SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14441, 6 February 1909, Page 4

SUNDAY CIRCLE.

DEVOTIONAL IF LIKF. WERK AU. If li!c were all, Where were ihc Tecompenso For all our tears? 'J.lie troubled toil Of all the long-draw years, The straggle to stuvivc The passing show Were scarce worth while, If life were all. If life were all, What were it. worth to live? To build on.pain, So feon to learn Our building wore but vain, And then to pass To some vague nothingness Were sc-jrre worth while, If life were all. Life is not all. I do not know the plan; I only brow that. God is good, And that Ills strength sustains. I only know that He is just; So in the siario-ii, souglfss night J lilt my fact; and true!, And (I,id my spirit witness bears— J'ife is nol all.

SumtCATIOH. Almighty Gml, the vineyard is Thine; all souls are J hino; 'lhou art the one owner. \\ e have nothing that we have not received, when to look upon our professions we say. \\ hose image and superscription is ijhiti? and. lo! we lind Thy name ihore and lii} claim. So 'lhou hasl "iv. -11. end Thou mayest take away. Help us to know that the Wd reign-th, that there i>- )>n, <,nn supreme will, that oirr bi;smc>s j.s to (]i s . rover what thai w.ill is, ( , m l )o c h,, v ;j simply, lovingly, tnithfullv. Amen.

Meditation. WHAT " KTKIIXAJ," MEAXS. What is the eternai? The word is u'-ed of (iod. of the future punishment or blessedness of men, and of judgment to come, "hat is it.' Some pfc.ple iguoranlly think It !'S the same as overlujtinjc: but eternal is not, neiv»sKiiTilv everlasting. it has no Hole 0 r thought of lime in jt Kver-lii--tmg, after all. implicates the tinnysplrere, it lasts; bui directly the soul passes from Ills world of morlaiiry a.nd lime into the hcuiud. it passes beyond t.he shackles and conditions of time, it no longer calculate present, .or fnt.ui>;, for t.ime is more. And, therefore, if vou like you are perfectly justified in f.peakiV of e,er""v. or the eternal, hy the synonym, timeless.' hiernil v is timelessness. is ihat which transcends time, am l t | o ftonl|l |" j, the or, if yon like, vou mav tnko f, | e !*jr "i"u»lif than either.' because since I'Cd a,one is the Kterual and timeless being, yen may fairly think of t1,,. eternal ajwng that winch lias (!c,l in If. B .| liß |J r t ' s f unc « of o<Kl ill it. and it. is, Inrefore that sense thai the i OTm is employed here; i-h., mlempiion 0 f u .|,i e |, «<- spent; ,s;, r«,, ;m pii<m whk-h is not only anscentbng tone, but wliiH, has t.he essence 0 the elerus! :„at, lre 0 f (; w | j„ iL ; s eternal re/1.-iupt,on. Therofon-. any in-.,,, or woman who shall lake it h.,„n ; es'fertJi"'■h will, the , (){ elernal of the j„f 1F) j„, llot |. It "^ an eternd redemption. J'lol.uhlv Ihat k / ,(S ■'' l! K c .' v ted when, in tlm illiKtration 1 fe red to here, a, all Biblo st.u.W.t.s know, O Ilie Heifer, the ashes of the hoifer. wowhll't/t"^" •,V'" h i,>rin P M S not with tank or wahr, but with the uoynwv Wider. Hving Wlt( , r , work of ili • al '° re " lln<lc<l t'lial the work of t fie ( res; is marred f<, t |, P „„ (i<T"ll,- V ! ,;,I ' I'V1' V a! ' f l ' °r sj ' ° f li,p < ' lon,;l1 Hill, r-' ? • things, for wiili 1 " fountain source. It is in "i"'" 1 "". infinite, ami, ,Ki '" ,o !i ' w

