Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 5 February 1914, Page 21

Current Topics

Southland to the Fore In our last issue and in that of January 15 we published full details of the Pan-Southland gathering of Catholics, organised under the auspices of the Catholic Federation, which is to be held at Riverton on February 11. Undoubtedly the move of this active and energetic branch of , the Federation is in the right direction The object of the gathering is, of course not merely to provide a picnic and pleasant outing for the Southland Catholics. Its purpose is to bring them together in a social way: to educate them in the aims and objects of the Federation; to show them that the association is a live affair which means business: and generally, to interest them in the great work which lies ahead of the organisation. To that end, brief addresses will be delivered : and these will assuredly be looked forward to as amongst the most valuable features of the gathering. We trust that Southlanders will rally to the call in great numbers, and that they will be rewarded with the fair wind and fine weather which their enterprise deserves. Should the gathering prove a successand as to that the weather is the only uncertain factor our Southland friends may rest assured that the precedent they have established will be widely followed, and that they will receive, as they deserve, full credit for having thus courageously led the way.

An Educational Double We understand that in sporting circles it is considered a great achievement to capture two events on the same day or at the same meeting • and, if we are correctly informed, the monetary recompense for such a feat is usually framed on an exceptionally handsome scale. It is at least equally difficult, and certainly not less honorable, to annex a ‘ double ’ in the educational world ; and this has just been accomplished by the Catholic schools of Greymouth. The facts—which came to hand as we went to press—were briefly stated in our last issue, but they deserve a word or two of special notice. After the death of the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon, who was such a familiar and commanding figure on the West Coast, a fund was subscribed at Greymouth for the purpose of doing something to perpetuate his memory ; and it was decided that the memorial should take the form of two gold medals, to be presented to the boy and girl respectively who should obtain the highest marks in the Grey district in the two most? important subjects in the school curriculum. The subjects selected were English and Arithmetic; and the test appointed was the questions in those subjects as set in the Junior National Scholarship examinations. The candidates’ papers are marked by numbers, not by names ; they are corrected not by the local inspector, but by the Education Department at Wellington, to whom, of course, the identity of the competitors is absolutely unknown; and the competition, which so far baS'i attracted a very large number of candidates, is open to all the schools State and private —in the Grey County. The results of the second examination for the Seddon medals have now been mad© known ;, and, as announced, both have been carried off by pupils of the Catholic schools; namely, the boys’ medal by Norman Knell, of the Marist Brothers’ School, Greymouth, and the girls’ by Mary Clare Moore, of the Greymouth Convent School. We congratulate the Catholic schools of Greymouth on the distinction they have achieved, and on the way in which, before an absolutely impartial , tribunal, they have vindicated their reputation as second to non© amongst 1 the schools of the West Coast. We may add that the Junior National Scholarship for the Grey District was also won by a Catholic competitor, Mary Clare Moore, of the Greymouth Convent School. In view of facts like these, those Catholic parents who send their children to the State schools because they * get on better there

