IRISH ANGLICANS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1079, 18 March 1911, Page 6

IRISH ANGLICANS.

WHAT IS AND WHAT MIGHT BE. 'A LAYMAN'S POINT OF VIEW. [By Dr. 11. D. Mackcllar, of Auckland.] The .Anglican Synod of Wellington lias done well in asking Mr. Sprott to be Bishop, for it concerns tho, community at large when an influential body raises a good and well-known man to a high position. 'Die vicar of St. Paul's has the qualifications that were impressed so iorcibly on Timothy and a great many more that arise out or the conditions of to-day. Mr. Sprott is a man whose learning and daily life attract and help the laymen who are carrying on the busy, roaring, work of tho community. He. makes men feel that Christianity is a living, helpful, reality, and not only a beautiful abstraction. Everyone who has the pleasure of knowing him has to contcss that "Sprott has done mo good." There is something refreshing, too, in tho very wnv in which tho appointment has been made—it has been quiet and natural. This is not always so. There is frequently a holy hush and mystery about the appointment of a Bishop—an unnecessary secrecy that almost raises a suspicion of unreality. Tlw ordinary layman rather fears that while synodsmen aro spending days and months apparently waiting for Divino guidance they are using, unconsciously, let us hope, tho most common and questionable methods of ordinary secular elections, to gain some pettv party advantage. And why need this'bo so'when a Bishop is really the most secular of all tho clergy? The consecration of a Bishop is a high and solemn function, but - under present conditions it lowers, rather than raises, the spirituality of the man. A parish priest whoso wholo mind has been given to the cure of souls, whose whole aim, whose whole teaching and example have been to lead men to do their duty and walk with God, is suddenly raised to tho episcopal bench, and then the decadence begins. No doubt he still performs certain spiritual duties which can bo performed by him alone—he confirms and ordains—but'the greater part of his time is taken up with the temporal side of Church business. It matters not whether the sound divine.and faithful pastor, made Bishop,-becomes a great statesman and prince of the Church, or degenerates into something like a fussing fore--man, the result is the same—he holds a lower place in the courts of the Houso of the Lord. "It Begins with a B." Who does not know the story about the. learned and witty Bishop of Oxford, the great' historian of tho English Constitution? When he was transited to Oxford lie complained that ho had so many meetings to attend, and so much travelling that he had no time to study, and 110 leisure to read more than one book. "You all know it, gentlemen," he said to the clergy about' him. "It begins with B." Wiien tho clerical faces had been arranged in becoming solemnity, lie added: "I think they call it Bradshaw!" It is to he feared that there are many Bishops to whom Bradshaw is a snare. And this is not all. The Anglican Church is essentially Roman in its origin and development, and still bears within it the marks of tho discipline of the forum and the camp, the cold stern self-expression of the rulers of the ancient pagan world. In the Church, the wholo tendency is monarchical. The Bishop becomes more and more a sort, of modern Caesar raised high above his fellows, and the clcrgy become more and more a select and obsequious court, ready to carry out the orders of their master. Law and system have gradually discouraged and stifled personal enthusiasm and spiritual aspiration, till we now groan under guilds, and sink under societies. What has happened in tho Old Country? The Church of England is only national in the sense that it is recognised by the State, not because it is essentially the Church that the people revere and love. It has lost some of the most eager and enthusiastic, the most religious people in tlie British Isles. Cornwall. Wales, Ireland. and Scotland can hardly bo called members of the Church that' look? to Canterbury as its sacred mother city, and even many of the most sturdy.'- earnest Englishmen have left their church for forms of socalled dissent. The Church and the Democracy. Is the. same thing to happen in the colonies? Will a church that is monarchical in form and feeling hold its own and continue to be a power for good in a community that becomes more and more democratic? No one can deny the grace and beauty of the Church of England, and her unique position, holding, as she does, the balance between the essentially episcopal churches of the south and east and tho more Protestant communions of tho north and west, but may not her very beauty and power be the cause of waning influence? The Tabernacles of Jacob may be fair and the dwellings of Israel lovely to the eyes, but unless the Lord build the city, order and beauty and grandeur count, for little, and 110 society of Christian men can be really strong to help and guide their fellows unless the wholo body is ardent with spiritual life, and each member feels that he is a stone iu the bulwarks of the City Beautiful. It is a hopeful thin? for the Anglican Church iu the Dominion that, in view of the recent selection of Irishmen as Bishops of Auckland and Wellington, tho episcopal bench will contain a .• strong Irish element, for Celtic simplicity and Celtic fervour will go far, and the innate Celtic idea of rule—a patriarchal democracy —iu which revorenco ar,d obedience is spontaneously paid to one, though all aro equal, seems to meet the needs of those who aro longingly, possibly sadly, looking for a church tint finds its light and-leading more in the human heart than in the cunningly devised plans of human intellect. Two I deals. Men look with pride on the mighty expansion of the Soman mission that'centuries ago begun its work in Kent, hut to many minds, there is a more inspiring and a holier place, now; lying desolate, almost desecrated, in the uiisty western seas. The church of lon'a was simple, spiritual, missionary, anil learned, as many a German library can testify. With her adornments and external splendour were of 110 account. Work and study, contemplation and missionary zeal, were her all-in-all, and yet her giory has departed. Why? She was wanting in the discipline, the organisation, and the steady aim, the very cxcess of which is at this moment turning the hearts of the people away from tho Church of England. But a better day may be ai: hand. This small Dominion has shown a good courage, and devising mind, iu many things, and why should'it not point the way in things that belong to man's everlasting good? And Irish prelates with warm Irish hearts and Irish sympathy aro eminently fitted to lead the way. It is e.-jsy to imagine, it would not be very difficult to realise, in our midst a church vibrating with tho spiritual fervour of tho Colt, yet. restrained and guided by the cool judgment of the Englishman. After the experience of so many centuries it should not be difficult to select what was best in Canterbury and lona and luiild up a newer church full of love for tho past, full of liopo for the future, The Good Time Coming. A church animated by a healthy spirit of modernism, ready to recognise and profit by all earnest thought; prepared, without losing its own individuality, to hold out. a friendly hand to other Christian bodies, associating freely with thoso who are so bravely doing the work of our great Empire, making but slight distinction between bishop and priest, clcrgy and laity,, teaching unceasingly Hint work done in a mani.v open way beforo God and man is the very foundation of the mcst exalted faith. A church that while it encourages Christian people to meet frequently and make- public, profession of their fnith in a building fit to bn called the house of God, yet ever rolls to mind that Christ was in a sense Socratic and taught people by mixing freely with them in all conditions and. in all places, continually asking and answering questions, making Himself equally at h-oine with peasants and rulers of Israel, showing unceasingly that in every man there is a spark of divine fire ready to burst into flame when the breath of the Spirit blows upon it. I The down of a brighter day is perhaps i more near than we almost dare to honeu