RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1097, 8 April 1911, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

MANCHESTER CHURCH HOUSE. SUCCESSFUL OI'KMXG DAY. I The linn . Congregational Church House in Manchester was opened 011 February 21. There was. a very large and representative attendance at the opening. The invited guests assembled 011 the broad staircase in front of the Milton Hall early in the afternoon to see Miss Huckett formally open the folding doors. Miss Huckett- was for many years the personal companion of the late Mrs. Kylands (who gave not only the site but one-half of the'£2o,ooo that the new building lias cost), , and she was able to testify from lier intimate knowledge to the profound interest which Mrs. Rylaiuls took in the Manchester Congregational Forward Movement. The public then passed into the Milton Hall, the principal hall within the building, and its accommodation was sooiuovertaxed.

Mr. Gerard X. Ford, in opening tho meeting, said: That lioblo building was not to be in any sense a parish or provincial affair; it was to be a common centre of Congregational life—religious, social and administrative—and he hoped its great possibilities would be fully realised. Rev. J. W. Kiddle, who for many years was private secretary to Mrs. Rylands, then unveiled a mural tablet to her memory, -and' road a comprehensive and intimate tribute to her character and munificence, and especially to her interest in the Manchester Congregational Forward Movement. While others had done much for which tlie.v were all thankful, he thought it might be said that but for Mrs. Rylauds's generosity their Church House scheme would probably not have been fulfilled that day. The payment of her donation of £10,000 was'made from . her sickroom in January, 1 DOS, and that act and the appointment of trustees were the last business transactions in which she engaged. Three weeks later she passed away. The meeting was then changed into a dedicatory service. Dr. Goodrich taking charge of the proceedings from this point 011. The special preacher was Rev. C. Silvester Home, M.P. The hall was crowded oiit in the evening, when an overflow meeting had to be arranged. Mr. Ford again presided, Rev. 11. W. Turner (chairman of the Manchester Congregational Board) sketched out the.work of the committee, mid addresses wove delivered by Mr. Home and Rev. J. D. Joiies. The dominant idea emphasised in the speeches was that of the Church serving the national life, in all its aspccts and preserving the moral health of the community.

AGNOSTICISM

ADDRESS BY PRINCIPAL STEWART. Ono. of tho series of special serviecs arranged by the. Students' Representative Council of Edinburgh University was held in St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, recently, when Principal Stewart, St. Mary's College, St. Andrews, delivered an address on. "Agnosticism." The service was attended by a large congregation. Principal Stewart' said religion and Christianity might besaid to be of the nature of. a verified hypothesis. Those who had. experienced.them knew their power, while tliose'to'.whom they were strangers feared to trust themselves .to .that which they could not be satisfied was absolutely reliable. It was necessary to be within the charmed circle in order to feel the power which was there at work.. Those.outside could not understand it, but'where the great venture of-faitlinhndibeeii taken, experience confirmed its' wisdom" and the Christian ages teemed with manifestations of its continuous and abiding power. It was said not long ago by an eminent statesman that- Scotland was mildly Agnostic. It might appear so to a superficial view, but, as a friend had written to him, it was difficult to believe that a nation could have niado tho sacrifices for religion, could have raised such sums of money for example, about two millions annually, especially when they considered that money was not' lightly parted with, unless there had been come deep conviction which seemed to. demand, the -sacrifice. Edinburgh a few months ago .-witnessed ;a/manifestation of interest in missionary enterprise such as, probably, the world had never seen before. Was that the 1 result.of a temporary enthusiasm, or was it the outflow of the true feelings which were at work in the.nation's heart? On the surfaco there might often appear to be wavering and hesitation, while, in the depths our individual human nature, our common human nature, remained true and firm in its adherence to religiousness and God.

FRUITS OF A MISSION

VICTORIAN METHODIST STATISTICS, ' The permananey of the fruits of a true revival arc shown afresh by come statistics laid before the recent Methodist Conference in Melbourne. For live years—l9o4-B—the average increase in the membership of the Methodist churches of Victoria and Tasmania was 50-; in 100!) the increase suddenly rose to 1650; the average growth, that is, was multiplied more' than threefold. This was duo to the Chapman-Alexander Mission; and, according to the pessimists, there, ought to have followed a decrease, as the gains of the revival disappeared. But the figures for 1910 show a still further increase of 1205. The fruits of the Mission, in a word, were kept, and the spiritual impulse of the revival gave a still further increase of 1-205, a rate of growth more than double that of the live years preceding the Mission. It is sometimes declared, as a reproach to such a Mission as that of Dr. Chapman and Mr. Alexander, that their services do not reach outsiders; they are confined to church attendants. But the best of all revivals—the most enduring in its results—is a revival within the Church itself; and how the Chapman-Alexander Mission enriched the Churches which took part in it is shown by the membership records of the Methodist Conference. — "Southern Cross."

