Iff
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, AUGUST 18, 190T.
"
I
T
L
moressions
Jb
Dr; H. "W. Kellogg; Describes His Trip "to
tKe Great Valley of California.
i
J
Yosemite is doubtless the best-known
natural wonder, with Niagara excepted,
that we possess in America. Its fame
is. worid extensive. It is more familiar
to the European than to many Americans.
AH foreigners expect to see Yosemite
when they leave home, though some of
them miss it "because they cannot reach
it in a. day from New "Fork, and among
the first questions they ask an American
in Europe, "Have you eeen Yosemite?"
This Is partly due to the real merit of its
wonders and sublimity, and partly due
to the enterprise of the Callfornlan's ad
vertiser. All honor to the men who have
been able to bring such a. sublime sight
to the attention of the world!
A general description of the valley will
answer. It is about eight miles long and
one mile and a half wide. Its floor is
four thousand feet above the sea. Its
walls are of gray granite, nearly vertical,
rlsing.from 3000 to 6000 feet above the val
leythus being from 7000 to 10,000 feet
above the sea. These walls are rugged,
rising in columns, arches crowned with
we attempt to describe if we have a grain
of sense. It is not made to be described,
but enjoyed. Things we can describe in
terms are not much. It is when they .sur
pass words and escape from such prisons,
free as the eagles which encircle these
awful heights and depths, that they are
worth considering.
Another view we obtained, after climb
ing, the long and winding trail of ten
miles climbing on. well-trained animals, to
be sure was when we stood on Glacier
Point. This, I think, Is the most Impres
sive view of all. Under the cloudless blue
sky, to the east of us stretched away the
"far-roaming snow-robed ranges" of the
Sierras. The Cap of Liberty, Cloud's Best
and the peak of Mt. "Whitney, were plainly
in sight. Between, two lofty peaks poured,
the waters of the Merced, forming .the
falls I have already described. Great
North Dome and South Dome, rounded,
and polished with a glacier's chisel, be
yond them the two mlghry sentinels keep
ing watch through the silent ages. To th&
left In the far away is El Capitan and the
Three Brothers and the Cathedral Spires
on either side of the valley. We looked,
down into the valley, nearly one mile
down, so directly that had we lost our
footing .we would have landed on the
TTEW FR03I ARTISTS' POIT, XOOICING EAST. .
well-shaped domes and sharply - carved
pJnnaclec. Through the valley flows the
Merced Biver, winding its course like a
"silver ribbon," peacefully now that it
has reached its level after its awful
plunges over precipices, through gorges,
roaring wildly in its chase for life.
Other rivers unite with its waters in
the valley, every one of which has passed
through the same frightful experience of
trying to keep Its existence while it gets
down from the mountain tops thousands
of feet to the quiet valley. The highest
of these is the famous Tosemlte itself.
-which falls 2548 feet. This is not all
in a single plunge, but It is content to
malce three attempts at the task. And it
is jvell that it does, for I am afraid it
-would lose itself in space if It did not stop
to gather together its scattered parts at
least twice on the way. As it Is, there
are times when with wind and distance
it seems for a moment lost, but like the
course of Providence to human sight,
there Is lack of continuity, but his rivers
Anally reach the sea. The Bridal Veil
Falls, falling 1000 feet, are beautiful and
-fascinating.
At the upper end of the valley, where
the Merced River comes down, two mas
sive falls are formed. The Nevada leaps
700 feet, springing out from the fields of
eternal snow into a world of verdure and
"beauty. This fall Is B0 feet wide. From
thence the river rushes with wild Impet
uosity through a narrow gorge, over huge
debris of boulders with a noise of "many
waters and mighty thundering," and then
leaping more than 400 feet again into a
wilder and more terrible rage than before.
These falls, with the cataracts, form one.
of the grandest scenes of the valley.
We came suddenly upon the whole scene
at -"Inspiration Point." The eye sweeps
the entire valley from west to east. Most
of Its mighty peaks are in view, and 6ome
of the waterfalls. The most con.picuous
is Bridal Tell Fulls. The impression is
indescribable. It Is not among the things
floor and without any interruption in our
journey. AUln the valley is now leveled
into a smo'oth. decorated carpet. Great
trees looic Uke grass and hills sink away.
