The Armenian Massacres.—A writer in The Scotsman of 17th January gives a very touching account of the “blight of Turkish misrule” in Armenia. He dwells chiefly on the town of Marash, where the latest massacre has taken place, 1,500 Armenians having been killed by Turkish Nationalist hands. “A Christian,” he says, “either of Greek or Armenian nationality, can always save his life by turning a Mohammedan,” but “during the long years of persecution the vast majority of the Armenians have remained steadfast, and only a few have bought their lives by denying their Christian faith.” The writer concludes: “They have incurred the undying hatred of their Turkish rulers by fighting with the Allies in Palestine and elsewhere. Are they to be left by the Allies to utter extermination?”
Dr. Jowett Preaching in Durham Cathedral.—Dr. Jowett is a leading Nonconformist preacher. He was asked by the Dean to preach in this Cathedral on Sabbath evening, 15th February, and he did so to a large audience. A Vicar of the High Church type openly protested during the service. The incident as a whole has caused some sensation. High Church-ism is a form of Popery, and it is rampant in the English Church. Evangelical Protestants are but few. We are not admirers, on the other hand, of Dr. Jowett’s theology, and do not think that his discourse would be much fitted to direct his hearers to the true way of salvation.
“Lovers of Pleasures more than Lovers of God.”—In writing to Timothy, the Apostle said that in the last days perilous times shall come, when, among other things, men shall be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” At present the restraint that held many in check during the calamitous years of the War has been withdrawn, and men and women seem to have lost all control of themselves in their mad desire to drink deeply of the delusive cup of pleasure. So much is this the case that even one of the leading London morning papers has devoted a special article to the subject. Money is abundant, and the spendthrift spirit has become a kind of mania. Dancing is indulged in to an extent hitherto unknown. And even those who cannot be charged with a puritanic outlook on life, like the Marquis of Aberdeen, protest against the modern dance as “ugly and a nuisance.” But its ugliness is not its worst feature, for if all reports are true, many of the dancing saloons in the cities are hotbeds of immorality. After what the country has come through, sobriety would be more becoming than abandonment of mind and body to pleasure, and the serious financial condition of the country ought to act as a check on the spendthrift spirit that is morally bad for the individual and the nation. When Israel went after her lovers, the message of heaven to her was:—”I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them; and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers and forgot me, saith the Lord” (Hosea ii. 13).