THE RELIGIOUS WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 12166, 9 April 1904, Page 3

THE RELIGIOUS WORLD

UNION OF THE CHURCHES. While of necessity there is not that absorbing interest in the doings of the Presbyterian Synod of Otago and Southland that existed before the days of Union, we are disposed to think that, in thjs community at all events, the Synod wilt always hold an honored portion in our social and re ligious life. The Synod represent in concrete form the founders of the Settlement, and all the host of associations that cluster around them ; their history is one of great and pleasant memories; they are, perhaps, in closer touch with the religious thought of the majority of what may be termed the "backbone" of the community, and their deliberations have always that flavor of " original sin " which make them interesting to 'the listener and entertaining to the reader when fully reported. The main topic during the meetings of the Synod just closed was the Rev. P. B. Fraser's motion re the Union of the Presbyterian, Congregational, and Methodist Churches. This overture produced a prolonged and characteristic debate, which, though abortive as to definite results, was not without itsuses. It was conducted with much of that fire and vim of earlier—perhaps happier—times, and was not wanting either in accrjrity or the retort courteous and discourteous. To follow the debate iu detail would be superfluous. Those intimatelv interested were doubtless present, and the newspaper summaries are sufficient for the general reader. Truth to tell we can find no burning desire among the great body of tho laitv. for a. Union of the" Churches on lines like those desired by many members of the Synod. Beyond a" formal assent to he desirability that all Christian churches -hould present a united front to a hostile or sceptical world, and an equally formal recog-' nil ion that a Christian Church one and indivisible, on earth is, in the abstract, a selfevident proposition, there is next to iiothine; in the agitation for the various denominations of tho Protestant form of religion sinking their distinctive titles, suck'"' as Methodist. Congregationalist, Presbyterian, and the innumerable others, and 'placing themselves under the same form of church government and assuming the one name. Unity of aim, unity of purpose, and unity in the essentials of the Christian Faith are and always will be the prime factors. And these the gTeat non-conforming— to use an Old Country term —bodies already have. Mere difieraiices in the order of church government, trifles about presbyters, deacons, and laymen matter little: 'in fact, they serve a useful purpose. They afford scope for man's many-sided individuality. Variations of thouclit on any and all subjects are a necessity of growth : they constitute an integral parti of our mental make-up : and in religious matters diversity in church mai'.agniient. and discipline allows, nay, is tile result of. the free play of these personal idiosyncrasir-s. Of course they may be. and frequently are. pushed to titi extreme. Hence the thousand and one petty sects the world over; but at '"irtom there is unity, and the 1 case for

-inking their identity and b! mllng all in •ne has not y-t been established. I)r Watt, who-e clear-cut expressions of enlightened simplicity fell like oil upon tho doubled waters, is of opinion that "the 'arger churches were sw eping—already sweeping—the sma'W ones into the vortex, and he believed that in twenty or thirty more vears there would bo two be,' churches—the •sacerdotal and the non-sacerdotal." It is not improbable. The emotions are strangely susceptible to the gorgeous and sensuous iii religion ; and sacerdotalism through the ages of the church has always known how most effectively to app-al to this phase of our spiritual liK Its direct n gative, which [ound i;s highe.-t expression in Puritanism, has, however, a large if not the larger portion of s!!iHil'--ii7telleet»a! ma::huod and womanhood on its side. But this is not the sort of union contemplated by those v,ho believe that great r and better'work is posin a diminution of the number of existing cieiiominitioes. For ourselves, we welcome any indication towards that more d sirnble unity which, in the words of one of Mr Eraser's correspondents. "is not an artificial unity of external organisation, but m inward unity of though.' and feeling." \nd we are as strongly resentful of ar.v disunion, sne-h as was "manifested in the address of the Rev. R. R. M. Sutherland when he said : "Ro far as h : s experience had gone there was no love lost between a very great body of the Methodist people and a very great body of the Presbyterian People, and hj» would be surprised 'if any minister or elder got up and said there was. They were not fond of each other somehow, and he thought "rich a union would be bad for both of tlvm. He did not think it was desirable to have such a union." If the rev. gentlemnn is statin-' the actual f:icts (and he me-st probably is)! then his corranding sentiment must be'commanded. The formal union of buildings nnd title rb-eds- is as dust in the balance "nrnnared to the imperative necessity for h-wVn? simh nn abounding expression of Christian ethics from our " ur'dst. If a statement like Mr f-'uth -rbnd's be a fair svmmary of fh : ngs ,-><; thev are, then the crying reed of the day is not Christian Church un:on. but a return to the first principles of our common Christianity and ■in earnest attempt from both parties to carry into their r'ebtlon* w : th each other "ome of that, beneficent spirit of mutual concession ihe advocacy 0 f ~-hich occupies =0 large a portion of their public utterances Tn this relation a few lines written bv Pr Alexander, Archbishop of Armagh," and recently read at the opening of'a new club, will not be out of p'ace:

They talk of creeds. There be such as rue ever trueRut the sweet abridgment of all the creeds Was written long ago—"We have believed the love." JJere let no anger be heard. Tli ■ one anathema here

Is for one heresy—hate. Let this be as the rivulet That ran through a battlefield, Where soldiers dipped red hands in the r;p r !e, Speaking kindly across the stream. Hero let us meet as with brothers, And speak each other fair Tn discourses high and happy, Tn eentle and knightly thought. And let these words be written : Remember what should be remember'd, Forget what should be forgot. The union to which the Primate referred was a political not a relidous one ; but his words are not inapplicable to some phases of the very question to which the Svnod r.r-voted a considerable portion of their "time on v\ edncsdny last. As a practical tion, however, we would remarks of those speakers who condemned the scandalous competition for coi"r re .r a . lions which is said to exist in some country districts. It is affirmed that in these latte'r there are thro ■ or more separate buildings, each having its own minister and officebearers, when, as a. nvitter of fact, it is too obvious to need any elaboration, there are not suffici nt people to maintain one of them. But as minsters must live and as debts ■nust be paid, a rivalry springs up that can only be productive of a spirit the reverse of that which the Church professes to hold is- its basic principle. Here, surely is a .1 Id for work that will tell not only in the cause of union but of common sense." THE CREED OF A GOOD MAN. The late Mr Edmond Dresdn, of Mayfair, ivho died at Wiesbaden on December 17, left ■ua estate of the value of £33.9,503! He gave to the Children's Hospital, London, £25X00 for beds to be called the "Dresden cots." and if possible all to be in one ward, to be called the "Dresden Ward," and no part of such sum is to be used on building, and he also gave to them his pictures and paintings to bo hung on the wails. To the National Lifeboat Institution he bequeathed £5,0C0, and an additional £I,OOO should his executors think fit, for a lifeboat to be cal.ed the " Edmond Z. Dresden," in memory of his father, "to whom I am indebted for every happiness in life"; to the London Hospital, the Middlesex Hospital, and the Cancer Hospital, his reversionary share in his sifter's settlement; to the Brompton Consumption Hospital, Queen Charlotte Lying-in Hospital, the Middlesex Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, and the Royal Free Hospital, £5,C00 each; and to the Hunt Servants' Benefit Society, the proceeds of the sale of horses, carriages, and saddlery. Taa residue of his personal property, valued at gver a quarter of a -mjflioD,," he left an»Ag

the Brompton Consumption Hospital, Queen Charlotte Lying-in Hospital, the Middlesex Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, and St. Mary's Hospital, on the express condition that each share, together with the legacy of £5,000, is to be invested and the ineoaie used for the assistance of needy and deserving in-patients on taking their discharge, no patient to receive more than £lO, arid he wished that the managing body of such hospitals would put up notices in conspicuous places drawing attention to such fund. Should any one of such institution refuse these terms, then the share cf the hospital so refusing is to be divided among the others, and in the event of them all refusing, then the whole of the residue is to go to the London Hospital and Cancer Hospitals in equal pharos. The testator directed that the following inscription is to be placed on his tombstone : " Here lie the iemains of Edioond Dresden, who believed iu no religion but that of being charitable to his fellow, ntan and woman both in word and deed."—'Jewish Chronicle.'

GLEANINGS. In view of their celebration of the Diamond Jubilee this year, the Council of the Ragged School Union and Shaftesbury Society, London, have in preparation a volume giving the history of the work fromi the early beginnings in 1844. Friends cf the institution who may be resident in this part of the world are requested to tend to No. 52 John street, Theobald road, London, any reports, letters of interest, illustrations, newspaper cuttings, or other information bearing upon ttiis work in the past. All such communications will be valued, and will tend to complete the record of this the earliest orgiinised movement dealing with the condition of the very poor children of the congested centres of the heart of the Empire. A young lady has accepted a unanimous call to the Narborougk road Unitarian Church, Leicester. litis is understood to be the first instance oi the appointment of a woman to the regular ministry of any Unitarian Church in England. Miss Gertrude Von Pctzold, who has won this distinction, will complete iu June a three years' cours;: of study for the ministry at Mansfield College, Oxford, and will com-

meuce Iter 'work at Leicester in August,

The German Emperor, who Ik an annual subscriber to the Bible Society, donated 50gs to the Centenary Fund. "The Father of Monmouthshire Congregationalism"—as he was oitea called—lias passed away in the person of the Rev. D. M. Davies, pastor of Sadis Church, Gamdifaith. He was seventy years of age, and held the pastorate of gadis Church for fortylive years—practically the whole of Lis ministerial career. The Rev. John Iloatson, formerly Congregational minister at Christchurch, where he will be remembered as a football and cricket enthusiast, lias been very successful at Leek (Eng ), to the pastorate of which he w-as appointed immediaKly on his return home from Victoria. The membership of the. church numbers 222. while last year's receipts nearly reached £1,500. Bv the death of ch Rev. G. H. Garcia at Sunderland (Eng.) the English Congregational Church loses one of her most brilliant preachers. He died at the early age of thirty-four from overwork. In politics he was the most ellective platform speaker the Liberal party in Sunderland had. and so greatly was his advocacy appreciated that at the last election, when he-opposed a certain candidate, and declared that he would not vote for him,' the name was immediately withdrawn.

