JOTTINGS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13111, 9 May 1908, Page 13

JOTTINGS.

The "New Zealand Church News" • reports that for the first time in the - history of. the Church Missl&n Fund, the Dioceean otfertory for the year has exceeded the sum of £1000, though the exact figures will not be known until the 30th instant. In the year ending Easter, 1898, the offertory was £565 0s lid, and an increase year by year has eince that time- never once failed. Owing to the very heavy expenditure in the year just closed, the - . credit balance of £323, with which the year began, will show a large decrease. Noble unselfishness in giving to the Rustentation is stiH a feature in the life of very many congregations in Scotland, the Rev. W. M. Moßhail, vice-convoner of the Susteatation Fond Committee in the English Presbyterian Church, calls attention to - this in an address on "The ChiiTch's Duty to Its Sustontation Fund." Ho " , states in this address t<hat if the congregations of tihe Presbyterian- Church of England gave to tJieir com moni fund for ministerial support as liberally as tie Free Church subscribed to the • Sustentatioii Fund, the income of the English Fund wo v uld be £60,516 instead of £6056, and it couJd support • 1000 congregations instead of 100. The twelve stroncest congregations in Qlasgow and EdinbuTch gave tJieir I ministers a total of £9557, an average . of £796, in 1905, and subscribed £15,478, an £1290, to the Sustemtat-ion Fund. The twelve strongest congresieitions in London pave £10,150 to their ministers, an average of £S4G, and £4319, an aver- ■ age of £360. to the common fund. The Rev. "W. E. Clark© cxHitribirtee to the April issue of the "Chronicle" of the London Missionary Society, his recollections of Robert Louis Stevenson*. . Ho enjoyed the latter's close friendship from the day of his arrival in Samoa to the day of his death. It was in Mr Clarke's house that Stevenhon &iiivfd while his own was being builfc. and it was Mr Clarke who knelt by him and prayed as his life ebbed away. Hardly a day passed without R.L.S. riding down to tho mission Inmcnlow for a chat, save when* ilkvess prevent**! him leaving the house, on whL"h occasions Mr would toil , up to Vailima. llie article describes \ for the lirst time the romactic lauding

