FANCY FAIR RELIGION OR, THE WORLD CONVERTING ITSELF. ii :■ - REV. J. PRIESTLEY FOSTER, M.A., VICAR OF OJCENHALL, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. m ■ & s'**-" . vj' . v -- : fs ■ ■'*, ^ ‘X . S >J ...?**> • ■ ’T %■' :: ".\.; w . -- AS • ■" V 5,^ «.SlP^ V - -‘W- ->” :’V/ i A i w &■*''** , ,//- ,.x * Xi-VKr . ; . AtL ja asa^e'^ "■ Wk FANCY FAIR RELIGION OR, THE WORLD CONVERTING ITSELF. BY REV. J. PRIESTLEY FOSTER, M.A., VICAR OF OXENHALL, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. “To vulgarize the great cause of religion is to destroy it.” — Bishop of Rochester. THE LWm OF THE MAY 2 7 UNIVERSITY 0F ILLINOIS. SWAN, SONNENSCHEIN & CO., Paternoster Square. GLOUCESTER: H. OSBORNE, PRINTER. ST. MARY'S SQUARE. PREFACE. tLU\ Fgl i i i I A , 0 o ' of co 0 r* °* TN dealing with the subjects alluded to in the pages of ^ this little book, I have not hesitated, after the example of John Knox, “to call a spade a spade,” and in no ^ uncertain tones to comment upon much that goes on ^ amongst professedly Christian people, which, to my mind, is not only contrary to such profession, but subversive also of Public Morality. In an age when superficial reading is the practice of the multitude, and deep thinking or reflection within the power only of the few, whatever has to be protested against must be stated in plain language, such as he who runs may read. Allusions to crying evils in veiled or esoteric sentences will not catch the eye of the many who, while following the fashion which the world around them sets, are not innately vicious nor indisposed to conform to the dictates of Morality, and to obey the laws of God and man when they realize what those laws ° and sanctions really are. Such, then, being the style I have deliberately adopted, * much that is here said will cause many to declare that L sundry practices alluded to should have been less openly ^ inveighed against ; to such criticisms I will merely remark, by way of rejoinder, that Goliath would never have been slain had David only pelted him with sugar-plums, or thrown fine dust into his eyes. A2 PREFACE. To aim at living the life of the Crucified One rather than to join in all the pleasures of the World is necessarily involved in the title of “ Christian.” As the Cross also is the source of all Christian energy so, also is self-sacrifice the only true manifestation of such energy, and hence it is submitted that workers through the pleasures and Fashion of the World on behalf of the Christian Faith are out of harmony with the Spirit of the Religion for which they profess to work. It is a thought also worthy of considera- tion whether all remedial measures on behalf of suffering must not, if they are to be enduring, share in the nature of sacrifice. Inasmuch, therefore, as I believe the cultus of what is here called Fancy Fair Religion to be as degrading to the Religion of the Redeemer as it is contemptible in the heir of immortality, I have not hesitated to write somewhat strongly. . In an Appendix (E) mention is made of some of the literature bearing upon the subject of this little book. In one or two places it has been found impossible to avoid the mention of persons and of places, but, as a general rule, letters taken in alphabetical order, or chosen purposely in order to mislead, do duty for proper names. I am not conscious of having exaggerated in the smallest detail, and all the instances quoted as illustrations can be verified from programmes and other authoritative publica- tions, copies of which are in the possession of The Author. CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. Fancy Fair Religion — Introductory. The Bishop of Llandaff on Bazaars— Society Paper — The Bazaar system — “Fancy Fair Religion;” Reason for Title — The amusement organizer — Bazaarmonger — Faith in the World — The Almighty Dollar — The Victory of Faith — Revival of Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . g CHAPTER II. Fancy Fair Religion — Its Style, Method of Procedure, and its Raison d’etre. What not meant by F. F. Religion— Sale of Work — Springs of action to which F. F. Religion appeals — “The Queen” — Running a Bazaar — Cost of Programme — Polite Letter of a Canon — Bazaars disliked by Tradesmen — Raison d'etre of F. F. Religion — Huge stock of unreal profession — The Threepenny Christian— Binging about Paradise — Hoping for nothing in return — Lovers of Pleasure — Lovers of God 16 CHAPTER III. Fancy Fair Religion — Building Churches. Keeping Carnival — Mephistopheles — Fashionable Church-Goers — Consecrating pleasure — F. F. Religion ; where most prevalent — In Church of England — in Scotland — in “ all the Churches ” — Garden Fete’ at Welsh watering-place of A — — Welsh Sambo — Saving souls and debt — Bazaar at fashion- able watering-place of B> — Tommy and Dolly — Cafe Chantant of the Church of the Ploly Trinity — Selling smiles— Heart- easing mirth — for the benefit of Holy Church — Bazaar at C — — The performing jackass — The Proto-martyr and F. F. Religionists — Bazaar at D — The Name which is above every name — Despising the widow’s mite — Wanted ! Money — Shylock, the Christian’s pattern — “The end of gain” — “ What shall I more say ? ” 28 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. Fancy Fair Religion — Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen. The blood of the Martyr — “ Prayer and pains ” versus “ pleasure and patronage” — or Christ versus The World — Fancy Fair at X — The S.P.G. — Noble example — The Market Cross — A j 'agon de parley— Joke of the Agnostic — The Gospel of Purity and the “ Palace of Truth ” — Modern Christianity — The educated Chinaman and the Indian Buddhist — The Cate- chism, St. Paul and Isaiah — Bazaar mania in Scotland — Bazaar at Edinburgh — Professor Blaikie — Bazaar at Glasgow — Words without meaning — Childish things — Impotency of the Christian Faith .. .. .. .. .. .. 43 CHAPTER V. Fancy Fair Religion — Promoting Temperance and Thrift. Church Temperance Society ; its Aristocratic Patrons — The few poor women of Canterbury— Bathe and Welles — Grand Total — Rxpensive amusements — The children’s bread — Gift of 50/ — Thrift ! ! ! — The Guardian Class — Public House Property — How to attract the “Upper Ten’ 1 — An appall- ing alternative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 CHAPTER VI. Fancy Fair Religion — Its Utilization of Beauty. The Professional Beauty — Her utilization — Old S. Nicholas Church — The ladies’ appeal— Messrs. Spiers & Pond — Betrayal by a kiss — A Beauty competition — Propagating The Faith a la demi monde — Paint and rouge — The European Christian, a stumbling block to the Asiatic heathen — The Girl of the Period . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 'CHAPTER VII. Fancy Fair Religion — Its Utilization of Fun, Frolic, and Fashion. “ Turning to mirth all things of earth ” — Mr. Worldly Wiseman — Merry, merry men — Mrs. Jarley’s Waxworks — Tableaux — A.K.H.B — His “ graver ” and more funny “ thoughts ” con- trasted — “The Scotsman" on the Fun of Bazaars — The tables turned — Kissing the Lord Mayor — Nursery Rhyme entertainments — Fashion — Saltation or sympathy : which is the Christian Method ? — Sacrifice or pleasure : which should the Church encourage ? .. .. .. .. .. 71 CONTENTS. vii PAGE CHAPTER VIII. Fancy Fair Religion — Its Creed. Its Positive side — Twenty-four Articles — Its Negative side — Ten Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 CHAPTER IX. Fancy Fair Religion — Its Morality. End justifies the means — “ Necessary evil ” — Fears not God nor regards man— Bazaar at Q — Balak and Balaam — The Noble Lord U — of Q — His morality — Dumb dogs — Bazaar at N — An Honourable Lady — Misguided Pat — “ Obey My Voice” —Australian Bazaar — Honourable thievery — A deluded Shepherd — Law of the Land — Bazaar at E — in Scotland — Morality of Sheriff C. D. — Rev. Principal F — Bazaar for Congregational Church — Raffling — The Mayor’s conscience — Fortune telling — First and Nineteenth Century — Want of truth — “ Episcopalians" keeping Lent — Bazaar at K — An Episcopal Patron — Wealthy C — Nazareth Home — Beautiful Badoura — A strange jumble — Scotch city of G — Beelzebub casting out devils — Life or righteousness : which ? 93 CHAPTER X. Fancy Fair Religion — Its Nemesis. The Penalty — Atheistic methods — Symbolism — Irreverent placards — “The Referee” on Bazaar at X — Phillips Brookes — Demoralizing commerce — The Church and Gambling — Destroying Christian Charity — Offending “ one of these little ones " v .. .. .. .. .. .. 118 CHAPTER XI. Fancy Fair Religion and True Religion. Striking Contrasts. Old S. Nicholas Church Bazaar — The Appeal to God — The Appeal to the World — Their consistency — International Fair for Congregational Church — Vanity Fair — Three efforts for the sick and suffering — Nursing — Dancing — Eating — True Religion — “Coming out” — An eligible parti — Cheap Jack mendacity — Ichabod 137 CONTENTS. viii PAGE CHAPTER' XII. Conclusion. True Religion and Article I. of F. F. Religion Antagonistic — A fact seldom dwelt upon — The golden calf — Mr. Herbert Spencer — The power of Mammon — The power of Faith — Base things— Luxuries of devotion — 125 millions — Certain revenge of poverty on wealth— “ Golden souls ” — A worldly clergy — Apostolical succession — Ambassador for Christ — The Purveyor-General — The Work of the Church — Salva- tion Army — S. Francis of Assisi — The False and the True Prophet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 CHAPTER XIII. Christian Liberality. Gift through Drink — Confusion of thought — A stingy Christian — Individual accountability — Favoritism — Pharoah — Honorary trusteeship — Great men, little men — Her Majesty — Emperor of Germany — The Poor Widow — Good deeds — The Church warning the Poor and the Rich — Robbing God — Bonds in the Celestial City — The old Scotch woman — Not less than one-tenth — How are the needs of the Church tobe^met? .. .. .. .. .. . . . i 171 Appendices 183 CHAPTER I. cfanxg Jfatr Religion. — Jfnfrobitctorjr. “ We have no time to sport away the hours, All must be earnest in a world like ours.” — Bonav. 'x'N the Autumn of the year of grace 1887, the Lord " Bishop of Llandaff was reported to have said, when opening a Bazaar on behalf of some Mission Room in his diocese, that he thought when a history was written of the latter half of the Nineteenth Century, it would not be complete unless it took notice of such institutions as Bazaars, and the good that had been accomplished by them. It is very possible when this history which his Lord- ship foreshadowed does appear it may have to chronicle of the Bazaar movement a result similar to that yielded by the life of many a public character, “ The evil that men do lives after them : The good is oft interred with their bones.” This coming history will probably allude to many other institutions also besides the one mentioned, which at the present time exist and influence the nation, and were unknown to our immediate or remote forefathers. 10 FANCY FAIR RELIGION. Perhaps one of the most noticeable features of present day social life is the “ Society paper.” That the “Society paper” is an unmixed evil no one would be prepared to say, for many of the shams and rogueries of life are therein very unsparingly exposed ; but the system of retailing tit-bits of gossip and slander, which have been collected through the bribing of butlers and footmen and other flunkeys and hangers on to “good Society,” is rotten to the core, and must sooner or later result in the demoral- ization of those who feed upon the scandal so provided for them. And in like manner the Bazaar and Fancy Fair, and other pleasurable excitements of a kindred nature, may for a time do a certain amount of supposed good by collecting money for Missions, Church-building, and Hospitals, and other religious or beneficent institutions ; but it does not necessarily follow because an immediate financial success is thereby obtained we should shut our eyes to the fact that the methods adopted are erroneous, and antagonistic to the first principles of the religion which they are invoked to aid, and, hence, will in time help materially to bring into disrepute that religion itself. Whilst the supporters of Bazaar almsgiving are at times indignant when told that there is a very decided touch of the World in their proceedings, yet its most enthusiastic advocate would find it difficult to draw any support for it or for its methods from the Word of God. At the same time, inasmuch as a Bazaar is started with the ostensible object of benefiting some charity or need of the Church, it would be hard to call it “ wholly worldly”; it has, at any rate, a form of godliness, although its power to attract is drawn from the world’s armoury ; INTRODUCTORY. 1 1 its temperature is neither cold nor hot but lukewarm, gravitating decidedly towards the lower rather than towards the upper end of the spiritual thermometer. Had it no flavour of the world it would hardly find a column exclusively devoted to such interests in that highly fashionableandinterestingperiodicalycleped “ The Queen.” Nor again, on the other hand, were Bazaar charity entirely of the world worldly should we find it patronized by Bishops and their wives, by Deans, Archdeacons, and by “ Ministers of all denominations,” as well as by Duchesses and other great ones of the earth ; its praise would not be, as alas it is “ in all the Churches ” as well as in the columns of “ The Queen.” Such, then, being the nondescript character of “Bazaar Charity,” and inasmuch as it may be considered as possessing a method of its own, I venture to give this wide-spread movement a distinctive name and call it Fancy Fair Religion, and, while it may be “ I speak as a fool,” yet notwithstanding all that can be said on its behalf, I am not ashamed to confess myself an utter unbeliever in it. An eminent Bishop once expressed the opinion, in decidedly terse and epigrammatic language, that Ritual- ism was digging the grave of the Established Church. As a Gallio in such matters it would be foreign to my purpose to agree or disagree with this sentiment, but I will so far venture to imitate the example of his Lordship by declaring my firm conviction that Fancy Fair Religion is digging the grave of all true Christian liberality; it is eating out the heart of systematic almsgiving; its principles and methods 1 believe to be totally inconsistent with Christian principles, and consequently, if this be so, it is highly detrimental to the best interests of the Christian Faith. 12 FANCY FAIR RELIGION. The spirit of Self-sacrifice, which used to be considered the necessary accompaniment of all true Charity, is now being suffocated by the vapours of worldliness and excite- ment which emanate from the Bazaar and Fancy Fair et hoc genus omne. Almsgiving and the obligation of sup- porting the material needs of the Church by free-will offerings were once looked upon as privileges as well as some of the bounden duties of a Christian ; systematic liberality was inculcated as a Christian virtue; it is now being reduced — I will not say to a fine art, for by so doing I should outrage Art— to an artificial and cunning device, having for its object to extract as much money as possible out of the pockets of the unwary and the pleasure-loving, by offering them in return a sensational quid pro quo. For the benefit of certain classes of Society there exists at the present day a sort of profession taken up by certain young men who are fond of pleasure, but anxious to turn an honest penny— and so far, all praise to them — who make it their calling in life to hire themselves out at so many guineas per week to organize routs and balls and amuse- ments of a kindred nature ; they are guests for the time being in the houses where they go to perform their func- tions, and they take as much trouble as possible off the hands of their host and paymaster. Christian almsgiving is rapidly developing a kindred race ; the organization of the programme, and the general management of the Bazaar or Fancy Fair in order that it may be brought to a successful termination, are creating a profession touting for employment (see page 20, also Appendix A.) There is, indeed, no disguising the fact that in the estima- tion of a vast number of Nineteenth Century Christians INTRODUCTORY. *3 the most paying paraphernalia whereby to promote the religion of Jesus Christ are to be hired out at so much per diem , just in the same way as you would obtain a Christmas conjuror for the amusement of children. No awkward principles are asserted to test the sincerity of your faith, nor are any embarrassing scruples of commercial morality allowed to stand in the way of making the Fancy Fair a complete financial success. The undertaking is carried out on thoroughly universal- provider style of lines, though with a lavish extravagance which the bond fide shopkeeper would consider ruinous and absurd. The love of dress and pleasure, of excitement, and of gambling is appealed to with a most cynical and con- temptuous disregard to the fact that those to whom the appeal is made are under a covenant to renounce the pomps and vanities of this wicked world. At the root of the undertaking there is a most implicit faith shown in the World — its ways, its amusements, and its manners — for the collection of money, together with an entire absence of faith in the power of the sacrifice of Christ as a motive of action, and as the one chief principle which ought among Christians to promote the giving of alms. The cry is raised, “ Funds are failing, and we must get money”; and the principle so muchdn vogue is adopted — - “get money honestly if you can, but by all means get money.” The Almighty Dollar is now considered the supreme arbiter of the destinies of the Church, and, there- fore, money must be obtained at any cost ; the weight of the money bags is to be the measure of the Church’s success. “This is the victory that over cometh the world , even our faith ” H FANCY FAIR RELIGION. used to be at the root of all effort on behalf of the work of the Church, as also the measure of all its success ; but now everything is thought to depend upon money, and the machinery and material buildings which money will produce. My desire, then, in writing the succeeding pages is to exhibit in all their nakedness what results follow from this unhappy substitution of first principles. If the work of the Church be at a standstill through a lack of self-denial and self-renunciation, then it is a revival of Faith at which we have to aim through a more earnest preaching of the Gospel, and not a mere acquisition of money by any and every artifice, which, by the vain and foolish imagiilations of the carnal mind can be devised. There are many who decline to look upon Bazaars and Fancy Fairs as legitimate means for doing the work of the Church of Christ, but who, nevertheless, and inasmuch as such methods are easy and pleasant and very popular and have the sanction of high authorities, Episcopal and otherwise, offer but a feeble protest against them. Many again there are who adopt practices which in these pages are unsparingly condemned who do so in perfect good faith, and with a most honest intention of promoting good. Others again adopt them under protest because while really anxious to help to the utmost of their powers, they have never been shown a more excellent way, and do not like to stand aloof from whatever effort is made to forward the interests of Religion. It is quite time, therefore, for those who take a widely different view to speak out and adopt what measures lie within their power to let their principles be known, stating their objections with as much force as they can command. INTRODUCTORY. 1 5 There are still, it is to be hoped, a great multitude of Christian people who have never yet bowed their knee to this Baal of the Nineteenth Century, and who earnestly desire before that period closes that the Bazaar and Fancy Fair as means for obtaining the sinews of war to promote the religion of Jesus Christ may be things of the past, and consigned to the ignominy which as unworthy methods they deserve. Few have hitherto sought to justify these methods beyond saying that in these degenerate days they are necessary evils. The majority of persons in this matter, as in so many others, do not stay to look at the principles which underlie certain movements; they find that the Clergy of all denominations and others whom they respect, are leaders and supporters, and they are content to give these leaders an unquestioned following in that which, while offering to them much amusement, entails no self- denial. It is very certain that the general religious tone of the many will not be higher than that of their Clergy and other recognised authorities. Many of the following pages, therefore, are addressed chiefly to Ministers of Religion, and to those who patronize the work of the Church of Christ, but much also to the Public in general, in the hope of arousing a truer and deeper knowledge of the principles which should actuate all true Christian liberality, and as a timely warning against practices which, while they meet with the approval of the World, can find no countenance from the Word of God. l6 FANCY FAIR RELIGION: ITS STYLE, AND METHOD CHAPTER II. Jfanni Jfair Religion: Jfs Sfgk anb Htftljob of HiwebiuT, anb its liaison b’dre “Right action is the result of right faith; but a true and right faith cannot be sustained, deepened, extended, save in a course of right action.” ®c hen . speaking of Fancy Fair Religion it may be well to say at onGe what is not meant by it in these pages, for much that is said therein will, it is to be feared, give great offence in many quarters — for that I am prepared and must take the consequences. But the condemnation here somewhat unsparingly dealt out- to Bazaars and Fancy Fairs is only intended to apply to them when held for religious or charitable purposes. Bazaars for Town Halls and for objects of a kindred character, where the compulsion of the Christian life — the love of Christ constraineth us — does not and need not have weight, are upon a different footing altogether. A man may then sd.y, “ I don’t care particularly for your undertaking, but if you like to give me in return some- thing either in kind or in amusement for that I give to you, I am quite willing to give you all the help I can, but I am in no way bound, either legally or morally, to contribute anything.” OF PROCEDURE, AND ITS RAISON D’ETRE. 1 7 To many of the methods and machinery of Bazaars, whether for secular or religious objects, some of the following criticisms would no doubt apply, but the principle of holding out as an inducement to support some object the promise of an equivalent in return, whilst it is an outrage upon Christian charity and subversive of it, does not apply when the object to be benefited is of a secular nature. My strictures are levelled against Bazaars held for objects, the support of which all Christians in virtue of their Christianity, and in proportion as God has blessed them with the means of doing so, are bound to support by free-will offerings. Further, it must be distinctly understood I in no way desire to condemn any quiet Sale of Work to which buyers are attracted by their anxiety to help forward an object designed to promote God’s glory, and not in consequence of the inducements and attractions held out either by the persons of those who sell, or by the sensational excitements and trappings surrounding and added to the Sale itself. Many can be found who can give their labour in working at articles for sale who have no money to bestow, and that labour being the only offering they have to lay upon God’s altar, is without doubt as acceptable in His sight as the money of their richer neighbour. At the same time it must be borne in mind that it is strictly those who contribute their articles for sale and not the buyers of those articles, who, at a Sale of Work are the true givers of Christian Charity. But the Bazaar and Fancy Fair of the present day is an undertaking totally different from the modest Sale of Work above mentioned — different in kind as well as in degree. B l8 FANCY FAIR RELIGION: ITS STYLE AND METHOD No one even pretends that attendants and buyers at such emporiums as Fancy Fairs are attracted to them chiefly, or, indeed, in many cases, at all, for the sake of the objects to which the proceeds are to be devoted; people attend them for the sake of the amusements offered, or because of the Patronage bestowed, or in order to join in the general fun, and be entertained by the concerts and theatricals, farces, nigger entertainments, or opportunities for gambling which the various programmes issued, hold out as baits to entrap the pleasure-seeker and the worldling. An appeal is made to the love of everything except to the love of Christ; implicitly, if not explicitly, we are asked to support certain institutions, not in order to promote the glory of God, but because w T e are upon pleasure bent. It would indeed be as impossible as it would be unwise to judge of the motives which lead individuals to attend a Bazaar, but we can, and are at liberty to estimate the springs of action to which an appeal is made by those who initiate the Bazaar. The promotion of God’s glory, and the love of Christ Jesus, and a sense of duty are the springs of action to which True Religion appeals, and its method is the way of the Cross — self-sacrifice; whereas the love of self, the love of pleasure, the pride of life are the springs of actions to which Fancy Fair Religion appeals, and her methods are as numerous as the pomps and vanities of this wicked world can suggest. Such contrasts are striking and instructive. As to the reality of Fancy Fair Religion and the hold it has upon the World as well, alas, as upon the Church there can be no mistake. OF PROCEDURE, AND ITS RAISON D’ETRE. 19 Let anyone who does not know it, study a number oi “The Queen” — “The Lady’s Newspaper and Court Chronicle” — and ample proof will be forthcoming. “ The Queen” is a weekly illustrated periodical devoted to the consideration of the occupations and amusements of the Female sex, taking the place with women that “The Field ” does among men. This paper has a separate column amongst'others, for all the following items of feminine interest: “Dress and Fashion,” “ Cuisine,” “ Etiquette,” “ The Upper Ten Thou- sand at Home and Abroad,” “Society,” “Entertainments and Balls,” “Fashionable Marriages,” “ Pastimes,” and one also for the detailed consideration of “Bazaars and Fancy Fairs.” This fact of itself may alone be taken as fairly conclusive evidence that the Bazaar and Fancy Fair movement is a very extensive and popular one, and one also which weekly engrosses to a very considerable degree the thoughts and attention of a large number of the readers of this fashionable paper. A little study of the “ Bazaar ” column of “ The Queen ” will show it not unfrequently happens that the object for which a Bazaar is held is not even stated; one is quite as likely to find a detailed description of a particular fancy dress, or a remark of approval upon the effectiveness of the blue velvet bodice worn by my Lady-so-and-so. Hence it may not unfairly be concluded that the object for which a Bazaar is held is of little or no interest what- ever, but its surroundings, the details of dress, the Patronesses, and the general fun are the all-absorbing attractions. A man, it is said, is known by the company he keeps ; 20 FANCY FAIR RELIGION: ITS STYLE AND METHOD and Bazaars, although ostensibly held to promote the interests of religion, are likely to be judged by the same rule, and if included amongst the other mundane attrac- tions which have each a separate column in “The Queen,” their supporters can hardly expect them to be honoured as hand-maidens of that Kingdom which is not of this world. What has been said is not intended to suggest that there is any harm whatever in “The Queen,” or in any of the feminine interests chronicled therein ; the facts stated are only mentioned to prove the close continuity of Bazaar charity to all sorts and kinds of amusements, and also to show that the supporters of Fancy Fairs love them chiefly for themselves and their surroundings, and not for the work of the Christian Church w T hich they are supposed to benefit. The following advertisement which may be seen in many papers, is surely an appalling satire upon the decadence of True Religion. It emanates from “The Universal Bazaar Building Works,” which establishment has branches in London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. Under the heading — “Bazaars, Fancy Fairs, &c.” — Christians of the present day are informed, “ Where a New Church is to he built , or a debt has to be removed , or money raised for any charitable object , the surest and quickest way of raising it is by holding a Bazaar , and Committees anxious to secure the greatest value for the smallest expenditure should communicate with Mr. A.B.Cr Christian liberality then is to be replaced by the Bazaar- monger, who will for a due consideration, and by means of unlimited puffing, and the exhibition of certain sensational dodges and devices produce the exact amount of money that may be required. OF PROCEDURE, AND ITS RAISON d’ ETRE. 21 This enterprising manufacturer of ready-made charity has obligingly published a little hand-book for the guid- ance of those who desire to dabble in Fancy Fair Religion, and by means of it and through the kind assistance of its author, a bevy of Christian ladies could at the shortest notice be taught how they could best promote God’s glory either by posing as the inmates of the harem of an Oriental Despot, or in charge of stalls “ designed to represent the dwellings of the Puritans,” and themselves “ attired in the sober and quaint costumes of the Period.” In “ running a Bazaar” a very essential element of success is to compile an attractive programme, which, although published with the avowed object of furthering the religion of the Crucified Redeemer, may not inappro- priately — so it is now thought — be decorated with pictures of clowns, columbines, and every sort of funny folk; the pages of this effort to promote God’s glory must be headed, not indeed with texts of Holy Scripture, but with pithy sayings culled from Shakespeare down to Martin Tupper. The cost of many a Bazaar programme is not far short of £ 200 , but this sum is generally more than met by the advertisements with which the pages of the programme are interleaved ; the tradesmen in the neigh- bourhood of any particular Bazaar by this means are enabled to utilize an effort on behalf of Religion for puffing their respective goods and chattels, just as, in days gone by, the sellers of doves drove a roaring trade by exhibiting their wares in close proximity to God’s House. I dare say if the truth were known the priests of the Temple made those sellers of doves pay for the privilege. 