RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 193, 9 May 1908, Page 11

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

REVISINC THE VULGATE. , ABBOT .GASQUET'S •GREAT. -TASK'. • Abbot Ga-squct's great task of revising thp Vulgate Version of the Bible is interestingly described in the "Pall' Mall Magazine" by Salvatoro.Cortcsi. " On April 30, .1907, Cardinal Rampolla," ho says, "wrote a letter, to,Dom Hildebrand do Homptinne', Abbot-Jrimate ,pf; the -"Bene-, -dictines, entrusting t-li6! new revision of the Vulgate' to them, and straightway appointing Aljbot Gasquet as head of tho committee.' ■ Tho English Abbot admirably fulfils tho; requirements of so responsible a position. To. vast', profound culture be adds the temperament of a great worker and a' love for accuracy and detail. He "lias chosen'as immediate collaborators -Doni Laurence! Jansons, Rector of Sant' Anselmo, Rome, Dom Ambrogio Amclli, Prior of Montccassino, and as Secretary Dom Donatio do Bruyne; Doctor of Louvain University. Abbot Gasquet is determined to dedicate the remainder of his life to his revision, and lie has already set to work in his cell, in the great Benedictine Monastery, here in Rome, on the crown of tho Aventine. ' Twenty years ago,' said the learned Abbot to me, 'Leo XIII. set mo to historical research, which I pursued without interruption; now Pius X. orders me to revise the Vulgate, and I have willingly abandoned all for it—studies, work, friends, country.' "As to the. programme to be followed it'is as, yet difficult to speak, Abbot Gasquet thinking that in the first six months which he will pass in Italy, chiefly in Rome, it will already : be . a great achievement : if he can begin to make'use of the first material accumulated. To have an idea of : how; gigantic the .work is, it will bo say that. the Abbot believes that the early MSS. to , be'- entirely. collated, -arranged, divided, etc., amount ,to perhaps- twenty thousand. They may be more;-.as there aro countries liko Spain in which libraries and archives attached to - the .different catliedrals have MSS.. which are quite unknown'to scholars; it is, therefore, necessary, to send Benedictines to-each of these countries to carry tho MSS.;-to Rome;if possible; arid, if not, to photograph them, or when even this is not -allowed, to copy them. All will be centred in. the Eternal. City,- tho great hall of the Monastery, of Sant' Anselmo having! been prepared to receive tlie accumulation of documents fron)' : all over the 1 world. Of. course, 0110 of . tho • obstacles is the difficulty in meeting tho nccessary'expcnse, -■ as the financial condition of tho Vatican does not allow the Pope to, t'ako it.all upon himself. Abbot Gasquet. however; hopes there ■will bo no lack of help, and his opinion has been strengthened by 'tho fact that' immediately after tlio announcement of the-revi-sion an Italian gentleman contributed sixty pounds. A treasurer will "be appointed , for tho. reception and allotrtientof' the' funds. "There is no need'to'say that every effort will , ; bo directed to the reconstruction, as is far - as' possible, of the text, of., St. Jerome, which will . be" the foundation of the _ revision, but. the next step will be to .discover how far . St. Jerome'himself was correct. Tho Psalms,'-probably, will be tho. first portion to'be undertaken'. 1 The first tangible result-of the! work of-Abbot; Gas-! guek'will bo' a crftical. edition ofthe' Psalms, in the - three 'versions;' printed "in: parallel columns. Indeed; 'there, is the- intentibn-'of adding' in a' fourth column the!'' Itala,' so that comparisons: will be easy to .all."