CERMAN PRAISE FOR PROFESSOR PEAKE.

In the "Theologische Literatnrzeitung" for February 18, I)r. Jinx Lolir, of Konigsberg, reviews tlio volume 011 Jeremiah and Lamentations (Vol. 1) in tlio Century Bible, b.v Professor I'enke. tlie well-known Primitive Jletliodist theologian. Ho says:—" In preparing this work the author has gone thoroughly over tlio relevant German and English literature, and in the section of his Introduction, entitled ' Selected Literature' he expresses ail astonishingly accurate judgment on the expositions of Jeremiah b.v Dulim, Oiescbrecht, and Corn ill. He is not, unreasonably surprised that a book like that of this prophet should have been so long neglected by the newer Old Testament learning. It was his own enthusiasm for the religious greatness of .Jeremiah which led 1 lim to undertake this task.'' The G( 'rman critic notes the conservative attitude of Dr. I'eake on various aspects of the prophet's teaching, and differs from him on a few points, such as the attitude of Jeremiah to Josiali's reform, cte. Dr. Lohr adds that differences on such matters cannot diminish the general value of the work. "We hope," ho says, "that the author in completing it will not be hindered, as he was in the case of tho first- volume, but- the too heavy pressure of hif professional duties, and by interruptions from illhealth-"

LETTERS APOSTOLIC, j

THE-POPE AXD THE EXGLISHSPEA KL\G PEOPLES. "Tho Letters- Apostolic of the Holy Father (printed below) will" (says tlio "T;iblot " of February 25) "ho received with interest and gratitude. They arc of the deepest import and most iiltimato concern, not only to. the Catholics of those islands, but also to all within the far-Hung line of our race and to all who speak tho English tongue in tlio world. For their pnrposu is to extend to 'all English-speaking countries' the scope of the work of tho Archconfratornity of Prayers and Good Works established in 1897 by Pope Leo XIII, under tho-title of Our Lady of Compassion, for tho return of Great Britain "to the unity of the Faith." " Tho Letters referred to state:— "It has been with singular joy that We have had laid beforo us by the .Superior of.the Sulpieian Congregation at Paris and President of tho Archsodnlity of prayers and good works for the return of Great Britain to tho Unity of the Faith, petitions fully in harmony with the desires of our own heart, addressed to us by two Cardinals, and a number of Bishops who were present at the Eueliaristic Congress recently held in Canada. These petitions had for their object to request that the aforesaid sodality, fr-i'.nded at St. Sulpice in Paris, by Our Predecessor of. holy memory, Leo XIII, under the patronage of Our Blessed Lady" of Compassion, in his letters Apostolic 'Compertum est,' of the 22nd day of August, 1597, should have lis scope further extended so as to. includc not only Great Britain within the. benefit of its intercessions, but all the Eng-lish-speaking countries. Wo have .been moved to grant this expansion of the work of prayer, not only bccause it is something supremely desirable, in itself, but in view of the yearning for the return to the Faith, manifested in these (lays, and the example of men, distinguished by their holiness, .lbarning, and dignity, who, kindled by the most fruitful zeal of St. Paul of the Cross, and of his later disciple, Dominick. of the Mother of God, have sought to promote tho blessing of Unity,- and all the advantages that accrue therefrom,. by every means in their power, but especially by an awakening of fervour in prayer to tlio : j\lost High. Wherefore, by Our Apostolic Authority, by virtue oi these presents, while AYc will that the Archsodality of prayers and good' works for the return of Great Britain to the Faith, under the patronage of Blessoc Mary, the Compassionate Virgin, established at St. Sulpice.Jjy our Pralecossoi Leo Xlll in the Letters Apost-olic; aforementioned, shall lemain in all things secure and intact; -We order tliat it shall have the object which it has 1 in view so extended as to embrace not onlj the sons of Great Britain, who are most dear to Us, but all the peoples who use the English speech as their mothei tongue.' Constitutions, and othei Apostolic ordinances, even though the} -should be of a kind to require special 01 individual mention, to the contrary, notwithstanding. Given at .'Home at' St 1 Peter's, under the ring of the Fisher- ■ man, on the second day of February in the year 1911 and the eighth year of Out . Pontificate. [ "PIUS PP. X."

