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I've been axed be scores o' gintlemin in high posishuns to didicate me Budgit to thim, but I've silicted yoursilf for the high honor on account av our long frinship an' the many starlin' qualities that have reccominded ye to me; but, above all, bekays yer a counthryman o' me own, so ye are. The many plisint evenins that we spint togither when you occupied the iditorial chair o' the New Zayland Times is still fresh in me mimory, an' begorra I'll niver forget the night whin the Markiss an' yourself roulled into me offis on the Kay to ax me to write a laidin' article for nixt morniu's paper, bekays ye felt a little knocked up afther a shampain supper at the Club. Av coorse I don't want to let the public know that ye used to get some o' yer most illigant political idays from me, an' that I've spint many an hour in correctin' the proofs o' yer laidhere; nor is it me intinshun to publish to the world the fact that ye are inditted to me for the numerous coatashuns from Vargil an' Sisero an' Horace (not Bastings) that used to garnish yer articles. Me objict now is to offer you this didicashun as a slight but sinsare thribute av isteem an' respect. To slightly alther a varse o' Tom Moore's, I may ixclaim:—
Although I have not had, as yet the pleasure of paying a visit to Mr. P. Murphy at his residence "Lambton Kay, Willin'ton," that gentleman has honoured me by asking me to contribute a few introductory remarks to his "Budget." The task is a very light one, indeed, for Paddy's effusions are so widely known and so much appreciated in New Zealand by all lovers of good-natured banter, that a lengthy preface would be a superfluous addition to the book. It is now over five years since Paddy first took up his facile pen to amuse the readers of the Saturday Advertlser, and to let the general public into the secrets in connection with the working of our political machinery at Wellington, and from that time to the present he has grown in popular favor. His "pomes an' ipistols" have been re-published in nearly every newspaper of any note in the Colony, and this fact alone is indicative of their merit. I think it will be conceded that no other patois is so capable of being made the medium for the transmission of broad humor and harmless raillery as the Irish brogne. The rich array of epithets (many of them evolved from the mixture of Erse and English phrases brought about by the fusion of the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon races), which are in general use among a large proportion of the Irish working classes, are peculiarly expressive and racy. The idiomatic drollery of the Irish brogue is proverbial, and observations which would fall pointless if expressed in plain English, become mirth-provoking when infused with the quaint phraseology of the Green Isle. Thackeray understood this, and he has given the world some of his most sparkling gems of humor dressed up in the brogue. I have not the temerity to institute a comparison between the "pomes" of my Wellington friend and the "Lyra Hibemica" of the inimitable satirist, but still I make bold to affirm, on the authority of competent critics, that there are at least three or four of Paddy's effusions which would do no discredit to the illustrious
"Sound sense in seeming nonsense, as the grain is hid in chaff."
If, however, the "Budget" be the means of enlivening a leisure hour now and again, the purpose of its author will be served, for although my acquaintance with him is but slight, still I know enough of his character to feel assured that he is only happy when those around him are also happy.
Page 33.—In sixth line of second verse, "Lord Johny Martin," for "root" read "shoot."
A demonstration was hold in Dunedin in favor of retaining the Provincial institutions.
Whisper, Misther Editor, I want to spake a word to ye; jist the laste taste in private, for, betune you an' me, it's a great saycrit I'm going to disclose. At a Cowcass meetin' held a few nights since, wid miself in the chair, it was unaminously resolved that the counthry be cut up into three powerful inchular kingdoms, to consist av the North, the Middle, an' the South Islands, as soon as siparation is carried. I have it on good authority that Sir George is to rule the North, Mac the Middle, an' Stout the South, as he undherstands fishin'. This arrangement gave birth to the followin' beutiful idayas which I have wove into a nate garland av song for the occasion:—
Misther Editor,—Wid the kind permission av me friend Sir George, I sind ye our message to the Saycritary av State for the Colonies, wove into a nate garland av song:—
About this time Mr. Donald Reid seceded from the ranks of the Provincialists.
A serious disturbance took place in London between Turkish and Russian sympathisera.
I hear a grate dale o' rubitch talked about the indipindince o' the Press, but in my humble opinion it's all in my eye an' Betty Martin. Indipindince, indeed! Why, bad scran to thim, sure they didn't even mintion my name in a single tiligram to the papers. Sir George an' Johnny Sheehan an' Misther J. C. Brown was mintioned, av coorse, but the divil a mintion was there made of Misther Murphy at all, at all, although I was the principal boy o' the lot, on the account o' my acquaintance wid the Maori tongue. These reporthers are jealous o' me, that's what's the mather; but the time will come, as the playacthor ses. Av coorse ye want me to give ye a full account o' our intherview wid his Majesty. Begorra, I could fill tin pages o' the 'Tiser wid the goins on up here, but the expinse o' tiligraphing it is so big that I thought it betther to condinse it in the followin' pome.
Now for the pome, and be the same token I may remind yer readhers that I've not throubled thim wid big, long Maori words that they wouldn't undherstand. As I sed before, I've thranslated it, at laiste Johnny Sheehan an' mesilf did it bechune us. Av coorse ye may think I've eggsagerated the account o' the meetin'. But be the hookey I have not. It's thrue for me, divil a word o' lie in it.:—
At Coort.
dhudeen, it's friendship I bring,kid for Sir George," says the King.sale o' Potatau,duck and durrish,
Och blur-an-ounthers, Misther Editor, sure we've had the divil's own fun up here on Widnesday week last, whin Misther Barton unboosomed himself to the ilicthors o' Willinton. Faix he tould thim all about his ancesthors, how he was "the son of an Orangeman, and cousin to a Dane." Be me sowl it warm'd the cockels o' me heart to hear George give an account av his relations. He's not ashamed av his humble origin, like some av our mushroom aristocrats who pritind to have sprung from anshint histhry, and more luck to him for ownin' that his father followed the honest though humble occupation of a fruit dailer. Av course it was no news to me at all, for I knew the ould man well. He kept an orange stall in Stoney Batther, Dublin, and he used to sind little Georgy round the Tey-athers ivery night wid "apples, oranges, nuts, an' limonade," Bad luck to the betther oranges were to be had in Dublin, an' I'm tould that the ould man used to import them himself from Barcyloney. But be the hokey it's news to me to hear that George's cousin is a Dane, Sure I thought Brian Bom dhrove all the Danes into the say at the Battle av Clontarf. But I must have been mistaken, for George's cousin is one. Be-gorra that must be the rayson he wouldn't Dane to apologise to the judges. Och it's a quare world, so it is, an' the more we grow the ouldher we larn. Afther the meetin' George axed me to throw off a pome in honor o' the occasion, so wid the aid o' me Pig-asses I wove the following nate thribute to
Sir William me to go out to the Hutt wid him last night to keep the boys in ordher. Be the hokey it was a grand meetin, and there was grate goins on intirely. We spint a mighty pleasant evenin, but Sir William would press me to take claret naygus, when he knows very well that I dhrink nothin sthronger thin a tumbler or two o' whiskey punch before goin' to bed. The result is that me head is splittin this mornin, and this will account for any blimishes that may be obsarvable in the followin' pome which I've just sthruck off to immortalise the evint. I'm busy packin' up me carpet bag for me Northern tower, for av course I'm goin' to accompany Sir George to the Native Meetin'. I may tell ye as a grate saycrit that meself will be the only mimber of the Press present. The followin' is the pome I was spakin' about:—
Fitz
I promised ye an ipic pome in me last, but be the hokey I'm so complaitely knock'd up afther me tower, that I can't bring me idays into the realms o' the chaste nine. Av course ye've read the report o' the korero in the daily papers, so I'll not throuble ye wid a raycapitulation of the procaidins. But I'll just lift the vail from a little private taty-tate (Frinch) that I had wid his Majesty afther Sir George had retired for the night. We wur saited in the Palace, be a cosy fire, mesilf an' the mo;iarch—and be the same token his Majesty's throne on the occasion was a J D K Z gin ciise—just takin' a quiet dhrop o' the craythur together, an' talkin' over ould times, when his Majesty turned the conversashun on to the lost thribe o' Israel. I'll thranslate the discoorse for ye as nearly as me mimry sarves me. Afther his Majesty had swallowed his ninth tumbler o' punch, from a pannikin, he dhrew his throne close to me, an' says he, "D'ye know what it is, Paddy? Iver since I've read that lecture o' Misther Rees's in the "Whin Malay-kee wore the collar o' goold."Tay Wanangy (that's our Maori newspaper) on 'The Lost Thribes o' Israel, I feel convinced that the Maoris are a branch o' the thribe o' Dan, that lauded in the Ould Sod ages ago," ses he. "My word to ye, O frind," ses he, "we're closely related," ses he. "Arrah! yer Majesty is only jokin'," ses I. "Sure, ye'd niver think of couplin, sich haythin naygurs as the Maoris wid the anshint hayros that landed in Ireland wid the Profit Jeny-mia I "ses I." Musha! faith, thin, I would," ses the King; "an' why not?" ses he. "Maybe ye think bekaise I dhress up in the simple kostchume av the primitive nobility that I'm not varsed in anshint hisihry," ses he; "but don't be deludin' yerself wid that notion, avick machree, for I can tell ye, me bould bouchil, that I know more about crownology thin some o' yer grand professors," ses he. Begorra, I noticed that his Majesty's timper was getting up, an' he began to look hungry, so I thought it betther to humor him a little wid the laste taste av the blarney, so I ses to him, "Och blur-an-ounthers, does yer Majesty suppose for one instant that I'd daar to doubt yer royal wurd? "ses I. That calmed him down, so he ses in a milder voice," Now Paddy, asthore, greetings to thee, 0 frind, Paddy, d'ye imagine that I'd have been so polite an' curchus to Sir George, av it wasn't for your sake?" "Be no manner o' mains," ses he. "I know that yerself an' meself are related, and I'll explain it to ye," says he. "Be dad, yer Majesty, I'm proud o'the family connec-
Av coorse he was a Malay too. Thin there's the national name Pa-thrick; an sure ivery one knows that it refers to a game o' forty-fives played by two av our mutual ancesthors in an anshint Pa, when the Irish King brought his five-fingers down on the Maori King's ace, an made a jink o' the game. But the strhongest av all is the fact av our family names beein the same. Sure ye know, allanah, that me royal sire's name was Potaty, and whats a Potaty but a Murphy? Tell me that—d'ye mind me, now? "An' his majisty fell on me busum an sobbed wid fratenil imotion till he woke Sir George, who was sleepin on some bags o' praties in the comer. The scene that followed is more aisily imagined thin described. Sir George was delighted wid the sarcumstance, an if we didn't kick up the divil's own ructions till momin', ye can call me a Dutchman, Betune you an me it was this little ipisode that settled the Native question; an Sir George may thank me for the successful termination o' the korero. I've left Sir George at Kawau, as I'd to come to the ould woman—she felt so lonely widout me.
Av coorse ye've lam't be tiligram that we've called Rewi to the House o' Peers (hell be a jetty peer so he will) an' he's to take his saite this session. Well the news has given mortial offince to a number of his thribe, at laiste so I'm tould. One clansman of his, a young Naughty-man-a-pote-o, has sthrung off the followin' lamintation in consiquince, an' mesilf an' Johnny Sheehan have thranslated it. We done it be bad gaslight, and that's the rayson the meether is out of ordher:—
Tangi for Rewi.
Air—" Tulloughmore."ruin that's called blue,red tape is now yer necthar,mana,screw;
Be the hokey it's a blackguard shame, so it is, that those mane pinny-a-liners av the New Zayland Times an' the Cantherbury Press, an' sich like rags, should be allowed to blackguard us in the way they're goin on. They say we're divided amongst ourselves, bad cess to thim, whin they know we're as continted as the happy family in Woomewell's Minagery. They say that the Kurnil is a Tory, whilst Sir George and the Attomey-Gineral are Socialists an' Red Republicans in disguise; but the views we hould, when weighed in our will not be farasthray. Maybe the notions of meself an' Rabby an' Sir George are a thrifle more advanced than our collaiges, but that matthers very little avick machree, for sure we can rayson wid one-another in our discoorses, an' Mac's ile always smooths the throubled wathers. I've sthrung off the followin thrifle in connection wid the above remarks:—
Be dad I've been laid up wid a sivare could for the last week, an' Mrs. M. has been puttin' bottles o' hot wather to me feet an' bottles o' the crayther to me stomik ivery night, in ordher to work the could out. This evenin' I've been purusin Misther Tinnyson's pomes as I sat be the hob, an' be gorra there's some av his iffusions very dacent productions fora pote of his kaliber, for shure he's not a grate bard be any mains. Be gorra his title will tell ye that, for faix he's called the Pote Lower-rate, so he can't be a first-rate child o' the muses like meself. Afther I finished readin that illigant lamintation av his called "Locksley Hall," the iday inthered into me head av improvin' on it, an' as we open Parlamint in the mornin', I sthruck off the followin' gim, which you must allow is a long way shuparior to the original:—
I tould ye in my last tiligram that I felt a little faverish, and that I was undher Mrs. M.'s thratement. Well, on the mornin' o' the openin' o' Parlimint the Markiss dhruv up to me offiss, an' sint the Usher o' the Black Rod in to call me out to attind the sarmony, but be the hokey I couldn't lave the house, an' more-be-token I'm not able to go out ist yit, as I've a musthard blisther to me clist, besides a pair o' flannel thrunks on me legs. As me bedroom is on the top story, a frind o' mine has advised me to thry Slesinger's Room-attic Balsam, and maybe ye'd sind me a bottle or two up.
Begorra the Markiss was mighty put out bekaise I couldn't attind, as the House seemed so lonely widout me. In the coorse o' the same day, I re-cayved the followin' note from his Lordship:—
Me Dear Paddy,—I was mighty sorry to hear that ye couldn't attind the Openin', so I was. Sure as yerself was the principal concocther o' the Speech, yer presence would have given me confidence in its delivery. The press and the gineral public thinks there's a dale o' grit in the composition. A grate many people think that a Governor's billet is a sinnycure, but begorra if they knew the decaite a boy in my position has to practice they'd alther their opinion, so they would. Av coorse you know Paddy Allanah what me rale sintiments are on New Zayland Polyticks, an' you can aisily concaive how mighty small I felt in givin' vint to the discoorse put into me mouth be yerself an' yer collaiges. Be jabers I was ashamed to look the mimbers forninst me in tbe face, and bad scran to it, I felt as if I had as big a bump of idayality as Captain Jackson Barry. I sind ye wid this letther a limonaid bottle-full av some ginuine Innshowen, imported be meself. Tell the aid-to-cong that fetches this how yer gettin' on, and believe me yours fraternally,
Well, avick machree, ye'll glaine from the four-goin' epistol that I'm not able to give ye much news this week, but I'll be about the lobbies before yer next isshue. Saymour George moved the Reply, and the Sargint at Arms moved the Mace, Docther Wallis takes the lade av the Opposition, wid Rolleston an' the Major as wheelers, a mighty purty tandim. They're keep-in' their tackticks quiet as yit, the dirty, snakin' varmints, but begorra we've got the whip hand o' thim so we have, and we know how to use it, so we do. I advised Sir George to raise Johnny Martin to the Council on account av his large heart and his big purse. There's worse gossoons thin Johnny kickin' about, I can tell ye, an' the following thribute is not undesarved:—
be-the-hushty, that's Irish nate
Begorra there's goin' to be a mighty purty ruction in the Kabinet betchune meself an' the rest o' the boys; an' faix I'm sorry for it, for sure ye know asthore, that I've been the right-hand man o' the Provinshil Party from the outset. But human indurance has its limits, an' Be the piper that played before Moses I'll not stand it any longer, so I wont, that's the soart o' man that I am. The long an' the short on it is that meself an' me callaiges are split on the Budget. It's a tuppinny-ha'pinny consam from first to last, an' though some people may call it a finc-anshil statement, Be the hokey I can't see anything fine about it. It's about as mane a Ballance-sheet as I've iver clapped eyes on. The Threasurer has no idays beyant a hapinny bekaise he says it's a "homely coin" that reminds him o' the first Glasgow magisthrate he made the acquaintance of, whin he first wint over to Scotland rapin' the harvest, for sure he's a counthryman o' mine, but Be the powers I'm not the laste taste proud of him, so I'm not. Betwixt you an' me I've a notion that he must have sarved his time to the tinkerin' thrade, from the contints o' his budget. It's nayther fish, flesh, nor good red herrin'. An' talkin' o' red herrin', be dad he's not capable o' raichin' even to a sprat.
hops? Why, bad cess to yer thick head, Paddy aioon, all the colleens in the counthry would go stark, starin' mad if we tax'd the hops," Now, I can stand a dale o' nonsince from Mac, an' Stout, an' Sir George, bekaise we know one another so well, an' work into one another's hands; but be jabers I can't stand the Threasurer at all at all, so I can't, so I answers him back in the followin' words; "Why, ye mane, dirty, ignorant bosthoon, ye low-lived, ill-bred varmint, ye incultivated (ommadhaun, how daar ye talk to me like that." Well, he comminced to soother me whin he saw me timper risin', an' ses he, "Be the vartu o' me oath, I hadn't the laist intintion to insult ye," ses he, "but sure, ye know, achorra, that the girls can't do widout hops" ses he. "Musha, faith thin, they can," ses I, "for sure ivery little saimstress an' sowin'-machine girl, instead of attendin' to their threadles an' iling their machines properly, must go off ivery night to the Assimbly wid young M'Sausage, the imbryo butcher, dandy Thrimmins, the couather jumper, or Wigson, the barber's clerk. Faix nothin' less will do them than Bal Maskews (Frinch) an' Karnivals, and Im Sees, and sich rubbish. If the hops consisted av good Irish jigs an' reels, there would be some sinse in it," ses I, "an' the long an' the short of it is," ses I, gettin' mighty warm on the subject, "unless hops are tax'd, I'll lave the Kabiuit." Jist at that moment, Mac and Sir George dhropp'd in, and thried to pacify me, but "No Surrendher" is the motto o' the Murphies (at laist of our branch o' the family), and unless the Threasurer gives way, be jabers there'll be a row in the House. More particulars in me nixt.
