THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Evening Star, Issue 12865, 14 July 1906, Page 4

THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Sunday afternoon reading, A COLUMN FOR THE QUIET HOUR. %- v ■ ■fCONDXfCTBD BY Rav. C. BOTALL.} Vbuldst thou tho pangs of guilt assuage! ■Lo! here on open page, Vhere heavenly mercy shines as free, Vritten n balm, sad heart, for thee. Sfeyer so’ fast, in April snower, flush’d into green tho dry and leafless bower, is Israel’s crowned mourner felt dull, hard stone within him melt. -he absolver saw the mighty grief, ' And hastened with reuef; The lx>rd forgives, thou shall not die.” Twas gently spoke, yet heard on high, ind all the band of angels, used to sing Heaven, according to his raptured string, Yho many a month had turned away (Vith veiled eyes, nor owned his lay, Slow spread their wings and throng around - To the glad mournful sound, Imd welcome, with bright, open face, Hte broken heart bo love’s embrace. Iwe rock is smitten, and to future years Bprings ever fresh tue tide of holy tears, land holy music, whispering peace, ►Till time and sin together cease.

UPPER CLASSES AND RELIGION.

Lord Shaftesbury, who presided at a meeting held at Grosvecor House, London, to_ discuss religious education among the children of the upper classes, said that virtues and vices alike percolated from the upper classes of society through all other classes. For instance, if it was the custom amongst them to question articles of belief, or ignore Sunday observance and forego public worship; if it was the custom to exceed in eating and drinking, or to indulge in gambling, the custom would permeate ;ill classes of society. If parents were anxious on the subject they could always apply to the society which had been established for promoting religion amonq; the upper classes, which was working hand in hand with the Council established by the Bishop of London.

LORD CURZON ON THE PARSI

Presiding at a meeting of the Society of Arts recently, Lord Gurzon said that with regard to the Parsis of Persia there was something sad and pathetic, yet ennobling, about their ancient. religion, which had once been the religion of the whole people. The Partis of Persia had preserved their religion with extraordinary purity, and to tuTs day they retained many of the marks and idiosyncrasies of a distinct nationality. There was- among them a marked typo of character and a clear range of feature. It was remarkable that throughout all the centuries of suffering and persecution the Parsis had remained loyal to the sovereigns of the land. They were, moreover, conspicuous for their high standard of honor and their business-like methods of work in the various occupations of life that they They should be of interest to the British, for many of them were related by blood to their fellow-subjects in India, and many of those in India were British subjects. It was largely owine to Brit sh protection that their condition had been ameliorated of recent years. The Parsis in Bombay were, like the Jews in London, among the most b'isiness-like, intelligent, and wealthy section of the community, and, like the Jews did, they might do moro for their co-religionists.

I— Keble. ': TEXTS.

£■■ Unto Him that loved us and loosed us from our sins in His own blood, to Him be glory. To him that overcometh will I give a new name.

THE PRECIOUSNESS OF THE NEW NAME.

[By W. Robertson NicolL]

Christianity in its relation to the past i 3 i.ir less dwrlt upon than it used to be. The modern mind is concentrated in the present, and can only take short views of the future. It tries, as far as possible, to forget the past. But we have the past to reckon with, land it never "forgets us. Wherever we go ■we are pursued by it. If it has beon Stained with no great outward sin; if our life, as men judge, has been comely and prosperous, wo are not afraid of it, so far as men are concerned. We may even bo ■ provd of our names, and wish to keep them, and know that they will pass for introductions in whatever part of tne country we may settle. But there are multitudes who would give all they have if they could lay their hands on one hour of madness and pluck it from the half-forgotten years. Such a sinner goe3 into a new country and settles down among strangers, but he has not lived long there before his secret has been discovered. Oh, tho blessedness to have such a one of a new beginning; of having, as it were, a fresh start; of being delivered from what is one of the very hard-st straits of life. For the past is remembered by men even when God has forgotten it. . Rahab was still called Rahab the Harlot even after she was joined by faith to the true Israel For her, and such as her, there would be no need of preaching the blessedness of a new name.

PADRE MARTIN.

