The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-09-25

Writes Barnard Barrett from Lon
don to the Washington Post: The
| crusades conducted by the Rev. DR..
Parkhurst, of New York, against the
| social evil are being repeated in this
city, but on entirely different lines, the
methods adopted being without the
offensive features which caused so
much adverse criticism to be directed
| against the New York divine. The
Right Rev. Mandell Creighton, Lord
| Bishop of London, the most powerful
church official of the English metropo-
lis, has instituted a crusade, and the
immense influence he wields has served
to gather about him in the work a
small army of divines Of various de-
grees of Importance.
London, like all other great cities.
| has various municipal laws which are
| supposed to govern the matter, but
| notwithstanding these 1t can honestly
| be termed the wickedest city on earth.
| Nightly the scenes in the West End
are such that their parallel is not to
be found anywhere. Paris has its friv-
| olities, Berlin and Vienna their obnox-
| ious features, but in substantial vice
| London is re-eminent. Time and
again numerous reform organizations
| have been formed and various means
| adopted to reduce the evil to mini
mum, but one and all have met igno-
minious defeat.
| Part of the programme of the Bishop
| of London is to hold social purity"
meetings al late hour at night in the
| fashionable churches of the West End.
| The first of these were held in st.
| James, the fashionable church of Pic
| cadilly, the meetings being called at IL
o'clock and lasting until after mid
| night. Men of eminent station in the
social world go into the streets, and
mixing with the crowds, invite the peo-
pie to attend the services. Other
churches have adopted the same plan
with the hope of stirring up such a
mighty protest among the populace
that the home secretary will be forced
| to pursue effective measures for crush
ing the nightly parade of vice.
| While little has been said on the sub
| iect in the newspapers it is well
| known that Mrs. Creighton, the wife
of the Lord Bishop, has much to do
| with the new reform movement. She
is a woman of exceptional metal power.
She cannot be termed as a new woman,
] as the popular idea pictures that
| species of femininity, as she is strong
| ly opposed to woman's suffrage and
| with characteristic courage has braved
public opinion by actively protesting
against it.
If she were so inclined, she could as
wife of bishop of London become a
potent factor in the fashionable world.
| The official home of the Bishop of Lon
don, and where the Bishops of many
generations have lived, is Fulham
| Palace. The manor of Fulham belong
| ed to the See of London before the
| Norman conquest, and in fact history
says that it was given to the See in
| the year 691 by the then Bishop of
| Hereford. The house is fine old struc-
| ture and the surrounding grounds are
| beautifully laid out. The possession of
such home would tempt the average
woman to go for entertaining, but Mrs.
Creighton assiduously avoids every
thing of the kind and devotes her en-
| ergies to more serious work.
| She is an eloquent speaker and Jour-
neys to various points of the Kingdom
to participate in meetings. She has
written much, and, moreover, her writ
ings have been a financial success.
Her First History of England" writ
| ten for children, had several editions,
her First History of France" has been
just as successful. She has also COM
pied several historical biographies and
has written considerably for periodi-
| calls.
HER IDEAL MINISTER'S WIFE.
Mrs. Creighton is of English birth,
but her parents were natives of Revel,
one of the Baltic provinces. Recently
she was asked to describe her ideal of
a clergyman's wife, and she said:
THE sphere of a clergyman's wife is,
of course, a more subordinate one than
that of any other wife. 1t calls for an
absolute surrender of self. Her first
object must be to make the surround
ings of her husbands life such that he
can do his work easily; to make no
claims upon him which would interfere
with or hinder his work, Any help she
can give him should be known only to
| themselves and God.
AT the outset she is called to make
remuneration of that complete SYM
pathy and confidence which is the ideal
of a loving wife. That renunciation
should be faced and bravely made;