New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-03-19

outline of Congregational church order more
nearly as il is followed 10y the CoDgregati0nai
| churches of to-day than did any man who hved
after him, for the space Of two hundred years.
| Another thing il led him to do 1t led MN
clearly to state that civil magistrates have no
ecclesiastical authority at ALL This, be IL re-
membered, was full two generations before
the time of Roger Williams, who is SO often
credited with being the first to deny the right
| of the civil magistrate to NEEDLE with matters
| of conscience. This proposition was brst as
| serted by the first pastor OF the hrst CongIega-
| tiOnal church formed in England, ana IN inc
| light of subsequent history we say that the
more nearly all the Congregational churches
since have kept TO il, the better IL has been Tor
! them. In 1852 COngregatlOnallsm was de-
scrIbed as "a cOmpanie of Christian believers,
! which, by a willing covenant, made with their
! God, are under the government OF God ana OF
| Christ, and keep His laws in one hole commune
iOn.' They organized church that should 90
| nothing with the State for their utmost Wish
was, that the Government should let them
| alone. The idea is purely religious one, and
the only light upon it is the New Testament"
Great CONSERVATION has been caused in Con-
stantnOple by report that the Mosque OF sc.
| Sophia is in danger of cOlapslng for there Is
q tradition among the TURKS that the fall OF
this basica will herald the disnemberment
of the Empire. The mosque was restored ~
great expense by the Sultan Abdul Mejld IN
| 1919, under the superintendence of the Italian
architect FOssati. But the work does not APP
pear to have been very well executed Tor the
grand DOME which is 100 feet in diameter aud
which is $50 feet high, is so insecure that, ac-
cOrding to the report of the architect who has
been called in by the Minister Ot Public
Works, 1t may fall in at any moment In
other respects the interior of the mosque Is IN
fairly good state OF preservation. Among the
many relics preserved in the Mosque OF 81.
Sophia Is the carpet upon which MahOmmed
was wont to pray ; and close to the place where
this carpet is suspended stands the pulpit from
which the Khatb reads the Koran every
Friday, holding in his hand drawn sword as
symbolic of 81. Sophia having been conquered
from the infdel. Another of the relics pre-
served In st. Sophia Is the cradle of our
Saviour, which, according to tradition, was
brought from Bethlehem together with sort
of basin i'll which his mother washed him. The
walls OF the mosque are covered with green
slabs, on which verses from the Koran are
engraved in letters of gold.
The Italian clergy, with a few notable excep-
tons, are remarkable for their singular want
OF energy. The bishops aud priests alike,
writer in I he London Echo points ont, exc.
cute their duties more ont of tradition and Gus.
tom than from spirit of inward conviction and
enthusiasm. Every Bishop hopes that he may
in time become a Cardinal, and lead an easy and
pleasant life az q Prince of the Church. A
great number of the parOchial clergy trouble
themselves about little beyond the heaplng up
of small capital. Day after day one hears OF
Italian priests who have been scraping and saw
is a rush of their kinsfOlll to divide the prop
erty. The system OF abstinence from all inter-
ference in pOtics-that Is, the politics OF the
Kingdom of Italy-which Plus TX. prescribed
as the duty of every Italian cleric, exactly
suits their temper and habits. Ii is impossible
to rouse such sluggish and cOntented army TO
activity. If the Italian Kingdom had brutaliy
prosecuted the clergy-as the fanatics would
have liled-LeO NH. would now have had an
| enthusiastic spiritual soldiery at his command
throughout Italy. But the priests find that the
Revolutionary Kingdom leaves them alone, and
they do not see why they should disturb them
selves to secure those ideal projects which have
such fascination for the Papal clergy in every
other State III the world
A Roman Catholic journal in the West an
nOunced recently-by the way 1t would be in
teresting to know where it got the information
that Cardinals Newman and Manning, at
Queen NictOria's receptions, would take rank
before the Archbishop of Canterbury. The
precedence in rank of the Archbishop of Cam
terbury,' sterny replies The Churchmdn, OF
| this city, lis regulated by the laws of the
realm, and it will be a long day before his place
will be yielded either to cardinal or pope"
The English Wesleyan Conference has just
issued a revised edition of its Catechism for
Children of Tender Years. In the original edi-
ton the child is taught to answer that He'll Is
a dark and bOttomless pit full of fire and brim-
stone" where " the bodies of the wicked are
tormented by fire" forever. In the revised
eultlOn, the name OF lltI IS TtUdlneu, INC
words quoted have disappeared.
Twenty two years ago NOnconformists were
admitted to compete with Churchmen in the
English universities. DuIlng that PERIOD ff-
teen serrOr wranglers have been NOnconform-
lists, seven Churchmen. This would seem to
show that the intellect of the rising generation
in England is not by any means confined within
the pale of the Established Church.
The fervOr of the religious awakening IN
Orebro, Stockholm and other places iii Sweden
is great that the people will not leave the
chapel in the evening. We must drive them
out about IL p. m. by turning down the gas.
writes Pastor Truye to Professor ThwIng OF
Brooklyn.
The visit of Mr.. Moody and Mr.. Sankey to
Edinburgh is to be commcmorated by the erec-
tiCn of an evangclisic hall for the city. suit
able site, within little distance OF the house OF
John Knox, has been secured.
The Rev. Phillips Brooks of Boston, is I'M
derstOOd to have received more than $4,000 tor
the American Memorial window which is to be
placed in Westminster Abbey to the late Dean
Stanley.
The Northwestern branch of the Woman's
Foreign Missionary, Society or the Methodist
Episcopal Church held its regular quarterly
meeting on March 10 in Chicago.
The Welsh bishops have decided not to pro-
coed for the present with the revision or the
Welsh New Testament.
The Harrison revival" continues in Cincin-
natl and is now entering upon its ninth week.
CURRENT RELIGIOUS OPINION
The mingling and elevation Of races which las
taken place here is the most striking and hopeful
fact in contempoTaneOus history. To shut the door
against China at this late day not only TO intro
duce race LEGISLATION which recent amendments
have enheayoTed TO cXpunge from our statute BOOKS,
but to stop the most effective missionary work. and
L Lnur uLinh Tie MrnXilnnce II God Ina