THE NEW IRISH PRIMATE,

DR. .CIIOZIER'S ,CAREER, 011 February 2 the Bishops -of the Church of Ireland met in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and proceeded to elect from among their number a new Archbishop of Armagh and Primato of AH Ireland. The Archbishop of Dublin presided, .and all tho Bishops, were prosont rto - thc;.fir.sti'.jn-, stance,- tnfclruie"Xrcltbishop of"Dublin should succeed Dr. Alexander; but, oil his refusal to allow his name to go forward, the. Bishop'of .Down (Dr. Crozicr) was unaiiiitiously elected. The now I'rimato (Dr. John Baptist Clozier) is tho oldest son of tho lato Kov. Baptist Barton Crozicr, of Rockview, Ballyhaiso, co. Cavan, where ho was born in 1835. Ho entered Trinity College, Dublin, at a very early age, and graduated when nineteen years old, as a Junior Moderator in Ethics and Logics. Ho also gained prizes in Hebrew and Irish, and obtained the Divinity Testimonium of the First Class, lio came well to-the; front both ;in athletics. and in tho University Debating Societies. Ho helped to found tho Wanderers' Football Club of Dublin, and lie was president'of the University Philosophical Society, and auditor of tho College Theological Society. He was ordained for the curacy of St. Stephen's, Bclfast,'of which tho lato Canon Irvine was then rector, in 187G, and in the following year lie. moved to tho curacy of the parish church of Belfast, St. Ann's. When only four years in Holy Orders ho was chosen Incumbent of Holy wood, near Belfast, and there he remained until elected—iu 1807 —to tlie Bishopric of Ossory, Ferns, and licighlin. While at Holy wood ho had hecomo examining chaplain to Dr. Knox (then Bishop of Down), and when Dr. Knox succecdcd to tho Primacy he .retained tho services of Dr. Crozicr as his chaplain. This gave the future Primate a great insight into diocesan Work, and laid tho basis'of; that extensive knowledge of nieii and manners of which ho showed himself to be so remarkably possessed when elected afterwards to the Episcopate. Succeeding the late Dr. W. Pakenham Walsh (his brother-in-law) in the See of Ossory in 1897, he threw himself heart and soul into his work as Bishop of a southern diocese. He visited and preached and spoke incessantly 1 through the length and . breadth of the diocese, impressing himself on all with whom ho came in contact, but especially on tlie leading laity of tlie diocese. As Bishop of Ossory, lie camc prominently forward ill tho life of the Irish Church as an excellent platform speaker and eloquent preacher, and his services ill both these capacities were soon in request in England and elsewhere. Ho also displayed a wonderful power of kindling men's 011thusiasm for any good work which 110 took in hand, and his remarkable social gifts mado hosts of friends for him everywhere. Though not a man of profound reading or-scholarship, he can always grasp tho" leading points..of' any subject, and separate the wheat froni tho chaff. He is a Churchman-of the. Evangelical school of thought,, but with a broad outlook. and a tolerant spiritalways prompt to advance tho interests and uphold the dignity and truth of tho old Clmrch of Ireland. In 1907, 011 tho death of Dr. Welland, he was unanimously called to tlie Bishopric of Down,

OBITUARY,

The death occurred on February 20, at Hanipstoad, of Rev. W. ft, James, president of tlic Baptist Union of AVales. Educated at l'ontypool College, Mr. James joined the stalf' of the Baptist Missionary Society in 1877, and proved a most cncrgctic worker. Mastering several of the Indian languages, ho worked a great deal among the students of Calcutta, Barisal, etc., and was*nls'o stationed at Madaripur, Monghyr, and Simla.. Mr. James was a most acceptable speaker in the -Welsh language, and preached in every Baptist church in the Principality. About twelve months ago, however, ho had a paralytic seizure, and last February ho. and his wife journeyed to Italy, whoro they stayed somo weeks in the hope of restoring the invalid to partial strength. Tliey camc to England in tho following April, but there was littlo improvement, and.he passed away at the age of sixty-threo..