ing the civilians, has always been particularly friendly toward Americans. This makes the more pronounced the unfriendly feeling evinced by some Germans-an unfriendliness attributed to our attitude in retaining control with our Legation guard of one entrance to the Forbidden City. That feeling has now found an unfortunate expression. It seems that Legation Street is being repaired near our Legation, and that an American sentry was placed at the point, with orders to direct people around by a side street. Everybody obeyed excepting the Germans, both officers and soldiers, who have already caused the American troops some trouble. One of the German officers drew his sword, so the despatch says, and charged an American soldier, who brought his bayonet to charge, whereupon the officer desisted. Subsequently a German soldier charged past the sentry, who fired, hitting another German soldier near the German Legation, a quarter of a mile off. This, fortunately, was only a light flesh wound. The sentry has been placed under arrest, and Major Robertson (who has charge of our Legation guard) has instituted an investigation. We may add that our remaining forces in China, consisting of a Legation guard, no longer owe allegiance or obedience to any foreign commander, but are answerable solely to the United States Minister or his representative at Peking. In the event of common peril, however, the several Legation guards may unite for a common defense, in which case they would of course select a common leader, as they did during the heroic defense a year ago.

Volcanic Disturbances

A despatch from Batavia, Java, announces in Java that the volcano of Keloet is in a state of eruption, and that the surrounding district is coincidently in almost total darkness. Later reports indicate a great loss of life, many natives having been overwhelmed with lava. The population of Blitar is fleeing. The heavy rain of cinders has not ceased. Six districts, aggregating one-third of the island, including Samarang, Kediri, and Surakarta, have already been covered. This is the constantly threatening peril to Holland's most important colonial possession.

Summer Schools of Religion

We have already called attention to the Harvard Summer School of Theology; two other analogous summer schools merit notice. At Greenacre, Maine, will be held a School of Comparative Religion, the purpose of which will be to afford opportunity for the scientific study of various forms of philosophical and relig ious thought, presented mainly by sympathetic exponents of the special religion or philosophy under discussion. Mohammedanism, Buddhism, Hebraism, are to be explained by adherents of each faith ; Babism, the ancient Egyptian religions, and various phases of modern relig ious and philosophical belief are to be presented from both the critical and sympathetic standpoints. Further information may be had from Dr. L. G. Janes, Director, Cambridge, Mass. Of a quite different character is the Roman Catholic Summer School at Cliff Haven, N. Y. The many subjects to be treated show an active interest in current thought, but they are all apparently to be presented by Roman Catholic scholars. We note among other subjects lectures on Phases of Contemporary Rationalism, on the Relation of Buddhism to Christianity, on Scientific Achievements of the Nineteenth Century, on Evolution, on Economics, on the Study of the Bible for the Twentieth Century. It will be seen that the Roman Catholic School aims at promoting the general culture of its attendants; it does not, apparently, wish them to receive that culture from any except its own teachers.

The Case of Dr. Herron

The facts in the case of Dr. George D. Herron appear to be these: His wife has obtained a divorce from him on the ground that he has deserted her and their children; he has made no attempt to have this divorce set aside, and has made no public denial of the charge of desertion; he has since married another woman, if that can be called a marriage in which no vows are plighted on either side and the form of the ceremony apparently leaves either party to sever the connection at will, except in so far as the law may prevent. It is said that the woman now living with Dr. Herron has provided amply for the support of the discarded

wife and children. Whether this report is true or not we do not know; and opinions may perhaps differ as to whether such an indorsement of the discarded wife by her successor would make the transaction better or worse; we think it would make it worse. Unhappily, such violation of a sacred pledge and abandonment of wife and children for a new passion is not uncommon in American society, and we should not think it worth reporting had not The Outlook been the first paper to introduce Dr. Herron to the American public by printing in its columns, a number of years ago, his "Message of Jesus to Men of Wealth." It seems fitting, therefore, that we should take the occasion to say that no man deserves to be called a social reformer who does what he can to overthrow the family, which is the foundation of all social organization, by the easy method of abandoning his own family; nor does he ever deserve to be called a teacher of morals who manifests his own moral character by discarding in so cavalier a fashion the most sacred obligations which one human being can assume toward another the explicit pledge in marriage to a wife and the implicit pledge to helpless and dependent children. The only penalty which such an offender can be made to feel is empty audience-rooms and unmarketed books, and we trust that the American public will visit this penalty on Dr. Herron.