I tould ye in me last tiligram that I'd made up me mind to lave the Kabinit unless Misther Ballance althered his idays on the fine-anshil question. Well, avick machree, me collaiges seein' that they could'nd stand a day widout me, set a thrap to catch me, for shure they knows how tindher-hearted I am whin me feelins is appailed to. So what does Mac do but invite our collaiges an the principal mimbers av our party, to av little flare-up at his lodgins a few evenins ago. Be-gorra it was a grand turn out intirely, so it was. There was lashins and lavins av atin' and dhrinkin', an' I niver tasted betther sperrits in the whole coorse av me life. Afther Misther Ballance an' mesilf dhrownded our little differences in a tumbler o' punch, he favored us wid the followin' milody:—
Air: "The Boys o' the Irish Brigade."
Misther Ballance's health an' song was dhrunk in bumpers, after which Mac favoured us wid the followin' Scotch gim, which I tuk down in writin', so that I might give ye a correct varsion av' the silvery doorrick av' the North, as it's called:—
Jay See.
Air; "Nelly Broon,"
whip I like a crack,
Misther Stout was next called on for a song, but he gave a recitation instead, in illigant style. The piece selected by me honourable collaige was "The Soord Chant of Thorstein Rowdy." This anshint hayro was an ould Norse Say-King, who was the divils own boy for women an' whisky in the Shetland Islands some cinturies ago. He was aftherwards convarted, an' became a Good Templir, an' that's why Misther Stout takes sich an intherest in his histhry.
Afther Misther Stout finished the Chant, the boys would have me up for a song, so I gave thim the followin' ixtimporary thrifle, to that dear ould tchune, "The Warin' o' the Green ":—
Taxin' O' the Beer.
mug,bill.
Sir George thin gave, in a fine tinner voice, the followin' chant, which he lamed at the racint korero:—
Av coorse ye've noticed how that ould haythun Sir Michael Hicks-Baich snubb'd us by answerin' our kablecram through the Markiss. Faix he's gettin' a grate boy intirely' so he is, since he got into the Tories' Kabinit; but be the hokey he'd betther take care, or Ill use me influince wid Dizzy to have him kicked out. Sir George was in a mortial state of pashin whin he got the first maymo from His Ixcillency. He rushed up up to me office wid the paper in his hand, an' ses he, "Tundher an' turf, Paddy, what d'ye think o' this insult? Afther lookin' it over, I replies, Me dear George, in this deginerate age an' counthry jewels are not in vogue, or, be the Rock o' Cashel, I'd call the Markiss out an' give him a breakfast on lead, so I would; but as the matther stands we must thrate it wid silent contimpt," ses I. "Begorra, I think yer right," ses the Prime-ear, but no matther the time will como," ses he, as he snatched his hat and rushed down stairs. Whin I was lift alone I began to roominate on the subject, and considher how I should rimonsthrate wid Mickey Baich, as I used to call him whin we wor at school together; for sure his fosther-mother that lived at the crass-roads beyant the boreen, used to clane the knocker av me father's hall doore, so she used. Maybe ye'd like to know how Mickey got the pray-fix Hicks before his name. Well, it was in this way:—The cunnin' young varmint used to stale into Darby Molloy's sheebeen an' take the spile out o' the whiskey-kag, whin
hic-cups. Thin the gosoons gave him the nickname av Hicks-Spaiche, which has since been corrupted into Hicks-Baich, bekays it's more aristocratic. But the dirty bosthoon has turned his coat and become what we call in Ireland, a "Uastle-Hack," an' he's got a saite in the Government for bethrayin his counthry, so he has, an' he turns up his nose at the likes o' me an' you. Och, bad luck to his dirty pride, it's mesilf that wouldn't condisind to take tay wid sich a low-bred varmint. Afther cogitatin' in this way for some time, I felt the inspiration o' the chaste nine stalin' for all the world like wather down a duck's back, an' I tchuned me harp to the followin' illigant sthrains:—
thrapsbob of Bobbies' pay,mail
Begorra I've been so busy helpin' Mac wid his Public Works Statement that I've no time to sind ye anything av importance this week, barrin' the information that I'm comin' down wid the boys to open the railway. Av coorse I'll thravel incog-night-o (the lihteral manin' of which word is that I'll be undher a cloud, and keep me idintity dark), bekaise if the public discovered m, Be the man-in-the-moon there'd be a thrimindichus dimonsthration, an' Be jabers, Sir George might get jealous; besides, I hate dimonsthrations in favour o' mesilf. Modesty an' whisky is me partikular waikness. But whisper, an' I'll tell ye a grate sacrit; but ye must keep it quiet, or I'll be found out. If ye see a fine, bould, gintlemanly-lookin' man, wid a good ould Milesian face, dhressed in a blue frock coat, snuff-coloured throusers, an' a slight Frinch accint, walkin' about wid, or sittin' nixt, the Markiss, that will be me, for that's the soart o' man that I am; but don't tell anybody, avick machree, or they'll be wantin' to prisint me wid addresses an' purses o' sovereigns at ivery little township, an' 'pon me sowl I've a sovereign contimpt for sich things. Ajew for the present, an' keep yer eye on the Markiss an' his tall frind,
N.B.—We are lavin' our Bobby to watch the Threasury.
Av coorse yer tin thousand readhers will be looking out anxiously for yer humble sarvint's account o' the Openin' o' the Railway, and the thrip down from Willin'ton, an' begorra I'm sorry for it, for I've the divil's own headache to-day afther last night's banket, an', in konsiquince, I'll not be able to give ye sich a graffic report as I might have sint ye under more propishious sarcumstances. Howsomever, I'll thry an' give ye a brief outline o' the dimonsthration. Av coorse ye know that mesilf an' the Markiss kum down to Lyttelton in the Nymphe, whilst the rest o' the boys thravelled in the Hineymo an' Taupo. Only two mimbers of the Ministhry, besides mesilf, kum down, as the rest o' me collaiges are busy makin' out "our bills, bekaise it's the beginning o' the month. Me two fellow Ministhors, Misther Stout an' Farmer Fisher, wint aboord the Hineymo, but the Markiss insisted that I should thravel wid him in the Nymphe, which landed in Port Cooper a day sooner thin the other mimbers. Begorra we got a grand recipshun in Christchurch, so we did. Five bould warriors, mounted on hansom chargers (splindid kab horses, out o' complimint to the Kabinit), wid dhrawn soords, galloped afther the Vice-raygil carriage to the Club, where our party put up. Thin kum Docthor Fosther, robed in his a-cad-dam-ical
This was one o' the most illigant affairs I've iver pathronised. The tables groaned undher the plates, an' tumblers, an' wather-jugs, an' ivergreens, an' corn-tongues, an' spoons, an' knives, an' forks, an' jellies, au' blue-monges, an' yallow-monges, an' red-monges, wid here an' there a bottle av claret an' a decanther av sherry to relaive the plisint monotony o' the festive seen, whilst at the Vice-raygil ind o' the table, where me an' the Markiss sat, there was three whole bottles av rale shampain, the divil a word o' lie in it. His Worship's liberality was most magnanymous, an' I'm tould on good authority that the gintlemin o' the press, who wor privileged to sit up above in the reporther's coop, wor thrated to a small bottle o' rodhero, betchune tin o' them. Sich ginerosity desarves to be rekorded. I'll not throuble ye wid a report av the spaiches. They wor grand crashuns intirely, so they wor, and Docthor Turnbull surpassed himself, but it was a mortial pity that he cut his spaich so short. He wound up wid the followin' poetic piroration, which he thranslated himself from the Moorish language:—
Afther the bankit our party returned to the Club, an' tuk a few tumblers o' punch to sittle our stomiks, an' keep off the nightmare. Thin we had a sixhanded game o' forty-fives, as it wasn't worth while turnin' in afore the time o' startin'. Mesilf, the Markiss, an' Pat O'Rell, our aid-to-kong (Frinch), wor partners, whilst Major Lain, Kaptin Townsind, an' George M'Lean, wor our veesey-vees (Frinch). We bait thim two out o' three, owin' to me shuparior knowledge o' the game. The Major thried to chaite once or twice, but I was too knowin' for him. These ould sojers are up to all kinds o' thricks, so they arc. An' now for a condinsed account o'
It was a glorious momin'. The purple fingers av Appollo (a haythin god) wor dhrawin' aside the crimson curtins from the gooldin couch o' Sol in the gorgeous west, an' the deep boomin' av the mighty ocean seemed to sing pay-ins in honour av the occashun. The grand voice av the say an' the main seemed to say, "Success to the main line o' railways," an' as I pondhered on the murnful dirges o' the deep, I exclaimed wid Tinnyson—
An' now the fog-horn blows, the guards jump aboord, an' a thrimindchious cheer bursts from the stintorian lungs av one juvenile pathriot as he waves a dirty little pocket-hankercher in the mornin' breeze, an' cries "hooray."
Whiz, whiz, whizing we go be paddock, field, garden, an' plain, an' as the clock sthrikes eight, the towers av Ashburton loom in the distance, an' the Markiss whispers to me, "Be the hokey, I'm ready for breakkust, Paddy." Arrivin' at
an addhress is prisinted to us, expressin' loyalty, etccthra, an' we rush over to the Town Hall, where a very nate raypast greets our oilfactory narves. Aither breakfast we inspect a fine Bullock that tuk first prize at the Corporation Show a few days before. We jump aboord again, an' rush across the plains to Timaru. As we come close to this important say-port, Misther Wakefield points out the breakwather to us in the distance through the tiliscope av idayality. Arrivin' at
we recaive a perfect ovation. Thriumphal arches, an' flags, an' banners, an' po-shays take us for a dhrive round the town, an' in half-an-hour we return an' make another start, laivin' siviral av our passingers behind us. A couple of hours more brings us to
where a grand war-like display awaits us. The intire army of the White City are dhrawn up in battle array. The squadhrons an' battalions parade wid soords dhrawn and baignets gleamin' in the noon-day blaze, whilst the hayros' eyes flash marshal ardhor, an' their mustashes bristle wid fierce emotion as the vice-raygil salute is fired. Afther inspectin' the breakwather we return to lunch, an' murther-in-Irish, ye never saw sich a sight in yer born days. Talk about the poor craythurs runnin' afther victuals in the Chinese famine, 'pon me sowl it was only small pittaties compared to the rush made to the banket hall at Oamaru. We wor led into a big bam, through laborinths of cornsacks, till we kum to a narrow staircase, where we filed up one be one to the banket. Av coorse mesilf and the vice-raygil party had nothin' to complain av, as we raiched the hall first an' devoured two turkeys before the company was saited. Be me conshinse it was as good as a play to see tbe Markiss get up wid a turkey's dhnim-stick in one hand an' a glass o' rhodhero in the other to respond to the toast av his health, proposed be Major Stewart in felicichus language, I may here menshin ong-pass-on (Frinch), that we only left about twinty av our passingers at Oamaru. Nothin' av importance happened until we raiched
an' 'pon me conshinse, I must confess that the people o' Palmerston turned out like gintlemin on the occasion, and tuk the shine out av ivery other place on the rout. There was lashins an' lavins av shampain an' cakes, an' it was the only town on the voyage whore we wor greeted wid good, sound, hearty cheers. But, av coorse, the enthusiasm av the Palmerstonians is aisily ixplained, for sure the Mayor—Mickey Fagan—is a Patlander, an' whativer an Irishman's failins may be, want of hospitality an' ginerosity is not one of thim, so it's not. On we go agin be the desarted village o' Waikouaiti, that was once inhabited be an intherprising' race, but is now lonely an' dissolute, like Gooldsmith's sweet Auburn—
I mintally exclaimed as we swept be the lonely ruins. Nothin' further av importance happened until we raiched Deborah Bay tunnel, whin an incident occurred that's worthy av notice. Before intherin the tunnel, me ould Ingin fiind, the Naybob, who had his quarthers in the nixt apartment to our State carriage, called me out on to the platform, an' whispered in me ear, "Blur-an-ages, Paddy asthore, don't lave me, don't lave me, avick machree, for faix ther's some ladies in the thrain, an' iver since that Valentine Baker affair, I'm mighty narvous goin' through tunnels in the company o' faimailes
Be the hokey-poker, me pin lacks iloquince to discribe the grand ovation we recaived at the Dunaidin Station. The volunteers, undher Kurnil Stavely, looked mighty imposin', dhrawn up in line av battle, only it was so dark we couldn't see thim, so we couldn't Thin there was the illicthors lights (a manhood suffrage dimonsthration), an' illuminations on Watsous', an' Sargood's, and the Banks, an' the braes, an' the public buildins. Begog, it was a fine sight intirely, so it was. A carriage an' four greys wor waitin' to take mesilf an' the vice-raygil party to the Club, but who the dickens should I meet at the station but me cousin Mick, who keeps the City Hotel, an' he would force me home wid him in spite o' the remonsthrances o' the Markiss, who feels miserable if I'm not always be his side whiu he's thravellin'. Av coorse dacincy wouldn't allow me to turn the could shouldher on me own kith an' kin, for although I occupy a more ixalted position thin me rilitive, still there's no dirty pride about me, an' blood is sthronger than wather, so it is. I need hardly tell ye that Mick made me as welkim as the flowers o' May to the City, an' he got a warmin'-pan to me feet, bekaise I'm not cured o' me could yit. Whin I tell ye that it's twinty-one years since Mick an' I parted, ye'll undhérstand how glad we wor to meet again. Whin we lift the County Waxford together, he imigrated to Boston, an' I kum out to New Zayland. Av coorse our first few words o' greetin' was in our native language, as follows:—" Och asthore, banachlath gude deamatha thu grah machree?" ses Mick. "Arrah bather shin ma bouchileen bawn, shule aroon, shin-fane shin-fane, thiggin thu," ses I, That inded the discoorse in Gaelic, an' "Kinnahin," from Belfast, was brought in to keep us company. As I've to start in the mornin' be the thrain, in ordher to be up at the nixt Kabinit sayance in Willin'ton, I have been forced to write this on the Sunday against me will. The ixcillint banket given last night be yer Mayor (Misther Leary) suggested the following thrifle:—
Inn Bee.—A grate many people is wondherin' why I didn't wair me Coort shuit at the Dimonsthration, but I forgot to take it out o' me uncle's on the Kay.
Be the powers o' Moll Kelly, bad luck to the thing is stirrin' at all, at all, since me last, barrin'a slight conthra-tongs (Frinch) wid Misther Stout about the gosoons who clane the pewthers (these political measures resaive more attintion thin the other political measures) at Bellamy's, an' be dad me collaige got the best o' the arguments, so he did. I tuk tay wid the Markiss a few nights ago, an' he was axin me advice about pro-rogue-in the House. Av coorse I advised him to sind the mimbers about their business at his airliest possible convaineance, for sure mesilf and me collaiges want some leasure to matchure our idays an' plans for the futchure. Be the vartu o' me oath, I've jist discovered a consperacy to upset us, an' place Docthor
Parsing but Prime-ear is out o' the question, so it is. As I was goin' home a few nights ago from Bellamy's I dhropped across two mimbers who pritind to be grate frinds av ours intirely, an' the following convirsation inshued, which I've sthrung into a nate liar-ie or lamintation. I know their names well, an' be jabers if they give me any av their jaw I'll let the cat out o' the bag on thim, so I will.