than at the Catholic schools,’ must realise that they look not a little ridiculous. ' The ‘Spectator* and the Saints : ' ‘I have always envied Catholics,’ wrote Nathaniel Hawthorne in Ihe Bhthedah Romance, ‘ their faith in that sweet, sacred Virgin Mother, who stands between them and the Deity, intercepting somewhat of His awful sp endor, yet permitting His love to stream upon the worshipper ignore intelligently to human comprehension through the medium of a woman’s tenderness.’ The number of. those outside the fold who are coming to envy Catholics the strength and consolation derived from belief in the communion and invocation of the saints is rapidly growing; and there is a more and more general recognition of the loss which Protestantism has sustained through severing itself from participation in the benefits of the union which exists between the members of the Church on earth with the blessed in Heaven and with the suffering souls in the intermediate state A short time ago we had Bishop Crossley, of Auckland, standing out strongly for a recognition of the intercessory or mediatorial idea as embodied in the practice of prayers for the dead. The other day we had the Anglican Bishop of London publicly pleading at an important Church Congress for a return, in some form, to the invocation of the saints. And now we have 'the London Spectator taking up the same theme, and declaring that devotion to the saints has justified itself because it satisfies some constant desire of the human mind. In its issue of October 25, 1913, after criticising —somewhat unintelligently, it must be admitted—actual list of canonised saints, the paper, speaking specifically of saint-devotion as ‘ inculcated by the Roman Church, goes on to say; ‘The idea is in essence a very fine one. That the good who leave this world retain an interest in it, and are allowed to keep some method of communication with their fellow men, is by no means an unnatural or unreasonable corollary to the dogma of immortality. Again; what could tend so much to the moral uplifting of the community as the daily contemplation of exemplary lives Auguste Comte showed his moral ardor when he borrowed this notion from Roman Catholicism. In intention the Roman Church offers a noble companionship to every lonely soul, and supplies a wholesome environment to everyone who is set among sinners. Unfortunately, the religious-minded student who seeks the society of canonized saints is sure to turn away in disgust. Nevertheless, these very saints, whose legendary lives excite the contempt of the Protestant and sceptical world, do still rouse in the hearts of devout Roman Catholics a very real devotion. Probably no explanation appealing altogether to reason is possible, at any rate to “those who are without.” Occasionally one wonders if it is possibleor should we rather say thinkable ? the devotion of simple souls elicits some response from the spirits of those who are so maligned by early historians and painters, and who, according to the hope of all the churches, are not dead but alive. Anyhow, this devotion to the “saints,” after it has become in a measure absurd, shows that it satisfies some constant desire of the human mind. . . It is hardly to be doubted that when we Protestants suppressed the practice of devotion to the saints we suppressed something besides superstition.’ . Forecasting the Weather All civilised countries nowadays have their weather prophets; and if the prognostications ( are not always a maivel of accuracy, at least it is satisfactory to know that year by year they are improving. The time was when the weather bulletins of our Government meteorologist were regarded as little better than a joke to-day we are assured on the personal testimony of those directly interested that they are of real value to seafaring people, and within a limited area of the observation centre they are treated with the greatest respect by all classes. * In Dunedin the work of our local , weather prophet, Mr.. Paulin, is well known and

genuinely appreciated. In these parts, however, none of our meteorologists attempt to cover more than a day or two at a time with their predictions, their limited resources and other special conditions -and drawbacks making it difficult for them to deal successfully with anything more than the very immediate future. In some other countries, and notably in the United States, they have long got past that stage, and are able to tell the farmer definitely not only what weather he will have this week and the week after but even the week after that. Thus according to A merica, Father Jerome Ricard, S.J., of Santa Clara University, California, has during the past thirteen years been sending out bulletins foretelling the weather at California, not merely for a day ahead, but a month ahead, and foretelling it accurately. Father Ricard has been good enough to let the public into the secret, and his explanation of ‘ how it is done ’ is interesting and illuminating. ‘ Two planets,’ he says, ‘ get into line with the . sun. Their pull causes a sunspot or a facula. These move to certain spots on the sun’s surface: the attraction at those angles leaps to the earth’s magnetic centres around the Aleutian Low and elsewhere. The air over these places goes skyward in a great spiral as though to get to the sun. Other lower airs rush into the partial vacuum : they bring moisture if it is winter and mist if it is summer. Then the storms take the old familiar tracks we know— to Vancouver, then generally eastward and down the St. Lawrence Valley. Their intensity varies with the power of the sunspot. Their running time from Alaska to California, isn’t the same; and that’s why errors in dates creep in.’ * Incidentally, it may be mentioned that Father Jerome discovered a sunspot on December 11, the largest seen in two years. The new sun spot has an area of 409,936,709 square miles, being 32,013.15 miles long and 12,805.26 miles wide.' Its size will come as a surprise to the average reader, who has only the haziest notion as to what a sun spot is ; and it would certainly surprise the good lady referred to in a recent Westminster Gazette anecdote. Under the title of ‘Her Sun Spots,’ the We-Kt punster writes; ‘ A lady of fashion much desired to be present at a lecture on “ Sun Spots” which a great astronomer was announced to give. Being unable to attend, she wrote apologising for her absence, adding, “lam so sorry. I was extremely anxious to hear what you had to say, because I’ve been a mai’tyr to freckles all my life.” ’ Protestant Missions in South America A correspondent has sent us a couple of copies of a magazine named South America which came under his notice in the Protestant community in which he lives, and which in his innocence he took up expecting to learn all about the prospects and productiveness of the great continent. He was quickly undeceived. The very first .paragraph furnishes the key to the whole of the contents. ‘“Continue in prayer,”’ it begins. ‘ The dense spiritual darkness that envelops South vC America is not to be dispelled by intermittent, spasmodic prayer. Satan’s seat is there, and the forces of darkness are firmly entrenched in that land ; and only the mighty power of the Spirit of, God can prevail against such a foe.’ The magazine is, in fact, the organ of ‘The Evangelical Union of South America,’ which, as it incorporates the ‘ Argentine and Peruvian Missions of the Regions Beyond Missionary Union,’ the South American Evangelical Mission,’ and the Help for Brazil Mission,’ may be taken as one of the leading ( and representative Protestant ‘ missions ’ in South America. Our correspondent. thinks the contents of the periodicals ‘ disgusting,’ and so they would be if taken seriously ; but there is really no reason to be other than amused at the silly tales and puerile lucubrations that are served up for the credulous and gullible public to which the magazine makes appeal. Thus, there is the story of a * Bishop’—the'writer was sure he was a bishop because the two priests who were with him paid him some deference—who became so; enamored

