to be more potent with men than the corresponding true docrine which is so far above their appreciation. An example of this (supposing the Protestant to be right and the Roman Catholic wrong) is seen in the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, which is exceedingly grateful to weak human nature wearied with theological controversy, distracted with doubts, hopeless of ever quieting them, and sighing for a haven of rest.

I fear that the lack of order in the above list of erroneous tendencies will be taken as evidence that the list is incomplete; but anyhow it is already long enough to suggest the question, If our witnesses be so liable to error, how shall we discover the truth? The reply seems to be that as the lawyer before the civil courts deals with a similar problem, which in some respects is even more difficult, and yet he has good success, so may we, by a method adapted to our circumstances, hope to find some new truth.

If our witness is liable to the scholastic bias, take him when he is not theologizing, when, perhaps, he is preaching, earnestly desirous of saving a soul, and is therefore off his guard, and pours forth his inmost spirit. Then he exhibits the out goings of the genuine Christianity that is in him. At such a time he is a valuable witness. If he is accustomed to ride any other hobby, take him when he is off his hobby. Void the influence of false conceptions, and of special activities, by taking testimony from all classes of Christian society. Correct the zeitgeist by consulting all ages since Christianity came into the world. More than all, consult the ripest and best Christians, those of the best disposition and character, of tru. est instincts and intuitions,the great,free souls, who have been able to throw off some of the influence of their time and to lead men to new light and life, the unsophisticated ones, the pure in heart, who see God and can tell us of Him in short, those most like Christ. It is the quality vote, rather than the quantity vote, that tells here. But, other things being equal, the number of witnesses becomes of great importance. For the operation of biases with men in general is reasonably certain, while in an individual, and at a given time, it is much

less certain.

Also we should manifestly give special weight

to the consciousness of to day.

With such precautions, may we not calculate what truths lie just below the horizon, which shall to-morrow rise and shine in the eyes of all and be accepted? Acknowledging the diffi culty of pursuing such a course of investigation, and foreseeing that almost no one will be immediately convinced thereby, such is the persistence of biases, I would like to inquire at some other time what is the verdict of the Christian consciousness on some of the theological questions of the day.

G. T. Knight.

GENERAL

REVIEW.

Orthodox Missionary Qualifications.

On the occasion of the last annual Commencement of the Andover Theological Seminary, Rev. Robert A. Hume, Missionary from Bombay, in response to a request for an after-dinner speech, said:

"We are looking to this seminary to help us in our missionary work in all respects. Some of us feel that we are being helped already by influence which comes from here. A full and universal atonement by Christ has its natural and logical conclusion in a universal providence through Christ. I believe that this is going to help us in our missionary work. It is not mere speculation on idle questions as to what becomes of the ancestors of those to whom we carry the gospel. It is, I can assure you from an experience of twelve years, an every-day question to us, and requires an answer which it has been very difficult to give. I know I have gone home with a heavy heart, and often dim eyes, because the gospel of love and mercy which I was seeking to give to these men, was followed by a feeling of bitterness in their hearts because they thought it implied an eternity of sorrow for their ancestors. It is a live question, and must be met in a Christian way. I can say, not only for myself, but for a considerable number of workers in the field, that we believe there is light in this matter. It is a practical question, which we believe is going to receive from this source a more Christian and helpful solution. It has been my privilege to meet in the last few months five of the largest theological seminaries in our country. We applied to all these to help us in our work. In no one have we found more mis

sionary spirit than in Andover, where this phase of Christian thinking is especially held. By the fruits ye may judge the tree."

Mr. Hume is now in the thirteenth year of effective missionary service. He assisted in founding a theological seminary, and is editor of a weekly newspaper which circulates among educated Indiamen. He came to this country for temporary rest, but also for the purpose of increasing the missionary force in India. In his visits to theological seminaries he found an increasing interest in missionary work. At New Haven, the President of the Society of Inquiry in Yale Theological Seminary, a licentiate of a Congregational Association,-whose members approved his examination, and gave him testimonials of a high order, and who is represented as a man of special promise,―made application to the American Board to be accepted as a Missionary. But as he was not "prepared to affirm that those are lost who do not receive the Gospel in this life," favorable action was not taken on his application. This state of things sadly affected Mr. Hume, and he has said, referring to his remarks at Andover: "For months I had been going about trying to get men for missionary work. I had seen men turned aside from offering themselves for the service of the Board because they felt that candidates were being treated with suspicion. When I went to Andover, in one day I saw four good men who said that they had been interested in missionary work and might have offered themselves to the Board, if it did not seem useless to do so. I encouraged them to apply, but felt much grieved. So did other missionaries. I did not know till a few moments before we sat down to the Alumni dinner that I should be asked to speak. I prepared no remarks, but sought to avoid criticising any one, and to avoid the use of such words as 'probation,' about which there is controversy."

