus a coming universal religion. What Socrates saw as to the oneness of God Newton was compelled to affirm, because there is only one logic for all the philosophers of the entire human family. What civilization does is to carry for ward all those millions who in thought stand between Socrates and Newton, that all may be one. As man rises, many details become insignificant. Where civilization is now highest there is already only one religion. The reason which compels many faces which differ in features and color to meet in

one humanity compels many names of sects to meet in only one substantial religious belief. Instead of being an idle dream, a universal religion is already a reality, unless under universal we include the savage tribes as well as the civilized races. That is to say, there are millions of persons who have found the religion of the human race just as they have found the equality of men. It remains for what is called education to increase the number of these harmonious millions. When the Hindoo Mozoomdar began to study deeply the Christian religion, he discovered that it was also his own. Dean Stanley and Canon Farrar reciprocated the intellectual favor, and found that they were the religious brothers of Mozoomdar. Max Müller joined this brotherhood, and confessed that one chain of religion binds all hearts. Reason is the great winnowing mill of the earth. It blows steadily and powerfully, and the one result is the separation of the wheat from the chaff. The future cannot avoid the happy destiny of possessing more of wheat and less of chaff. The chaff cannot come back to mingle again with the wheat; for, as Christ said, it passes into an unrelenting fire. The mind can move from polytheism to the unity of deism, but it can never retrace its steps. It must be that religion is composed of permanent elements. As water is always composed of the same two great component parts, and must not be conceived of as liable to any new form of composition, so religion possesses such permanent elements as faith, worship, repentance, charity, and hope. Whatever may be these elements, they will slowly reveal themselves to studious years; and, once found, they will remain permanent. Therefore, a universal religion is as necessary as a universal chemistry, but with this difference of situation,-religion lies in a more puzzling entanglement with man's habits, teachings, and prejudices. Time and thought will at last reach a final analysis of piety; and, as astronomy is one for China, England and America, so religion will be one and the same sentiment in all lands. It

must be remembered that the religion along the Congo river, among the black cannibals, is no more false than their politics and their chemistry. The African priest is no deeper in error than the African astronomer. The mental progress which shall harmonize the African chemist with the English chemist, and compel the statesmen of Central Africa to agree with Lincoln and Castelar, shall modify the worship and doctrines of negro piety until they shall differ in nothing from the worship delineated by a Jesus Christ, or by the human leaders such as Dean Stanley, Farrar, and Freeman Clarke.-Prof. David Swing, D. D., in "The Statesman."

RELIGIOUS HONESTY.

In the writings of the distinguished Frances Anne Kemble appears the following record: "I am just come from church, where the Psalms of the day made me sick. How can one utter, without shuddering, such sentences as 'Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul. . . . Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord persecute them.' Is it not dreadful to think that one must say, as I did, God forbid,' while my eye rested on the terrible words contained in the appointed Psalm of the day; or utter in God's house that to which one attaches no signification; or, worst of all, connect in any way such sentiments with one's feelings, and repeat, with lips that confess Christ, curses for which his blessed command has substituted blessings."

Is it impiety or is it piety to attempt, as Unitarianism is doing, to purge religion; to set aside the imprecatory Psalms and say, "These are not God's word, they cannot be, they are only man's imperfect and unworthy thoughts about God in darker ages"? Is it impiety, or is it not rather the noblest piety, that seeks to strip our liturgies and Scripture readings of everything that degrades the character of God?

Miss Kemble goes on to say that this subject came up in the conversation one evening at Dean Milman's, and she asked

A universal burst of laughter! indeed! at the thought of turning a religious service into a farce, not to say a blasphemy, by habitually repeating in connection with it things which one does not believe, and some things so dreadful and God dishonoring that reason, heart and conscience alike revolt at the thought of them! Alas! we little realize how large and important is the work that Unitarianism has to do in teaching our age not only higher views of God and life, but simple honesty and truthfulness in religious utterances and worship.

