CHURCH MEN'S SOCIETY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 80, 28 December 1907, Page 10

CHURCH MEN'S SOCIETY.

Tiis'annual couferenco of the Church of England Men's Sooioty was held lato in Octobor,■ under' the presidency of the Bishop of Steprioy, at the Church - House, Westminster. . The-chairman said that the socbt.y vas proving itself to be a power in ■the English Church, and the result was that'all eyes were being directed to it. - They were only beginning ; -to 6e0,. .their. .opportunity. Their movement; depenijed-.largely- : on what they were'prepared to-make! it- (Applause.) Hov,;ovcr,- hq would advise them to proceed 'confidently Savile, the, greetings wtradreuielMS. in, New "Zcalanrl, Cape! Colony, Tiidia,'.the. West Indies''.-arid,,tlie,..DanubeMission. . In tlie. evening there 'was a public, .meet-; ing in. the. great hall .of tlie -Church House, attended- by. some'thoUsands'.of men,, and ahr overflow meeting had to'be held in the Hoaro Memorial Hall! Tho Archbishop of'.Canterbury. presided, and in his address said that such a gathering was something to malto them than]'- God,, and take good heart for the Church'of England and for England herself. That meeting, one 1 /product and example of their, effort, showed that they wcro being guided' along the right- lines. Sixty or seventy years'ago there was no organised society in the' Cliurbh oii any great scale for tho band-, ing together- of,.nmri who . were keen about! the religions! life.-* He believed that, if, \\'"ifn the • Metli'odist! movement, started, tlure had been such a society as I 'theirs, -"they would have r had tens -'of' thousands of Christians with them in the^Church.to-day. The Bishop' of ' Stepney said he belioved. thoreMvas' nover. a'.'titne when the 'Church had : a broader outlook or a deeper sense of responsibility .for,.ths'iiatiohal life". ■ Captain Watson ■ presented a supplementary. report, stating that in the last, three and a half mouths 134 neiv branches, havuvr 2123 members, had been established. ST, FRANCIS..ON.PERFECT JOY.' : Tho following account of the.yieiVs. of St. Francis of. Assisi .-upon'.perfect joy,' . taken from tho newly-published "Writings of. St.. ■Francis of :Assisi," is eloquent of the spirit in ■ which tlio -poor Friars, whom St. Francis founded spread their influence over Europe:— . On a certain winter's - day St. Francis came from Perugia to St. Mary of the Angels; Brother Leo'was with him, and the cold causcd them to - suffer terribly. St. Francis, made a ..sign .rto Brother Leo,-.who was a'littld in advance of-. him, and said: "0 Brother Leo, ev,on if the Friars Minor should' give-good examples of and holy life, to the edification of others, mark, however, : and: rgmember that perfect joy does not- consist in that." And after the}-, had. gone a little farther, he called him again and said: "0. Brother Leo, even'if a Friar Minor, should give sight to : the .blind, .heal the lame, drive out.devils, make the,deaf hear, 1 the lame walk: and the dumb speak, even if - ., lie should raise one who had been dead four days', mark that perfect joy is not in that." And calling him again ho added: "0 Brother Leo, if a Friar Minor.know all the languages in/.tho' world, all knowledge and the; Holy Scriptures, if ho wcro a prophet and divined the'future and tho minds of others, mark that perfect joy is not .in that." Thtw walked on and again the Saint called him. "0 Brother Leo, little.lamb of God, even if a Friar Minor • were to speak tho language of Angels, know the course of the stars, the virtues of plants, tho secrets of tho treasures. of .the earth, even if ho wore, to know the habits and naturq of birds, iislies, animals, men, roots, trees, stones and waters., mark "well and note diligently that in that is' not perfect joy." And after some, minutes lie said again: "0 Brother Leo, even if a Friar Minor should know how to preach with .so. great- solomnity as to .convert the. unfaithful, to the Faitli, mark that in that is not perfect jov." - • And the Saint .continued in- .the same strain fbr a. distance of two miles. ■ Brother Leo, .marvelling'at this talk,, said to him: "Father, I pray you in the name of God, tell inc.-in what is found perfect joy." -The Saint replied When we arrive at St. Mar.v of tho Angols,. soaked with rain and frozen-with cold, bespattered with liuid and famished, and if we should ring at tho door of tho place, and. if tho door-kre.per should come angrily and say to us: 'Who are you?' and we should answer, 'Wo are two. of your friars,'.and ho should reply: 'Begone! you aro more. likely two rascals who go about begging and rob the poor,' and if ho does not open to us lint leaves us wit ill the mud, rain, cold and hunger till night, and we bear all these. injuries and rebuffs without impatience, vexation and murmuring, and. if humbly and charitably 'we think ; that the door-keeper does not know us and that God makes him thus speak roughly to ns,, then, 0 Brother Leo, say to thyself, This is perfect ioy. Aiul if we persist to knock'and tlie door-keener gets angry because of onr'importunity,'if lie comes out and mercilessly boxes our 'ears, saving:, 'Bourne, vile cowards,, no to tho poor-house. Who aro you? Certainly you will not eat here!'—if,we patiently bear ail tlteso insults, and lovingly accept-them with a whole heart, write, o'Brother Leo, that this is perfect iqv."