22 FANCY FAIR RELIGION: ITS STYLE AND METHOD A Fancy Fair would be incomplete without a long list of lady Patronizers, but to this utilization of Rank on behalf of Religion allusion is made elsewhere. The furnishing of a Fancy Fair is now becoming more and more a commercial transaction rather than the collecting of articles freely made and freely given. Tradesmen and manufacturers are now invited to contribute either by the offer of a sort of quasi-partnership, or by an indirect pressure and the levying of black-mail. The following polite letter was lately written by a Canon of the Church to all his manufacturing neighbours: — “Dear Sir, — Can you very kindly spare us any of your manufac- tured articles for a Bazaar we are obliged to hold to raise much- needed funds for this poor and enormous Parish of 25000 souls, the poverty and size of which are attested by the enclosed letters of the Bishops? If you can spare us any of your goods and would like your name as manufacturer of them to be put on the stalls we could do so. Hoping you will give us a little help if you can in our great need. I remain, &c.” There is probably no greater cause of distinct dislike to the Clergy and the ordinances of religion amongst very many members of the trading community than the Bazaar or Fancy Fair; for these eccentricities they are being perpetually dunned for contributions, and while not liking to refuse for fear of giving offence, they hate with a cordial hate the very name of a Bazaar, and at length the Religion for the benefit of which it is held. They are well aware that in each community the spending power is not unlimited, and if all sorts of attractions are offered to the public to spend its money at a Bazaar, there will be so much the less money spent in the encouragement of legitimate business, and upon articles of furniture, vertu, and of clothing. They know also that not one-half of the money so spent and diverted from their pockets goes to OF PROCEDURE, AND ITS RAISON D’ETRE. 2 3 the Charity for which the Bazaar is held, but is practically fooled away nobody exactly knows how. The unfortunate shopkeeper has not only his rent and rates and his assistants to pay, but he has also his stock to buy, and he has no sensational methods attached to his establishment to allure the pleasure-seeker, and the character of that establishment would soon be gone were he to allow his young lady assistants to practise the same flirty and cajoling methods of entrapping a customer as those practised without censure by Bazaar assistants in order to promote the religion of Jesus Christ. The “ Christian Liberality” of the present day on the other hand very often obtains the loan of a room in which to carry on its business; it has no rates and taxes to pay; it obtains its sales-women decked up in all sorts of fancy finery and prepared to dispense their smiles and engage in flirtations for the sake of money, all for nothing; its stock of wares is either contributed gratis, or through indirect pressure applied to members of the trading community. No wonder these poor tradesmen rebel, and declare in effect, “if this be the Gospel, the message of peace, of goodwill, and of self-denial, we will have none of it; it is a shame and a delusion, and nothing but a combination of intense worldliness, folly, and unfair dealing.” In subsequent Chapters, the various other devices and machinery employed at Bazaars to extract money will be alluded to ; the principles also which should actuate true liberality will be mentioned; but before closing this present Chapter I would mention what I conceive to be the true raison d'etre of Fancy Fair Religion. In a few words it may be summed up, namely, as Selfish- ness and a Love of Pleasure. 24 FANCY FAIR RELIGION: ITS STYLE AND METHOD We hear on all sides that the Church and Charitable Institutions are crippled for want of funds; what are the reasons? Some declare it to be through bad trade and depression in agriculture, but were it the result of such a condition of things, Fancy Fair Religion would be as unproductive as are the principles of True Religion. We must, I fear, attribute this failure in funds to another reason altogether, namely, to a decay of the motive power of True Religion. So long as the methods of Fancy Fair Religion are adopted and practically sanctioned by the Clergy and all in authority, so long I believe will the proceeds of right principles grow less and less, and at length those principles will succumb before the utterly worldly spirit which actuates the lower method; and when — and God grant it soon may be — the Church at large is aroused to a sense of its peril in allowing the grace of Christian liberality to be so defamed by this wretched Bazaar system, there must necessarily follow a period of depression and languor before the Body out of which the evil spirit has been cast, arises, and is enabled to walk firmly, and act con- sistently to principle through the indwelling grace of God. It is doubtless true that many Christian people are too poor to join in pleasure and too poor to give much to the Church and her charities, but it is also true that Christian liberality does not keep pace with the legitimate demands upon her, simply because so many Christians are only such in name, and have never even conceived the notion that their religion requires a personal dedication of themselves and of their incomes as well as an attendance upon the ordinances of Religion. OF PROCEDURE, AND ITS RAISON D’ETRE. 2.5 It is not poverty from which Christians suffer, but it is from the diseases called Meanness and utter Selfishness, and hence, while they have enough and to spare for themselves, their children and their pleasures, they lack the heart to give in order to promote God’s glory and the good of their fellow men. There is still plenty of money among so-called followers of Christ, but there is a plentiful amount of the spirit of selfishness as well ; there is a huge stock of unreal profession of Christian principles, and but little outcome from those principles. Parents through love of their children can still give them all they can desire, but their love of God produces very few gifts to promote His glory; the love of self will still be able to bestow on self all that it needs, but the love of Christ does not produce any gifts, worthy of the name, on behalf of His Church, His suffering poor, His little wandering sheep, and the heathen world. A great preacher once told the story of a man he knew, who while singing lustily at the end of a service — “Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were an offering far too small, Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my life, my soul, my all,” was all the while feeling the rim of a coin in his waistcoat pocket so that he might avoid the mistake of placing in the collecting bag a fourpenny instead of a threepenny bit. If singing about Paradise will fill that blissful region, it will hereafter be full to overflowing, but if a walking along the road of self-denial is the only approach thereto, its limits I fear will not be unduly stretched. 26 FANCY FAIR RELIGION: ITS STYLE AND METHOD Selfishness and a love of pleasure reign where the love of Christ is absent and should yet be present, if the life were at all consistent with its profession; and hence in order that any appreciable amount for the needs of the Church and her charities may be gained, it is now con- sidered essential to bribe the professed followers of Christ with the bait of pleasure, and a promise of an equivalent for that they give. Hoping for nothing in return is a principle asserted by the Saviour, but flaunted and laughed to scorn by Fancy Fair Religion, which would teach instead thereof, that Christian liberality is now to be a matter of Shop and barter and of vulgar puffing, and not one of Self-renunciation, Humility, and Love. Thus, then, now-a-days is the Church to be supported, and because also in these days there is such a race for pleasure and such a craving for excitement, therefore pleasure and excitement are to be utilized and impounded for Church purposes. And what, it may be asked, is the principle involved ? I would then throw my argument into a somewhat syllogistic form, and I doubt whether either the logic or the religion of it can be controverted. A certain object designed to promote God’s glory is in need of support. An appeal is made to a community of nominally Christian people to support it for the love of God; the appeal is unsuccessful: an appeal is made to the same community to support it for the love of pleasure; the appeal is successful. Therefore this community of nominally Christian people are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. OF PROCEDURE, AND ITS RAISON D ETRE. 27 Here then at once, according to S. Paul, we have one of the indications of those perilous times which will fore- shadow the last days, and S. Paul further intimates that such lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God have indeed a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof; and what, I would ask, could better describe the Fancy Fair than those words ? It is started for the service of God in some form or other, and shows on the face of it an anxiety for the promotion of His glory; here is the form of godliness — but the power of godliness is denied, because the charity would lack the support given to it through the medium of the Bazaar if the appeal were made only for the love of Christ. In the three succeeding Chapters the methods of Fancy Fair Religion may be seen in all their glory or in all their shame, according to the point of view from which they are regarded. That they are antagonistic to the principles and aims of True Religion will, I believe, be the verdict of all true lovers of Christ Jesus and of His Father’s glory. 28 FANCY FAIR RELIGION CHAPTER III. Jfanqr Jfatr §U%t£m; — Cjjmrdjes. ** Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect hearts they offered willingly to the Lord.” " r-T ANCY Fair Religion has a great belief in the erection ’ *• of churches wherein may be preached the Religion of self-denial and unworldliness ; one is however reminded rather vividly of the conduct of a certain class of Continental Christians who, for two or three days before entering upon the austerities of the Lenten Season give themselves up to keeping Carnival, and then indulge to a feverish extent in masque balls, fancy dresses, a battle of flowers, and other somewhat childish frivolities. Some soured and puritanical persons might awkwardly declare that in these days Mephistopheles had taken the measure of the Christian’s foot, and was aware that while a semblance of piety was essential to keep the sleepy conscience slumbering, yet, that that being secured the world might be sure of all the activities of his life. Be that as it may, it is very certain that if the Church- going Public in, for example, the fashionable watering BUILDING CHURCHES. 29 places of Great Britian were deprived of the opportunity of attending Church before turning out upon the Parade to see and to be seen, Society would lose its unvarying Sunday occupation of cutting up the Parson with every chicken that comes to table, and of making a few superficial remarks upon the sermon that had been languidly listened to with the left eye only half open. I suppose that after the weather, the Church and her clergy provide more food for small talk than anything else, not excepting the latest gossip from Truth . And Fancy Fair Religion is a vast aid to very many who would otherwise be openly irreligious : it offers to everybody an easy opportunity of talking about and of working for the Christian Religion, while at the same time taking every care not to interfere with any pleasure nor to rebuke a love of the World ; it has a most comfortable (or dangerous) way of bamboozling people into the belief that they may thus sanctify and consecrate the delights which they are not in the least prepared to give up, while at the same time giving a zest and excitement to the profession of what would otherwise be voted slow, prosaic, and intolerably dull. I now propose to give a few instances of the way in which Fancy Fair Religion builds and restores Churches and Chapels dedicated to the worship of Almighty God : it is an instructive fact and indicative to my mind of the root from which this Nineteenth Century method of promoting religion springs that Bazaars and Fancy Fairs are chiefly carried on in wealthy places ; where there is most luxury, most leisure and most pleasure, there spontaneous gifts of money are comparatively most rare, and the “ necessity” of the Fancy Fair most imperious. 30 FANCY FAIR RELIGION I must candidly own my firm belief that the luxury, the ease and the pleasure, produce the selfishness and the practical infidelity which decline to do anything except for a quid pro quo , whilst they do not show the poverty which some might consider a justification for the use of questionable means. Whatever be the cause however, it is sufficient for my purpose to note the fact already stated, that where money and Fashionables are most plentiful, there Fancy Fair Religion is most powerful. It will be noticed that the instances I quote below of Fancy Fair Church building energy are chiefly in connec- tion with the Church of England, by which it must not be supposed that that Church is pre-eminent among “ the Churches ” for her devotion to Bazaar Religion, although one would naturally look to her to set the example of antagonism to it if derogator}' to the Faith of which she is the Depository, but as a member of that Church the efforts of the devotees of Fancy Fair Religion within her com- munion have come, it may be, more immediately under my notice than those of the members of other communions. With the exception of the Society of Friends and the Plymouth Brethren, no religious body, so far as I know, disowns the help of the Bazaar, the Lottery, and the Fancy Fair, to propagate from their own respective standpoints the religion of the Crucified Redeemer. Amongst the Roman Catholics we find an appeal in one of their news- papers, “ For the love of our Lady and the Sacred Heart come and see Little Toddlekins, ,, and the amount of money yearly made by lotteries amongst that body of Christians is simply enormous. In the disestablished Church of Ireland, Bazaars and BUILDING CHURCHES. 31 Fancy Fairs are rife, and patronized by the Lord Primate himself; in Protestant Scotland, Fancy Fair Religion revels, and does duty in the Established, Free, Epis- copal, and U. P. Churches, and in every other Church ; it appears, indeed, to be the only creed in which all these divided bodies of Christians can quite agree. In the town of Dundee alone during the last ten years the sum of nearly ^30,000 has been collected by Fancy Fairs for religious purposes, a third of this large sum being the result of “ Free Church ” energy. Many, indeed, have been the protests raised by Presby- teries and by individuals against this method of gather- ing the alms of the faithful, but in the majority of the public papers and by the utterance of public men, such protests have been scoffed at and flaunted as narrow and puritanical ; and the Puritan forefathers would stand aghast at what is now openly patronized in Scotland in the name of the religion of unworldliness. Among the “ Free Churches ” of England, Bazaars and Fancy Fairs are rampant, and, as will be noticed in a subsequent chapter, the most questionable Articles of the creed of Fancy Fair Religion are boldly professed. In America the same furore for Bazaars exists, and in {he Colonies such adventitious aids are accepted almost without question as quite correct. The following specimens may be taken as fair examples of the methods by which Fancy Fair Religion works. I give only the initial letter of the town or village where these bazaars mentioned have been held, but I can verify all my statements by the authorized programmes. At the thriving Welsh watering place of A — , “a Garden Fete” was not long since inaugurated on behalf of the 32 FANCY FAIR RELIGION building fund of the Church of the Holy Trinity in that town. Amongst other diversions started for the purpose of coaxing Welsh Church-goers to give of their substance to promote the glory of Almighty God, “ swings, &c., for the children” were advertised, whilst the babies of an older growth were to be regaled with songs, glees, and banjo solos, and, “ by kind permission of Dr. H — , the champion jumping pony of the world, Welsh Sambo, will perform and jump.” And here, perhaps, I may note, although I state it with sorrow — but the truth with regard to Fancy Fair Religion I am now laying bare before my readers, and therefore I cannot hide it, — the Welsh people generally have incurred an enormous debt in their efforts to save their souls ; it hangs around their neck like a millstone, and from a world- ly and financial point of view, is sinking them deep into the mire of embarrassment and difficulty, although they appear to consider that by such instrumentality their spiritual life is being quickened. There is, however, no hiding the fact that — so far — it puts them into direct antagonism with the teaching of the apostle S. Paul, who very pointedly remarked, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another.” In the year 1886, the total Chapel debt in Wales for one denomination alone — the Calvinistic Methodists — was ^323,118 5s., and one of the results of this unpleasant position is that noticeable in the conduct of individuals who are impecunious and seek to be released from their toils ; frantic efforts are made to obtain money with a lamentable disregard to the rectitude of the methods adopted ; hence Bazaars, Fancy Fairs, Lotteries and Prize drawings for BUILDING CHURCHES. 33 Chapel debts are rife amongst the Welsh people, though as I have hinted before, the English, Scotch, Irish, and the Colonial Dependencies seem to be no whit behind. For the restoration of a Church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, a Bazaar was lately held in the fashionable water- ing place of B — ; in a local paper it was described as “ one of the most attractive and best filled Churches in the town.” B — , I should say, is one of the wealthiest of England’s wealthy health resorts, it is not dependent on a particular season, but has a very large resident population. We may conclude, therefore, that this “attractive” Church rejoiced in having a rich and fashionable congregation, but in order to pay off a debt upon its restoration, a P'ancy Fair was considered needful to supplant the grace of almsgiving, and such a Fair it was ! Many titled ladies kindly patronized it ; it was opened by the member for the borough, who declared that “Holy Trinity Church was hallowed in the minds of the people of B — by many endearing associations.” These “endearing associations,” however, do not appear to have ensured much spontaneous liberality, and I am reminded of the story I once heard at a missionary meeting, of a little boy who professed himself to be very much in love with a little girl. Said Tommy to Dolly, “ Dolly, I do love you so very much, I would give you the whole wide world if I had it.” “Oh, but Tommy,” said Dolly, “I don’t want the whole world, I should not know what to do with it if I had it, but I know you have two pennies in your pocket, please, dear Tommy, give me one of them.” Little Tommy’s face fell a long, long way, but brightening up shortly, he answered, “ Dolly dear, I don’t think I could give you one whole c 34 FANCY FAIR RELIGION penny, but let us go out and buy some sweeties with it, and then we will each have as much as we can eat of them,” Tommy having all the while a shrewd notion of the one to whom the lion’s share would fall. The Fancy Fair on behalf of Holy Trinity Church proved as attractive as its Services, one of its chief attrac- tions being “ A Cafe Chantant.” The managers took care to state upon the programmes that “all undue hilarity is deprecated.” Whether this caution was intended to be only “ funny,” or whether put in to bring the Cafe Chantant into seeming accord with an effort on behalf of the Church of Holy Trinity, or because as great and as varied an amount of intoxicating liquor could be obtained as the attendant multitude chose to buy, I do not know.; certain it is, that not only “Galantine of Turkey, “kidney pies,” “York hams,” &c., &c., could be obtained at moderate prices, but “ brandy and whiskey ” were retailed at “ 6d. per glass,” “ Champagne (Goeslers) at 12/6 a bottle” or at “6/6 the pint” or at “2/6 a glass,” “brandy and soda at 1/-,” whiskey and seltzer at 1/-. “No smoking allowed until after 9 p.m.” After these Bacchanalian announcements, I should not have been surprised to find that the congregation of Holy Trinity Church were invited to join with the Vicar and Churchwardens in singingwith one accord, “We won’t go home till morning.” As to whether they did so or not history is silent, but that they expected to enjoy a certain amount of joviality we may certainly gather from other notices upon the authorized programme, as well as from that already mentioned. I confess that I should at one time have stared with blank amazement at the bill of fare put out for the delectation of BUILDING CHURCHES. 35 the charitable Christians at B — , but after a slight study of Bazaar literature I am not surprised at anything, although all the more anxious to give to English-speaking Christians the benefit of my researches in the earnest hope of bringing about a reformation of morals. Bearing in mind, then, that a choice selection of wines and of waitresses and of lady performers were provided in order to tempt the pockets of these Holy Trinity worshippers, it was thought necessary, with the view of ensuring decency of behaviour in this Cafe Chantant on behalf of the Church of the Holy Trinity, to draw up a Code of Bye-laws — “ Bye-laws of ye Cafe Chantant.” I need hardly say they do not bear the impress of the Word of God, but their author evidently had Milton’s “l’allegro” running in his head at the time of composition. It will be evident at once to all that “ heart-easing mirth,” “ lovely Venus,” and “ Ivy-crowned Bacchus,” were to be utilized on behalf of the Church of the Holy Trinity in the town of B — . “ Quips and cranks and wanton wiles, “ Nods and becks and wreathed smiles ” were to be the order of the day, for while all “ undue hilarity was deprecated,” and under certain circumstances the fine of a shilling was to be handed instantly “ to the nearest waitress,” yet all who flocked to this Cafe Chantant were informed that “ half-a-crown a programme will earn a smile,” “ half-a- sovereign a wreath of smiles,” also that “ any member of the public on payment of 5/- can shake hands with a performer. And thus we find that some of the lady worshippers at Holy Trinity Church in the fashionable town of B — offered to smile upon any frequenter of a drinking saloon C2 36 FANCY FAIR RELIGION and give a programme for 2/6, allow their hands to be squeezed for 5/-, and bestow a perfect surfeit of smiles upon any brandy and soda soaker for half-a-sovereign ; and all this on behalf of the religion of Jesus Christ! ! 0 temp or a ! 0 moves ! 