THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Evening Star, Issue 11168, 17 February 1900, Page 7

THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

CHALMERS CHURCH. A large number of the members and friends of Chalmers Church met in Bt. Paul’s Schoolroom on Wednesday evening to say farewell

to the Rev. J. M. Fraser, who has resigned the charge of the congregation. The Revs. MTntyre (Moderator of Presbytery), Borrie, Dutton, Finlayson, Cameron, Sutherland, Bannerman, and Don and Messrs Duncau Wright, W. B. Harlow, and D, M’Pherson occupied seats on the platform. Apologies were received from the Revs. Dr Waddell, Messrs Hewitson, Scorgie, Waters, Jolly, and Mr T. K. Sidey (Mayor of Cavcrsham). Mr A. Matheson, on behalf of the Ladies’ Guild, presented Mr Fraser with a beauti-lully-illuminatcd address, and also a hand some silver tea and coffee service for Mrs Fraser. The ministers present expressed their esteem for Mr and Mrs Fraser, and also their sympathy with the congregation in their present trying circumstances. Musical items were contributed by the Misses Mullin, Cameron. Mitchell, M’Ewan, and Messrs Wilson, Todd, Watt, Simpson, De Lautour, and a recitation bv Mr S. M. Park. Miss

Ferry acted as accompanist. Tea and refreshments were provided by the ladies of the congregation, THE CHURCH IN HAWAII. Episcopal affairs in Hawaii, according to a recent visitor, are a little disorganised. “ The Episcopal Church in Honolulu does not,” said he, ” fill a great place in the public eye, and has a church building of modest pretensions. The rector of it is an American, who is personally popular. He is also a Low Churchman, and does not like ritualism. Bishop Willis, on the other hand, is extreme in his church views, and comes from the Ritualist party in England. These two functionaries are at daggers’ points, and long have been. Their personal differences have been, known, but did not get into the local newspapers until the question came up as to whether the Diocese of Honolulu should be transferred to American jurisdiction or not. In spite of their differences, however, the two have been able, after arrangements had been made by a third party, to hold services in the same church. One had a high service and the other a low one, and they took care not to meet each other, since they do not speak. When the transfer question came up the bishop’s followers opposed it, while the

priest’s followers favored it. Church questions entered into the controversy. When I left there there were letter's in the local papers, but some were not inclined to take the fight seriously —it was so small.” The Rev. Dr H. L. Morehouse, field secretary of the American Baptist Homo Mission Society, just home from a long trip West, during which he visited Honolulu, says that the controversy was raging in the local newspapers and on the streets when he was there. SUN WORSHIP AND SACRIFICE. “ I think,” said Raja Sivaprasad, “ that sun worship was the original worship of both the Persians and the Hindus. I have oven seen animals as the sun rises gaze on it with awe, which is perhaps the first beginning of this feeling of reverence for the source of light. The Vedas are full of sun worship. But the priests of the Hindus gave up the. simple, direct worship of the sun, and brought in by way of sun offerings animal sacrifices consumed by fire, for they looked upon fire as part of the sun. In course of time people began to think and to question with regard to this sacrificial worship. Then came Buddha, and Buddha, being a good and great man, when he saw the animals’ throats cut, thought: ‘ Howcan good possibly come of doing evil?’ And the first thing he did was to forbid sacrifice and say : ‘ Not hurt anv creature is the best

virtue.’ Buddha went out from his home and meditated. Then he camo back to Benares, and at Sarnath argued with the Brahmans, who justified their sacrifices on the authority of the Vedas. But Buddha said: ‘ What are the Vedas bub the work of munis and rishis? There is nothing supernatural about them.’ And so the great schism arose, Buddha against the Brahmans, and the Brahmans against, him. Many of the rajas and maharajas camo and heard him, and were converted, until at last Buddhism was in the ascendant, for we have in India a saying ‘As is the king, so are the people.’ Then came King Vrkramaditya, in whose honor a new era was founded, reckoning by which wo are now (this was in 1892) in the year 1949. King Vikramaditya was a Kshatriya, and believed in Brahmanism, and with his reign Brahmanism and Vedic religion began to revive.