NEW PRIMUS, The elevation of the Bishop" of Brechin (Dr. Robbprds) -to the Primaey'of the Scottish Episcopal Church has.como as'somewhat of .1 surprised Church people in Scotland. The Bishop of Edinburgh (Dr. Dowdcn) is by many years the senior'Prelate 1 , while>his great learning and intimate. knowledge, of ythejvScottißh/Church' marked him out as the niost probable successor, to the late Primus:.. But it was the Bishop of Edinburgh who formally nominated' Dr; : Robberds foi-the yacant ofSco. ; : The now Primus was Bisho? : of'Brechin only four years ago,.' and'is one of. tlib youngpst members of tho Episcopate. •, ■ Born in 1863, lie was educated •at Glcnalmorid, Keble, and Cuddesdon.. :Ho T served the.,curacy of St. Mary RedclifFc, Bristol, from IBS 7 to 1892, when he became Chaplain at Cuddes-, don, remaining there fours -years. 'Afterholding for a brief period the position of.Subr Warden of Bishop's College and-Incumbent of St. German's, Blackheath, ho was invited, in 1897, to Scotland as Eec-tor..of,Arbroath, but was riot allowed;to ;sta'y;.there more than two ' years,'. receiving in ;1599 a- summons to return to his old parisli-of'St] Mary Redcliff e'as Vicar. Four., year^f,later ho .was' enthusiastically elected. ,Bishop, of Brechin; and, to the'great regret of his parishioners (expressed by. a striking'demonstration), he resolved to cast in his.lbt.with ,the struggling Church in Scotland^ He was consecrated in 190-I,' and his short tenure of the. Seo has been marked by more than one notable'event. .; The . Church of St. Paul's, Dundho, of which Bishop Forbes 'was at.ono ,timo' : lncumbent, has been raised to the status of a Cathedral, and; tho .work of tho dioca3o has.'bcen considerably extended, especially in' the' large city of Dundee. Of Scotch extraction arid education, as well as exporienco, the now Primus (states tho V Guardian ") undertakes his office with certain clear advantages. He is under 110 illusions as to the position of tho-.disestab-lished Church; in Scotland; and tho relation of the Church to Scottish Presbyterianism—a question that is- bound ;to -coind. unceasingly' to the front—cannot bo a puzzle to one who has, without , any sacrifice of principle, cultivated friendly relationii'witli all'the Presbyterian bodies.. An. effective speaker and preacher, and endowed with personal qualities of a most attractive nature, the new Primus will* be enabled to discharge with dignity and grace those public duties in Council and Synod that' appertain to his office. Lastly, the smallness and compactness of his diocese will leave hiin freo to devote a considerable amount of time to the duties of tho Primacy, which are in reality riiuch more burdensome than'the strictly limited responsibilities assigned by'the. Canons would load one to sup-

JOTTINGS. Tho Thorndon 'Methodist Church, which now possesses, independent status after being for 35, years, part of tho. Taranaki Street Circuit, is altering on its'new carobr under tho most favourable circumstances. Tho buildings are free of debt, with tho exception of a very small liability on the manse, and its'minister, the Rev. C. Porter, has had successful oharge from tho . first. Messrs:' W. Dimock and Charles Worboyso. aro tho first Circuit stewards. , membership returns., 0f,,;. English Primitive Methodism indicate a' probable increase for the. year- of about .700 — the smallest .for ..several years, ; "Ask tho Almighty to- tako tho parson out of you and .make you manly, was advice given by, the Rev. F. : B. 'Meyer; in addressing recently tho students-of a Primitive Methodist' College. Referring to tho New' Zealand. Primitive Methodist Conference held recently at Dune-" din, and the discussion which took placo on Mothodist Union, tho '''British Weekly" says"There ■ is somo probability that Primitive Methodism will join the United Church after the Centenary celebration." Tho cablo mossago that extended tho.term of office of Coriimissioner M'Kio and 'Sirs. M'Kio as . commanders of the Salvation Army in Australasia read :—"lt lias bccome necossary, in tho interests of tho world-wido Salvation. Army, to postpone for 12 months the farewell of - Commissioner and. Mrs. M'Kio. This has, therefore, _been done in full reliance upon the heartiest co-opera-tioo of every officer and soldier throughout Austrahisia.—General." " Tbo Church of Scotland! is to' be congratulated on some remarkable. records with which a number of its"Sun3ay _ School tea- j chers aro credited. Last"ye«r .the Church inaugurated a system '6f; long service certificates to teachers who bad given twenty-one yoars of work. Tho statistics obtained showed that 200 . teachers' had given services of from twenty-one to, thirty years. There were 93 with services of-from'thirty to forty jearv 35 from forty to fifty, years, 7 from

