UNKNOW

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 128, 1 March 1873, Page 3

UNKNOW

""** T«l Rer. Canon Lightfoot delivered the first of tbreo lectures on " Christian Life in the Second and Third Centuries," to a congregation of men, under the domo of St. Paul s Cathedral. , Bafrrrinc to th« Itctares given on the last three Tuesdays, fa* began by remarking that, while it was necessary to face th« problems of th« present, it was not Ims important to review tb« exporwnos) of the pa»t. The study of contemporary Ntigton and poMtieswoutd always exercise tha moit powerful ft* formation over our mind* ; but it was beset with the most JT ftiwious disadvantages, fti the firit place we approached the •abject with the Wind partiality of men who had taken a distinct tide in the conflict which they were reviewing. In the next, as we were placed in the very midst of the eventsour point of view was necessarily confuted, and we wera in •apacitated from estimating correctly their proportions. In the three lectures allotted to him he propose^ to dwell on tome aspects of Christian life in the second and third centuries of our era. For the most part hit illustrations would be drawn from the period of 150 years which followed upon the •lose of the first century. His starting point, therefore, would be marked in secular history by the accession of the Emperor Trajan, and in ecclesiastical history by the death of the last surviving Apostle, St. John, for the two events were nearly coincident. In confining himself to thoso limits he was anxious to exhibit Christianity as an independent force, working in and by itself, without the aid of any extramous supports or any peculiar advantages. Thus ho excluded on the one hand the ages when the special influence and the extraordinary, inspiration, of the Apostles might be thought to exempt the Church from the common exper ences of history. And on the other hand he stopped short of the time when, under Constantine, the Church entered into an alliance with the State, and it became difficult henceforth to citimate how far its triumphs should be ascribed to its own inherent force, ann how far to the support of the civil arm. During the period to which he restricted hinnelli thero wa.s no djs- j •urbmg element in the calculation. Whatever successes it achieved were due solely to ibs own vital energy, to the working of its Christian ideas through the Christian society. Striking *bs kev-notc of the investigation he began by (juctj'ng a remarkable description of the early Chritt.ans by one of them* selves, who appeared to ha*e lived olose upon the confines of the Apostolic Age. The writing from which the extract was taken— the Epistle to Diognetus— was a fragment without a name and without a dare, a single page from out? of the vast volume of Christian literature in the second century which, with a few meagre exceptions, had altogether perished; The writer seemed to have embodied in it the very spirit of the flospel. Compared with the noblest utterances of heathen Mge or moralist of the time — with the dogmatism of an EpicMvi, or the plaintive aspiration of aM. Aurelius— it sowed into a loftier region, than any of these. There was an energy and a vitality in it, a consciousness of strength, a capability of endurance, and an as3uranqe of triumph wholly different in kind from the religious sentiments of heathendom. The secret of this moral force was hhafc the writer left one in no doubt. He did not refer to tho moral precepts of tho Gospel, or to tho social organization of the Church, or to the philosophical dogmas of Christianity, but to person cad a fact. Not a word was said about any of those five causes whiqh Gibbon paraded before his readers when he attempted to. account for the unparalleled triumphs of Christianity— tho pertinacious zeal of the Christians, the alluring promises of future bliss, the miraculous powers claimed by tho Primitive Church, the austere morality of the »ow society, and the efficient discipline of the body. These, so far as they were causes, were only second iry causes. Canon Lightfoot proceeded to deal with the taunt of the early antagonists of Christianity, that tho new religion did not recruit its ranks from the most ctalted, the most intellectual, or the most respectable classes of society, and ♦lien, with the practical difficulties which, whatever the rank of the Christian, beset his path. It was next to impossible for us to realise the übiquity, tho obtrusiveness of polytheism. All the public offices of Rome were connected with tho sanctuary of some god— the Templo of Mir* was the War Office ; tho Temple of Juno, the Mint ; the Tenrnle of Baturn, the Treasury, and so forth. Thus every official duty was bound up with some religious sanction. When Roman civilisation and enlightment had reached the highest pitch, during the reign of Augustus, the importation of corn from Egypt, on which the Roman populace largely depended for support, was deified, and a niche assigned to the new goddess Annona in the pantheon of Roman worship— very much as though among ourselves Free Trade were to receive the honour of an apothesis. But the elasticity of polytheism was not confined |to matters of general and public interest. Eacli several locality had its patron deity — the house the field, tho stable and the farmyard. Even tho sowage of Rome was under the protection of some god. Every de«re and every sentiment, every virtue, and one might almost say every r\r- y of man underwent an rpoiheojii. Nar, so far did this pt«sion for deification \;o that thero was hardly a ramification of human life or development of humnn action left unoccupied. Tertullian, with savage humour, pnraded the names of gods and goddesses who presided over the birth and nurture of a child — Edula and Potina over ita eating and drinking, Citninn, over its slumbers in the cradle, Rumina over its suckling, Farinua, or Locutius, over its fir*fc lessons in talking, Statinaover itjs firjt eflbrta at standing, with numberless others. Amid" this multitudinous throng of deities the position of the early, converts must have been, difficult indeed 1 . To keep, themselves as putv from idols, as it was their most elementary duty, so also was their direst perplexity. No wonder that to the careless heathen they appeared morose, reservod, unsympathetic in private life. After describing tho brutalising public games and amusements of that period, the lecturer concluded by eloquently describing the influence exercised by Christianity in bringingabout the abolition of slavery. — Times.