IiXIIOIITATJOy. 1 TIIK I'IMXCII'i.K OF SACI'.TKICK. ; f ll - auompamed by a I k ''~: ° ~KI /I passion , i ■ , lll! ' y ,VI;TO '••■'"(ling toKHliei "'.itching the von-, of Wales with Im.e cnwlren gaihe.riug the herla a t l.e fiwr of the great ( .|,iH\ They filled U lO ,Vll ' l I'orJis, and the father •i«av up at, , op <)f ~1 10 ci j ff _ | n . "I a rope, would draw the Impels up n'ill ! ;V '\r <IS tj ,V i ,valche<1 ' tl,e stwlent Mid .Mr Hawthorne, iho paf.sion, for ,n . Is whiTi his friend, ■f'luig a inn-row patuway running alnwt of IJIO dill', s.i,id: "Kiwi m, 1 hill (|inc«ly. and you w'ili forget it." Wl'ci " fi had got fairly siavlcd. a little ,r.: r j him. .-laned for him, when "' s ho t»«sunl>.rt| and ff.li. xi.ml f;>rt-iirr&k»!v fell I'lto one of tlm baske;.;. Tli.e falhe.i r , feelmg the- tug niK.-u the ropo, iJiouglvt the ha«l,ct filial, and started to draw it up. Ine cliiiii liceame frigiitcnwJ, and as ihe basket was r'-rawn un raphllv. attempled ''I' lll '' out. It would have Ikicii sure deal 1, w.iui JitliatL Hawthorne, ivilh his hai/ds to his mouth, shouled to his friciH • spring out and calch the rope. Let ycurse-lf down. Save the child," The I rained athlete balanced himself a moment and sprang out. |-t himself down hand by hand, and ta ved UlO child. And the ptiwion for ilri'iik uevor returned to him. It was hecans' of I he'great principle of sacrihre getting into |fs life. I can ouiie ilii<i.-ts: uml ii. l, u t. j c ,. in uiidc-rs+and this, 100. tiiat is otv should admit into his life i i,s a I'.eiroaiil Savic-iir and an ahutniif f:tren,gth an<l hop? jiixl comfor!, then passion enukl be controlled, wcakiierr, Wi overcome, ami ilcliverance bo sure,—Or Wiibnr Chapman.

ANGLICAN ACTIVITIES. lli« work of the Anglican Church in I.ngland is exte.'asivo and varied, and one branch of it of peculiar interest, is that in connection with tho ,Showmen's CJuild, winch origiiuvteil with the Ciiurch of Kngland and carricd en chiefly through t-lio chaplain of the guild, the Kov. 'Jnomas Home. In an iivicrcsting report just lo band tlui chati'lain .give 1 ; an aoonnf of his itinerary of lii'itbh fairs during the pre-~-i'i y° llr , his travels during nine months Covering a d.i-itiinw of 6000 fnilcs, and at, diilerenr times be lias visiod Glasgow and Grccnoc!; in Scotland, liedruth, and Penztnie iii Cornwall, Darlington in tlb North v , !u: '' I'onh 'in the K'nondda \ alloy iti Uah'l.he work consists of vau-to-van \"i.-: , ;a , ri">ti, Sunday evening services In the show booths, (uufcreiKv.'s with the men, and Sunday schools. A great deal was done during the 10 weeks' eaissn of the "Maimnoiii J.'un City," lis? important wiep being taken to oruvide an emergency day school at (Mynitmi for MtO children of tho shows. f J'he work, is heartily welcomed amoiy.,l the sliowuteu, and is greafly strenglb'.Mied. by episcopal synipa thy and snpporl.

Another in which tho Anglican Church rwoguißw: Jior obligation is the : hf-at rii-al world. < in his "iuipros.sioiu£: " .Munuiiv.i'-Worship," recognised an ''alliance lielweeti Church and slagc, ' v.'liirll lie said Was il subject "wln-rewith tho livixjcritica-1 may trade on ill; eternal credulity of mankind,'' ill connection with t lio work of the Actors' Church Union, tho Rev. J. Stephen Barniss is giving a iouiso of addresses at St. Maitin's-.in-lhe-FickK ',his subject l:oimf " l.ifo as il is Lived To-day," the object of ibe address to bring toother tlioo ulio arc, <M;,^a'rr. ; | j„ t.lie theatres and music lull's of Lqndni. .Air Barras, in referring to tiiie work of tho union, said that a go:'<l deal of prejudice existed on 1.-olli tides, but there is distinct evidence i lias such was gradually disappearing. It is satisfactory to know that the Actois' Church Union rc. ceive-s increasing support from nicmbars of tho theatrical profession, for the more this advances the k« prejudice t-hore will ami a more ready recognition from 1)01 h side.? of tli.3 connection between Oiiurch and .slag*—a connection, li_v the I'.-jy, recognised by V. T . Winter in "The l'i'CfS and tbo Stage." whore ho says that ''the stage is the mirror of human life,''

ABOUT PEOPLE. .Mr Robert Smellie, who is SO years of age. has resigned the leadership cf the young men's Bible Class at Chalmers United Free Church, Langholm, which ho has condticted for almost 50 years. Mr Smellie is the oldest church treasurer in Scotland, and litis been an elder and Sunday school superintendent ill Chalmers Church since the Disruption. "Father Endeavour" Clark is well satisfied uii the whole with the results of tho convention he has been attending at Barcelona. Noarlv 1500 Endeavourers ware present,, in a local theatre on the last Sunday i;i Xovei-iber. This was described as " the greatest Protestant meeting ever held in Spain." Much help was given by the l(ev. L ranklyn G. Smith, of tile Barcelona Wesleyan Mission.