In am article on the late " Padrp " Martin, the famous Spanish Jesuit general (fays the Borlin correspondent of the 'Standard'), the Berlin 'Tag' calls attention to the fact that the recent death of this leading father disintegrates the renowned triumvirate which was at the head of the Jesuit army. The chief of this trio was Vivessy Tuto, next to the Pope in power and father-confessor to His Holiness himself. Padre Martin's diplomacy was necessarily as secretive as it was powerful. Throughout his life this Spanish Jesuit carried on a noiseless, anonymous diplomacy—ill the surer of its effects in that all it« 3 well-springs were hidden. The Jesuit Society is, says this article, as well oiganiped and as powerful to-day as it ever has been. By means of passive obedience, self-denial, and utter subjection thousands of Jesuits have formed into one compact body, wielding mysterious power in the farthest comers of the earth. Limitless, will-lass obedience is the first essential to admittance to the Order, which has in it something of the fatalism of the Orientals. The Jesuits to-day are about 12.0C0 strong ; they are scattered in all parts of the univeiee, yet they are the most influential and most powerful religious body in existence. It is a notable fact that the general of the Order is invariably chosen from a country whose political power is insignificant. Belgians, Swiss, Dutchmen, or Spanish are selected—never Englishmen, Frenchmen, or Germans. It is obvious that the Jesuit Society desires to make its stand as a cosmopolitan, not a national, order.

'. But we all of us have a dark and dreadful past in the eyes of God, from which only the Precious Blood can dissever us. Wo are tied to the past by a chain that cannot be broken save by the touch of that Blood. He looses us from our sins in His own blood. If that is done, whether wo have honor among men or no, the past need not trouble us. But we may be sure that He hates it, its sin and its wickedness, more than we do. Is it so that the bearers of the most famous names on earth will one day be glad" to change them ? that the greatest preacher, the greatest writer, the greatest philanthropist will see all his righteousness to be as filthy rags, and will enter as gladly and thankfully as the last and least and lowest of Christ's disciples ■with a ,new name into the new country? It must be so. There is one Name which is the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever, one Name which comforts the last rough passage of • believers, one Name in ■which they live and die. But in tho terrible beauty of the Beatific Vision all human names, the most renowned and fragrant, wjll wither. Their owners will joyiully kn6w them changed, and, one might almost say, forgotten. Will the relationships of life, the dearest, the tenderest, continue! We may be sure that all the past that was touched with tho /thought -and impress of God will abide. We may" be sure that we shall miss nothing, but find that for everything we leave behind God has provided something better. There is a name better than sons and daughters and parents. There is a name better than that of husbands and "wives. "In-the Resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are aa the angels of God in Heaven." We shall have our heart's desire in losing all of the past that was dark and dreadful, and in keeping all that was bright and dear. The past we must keep, in some sense, if our immortality is to mean anything. Wo may be sure, however, that there will meet us something far higher, more noble, more Gcd-like than the past, when tho happy palm-bearers mett to keep the true Feast of Tabernacles in the King's Palace.

uiispuuiiui, utn a, national, oraer. THE VATICAN AND THE PHILIP-

PINES.

The Vatican, after several years' discussion and study, has come to a definite decision a3 to the destination of the interest derived from the money which the Government of the United States paid to purchase the land which belonged to the Spanish religious orders • in the" Philippine Islands. According to the decision taken by the Congregation of Ecclesiastical Extraordinary Affairs, approved by the Pope and by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Merry del Yak the interest will be divided into three grants to be distributed every year by the Vatican in the following way:—One will go to Ihe Philippine dioceses according to their needs, another to the institutions created by the religious orlera ir. the Philippines, with the understanding that the money must be spent there, and the third allowance will go to the religious orders themselves, largely for their missions rn the Far East, and alto for the support of the aged Friars withdrawn from the Philippines.—'The Times.'

IMMENSE POWER OF INDIAN WOMEN.

The idea that Indian women, though abut up in zenanas, have no influence, appears to be a great mistake. Sir Predk. Lely, presiding at the annual meeting of the Zenana Bible and Medicxd Mission at Exeter Hall, made a point of this. Though totally secluded from society, and though disappointment was expressed when a girl was bom and joy when a boy came into the world, yet underneath the surface the wife, the mother, and, still more, the grandmother, had, he sjiid, aa much power in India as in any country in tbe worid ; and, as a rule, it was directed against enlightenment and progress. The society had three main lines of approach—the visitation of women in their own homes, the influence over girls in schools, and, further, medical help—which was the crown of all missionary work. A skilled lady doctor in tending Indian women had a sphere of usefulness an angel might envy. The Rev. A. Cavalier, speaking of the fad position of some of India's women, said that there a widow was an outcast, and treated with indignity. Two out of every eleven women in India were widows, and more than a thoufand were widows undtr o;ie year old. Unfortunately, their staff of worker had been reduced from 450 to 418; this reduction was chiefly of native Christian women, whom they hoped to re-en^a^e. Mr A. H. Haben-hon reported a general income of £21,638. the expenditure being £235 more. Otlier speakers were Lord Kinnaiid and Dr H. Maxtyn Clark, of Amritear.