For the convenience of our

Creed Revision readers who may wish to

preserve for future reference the action of the Presbyterian General Assembly, we reprint in full that action as finally taken: it consisted in the adoption of the amended report of the Committee, and subsequently thereto the appointment of a Committee as provided for in this report, which reads:

A. We recommend that a committee, as provided for by the Form of Government, Chapter XXIII, Section 3, be appointed by this Assembly.

B. We recommend that this committee be instructed to prepare and to submit to the next General Assembly, for such disposition as may be judged to be wise, a brief statement of the reformed faith, expressed, as far as possible, in untechnical terms. The said statement is to be prepared with a view to its being employed to give information and a better understanding of our doctrinal beliefs, and not with

a view to its becoming a substitute for or an alternative of our Confession of Faith.

C. We further recommend that this committee be instructed to prepare amendments of Chapter III., Chapter X., Section 3; Chapter XVI., Section 7; Chapter XXII., Section 3, and Chapter XXV., Section 6, of our Confession of Faith, either by modification of the text or by declaratory statement, but so far as possible by declaratory statement, so as more clearly to express the mind of the Church, with additional statements concerning the love of God for all men, missions, and the Holy Spirit, it being understood that the revision shall in no way impair the integrity of the system of doctrine set forth in our Confession

and taught in the Holy Scripture.

The important provision of this report, in our judgment, is Section B. The special amendments or interpretations of the Confession provided for by Section C are of minor importance. Some sections most needing amendment are not referred to in this section at all. The Westminster Confession of Faith, as we read it, assumes that the whole race of man had its trial in Adam and Eve; that in the sin of Adam and Eve the whole race sinned; that as a consequence of that sin the whole race has fallen under the just condemnation of God; that he is under no obligation, moral or other, to make provision for the escape of any of the race from the consequences of sin; that he has of his own free volition chosen to make such provision for a certain number, which number can neither be increased nor diminished by anything which man can do; that no man can enter this number by any act of his own, led thereto by the light of nature or even by the "common operations of the Spirit;" and that all whom God has not chosen thus to rescue from irretrievable ruin he has chosen, for his own glory, to pass by and If the explanleave in irretrievable ruin. atory statement prepared by the Committee retains this "system of doctrine," and merely states it in milder or more vague terms, it will enhance the difficulty of subscription; if, on the other hand, the statement is simply evangelistic in tone, if it merely embodies the faith of the Church that the world is a lost and ruined world and that salvation is possible only through Jesus Christ, ministers and elders will rightly consider that subscription to the Confession is really understood to be subscription to this statement, and the present situation will

be greatly relieved. No statement which any committee can make will be wholly satisfactory to the evolutionist, who believes that life is a place rather of development than of probation, and that redemption is rather a giving of life than a rescue from penalty. But for such a recasting of the creed it is quite certain the Presbyterian Church is not prepared. Let us hope that the Committee will be able to make a "statement" which will be sufficiently catholic and evangelical to satisfy the consciences of the liberals in the Church, and that the conservatives will be satisfied by the general recognition of the integrity of the present Confession. If logically there is some incongruity between the two, it may not be any greater than is often necessary to co-operation in both ecclesiastical and political organizations.

The closing days of the Presbyterian Assembly last week gratiGeneral Assembly fied those who had fought the revision movement. Brakes were fitted to the wheels of the Revision Committee by two amendments. The one designated the new document provided for in Section B of the report as "a brief statement [instead of "summary"] of the reformed faith." This was regarded as checking anything like a new and alternative creed, and sanctioning nothing beyond improved renderings of the true meaning of the Confession. The other inserted in the instructions of the Committee that, so far as possible, declaratory statements of the meaning of the Confession are to be preferred to alterations of the text. These amendments were accepted, the revisionists evidently doubting their ability to carry the report through without them. Very few votes were cast against its several sections, as thus amended, and then the report, as a whole, was adopted without opposition. On the following day some unpleasantness was stirred up by the reconstitution of the Committee thus far in charge. It was ordered that it be increased from fifteen to twenty-one, and that Dr. Minton, the Moderator, be substituted for Dr. Dickey, of Philadelphia, as Chairman. Dr. Dickey's friends complained of this as invidious to him; it was suspected as another brake upon the revisionist movement, and