As its mighty onconvaynient to sind ye tiligrams from this place, not to talk o' the expinse o' long missages, I've tuk the liberty av sindin' ye an ipistol instead. Faix, I've had the divil's own divarshun since I kum here, wid the purty little swarthy darlints that live on the island, an' in me nixt letther I'll let ye into all the saycrits connected wid me love advinchures. Me business now is to tell ye av a little insident which tuk place at Auckland whin I was passin' through. The day afore I left that city a diputashun from the Angle-o-Is-rale Society waited on me, an' axed me to deliver a short addhress afore the mimbers o' their institushin. Afther a little prcssin' I consinted, an' that same night I was welkimed be an illigant assimblage, who gave me a rale hearty cead mille failtha. Afther the chairman inthroduced me to the company, an' the applause which me name avoked had cooled down a bit, I got on me legs, amidst thrimindons cheers, an' delivered the followin'
Ladies and Gintlemin,—Whin we luk back into anshint histhory in the dim vistas (they had no wax vistas in those times) o' the past, we shall be-hould a long line av potes an' warriors an' bould hayros springin' like mushrooms from the green ould sod to which mesilf has the honor to belong. Avcoorse ye rimimber how Tom Moore glorifies those days when he siNgs o' Malachi, who "wore the collar o' goold which he won from the proud in-vadher," an' from this we glane that Malachi had something to do wid the profit o' that name, or he couldn' afford to waire a collar o' goold, so he couldn't. Begorra, they wor grate boys intirely in those days, and that's the rayson I think that sich swells must have kum from the yeast to the west
ong passong (Frinch) that this same Malachi lift his collar o' goold for a month or two wid his uncle, Jeremiah O'Flaherty, one o' the thribe o' Dan, who kept a Beer-sheebeen an' a pawn shop. Hince arose the flayin', "from Dan to Beersheebeen,") But, ladies an' gintlemen, we have more convincin' proofs still av our Jewish origin. I'll not wairy ye be goin' back to the times o' the Princess Tephi, who, it is wrongly stated be me frind Misther Rees, landed from a balloon at Tara. The purty little darlint landed in Cork from a herrin' smack, and dhrove in a low back car to the Royal saite o' the anshint King, where the craythur was recayved wid open arms be an ancesthor o' me own called Phadrig Mohr, who got that name on account av his strength. (It may be minshined here that, although Phadrig recayved this craythur wid open arms, he always recayved the other craythur wid open mouth.) I'll not take up yer time wid recountin' the brave deeds o' Fin M'Coul, who tuk the chair o' King David from Tara to Scone, in Scotland, an' more shame for him, so it was. The divil a day's luck he iver had aftherwards, for afther he wint to Scotland wid O'Sheean, the pote, an ancesthor of Johnny's—he got nearly kilt intirely in the highlands, where his frind O'Sheean plaid the bagpipes an' ait porritch for many a long day. (That's therayson Johnny basa warm side for Mac, jist bekaise their muchual ancisthors, just like themselves, played many purty tchunes together, an' the people in those days, the same as now, had to pay the piper.) Av coorse its not necessary to inform larned saveyongs (Frinch), like those I see before me, that the faimale name Judey, which is so common in the Ould Dart, is merely a corrupshin av Judeya, an' that the whiskey punches which the boys are so fond av dhrinkin' in Ireland, derived their name from Punches Pilot, who, be the same token, was the idintical man that acted as pilot to the thribe o' Dan, whin they arrived at Cork. He was a Roman from his own counthry at the time. Thin agin, sure, Soolivan comes from the house o' Solomon (the blackguard has been pawnin' his watch there); and Jerry Connelly has sprung from Jerry-Co (Co is short for Connelly). Agin, the favorite ixprission Arrah is derived from Arrah-rat. But what's the use o' goin' through the long list o' proofs which I have at me fingers' inds. Sure it's as plain as a pike-staff to any man av common sinse that we are the lost thribes, an' on some fuchure occasion I'll make it me business to thrace the janyological three o' the Royal family back to Noah himsilf—iin' that's a long way further thin David. An' now, ladies and gintlemin, allow me to Say a few words in conclusion. Purmit me, on behalf o' science, on behalf o' civilization, oa hehalf av anchint histhry, an' on behalf o' the lost thribes, to thank ye very sinsairly for year able resarches in the ark-hives o' the misty past. It's a glorious work, it's a noble task, it's a grate undhertakin' intirely, so it is. The benefits which the discovery will confir on humanity are incalkulable, an' be the powers, I believe yer labours will have the iffect o' makin' the earth rivolve quicker on its axes, not to spake of its planes an' circular saws. Av coorse there may be a few invious individuals who will have the ignorance to assirt that ye, ladies an' gintlemin, would find betther imploymint for yer spare time in looking afther the lost thribes o' larrikins who run about our sthreets in rags an' ignorance, but ganuses of your stamp can afford to thrait such insinuations wid becomin' scorn. Go on wid yer grate work, an' if ye parsarvaire ye're sure to come acrass the lost thribes in jew time, so ye are."
When I sat down the applause was thriminchous, an' the mimbers rushed to embrace me, and to inroull me on the free list o' the Society. I'll send you a new pome for yer nixt.
Begorra, I'm back agin, so I am, and be the same token, Molly won't lave me have a momint's pace. She's continually taisin' me about the sable darlints up at Kawau. Sir George and meself came down in the Hineymoa just to see the Markiss befoie be laves us. His Ixcillincy is in the divil's own timper becaise I won't sell out and go over to Milbourne wid him, "What'll I do at all, at all, widout ye," ses he to me the other night whin we wor at tay together, "Sure, ye've been me right-hand man, Paddy, asthore machree "ses he; an' be the powers o' Moll Kelly, I'll be all at say in Victorian polyticks whin I haven't ye to coach me up in them," ses be. "Arrah, don't go on like that me lord," ses I, "sure I put our muchual frind, Pat O'Rel, up to a rinkle or two that'll keep yer IxcelUncy out of all scrapes," ses I. "D'ye till me so?" ses he. "Musha, faith thin, I do," ses I, "an' what's more, I've wrote yer Lordship a node imbodyin' some sinsible advice, which, if yer Ixcillincy follows up, will keep ye clear av all difficulties an' throubles," ses I. "Oh, luk at that now," ses his lordship, as he grasped me hand an' sobbed out his gratichude on me fratimal breast. The pome to which I allude is hereby forwarded to ye wid this tiligram. It's just the same soart of advice which me great Shaksparian counthryman, Paul O'Neyus, tindhers to his gossoon whin he's sittin' out on his thravels ou the dhram-attic stage. (It's called the dhram-attic stage bekaise the "Stars" ginerally keep a bottle o' three stars in one o' the little dhressin'-rooms on the top flat). Av coorse, Paul O'Neyus, an' his son Layerteys, an' O'Rayshio, an' the other boys, are only play-acthors in the thragedy ov Ham-let (which refers to a ham that was let out for sandwiches on the coast o' Denmark). The Markiss was touched to the heart wid the plaintive milody o' me farewell verses, an' he's promised to lave me a lock av his vice-regal hair for Molly's locket. Oh! locket that now. (Bechune you an' me, I'm not a jealous man, or his Ixcillincy's delicate little attinshins to Molly might be puttin' quare thoughts in me head. I've been tould that the Vice-raygil carriage has been up an' down the Kay purty often durin' me absince up North). His Lordship intinds to have the iffusion printed in goold kar-acthers on white satin, an' hung up in his new manshin on the banks o' the Yarra.
Begorra I ixpict yer readhers will be wondherin' what's become o' me, at all at all, havin' sint ye no tilicrams for the last few weeks. Some mane blackgard has been hoaxin' one o' yer contimporaries, pretindin' that I was down at Invercargill at the Openin', an' that I put up at me cousin Mick's, in Dunaydin. Faix I've been as busy as a nailor here for the last fortnight, helpin' the Markiss to pack up his thraps. Betchune you and me I've had the divil's own job fixin' up the Vice-raygil jewils, which, be the same token, are gettin' the worse o' the wair. Mesilf an' Pat O'Rell have been polishin' up his Lordship's soord and spurs, so that be may look clane an' dacint whin he lands in Mitburne. 'Pon me conshinse the Markiss was as plaised as Punch whin I read me farewell pome to him, so he was. "Blur-an'-ounthers, Paddy aroon," ses he, as the jews o' gratichude gathered in his eyes, I'll niver be able to repay ye, me boy, tor the tinth part o' yer kindness to me, so I won't," ses he. "Arrah, don't minshin' it, me Lord," ses I, "Sure I'll give ye a few lines to Brieny O'Lougblin, the Actin'-Prime-ear av Victoria, an', begorra, he'll take care that yer Lordship is thrated wid ivery respect, so he will," ses I. The Markiss couldn't spake in reply, but the warm shake o' the hand which he gave me, as the tears thrickled down his Vice-raygil nose, spoke volumes o' gratichude. Arrah, ye may talk as ye plaise av dimocracy, an' radicalism, an' manhood suffrage, but ther's nothin' to aiqual a dhrop o' the rale ould blood, after all, so there's not. Shure the Markiss an' mesilf have both sprung from anshint histhory, an' that's the rayson ther's always been a kind o' grah betchune up. I've been givin' Pat O'Rell a few lessons in the noble art av self-difince, as he thinks it'll be useful to him in Austhraily, where ther's so many larrykins. I'll be down wid his Lordship on the 17th, to see him safely off. Tell Mick to keep a bed for me.
Arrah, be the powers o' Moll Kelly, I've niver been so much decaived in the whole coorse o' me life, so I've not. I recayved yer tiligram tellin' me how the citizens o' Dunedin wor so much dissapointed at me not comin' down, an',begorra, I'm sorr for dissopointin' thim, so I am. The fact o' the matther is, jist as I got away from the Kay wid the Markiss I discovered that me coort shuit was left behind, Molly havin' forgot to put it, along wid me box o' paper collars, in me carpet bag. Well, av coorse I wouldn't dhrame o' thravellin' on a State occasion widout me coort shuit, so I wouldn't; not that I've the laste taste o' pride mysilf, personally, but I like to keep up the dignity o' me office, for, faix, av I don't, none o' me other collaiges will. The Markiss thried to persurvide me to go down widout it, an' promised to lind me his second-hand swallowtail (a garmint, betchune you an' me, that's been five generations in the family o' the Phipps's), but I refused the honour, so I did, for second-hand clothes don't become me. I won't ray-cap-itulate the scene av me partin' wid the Markiss, as it would be only openin' up the flood-gates o' sorrow agin. Just as we wor shakin' hands for the last time I popped the followin' little note into his hand, an' be the hokey, it'll do him more good in Victoria thin Her Majesty's commission, so it will:—
To Sir Brien O'Loghlen, Actin' Prime-ear, &c.
I've grate pleasure in inthroducin' to yer notis His Ixcillincee the Markiss o' Normanbee, as dacint a boy as iver broke bread. 'Pon me conshinse, ye'll obleedge me very much be puttin' him up to a wrinkle or two in connection wid his jewties. But, Brieny, allanah, the mane thing I want to bring undher yer notis is the fact that the Markiss has a waikaess for throwin' about and squandherin' his money foolishly. Now, Brieny, ma bouchil, I want ye to keep yer eye upon him, and thry to resthrain his ixthravagint propinsitles. I confide him to yer care, an' I know ye'll take care av him. Pat O'Rell brings ye another few lines from me. Be kind to Pat, an' inthroduce him into dacint society. Ye needn't be afraid av him, he's as mild as a lamb among the ladies.
Be the hokey we've managed to patch up the split in the Kabinet agin, an' me collaiges have prevailed on me to withdraw me resignation. I've consented to give them jist one thrial more, an' if they don't behave themsilves like dacint people be-gorra I'll lave thim to disthruction an' go over to the Markiss, so I will. 'Pon me conshinse I was delighted to read in yer last an account o' the noble conduct av Missns O'Brien, o the Lime-rick Boordin' House, Milburne, who knocked down a dirty pickpocket
Advocate, inspired me to woo the chaste nine, wid the followin' result:—
brews quite as well as ye bakes;broguemale, boysKithogue, sweet Missus O'Brien.
Be the piper that played afore Moses, I was as nigh as a toucher gettin' into an attack o' delarium thramins over the Governor's arrival. Av coorse, as I tould ye afore, I hadn't seen Sir Herculis since we worat school together at Murty Donohoe's, jist beyant the crass-roads, op-pos-it the Mullingar road. Well, 'pon me conshinse, I thought his Ixcillincee would shake the two hands o' me on the Kay whin I met him landin' from the Wolverine. "Tare-an-ounthers, can I believe me two eyes?" ses the Governor, whin he first caught sight o' me "Blur-an-agers, sure that can't be yerself, Paddy aroon," ses he. "Begorra, it's all that's lift o' me, yer Ixcillincee," ses I. "'Fon me conshinse I shouldn't have known ye, Paddy, av it wasn't for the blue wart on the lift hand corner o' yer nose," "D'ye tell me so?" ses I, "an be-dad I can make the same rimark wid rispict to yer Ixcillincee," ses I, "for be-jabers, av it wasn't for the piculiar cut av yer Ixcillincee's right hand whisker I'd have parsed ye in the sthreet widout knowin'ye," ses I. Sir Herculis then inthroduced me to Lady Robinson an' his shuite, an' in return I inthroduced him to me collaiges—Mac, Whitmore, an' Fisher. Johnnie had the impidcuce to inthroduce himself. After our mutchual congratulashnns, Sir Herculis tuk me aside, an' ses he, "Faddy, allanah, yersilf and yer collaiges can come up afther tay an' we'll have a quiet dhrop o' the craythur togetber." Well, in response to his Ixcillincee's invitation, mesilf an' Mac, an' the Colonel, an' Fisher, wint up to the Vice-Raygil residince in the evenin', an' spint a most injoyable night. Afthera few rounds o' punch had recaived ample justice, we gave a song aitch. As mesilf was the only one that sang in plain English, I vintchure to give ye the other ditties in the gibberish in which they wor sung, verbatim et litheratim. This is Mac's song:—
Air: "Bonnie Jean."
Whin Mac had finished, loud calls wor made on Misther Fisher for a song, an' afther a few preliminary coughs, me Cantherbury collaige cleared his throat and gate the followin':—
Misther Fisher had scarcely finished the last line av his song whin the Kurnil jumped to his feet an' bellowed forth the followin':—
Whin the Kurnil had concluded, his Ixcillencee got upon his vice-raygil legs, an' rindhered the followin' in a fine racy voice;—
After his Ixcillincee'a condisinshun, the laste I could do was to rhiudher a poetic thrifle, so I jist sthruck up the followin' verses:—
Be-dad I'm nearly ashamed to tell ye that we stayed up till three o'clock that night, so we did, an' the nixt mornin' Molly had to sind out to the Impire for a "John Collins "for me. I'll thry an' come down wid his Ixcillincee on the 18th, so ye can jist minshin it to Mick, in case I should want a room.
Misthur Editor,—I intinded to give ye some rivilashuns that wud startle yer readhers, but Sir George axed me, as a grate favour, not to minshin some little dip-plow-mattic thransactions that I had wid the King. 'Pon me conshince (now mind this is a grate saycrit), the life was nearly taised out o' me, so it was, be a purty little colleen that I met wid in the Palace. I may inform ye, widout bethrayin' me collaiges' confidence, that Sir George and Johnny sint me to have a discoorse wid the King, as I am well varsed in the Maori language, so I am. Av coorse they did'd care about goin' to the Royal prisince, savin' yer prisince, themselves, bekays they thought it wud luk undignified. Now, as I sed before, I promised Sir George not to spake o' me thransactions wid the King, as it might involve
Murphies of ould Ballyrack.shirt had he got to his back.kid, coys,brown;crown,tone;
Whin Johnny finished, begorra there were tundhers av applause, an' he was called three times before the curtain, so he was. I'll be back in Willin'ton whin I sind ye me nixt. Me ould frind Herky has axed me to take tay wid him nixt week, an' I'll let ye know the result in me nixt ipistol.
