CHURCH v. CHRISTIANITY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10495, 19 October 1895, Page 3

CHURCH v. CHRISTIANITY.

TO TUB EDITOK.

Sib, —Yourcorrespondent" Anglican " inyonr issue of the Hth inst tells me that I do no', seem to understand tbat the statements of Bishop Nevill and Archdeacon F»rrar, to which I have rsferred, really harmonise. I do not. The former breathes a spirit of intolerance which is inconsistent with true Christianity; the latter is redoleut of Christian charity and toleration. The very heading of "Anglican's" letter is foil of the Fame spirit as the utterance of his bishop. A " schism " is " a division in the church," and if Archdeacon Farrar would look upon a man who leaves the Anglican Church and joins another branch of what he himself, calls the " Universil Church" a sohism&tic, I do not think he would have delivered the sermon from which I quoted. I well remember some time ago an old gentleman who called the Presbyterian Church a "schism shop." He called himself an Anglican although he never attended any place of worship at all. If Anglicans in geueral were of the Christian ■ and tolerant spirit of Archdeacon P*rrar, the union which he (^nglican) think* will take placs "in due time " would not be long- delayed, but it is impossible while they believe that it is a sin against God to -join any other braoch of tfee Universal Church, and that "the first duty of children of the church i» to ba loyal to her." The first duty of a Christian man of auy church is a far higher one thau that. "Anglicau " would of course consider that the Pilgrim Fathers who sought freeiom of worship across the Atlantic were in so doing committing a sin. This may'bs a "church" view, but it is not a Chrixtian one.

For myself, I was baptised in the Church of England, and in her, in due time, I took upon myself the vows mad* for me by my sponsor*, and was confirmed by the bishop. Toe vow I made was th»t I would " obediently keep God'a holy will and commasdinente, and walk in tha same all the daya of my life" ; but neither I nor ray sponsors promised to follow 'the Anglican Church witheMoecer she might lead. The pastor of the church in which I was confirmed and which I used to attend was a godly man, who coald not " intone " prayers to his Maker, to whom the turning his back to hie congregation was an unnecessary cerenpny, and who painfully felt the ritualistic innovations which have since alienated so many e&raest churchmen. I have since joined the communion of a Presbyterian Church, and, to say nothing of my own conscience, I would b% quite content to leave the question of whether I committed any sin in so doing to the decision of any Christian churchman — such as Archdeacon Farrar. I am, &c, October 16, 1895. R,

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A FEW INCHES OF PLATO ENGLISH.

Nowadaysjnen are doing all sorts of wonders by means of electricity, both in mechanics and in chemistry. I see by the papers that they expect to be able to produce real diamonds by it. Perhaps they ai&y; marvels never cease. But wa will wait till they do before we crow over that job. "Up to this time, anyway, everything that is both valuable and ossftil is tho fruit of hard work. Even diamonds are mostly got out of rocky mines. And, within reasonable limits, it is good for us to have to work. Ten shillings honestly earned ig better for a' man than twenty in the shape of a legacy.

The best condition oE things for any "country wonld be when fair wage 3 could be earned straight along, without loss or deduction for any reason. Bnt in the present aspect of human affairs this is impossible. Whose fault it is we cannot now discuss.

. One source of loss, however,igplain enough, and some remedy for it onghfc to be found. Jn England and Wales every working man averages ten days of illness per year, making the total loss of wages from this cause about £16,000,000 a year. We are talking of the average, you see. But inasmuch as all working men are not ill every ,yetr, this average does not fairly show the suffering and loss of those who are ill. In any given year many will loss no time at all, while others may lose individual!] from ten days to six months' each. Nocharity, no savings, no income from clubs, &c., can make up for this—even in money alone, to-say nothing of the pain and the misery. Alluding to an experience of his in- 1888, Mp George Lagdon says, "I had to give up my work." How this came to pass he tells as in a letter dated from his home in White Houso ro»d, Stsbbiog, near Dunman, August 24, 1892. He had no inherited disease or weakness, so far as he knew, and was always strong and well up to April of that year—lßßß. Then, his strength and energy began to leave brm. He felt tired, not as from work, but as from power gone out of him through some bodily failure. He sat down to his meals, but not with his old eagerness and relish. There was a nasty, copper-like taste in his month, his teeth and tongue were covered with slime, and his throat clogged with a kind of thick phlegm, difficult to "hawk up" and eject. He also speaks of a nagging pain in &a stomach, flatulency, and much palpitation oE the heart as having been among his symptoms. As the ailment—whatever it was—progressed he began to have a hacking cough which, he says, seemed as if it must shake him to pieces. He could scarcely sleep on account of it. One of the most alarming features of his illness, however, were, the night sweats, for the leason that they showed the existence of a source of weakness which must soon, unless arrested, end in total prostration. In fact he was obliged to give up his work altogether. To iim—as to any once active man — this was like being buried alive.

One doctor whom Mr Lagdon consulted said he was consumptive, and it did indeed loofc that way. "For 12 weeks," he said, "Twent on lika this, gettiDg weaker and weaker, and having reason to believe that it would end in my taking the ona joarney from which no traveller retnrns

" It was now July—summer time, when life to the healthy is bo pleasant and full oE hope. At this time my sister-in-law got from Mr Liosells (Stebbing) a medicine that I had-nofi tried jet. Alter having used one bottle I felt better, and when I had used the second I was cared, and have not lost an hour's worksince "

The reader will notice that between the date of his taking this medicine and the date of his' letter there is an interval cf four years. We may therefore infer that Mb cure was real and permanent.. The medicine, by the way, -was Mother SeigeVs Curative Syrup. It is rtofc likely he will forget its name nor what it did for him. His disease was indigestion and. dyspepsia, the deadly enemy of every labouring man or' woman under the sun, no matter what they work at or work with —hands, brains, 05 both. ■■••.-■ t

Is it necessary to draw a "-mortP*—school* book style—from .these facts ? No, it is not. We have talked plain English, and. that -it enough. __ • ... .• . -