some heat of feeling was shown. Personal conferences and explanations smoothed the waters, and Dr. Dickey himself gracefully counseled the adoption of the change. The six new members of the Committee are to be appointed by the Moderator, and the Committee is to report next year. So on the fifth day the struggle ended with the balance of advantage on the conservative side. The next most important matter this year was the proposed "Permanent Judicial Commission" for the trial of cases sent upon appeal from synods and presbyteries. The plan reported by a special committee, and adopted, provides for a Commission of fifteen, eight ministers and seven elders, elected by the Assembly for terms of three years, to try all cases which the Assembly shall not elect to try itself. This plan at once lightens the business of the Assembly and expedites the settlement of cases. Among other matters of business the adoption of the report of the Committee on Temperance causes surprise, not so much for its indorsement of the abolition of the canteen as "a triumph for righteousness," as for its assertion, in the face of General MacArthur's testimony to the contrary, that prostitution is licensed by the authorities in Manila. It was late on the thirteenth day when the Assembly adjourned, to meet next year in New York. It was intimated that the meeting in 1903 was likely to be at Los Angeles.

terian Church, meeting at Little Rock, Arkansas, has also had before it the question of creed revision, though in an attenuated form. The numerous difficulties which burden the Northern revisionists are among the Southern reduced to one, viz., the salvation of infants dying in infancy. The restriction of this in the Confession to "elect infants" was the subject of an overture last year to the Southern Assembly, and an order was passed to print in future editions an explanatory note barring out any implication of infant damnation. The subject has been taken up again this year, and that order has been rescinded. A proposal to add to the section on elect infants a caution that it

is not to be construed as implying the possibility of infant damnation was voted down, and it was decided that no action concerning it should be taken. But, while thus shutting the door on revision, the Assembly makes record of its reasons for so doing, and embodies therein a declaratory statement of the Church's doctrinal position. Premising that it is unwise to initiate agitation of the question, and that nothing will satisfy Arminian objectors but the elimination of Scriptural Calvinism, it affirms that the Westminster Confession is the first creed to teach the salvation of infants on Scriptural grounds; that the contrast it makes is not between elect and non-elect infants, but between elect persons dying in infancy and dying beyond infancy. It is further affirmed that the Church hopes that all infants are saved, but that the Confession goes as far in positive statement as is sanctioned by the Scriptures. The outlook for reunion with the Northern Church grows no brighter. The consolidation of the two Kentucky Seminaries, the Southern at Louisville, the Northern at Danville, for which there are strong economical as well as other reasons, had been agreed to, subject to approval by the two Assemblies. A committee of the Southern Assembly brought in a majority report against it, arguing that it tended toward organic union between the two Churches. The utmost that the Assembly would concede was to abstain from vetoing the consolidation, while not wholly approving the wisdom of it. The promiThe prominence which the subject of infant salvation has assumed in both Assemblies this year strangely contrasts with their concurrence in ignoring the terrible consignment to damnation which, in the section next following that relating to infants, the Confession makes of the entire non-Christian world. No voice has been heard in these revision debates protesting against the statement of Chapter X., Section 4: "Much less can men not professing the Christian religion be saved in any other way whatever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature."

The subject most The United Presbyterian warmly debated in Assembly this year's meeting at Des Moines, Iowa, concerned the attitude of the United Presbyterian Church

toward secret societies. This is so hostile that a report from the Judiciary Committee making some discrimination in hostility was strongly opposed. The Committee reported that Article 15, touch ing secret societies, "is not to be so construed as to exclude from the Church the membership of a large number of societies which are not bound by oath or affirmation, or do not pledge to secrecy in things. unknown, or inculcate a Christless religion." On the ground that this tacitly indorsed such societies, a motion to strike it out was strongly supported. It appeared that the Committee's purpose was to avoid any semblance of hostility toward such bodies as the Grand Army of the Republic and workingmen's unions. The debate evinced a special hostility to Masonic and Odd Fellows' societies, and an amendment to permit Masons to become church members was voted down. On the other hand, it appeared that members of various secret societies were already in the Church, and any action tending to their exclusion was warmly opposed. The report of the Committee was finally adopted with its discriminating clause. As the terms of this virtually disqualify some present members of the Church because of their connection with societies of the kind proscribed, the agitation of the subject is likely to continue. On reviewing the proceedings of the three Presbyterian Assemblies, their interest seems to have centered in questions which, however important, are not the questions of highest moment for the Church of Christ in these days of torpid consciences and flagrant public evils.