1 suppose Fancy Fair Religionists would declare such proceedings to be a consecration of the barmaid manners and customs at a third-rate tap room to the service of Almighty God, and that everything was quite correct and proper because productive of the Almighty Dollar. To those, however, who are prudish and straight laced like myself, it appears an awful prostitution of Christian charity, and a most profane insult to the God upon whose altar it was laid, and in reference to these mistaken ladies I am constrained to re-echo the words of Coventry Patmore — “ Ah, wasteful woman ! — she who may On her sweet self set her own price, Knowing he cannot choose but pay — How has she cheapened Paradise ! How given for nought her priceless gift, How spoiled the bread and spill’d the wine, Which, spent with due, respective thrift, Had made brutes men, and men divine ! ” The Bazaar was, of course, ‘‘a great success.” Appeals on behalf of religion, when made through the instru- mentality of the world, the flesh, and the , generally are. Many were found ready to worship at the shrines ol <• Ivy-crowned Bacchus” and of u lovely Venus, whilst “ heart-easing mirth ” was promoted by “ humorous songs,” “ banjo solos,” “Doughty’s performing dogs,” “ the ventriloquism of Professor Heno, with his funn} folks,” &c., &c. , whilst Mr. C. C. gave “a true anc authentic account of how he lost his life at sea. BUILDING CHURCHES. 37 It will, I think, be evident from all that has been related that there are many Christians who will only part with the money considered necessary to keep the machine going, under the pressure of what some of them are pleased to designate “high jinks;” it will be considered in a future Chapter whether such machinery is at all necessary at such a price. If excitements of a histrionic, not to say in some cases of a vulgar and almost immoral nature, are the chief constraining powers to promote a Religion which, if words mean anything, condemn them, why not at any rate be real and true and without hypocrisy in our pleasures, and throw away the forms of religious observance when the religion itself has long lost its power to influence the heart and life ? No Christian will, I suppose, question the truth of this proposition, that what it is right and proper for Christians to do sometimes in the service of the Master may be done at all times ; I shall not therefore be surprised to hear that the Vicar and Churchwardens of the Church of the Holy Trinity, in the fashionable watering-place of B — , have decided to build abutting on the Church itself — not a Parish-room — but a permanent Cafe Chantant, where smiles and squeezes, kisses, and intoxicating drinks can be sold and bought ad libitum , and smoking concerts nightly held in order to keep their temple in repair and provide the funds necessary for their “ most attractive ” services. Meanwhile I should like to ask the Vicar of this very notorious Church whether, when he is preparing his young lady candidates for Confirmation and has to remind them that they are under covenant to renounce “the pomps and vanities of this wicked world,” he tells them that for the benefit of Holy Church they may sell their smiles for 2/6 at a Cafe Chantant. 3 « FANCY FAIR RELIGION At the inland winter resort of C — , a town of palatial villa residences, and with a fashionable promenade lined by shops, the character of which testify to the great wealth of its inhabitants, a Bazaar was lately held and kept open for ten days in aid of the fund for the completion of S. Stephen’s Church. It took the form of an “ Old London Street,” and among other amusements held out to stimulate the virtues of the charitable Christians of C — , the following were advertised, viz., “A Lilliputian Band,” “Promenade Concerts,” “ Comic Skaters,” “ Ye Olde Alchemyste,” “Comic Panorama,” “Punch and Judy,” “Boxing,” “Shooting Galleries,” and “The Wonderful Performing Donkey ‘ Smiler.’ ” The entire enterprise, indeed, was “ comic,” or most humiliating, according to the point of view from which it was regarded. Whether this same donkey “Smiler” was to remain a part of the parochial organization and to be enrolled as a permanent Church worker was not stated, but perhaps he would, if so employed, have fulfilled his asinine functions in life as well as many of the nobler species in the parish whom S. Paul perchance, had he lived in our day, would have exhorted to put away childish things. To the minds of many, at any rate, this Bazaar in the wealthy town of C — , would appear a curious way surely of perpetuating a religion which S. Stephen himself felt called upon to lay down his life by stoning to promote ; the self-sacrificing conduct of the Proto-martyr in the earlier part of the First Century of the Christian era, and the Fancy Fair Religion- ism of the Nineteenth Century attendants at a Church dedicated to his memory offer a most striking contrast, and might tempt the scoffer or the uninitiated to ask whether BUILDING CHURCHES. 39 these respective promoters of Christianity, far as the poles asunder in their methods of propagating it, really believed in the same God and owned the power of the same religion. The manufacturing town of D — is one of enormous wealth ; its rateable value is over ^*100,000. The in- habitants very laudably desired to re-build their Church which had fallen into decay. The new. building is a magnificent one, “a thing of beauty” and “ a joy for ever.” But “ to cut one’s coat according to one’s cloth” is a very wise maxim, though not acceptable among ambitious people. Many a mill owner has been ruined by building too grand a mansion for his means, and many a Christian has been led to fall back upon a Fancy Fair to pay the debt upon a Church too magnificent for the free-will offerings of its worshippers. The Vicar of D — when introducing the Bishop’s wife, who opened a “Gigantic Bazaar” on behalf of the Church, spoke therefore in somewhat apologetic tones of the enterprise. To the details of this Bazaar itself I will not allude beyond giving full justice to the many hearty workers who sold therein, and who, according to the twilight of their religion, conscientiously did their very best. It is to the programme of this Bazaar I would call attention, for it strikingly illustrates what is often so noticeable in Fancy Fair Religion, which considers that the end justifies the means. In it may be observed an entire absence of the fitness, proportion, and congruity of things. It appears to be the correct thing when “ running a Bazaar ” to quote what are considered apposite or witty sayings on each page of the programme, and, in the Preface of that under consideration, the words from Dryden, 4 ° FANCY FAIR RELIGION “ These times want other aids,” are quoted, by way I suppose, of justifying a departure from more scriptural methods. Above the list of noble and wealthy patrons were placed the words from Lucan, “ The shadows of a mighty name.” To many it would appear that any enterprise intended indirectly to promote the glory of Almighty God might have been content with “ a name which is above every name,” but in “ these times” that name appears powerless beside the names of Lordly Patrons. Then followed a not uncommon announcement in Bazaar literature : “Be it known to all that the letters of recom- mendation at this Bazaar are the letters of L. S. D.” The Bishop of the Diocese when presiding at another Bazaar on behalf of the division of his See jocularly remarked that the Bazaar must be a gathering of men of letters, for it is a gathering for L. S. D. to help on the new C” (roars of laughter). The widow’s mite and the spirit which produced it would here have been as utterly despised as it was highly commended at an earlier stage in Church history, but the Church in these days worships hand-in-hand with the world at the shrine of the Almighty Dollar, and “every door is barr’d with gold and opens but to golden keys.” My readers will not be surprised to learn that the next noticeable announcement was in large letters, Wanted ! “ Money!” In the interests of a more robust Christianity and of nobler methods I would venture to paraphrase it thus ; — Wanted ! Self-denial ! Wanted ! Christian Principle ! Shylock, the Jew, is now disinterred by the Christians at D — , and with him in their programme they declare “ We would have moneys,” but they go farther and still quoting BUILDING CHURCHES. from Shakespeare declare “ money” to be “ the very life- blood of our enterprise.” In all charity we will assume “ the enterprise ” referred to is the Bazaar and not the Church for which the Bazaar was held. For that Church y indeed, other blood had been shed at another Sacrifice,, but the allusion was amazingly mal a propos. A further bending of the knee to the golden calf on behalf of the house of God has yet to be chronicled: “Money” is apostrophised with a quotation from Virgil “ On thee the fortunes of our hou$e depends.” I trust the fortunes of the parish house of God in town of D — through all succeeding ages will depend upon the reality of the worship offered therein, and then it will continue long after the Fancy Fair Religion which crowned its Restoration has been consigned to the ignominy that it courts. It will be sufficient to conclude my remarks upon this Bazaar at D — with one more quotation from its programme which, w T hile singularly inappropriate to an effort to promote God’s glory, is most descriptive of the aims and methods of Fancy Fair Religion. “ The end of toil is gain, the end of gain is pleasure .” — Tuppev The specimens I have given above of Fancy Fair performances on behalf of Church buildings in the towns of A — , B — , C — , and D — , are quite enough for the purpose in hand, but I regret to say I could go through almost the whole alphabet twice over and relate many “startling novelties.” I could tell in some detail of Irish Churches being supported by “The Witch of Endor,” “ The Gipsy Fortune-teller,” and by “A Promenade lighted up with Fairy Lights” ; of a Presbyterian Church rejoicing in aid from “ Marionettes” and “ Ventriloquism,” with a 4 2 FANCY FAIR RELIGION ‘‘Shooting Gallery” and “An oracle to tell fortunes”; of another Church of the same persuasion inviting its members to inspect “ The magnificent dresses,” to see “ The Mesmeric Sailor,” “The Hindoo Mystery,” and “A Living Man beheaded.” I could go further and give minute particulars of a Scotch Episcopal Church deriving funds from a Cafe Chantant under the patronage of The Very Rev. the Dean of B — ; I could dilate upon the aid of “ Nigger and other performances,” and of “ A Grand Operetta of Little Red Riding Hood” being invoked on behalf of an English Church. I could tell of another Church dedicated to S. Peter being supported by “ A Farce ” ; of another Church appealing for help to “ Blue Beard and his four wives,” and to “Ye Spotted Baby of Peru.” And what shall I more say? — “O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance : Thy holy temple have they defiled, and made Jerusalem an heap of stones.” “ Oh, that our congregations would take heart To loathe the wild bizarring of bazaars; Knowing that every touch of folly mars The truth and purity of Christian art. Think ye that building Churches can impart A sacred veil to cover every stain ? That He who hateth all dishonest gain Will bless a rabbling fancy-fairing mart? If good the cause, then give thou willingly, With no frivolity or pride of show : If ample gifts do not come readily, Perhaps the Lord would wisely have it so. Ambition aims at false prosperity : But true religion then is burning low.” That which has been already stated, in addition to that mentioned in a succeeding Chapter, will, I trust, awaken many to a sense of the Church’s danger. If such puerile BUILDING CHURCHES. 43 eccentricities — to call them by no other name — are con- sidered in keeping with Christian faith and practice, and, what is equally sad, are looked upon as one of the best means likely to provide the funds necessary for building up the material fabric of the Church, there is surely most dire evidence that the spiritual fabric is rapidly approaching a state of rotten and complete decay, and that while, it may be, the form of godliness remains, its power has departed from our midst. 44 FANCY FAIR RELIGION CHAPTER IV. Jfarng Jfarr Religion propagating % <§0sptl in foreign Parts. As labourers in the vineyard, still faithful may we be, Content to bear the burden of weary days for Thee ; We ask no other wages, when Thou shalt call us home, But to have shared the travail which makes Thy Kingdom come. fTT HE success which has attended Fancy Fair Religion J in raising Churches has emboldened some supporters of Missions to Heathen, both at home and abroad, to worship at her shrine and employ her methods as preferable, or, at any rate as more lucrative than the methods suggested by the Founder of Christianity and His first disciples. Until lately it was considered that the “ blood of the martyr was the seed of the Church,” and even Fancy P'air Relgionists would, I suppose, not only honour the memory and work of all the martyrs, beginning with S. Stephen and ending with Bishop Patteson, who have laid down their lives for the propagation of the faith, but would also allow that the descent from the martyr to some gay and giggling worker for Christ in all the gaudy tinsel of her fancy dress was a striking fall from the sublime to the ridiculous. PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. 45 The great missionary, John Eliot, used to say that “prayer and pains through Jesus Christ will do anything,” but now, in the estimation of many really well meaning Christian people, that procedure would be considered exceedingly irksome, to say the least of it, and not at all likely to pay; neither “prayer” nor “pains” therefore are invited, but pleasure is held out as an inducement to all, and patronage is obtained from the noble and wealthy few. A notable instance of Fancy Fair energy on behalf of Foreign Missions was displayed in the autumn of 1887, in the Cathedral city of X — , and is likely to gain some historical notoriety in the annals of Christian charity, not indeed upon its own intrinsic merits, but because of the fiasco that attended its results. The financial outcome in gross receipts amounted to ^390 ; more than half this sum went in “expenses,” that is in piling up and pulling down the trappings of the Fair, and the somewhat paltry balance was destined for the coffers of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. That venerable Body heard however of the Fancy efforts being made on her behalf, and two days before the Fair closed, and without waiting to know the result, passed at a meeting of its Standing Committee the following resolution, viz: — “The Standing Committee regret to have heard to-day, for the first time, of the Fancy Fair which is being held at X — , and trust that in the future their friends will not have recourse to such question- able means of raising money for the Society. While fully recognising the well-intentioned but mistaken zeal of those who have organized this effort, the Standing Committee feel that they cannot under the circumstances receive for 4 6 FANCY FAIR RELIGION the Propagation of the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ any funds thus raised.” I am sure that multitudes of earnest Christian people will echo my own sentiments and say, “ all honour to that Committee,” and certainly they will when they know some of the circumstances attending this ill-starred effort to propagate the Gospel. The Fair took the form of a Flemish market town in the middle ages — it was heralded of course by a programme of foolscap size, which was illustrated by pictures of clowns and silly women, and, on the face of it, seemed to be singularly inappropriate to the conversion of the heathen. The opening ceremony was performed by a Duchess who had previously headed a long list of titled and other ladies as Patronesses, most of whom, however, were conspicuous by their absence from the Bazaar. The stallholders and their assistants were fantastically clad as Flemish and Alsatian peasants, while a youthful Curate masqueraded about in the vestments of a Flemish Abbe, and with no apparent sense of the incongruity of his position, either as Abbe or Curate, danced attendance upon the ladies, all of whom “ wore velvet or white caps, with large wings and an abundance of jewellery, chains, bangles, &c.,” whilst some appeared in “ Bethlehem costumes,” and others in “pink and gold skirts,” “blue and brown bodices,” &c. I do not for one moment doubt the sincerity and earnestness of these fancy workers for the Mission cause — it is their methods I venture to question : that they were all, when utilizing such childish follies, but “babes in Christ,” to use Pauline phraseology, I suppose no one in their sane senses would deny ; but this anachronism in PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. 4 7 the shape of the Abbe Fancy Fair Curate, makes one feel that a writer of the present century had really some good ground for his scathing criticism when he declared that the one great question now debated amongst many English Christians is, what shall be the colour of the petticoats of their ecclesiastics, some of these ecclesiastics apparently having as great a love for dress, for its own sake, as have many of their feminine ad mirers. The most “ Protestant ” Christian can understand and respect, although he may disagree with the sentiment that the officiating minister in a very solemn service should have a distinctive and not a common dress. It would however be an outrage upon the feelings of a vast number of Christians to caricature such vestments on the stage, and therefore, when young Curates — to use the words of King Saul — “play the fool” in this way for the benefit of religion they should be reminded that they do far more to bring their Order into contempt and wound the tenderest feelings of many of their fellow Christians than “ Punch” or play writers do, such, for example, as the author of “ The Private Secretary,” who nightly for many months kept a London audience convulsed with laughter over the folly of the deluded parson who showed much anxiety about the safety of his “ golosh,” talked about his penny bun and glass of milk, and was constantly loosing his “goods and chattels.” In the centre of this Vanity Fair (vide John Bunyan) was erected a Market Cross, and this desecration of the sign of the Christian Faith called forth a vigorous protest from a country clergyman, who was, for his pains, considered very rude and decidedly behind the times. It was sarcasti- cally suggested to the promoters of the Fair as more in 4 8 FANCY FAIR RELIGION keeping with its surroundings, to replace the Cross by a statue to Bacchus or Cupid, or to a Goddess of Revels, or even by a prosaic village pump. But no, the Cross was to remain, and under its shadow was to be a bed of roses in the shape of a Flower Stall, and “ Fair}/ Revels with Sprites in full costume” were to give a performance daily. The presence of the “Original Christy Minstrels ” was also promised, but they had no more intention of attending the Fair at X — than they had of giving an entertainment for the benefit of the Great Mogul. It was a statement entirely incorrect, a sort of fagon de parley, used for the sake of attracting where money-making apparently was the object regardless of minute accuracy in diction. Ample opportunities for gambling and games of chance were advertised in the shape of a wheel of fortune, a fish- pond, and a market well. The County Chairman, who granted the use of the County Hall for this huge piece of farcical Christianity, was warned in one of the local papers that he rendered himself liable to a fine of £500 as a particeps criminis in illegal lotteries and raffles, and the grumbling at the public-houses was loud and deep from certain of their frequenters who had been fined for similar illegalities by the local magistrates when the names of the wives of these same gentlemen were seen acting as Lady Patronesses of an effort, which countenanced for the sake of religion, that which was condemned when working-men indulged in it on their own behalf. Fortune-telling also was one of the popular amusements provided with a view of raising funds for the conversion, let us suppose, of the witches of South Africa {vide King Solomon’s mines), and an Agnostic who attended the Fair for the fun of the thing, but without any profession of PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. 49 enthusiasm about the conversion of the heathen, put his hand into the gipsy tent, and laughingly remarked after- wards that he had had his fortune told on behalf of the propagation of the religion of Jesus Christ. The enterprising Christians who “ran” this, let us hope, unique effort to convert foreign heathen were not content with their Bazaar, but with the evident desire of having a general Carnival throughout the city engaged the Assembly Rooms, where for several nights during the progress of the Fair a company of kind lady and gentleman amateurs gave theatrical entertainments on behalf of the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One has heard of celebrated clowns, ballet dancers, and operatic singers having their “benefit nights,” but surely the height of originality in religious effort was reached when it was advertised that the Propagation of the Gospel was to be granted its benefit also, and in a similar manner: the fantastic placards of the Salvationists could hardly surpass this crowning effort at saving souls. The two pieces it was proposed to bring upon the boards on behalf of the Gospel of Purity and self-denial, and which were duly advertised in the local paper, were the “Palace of Truth,” and “ Caste.” Many of my readers will, I know, be astounded when they learn that the chief point in the plot of the “Palace of Truth” turns upon the denotement pictured through the compulsory confession of the conjugal infidelities of an eastern king. To their credit be it said, the amateur company struck at this part of the bill of fare proposed for the delectation of the inhabitants of an English cathedral city, and it was withdrawn, but the promoters persisted in their theatrical effort for the conversion of souls. The implicated laity D 5o FANCY FAIR RELIGION left it to a zealous clergyman to obtain the necessary magisterial license, and under the heading “City Police Court,” the public were informed by a paper circulating largely amongst the working classes of “a parson applying for a theatrical license,” and the same paper commented in the following terms upon the announcement ; — “ Wonders in 4 ‘ clerical circles will never cease ! A great many strange actions in “ this profession have seen daylight lately , and now we have to add one “ more to the list , namely , a rev . gentleman as connected with stage “ theatrical performances ! Yes , sir , in our Police Court , on Monday “ last a parson appeared as bold as a lawyer to apply for a license to “ hold a theatrical performance in connection with a Bazaar ; the “ Bazaar is bad enough in connection with Churches and Chapels , but “ this caps all . Just imagine the good men — from whom the clergy “ vainly profess to have descended — holding a license to perform “ stage plays at the hands of their rulers ! Fancy , if you can , a “ dramatic performance in which Jesus Christ takes the leading “ character y Judas the villain , and the rest of the Apostles appear “ on the stage to the amusement of the audience to whom they had “ preached the way of salvation on the Sunday previous ! Filthy “ lucre is at the root of all evil . Modern Christianity seems to be a “ huge piece of machinery for raising the wind , and then a long list “ of worldly and sensual pursuits are followed in order to keep the “ thing together and get money . Where it will all end is another “ question . A very high authority likens it to ‘ the blind leading “ the blind ,’ and we know the ditch they would be likely to fall into . “ I must say I would not exchange places or consciences with even “ men in 6 holy orders ' who do not scruple to conform to the image “ of this world when there is any temporal advantage to be got out “ of it. Someone has said that modern Christianity is nothing but “ a 4 civilized heathenism and thinking-men fail to see much differ- “ ence, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel , for whom the “ Rev. A. B. applied for this license , being no exception P PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. 51 That an effort to promote the religion of self-denial and unworldliness should provoke such comments as those above quoted, and enable also the Agnostic to make his joke and poke his fun is evidence surely that it was, to say the least of it, utterly ill-advised as giving the enemy an occasion to blaspheme. But let me place this exhibition before my readers from another point of view. Let us imagine for a moment “the heathen Chinee,” or the educated Indian Buddhist, or both together, looking in upon this effort of a certain section of the X — Christians to promote the conversion of heathen souls. Being well read in their own classics it would strike these two educated heathen as a new and peculiar idea worthy of their study as a psychological curiosity that any serious efforts in a good cause should be promoted by such comical and fancy methods. “ On the face of it” we can imagine they would say “ these Barbarians appear to adopt somewhat paltry machinery for the subjugation of the whole world, and that confessedly is their object.” And the intense curiosity of these two heathen being excited by such a strange phenomenon, they would be led to study the books of the Christian, and as many Christians pin their faith to their Prayer Book rather than to their Bible, these two educated men would turn, let 11s suppose, first of all to the Catechism, or “ instruction ” as it is otherwise called, to see what bearing that formulary had upon the efforts of these Fancy Fair Religionists. There they would find that all Christians were under a covenant to renounce the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and in charity they would conclude “what we see before us are not ‘ pomps and vanities 5 but only toys and play- things, and we suppose the ‘ wicked world’ intended must be that in which we ourselves lived’ 5 2 FANCY FAIR RELIGION Then these good heathen gentlemen would say, “let us see how their Bible speaks,” and after a diligent search they would find that the Founder of the religion which the Fancy Fair was intended to propagate declared « if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” The Buddhist, at any rate, would find much to agree with in this doctrine, but both he and the Chinaman would say, “ we really cannot see much self-denial in all these funny gambols, but we do certainly hear a strongly-worded protest has been put out against this Fair, and perhaps that is the persecution which these good Christian workers have to undergo on behalf of their religion.” Not yet satisfied, for with them, as with us, seeing is believing, they would enquire further. “We believe a man named Paul, after the founder Himself, was considered a great and authoritative teacher, — let us study his utterances and see what he has to say,” and inasmuch as, to them, one of the oddest points of the Bazaar would be the free and easy behaviour of the female sex, since in their own countries that sex does not play in any way a prominent part, it is not improbable, as much, perhaps, for the sake of justifying the conduct of their own womankind as for any other purpose, their eyes would soon alight upon this passage, “that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shame-fastness and sobriety : not with braided hair, and gold and pearls or costly raiment ” (R. V.). And so as they gazed around they would meet with another puzzling conundrum, and in despair they would say, “ perhaps it is the older part of their Scriptures and not the new by which these good people guide their lives , we know Isaiah was a prophet of high repute, what has he to PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. 