SOUL-SAVING.

It seems to me like a selfish cry,—

This telling a man that the only thing Of any importance here below

Is saving himself from a future sting. Far nobler, far better, it seems to me,

To tell a man to save some other; To send him up and down through the world,

Seeking and saving his fallen brother;

To put him off from the beaten track,
Out into the hedges of sin and shame,
To teach and to tell to the captives there
The bounty and glory of virtue's name;
To rescue the starving one from death;

To rescue the sinning one from crime;
To preach the gospel of present help

To the weary ones on the shores of time;

To seek out those whom the world for

If a man does this, I dare affirm
That he can afford to forego all care

life to the day's atmosphere, for it was

time

To the work of getting his neighbor there.

-Hattie Tyng Griswold.

AN ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE.

Guy's Cliff is one of the pleasantest and best known places in Warwickshire. It is a delightful walk there from Leamington Spa, taking one by the centuries' old field paths, secluded, and leading past quaint little churches, mills and homes. We passed through the typical English hamlet of Milverton, wee, prim, still and respectable. Close beside the tiny churchyard, which surrounds the church, the path strikes into the fields which belong to Guy's Cliff; although it is a considerable stretch of country which you traverse, dotted with English elms and enlivened here and there by groups of English cattle, before you come to the quiet Avon, Shakspeare's Avon, which winds so close to the great house. At last you see the stream, brooded over by drooping willows and languid swans, and hedged about with noble elms of impenetrable shade. As first seen on a fair summer afternoon the landscape seems asleep and dreamy, with just breath enough astir to move the birds without a ripple and send the variant leaf gently down to float, midriffed keeled, upon the stream. As you cross the bridge the stately house is seen, substance and shadow, across the water; and from that moment on till the visit ends, substance and shadow accompany your observations and retrospections, and it is not always easy on that spot to separate the seeming from the real, the legendary from the historic. But first you see close by the bridge the old Saxon mill, possibly the one mentioned in Domesday Book, certainly very old, and with its stone walls and arches in a very good state of preservation. Directly opposite, across the flood, rise the towers of Guy's Cliff; and its vine-embossed balconies sheltered that afternoon some pleasant home scenes. Beneath its many windows the grass was yielding its sweet

its tresses.

Guy's Cliff received its name from Sir Guy of Warwick, the same redoubtable individual of whom they tell such apocryphal tales at Warwick Castle, from the slaying of the dun cow to the swallowing of enormous potations from the huge bowl now on exhibition. Here he long dwelt, "desiring a quiet, retired life for his devotions and study," and hollowed out for himself suitable rooms in the rather soft limestone cliffs along the river side. Here, the fable runs, he ended the years of his bustling life, fed by the hands of his betrothed, Felice, to whom he revealed his identity only on his death bed. The legend concludes with the statement that they were buried, his Countess Felice, and Sir Guy, together, in one of the caves.

Damp, dripping, overhung with aged ivies, these caves appear to day suggestive of incalculable rheumatism and the blues. In one of them, most picturesque of all, is a moss-covered, bubbling spring, its broad curbing, now so soft and green, the gift of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in the reign of Henry VI. The water is clear and good and suggests "the silver welles " of the historian. In an adjoining Gothic chapel, where services are now held when Miss Percy, the lady of the house, is at home, there may be seen a statue of Guy, whose gigantic form carries out the traditional idea of his size and strength.

It is the appearance

in England of the same worshipful idea that painted Egyptian kings so huge upon their monuments.

The regular drive from the lodge gates to the house is the customarily circuitous one through broad green acres, and now and then beneath noble old trees; but directly in front of the house entrance is a wide roadway, grass grown and evidently unused for driving, which boasts a double row of as majestic trees as are to be found in the kingdom. They remind one of the famous lime tree walk at Cambridge University, and these trees are quite as erect and strong. The present house was built by Mr.