The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-09-14 00:00:00

THE BISHOP OF CARLISLE ON "THE

HEATHEN."

Preaching in Carlisle Cathedral on Sunday, the
Bishop (Dr. Harvey Goodwin) took fr his text the
words from St. Matthew's Gospel, "Ye are the salt
of the earth ; ye are the light of the woild ;" and
directed his remarks to the cuntroyeiray which ha.s
ariqernnt of the recent speech of the Archbishop of
Canterbury on the heathen :

The words spoken by the Archbishop upon that occasion
had (his lordship said) made more stir iu the world than such
utterances usually do. They bat been quoted and corn-
molted upon by almost every newspaper iu both town and
cowry. Journals which live by. serious articles, journals
which live by making jokes, and purnale which profess to
Mammy religious c pluton had all hod their say. Nay, the
c'ttut7yl7; eldinhtet in
doubtedd" niii
onee t
o butb e }Ent; theid th
speechlin' its of
whichsstir
cw"a s
made in Carlisle on the suldect of converting the heathen to
the faith of Cialat would he reed with Interest, mid the
eirnmeni s upon it would be canvassed and cisoussed by
our fellow subjects in India eveu more earmstly than
among ourselre. Diet being so, he had determined
to soy nue-Aline; that morning upon the genesal mihject
which bad been thrown into such unexpected promi-
nence. When Bishop Heber wrote his exquisite missionary
hymn, net so very many years ego, and spoke of "the
heathen hi his blindness bowing down to wood stun Moue,"
there were no doubt, as thews are new, seat dietinctions
among those whom we popularly cites under me common
name of " Heathen." There were philoteiphical speculators
in lodia east China, and there were ancient eivilizatieue
based upon moral or religious teaching then as they are
now; but it was only students who knew much abet such
mstters The ordinary mind simply looked upon the world
outshie Christendom as covered over with one great op-
Massive cloud of darkness. But now it is imp ussihlS
for any one to deal with the question in that roiteh and
ready way. The inhabitants of distant countries are con-
stantly among us, living with us on sepal terms as members
of our civillt,tl society ; and, though tnis does not change the
great fact that they are not disciples of Christ, it doe. very
much change the average popularestimation of what the wore
Is which has to lie done by Christians. Every one must ace
that a portion at least ot what we regard as the heathen does
not conMst of men such as Heber's hymn brings before our
minds. Moreover, not only do we see much more thou
Wl' need to see of the im-Christimized portion of the world,
but the un-Chris tianizeil portion of the world sees much more
of us. Ilindoos, Parsees, and Malaommedans come and see us for
themselves, and the future of the Kingdom of Christ depends
(turaselly epeakitte` very much upon what these foreigners do
.00 when they visit our shores. One would wish them to go
mice in the same state of mind as the Queen of the South
when she went back from visiting Solomon. They ought to
en hock almost, if not quete, persuaded to be Chrissiaes. If
England waswhat she ought to be—still mere, if Christendom
elan what she ought to be—missionary work, so far as India
Is reneerned, ought to be at art end—the natives ought to he
their own missionaries. The spiritual influence conveyed icy
the constant missing ned repassing of iiindoes and English-
men between cue country and the other ought to have the
effect et ictroducing the Gospel to India with more com-
pleteness of effect than any society can attain. %That, thee,
was the asp et which Englund presented—not to ourselves—
but to an educated Llindoo who came to visit the country of
his conquerors and rulers? He most be puzzled by the
whole position of Christendom. lie found England was
' regarded as a land of excommunicated unbelievers by about
live-sixths of Chrietenitom or more; and that instead cf unity
nothing could he more pronounced and apparently hopeless
than the rents which divide the Christian ; nod when
he perceived the zeal with which some among us strove
for the upsetting of the Church which he in his simplicity
had regarded as representing the religiou of England, and
the amount of trouble and labour which bad to be spent
upon Church deice., the Moth* might well be astonished.
Nor would that astonishment be much mitigated when he
looked into the condition of the English Church ite-If.
Surely there he might expect to find the sweet phantom
of unity and Motherly love winch had eluded him hitherto;
hut there again he found strife and dispute, hard laeguage
sTill uncharh uhle. judgme!d s. and law!suits and parties shit

if he wanted to Ii1;;;;--what. precis-ly the doctrine of the
Church was he would find men equally earnest, who
differed in their accounts of It, almust as widely as the
poles. This was at the only picture which could be
drawn fl the Church of England; but what kind
of impression must necessarily be made upon the mind of
an educated Hindu° by the divided state of option among
oursaves? The [linden) would almost necessarily be tempted

.....
to regard as our representative men not those who most
earnestly preach or uphold thi Gospel of Christ, but rather
those woo are notable for purely secular knowledge. or those
who have tried to substitute for the di finite religion of Holy
Scripture and the Church that kind of handiest., philosophy
which has lately been especially prominent, mid which to a
Hindoo mind will have such especial charms. Still, religions
strifes and differences might be put on ono side, so to
speak, if the general elket produced upon the rsiu.l
of a Hindu., by the condition of our country were such
as to compel him to my that God was of a truth amongst
us. Therefore, we must ask, is this au? Is the genei al
condition of public morality, is the purity of life among.t us,
is the sobriety of people in the lower Ousels of life, mid the
practical godliness of these in the higher classes such that we
can take our atand upon them? The missionary's work would
be a comparatively simple 000 11 he could say to tile natives
of any heathen country, If 3ou could only come home with
me, you would perceive what a blessing it it that I am now
Gfferiug to you; if you cou d sea England y.O 0 uld easily
undsrstand what I want to make your country" Dare any
missionary put his message to this test? Dare he hold up
ugland as a proof of svh 1t Mt teaching can do? Whether
he dam or not Lis teaching must and will he put to tide test :
the Ilindoos do come to see what a Christian country is;
and if they go back again disappointed or oohing, as some
of loin do, how can we be the salt of the earth—how can we
be the light at the world?