The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-10-02
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WHEREsA AL SMOKE. .:tNscHyRGH.
Japanese Priest and Congregation nefFesb
Themselves During e=Serm on.

Japanese Priest and Congregation IsefFssb,
Themselves During the:sermon:.
During the progress Of the sermon
that I had the opportunity of hear.
ing in the great Buddhist temples OF
Shibba and Nikko in Japan. both
the preacher and the<congregadon
were repeatedly refreshed with cups
of tea, while everybody, men, Won
en- and children and priest; smoked
till the air was thick, with. tobacco
fumes. This of course tended to
keep the congregation in an: amiable
frame of mind and as. such more
ready to take to heart the doctrines
and recommendations of the preach
er. It is impossible to deny that to-
bacco is conducive to calm reflection
and good temper, and although now
adays we find members of church
congresses in Europe and America
arguing that it is wrong for ecclesl-
astics to smoke, yet our clergy IN
the last century were so thoroughly
alive to the advantage of: the herba
nicotina, from a religious point OF
view, that they used to smoke not
only out of church but even. when IN
the pulpit.
Thus Launcelot Blackburn, lord
archbishop of York and primate OF
England, is on record as having IN
terrupted his sermon on the occasion
of his holding confirmation at St
Mary's, Nottingham, to order the
wardens to bring up fresh pipes and
a supply of tobacco to the pulpit.
Dean Swift used to smoke through
out his entire sermon, occasionally
refreshing himself with glass OF
port, while Bishop Duncan of Dun
dee is described as being so avarl-
cious that he was wont to make
a practice of coming to church with
out his tobacco pouch, and then after
ascending the pulpit of inquiring
who among the congregation would
be willing to accommodate him with
theirs. It is from those days, too,
that date those delightful old fash
ioned pews in the English country
churches, fitted up with curtains,
cushions, freplaces, pokers and
tongs, where the sq1!ires slept and
smoked away the entire length OF
the sermon.
Another glass. as the Rev. DR.:
Barrow remarked each time that he
turned upside down the hourglass
on his pulpit during his three hour
sermon before the lord mayor.
Why should the pulpit be retained as
part and parcel Of the furniture of
our, churches2 A sermon is far
more impressive when delivered
from a desk than from: a pulpit
which, no matter how beautiful or
elaborate the carvings by which it IS
adorned, can never under any cir:
cumstances add to the impressive
ness of the discourse. Pulpits in
deed should have no place in Chris
tian churches, as they are of Moham-
medan origin, the earliest examples
recorded being the tubs fastened
upon tops of poles, forming the sort
of crows nest from which the ulema
of Mecca and of Cairo were, wont to
address the followers of the prophet
that thronged the mosques every
Friday. Curiously enough they: have
now been abandoned by the Moham-
medans, except in "a few isolated
cases, and are only to be found IN
Christian churches. The. japanese
and Chinese priests, whose sermons
have heard, likewise dispensed with
'pqlpits, preaching from behind ta.
bic holding. the rolls of the sacred
books and seated in those high back
breaking armchairs that adorn every
Buddhist temple.--New York Trlo'
une.