Current Topics. AT HOME AND ABROAD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 39, 25 January 1895, Page 3

Current Topics. AT HOME AND ABROAD.

THE BISHOP OF SALISBURY'S ADDRESS.

*. But what we aek Btill is the "Anglican ideal?" There is an " Anglican ideal," and in some sense at least, it has superseded the Anglican Church. So much we have learned from an address delivered the other night in Dunedin by the Bishop of Salisbury. Bat still we do not understand. We look for some subtle mean. ing that has escaped our grasp. Barely the only meaning that we can see is not the true one. The Anglican ideal, if we understood the Bishop aright, would be that there was to be authority in matters of faith and yet that everyone was to choose a creed for himself. That, however, would be nonsense with which we should not care to accredit a scholar of such high standing as Dr Wordsworth, or an ecclesiastic of his eminence. The Anglican ideal as we understand it, might also mean the plea of a hierarchy uncertain of their position and fearful as to its duration. " Only acknowledge our preeminence, and follow yonr own judgment," This also is a meaning which we should be unwilling to attribute to the Bishop. But in some of the Bishop's utterances that do not admit of misunderstanding we are unable to acknowledge soundness of judgment. Take, for example, the inter* pretation his Lordship gives of the gift of tongues at Pentecost, In this he finds the ideal of national Churches ; wbereas, he says, had the Apostles been made to speak one language only and been under, stood by all, "God would so have established the ideal of the Church of Borne upon future Christendom." The figure which the Bishop finds here is far-fetched indeed, and rests only on a right of fanciful interpretation. Had it Dot been a Pentecost ; but a Babel, where each Apostle lost his own and received instead one strange tongue, Borne foundation, perhaps, might be perceived for it. The truth >s one, no matter how diversely expressed it may be, and its source cannot be divided. But though the Bishop prrmits a wide latitude in belief, be still is ready to set cert tin limits. He parmits those who are anxious to see his ideal of national Churches made a reality, and with whom— even those of them who belong to the Church of Borne, who we fancy may easily be counted— hu thinks it right to carry on friendly relations, "to examine what authority teaches and to hold fast to what ever they find to be agreeable to the word of God, to sound reason, and to the general sense of the teaching of the Christian body" — to be, in fact, to themselves the supreme authority. But there are doctrines still that it would seem, they must not hold. Ttere ate the Immaculate Conception and the personal infallibility of the Pope. Dr Wordsworth allows and, considering what the authority of his Ohurch in dealing even with disputed points among her own ecclesiastics is, we may duly appreciate his Lordship's magnanimity — that it ia not their business as a Church to "cut off the Roman Church into absolute heresy on the ground of the promulgation of these doctrines." Aod if it were, we may ask in passing, how as a Church they would proceed, and from what it is that they would cut off the Catholic Church ? They indeed of old cut her off from all that was in their power— from her cathedrals and churches, and endowments and monastic property, from everything material, in a word, on which they coald lay their hands. Where what was spiritual was concerned it wag themselves they cut off, and that suicidal act alone was possible to them. As to the Bishop's claim that his Church does not " indulge in anathemas, how can it consistently be urged regarding a Church which, for instance, admits the Athanasian Creed and a Commination Service, and in support of which the Elizabethan persecution and the penal laws took place ? "But," said the right rev speaker, " those doctrine 3 were repugnant to Scripture, experience, history, and to all common sense. '■ To make so a pronouncement, neverthe less, Dr Wordsworth himself should be personally infallible. Infallibility, be mast acknowledge to be necessary in a case where it is manifest that an error would be very serious. Dr Wordsworth, besides, can see nothing in these doctrines more to deserve such condemnation, than, for example, the Unitarian, whom, unless he ba utterly inconsistent, he wonld not exclude from his Church, sees in the doctrine of the Trinity — or than the Low Churchman, who may, and actually doee, bold us high a

