Moral England Improving

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXX, Issue 8683, 7 January 1905, Page 2 (Supplement)

Moral England Improving

In an interview in the Boudoir Sir Gilbert Parker, M.P. expresses the opinion that the worship of wealth by the aristocracy of the present day is "the greatest danger that we have to face. Tne worship of money, of course, means the transference of the national ideal. In old days the aristocracy loved power and place; when they come to love money, then you lower the standard of national life, though you may increase its industrial and commercial possibilities; and you get a thing, to my mind, little to be desired —the dull uniformity of wealth, such as you see in the United 1 States. The worship of wealth is a "false standard," and Sir Gilbert Parker's opinion will lower the whole character of our national life. With regard to some recent, statements by a dignitary of the Church of .England, Sir Gilbert Parker denies that the test of the prevalence of Christianity in life, conduct, and thought of a nation is to be gauged by a record of attendance at church. He affirms that thinking men are more reverent and Christian in thought today than they were fifty years ago. That England and 'London are (he says) more religious m the best sense—that is to sayin all the attributes of Christian thought in deeds and actions—than it used to be, I am certain. You cannot get "rapes of thorns, or figs of thistles. Crime diminishes, charity increases. There never was a time in England when human beings caTed so much for the welfare of each other. Sentiment is taking the place of sentimentality; toleration is superseding bigotry and the tyranny of thought" Asked as to whether he thought that keeping of the Sabbath is a test of Christianity, Sir Gilbert Parker made answer - —"There can be no question that a dayset apart for a special worship to the Almighty was wise and right; but it'is not vital to the existence of Christianity in human lives. The Sabbath is primarily a day of rest. It is a day when a special rehearsal, as it were, of one's faith is considered to be in plaee. But there is no reason why the 'God be merciful to me a sinner' which some poor fellow, who has slaved all the week, says as he rests by his doorway on a 'Sunday, or, sleeping late to refresh his body, says when he wakes, is not as true a worship as sharing with his fellows in public devotion." The Church's test is an attendance upon its service. It is a test, Sir Gilbert) added, but he holds that it should not be elevated into a final test, whereby men are judged whether they be Pagan, or Christian.