“ fu:r muny centuries appeared Sankara-cha-rya, a Branman, who undertook to persecute and drive out the Buddhists. He said: ‘ These people do not believe in a Creator. How can they possibly bo tolerated?’ And lie drove them out, and reestablished the Vedic religion. By this time the, diaa-pproval of animal sacrifice had bcct*n\e firmly rooted. And as sacrifices were enjoined in the Vedas, Sa.nkaracharya got o\ or the ilitliculty by saying that it was

ovdy in the golden age, when the animals slaughtered could he restored to life, that sacrifices were required ; there was no need to sacrifice now. To this day animal sacrifice is dispensed with among the majority of (he Hindus, although not so among the Kshatnyas and among many of the Sudras.” —‘ Nineteenth Century.’ WAR HYMNS. The ‘ Musical Times’ of London sends out three hymns “for use in time of war” as extra supplements with its December num-

ber The settings are by J. Stainer, J. B. Dykes, and O.IH. Lloyd, and the most noticeable thing about them is the absence of enthusiasm which they disclose. Dr Dykes’s hymn was not composed for the present unhappy occasion, but it is taken from a complete collection of the composer’s tunes now in Hie press. The words are “ 0 God of Love, 0 .King of Peace,” from ‘Hvmns Ancient and Modern.’ The author of the words set by Dr Stainer is Arthur C. Ainger. It is a. prayer for courage, strength for the. soldiejs in battle, and in one stanza, beginning

Fight Thou for us. that we may fill Thy courts with praise, suggests the rhymed paraphrase bv ’Punch ’ (?) of Emperor William’s despatches during the Franco-German War: Ten thousand Frenchmen sent below. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. A. C. Benson wrote the hymn for C. H. Lloyd, which is a deprecation of strife and bloodshed, its second and last stanzas reading as follows ;

And must we battle yet ? ' Must we, Who bear tho tender name divine, ’ Still barter life for victory— Still glory in the crimson sign? The Crucified between us stands, And lifts on high His wounded hands. As rains that weep the clouds away, As winds that leave a calm in heaven, k-o let tiie slayer cease to slay. The passion healed, tho wrath forgiven, 1 ru\V nearer, bid the tumult cease, ■Redeemer, Saviour, Prince of’Peace! Amen. GLEANINGS.

Catholic women are interested in the monastery which Mrs Do Navarro (bettor known as Mary Anderson, the celebrated actress) has built at New Albany, Ind. (LLiS.), as a memorial to her uncle, who was n r ranciscan priest. The monaster3 r stands on an estate of 400 acres, and is a frame structure two storeys and a-half high, and about 60ft long. It is occupied by Franciscan monks, who cultivate the soil, and make

clearings in the virgin forest and underbrush that still cover a great part' of the farm. ihe brothers do all the housework. The Pope (says a London contemporary) has settled the controversy about the beginning of the twentieth century. He has also a powerful ally on this question, for it seems that the German Emperor has given orders to his post office authorities “ that the first day of the twentieth century will be January 1, 1900.” Our exchange adds: “ There can be no appeal against the decision of two such potent personages.” A discussion recently took place in the Edinburgh Presbytery of the U.P. Church as to the title to be given to the church after union, w hen it w*as decided that the most suitable name would be “The United Free Church of Scotland.”

i ho Anglican Bishop of Pretoria has appealed to the Lord Mayor of London to meet the specially hard case of the clergy of his diocese, who have been driven from their homes in the Transvaal, and are in a distressed condition through the war. The Church Congress of 1900 is to be

held in Newcastlc-on-Tyne during the week beginning September 24. ~ The Rev. Dr B. Gregory, for twenty-five years the Wesleyan connexional editor of the British Conference, recently entered upon his eightieth year. He entered the ministry in 1840, and was president in 1879. The Pope ordered that on the night of December 31 a solemn mass for the commencement of the holy year should be celebrated in all the churches of Italy. Thera having been received at the Vatican about 100,000 requests for admission to the ceremony in Rome, the Pope -arranged that he would also perform mass at St. Peter’s on January 3, when those who could not get places at the first ceremony were admitted. About 70,000 pilgrims were expected in Rome between the 18th and 24th of the month.

