OUR LONDON LETTER by M. Ellsworth Olsen

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Sep 28, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 38.

OUR LONDON LETTER.

By M. Ellsworth Olsen

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

Parliament and Its Work in Temperance and Religion—Mysticism and Superstition—New Phase of Spiritualism—Religious Matters in Scotland—Juvenile Inebriacy—Roman Catholicism and Divine Healing—Ever Changing Science.

The Licensing and Welsh Coercion Bills.

London is taking her holidays. Parliament has arisen after rather a fruitless and unsatisfactory session. By making vigorous use of the closure, the licensing bill was forced through, but it is a bitter pill for temperance people to swallow. Purporting to be a temperance measure, it takes out of the hands of the local magistrates the power they have hitherto enjoyed, of refusing to grant a renewal of a certain license, if in their opinion the said public house is unnecessary. On the other hand, it does provide for a very slow reduction of the number of such houses, which every one says are at the present time altogether too numerous, compensation being allowed in all such cases from a fund to be supported by the trade itself.

Perhaps the only other measure of importance is what is called the Welsh Coercion Bill, an effort to make the Education Bill of 1902 operative in Wales, where it has thus far been a dead-letter, owing to the various local authorities unanimously omitting to make the necessary appropriations. In other words, in Wales the authorities are themselves passive resisters; in England the authorities are trying to enforce the law, and the people, many of them, are offering passive resistance, by refusing to pay the rate.

Palmistry, Astrology, and Clairvoyance.

One would hardly expect to find superstition thriving in London, yet it is only a few days since three prominent exponents of palmistry, astrology, crystal vision, trance clairvoyance, and other branches of the so-called “black art,” were arrested for practising in the very heart of the West End. They appeared before the magistrate, were remanded on bail of £50 each, and are awaiting trial.

The charge against them was based on a witchcraft ordinance of 1735; they were also charged with attempting to obtain money under false pretences, it being generally known that their business has flourished exceedingly from a financial standpoint. The Daily Mail is credited with having instigated the prosecution; but these modern fortune-tellers do not require to be exposed by the papers; for they have carried on their nefarious business in the full flare of publicity, sandwich men with flaming posters proclaiming their mystic powers all over that part of London.

Following upon this action in London, eleven prominent palmists have been arrested in Blackpool, under the vagrancy act, and fined varying amounts in the neighborhood of £25 each. Of course this action of the authorities will not put an end to the practice of palmistry and the allied arts; but it may lead to its “professors” adopting more quiet ways of working. The fact is that the country is witnessing a remarkable revival of so-called occultism, which is manifesting itself in many ways; and it is not the poor and unlearned, but rather the upper classes, who are being led away by these superstitions. How true it is that when people turn away from the truth, they are very sure, sooner or later, to resort to lies.

New Phase of Spiritualism.

In this connection it may be said that Spiritualism is flourishing again, having adopted tactics especially suited to modern ways of thinking. In a recent North London address on “Why Does Spiritualism Command Attention?” the speaker took pains to declare that Spiritualism was not superstition; in fact, he entirely repudiated anything of the miraculous in his belief. The thought he endeavored to convey was that Spiritualistic manifestations were really revelations in science, and the cult as a whole a form of religion especially suited to the present needs of humanity. Of course the inherent goodness of man was touched upon, and the audience was reminded that Spiritualism contained no penal code, offered hope absolutely to all, etc. The address, so said the papers, was listened to with marked signs of approval.

Scottish Religious Crisis.

Something like a crisis has been created in religious circles in Scotland by the action of the House of Lords in reversing the decision of the Scottish courts re the property of the Free Church. Some years ago the entire Free Church of Scotland united with the Presbyterian Church, with the exception of twenty-seven Highland ministers who all along have protested against the fusion. The House of Lords has decided that the entire property (churches, parsonages, etc.) of the Free Church has been forfeited by the large majority of the ministers and their congregations (something like a thousand) who have gone over to the Presbyterians, and must revert to the twenty-seven ministers who held out against the fusion. Public opinion is opposed to this decision, and it seems another case where the Upper House has let custom and precedent rule out justice and common sense. The situation will probably have to be dealt with now by act of Parliament.

Four-year-old Drunkard Dies.

The awful curse of intemperance which rests on this country makes itself manifest in many ways. At an inquest held the other day on the body of a four-year-old, son of a butcher, the evidence showed that the poor little fellow had died of heart failure from alcoholic poisoning, succumbing to the effects of a jug of ale and half a tumblerful of rum which he had taken from a shelf, and swallowed all at once. The parents admitted that they used to give the child “little sips of beer occasionally.” Similar cases are frequently occurring. Women are actually taking their little babies with them into the public houses, and feeding them beer with a spoon, thus cultivating the thirst for strong drink.

Roman Catholicism continues to gain in popularity, and Ritualism is scoring new successes daily, all under the leadership of the English Church Union, one of whose societies is said to have performed no less than 5,000 masses for the dead.

Divine Healing Guild.

A movement has recently been set on foot within the Established Church “to revive the teaching and practice of the early centuries concerning divine healing.” One of the chief promoters, on being interrogated, replied: “We have two principal objects. First, to study sympathetically and critically the movements of mental and spiritual healing, and to examine alleged cures; and, secondly, to develop and extend the knowledge of Scripture and church tradition on the subject.” Needless to say, if church traditions on this subject are to be developed, the members of this society will have their hands full. Of course it is evident that the study of tradition on this subject will bring the investigators into very close touch with the Church of Rome, and we believe the Guild, whose members will be limited to the Established Church, will, in time, prove a very efficient ally of Ritualism. The fact that they have already issued a small paper containing prayers, etc., formerly used in connection with anointing the sick, points in this direction.

Yesterday’s Science Foolishness To-day.

The scientific event of the month has been the meeting of the British Association at Cambridge, where the prime minister presided as president elect, and gave the opening address. The author of “Philosophic Doubt” is a doubter par excellence, and when he dealt with some of the supposed scientific facts of only a few years ago, and showed that they were utterly discredited to-day, it was with considerable effect. Of course some criticisms have been offered by carping scientists, but the address has been received in the main with the hearty approval of those best qualified to judge, and is certainly a striking testimony to the unreliability of scientific explanations and conclusions. Later meetings of the session dealt with the Housing Problem, Scientific Feeding, Hygiene, and a number of other matters of general interest, some of which may be taken up in some future letter, as the various theories put forth are put to the practical test.

M. Ellsworth Olsen.

London, England.