53 say?” and before long, as ill-luck would have it, they would stumble over the third chapter of that prophet’s book, and find him in very round terms condemning “tinkling ornaments,” and “chains,” and “bracelets” and “ear-rings,” and “changeable suits of apparel.” Here again, therefore, these heathen would be foiled, and they would walk out of the Bazaar puzzled, if not wiser men, and say, “ we will give it up and leave these Christians to the enjoyments of their own religion, which appears to make them gay and happy, and it does not hurt us ; but if they would only read our books perhaps they would by them be induced to take a more serious and sober- minded view of life ; their own books, apparently, are not considered by them to mean what they say, whereas ours do.” Members of the Church of England are not, however, by any means the only Christians who have allowed their zeal to run away with their discretion when working for the great cause of Foreign Missions. It has been remarked elsewhere that the Bazaar mania in Scotland has long been at fever heat, although numerous efforts have been made to throw cold water upon it, but without success. The Puritan forefathers would be amazed at the way in which their descendants gather money for religious purposes, and utilize the world’s methods to promote the spread of the Christian faith : but so it is. At a Bazaar held in Edinburgh in aid of the Scottish Universities Mission, amongst other attractions, and they were many, theatrical performances, entitled “ Flirtation and Frivolity,” and “The Showman’s Courtship,” enrolled, for the nonce, a large number of supporters of Foreign Missions. It is, however, to the remarks of Professor 54 FANCY FAIR RELIGION W. J. Blaikie upon this effort-made-easy manner of spreading Christianity that the attention of my readers is particularly directed. “ It is difficult,” he says, “ to see how such frivolity can he reconciled with the deep feeling of other days in regard to the spirit in which we should try to convert men r the awful solemnity with which our fathers thought of man’s relations to God, the evil of sin, and the glory of redemption.” One other fancy effort on behalf of Missions must be alluded to, in order to show how widespread is the evil. In December, 1887, a huge Bazaar was held in Glasgow on behalf of the Church of Scotland Foreign Mission Buildings. The stalls, in character and decoration, were supposed to represent the exterior of an Indian Palace. A Cafe Chantant, Toy Symphonies, Conjuring and Sleight of Eland, Raffles, and ftfr a Grand Melange, flippantly termed Hotchpotch,” together with concerts and organ recitals, combined to make the support of Foreign Missions, for the time being, endurable. Flights of wit were indulged in, but they could not have induced greatly to the success of the undertaking. An “ Exaggerated Orchestra” did its little best, and “ members of all denominations, and survivors of Friday evening's enter- tainment, are cordially invited. All are welcome who have clear consciences, and sixpence to pay for admission.” The aid of the Patron Saint of one of the contributing Churches was also offered or invoked : — “St. George to the rescue l come and behold What wondrous things in this stall are sold l A painted screen ; yea, more than one r A pug-dog and kittens to help on the fun ; A bridal party, why, what can that be ? A mirror, fire screen, you all must see : Russina sends Buffalo Horns (not Bill). Madagascar curtains, which you may have if you will.” Etc., etc., etc. PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. 55 In one way this last-mentioned Bazaar might act as a pattern to many, for the principles of Thrift were not recklessly scattered to the four winds. About ^4,100 were the gross receipts, and only ^300 of this sum went in expenses : there was a surplus of at least ^”3,800. So far, therefore, Glasgow Christians set a good example to certain English Temperance Supporters to whom allusion is made in the succeeding Chapter. Many of my readers when they notice the large sum thus obtained for Missions will, it is to be feared, care but little by what methods it was collected. On the other hand it may be remarked, if the supporters of this Bazaar could not give through self-sacrifice in order to promote the Religion of the Crucified as much as could be wheedled and raffled out of them through the allurements of pleasure, is a religion which has so little power over the hearts of its home supporters worth transplanting amongst the heathen abroad ? Some of my readers may be disposed to remark, “ why expose all these sad follies, to call them by no stronger name, especially as in one case the Society on whose behalf they were indulged in declined to receive the ill-gotten gains?” My reply is that I am anxious to show the lengths to which people will go, or rather the depths to which they will sink in their utter disregard of the principles which should call forth and regulate their alms-giving as well as other Christian duties, and also in order to justify my condemnation of that Article of the Creed of Fancy Fair Religion which teaches that the end justifies the means. What Christians have done in their anxiety to pro- mote the financial interests of their Missionary Societies* others again may do if no strong words of protest are 56 FANCY FAIR RELIGION. uttered to arouse the conscience of English speaking Christians to a sense of the catastrophe which surely is impending when one of the most necessary duties, as well as the one which is the best test of the sincerity of their faith, is being relegated to the sphere of childish and illegal follies, not to say of worldly and immoral absurdities. In this matter, as in so many others, may we not ask the Church at large, in, perhaps, the declining years of this dispensation, to draw a lesson from the remark of S. Paul, “ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I thought as a child, I understood as a child ; but when I became a man I put away childish things.” The only reason, I believe, why Christianity is losing its power to convert the heathen at home and abroad is simply because so many of those who desire to propagate that religion do not rule their own lives by the faith they profess to teach. If they have a zeal for God it is not according to knowledge ; if they have a form of Godliness they deny the power thereof, because in order to gather alms for the propagation of their Religion they adopt the world’s methods for doing so instead of the methods which Christ taught, and thereby confess at once the impotency of their own faith. 57 CHAPTER V. .fancg Jfair Religion promoting Cmjttrancc antr Cjnif t. “ Mammon led them on, Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell From Heaven.” “ In the family, as in the state, the best source of wealth is Economy . ’ ’ — Cicero . V N the summer of 1887 the Church of England Temper- rJ “* ance Society held in the Duke of Wellington’s Riding School, at Knightsbridge, a “Grand National Bazaar” ; nothing was wanting to make it financially a complete success. It took the form of an old English Town, and was opened with great eclat by a Duchess; it lasted for five days in the height of the London season ; a military band was in attendance daily ; concerts, entertainments, the Toy Symphony, hand-bell ringers, operettas, &c., &c., combined to make everything as attractive as possible. There were twenty-five stalls, some being furnished by particular Dioceses and others by certain leading London Parishes. An appeal was made for ^5000, with which end in view very many “distinguished persons ” “kindly” gave their “ patronage.” The list was a goodly one, and 5 » FANCY FAIR RELIGION influential enough to have obtained a large sum as well as to attract the presence of the most exigeant tuft hunter. It included 3 Dukes, 7 Duchesses, 3 Marchionesses, 4 Earls, 12 Countesses, 4 Viscounts, 6 Viscountesses, 6 Lords, 51 Ladies of greater or less degree, 20 Honourables, 6 Knights, 3 Deans, 6 Archdeacons, 5 M.Ps., 4 J.Ps., a few Q.Cs., a very fair sprinkling of Parsons, and many ladies with no handles to their names. I must not forget to mention also, that H.M. Queen Kapiolani and H.H. The Rao of Cutch graciously attend- ed to see how Christian England supported Temperance. There were in all about 220 Patrons and Patronesses : “both Houses” were well represented; the “Church” put in a most respectable appearance, and last, but not least, that is to say, to judge from the titles and the “ Society-leaders,” and the toilets which were of the very best and newest and most expensive character, the gay and fashionable world was most unquestionably in full force ; in fact, to borrow a classification from Mr. Laurence Oliphant, both the “ wholly worldlys ” and the “worldly holys ” were present in very gratifying numbers, and that both as condescendingly patronizing the Church’s crusade againsb intemperance as well as in the form of purchasers of the articles which the “working bees” had stored up with most touching industry. An influential Bazaar Committee had been at work for many months, with an untiring energy worthy of nobler methods and of a greater financial success. To its credit and to the credit of the Society be it chronicled “ no raffling or lotteries of any kind ” were to be allowed, although piscatorial gambling, as it has been termed, was permitted in the shape of a surreptitious “ fishpond.” PROMOTING TEMPERANCE AND THRIFT. 59 It would be endless work to enumerate the thousands of hearty workers whose services had been enlisted in the cause. In many country houses and parsonages diligent labour had been expended for several months ; thousands of letters begging and beseeching for contributions had added materially to the revenues of the Postmaster- General ; and to give an instance of the enthusiasm elicited, one lady in the Canterbury diocese mentioned that “ a few poor women, who took the pledge lately, have been working through the winter once a week in my kitchen for the Bazaar ” ; and many other similar instances of ungrudging and self-denying labour might easily be recorded. “ Ye Bathe and Welles Diocesan Stalle ” (sic) declared its motto to be “ small profits and quick returns,” and openly asserted, as though its character for upright dealing ran the risk of being questioned, that “no effort would be made to filch money out of the pocket of the unwary without giving a quid pro quo." So far, therefore, as Bath and Wells were concerned the Bazaar was to be a strictly commercial as well as an honest transaction. The Fair was opened by a procession of children in historical costume, whose varied and picturesque garbs were declared in the rep'ort to be “ very pretty and effective,” and, we may add, cost a considerable amount of money. All that remains to be reported is the practical outcome of this wonderful effort, and yet before doing so I cannot help wondering with what envy the whole Pharisaical world of old time would have regarded this grand list of patronizers, and how small the “ hypocrites ” of Jerusalem and Capernaum would have felt at the flourish 6o FANCY FAIR RELIGION of trumpets which heralded the Aristocracy of England patting Temperance on the back. Such mighty deeds of alms-giving would, I imagine, have quite thrown into the distant shade that to which such pointed reference was made in the sermon preached on the Mount to the first disciples but apparently forgotten by certain latter day saints. But let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. The gross receipts amounted to ^1850, and the nett sum gained for the Society was ^487 ! ! Parturiunt monies, nascetuv ridiculus mus . ^1363 therefore went in expenses. In order to gain £1, it was necessary to expend nearly £3, and that too when all the goods were supplied gratis ! To say that this result was appallingly grotesque would not express the situation properly. That such an utter disregard of all laws, economical, thrifty, and commercial, perpetrated in the name of Christian Charity should wreck any system and sign the death warrant of Fancy Fair Religion would seem certain. The ^1363 went, I suppose, to pay the Military Bands and other amuse- ments and decorations which were considered essential in order to squeeze out of a crowd of fashionables in the height of the London season a few shillings grudgingly bestowed in return for the pleasure they languidly condescended to derive. I would, however, ask my readers to draw upon their imaginations and picture if they can the faces of those few poor women stitching away in simple faith in that historic Canterbury kitchen, that is to say, supposing they had been made to understand the catastrophe. Would they not have felt, even if unable to express their sentiments in Parliamentary language, that it was indeed a case of taking the children’s bread and casting it to the Dukes. PROMOTING TEMPERANCE AND THRIFT. 6l Apart from the extra amount which was spent by the 25 stall holders and their more than 100 assistants upon dresses for that particular occasion, which amount in its totality probably ran into four figures, it may be regarded as certain that not one of the rich and noble Patrons would have missed the gift of 50/-, nor have thought twice about spending that amount upon a dozen of sherry or champagne to entertain their friends, and yet if each had given that amount, more money would have been cleared for the Church Temperance Society than the Bazaar made. The labour and self-denying energy of hundreds of deluded workers would not have been wasted and deceived, and the few poor Canterbury women, with many others similarly placed, might have been more profitably employed in mending their children’s clothing and in tidying up their husband’s homes, whilst at the same time Thrift, the twin sister of Temperance, would not have been outraged, and Christian Charity also would have been spared the insult offered to her by this misuse of her name on behalf of Temperance. An utter want of thrift is one of the many evils attendant upon the Bazaar movement, and how long I wonder will such a fearful waste of time, labour, energy, money, and morality be allowed to continue without rebuke from the leaders in Church and in Society, and all under the sacred name cf Charity ! The whole system is surely most deplorable, and the want displayed of even ordinary common sense is as amazing as it is demoralizing. It must, I fear, be taken as certain evidence that the gambling spirit, which so often seizes upon individuals and causes them to risk reputation and the happiness of all who are near and dear to them, is insidiously also taking a hold 62 FANCY FAIR RELIGION upon the Church of Christ, and causing that Church to adopt the principle that anything maybe done for the sake of obtaining an immediate monetary result. My readers generally, unless they have been personally involved in the promotion of a Fancy Fair, can have but little idea of all that goes on behind the scenes, besides that which is nakedly exposed to the public eye. There is the previous anxiety about and lavish expenditure upon the dresses. There are the many subterfuges necessary in order to keep an alarmingly apathetic public conscience asleep when the Statute law is infringed. And then, again, there is the wicked waste at the conclusion of a Bazaar through the illegal sale by auction of articles, upon which much labour has been bestowed by many a really earnest worker for the cause in hand, and which are now ruthlessly knocked down at less than a quarter of the value of the materials alone. These, and sundry other questions akin to Thrift, one would have expected the Church Temperance Society would have considered, rather than by their example set so flagrantly at nought. Not long ago a lady of high Social Rank, when speaking on the subject of Temperance, endeavoured to impress upon the more educated portion of her audience the duty which devolved upon them of endeavouring to lead the people through their own example. She referred to the teaching contained in the Republic of Plato, where the leaders of Society are to constitute the “ Guardian Class,” and guide those below them into the paths of courage, truth, and self-control. This surely is true Nobility, and it is the best way of promoting Temperance. It is now rightly considered that the Church should PROMOTING TEMPERANCE AND THRIFT. 63 have 110 property in Public Houses, and the age is not far distant when a Noble deriving a considerable income from the source of the people’s degradation will be thought an ignoble man. Property which disgraces the Church as a Body is surely disgraceful to the members of that Body. A Nonconformist M.P. has declared in public that the question of the Disestablishment of the Church had been set back at least ten years in consequence of the position the Clergy had taken in the Temperance movement, which is essentially one emanating from and dear to the heart of the great Democracy. From motives then of self-preserva- tion, if from no nobler one, the Aristocracy and leaders of Society would do well to head this movement, and how can they better do so than by their own personal example ? There is certainly great truth in the dictum of the late Duke of Albany : “ Drink is the only terrible enemy whom England has to fear,” and hence, if this be so, all classes in life, from the highest to the lowest, should have the subject pressed upon them with the reminder that in pro- portion as their position is elevated so too is their power for good or evil. The reminder, however, should appeal to the nobler and not the baser side of each man’s nature. But the Committee of this Temperance Society seem to have assumed that the only way, or at any rate the readiest way, of attracting the attention of the “ Upper Ten” of the most important and most Christian city in the world to the necessities of the Temperance cause was by the cooking up of a hotch-potch of amateur shop-keeping and pleasure, of dress and fashion, of frivolity and charity, of sensation- alism and patronage, and that thrift, economic laws, self-denial, and every other noble principle had really no 6 4 FANCY FAIR RELIGION. need to be regarded, or that it would be folly to make an endeavour to call them forth. One of two conclusions then must unquestionably be drawn, and both of them are appallingly sad : — Either the Religion of Jesus Christ, the Religion of self-sacrifice and of self-denial, of humility and of secret charity, has lost all practical hold upon the Capital of the Christian world, or, that a great Society in connection with the Anglican Church cynically believes it has, and with an awful practical satire makes an appeal on behalf of Temperance to the professors of the Christian religion through the medium of all the surroundings of Vanity Fair, and not by an appeal to principles, which an any rate, on sacred paper, are supposed to actuate those professors. 65 CHAPTER VI. Jbttqr jfair IMigbtt: Jts ititli^afion of §eaufu. So Beauty lures the full-grown child, With hue as bright and wing as wild ; A chase of idle hopes and fears, Begun in folly, closed in tears. The lovely toy so fiercely sought Hath lost its charms by being caught . — Byron ‘x'N an age when the Professional Beauty is a recognised " item in London Society it is not surprising that Fancy Fair Religion should utilize Beauty when doing her alms. It is seldom, if ever, that Fancy Fair Religion is guilty of originality ; she is quite content to copy with servile imitation the cut of the world’s garments as soon as they are beginning to go somewhat out of fashion. A few years ago the Professional Beauty craze was at its height. If any gentleman of distinguished position thought it right to turn his glances upon a lady with undisguised admiration, and she did not resent such a questionable compliment, the said lady was very shortly well talked over in the smoking-rooms of the London E 65 FANCY FAIR RELIGION Clubs ; her points were discussed with almost more freedom and familiarity than is generally bestowed upon a favourite race-horse ; the Society-paper eaves-droppers would forthwith publish her name in their respective journals, and the poor woman at once became the rage — an historical and Society character. Her husband might be nothing more than a mediocre dealer in stocks and shares, but to the envy of his confreres in Capel Court he would suddenly find himself admitted into the creme de la creme circles of Society, and in a position to make a fortune by the sale of his wife’s photographs, or be in the awkward predicament of having to spend a considerable sum of money in order to prevent an enterprising photographer doing so. This phase of “ good ” Society, however, did not last for very long in its primal blaze of immodest effrontery, and Beauty as a public profession became discredited, though an undisguised if unpublished admiration for it remained, and Fancy Fair Religion, ever alive to the main chance of piling up the Almighty Dollar, thought it was not an opportunity to be disregarded. In accents, therefore, sufficient to allure the world without tearing aside the thin veil of modesty it had rather tardily thought it right to don, Fancy Fair Religion did her very best to obtain the services of professional beauties at her stalls. Gentlemen were proud to pay half-a-guinea for a buttonhole if pinned on by the fair hands of one who had graduated successfully in beauty in the columns of “ Truth,” and at length Beauty became one of the recognised attractions to a Fancy Fair, and as such was advertised in prose and poem in the Bazaar bill of attractions. ITS UTILIZATION OF BEAUTY. 67 As a sample of this trading in Beauty I will quote part of the doggrel rhyme, entitled “ The Ladies’ Appeal,” at a Bazaar held not long ago for — let it be called — Old S. Nicholas Church, in the metropolis of the world, merely remarking that the words italicized are not so emphasized by me : — “ This is our “ Fayre,” come greet us with a smile, “ For see it is with art that we beguile ; “ From North and South, from marts both East and West, “ We’ve cull’d the rarest, choicest, yes ! the best. “ Observe our role, concentrate all that’s nice — “Taste, Beauty, Fashion, Rank — this our device; “ And as 'tis Fashion all most admire, “ Encouragement from you we now desire. “ You cannot say that we have no design , “ For we have striven hard that to combine. “ With wares so rare, so rich in varied tone — “ Surely attractions such were never thrown “ Away on taste ! No, this we know full well, “We have attractions that will help to sell.” “Beauty, Fashion, and Rank” may “concentrate all that’s nice ; ” few, however, will deny that when they are held out as inducements to spend money in conjunction with the art , design , and attractions, of fair women we have a quintessence of worldliness which certainly Beelzebub himself in his sane senses would not quarrel with. If similar baits were offered across the bar of the refreshment stalls of' Messrs. Spiers and Pond, some of these designing and attractive churchworkers would be the first to hold up their hands in pious horror, and yet what may not be done to promote the interests of the Publican may harmlessly be patronized by titled and wealthy ladies and sanctioned by the clergy in order to advance the cause of the religion of Jesus Christ ! I have already alluded elsewhere to the ladies in E 2 68 FANCY FAIR RELIGION connection with the Church of the Holy Trinity in the town of B — selling their smiles for 2/6, and allowing a pressure of the hand for the modest sum of 5/-. They are, alas ! by no means singular in their behaviour among the actors on the Bazaar stage. I could also tell of a Fancy Fair where a Professional Beauty sold “ a cigar and a kiss” for a guinea. For very shame however on behalf of some of my country-women I will forbear. But the per- petration of such shameless deeds in the name of Christian Charity seems irresistibly to carry back one’s thoughts to a scene in the Garden of Gethsemane, apparently forgotten by many, when a professed disciple was rebuked by Christ Himself with the inquiry, “ Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss ? ” One would surely have supposed that to the minds of all professing to be Christian “ to be paddling palms and pinching fingers and making practised smiles” ( Shakespeare ), to be inviting an inspection of pretty faces and selling kisses were practices, which without a doubt savoured strongly of “ the world ” and of “ the flesh,” and were not unlikely to lead a step farther upon the road towards an abode of woe, and for the Clergy to take the profits of such proceedings, knowing whence they spring, to build up a Church or support a Charity, is to my mind very much akin to laying the foundations of Heaven upon the gates of Hell. At any rate such practices should warn upholders of True Religion to what results a departure from methods akin to and taught by that Religion is at length sure to lead. As one excitement dulls another must be invented, and, perhaps, we shall shortly have advertised in England, or her Dependencies, on behalf of some Church or Chapel Building Fund, a display similar to that lately witnessed ITS UTILIZATION OF BEAUTY. 69 at Buda Pesth, where a “ grand charitable fete ” was held, at which the chief attraction was a “ Beauty ” Competition. To judge from the results, and they are all that Fancy Fair Religion considers, it was a grand success. 