New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-12-19
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

| mons at Great st. Mary 8, Camoriuke, LUG
land, have received many compliments It ron
! ANALYSIS and mastery treatment OF an exceed
| inoiv complex subject. I his was the ilrst occa-
| sion when an invitation had been extended oy
| either of the great English universities 10 y
| prelate of the sister Churcn ~ INC I;nnnIv
| States Bishop Littlej0hn preached IL Lincoln
| Cathedral on another sunday sermon OF winch
| The Guardian speaks 90 being clear IN thought
pure in style, refined in language; pOwerlui "a
argument, fully justlfying his higD repuIaIion.
as a nreacher| I'm the evening he preached at
| the Corporation Church, and on the next day
l read q paper at the anniversary meeting OF 'ne
| Society for the propagation OF the GOstei Ih
| Foreign Parts. In this paper he spoke !or MS
own branch of the Anglican communion, snow
| ing what 1t was required to do ana no" IL nao
| done it, its trials, difficulties, and encourage
| ments The following extracts show the spirit
| of the discourse The American Church seems
| to have been chosen of God TO leaven the TEEN
| ing life of newly peopled continent Win
| evangelical truth and apostolic order-to eau
cate in the faith once delivered and IN the cls-
| ciplne OF the Reformed Catholic Church race
the like OF which in it's diverse elements ana III
the marvellous rapldity OF Its growth, the woflu
| has never seen. She was called 70 enter the
| arena of conflict and aggression, not as sect
among rival Protestant sects, net az new
pchool of Christian theology and lie among
other schools already In The held, put as uuiy
equipped and validity constituted branch or the
| heI message and the Authority Oh her Oioer
| To Holy Scripture as interpreted by prlmltive
| antiquity and as reafiirmed at the Reformation
| by the National Church OF England. But this
vocation OF the American Church, 10 itSeii 30 un
| speakaby important and far-reachIng, bad 70
be performed, be it observed, under conditions
never before seen in the history or the wOfld-
| The race among whom aud Tor wn0m Jhe WOrk
has to be done is diversified IN origin ana char-
acteristlcs beyond all precedent. Finally,
abH my deliberate OPINION
is little doubt but that out OF all that stir ana
conflict and competition among the various
phases of Christianity in that ALREADY glgahtic
life of America some one system VIII sooner OF
later emerge into n dominant and unchalienged
supremacy. II cannot be that OF any one or ali
the sects, for it is the tendency OF sectsm I'd
develop and intensity every d'slntegrating
force now at work in religion, In society, ana
in the State Itself given 10 constant change, IL
helps to increase the chronic and widespread
instability which is already The disease ana me
danger OF our life. 1t ought not to be the re-
liglOn of the Vatican, for Its supremacy wOuld
imperil, if not utterly destroy every FORM OF
Christian and civil liberty. Ii should be- and,
God giving us the needed grace ana strength
il will be the ancient faith and order or the
Reformed Catholic Church, that has gwen 20
England so many of the elements oil IT'S moral
greatness, and has uplifted and blessed every
land that has accepted Its guidance anu Deeh
imbued with its spirit"
CERTAryrIEs OF THE FUTURE.-The Dean Of
st. Paul's London, first advent sermon TINS sea
son WAS based on Luke XVI. 3: I" The children
of tins world are in their generation wiser than
the children of light The Dean said that the
" Ord was full of evidences OF the power or
| faith. Il was that substance OF things hopeu
| forever in things temporal and IN the GER
| tainties of time, which enabled the tolllng
merchant or The struggling lawyer to sacrifice
the present for the sake OF the future and labor
! on. undepressed and uldismayed, unit. they
| achieved success. There were 0tner certalnties
| of the future besides those of this world TO
which it was fitting that at such a season as Ad-
| vent they should face with wisdom and courage
| The first certainty which must befall them was
| that strange and formidable event In their ex-
istence which men called dyIpg. was II
| strange that the awful process or hylDg, which
no one cOuld Interpret TO his brother, out when
no one could escape, should find them unpre-
| pared, unnerved, and contounded by Deing
| suddenly confronted with necessity or when
they had never seriously thoughtF Atter
| death came Judgment. Thought and magma
| ton tail in the attempt to realize 1t, bur ono
| thing they could understand: Each one knew
! more about himself, than 1t was Always COM
/ Portable to recognize. No one would care tnas
| even his dearest friend should know All tnaJ ne
| had done and said and thought amid all the
| foundations Of life. Yet there were no secrets
from God. They know that now, they would
| feel it then; and knowing the truth ABOUT
| themselves would also know that tie knew IL
| also. Death, Judgment, and immortality were
| three certaDties, OF which the strangest and
| most wonderful was the last-that they, thelr
| own very selves who were there now would on
| the other side of death be in a fresh condition
| of exIstence-unkn0wn, IncOncelvabie, endless
| but not, he supposed, separated from the
| memories OF this earth. To every human being
now alive, a. ito all the innumerable multitude
| of the dead, that glorious second life was IN
| some w:y-iar, perhaps, beyond thought
placed within his reach in the place and degree
| of his probation. 1t was offered TO each or
them it was theirs to have, or theirs to forfeit
| ENGLISH STATIsTICS.-A return has been
| Dublished by the Congregational Union or the
| church and chapel accommodation provided In
! the eight largest towns in lancashire. The
| figures which have been obtained by fdlrect
application to responsible persons, show that
church accommodation has barely kept pace
| with the increase of population. In 1851 the
| population of the eight towns was 929 134.
| This wear it is ,533, 7S5, showing an increase
| of 6J per cent The number OF sittlngs pro.
| yiifed in 1851 was 304 ,4S9, or 32.o per cent OF
the population. In 1881 II was 4J9,ZZo, or
| 1913 per cent the increase being 63 per cent
of sittings against 50 per cent or population;
| As So per cent of the population is supposed
TO need church accommodation. and only 81
per cent il provided for, over 20 per GENITAL
most as high proportion as Ia Lonaon-h i!e.
nine years, in spite OF Bishop Frasers 49, 900
| combinations, the number OF slttings provided
by the Established Church in Manchester, in
| stead of slowing any increase, has actually
fallen from so, ITO 70 50,170. In the eight
towns the percentage OF increase in thirty
years in the sittings provided by the various
sects is as follows: Baptist. 1O6; Roman
Catholic, 90; United Methodist Free Church,
| 90; WESLEYAN, 50 Congregational, 81; Pres
byterian, 80; and Church OF England, 80.
The Society of Friends shows positive failing
oil: the Unitarians, although feeble, show a
slight increase, the Primitive Methodis's large
one. while the Jews have much more than
doubled the seating capacity of their syna
gogues OF the 495,225 slit. IS in these eight
towns the Church OF England only provides
1885, $50, or little mole than 26 per cent.