Public Reception in Sydney.

He public reception of the Rev. C. Chiniquy, who was for twenty-five years a priest of the Church of Rome, but who left her communion about twenty years ago, and joined the Presbyterian Church, took place in the Protestant Hall on Tuesday evening, the 1st October. Long before seven o'clock, a tremendous crowd had collected around the iron entrance gates; and when these were at last thrown open the great multitude surged into the building, filling the body of the hall and the galleries in a moment. There were over two thousand in the hall; but thousands more went away, as they could not obtain either sitting or standing room.

On the platform were Messrs. William Kippax, W.G.M. (in the chair); H. Hicks, D. G.M.; W. Henson, G.S.; Rev. G. Sutherland, G.C.; Rev. Drs. Barry, M'Gibbon, Steel; J. Davies, M.L.A.; J. Roseby, M.L.A; Drs. Marshall and Hogg; Revs. D. Galloway, H. Macready, P. H. Cornford, W. All-worth, McKinnon, W. Beg, D. Allen, T. J. Curtis, T. S. Forsaith, G. C. Howden, and R Donald; and Messrs. N. J. Mackenzie, S. E. Lees, F. Abigail, R. McCoy, I. J. Josephson, and T. Lutton. The Rev. G. Sutherland gave out for singing the Hundredth Psalm, after which the Rev. W. Beg engaged in prayer. Alderman Kippax, W.G.M., then, in the name of the meeting and of all the Orange lodges in the colony, gave to Father Chiniquy the right hand of fellowship, welcoming him to New South Wales. He then said that, although the meeting was open to the public, arrangements have been made for the removal of any persons who might be disorderly, or in any way attempt to interrupt the proceedings. The Rev. G. Sutherland, after a few appropriate introductory remarks, then read the address as follows:—The Rev. Pastor Chiniquy, French Canadian Reformer. Rev. sir and brother,—We cordially welcome you to Australia, and to this city (the metropolis of all the Australias). Your valiant contests with the gigantic power of Papal Rome have long evoked our deepest sympathy; and the glorious Gospel liberty which God has given you, and through you to thousands of your fellow-countrymen, has called forth our fervent gratitude. In your efforts in these great colonies to arouse Protestants to a sense of their privileges and danger, and to liberate from the bonds of superstition the many thousands of your former co-religionists who have settled in these lands, you may reckon upon our presence, protection, and earnest co-operation. (Cheers.) May the wisdom, power and grace of the Eternal Spirit attend you wherever you go, and render your addresses the power of God unto salvation to tens of thousands, and a blessing to unborn generations in this southern hemisphere.—W. Kippax, R.W.G.M.; Henry Hicks, D.G.M.; George Sutherland, G.C"

The Rev. C. Chiniquy, who was received with great cheering, said—Dear and kind friends, I really find myself unequal for the task which the providence of God has put upon me to-day. This is a blessed day for me; but as a Christian I must tell you I am pained, because, when I hear these compliments of yours, there is another voice which says to me, "You are nothing but an unprofitable servant." Our great and merciful God has done a mighty work before my eyes, and I am the living instrument of His mercies. I do not come here to be praised, nor to receive your applause. No, my friends, I come here as a witness to the mercies of God. It is good for me to tell you what the Lord has done for my soul, and I ask you to bless Him for me. I have a debt of gratitude to pay to you, my friends. In the darkest hour of my life when the thick clouds were coming over me, and when the storm raised by the enemy of God and man threatened to overwhelm me, many times cheering words came from Australia, which strengthened my heart; and help of money came (often from men who did not give their names) to aid me in my work. Now, I thought it was my duty to come and thank you and bless you; but I page 2 had no idea that you would give me such a reception, because my heart and my soul, and everything in me tells me I do not deserve it. This dear brother (the Rev. Mr. Sutherland) has told you he has known me many years; I will tell you how I became acquainted with him. It will be twenty years in January since I was surrounded by so many difficulties, that one evening, on my knees, I was weeping, and asking God for His light and His strength because I was powerless to continue the struggle. When I understood that it was my duty to bring my people out of the darkness of the Church or Rome, because my dear Saviour had enrolled me under His banner, I met the Bishop of Chicago one day, and I told him, "So long as God will give me strength, I will show to the world the inside secrets of your Church, and I will do my best to bring your Church down to the dust." (Applause.) Well, he told me these very words—"If you do that you are a doomed man." Perhaps some of you may think I have bad feelings in my heart against my friends of the Church of Rome. If so, you ars mistaken. (Applause.) If you come here with the idea that you will hear any abuse from my lips against the Roman Catholics, you will certainly be disappointed. (Hear, hear.) I tell you, in the presence of God and man, I love the Roman Catholics. I admire them. I know their errors, and I hope, by the mercy of God, we will see many of them leaving those errors. But to come to my story of how I became acquainted with this friend. When the Bishops of the United States saw that I was not only leaving their church, but that I was determined to bring the whole people of Canada out of their church if I could, what did they do? They said, "We must destroy that man." Then they brought all their power against me, and I stood alone, fighting against the giant power of Rome. They tried to kill me with pistols, and daggers, and stones. Many times they stoned me; several times the bullet of the assassin whistled near my ears, but my life was in the hand of my God. (Applause.) Then they brought suits against me. Thirty-four times I have been dragged before the Criminal Courts by the Sheriff of Kankakee. I engaged the best lawyers to defend my honour and my life, and it was a very costly affair. Among the lawyers was Abraham Lincoln, who was afterwards murdered, when the President of the United States. Well, one day came when I had to sell everything, and then could not meet my expenses. I had heavy debts to meet; the priests bought all my notes of hand and the bills, and sent the Sheriff to my house, who took everything from me. My fine library, which cost 3000 dols. was sold for sixty dollars. My bed was sold. I went to the lawyer and asked why my bed was sold, when the law prevented such a proceeding. He said this law only applied to a man with a wife. Well, then, said I, I will get a wife. (Laughter.) I had to sleep on the naked floor. I had not a chair in my house. I was almost friendless. The Protestants had no faith in my conversion. They thought Chiniquy was a humbug, and a Jesuit in disguise. The priests and the journals spread the report that I was a very bad man. I had spent my last cent, and was completely penniless, and nobody was coming to help me. I passed the night on my knees, and I said, "My God, Thou knowest I am fighting Thy battle; Thou hast promised that those who trust in Thee cannot perish, but here I am fighting hard, and I must perish. Wilt Thou not come to help me?" The next day I received a letter with 500 dollars from a friend 1500 miles away, whom I had never seen, to whom I had never written, and who had never written to me. That letter was signed "George Sutherland," (great applause) and I ask you to bless him. He told me to take courage, that the Lord was on my side, and I would gain the day.