fifty to sixty years, and ono man who had been for sixty-five yoars a teacher in a Sunday School. . Dr. Mit-ford Mitchell re.marked,., at tho annual meeting of tho Sabbath School Association, that ho should liko that man brought up to the General Assembly and publicly thanked for such long and magnificent services. 'Apropos of the Anglican "GcnoraJ Mission of Help," which is to visit tho Dominion next year, Archdeacon Grace, secrotary of the movement' for the Nelson Diohas .written to tho "Nov/ Zealand Baptist":—"lt would appear very desirable that other Christian bodies join in this effort. by holding missions simultaneously with us' in their own churches by evangelists likowiso specially chosen. This was so, I believe, in tho 'South African Mission of Help. Would it; not result 'here, as there, in a, glorious triumph for the Gospel, if we did thus unite in sounding together tho evangel of our Lord Jesus Christ, irrespective of itlie .Shibboleths that separate those who. are of 0110 mind and opinion on tho fundamentals, of Christian doctrine?" If tho llcv. Thomas Spurgeon can come to our help (tho "Baptist" states) wo niay hope to sharo'in this grand- aim. It appears probable, too, that other ovangelists of tried efficiency .will Visit these Southern lands. ' - - .J-' "Tho Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripturo at. Oxford, Canon Cheynb, has.- announced his resignation (says tho "Guardian") owing to the infirmities of ago and, in particular, his inability, to perform the duties of tho canonryjat Rochester, which is coupled to his Chair. Wo loso in him a great, if sometimes a wayward, scholar, and one who enjoys no. ordinary.reputation alike among those,who.; agree with him and thoso —probably a far ■ more numerous group —who do not. Ilio delegates of the Common University Elin'd, which is statutorily-liable for pensions of have proposed to .tho University to grant him an adequate retiring .'.allowance—presumably to augment in pension from the income of the canonry.". :["'A jubilee celebration of no ordinary importance has just been observed in Scotland. It was .thati of Dr. Donald M'Leod, of Park Church, Glasgow, who was ordained a minister of the Church of- Scotland in March, 185 S. , Dr. M'Leod is a scion of a 'noble race of 'ministers..'-'' Their jeeord is unique in the ecclesiastical history of Scotland. Two members ■ of the M'Leod', fraternity—Dr.. Norman and his youngest son, 1 popularly known from his height as The High Priest of Morven"— gavo 107 years of service between them to that one parish. ~ Five members of tho family—Dr. Norman, of St.' Columba; Dr. Norman, of the Barony; Dr. Norman, late of Inverness, who succeeded his undo at St. Columba; Dr. John, of Govan; and the presont- Dr. Donald, of Park Church, liavo given 114 years of united servico to tha city of' Glasgow: Finally, the entire family, haye devoted to the .Church of Scot-land an amount of service which in years -alono reaches the unparalleled aggregate of 352. their ability-and eloquence haye at the samo/timo been outstanding and extraordinary. Dr. M'Leod for many years acted as Convener of the Homo Mission Committee of the Church of Scotland, and liis servicca were recognised by his election in -1895 as Moderator-of the General Assembly." He was editor of "Good Words" for thirty-two yoars, and has published several volumos on religious' subjects. , .'. !;

