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VOL. LXXXVn. RICHMC
Presbyterians
01' all the reasons which have been put forward
ior the long and most energetic protest against
Home itule for Ireland, the one which comes most
near the truth is undoubtedly that of religion. In
every part of the whold where Kom&n Catholicism
and Protestantism are together in great force, so
surely will there be open strife in the case of a
government making concessions to one to the
detriment of the other. In such circumstances it
will always be most difficult to effect a compromise.
Such is the position in this country at the present
time. The most vital question in the granting of
Home Rule to Ireland, then, is that of the
great forces, for and against, of religion. Ireland
is, as it always has been, essentially
Woman Catholic; but true to their Church
i ml fliniv Knlin^ -11 J ? '
uuu iuvu uciiqid, x lUiceuiui!) 1)1 Ull ueuominutions
have entered this land, firm in their
determination to carry on their good work ^
among their own people who have settled
there. They have become firmly established
m one particular part of the country (which
part it is significant to note is the most pros- \\
perous), happy in the fact that they are
working under the guardianship of English '!j|
laws. The fear has long been with them,
however, that the day might come when they
would no longer enjoy that guardianship;
when, in fjlnl thf?v wnnlrl Ko ...iIqa! k., I
1 V..VJ tf UUIVK UV A UICU UJ (III (13 *
*embly mainly Roman Catholic, representing
the Roman Catholic majority of the country. ^
Against that evil?for so they regard it?they
have always fought, and now, as the evil \\
grows more ominous, they are lighting as So
they have never done before, and none are
so active in the fight as Presbyterians. ^
The great stronghold of Protestantism in jy,
Ireland is the province of Ulster; the remainder
of the country may be said to be Fc
lioman Catholic. The element of Presby- -*1
terianism here is extremely strong, therefore ^
the great protest which is now being made Cy
comes mainly from the Presbyterian popula
tion, who are being backed up by the remainder,
representing all other denominations
of the Christian Churches, according to
the attitude towards the proposed change pj,
taken up by each. But taking everything N<
into consideration it may safely be said thar.
the entire Protestant population of Ulster,
and for that matter, of the whole country, is
bitterly opposed to Home Rule; and further,
that this opposition springs not so much from
political convictions as from those of religion, and
for that reason the protest cannot be lightly passed
OVAT 1.1 * **
Tuaicver ui? messing irom tiome Kule may
be in other directions.
Some idea of the strength of the variuos denominations
the Protestants over the Roman
Catholics may be gleaned from the following
figures for the province of Ulster as given in the
' ensua of 1911: Out of a population of 1,581,696.
there were 690,816 Roman Catholics; 336,773 Pro
It ) The Central.
w THE Squthl
)ND VP.W HP T V A WO 9J.. "A A/imAT.T.n ?/?
, w?uu<uiw, . =-) <y\ a, uv1ud?ia iu,
_
and Home Ru
IJ%y a London Correspondent
testant Episcopalians; 412,110 i'resbyterians, ami 'J
48,816 Methodists, the remaining 53,881 belonging tio]
to suniller denominations or refusing information, the
Taking the chief areas separately there were in pre
Belfast, 130,575 Presbyterians; 118,173 I'rotest- teri
ant Episcopalians; 03,243 Roman Catholics; 23,- of t
782 Methodists, and 20,553 all other denomina- In
tions, a further 621 persons having refused in- var
formation, in the County of Down there were inei
77,583 Presbyteriaus; 61,485 Konxan Catholics; wiri
17,063 Protestant Episcopalians; 4,461 Methodists nui
and 10,711 all other denominations and infornia- tesi
No Night There
By William Hbrvky Woods.
Take it not clean away,
other which art in Heaven; for Childhood's sake,
id some long-cherished things time cannot take?
Mem'ries of dusk o' day,
id white beds waiting in the candled gloom,
bile little heads bent in the quiet 100111
Around one knee to pray?
iu wuere t^ey wall, all our old dreams of rest
?giu with ilight aiul a. mother's breast.