Now is the moment when the soul is
moveii. What part of it Is not awake? It
surges, with the awful sense of immen
sity, eternity, almightiness. What a work
Is before you and just about you. God
did It. It must have required His hand.
How long was He in making it When
did He carve out that dome which is now
5000 feet In space? How many have been
the centuries that yonder sentinels have
been on. watch? "What instruments did
He use for the task? How long was He
In getting the rivers of ice into opera
tion? Time loses all value. Tou ask for
a calendar other than that which m3n
knows. Put down ages and not hours,
eternities and not years.
At first tears may fill your eyes, but
now solemnity fills your soul. What an
exhibition of power, majesty and sublim
ity. ManJ What is man A few years
number his career. He passes away but
these stay on. . And as for God, it does
seem that He who has been, at such a task
has too much to -do to bother very much
with a creature like man. Then it is you
say because you cannot help it, "What is
man that thou art mindful of him and
the Son of Man that thou visiteth him?"
We almost lose heart in awelthd fear. But
is is onlv for a momnnti
Wait, think again. Only two weeks be
fore the day we stood on 'this lofty sum
mit, another stood there with strange and
strong emotions. It was an old professor
of the University of California. By a
mere accident we met some ladies who ac
companied him that day up the trail, and
they related to us the incident. As they
were near their destination, having pre
ceded the large company of companion
mountain-climbers, they were overtaken
by a messenger who told them of the sud
den failure of Professor LeConte while at
tempting to climb, an'd of his death.
A Berkeley professor had, just 30 years
before that very day, come into the valley
the first time with the great LeConte,
and many times since they stood together
on these lofty pinnacles, charmed with the
sublimities. It was the favorite school
house of the great and good man. He
now looked directly down upon the camp
where his companion lay dead. The dis
course he delivered.upon the appropriate
ness of the place and of the dedth-jpf his
companion and upon the immortality of
man will not soon be forgotten bjT-ttose
who heard him.
As the story was told me a new sugges
tion came to me, which relieved the op
pressiveness of first thought of man's in
significance, and In Its stead there came
an emphasis of man.- It is evidence of
man's greatness and worthiness that he
is capable of appreciation of this handi
work of the Almighty. Here was a man
who for 30 years had lived among these
wonders, ever with an open mind and an
appreciative soul, capable of receiving as
a gift as a benefaction this work of God.
He stood here to see, wonder, adore, and
grow happy. He saw the hand of the
Great Father, and listening, he heard Him
speak. This ability Is something greater
than rocks and mountains possess. An
appreciative spirit alone explains and jus
tifies all the tremendous work. So man
is more valuableVhan the mighty things
God made for him. The valley indeed,
is suggestive of a vast cathedral. You
are enclosed within, walls gorgeously
adorned under the illumination of the sun
by day and the moon by night. A cathe
dral majestic, well-arched and with its
dome fretted with stars. How" insignifi
cant is the work of Michael Angelo, St.
Peter's seems only a trifle. I haveNnever
felt a sense of the appropriateness of the
lines of the poet as here:
X-ot to the domes whose crumbling arch and
column
Attest the feebleness of mortal hand;
But to the fane, most catholic and. solemn
Which God hath planned.
To that cathedral, boundless as wonder,
"Whose quenchless lamgs the sun and moon
supply.
Its music, winds and falls, its organ, thunder,
Its dome, the sky.
There amid solitude and shade, to wander
Through tho green aisles, or stretched upon
the sod,
And by the silence, reverently ponder
The ways of God.
But what is a cathedral without a wor
shiper? For what is it constructed, but
that is might make vivid the ideas of
God? Ideas of greatness, care and love.
Some years ago Phillips Brooks", who
spent the Sabbath in the valley, was
asked to preach. He consented on Satur
day, but when the congregation had as
sembled on Sunday morning in the chapel,
and the services had reached the point
of the sermon, the reverend gentleman
arose and said:
"I promised to preach a sermon here to
day, but to the reyerent mind this valley
is a sermon, before which the sermonizing
of men must sink into Insignificance. I
can think of but one text of scripture ap
propriate to this place and occasion, and
that text is, 'Be still and know that I am
God." That is a text which preaches Its
own sermon. Let us close the services."