of Stevenson at Samoa, and the extraordinary picture he and his wife and stepson presented when Mr v,.<arko met ahem on the beach. Mr Clarke was Ttt-achod to the London Mission during Stevenson's residence on. the island. Stevenson went to the Pacific prejudiced against missions and missionaries, but before long was convinced by what ho caw that ho had been in error. From that time forward until his death missions had no wiser sympathiser, nor did he ever hesitate to offer to the missionary critic a defence based on his personal experience. Preaching at the City Temple on a recent Sunday, the Rev. It. J. Campbell referred to Dr. Horton's declaration that ministers who have ceased to preach the Cross of Christ must either recover that doctrine or quit Congregationalism. "I hope my friend was misreported," said .Mr Campbell, ''because I have never heard of any such preacher within the limits of Congregationalism. If he means his particular doctrine of the Cross, that is another thing. There is no preacher who has more persistently, in season and out of season, with depth of sincerity and conviction, preaclaod the Cro.se of Christ than the orno who addresses you this morning." Motor-care have become quite necessities for bdeihops who wish to oco.non:ii>e timo when making thedr episcopal visitations (remarks a Homo pa-per). Several prelates cow motor from place to place in their dioceses when performuiE thear duties, among thftm being tho Archbishop of Cainterourv and tho Bishop of London. In some instances, as for example, in tho diocese of Southwell and St. David's, the care have been presented to the bishops. It has been said by the ltev. It. J. Campbell and his friends that a good deal of persecution is going on in England, especially in Congregational Churches, against New Theologians, and this is one of the reasons assigned for the formation of the proposed new league. But tho fact of the persecution is stoutly denied. The ltev. Herbert Brook, of writes to the London "Christian World":—'"I confess I ehould like to have more evidence before I believe that a great number of people have been the victims of the new tyranny. Probably most men who have taken any prominent part in the controversy have received scurrilous postcards, telling them to prepare to meet their doom, and even indicating the precise spot at which the fatal shot would be fired. But has the persecution been as bitter and widespread as we are asked to believe ? I have gone to the trouble of asking many of the Congregational ministers of Lancashire if .they have met with or heard of, a single case in which a person has been cast out of the Church, in the present controversy, on account of theological views; ana so far I have not heard of one. The fact is that in the overwhelming majority of our Congregational Churches the old theological lion lies down in commendable peace with the progressive and New Theological lamb. We have got as far as heated yet friendly argument; but the great majority ot us are not prepared to expel any New Theologian because of his views." In tOie Methodist Church of Can/"ada, the deaconess work has made much progress during recent years. Stops are now in operation for the erection of a new training school in connection with the institution at a cost ot £20,000. The Elm street Church at Toronto, the mother of maiTy of the flourishing churches in that city, has been released by recent legislation of the Conference from the four years' itinerant limit in order to undertake mission work among the boardinghouse population and tho polyglot environments of the city. A new parsonage in connection with the Metropolitan Methodist Church of Toronto, built and furnished' at a cost of £10,000, has been presented to the church "In Memoriam — Anna Vincent Massey." The Rev. C. H. Kelly, an ex-presi-i dent of the British Conference, -who re- ; cently retired from the Book Steward- • ebip, has, under medical advice, given ■ up all engagements that involve traver- • ling and preaching appointments. Mr 1 Kelly suffers from some heart deranse- . ment. It is the same trouble which I brought him very low two years ago i during his presidential term. Hopes • atre entertained by 'has many frdends ' that restoration may be again vouch--1 eafed. I A special feature of the work of the Aimcncan branches of tihe V.M.C.A. is that performed in the interests of the soldiers and sailors., and particularly with regard to the latter. Buildings lhave been erected in various ' centres, and mv several instances have quiokly proved to be too small for the purposes they are eupposed to meet. At Brooklyn an immense building was erected almost entirely at the cost of one lady, the sum expended on it aipproxjiimating £50,000, and although it has only been opened <a comparatively short tame, it Ins had to be doubled in size to accommodate those who apply for admission. This additional cost is also being borne by a lady. Viewing these circu.Tnstinoes. the nrrival of tho American fleet in Sydney waters is anticipated with a good deal of pleasure, and the locil association (reports the Sydney Telegraph") intends to provide facilities fot; the enjoyment and convemienco of the men on the warships during their sojourn in the cdty. Each of the vessels has on 'lnxard a V.M.C.A. secretary, and at the next meeting the Sydney Board of Directors will be asked to make some special provrisiom fox their reception. An idex of the general secretary (Mr Virgo) is that, whatever else may come place should be set aside whereon the men might read and write and meet the various secretaries. Already the proposed visit of the fleet , is causing interest among the members of the Association, who express willingness to assist in every way to make" the stay of tho Amerioins a pleasaait one. Tho Deaai of Christehurch has been suiferinjr much from insomnia of late (cays the "New Zealand Chnrch ', News"). He left for Sydney by the Moer&ki on Thursday, and his many I friends will heartily wish that ho may ■be pr)oedily restored to health. "Freeman's Journal" (Dublin) publishes the Lenten pastorals of almost ; a'l the Irish Roman Catholic Bishops. ' Archbishop, "Walsh, devotes five of , his regulations to what his flock [ shall or shall not bo to. read. Cardinal Logue warns his people that they "must not take it for granted that every pubUeation which " is written or controlled by Catholics , is therefore Catholic,; or calculated to foster a Catholic spirit in its readers." > Hβ indicates some -writers of the proi sent day whose writings should be [ avoided oven more carefully than those of ODen enemies. Bishop Sheehan, of . Waterford, deplores "the quantity of bad reading in circulation all over the country," resulting in "the silent, ■ steady, ruinous, undermining of faith and "morals": and he looks to tho Catholic Truth Society of Ireland, '. which "provides interesting books of every kind—history, biography, poetry, i fiction, es well as books of a purely .! religious kind"—to save the situation. Tho cable message that extended ' the term of office of Commissioner I McKie and Mrs McKie as commanders o f . tho Salvation Army in .Australasia read:—"lt has become necessary. in [ the interests of the world-wide Salvation Army, to postpone for 12 months ; the farewell of Commissioner and Mrs McKie. This has, therefore, been ; done in full reliance upon tho heartiest

co-operation of every officer and eoU dier throughout Australasia. —General." The "War Cry" (Sydney) expresses the belief th»t the General* hope for hearty co-operation will bo fully realised. The Sunday morning adult school movement co successful in England, where over 100,000 scholars are enrolled, is making a bid for usefulness and popularity in Sydney (says the "Morning Herald"). The gen-oral scope of the work is an hour and a half on Sunday morniwis devoted to a paper or address on some popular literary or scientific subject, followed by discussion and a Bible lesson. It is an effort to correlate the latest substantiated ideas with the 'broadest Christianity, thereby to arouse and keop alivo a spirit of rational and work-a-day religion. Something about the three walls of Babylon and what Sennacherib had to carry by storm is published in a recent report of the German Oriental Association on the recent archaeological researches in Babylon, and Assur. The Ger.nan scientists were able to unearth the so-called "southern ca:?t!o" in Babylon, a splendid exa.mpie of acent Babylonian royal palace. They further ascertained that the celebrated "Wall of Ba.byJon" reu-ilv consisted of three walls, all built of clay bricks. ]:ho waU was nearly 23ft thick, 'hen came i w/aoe of 39ft, then a second wall 2o.ft thick, then, another space, and finillv an outer wall nearly lift thick. Many private- houses wore iLnea.rthed which contained valuable relics of the distant past. The Gern:an scientists found at the deepest depths hitherto dug the remains' of unman bodies without coffins. In pome cases the positions of tho remains sugcrsted that they were- skeletons of t.bovo who hod been killed. Professor Koldowoy believes itheso skeletons are traces of tho destruction of by Kine Sennacherib of Assyria dn*Gß9 B.C. The researches at Asemr have resulted in the di&covory of a largo portion of tho fortification erected roinid the western outskirts of the town. Tiie unearthed fortdficatioms have a lenrth of nearly two miles and a. half. They consisted of day and brick walls slid also stone walls, and towers, flanked by a mont. Tlie investigation of the gireat tomiplo to the gods Ajiu and Adad has jiow been conii>leted.