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME,

Canon Cosgravc, who lias been for 17 years vicar of Christ, Church, West Hertlepool, is leaving to undertake missionary work in Indiu. Speaking recently at a groat working men]s moeting hold in Hartlepool, the Archbishop-designate of York [.'aid a high tribute to Canon Cosgravc, ami said that such devotion made him feel that he also ought, to be starting forth on mission work, instead of settling quietly down at York.

Mr Goldwin Smith has written to the Springfield Republican to correct its statement that lie has renounced belief in llio immortality of the soul. What; he rejects is the doctrine of the soul's survival of the body: he declines to accept Bishop Butler's theory of the soul as a being apart, encased in i.he body and set free from it by death. On the other hand, he clings to the belief

[ " that there is in matt a spiritual element, j with sjich hope beyond as its existence may entail." 5

The appointment of Professor Currie liartill as joint, foreign secretary of the London Missionary Society lias given much satisfaction in the Congregational churches. Professor Martin will in the course of time succeed the present admirable foreign secretary. Or Wardlaw Thompson. Mr Martin has been for the hist four years tutor in New Tesfaine.nt. subjects at both Lancashire and Yorkshire Independent Colleges. lie has latterly done useful work in connection | with the L.M.S. exhibition at. Bradford, and Ihroitghoitl his ministry has shown the I liveliest interest in foreign mission work.

liev. W. .1. Conybeare has been appointed by the Bishop of Southwark to the rectory of Newington. in succession lo the late Hev. Canon Palmer. Mr Conybeare has been head of the Cambridge House in South London. After acting as curate of St. Ccorge, Conilw.vell. he became domestic chaplain to Archbishop Temple in 1901, and has been lion, chaplain to the present. Archbishop since 1903. Mr Conybeare was select preacher lo Cambridge University 1904 and 1905.

One of the leaching forces of the Salvalion Army, Colonel Samuel Brangle, is lying somewhat seriously ill in the United States! The colonel is a man of education, a university graduate, who blocked boots as a student in the Army's Training College, ami is to-day recognised throughout, the world as one of the most influential leaders the Army possesses. lie is specially gifted aa an expositor of great truths in "simple language. and his hooks conveying the Army's teaching on "Holiness" arc text-books "on the subject wherever it is discuspcd or taught. He is an American by birl.lt, anil has done over 20 years' service in the Salration Army. He has been remarkably successful recently in his annual Scandinavian campaigns in Finland, Denmark. Norwav, und Sweden.

A name whieh will be long honoured and remembered by the .Baptist community is that of the Kev. .f. .1. Fuller, a veteran missionary, who Ins just passed- awav in his eigJity-fourlh year. He was a native of Jamaica, and. obtaining his frendom by the Act <,f Ivmanc/paiion. |,e went aa a lad to assist his faiJior. who had ,?ono from i)h island in CKiincction with flic mission lo Fernando Po. \V!:e>> driven by the Spanish r.ufhoTtlios to the Oait'crcons. he went with the missionaries to help in th ( . foundation of the mission Ktation ther". For more t!wn 40 years lie labo«r«l, and was greatly ce'tcenxd by the natives.

" Palvn'ion Smiih" is one of the lusjfcnowu .Salvalioni-'-ts in Tjondan As a mcniltfT of iho Stock Hxcha-ngo he ha.s, in yr>ai-s gone by. had lo go through a good deal of horseplay and rough usage, but members of Ihe. 11 house have long sincfl eomo lo recogirise him as a useful individual to have around when uneasy consciences want a littl-o agisting, ;i 1,11 many a t'tve-pouud note-in the \ray of couseieiiM nionoy—lias | n j o j'f T (j!,, !IK , nt Smilh'n co|lecting-lrox for, the benefit, of tlie |)oor and iiwdv. ifr Smith's <kvicci for the oxlract'ioa (,{ coin from his fellow sloekhroker,- are varied. Last year be exhilwred a begging e!r-ph;ilit (a model of coilr,-,e), while this C-nris'inas he went-round with a lambourine, and go I it full!

