THE NEW YEAR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1366, 17 February 1912, Page 11

THE NEW YEAR.

EXTRACTS FROM EPISCOPAL LETTERS. Archbishop of Canterbury: "Whatever else an uiirestful time can do, it can at least make us 'lull to. prayer.' The subjects for our prayer arc patent. Witli a determination to make clear to Uia folk of other lands the absolute honesty of our wish for 'unih-, peace, and concord': there e;m surely be no lukowarniness and no haphazard in the praysrs wo offer and in - our ,quiet expectancy - ofhelp." Archbishop of -York: "Over the year 1912 there many ominous clouds. The 'body politic' is suffering from intermittent l'evcr. There is still manifest restlessness in the industrial world. In the midst of so much ...confusion and uncertainly it is at .least ono satisfaction 'to feel that the Chvrcft of ChVist. knov,-$ clearly and definitely the work 'Wliicli it has to do. ]t has to keep men- loyal to tho will of God and the iSrtirit of Christ."

Bishop of Winchester': "la our own single lives, in our own little spheres, let lis keep to those two—twin-oppositcs, shall 1 call _tlicin 'godly fear and hone.' Something of life, tliortcr or longer, lies before us: there is plenty of room for hope, if only wo fear enough." Bishop of Salisbury: "There never were days when there was a clearer call to united prayer than the days in which wo aro living and working, with a practical materialism gaining ground, labour unrest, reckless attempts to weaken tho greatest religious force in this country, the indifference of the masses, tho lukewarmness of so many of what are called the higher classes. They are no reason fnr pessimism, far' les3 for despair, but they are a reason for prayer." Bishop of Worcestcis: "Whatever otir politics may be, wo nuist all sec that as momentous as 1911 has been, 11)12 may be still more so, and that cherished English traditions m.'iv bo shaken to the foundations on which English lifo in. State and Church rest. J, your Bishop, have no uncertain duty to perforin. I call you to faith and prayer." •

A BATH VICAR AND PEW-RENTS. In his Parish Magazine for January, tho Vicar of St. Mark's. Bath (tho liev. • SI. E. Welidon), says ho does not bo-■ licve that tho pew-rent system is in accordance with the mind of Jesus Christ. "It has grown up in England like many, customs in business, but it is a question, whether it can bo justified in tho sight of God. 1 do not think it can. Incumbents almost throughout (he eonntry find; it more and moro difficult to obtain an income in ibis way. To ino it is distasteful thus to receive money, and I may say I have never applied any to personal use. 1 shall be grateful if, by consent of tho scut-holders, the pew-rents may cease, at tlin end of the year 1311." A/i lo the question of the futuro income of tlie -Incumbent, the Vicar says ho will state his views in another issuo of tin magazine. SIR EDWARD CLARKE ON VEST-; MENTS, . ' . Sir Edward Clarke, if.C., has.issued » • manifesto to Anglican Churchmen on tho subject of the legality of vestments. Ha suggests the restoration of the rubric, which he says has ever since lM!) been • the governing law of the Church, and which directs—"That the minister, at tho time of the Communion and all other times in his ministration, shall use neither alb, vestment, nor eojie, but, being Archbishop or Bishop, he shall liavo and wear a rochet, and being a priest or deacon ho shall have and wear a slirplica only." DR. JOWETT ON A MARTYR NATION. Dr. Jowett has created considerable stir in New York by making a plea for some, nation to play the part of-martyr for tho ■ cause of universal peace. His- oontfftTsation is said to have "almost stopped breathing" when he said:—"l would .that some Christian nation would disown tho axiom that the law of., nations is tho i(vv;' of the boasts, and laying aside every weapon of carnal warfare, would rely for hor continued existence upon tho powers of reason upon the service sho would render the woTld, and the testimony she would bear to Christ. You may deride tho suggestion as ideal, but what am I tare for but in the ministry of the ideal, ' and amid tho fog of worldly compromises ond expediencies, to keep its radiant dignities in sight? And it may be, as a man of utatramanlike mind declared some years ago, it may be that a nation martvrod for Christ's sake may bo within tho counsel of God—a nation which sought lo make peace by tho b'.ood of its own cross."