position in bis Chorch as he holds himself, sees in baptismal regeneration or the Apostolical succession. Hia private interpretation, an authority of which he himself inviteß examination, is all the Bishop can give us in contradiction of these doctrines — and, ripe scholar and eminent divine though his Lordsdip be, we can set against that the judgment of men who are at least his equals in both respects. As for as of the common crowd — where doctors differ, how shall we decide 1 Is it Dot evident that we must have a guide, and, if a guide, an infallible one ? For those who believe not only with the intellect but with tht light of grace in the Incarnation, there is no difficulty in the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. For those who believe that Ood has spoken it should not be difficult to believe that tbtre is an infallible interpreter of His Word. It is not our place however, to enter upon a learned controversy. All our part is to try and understand Dr Wordsworth's position — if we can— and bo far a 6 we are able to do so, we find it inconsistent and untenable. Bnt Dr Wordsworth also betray s his weakness in the allies of whom he makes bis boast. He also sets much store by the recognition of his Church made by the Old Catholics. Dr Wordsworth tells us he was present at tha Old Catholic Congress at Cologne in 1872, where he found himielf in a motley, though iv what he evidently considered a very good, com pany. In addition to the schismatics named— boasting at that time very much of what they were goiog to do, and ever since failing very much to do it — there were, for example, a Greek Archbishop, a Russian arch priest, and Count Cam pello. The company, we may add* would have been infinitely more various, if not quite so choice, had representatives of all the sects of every kind, instigated by the motive that brought it together — that is, hostility to the Catholic Church, been pres«nt, Under those circumstances it might havi ranged from the Bishop and his late right rev father who may freely be acknowledged as its most respectable members, to Caserio or Franchi» the anarchist. Varying on all other points, as they do, hostility to Borne binds all these sects together. Satan, we see one* more, cannot be divided against himself — but in all forms of error from the highest and moat refiaed to the lowest and coarsest, mast unite in opposing the Catholic Ciurch. The Bishop, however, admits that not very much has come of the Old Citboiic movement, The body increases only with the natural incrsase, the birth of children to it* members. It has, in fact, prove! wholly abortive as a schism — though we may allow, if tha Anglican body desire it, that its sympathy lends dignity to their Church and gives to their claim of Catholicity all the support due to it. As to an assertion made by Dr Wordsworth that both here and in Switzerlaud Catholics pass over with comparative eaae to other religious bodies, it seems more than questionable* The rapid growth of Catholicism io Protestant cantons— Geneva for instance — contradicts the statement with regard to Switzerland. Among colonial Catholics religious perversions are rare indeed. Our personal experience of the pervert has been limited to a departure of a nominal Catholic now and then, in search of some social or other worldly advantage. Such stray sheep, in fact, though less directly, had been as much open to sale as the faw poor wretched " soupers " whom we have personally seen in the West of Ireland bribed to make for a time a pretence of Protestantism. Bat this appeal to the sympathy of the old Catholics plainly proves the uneasiness of the Anglican mind. Dr Wordsworth's whole address is a striking testimony to the truth and majesty of the Catholic Church. Here is this Anglican prelate, one of the most illustrious on the episcopal bench — and see bow Roma still dominates and disquiets him. Even to the uttermost extremity of the earth her shadow pursues and daunts him, and will not let him rest self-satisfied. In spite of himself he acknowledges — confesses with the aggressiveness of anxiety and doubt — that be can only make good his spiritual claims by convicting her of error. Tbe eminence of the reasooer makes the vanity of his argument tbe more apparent. And, by the way how does this ideal of national Churches fit in with tbe doctrine of Order s to which Dr Wordsworth also makes reference — hert also leaning in his sense of poverty on old Catholic support and the tistimony of Bishop Reinkens. The Presbyterians of Scotland, for example, make no pretence to Apostolical succession, Are they debarred, therefore, from forming a National Church — and has Swi zerland found a National Church for the first time in the Old Catholics ? Or, if a National Church can dispense with Orders in one country,

