IV.

During our three weeks' stay here it has been our good fortune to enjoy the hospitality of Mr. Henry Gyles Turner, the foremost Unitarian of Victoria, who through forty years has been faithful to our church alike at its best and its worst. He will not see these lines till many weeks have passed from my having bidden him a farewell in all probability final so far as this world is concerned, otherwise I should hesitate to page 94 write what I think, or rather know, of him for fear of seeming to flatter. As an individual it can be of little interest to English Unitarians to hear of Mr. Turner. They will take it for granted that there are good and true men here as there are in every country, and that such a one bears this or that name will not concern them. What interests me and will interest others is to mark here what kind of character is the natural product of our faith, when firmly maintained and consistently avowed. Roman, Anglican, Quaker, Jew, Buddhist, Mahomedan, every form of religion produces good men and women, but the type of goodness is different in each, and in my host I recognise a type quite distinct from any I have seen or heard of in other churches, and altogether like what I have had happy experience of among Unitarians at home.

He is not what would be commonly called a pious man; indeed, his genuine piety has to be inferred from his life and conduct, for of outward signs he is most reticent. One might live in his house from Monday to Saturday, and put him down for a man who was indifferent to churches and creeds of all kinds. But it would be impossible to spend a day in his company without discovering in him the unprofessional philanthropist, one who was interested in all that tended to promote the welfare of his fellows; a politician, but not much of a party man; a reader without any pretension to be a scholar; a lecturer and even occasional preacher in case of need, but always keeping to the broad way of common sense opinions and practical subjects; averse to speculation and fancy page 95 opinions, yet with complete tolerance even of those who, otherwise agreeing with him, follow after such themes: all his life, up to old age, a man of business, dealing in money, yet never hardened by his calling, scrupulous as to the justice of his dealings with his fellows, yet in no wise content with having done mere justice; doing good not as a duty, and not to win heaven, not even to please God, but because his heart inclines him to it; setting no immoderate esteem upon this world's goods, yet in no wise contemning them. Moderately successful in making his way from small beginnings to a position of comparative wealth; eminently successful in winning the recognition of his fellow-citizens as a man distinguished for probity, charity, intelligence, and business capacity. Of such sort have been the laymen who have extorted from the most narrow-minded of other creeds the tribute to Unitarianism, as a religion which in a unique degree combined culture and good works. As long as such men are left to us we need not fear extinction, for each one of them is a host in himself, and a minister should account it more honourable and profitable to exercise a spiritual influence in any degree over such a man than to preach to a crowd of unthoughtful men and women of small account for the regeneration of the world. Of Mrs. Turner it would not be seemly to say more than that she is in every respect a helpmeet worthy of such a husband.

To-morrow we quit this home, in which plain living and high thinking are realised without any discomfort or privation or ostentation of simplicity; it will be our page 96 fault if we are not the better for having enjoyed the society of such a host and hostess.

During our stay the weather has been unfavourable both for pleasure and work. It is midwinter here, and most like a rainy autumn in England, except that we are spared the melancholy reflections suggested by the falling leaves; but it has been wet and chilly. One night that I was advertised to lecture at the church "On the History of English Unitarianism," there was a heavy thunderstorm, and on my arrival I found just nine men and Mrs. Turner assembled. It was suggested that I should forego the lecture, and for the sake of my damp and depressed audience I gladly assented. The public buildings are not warmed, and it is difficult to get people out on cold wet nights, for which indeed I do not at all blame them. One way and another, I have been very fully employed and very pleasantly; how far profitably I cannot say.

For, in addition to the ordinary difficulties of our position with which we are so well acquainted in England, there is here that of distances to a degree I have never met with before. Melbourne is a town or rather a collection of towns, of somewhat over half a million in population, and extends five, six, and even in some directions eight miles from the centre. The tramcars do not run on Sunday morning, and apart from the time and difficulty of getting into church is the expense involved, which would form a serious item in a moderate income. A man who would desire to come in to worship with his wife and say, two children, only once on a Sunday, could not put the page 97 cost down at much less than £12 a year, an almost prohibitive charge on a family of small means. The problem, as it presents itself to me, is how to maintain a little nucleus of regular church goers, who would receive the moral support of a scattered flock of occasional worshippers, avowing their connection with us and prepared to give their assistance and encouragement on special occasions. Such an occasion was the welcome meeting given to me as representative of the Association, and I certainly had no reason to complain either of numbers or heartiness. Dr. Rentoul, the Professor of Theology at the Presbyterian College, who some years ago was the stoutest champion of orthodoxy and led the movement which ejected Dr. Strong from the Church, was prominent among the speakers of the evening. I only regret the scanty notice of his speech which appeared in the papers, for it was of a kind which it would do us all good to read and reflect on. He paid a high compliment to Mr. Lambley, and warned him and us against the delusion of counting heads as a test of success. And, indeed, whoever holds the position of Unitarian minister here has need of much encouragement if he is to keep heart and hold on. Melbourne has many times brought to my mind St. Paul's impression of Athens as a city "exceedingly religious." The four chief denominations—Roman, Anglican, Presbyterian, and Methodist—the last really "United," for the various sections which in England compete for favour are no longer separated here—these all have their churches, schools, and colleges. The Anglicans have page 98 a fine cathedral, and the Roman Catholics a still nobler one, which would be a conspicuous ornament of any English town. Then, besides Baptists Congregationalists and Friends, every sect known to me, including even Mormons, have their places of meeting. The Salvation Army have obtained a splendid building at the cost of the over-vaulting ambition of the Young Men's Christian Association. It would be a disgrace to us, and a loss to the city, if we gave up our efforts to hold our ground, and proclaim a free and wholly reasonable faith. It is true that Dr. Strong, while abjuring the Unitarian name, which has for him no associations such as it must needs have for those who have grown up with it, or like myself have had the opportunities of their best work in churches which are known by it, preaches the same doctrine; but while in entire sympathy with his work and doctrine one cannot but feel that it has the weakness of being all his own, and if he failed or left Australia, "the Australian Church" would, I fear, cease to exist. Mr. Lambley is much more than an able and devoted minister, a gentleman and a scholar; he is the representative of a body which, if numerically insignificant, is recognised far and wide for its maintenance of great principles. He has grudged no labour in preparing the way for me not only here, but in Sydney and Brisbane, and if I were not grown brazen-faced by the necessities of my position, I should have blushed to read on the walls, "The Rev. Charles Hargrove is coming. Look out for Press Notices," but I reflected that it was just because I was unknown to fame that page 99 such advertisements and Press Notices were required. Had I come with the modesty which would befit me as a mere private individual, Melbourne would not have known that I had been here, and the object of my visit would not have been fulfilled. As it is, I have not done much, but I think many will have had Unitarianism brought under their notice who had never heard of it before, and some may be led to inquire, and perhaps join themselves to us instead of "going nowhere," as is the case with so many. Whatever little I may have done, or how much I have failed to do, certain is it that the minister, with the the assistance of a few zealous and faithful friends, have done everything on their part that was possible to make my visit a success. I am told that 8,000 pamphlets supplied by the Association have been delivered by post or by hand, and 5,000 circulars sent out. I am grateful to those who have done so much to help me on my mission, and if the result has not been brilliant it has certainly not been nil. The mere assurance which my visit has brought of the sympathy and interest of English Unitarians with their Australian brethren would by itself have justified the cost and trouble which it has necessarily involved. To-morrow I leave for Launceston, thence on the following Monday for Hobart.

C. H.