The Old Gospel.—The following interesting letter by an Indian evangelist to the editor of the Indian Christian makes refreshing reading in these degenerate days:—”I appreciate your Indian Christian very much. I read it and find pleasure in the reading. The articles defending the dear old Bible are much liked by me, and they seem to me to be very much needed in these days when so many men and women are bent upon and find pleasure in showing off their so-called learning in attacking the Bible and the precious truths taught therein. It pains me specially to think that some of these men and women have been sent out to India as Christian missionaries. I wonder if they really realise their responsibility. If the same Christianity as is taught by some of these people in the present day had been offered to us, I am not sure if we would have become Christians.“
The Unrest Among the Nations.—The readers of the daily press cannot help being impressed with the extraordinary unrest there is among the nations. China at the time of writing is in the throes of a revolution, the outcome of which may be big with events affecting the history of the civilized world. Italy is still at war with Turkey. Persia is also in a state of chaos. Spain and France are ill at ease. What may be the outcome of all these movements, only He to whom all governments and powers have been made subject can know. China, with its royal power extending far back into the dim ages, is a fresh illustration of the instability of earthly power. We lift our eyes from these crumbling thrones and perishing dynasties unto Him upon whose shoulders the government was laid and whose reign is through ages all.
The Marriage Service and the word “Obey.”—A good deal of public attention has recently been attracted to the
word “obey” in the marriage service by the suffragist fad of Miss Dugdale, a niece of Lord Peel. The lady in question, with the agreement of her future husband, who is also in strong sympathy with the suffragist movement, wished to have the ceremony performed with the deletion of the offending word. At the last moment it was discovered that this might render the marriage invalid, especially as it was taking place in a Royal Chapel, and the crestfallen couple decided that they would submit as an act of loyalty to the King. We would have much preferred had it been declared that the submission was given to God. The duty of the wife’s submission to her husband as to the Lord is one of the clearest doctrines of the New Testament, and, whatever may be said about the suffragist movement as a whole, we have not the slightest hesitation in characterising this as a revolt against the laws of God. In Scotland there has been much said about leaving out the word “obey,” and we believe that ministers, in some cases, have gone the length of omitting it, but whether the law of Scotland is the same as the law of England on the matter, we cannot say: one thing we are certain of, “obey” is quite scriptural.