of the Gospel Post Cards exhibited by the missioners that he bought a large number, and became practically • converted ’on the spot! ‘ The following day,’ says the veracious narrative of Sehor Kamon Espinoza, Lima Native Helper, ‘the other of the two priests returned, and by his dress 1 concluded that he also was a Bishop. lie greeted me warmly, and inquired the price of the Bible Dictionary. 1 showed it to him at once, and informed him of the price. He scanned it with close attention, and said; “What beautiful engravings! How fine 'and elegant the whole get-up ! Its contents are very important, and at the same time very enlightening. 1 like it even better than the Bible,” ’ etc., etc. Apparently the price was too stiff, for the ‘ Bishop ’ did not buy the Bible Dictionary that was ‘ even better' than the Bible’; but after being preached at by the native brother he frankly admitted, ‘ In my opinion the work that the Protestants are doing is good, moral, and beneficent,’ and ‘ shaking me warmly by the hand,’ adds Senor Ramon Espinoza, -‘ the Bishop bade mo good-bye.’ The people who write that sort of stuff are prevaricators, pure and simple : and the people who are capable of swallowing it are fit subjects for pity and laughter. , * Almost every other page of the magazine bears an unctuous but insistent appeal for money. ‘ Our funds are very, very low,’ writes the editor, sadly, in the October number. ‘ The needs of the work are great and pressing. One thousand pounds per month are required to keep the work going, ahd more will be required if we are to reach out and respond to the many, many calls for help that reach us continually. Pray for us. There is abundant to supply all our needs; it only waits to be released by prayer.’ And again in the November issue we are told ; ‘ A large staff means increased expenses. Who will see to it that no laborer lacks the hire of which he is worthy? We need to make important urgent advances. Who will lay up treasure where moth and rust cannot corrupt, by investing capital in the schemes we have for the advance of God’s work in Peru ? ’ It is evident that something is required to give the ‘ mission ’ a spurt, for at present, from every point of view, it must be written down a failure. (1) It is a failure as regards the delivery of its message —broken, imperfect, and mutilated as that message is. Speaking of the ‘ evangelistic services ’ amongst the Indians, one of the missionaries writes in South America for October: ‘I have constantly . felt, as I have spoken from Sunday to Sunday to these people, that for many of them the benefits of the service are very small. Only about a third of those who attend really understand enough Spanish to follow one, and our hope has been that those who understood would pass on the message to those who did not.’ (2) It is a failure on the financial side. We are told that the mission requires at least a thousand pounds a month to carry on the work at present in hand. According to the statement of receipts published in. the October number, the total amount received from 13th August to 12th September, 1913, . was £946 17s 6d ; and according to the statement in the November number, the total received from September, 13th to October 12th was only £621 Os sd, the total deficiency or'amount required before 31st October being fatimated at £1312 2s 3d. (3) It is a failure as regards results. The E.U.S.A. operates in Argentina, Brazil, and Peru. In Argentina, according to the last complete, official national census, of every thousand inhabitants of. the country there were 991 Catholics, 2 Jews, and 7 Protestants and dissenters of whatever kind. In Brazil, at the * last census, exactly 1 per ceftt. of the population were Protestants : in Peru, at the last census, there -were only 5087 Protestants and in both cases all, or nearly all, of the Protestants were Englishspeaking persons. The account of these Protestant missions given a few years ago by an American' exchange may still be allowed 1 ' t 6 stand: ‘ Millions of • dollars have been spent in South America, Mexico, Cuba, and other Latin, countries by the different Protestant denominations in their effort to uproot Cath-

olicism and to plant in its stead the creeds of Luther, Knox, Wesley, and other “founders.” Dioceses have been established, bishops appointed, clergy, male and female, ordained, but the deadly figures tell, nevertheless, a humiliating tale. Not one thousand, scarcely more than half that number, have been “converted” from Catholicism. And in no case can a conversion be proved save on lines of purchasethe old-time, methods of “souperism,” modified by American ways and brought up-to-date in- their manipulation.’