It puts a real live soul to the test un
der the Impressiveness of this cathedral
which God made. It takes a strong man
even to endure the test But what of that
spirit which is able to respond to all the
appeals of the lnfllnlte? An Instrument
of such worth Is to be prized. And oh,
what a song the soul sings when God
moves on it with such power and rich
ness. Is there a feeling of which the
soul is capable that is not brought forth?
A melody not awakened from deepest
pathos and solemn fear to highest ecsta
sies? It is only from the soul of man
that God can bring forth such music.
And then we think away from the adap
tation and harmony of man and God's
wonderful creations to the purpose of God
in creating. When He was forming the
Yosemite did Ke not have man in vlew?
If not, why then did He make it? What a
useless thing to carve the earth Into in
definite shapes of beauty if there be no
spirits to admire and adore. God did all
this to please man. To please him that
Ke might complete him. It was all made
for m3n all of it. And without intelli-
j'gect spirits it is meaningless. It is
blind. It Is a blunder. Man Is the inter
preter and he is the interpretation of
God's worlds. Another great man died a
few weeks ago, a man whose death will
make poorer the ages to come. It was
Professor John Fisk. Not many years
ago ho told us In his own beautiful way
how the whole turth burst upon his mind
"that man wras the goal toward which
all. creation had been tending from the
beginning. That the whole purpose of the
Almighty was to finish the character of a
man in love." For this end creation has
been struggling through the ages.
As I came to the hotel one evening after
a whole day of reveling in these glories
and sublimities, filled with enthusiasm and
ilellght, a telegram was put into my
hand which told me that my baby was
sick and for me to come home. Five days
were between me and that little darling.
Oh, how everything faded away into In
significance! The gorgeous valley sank
into darkness and was lost. What was a
world of such scenes to the demands of
love? I would rather have been by the
side of that child for a moment than to
have owned all the valleys and moun
tains of creation. Af I felt, so must God
feel. We are- the objects of his love. We
are more to him than all worlds. Some
time we shall understand as we cannot
now the worth of love and the majesty of
man. These scenes of God's creation help
us in the attempt.
H. W. KELLOGG.
CONGREGATIONALISTS IN ENGLAND
SYMPATHIZE "WITH IT.
Dr. Forsyth, of Cambridge, Says if
It Is Met With Fairness and Conr-
nge'-PerplexItles "Will Disappear.
LONDON, Aug. 7. Two years ago this
Fall thore was held in Boston an Inter
national Congregational Council, the ob
ject being tp bring the best thought and
the best methods of English Congrega
tionalism into actual, living contact with
the Congregationalism " of the United
States. Many were the men of distinc
tion attending from this side, and on
both sides of the ocean the gathering at
tracted wide attention. Unusual ability
marked the speeches and essays, and
there were occasions when feeling ran
very high. But the only occasion when
the emotions of this great assembly were
too much stirred to allow of the conven
tional discussion was when a paper had
been read on "The Ultimate Sea of
Evangelical Authority." Tills subject,
tame and dull though it may seem to
the uninitiated, la vital to Christian faith.
The lay mind wonders what it can tie to
in these days of changing creeds, and
there are thousands of ministers who
are troubled In the same way, and this
essay, It was expected, would indicate at
what point, amid our ever-varying views
oi the Bible, we might still, and might
always, find sure anchorage. ' The essay
ist was Rev. P. T. Forsyth, M. A., D. D.,
of Cambridge, England, who was selected
for this task not only because of his es
tablished scholarship, but because, dwell
ing continually In the atmosphere of one
of the great English universities, he would
be likely to know all that was freshest on
the subject and to treat It In that broad
scientific spirit which the universities of
England never fail to inculcate.
The result exceeded expectation. Dr.
Forsyth's command of his subject was
masterly In the extreme. He went all
around it and all through it. He was
so liberal toward higher criticism and
yet so tenacious of what he held to be
the still unshaken and essentially Imper
vious message of the gospel that he car
ried the judgment of both the timorous
and the advanced. When his great treat
ise concluded, an unusual thlpg occurred,
considering tpat it was a gathering made
up so largely of ministers, for nobody fety
like saying anything. Hearts were so
moved that lips became dumb. The ex
pected discussion went over by default.
