Opening of Assemblies.—The Assemblies of the Established, United Free, and Free Churches, were opened at Edinburgh, on Tuesday, the 18th May. The new Moderators of these courts were respectively, Dr. Paul, Edinburgh; Dr. A. Macewen, Professor of Church History, U.F. College, Edinburgh; and the Rev. John Macdonald, Ross-keen, Ross-shire.
The British Envoy to the Vatican.—Mr. Michael J. F. McCarthy has published a pamphlet under the above title. It is one of the most damaging exposures we have read of the British Government’s unaccountable policy in opening diplomatic relations with the Vatican at this tremendous juncture in our nation’s history. Every one should procure a copy of this pamphlet and circulate it widely. It is bound to open the eyes of the most indifferent. Britain’s action, contrasted with that of Italy and France, is simply inexplicable, were it not evident that there is a subtle power working for mischief in the high councils of our nation. The pamphlet may be had from Charles J. Thynne, Great Queen Street, Kingsway, London, price one penny, or 6/6 per 100 post free. All our readers should procure a copy.
Mr. Redmond and the Nationalist Volunteers.—At a review of 20,000 Nationalist Volunteers at Easter Mr. Redmond is reported to have said:—”The Volunteers will be turned into a permanent military body, which will be at the disposal of the Irish Government. They will defend Ireland at home and abroad; they will enforce Irish rights; and the next great parade in Dublin will be when they march down with my colleagues and me to open the gates of the Irish Parliament. Then after that
they will protect that Parliament for all time.” Mr. Dillon also gave utterance to like sentiments. “The exclusion of Belfast,” he said, “from the future nationality of the country is an unthinkable thing. When we have to resume our arguments, and when the National Volunteers may again be summoned to the capital, 50,000 or 100,000 strong, all armed and disciplined, it will become manifest to every politician that Ireland, free and indivisible, must be conceded, or else we shall want to know the reason why.” We wish we could make ourselves believe that these words mean nothing ominous for the future, but past experience has taught us to look upon the utterances of the Irish leaders with concern, especially since they became masters of the situation in British politics.
The Bible in Hungary.—The Rev. James T. Webster, agent for the National Bible Society of Scotland at Budapest, reports that there was a remarkable desire on the part of the soldiers to obtain copies of the Scriptures. The churches were open every day of the week and filled with people. Thirty-five thousand Scriptures were given to eager recipients, and a distinct feeling of sorrow was expressed that this great Presbyterian country (Hungary) should be at war with Great Britain. While many of the Scriptures circulated among the soldiers were given away gratis, at least half were paid for by the chaplains and Christian workers. The military authorities during the time of mobilisation granted every facility for supplying the men with Scriptures. To say that the men themselves received them with eagerness would be to understate the facts; they clamoured for them, and not only those of one nationality or denomination, but of all—Magyars, Germans, Roumanians, Ruthenians, Poles, Czechs, Serbs, and others, whether Protestants, Roman or Greek Catholics or Greek Orthodox, even Jews held out their hands for copies, and were soon reading carefully from the New Testament. Chaplains who wrote from the front were so much impressed with the good influence of the Gospels on the men, that they tried every means to get large supplies, but unfortunately postal regulations forbade the sending of any kind of literature to the front. The wounded in hospitals gladly accepted copies, and drew strength and comfort from them. At the request of the city of Budapest a gift of 1,000 Gospels and 50 Testaments was made to the city authorities, who undertook the distribution in certain hospitals. The authorities sent a warm letter of thanks to the Society for the gift, which was highly appreciated both for itself and as coming from a British society.