August 1898

August

ALL over England men are now busy gathering in the harvest, and although in places much extra trouble and expense will be incurred owing to the prostrate condition of the corn, there is much cause for gratitude. Another fortnight's fine weather will place the chief part of this year's corn harvest beyond the reach of danger. Let us begin now to praise God in our private prayers as we shall hope to do publicly altogether. .

THE RECTOR and Mrs. Thornton returned from the North of Ireland after a month's stay there on Tuesday, the 30th.

Although with all its faults our own neighbour-hood has great advantages over a district in which there is too much rain and not sufficient sun to ripen wheat, still in some respects Irish farmers are ahead of us. One institution we might well copy, namely the establishment of what they call Creameries, but- which we should probably call Butter factories. There are no less than twenty four of these Creameries in Ireland. Farmers instead of making their own butter, and getting rid of it as best they can, take their milk to the Creamery every morning, and whilst they wait the cream is separated, and they take home three quarters of what they brought in skim milk. They are paid so much per gallon for the milk according to the amount of cream contained in it. As the quality of the milk varies, so does the price vary from 21/2 d to 51/2 per gallon. This together with skim milk returned pays the farmer better than making his own butter and selling it to his nearest grocer. The Creamery we visited is worked on the co-operative principle, the farmers themselves being the shareholders. The capital invested is about £900, and the working expenses amount to about 7 per cent on the total output of butter. The butter is mostly sent away nicely packed, and we were not a little surprised to .find that all the butter made on the particular day on which we visited the Creamery, was being sent to Cambridge. It seems odd that Cambridge should have to buy butter from the North of Ireland whilst ep, have more than we know what to do with here. The average price received is about 10d per pound. In this instance the scheme was started by forty-two farmers, each of them had taken a £1 share for each cow he possessed. Thus the Creamery progressed, and now the whole is working most smoothly and satisfactorily, providing the farmers with a market for their milk, and providing thoroughly good butter which is always equal, and therefore can always be sold. Why could not something of this kind be done here. The Danish butter factories arre worked on a similar principle, and flood the English market to the exclusion of English farm butter. Once on asking a person" Why do you buy that Danish butter in preference to English, " the answer was, ", Because I can always depend upon it. "

HARVEST FESTIVAL.- We hope to celebrate our Harvest Festival at Downham on Tuesday,

September 27th; at Pymore and at St. Owens on one of the early days of October. Thanksgiving for the harvest is a service in which all who acknowledge God as the Giver of all good gifts should join. What a beautiful centre of unity this might be, a Thanksgiving for the fruits of the Harvest upon which an alike must depend. In the case of a famine how quick we should all be to unite together in sympathy in a common suffering. Can we not do the same in thanking God for a common blessing, placing us beyond the hounds of want and suffering What a grand offering of praise, a great and united Harvest Thanksgiving of the whole parish would be.

THE DAY SCHOOLS closed for the Harvest holidays on August 11th, and will be re-opened on Monday, September 26th. All the children should then be there to meet their teachers and begin their winter's work.

MRS. THORNTON'S Sewing Class for Sunday School. Girls will be resumed the first Friday in October, at five o'clock, at the Rectory. The Ladies' W orking Party will begin again on the same day at half past six o'clock.

Mr. Addleshaw has gone for his holiday to Gibraltar, and goes from there to Tangier. We hope to see him back on October 1st.

THE CHURCH AND ITS CLERGY.-Let us briefly repeat, Clergy and Laity of the Church alike are all bound by the Prayer Book and Thirty-nine Articles. These were settled by the Church's own Assembly, called Convocation. The Queen who is called" Defender of the Faith" has promised by her Parliament to protect and enforce obedience to these. No faithful Churchman, whether of the Clergy or Laity will leave anything commanded in the Prayer Book undone, nor will he teach anything different or add anything to it. Hence all the Clergy have sworn to give faithful diligence to " minister the Doctrines, Sacraments and the discipline of Christ." Every Rector or Vicar made a solemn declaration before the people that he would be faithful to the Thirty-nine Articles, and the book of Common Prayer. We have quoted a few passages from the Articles shewing what the Clergy must teach. Now we do not expect Dissenters to accept these things. If they did they would not be Dissenters, On the other hand they must in all fairness allow Church people to hold and to teach what their own Articles and Prayer Book require of them. The Articles safeguard us against Romanism by insisting that Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary for Salvation, by strictly defining the relation of salvation to faith and works (Art, xi. xii. xiii. and xiv.); especially in Art, xxii, in which a mass of Roman Doctrine is repudiated. Again in Article xxviii, whilst it is stated that the Body of Christ is received after a.spiritual manner, Transubstantiation is very properly condemned. Then again, we are safe-guarded against Dissenting errors in Articles, xvi. and xvii. Weare told that those who have been converted may still fall away, and again against that frightful doctrine that some are born to be saved and some to be lost. Then again we are protected against undue interference on the part of the State: Article, xx. "The Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies and authority in controversies of faith." The position of the State is laid down in Article, xxxvii.