Immediately on the utterance of the speech, Mr. Hume became an object of grave suspicion. Protests were sent to the Rooms of the Board against his continuance in the missionary service; the organ of the Congregationalists held him up as taking the position that a missionary should be allowed "to tell the heathen that their ancestors are undoubtedly enjoing a further and better probation in the next life;" and the Prudential Committee of the Board postponed action on his request to be returned to India for duty. Then began a strife, culminating at the meeting of the Board in Des Moines in October. At that meeting the report of the Prudential Committee studiously avoided particular reference to the case of the applicant from New Haven, or NEW SERIES. VOL. XXIV.

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to the case of Mr. Hume, but stated in general terms the duty of the Board after an offer for service and the result of inquiry and conference thereon has been reported by the Secretary to the Prudential Committee. Further correspondence or conference is under the instruction of the Committee, and for this the Committee holds itself responsible, as it does for the final decision which is made, after careful deliberation, upon each case by itself.

"This final decision, however, for various reasons, is not infrequently delayed Sometimes a more thorough medical examination seems to be required, sometimes further educational training, sometimes additional experience in evangelistic work at home, and sometimes a review of some important doctrinal truth. Or it may be that the general impression produced by the candidate as related to the particular field where he desires to labor, or to a particular department of service, leads the Committee to delay appointment. In all such cases the ordinary vote of the Committee has been that it is inexpedient to make the appointment at present,' or ' voted, to defer action.' Many such cases along the history of many years are on record, showing that after an interval, sometimes of weeks, sometimes of months, occasionally of one or two years, a further report is presented, the diffi culty which occasioned the delay is removed, and the candidate is appointed.

"This method of procedure is in accordance with the principle commended to the Board thirty-seven years ago in the following emphatic words: The Board does not assume to decide upon the fitness of an individual to be a minister of the gospel; but it is their duty to decide, and that intelligently, on his original and continued fitness to be sustained by the funds committed to their disposal as a missionary to the heathen. . . . The contributors to the funds for Foreign Missions demand more evidence of faithfulness in the preaching of the gospel than can possibly be in possession even of the permanent ecclesiastical bodies scattered over our country, and they will hold the Prudential Committee and the Board responsible for seeing that no part of their contributions go for the propagation of error, either in doctrine or in practice.'

"This general method, in accordance with this sound principle,— a method which with varied emphasis as to particular doctrines at particular times, has been pursued during the entire history of the Board, and which has proved successful for the end proposed,- has been faithfully followed during the past year, this service being regarded by the executive officers and the Prudential Committee as one of the most serious, sometimes delicate and difficult, trusts."

A special committee to whom this report was referred, found themselves shut up to the expression of their opinion on the general sub

ject of Missionary Qualifications and Appointments as presented by the committee, and based on the directions given in 1849. They could not, without going outside the report submitted to them, deal with or propose action concerning particular cases which it was known, by general rumor, had been before the Prudential Committee. The report "spoke nothing of them," said they, "therefore we have nothing to do with them." But, so great was the pressure brought to bear upon them, not only in the committee room, but "met at every corner, and arrested on their way" by "scores "-probably by "hundreds," that they not only recommended the adoption of a resolution "recognizing and approving the principles upon which the Prudential Committee has continued to act in regard to appointments for missionary service, in strictly conforming to the well understood and permanent basis of doctrinal faith upon which the missions of the Board have been steadily conducted, and to which, in the exercise of its sacred trust, the committee had no option but to conform;" but they felt compelled to make known, if not to submit, a suggestion which, if adopted, would set aside the rule that they alleged had been in force since 1849. It was thus carefully and cautiously worded: "It has been suggested that the Prudential Committee might be relieved of the difficult and delicate duty of pronouncing upon the theological fitness of the candidates, by some carefully devised method of referring the question to a properly constituted vicinage council. The committee mention this as a suggestion, on which they are not called and do not deem themselves competent to decide."

The committee were a unit in their report, except that one member -Rev. Dr. Vose-gave it only "qualified assent." Subsequently, in justifying this qualification, he said of the report: "It was well to recall and repeat the method of procedure commended thirty-seven years ago, that the contributors to the Board will hold the Prudential Committee and the Board responsible for seeing that no part of their contributions go for the propagation of error, either in doctrines or in practice;' but it would have been well also to add the report of the business Committee in 1871 at Salem, that neither this Board nor its Prudential Committee, are in any sense a Theological Court to settle doctrinal points of belief, but a body instituted by the churches to make known the gospel of Christ among the heathen nations and those.. nominally Christians, and establish churches among them maintaining that faith, and that 'only, which is universally received by those bodies whose agents they are, and who furnish the funds which

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