Handkerchiefs were In requisition for
thousands of wet eyes, yet the feelings
had not been directly appealed -to in thf
a spurious kind of optimism which Is
afraid to face. the facts of the religious
situation." In this statement his exact
words are given, but he explained after
wards that what he meant by "the facts
of the religious situation" was that higher
criticism was in the air, that both relig
ious thought and life were sure to be
affected by It for good or ill, and that If
'religious teachers, Instead of denouncing
or belittling the conclusions of eminent
Bible scholars, would look- farther into
im.ui uua xueei uiem in uih spirit, uj. cuui-y
age, iciu-pcicu uj iiiiuiuiciiiuii auu xcwi
ness, the perplexities of tb.e ordinary
mind would be relieved and its shaking
faith re-established on a more sur-e foun
dation. Properly to estimate Dr. Forsyth as a
representative of English Non-Conformity
the reader should know that the religious
denominations Included in that term em
braces a good round half of the church
going people of the United Kingdom.
"The figures of church year books for
1900 show that the Church of England
provides sittings in Its different places
of worship for a few more then 7,000,000
persons. But the allied bodies who are
outside of that fold, like Congregatlonal
ists, Methodists, Baptists and Presbyte
rians, provide sittings for very nenrly
8,000,000. These figures were disputed at
first, but a committee appointed to look
into them by the church diocesan conven
tion make a report which does not dis
turb them to any serious extent. At the
very least Non-Conformity gives sitting
room in its places of worship for 800.0CO
more than the state church, and from
this the reasonable claim Is made, and
does not seem to be successfully re
futed, that in Its relative allegiance to
what Is called tho established church
and the churches of dissenters and Non
Conformists, England is pretty evenly di
vided, with a chance that Non-Conformity
may have tho advantage. In politics
the Non-Conformists are overwhelmingly
Liberal. So, at least, they were while
Gladstone remained on the scene. But
since tho Liberal party has had divided
leadership,, and especially since the South
African War became a dividing issue,
their political standing is a rather mixed
one, so much eo that a great many of
them scarcely know themselves where
they belong.
Upon the subject of politics and the
war even Dr. Forsyth was In perplexity.
This Just now is a delicate subject with
the Congregationalists of England. Be-
tween Congregational missionaries in
South Africa and leading Congregational
ministers at home, there has been a
heated and bitter controversy, and the
badinage of strong words still goes on.
The former, of- course, justify the war,
whereas at first nearly all the latter
strongly condemned it. At the begin
ning, when feeling was not so high and
there was a chance for peaceful settle
ment, Dr. Forsyth, in common with most
duuuu ijiuunus
. . rsac'L "' .:
STM1U
ysiK
&11
THREE BROTHERS,
of his brethren, took
he could not think that the poor pay
offered was tho chief discouragement.
He rather found the chief reason In that
prevalent religious dullness of which he
had before spoken.
"But think," he said, In further expla
nation, "how many other respectable and
Influential callings are now open to well
educated young men. Think what a
change the single innovation of electrical
engineering has made. The civil service,
too, is all the time rising in grade, and,
as our Colonies extend, is all the time
Begfone, Dull Care.
London Answers.
A Droltwich barber was just finishing
lathering a customer and was talking vol
ubly, as usual.
"Yes, sir," he said, "there's no careless
ness allowed by our employer. Every
time we cut a customer's face we are
fined sixpence, and if we make an ugly
gash it costs us a shilling."
Then, picking up and brandishing his
razor, he added: "But I don't care a rap
today. I've just won a sovereign."
liiillw 11U
. MARIPOSA GROVE. . r
..tin.! , i ii i i iii 'j"," ' '" -I MT ' ' li""""1 ' ma
STEW FROM GLACIER POINT, LOOKING EAST. STARTING FROM LEFT, CLOUD REST 6000 FEET, HALF
DOME 5000 FEET, SIERRA NEVADAS, VERNAL FALLS, NEVADA FALLS.
