Fitly Spoken.—Captain Lord Alastair Graham, R.N., in opening a new Club for women officers in H.M. Forces, which was named the Graham Residential Club, after his sister, Lady Helen Graham, said among other things:—”I think that some of the younger girls are apt to ape the men, swearing, smoking, and drinking as they do. I do not mean to impute that there is drunkenness among them, but they drink more than my mother would have drunk and more than my daughters would. Thus it is a good thing to have a counteracting influence such as the Y.W.C.A. clubs provide. The great need of the world to-day is to have more Christian men and women, and unless we have a Christian world the Beveridge and other plans for social betterment are not going to be worth more than scraps of paper.”
Britain’s Enemy.—The Vatican, says Historicus in the Churchman’s Magazine, must always be regarded as Britain’s Enemy No. 1. That is why many were surprised that the Archbishop of Canterbury asked for prayers for Cardinal Hinsley during his illness. Seeing that Dr. Hinsley has headed the Italian Mission here which is out to destroy Protestantism, this is indeed strange. It is good to pray for our enemies but we fear Dr. Temple did not regard the Cardinal in that light. Cardinal Hinsley’s “Sword of the Spirit Movement” cannot be lost sight of as a subtle Movement in preparation for a determined drive to undermine our Protestantism after the war. No Christian ought to be foolish enough to imagine that a Roman Catholic Cardinal is out to work in double harness with Protestantism in Christ’s Cause. And, one must not forget that the Vatican is, and always will be, Britain’s Enemy. That is why it is now, as in the last War, helping our enemies to win. It should not be forgotten that in the battle for the Sabbath the Cardinal encouraged the enemy by saying that he had no objections to Roman Catholics going to the theatre on Sabbath where decent shows are given.
Robert Murray McCheyne.—On 25th March, 1843, the gentle spirit of one of the saintliest of Scotland’s sons passed into the presence of his
Lord whom he loved so well. The memory of his beautiful, consecrated life is embalmed in his friend’s, Dr. A. A. Bonar’s Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray McCheyne. This is one of those biographies that will be read by all living Christians with pleasure and profit wherever the English language is understood. Many a one can look back with pleasure to the first glimmer of light that came to them in reading it for the first time and the humbling effect its reading produced in after years occasioned by the holy life led by one who died so young. Of him it could be truly said: “He was a burning and a shining light.” His whole heart was with the Evangelicals in the Disruption but ere that event took place, he was summoned by his Master to a place where controversy is forever ended.
A serious Precedent.—Under the foregoing cross-heading the English Churchman had a leading article recently in which it says:—Last week we felt it our duty to criticize the statement of the Archbishop of Canterbury that “the death of Cardinal Hinsley involves a great loss to all who wish to see the witness of Christianity given effectively to our people.” To-day it is our duty and that a painful one, to record an emphatic protest against the attendance of two diocesan Bishops (Gloucester and Chichester) and two Deans (Westminster and St. Paul’s) at the Solemn Pontifical High Mass sung in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Westminster for the repose of the Cardinal’s soul. “The Times” report of the proceedings stated that “a row of Anglican dignitaries” shared the front pew with the Greek Archbishop Germanos. ‘The Catholic Herald’ remarked that ‘especially notable was the presence of a number of Anglican Bishops and dignitaries whose attendance symbolised the Cardinal’s initiative in Christian co-operation,’ and added ‘We understand that the Archbishop of Canterbury would have wished to have been personally present, but was unavoidably prevented from doing so.’ The same paper stated that the Dean of Westminster represented the Archbishop. ‘The Universe’ emphasized the fact that ‘it was the first time Anglican Bishops attended such a function publicly’ and that ‘they were given seats in the front row of the congregation.’