The Disciples of Christ

The annual Convention of the Middle Atlantic States Delegates of the Disciples of Christ was recently held at Plymouth, Pa. The Conference represented about three hundred churches in seven States, the inhabitants of which number almost one-third of the entire population of the United States. Of our one hundred largest cities, in twenty-six the Disciples of Christ have not a single church, and all of these cities are east of the Alleghany Mountains and north of the Potomac River. The most important step taken was the formation of a League, composed

of those men pledging themselves to give one dollar each to the building of every new Disciple church. One of the principal addresses was by the Rev. S. T. Willis, of New York City, who said that missionary work is as important in the metropolis as among the heathen. New York City's Protestant population is only about nine per cent. of the whole; it is, therefore, one of the great est mission fields in the world. Mr. Willis declared that the strong Roman Catholic population of New York is due largely to the great number of immigrants arriving daily. He added that the Disciples of Christ maintain a larger proportionate growth than that of any other Protestant brotherhood.

The Decision of the

Supreme Court

Some of our contemporaries appear to think that the decisions of the Supreme Court in the Insular cases lack clearness and coherence. We are not of that opinion. They appear to us entirely consistent with each other and entirely clear in themselves. They constitute a coherent and homogeneous system of doctrine respecting taxation in foreign possessions of the United States. Whatever criticism those who are disappointed in the result may make upon their soundness, we can discover no ground for criticising them for lack of either clearness or consistency with each other. These decisions as we understand them affirm three principles:

I. When Porto Rico was conquered from Spain and taken possession of by the United States army, it passed for the time being under military authority. In order that government be maintained, it was indispensable to provide a revenue. The authority to provide such revenue, with the authority to exercise all other governmental functions, was vested for the time being in the military. Therefore the order of General Miles extending the Spanish regulations for the collection of taxes, including customs, and the subsequent order of the President as Commander-in-Chief on the same subject, were a lawful exercise of legitimate authority, and the taxes collected under these orders were lawfully collected.

II. When, by the Treaty of Paris, Porto Rico was ceded by Spain to the United States, it ceased to be foreign and became domestic territory. Therefore the Dingley tariff, which is levied only on goods coming into the United States from foreign countries, ceased to apply to imports coming into the United States from Porto Rico. No action was required by Congress to repeal the Dingley tariff; it ceased to operate as against Porto Rico so soon as by the treaty Porto Rico ceased to be Spanish territory and became United States territory. States territory. Taxes collected under the Dingley tariff on goods coming into the United States from Porto Rico were illegally collected and can be recovered from the Government.

III. But while by the treaty Porto Rico became United States territory, it did not become a part of the United States; it became a possession of the United States. The United States can possess territory which is not incorporated in and made a component part of the Nation. The clause of the Constitution that "all duties, imports, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States" does not apply to Porto Rico, because Porto Rico, though belonging to the United States, is not a part of the United States. Therefore the Foraker Act levying duties on certain importations from Porto Rico into the United States is Constitutional, Congress acting within its own rights. But the question whether the other clause of the Foraker Law, levying duties on goods imported from the United States into Porto Rico, is Constitutional or not, the Court has not decided.

It is, of course, this third principle-that Porto Rico is a possession and not a part of the United States-which is the most important and far-reaching. It is unfortunate that it is adopted by the Court by a majority of five to four; it is fortunate that the dividing line is neither political nor sectional. Nor can it be said that the legal weight is on one side and the weight of numbers on the other. No members of the Court have a higher reputation with the bar for legal ability than Justices Brown, White, and Gray, each of whom renders an opinion in interpretation and support of the decision affirming the third principle. The question so long and so hotly debated is decided;