If there are Roman Catholics here, I hope they will go back from this place with the perfect knowledge that I am their friend. I came not here to abuse them. They were very kind to me when I was in their midst. Their Pope was my great friend, and sent me magnificent presents and kind words. Almost everyone of their bishops came to my feet to make their confession, and the whole people of Canada were so kind to me that when I went from one place to another, they came by thousands, five or six miles with bands of music to receive me. After such undeserved kindness, I would be an infamous man were I to come into your midst and slander them. (Hear, hear.) I was their best friend, I am still their best friend, God knows it. I know they are cruelly deceived, and that they would receive the light if it came to them. The greatest part of the Roman Catholics are sincere in their belief. They believe things which are contrary to the Word of God, because they do not know the Word of God. We must go to the Roman Catholics with kind words; we must love them as Jesus Christ has loved us. You must remember that your ancestors were just as the Roman Catholics to-day. Only a few centuries ago your ancestors were going to the feet of Mary instead of to the feet of Jesus. They had no gospel, no Bible to read, they were in the dark. You must not forget that, Protestants. In those days there was a terrible darkness over England and the rest of Europe. Few were worshipping Christ as He wants to be page 3 worshipped. The great majority were just following the religion of the Pope. But a blessed day came when God in His mercy looked down upon England and Germany and France, and a voice on high spoke to those nations, and told them to take God's Word for the only lamp to their feet, to read it and to follow it; and your ancestors took the Word of God and found it was precious. They found that Christ had paid their debts, that He had been sent by God the Father to poor sinners as a gift, that He had brought forgiveness of sins as a gift, that He had promised eternal life as a gift. In the Gospel they saw they had nothing to do but look to the gift to see its beauty, its magnitude, its preciousness, and be saved; believe in it, love it, and be saved. They saw that in the religion of Christ they had nothing to do but to accept the gift and love the Giver. In those days there was joy in your country—in the beautiful valleys of England, on the magnificent hills of Scotland; but while your ancestors were taking Christ as a gift, another voice came from Rome—a voice of death, the voice of the Pope. He wrote to his bishops and priests, don't you see those heretics who are reading the Bible? Take away that book from them, and force them to come back to our holy Church! But the bishops said: "they prefer to die rather than to give up the Bible." (Applause.) Then the Pope said, "they prefer to die, let them die!" And the sentence of death was passed on all who would read the Bible; the Pope wrote to the kings and emperors of Europe, and told them to go and search everywhere with their sword in their hand, and wherever they found heretics with a Bible, to take it from them and if they refused to give it up to kill them—the old and young, the father and the mother, and the children. "Destroy," said he, "the cities and villages, and put everyone to the sword." In those days there were tears and bloodshed, because the kings and the emperors obeyed the Pope. The blood of martyrs flowed like a river. In France 75,000 Protestants were slaughtered in a single night. In the mountains of Piedmont, I have seen the rocks from the top of which thousands and thousands of Christian men and women were thrown down by the order of the Pope; and the blood flowed everywhere, and there was ruin and desolation and death everywhere; but your ancestors said to each other, Shall we let the Pope kill the last one of us? Have we not the right to fight for our wives and our children? Britishmen! let us go and meet the soldiers of the Pope, and let us fight for the liberty to serve God according to our conscience." (Cheers.) They fought, and the Lord was on their side. Many of them died on the battle-fields, but the bloody sword of the Pope was for ever broken; and now everywhere the British flag floats on the breeze, man has the liberty to serve God according to his conscience. (Loud applause). From the day that Great Britain took the Bible in her arms, and put it on her breast, ready to fight and die rather than lose it, God has taken her by the hand (cheers) and has fought her battles, and has brought her glorious flag in triumph over all the world; and to-day the sun never sets on the empire of the Queen. (Loud cheers.) I bless God that I was born under that glorious flag of Great Britain, for your nation has evidently a great mission in the world. I have travelled a great deal. I am an old man, nearly 70 years of age. I have seen many things, and the more I study men and books, the more I