PRAYERS FOR GUIDANCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22596, 8 December 1936, Page 9

PRAYERS FOR GUIDANCE

SERMONS IN MANY CHURCHES

CLERIC ISSUES SHARP STATEMENT

(Received December 7, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON. Dec. fl Prayers for the King were offered in all the churches on this wintry Sunday, a day of puzzled expectancy pending the result of this evening's Cabinet meeting, at which, however, no decision was reached regarding the issue between the King and the Government. Westminster Abbey was thronged for the morning service. The Archbishop of York, in common with other clergy throughout Britain, asked Divine guidance for the heart and mind of the King, the people of the Empire and the Ministers and law-givers. A message from New York says that the crisis was the subject of prayers and sermons in many parts of the country. The Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. W. T. Manning, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, asked God's support and guidance, "especially at this time, for our brethren in the British Empire and for the Church of England." The Rev. Clement Rogers, professor emeritus of pastoral theology at King's College, London, before preaching a sermon at Trinity Church, New York, issued a sharp statement to the press. " The Church of England does not recognise the re-marriage of divorced persons—we do not recognise bigamy," he said. " I think that if she were a respectable woman the English people would have welcomed a commoner to the Throne. Some think it no shame for a woman to put aside two husbands in the hope of a more brilliant alliance, but I think this disastrous business has done a great deal of harm. Such a marriage could have done much to draw England and America together, but this situation has put us apart."

DOMINIONS' RIGHTS DENIAL BY LORD MARLEY LECTURE IN NEW YORK (Received December 7, 6.30 p.m.) •NEW YORK, Dec. 6 Lord Marlcy, Chief Opposition Whip in the House of Lords, said in a lecture in New York to-day: "The Dominions have no legal right to play any part in the Simpson case. Truthfully, several of the Dominion Governments do not represent their peoples a bit more than does the Parliament at Westminster speak for England to-day. Mr. Baldwin consulted the Dominions with the view to obtaining support for his own Cabinet. The effect of the Empire-wido appeal has been imposing, yet 1 believe it means less than nothing." STUDENTS' PUBLICATION REFERENCE TO MRS. SIMPSON (Keceived December 7, 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, Dec. 0 The Harvard University publication Crimson prints a cablegram from its representative at Oxford outlining undergraduate objections to Mrs. Simpson, containing almost obscene references. PRAYERS IN SYDNEY SYDNEY. Dec. 7 Many references were made in the churches yesterday to the Royal crisis, and special prayers were offered for the King and his Ministers.

COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES WHY BISHOP BLUNT SPOKE HIS REPROOF OF THE KING LONDON, Dec. 0 The Bishop of Bradford, Dr. A. W. F. Blunt, told the Sunday Graphic that when his address in reproof of the King was written ho had no knowledge of the circumstances which subsequently arose. "It was only yesterday week that I heard Mrs. Simpson's name mentioned in connection with the King's," he said. The bishop added that his intention to make the speech was confirmed by Communists circulating in Yorkshire scurrilous "yellow press" statements regarding the King and Mrs. Simpson, and he felt it was high time to cut the ground from under the fset of the Communists, who were aiming to create strife.

CORONATION GOODS MANUFACTURERS' CONCERN LONDON, Dec. 0 Considerable concern is felt by a numbed of trades and industries in the north, where the manufacture of many thousands of pounds' worth of coronation goods has been suspended. It is anticipated that manufacturers will lose heavily owing to the feared cancellation of orders.