Swuoung Across thb Hellespont. — From timo immemorial the fea,t of twimming nightly acrost the Hellespont by Leander to tuit the lovely Hsro has been looked upon as one of th» greatest accomplishments in the art of natation. Many writers hare cast great doubt on the story, among whom Shakspeare questioned the integrity of the «' foolish chroniclers of the time." Lord Byron, however, •ntertained a very different opinion, and went 10 far as to prove, in the most practical wav, that the swim from Abydos to Sestos was by no meant so difficult of negotiation. What Byron did fifty yearn a«o could, we feel sure, bo achieved •wily by many of our swimmers of the. present day ; and sews has just reached us that two persont have lately performed an exploit that has alwayt been considered so improbable The Levant Herald, having received a despatch from its correspondent at the Dardanelles, announces tVat on the JtSth October Lieutenant William Moore and Gunner Mahoney, of her Mnjesty't tiyveyinsf Teasel Shearwater, tuceesifullv accomplished Launder and Lord Byron's feat of iwimminc; across the Dardanelles, from Abydos to Sestos. STKAJC IN THB Stbkt.— The Philadelphia Ledger gives currency to an announcement that a new engine for propelling ttreet cars has be»n invented to compact as to occupy no more space than an ordinary baw-barning parlour stove. It it ttated that the smoke 'i consume^, and there is no soot, cinders, or noite. The. engine has the power of five horses, ami the cars» which are of the usual dimensions, can be controlled, as to stoppage ant) propulsion, quite as handily as though drawn by horses. The power can lie increased at pleasure up to, the capacity of a 25-horse power engine, thus enabling it to, ascend grades, of 400 feet to the mile. The engineer can " tlow up" in the space of 32 feet when the ' oart are going at the rate of 85 mite* an hour. The engine it placed upon the rear platform, so that the windows can be left open in pleuant weatheis without the annoyance of •moko or cinders, while any dust that might be raised is left behind. .^ Dangers o* Railway Travelling —A ttartling railway incident is reported by aMr R.. B. Borthwick. " Although (says he) I have all my life been a great railway traveller, and have this very year journeyed not less than 15,000 miles on one line, I never felt myself in such peril as in the short journey on Tuesday from Tebay to Penrith. As toon as we reached the summit of Shap Fell we literally flew along at a fearful pace, the carriages rocking from side to tide, and jumping every new and again from the rails in the mott appalling manner. When we reached Penrith (which we hardly oxpectcd to do) the first thins* I heard was a porter asking tlio guard of our train what had become of the express. Shortly — very shortly — it rushed through Penrith station at full speed. It ought to have preceded us, and it seems wo Lad been flying from its purtuit."