THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13675, 18 August 1906, Page 4

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

RELIGIOUS KEADIN

DEVOTIONAL. Strong Son of God. immortal Love, Whom v.-e, that have not seen Thy face, By faith, and faith alone embrace. Believing where we cannot prove; Thino aro these orbs of light and shade; Thou madost Life in man and -brute; Thou madest Death; and, lo! Thy loot Is on, the skull which Thou hast made. Thou wilt not leave us in the dust: Thou madest man, he knows not why, He thinks he was not mads to die; And Then hast made him; Thou art just. Thou secmest human and Divine, Tho highest, holiest manhood, Thou; Our wills aro ours, we know not how: Our wills are ours ta make them Thine. — Tennyson. A Meditatiox. The meek do not fight for earthly wealth, and the world concludes that they are unaspiring and timorous. But the truth is that meekness is making a greater venture, is engaged in a nobler enterprise. It is seeking tho treasure made on earth but. stored in heaven. It knows that an hour's quiet faithfulness is tetter than a lilo-timo of _wilfulness, that one act of (.'bristly patieneo is worth more than years of self, aggrandisement, and that tliece is moro true joy of living in one thing wrought or suffered in humility than a thousand things wrought or resented by pride. And if men find not the meek dinging io the ladder of fame, it is because the ladder docs not reach liigh enough for them. There is a ladder that rcacJiet.h unto heaven whereon one may chance onco and again to meet, an angel of God. and the meek alono may climb that. For a man does not get his foot, on the first rung of that ladder 1 until ho has seen that the "last rung of tho ladder of fame is a long way short of beaven.—P. C. Ainsworth. Exiiop.wtio.s-. There aro two thoughts, which, if once admitted to tho mind, change our whole course of life—Hie belief that this world is but tho vestibule of an endless stale of being, and the thought of Him in whom man lives hero, or shall livo hereafter. Wo each have the choico of following good or following evil. Who shall say which shall prove the mightier? It depends upon ourselves—on our awakened conscience and enlightened will. Troubles and 60r.r0v.-s may hayo to bo encountered in performing our various duties. But theso nave to be done, and done ohcerfully, becauso it is the will of God. Gocd actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others. They prove treasures guarded for the doer's need. Let us therefore strcngthea. our mind, and brace up our Soul, and prepare out- heart for the future. The race is for Life.—Smiles. BIRTHDAY HOXOURS. Sir A. M„ Torrance, one of King Edward's birthday knights, is a Congrcgafionalist attached to Highbury Quadrant Church. Ho is an ex-Chairman of the L.C.0.. and fought a lough battle at tho general election Sir John Bamford Slack, whose knighthood was ono of the surprises of tho Birthday honours, is tho treasurer of tho West Londpn Weslcyan Methodist Mission, and was a bceom friend of (be late Rev. Hugh Price Hughes. His knighthood is, lio doubt, a reward for tho striking by-election victory ho won in Hertfordshire and a consolation for the defeat ho met with at the poll in January. Lady Bamford Slack is a very well-known Temperance and political orator, and ono of the most eloquent woment speakers of our time. Mr Armitstead, who received a peerage, is a Congregatioualist, and makes the second Congrcgationalist to have a scat in the Giidcd Chamber. Mr Armitstead attends Westminster Chapel, is a very genesupporter of its funds, and a devoted admirer of Dr Campbell Morgan. Ho was a close, friend of Mr W. E. Gladstone, and it is well known that Mr Herbert Gladstone will be the hoir to- his great, wealth. Sir David Brynmor Jones is another Congrcgationalist to bo honoured by the King on his birthday. Sir David is a. son of the great Thomas Jones, the poet-orator-pro-phet whom Browning admired, and who Had _London at his feet 40 years ago. Sir David is one of the most level-headed lawyers Wales lu-.ri ever given to politics. He is a speaker who seoms showy rhetoric, hut. can carry conviction to bis hearers by the sheer weight of his forceful, logical utterances. His best work, perhnxs, has been in connection with higher education in Wales. Sir Walter Runc-iman's Birthday honour brings tho number of Wosleyan baronets up to three, tho other two being Sir George Hay tor Chubb and Sir Thomas Devereux Pile. Sir Walter Runoiman is connected with the historic Brunswick Chapel in' New. castle-cu-Tyne, though he has not taken any prominent part in Tyjiesidc Mei'icdism. Sir T. P. Whittakor is the con of a veteran Yorkshire Wct-leyan Methodist. Sir William Crawford, of Mount Randal, Belfast, whose name appears in tho list of Birthday honours, & a member of the Presbyterian Church. A senior director of Iho York street Flax Spinning Company, ho is an authority in tho linen trade; but elderly he is distinguished as tho centre of a circle interested i>i religious, nhilan. thropic. literary, and artistic matters. He is an honoured member of the General Aesembly, of whose Central Presbyterian Association he, is president. THE TRENT) OF THOUGHT. ' Christ. Church, Westminster (Rev. ]?. B. Meyer), has jilst celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, which is also the 123 rd anniversary of Surrey Chapel. In the afternoon Rev. (!. Johnston Ross, of Cambridge, preached on the words, "I will build My Church, and the gates of heil shall not prevail against it." Many men, said Mr Rcss, were asking to-day. with anxiety, or with malevolent hope. "Will the Church last'/" Somo were happy in the confidence, born by their faith and experience, that it would last, but others seemed to fear that it. was indeed passing away. Tho truth, he believed, was that ouee again, as in former limes, tho Church was casting off her old garments for new, and modern unrest was simply tho result of the difh'eultiee of "fitting on" the new garments. There were throe elements in.the Church, which alono proved jier right and power to last for ever, on earth and in heaven— namely, her unique capacity for helping men to realise the Divine fellowship, turning prayer from a monologue into a dig. logue; her difference from man-made societies in that she was based on dissimilarity—the weak and the strong co-operat-ing; and her demonstration from age to aye of tho sinfulness of man and his'need of reliance on a divine centre. Founded in heaven, where the Trinity converge and hold Divine colloquy, how could the Church fall?

