e thinking masses, if one _passage_ is proved to be
spurious, and the world possesses no original manuscripts, what
guarantee that anything approaching the original teachings of Jesus is
preserved. If the stream of inspiration is proved to be muddy in some
places, is it not possible that what at first was pure as the melting
snow on the mountain tops, after passing through the hands of various
human authors and copyists, may have become as turbid with the cast of
human thought as the mountain stream which, pure at the source, is
heavy with mud at the base? It is impossible to estimate how much
influence this discovery on the part of the people has exerted in
behalf of a broader and more liberal interpretation of the Bible.
Another factor which is usually overlooked, but which has had a marked
effect on the thought which to-day is in open rebellion against the
old standards, is found in the influence exerted by a galaxy of great
and godly lives, which came on the stage of existence early in the
present century, and whose thoughts have unconsciously broadened the
minds, refined the sentiment, and ennobled the lives of every one who
has read their works. In this country Longfellow, Bryant, Whittier,
Lowell, Hawthorne, Emerson, Channing, Parker, Clarke, and other
illuminated souls, gave all who came under the magic of their words a
broader view of life, a truer conception of the universe, and a
loftier inspiration than aught that had touched them before. It is
doubtful if the great thinkers dreamed that on the current of their
thoughts tens of thousands of earnest lives were to be carried into a
larger hope, a more intelligent, humane appreciation of the mysteries
of creation, and a grander idea of God. Thus we see in the present
religious revolution nothing strange in the bitter opposition of
conservative thought, nothing remarkable in the persistent and earnest
attitude of those who stand for the higher criticism. It is the old
feud; the past struggling with the future; departing night battling
with the dawn. Of the issue none who have faith in the ultimate
triumph of truth, wisdom, and progress can doubt.

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ANCIENT AND MODERN THOUGHT IN THE PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH.

The vote of the New York Presbytery on the twelfth of May, to present
the case of Prof. Charles A. Briggs[10] before the synod will probably
prove one of the most momentous moves made in recent years in the
theological world. It is a posit