According to ‘ The Methodist,’ there were in the First Contingent of troops for South Africa sixty Anglican, forty Roman Catholic, four Presbyterian, and sixty-eight Wesleyan, Congregational, and other non-Episcopa-lians. In the last Contingent the numbers were: Anglicans 520, Roman Catholics 100, and non-Episcopalians 120. A prosperous Methodist church, w'ith a membership of 120, exists at Norfolk Island. Its commencement was quite independent of any outside influence; but some years ago it was organised into a church on the doctrinal basis of the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Church, and now seeks some kind of association with the Methodist Church of New South Wales.

The Rev. F. W. Wray, chaplain to the Victorian Second Contingent, is a capital shot with rifle and gun, and is know'n as the “ sporting parson.” The Rev. Hugh l Price Hughes, M.Aj, hopes to visit Australia next year, and proposes to spend some months in visiting the various provinces of Australia.

The ‘ Church Standard ’ states, respecting the Melanesian mission, that “ the present bishop, the Right Rev. Cecil Wilson, M.A., has a staff of 25 clergy (12 of them Natives), 6 ladies, and 400 Native teachers.” There are said to be over 12,000 Christians, and many catechumens and hearers in the various islands included in the mission.

The Church Congress held in London last October was a financial success, and a handsome surplus has been handed over by the treasurers for diocesan purposes. The Bishop of Ripon has appealed in a. pastoral ito both the clergy and church workers for the consecration of the closing year of the century to special prayer, the conditions of the church and of the world being so full of difficult questions and pressing duties.

The Bishop of Winchester gave instructions recently that throughout his diocese marriage licenses are not to be granted to divorced persons whilst the former husband er wife is living, whether the. person applying for the license be the guilty party or not. A sermon on ‘ The Hope of the Future,’ preached by the Bishop of London at Sandringham Church on November 26, before the German Emperor, has been printed at the special request of His Majesty. Miss Josephine Drcxel (says the San Francisco ‘ Monitor ’) is to enter a convent. She is the daughter of the late Joseph W. Drexel, and her legacy is estimated at 10,000,000d01, her income being about 80,000dol a year. She is only nineteen years old, and is both beautiful and accomplished. ” The Gospel Bike Mission ” is the latestnovelty in connection with organised church work. Individual ministers, including even bishops in England, have used the bike in their work, but for a mission to be dependent on the machine seems to be a new thing under the sun.

Dr John Fox, writing in 1 Leslie’s Weekly,’ says that the Zulu Bible, published by the American Bible Society, is a factor in South Affrican affairs larger and more influential than many more conspicuous in international politics. Whatever happens in the Transvaal. it will not cease to do its silent work. On the west coast of Africa Bible translation has been proceeding for half a century, and the sheets of the Benga Bible, intelligible not only to that tribe, bub to a cluster of rude tribes dwelling on that far off const, have been passing through the Press of the society in Now York, and, when finished, sent on their voyage to the Gaboon and Oorisco Mission.