The- Hibbert'Journal for July giws the place of honour to a catechism on the first principles of faith by Sir Oliver Lodge. We quote two questions anrl answers.: — Q.—What, then, do yon reverently believe can be deduced from a study of therecords and traditions of tlic past in the light of the present? A.—l believe in one Infinite and Eternal Being, a guiding and loving Father, in whom all things consist. I believe that I.lm Divine Nature is specially revealed to man through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lived and taught, anil suffered in Palestine 1900 years aco. and has since been worshipped by the Ohrislia.il Church us the immortal Son of God. the Saviour of the world. I. believe that man is privileged to understand anil assist the Divine purpose, on litis earth, that prayer is n means of communion between man and Hod, and that the Hoiy Spirit, is ever ready to help 115 along the Way towards Goodness and Truth, so that by unselfish service wo may gradually enter into the Life Eternal, the Communion cf Saints, nud the Peace of God. Q-—What do you understand by prayer? A.—l understand that whe.n oiir spirits are attuned to the Spirit of Righteousness, our tapes ana aspirations exert an influence far beyond their conscious range, and in a true sense bring us into communion with our Heavenly Father. This power of filial petition is called prayer; and we mar strengthen our faith in its efficacy by pleading the merits of the Lord Joms. Writing on the "Reality of Grace" in the Hi'jbert Journal. Dr Forsyth say6:—No man is competent io be a teacher'of the New Testament, or to .handle for the people, as a minister should, the greatest matters of faith and mind, on the basis of an ordinary degree, without theological training. I do not care what eases you quote. It is unjust to the Gospel to eeiwl out men to pick up theolo-'- out of casual rending and porsonal religion; for a young man may issue from college loaded with honours and with no Gospel at all—nothing beyond raw Christian pioty. He has then to experiment with ,1 Church in acquiring convictions ivlu'ch should have been' his message, Eo is apt io/amiQuncQ as (liswreries tilings long Mi as debris in the