Av coorse yer readers have been wondhrin' what's become o' me at all, at all. Well, bechune you an' me, I've beeu away on a saycrit imbassy to thry and purswaid that ould ommadhaun, Te Whiti, not to be makin' an ass av himsilf, sthrivin' to rise a ruction in the North. Me collaiges knew that I was the best man to sind as an Ambassadhor to the Royal Coort; but, bedad, I've not been very successful in me mission. I found most o' the Maori Coortiers nice, gintilmanly fellows—givia a little too much, perhaps, to the swell Haw-Haw business, but dacint boys for all that. They're jist led away be the ravins av that ould fan-attic Tay Whiti, who gets all kinds o' vishuns an' dhrames, an' night-mares an' day-mares. Begorra, av me col-laiges would only take me advice, they'd collar him at onced an' shove him into a lun-attic asylum. Although he's a big Profir, faix he'd be a small loss to the counthry. The followin' is the discoorse I held wid him in the Imparial Palace:—
At this point, whin matthers were cornin' to a head, we wor sipirated be our frinds to avoid the ruction, an' of coorse I had to give up me mission an' return to Willin'ton.
'Pon me conshinse, we managed to lay a nice thrap for the rats, so we did. The night before the dissolushun, His Ixcillincy axed me up to tay jist for the sake o' pumpin' me as to what was his best coorse to purshue undher the sarcumstances. Assoonasthe ladies retired and the table was cleared, Sir Herculis called me into his study, an' afther projuicin' a black bottle av rale ould Innishowen from a cubboard in the corner, ho ses to me, ses he: "jist wet yer whistle wid that, ma bouchileen bawn; it's the ginuine stuff, imported by mesilf from Sliawn O'Dogherty's private still in the blake mountains o' Donigall," ses he. "Here's slantlia, Herky," says I (I call him Herky bekays we're ould cronies), as I took a swig at the bottle, an', begorra, it rouled down me throat like mother's milk, so it did. "Now, Paddy,
ma chair (Frinch), I'll tell ye what it is," ses he. Sure ye know, aroon, that ther's a big number av unfortchuaate divils in the prisint House that'll starve this could winther av they lose their honorayriums, an' me heart feels for thim, allanah, for, sure I know that, av they're onced put out they'll niver get in agiu," ses he. "Sal is pop u lie shupraima is lax," ses I, spaikin Latin, in ordher to convince him. "Begorra, I think yer right," ses he, "so ye'd betther sind Sir George up, an' I'll grant him a dissolushun," ses His Ixcillincy. So ye see me collaiges have me to thank for the victhory over the rats.
People has been wondherin' what's become o' me at all, at all, bekays I haven'tcum to the front during the ilicshuns, an' gone round wid Sir George on his stumpin' tower. Well, avick machree, I've been so much taken up wid Molly that I couldn't get away, so I couldn't. I've a grate saycrit to tell ye, but ye mustn't braithe it to a livin' sowl, or I'll niver write a line for ye agin. Whisper, an' mind ye keep it dark. I've become the happy father o' two darlint twins since I wrote ye last, an' 'pon me conshinse, ther's not a proudher man in New Zayland this day, so thers not. All the nayborsdoes be sayin' they're the very spit o' ther daddy, an' begorra I think they're right, although I don't like the look o' one o' ther noses. The Markis has sint me a cablegram from Milbourne, congratulutin'me, an' Pat O'Rel has also sent his compliments. But revartin' to polyticks, bedad I'm plaised at the victhorys we're gainin' all over the counthry. Betchune you an' me, Sir George has to thank me for his successes, for sure it was I that rote his grand speeches, so it was. An' now whin we're in the full flush o' thriumph we can afford to be ginerous to our inimies; an' 'pon my sowl I'm sinsarely sorry for that poor divil av a Fox that got nearly hunted to death in Wanganui. Wid all his little iday-o-sin-crazies, he's not sich a bad soart o' fellowafther all. Many a night himself an'me slipp'd down from Bellamy's on the sly, an' popped up to Jack Maginnitty's on the Kay, just to have a small dhrop in the back parlonr. Now mind this is onthray noo (Frinch), for if the limplars wor to hear av it, begorra Sir William would have to be
Be the piper that played before Moses, ther's been the divil's own inthrai-gin' goin' on here durin' the last fortnight. The mimbers o' the Opposition have resoortid to ivery mane divice in ordher to put us out, so they have. 'Pon me conshinse, it was a purty sight to see Rolleston an' the other boys opposed to us waitin' on the wharf for the Southern steamers to arrive, so that they'd have the first chance o' button-holin' the mimbers as they arrived. It was as good as a play to see thim shipardin' me second cousin,
There was tundhers av applause whin I finished, an' begorra, Johnny tuk it in good part an' voluntered a song in return. I got him to rite down the ditty, an' you will percaive that its in vulgar Inglish:—
The Wily Knight.
Air; "Oft in the Stilly Night."
Whin Johnny concluded his lay, the boys called on Tom Dick for a song, an' that gintleman replied as follows:—Weel, ye see, ma freens, I'm no used to sing onything but Moody and Sankey's hymns, as I think profane sangs hae a tendency tae encourage sin. However, I will gie ye a stave or twa, composed by mysel, on the disgracefu performance witnessed in this city lately." Av coorse Misther Dick rote me down his remarks an' song, bekays I don't spaike Scotch, an' the following is the milody:—
Afther Misther Dick's vocal gim, the cowcass pledged thimselves to create a new portfoley, somethin' like the Lord Chamberlain's. Misther Dick is to take offs in the new Cabinet undher the title of Minister o' Morality. No more at present.
Av coorse ver thousands av readhers will be on the tiptoe av ixpictashun to hear me opinion av the Major's fine-anshil statement. Well, betchune mu an' you an' the bedpost, he's made nothin' less than a holy show av himsilf wid his Tariff. Av coorse he called up to see me on the Kay before he imptied his Budget in the House; but bogorra I'm not sich a ommadhaun as to give advice to the inimy, so I'm not. "An' what d'ye think o' me schaime, Paddy, allanah?" ses the Major, afther Molly had filled up our tumblers three times for us. "Be me sowl, Major," ses I, "its mighty little I think av it." "I'll be itarnally obleoged to ye," ses he, av ye'll put me up to a rinkle or two," ses he. "Begona, I'll do nothin' av the kind, me honey," ses I. "Arrah, don't be so rivingeful, Paddy," ses he; "you know we must raise the wind somehow, and sure I'm doin' me level best to make things, meet," ses the Major. "But blur-an'-ounthers, man alive, what d'ye mane," ses I; "be taxin' split pays? Sure, ye might as well talk about taxin' split sthraws," ses I. "An' so we are, ma bouchil," ses he; "for we're puttin' tin shillings on chaff." "An' what in the name av all that's lucky injuced ye to tax chaff?" ses I. "Whisper, Paddy, avick," ses the Major, "an' I'll tell ye, but mind it's a great saycrit intirely. Av coorse ye know that ould Tom Dick is a grate frind to the present Ministhry, an' he's been complainin' that there's a grate dail too much jokin' an' levity goin' on in the House. He ses that we should discuss the counthry's affairs in a more sarious an' solemn mood, and so he advised us sthrongly to put a heavy duty on chaffs," ses the Major. "Och! luk at that now," ses I, "but I think ye have a sthronger rayson thin that for taxin' chaff." "An' what may that be? "inquired the Major. "Why, ye want to rivinge yerselves on Vincent Pyke an' stop his punnin', bekays he turned round on you," ses I, "Begorra, yer not far wrong," says the Major. "But I've a blacker crow thin all that to pluck wid ye," ses I. "Arrah, yer jokin,' ses the Major. Musha, faix, thin, I'm not," ses I. "What the juice d'ye mane be taxin' the craythur?" ses I. "Let us change the subject, Fat, me boy, for I feel the liquor mountin' to me head. Give us a stave av a song before I go, and let us part good frinds," ses he. Well, as Molly was in the front o' the house puttin' the childher to bed in the back room, I sthruck up the followin' song, afther which I help'd the Major aboord the late thram-car, an' wished him good night:—
'Pon me conshinse, when the news o' the ruckshions at Timaru raiched me offis on Lambton Kay, I was tundhcrsthruck, so I was; for in these quiet times it's refreshin' to hear av a nate shindy. Be the hokey poker, I was only sorry that I wasn't on the scene av ackshun, for betchune you and me I'm gsttin' blue mouldy for want av a baitin', so I am. 'Pon me sowl, I was disgusted to hear that the peelers inthorfered an' spiled the sport. Bad luck to thim, they're always comin' where they're not wanted. Sure, av the boys wanted to imitate the deeds av their glorious ancesthors, why shouldn't they be allowed to have it out wid one another in paice widout those blackguard bobbies intherfairin. Faix, it's illigant sport braikin' one another's heads just for fun. Laivin' King Billy an' King Shamus altogether out o' the question, I think, as a matther of principle, men should be allowed to amuse thimsilves now an' agin, be way av ricrayashun. It's a mighty fine thing whin a man grows ould to be able to show the wounds an' scars that he recayved in the wars, an' to be able to hand thim down to his ancesthors and posterity in gineral. I was sorry to find that the opposin' armies wor so unequally divided, an' small thanks to King James's forces for baitin' sich a mere handful o' the inimy. Is there any thruth in the rumour that's raiched Willin'ton, to the effect that Inspecthor Mallard, av your city, has cautioned the fruitherers av Dunaidin against displayin' oranges an' apples in the windows, as they might tind to provoke a braich o' the paice? Those bobbies ought to mind their own business, so they ought. I've sthruck off the followin' pome to immortalise
I'm tould that yer readbers has been wondbrin what's become o' me, at all, at all, bekays I haven't rote since the saige o' Tiraaru. Well, the fact o' the matther is that I have become an althered man durin' the last few weeks, so I have. I think I tould ye before that Molly is subject to fits av new-ralgia, an' so I was advised to take her to the Hot Springs for a thrip. Well, as me political collaiges are out av offis jist for the prisent, I tuk time be the four-lock an' wint on a northern tower wid Molly. Whin we raiched Auckland I sint the wife o' me bussum up to Waiwera, in company wid her second cousin, be the mother's side, Biddy McKeown av the North Shore, an' I remained mesilf in the northern methro-polis (the methro-polis has nothin whatsomever to do wid the common polis that takes people in charge). Well, avick machree, the first Sunday I spint in Auckland, I was injooced be a frind to attind one o' Pasthor Slinikee's lectures, an' afther hearin' the iloquint ivangilist tundherin' forth aginst the ignorance an' shuperstishun av us poor benighted Papists, I began to realise what a blind haythin I was to be sure. I was so much sthiuck be the Pasthor's rimarks that I sint up me card the followin' day, wid a rayquist for a private intherview, which was granted at onced. Whin I inthered the room where his rivirence was saitcd, I raycaived a most cordial reciption (for, faix, there wasn't a dhrop on the table but ginger-wine an' raspberry-vinegar), an' the Pasthor shook me warmly be the fist, so he did. "Be me sowl I'm proud to see ye, Paddy, allanah," ses the Pasthor, "for I've often heerd o' ye in Amerikay," ses he, (I may here remark ong-pass-ong, that the Pasthor spaiks wiil a sthrong Frinch axsint, and that he's not the same green Pasthor that the Pope's Bulls Rome over.) "I'm tould that yer anxious to be convarted." ses the Pasthor. The divil a thruer word yer rivirince iver spoke in yer life," ses I, "but what's the figger," ses I. "What the jcoce d'ye mane be the figger," ses his rivirence. "Arrah, don't pritind to be so ignorant, yer rivirince," ses I. "Sure I mane the injoocemints, for I'm beginnin' to get tired av polyticks," tieks," ses I. "Och, Paddy, mavrone," ses he, "I'm aiger to save yer itarnil sowl, so I am," ses his rivirince; "them'sthe injoocemints," ses he, "for be me conshinse yer nothin' more nor less than a pagan idolathor, so you are," ses his rivirince. "D'ye tell me so," ses I. Be-gog, it's thiuo for me," ses he. "Och, luk at that now," ses I, "Arrah, Paddy, ma bouchil," ses his rivir-ince, "av ye'd only see the lovely lot o' convarts I've got in Amerikay, be jabera it 'ud do yer eyes good," ses he. "An' are they rale live Priests," ses I. "Musha, faix, thin, they are," ses he. "It's sthrange yer rivirince," ses I, "that ye w'ouldn't carry one o' yer convarts about wid ye," ses I, for sure he'd be a big dhraw to the show," ses I. "Be the hokey, Paddy," ses his rivirince, "ye've hit the right nail on the head, it would be a grate dhraw, but, asthore machree, I was afraid the climate would spile their complexions, besides, I don't want to incourage me convarts to Roam," ses he, "for sure they've had enough of that already," ses his rivirince, as he laughed at his own pun. "Now', Misther Murphy, lavin' jokin' aside, I want to make a bargin wid ye," ses he. "An' what may that be yer rivirince," ses I. "Well, Paddy, allanah, I want an Irish convart from Popery to thravel round wid me, so that I may exhibit him to me hearers, an' you're the very man to shuit me," says his rivirince. "Some o' them waik-knee'd Protes-tants does be axin me about the frnits av me misshun in Austhraly, an' they think it's sthrange that afther savin' 25,000 in Canady, I haven't hooked a single sowl in these parts." ses his rivirince. "An' av I might make so bould as to ax, I'd like to know the tarms," ses I. "Arrah, lave that to me," ses his rivirince, "an' ye'll have no rayson to complain," ses he. "But tell me one thing," ses I, "will I be allowed to ait mate on the Friday's? "ses I. "Is it ait mate ye mane?" ses his rivirince, "be the hokey ye can have
graise," ses his rivirince. Well, to make al long story short, I come to terms wid the Pasthor, an' I'm to jine him on his tower in a month's time, afther I've settled Molly and the childher in the care av a frind o' mine, who has a bit o' ground at the Hutt, which is only a few miles from here. I know that Sir George an' Mac will be in a frightful way whin thay hears that I'm goinsr to lave New Zayland, but whin one's itarnal welfare is at stake, polytical affaiis an' frindships must be sacrificed, so they must. As I look on me convarsion as the great turuin' pint o' me life, I thought it right to commimorate the iviat be a short pome on the subject:—
Bedad it's a proud man I am this day, an' no mistake, for I've succeeded in injoocin' the Ministhry to offer the vacant portfoley to me ould frind Tom Dick. Av coorse I'm still opposed to the Hall Government, but at the Same time whiniver they want advice ou any important measure, I'm niver too proud to give it to thim Well, one day last week, whilst I was packin up me boxes an' chists for me intinded tower wid Pasthor Shiniky, who the dickens should dhrop into me stewjeo bat Johony Hall. "Misiher Murphy," ses he, "I want yer advice on a very sayrious matt her. "D'ye tell me so?" ses I, "an' what may that be, Johnny, mavrone?" ses I. "Well, Paddy, allanah, I m thinkin' about offerin' the vacant portfoley to Misther Dick, av Dunaydin, and I jist called to ax yer advice in the inatthur," ses Johnny. "Luk here. Johnny, ses I, "Be the hokey poker ye've jist hit the right nail on the head, Tom Dick is the very man to shuit ye," sos I, an' av ye dou't make haste about it, begorra ye may lose him," ses I, "for, betchune you au' me, Misther Dick is undher offer av engagement to thravel wid mesilf an' the Pasthor on our tower. A rivirind an'solemn-looking chairman has a great dail to do wid the success av a meetin', an the Pasihor thinks av he could injooce Misther Dick to thravel wid us he would double the number av his convarts in avery short time," ses I. "Blur-an'-ages, d'ye tell me so?"' ses Johnny; "be the hokey, I must run to the tiligraph otfis an' wire to him at onced," ses Johnny, as he rushed down stairs. That same night I sthruck off the followin' pome in honour av the occashun:
Be the hokey I've some startlin' news for yer readhers this week, and divil a word o' lie in it. A few days ago, jist as I was sindin' me portmantey down to the steamer to take me to Dunaydin to jine the Pasthor, I was stopped on the Kay be a sarious lookin' man. "Misther Murphy, I preshume," ses he. "The same, at yer sarvice," ses I. "I'd like to have a few minutes' discoorse wid ye," ses he; jist the laste taste in private," ses he. Av coorse I couldn't do less, undher the sarcnmstances, thin ax him into the Osidintal, an' whin "we tuk the oath," as the Yankees say he inthrjooced himsilf as a Mormon Eldher. He tould me that he'd jist heard o' me raycint convarshin', an' he was sorry to see me goin in sich bad company. Thin he wint on to ixplain the beauties o' the Mormon religion, an', bedad, he wasn't long in convincin' me o' the thruth av it. "Misther Murphy," ses he, "I can assure ye, on the word av an ixparienced saint, that ye'll like Polly Gammy," ses he. "Arrah! d'ye think so? "ses I; "Is Polly so purty as all that? ses I. "Begorra, ye don't undherstand me," ses he; "Polly Gammy is the name we give to all our wives; ye can marry as many as ye plaise," ses he. "Och, murther, look at that," ses I; "tare-an'-ounthers, man alive, don't say another word about it, for, be me conshinse, that's the religion to shuit me," ses I; "an' begorra, I'll get a few more o' the boys to jine ye," ses I; but whisper," ses I, "don't braithe a syllabil to Molly or the childher, or she'll put the comether on me new convarshin'," ses I. "Mum's the word," ses the Eldher, as he rung the bell for another "wink." I'll be startin' for Utah be the nixt Frisco mail, an' the Pasthor will be as mad as a March hare whin he hears that I've lift him. The followin' milody was suggested be the ivint:—
wife. Pat, an faix that's no lie,"
I'm tould that yer readhers has been in a mighty great state av anxiety about me, bekays I've been silent for the past few weeks, so I have. Well, betchune you an' me an' the bedpoast, the Guvmint have sint me dancin' round the counthry like a bare on a hot griddle, an' bad scran to thim, they've scarcely give me time to dhrop a line or two to Molly and the childer on the Kay. Bad luck to thimselves and their Royal Commishuns, if iver I jine another o' thim me name's not Murphy, so it's not. Ye'll see be the shuperscripshun that I'm in Auckland at present. I've jist returned from a visit to Tay Whitty, an' wid yer lave I'll give ye a short account av our intherview' Av coorse whin the Guvmint detarmined to send me as special plinny-po-tinshirry to the grate profit, I made it a siney cue non (this is not Frinch, but Latin) that I should go alone, barrin' me private saycritary, for ye see I undherstand bow to dale wid the Natives, bekays I was brought up on thim, so I was. (Me unkle Darby, pace to his sowl, used to projoodce some beautiful pink-eyes an' lumpers.) Well, widout inthroodin' too much on your valuable space, I'll come to the pint o' me visit. I lift me private saycrilary to mind me portmantey at Parihakay, an' procaided alone, all be mesilf, to Tay Whitty's Pa. Before I raich d widhin a hundhred yards o' the chiefs wharry the profit run out to imbrace me. Afther we rubb'd noses, the grate chief ses: "Gud dhay ma ta thu. Paddy, arroon, I'm pioud to see ye." (Tay Whitty spaiks Irish wid the graitost aise.) 'The same to you, an'a grate many av thim," ses I. "Come along, avick machree," ses he, "an' wet yer wistle," ses he, and he dhragged me into the wharry. Be the hokey, it'ud do yer eyes good to see how the Wyhenas, young an' ould, kissed an' fondled an' faisied me that evenin', so it would. But, begorra, I must'nt take up yer valuable space wid an account av it. Ther was grate goins on intirely, an' Tay Whitty thraited me like a gintleman, so he did. The nixt mornin' we procaided to business, an' the followin' is a condinsed reoprt av the procaidins. Afther we wor lift alone in the wharry (the Whyness went out to the back yard to have a game o' forty-fives for a plug o' tobaccy) Tay Whitty began:—
"Misther Murphy, I'm now addhressin' ye in yer kar-ac-ther av plinny-po-tinshirry—that's the raison I don't call you Paddy. Now I want ye to tell me, in as few words as possible, the objict av yer misshun," ses he.