The passing of the Rev- Dr De Costa, of New York, out of the Protestant Episcopal Church into the fold of Rome, and the renunciation of Romanism by Dr Theodore M‘Donald Stuart, and his reception into the Protestant Episcopal Church, -would seem to indicate that in the matter of conversions the churches arc about equal, but (writes the Rev. James O’Connor in the ‘ Tribune ’) this is far from being the 1 case. He sws: “ Many more Catholics in the States become Protestants than Protestants Catholics. During the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893 a paper by Miss M. T. Elder, a niece of Archbishop Elder, of Cincinnati, was read at the Catholic Congress, wherein it was stated that during this century the Rdman Catholic Church had lost twenty millions in this country, while its gains from the Native population had been insignificant. And it is noteworthy that of the Protestants who become Catholics, many, especially clergymen, return to Protestantism after a time.”

The Grand Old Man of the religious world —at all events of the Jewish religions world —is the Rev. Professor Marks, who, a few weeks ago, ended liis eighty-ninth year. But for the fact that his eyes arc failing him to a. certain extent, and be is unable to do much, if any, reading, his faculties are as alert as they were, and his wonderful voice A as clear and as strong as it was half a century ago. Although he has not absolutely "retired from the ••ministry of the Reformed congregation in Upper Berkeley street, which he founded, he but rarely now officiates. Only quite recently, however, he assisted at a marriage ceremony, for probably the thousandth time at least, and one .Saturday not very long ago he preached in the Synagogue, and, in consequence of the weakness of his sight, without notes and quite extempore, as hits been his habit for several years. Professor Marks, who only about a year ago resigned the professorship of Hebrew at the University College. Go we; street, London, which he held for very many years, has had the probably unique experience of our generation—certainly for a member of his faith —of having been excommunicated. This gentle office was performed by the late Dr Adler, then Chief Rabbi of the English and German Jews, at the time of the formation of the Reformed Congregation, which was also included under the rabbinical ban. Happily, such animosity has been outlived, and Professor Marks and the Chief Rabbi of to-day are on terms of fraternal relationsin, though tie one is as orthodox as he was and the other as reformed as he has always been.—The ‘ Sketch.’ Jack Cook, thirteen years old, has been making a tour of the United States, and attracting such large congregations that in the big cities his manager had to request professing Christians to stay away from his meetings in order to make room for those whom he particularly wished to reach. The boy preacher was born in Manchester (England), and began preaching to crowds of people in the various Midland towns two years ago. Until that time he had been looked on as rather behind other boys of his age.

Mrs Caroline E. Haskell, of Michigan City (U.S.), has conveyed to a trust in Chicago her entire property, valued at over £35,000, oa condition that she is provided with a stated sum during her lifetime, and that at her death, after providing two bequests, the residue of the estate shall be divided between the Congregational Church Building Society of Chicago, ihe Humane Society of the Congregational Church of Indiana City, the Overton College, the Seventh Day Adventists of Michigan to found an orphanage, and the University of Chicago to promote and extend the study of the Bible.

Why, the Hindu asks himself, should he accept this Western, religion? He has one of his own—ancient, potent, elastic ; it embodies his instinctive genius, suite his special needs, is older than the Christian, rests on thought he ha-s elaborated and many Western men have learned to admire. To* surrender his religion would be to make a complete surrender of himself, his past, his separate mind and being, and to become a mere echo of the civilisation he despises. The 'Hindu reaction is thus a very real force, moved by reasons we cannot but respect. Patriotism lives behind and within it; in it the Orient stands up against the, Occident, defies it, challenges its right to coma East and impose itself on what is older, more congenial to the Oriental nature, and too deeply rooted to be plucked up by alien hands. And so we need not be surprised to find the reformer

succeeded bv, the reactionary, though behind the veil of his reaction the spirit that would reform still lives. For the Hinduism he defends is not the Hinduism of the multitude, the religion of the street and the temple, of Kali Ghat and the Durga puja, of the sacred river or caste; it is an idealised system, eclectic, clothed in garments which are heirlooms from the past, but quickened by a spirit which belongs to the present, Not all it finds in Hinduism is Indian, but some of it is very Occidental indeed.— The ‘Contemporary Review.’