SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14899, 30 July 1910, Page 5

SUNDAY CIRCLE.

DEVOTIONAL. - Teu, Me, Ye Winged Wikds.

Tsll me, ye winged winds, That round my pathway roar, ' Do ye not know some spot Where mortals weep no more? Some lono and pleasant dell, Some valley in tho west, Whore, free from toil and pain, Tho weary soul may rest? The loud wind dwindled to whisper low, And sighed for pity as it answered "No. 1 ' ' Tell me, thou mighty deep, Whoso billows round mu play, Know'st thou somo favoured spot, Some island far . away. Where woiry man may lind The bliss for which lie sighs,— Where sorrow never lives, .•Villi friendship never dies? Hie loud waves, rolling in perpetual flow, Stopped for a while, and sighed to answer "No." And thou, "serenest moon, That, with such lovely face, Dost look upon the earth, Asleep in night's embrace; Tell me, in all thy round, Hast thou not seen some spot, Where miserable man May (inci a happier lot? Behind a cloud tho moon withdrew in woe, And a voice, sweet, but ;ad, responded, "No." Tell me, my secret soulOil i tell' mo llopo and FaithIs there no resting-placo From sorro.v, sin, awl death? Is thero 110 happy spot, Where mortals way b» Most, ' Where grief may lind a balm, And ivearin.'ss a rest? Faith, Hope, and best boons to • mortals given, Waved their bright wings, and whispered, "Yes, in Jieavon!" , Cms. Mackay. SBW'LIOWIOX. We thank Thee, 0 Lord, that wo do know that Thou art good, and plenteous 111 mercy, and ready to hear all.that call upon Tliee. Give ear unto our prayer, 0 Lord; grant that it may be such as' J ' )ou Must give car to and answer. Breathe into our hearts desires after tho highest good, and weaken in us all inclinations or longings for lesser and lower things. We Bless Theo for fellowship with Thyself, and that we can draw near to Theo, not only to petition, but to behold and to receive. Anil wo pray 'Dice to help us now, not only to bring to Thee our need,- but i'nai our minds and hearts may' bo lilled and blessed) by tho thoughts which are only too'unfamiliar to uS° of lhvsolf in all Thy giirif/i'S greatness, in all Thy strong sweetness and sufficiency. Amen.

Meditatiok THE IDKAL 01' MARRIAGE.

Tho nobility and moral strwrgth of a nation, depends cn the courage ot. its loyalty to great ideals. But the Cross proclaim* tho truth Unit loyalty must mean sacrifice, must iavojvo liarddiip. Lot us tako an illustration. One of tho highest ideals wliieii 'Phrfetianity has set before tho wai'id the ideal of marriage not as a mare terminable contract o{ cohabitation, hue as » ixM'ina.uejit reJatioii;hip of life! There may -be a question whether our Lord admitted oi>3 excopticit in his prohibition of the dissolution of tho marriage tic; there is lio question that at least beyond that doubtful cxcopticn He laid down tho principle that marriage was a lifelong obligation. It was a principle which seemed hard at _ the time; when thev heard it the _ Disciples. oicl-ainxxl, "If fho case be SO, it is not good to marry ; it 'has proved to bo bard ever since. The history cf the moral witness of the Christian society is the .history of a long struggle against the pressure of human lratwa to be relieved of the consequences of a demand so exacting. For centuries in England the .State, at least in its general legislation, accepted tlio law of Christ. Fifty-three yearo ago it yielded to the pressure of 'human nature so far as to avail itoelf cf tile cue exception which seemed to be permitted by Christ. But beyond this ,oxraption it refused to go, and it demanded that even for this cause marriaiges should only be dissolved by a court of an exceptionally hisrh standard c.t care, vigilance, and experience, Now from many quarters the plea has corno that marriage should to dissohed for other causes, aijd dissolved by courts, whese very.merit is that they make the' dissolution ail easier and more ordinary circumstance of life. It is impossible to question the reality of the hardships which the .Obmtiam iileal involves. They are more true and moro bitter than many realise who have had no opportunity of coming into contact with them. It is impossible to doubt tho genuineness erf the sympathy which scoks to relievo them. . . . The question is, Is it right., for the sake of relieving hard cases whiah can only be exceptions, to abandon the principle upon which for centuries the strong, healthy \fa.mily life of the country lias been built? Which is the truest sacrifice, the easv ono to sacrifice principle _to tho hardships, or tho the difficult one to sacrifice tlio hardships to the principle These are tho questions which it behoves Christian citizens at this time to ponder, and' which, they ought to he prepared to answer. For it may well happen that sooner or later there will be presented a.momentous challenge to tl:2 Wiristian conscience of the country—whether it. is prepared still to uphold for the people's good the Christian weal, or whether it will surrender it because it proves to bo hard.—Tho Archbishop of York.