"O, grate profit an' mighty chief, ses I, puttin' on dignity, an' spakin' afther ther own poitic fashin, "Hear the words o' the high Pakeyha, Sir Herkulis, an' his prime-ear, Johnny Hall," ses I.
"O, noble Pakeyha, I'm all attinshun," ses he; "spaik on."
The say is broad an' wet, an' tie land is firm and dhry," ses I.
"Kapai, Pakeyha, me ears are open," ses he.
"The great kanoose o' the Maor's wor made to float, an' the fish wor made to swim."
"Hail, great Pakeyha! 'Pon me sowl it's thrue for ye," ses he.
"The shades o' mornin' are hidin' ther dusky night-caps beyant the Silurian deeps, an' the roan in the moon takes a lunar at the ould Jew-Pether, who gets his livin' be hawkin' lucifers, twelve boxesa-sbillin'," ses I.
"Wise art thou, O Pakeyha; be the hokey, ye spaik like a book," sea he.
"Whin the ploughshare sinks into the soil the clay is ginerally disturbed, an' whin the seed is spread broadcast it is sown, an' rich crops are the fruits av a plintiful harvest," ses I, comin' to the pint o' me misshun.
"Let yer mouth be open once more, fur though I'm a great profit I'm at a slight loss to undherstand yer manin', so I am," says Tay Whitty, lookin' mighty puzzled.
I'm tould yer a grate boy intirely for dhrames an' visions, an' such like, O profit," ses I.
"Salutashuns, O frind Murphy. Words is words, an' when a man spaiks he invaryably ses somethin," ses he.
"Musha, bid luck to the thruer word ye've iver spoke in the hole coorse av yer life, O miprhty profit," ses I.
"The foam comes on to the shore, an' the hills are not the valleys; and the bones o' me ancisthors cries alowd for vingince," ses he.
"Arrah, don't get in a timper, great chief," ses I.
"Frind Grey is frind Grey, and frind Sheehin is frind Sheehan, an' cabs is cabs," ses he.
Befforrn, yer a filosopher, O wise profil," ses I.
"Whin I gaze through the misty vistas (not wax vistas) o' the past, down into the mountains o' the fuchure, and behould the lovely angels, wid wings, sailin' through the vapor o' time, a glorious pennyrama opens itself to me bewild Lered gaze," ses he.
"Och, Ink at that, now," ses I.
"I see a fierce ocean roarin' above the billows o' dispair in the nithermost ragions, and I behould a shoal av horrid-lookin' monsthers plungin' in the seethin' foam. I see thim thryin' to raich the shore, but a glorious army o' Maori warriors spear the accursed varmints before they get to the surf. They are dead, dead, dead; and I behould in big brass kar-ac-thers on aich o' their foreheads the magic word, 'Landshark,' and the first monsther that led the shoal bairs the potent moneygram F. W. on his cloven fins, whilst the word Piako is engraved undher his hungry gills. An' now, now I behould a noble Pakeyha night on a white steed, plungin' through the briny braikers where the warriors are dhragirin' the landsharks ashore. He raises his phiz-sir or hilmit, and I ray-cog-nise Sir George—Sir George and the Dhraggin. The mysthery is cleared, an' me vision fades," ses he, lookin' wairy, and rubbin' his eyes, for all the world like Misiher Walker the mayjium.
"The Maoris are a noble race, oulder than Adam, an' sprung from anshint history an' ivolushun, but the Pakeyha kem over the says—" ses I.
"Silent be thy tongue, O Pakeyha, for I feel me collar risin'," seys he. I may minshin ong passong (Frinch), that I made him a prisint av a box o' paper collars the pravious night. "Sileint be thy tongue, O son av a say-cook, an'bear me spnik," sec he, looking mighty fierce, wid his two eyes roulin like a mad bull in a chancy shop. The Pakeyha kem over the says to Fays our land. But the land is all covered wid my blankit, so it is, an' ther is no room for any judge or commishun to sit upon it, d'ye mind that now? The Guvmint must kum to my wharry, for I shall not go to their Hall, bad luck to the step." ses he. "They have thried to do widout me, therefore I shall do away wid thim, an' they shall be as naught, I'm tould that they have a mighiy priest an' profit, named Tommydick, who has the infarnal impudence to pray for me convarshun But I am a graiter profit thin be. I, Tay Whitty am a Seer while your Tommydick is getting into the Seer an' yallowlaif," ses he. Go back, O Pakeyha, and tell the Guvmint that I've had a vision an' a dhraime, which, be yer laive I'll give ye in varse." The profit thin procaided to chant the followin' tangi:—
Whilst the profit wos singin' he danced an' twisted himself about like an ourangoutang, an' be-gorra I wos mighty glad to get away from the korero wid a hole skin, for afther he'd finished the tangi, he rimarked that he felt "peckish an' 'ud like some nice baked Murphies." But I wasn't to be caught, an' here I am in Auckland safe an' sound, so I am.—Yours, &c.,
Begorra, I've got back home agin, so I have, an' though little Patsey (that's our youngest) is sufferin' from the chinkoff, Molly an' the rest o' the childher are in illigant health. Last night afther tay I wos layin' on the soft sawdher on to Molly (betchune you an' me, wid all me galavantin' among the Maori colleens, I've a warm corner in me heart for the ould woman still), and I'd jist comminced a new song I've rote in her honour, whin I hard a familiar futstep comin' up the stairs. I finished wid the first varse as follows:—
Just as I kem to this line, who the jooce should pop in but Sir George. Our eggshuberint joy at meetin' wid one another was mighty grate intirely, so it was. Av coorse the decanthers wor brought out au' the kettle was set agoin'. Well, avick machree, whin Sir George had unburthened himsilf to me, an' tould me all about his projected tower south, me ould loyalty to the
"'Pon me conshinse, I'm itarnilly obleedged to ye Paddy asthore,' ses Sir George, "an' its myself that would like to stop wid ye to-night, but as the boat is about to sail for Christchurch I must be off,' ses he. "Tare-an-ounthers, Sir George," ses I. "give us a stave before ye go,' ses I. "Well, Paddy, mavrone, I'll thry a parody o' me own on one o' Tom Moore'ri most beautiful milodies,' ses he. "Though I can spaik good dacint Irish, begorra I can't sing in it, an' therefore you must ixcuse me for singin' in plain vulgar Inglish." ses he.
Sir George Gray then cleared his throat wid another dhrop av the craythur, an' comminced as follows:—
Whin the milody was inded, I wint down to the wharf to sec Sir George off. Av coorse he gev me all the necessary insthructions about marshallin' our ranks for the 28th. I'll sind ye a full account o' the openin' o' the session.
'Pon me conshinse, the life is taised out o' me, so it is wid Johnny an' his party. I tould thim some time ago that I'd have to sever me conneckshum wid thim, bekays I like to be seen in dacint company; but, bad scran to thim, they won't let me give up me portfoley, so they won't Be the hokey, I'm too soft-hearted, so I am, an' me collaiges takes advantage o' me failin's. Av coorse I know that the Ministhry couldn't stand a single day widout me, an' that's the rayson I was injooced to attind the cowcass to considher the Major's Budjit. It's almost needless to inform ye that the raymodellin' av the fineanshil statement was jew to me. Av they hadn't taken my advice about the rayimposishun av the Beer Tax, faix the hole schaime o' taxashun would have been broken down, so it would. I know me cousin Mick will feel mighty vexed at me ackshun in this matther, so I want ye to tell him that private frenships must always give way to the public good. The Major
The Major's health an' song was honoured in flowin' bumpers, an' there was a nnanimous call on Misther Dick for a stave. Av coorse, ye know that Tommy is frightfully bashful, an' it was wid grate difficulty that he consinted to warble forth the followin' lines. I've rote them in the silvery Dooric o' the North, just as he pronounced them:—
We called on Johnny, next, for a ditty, but he's got sich a bad cowld in his throat, that he caught at Leeston, we couldn't prevail on him to sing. The Major offered to become his substitute, and broke out in a fresh place, as follows:—
There was thriminjous cheerin' whin the Major finished, an' as he had the nixt call he axed Rolleston to favour the company wid a milody. I may inform ye that Misther Rolleston was the only one o' the Ministhry who was opposed to the Beer Tax, bekays, he sed, it wouldn't go down in Christchurch, at all, at all. The followin' is his song:
measure,
We couldn't injooce Misther Brycc to exercise his lungs, so we couldn't, an' so we broke up wid the followin' chorus:—
I'll sind ye some purty little tit-bits o' political scandal in me nixt. In the manetime allow me to remain yer obajint sarvint,
Sure it's mesilf that's been mighty onaisy in me mind all the week, so I have, bekays me frind Misther Macaughan is in the dumps. Begorra, I've not been able to attind to the jewties pertainin' to me portfoley, since I've larned how mane me collaiges have behaved to Pat. Last Friday evenin' I was sittin in me stewjeo puroosin' the last number o' the Sathurday Advertiser whin me ear was atthracted be a soft footstep on the stairs, an' lookin' up I beheld Misther Macaughan lookin' the picthur o' misery an' dispair. "What, in the name av all that's varchous, is the matther wid ye, Pat?" ses I. "Och, wirrasthru! wirrasthru! Paddy, mavrone," ses he, I'm in very low sperrits," ses he, an' wid that he unburthened his bussum to me, an' tould me how the mane blackguards had thraited him, bad luck to thim. "This is an ungrateful world, Misther Murphy," ses he, "an'its mesilf that's mighty sick av of it, so I am," ses he. "Sure I've stuck up for the presint Ministhry through thick an' thin, an' signs on it, they've desarted me in me hour o' need, so they have," ses he; "they've not put me name on a single come-at-tay," ses he, "an' I don't care to come at coffee bekays it gives me the bile," ses he. I was so much hurted be me frind's misfortunes that I sthruck off the followin' poetic gim:—
I'm in a milancolly mood agin this week, for that mane ommadhaun, Bryce, has been backbitin' Johnny Sheehan, so he has. Jist bekays Johnny is a janial ginerous boy that loves the davlints, an' small blame to him, Misther Bryce thries to make out that me former collaige miss-o-pi-opriated the funs, keepin' the Maori girls quiet. Some o' these could-blooded in-dovijuals that niver filt a glow av love's young dhraime cannot rayilise the posishun av a warm-hearted boy like Johnny thrown into the society av a crowd o' half-castes an' hole-castes. I've no patience wid such min, so I've not, an' more be token, I'll give Misther Bryce a bit o' me mind the nixt time I meet him up at Jack M'Ginnaty's on the Kay. I'm goin' to write a long haroic an' ipic pome on the subject o' Johnny an' his Maori loves. Ye'll glain be the folloin' specimin that I've adopted Misther Long-fellow's style, though av coorse my varses are much shuperior to the American pote's:—
Begorra I'm tould there's been anxious inquiries for me in all quarthers, an' a riport has got abroad that I've been rayconvarted be Elder Batt, but its all in me eye an' Betty Martin, so it is. The fact o' the matther is I've been up on another misshun to Tay Whitty thryin to purswaid him to stop his ploughin' matches. Bad luck to the ould haylhin, sure he would'nt listen to rayson at all, at all, an' afther wastin' me iloquince I was forced to return to Willin'ton an' riport progress to Misther Bryce. Av coorse it was owin' to me that the Paice Priservashun Act was passed. 'Pon me conshinse ye'd be astonished av ye saw the way the ould pagan thry'd to bamboozle me. Afther talkin' to him for siviral hours, an' prisintin' him wid me foteygraff, the grate profit ses to me, ses he, "Luk here, Paddy, allanah, faix yer only wastin' yer wind on me, for I'm a mighty profit an' a big seer, although I'm gettin' into the seer an' yallow laif," ses he. "But sure ye can't have any objecshun to take a few thracks to comfort yer sowI," ses I. "Is it thracts ye mane," ses he, "why, avick machree, that's the very thing all the ruckshuns is about," ses he. The Pakeyha has robbed us av our thracts o' land, an' we'er forced to comfort our sowls will a dhrop o' the craychure now an' agin," ses he. "Don't be profane, Misthur Tay Whitty," ses I, "the thracts ye mane are not the thracks I mane," ses I, losin' me timper, an' risin' to lave the wharry. "Keep cool, Misther Murphy," ses he, "an' I might git ye married to one o' me daughthers some fine day, and give ye a beautiful istate up beyant the moon," ses he. "Give me love to Jonnny Sheehan whin ye go back," sos he, an' tell Misther Bryce that t'm too ould a bird to be caught wid chaff, dy'e mind that now?" ses he. Be the hokey I was so much amused wid his cheek an' impidince that I invoked the muses wid the followin' result:—
I may minshun, ong passong (Frinch), that Kitty is the profit's youngest may minshun, ong passong (Frinch), that Kitty is the profit's youngest daughter, an' more, oe token, she's as purty a colleen as ye'd meet in the sivin parishes, so she is. Av coorse, I refused the grate seer's ginerous offer, I'm a married man, an' if iver I was to imigrate to the terresthrial bekays raygions, Molly wouldn't be long in findin' out me whereabouts, an' thin there'd be the divil's own ruckshuns, so there would. Takin' Tay Whitty altogether, I considher him a dacint, sinsible man, that turns over an honest pinny in a very profitable biziness. Sure we must all live, so we must, an' if Tay Whitty hasn't quite sich a gintale style o' sindin' people to heaven as some av our white profits, the poor man's not to blame, so he's not, bekays his iddycashun has been niglicted. I've some illigant idays which I intind to vintilate in yer nixt isshue. Yer obagiant sarvint,
A few evenins ago, Mac, an' Daylahtoor, an' Jay See Brown, an' Shrimmy, an' a few more o' the boys met me up at Jack M'Ginitty's on the Kay, an' as it was about tay-time I invited thim home to take a cup wid me. Afther Molly had rimoved the tay-things, me ould frind George Jones dhropped in wid his fiddle, an' the black bottle that I keep in the kuturd for me purticular frinds was projooced. Be the hokey, we spint a most enjoyable evenin', so we did, an' Mac danced the soord-dance across two brooms in illigint style. Before we broke up for the night. Jay See suggisted that I should'write a node in honour o' Graham Berry's victhory in Victory-a. As the subject was a most conjanial one, I sthruck off the fol-
From a puroosal o' me Southern files I notice that some o' the papers are makin' a mighty grate noise about the small conthratongs (Frinch) that tuk place in the House a few nights ago. Now, out av frindship for me ould crony V. P., I want to ixplain the whole circumstances o' the case, so I do. The evenin' before the row I invited a few o' the boys to a small tay party an' swarry on the Kay, an' V. P., av coorse, was one o' the number. It was merely a pot-luck affair, although Molly wint to the throuble o' preparin' a few blue monges, an' yallow monges, an' thrifles, an' polonies for the occasion. Sir George an' Mac couldn't come, an' so there was only Dicky Oliver, Tommy Dick, V. P., George Jones, Shrimmy, an' a few more o' the boys prisint. Afther tay the whisky bottle was projooced as usual, an' harmony soon rained taiumphant. The first item on the program was a recitasbun be Misther Oliver. Afther a few preliminery hums an' haws he gave the following varses wid grate sperrit an' effect. I pinned them down in plain vulgar English, jist the way they wor recited:—