*hy are they necessary to such a Charch ia another? If the Scotch Kirk can do without them, why should the Anglican Church insist on them ? If the Anglican ideal be true, it is evident that, except in England, and even there only partially, the desire of Almighty God has hitherto been frustrated in (he countries of the Reformation. Tbe Anglican ideal, said the Bishop, waa " that God deßired each nation to have its representative in a Church body, which waa to be as fully as possible the mother of the whole nation, and to represent God to that nation and that nation to God." But the Church of England cannot bo said herself in anything but theory and in virtue of her establishment, to fulfil the Anglican ideal or to be the church of the English nation— and, if the doctrine of holy Orders held by her be trne, the othtr Protestant bodies are not Churches at all. The National Church among Protestant?, in short, is still the Church of the future. Dr Wordsworth concludes with a gloomy prophecy. He calls upon us all, in effect, to forget our differences -and join together as one Church. Unless we do so he says, •' we shall never make a proper use of our privileges." But the Church is thit of the Anglican ideal, the Church of England nationalised. What are the cbances that we shall take tbe Bishop'd advice? We would respectfully remind bis Lordship of the old adage, tcelwn %on animum mutant gui trans mare currunt. For our own part not even the sight of Dr Nevill enthroned in his new cathedral— solemn and imposing though it be— has power to move U9. We admit, however that since tbe Bishop of Salisbury has spoken, we no longer look upon Dr Nevill as isolated in entertaining certain rather amszing views. As put forward also by the Bishop of Salisbury, the Anglican ideal appears lo us almost incredibly foolish— a jargon of words, in fact, without either sense or'meaning— except those of a feeble anti-Catholic controversy. As we have said, the eminence of the reasoner makes the folly and pettiness of hia argument all the more apparent. Not even a scholar of Dr Wordsworth's attainments, or a dignitary of his exalted standing, in dealing with the theme, can make it worthy of the serious attention of intelligent men.

ODDS AND ENDS.

lauguflge " says the Bishop in effect, " let us build our own Church, reaching heaven in our own independent manner." God, however, was of a different will. He had established a way to heaven that all mußt follow m obedience to His wcrd, and at the sacrifice of a spirit of pride. He, therefore, confounded the design of the proud blasphemers. Logical, nevertheless, is the Bishop of Salisbury. Words are the BigCß of ideas. Therefore a nation having the same wordß should have the same ideas — religious aa well a 9 secular. The argument is perfect. But bow traditions linger. We are all Englishman in our language, says the Bishop ; therefore we should join together as one Church. What is this but an adaptation of the principle on which it was sought, under Queen Elizabeth, to plant his Lordship's Church among tbe Irish people— by m-king the ute of their native tongue penal and thus turning them into Englishmen. The Bißhop of Salisbury boasts great things of the Anglican ideal— the more magnificent one, he gays— and promises still greater things of its result?, to be proved when tbe Saviour comes again to judge tbe world. Its great results, nevertheless, remain among thd doubtful offiprin^ of the future, for the ideal, as we have seen, has not yet b:en cmied into practice. There are results, meanume, of a vain attempt to carry it out that will hardly entitle those who come, in the guilt of them, before the Judgment Seat to the sentence of the blessed. Taere was a time, in fact, in which the Church ■ f Eng'and indulged very effectively in anathemas. The tradition of the past, moreover, as we see, though milder, more civilised, and suited to the spirit of the day, lingers with her still. It is among the favourable signs of the times to find extreme supporters of the Tories calling in question theirattitude. The Saturday Review, for example, seems anythiog rather than well pleased at the manner of their behaviour. Tbe Review quotes wit^i approval from a speech recently made at Wulfferhampton by Mr Fowler, in which the speaker read a passage from the letter in which the Duke of Wellington transferred the leadership to Lord D^rby. Tbe Duke said he bad invariably supported the Gjvernment in Parliament on important occasions, always exercising his personal influence to prevent the mischief of a division between the two Houses. " How far,'' exclaims the Rcvierv, " ire Lord Salisbury and his followers from the old Tory ideal, which subordinated class and party interests to the good of tbe State hnd of iho nation I" Mr Fowler concluded by showing that on questions of leBS importance the House of Lords frequently over-rul d tbe L jwer Houbb, giving, as an instance, that Beven tinus in 25 ytars the House of Commons tad passed a Bill to repeal toe disabilities of tha Jews and as many times the Lords had njected it. " What," asks tho Review, "would the Duke of Devonshire, who last week asserted that the House of Lords must never set itself against the sovereign will of the people, say to this indict-