PERSONAL. The Rev. Herbert J. Molony has been nominated by tho Archbishop ot' Canterbury to tho Anglican Bishopric in mid-China, vacant by tlio resignation of Bishop Moule. Tho new Bishop, who is a B.A. of I'embroko College, Cambridge, was ordained dcaoon in 1888, and priest tho following year. He was curato of St. Stephen's, Newcastle-on-Tyno, 1888-00j missionary to tho Church Missionary Society at Mandla, 1890-94, and sccrotary to tho "Church Missionary Society for tho dicoeso of Nagpur, 1904-05. In the lattcsi- year ho was appointed, missionary at Jubbulpur and examining chaplain to tho Bishop of Nagpur. Tho Bishop of Exeter has appointed the R-ov. G. H. S. Walpole, D.D., rector of Lambeth, to tho Canonrv of Exeter Cathedral, vacant by tlio. deatli of tho late Treasurer Atherton. Dr. Walpolo was ordained , de.icon in 1878, and priest tho' following year. After filling soliolastic and clerical appointments at IVuro, ho went out to Now Zealand, whoro ho was incumbent of St. Mary's parish at Auckland, . 1882-89, becoming chaplain to tho Bishop of Auckland, 1883-B'J, and warden of St.' John's 1 College, Auckland, 1831-86. Ho was professor of Systematic Divinity in General Theology, ■ Now York, 1889-96; principal of Bedo .Collego, Durham, 1896-1903; i* and was appointed rector of Lambeth in j. 1903, mado examining chaplain to tho Arch- | bishop of York tho samo, year, and given an .honorary canonry in Southwaxk Cathedral 'last year. Ho. is tho author of many theological works. : , Tho Rev.' C. H. Kelly, a former Presidentof tho English .Woslayaii . Gonferonco ha* been taken ill again, and his doctor, advises! :,' him to keep his bed ,for ,two"or'threo weeks:' v. It is tho: samo complaint as two .years!-ago V—heart failure. Mr. Kelly has cancelled - all his engagements till February, and .when : ho is ablo to get out will probably take a sea voyage. ■ - V "■ . ' - Brook, the cyclist, whose .. conversion formed the topic of much controversy a few . weeks back, is to take up his residence in the Central Methodist , Evangelists'., Training Home ,at air early' date (says , the Sydney "Daily Telegraph"). V. Rev. ; T. Davies told a good story (says the Sydney "Metliodist") at a meeting of the Kurri Kurri Methodist Church. Recently he was called. upon to marry a young cbuplo, : tho ceremony taking place, in a private ; house. The 'bride and groom might,b'ave." preferred that it should have been; in a-' church with floral arches and* bells, but as ■; this was unavailable they''determined- "'.to' V supply as much stylii a3'possible. So, although-; they could not havo/a choral' seryicej th&y . ■ rang in a ; /gramophdne accompaniment, which & sounded almost as [ good.. , Towards elusion of tho ccromonj - , this ''taking little machine gave "Abide with Me,''-, which -the*, clergyman regarded-, as appropriate. ; -But ? • more was to conie. -Just as the-lakt signa-; turo ,was. being' affixed to. • tho necessary papers tho. gramoplioiie, gave a chuckle and burst into "Wo shall?Jenow each'other better when the mists havo r rollcd away."