RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 687, 11 December 1909, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

~-, . »——; -■'■ st. Giles's cathedral. ;; successor to'-dh. cameron/lees., Voting took place, on' October 2G for tho election of a minister of St. Giles's "Cathedral, Ldmbiirgh, in room of the liev. Dr. Cameron Ijces, who has retired. , The only name' before the congregation was that of the Rev. Dr. "Wallace Williamson," St. Cuthbert's,- Edinburgh.' c K ' an , nour was.required for the counting ot the votes, and tho official intimation was to the effect that Dr. Wallace Williamson had been elected and appointed by a very largo nl mi or ■&' figures-were given. . r,m Ee y-.,P r - Wallace Williamson was born ' M l ™™, Dumfricshh'c, on December 29, 185b. He was educated at Morton Parish School and. Wallace Hall Academy, and afterwards attended the University of Edinburgh, when he was Thomson scholar in 1878 and Henbum prizeman in 1881. "As a student'he was a member of St.. Cuthbert's' Church, ami earned'the distinction of being appointed' practically direct lrom the classroom assistant in JwtJi Leith ■ Parish : Church in 1881. Six months later the yoiiin; minister was in,full charge of"that large and growing parish. His call to ht Cuthbert's was uihdo a few years ntf' i an , d J!° leaves Rt ■ Cuthbert's .for the Cathedral Church.of St. Giles at tho conelusion, of a ministry of a quarter of a cenUU'}. Ho was University Lecturer in Pastoral ■HOWl° gy ' U 1897 ' 98 ' nnd Croair Lecturer in

,Thci hew minister, of St. Giles's is Chaplain-m-Ordinary to the King of Scotland. ■. -

TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF MISSION ■'~:■■.: WORK. ; The Bev. Peter Thompson, superintendentor the Last.End Wesleyan Mission, who'died recently, was one of the best known public men East End of London,'and was affectionately called the "East End Bishop." He was traincd.for, the ministry at-tho Connexional Theological Institution, and was ordained- to the full' ministry at the Nottingham Conference of 1876, being appointed-to tho •Huddcrsfield (Queen Street) Circuit, whero he served the "full term of three years. • Subsequently ]he ."travelled" in the Tinsbury Park and Redlull'circuits, and then found his'life's w ?p, a 5 !l .missioner at Stepney. ' : Ihere for several years Mr. Thompson worked under many discouragements. The chapel was inconvenient and unattractive, and not a'few ot Ms congregation were unsympathetic towards the progressive and energetic methods of tho young missioner.- But, in. soite of difficulties, he persevered, and to-day, the fine central buildings at Stepney, which occupy the site of the old chapel, are a lasting, testimony ,to his courage and optimism. ' ,' . The area of tho East End Bishop's mission included such famous places of rendezvous.as Paddys Goose," and, tho "Old' Mahogany tfar, and it 15 not too much to. say that; aided by the - loyal workers ho was able to attract to Juni. ho effected" a moral and material revolution in-. the .district. ihe subject that lay'nearest his heart was the condition of.-London Methodism, and helooked forward with eagerness to taking his full share of work on the Board of tho London Methodist Commission.' He foresaw great dilfi. cultics ahead, but, as regards his own misE! yV le wjs nioro sanguine of the pro-' cress of tho work,in the East End than lie' w„T V f b i? e " ! K!o l?-" t l«s work will now have to fall into other hands. :

THE.RUSSIAN BAPTISTS. ' v?,'!, e Jr st i C ,°? B "S S of Ilussittn - Open Baptists, ESI?n tas n , s tlDy aro ca,l «l " Kussia, was hold recently in St. Petersburg. 1 asters from distant towns came to tho capital for the occasion, and. M. Stolypin authorised the congress on condition that politic" worrf Mfrf A P °! ico cffic ! al Resent a,

a scrips of revival meetings open to all,'were held in one of , tho public halls. At ■ these services pastors of -■ tho two other Russhm ■ Baptist sects took part and preached. ' Many .members of the' Orthodox ■ wore pre* Zv .«W,d«pcsfc interest inlhV new teaching It was curious to hear such hymns as 'Whiter than tho Snow" sung in SsSuf Thc 9°npgations picked up tie ■ Stiness" 03 T kh \ and Sans ,vitk s££ ...jr. Prokhnnoff,, tho-.president of tho congress, old a correspondent of thc "Christian World" liJhorii°??i 6 fi '? hundred, mombors of the Estab-' nni?p Ch, l- ch aro annual 'y: received into tho c ?. m ' nu . mon f « St. .Petersburg: alone. Most of.them'; aro : „ working people. , ,Jle showed tho writer an address which tho was sending- to .the Tsar, thanking •him for the Manifesto of April, 1905 by whic& - -ho granted roligmu*. liberty/ and also' for"HuT recognition of tho Baptist communion as a church, given m 1006. . In cousequonce of ..this last act, the Baptists have the right to perform : marriages and'to receive conver s,A ; man who desires-to betrtW'W li t- hnS ?T- fflorely-to.-sivo notice; to thc authorities of his- intention, and. thev have no power to prevent him. According to law.tho Governor to whom ho writes has tho right .to.send, an-Orthodox.priest to argue with him iiutho .interests of tho State Churchj in ■ St. Petersbiyrg, however/-,this right.is never exercised. ' -'■ - '-..■-"