■fi FOR THE HOME

route of discovery, and to parado as new what due knowledge of the past would have shown to be not. only old but superannuated. It is not respectful to the Churches. It slackens their lone and their testimony. And in no other profession would it. be tolerated, ft would not bo in business. I write, of course, of the settled pastor, not of his helper, tho evangelist. Let tho student, by all means, lie taught in his philosophic work tho great place science or literature occupies in the world of thought, but only so that the whole world of thought and tragedy finds is proper place in the moral world, and that again in the realm of tho Gospel. ABOUT PEOPLE. Mrs Alexander, wife of Mr C. Alexander, the evangelist (and formerly Hiss Cadbury), is iying seriously ill at her mother's home at Birmingham. Mr Newton Moore, of Bunbury, the Premier of West Australia, is a Congregationalist. Tho samo Church gave to West Australia its foremost .statesman, Sir John Forrest. Professor Marcus Dods. of Ihe United Free Church College. Edinburgh, is ill, and has had to cancel a number of engagements. Dr Dixls is one of those workers who have had not only a busy, but a, somewhat trying, career. During his course he has had to pass through the 'fiery furnace of a heresy hunt. He was ordained to the ministry in 1664, and assumed the professorial status in IBE9. Mr Silvester Home, adducing the memIkm of tho Mundosley Conference, said that be recently met Mr Bernard Shaw in the Tottenham Court, road. "Have you seen my Salvation Army play?" ho inquired. Mr Home replied that ho knownothing of tho play beyond what he bad seen in the papers, "Well." said Mr Bernard Shaw, "I've put a religions iilav on the stage and for this reason—tho only things people arc interested in are politics and religion.". Rev. Thomas Spurgeon has been, compelled to cancel his American tour. On the very eve of sailing Mr Spurgeon was taken ill, and the, medical men diagnose kidney trouble, with complications, which causo him much suffering The doctors have, however, no serious anxiety as to Mr Spurgeon's recovery, and tho latest news is that the disease is following its normal course. Mr Spurgeon has cvidonliy been feeling for some time past tho strain of his heavy responsibilities at tho Metropolitan Tabernacle, tho Pastors' College, and the Spurgeon Orphanage. FiOv. Alexander Connell. M.A., 8.D., who is succeeding Dr John Watson (lon MacLarcu) at the Scfton Park Presbyterian Church. Liverpool, is a Highlander and 42 years of ago. He was oixlaincd minister of Regent Square Church, London, his first charge, 13 ycaw ago. Previous to that for a brief period ho acted as assistant minister to Dr Walter Morison. at Wostbourno Grove Church. Londc.ii. Ho is an M.A. and B.D. of Edinburgh. Ho married a (laughter of Mr Henry Robson, a leading Presbyterian layman and just now Mayor of Kensington. Mr Connell is an eloquent and persuasive preacher and a man of sociai graces and genial temperament. Revs. J. F. Hewitt and P. H. Shaid. of the C.M.S. in Bongal,. were on the 30th Juno assaulted by a number of Bengali students at Santipur. It appears the two missionaries, with fuur ladies, were returning from a. prize distribution, and tlioy •had with them a Bengali _ female teaoher who was going to the Erislmagar dispensary, a.s she was ill with fever. At the snggestion of a student that the female leachor was a Hindu girl being forcibly taken away, the students made the assault on tlte missionaries with bamboo sticks. Mr Hewitt received many heavy blows and Mr Shaul was severely wounded. Several arrests have been, raa.de, but tho ringleaders are still at large. Mrs Mary If. Hunt, World's and National (U.S.A.) Superintendent of tho Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction in ihe Schools, passed to ,hor reward from her homo in Boston. U.S.A.. on the morning of April 24. and in her departure not only tho Woman's Christian Temperance Union, but the Temperance. ca.U6c throughout the world, lias met with a very great loss. Mainly as n result of her heroic efforts a Scientific Temperance- Instruction law has been enacted in every one of the 46 States of the United State's, and 22.000.000 children are being' taught, the evil effects of alcohol and tobacco on the human system. CAX WE SAVE SUNDAY? Dr Horton answered the question, "Can we save Sunday?" at his monthly lecture on a recent Sunday evening, but the answer was a somewhat hesitating affirmative. Dr Horton described a German Sunday as ho saw it, two months ago, in the Protestant city of Nuremberg. He attended morning service in the most beautiful church ever dedicated to Protestant worship. The congregation was small, probably not moro than half as largo as the one he was addressing. Tho service was beautiful, and the sermon one of the most inspiring utterances a man could hear from human lips. By 10 o'clock Ihe public worship of God was over. For the rest of the day the people gave themselves over to pleasure and frivolity of every kind. Theatres and ljoer halls were open and crowded, And as he walked about amidst the gay throng and listened to their soulless laughter ho said to himself, "These German people are becoming a negligible quantity. They are forgetting God. T.hoy are neglecting the Sabbath. Remembering one pari of the Saviour's words, that the Sabbath was made for man, they aro forgeliing tho other, that the Son of Man is Loifd also of the Sabbath." .England wed never four German competition, unless Germany should recover, and England should lose, the Sabbath. _ But inasmuch as every true German Patriot 'was seeking to regain it, while, in England it was being filched away from us. he thought we had every reason to dread German competition. "Can we save Sunday?" he asked in conclusion, after a graphic description and a vigorous denunciation of modern ways of spending the day. Wo ean. of course, for it h the gift of Christ and part of God's legislation for the world. To save Sunday we must behove and' we must act. Wo ' must form societies for the purpose of consecrating Sunday anew, and of instructing the nation in the principles on which we base the duty of .preserving the Day of B«st. In this task we can summon to our aid science and experience. Both .have proved beyond question that one day in scvon is necessary for the physical as well as for the moral and spiritual lienKh of the people. We can invoice the aid even of the man who does net believe in Hod, who bus no iiopes of heaven, who looks upon the grave as tho end-all of life. For the Sabbath has made England what it is, aud it is tho greatest, guarantee of its continued greatness and prosperity.