Exhortation THE GKIiAT EVENT OF 1910. The World Mis sionary Conference in. ! Edinburgh is the fust attempt that lias bson made sinoa the Reformation oil the part of tha United Protestant world to moot together and to take counsel how tiio Gospel on which those Protestant Churches have keen founded is to lie taken to tlibss two-' thirds of the human rare that have not yet rcccivod it. All tihe Churcho-* and all tiio ir&tioiK were represented in .that Conferojicc. For the Jiist timo we may say the Church oc God is meeting to look at tho woHd. At Inst wo can get a complete survey of the ground that has to be ' covered, of the task that lids to' be dcaie, and therefore of the demands tliat are , inc<k: upon tha Christian in order to fulfil ■ l r iV3 task. The crisis is extraordinary, and it may be doscribetl in thos-: familiar word:-, "There is an open dcor, and there are many adversaries." Never was thero such an opon door, but, sti'a.nge to say, forces lwsv and unexpected liavo risoit up all over tlie world to oppose, the advancing armic-s of cur Lord anil Saviour Jesus Christ. Ju=t now, when, us wo have wen, the milliters should btj quadrupled and all tlie forces of the Churches should bo rallied in order to carry out tlie great task, 1o enter tho open dcor, to forestall the obstacles that are accumulating just at tliis moment, hej-e in England—l thank God, not in America and in' other parts of tho mission field. —the cry of retreat is sounded. It is proposed to withdraw missionaries, to give it up, hew in England, here in our civil society, to sounxl the retreat, Never was there a more diabolical i cry than that; never was there a more anti-Christian thought than that—to retireat just at the moment when the Cap-' tain cutis t'ov advance, and wlien He has prepared the ■way!—liobcrt F. Horton, M.A., D.D. i ABOUT PEOPLE. The Rev. J. Guy. of New Zealand, was given a feat in the historic Conference w'hich celebrated -(lie centenary of the first society class formed in the Primitive Methodist church, which was opened iir the magnificent church at Tuiista.il, Staffs. Sir • William Hartley, tho retiring presitUnt, ■ temporarily occupied the chair, with tho • Rev. John Welford 111 the vice-chair. Tho Rev. John M'Neill has accepted the pastorate of St. George's Presbyterian Church, Liverpool, where lie has beeni preaching for some weeks past to crowded J congregations. Mr M'Kedl has rosusci- ] tuted a. city church which had sunk so low ; tliat a little while ago its sale was seriously considered. A gocd _ recent story of Mr "M'Neill comas from Liverpool. While placing golf Mr M'Neill s>ent his ball into a difficult sand bunker, and after several ineffectual endeavours to get it out, lie turned smilingly to his opponent and remarked, I've got a settled job at last." The Rev. Daniel Thomas, M.A., of Wymore, Nebraska , Moderator of tho Welsh Oalvinistio Methodist General At.Ksmbly of America, went to England as representative of tlie United States at the General Ajasembly of tho Gaivinietic Metho- I dista of tha Motlior Country, held at

RELIGIOUS- READING- FOE' THE HOME

Neath. As a. preacher Mr Thomas has very favourably impressed tho congregations he has already ministered, to . in. Wales. Mr Thomas was bora in iho united States, but speaks excellent AVolsh, without a trao3 of foreign accent. This is his first visit to the land of his fathers.