60,000 florins were raised. The one thing wanting was only modesty and womanly reserve. More than 100,000 visitors paid the entrance fee for the opportunity of staring at the competing Beauties and of discussing their respective charms. Seven gentlemen acted as judges of these “ Beauties ” who so exposed themselves to the public gaze, and to three were awarded prizes. Is Fancy Fair Religion, I would ask, to relegate to heathen lands, where women veil their faces, that shame- fastness and sobriety which S. Paul considered to be a woman’s chief adornment ? It looks very like it when we hear of this demi monde style of propagating the Christian Faith and of doing Christian Charit) . Christian England professes to be shocked at the hysterical shrieks of “the Halleluia Lasses” of the Salvation Army, but to many, I hope, they would seem far less objectionable than the wiles of those who appear to throw modesty to the four winds while working for the support of Christianity. We begin, alas, to understand why in these days blushes have been replaced by paint and rouge. I have heard from some who have had ample oppor- tunities of knowing that one of the many stumbling blocks to the spread of Christianity in Asia, which so-called Christian Europeans put in the way of the Asiatics, is the evening dress of European ladies. These Asiatics are unable to assimilate the notion that any pure-minded FANCY FAIR RELIGION. virtuous woman can appear in public in such want of costume. The height of fashion in this particular at the present period of Western civilization is only less noticeable than it was in England in the days of Charles II., and in France at the time of the Revolution ; that is all that can be said for it in its praise, for it is' still tres decollete ; at any rate it does not commend itself to the professedly heathen mind, although considered quite correct in the capital of Christian England. It would further surprise all Asiatic heathen to know that the Christian Faith and Charity in some of the countries of Europe are in part supported by an appeal from the women to the men to come and gaze upon their charms. The “Girl of the Period” and the “ Professional Beauty ” ’ may like to pose as supporters of the Church of Christ by an unholy traffic in their smiles and kisses and attractions, but it will be none the less a fact that True Religion should only seek and will only gain real support from the Pure Virgins of Love, Faith, Modesty, and Temperance. And although the world will be willing enough to give its money to gaze upon any picture of earthly and animal beauty which Fancy Fair Religion may be able to place behind its stalls, yet that world will never be converted and built up in the most Holy Faith of the One Pure and Undefiled Religion until its eyes are diverted from its unholy self, and in self-abasement raised in earnest adora- tion to that prophetic picture painted by sacred words in a way that no painter on earth can ever pourtray on canvas, “ I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.” 7 1 , CHAPTER VII. Jfirir IMtgicm: fts Utilisation of Jfxm, Jfroliir, attb Jfasljion. “ Mortal ! if life smile on thee, and thou find All to thy mind, Think, who did once from Heaven to Hell descend Thee to befriend : So shalt thou dare forego, at His dear call, Thy best, thine all ! ” — Keble. “^TlURNING to mirth all things of earth,” which Tom Hood declares 44 only boyhood can,” is the line which, to a great extent, Fancy Fair Religion adopts in order to win gold from the pockets of those Christians who cannot be persuaded to give it for the support of that Religion which they profess actuates their lives here, and through which they hope to gain the endless joys of the life to come. Now, without telling such self-deceivers that their love of God is not sufficiently powerful to interfere with a love of self and of the world, Fancy Fair Religion, with the quiet wisdom of those who have an end in view and intend to gain it without staying to inquire how it ought to be arrived at, treats Christians of the Nineteenth Century as more amenable to the allurements of pleasure than to 72 FANCY FAIR RELIGION any demands which might be made upon their self-denial. She brushes aside as foolish punctilios any scruples regarding the methods of obtaining money for religious and charitable purposes. She sinks her conscience as to the means, and is pretty content to look to the end ( vide p. 97). In fact, she says, in almost as many words, “ Money ! Money ! Money ! That is what Religion wants, so get it in the easiest and quickest way you can. Call these people Christians if you like — indeed they will be grievously indignant if you don’t — but don’t expect them to choose the Cross before the World and Pleasure. The World has to be converted it is true, but you cannot do it without its money. So you must be all things to all men, and then perhaps you can influence everybody after- wards. To insist upon self-denial is all very well in theory, but in practice it does not answer. While in the World we must be of it, and win our way by means of Fun, Frolic, and Fashion. They are the potent powers that be, and at their shrine you must worship before you can worship at any other ” (vide p. 139). Bazaar Religion, as a matter of fact, takes its cue from Mr. Worldly Wiseman, who dwelt in the town of Carnal Policy: it was he who told Christian that if he followed the advice of Evangelist his way would be one of “ weari- ness, painfulness, perils, &c.,” and of him Evangelist declared that 4 4 he savoureth only the doctrine of this world (1 John iv. 5), and he loveth that doctrine best for it saveth him best from the Cross (Gal. vi 12).” Let it not be said that I am condemning pleasure and recreation as suck . At present my object is to prove that Fancy Fair Religion employs Fun and Fashion to do the work which used to be accomplished only through the ITS UTILIZATION OF FUN, FROLIC, AND FASHION. 73 grace of Christian Liberality. Unprejudiced readers of this book will find ample evidence of the truth of this position, but the object of this Chapter is to adduce a few more proofs of the fact should such be wanting. Later on I would dwell shortly upon the rectitude of utilizing Fun and Fashion in order to gain gifts to promote the cause of Christ and of Christian Charity. At an old English Market Place, called into being on behalf of a Church in London dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the opening ceremony commenced with the Glee, “ Uprouse ye then, my merry, merry men, it is our opening day.” The same expression of feeling was called forth at a Bazaar in connection with a Church of S. Peter. It was opened by a Bishop, around whom the merry, merry men assembled. At another “ Olde Englyshe Fayre,” for the enlarge- ment of a Church dedicated to S. Paul, the point chiefly noticeable was the fact that all the stallholders adopted for their distinctive characteristic the sign of some Public house in the Market Square. This style of Fair is a very popular one among Christians of the present period, and is in much request from the owner thereof. At another Bazaar, where it was utilized on behalf of a Church Building Fund in order to stimulate the flagging energies of the destined worshippers therein, a moving appeal was appended “ atte ye Signe of ye Tayke Inne ” : — “ Oh ! here is ye funne, With ye rollychynge bunne, And ye gaie Sallie Lunne, And ye tongue and ye ham And ye raspberrie jam ; Then come all who can.” One has heard of a little boy being promised sweeties 74 FANCY FAIR RELIGION for good behaviour in Church, but an appeal to the public at large to partake of “ raspberrie jam ” in order to aid in promoting the glory of the Almighty through the erection of a Church, assumes that Bazaar-going Christians are still in a state of greedy and ill-regulated childhood. It cer- tainly cannot be denied that the majority of Fancy Fair attractions are very poor “funne.” It should be remarked, in justice to the promoters of the Bazaar on behalf of S. Paul’s Church, just mentioned, that there were other attractions of a more sanctified nature than could apparently be sought for under the public-house signs. An organ recital in the Church itself “ wylle delyght ye eare,” but the descent from the grave to the gay was somewhat rapid, inasmuch as the organ recital was — in the form of Mrs. Jarley’s waxworks — suc- ceeded by “ Blue Beard in three scenes,” and “ the Ruffian Disarmed by ,a Smile.” Waxworks, indeed, are a source of merriment at nearly all Bazaars, and vary greatly, but the chief characteristic which attracts the notice of the critic is their utter and repulsive incongruity to the objects for which they do duty. At one Fancy Fair on behalf of a Church dedi- cated to the Holy Saviour, the audience were delighted with “ Little Bo-Peep,” “ Eat em Alive O,” “The Monster Dwarf of Patagonia,” and “The Latest Atrocities.” Tableaux at times also, when utilized on behalf of pious objects, are liable to get somewhat mixed. At an enter- tainment given in connection with a Roman Catholic Church in London “ Two Strings to Her Bow ” made an “excellent” tableau . It was succeeded by a tableau of “The Rock of Ages,” and that, too, was “ wonderfully effective.” ITS UTILIZATION OF FUN, FROLIC, AND FASHION. 75 The “ Religious world ” in Scotland has long been greatly divided upon the rectitude of Bazaars as legiti- mate methods for propagating the Religion of the Cross and Christian Chdrity. No less a leader of religious thought than the much respected A. K. H. B. declared at a Bazaar held in Dundee in May, 1888 , on behalf of S. Margaret’s Church, that “ nothing but good could follow a Bazaar,” and that “ he had never been able to see the slightest harm in raffles.” Dr. A. K. H. Boyd qualified this assertion by continuing (to quote the newspaper report): — “He did not mean to say that on every occasion raffles were conducted in a way to be entirely approved of. He had been lately informed of an instance in which the system followed appeared to him not fully justified . The subject raffled was a young pig (laughter.) First of all , tickets were sold amounting to £80 — (laughter ) — and he asked would any person lay his hand on his heart that any pig was worth £80? (laughter.) But there- was something more behind that raffle , for he omitted to say that there was no pig at all (laughter and applause.) Everybody lost and nobody won , as the £80 was got for a pig which did not exist (applause.) ” The Rev. Dr. and his audience evidently thought there was a funny side to this instance of unmistakable fraud and chicanery, done also, apparently, in order to promote the Glory of God. If raffling only sometimes leads to such deeds as the swinish one related, can raffling in any form be innocent ? Innocence and rectitude of conduct never lead to evil in any form, and if raffling should do so even once, where can the line be drawn between innocent raffling and guilty raffling ? Many of my readers will prefer “the graver thoughts of a country Parson” to his bazaar and more funny utter- 76 FANCY FAIR RELIGION ances, and from those “ graver thoughts ” I will venture to quote only a few sentences out of a chapter on “ The Inconsistent Worship.” In that chapter, A. K. H. B. remarks, “If you , like the Samaritans , try to combine the Worship of God with the Service of Mammon , or Pleasure , or A mbition , you will soon find .... that your Worship of God is a very chilly and heartless thing when compared with your service of your idol." “It is a fact about which there can be no doubt that if a man tries to worship God and Mammon together , Mammon will always have the pre-eminence and the chief share of service .” That raffling and Bazaars had nothing to do with Mammon and Pleasure none could say with any truth, and would A. K. H. B. declare that an effort to build a Church had nothing to do with the Worship of God? It is because there is so much of the Worship of Mammon in the efforts made through Fancy Fairs to promote God’s glory that many Christians in Scotland and elsewhere still decline to adopt such sensational methods. The public papers, however, as a rule, take the more popular view, and in quoting from “The Scotsman” the evidence given of the existence oh Fun and Frolic is that of an adverse witness, and therefore the more unprejudiced An Article in that leading paper after admitting in jocular tones, “that the theatre and the music-hall have been mimicked almost in the sanctuary , and raffles and lotteries have been exalted into the place of freewill offerings ,” continues — “no wonder that they (certain ministers) should call upon the Synod to arm itself with the whip of small cords and sweep from out the holy places the vendors and buyers of fancy articles , the brass bands and negro minstrels , the promoters of lotteries , the rafters of fat pigs , and all the mixed multitude of ITS UTILIZATION OF FUN, FROLIC, AND FASHION. 77 irifiers , gossipers , flirtevs , gamblers ,” (S^., <§-•£. It then proceeds in a serio-comic strain : — “ In truth it is not easy to see how the Churches are to go on , and congregations to keep together if bazaars are to be put down. If an organ is wanted , or a spire , a new Sunday School building , or an extra street Missionary , bibles for the Zulus or a new phaeton for a Zenana teacher , money can always be promptly raised by a Bazaar. One of the great beauties of this modern device is, that the object for which money is wanted becomes a secondary consideration , where it is a consideration at all. Dr. Guillotine had the honour of inventing a machine which made beheading almost a pleasure, so sweetly and easily did it perform the operation. Some people find it almost as painless to part with their money as with their heads, and the bazaar, regarded as an invention for making money-giving for religious and benevolent purposes a delightful dissipation, is even a happier expedient than the guillotine. People give almost without knowing it, and without asking the reason why, and not only do regular church-goers and members of the congregation give freely, but the bazaar is yet more to be admired as a device for spoiling the outside Egyptians . Young men and even old men, who care little for the Schemes of the Church, are not blind to the attractions of the daughters of Zion. How many are seduced into pious purchases by the smiles of the fair vendors behind the stalls. And while the Egyptians are thus pleasantly and piously spoiled of their shillings and sovereigns, even grave Israelites confess to the pleasure of “ giving by purchasing ” at bazaars. Surely the bazaar is a great improvement on the painful primitive methods of contributing to the Church. Time was when women divested themselves of their ear-rings and other ornaments, and the men of articles no less dear to them and brought them in heaps to the gate of the sanctuary. Now-a-days piety is better off, and instead of stripping itself of its pleasant things to help the Church, it presents its gift with one hand and receives 78 FANCY FAIR RELIGION articles of taste and fancy with the other. The work of building up the Church and adorning the person and the drawing-room proceeds harmoniously. Nor must it be forgotten that , while idle feminine hands are employed in pious industry , and the superfluous half-sovereigns of godly and godless alike are diverted from doubtful paths to sacred purposes , the Bazaar affords delicious recreation to many people who are excluded from ordinary worldly frivolities , providing a light and harmless dissipation , which is to that of balls and the theatres what zoedone is to champagne. Neither is it without use as an incentive to matrimony ,” etc., etc., etc. Such are the comments in a leading paper upon the way in which Christians of the present day witness for, and contribute towards the spread of the Faith by which they live. What a different description would have been given of the sufferings of Christians on behalf of their religion in the days of ancient Rome had papers then been published ! Or to approach yet nearer to these enlightened times, how differently did those old Scotch Puritans of the John Knox and Reformation periods contend for and support “ the Faith once delivered to the Saints.” And so long as “ the Churches” behave in the way mentioned above, and give a cynical Press such opportunities of making fun at their proceedings when relating the Fun which is dedicated to the service of the Almighty, it certainly “ is not easy to see how these Churches are to go on ” without the aid gained through the Fancy Fair. But when the said Churches show as much faith in the inherent power of True Religion which they profess to teach, as they show in the World which they hold a commission to convert, then, but not before, will the Christian Religion prove to be a reality, instead of being, as alas ! it is in many quarters, a sham and ITS UTILIZATION OF FUN, FROLIC, AND FASHION. 79 an unreality, teaching itideed in words, principles which in practice it openly derides as effete, powerless, and absurd. Before closing these remarks upon the Fun and Frolic of Fancy Fair Religion, when engaged either in promoting Glory of God, or in the relief of suffering humanity, I must not forget to mention that the fun is some- times of a somewhat embarrassing nature to those who try to promote it, that is to say, when the tables are turned upon themselves. The following incident which occurred at a Bazaar that shall be nameless will illus- trate this fact. A “ simple ” young man (vide p. 106) was being served by a fascinating waitress (vide p. 35) with a cup of tea the price of which he had been given to understand was sixpence. Before placing the said cup of tea upon the table the fair creature raised it to her own lips and sipped the contents. The “ simple ” young man was too polite to do more than stare at what appeared to be the rather greedy behaviour of the amateur waitress, but he gave his 44 thoughts no tongue,” and meekly tendered his six- penny bit. 4 ‘ The cup of tea was sixpence before 1 sipped it ; it is now half-a-guinea,” chirruped this maiden worker in a holy cause. “ Simple ” manhood rose to the occasion, and with an “ Oh ! ah ! hum ! thank you ! yes ! (ejaculations irrepres- sible under the circumstances) paid the 10s. 6d., and quietly responded, 4 4 And now will you kindly bring me a clean cup ? ” Anger, perhaps, more than modesty suffused a blush upon the cheek of this retiring specimen of womanhood, but the fun to the beholders of the incident was unim- paired ; the cause of Religion was enriched by ten shillings, 8o FANCY FAIR RELIGION •• and perhaps some may think that modesty and morality were not the losers. It certainly is impossible to put any money price upon these commodities. This young lady, in her early days, was probably trained in a school to which many little girls are now, alas ! consigned in order that they may become proficients in the collection of Christian Charity by one of the most approved and fashionable methods. A notable instance of this method was reported in the “ Times” news- paper in the month of May, 1888. A Bazaar for a great London Hospital was opened by the Lady Mayoress, who was accompanied by the Lord Mayor, and to this gentleman “ a pretty little child at one stall sold a kiss for a sovereign.” It is not indeed the privilege of every pretty citizen to kiss the Lord Mayor, but that her kisses are not to be gotten with gold is one of the primary lessons which many persons still think every little girl should learn, and it ill becomes Christian Charity when for her own benefit she ruthlessly tears aside the modest veil naturally inherent in a little child. That the innocence of childhood should salute with a kiss the benevolence of old age, is as natural as it is delightful ; but that a little girl should be taught to sell her kisses is — inexpressible. It is, however, in accordance with the spirit of the Age, which is teaching children to support the Christain Faith by every worldly method, to the exclusion of every method marked with the sign of sacrifice. To quote from a sporting paper, “ Nursery Rhyme entertainments seem to be gaining in popularity . They are a species of baby opera , in which the children do all the acting and all the singing . At C — they have been most successful . The Assembly Rooms were crowded to overflowing . The entertainment ITS UTILIZATION OF FUN, FROLIC, AND FASHION. 8l was, with some appropriateness of conception , for the benefit of the infants' creche in connnection with S. John's Church .” It is a curious but significant fact which shows that either the Church has leavened the World or the World the Church, that while to “ Religious Papers ” one still turns for reports of sermons and public meetings, yet that if one wishes to learn something of the good deeds which are supposed to be the outcome of a right faith, it is necessary to consult the columns of “ The Sporting and Dramatic News,” the “ Ladies’ Pictorial,” “ The Queen,” and other fashionable publications. The reason is not far to seek, for the Cross, unless bejewelled and rendered capable of use as an article of personal adornment, is unfashionable; its weight is too heavy for the airy Christian of modern times, and Fashion has now become the most potent handmaid to the Church. An appeal on behalf of a Church or Hospital, unless it be patronized by the Titled and the Rich, is almost sure to prove a disastrous failure; the World must give the cause respectability through the medium of a string of titles. That those endowed by God with the talents of rank and wealth should take the lead in all good works is only as it should be. But this system of Fashionable Patronage of work designed to promote God’s glory, if the plain truth must be told, is but a poor imitation of the manoeuvres of those who desire to make a County Ball successful, or to float a bubble company. Christian Charity, like humility, has an inborn tendency to hide its head, but now-a-days a loud, and as many would think a somewhat vulgar trumpet has to be blown when, by means of a Bazaar, we are going to build a Church or support a Charity, and a long list of titled F 82 FANCY FAIR RELIGION ladies is supposed to give a tone and fashionable flavour to the undertaking which would fall very flat were “the faithful” asked to support it only for the love of Christ. To give but one instance ; — In the month of July, 1888, the Committee of a Children’s Hospital in London propose to hold a grand Fete and Festival. A list of the names of more than two hundred of the titled Aristocracy has been published as Patrons of this great effort on behalf of Christian philanthropy, and this imposing array has been widely circulated among the Mediocracy, with an intima- tion that “the Committee will feel grateful if you will permit them to add your name to the list of Stewards. The only liability that will be thus incurred is a subscription of One Guinea to the Special Fund now being raised, which subscription will entitle you to a card of admission to the Fete each day. | The Committee expect that a very large number of persons will gorge this transparently artificial fly. The Fun and Frolic- promised at this same “Silver Fete” are of the usual character A scene of revels,” “May-pole dances,” “ Merry-go-rounds,” “ A Grand Costume Bazaar, &c. Although somewhat sceptical as to the power which True Religion exercises over the World of Guineas, yet I cannot but believe that a venture of faith in their fellow Christians as more amenable to the persuasive eloquence of “I was sick and ye visited me,” than to the somewhat vulgar desire of enrolling their names with two hundred titled personages would have brought to this Committee a large amount of material support. Allusion is made elsewhere (page 143) to an expression of sympathy through saltation, which is now very much in Fashion in London. It is a melancholy thought that ITS UTILIZATION OF FUN, FROLIC, AND FASHION. 83 although everybody professes to be Christian, yet, that England finds an increasing difficulty in maintaining her hospital system. Lord Randolph Churchill has lately, when referring to the meagre support which “Modern Society” doles out to Hospitals, asserted “that whereas the percentage of income derived from subscriptions upon expenditure in 1877 was something like 16*1, it has positively fallen in ten years to a percentage amounting to something like 14-4: it shows that there is a distinct falling off of the efforts of the rich in support of these great institutions .” ' Christians of the present day, when utilizing Fun, P'rolic, and Fashion on behalf of relief of suffering, seem to have forgotten in their reckless, selfish galop after pleasure, the true meaning of the, word “sympathy” — a stiffening or feeling together with. Perhaps none but those whose own flesh has quivered in mortal agony under the knife of the operator, or who have, with averted face and bursting heart, held the hand of some beloved relative when passing through the same terrible ordeal, can fully sympathize with that sad mass of human woe and suffering which is represented by the four walls of a great London Hospital; and yet “to weep with those that weep ” seems to be the irresistible conclusion of every human heart when really touched with a sense of another’s suffering, and hence to support a hospital by an appeal to a love of pleasure, rather than to the nobler Christian instincts of sympathy and self-denial, may be the outcome of a civilized but intensely selfish heathenism, but it is not the result of Christian principle. Money may, indeed, for a time be forthcoming, but it is at the expense of that which, after all that can be said, is of more paramount importance to retain if we wish the hospital system to become permanent, F 2 8 4 FANCY FAIR RELIGION for so soon as Christian sympathy is choked by a selfish craving after - .pleasure, so soon also will the necessary support be lacking. If Hospitals are one of the practical results of Christianity, then surely their continuance and prosperity will depend in the long run upon the depth and intensity of that which originally gave them being ; but so soon as their support is sought through pleasure, so long only will they last as new pleasures can be found to attract the pleasure-seeker, who is a most blase and exacting individual for whom to cater. To support Christian institutions by .other than Christian methods is akin to the action of the trader, whose ruin is eventually certain when he deserts the paths of legitimate trading for more risky and practically gambling methods. That Fun, Frolic, and Fashion can really promote the cause of True Religion and of Christian Charity, I deny; they, like every other system, have their own peculiar methods, and efforts to promote the Kingdom of Christ though the world’s methods will but give the World a victory. Very many of the amusements which go on at Bazaars are as harmless as they are puerile, but no one would assert that they are means by which Christ and His Apostles would have done their work, and why should His disciples of the present day adopt them when they can still, if they choose, follow Christ’s example? All the trappings supplied by the various Bazaar- mongers may, in themselves, be most innocent and artistic, and to many joyous and child-like minds they are also most delightful playthings ; but the question rather to be considered is, Does work for Christ begin before or after money has been gathered to promote the interests of His Kingdom ? If after, then so long as the machinery by ITS UTILIZATION OF FUN, FROLIC, AND FASHION. 