When Dicky finished, V. P. tould us a few racy yarns o' the diggin' days, an' wound up by callin' on Tom Dick for a stave. Misther Dick, av coorse, thried to excuse himself, but wid a little pressin' he gave way, an' warbled the followin' ballad in the silvery Dooric o' the north to a well-known chune:—
'Pon me conshinse I niver before knew that Misther Dick had sich a beautiful voice, an' the manner in which he gave the foregoin' milody ivoked tundhers av applause. George Jones thin tuk his fiddle out o' the green bag, an' played the "Rambles o' Kitty" in a manner that warmed the cockles av our hearts. In risponse to a noncore, he gave "Tatther Jack Walsh" an' "Paddies Evermore" in a style that Peg O'Ninny herself couldn't baite, so she couldn't. George had the the privilege av a call, an' faix he spotted me for a song. Not likin' to appear disagreeable, I sthruck of the followin' varses ixtomporey, on the spur o' the momint:—
Be the time me ditty was inded, the kittle was bilin' agin', and the glasses wor impty, so they wor. Round afther round followed one another in quick succession, an' the long an' the short av it was that Molly had to make up a shake down for V. P. on the sofey, while I had to sind for a spicial ixpriss to take the rest o' the boys to the Oxidental, where they got beds for the night, Av coorse this little ippysode ixplains the small scene in the House ou the following evenin'. People who forsake "John Collins" in the mornin' afther a swarry an' tuke to Absint (this is a Frinch biverage) are likely to get Absint-minded an' forget thimselves, so they are. Ye'll see be the tiligrams that the Session closes to-day, and ye'll also lam that me collaiges hadn't spunk enough to resign afther bein' baiten on the Beer Bill. 'Pon me sowl, av it wasn't that I don't want to see the counthry go to rack an' ruin, I'd lave the Kabinet at onced, so I would. Sir Hercules wants me to go along wid him to the Cape, an begorra I'm betwixt two minds whether I will or not. In the manetime I'm goin on a visit to Kawau wid Sir George, and it's likely to be a month or so before ye hear agin from yer obaijint sarvint,
The followin' gims wint asthray in me portfoley, an' so they are out av their regular ordher in the Budgit:—
We hati a jolly time av it last night. Afhter dinner. Mac shouted all round two or three times runnin'. Dunstan an, Caversham wor goin' to fight, but Mount Ida siparated thim. Stout read a paper on "Ivolution opposed to Abolition," which was enthusiastically encored. Thomson gave us a threatise on the Milton Potthery Works, afther which V.P. tould us his yarn about poor Larry Burke. Mac was in splindid spirits, and afther a little pressin', gave us the followin' song av his own composition:—
'Pon me conshinse the cheek an' impidince o' some people bate's cock-fightin'. Whilst havin' a duck-an-durrish (that's what the Scotch call a partin' glass) wid me frind Mac the other night at the Princess's, he dhrew me attinshun to a paragraph in the Otago Guardian, which pritinded to give an account av Sooliman Pasha's birth-place an' frinds. Be this an' be that, 1 nivir felt so indignant in the whole coorse o' me life at havin' me ould schoolmate's karacther thraduced in that manner. Bad luck to the word av thruth was in it at all at all, for sure Sooliman, as those haythins call him, was me nixt door neighbour in the Ould Sod, an' be the same token, he was as dacint a boy as iver broke bread. The mane spiddhouge in the Guardian ses bis name was merely Sullivan; but it's a bare-faced crammer, for his name was Pat Shaw O'Soolivan which the ungrammatical Turks have corrupted into Sooliman Fat-Shaw, or Paddi Shaw, or Pasha, which they call him for shortness. Pat's father lived about four miles from Thralee, in the County Kerry, where he had a nate bit o' ground bechune Dan McCarty's an' Tim Donoghoo's, just above the crass-roads beside Biddy Fagans shebeen, His aunt Judy was a grate breeder av cocks an' bins, an' ducks an' dhrakes, an' turkeys an' geese, au' sich like, an' at the age av sivin years Pat was sint to look afther the fowls for his aunt. It was at this airly period av his existence that he imbibed an admiration for the Turkey. One ould turkey-cock especially was a particiler favorite wid Pat, for he was continually Rooshin afther the bantams, the concaited ould baiste. Well, to make a long story short, Pat got Turkey on the brain, the divil a thing else he could think about, an' whin we wor goin' to school together to Darby Molloy's, the gossoons used to call him the Turkey-cock. Well, ye see, about this time, or a few years afther, the Crimayan War broke out, an' Pat 'listed in the Cork Militia, an' wint for a sojer. But, begorra, he didn't stay long in the rigiment, for ye see he grew a fine lump av a boy about fourteen stone weight, an' he was dhrafted into a heavy corpse, for the Militia wor too light for him bekays there was so much Cork about thim. Thin mo jewel
Grey as Sir George) an' left Pat all his money an' estates. Havin' intherod the Turkish army he soon rose to be a Giniral, an' he's now smashin' the Cossacks into smithereens—an long life to him. In his last letther to me he tould me that he likes the counthry an' the people well, but he can't stand the dhrink they sell. He doesn't care for the Porte they keep at Constantinople, bekays he had always a likin' for a dhrop o' the crathur. Now, this is t le thrue an' correct histhory av Sooliman Pasha.
The End.
Mackay, Bracken, and Co., General Printers, Dunedin.
Home spun cloth.
Fool
Dare not attempt that.
Pre-eminence.
Tasted.
Believe.
Plenty.
Ye shall.
If.
Clothee.
Many woes.
Very anxious.
Bounds.
Clothes.
Clouds.
Moles.
Thirst.
Stolon.
Grandsire.
Neat
Fly.
Fool.
Whole.
Servants in llvery
Fortune.
Crept.
Boat.
Listless
Ow
One glance.
Knolls.
Large.
Mother.
Water-pails.
A stick to stir porridge while boiling.
Softly.
Housewilfory.
Hundred.
One.
Other.
Liquor.
The Indian Nightingale.
A well stocked farm.
Worse.
Who stared.
Witch.
Smiling look.
Asked after.
Kindly.
Distorted.
If.
Could.
Lost.
Supplicated.
Bleered and blind.
Leaping.
Cascade.
Lose.
Sky.
Breeches.
Low.
Law.
Stupid.
Crouching in the ashes.
Nothing is.
An appointment to meet.
Inserted by kind permission of Messrs. Wood & Co., Edinburgh, of whom copies may be had with Pianoforte Accompaniment.
Seat of honour.
Bright glance would he give.
Duck-pond.
Strain.
Grief.
Topsy-turvey.
Go.
Fly.
Contemn.
Mart.
Went.
Knoll.
Such.
Heavy staff.
Bought.
Mother.
Deafen.
Drenched.
Know.
Trousers.
If.
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Large Pot.
Make.
A linen cap, or coif.
To shed tears.
Above all others.
Daisies.
Waded.
Brook.
A draught with right good will
Happy.
To His Worship the Mayor, and Other Promoters of the Proposed "Oamaru Stone Quarrying and Export Company."
Worshipful Sir, and Gentlemen,—Your Committee were instructed to consider and report upon the following questions, viz:—
Your Committee at once placed themselves in communication with such professional men and others as they considered best qualified to afford the most satisfactory and reliable evidence, and they have now the pleasure to submit herewith the result in extenso. They are gratified to be able to produce such a mass of evidence by so competent persons, which they cannot but regard as perfectly conclusive, and it now remains for them to submit the following summary, in the order of the questions referred to them:—
The whole country extending from the Kakanui to the Waitaki River, a distance of more than 20 miles, and covering a vast area, of not less than 100 square miles is composed entirely of this stone formation, which crops up above the surface in almost every field, and rises—as at the Fortification and elsewhere—into vast ridges of incalculable quantity. The stone varies in quality, not only in each locality, but even in each of the quarries now being
ad infinitum. This district, besides the main trunk line of railway, is traversed by three branch lines.
Some of the quarries are still in the hands of the Corporation and Government, and the right to work such reserves could easily be secured on advantageous terms. As regards the numerous quarries in the hands of private individuals, some of which at least any Company formed would require to secure, your Committee are of opinion that no difficulty whatever will be experienced in concluding satisfactory arrangements for their acquirement or use with the proprietors.
The cost of stone from the quarries now being worked at Weston is from 6d. to 8d. per foot, and at Mount Taipo 9d, per foot, delivered at the wharf. The proprietor of the latter, however, expects, with his improved appliances, to reduce the cost to 7d per foot.
(1). The cost of quarrying under present circumstances, is 4d. per foot, and at Mount Taipo, where the proprietor has just introduced improved appliances, he anticipates being able to reduce the price one half. (2). The freight to Oamaru is 10d per truck per mile, or 6s. 8d. from Mount Taipo. A truck carries 5 tons, or 110 feet, being about ¾d. per foot. Weston is about half the distance, and consequently the freight thence would be considerably less that from Mount Taipo. (3). The export of stone to Melbourne for some time has been almost nil, but by sailing vessels 25s. per ton appears to have been the ruling rate, and by sailing vessels to Port Chalmers, thence per steamer to Melbourne, 28s. per ton.
That the present methods of working the quarries admit of vast improvement is universally acknowledged. The recent invention of Mr Munro, which so far warrants the belief that the cost of quarrying will now be reduced one-half, is one step—only one—in the right direction. In carrying on operations on a more extensive scale, it is impossible, however, to estimate the extent to which steam power and other improved appliances may economise labor. Your Committee have, however, had abundant evidence, that at every stage, from the quarries to its final destination, the larger operations of a Company, with improved methods, would materially diminish the cost of the material.
In endeavoring fairly to estimate the extent to which the cost of production and distribution may be effected by a Company with the beat appliances at its command, and carrying on an extensive trade, there can be no doubt that increased competition would considerably reduce the freight to Melbourne, the largest item entering into our estimate. 20s per ton, or less, is the estimate of Captain M'Laren, provided always the Company had proper appliances at both ends, and there is other evidence to the same effect. Nor is there any reason to doubt that the Melbourne steamers, with sufficient inducement, would be prepared to carry stone as cheaply from Oamaru as from Port Chalmers. And there is yet
minimum price at which in a short time the stone may be delivered in Melbourne, they are within safe limits in stating that at once it may be placed in that market at a price which, while leaving a large margin of profit to the Company, will still be considerably below that of any other building stone of anything like equal recommendations.
Your Committee having regard to the necessity of large supplies at the Melbourne depot, and the large preliminary outlay on trucks, machinery, and other improved appliances, besides the great importance of starting with sufficient capital at the disposal of the Company, recommend that the capital of such Company should be £25,000. They are, however, of opinion that not more than half this amount need be called up before the Company becomes self-supporting.
In conclusion, your Committee would desire to express their great obligation for the cordial response to their enquiries, by so many professional men, and others, so well qualified to judge; eliciting so large an amount of valuable information respecting our stone industry. They desire specially to refer to the very satisfactory evidence which has been forthcoming as to the extreme durability of the stone itself, its great strength and other serviceable qualities, its great purity and beauty, and the extraordinary facility with which it can be wrought into the most elaborate designs. Its great economy, moreover, in the cost of workmanship as compared with all other stones whatever is very remarkable, it being 50 per cent, less on ordinary buildings, and in highly ornamented buildings shown to be only one-third of that requited in working other stones. If, moreover, it be borne in mind that so far as your Committee's enquiries have extended the price of Oamaru stone in Melbourne has hitherto been from 4s 6d to 5s per foot, and that any stone with which it would be brought into competition commands about the same price in the market, it will be sufficiently apparent that a large reduction in price, stimulating the demand and largely increasing the consumption, may be effected, and the undertaking nevertheless remain an exceedingly profitable one.
Your Committee are therefore clearly of opinion that a large and profitable trade awaits the formation of a Company, which will develope this valuable industry on a scale commensurate with its vast importance.
A meeting of the Sub-Committee, in re the proposed "Oamara Stone Quarrying and Export Company, was held at the offices of Messrs Julius and Balmer, Oamaru, on. Friday, 14th September. Present—Messrs Sumpter, Johnston, Procter, and Brown (Convener).
The Committee's enquiries had reference to the following questions referred to them, viz.:—
Mr Geo. Munro, Lessee of the Mount Taipo Works, was in attendance, and gave the following evidence:—
via Port Chalmers. Freight to Port Chalmers, 10s per ton, and from thence to Melbourne, 18s; total, 28s. The price at present, per steamer from Port Chalmers, is 20s. Have been in communication with M'Meckan, Blackwood and Co., with reference to loading at the Breakwater; with sufficient encouragement they would do so. I am of opinion that sailing vessels would carry stone for 25s from the Breakwater direct to Melbourne.
The Committee then adjourned, and appointed Messrs Brown and Procter to continue the inquiry.
I worked ten years as a practical mason in Scotland and England. I am acquainted therefore with all the stones used in Great Britain for building purposes. They are uniformly harder (with the exception of the Bath Stone), than the Oamaru stone, and the expenditure of labor upon them consequently much greater. A French stone much resembling the Bath Stone is used in England, and both those are very much like the Oamaru stone. They are much softer than other varieties, more easily worked; and a great saving of labor is thus effected where ornamentation is desired. I have been in New Zealand for 16 years, during which time I have been chiefly working upon the Oamaru stone. I have used it largely in building as well as sculpture and other ornamental works. Have also quarried it, and exported it extensively to all parts of New Zealand, as well as to Melbourne. Never had a single complaint of the stone. All the principal buildings in Dunedin are built of it, either wholly or in part. With one exception, the
Mr Thomas Forrester, Architect, examined, said:—
1st Question.—Taipo, Totara, and Atkinson's. The quality in the first two, practically inexhaustible. That at Atkinson's, although less known, I consider the best.
3rd Question.—The cost of obtaining stone in quantity from these quarries has hitherto prevented its coming into general use, and an inferior quality from the Cave Valley at a much lower price has been almost exclusively used in Oamaru.