"SHY" AT NEW PRAYER BOOK. Our American correspondent advises us as follows: The new book of common worship has just been published with the authority of tho Presbyterian' General Assembly. For three years a special committee on forms and services for the General Assembly, headed by the Rev. Dr Henry Van Dyke, has been working on this new "prayer book," and the fir.t copies of the completed book were recently received from the Presbyterian Official Baird of Publication. The title page of the book bears this significant announcement: " For voluntary use ia churches." This is the first time a prayer book lias been offered for rase in the "Presbyterian Church. The opposition to the book in tho General Assembly last year was particularly strong from western missionaries. One of these sturdy representatives of the cloth expressed the sentiments of himself and fellows as follows : —" Out our way we have to eat canned vegetables, canned meat, and canned milk, but we can't stand for canned prayers." —Many Churches May Not Use Book.— Now that the Pre-byberian prayer book has been published, all that remains for those who are opposed to it is to refrain from its use, and it is predicted by Presbyterian leaders that a large number of churches will so refrain. But in the east and in the £ cities of the country generally the new book is expected to be largely used. As to the book itself, a number of Presbyterian pastors of this city were unanimous in the opinion that the work of Dr Van Dvke's Committee

PLAIN WORDS FROM THE PULPIT.

Speaking at tits Birmingham Cathedral Church in connection with the Christian Social Union, the Riv. Arnold Pinchard raid the Union existed to give people a means and opportunity of discharging certain obligations. The members of the Union thought there was something altogether -wrong with that chaotic and disgraceful muddle in which greed, tyranny, injustice, and wickedness hold away, and which they, in their optimistic moments, termed a social system. The object of the Christian Social Union, he said, was to endeavor to make the flesh of all good, conscientious church people creep. They saw men tempted, beguiled, dragged down into moral degradation, penury, shame, and a pauper's grave. They saw men and women sweated indecently under the horrible pressure of competition, which was the devil's device set up in opposition to co-operation, which was God's nreoept. He saw all these things, and yet all round him he saw placid, middle-class, respectable, comfortable, well-dressed people who called themselves Christians, and did not care a rap about things except eo far as a faint expression of sentimental regret carried them. Did they ever realise what it all looksd like in the sight of God? The whole system was rotten from beginning to end; rotten at the Hop, rotten all through; great masses of wealth congested at one end, and poverty, shame, hunger, vermin, and beastliness at the other. Since it wa9 not God's will, but the devil's work, there must be a remedv.

bad been ably done. The book is arranged conveniently, the conteUe are such that practically all the regular and special church occasion* are provided for. and more than one clergyman raid the book would prove mort useful, even if it were to be used only by a minister for his own guidance, and not put in the hands of the people of the congregation. —Omits "Obey" from Marriage Form.— In many particulars the book has points of similarity with the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. Some Episcopalians said that some of the forms for services and many of the prayers were, with a change of a word or two, bodily taken from "their prayer book. To thia assertion a Presbyterian editor made reply that as a matter of fact the makers of the" prayer book of the Episcopal Church themselves had drawn on some older sonrce3. Women will be eFpeciallv interested in the marriage ceremony in the new book, for it omits the word "obey," spd it also omits reference to the "worldly goods" with which the man and woman in the Episcopal and gome other mnrriage forms "endowed* each other.

The whole question of approval or condemnation of the book will be thrashed out

ROCKEFELLER'S GIFTS.

: at the General Assembly, which meets at Des Morine, lowa, abont the last of this? > month. Press despatches dated May Z3 announce that after a hot debate the Asscwbly # wjanimonely knocked out all ,*tjthorrt3r for the book of forms

The acceptance of Rockefeller's money by the American Board/ of Commissioners for Foreign Missions still excitea much controversy.; Di"J. M. Buckley sums np in a few principles rules for the guidance of the church and philanthropic institutions ia tha

and services. I understand that the* book will continue to be published, but divested of all authority from the Gene- I ral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in ; America. An effort was made to have the names of the Committee who prepared it struck out of the book, but this was defeated by a email majority.

lawful acceptance of money. Hia principles , are;— I First.—To accept all money offered for the causes they promote, which is believed to be lawfully in the hands of those who wish thus to dispose of it. Second.—To ask no aid from those whose whole business and life axe antagonistic to the Christian religion or?to puWic morality. Third.—When money is offered by those whom for consistency’s sake the church ; would not ask, it may be accepted with the i definite understanding that the church shall j without hesitation proceed with its work, whether or not it condemns their methods. I Fourth.—The theory of the Christian j Church is that all the possessions of man . primarily belong to God, and if under a | generous impulse wicked men wish to give : what they have a legal right to give, to promote the good works of the church, it , is entitled to receive the same.