And according to the Bisbop of Salisbury's showing that ideal of national Churches lias a very apt figure in the tower of Babel. "We have one

ment?" But possibly his Grtca might point ont the vexatious and upolesa obstruction made against & Bill that was destined aft^r all to pass and tbe vicious delay caus«d in a matter of good policy and justice. This case of the Jewish Bill famishes an argument in favour of the Duke of Devonshire on one point, but on another, that of Home Rule, an argument against both hiß Grace and tbe Satwday Review. The Review also expresses displeasure at Mr Balfour, whom it accuses of using subtetlies that " savour rather of Ingenious dialectic than of ingenuous argument." Father Rossignolli, who has recently escaped from the Arabs had been a prisoner at Omdurman for 13 years. He had been beaten and maltreated for refusing to enter the mosques, but was eventually allowed to earn a livelihood by acting ai waiter at a cafe. A very remarkable fact in connection with his escape is noted in the fidelity of the Arab who rescued him— and who underwent extreme danger and great labour in the task. He was imprisoned for being found in company with a Christian— and afterwards had to support the priest in a half-fainting condition, on the back of a camel for 10 days. It is said, however, that if an Arab pledges himself in earnest to carry out any undertaking, he will do bo or perish in the attempt. The case in question certainly seems a proof of this. The Saturday Review advances what at first sight may seem a strange, but what, nevertheless, is a strong, argument, in proposing that, as a consequence of their atrocity in Armenia, the Tarks shoald at long last be left to their fate. England, says tha Review, has nothing to lose by letting Russia have her way in Boutb Eastern Europe and Asia Minor. Even though Constantinople really be the key of India, she has nothing to gain by keeping it oat of the Russian pocket. In event of a war with Russia, as things now are, an English army that conld ill be spared must be kept on the Indian frontier, and the ironclads would be confined to the Baltic. Russia now presents no vulnerable point to England. She would not repeat tbe folly of meeting her, as at Sebastopol, and an invasion of her territory by English forces would result to them in a worse disaster than that which overtook Napoleon at Moscow. " Bat with Russia in what is now Turkey, and with Russia's southern capital at Constanti nople, the situation would be entirely altered. ... We should know where to strike. We could get into a position to deliver our strokes without overcoming incalculable obstacles, and every blow would tell." There is certainly, as we have said, force in the argu. ment. At any rate, nothing can excuse England for giving further support to the Turks. The case of a nephew of Colonel Saunderson who was recently arrested on a charge of murdering a woman in London ia a very sad one. Tbe young man was believed to be of an amiable disposition and was generally liked by those who were acquainted with him. He was given to athletic exercises and seemed physically a promising young fellow. Ha however showed some weakness of intellect and had been a pupil or charge at an institution where lads of the kind were educated and looked after— whence he had escaped. His crime was attributed to an unexpected outbreak of homicidal maoia. It is, meantime, of interest to us to learn that tbe youth had been intended for a colonial life— an intention which throws some light on the disposition of people at Home towards the Colonies— as if, we say again, an additional sharpness of intellect was not a requisite for our immigrants. Young Saunderson is highly connected as well on his mother's as on his father's Bide. A case which has recently occurred in Ireland and which is of interest on more points than one, also illustrate the history of attempted proselytism among the Irish people, The case is that of a dispute which a little time ago took place as to the meaning of an endowment for education made in the seventeenth century. The donor was a landed proprietor named Erasmus Smith, and the dispu'e tock place between two of the judges— Fitzgibbon and O'Brien. Judge Fitzgibbon argued that the endowment had been intended for Protestants only and that its chief end was the propagation of the Protestant religion. Judge O'Brien admitted that a propagation of Protestantism was the end, but showed that tbe proselytism of Catholics was to be the means. "Erasmus Smith did not intend to exclude Catholics, but to proselytize them by means of the education. The indenture of 1657, the charter of 1669, and tbe letter of 1682 are all absolutely inconsistent with any other idea." The Judge argued therefore, that, failing the possibility of carrying out the religious intentions of the donor, the endowment must now be applied to the use of the Catholic tenantry of the lands chargeable, who numbered 98 per cent of all. But incidentally we find proof of the effort made even in penal days by thn Catholics of Ireland to educate their children. The founder himself compUined that his school were starved by the rivalry of tbe Papist schools and demanded that the Catholics should be punished by forfeiture and their sohools suppreestd. As we have said then, the interest of the case does not altogether centre in the difference which arose between the judges. Cardinal Logue has written a letter to the secretary of tha Irian Land and Labour Association in which he expresses himself as deeply interested in the well-being and happiness of the working popula-