FROM ALL SOURCES. The Young Men's Christian Association is going to support an army secretary in the Arctic Circle. Equipped with a launch, snow-shoes, ami dog sledge, he will visit (he military posts along the Yukon River. fhe chancel and transepts of Brisbane Cathedral are now jit process of erection, t-lio contract price being £52.C00. The Archbishop slate; Ihat £40,000 of this amount has been practically secured. A " cathedral" church has been erected in Boston, U.S.A.. by the Christian Scientists, at a cost of £400.000. The walla are decorated with carved and coloured marbles representing Biblical scenes. Strange things, from gold watches to guinea pigs, have been sold to raise money for the Salvation Army Self-denial Fund. But never before h;u a sack of cinders from Vesuvius been so offered, as is reported in a letter just received from Italy, whero the, solf-'lenial campaign is in progress. The restoration of the Town Church of St. Andrew's i 6 soon to be proceeded with. It k an expensive scheme, and no less than £23,000 will bo require;!. Of this the Bnird trustees have agreed to give £2000, bringing the total sum in hand up Jo £18,000. No place in Scotland is so rich in eeelcsias-tica-l associations as St. Andrews. It is estimtaed that not less than 50,000 Chinese have heard the Gospel through the instrumentality of Rev. J. Hudson Taylor. In the last five years near 6000 have i>cen baptised in the CJ.M. stations, and there are now over 12,000 communicants in 12 different provinces. The missionaries number 825, and the stations 200, with 521 outstations. There, arp.1152 helpers and 418 organised cburirfiCßi