The Bible in the School.
Mr. James Bryce, formerly British Ambassador at Washington, and on whom a viscounty has recently been conferred, in an address delivered at London University, made some important remarks respecting the Bible in the school, and gave expression to his regret that more attention was not paid to Bible teaching. “It is with great regret,” he said, “that one sees in these days that the knowledge of the Bible seems to be declining in all classes of the community. I was struck with the same thing in the United States. Looking at it from only the educational side, a loss of knowledge of the Bible, and all that the Bible means, would be incalculable to the life of the country. It would be a great misfortune to this country if generations of children grew up who didn’t know their Bible.” These words, coming from such a distinguished statesman, ought to be seriously weighed by those who, in our own country, are seeking to secularise education and to banish the Bible from the schools.
A Pleasure-loving People.
The Daily Mail Year Book for 1914 gives the following figures under the title, “What We Spend Annually on Amusements”:—Theatres, £8,000,000; Football, £7,000,000; Cricket, £6,000,000; Motoring, £6,000,000; Horse Racing, £10,000,000; Hunting, £7,000,000; Concerts, £3,000,000; Golf, £2,000,000. The amount spent on Picture Theatres is not given, but the attendance is computed at eight million persons per week. At first sight it seems almost incredible that so much money is spent on amusements, but we have no reason to call in question these figures. They speak eloquently of the large place amusement has among us as a people and the huge sums that are willingly paid for these pleasures.
Tercentenary of James Melville’s Death.
Three hundred years ago on 19th January, James Melville passed to his rest. He was one of Scotland’s worthy sons, who fought a long battle against the establishment of Episcopacy in his native land. His uncle, to whom he so often affectionately refers to in his Diary as “Mr. Andro,” was one of the noblest and ablest ecclesiastical leaders with which the Church of Scotland was honoured. When one reads the contending of these warriors for the preservation and establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland, one cannot help feeling that they were men of integrity and inflexible purpose, scorning subterfuge and ease. James Melville’s Diary is one of the most interesting works of the kind that we have in our Scottish ecclesiastical literature. Unfortunately, in the Wodrow Society edition the archaic spelling, though highly appreciated by some, acts as a kind of barrier to the general reader. But this is a difficulty easily mastered, and the reader will be well repaid by any labour it may have cost him at the beginning.
The Sabbath in Ireland.
A correspondent, writing in the Lord’s Day Quarterly, says, “I am unable to subscribe towards your Society, but that does not alter my admiration and sympathy for your Society, as every penny we have here must be used to try and keep back the tide of the most flagrant Sabbath-breaking it is possible to conceive. In the Roman Catholic portions of Ireland the Sabbath is turned into a day of riot and every description of sport—horse-racing, football, hurley, band parading, drinking—in fact, worse than any Continental city. Here in the capital, Dublin, those who are compelled to live in the city, like myself, feel it very much, and we Protestants, of all the Churches, who do observe the Sabbath, are labelled ‘intolerant, narrow bigots.’ How can the country prosper or expect a blessing?”
Daring Sabbath Desecration.
That the above is not an exaggerated description of the state of matters may be gathered from the following from the Lord’s Day Quarterly:—“On Sabbath, 30th November, there took place in the London Pavilion a concert which one is justified in regarding as a specimen of what would receive legal sanction for the Lord’s Day, under the terms of the Weekly Rest Day Bill, if this should become law. It was thus advertised:—‘A concert in aid of the fund for the relief of the women and children affected by the strike in Dublin will be given in the London Pavilion, Piccadilly Circus, to-morrow evening, at 7.30,’ under the patronage of prominent Irishmen. ‘The programme will be Irish in character, Irish songs and dances and examples of Irish humour figuring prominently.’ A celebrated actress ‘will conduct an auction sale of the autographs of the artists.’ ‘The performers also include a solo dancer.’ In the programme were these items: Irish folk song; dance; For the Green; Irish step-dancers; musical sketch; Rory, Darlin’; humorous sketch, ‘The Darlin’ Girl from Clare.’ ‘Prince White Heather’ will sell heather for the fund.” The above report will be read with pain by every lover of the Lord’s Day, but it will reveal a state of paganism traceable to Romanism and infidelity which many may have thought did not exist in this country.
"**The Menace.**"—Such is the name of a remarkable little newspaper which for the last two years and more has been carried on in the United States in the interests of Protestantism. A copy lies before us (per Rev. J. R. Mackay, Inverness), and here, certainly, is no mincing of matters, but bold, straight firing at Popery and its emissaries. The chief object of attack is, no doubt, “the Roman Catholic political machine,” as “the deadliest menace to American liberty and civilization,” but, still, the general testimony of the paper exposes and condemns the whole system, and we earnestly hope that, by divine help, it may make great breaches upon the forts of the enemy. The Menace is already stirring the blood of thousands of Protestants in America, and the total number of subscriptions up to date is 1,166,800. No wonder that the Roman Catholics are asking the Congress to suppress this new and forceful engine in the cause of righteousness. The chief editor is the Rev. Theodore C. Walker, with whom is associated Mr. Marvin Brown. The Menace is published weekly at one penny, postage extra, but if any of our readers wish to get it for a year (two or three might combine even for one copy), they may do so by sending only 4/2 to the Menace Publishing Co., Aurora, Missouri, U.S.A.
President Wilson at Mass.
We have been deeply grieved to learn from the press that President Wilson of the United States recently attended a Roman Catholic National Thanksgiving Service held in New York. The Menace gives a full report of the occasion from the pen of Mr. W. W. Prescott, editor of the Protestant Magazine, Washington, D.C. It is lamentable to think that Woodrow Wilson, an elder in the Presbyterian Church, should not show a better example in his high position. But the whole thing, of course, is diplomacy to hold the Roman vote, and according to the compromising spirit of our times, religious principles must be sacrificed when place and position are at stake. The affair has aroused unusual interest in America. Many were watching beforehand what the new President would do—whether or not he would follow the example of President Taft in this matter—and when it became known that President Wilson intended to attend the Roman Mass “at least ten thousand letters” of protest came to his official residence, the White House. Still, this did not bar the way, and the Papists have full opportunity to rejoice that they are not losing ground in the high places of American political life.