The chief essay of the session was delivered by Mr. Thomas Snape, of Liverpool, upon the topic of the day, "International Arbitration," a subject which made the presence of the President and the British envoy particularly appropriate.
As the President ascended to the pulpit, all the delegates and the great audience instantly arose. The presiding officer of the day, Rev. T. G. Williams, of Montreal, presented the distinguished visitor, who was received with prolonged applause, in which the English delegates led.
President Harrison then addressed the Conference as follows:
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Conference—I come here this morning to make an expression of my respect and esteem for this great body of delegates assembled from all the countries of the world, and much more to give a manifestation of my respect and love for that greater body of Christian men and women for whom you stand. Every Ecumenical Conference is a distinct step in the direction, not only of the unification of the Church, but of the unification of the human race.
Assembling from countries unlike in their civil institutions, from churches not wholly in accord as to doctrine or church order, you come together to find that the unlikeness is not so great as you had thought, and to find your common sympathies and common purposes greater and larger than you had thought—large enough presently to overspread and to extinguish all these transitory lines of division.
I am glad to know that as followers of Wesley, whose hymns we sing, you have been in consultation as to the methods by which these minor divisions among you might be obliterated. It is the natural order that subdivisions should be wiped out before the grand divisions of the Church can be united. [Applause.] Who does not greatly rejoice that the controversial clash of the churches is less than it once was; that we hear more of the Master and His teachings of love and duty than of hair-splitting theological differences? [Applause.]
Many years ago, while visiting in Wisconsin, when Sunday came around I went with some friends to the little Methodist church in an adjoining village. The preacher undertook to overturn my Presbyterianism. [Laughter and applause.] An irreverent friend who sat beside me as the young man delivered his telling blows against Calvinism was constantly emphasizing the points made by nudging me with his elbow. [Laughter.] Now I am glad to say that very often since then I have worshipped in Methodist churches, and that is the last experience of that kind I have had. [Applause]
You have to-day as the theme of discussion the subject of international arbitration; and this being a public, or, in a large sense of the word, a political question, perhaps makes my presence here as an officer of the United States especially appropriate. [Applause.]
It is a curious incident that some days ago, and before I was aware of the theme or the occasion which we have here this morning, I had appointed this afternoon to visit the great gun foundry of the United States at the navy yard. Things have come in their proper sequence. I am here at this arbitration meeting before I go to the gun factory. [Laughter.]
This subject is one that has long attracted the attention, and I think I may say has, perhaps, as greatly attracted the interest and adherence of the United States as that of any other Christian power in the world. [Applause.]