Hon. His Eminence at tbe same time advises the Association to avoid schemes that are visionary, vague, or incapable of being carried into effect in any reasonable time. Mr Thoß. Sexton, M.P. has addressed a letter to the Chief Secretary relative to the failure of the potatoes and the distress that must result from it, especially in tbe West. In concluding bis letter the writer draws a significant contrast. He reminds Mr Morley that "tbe late Government in 1892, the last year of its existence, expended in Ireland nearly half a million more of her revenue than the present Government spent in this country in the succeeding year, and about a quarter of a million more than the Government estimate they will ipend in the present year out of a revenue substantially augmented." Mr John Dillon speaking the other day at Bunninadden in Sligo referred to the humiliation of being obliged to appeal every now and then to the Government to save the people from starving. It was tot the fault of Ireland, he explained, nor of the soil of Ireland, but of alien laws and bad government and rackrenting. " According to tbe report published last year of the Congested Districts Board there are about fifty thousand families in the districts that are matk.d as congested. These, of course, are the most distressed districts in Ireland. There are fifty thousand families in these congested districts and the rent paid by them is in or about two hundred and fifty thou. sand pounds sterling per annum. How much, I would like to know, has been spent in relief works ? The relief comes once every six or seven years, and I suppose tbe Government spends about ten thou■aud pounds. But put it at £20 000 every ten years, and it is the outside, and meanwhile out of these same districts and from these same people who are obliged to appeal to the Government for relief, in these ten years you have upwards of two millions of rackrents extracted by the rackrenting landlords." The speaker claimed that until the wants of the people who tilled the land had been provided for, the landlords had no right to a farthing in the way of rent. He insisted, whether the new Land Bill passed or not, on the necessity of organisation and the renewal of the spkit by which sj much had been done.

Here is another journalist caught in the act. One of our con. temporaries quotes from a Sydney paper v c ise wh'ch that veracious journal gives as having occurred the other day in the Water Police Court. It is this :— A wife waß seeking pro'ection from her husband. "The huabaud, one Paelun O'Leary, sui thit he always gave his wages to his wife, but that on Monday morning he a-ked her for sixpence to get himself a pint of beer. Sho refused, 'and wid that, your honour, sure I did give her a clout or two.' The magistrate remonstrated with Phehm on the enormity of an Irishman beatin? a woman , and aeked him to promise he w ,uld not do so again. ' Shure I'd be a baste if 1 uid. your honour, whec I just thought of a tkame to do without it,' replied Pnelim. ' It's only keeping the sixpence in me own pocket, your honour, and thin, >ou know, I'll have no occasion to bate it oui of her at all, at all ' The magistrate accepted Pbelim's ' ekame ' and discharged bija." Tne case is taken, with seme slight abbreviation, fiom a book called " Humours and OJdi'ies of the London Polica Courts," recently published in London, and the husband's name was Pbelim O'Shaugbnesßy— not Phehm O'Leary. Our contemporary the Glasgow Observer, of November 17, publishes the following :— Ttie c iucation question. To the editor. Bir, — May I request tht u.r-^lidu of the ijlljwiug, from the NhW Zealand Tablet of September latjl, witn tbe hope that the Catholic organs may a^opt a similar stundiug leader in their wtekhes — Youth faithfully, ThonidH H. Shaw, I'll, Veronica House, Weston-auper-Mare. Th-j reference is to oar sUiuinjg leader of prjttst against the injustice of tbe atcular H3 item. Here is an exemplification of thd old story of the three bla k crows. " When bantley visited New Zealand (says the Edinburgh CatJwlic Herald) he sang in Nelson, Next day tne Nelson Argus announced that there were half-a-dozen amateurs in tbe town who could sing as well as Santley and a great deal louder." But Max O'Bell tolls the yarn about a paper in Ni.pier, and mentions onl; one roaring amateur. The credit he gives to a Nelson editor, as we have already noted, is that of originating the old-time threat of the Sklbiereen Eagle,