CHURCH AND STATE IN FRANCE. The fate that has befallen an esteemed member of the last Legislature, the Abbe Lemire, is a characteristic incident of tho present electoral campaign, and one whioh throws a suggestive light on the occult forces at work. The Abbe Lemiro has been the representative of the constituency of Hazebrouck, in the Nord, during the last three Legislatures. For nearly fiitten years this distinguished Catho'lic, whose staunch Republicanism, coupled with his humanitarian ideals, recalled the famous figures headed by the Abbe Gregoire in the Convention, has defended the interests of his working class constituents to their complete satisfaction. He intended, further, to devote himself to their interests in the coming Legislature. He had already begun the canvassing of bis district; his election address was ready to bo posted on the walls of Hazebrouck; the voting papers were printed. Suddenly a decree from Rome was transmitted to him by his archbishop forbidding the French clergy to become candidates without the consent of their ecclesiastical superior and of the eccelsiasticaJ authority in the district for which they stand. The decree seems clear enough, but it is manifestly somewhat ambiguous in the case of a Deputy live the Abbe Lemire. In an interview w:tn a representative of the ' Matin' the Abbe suggests that this very justifiable measure of control has been taken to avoid more or less compromising candidates, but that it does not affect clergymen in liis position. It is doubtful, therefore, whether the Abbe Lemire will or will not be a candidate. But it is certain that his friends do not accept his tolerant version of the motives for this measure. They think, on the contrary, that it is a reactionary contrivance, the object being to suppress the popular Republican abbe in order to substitute for him a reactionary candidate. However tlus may be,- it is certain that the Abbe Leniire's attitude in the Chamber during the debate on the Separation Bill did not please the Right. He is well known to be in favor of a loyal effort to apply the Separation Law. Meanwhile Rome is hesitating as to its decision with regard to acceptance of the associations cultuelles.—Paris correspondent 'Times.'

GLEANINGS.

A few examples of the way in which some Church of England clergymen are overworked were given at a meeting of the Additional Curat s Society. A great parish in the north of l>ondon had only three clergymen for 19,000 persons. A parish in Durham diocese had only two clergymen for a population of 15,000; while* two Glamorganshire parishes, with more than 10,000 people in each, had only two clergymen.

In the Cathrdral oh La Paz, in South America, there is preserved a silver pig with jewelled eyes, ,a thank-offering made long years ago by a pious Spanish prospector, who had been led to stumble across what proved to be an exceedingly valuable silver mine, owing to prelhninary investigations that had been canted out by an inquisitive sow.

At Solovetsk, in the Russion government of Archangel, is the moat remarkable monastery in the world. The Monastery of Solovetsk is enclosed on every side by a wall of granite boulders, which measures nearly a mile in circumference. The monastery itself io very strongly fortified, being supported by round and square towers about 230 ft in height, with walls 20ft in thickness. The monastery consists in reality of six churches, which are completely filled with statues of all kinds and precious atones. Upon the walls and the towers surrounding these churches are mounted huge guns, which in the time of the Crimean War were directed against (the British White Sea squadron. The Rev. R H. Gange, -who has accepted an invitation from the Baptist Union of Victoria to visit Austialia, is on his way out in the s.s. Arric. He was at one time minister of the Regent's Palrk (London) Baptist Church, and occupied the pulpit of the Rapist Church at Bristol immediately before the hie Rev. Chaa. Clark. The Sacred Cbll.ge of Cardinals has been reduced by death, to fifty-seven members, or thirteen less than tho full number. In three years twelve cardinals have died", and only six have been added by Pius X. Twenty-nine of the cardtnals reside at Rome, ajid of these tws>n!y-five are Italians Dr Gie.n, Anglican Biohop of Ballarat', says that in many churches disappoitntment with a clergyman is unreasonably expressed because, in the first place, expectation is unr.aeombly high. An ideal clergyman is wanted* who can arouse while sustaining, who is eloquent and yet able to organdse, who ie an educational expert and a man of business, of supreme insight into the inner life, and yet one who is able to touch men's outward life and amusements. In short, such a man as cannoi bo found in the ranks of the laity. The Roman Catholic Church is sending out to Westral'a as archdeacon the Rev. F. F. Brooks, who will have an archdtaconatfe embracing some 1,000 miles of coast-Line, with a pas: orate of Japanese, Chinese natives, and Malays. Mr Brooks, as curate of Islington (London), inaugurated a series of midnight mission services, and found much of his work in the poorest streets He studied as a medLtal student, so that he rmight be of further assistance in cases of oomhdnqd poverty and sicknors. He is a most popular man both in a.nd out of his own church.