The 'Daily News' census of the religious life of London was completed towards the close of 1903, and before the close of January a large octave volume, of 518 pages, giving the final figures, was published. It is a very important contribution, of permanent value, to the sociology of London. The entire population of London proper is shown to be 4,536,541; the total attendances was 1.C03.361; and the total number of worshippers (that is, allowing for those who a-t tended at both s-uviecs on the day that ihe census was taken) is 835,016. It was computed that 1,405.101 might have ationded if they had wished. Of those who did attend. 533,477 were worr-hippers in Anglican churches, a"d 545.517 in Nonconformist churches, with 96.281 in Roman Catholic churches, and 72,358 at- other services.

One result of the agitation which has boon going en ; n England since the passing of the Education Act about two years age is to diiec*" attention to the relative positions of the Church of England and tin Non-Episcopal Churches (Nonconformists' in the religious education of the young Seme statistics, prepared by Mr Howard Evans relating to the Nonconformists, are interesting showing that while the Established Church provides clutch accommodation for 7,127,834 persons, the En r Churches provide for 8.171.666. The Es tab'i bed Church ha« 206.203 Sundav sclioo' teachers and 2.919.413 scholars, while the Eree Churches have 391.690 teachers and 3.389.848 scholars. Thus it is shown 4 tbat the Nonconformists are far in advance of the Church of England, both as relates to accommodation and the Sundav schools.

A great figure in Yorkshire Congregationalism parsed out of the settled ministry on the last Sunday in January, wh-er the Rev. Dr Robert Bruno elosrd his fifty years' pastorate of Highfiald Church, Hud dersfield. Dv Bruce is still vigorous, physically and mentally, and has already taken up work as "a pastor without charge." The London ' Spectator' of January 27 remarks: " A society in Ireland styliii;. 7 themselves the 'Catholic Association'—en tirely unconnected with the ' Catholic Association ' of England—recently rendered themselves conspicuous by advocating the boycotting of Protestants. As the result of a meeting of the Roman Catholic Bishops of Ireland, Dr Walsh, the Roman Cj tho lie Archbishop of Dublin, addressed a strong letter 10 the clergy of his diocese ■which was recently read from the altar of all tho parish churches- in Dublin. Dr Walsh states that ' enormous injury' is being done to the interests of his Church by the mischievous proceedings of this Association, rendered doubly mischievous bv the use of the name ' Catholic' in its title, and wishes to record his protest against their action in the strongest and most public manner. This act-ion had led to Pro testant reprisals, from which Roman Catholics and Roman Catholic charities have suffered substantial loss. It remains to be seen whether the other Roman Catholic bishops will follow the excellent example set thorn by Dr Walsh. In this context we may note that a violent attack on the Jews in Limerick by one of the local Redemptorist Fathers has elicited a vehement and well-merited rebuke from Mr Michael Davitt, who protests, as an Irishman and a Catholic, against this spirit of barbarous malignity being introduced into Ireland under trie pretended form of a material regard for the welfare of our workers." The Rev Robert Joshua Leslie, who for the past thirty years had been Yicar of Holbeach St! John, Lincolnshire, England, ajid who died a few days ago as the result of an accident, left a will which has caused much comment. He divided up his estate amongst sev. n local residents who regularly supported him in his ministrv. The legatees, who receive £SOO each, are two maids at the vicarage, the sexton, and four other villagers. The members of his family were excluded The deceased was noted for his eccentricities. The Hon. Talbot Rice, the Yicar of Swansea, says that if he had more monev he could preach better sermons, as letters for church work now occupv a° lot of his time. Pope Pius X. is accused of induVino- i n witticisms. The Vatican architect! Constanhne SchneideT, had occasion to see the Holy Father in order to submit some" plans As he was retiring, Pius X. said:—"Air Schneider, do ynu know that we are "related?" The architect was astonished, but Pius X. added: "Well, Schneider in German signifies just what Sarto means in Italian, a tailor, therefore we must come from the same family." Once before the Pope had joked on his family name when remarking that the Church of Italy was much rent by dissensions, he added: " However, I am a good tailor, and I mean to repair the damage very quickly."