85 which it is acquired is honest and of good report, well and good. But if almsgiving be a Christian grace, must it not be exercised in the way of the Cross ? Is Christ or is the World to be our pattern ? Is a love of Christ or a love of the World’s playthings to be the power put forth to stimu- late Christian Liberality ? To tell Fancy Fair Religionists that work for God’s Church without self-denial is Christianity without Christ, and His Religion without His Cross, gives offence ; but to say that money is nothing, and the mode of its collection and the spirit in which it is offered are everything, is the only logical deduction from Christ’s condemnation of Pharisaical almsgiving. That the proceeds of a Fancy Fair, a Cafe Chantant, or of a Parochial dance are but vain oblations, would surely be the thought of all but those who are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, and to justify such methods by a declaration that “ the Earth is the Lord's , and the fulness thereof," or that we are con- secrating our pleasures to the Almighty, is a very comfort- able way of making the best of both worlds : as a matter of fact, it is but the use of counterfeit coin for the want of any true metal combined with an invincible determination not to see that it is counterfeit : it is the declaration of man that he will glorify God only so long as he can do so by his own rather than his Saviour’s methods. Just as to many “the intoxication of Babylon is sweeter than the peace of Zion,” so also the Fashion of this World and its ways of promoting Christianity are more delightful and easy than the path of self-denial. Hence, many Christians will only work by the world’s methods, and to such it might be said in the words of Archbishop Fenelon, “ You like to behold and even touch the Cross , but alas ! when the com - 86 “FANCY FAIR RELIGION. marid comes to you to bear it /” But because this is so, is the Church of Christ to say by the manner in which She countenances the world’s practices on her behalf, “ In this particular department of life the Cross may be cast aside”? I think not. Christianity and Christian philan- thropy supported upon the principle which gave them being are founded upon the firmest rock ; but as soon as members of the Christian Church cease to sacrifice them- selves for the promotion of God’s Glory, or for the good of their fellow-men, elements of disintegration will spring up as the result of selfishness, which will inevitably tend to dissolve the bond which bind together the members of that Church, nay, more, of human society itself. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness hardly teaches us to promote that kingdom through the medium of pleasure, for pleasure will of necessity be the first thought : put a cross and a pleasure together and all will naturally choose the pleasure. The “ new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelieth righteousness ” will be the result of sacrifice and not of pleasure, and therefore everything, such as the erection of Churches, &c., which tends to the realization of that blessed consummation, must be promoted through sacrifice and not through pleasure : and just as the individual Christian will avoid any pleasure of the rectitude of which he is in doubt, so too any system such as Bazaar Religion which has a tendency to corrupt a Christian grace, is not one which the Church of Christ can consistently recognise and employ. If the Religion of unselfishness can exist .and thrive on selfishness, then, but not otherwise, should the Church of Christ cater through pleasure for support. 87 , CHAPTER VIII. Jaiuir Jfair §leItgtoit: Jts Cmir. “ Unfaith in aught is want of faith in all.” — Vivien’s Song. 't'T would be unwise for Fancy Fair Religion to commit itself definitely to any rigid statement of Faith or formal Creed, because it might one day be confronted with that Creed, when its adherents had long since advanced beyond the lines originally laid down. The fact of the matter is, Fancy Fair Religion is built upon a very shifting sand foundation, and is as unstable as the sea itself. It is upon a widening and downward grade, and methods which, when it first began its mission, would have been by it condemned as utterly out of the question and disreputable, are now recognised as almost essential to its vitality. The little playful eccentricities in which it at first indulged are now considered too trivial, slow, and commonplace to be of any service. It would also be impolitic for Fancy Fair Religion to state in set terms any Creed which might conflict with words still nominally recognised as binding upom the Faith, if not upon the practice, of the Christian. Hence, 88 FANCY FAIR RELIGION Fancy Fair Religion would undoubtedly decline to formu- late a direct and positive declaration of Faith. A deep and attentive study, however, of the literature and practice of this Religion has enabled me to put into some shape for its adherents a considerable body of Articles of Belief. I would ask my readers to study carefully what I have been able to compile, and I venture to say, without fear of contradiction, that proofs for each Article can easily be deduced from statements made in these pages, all of which can easily be verified. My object in this Chapter is to place in bold relief the conclusions to which the practices of Fancy Fair Religion inevitably lead. The first two Articles are the most important. Indeed, when taken with the negations of Fancy Fair Religion, we can at once discover they are the foundations of its Faith. If they can be proved to be erroneous, the whole super- structure falls to the ground, for the remaining Articles are but corollaries to the two first and leading ones. Here, then, is the Creed of Fancy Fair Religion : Article No. i. — I believe in the Almighty Dollar: Without it nothing can be done that should be done, nor apart from its constant help can the God of the Christian be glorified. 2. — I believe that the end justifies the means. 3. — I believe that the weapons of my warfare may be carnal, and will be mighty through The World to the pulling down of strongholds. 4. — I believe it to be quite right to say what is untrue, provided that by so doing a Bazaar can be made more attractive, 5. — I believe that the Spirit of the Decalogue may be disregarded so long as its letter is, to the outward eye, observed. 6. — I believe that the Eighth Commandment in particular may be infringed so long as it be done .in joke, provided also that the cause aided thereby be good, suggested by the Clergy, and under the patron- age of the Nobility, with the local Magistracy and their wives. 7. — I believe that the law of the land in like manner may be set at ITS CREED. 89 nought, provided there is but small chance of its enforcement against those who are thereby gathering money for a good cause. 8. — I believe that a raffle to promote the interests of a Publican’s pocket is much to be condemned, but on the other hand a raffle to promote the cause of the Religion of Jesus Christ is harmless and may be productive of much good. 9. — I believe all forms of gambling to be morally evil if practised for the gambler’s own benefit, but if thereby the Church of Jesus Christ can be a gainer, then such practices are harmless and allowable. 10. — I believe a poor gipsy who tries to earn a dishonest penny and support his wife and children by fortune-telling should be committed to prison, according to law, as “ a rogue and a vagabond,” but I believe that a lady who kindly devotes her eneriges to a gipsy tent and practises palmistry therein is a benevolent being worthy of all praise, provided her efforts gain money to build a Church. 11. — I believe that a tradesman who puts a fictitious value on his goods is a swindler and dishonest, but that for the promulgation of the Gospel it is quite lawful and laudable to get as much money as possible for a fancy article regardless of its real value. 12. — I believe that although the fashion of this world passeth away, it should nevertheless during its transit be utilized to acquire funds for Church purposes. 13. — While, of course, I do not approve of anything the world would call immoral, yet I believe in utilizing the lust of the flesh to obtain the funds necessary for the Church, for where Beauty reigns men can be prevailed upon to part with even money to promote sacred and benevolent objects. 14. — For the same reason I believe in the utilization of the lust of the eye, inasmuch as where all is pleasing to the senses money is without great difficulty obtainable. 15. — I believe also in making every use of the pride of life, inasmuch as many will be attracted by a love of show, and dress, and pleasure, and Good Society, who would never part with their money under more prosaic inducements. 16. — I believe that the exigences of the Church at the present time are such that while it may be a harmless unreality to place all Christian people under a vow to renounce the pomps and vanities of this wicked go FANCY FAIR RELIGION world, yet inasmuch as the World and Religion have now to a great extent become partners, it is quite allowable to treat them as twin sisters, and use the World’s methods to promote the Church’s need. 1 7. — I believe that Fancy Fair Religionists may be a law unto themselves whilst gathering money for the purposes of the Christian Faith, and that neither Bible, Catechism, Baptismal Vows, nor the Law of the Land should presume to regulate their modes of action. I further; believe that all opinions to the contrary are puritanical and narrow- minded, and out of harmony with the liberality of Nineteenth Century Christianity. I am, however, quite prepared to allow that those “in trade” who show any disregard to the aforenamed sanctions are irreligious, immoral, and lawless people. 18. — I believe that in several particulars the Sermon on the Mount is altogether out of date, and was not intended to guide Nineteenth Century Christianity. 19. — I believe the teaching in that Sermon in reference to secret almsgiving has become stale, flat, and particularly unprofitable, and the example of the enterprising proprietors of Pears’ Soap or of Holloway’s Pills to be much the more excellent way. 20. — I believe the Rich and the Noble are not so much the possessors of extra talents for which they will hereafter have to give a strict account, as that they are for certain, to us inscrutable reasons, Particular Pets of Providence, and as such should be so regarded by the Clergy and the Commonalty. 21. — I believe the' Clergy may rightly flatter the “ higher classes” t / into doing good deeds, and by the same practice extract their money to promote God’s glory, even although their kind liberality amount to a mere fraction of what they annually spend upon their own luxuries and pleasures. 22. — I believe it to be a most laudable custom for these Particular j Pets of Providence to patronize with condescending kindness the work of the Church or any scheme whereby the Glory of their Maker is to be promoted. 23. — I believe that while in S. Paul’s day not many wise, not many mighty, and not many noble where called, yet that in the closing days of this dispensation it will be found that the rich and the titled are they to whom the Clergy should pay most respect and rebuke the least. ITS CREED. 91 24. — I believe it is perfectly right for Christians to run into debt in order to glorify God. Such, then, may be considered some of the chief Articles of the Fancy Fair Faith. The Creed is somewhat long, but Fancy Fair Religion, like great modern statesmen, finds a cloud of words necessary and convenient at times when a justification of principles is at stake. Such, however, is only the positive side of its Creed. Fancy Fair Religion deals largely in negations; indeed, its unbelief in the motive power and sanctions of the Christian Faith is its very raison d'etre. Here, then, are some of its negations:-— 1. — I do not believe that the constraining power of the love of Christ has or can have sufficient force to produce that practical and monetary outcome which the needs of the Church of the present day are thought to require. 2. — I do not believe that sufficient self-denial can be established or drawn out to satisfy the financial wants of the Church in her efforts to Glorify God. 3. — I do not really believe in the power of prayer, except, of course, in theory; in practice it proves to be a failure, because there is not forthcoming that amount of material support which by many of the adherents of the Church is thought necessary. 4. — I do not believe that God’s Church will prosper financially if only methods founded on Bible principles are adopted to gain for it the money it requires. 5. — I do not believe in secret Almsgiving. Christian work would never be supported if it did not advertise and puff itself at all the railway stations in the kingdom and at every other conceivable street corner. 6. — I do not believe that the Ministers of Christ in the present day should follow the example of the Apostolic Band and confine themselves as much as possible to their spiritual functions, leaving the serving of tables to the Laity. 7. — When S. Paul said, “owe no man anything,” I do not believe he meant what he said to apply to Christians collectively, but only to individuals in particular. 92 FANCY FAIR RELIGION. 8. — I do not believe it to be wrong either in principle or in practice to serve God by serving Mammon. " g . — When the Founder of Christianity declared “My Kingdom is not of this world,” I do not think He meant to decline the world’s aid to promote that Kingdom. io. — I do not believe it to be wrong to hold a candle to the Devil, if by so doing his eventual extinction can apparently bo secured. I have thus endeavoured to throw into the form of a Creed, with its Positive and Negative sides, the principles which actuate Fancy Fair Religion, that is to say, to judge from its practices; “by their fruits ye shall know them” is the only test I have applied, and surely it is the right one. I trust my readers will not for one moment suppose I accuse all, or the vast majority of those who support Bazaars and Fancy Fairs, of professing the Creed of Fancy Fair Religion as stated above, but I do appeal to those who read these pages to consider seriously and without prejudice whether that Creed is not the inevitable and logical outcome of the principles which I hope to have clearly shown are at the root of this Religion, if we may judge that system by its practices. Some of the Articles of this Creed thus compiled may appear to contain very startling statements, but I defy Fancy Fair upholders to disprove one jot or one tittle of them. And by thus placing in bold relief the principles upon which their practices must be founded, it may be, God willing, that some, who have thoughtlessly worshipped at the shrine of the Fancy Fair, will be led to turn from such childish vanities and irreligious methods to a true and self-denying and earnest worship of the Living God. 93 CHAPTER IX. Jfancu hines upon his degraded life. He is impervious to the gracious and softening influences, which by a kind K2 148 FANCY FAIR RELIGION AND TRUE RELIGION Providence have been granted to enable him to amend his ways and to arise to a new and a better life, and at length he grows weary of his fresh plaything and the brute part of his nature begins to show itself. Language to which she has hitherto been an utter stranger frightens his young wife. Disreputable stories are suggested to the thoughts of her whose previous life has been pure as the untrodden snow. An ebullition of ungoverned rage terrifies the poor girl. She often has to spend her days and nights alone. Her caresses and artless ways to win back the wanderer are repulsed with undisguised ill-humour, and, perhaps, before long she sees him, whom she had > v promised 4 * to honour and obey,” carried up to her chamber a drunken and helpless log, and then at length, during the long and wakeful watches of the succeeding night, she realizes the awful truth that she is wedded for life till death to a clown of swinish tastes and brutal tendencies, with whom she has not a thought nor feeling in common. In the stillness of that sad night, disturbed only by her own stifled sobs and by the heavy breathings of her wretched husband, the buoyant joy of an unsullied and trustful nature dies, and in the morning she rises with a load upon her heart, the weight of which she hardly knows how to bear. Such is a sad, but, I fear, by no means an uncommon experience. But now I would ask my readers to consider what must be the inevitable future of this crushed and saddened life ? One of three results is sure to happen : If the woman has no physical stamina, and her powers of endurance are small, she will become broken-hearted and waste away^ falling into an early grave, the victim of a mother’s worldliness and of a husband’s brutality. If she has no SOME STRIKING CONTRASTS. I 4 9 moral stamina she will inevitably sink — slowly, it may be, but surely — down, down, down towards the low level of him with whose life her own is so inextricably linked ; she will become at length bereft of her true and refined nature, and deteriorate into a hardened, coarse, and worldly creature. But if she be the true woman, ruled by the Grace of God, and answering to the nobility of a regenerated nature, she will rise above the circumstances of her saddened life, and instead of being crushed or degraded by them, she will bravely face and battle with the depressing thought of all the misery with which, in the future, her life is to be interleaved. She will determine never to be influenced in the slightest degree by her degrading associations, but, if possible, try to raise out of the immoral mire in which he wallows the being whom, she remembers with a shudder, she has promised to love “ till death us do part.” And the vow she then makes, that this shall be her life’s work, she faithfully keeps, but, while doing so, is constantly on the watch to preserve herself unsullied and “ unspotted ” by the low tone and poisoned atmosphere and debasing companionship which surround her life. My parable has been long ; it must be treated as other parables should be treated, and not strained in all directions. The burden of it is this : True Religion did not succumb to the first over-powering brutality which assailed it in its early years : hence it will either inevitably sink to the low level of the world, its companion “ until the day dawn,” or it will struggle hard, and in a great measure successfully, to raise that world to sit with her in heavenly places. True Religion, however, will never adopt the World’s methods of action, nor its modes of thought, nor 150 FANCY FAIR RELIGION AND TRUE RELIGION accommodate itself to an easy and selfish way of doing the work of the Church, and that because it fears almost certain contamination. Just as in the ruin of a moral nature, the deterioration is often very slow and almost imperceptible, but yet certain unless strictly watched against, so, too, True Religion, unless perpetually on its guard, will surely adopt maxims and standards of action and of duty which are not drawn from the treasury of the Cross, but from the World in which it energizes, and which will eventually bring it down to its own debased standard. The form and phraseology of Religion may still indeed be retained long after, in practice, the Church has denied or dispensed with its crucifying power. Self-denial has hitherto been considered the best test of religious earnestness, and by its instrumentality all the noblest work has hitherto been accomplished; but Fancy Fair Religion apparently, in these days, is considered most conducive to appreciable results, and it rests with that system to proclaim that in the future the material needs of the Church can be best promoted through a blare of trumpets, commercial puffery, sensuous delights, and cheap- Jack mendacity. So long as the treasury of God can most easily be recruited through gambling dodges and by Fancy Fair machinery, it is considered by many as useless to appeal to higher motives, and hence that these more than questionable methods are justifiable ; but the results could easily be foreseen, unless the eyes which should see are shut and the role of “ the blind guide ” is tacitly adopted. There can be no doubt whatever that the spiritual fibre of the Christian will become terribly effeminate and relaxed ; it will be forgotten that a “living SOME STRIKING CONTRASTS. 151 sacrifice ” is the only censer capable of raising acceptable incense around the throne of God, and that all Fancy Fair Frivolities must necessarily prove but “vain oblations.” Just as faint praise has stolen away many a noble reputa- tion, so, too, Fancy Fair Religion will eventually in the near future, if it has not already done so, dam up the channels of liberality, and emasculate the motive power of all true Christian Charity. If aid to build up the material fabric of the Church of Christ can only be obtained from men who should have put away childish things through the coaxing influences of, as it were, a baby’s rattle and the insinuating blandishments of fair women, then may we not at once write “Ichabod” upon its spiritual Fabric, for the Religion of Self-denial will have departed from our midst? The constraining love of Christ is practically declared to be barren of results, for these results can only be procured through the constraining love of pleasure, of dress, and of excitement. Of this we may certainly be sure, that when Religion puts on the world’s dress and apes the manners of the pantomime, Christ Jesus cannot really be the gainer although His Church may have acquired large accessions of £ s. d. No candid and unprejudiced observer of the methods of Fancy Fair Religion can fail to see that its whole tone is drawn from that of a town thus described by John Runyan: — “ The name of that town is Vanity; and at the town there is a fair kept, called Vanity Fair . It beareth the name of Vanity Fair , because the town where it is kept is lighter than vanity , and also because all that is there sold , or that cometh thither , is vanity And when we bear in mind the raffling, the wheels of fortune, the Punch and Jud}' Shows, the Operettas, the 152 FANCY FAIR RELIGION AND TRUE RELIGION. performing donkeys, &c., &c., so constantly in vogue at Fancy Fairs, we find in Fancy Fair Religion a further exact parallel to “ Vanity Fair”: “ And moreover , at this fair there is at all times to he seen juggling , cheats , games , plays , fools , apes , <&=£., d^c., dwrf that of every kind." Apart from the fact that the underlying principle of Fancy Fair Religion is antagonistic to true Charity which is an exercise of liberality without looking for any equiva- lent, how few exhibitions of this Nineteenth Century caricature of Charity could expect to be “adorned and beautified” with the presence of the Saviour Jesus Christ. True Charity in its exhibition and in the collection thereof cannot fail to be in keeping with True Religion, and of that at any rate all believers in Inspiration know this — “ Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this , to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction , and to keep himself unspotted from the world." What “the World” is it may not be easy to define with any minute precision, because to each soul “the World” is to some extent a relative matter. This, however, we do know of the World and of True Religion that while the former is constantly in the pursuit of pleasure, the latter is only seen in self- renunciation. It draws its followers along the Way of the Cross, the Narrow Way, whereas the path of Fancy Fair Religion is the broad road, the path only of pleasure and amusement. I am not condemning pleasure as such, nor as a means of recreation, but only insisting that workers for Christ are called upon to give up the World’s pleasures rather than attempt their sanctification when following after Him. “// any man will come after me let him deny himself \ and take up his cross , and follow me." True Religion teaches man to love God and to give up SOME STRIKING CONTRASTS. 1 53 the World. Fancy Fair Religion not only tempts man to love the World, but takes it for granted that he may do so, and, what is more, trades upon that love. It also assumes that he does not love God, for were he so to do, he would need no coaxing to promote God’s glory. The distinguishing mark of all True Religion, and hence of all true Charity, must be self-denial. Well, therefore, may Charity exclaim when its corruption is attempted by Fancy Fair Religion, “ Let me keep my passion purely, “ Guard its waters free from blame ; “ Hallow Love as knowing surely “ It returneth whence it came : *• From all channels, good or evil, “ Love to its pure source enticed, “ Finds its own immortal level “ In the Charity of Christ.” 154 FANCY FAIR RELIGION CHAPTER XII. dfamr Jfair Religion — Conclusion. “ So you think you love me, do you ? Well, it may be so ; But there are many ways of loving I have learnt to know. Many ways, and but one true way, Which is very rare ; And the counterfeits look brightest, Though they will not wear.” — A. Proctor. 't'N the foregoing pages allusion has been made to the widespread existence of Fancy Fair Religion, to its methods and its morality, and to the dire results which will inevitably recoil upon the Church from her adoption, for practical purposes, of the Creed of that monstrosity. But now, in conclusion, I would make a few remarks upon the cardinal Article of that Creed, which Article implies the dependence of True Religion for its success upon money. This doctrine may be considered a morbid growth out of the times in which we live, a heresy which owes its birth to the Nineteenth Century. It will be my endeavour to show how entirely antagonistic this doctrine is to the teaching and practice of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, and then allude to one or two fatal errors which are its immediate fruits. CONCLUSION. 