IN the debate in the House of Commons in Committee on the Church of Scotland (Property and Endowments) Financial Resolution, Mr Ian Macpherson, M.P. for Ross and Cromarty, referred at length to the Treasury’s request to redeem the moneys embodied in the Consolidated Fund. Mr Macpherson said he was struck by the fact that most of these sums were originally devoted to the purpose of enabling the Church to perform and maintain the rites of the Church in the more inaccessible parts of Scotland. As one of the representatives of those inaccessible parts, he wanted to make a suggestion. He was not prepared to vote for the resolution unless he could get some guarantee from the Lord Advocate that the point he was going to make would be considered by him and by the joint Churches. The funds which were redeemable now were funds which were originally used in the maintenance of the ordinances in the North of Scotland. A great part of the North of Scotland was provided for by the Free Church of Scotland. That Church claimed, and he thought justly claimed, that it was mainly responsible for the maintenance of the ordinances of the Church in accordance with the old standards for the vast majority of the Gaelic-speaking population. They said rightly that in any re-allocation upon the redemption of funds their claim ought to be considered. They said that they had right along throughout their history maintained the old standards of faith since the origins of the patrimony
of the Church, and that they were responsible in the main for the maintenance of the religious ordinances in the more inaccessible parts. A point was made by Mr Barr, added Mr Macpherson, that the more they gave of State grants the more likely churches were to be erected which were totally unnecessary from the point of view of numbers or anything else. His (Mr Macpherson’s) point, on the other hand, was that, if they had sums of this kind, the proper thing to do was to devote part of those funds in any case to those localities where one church or perhaps two and no more were necessary in order to make it easy for those even to maintain their congregations and the ordinances of their Church. He would suggest, therefore, that the Lord Advocate should use every endeavour to recognise the claims of those congregations in the North of Scotland, and ask the joint Church to enter into an arrangement with the Free Church of Scotland to have a committee appointed to review the religious position and the religious needs in the North of Scotland, and to find out how much could properly be given to them for maintaining, and in certain parts maintaining alone the ordinances of those churches. He considered that something in this nature was necessary.
Sir J. Gilmour, in the course of his reply, said Mr Macpherson had asked that some pledge might be given that certain of the outlying portions of the Highland areas might receive some benefit from those moneys. He was not in a position to give anything in the nature of a pledge, but he would say that he felt fairly satisfied from his knowledge of the Church and those who controlled her destinies that they would be very ready to recognise the facts and their duty as a National Church, and he would express the hope that if, and when, they came to consider these matters, if they did not deal directly themselves with these problems, they might do it through the sister Church.—“Northern Chronicle.”
Notes and Comments.
Broadcasting by the Church of Rome.—The Church of Rome is quick to recognise an opportunity for propaganda through wireless broadcasting. In a recent communication to the “Times,” it is stated that for the purpose of “acquainting the public with the Catholic point of view upon current affairs, the Paulist Fathers intend to instal a broadcasting station at the headquarters of the organisation, the Church of St Paul the Apostle, New York. The installation marks the first
step in the movement by Roman Missions, inaugurated with the jubilee year celebrations, for teaching Americans the truth about the Roman Catholic Church. It is planned to broadcast lectures and instructions by well-known priests and laymen and also concerts by the Paulist choristers, and probably Cardinal Hayes will henceforth broadcast his messages to the New York arch-diocese. The Church contemplates erecting similar stations in several cities.”
Was Darwin a Christian?—The following letters which Sir Francis Darwin sent to Mr A. Le Lievre, Secretary of the Protestant Press Bureau, should be a sufficient answer to this question, which would probably never have been raised had it not been for Lady Hope’s statement. The two letters were reprinted a few months ago in the “Life of Faith,” and are as follows:—(1) “I have to-day received your letter, dated November 23rd [1917]. Lady Hope’s account of her interview with my father is a fabrication, as I have already publicly pointed out. I have no reason whatever to believe that he ever altered his agnostic point of view, as given in my ‘Life of Charles Darwin’ in vol. I., p. 55.—Yours faithfully, Francis Darwin.” (2) “Lady Hope’s account of my father’s views on religion is quite untrue. I have publicly accused her of falsehood, but I have not seen any reply. My father’s agnostic point of view is given in my ‘Life and Letters of Charles Darwin,’ vol. I., pp. 304-317. You are at liberty to publish the above statement. Indeed, I shall be glad if you will do so.—Yours faithfully, Francis Darwin.”
