PRAYER AND MODERN THOUGHT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 508, 15 May 1909, Page 9

PRAYER AND MODERN THOUGHT.

"There is a greater readiness to admit the validity of prayer to-day thai] thero'has. ever been.-" That is the opinion of Rev. Dr. Ilorton, of London, expressed in a paper rend at the Free Church Council. "Probably no person of repute," ho continues, "would now'make the suggestion which the lato Professor Huxley made, that'prayer should be by the logical 'Method of Difference,' that in a hospital prayer should ho offered for the patients in one ward, and . not for those in another, and if thoßo prayod for

got better"wo should demonstrate that prayer was answered.'. ■: "Since thd hard and glittering days of Professor Huxley an' extraordinary chango libb como over tho mindß of men. Sir Oliver Lodge is the man of science'who occupies tho same placo as Professor Huxley did, in England, lis tho Public Orator of Science, and Sir Oliver Lodgo is tho-defender of prayer.Ho is able to base his dcfcnce on scientifio grounds. \ "I do not know: whether men pray more than they used to do. But ono thing is certain, they havo more reason to prayj. and they have, moro unanimous approval for tho practico from men of all kinds (iijd creeds. ;Advanced theologians; like Sabatin or Professor Percy, Gardner, adyocato prayer as strongly. as the most orthodox of our ' leaders in this council. Yetvl fear that tho backwash of Professor Huxley's time is moro felt ill the churches and in,our lives than tlia inflowing tide of our -ljcwcr and deeper thought. .Wo aro influenced by a philosophy which is now out of date; wo worship at tho shrino of the scienfo'of a generation back, 'forgetting that. scieiice advances with rapid strides, and has/swiftly moved from tho phaso in which/%ho discountenanced, to » >•' phase in which* she favours, prayer." PRESBYTERIAN NOTES, A Laymen's Missionary League has been-., formed*'in,Wellington; r i'\iis is a .'movement., which* lias spread widely in the • United States and Canada, and has received favorable comments in : Great Britain.- Tho is tho formation not so much of a . new organisation as of a body, that will Ton- ' I'ttor more effective tho existing missionary institutions. Members of tho' league will do , their utmost to socuro a higher rato of contributions to missionary funds from those ; already contributing, and to bring now con- ! tributors into the field. In Canada and tho United States,'-tho leagues have parcelled ! out territories of heathendom for which they, |!make themselves responsible in. regard to , mission funds and, workers. In tho States tho ■ collections have, in a great many instances, been already doublod by the leagues, though notwithstanding the well-known liber- ■. ality of American churches towards" mission- •' ar f V and other Christian enterprises, the. contributions per capita in England aro almost ' doublo those of tho' United 1 States:, In America, the membership of tho league is ropresentative of all the churches exoept tho Roman Catholic. Hero it is so far limited to the Presbyterians, but it is hoped that • the movement will spread. Mr. J. G. W. Aitken, President of tho Elders', Association, presided at the meoting, at which prelimitu ary_steps were taken. ' Sister Mabel, at present.deaconess of tho South Dunedin Presbyterian Church, ' has been appointed deaconess of St. John's, Wellington, and is expected to take - up' hor, : duties during tho second week in June. 1 The Orphanage Committee of tho Welling- > ton Presbytery expect to tako possession of - the - Brooklyn building at tho. beginning of -s next week. Already they have nine'orphan:; and destitute children - waiting ..admission, several of whom' havo been provided 'fot for i some little time past. The formal opening .' will bo delayed until tho institution'is in regular working order. v His': Excellency:the'' Governor will probably be;asked to perform, tho opening ceremony. A proposal is under consideration, by the Church Extension-Committee; of -the-General-Assembly ,to employ colporteurs who will work • chiefly in' tho back-blocks distributing' Bibles , and other wholesome literature. , The personnel of the British Commission , appointed by" tho" Assembly's Committee at . Christchurch to recommend a'successor, to tho - late- Dr.' Dunlop, Professor of Theology, is in-., teresting. Of tlio three men appointed,' Dr. Orr and Dr. Lindsay are United Free Church-.'s men, but, prior to the Union, Dr. Orr. was a' member of the' United Presbyterian Church; and Dr. Lindsay a Freo Churchman.: Dr. Patterson is a'loading member, of'tljo.Estab- ■ lished Church of Scotland, and is-accounted . ono; of tho very finest debaters- in its . As- ' sembly. AH three are men of great erudi- ; tionj and well-known authors of very valu-" able works. ■ ;An effort is being.inade to form tho Prosby- • - -terian. Young Women's Bible Classes in Wellington and the neighbouring! districts into a . ;leagu6jto. assist and relieve ,th?. ; new orphan-'; • "ige.