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THE CHRISTIAN NATION. Vol. 61.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SEATTLE CONGRE­ Oakland, Cal., who preached for them several
GATION.
Sabbaths. Tradition has it also, that near about
By Rev. T. M. Slater.
this time. Rev. J. L. McCartney visited this colony
and preached at least one Sabbath. But
The possibility of a Covenanter Church in Seattle
long before the visit of any minister or the coming
of any missionary, these families were doing
was considered long before it was undertaken. As
early as 1871, immediately after the signing of a work upon which the Divine Blessing rested.
the Covenant, Rev. D. C. Martin was appointed They were holding society meetings, conducting
by the Central Board of Missions to visit the a prosperous Sabbath School, and formed the
Pacific Coast with a view to locating those of
neucleus of a congregation. So that if we wish to
explore the head-waters of our life stream, we
our people who had drifted westward, and if
must leave the hurry and bustle and noise ot
possible, collect them together and organize them paved streets and seek the quiet and restful se­
into congregations. At that time Seattle was
not considered a promising field. With reference
to his impressions. Dr. Martin has recently written
me as follows: "I preached my first sermon
in Sacramento. Spent two months in California
visiting every Covenanter I could hear of, preaching
almost every Sabbath. Thence went to
Oregon, spending about three months, and found
a number of persons who had once been Covenanters.
There I bought a horse, and Rev. Stewart,
then of the U. P. Church, and I drove from
Salem, Oregon, to Olympia, Washington, then a
Territory. A Mr. James Patterson, once a Covenanter,
entertained us kindly. Thence we took a
Puget Sound steamer for Vancouver Island, stopping
on our way to Seattle, but only long enough
for the boat to "coal." At that time there were
no Covenanters there, and very little else of any
consequence. The principal industry was a saw
mill and coal. It did not then look to me as
though it would ever amount to much.
To those familiar with the marvellous development
of this place since that time, and who ha^^'e
always been boosters, it may seem incredible, if
not amusing, that any one could at any time have
entertained such thoughts of us. But the muchtalked-of
"Seattle spirit" has not always been
either humble or modest. And if in any degree
the spirit of boastfulness or pride has in the past
entered into our life as a church, or should manifest
itself now, let us obey the old Prophet's
command to look unto the rock whence we were
hewn aiid to the hole of the pit whence we were
digged, and remember that all that has been accomplished
among us as a church is wholly the
work of God, and much of it contrary to the expectations
of men. The work was undertaken
with grave doubts of its success. Even down to
the time of the appointment of the firstmissionary
to labor in this field some of the wisest and
best men in our church saw little promise here.
After his appointment in September, 1888, Rev.
S. Dell Johnston has said: "I met with the Board
at its October meeting in Pittsburg and asked for
instructions. The Board seemed to have very
little hope of success, but made the appointment
at the urgent request of some members of the
church then living in the west. Dr. Willson relarked
in a hopeless way, 'You are going out
there just like Paul; if you can do anything, why
do it.' They thought Seattle was away out among
the Indians and would never be more than an
Indian Mission."
Strictly speaking, our work in Seattle had its
beginning outside of the city limits. In Glasgow's
History of the Reformed Presbyterian
Church it is stated that in 1885, two families of
Covenanters from Lake Reno, Minn., settled in
the vicinity of Sunnyside and Kent, and that two
years later they were joined by Dr. W. H. Ewing
from Round Prairie, Minn.; that in October, 18S7,
they were visited by Rev. N. R. Johnston ol
clusion of the country. About fifteen miles
south of the city, following the paths that lead
through great forests and cultivated fields, we
come to a spot where, until a few years ago,
stood a little log school-house in which, for the
first time in Washington, God was worshipped
according to the forms of the Covenanter Church.
Our work at Sunnydale was under the leadership
of Mr. David Elsey, to whom must be conceded
the title of Pioneer Covenanter in this
part of the country. If others were here before
him, they seem to have come and gone without
letting anyone know what they believed, or ct
least they seem to have made no effort to establish
our Cause or to plant the standards of the
Church. The evidence that Mr. Elsey endeavored
at that time to serve the cause of the Covenant,
is seen in that he not only organized the Sabba*h
School already referred to, but secured the adoption
of the Psalms in its worship. Nor was this
done without opposition in a community where
those of different faiths, or of no faith, were
brought together in a union service, and where
the friends of the Psalms were few. After the
work had become established, an effort was made
to displace the Psalms, and the sentiment in favor
of the hymns becoming aggressive, Mr. Elsey
had to choose between giving up his convictions,
or giving up his position as Superintendent. He
chose to do the latter, and the attempt was made
to carry on the work without his leadership. In
a short time, however, he was requested to resume
his old place with the liberty of using whatever
forms of worship were in keeping with his
sense of right, and the Psalms have been sung
in Washington ever since.