Ihe King lias approved the appointment of the Right Kev. Henry Luke Paget,, ilishop Suffragan nf Ipswich, to tlie Sutt'ragiill Bishopric of Stepney, in siieccfwon to the Arohhiahop-designate of York. This lnt'-.it c.p|)ointuieiit. brings Dr I'agct. |;ack to London for the fourth |.:nio. His tiist i'|)poiiit[r<>m after leaving (hford was to the parish of St. Andrew, WVIIs strivt in IS7v. After „ curacy at the Lmls parish church, ne teinrned lo Louden in 1881 to undertake th« CJhrisl Church Minion, ioplar. live years later he accepted Ilk> v.;earage of St. In*. Hunls. and in IBS 7 returned lo London lo follow Bishop Thoro,<l and Dr Spe-nce nt the vicarage of St. lancras. He roniainod in t.hat parish for J" years, going to fpswich in 1906.

■ COXfHIIiGATrONATi FIGURES. 'DECLINING SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 'i'lio Congregational Year Book for 1909 upon v.-iucii .Mr L'narks Standiff .has been J'luily engaged, was, when the last mail ietf iiuiiiioii, nearly ready lor the prcw. Some of tlw statistics, winch are compiled l>y Mr .lolm Minshiill, are already suilic.ejjtly advanced for publication. The figures Bro not encouraging, but not BO (lit. oiu .igiti'g as at. linjL g-ance thoy appcsiir. Til.; summary .shows t-nat there arc 4918 churches, with 1,1101,685 497,66' ci church members, 715,3?1 Sunday scholars, ami T0,103 teacheis. Jiy comparison wir-il last yreir thooe figure? show a decrease of 13 (;hr,robes, an increase of 255 sittings, a decrease of 1291 church mombots, a stanllng <ii:i'lill-> of 13,976 Nuixlay scholars, and an increase of 527 hMciiets". Tho doorcase of I<sL in church tiiGiiiberjhip is oxplained by the fact tint. no i«timViiavo !>:wn received from two groups of Knglish cli in V/alfts, ami that one largo church' in Scotland lias ceased to furnish returns. _ 'J'hc declino of 13.976 Sunday scholars is partially accounted for by tho fact, that elder Sunday scholars are being, in many eases, alsorlwd in F.S.A. a,mi Brotherhood meetings, ami in others are becoming teachers in schools adopting the Archibald primary department system. It. is not without significance that in W-jfe this Congregational Church membership lias hrunl; from 171,371 to 168,015, this affording further midience of the reaction afler tho Welsh revival. During (he past year 20 new churches have been formed, and 30 new chapels opened, while 24 have been enlarged or rebuilt, Nine foundation stones have lieen laid, and 13 sites securod, Tliare were SI n.ew settlements, and 47 oidiuatiora'. Seven ministers entered Cangrngalionaiisui from other denominations, and six left Congregationalism for o(W churchcs. In the 15 ccllcgcs there are 410 students and 67 professors and lecturere.

FROM AM, SOURCES. <3 The Christian World' quotes from a Boston pape; 1 , Zioti's HoraM, a statement to the effect that from 50 to 73 per cent, of most coiigregatoiis in America faiJ to be in thor seals) when the sarvice begins. Acordng to ilr Wilifirod lU>wiuud'.W recently published re-port, the nmnfcor of late attendances in the Liverpool l<'re£ ChurcJies was 36.5 per cent, in the morning, and 28.7 per cent, in the evening.

Both to historians as well na ecclesiastics it is of interest to know that ait, a meeting of tho Sacred Congregation of Rites, held in Itohiio on a lecon't, Sunday, a decree approving- of tho miracles and acts of Jean of Arc was read before tho l'ope, as this ceremony practically constitutes the final step before her beatification. The Holy Father referred to the Maid of Orleans as one of tho gloria! of tho Catholic Church, as teing as "pure as au angel, as strong as a lion in warfare, as simple as a child in Iter habits, and ever faithful to her duties towards Iter Maker." Her being canonised by the Church should have an inspiriting effccl on tho French Catholics of to-day in their prci?eiit depression.

Cambroy Chapel, Cheltenham, has lost a sub-tan'ial legacy under remarkable circumstances. Tire other week the death took place of Mr -John Sims, aged 78, ono cf the trustees, .ml a regular attendant, of -the church. Cambray Oiiajx-I was not represented at the fmipr.il. When, a fow hours latgr. dcoeased's will wp.g read a codicil, dated 1893, staled that the ("Uunhraj Baptist Chapel funds were to bone-fit to the ox' '■!)'- of £100 for each deacon atternling tho burial. Thsro are itino deacon", and Cambray Chapel's less is therefore apparent, Deceased had frequently.; helped ite pliapsl- financially, during his iifetimo.