THE GENERAL OUTLOOK IN GREAT BRITAIN.
By M. Ellsworth Olsen
(From Our Own Correspondent.) POLITICALLY, socially, religiously, England at the opening of the year 1905, is an uncertain quantity. There is a general feeling amongst thinking men that the unexpected is the thing very likely to happen. No one knows what is coming. The situation on the whole is intensely interesting, but difficult to characterize. England's Internal Politics
are in a peculiar situation. The Conservative party is in power, and has a very large majority in both Houses of Parliament. Nevertheless, judging by recent by-elections, nearly all of which have been won by the Liberals, the sentiment of the country is quite the other way, so that if a popular election were to be undertaken at the present time, it would result in radically changing the complexion of Parliament. Chamberlain's advocacy of a protective tariff, and the Education Bill are, perhaps, the chief causes of dissatisfaction with the Conservatives. Dreaded Possibilities.—The War Spirit.
Externally, the outlook is by no means the brightest. Germany's recent huge increases in its navy are generally regarded as a direct menace to England, and it is also believed by many that Russia has designs upon India. Of course the flamboyant articles of a certain section of the English press help to create racial prejudices, and make the situation worse than it would otherwise be. Meanwhile the efforts to rehabilitate the army, whose defective organization became so generally manifest during the Boer War, have thus far proved melancholy failures. Mr. Brodrick ruined his reputation in the attempt, and Mr. Arnold Forster, who succeeded him, and inaugurated a new scheme entirely, had no better success. The English War Office has come to be synonymous with inefficiency and red tape. Quite a large section of the public, including a number of influential men, favor conscription. In general, the war spirit is certainly increasing. The strong men of the country are upholders of imperialism. Social and Religious Conditions.
Social conditions will require treatment in a separate article. It need only be said here that elements are at work beneath the surface, at the very heart of the social fabric, which, in time, will manifest themselves in a way to astonish the thoughtless crowd. An easy-going optimism is characteristic of the age; but the true facts are bound presently to come to light. The real condition of the English working classes, both in country and city, is one to cause deep sorrow and distress of heart. The religious condition has been treated at some length in the two preceding letters, in which the Romeward Movement, the widening of the gulf between the working man and the church, and the growth of rationalism within the church were pointed out as salient features in the situation. It may be profitable to pause a moment and point out the probable outcome of these tendencies. Naturally the Romeward movement will gather to itself a new impetus from the development of the rationalistic sentiment in the Protestant churches. As the Bible is discarded as a guide to faith and conduct, many looking for something to lean on, will turn to the church which proudly claims apostolic succession, and boasts that she never changes. Others will become out and out skeptics. This is becoming the case more and more with the laboring classes, a large section of whom have as their only religion a belief in Socialism; sometimes approaching anarchism. There, again, however, Rome will win the day; for she has absolute control over that considerable portion of the laboring class which belong to her fold, and through them can influence the remainder. She will, moreover, win over the upper classes, whether out and out skeptics or rationalistic professors of religion, through her influence over the masses. Thus Rome, whatever course may be taken by other denominations, has the situation virtually in her hands. It is only a matter of time till she will again dictate terms to the nations. The old Protestant spirit has long been dead in the popular churches, with possibly some few exceptions, and the new element of sympathy for Rome is rapidly taking form. In the midst of this widespread apostasy, it is refreshing to note the recent religious revival which began in some obscure Welsh chapels in the latter part of 1904, and has gradually covered that whole country, bidding fair to overflow into England. I have waited to see full developments before writing, thinking at first that it might pass away without accomplishing much. Modern revivals, it must be said with sorrow, are usually marked by great superficiality. Fine singing, the advent of some widely-known and much-heralded revivalist, lots of advertising, careful enumeration of conversions (which often means simply signing a card or shaking hands with the revivalist) and a call for generous donations, generally complete the business, and when it is all over with, the real situation remains worse than it was before. This movement in Wales is of an entirely different character. First, it depends upon no man, but is the evident working of the Holy Spirit. Mr. Evan Roberts, a young student of 26, who but recently worked in a calling, has been prominently connected with the work in certain places; but it has broke out simultaneously, and with equal strength in other parts where he has had nothing to do with it, and is generally acknowledged to be nothing less than a "profound religious upheaval." Leading representatives of the London "press," clergymen, and others have gone to Wales to see the work going on, and one and all have come back with only good reports. Magistrates, policemen, employers of labor, and editors, unite in bearing testimony to the genuineness of the movement, and the excellent material results that follow in its wake. Thus at the Penrhyn Quarries, in Bethesda, where, as a result of the late deplorable strike, most intense animosities existed between the men who continued on strike, and those who finally returned to work, so that even members of the same family would not speak to each other, the advent of the revival has effected a wondrous change. As a leading newspaper puts it, "the Revival has done more in a week than the most sanguine hoped could be accomplished in ten years to heal the social, the religious, and the domestic breech caused by the great strike." The meetings are carried on by the people themselves rather than by the ministers. Once opened by the singing of a hymn, opportunity is given for prayer and testimony, and the time is well filled. Exhortations to repent are given by men and women, and heeded. Doubts and difficulties are dealt with right in the open meeting, there being no inquiry room; and, in fact, none of the ordinary paraphernalia for the conducting of a revival. Remarkable simplicity is everywhere a marked characteristic, and it is good to note the entirely unanimous verdict of those who have gone to investigate, that the movement can not be traced to any known human source. "Never was there a religious movement," writes the well-known journalist, Mr. W. T. Stead, "so little indebted to the guiding brain of its leaders. It seems to be going 'on its own.' There is no commanding human genius inspiring the advance. Ministers, each in their own churches, open the meetings. But when once they are started they 'obey the Spirit.'" Again; "The special note of the Revival is that the Gospel message is being sung rather than preached. And such singing! The whole congregation sing—as if they were making melody in their hearts to the Lord. The sermon is a poor thing compared with the psalm and hymn and spiritual song. . . . Most of the hymns were the old familiar tunes of every mission service. Occasionally they sang, 'Lead Kindly Light,' but much more frequently 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul,' 'I Need Thee Every Hour,' 'Lord I Hear of Showers of Blessing,' etc." It is a pleasing subject, and one would fain dwell upon it at greater length; but this will suffice to give some idea of the movement. Let us hope and pray that it may extend into England, Scotland, and Ireland, and, furthermore, that the ultimate result may be to lead people to studying their Bibles, and fully obeying all their Lord's commands. Such seasons of refreshing show that the Spirit of God is still at work in moulding hearts, and, tho apostasy be abroad in the land, we have good reason for believing that many will yet turn to the Lord with all their hearts, and receive His blessing.