An Interesting Testimony.—Sir William Willcocks, the famous Eastern irrigation engineer, in a recent issue of “Life and Faith,” tells how “living in the contentious atmosphere of the critics” his past life for thirty-two years has been sterile and barren. “As a Modernist,” he says, “my motto had been ‘We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit.’ I spent my time discovering new evidences of the incompetence and duplicity of those whom the Holy Spirit has inspired to write the Scriptures.” Then Dr Dick Wilson’s “Are the Higher Critics Scholarly?” fell into his hands. “This settled me,” he says. “During my studies of Bible facts in the valleys of the Nile and Euphrates I had often proved the accord of the Bible accounts with observations by level and compass, with observations of the behaviours of the rivers, with the ideas of the time and with the mode of expression
of the time in the spoken language.” Sir William further adds:—”I have returned to my old faith in the Word of God and literally live in it.”
The Free Church and the Church Bill.—A statement made by Dr White, Glasgow, recently at a meeting called forth a good deal of comment, and led to a statement being presented in private to the Commission of the Free Church by the Committee on the Claim of Right. The Committee desired to make it known that in anything done by or on behalf of the Church or its Committee there had been no compromise of principle embodied in the Claim of Right, nor was there any intention to enter into the proposed Union of the larger Churches. The Committee, while maintaining their protest against the Bill, have resolved to take no further action on the Bill.
Church Notes.
Communions. — April — Second Sabbath — Lochgilphead; fourth, St Jude’s (Jane Street, Blythswood Square), Glasgow, and Wick. May — First Sabbath, Kames and Oban; second, Dumbarton; third, Edinburgh. June — First Sabbath, Coigach; second, Shieldaig; third, Dornoch, Glendale, and Lochcarron; fourth, Gairloch and Inverness. July — First Sabbath, Lairg and Beauly; second, Tain, Staffin, and Tomatin; third, Daviot, Halkirk, Flashadder, and Rogart; fourth, Plockton and Bracadale. August—First Sabbath, Dingwall; second, Portree; third, Bonar-Bridge; fourth, Stornoway.
Home Mission (Missionaries and Catechists) Fund Collection.—The Synod appointed the second annual collection for this Fund to be taken up in April. Our missionaries are paid out of this Fund, and it is desirable that it should meet with a liberal response.
London Communion.—The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper will (D.V.) be dispensed on Sabbath, 12th April, when the Rev. Neil Macintyre, Edinburgh, is expected to officiate. The following hours have been arranged: —Thursday (9th April), 7 p.m. (English); Friday, 3.30 p.m. (Gaelic); 7 p.m. (English); Saturday, 3.30 p.m. (English). Sabbath, 11 a.m. (English); 3.45 p.m. (Gaelic); and 7 p.m. (English). Monday, 7 p.m. (English). We take this opportunity of asking those who have friends in London or its vicinity to call attention to these services.
Acknowledgment of Donations.
John Grant, 30 Duncraig Street, Inverness, General Treasurer, acknowledges, with grateful thanks, the following anonymous donations up to 10th March 1925.
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JEWISH AND FOREIGN MISSIONS.—A Friend, Glasgow, 10s; A. M., Lochgilphead, 4s; a Friend of the Cause, £8; “Thy Kingdom Come,” per Rev. N. Cameron, 10s; a Friend, Applecross, per Rev. E. Macqueen, £1; a Friend, Tain (for Mrs Radasi), per Miss Munro, Tain, 5s.
Rev. E. Macqueen, Inverness, thankfully acknowledges £1 from a Friend, Portree, for Church Funds.
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