That in Salisbury itself the Anglican ideal of a national Church is a novel ideal may be seen, for example, from the following extract which we take from the report of a sermon preached in that city on Sunday, November 25, by the Bishop of Ciifon— the occasion being that of opening a chapil of the Sacred Heart of Jesns recently addad to 8t Osmund's Oburch :— " Sooner or later," said the Bishop, "if it is God's will oar beloved country will bt reconciled to the See which first gave Chris' imity and stability and assurance to the tradition of the Cburcb. Let him (Dr Brownlow) go buck a little into the early days of this city and see what was the tradition of the Church in Salisbury. His Lordship said he had in bi» possession a copy of an old missal in manuscript that was used accoriing to the Strom Rite, and which was actually used in the Cathedral. There were special rubrics in force by the then Bishop of Salisbury. What struck him most waß the date of the missal, and this waa ascertained by the fact being inserted of an indulgence of 40 days, granted by Robert Hallam, Bishop of Salisbury, and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Empire, July 11th, 1409. Then came the condition to be observed by the faithful that they were to pray for the welfare of the Holy Roman Church, the Pope, the Archbishops, Bishops, and especially for the Bishop of their diocess, and finally for the king and queen and their children, and'jncrease of peace in the country. AH this waa done in the Cathedral when England was iv union wiih tbe Pope." Here we find nothing concerning an independent tower of Babel. That belonj. s, but also only partially, as we see, to tbe Salisbury of the period The Rev L. A. Lambert, LL.D , who, owing lo a difference as to Protection with the proprietors of the Philadelphia Times t recently resigned tbe editorship of that paper, has accepted the editorship of the New York freeman's Journal. Father Lambert's literary reputation is much more than American, and the continuance of his connection with tbe Catholic Press must add to its general prestige. We are bappy to congratulate the management of the Freeman's Journal on the appointment. What, then, did the Bishop of Salisbury mean 1 He said first, that in SwitzrKnrt and in these colonies people passed from one

religious body to another with comptrative ease, and, in effect, that it, therefore, devolved upoa the priest (Anglican) to show a particular goodness so that he might make a congregation. Afterwards his Lordship explained that the Anglican ideal was not that they should " go about the worlJ making concerts and sweeping them out of other Churches into their own " But eurely there is some contradiction here. Meantime, as to the attractiveness of the Anglican priest — we for example, have nothing to say against Dr Nevill. On the contrary, there is a sort of simplicity about his Lordship that we duly appreciate — an.i we should, on tbe whole, be sorry to see another fill bis place. That en ry in the book of tbe late patriarch of the devil* worshippers may go for what it is worth.— Montignor Newill evegue <le la Nourelle Zelande h. Dunedin. Still, for our own p»rt, we perceive no resistless a' traction. We do not even feel like the donkey between the two bundles of hay. We know very well the bundle in which is the nourishing thistle. If there were nourishment for don. keys in the o'her, there wou.d perhaps be, for instance, no Salvation Army. Tbe Church of England in the past, by her coldness and exclusiveness drove the masses away from her. What chance is there that she will prove more attractive in the future/ Dr Wordswonh does well to make light of conversions, for his Church is very little likJy to pnfit by them. The B.shop, however, should avoid coutradiciing himself. The conviction reported of 164 mn commipsioned officers of the Germ.n aim> on charges of inaubjrdination seems hardly to * armonize with a boast made tne other day in the Reichstag by Geticml Bronsaid. He declared that the army was little inclined to mutiny atul w uld make short work of any one who tried to tempt it to do so. lie a. so spoke of the efficient and ready weapon to be aflhrded by the army whenever it was called upon. Tbiß tale of losubordication we say, e> ems bardly consistent with all this. The growth of bocialiem, moreover, makes the mutter all the more serious. Some amazement has been occasioned by the length of the names of the new German Chancellor. An enterprising poet, somewhere or another in America, has even gone so far as to dedicate