5th Question.—By improving the appliances at the quarries, great reductions might doubtless be made. In carrying on operations on a large scale, improved methods would suggest themselves, and in my opinion the cost could be greatly reduced. The appliances at the Wharf are ample at present, and equal to a large extension of the trade. They include steam cranes, iron trucks (specially adapted for the holds of vessels), and portable rails, if required. These appliances have not yet been employed in exporting stone. In the matter of charges, the Harbour Board already offer every inducement, inasmuch as 1d per foot, the present tariff, will barely pay the expenses of cranage and other appliances available. In my opinion any Company having their own trucks specially adapted for their own use, would economies considerably in carrying on their operations, both at the quarry and in loading at the Wharf.
7th Question.—In my opinion to do the trade justice, the Capital of a Company should not be less than £25,000. The stock in Melbourne should be so ample as to be sufficient for, say, one or two large buildings, the intermittent nature of the supply hitherto having been a great means of preventing the development of the trade with Melbourne.
Capt. Alex. M'Lareh:—
4th Question.—I am master of the barque Woodbine, and for many years familiar with the anticolonial trade. Have never carried stone to Melbourne, but think 25s. per ton would pay at present in comparison with other freights. Stone generally goes 16 cubit feet to the ton. Oamaru stone is much lighter than any other. Were it once well-known among shipmasters that they could depend upon a cargo of stone as back freight there would be no scarcity of vessels to carry it to Melbourne. A steady trade in stone would cause competition, and attract many vessels to the port. Many vessels would be glad to carry stone at a merely nominal rate, instead of ballast (for which we pay 4s. per ton) to Newcastle, if they could depend upon prompt loading and discharging. The stone could be thus shipped via Newcastle at a cheaper rate than by the direct route. From Newcastle the freight to Melbourne is from 12s. to 14s for coal. Stone would be about 2s. more. The Company would require an agent at Newcastle, and perhaps a depot. A considerable trade in stone is carried on between Sydney and Newcastle. Newcastle imports the whole of its building materials. The Oamaru stone might meet with a considerable demand in Newcastle. Going as bailase it could be placed cheaply in the Newcastle market. To insure safety from salt-water, the stone should be dunnaged like any other cargo. I have no doubt that were a large trade once developed, freight, owing to the greater competition which would arise would be considerably reduced. It might probably be reduced to 20s. per ton, or even less, with proper appliances at both ends and ample cargo.
Mr. Smith, Traffic Manager, Railway Department:—
4th Question.—The railway rate for stone is 10d. per truck per mile. It is eight miles from Mount Taipo, and the charge therefore 6s. 8d. per truck. A truck carries five tons. The rate is Is. 4d per ton of 22feet. From Atkinson's the charge would be 6s. per truck. To these charges those from Oamaru to the port are to be added. They are, Is. 3d. for the railway, and 1s. 10d. wharfage.
4th Question.—No doubt the charges could be largely reduced by the larger operations of a Company. If the Company had their own trucks, the Government no doubt would be glad to meet them fairly. Would strongly recommend any Company formed to have
Mr. David Ballantyne, Quarryman:—
Mr D. A. M'Leod, Civil Engineer, Oamaru Water Works:—
1st Question.—The whole area, from Kakanui River to Boundary Creek, a distance of 14 miles, abounds with stone. The quantity available is practically unlimited. The best in my own experience was got from Taipo. I believe stone of equally good quality can be had at Cave Valley, at Totara, Papakaio, and other localities. The supply of stone equal to that at Taipo is inexhaustible.
2nd Question.—8d per foot, delivered in Oamaru, from Cave Valley, and somewhat more from quarries more distant.
3rd Question.—No doubt facilities for transport and improved machinery, with other appliances for carrying on the works on a large scale, would effect a great saving of labor, and, consequently, cheapen the cost of production. The industry is only yet in its infancy, and is capable of indefinite development.
6th Question.—A Melbourne contractor gave me the following figures as the result of his operations:—Royalty, 3d; quarrying, 4d; cartage, 1s 4d, say 2s, per foot, at Moeraki, from Totara, a distance of 20 miles. Delivered in Melbourne, the cost would be from 4s to 4s 6d per foot
Mr M'Leod further stated that he had used the stone for bridges and culverts on railway and other works, above water and under water, and subject to very severe strains, and he regarded it as the most valuable stone with which he was acquainted for such purposes, both on account of its durability, its great strength, and the facility with which it can be worked into any shape. Besides, it is cheaper than any other stone. He added:—So far as my investigations extend—and they have been very ample—I have never observed, after many years trial, the least signs of decay or distress. Not only so, but it improves by exposure. Water does not affect it in the least. If proper precautions are taken in erecting buildings it can be made as impervious and dry as any other stone. Of course I refer to the better qualities of stone. I am aware that inferior samples and bad workmanship have given some cause for complaint on that score. The numerous fine buildings in Oamaru sufficiently testify to the great beauty and extreme durability of the stone, which after so many years evinces no signs whatever of decay. It is very notable that you rarely, if ever, discover a cracked lentil in the Oamaru stone, a circumstance common enough with reference to all sandstones of which I
Mr John Habdy, Surveyor:—
1st Question.— The available supply is practically unlimited, At Awamoa there is a quarry of the very best stone literally inexhaustible; at Totara, also, and Lambourne, as well as in other districts. At Teaneraki and Lambton, perhaps, the largest supply in the district is obtainable. These districts are traversed by two lines of railway.
2nd Question.—The Quarry Reserves, the property of the Corporation of Oamaru, of any importance, consist of about 2 acres at Awamoa and 4 acres at Totara. Those still the property of the Crown, are 2 acres at the Fortification, about 20 acres at Capsize, and part of the quarries now being worked at Weston. These could be leased on easy terms from either the Government or the Corporation. Of the quarries now practically developed the Taipo, on the Teschemaker estate, those on the Tree Terrace and Fortification, on the Totara estate (the property of the New Zealand Land Co.), and one at Weston, on Mr lsdale's property, now being worked by Messrs Ballantyne and Munro, are the best. On the properties, also, of Mr Atkinson, Mr Meek, and the Hon. R. Campbell, and others, there are extensive stone deposits, some at least of the best quality, and in any quantity. Some, if not all, of these quarries could be obtained at a moderate rate, by purchase or otherwise.
3rd Question.—Have had much experience in quarrying operations. Am of opinion that with improved appliances, i.e., by the application of steam for shearing and craning, by rails laid to the quarries, and trucks the property of the Company, and other appliances which experience on a large scale would be sure to suggest, the cost of production would be greatly economised. It is impossible at this stage to say to what extent such improved methods would reduce the cost at which the stone could be produced, but doubtless it would be very great.
4th Question.—Had recently some prospect of exporting largely, in conjunction with Mr Peyman, the Contractor for the Breakwater works, and that gentlemen and myself, after considerable enquiry, concluded that were a large trade once established, the freight to Melbourne would not exceed 20s per ton, and might eventually be reduced, wore the best appliances available at both ends, to 15s per ton. We proposed to purchase stone in the open
5th Question:—Yes, undoubtedly great reductions might safely be anticipated from the introduction of better appliances.
6th Question.—Some three years ago I contracted for the delivery in Melbourne of 400,000 feet at 4s per foot. The impossibility of loading stone at the time at Oamaru obliged me to abandon the project. The difficulties which then interposed are now wholly obviated, and in my opinion a large and profitable trade awaits the formation of a compaoy.
7th Question.—In my opinion a company with a capital of £20,000 would be amply sufficient for all purposes.
Mr Hardy further stated that the stone exported from Moeraki, owing to the difficulty in the way of transport and loading, must have cost, delivered in Melbourne, from 4s. to 5s. per foot.
Mr Hector Munro, Mason and Contractor:—
1st Question.—Am interested in a quarry at Weston. Stone can be procured in any quantity of the best quality. Totara, Teaneraki, and Weston would alone suffice for the present generation.
2nd Question.—Am of opinion that any of the numerous quarries in the district could be purchased or otherwise obtained at a reasonable price.
3rd Question.—Stone can be procured at the quarries at 6d. per foot, suitable for export. Of course the best quality.
5th Question.—Am decidedly of opinion that a company with ample appliances would economise labor and cheapen the production.
7th Question.—Should think a company with £20,000 capital sufficient for all purposes.
James Johnston, Architect:—
1st Question.—Supply uulimited. Those quarries already opened at Weston, Taipo, Totara, and Duntroon. The three latter are the best, and alone suitable for exportation. At Atkinson's, the Fortification, and numerous other localities there is an abundance of stone. Indeed, the entire country from Kakanui River to the Waitaki Plains, an area of 100 square miles, is one vast stone formation. Stone enough to rebuild London were it burned down.
3rd Question.—The better qualities of stone can be procured in Oamaru at 9d. I refer to stone suitable for exportation.
5th Question.—Yes, decidedly. By the introduction of steam power asan auxiliary to mechanical improvements. In carrying on quarrying on a large scale the cost of production would be greatly reduced in every way.
7th Question.— Would think from £20,000 to £30,000 a sufficient capital.
Mr Johnston further stated that he had been engaged in Oamaru for the last 4 years as an architect; that he bad prepared plans for and carried out some of the largest buildings in Oamaru. Considered the Oamaru stone to be most durable, it is very strong, and will bear a large pressure, is easily worked, and affords the unmost facilities for elaborate ornamentation. In London and in America had considerable experience in working other stone. Compared with other stone with which he was acquainted, the cost of working was very much reduced. As near as he could estimate the cost of working Oamaru stone, especially for fine work, is about one-third that of other stones usually employed.
William Doak, Quarryman:—
Have been engaged in quarrying operations for 10 years in Scotland and 15 years in this district. The Scotch stone generally is both harder and heavier than the Oamaru stone. The Ayrshire quarries produce a stone nearly as soft as that worked in this district. It is considered a good stone. The softer the stone the more durable for some purposes. When exposed to great heat the softer the better. The Oamaru stone I consider equal in quality for building purposes to the best Scotch stone Although lighter and softer it will stand as great pressure, is in fact more durable than the Scotch. It will bear as much pressure and weight as any stone twice as hard that I am acquainted with. Unlike most Scotch sandstone, which soon gives signs of decay, and becomes rapidly discolored, the Oamaru stone improves rapidly by exposure. It becomes harder, and acquires a hard face, which is perfectly impervious to wet. I can point to some samples exposed for years with a face as smooth and hard as glass. The supply of stone in the district is enormous—absolutely inexhaustible. In my opinion, if a large trade were developed, many improved methods might be adopted, and the price consequently reduced. I have observed Mr. Munro's patent, which is a great improvement. One man can do as much work with his machine as four with the old appliances. With further experience and greater steam power it could easily be improved upon. Steam cranes, an ample supply of trucks, and other improved appliances, would greatly cheapen the production. With wages more than double the rate obtaining in Scotland, buildings can be erected at less than half the price. The saving of labor is very great when elaborate designs have to be executed.
Mr Thomas Glass, Architect:—
Question 1.—The available sources of supply are inexhaustible. The whole district from Kakanui to the Waitaki is stone bearing in abundance.
Question 2.—A company would be able to command the stone of the district, and with proper appliances would absorb the entire stone trade. Proprietors of quarries would require to arrange with such a company, and their quarries would rem tin unproductive to them. Private parties would be unable to compete with a large company.
Question 3.—Stone is delivered in Oamaru at about 8d per foot. That is stone of inferior quality, which is almost exclusively used for building purposes in Oamaru.
Question 4.—Cost of quarrying 4d per foot at Weston, and 6d at Mount Taipo and other quarries in that vicinity. Freight to Oamaru about 1d per foot, and to Melbourne about 25s. per ton.
Question 5.—Most certainly. The present appliances are capable of indefinite improvement. Mr Glass further stated that he had been employed professionally in Oamaru District for the last 17 years; that during the whole period he had been using the stone; and that it is a most valuable stone for building purposes. Its softness renders its manipulation easy, and consequently economical—while it is a most durable stone, and improves the longer it is exposed to the weather. One specialty is its great adaptability for ovens and for other purposes—situations where it would be exposed to great heat. Was well acquainted with the freestone of the old country. The better qualities of Oamaru stone are superior to most of the Home stones for building purposes. The home stones are much harder, though they lack the tenacity of the Oamaru stone, and are much more expensive to work; besides being more liable to decay and discoloration. One third of the labor will produce as great results, where ornamentation is desired, with the Oamaru stone. Any carpenters' tools which can be used upon wood can be employed with as much facility upon the stone as upon the softest timber. It can be planed, sawn, or chiselled, or turned in any ordinary lathe. I consider it specially adapted for works of art, such as sculptures, monuments, and other carved work. When operated upon in its soft state, it is worked with great facility, and afterwards hardens by exposure to the weather. It becomes glazed, and quite impervious to wet, without any external application. Raw oil, in my opinion, and perhaps a little white lead is the only external application I would recommend. With proper precautions at the foundations, the buildings will be as dry as any in the world.
Printed at the North Otago Times, office Oamaru.
The Oamaru Stone is a white granular limestone. According to the Government Analyst, its chemical constituents are as follows:—
This places it in the same class as the Oolites of England and the Caen stone of France.
The Oamaru Stone has a remarkable uniformity of colour and texture, and can be obtained in large blocks. Like all Limestones of this kind, it is quite soft when quarried, but hardens rapidly on exposure to a dry atmosphere. This enables it to be worked into the most elaborate ornamentation at little cost.
The stone is rather porous for use in a damp situation, but it answers well in ordinary walls and columns in a moderately dry climate, and it is unexcelled for internal decorations.
The durability of the Oamaru Stone has not yet been thoroughly tested, its resistance to the disintegrating action of sulphate of soda is comparatively feeble, and some of the stones in the
In reply to a memorandum of His Honour the Superintendent, dated 5th ultimo, regarding the Oamaru and Kakanui stone, we have the honour to report that it has been largely used in this Province for the last ten years. The oldest structure known to us which has been erected with this material is the bridge at Oamaru, whose span is 24 feet, and width between parapets 18 feet. The style of masonry is squared, dressed on beds and joints, and scabbled on face, excepting cornices and parapet, which are tool-dressed fair. This bridge was erected in
Structures of much greater importance and extent have, since that date, been erected of the same stone, from the several quarries of the district, amongst which may be mentioned—
Several Other smaller bridges have been erected, but which it is needless to specify. Many buildings have also been erected where the partial use of the Oamaru and Kakanui Stone has been availed of, an example of which is the Provincial Government Buildings.—an extensive pile, the walls of pressed brick, and parapets, cornices, and window and door facings, of the above. The erection of these structures has extended over these last eight years, and in none of them is there any disintegration of the material to be detected. In the oldest, the arisses are yet sharp, and the tool marks fresh; and even in the most exposed parts, such as the copings and south-west walls, the stone has indurated with time, presenting no appearance even of incipient decay. Exceptionally to this (but only in two or three cases) must be mentioned the detection of an inferior stone allowed to be put in by insufficient inspection, a contingency in future easily guarded against by persons of experience.
During the period of ten years, the stone has also been much used in graveyards as headstones and monuments. Having inspected all those in the Dunedin Cemetery, we have to report that the oldest even of these show no signs of deterioration; but, on the contrary, have been hardened by time and exposure, the lettering and tool marks are as sharp and distinct as on the day on which they were cut.
This stone has also been used largely in the construction of public and private buildings in Oamaru and adjacent districts, and in the more remote portions of the Province it has been used for sills, lintels, cornices, quoins, and parapets in buildings erected with brick or bluestone.
As the stone is to be found abundantly over a district of twenty-five miles in length, and eight in breadth, it is practically inexhaustible; and though strata of inferior qualities exist, yet the nature, colour, and characteristics of the approved stone being now so well known to the professional men and practical artificers, and quarrymen of the district, no danger in its use can be run if selections be made under intelligent supervision.—We have, &c,
I beg to forward herewith copy of report upon the Oamaru and Kakanui Stone made to the Provincial Government of Otago in
I beg to state that I have used the Oamaru Stone in numerous buildings erected under my supervision in the Province of Otago, during the last ten years. From personal observation, I have formed a high opinion of the qualities of this stone. I have never observed any evidence of disintegration from exposure to the weather, and am of opinion that if large horizontal surfaces are not exposed to the absorption of rain, that the stone can be used to great advantage in any position in any building, and will produce a better architectural effect than any Other building stone that I know of in New Zealand.
The cost of handling and carriage from Oamaru, and the uncertainty of the supply, have, hitherto, prevented its extensive and general use, but I am convinced that if these difficulties are overcome, and the stone delivered in the market at a price that can compete with brick and cement, that this beautiful stone will be extensively used in all the better classes of public and private buildings in the colony.
I hereby certify that for the last twelve years I have freely made use of the stone known as the Oamaru Stone, in several important buildings throughout Otago, chiefly in churches and banks, and similar class of work.
