n church is quoted as having said: "The
Presbyterian church can do for the colored people of the south what no
other church can do."

FABLE OF PERSIAN TENT.

There is a Persian fable that tells of a young prince who brought to his
father a nutshell, which, when opened with a spring, contained a little
tent of such ingenious construction, that when spread in the nursery the
children could play under its folds; when opened in the council chamber
the King and his counsellors could sit beneath its canopy; when placed
in the court yard the family and all the servants could gather under its
shade; when pitched upon the plain, where the soldiers were encamped,
the entire army could gather within its enclosure. It possessed the
qualities of boundless adaptability and expansiveness.

This little tent is a good symbol of our Presbyterian system. It is all
contained within the nutshell of the Gospel. Open it in the nursery, and
beneath its folds parents and children sit with delight; spread it in
the court yard, and beneath its shadow the whole household assembles for
morning and evening worship; open it in the village and it becomes a
church, under whose canopy the whole town may worship. Open it upon the
plain, and a great sacramental army gathers under it. Send it to the
heathen world, and it becomes a great pavilion, that fills and covers
the earth.

The Presbyterian church is as Catholic as the Gospel in its spirit of
brotherly love, and readiness to co-operate with all who love our Lord
Jesus Christ. It recognizes the ordination of the Episcopalian and the
baptism of the Baptist. It joins cordially with those who would place
the crown upon the brow of Jesus by singing only the Psalms of David,
and responds with an approving echo to the hearty "Amen" of the
Methodists. It is capable of an expansion, that will include all shades
of our common humanity, and is working valiantly to usher in the day,
when the prayer of our Lord Jesus shall be fulfilled: "That they may be
one; as Thou, Father art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one
in us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me."

"The Presbyterian church stands," says Rev. W. H. Roberts, D. D.,
"as it has stood during its entire history, for the unconditional
sovereignty of God, for the Bible as the only infallible rule of
faith and life, for simplicity of worship, representative
government, a high standard of christian living