THE RELIGIOUS WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 11068, 21 October 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE RELIGIOUS WORLD

A BISHOP ON FEDERATION. Bishop Julius, in his synodical address at Cbristchurch, alluding to the possibility,Of the end of the century witnessing the Federation of the Australian colonies, said.: " Whether we join it or not we shall not fail to rejoice at this great forward step towards thj Federation of the" English-speaking peoples. Shall we stand aloof? I must acknowledge that the question is one of great difficulty. Looking at the trend of affair*, I believe that, Federation must come; of this I am certain, that no question is more urgent, and that our final decision must be based, not upon petty calculations of local gain or loss, or the effect of Federation on one trade or another, but upon broad principles, determined by a statesmanship which can look beyond the issues of the day. Federation must mean present sacrifice and loss, and the one question is whether, in view of the special circumstances of our positnn, and for the sake of other interests than our own. we shall do well to face them."

"MR SPURGEON'S SERMON - SHOP." Sermons may be dull things, but Mr Spurgeon's sermon-shop has been one of the ] busiest corners of London for many a year gone by. From this shop Spurgeon's sermons have been sent to the remotest parts of the earth. Over 2,600 have been printed during the last 2,600 weeks, and still the machines run on. They are the only sermons which are never out of print. In the stock rooms upstairs are 2,000,000 copies, and the boxes are being constantly replenished. The demand is unceasing. ... I have been endeavoring to obtain an idea how many sermons have been printed, but it is an overwhelming task. Nobody knows. How many roses bloom in a summer? But it is possible to make an approximate estimate, and one or two figures oh the subject will probably startle many readers. Something like 100,000,000 have been sold at a penny, and quite double that number have been circulated in newspapers and other ways. It may seem incredible, but I believe it is quite true, that the number of Mr Spurgeon's sermons sold since 1855 exceeds the number of Bibles circulated since the beginning of the century. When it is borne in mind that the British and Foreign Bible Society print five tons of Bibles every day, it will be understood what this means'. Assuming that Mr Spurgeon preached 10.000 sermons to an average audience of 3,000. he would have preached to 30,000.000 people; as a matter of fact, the 2,600 printed sermons were preached to about 20,000,000. But, assuming that each printed sermon has been read by two persons—much below the mark—he has reached in this way 600.000.000 people.—Arthur Mee, in the''Puritan.' A LITTLE ENGLANDER PARSON. The Rev. John Smith, ex-president of the British Primitive Conference, who has spent ten vears of missionary life at Aliwal North (South Africa), evidently has the courage of his opinions. Writing to the 'Primitive Methodist World,' he says: "The cry for the franchise is insincere, and President Kruger knows it. The Uitlanders are not so anxious to become citizens of the Transvaal as to possess its gold mines. That is the real | meaning of the present crisis. If the extens;on of the franchise to the inhabitants of the Transvaal is the only purpose or object of Mr Chamberlain and the Uitlanders, why ara the Native people left out of the question? They outnumber far and away all the Boers and Uitlanders put together, and they must obey the' laws and pay taxes, and yet not a word is said iibout the granting of the franchise to these. Have they no claim to representation in the Parliament of the Transvaal? . . . I believe in the extension of the franchise in the Transvaal as well as elsewhere, but I must protest against the insincerity of the present agitation and the bullying sprit of the Colonial Secretary, and the war spirit that breathes in a large portion of the Press of this country. A war with the Transvaal over a question of the franchise would stamp England with indelible disgrace. MY CREED. I have no faith; but this one fact I find, That love is growing lovelier every day; What we call sin is what it leaves behind, What we call good attracts it on its way. I have no hope; with God's love in my heart, What is a selfish loss to care about? If in the world I've played my littk part, Let him who lit the candle put it out. I have no creed but love; is there a hell, Where some poor tortured thing cries out in pain ? Then let me take his hand and wish him well, And wait until he finds his heaven again. —Rossiter Wye, in ' Black and White.' GLEANINGS. The Rev. W. H. Orbell has been appointed vicar of Leeston (North Canterbury). The Very Rev. Monsignor Hoyne, Vicarfeneral of the diocese of Ballarat, and the lev. T. Kelsh, of Westbury, Tasmania, arrived by the Mokoia this week on a short tour of the colony. They are at present the guests of the clergy at Bishop Verdon's palace. New Zealanders are probably familiar with the doctrines of the new sect which the Rev. F. W. Sanford is founding in the State of Maine (U.S.). Mr Sanford built a " Temple of Truth," and proposed to start a campaign to expound his peculiar notions ; but at the very outset his apple-cart has been turned over by a would-be lady convert—a M'.s Appleby—who. in applying for a warm is t against Sanford, declared that while in the Temple she was not only brutally beaten by male attendants acting on Sanford's orders to "drive the devil out of her," but was, in the presence of that worthy and two male colleagues, stripped to the condition of Eve before the Fall. Sanford had arranged an English campaign, but probably will now postpone it indefinitely. The Kaffir is certainly making progress. A while since it was announced that a Native agricultural show, held at the Cape, had rivalled in interest some shows held in the colony under European auspices. Now comes news that the Natives, much to the regret of their friends, have set up a church of their own, the name of which—the Ethiopian Church—indicates the purpose of the founders to separate their people from churches which have hitherto ministered to them. . . . The Rev. Joseph Walker, Baptist minister at Northampton (Eng.), met with a sad death on August 22. The rev. gentleman, who was in his usual health and spirits, went to the local Turkish baths at eleven o'clock o» Um previous Monday morning, and was shown into the apartment lot h\a euutomnry hot-water bath. He fastened the door after him, and although the door remained locked throughout the day the attendants never went to it, not even when the institution was closed for the night. The following morning the door was found still locked, and on its being foreed the dead body of Mr Walker was discovered lying in the bath, all excent the head and face immersed in the water. Decomposition had already set in. The deceased had complained of his heart a week before, but he was quite well before Sunday, when he preached in the morning and evening, and addressed the Sunday school in the afternoon. He was unexpectedly absent from the service on Monday evening, and the congregation were informed that he had gone out of the town, and must have been unable to return in time. Mr Walker was a native of Leicester, and was forty-eight years of age. He had been pastor for eighteen years of the only Calvinist Baptist Church in Northampton.