Trie K-ev. John Watt, M.A., Professor of Science in, tho College, of Calcutta, has been appointed to the office of principal in suoccssioit to Principal Lamb, it.A., on his retirement in the spring of 1911 by tho Board of Scotland, which represents ths Church of Scotland aixl tho United Free Church of Scotland. Mr Watt, who •is a graduate' of Aberdeen University, was oraaittid in 1883/ as a missionary of the Frco Church of Scotland 1 . He was cent out to Calcutta ijj tho same year as a tcacJicr of soieuca in tho Duff College, awl for over 20 vcara ho has successfully filled this peat. When, in 1903 the union tcok place of the General Assemblies Institution and the Duft College, Mr Watt, continued his work of science teaching.

The Itev. C. Silvester. Home, M.P., chairmail of tho Congregational Union of England and Wales, speaking at tho annual meetings of tho North Bucks Congregational Union, eaid that the Congregational Church was a great church, united by kinship and 1 affinity. The modern world was going to be. tha heritage of the Church, wlhicli had tho courage- of its convictions, tho courage to lay hold of society and apply tho teaching of Christ. The Church of the future was not necessarily going to be . tho'wealthiest, but it was going to bo the Ohiiroh of tho' richest spirit,'"tli e Church of apostolic and heroic spirit. When peoplo jisk«l him. why he was so interested in the present political situation he answered that to him self-government made for sdf-rolianoe, resourcefulM6s, .stalwartness, and power.

Writing to a friend in Scotland, Dr Toi-rey gives an account of his' rcoeut cam■paign'at Texarkaaa,. Texas God gave us a very great'blessing in that city. Texarkana-& it place supposed to have 30,000 inhabitants. Quito a considerable number are coloured people. The friends 'erected a tabernacle for a month's meetings. I think the, actual seating capacity would J:avo been about 4000, as a' building is ordinarily seated 1 . It proved altogether too small for / many of . the meetings. Last night (May 17) and a" week ago last night, it is said there were 500 people outsido the building in carriages and automobiles, or standing, listening to the sermons. We. held two meetings each day—-in tile afternoon for the instruction ot Christians, and each night for tho ingathering ot the - unsaved. Wo were SKat-ly favoured in the weather. The crowds were voy great, as indicated above. We wero told in coming to Texarkana that we wciild fmd a hard held, but wo did not find it so. Wa had tile hearty co-operation of almost.' all the churches and ministers in tho citj\ There has never been known to be such union among the different churches. All clafsss of society were reached, from fho richest to the. poorest. Texarkana Ins an unusually large number of rich men for a place of its siae, and most of the rich men are interested in Christian work, helping the meetings net only by their, gifts, but also by attending. Some of them scarcely misssd a single meeting."

Canon Tupper-Carey has addressed to the, Lowestoft Parish Magazine an account of his experiences as a caiion-jn-residence at York, a dignity to which ho was recently appointed : —"X have to live in a great bar- • rack of a house, with.-35 rooms, somo-of which have not besn 'minted for 40 years, and some have not been lived in for over 50 years. It is shared by four canons, who arc supposed to ocupy it fcr 13 weeks at a time, but as some of them are old and infirm they have been let off their, residence, and so the -house, is left untenanted for months together. This dees not add to its comfort; 'but fortunately we are not disturbed by or anythiiij; of that sort. At the services I do nothing; not even am I allowed to read so much as a lessen. Wherever I go I am led by « verger in a gown and cassock and a silver stick, who helps mo to put oil my robes and to take them off. After a few days of being dressed and undrcsssd I told my verger that I had never been dressod or bathed since tho days cf any childhood, and could Ibo allowed lo dress myself'? Since then I have beeu able to pat my own things on; but there is no getting over the extreme deference paid one by, the officials of the church and'the choir iboys. Wherever ono goes ono pots the most profound bows, and as one walks to the vestry between two rows of choir , boys one only sees the back of their necks, so low are their bows. I long to have them shake hands as I pass them. Onoe did I try to avoid passing between them, and tried lo steer outside tho row, but they at once all turned round, and bowed as obsequiously as bofore. go I havo given up trying to dedgs thorn, and can only lons to be once moro among fishermen who could riot bow to save their lives. I suppose' ono will gradually get accustomed to tho job, and} after all, it only lasts 13 weeks in the year, and then I can get about among the Yorkshire people, and do som'Blhing to help tin: clergy. .As long as one is trying to do some good one must not mind what the work is."