/ ( Ifif (
W'k are not wholly grown,
it must be always what we once have been;
onetime, somewhere, the whitest head must lean;
Mayhap in heaven full-known
id the long radiance and the rolling psalm,
ir wistful hearts shall mind us of the balm
Of earth-scenes, once our own?
here iu sweet trance of lessening sight ami sound,
>ft-fingered Night with darkness lapped us round.
And must we lose the moon ?
ir evermore far down a shadowy pass
j some still tarn, watch midnight in a glass
Star-crowned with double noon?
>rego the dews, and Romance, and young dreams,
id wind-blown voices of night-singing streams
That darkliug idyls croon?
' patient with us, Lord; the moon-light shows
jallenging splendors not all noon-tide knows.
Then let it slowly go?
?ar half of earthly life that we must miss,
dveted silence, stars, and slumber's bliss!
Let lingering twilight glow
e the All-morning on our darkness break,
>r this, Thou Merciful, our frailty make,
If we awaking so,
le quivering moment turning from the light,
y, with wet faces, ;<0 good Night, good-night!''
?Scribner's Magazine.
tion refused; while in the County of Antrim there thai
were 97,198 Presbyterians; 42,118 Protestant has
Episcopalians; 39,751 Roman Catholics; 3,813 Chi
Methodists, and 10,984 all other denominations don
and information withheld. Thus it will be seen hut
that in each of these great centres the Presby- mot
terians are well in the majority over the Roman I hi
Catholics, and in the whole province the Roman has
Catholics are greatly outnumbered by the Protest- the
ants.
">5
PRESBYTER/AN C
ZRV PRESBYTERJAR
1913. No. 43^ 43
le for Ireland
L'he storm of protest which greeted the introduol
of the present bill was nowhere so strong as in
great Protestant province of Ulster, and in that
test the leading part was taken by Presbyrpi,Ai.
X X .1 1-1 * * *
luua. x uu[ protest ueveiopeu into notning snort
i campaign based solely upon reasons of religion,
the long list of opinions of the leaders of the
ious Protestant Churches in Ulster on the
astire, which was at that time published far and
le, those of Presbyterians were both the more
nerous and the strongest. Since then the prot
has continued and strengthened, and as a
a demonstration of firm belief and determination
it is toduy unexcelled. If evidence
of this fact is needed it will be found in the
records of this year s General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, which
was held in June. At these meetings the
discussion of this burning question of the
hour was practically forced upon the Assembly
by the presentation of a very extensively
signed memorial. It represented nothing
less than a demand from hundreds upon
hundreds of Presbyterians that their leaders
should give publicly a direct declaration
against Home Kule. The resolution which
was ultimately passed on the subject was a
perfectly clear intimation of the attitude
towards the bill of the whole Church, and its
phrasing left no room for doubt as to the
sincerity of its determination. So strongly
worded, indeed, was this resolution that surprise
and even regret was expressed in more
than one quarter among the other Protestant
Churches, and it is significant in this
direction to note that the subject of Home
Rule was not even discussed at the Irish
Methodist Conference in Cork, a fact which
shows more plainly the strength of opposition
offered bv Presbvterians in oonmarisnn until
other Churches.
One of the greatest of our high churchmen
has said that history has proved that
no Church can go into politics without its
being bad both for the Church and for
politics. To use the pulpit to inculcate political
duty on the congregation was, he contended,-totally
against the teachings of the
New Testament. Christ and His disciples
separated themselves from all political matters,
and would have nothing to do with
]K>litics of the day. Now it cannot he said
t the flame of this opposition to Home Rule
uecn Kinaien within tlie actual walls of the
ireh in Ulster or any other part of the Kingi,
either by Presbyterians or other churchmen;
outside the confines of the Churches it has
it certainly been prosecuted everywhere, and as
ave already remarked, mainly in Ulster. Much
been said and written of late in this country on
relations of religion and politics, and what(Continued
on page 3)