least. There had simply been a convinc
ing, thoroughly reasoned-out demonstra
tion, by a scholarly and masterly thinker
of the most advanced type, that, despite
all the concessions which intelligent faith
Is obliged to make to modern scientific
inquiry, there still remains, as the most
unique fact of all history and as the great
living force of Christian civilization, the
life and death of Jesus Christ. To many
present this overwhelming conclusion
came as a revelation; to others who, JJke
Dr. Forsyth himself, had faced the facta
and fought them out, it came only as an
ex cathedra confirmation of what they
knew. But upon all the effect was so pro
found, that, as I have said, the ordinary
methods of expression were paralyzed,
and all that great and Intelligent audi
ence could do, representative though it
was of the best minds of the Congrega
tionalism of two continents, was to rise
to its feet and sing, as with a common
impulse, "In the Cross of Christ I
Glory.""
Since that time Dr. P. T. Forsyth, of
Cambridge, England, has been much in
the thought of American church people of
all denominations. So much so that they
will be glad, I am sure, to hear something
further about him, and especially to get
his views on some of the topics of the
day. It is a fair presumption, too, that
those who are aloof from the church and
do not understand It will be Interested in
Dr. Forsyth, for, of all men, he is the
kind of a man to put theology and relig
ion before these in a reasonable light.
This conviction is what led me to seek
an interview with this learned and influ
ential minister, and my visit was so timed
that It enabled me to hear tho closing
sermon of his Cambridge pastorate.
After- seven years in that English univer
sity town, where amid the towering
scholastic emblems of the Church of Eng
land, he has preached regularly In a
nonconformist pulpit, with many of the
undergraduates and not a few of the dons
to sit under the scintillations of his gen
ius, Dr Forsyth goes now to take charge
of Hackney Theological College. This is
a training school for Congregational min
isters. He is decidedly advanced in his
theological views, and from the fact that
out of many possibilities and from
amongst many clamorous applicants this
thoughtful, progressive and modestly
courageous man Is the one upon whom
-the lot of promotion has fallen, it would
seem as though in the Congregational
circles of England advanced theological
views were in favor.
Higher Criticism.
The higher criticism was one of the
first subjects he was drawn out upon.
His response was brief but explicit, and
to one Tvho knows so well as your corre
spondent does how many ministers and
teachers are treating this subject lightly
his words had in them a tone of rebuke.
"We were never so much afraid of it
here," he said, "as religious teachers In
America seem to have been. Personally
I am sympathetic toward the higher crit
icism in the main, though I realize that
as It It setting now Into the region of
the New Testament it Is a more serious
matter. Still, I am by no means afraid
of it, and T wish the churches were not.
Churches everywhere are suffering from
against war in his pulpit ministrations.
It was looked npon then as Joseph Cham
berlain's war. I wondered If that opinion
of it had been revised. Dr. Forsyth as
sured mo that', so far as he could judge,
it had not; certainly not amongst Con
gregationalists. He admitted, however,
that there had been a change in the at
tltudo of the' Congregational pulpit on
tho subject. He himself had not referred
to it in his sermon for a long time. He
had not felt that he could with prudence;
It had become now, he said, too much of
a dividing wedge Jn the churches. Its
moral aspects had been obscured by
politics and by a spurious patriotism.
One could hardly now say anything
against either the war Itself or its meth
ods without being classed as a traitor to
his country.
With a minister before me who was
just completing a seven years' pastorate
In a university 'town, himself, too, a
unlverslt-y man, I could not help asking
what he thought of university life today
as regards morals and faith, in compari
son with the standards of 20 years ago.
The moral standard he puts much higher.
The number of students who dissipate
and the number who take the course only
because In certain grades of English life
it is the custom to do so, are both very
greatly reduced. There are nothing like
the disgraceful escapades there used to
be. Summing up the moral Improvements
in a characteristic sentence, he said,
"Better things are now the betterform."
But as to faith, in the old meaning of
that term, ho could not see that there
had been any improvement. "At Cam
bridge there are many who are prepar
ing for tlje ministry. Putting those aside,
as one must in judging university life by
any religious test, I should cay," said
this careful observerr "that the boys in
our universities simply reflect the condi
tions outside. They are no worse and
no better than the society out. of which
they come. In some ways we are not
'so well off religiously as we were a
generation ago. Plutocracy has hold of
use just as it has Its grip upon the
United States, and there is a correspond
ing dullness In religious life."