DR. HORTON ON CONGREGATIONALISM. ■Dr. Norton, ■spcakmg at Mansfield recently, said that, so. far as .Congregationalism was concerned, it there-had been a failure itwas'duo to the tact that they were not Congregationahsts.in the true sense of the word. A Congregational Church was a company of believers, who might belong to.every-;rank, possess any degree, of culture or wealth or poverty-a company of lmng; souls, ■ born again, united-in indissoluble union m-tlio Spirit, and iii livincontact rath Christ, who directed and taught fhem. The great stumbling-block had aliravs' boon .that .the common people should bo reeds-' mscd as- the body of the' Church. : Congregationalism saved the. common man from tho sense of insignificance and brought down the wealthy and influential,, making" them one in the presence, of Christ., If they got the idea n,t; h °v, altl lT People miglit Control tho Chinch because! they gave .tho most money, or that the educated'-peoplo might control it because they had worldly knowledge, or if they inft?,' i!S ■$- Principle of aristocracy into tho Church it'would destroy ■ Congro-

THE POPE AND.THE ENGLISH PILGRIMS. • His .Holiness tho -Popo, received- on tho morning of October 26 in. the Sala Consistorialo tho pilgrims who came to Roino under the auspices or the Catholic Truth-Society, along with several of the clergy, and laity .belonging to tho English colony in the city. Among those present were the Most Rev. Dr. Stonor, TitularArchbishop of Trebizond; Eight Eev.-Thomas Whiteside, Bishop of Liverpool;' Eight Eev. Joseph Robert Cowgill; Coadjutor to tho Bishop of Leeds; Eight Eev. Mgr.. John Prior, Auditor of the Eota; and the Very Eev. father Dolan, Rector of St. Sylvester's. : When tho usual homage had been, paid - to the Holy Father by the pilgrims, each of whom was pris sented by Archbishop Stonor, the' Pope took his seat on tho 'throni and delivered an . interesting address. Ho bade them-a hearty wel- : come to Rome and .'-'expressed his gladness at their'efforts to keep and strengthen the Faith in their nativo country. Their visit to the contre of Christendom would, ho said, be for them" full of recollections of tho early Church and of the tombs of tho Apostles, jTo the clergy he', gave ..the privilege of imparting the Apostolic Hcnediction to their flocks on their, return to England, while to both. clergy and laity several spiritual favours: of a personal kind were generously granted. 'On October 19 the Bishops of the. pilgrimage entertained, to dinner at the Hotel d'Angleterro a body of the. clergy and laity, chief among tho guests being Archbishop Stonor, Mgr. Prior, and tho Very' Eev.: Rector of St. Sylvester's.—"Catholic Times."

An anonymous donor has for four years past added 'five shillings to every shilling given at tho annual foreign -missionary meeting hold at Westbourno 'Wosleyan .Church, • Bournemouth, and has contributed about a thousand pounds' in this way. This yenr the samo offer was again made auonyniously, .and when tho meeting took' place and the collection was made, it was found that .£55 lis. had been contributed. With tho anonymous donor's gift, the collection realised the record sum of •£332. ■-..•■ ... ■■■: . '■ _■

The Anglican Bishop of Southwark recently dedicated the now altar of the Harvard Memorial Chapel in St. Saviour's Cathedral, Southwark.. The altar, which is of oak, handsomely carved, is placed beneath the stainedglass window,presented by Mr. J. Choate when he Was "American Ambassador in London, comlucmorating the fact that John; Harvard, the founder of Harvard University,who was* born in Southwark, was baptised : there November 2!), IGO7. The chapel was restored in 1907 by old Harvard moil; The new altar is tho gift of an American., Mr. Allen Rnlph Hickox, and the ornaments, which include handsome brass candlesticks' and cross, : were presented by Mr.: Amory . Appletou' Laurence -and ,3lr, Francis Randall Appleton. A largo, number of Americans interested nn ' Harvard and 'her traditions were present at the service. Mr. Ridgely Carter represented the Ameridau Embassy,...