Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1898. A PRINCE OF THE CHURCH.

Te Aroha News, Volume XIV, Issue 2067, 11 January 1898, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1898. A PRINCE OF THE CHURCH.

• This obey® all—to thin© owa soil bo too©, lad is masb fellow atf'&ba sight fh© day Thoa ©snaS fflot then b© fata© to any eaoa. • " r Shhisfiahi.

Iff these days in which no tradition is is sacred; in which even the calling of the missionary is subjected to a pitiless analysis of motive, and the expenditure of the princes of the church on garden-parties at Lambeth Palace, for instance, within bow-shot of half-starved, over-worked women and children, is a matter for cynical and witty allusion among the scoffers, it is refreshing to read the following memorandum bequeathed by the good Bishop of Wakefield, Dr. How, to his family“ My father left me a good fortune in money, and this has been considerably increased since the death of my father-in-law. . . . I have, ever since ! possessed an income at all, always dedicated one-tenth annually to God in charity. When I became a Bishop, I resolved that my

children should never profit by my episcopal income, and as soon as I became Bishop of Wakefield I dedicated to God in charity (i.e., in direct gifts and subscriptions) £3OOO a-year, or a full fifth of my gross income. Perhaps I should mention that I always gave away the large sum I received for my books in addition to the tenth of my income, and that, of course, far the greater part of my present income is spent on my diocese in travelling,- about, entertaining the clergy, etc. My chief objec, in.naming these things is to provide an answer to the 'charge, sure fro be made, that I have enriched myself and my children out of the endowments of the Church. This would not much matter if my personal credit alone were at stake. But such belief does groat harm to the Church. As I believe there is no class which approaches that of the clergy in Belf-sacrifice, so 1 believe there is no -lass which approaches that of the Bishops in the amount they giveaway. Thank God, the days are past when the Bishops enrich themselves out of the revenue of the Church. I know as a faet that ‘he late Bishop Short,of : Asaph, and the late Bishop Fraser, of Manchester, never saved a shilling of their personal income Ido not wish to condemn a Bishop for making some modest provision for his family out of his episcopal income if he has no private means. It is a great privilege to have-no necessity to do this/

Thf.rk are certain trades followed at Home in which the life is admittedly a short 'and merry one. Those who pursue them' are doomed to an early (death and they know it. On account ■of the dangers to- life- accompanying the pursuit the wages are high and those engaged in the calling are enabled to live luxuriously. Science, at some expense to the masters, could mitigate the evils complained of; but the men decline to agitate for any change calculated' to ameliorate the conditions under which the work is performod; their reason, apparently, being that in event of the conditions becoming, innocuous Competition for employment would become excessive. They prefer, they say. a abort life and ■ a merry one; At 35 they no longer care to live. They are aged before their time. De ith is not regarded by , them as an evil, but as a blessing. Prom an English exchange-we observe - another child, a boy of fourteen this time, has died from lead poisoning in the Potteries, , and, unless it is misinformed, he met his death- at the same works in which a similar case occurred a abort time ago. This boy worked at ‘ the dipping. Those who have seen the process carried on in ' the Potteries know how perilous it is for grown men, let alone half-grown children. Men and boys are splashed all over with the poisonous liquid glaze, and no amount of washing and overalls can keep it out of their system. The Home Office knows it; but tolerates young lads being put to such work-. Systematic murder is difficult to justify under any circumstances. Seeing that the whole process of glazing can easily ; be made perfectly innocuous, this form of murder ought to-have been stopped by law long ago. In New Zealand it •would be stopped at once; but English statesmen do not seem to-be sufficiently advanced in practical political econ omy to recognise the necessity, in some cases-, of the law interfering to protect men and their children even against themselves.