THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Evening Star, Issue 14001, 6 March 1909, Page 4

THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

A CANADIAN SKY PILOT. _ “Ralph Connor,” in his recently-pub-lished ‘The Lite of James Robertson, D-D.,’ has given a delightful account of tho strenuous life of the great Presbyterian missionary pioneer of Canada. A poor Scottish boy at school in the village of Dull, near Aberfeldy, Robertson was blessed with a mother both industrious and ambitious for her sons. He was studious, though “ a terrible fighter when fighting was to b© done.” One night he wrestled with an arithmetical problem, which, after beating Edinburgh, had got into Robertson’s hands for solution. “Are yon not coming to your bed, lad?” said his father. “Yes, after a while,” he replied. _ But when next morning the father came in to light the fire James rose from the s}>ot where he had been left sitting the night before. The solution of the problem was in his hands. That was tho spirit that carried him on in Canada, whither the family sought new hope when ho was sixteen—that and the deep human insight and fine straightforwardness of the man. At tho mine, on the ranch, in villages or cities, holding service by the dim light of smoky lanterns, however rough the men were, Roberts m could touch them. “ Say, isn’t he a corker?” exclaimed a British Columbian n.'ner, adding solemnly, alterdaethought: “ He’s a Jim Dandy corker!” His hatred of drink came out strongly during tho quiet early married days, when he was minister at Norwich, Ontario. A fire occurred at the local hotel; ho worked harder than any to extinguish tho flames, and the owner sent a bottle of brandy for his refreshment. “Never will I forget,” writes a member of his congregation, “ the manner iu which he seized that brandy bottle by the neck, swung it round his head, and dashed it against the brick wall, exclaiming as he did so: ‘ That’s a fire than can never be put ont!’” Robert son was a most successful “beggar.” An amusing story is told in connection with his great effort for the church and manse building fund. Ho was put up by an Ottawa gentleman at ■ the Rideau Club, and, running his eye down tho list of members, he discovered forty or fiftynames of good Presbyterians. Not a man of them escaped. AC.P.R. magnate tried to get rid of him for 50dol. Robertson would not take it. holding it would bo a bad example in others less wealthy. “ I am doing your work, sir,” he told this man. “My work?” “Yes, sir; you arc a Presbyterian, you arc a Canadian, and you are interested in the West.” Anxious as ho was to collect money, Robertson never allowed himself to bo patronised or bullied in the process. Before entering upon his great work of superintendent Robertson had refused an offer from rich New York. “ Tho time for self is gone,” he remarked. Canada west of the Great Lakes was, his mission field. Four jongre gallons and eighteen missions in 1»31 swelled to 141 congregations and 226 missions in 1902. Ono of his most active periods was that spent in hurrying for-1 ward missionaries to the remote and perilous Yukon. Ralph Connor is within the mark in suggesting that by the noble character of those who represented the Presbyterian Church much wickedness has been saved in that north land. “ I am done out,” said Robertson on his deathbed at the age of sixty-three; and it was the only time in his career of heroic labor that he confessed himself weary. THE HOME OP RAHAB. Tho excavations on the site of the ancient Jericho have brought to light traces of the various civilisations which at different times made tho city their home, but not sufficient progress with the work has been made to enable explorers always to determine tho epoch—Canaauito, Israelite, or Jewish—to which the interesting and important relics unearthed belonged. The most important discovery, after the excavation of the walls of Jericho, was the former citadel. It lay on the slope of the north-westerly hills of the seven on which Jericho was built, and was fortified by an external and internal wall, both of which were crowned by strong corner towers and connected at irregular intcrvals by walls. The entire northern part of (he citadel lias been laid bare. On the northern slope of the city, without the walls, numerous remains of Canaanitc houses were discovered. Home of these lean l against the old city wall, and recalled, as one writer points o'ut, the House of Raimi, in which Joshua’s spies took refuge. The partition walls of day were in many cases still standing, and even ovens and a drain age canal were still to be traced. In many cases the bodies of little children buried in jars were found beneath tho clay floors of the houses. The excavators believe that this slope was inhabited from tho end of 2000 n.c. up to tho last few centuries before Christ. At five different spots flights of broad stone steps were discovered, but they are hold to belong to a later time, when the city lay deserted and the once-inhabited higher parts were used for gardens and vineyards. —lsraelite Dwellings.— Great hopes were set on the results of the investigation of the so-called Fountain Hill, on the sides of which is situated the " Rultan Spring,” A in-es-, Sultan, whoso waters are thought to have attracted the first settlers. These hopes were disappointed, but a most interesting collection of Israelite houses (circa n.c. 700) was partly brought to light. One of the excavated houses was particularly well preserved. It contained a courtyard open to the air, with a bench, a long room, and a kitchen opening on to the yard, in whicli th; great water tun still stood in its accustomed place. But not only could this house, obviously, as is pointed out, a relic of the rccolonising of the city under Ahab, bo reconstructed according •to plan, but numerous domestic utensils wore unearthed —plates and dishes, pots and amphorae, corn-mills and red sandstone, lamps and torch-holdcrs, and all kinds of iron implements. The forms of the vessels boar a clear relationship to tho Gneco-Phosaician pottery found in Cyprus, and have nothinoto do with the fragments of ancient Ca° naanite ware found in the course of the excavations. The excavators’ work has demonstrated the fact that in much later centuries the site of ancient Jericho was inhabited. A number of graves of the early Byzantine eia, containing amphorae and pots, and a number of glass vessels in a complete state of preservation, were also found. The glass vessels will throw valuable light on the history of the glass industry in tho East. Unfortunately practically no inscriptions have been met with yet. All that has been discovered is a number of stamps on the handles of jars apparently bearing the name of the divinity Jahu. the letters are Aramean, and seem to date from the fifth to the third century before Christ. The excavations will be resumed in the course- of the winter, and further results are looked to with great interest.—Reuter. T , e i w ’ Year letter to tho members of Y l6 Cbiirch of England Men’s Society, the Archbishop-elect of York (Rev. Dr Cosmo (fordon Lang) refers to the disappointment he has experienced in being ratable to acCBpt the invitation of tho Archbishops and Bishops of Australia and New Zealand to visit the Antipodes, and undertake a special mission to men. But it is, he says good news that the Rev. H. g. Woollcombe, head of Oxford House, has consented to act as the representative and misfikmer of the society across the seas. During the next fow years Mr Woollcombe is, it appears, to visit Australia, South Africa’, India, and other countries. He leaves London at Easter to start on his mission. It is interesting to note that last year Dr I Lang spoke at nearly fifty gatherings on t behalf of this society, a rate of work ■ which, he remarks, it would be impossible for him to maintain as Archbishop of York. All tho same, Dr Lang will continue for the present in the post of chlirxnan of the society’s council.