155 It is a fact but seldom dwelt upon, and yet one surely deserving of all notice, that Christ Jesus never did any- thing by means of money : indeed, whoever desired to be enrolled as a follower of the Great Teacher was told to abandon his wealth as a first step towards so doing ; and yet that wealth was not desired in order that it might be thrown into any Church Fund, but it was to be given to the Poor quite as much in order to relieve the possessor of the incubus as for the sake of benefiting its recipients. As in the days of Solomon it was remarked of silver when compared with gold, so, too, it may be said of money in those early ages of the Church, “ it was nothing accounted of in the days of” Christ. The possession of money the Saviour considered a hindrance to the spiritual life of the individual believer, and the idea that it could promote the spread and interests of His Kingdom upon Earth never seemed to be one He entertained. How different is the estimate of the power of money in these days ! Many a Christian, when first prompted to do good, thinks “it is impossible because I have no money”; and the Church at large, at any rate when misrepresented by the feverish energy of Fancy Fair Religion, appears to think the same. Its notion seems to be that money, so far from being a “root of all evil,” is the only source of all or any good ; and thus the Church in these days is but echoing the sentiments of the World around her, notwith- standing the fact that it is her mission to convert that World from the worship of the golden calf. She is, alas ! playing the part of Aaron in this matter, instead of, after the example of Moses, pulverizing to dust that false and treacherous idol. Nearly three thousand years ago the wise man Solomon 156 FANCY FAIR RELIGION remarked, “He that maketh haste to he rich shall not he innocent"; and can any of my readers who have patiently perused the previous pages of this little book say that the Church, in the misguided efforts of her individual members to gain money for her supposed needs, can plead innocence in this matter ? Mr. Herbert Spencer, when dwelling upon the fearful immorality noticeable in all departments of trade, makes, amongst others, the following remarks : — “ The great inciter of these trading malpractices is intense desire for wealth. And if we ask, Why this intense desire ? the reply is, It results from the indiscriminate respect paid to wealth.” The power of Mammon is the all-prevalent notion in the World around us: “ a man who has money may do anything,” is now a most common remark ; and is not the same spirit eating as a cancerous growth into the very vitals of the Church of Christ ? The power of Faith in God’s promises enabled its possessors in Apostolic and pre- Apostolic times to subdue kingdoms ; by it they wrought righteousness, and out of weakness were made strong. But in these days it is not Faith and holiness, but wealth and rank, which are expected to do all the good ; and holiness is looked for as a result of the expenditure of money, instead of an expenditure of money being the inevitable result of holiness. Hence the anxiety of the Church and her representatives to gain money by any and every means. But we are working from the wrong end, and our methods also are upside down. It is now said, “ Let us build a church, and we shall save souls ” ; ought not the principle to be, 4 4 Sow the seeds of Eternal life in the souls, and the CONCLUSION. 157 souls will raise the church”? We lean too much upon the arm of flesh, instead of resting entirely upon the promises and grace of the Living God ; the Almighty Dollar rather than the Almighty Father is the being in whom most faith is shown. And yet surely a most superficial study of Church History would contradict these erroneous notions, and it would be found that not the rich and powerful, but the poor and those whom this World has despised, have done most for Christ. It is they who have given up their all, even although that u all ” was but “ two mites,” who shine as the stars for ever and ever, and not those who have kept nearly all they had and given what they did not want, who have propagated the Faith and have kept alive the flame of True Religion. Principle is infinitely higher and more powerful than wealth, and the whole experience of the past teaches us that “ the weak things of the world have confounded the things that are mighty , and base things of the world , and things which are despised , hath God chosen , and things which are not , to bring to nought things that are." Let us look around the land : in each Parish we find a Church ; in each town we find many Churches, and Places of Worship connected with all denominations. How fair and beautiful to all appearance lies the landscape of the Kingdom of Christ upon Earth ! but yet, are we not in danger of forgetting that “ the Lord of heaven and earth dwelleth not in temples made with hands,” and that whilst we are busy in erecting material buildings to His honour, the more numerous temples of the hearts of men, in which indeed the Majesty of Heaven delights to dwell, may be inhabited only by alien deities ? The Church of Christ is flourishing in her palaces ; she is a tree in the FANCY FAIR RELIGION 158 midst of the earth ; the height thereof is great ; it grows, and is strong; its height reacheth unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth ; the leaves thereof are fair, and the fruit thereof is much, and in it is meat for all ; all flesh is fed of it ; but the question is, does all flesh live by it ? Is it not the case that with very many who profess the Faith it is an unreality? They adhere to the Faith, but they do not live, nor attempt to live, the Life ; they clothe themselves in its beautiful garments, but their hearts have ossified through a love of the World and selfishness ; they deny the power of the Faith which they profess. We are told that the common people heard Christ Jesus gladly ; have the common people greatly changed, or has the power of His Gospel waxen feeble and His Religion become effete? There can be no manner of doubt that a very large proportion of the “common people” throughout the length and breadth of English Christendom, in town and country, seldom or never enter any place of worship. The majority of those who do so are the rich and great, and those possessed of a competency in worldly wealth ; and yet, has the Religion of Jesus Christ a practical hold upon their lives? Upon very many no doubt it has, and they live to the glory of God and for the good of their fellow men. Many, many more there are who possess within their hearts a greedy anxiety to save their own souls, or a wish to appear before the world respectably religious ; but that their lives, their energies, and a good proportion of their wealth, should be dedicated to God’s glory and the good of their fellow men, is a notion of which they hardly even dream. Is it, or is it not the case, that Missions to heathen at CONCLUSION. *59 home and abroad are struggling for dear life upon a starvation pittance in comparison with the amount spent in the luxuries of devotion — such as organs, choirs, bells, altar-cloths, and the beautifying of God’s sanctuary — all of them objects very well in their way, but objects which ought to be second and not first in the estimation of religious energy ? These ought ye to have done , and not to leave the other undone . And when the comparison is made between the amount spent by a Christian nation in obedience to the command, “Go ye into all the world , and preach the Gospel to every creature ,” and that spent upon self, the contrast is perfectly appalling. Christian England contributes yearly about one million sterling for Foreign Missions, and about 125 millions upon one article of luxury alone — drink. And then again, when we regard the huge fortunes of the comparatively few, side by side with the huge multitudes of Poor living within a stone’s throw of their wealthy fellow creatures, and yet upon the very verge of starvation, and recollect also that the possessors of those talents of gold, and of silver, and of title, profess to be followers of Jesus Christ, are we not compelled to own that His Religion has lost its power ? that it is with many a name but an unreality, — a cloak of respectability, but nothing more. To warn those members of the titled and wealthy classes who do but little or nothing to ameliorate the condition of the outcast and labouring Poor, and to promote the glory of the Almighty, that there is a God above who judgeth right, and will hereafter, if not now, demand a strict account of their stewardship, would be beyond the scope of my present plan, as also to remark in detail that this existence of enormous wealth side by side with awful and i6o FANCY FAIR RELIGION grinding poverty is sure, sooner or later, to wreak its own revenge upon the nation which endures it. But the thought I would press home to my readers is this : if all the appliances which exist at present in the way of material buildings are so inoperative in producing holiness and a practical outcome of the faith therein taught, wdiy endeavour to multiply them by efforts which, at any rate upon the surface, do not bear the stamp of the Cross upon them, and certainly conflict, if words mean anything, with the Master’s teaching and the Church’s echoes thereof? By all means let us have Churches, and let dollars be dedicated to the service of the Giver of all gold, if such gifts are the results of a living faith ; but why go out of our way to obtain them by illegitimate means, and thereby mislead many into the belief that they are Christians when in deed and in truth the Religion of Jesus Christ has no more influence upon their lives than it has upon the lives of those who do not make the profession they do ? Why throw a false halo of religiosity over the worldly and the selfish? For of this we may be sure, that the Christian Religion will never subjugate the World by the multiplicity of its temples, but according as its principles vitalize the actions of its members. It is not the money of the worldling, but the self-sacrificing and obedient life of the humble-minded follower of a crucified Redeemer, that will subdue the kingdoms of this World to be the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ ; and if this be so, why so much anxiety to gain the Patronage of the wealthy and the great, and why so much time spent in the erection and decoration of material tabernacles? Well has it been remarked by S. Chrysostom, “ God has no need of golden vessels, but of golden souls.” The primary object of the CONCLUSION. 161 Church must surely be the promulgation of True Religion, and not the gaining of elaborate machinery at the expense and in the teeth of that Religion ; for, although the Almighty God can bring much good out of evil, yet sinful man can never promote His glory otherwise than by acting in strict accordance with His commands. The Fancy Fair system not only degrades the claims of Christ before the eyes of the World, but the Christian life ceases so far to be Christian upon the adoption of that system, and would cease to be Christian altogether if all its other elements were brought down to the level of the Bazaar. If it be true that God counts the worth of what men do or give, not by its amount nor by its outward look, but by the purity and strength of the heart’s motive, is the Church justified in aiming at results to the ignoring of the methods by which they are attained ? Most assuredly not. And again, if a man’s life consisteth not of the things which he pos^esseth, why should the Church depend so much upon them ? It is the living sacrifice, and not merely money, which the Church so greatly needs ; and the reason why the Religion of Christ makes comparatively but little way in England and in heathen lands is simply because its professors do not really believe what they profess. They consecrate their energie's to the world, and dedicate their wealth unto themselves, and with their lips the}^ praise their God ; whilst a worldly Clergy, with a want of faith in their own spiritual powers and in the power of God to convert the soul, compromise themselves and the faith and souls of their people by practically saying, “ You may keep the World if only you will give us the cash to build our temples and to carry on our pet schemes of L 162 FANCY FAIR RELIGION philanthropy.” Why not let the temples and the philan- thropy go, and insist upon the pure and undefiled Religion which keeps itself unspotted from the World? Why should the Religion which arose out of poverty depend so much upon wealth ? The stability of the Church of Christ should surely depend entirely upon the Christ-like spirit which dwells within its members, and it is not within her province to go, cap in hand, to seek the wealth and patronage of sinful men. She has to seek those men themselves, and when they have been won to Christ, Christ will have won their wealth and their enthusiastic but humble devotion to His Church. The Clergy should not forget that the Apostolic Band, with the exception of the traitor Judas, were utterly indifferent to money. The Almighty Dollar had then no recognition , personal self-sacrifice and personal devotion were to form the test of the reality of a man’s religion. “ Sell all that thou hast and give to the poor, and come follow me,” was the principle insisted upon ; and, so far as we can gather from the sacred writings, the Apostles had no wish what- ever to obtain or to keep the power of the purse. They had absolutely no belief in its efficacy, but they had a most implicit faith in their own spiritual functions and in their supernatural gifts — “Silver and gold have I none, hut such as I have give I thee : in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." And the manner in which the Apostles declined to “serve tables” is most worthy of imitation by those who believe in “Apostolical succession,” as well as by the Ministers of other religious bodies who hold no such belief; and yet, what is the life of many and many a Priest of the Church of England, and of many and many CONCLUSION. 163 a Minister of the Protestant Communities? It is one of continual begging. Do we not often hear it said of a clergyman, not that he is earnest as a preacher, or that he is most assiduous in his visits to the sick and the Sunday Schools, but that he is a “good beggar”: “I never met such a man; he seems to get money out of a stone.” If such a man — anxious, perhaps, to restore a Church or to erect an organ — were to cpnfine himself strictly to the restoration of the Spiritual Church, for the well-being of which, and not for the material fabric, he is responsible, perhaps in the end he would be more really successful. The clergyman devoted to a performance of his spiritual functions, and given “ continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word,” is far more powerful than the wonderful beggar. As in Apostolic times, so also in these degenerate days, such action would much commend itself to his people; his conduct would propitiate “the whole multitude”; they would not be led to avoid their “ parson” as one who was perpetually dunning them for some pet object of his own, but they would turn to him as the dis- penser of spiritual gifts, as the true pastor who watched for their souls, and not avoid him as one who was always striv- ing to attack their pockets ; and we believe the rest would come. What was needful, what was fitting and proper to be accomplished through the agency of money, would in due time, in God’s time, be crowned with success as the certain outcome of that grace, working in the hearts of his people, which the faithful pastor had been the humble instrument, directly or indirectly, of imparting ; and thus, mediately through his flock, would the priest have beautified the sanctuary of God. Many of the Clergy are so accustomed to the luxuries of devotion that they appear to think they L2 164 FANCY FAIR RELIGION and their flocks cannot worship without them ;• and hence they give to their acquisition time which, were it spent in prayer, in study, and in visitation,, would work such reformation in the hearts of their people as to produce spontaneously much of that for which they had laboured by less worthy methods to gain. It is too often forgotten* that “ the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong-holds .” The “ serving of tables” is more the work of the Laity than of the Ministry, and this principle, in many denominations of Christians, is thoroughly recognised and fulfilled ; and in the Church of England the Laity would soon most gladly carry out this work if more respon- sibilities were thrown upon them, and thus her Clergy would be freed for higher duties. Those Clergy are under no Ordination vow to collect and work for the pecuniary needs of the Church, and by canon and statute law they are expressly forbidden to trade; and yet the Bazaar- running Clergyman is — for the nonce — converted into the amateur Jack-of-all-trades, and the Ambassador for Christ becomes the Purveyor-general of penny peep-show enter- tainments. From the pulpit the Clergy might and should inculcate systematic almsgiving, and dwell often upon the steward- ship of wealth and rank; but by holding aloof from the collection of funds they would neither have to supplicate the rich nor be tempted to show annoyance when those supplications were responded to in the spirit of the miser, rather than with the liberality of the child of God. Souls, and not monies, should be the commodities they had to win and with which they had to deal, and who is sufficient for these things alone? As Dryden says — CONCLUSION. 165 “ Is not the care of souls a load sufficient, Are not your holy stipends paid for this ? Were you not bred apart from worldly noise To study souls, their cures, and their diseases? Th e province of the soul is large enough To fill up every cranny of your time. And leave you much to answer, if one poor wretch Be damned by your neglect.” In answer to this it may be said that if the Clergy retire from the collection of money the work of the Church will not go on; but by way of rejoinder I would ask, what is the work of the Church? Is it not the work of Christ the Head ? and, if so, can the work of Christ the Crucified depend upon money and upon appeals through the World’s methods as exhibited in the vagaries of Fancy Fair Religion? The work of Christ can surely only be accom- plished by the way of the Cross, and in no other way; by self-sacrifice and self-denial, and through an appeal to principle; by the single desire to promote God’s glory. Work may indeed be carried on in other ways and by other methods, but it is the work of the World or of an individual. It cannot be Christ’s work, and should not be dignified by the name of the work of Christ’s Church ; for as soon as Christ’s methods, in the fulfilment of any work, are dropped, Christ’s connection with it necessarily ceases. Well may it be said to those who try to graft their Christianity on to the World, u Ye know not what Spirit ye are of and that which under such circumstances we are pleased to call the work of the Church is really the work we wish the Church to do, and which we have not the faith and patience to wait and see done by Christ-like, holy, and God-inspired methods. A man may be converted to God through the medium of the eccentricities, and, as many think, the utterly irreverent methods, of the Salvation i66 FANCY FAIR RELIGION Army ; but that is no reason why we should support the Cause or become Salvationists. We profess to be workers together with God. God’s work, it is true, never ceases, although it may be much delayed through the faithlessness of man ; but His work is never hurried on to suit man’s impatience. As Guizot says, “God takes a step, and ages have elapsed ”; (a) and while we may greatly desire to see the accomplishment of a certain purpose, yet if we cannot attain it by Christ’s methods, are we to stoop to methods which would not receive His sanction in order to gain our own ends, and then sanctify them in our own eyes by calling them “the work of the Church”? If those anxious to promote a particular work were sure that it met with the approbation of God and was needful to promote His glory, they might be equally certain it would gain His blessing in His own time, and that there was no necessity to fall back into the hands of man, nor to court the World’s aid. But we cannot wait, nor carry on our work in sections, little by little, as help comes in from willing hearts prompted by the Holy Spirit ; nor can we leave it to succeeding ages to carry on the work which we begin, although we must needs leave much to the iconoclast who will arise as soon as the vital spark of True Religion has been extinguished by the worldly methods we have awakened into life in order more quickly to accomplish the work upon which our minds are set. In many a poverty-stricken Parish there is, thank God, a quiet but grand work going on ; it is leavening for good the inhabitants, and, slowly but surely, weaving into their lives the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Clergy and Laity alike are toiling nobly, and in a way which will doubtless bring a royal reward in the future life, although, (a) Lectures on Civilization in Europe. Lect. I. CONCLUSION. 167 perhaps, their efforts meet with but little notice at the present time, and show but few tangible results. And then, alas, in so many fashionable and wealthy neigh- bourhoods there is this wretched Fancy Fair craze, utterly misguiding its attendants as to the true methods and aims of the Religion of Jesus Christ, and in time, it is to be feared, it will leaven the whole Church. The personal devotion of those toiling in the thickest of the fight is worthy of the highest admiration : the intense folly of these Fancy Fair methods deserving of the severest reprobation. The sacrifice of one life in the service of the Saviour, and to sow in one out-cast and polluted heart a craving for cleansing and for better things, is a far more real and lasting work than the collection of a ^1000 through the methods of Fancy Fair Religion, which in its contact alone so degrades the Religion of the Redeemer. Would that some of the trumpet-tongued preachers of English Christendom, whose printed sermons are read wherever the English language is spoken, would take up this subject and scathingly denounce the degredation of the grace of Christian Liberality to the level of the gambling saloon and the Shooting Gallery. In the life of S. Francis, of Assisi, the story is told that while his heart was, as it were, in a transition state between a love of the world and a love of God, he was worshipping in the crumbling old Parish Church of S. Damiano, in his native town, and when kneeling before an image of his Crucified Redeemer he heard a voice, saying, 44 Francis, seest thou not that my house is in ruins ? Go and restore it for me”: 44 With good will, Lord” was the immediate answer, and so saying he rushed away from the dilapidated old building to his father’s store, seized many a bale of 1 68 FANCY FAIR RELIGION goods, to which, although not in partnership with his father, he fancied he had some right— the right of a son to the possessions of a previously most indulgent father ; over these goods he made the sign of the. Cross, thinking thereby to dedicate them to God, and piling them upon his horse he departed quickly to the neighbouring fair at Foligno, where in the open market he sold his father’s property and his own horse, and returning to the Curate of S. Damiano tendered to him his ill-gotten pelf for the restoration of the Church. But the Curate when he heard of the manner in which the money had been obtained hesitated to receive it. The question was referred to the Bishop, who thus addressed S. Francis, “ My son, restore the money to your father if you would serve God, for whatever is acquired by unjust means God will have none of it : it cannot be employed in the work of the Church, and by retaining it you cause your father to sin. Therefore, my son, have faith in God and act like a man. Be not afraid, for He will help you, and give you all that is necessary for the work of His Church.” S. Francis in the warmth of his ill-regulated zeal to promote God’s glory would have done evil that good might come, but the Church gave him no encouragement : God’s glory was not to be thus promoted. Would that all the Bishops and the Church at large would act now as did the Church then, and decline to receive the ill-gotten proceeds of Fancy Fair efforts, and say in effect “we will have none of them,” and before very long all those really actuated by zeal for God’s service would arise to nobler but more laborious effort as did S. Francis, and like him, by harder but more Christ-like work, they would at length accomplish the objects they had in CONCLUSION. 169 view. Those objects, it may be, would not be so quickly gained but the very gaining of them by appropriate methods would call forth and cultivate in the workers themselves Christ-like characteristics, and thus w^ould sanctify and bless those workers and not deprave them, while at the same time God’s glory would be promoted. S. Francis begged the stones; he placed them in the walls with his own hands; and, without money, but through sheer strength 1 of zeal and earnestness of labour, he kindled in the hearts of his fellow townsmen a kindred feeling, and at length they rallied round him, and by personal help and voluntary offerings enabled him to restore the Church. S. Francis had to be reminded that inasmuch as the work of the Church is to preach and to propagate righteousness apd truth, so only by righteous and true methods, in entire consistency with the action of the Lord of that Church, can His work be done. And the Church of the present day needs to be reminded of this same all- important truth. Christ Jesus, the Exemplar of the Church, went forth as a Prophet of God to conquer the World unto Himself the Son of God, but His weapons were not chosen from the World’s armoury. In a moment of time He saw all the kingdoms of the World, and the Author of evil offered Him the power and glory of them. The hurrying, scurrying, self-willed Fancy Fair method of the present day would have bowed the knee to Beelzebub, and by his instrumentality as Prince of this World would have gathered that World by, as it were, a stroke into a kingdom under the nominal headship of Jesus Christ: but Christ’s method was the Cross — if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me .” 170 FANCY FAIR RELIGION Upholders of Bazaars and Fancy Fairs dare not say that the motto of the Emperor Constantine, In hoc signo vinces , is the motto under which they work for Christ, and therefore, so far, they are not His followers. Their methods more nearly resemble those of another who styled himself the Prophet of God, and made his way to fame and power by the use of this World’s sword. The sword of steel for the propagation of a faith is, let us hope, snapped for ever, but the World can and does still forge softer and more dangerous weapons; but their use on behalf of the Faith is an imitation of the methods of the false and not of the True Prophet of God. 1 7 1 CHAPTER XIII. Christian ^ibcralitg. “Largely Thou givest, gracious Lord, Largely Thy gifts should be restor’d ; Freely Thou givest, and Thy word Is “ Freely Give.” He only, who forgets to hoard, Has learn’d to live .” — The Christian Year. V T' HAVE criticized in no unsparing tones a system which has produced throughout English Christendom an untold amount of wealth to be expended in the promotion of God’s Glory, and upon the relief of suffering humanity. Drink, it may be said, has done the same. Enormous sums of money have been, of late years, dedicated to God which have been accumulated through the drinking habits of the English people, and it may be asked would the Church be justified in refusing the offer of the wholesale Publican to endow a hospital or to restore a Cathedral because the. money had been earned through questionable methods ? And if not, why refuse that gained through the instrumentality of the Fancy Fair ? 