Fishing on the Lord’s Day.
At the recent Conference of Scottish Fishermen from the Caithness, Moray Firth, and East Coast Fisheries Associations, held in Edinburgh, the question of Sabbath fishing came up. A motion expressing strong disapproval of the practice was unanimously carried. It would appear that, owing largely to the drifters passing largely into the hands of capitalists, these gentlemen are more concerned in getting good dividends than in keeping the laws of the King of Heaven. Sabbath fishing is common enough at some of the English fishing ports, though, we understand, the English fishermen would gladly welcome its discontinuance. It is to be hoped the Scottish fishermen will maintain a determined opposition to this new attempt to honour Mammon and dishonour God.
Peden the Prophet.
Messrs. Stephen & Pollock, Ayr, have brought out a life of Alexander Peden by the Rev. Kirkwood Hewat, M.A., F.S.A. (Scot). It is a very interesting and sympathetic treatment of the remarkable career of this noted Covenanter. The romantic element combined with the mysterious which were so blended in his character, have attracted minds by no means deeply interested in the vital matters for which the Covenanters contended to the death. Mr. Hewat has done his work well, and has made use of all the more recent material brought to light through the publication of the Privy Council Records and the Scottish History Society volumes. We hope to return to a more extended notice of what we may say is the standard life of Alexander Peden.
The Mormon Danger.
The activities of the apostles of Mormonism or Latter Day Saints as they self-righteously term themselves, have at length awakened some concern in this country, and the Home Secretary in answer to a question put to him in the House of Commons replied that the responsible authorities are “treating the matter in a very serious spirit, and looking into it very thoroughly.” It is to be hoped that these deceivers will find the law of Great Britain too much for them. It is part of their policy to declare that polygamy is no longer part of their creed, but those who are in a position to know say that polygamy and flagrant forms of immorality abound in Salt Lake City. The apostles, itinerating in this country, make it a point to decoy unsuspecting young women to their moral ruin. Last year they came as far north as Wick, and probably they have been as active in other parts of the country. We are sounding a warning note, as these apostles do not dwell long in a place, once they are firmly dealt with and exposed.
The Cunningham Lectures.
This Lectureship was instituted in commemoration of Dr. William Cunningham, and many able and sound lecturers have filled the position. The present lecturer is Rev. George Steven, M.A., who deals mainly with the psychology of the soul. His fourth lecture was entitled, “Liberation of the Soul through Conversion.” The following extracts from the newspaper report of the lecture is ominous reading. It is undiluted naturalism, and if the report be a correct resumé of the lectures, then matters are serious indeed when such are the theologians the U.F. Church delights to honour:—
“Mr. Steven said such a change as went by the name of conversion in the religious world was common enough in other spheres of life, like politics, art, or friendship. Men and women passed from a life of social gaiety to a life of social service, or from commerce to the Far West. Deeper needs in the nature demanded the change. The case of John Stuart Mill was quoted as an illustration of this fact. His father’s training of him in paganism did not satisfy him, and in 1826 he passed through a crisis which he himself compared to that of the conversion of a Methodist. He recovered his peace of mind through the poetry of Wordsworth. This peace of mind was sometimes gained by a man’s passing from a higher to a lower theological belief, and that because he had been living above his conviction, and the falling back upon an honest conviction brought him nearer God. Or, again, the peace of mind had been reached by giving up the belief in God altogether, as in the case of Harriet Martineau. The peace attained did not prove the truth of the new position. There were also changes within the Christian Churches themselves, and men improved in spiritual life by becoming truer to themselves. Carlyle’s conversion, again, was a moral conversion of the deepest kind. Other instances like that one were Ruskin, Mazzini, Bismarck.”