- 1 !.!, - - ■; " Wr; A contribution of £5 has been received for the orphanage from Miss M'Lean, of Fairlie. i '■." : ~ ROMAN CATHOLIC NEWS. Tho Rev.-Father Kimbell loft yesterday for Nelson, where, with, the Rev. Father O'Connpll, ho will conduct a mission during tho next three weeks.' . The Rev. Father Hickson leaves on j Monday on a three weeks', holiday visit to Auckland. , Tho Rev. Father O'Meara, of Feilding, is. still unwell, and a priest goes out'from Wellington every Sunday to relievo him. Tha Rev. Father Mahonoy will go to Foilding to- ; morrow. ■■■■■ " - . . ■' , Tho Right Rev. W. A.' Johnson, Bishop of Arindela, and Vicar-General of tho Arch- - Dioceso of Westminster, died'at Westminster ' recently. Bishop. Johnson had-been il) from' influenza,' and complications supervened. . Tho,Bishop, who. was.76 years of ago, 'ad been identified throughout tho whole of his ,: life with Westminster;'-having occupied the positions of private secretary to Cardinals ' ■Manniiv; and yau^haai"and general diocesan' secretary-to Archbishop Bourne. Ho was ordained priest in 1857.' : ;i —— —. ; Y.M.C.A. NOTES. : ,-v (BY H.N.H.) . In commenting on tho annual; report of tho West Side branch of the Y.M.C.A., Now York, tho. editor of tho "American" made this discriminating statement"Tho variety,': of interests• represented ranges all, tho way;, from fun and fireside talk, through an ela- , borate system of. technical and v&cational education, to tho manning of a riding-school, an amateur circus, and, "a two-masted schooner. Tho opportunities offered to men of ambition to get a start in a new business or to master the elementary'technique of a trade are of surprising range and attractiveness. In tho long run these developed Y.M.C.A. 'methods of doing tilings must powerfully affect tho whole system of public cducatioiv since tho schools of tho future will doubtless be vocational scliools, ■ fitting-their graduates ; to do something in particular and do it / well. Everybody should understand that tho Y.M.C.A. is one of the broad sopial facts of modern tinics. It ia an; international' institution concerning , which historians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries will havo to take account. The. : notion once prevalent that the association js" a creature,of patronago is erroneous.; It ia intensely democratic. It does not live on charity. Except in its missionary enterprises into'foreign lands, it pays its own way. Tho Y.M.C.A. is a pulsating soeial organisation that lives by its functions and,'uses.' It gives out in social energy all and much moro : than it takes in. It is a kind of university— driven out of tho cloistered shades and setting up its standard of science, and tho humanities ill tho midst of-tho working world. , It is a great club that is moro than a club because of its enthusiasm for knowledge and ■ its serious aspiration.", , , Tho Twenty-third Street.. Branch, New : York, has in its'- membership 264. Episcopalians, 260 Methodists,'23l Presbyterians, IS!) Baptists, 1-13! Reformed, - 108 Hebron's, 732 Roman Catholics, and 1471 non-cJiurch member Protestants, ', This is a new wrinkle—a Biblo study papado, says "Association Men." "T-lio effective ; thing lately done' by the Dayton was a Bible-study.-parade of tho men's Biblo classes of the--association and 45 churches, in which, over . 2000 men marched. Transparencies, four bands, two drum corps, red and grceai firo and enthusiasm mado it tho real'.thing, in the line of parades. After tho parailo there was a meeting. On the sido line, u man with a whisky breath said: 'H-—, if - that crowd gets busy, this town and 1 go dry." Tho next Sunday 1 a revival hurst forth in tho Men's Sunday School' bihlo Class: no lesson.that morning, but:sixty decisions for Christ." . ' .