THE CHURCH AND THE POOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8664, 5 September 1891, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE CHURCH AND THE POOR.

Wiiy do not the poor in England go to church? is a grave and important question. As a matter of fact we are getting so accustomed to our working-men omitting their Sunday duty of going to church, that some people are almost getting to think it a matter of course. -Yet, strictly speaking, it is an anomalous and wonderful thing. Regarded in the abstract, there would seem to be no reason why, because a man has a poor home here on earth, ho should not desire a happy bright home above —that, because he has no wealth here, therefore he has not a soul to be saved. As a matter of fact, the majority of Christians take the common-sense (if we may use the term in this sacred connection) view of the subject. They think that the poor ought to go to church on the Lord's Bay, and when poor themselves they do so. What a strange sight it is to the English tourist to behold, say, at eight or nine on a Sunday or festival morning, the churches crowded with poor peasants in Switzerland, in Italy, or in Austria!- The "boot question" even does not keep them away, and barefooted people are seen meeting on the church pavement. Indeed, they givo an example to their wealthier neighbours. Take an instance. Not long ago an Italian waiter in a village in North Italy said, " How good your English gentry seem in going to church Here only the peasants go to church, and the gentlemen only go on great festivals or for nigh functions." The fact is, churchgoing in Italy and a large part of the Continent now is just the opposite to tho English—the peasants attend church regularly, the upper and middle classes aro neglectful if nob worse.—Church Review.