This religious dullness Is evidently hav
ing its effect upon those who in other
conditions would be candidates for the
Christian ministry. For a lonff time dig
nitaries of the Church of England have
been deploring- the fact that young men
were not coming forward for holy orders
In anything like the number in which they
formerly came. The Bishop of London
accounts for this largely by tho fact that
church livings are so much poorer than
they were, owing to the universal decline
of agriculture and the consequent depre
ciation of land In this country. With
jthese facts in mind it was only natural I
should ask Dr. Forsyth how it was in non
conformist circles, especially in his own
denomination. There was, he said, a
similar decrease in the number of men
looking to the ministry as their&lfe call
ing. He admitted, too, that salaries were
distressingly small, and that in many
country places chapels which formerly
supported a pastor could no longer do
it, and so were either abandoned or were
tryins; to exist on cheap supplies. But
multiplying desirable openings for young
men."
Should any Infer from Dr. Forsyth's
repeated references to "the prevailing re
ligious dullness" that he Is a pesimist,
they would be greatly mistaken. No one
who despairs of the religious future would
leave an influential church, when he was
still In the prime of life, to tako. up the
guidance of budding theologs. It takes
an optimist these days to be a teacher of
theology to those who have to teach
others, and that is decidedly the kind of
man who hereafter will have charge of lng personality."
Hackney Theological Institute lir London,
But to be an optimist one must bo a
thinker. He must think broadly., deeply,
and at great lengths as regards the future.
He must get. to at least a small extent,
the view point of infinity. He must look
far ahead and must not fall to distinguish!
the end from tho beginning, even though
he may not be able to trace out perfectly;
all that comes between these two polntr-
And sitting that Sunday afternoon in a
face to face and heart to heart teto a
tete with Dr. Forsyth,. I was "profoundly
Impressed that this was the kind ot
thinker who was before me. The convic
tion, too, was strengthenedby the sermons
I heard him preach. It was confirmed,
also, by the tributes in the local papers
the day following. The Dally News said,
"He has been an intellectual force in a
town wnich Is the rallying place of intel
lect," and in another sentence it spoko
volumes of praise by saying, "He ha3
been a preacher for people who think."
His closing sermon made not the slight
est allusion to the fact that In preaching
that night he waa winding up a greatly
influential pastorate. The only thinjc in
the entire service which seemed to recog
nize this fact was when in his open
ing prayer he asked the Lord
to forgive any in the large au
dience who might have come out
of mere curiosity. His thoughts were
wholly abstracted from himself and from
hl3 own church. He looked, as usual, atf
the larger, world-wide church. Ills text
was Matt, xvill: 19, consisting of the
Lord's last words to his disciples. In
structing them to teach and bap
tize all nations, claiming: for him
self nil power and promising to
be with them all tho- days even
unto the end of the age. Everything in
this last utterance of Christ was, he said,
saturated with greatness; and without
either irreverence or flattery, one might
say the same pf the sermon There waa
nqt a hackneyed phrase In it, not a
common-place thought not anything
which In Us depth stopped short of bed
rock logic, or which in its scope and
purview embraced anything less than the
universal presence of Christ animating
and governing a universal kingdom.
One point in this great discourse pos
sessed special Interest. It naturally did
to me, because it had been specially put
In as a reply to one of my afternoon
questions. But to readers In America it
will also be of great Interest, because
it gives the view, the reasoning view, of
a great thinker on tho present condition
of religious faith. When I asked him,
"What to your mind Is the most hopeful
sign of the times In tho religious world?"
he excused himself from answering so
great a question on the spur of tho mo
ment. But his sermon contained the an
swer, as clear cut as one could wish it.
v "The most cheering and hopeful sign in
tfte religious outlook, is," he said, "tho
Intense, the passionate interest in tho
person of Christ. There never was a time
when the person of Christ exercised such
a spell over so many as now. There aro
perhaps," he added, "not so many peo
ple now as formerly who can exactly
define their religious belief but, on tho
other hand, there never before were so
many intelligent people who clung by
faith to Christ as a living and all-satlsfy-
HENRY TUCKLEY.
NEVADA FALLS ON MERCED RIVER.
- 80 FEET WIDE.
350 FEET HIGH,