am persuaded that Great Britain has a mighty mission in the world. And I hope God will give her grace to be true to her mission, and that everywhere she goes she will bring the Bible. When I first went to visit England, about twenty years ago, I was astonished to see that little country. England is not much larger than a county in Canada. Canada is twenty times larger than England. (Laughter.) In one day you may go from one end to the other of England. And I said to myself, "Is it possible that such a small people is so great?" Let me tell you of an incident I witnessed four weeks ago. I was going from San Francisco to visit some families among our converts in the territory of Oregon, and just when the small steamer was crossing the Golden Gates we had a head wind, and the waves were terrible. The sea roared round the rocks and beat over the vessel. Just at that moment a thrill of terror passed through everyone on board, as the cry arose, "a man overboard!" We saw the poor fellow struggling to save his life, and shouting, "Oh, for God's sake, save me." The steamer was going full speed, and had left the man a long distance astern. The captain shouted to lower the life boat, but before this could be done, a pale young man, for whom I would not have given five cents, he seemed to be so weak, threw off his coat and plunged overboard. (Cheers.) My friends, I have never seen anything so sublime as the spectacle of that young man struggling against the great waves, which dashed over him and threatened every moment to engulph him, and trying to save a fellowman. He fought for half-an-hour against the sea before the boat could reach him. Unfortunately the first man was drowned. But the young fellow who had risked his life was, we learned, an Englishman. (Loud cheers.) He was a noble boy of Great Britain, a millionaire, lately married. But when he saw a fellow-creature's life in peril, he forgot himself, his page 4 dear wife, his fortune, everything, to save him. I understand why England is so great, when she can train her children to such deeds of heroism. (Cheers.) The British flag, surrounded by such men, must be the flag of the world. (Applause). Now, my friends, there is in our midst a whole people fallen into the deep sea of perdition. They are perishing around us, and what will you do Protestants? Will you insult them? Will you give them bad names? You are safe on the ship of which Christ is the pilot. I ask you, friends, to help me to save them. Many times I have exposed my life to save them. Yes, many times my blood has flowed in my efforts to save my perishing countrymen. And I come here to ask your help. There is not a soul among them which is not as precious to our dear Saviour as any of yours. My Saviour wants me to do all in my power to save them. He asked me to give my money. I gave the last cent I had; I gave my land; I exposed my life. And I ask every one of you to go to the help of the Roman Catholics. Fight the battle against the Church of Rome, not with insulting words, not with sticks and stones, but with the sword which Christ has put in your hands, "the sword of the Spirit," which is the Word of God. For the last three hundred years there has been a battle between Protestantism and Romanism. One of them must conquer; Protestants, if you do not destroy the Church of Rome, the Church of Rome will shortly destroy you. I know the power of England; I have read her history. I know that when she wishes to conquer a nation she lets nothing hinder her. She tells her sons to go and conquer it; the blood flows, the money goes, but the nation is conquered. (Applause.) I tell you, British men, here in Australia and in England, if you would say, "Let us conquer the Church of Rome," the Church of Rome would fall at once. Your politicians speak of peace, but there is no peace possible with her. Fight her, not with bitterness and insults, but with prayer. Go to the mercy seat and pray for the poor deluded people whose souls are perishing. My days are fast drawing to a close, and it seems already I hear the footsteps of the Angel of Death approaching; but I must still fight the battle. Before long I will tell you of my conversion and the conversion of about 25,000 French Canadians. (Cheers.) When Dr. Guthrie, in Scotland, heard the facts, he said it was the most remarkable thing he had ever heard of. The story will be interesting, because God has brought me out of Rome in spite of myself. I did not come out as a brave man. I struggled against my God, but He was the stronger. I thank and bless you for your kindness in listening to my poor broken English address, and I hope you will ask God to guide me, and that you will pray for my dear countrymen who are still bowing to idols. May God bring you to the ways of salvation, and may He make this country great, happy, and free. (Loud and continued cheering.)

A doxology was sung, and Dr. M'Gibbon pronounced the benediction; a stanza of the National Anthem was sung, and the assembly dispersed.