172 CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. A certain confusion of thought is here present which must be brushed away. It is quite impossible for the Church to go behind every gift before it can be received, as also it would be impossible for her to judge the motives of every giver, but here is altogether a different question : — is the Church right in appealing for support to base rather than to noble motives, and is she justified in trading upon them ? Does her existence depend upon money or does it depend upon the hold that religious principles have upon her members ? It is not the duty of the Church to decline the gift of the penitent Publican or of the penitent Magdalene, but it would be altogether foreign to the spirit of True Religion for her to obtain support by teaching and encouraging her members to earn money as such penitents have done. The gaining of money is not her object, but the outcome of Religious principle is that at which she aims, and hence the Church should only encourage her members to give from principle : she is certainly not to solicit alms through tainted sources, and if, indeed, money so earned were ostentatiously paraded as earned in her name in such ways she would of course be justified in declining to receive it. It may, however, be fairly asked of those who object to Fancy Fairs what system should be substituted, and I will at once allow it is very easy to criticize — it is a far more laborious work to construct an edifice than to wreck it: this difficulty I would by no means minimize, nor shirk the responsibility naturally resting upon the iconoclast. In order, therefore, to lead up to those principles, which, assuredly, should regulate true Liberality, I would ask, is it not the case that Christian teachers dwell more upon the need of money to support the work of the Church than CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 173 upon Almsgiving as the bounden duty of the Christian, and hence it is that so long as the requisite money is forthcoming it appears to matter but little whether the duty of Almsgiving has or has not been fulfilled. It is assumed that whilst the Church cannot exist without money, yet that a Christian can be such without giving, whereas in reality, so far as a professing Christian fails in fulfilling the duty of Almsgiving, so far also does he cease to be a Christian, and so far has the Church failed in her mission to him and through him. A stingy Christian under the light thrown upon him by the Sermon on the Mount is as great an anomaly as the Christian who never prays or practises self-denial. Whilst then, on the one hand, there is far too much respect paid by the Church and her ministers to Wealth and Rank as such , there is yet far too little insistence, by preaching and otherwise, upon the duty of systematic and proportionate Almsgiving. It may seem to be a very trite remark to make, bu,t its burden is one practically lost sight of in every-day life, that the soul of the Pauper is as dear to God as the soul of the Peer, and that in His estimation the Costermonger and the Millionaire are equally precious, but that to the Peer and to the Millionaire, and to every one indeed through all grades of Society, proportionately to their position and means, have been committed the charge and stewardship of certain talents, of which hereafter they will have to give a strict account. This accountability of each man for the use he makes of his position and wealth is an undoubted fact viewed in the light of Inspiration, although so many disregard it. 4 4 Every one of us shall give an account of himself to Godf each according to his measure, and the fact of so many shirking in this life this individual T 74 CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY responsibility will not free them from it when they are brought face to face with the realities of the life to come. And if this be so, is the Church right or wrong in recognising those who have means and position in any other way than as the holders of more talents than have those who occupy in life a lower grade ? Is she to coun- tenance for one moment the very vulgar notion so prevalent alas! in the world she has to win that Wealth and Rank, as such, are more to be accounted of than poverty and humble birth ? In so far as she does she fails in her duty, for it cannot be seriously contended that God Almighty has His favourites, and behaves, as it were, after the manner of Joseph who showed his fraternal love by crediting Benjamin with stowage capacity five times as great as that possessed by any of his elder brethren. Favoritism with Him whose sun shines upon the evil and upon the good is an impossibility. His Providence recognises no pet lambs, but upon some He bestows five talents, upon others two, and upon others one. Those talents may, indeed, be misused or buried or ignored, but they are only granted to those, who if they choose to do so, can use them rightly. There can be but one alternative why one man should be raised by God above another, namely, that which gave Pharoah his position. The blessings of God and the responsibilities of man, should be regarded as correlative or interchangeable terms, which, if wrongly used, or if allowed to run to waste may and will become the heaviest curses to those upon whom they are bestowed. God’s power to bless His creatures is, in great measure, delegated to earthly recipients, not for their own selfish enjoyment, but for the promotion of His glory, and for the good of mankind at large. The Almighty delights to treat those made in His own image CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 175 as responsible beings, and not as irrational brutes or insensate weeds. If the recipients recognise the high honour bestowed upon them, well and good, but if they misuse God’s confidence and betray His trust those blessings will necessarily become hereafter, if not now, the source their most grevious condemnation. Absolute ownership, however, rather than honourable and honorary trusteeship is -the light in which too many regard the gifts placed by the Almighty in their power, whilst the Church has to a great extent failed to insist upon a recognition of the truth that wealth and position are given not merely for the benefit of the person in possession but as talents to be used to the glory of God and for the good of one’s fellow men. In the eye of God men are not great in virtue of what He has given into their keeping, but according to the use they make of their stewardship. To one who remarked “all are equally men; but some are great men and some are little men : how is this ? ” the great philosopher, Mencius, replied, “Those who follow that part of themselves which is great are great men ; those who follow that part which is little are little men.” And so in like manner is it indeed true that only those who recognise their stewardship — be it small or great — are members of a nobility whose patent is sealed with the signet of the King of Kings. When a sense of individual responsibility actuates either the noblest or the humblest of mankind, the results must necessarily reach forward and bear fruit of untold weight. To the resolution formed in early life by one Exalted Personage, and expressed in the simplest language — “ I will be good” — multitudes who have lived during the last fifty years under the dominion of the British Crown owe 176 CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. their peace and domestic happiness. The most powerful nation in the world is now mourning over one who, when but a youth, recognised that exalted rank was valueless unless the owner of it fulfilled his obligations. In the memorable essay which the first Emperor of Germany wrote at the time of his Confirmation upon the duties of a man and a Prince, he says : — “ I rejoice to be a Prince, because my rank in life will give me many “ opportunities to help others. I am' far from thinking myself better “than those occupying other positions. I am, on the contrary, fully “ aware that I am a man exposed to all the frailties of human nature! “that the laws governing the action of all classes alike apply to me too; “ and that with the rest of the world I shall one day be held responsible “for my deeds. To be an indefatigable learner and striver for the “good of my country shall be the one aim of my public life.’' A Poor Widow, impressed with a sense of gratitude to God and of her duty to promote His glory, threw into the treasury of the Almighty two mites, which was all her living; and that act of hers will be read of until the end of time. Like another poor woman who did what she could to glorify God, it will be fob ever told for a memorial of her, and stand out as an example of Christian Liberality through all succeeding generations. Numberless other instances might be cited of the sense of responsibility bringing with it untold blessings. Suffice it now to say — “ Good deeds can never die; all through the ages Their fruits increasing ever grow and spread : And many a deed unnamed in written pages Lived once — and is not dead.” Of what importance is it for the Church at large to insist continually upon the worthlessness of Rank and Wealth — and that be it great or little — unless the holders thereof recognise the fact that they hold talents to be employed, and not merely possessions to be enjoyed in whatsoever CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 1 77 way they may see fit to choose. Were this truth more recognised than it is, the Treasury of God would be full to overflowing, and the Kingdom of Christ upon Earth would not be degraded by contact with the puerilities of Fancy Fair Religion. The Church is ready enough at all times (and quite rightly) to talk in words of solemn warning to the Poor, “not to covet nor desire other men’s goods,” and “to keep their hands from picking and stealing,*’ and to bear with fortitude the discipline of poverty which, in the Providence of God or through their own folly, constitutes their trial; but she should be as ready also, in the same fearless and unfaltering tones, to exhort the Rich as to the imperative necessity of bearing rightly the discipline of wealth which, in the Providence of God, has been lent to them as talents to be used for Him and for His Church and Poor, unless, indeed, their wealth has been acquired through knavery, when, of course, restitution should be made. There are, no doubt, many poor and sick whom God never made so, and many also rich and in prosperity whom God never put in that position; this latter fact, however, is beside the present question. To rob God and Religion of their dues is a standing sin amongst a very large number of the “well-to-do,” as also to ignore the call which surrounding poverty makes for a wise and discriminate use of wealth. We often hear those in comfortable circumstances quote the Biblical statement, “ The Poor shall never cease out of the land ,” as a sort of justification for the poverty of the Lazarus at their gate or in the back slum. Those who quote it seldom repeat the remainder of the text, which is here given entire instead of misquoted and out of its M i ?8 CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. context — “For the Poor shall never cease out of the land : there- fore I command thee , saying , Thou shall open thine hand wide unto thy brother , to thy poor, and to thy needy , in thy land.” In these words, then, we find not so much a justification of, or reason for, the constant existence of poverty, as an exhortation to the rich to be very liberal in their gifts. The existence of so much ‘‘Socialism” amongst the Poor is the direct result of the Rich ignoring the stewardship of wealth. “ Property only becomes insecure when a considerable proportion of it is held by people who think only of themselves. The best insurance against anti- social doctrines which treat property as robbery, is such a wise and generous use of it for the glory of God and the good of other men as Christian justice would always have prescribed” (Liddon.) The purchase of Bonds in the Celestial City is, after all, the best investment for money that can be suggested, and one also which needs the intervention of no broker. Those Bonds bear a rich interest, not indeed payable to bearer in current coin, but in very visible results, such as — the relief of the woes of the sick and the afflicted, the decent housing of the outcast Poor, the preaching of the Gospel to home and foreign heathen, the rescue of the Perishing, and the reclamation of the waifs and strays. These Bonds are repayable hereafter in the shape of a royal recognition of the investor by the King of the Celestial Kingdom, and in the shape of a most gratifying testimony borne by many immortal and redeemed souls that, whereas but for the investments of the investor they w T ould have been cast away, yet that through such intervention they were saved from an earthly life of misery and shame, and destitution, and were brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus the Son of God. And yet, by many CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. 179 so-called “Christians,” such Bonds are considered chimerical and absurd and beneath their notice; these Christians, it may be, read theiFBibles, and, amongst other words, the following: — “ Charge them who are rich in this world , that they he ready to give and glad to distribute; laying up in store for them- selves a good foundation against the tune to come , that they may attain eternal life.” “ Sell that ye have and give alms; provide yourselves hags which wax not old , a treasure in the heavens that faileth not , where no thief approacheth neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” “ Be merciful after that power : if thou hast much, give plenteously ; if thou hast little , do thy diligence gladly to give of that little .” Many regular Church-goers, if asked to state truthfully their idea of the meaning of these words above quoted, would candidly confess that to them they had no meaning, but that their treasure was on earth, and that there they meant to keep it. I suppose there can be no doubt whatever that Christians in “deed” as well as in “name” amongst “the Poor” give of their substance out of all proportion more than do most of those in easy and comfortable circumstances. The following story was told to me not long since by one upon whose testimony I can implicitly rely: — A poor Scotch-woman in receipt of Parish pay used to put by regularly a penny at a time to give' to Foreign Missions, and as often as her pennies amounted to five shillings she forwarded that amount to the London office. One day a lady visitor looked in, and asked the old woman if she had lately had any meat. She answered, she had not; so the lady gave her sixpence to buy some. She thought, how- ever— “I have long done very well on my porridge; so I will give this sixpence also to God as well as my regular l8o CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. penny”; and five shillings and sixpence was sent up after the usual interval, with an explanation put in the simplest terms about the extra sixpence. At a Missionary breakfast given shortly afterwards by a wealthy man, at whose house the Secretary of the Society was staying, the conversation naturally turned upon gifts offered to God on behalf of the spread of the Gospel of His Son, and the Secretary brought out and read the poor woman’s letter. The host and his guests were greatly touched, the host declaring he had never heard such a story and was certain he had never denied himself a chop for the cause of God, and added, “You may put down my name at once for £$oo\ ” another gentleman said the same, and before that breakfast party broke up more than £ 2,200 had been collected, and the Secretary was requested to write and tell the poor old Scotch-woman how her example had been the means of collecting that large sum. If the humble example set by this poor woman had such a power to touch the hearts of wealthy men, what might not the Church at large do for Christ were she to teach, more clearly than is done at present, that regular and proportionate Almsgivingis the Christian’s bounden duty? The selfishness of human nature, the efforts of Fancy Fair Religion, and other causes have combined to hide the fact that Almsgiving is a practical virtue, upon the exercise of which the Saviour often dwelt ; and although no definite rule is laid down in the New Testament, which only enunciates general principles, yet in it we are clearly taught to give according as God has prospered us, that is, proportionately to our means of doing so. Those who really wish to fulfil their duties in this respect will be more disposed to consider “how much can I possibly CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. \ l8l give?” rather than to ask, “How little need I do?” We may, however, certainly gather from the whole tenor of inspired teaching that all should dedicate to God for charitable uses not less than one-tenth of the income placed within their hands, whilst from very many far more may reasonably be expected. With some, it is true, the tenth may be much to give; upon others it would entail no self-denial whatever; but if God, under an older and inferior dispensation, claimed one-tenth at least from all His people, those who are in possession of far higher spiritual privileges will surely be expected to show a yet greater outcome of grace in return for the greater grace bestowed. We can easily gather what God’s people of old were taught to do. A less proportion than a tenth was never heard of, and is Christianity to teach a lower standard than that insisted on by a religion of lower value? Is it not rather the case that to all our duties in relation to God, our Saviour’s exhortation is clearly applicable — “ Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees , ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ”? If this law of giving not less than one-tenth was observed by Christians, the sum voluntarily subscribed would be enormous. Each individual Christian would still exercise his own discretion as to what department of Church or charitable work he would support, and in what proportions, but the sum collectively given would be so great that no deserving Charity would be in want, and the Church would be enabled cheerfully to fulfil her mission at home and in the vast fields of heathenism abroad. When urging the gift of not less than one-tenth, it is hardly necessary to observe that no reference is here 182 CHRISTIAN LIBERALITY. made to “ tithes.” All lands charged with “tithes” are bought, sold, and rented subject to such payments which can, therefore, in no sense whatever be considered as voluntary or charitable gifts. My answer then to the inquiry “How are the needs of the Church to be met ” is shortly this: — let that Church remind all her members (i) that they are but stewards of their wealth, be it small or great, and for that wealth and for the use of all their other talents they will hereafter have to give account ; (2) let all professedly Bible- reading people take warning and comfort from this inspired teaching : — “ Will a man rob God ? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say , Wherein have we robbed thee P In tithes and offerings. “ Ye are cursed with a curse : for ye have robbed me , even this whole nation. “ Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse , that there may be meat in mine house , and prove me now herewith , saith the Lord of hosts , if I will not open you the windows of heaven , and pour you out a blessing , that there shall not be room enough to receive it .” FINIS. APPENDICES. A (see p. 12.) The Bazaar-monger alluded to on page 20 is troubled with competitors to whom he thus alludes : — “The increasing popularity of our Bazaars have brought many imitators into the held, and some of these gentlemen have recently put forward a very tempting allurement by offering to throw in Enter- tainments as a ‘ make-up,’ with all orders they may manage to secure. Their assistants are double duty men , and after building the stalls they lay down hammer, saw, and apron, don a white front, and appear before an audience of ladies and gentlemen as ‘Entertainers.’ “ I beg most respectfully to state that I do not employ any of these ‘ clever ’ men, who as a rule are of no use in either department. “If the names of professional entertainers are required, I can give such as have proved themselves efficient and have earned good reputations.” N.B — Of such a nature then are the workers together with Christ in this Nineteenth Century ! ! ! B (see p . 101.) By 10 6 - 11 Wm. III. ch. 17, lotteries are declared to be common and public nuisances, and that every person engaging in a lottery shall forfeit for such offences the sum of £500, one-third part to go to the Crown, one-third part to the use of the Poor of the Parish where such offence shall be committed, and the other third part thereof, together with double costs, to the person who shall inform and sue for the same, and the said parties so offending shall likewise be prosecuted as common Rogues. 12 George III., c. 119, to a great extent repeats and confirms the above- mentioned Act. This Act, and others which might be named, would appear to render Wheels of Fortune illegal, and Raffles also have been declared to come under the provisions of the Acts of Parliament referred to. The Legislature has also enacted stringent provisions against the keeping of houses for the playing of gambling games, and also against the playing thereof in streets or public places. As to fortune-telling and palmistry by g George II. ch. 5, it is enacted that persons who pretend or undertake to tell fortunes shall be punish- able by imprisonment, and by 5 George IV. ch. 83, that any person who shall use subtle craft, means, or device, by palmistry or otherwise 'to deceive people shall be deemed a Rogue and a Vagabond and be punishable with imprisonment and hard labour. C (see p. 132.) In Murray's Magazine for February, 1888, an article which created much interest appeared entitled “Are Bazaars a Form of true Charity?” by Miss Louisa Twining. To that lady and her article I am myself greatly indebted for many hints, but she is in no way committed to my mode of stating my case, nor for the conclusions I have drawn. The following letter, which explains itself, was ‘addressed to Miss Twining : — “ Madam,— I have read, but not until to-day (2nd March, 1888), your Article in Murray on Charity. It has interested and gratified me more than- I can briefly express, and I very much wish that it could be re-printed, and adapted for much wider circulation. In case you may contemplate such an issue, or any further article on the topic, I take the 184 APPENDICES. liberty of informing you upon one point which you have not touched, and may not perhaps be fully conversant with. For many years I have had the management of a considerable wholesale business in the city. The name of my Firm is well known to the general public, and one speciality is retailed by thousands of Shopkeepers in the United Kingdom. These circumstances expose us to the attack of every Bazaar Committee in the country. Scarcely a day passes without some appeal, and this very day I have had two— both from strangers. Many, of course, are from our immediate customers, who are so little alive to the trading aspect of the case, which you very properly remark on, that they lend themselves, blindly, I must suppose, to this very serious form of competition. And this class of applicants makes its claims as quite a matter of right, a right which they have acquired by purchasing goods required to maintain their trade 1 But a very large proportion of the appeals are from people entirely unknown without the remotest shadow of a claim to the favour they solicit. These, then, you will think rely upon the purest Charity. Alas ! no. They rely on and unblushingly appeal to the most mercenary motives of self-interest. They have no claim, and they avow it, but in a variety of neatly turned phrases they suggest the advertizing value of such contributions, to assist which they offer to exhibit show cards and distribute circulars ‘so that the occasion cannot fail to be mutually advantageous.’ I have but lately destroyed hundreds of such letters which I had kept for some opportunity of exposure, which now unhappily comes too late. But these ‘ ill weeds grow apace,’ and I may safely promise you a crop of them in no long time if you w’ould care to verify my statement. And all this in the tender name of Charity and the Sacred name of Religion 1 My deep conviction is that it is treason to them both. And it will perhaps gratify you to know that I have had the courage entirely to refuse gifts of this kind in every single instance for years past. Other well known Firms are less courageous, and they reap their reward in the ever increasing demands which are made upon them. Whether they also reap the reward of increasing trade I cannot say but as a matter of speculation I altogether doubt it, and as a matter of morals I sincerely trust they do not. Begging you to excuse my perhaps too zealous confirmation of your views, — I am, Madam, yours most obediently, X. Y. Z.” This gentleman wrote a further letter, in which he said: — “ Anything in my letter to Miss Twining which seems likely to serve your purpose may be quoted at your pleasure, and I shall be much gratified if any word of mine can aid in abating the nuisance of these pernicious Bazaars. I am beyond measure sorry that I made away not long ago with an accumulated mass of letters from all sorts of applicants, including the lady of a popular Bishop, which would have done much more than confirm my statements. At present I can only send you two such letters, &c., &c.” Here are quotations from two: — “ Several of my friends have received various Articles from different Firms as advertisements. Will you be so kind as to send something as a present, thereby assisting a good cause and giving further publicity to your Article.” “ Can you send some packets ? I am taking a Stall and shall be very pleased to recommmend it {sic) and also distribute any circulars you may entrust to me.” D (see p. 136.) To the following weighty words from the Article in Murray's Magazine above alluded to, I should like to call attention: — “One of the saddest aspects of these exhibitions is, perhaps, when little children are brought on the scene, frequently in varied and fantastic costumes, with the object of importuning the Elders to purchase, or offering some special attraction of display or vanity. Surely the innocence or self-forgetfulness natural to children, carefully trained and sheltered, should not be exposed to lose its early bloom thus, prematurely, by contact with such scenes as these 1 But hardly less painful is it to see girls of older, but still of tender years walking about to importune strangers of the other sex to purchase some trifle or partake of some amusement.” & E (see preface.) X Some Reasons for their Aboli- Thomas S. Dickson, M.A., of Forbes Moncrieff. “Church Bazaars: tion,” by the Rev Dundee. “Our Giving.” Series by J. S. Partridge & Co., London. The Publications of “The Society of the Treasury of God.” Cull & Son, The Strand. The Publications of “Proportionate Giving Union.” Elliot Stock. “Stewardship.” A Sermon preached in S. Paul’s Cathedral by the Rev. Canon Liddon.