Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-12-27
Dee. STANLEY aad Nsx Muller.

TEE LATTkRs LeerUsk IL wksrnIssrKR
ABBEr.
London dec. ~ Correspondence ". Y. Times
Yesterday was the day appointed BY the arch
bishops for 'intercessions for Missions" aud
chspels connected with the established church.
Dean Stanley signal ned the occasion by invit-
Ing DR.. NJ AZ NJ uler 20 deliver q lecture In the
evening In Westminster Abbey; and this has
produced q great sensation in the ecclesiss-
teal world. liz had, OF course. been announced
beforehand that the lecture would be deliy-
might. perhaps, be found OF persnsding the
Dean not TO violate customary usszes. I need
hardly saw that the clergy OF the Church OF
England claim to themselves the exclusive
right Of lifting up their voices in church.
A bin has been repeatedly brought forward In
the House Of Commons TO authorize laymen or
lectures or addresses in the churches of the Es-
tablishment, but it shas always been rejected.
It stated, apparently on authority. that IS
dent for permitting laymAn to read . lecture
on religious subject from the lectern in the
nave. IL appears that Mr.. Gilbert Scott, (uow
Sir Gnoert,l the eminent ecclesiastical archi-
tect, once gave an archaeological lecture in the
Abbey. Moreover, care Was taken-so We are
told-to give DIR. NJ AZ Mulier's address q .schar-
scter distinct from that Of the cathedral ser
vices" The choir did not attend, the Dean
and others Of the cathedral clergy who were
present wore only their college gowns and hoods,
and not their ecclesiastical vestments, 20 that
the assembly had rather the character OF a
public meeting than a congregation. Bishop
Hebers hymn, From Greeniand's lev Noun
tsins, was sung before and the one Hundred-h
Psalm after the lecture, and the Dean
wound up the proceedings by q blessing
notwithstanding these precsutions-snd tt Is
understood that the Dean and Chapter took the
opinion OF counsel on the subject-it is pretty
certain that this innovation will pro luce a fer
nent In the church. Dean Stanley has long
been regarded as kind of bet, n0irs by the
orthodox clergy. He Is broad church in the
broadest imaginable sense, and is accused OF
thinking one religion as good as another. and
better too. His conduct certainly supplies A
certain kind of justification for the suspicion
that be looks upon religion generally as an open
question, on which every side should have fair
hearing in the hope that possibly some day all
eects may be reconciled on some very broad and
comprehensive platforms. Dean Stanley has
taken a conspicuous part in cultiyating an aili-
ance between the Greek and the English
Church, and II is for this reason that he
has been chosen to oficiats at 81. Pc
tersburg at the marriage of the Duke
of Edinburgh and the daughter OF the CZsr.
He went to the congress OF Old Catholics to offer
them the hand of friendship; he breaches In
Scotch Presbyterian churches, and insists that
they, too, are of the brotherhood; and he IL also
accused of coquetting with Unitarians and Ra-
tonalists. Not long since he admitted q UnIta-
bey, and Of course t there was great -" outcpy
about 1t. Putting all these things together, YOU
can understand the sort of alarm with which all
which have row been excited that the intro
duction of DIR. Max Muller into the Abbey is
only the thin end of the wedge, and that we
may soon expect to see there Mr. Noysey, or
even Mr.. Bradlaugh himself. II is not
very long, moreover, since, by the Deans
permission, Bach's 4" Passion" was performed
In the same building by a secular orchestra
and chorus, as IL in an ordinary concert hall.
DIR. Max Muller himself, although perhaps
orthodox enough on the main points, Is chiefly
known as q scientific mythologist, and has rather
q startling way of classifying Christianity
only one OF a series of religions which have
taken hold of the world. This was one OF the
principal points of last nights lecture. There
were only eight great historical religions, he
said: three Semitic-the Jewish, the Christian,
and the Mobammedan; three Arian-the Brah-
man, the Buddhist, and the Parsee; together
and Lao-Tse. None of these religions were
ineligible unless they were studied together,
and the result of that study would be a
science of religion. Into this wide field,
however, the Doctor perhaps from pru-
dental reasons refrained from entering. He
confined himself TO some remarks on the
different religions in their missionary aspects.
Judaism, Brahminism, and Zoroasterism we're
opposed TO all missionary enterprise; Buddhism,
Accommodation, and Christianity were mis-
sionary religions from the beginning, and would
cease to exist unless they continued 20. There
were at present only some 100, 900 Parsees; the
Jews were thirty times as many, but were not
increasing; Brahminism was professed by no.
O00, 200 of souls, but was practically dead, be-
cause ii could not stand the light of day. The
decisive battle would lie between Buddhism,
Mebammedanism, and Christianity. There
were twice as many Christians as Mohamme-
dams, but Buddhism still occupied the first
lecturer said that Christianity had done a great
deal in purifying and otherwise modifying the
other two great religions, although perhaps not
exactly in the way the missionaries liked.