some lines to them. Hohenlohe-Scbilhngsfurst — there they are — bat we can almost match them ourselves and that with one name only. They are two and they consist of twenty-four letters. Here is one from Dublin that has to itself alo ie eighteen letters — MacGiollamoholmoge. — Let them boast of their eaur-kraut after that. The name, we may adJ, is in the blue book recently published. If any one wants to know whire the m*n ie, he can call him. Without filler details we can hardly understand the state of affairs in France. The resignation of M. Caeimir Perier, however, and tha election to the Presidency in hi* stead of M. Faure are accomplished facts. What the exact causa of M. Perier's resignation wap, and whether the cbargeß of precpitancy and cowardice brought against him are founded or not, we cannot as yet decide, M. Faure, meantime, appears to be particularly displeasing to the Socialists, who made uproarious demonstrations against his election, and seem to have been suspected of singer designs afterwards The question is, is the new President able to cope with this party, entertaining towards him as they evidently do a strong animosity. The spectacle, too, of the Duke of Orleans awaiting the turn of events at Dover to cross and proclaim a monarchy must have bten somewhat amusing. When the situation was serious enough to unnerve aad dismay statesmen of experience, this inexperienced adventurer would tender his leadership. He woald hardly, however, be a member of hin house if he thought of anything bat his personal chances. It is mentioned as a distinction of M. Faure that he is the firat Protestant to fill the Presidency. It is as good, however, to be a Protestant as nothing at all or may be better. What, for example, was M. Gi6vy 1 What was M. Carnot until the assassin's knife brought him to his senseß? Absit omen. May M. Faure have a less tragic end. But if M. Perier's resignation, as also rumoured, was due to a fear of the Socialists, there seems room for doubt. Sir Henry Blake is spok.o of as Governor of South Australia i.i room ot Lord Kintore. Bu! Sir Ht-nry, when he bucame the rt j 'Cte . of Queeuslanu, was the pro&,6 of the Tones. Still it was undor the Liberals that h>3 won hi* spurs in Ire Und, aud, for our own p irt, we have never been able to understand why he was excluded from the amnesty. When Mr Gladstone came over to Home blule, all who had been engaged under him in fighting against it should also have been fully pardoned. As for Sir Henry's stage-Irish sketches, signed Terence McGrath, they may be lefc in their natural resting-place — the waste-paper basket. He would on the whole be as good a Oolonial Governor as ai y other. One word more of the Bishop of Silisbury's address and we are done with it. Among the proofs that his Lordship cited as to the results

of the Anglican prin iple — thenatio al Church — to appear before the Saviour's judgment seat, were tradi'ion and experience— criticism we omit as i m.tter of opinion. But where do these exißt 1 In connection wuh one Church only, the Russo-Greek, may they be found. That ih almost, although not altogether, a national Church. As an instance of whut the influence of the Russo-Grtek teaching can produc , we would refer his Lordship to the journal of Marie Bashkirtß< ff . Let h>m especially conei i^r tr.e description of a confess on ms.ie oy her ihat the wutti t .yes. Let him afterwards turn to the late Ivjiu Craveu's " A Sister's Story," and compare with that heartless, hope'ess, fuithleas form the fervour and heartfelt piety that is here recorded. What a difference, too, between the deathbeds of Maria Bashkirtseff and Olga de la Ferronays. Which Bhall appear the moie blessed befure the judgment seat of Christ, the disposition of the Kuseo-Greek girl or that of the Catholic, it is not difficult to decide. So much, then, for the teaching of tradition and experience where the National Church is concerned. Here is a disgraceful advertisement that appears in the Otago Daily Times :—": — " Wanted, a married couple (without encumbrance) as wardsmati and matron of the Arrow District Hospital. Salary at the rate of £90 per annum." ' O man with sisters dear, O men with mothers and wives," children are branded in a Christian country as an encumbrance 1 Every man who has had anything to do with this advertisement or with the reoolu.ion of which it is an outcome should hang his head for shame. And every mm Jack of them knows why as well as we do.

From Southern Italy we hive a deplorable picture of the ravages of the recent earthquake. At Palmi and other towns hundreds of homeless people are wandering amongst the h'japs of stones which once were houses. Great courage and devotion hive been shown by the clergy, especially the Archbishop of Beggio. English heads the list of the European languages spoken in the world, with 110,000,000 perßjns who use it. Of these 58,000,000, more thin half, live in tbe United States, while 38,500,000 only' live in the British isles. Only eighty years earlier, ia 1801, the total number of Engiiah-speaking persons in the world was 20,500,000 Those speaking French have iucreasei in that time from 31,500,000 to 51,000 000 ; those G 'rroana, 30 000,000 to 75,000,000 ; Russian the same; Spanish from 26,000,000 to 43,000,000 ; Italian from 15,000,000 to 33 000,000 ; and Portuguese from 7,500,000 to 13,000,000. Out of the 51,000.000 speakers of French, 45,000,000 live in Europe ; of the 75,000,000 Germai'B, though 7,000,003 live in the United States, there is only another 500,000 to be found outside of Europe ; while of the 43,000,000 speakers of Spanish, 25,500,000 live in non-Baropean countries.