We believe this incident is worthy of commemoration
and of mention at this time, not
alone to give honor to the man • of whom it Is
corded, but because it was a crisis in the history
of our testimony. But for that faithful stand
taken by the Covenanters in the woods, thero
might never have been a Covenanter Church on
this public street. It illustrates that spirit of
steadfastness to principle and loyalty to conviction
which has made the Covenanter Church
what she is, and without which no Covenanter
can hope to propagate his religion, or long keep
it within his own heart. And if we who are the
present members of this congregation ever yield
to the temptation to violate this principle of our
testimony—and I do not deny that the temptation
to do so may seem at times to be overwhelmingly
strong; yet if we do thus yield, we
will, to say the least, be disregarding the example
of those who have gone before us, and
who through their faithfulness have transmitted
this testimony to us.
A MESSAGE TO THE NATIONS.
Rev. S. B. Houston.
The great Prophet in the word brings a message
to the individual. This every Christian believes.
But multitudes of Christians never so
much as dream that God in the word has a message
for nations. Nations often walk in darkness
and finally under some sweeping judgment
of Providence go down to the grave. The shores
of time are strewn with the wrecks of kingdoms
and empires.
Is our own nation, that has had splendid opportunities
of getting light and wisdom, in any
danger Have we not many times been scourged
in parts of the land by fire and floodand
storm. Did we not, in the sixties, receive a baptism
of blood for a national sin Is not the national
government today inviting more judgments
from heaven by immoral legislation. Sabbath
desecration, the nefarious liquor traffic and by
official encouragement given to Roman Catholic-
'ism—the inveterate and deadly enemy of all order
and purity. What is the government doing towards
getting itself upon a solid basis Why
does it not make a league with the King of Heav.
en, the Ruler of Nations, and take refuge under
the wings of the Almighty
How deplorable and pitiable the condition of
the nations of Europe! Millions of men arrayed
in solid phalanx against one another, fighting
with the desperation of tigers. They have failed
to honor the Lord by not rendering service to
His church, and He is despoiling them of their
possessions and is letting them waste their
strength in devouring one another. What the
end of this unprecedented war will be, no seer
has divined.
The present distress of the nations of the old
world has its lessons for our country and others.
Will they learn the lesson Will they heed the
warning of Providence Will they kiss the Son
•The nation and kingdom that will not serve
thee (the Church) shall perish; yea, those nations
shall utterly perish."
IT IS GOOD TO BE LIVING, AND LIVING IN
AMERICA.
Por more than a quarter of a century the
Thanksgiving Number of the Christian Nation
has been a fixed and appreciated institution, not
alone in the church which it represents, but
among national and International advertisers.
For most of twenty-flve years Pears' Soap has
had some striking picture advertisement on the
outside cover page; but this year, because of tha
war, the American public wUl miss the Thanksgiving
greeting of this familiar friend. We have
been wont to say that, it is great to be living in
these days; but how much greater and grander
it is, not only to be living, but living in America.
It is not any longer a mooted question; all '"oe
world is willing to say that America is the greatest
nation on earth. This is so because all the
races of man are in this country enabled to develop
the best that is in them; and character
shows itself in institutions, in government, in
commerce, in trade, and in the provisions made
for promoting and safe-guarding material interests,
prosperity in which means so much in developing
self-reliant and contented hearts. The
American family and home and business have
come into their own. The spirit is seen in the
spontaneous birth of happy epigrams, as "Made
in America," " Safety First," etc. Our railroads,
our hotels, and all sorts of public utility companies,
satisfy us and with their excellences
surprise visitors from other countries. Travel
has been robbed of its tiresomeness and has become
il luxury; the dread of leaving a dependent
family has been supplanted by confidence in sane
and safe life insurance laws; and a man of large
affairs said only recently that even the fear of
disaster by fire had been abolished by the
methods of great fire insurance companies like
the Aetna of Hartford. It is at once a blessed
ness and an opportunity to be living in such
country—a blessedness in enjoying the flruitof f
great nation's accomplishments, and an opportunity
to live so worthily of our privileges that
we will have a share in the advancement of
every good cause.