FROM ALL SOURCES,

The 'bicentenary of tho' Anglican Canadian Church is to be celebrated at Halifax (Nova Scotia) in September, during the sittings of tho" Canadian Church Congress, The first function is tho qicming of tho new Cathedral of All Saints'* on September 0, at which the Lieutenant-Governor and other high dignitaries will bo present, and the Rev'. F. Courtney, a former Bishop of Nova Scotia, will bj the preacher.

There is a prospect that by 1913 the Bfi&vbyteriain, Methodist, and Congregational Churches of Canada, will • ke united into one groat body. Tho Presbyterian General Assembly at. Halifax, by a vote of 184 to 73, has'adopted the basis of union formulated two years ago (by the joint committee, and tho question now goes down to t-hj Presbyteries. The basis already been 1 accepted by tho Congregational Umion and by two of tho Methodist Conferences now in session. If all goes frell tho union. may be nil accomplished fact at tho date mentioned. '

Rev. A. B. Simpson, Guperintendftnt of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, has bean travelling in South America, and he speaks of a low state of morality and of a sad stats of religious life. At Callao, Peru, about 40 persons attended tho .English service, about twice as many "-.ho native service, and thousands the buil-figU on Sunday night. Tho Methodist and Regions Beyond Mission have made a bravo beginning, and tihe .Bible Society appears to bo doing more than all for v«u pioneer evangelisation. In Argentina more than a quarter of a million immigrants .from. Europe enter the country ever .year, wtnln mi Buenos Ayres English is spoken by over 40,000 paople. But spiritual life is low, and the missionary force .utterly inadequate. There are 3000 native. students ni tho universities, and of thesis.. according to the secretary of the Y.M.C.A., lees .than one-tent,ii have any faith in the priests. The rest are utter materialists and agnostics. Tho Y.M.C.A. have a good BibLo class work among them, and are building a fine hall for public meetings.

iir W. J. Bryan, the American. Democrat, lectured under t,he auspioes of the .Y.M-O.A. at Bradford recently. Many people, he said, objected to the Christian, odigion because of ito mysteries. But. what was our whole existence but a mystery? If a, miui- before eating anything (satisfied himself m to the ftheniicaJ ormuiisation of his food, why he. would die of starvation. '"No; the mystery does not bother us in the diningl'omri." was one of Mr Bryan's telling asides; " it. is only io the Church.'' The ezg, hp. said, •is tihe most universal form of food. " Mankind meets at the breakfast, fable, and an egg, like a touch of nature, .makes the whole world kin.—(Laughter.) And yet what more mysterious than an, egg . —tliat everybody eats, and nobody understands. Take an eg-g---a. 'resh egg.—(Loud iaughter.) It is not only good food, lint an important article of merchandise. Lend it to a lion for a u-eek, and it will ics? a. large, part of it»= market value —(laughter)— but if you will let- '1101- have it for two weeks more she will give you back a oniekeu. And yet nobody can explain tho £i r g." Therefore. Jna.nkind should not bo too ower to scrutinise the ways of the Almighty, and refiHO fei believe what their intellects are not really ablo to g'rasi).