Tlie lasipart of the Church's mission about which I wish to speak, observed the Rev. C. C. Harper, at the annual meeting. of All Saints' Church, Palmcrston North, is her ■witness for righteousness ■ in' this world. All our services;, worship,' and sermons are valueless', unless they make for practical goodness in our worldly lives; The man or woman who usestho church services as a conscience salvo in a life, of carelessness,: dishonesty, or of a low " moral. standard, generally;"- is a>; worse enemy of our Lord and Master,. Jesus Clirist, than tho open and avowed opponent. ; Large congregations, noble buildings, and; a good financial re-sult : aro not tho true measure of success of the work of the church, or tho ministry of the clergy, but a> sense in-the minds of tho world outside, that when they, liavo to do with , a member; of the church, they are perfectly suro of-finding the highest, ideals expressed in an unblameabie life, as far as sucli is possible to men and women. Are wo realising that? By no means aa fully as we ought to. t And this, knowledge, that in a Christian community in which over 4-1 per cent, are' self-styled members 'of , the Church of England, has led tho Diocesan and General Synods to move for a great mission of help to the whole-of the Dominion. The Now Theology has. found—or Tather is being claimed by—a parent, and the ungrateful offspring is occupied' in rejecting-with indignation its parent. Mrs. Besant (who is coming to New Zealand) claims the New .Theology - as being nothing more'than tho Old' Theosophy slightly disguised, or, diluted. ;A correspondence in the London' journals is proceeding on, this interesting subject, and' tho arguments offered in support of' the thbory : that the' New Theology has in it as largo an element of Oriental Pantheism as the Theosophy of Mrs. Besant are very cogent. The "Southern Cross," . Melbourne (edited by the Rev. Dr.,Fitchett) thiriks that the New Theology is as mystical, not to say, as vaporous and as Oriental—in patches, at' least—as anything Mrs. Besant has ever given to the world. There are, of" course, some elements in the-New Theology' too distinctively and stubbornly Christian for Mrs. Besant's taste; but'she is largely within her rights when she claims a,paternal—or-rather a maternal—relationship j to the New Theology.' : ', A . For tho first time' for '35 years the annual conference of tho English Primitive Methodist Connexion will be held this year in. London, the meeting place being Wesley's Chapel, in City Road, the scene of many memorablo religious' gatherings. The Connexion being much, stronger in the_ villages aud , in .the great centres of the midlands and the north than in the capital, it is not surprising that tho conference should-not have visited Lon--don since 1873, .and tho proceedings in June will gain in interest by tho comparison of tho size and, influence of tho Churcn.at .tho two meetings which will bo possible. • ' , ,'■?

"During my terra of ofiico here," said the Rev. C.' C.i Harper/vicar of All: Saints''parish at Palmcrston -North, in his address to his parishioners at.-tho annual meeting, "I liavo tried to work: consistently in guiding the Church in her -mission to tho town and district on lines which have always seemed to mo to bo tho triio ones. In our public services it has been our aim to help those who como together to pray and worship. ■: -We must guard against making our Sunday services merely an occasion for, hearing a* sermon, or for being a means of-passing a : pleasant hour enjoying good music. Our churchwardens liavo higher ideals for the church services than largo offertories, and our choirs aiid organists are willing to sacrifice their own pleasure in elaborate music to be, what they ought to be, a lead and help in-tho devotion and worship of'.the congregation. The simplicity of our services is'our glory, and is helping to teach' thoso' who attend that the acts of pray er -and praise are for' tho-wholo congregation, and not for oho section; of it." ' Something about the three walls of Babylon and what Sennacherib had to, carry by storm is published in , a report of the German - Oriental Association; ■on tho, achaoological researches in Babylon and Assur. Tho German scientists woro able to unearth the so-called "southern castle" in Babylon, a splondid example of a magnificent Babylonian royal palace. They further ascertained that tho celebrated "Wall of Babylon" really consisted of three walls, all built of clav bricks. The inner wall was nearly 23ft. thick, then camo a spaco of 30ft.', then a second wall 25ft. thick, thou another space; - and finally an outer wall nearly lift, thick. _ Many -. private .-.houses were unearthed which contained valuable relics of tho distant past.'. Tho Gorman sciontists found at' tho ' deepest depths hitherto tluu; the remains of human bodies without coffins. In some cases the position of the remains suggested that they were skeletons of thoso who had .been, killed. Professor Koldewey believes those skclotons are traces of the destruction of Babylon by King Sennacherib of Assyria in CS9 B.C. Tho researches at Assur have; resulted in the discovery of . a largo portion of the fortification erected round flip western outskirts of the town. The unearthed fortifications have a length of nearly two miles and. a half They consisted, of. clay and brick; walls and also stone - walls, : bastions," and , towers flanked by a,deep moat. \Th&.-iM®dacation of the great temple to the wid jA-dad has now been comploteo. -v.