The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-08-31 00:00:00

THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
AND "THE HEATHEN."

The Bishop of Carlisle has addressed the following
letter to The Times

I am sorry to perceive from two letters which appeared in
The Times of Wednesday last that a portion of a speech
made by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a meeting held m
Carlisle on Monday last has given pain to the writers, and
probably also to others whose feelings they may he euppoeed
to represent. As 1 was chairman of the meeting in question,
you will, I am sure, permit me, tluough the medium
of soar columns, to say a few words of explanation.
Explanation is, perhaps, scarcely the proper term-1
have no right to explain what another person has
said. But I wish to assure the two gentle-
men who have felt aggrieved by the Archbishop's language
that it would have been impossible for any one who heard
his Grace speak to have regarded his words In the way in
which they have been regarded when viewed in the form of an
extract. I understand the drift of the Archbishop's argu-
ment to be this—that whereas the supporters of missionary
societies were required only a few years age to travel to
distant countries in order to be brought into contact with
those whom they wisheo to convert to the faith of Christ,
or else to depend upon books for their knowledge of them,
now the condition of things are very different. rho Archbishop
pointed out that 11 Mob gentlemen were to be found in con-
siderable abundance (the precise number matters not) in the
Temple and in Lincoln's-inn, that every kind of nationality
was to be seen at the East-end of London, and that ambas-
sadors from heathen countries were to be met with in car-
riages at levees, at Lord Mayors' banquets and the like. The
point was simply this—that they whom, rightly or wrongly, :
we were modems to twiny into the kingdom of Our Lord were '
now no strangers to us, but men whom we could find abun-
dantly In our own country. "The whole world," as the
Archbishop said, "has been brought wonderfully near" I
find, according to the newspaper reports, that his Grace
used the phrase, "heathenism of the worst kind."
The phrase does not rest in my memory, but pro-
bably the reporters are correct. Certainly, however,
the phrase was nut applied to the Ilindoo students of
the Temple and Lincoln's-inn. In truth, the term " heathen "
In the Archbishop's speech was not used in a manner to
cause pain or offence. Richardson, in his Dictionary, rives
the word as derived from "ettume," " a nation." and as being
equivalent in the mouths of Christians to "Gentile," in the
mouths of Jews. What we Christians mean by " heathen "
is simply Persons who do not believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We think lithe highest charity to persuade them to
do this, but we cannot desire to offend by calling them
hard names Mem whom we think it a privilege to
attempt to convert. Those who know the Archbishop
of Canterbury will know how incapable he is of saying
anything hareh or unkind. In the present instance,
having heard his whole speech, it never occurred to me
that he had uttered a word which could offend our Hindu°
fellow-subjecte, on the other hand, I thought that he paid a
great compliment to Elindoo philosophy when he expressed
Ms fear lest we should be converted from our faith by those
whom we are anxious to convert. I will only add, as illne-
trative of the Archbishop's feelings, that the only occasion
Upon which I ever had the opportunity of seeing any of the
studiinta to whom he referred was in the gardens of Lambeth
Palace.