Fitly Spoken.
“Parental authority is very much at a discount to-day,” said Sir Dyce Duckworth, the famous physician, at a recent meeting in London. “When the cane was removed from the schools they took away Solomon’s rod, which was meant to punish wickedness—naughty boys and naughty girls, too. In the absence of that we are suffering from, and are surrounded by, an unwhipped generation which for want of that proper correction in the wisdom of Solomon, has become full of self-sufficiency. There is no real respect or reverence for anything. We want to see Christian teaching in all our schools, and we can get it if we want it . . . We are ashamed of our religion. We do not rebuke wickedness and vice when we see it. We are poor creatures, Little Englanders. The Big Englander is the man who has the courage of his opinions, and says what is right whether he dislikes doing so or not. One sees bad manners and want of respect in young people of all ranks. I notice the very bad style of dressing that exists. It is a thing to be rebuked. It is intrinsically ugly and bad. It is not graceful, but disgraceful. There is something wrong that English women should want to copy silly fashions of French women. The country at this moment is suffering bitterly from the want of womanliness.”
Views of a British General.
There passed away, suddenly, in a train, on 17th August, Lieutenant-General Sir James Moncrieff Grierson, a native of Glasgow, who was one of the most distinguished and capable officers in the British Army. His death was due to heart failure. The deceased General appears to have had decidedly orthodox leanings in matters of religion. He once wrote a minister of the Church of Scotland as follows: “Please tell the General Assembly to send good Scots ministers of the old type, and you will find that their labours will not be thrown away. You might tell them that soldiers prefer the psalms and paraphrases to new-fangled hymns.” The removal of such a man at the present crisis is a loss much to be deplored from every point of view. May the great Captain of Salvation go forth with our armies, and may our soldiers learn, amidst all their diligent attention to duty, that by His help alone they can obtain the victory!
Death of the Pope.
It appears to us a somewhat significant providence—whether for good or ill it may be difficult meantime to decide—that Pope Pius X. has died at the very moment when Europe is in the throes of a great convulsion. He passed away on 20th August at the age of seventy-nine. Personally he is reported to have been a man of amiable character and simple life. It is to be remembered, however, that the Pope is the representative of an evil system, worked by crafty men, the agents of “the god of this world,” propagating Anti-Christian errors and practices. The reign of the late Pontiff was marked by decided displays of Papal tyranny, which after all did not help the interests of the system. The Ne Temere decree, declaring marriage between Roman Catholics and Protestants, as null and void, unless celebrated by the priest, was an outstanding example of the arrogance referred to. The War may interfere to some extent with the appointment of another Pope, as the College of Cardinals with which the election rests, has representatives in opposing countries. “The Lord reigneth.”
Death of General of Jesuits.
It is a remarkable thing that the Head of the Jesuit Order in the Church of Rome—known as the “Black Pope”—died only a few hours before the Supreme Pontiff. His name was Father Wernz, and his death also took place at Rome, at midnight on 19th August. That two such prominent personalities in connection with the “Man of Sin” should pass away within a few hours of one another, appears, to say the least of it, an extraordinary circumstance at the present time.
Jesuits to be Expelled from a Mexican State.
Governor Villareal has issued a decree limiting the scope of the Catholic Church in the Mexican State of Nuevo Leon. He declares that during the life of the nation the Church has been a pernicious factor of disruption and discord, and has entirely forgotten its mission. Foreign priests and Jesuits are to be expelled from that State. Confessions are prohibited, and Catholic colleges which have not at their head a graduate of normal schools of that country are to be closed. Governor Villareal says the action has been taken in the interests of public health, morality, and justice.—Glasgow Herald, 29th July.
Another Deluge Record.
To-day, when unbelieving criticism has become increasingly bold, in the good providence of God, a still stronger witness is borne to His Work by inscriptions recovered from the dust of ages. The facts were related on Wednesday, 10th June, by Professor Sayce, at a meeting of the Society of Biblical Archæology.
It seems that, quite recently, Dr. S. Langdon, of Oxford—while turning over some documents which had been found at Nippur in Babylonia, and which are now preserved at Philadelphia—discovered another record of the Deluge, written in the Sumerian language, and older than the time of Abraham. This version is in harmony with the Book of Genesis in striking details; and besides giving us an account of Noah, the man who was “righteous in his generation,” it explains the Deluge as having been caused by human sin.
This remarkable inscription goes further than that. It traces sin to the Fall, and associates the Fall with the partaking of forbidden fruit, at the instigation of the serpent—just as we read in the Bible!
At a glance, it will be seen that this version of the Deluge will be of profound interest to believers in the Word of God, even as it will “call a halt” to destructive criticism. Full particulars are promised shortly; and it is unnecessary to say that we await these with the keenest satisfaction. Meantime, we thank God for another witness to the truth of His Holy Word.—Bible League Quarterly.
The Cradle of Mankind.
This is the title of a recently published book, written by Rev. W. A. Wigram, D.D., and E. T. A. Wigram. Dr. Wigram has spent ten years in Kividistan, and is familiar with the social life and traditions of the Kurds.
The following extract, in reference to Mount Ararat and the commemoration of Noah’s sacrifice is interesting:—”It must be understood, ‘say the writers,’ that no people here, save the Armenians, look on the great cone which we call Ararat, but which is locally known as Aghri Dagh, as the spot where the Ark rested. The Biblical term is ‘the mountains of Ararat’ or Urartu, and the term includes the whole of the Hakkiairi. A relatively insignificant ridge, known as Judi Dagh, is regarded as the authentic spot by all the folk in this land; and it must be owned that the identification has something to say for itself. . . . Whatever the facts, the tradition goes back to the year A.D. 300 at least. That date is, of course, a thing of yesterday in this country; but the tale was of unknown antiquity then, and is firmly rooted in the social consciousness now. In consequence, Noah’s sacrifice is still commemorated year by year on the place where tradition says the Ark rested—a ziaret which is not the actual summit of the mountain, but a spot on its ridge. On that day . . . all faiths and all nations come together, letting all feuds sleep on that occasion, to commemorate an event which is older than any of their divisions.”