In all cases where it has been made use of by me, I have not noticed up to this period any evidence of decay, and I consider it to be the best stone for general purposes in connection with external or internal finishing of buildings to be obtained in the colonies.
Being obtainable in large blocks, it gives every facility for carrying out massive works, and the ease with which it can be worked into any form, permits of richness in detail and carving being introduced, which would be impossibly in harder material unless at say three limes the cost.
"Sermons in stones, and good in everything."—As You Like It.
For thirty years, the gray cliffs of Oamaru, covering many a square mile with their protecting mantle, have been silently proclaiming to the industrious and enterprising, "Here is abundant wealth for the carrying away. Here is an admirable building stone of unrivalled colour, of texture so pure and free from silicious particles that, while abundantly compact, it yet can be cut with a common saw, or turned in a lathe and polished with sand-paper; with the close grain of a stone, it yet can be carved with the freedom of wood." Now for the first time, a proper response is to be made, and a Company has been formed for the quarrying and export of this valuable material. The stone is a pure limestone, capable of the most delicate manipulation. We recollect seeing a piece of it which had been carved by an ingenious Dunedin artisan into a small branch of a tree. The veining on every leaf was distinct, and on one of the leaves was a fly crawling, true to nature. We do not know any other building stone capable of being chiselled into such delicate tracing as this. It excels the far-famed Caen stone, from Normandy, so extensively used by the church-building abbots and bishops of the 15th and 16th centuries in England. Fine-work was made in earlier days of selected specimens of sand-Stone. Witness the foliaged capitals of the columns in Melrose Abbey, which exhibit "the curly greens," so exquisitely carved that a straw put in at one corner comes out at another. A clever workman will be able, with the Oamaru Stone, to out-rival all these carvings, and even the garlanded pillar of Roslin Abbey, which cost the precocious apprentice his life at the hand of a jealous master. For indoor work it is unequalled—the rich, warm, cream colour is refreshing to the eye; and stone pulpits or baptismal fonts may be easily cut to the most intricate pattern. The skill of the designer is the only limit to its beauty and adaptability. We have often thought that it would make an admirable and unique lining for halls of houses, cut into slabs
We have no doubt that a large export trade may be developed in this material, and that if proper efforts be used, it will become a favourite with London stone cutters and architects. For outside work, also, it does well, as the surface hardens through exposure, and it may be water-proofed to resist the wettest climate by a mixture of quicklime and tallow, which may be toned to the natural colour. We anticipate a lucrative result to the undertaking and cordially recommend it to public support.
The people of Oamaru are proverbially known as very progressive. They have an immense belief in their own district and its resources. Their land, both town and country, has of late immensely advanced in at least nominal value, and the harbour works are being vigorously pushed forward to a point which will render the port of Oamaru a safe and expeditious shipping place for vessels of considerable tonnage. It is but natural, therefore, that at last one of the principal products of the district—the Oamaru building stone—should have been looked on as destined to be a future export of the place on a large scale. For years past the stone has been sent in small quantities to Dunedin, but the difficulties and expense of transport of such heavy blocks as are required for buildings have prevented its being used so largely as it would otherwise have been. This is still more the case as regards Melbourne, to which place a few small shipments have with difficulty been made, and where a very large market is believed to exist for it. It is a stone specially adapted for a dry climate, and at a reasonable cost it would be much used in Victoria. The railways now completed have removed some of
Thanks to the promoters of the proposed "Oamaru Stone Quarrying and Export Company," we have had placed in our hands the evidence collected by them, and at once and frankly we desire to express our hearty thanks for such an accumulation of valuable evidence from highly qualified witnesses respecting our stone quarries as takes us altogether by surprise. Great as we regarded the resources of Oamaru, we did not dream that such untold wealth was stored up in our stony ridges, and cropping up in almost every field in our neighbourhood. To utilize such gratuitous gifts of a beneficent nature is the mission of this Company; and while gladly acknowledging our great obligations to the committee, we earnestly recommend our readers to study the evidence, and report carefully for themselves. This evidence settles some, at least, of the questions referred to the committee once and for ever, while in every point it is most clear, convincing, and overwhelming. No one can now doubt the vast extent and
We, therefore, once more express our hearty approval of the project, and we have no fear of the future welfare of this promising Company.
Our readers will observe, from the advertisement in the usual column, that a Company has been formed for quarrying and disposing of the beautiful stone that abounds between the Kakanui river and the Waitaki—a distance of twenty miles.
We referred lately to the project which has been set on foot in Oamaru for the establishment of a Stone Export Company, and we to-day publish in our advertising columns the prospectus. We understand the shares have been subscribed for liberally in Oamaru, and that steps are now being taken to place a moiety in Melbourne. Should this be successful, the Company will be at once able to commence operations on a considerable scale, and either acquire some of the chief quarries or enter into agreement with their owners and connect them with the shipping ports. We refer to the matter again, because it is one of considerable importance. It is quite possible the export of this beautiful stone may become one of great magnitude, second only in importance to the coal trade, which we all wish to see developed. Every new export means so much additional wealth to the colony, and brings with many collateral benefits in the way of a development of a shipping trade. We believe the demand for this stone will largely increase in our own colony, and that at every spot where it can be sent at moderate cost by rail it will be largely used. The internal trade and the export trade being developed together, should help each other, as it is a question of quarrying and handling large quantities of heavy material at a cheap rate, by means of suitable machinery. It is, therefore, of importance that the matter should be well managed, and we should like to see some of our leading men taking an interest in the matter, as they generally do when an important industry requires their attention. Many a good scheme is spoilt for want of good management at the outset; and while we heartily wish this new enterprise success, we hope the shrewd Oamaru men whose names appear in the Provisional Directorate will be able to associate with themselves some men of practical experience, both in Dunedin and Melbourne, so that there may be no costly experiments at the outset. As regards snipping facilities, the railways and their branches will do much to help, and we are informed that the wharfage requisite for shipping under the shelter of the breakwater at Oamaru is rapidly progressing towards completion; and that there are some transhipping facilities at Kakanui, though not as yet sufficient depth of water there for large vessels. Of a kindred character is another remarkably promising enterprise, which has been conducted through its preliminary stages by a few progressive Dunedin men; we refer to the slate quarries lately opened at Otepopo. We have recently had personal demonstration of the great superiority of the slate there produced. It exists, we are told, in immense quantities, capable of supplying not only New Zealand requirements, but Australian also. This applies to the finer qualities of slate used for various useful purposes, as well as to roofing slates.
The proposal to establish a powerful organization in the shape of a Joint-Stock Company, with ample capital for carrying on extensive operations for the purpose of turning to profitable account the immense source of wealth which, in our limestone deposits, lies at our very doors, is one which we regard as one of the most hopeful signs of the times for this district. The promoters of the Oamaru Stone Quarrying and Export Company have entered upon their labours at the very nick of time, the facilities afforded for transit to port, by the construction of railways, and the facilities for shipment presented by the breakwater wharves, in their several ways inviting capital to profitable employment in the establishment of a large export trade in what is probably—we think we might write certainly—the best building stone in the Australias. There seem to be present all the conditions necessary to ensure the most complete success; the supply is inexhaustible, the demand almost unlimited, and it would appear to be only necessary to turn the channels of trade into their natural course, and an enormous and profitable industry must be the result.
The evidence taken by the Sub-Committee appointed for that purpose by the Provisional Committee of the Stone Company conclusively establishes these points, and goes further to demonstrate that the stone can be quarried, forwarded to port, shipped, and landed in Melbourne or Newcastle at a price which will be much below that which has now to be paid for an article in many respects inferior; so that it appears absolutely certain that an immense trade must spring up so soon as our stone is known, and known to be obtainable at any time, in any quantity, at a certain fixed price.
It was shown during the inquiries of the Committee that in many instances, prior to our obtaining the railway and harbour facilities which we now possess, large orders for stone were offered, but had to be declined because of the impossibility, under the unfavourable conditions, of executing them within a reasonable time; in one instance the order being for no less than 400,000 feet at 4s. per foot, delivered in Melbourne. Under the
Scores, nay, hundreds of buildings in Oamaru, attest that the stone, though so soft when it comes from the quarry as to reduce the cost of working to the lowest possible minimum (50 per cent, even below that of working Bath freestone), hardens rapidly on exposure to the weather, and stands for years without showing the smallest sign of deterioration; while the testimony of men who have worked as quarrymen and masons, or practised as architects for many years in England and Scotland, is unanimous and conclusive in pronouncing the Oamaru stone to be without exception the best building material known to them. In writing thus we are not exaggerating in the smallest degree, the evidence published with the committee's report bearing us out in every letter. It is the most easily worked of any building stone yet discovered; stands better than any stone of its class; can be
Walker, May, &Co., Printers,9 Mackillop Street, Melbourne.
Byron said, "the more I see of man the loss I like him." The more we see of man in his clerical capacity the less we respect him. Our observation of the actions and expressions of clerical assemblies has been pretty extensive. We have attended in our day, the sessions of General Assemblies, Free, United Presbyterian, and established. We have watched the proceed-ings of the Presbyteries from Edinburgh to Inverness. "When we came to Melbourne, there were only four congregations and one Presbytery, and now there are 114 congregations and 10 Presbyteries in Victoria, In ? Well simply this. The Synod of Otago, during its last session, out-herods them all. It has filled our mind with disgust; and from conversation with some of the best members of the Synod, we gather that others cherish the same feeling towards it that we here record. One reverend father said that the reason why minister's sons did not choose the profession of their fathers was that they saw too much of the internal difficulties of the manse.
Precisely so. Not a few of the honest spectators declare that
Manliness is not one of the characteristics of the Synod. One clergyman prevailed upon one of his elders to travel all the way south to Dunedin in order to support him in his threatened onslaught on Spiritualism and Materialism. The elder came, saw, and left disgusted at "the want of straight forwardness of his minister." The obnoxious heresies were not even mooted publicly. The indignant pastor graced the ranks of the party that he had determined to libel before the court. One of the accredited stipendiaries of the church got an increase of £20 voted to his salary, in place of being censured for his materialistic tendencies. It is true, indeed, that a southern pastor rose to put some questions about this matter to the Synod, but one of the ruling dons of the court promptly sealed his mouth. Whatever may have been done in private, the public ventilation of such questions was considered inexpedient. And yet these men denounce the Press as being guided solely by expediency. "It is irreligious and scurrilous in its tone, and will not speak out on abuses." Whatever fault may be attributed to the Press of Otago, it cannot be said to be "an infidel Press." The public and respectable journals are singularly free from blame in this matter. But why is the Synod so timid and reticent on questions that affect the very existence of religion and morality? When the questions of indiscriminate baptisms and reckless administration of the Lord's Supper came on for discussion, where was the zeal of members who professed to be scandalised at the way in which certain of their brethren "pandered to the depraved tastes of their hearers," in the celebration of such holy ordinances? One pastor made an effort to relieve his burdened soul, hut very soon swallowed his words most igno-miniously. Talk of consistency, and manliness, and religion, why there are no traces of such qualities pervading the deliberations of the Synod. The real enemies of Christianity are within, and not without, the camp. Continual complaints are being made of "the horrible shabbiness of congregations" in the support of schemes of the church.
"Men of the world," as if ministers were not, as a rale, the veriest muck-worms, estimate a tree by the nature of its fruit. The dreary night devoted to missionary revelations showed that the church, last year, "had baptized one Chinaman" out of a
Certain men, the proverb says, should have good memories. About five months ago, on a public occasion, it was openly and applaudingly asserted, that our churches supported religion more liberally than at home. In the Synod congregations contributed, it appeared from the same authorities "horribly shabby" to the sustentation and church extension funds, &c. The deputies from other churches told the. Synod that their ministers were better paid than, in Otago. This, we know, to be a fact; for except one minister, no member of Synod receives a stipend of £400 per annum. The highest gets £350. Three receive £300 each and one £290. The rest get the equal dividend, about £190 annually per man. The best scholar in the church, now a convert to Spiritualism does indeed get a supplement of £15 from his appreciative congregation. "Who will now deny that" every man of worth is well supported in Otago."
As for the miserable contributions to the church extension fund, I am inclined to think that the reason of this "horrible shabbiness" is not difficult to find out. Indeed, it was told, perhaps more plainly than courteously, in the "scurrilous letter" that appeared in the columns of the Daily Times. We could see very little scurrility about it.
One of the leading members of Synod openly taxed a member of the Court with having written that letter, but he had to withdraw with a bad grace his assertion. There are some prominent elements of the Synod that profess to know the paternity of any letters that appear in the correspondence columns of newspapers. For ourselves, we jilead profound ignorance of such matters; and yet we claim to be as lynx-eyed as any man in Otago. A. word on the Lang scholarship, because of the collateral points raised in its discussion, may not be out of place here. It appears that the gainer of that prize was not allowed to hold it
Now, the course at home extends over a period of four years in the gown classes, and four years at Divinity Hall. In all eight years. Why is it three years in the Otago University? And is Divinity to be taught efficiently in three years in the proposed theological class ? Are our institutions superior to the Scottish Academies? "Why shorten the very inferior and imperfect course of study here? As there is a sad deficit in the teaching power ought not the curriculum to be lengthened in place of being shortened? Can one divinity professor do the work of half a dozen in a shorter time ? Can four professors do the work of a fully equipped University of some 20 or 30 chairs. Perhaps, however, we are a smarter and faster people here than at home. Certainly, every tyro attempts to solve very flippantly problems that task the combined wisdom of the Home Republic of Letters. Men on the strength of having attended a night class for a few months pretend to know more than the Senatus Academicus of Edinburgh or Cambridge, Oxford or Aberdeen, Glasgow or London University.
The discussion respecting the First Church engrossed much time. The Synod went twice into private conference on the subject. It had been well not to have brought it at all before the public. Such a course would have saved the reputation of several members of the Court. "This dreary First Church business," according to one minister, has been the bane of the Court since nolens volens. The rest of the Court, despite private remonstrances and expressions of disgust and discontent to the contrary, remain passive or silent or indifferent, or, at beat, refuse to vote. This was abundantly illustrated in the discussion on hymns and funeral services. Despite the private conference of the Clutha Presbytery In respect to heresies and innovations, and the refusal of the Oamaru Presbytery to sanction the introduction of hymns, and the promised appearance of "a strong phalanx of elders at the Synod," the ruling party carried everything before it and the Synod was "led as a lamb to the slaughter, or as a sheep before its shearers was dumb, opening not its mouth." But this feature is apparent to all men of observation.
If there be any ground for the complaint of "horrible shabbiness of congregations" towards the support of the Church Extension Fund, the fact that no less than seven ministers who came to Otago had to leave, and now occupy important posts elsewhere, may be a sufficient apology for the laity.
By the way, a respected elder some time ago told us that this session there would be a formidable body of the laity sent to the Synod to resist innovations. We are sorry to say that his hopes were not realised. One of the dominant party of the Court gave unmistakeable warning of his intention to follow up the Episcopalian habit of members of Synods opening their business by partaking of the Lord's Supper! The custom of taking the communion in this private or semi-private way is abhorrent from the genius of Preshyterianism. A venerable elder of three years' standing in the old land, and one who figured as one of the Disruption Assembly members, expressed to us his intense sorrow at witnessing some of the escapades of the majority of our Synod.
We attended this session, from first to last. We have studiously refused to name any person. We have abstained from anything bearing the semblance of personality. We are no party men. We have no personal desires to gratify in thus re-
In the Times of Saturday, 15th February, there appeared a small letter headed "Passing Queries"—some thirty-seven in number—by Zeugma. The anonymous writer is full of scorn at the bare thought of the anonymous criticisms of "Sigma." And yet himself has not the manliness to write in propria persona. Anonymous writers who impugn the actions, lives, and motives of other men unjustly, we hold to be despicable moral assassins. But this charge cannot, in any sense, be laid on the shoulders of the author of '! Passing Notes." His remarks—while as impersonal as those of the editorial column—are characterised with urbanity, candour, generosity, and even magnanimity. Some of his remarks might have found a place in the papers of the Spectator in its palmiest days: especially his kindly "Notes" on the Synod. He has been fortunate enough to have heard one sermon at least in Otago that would not have disgraced a Presbyterian parish pulpit in Scotland, That is more than we can say, since the lamented retirement and final removal of the Rev. Dr. Burns. And yet we have heard repeatedly "the thirty-six Presbyterian clergymen "of Otago. As to" Zeugma's boast of the liberal provision made for them in this province, we have only to reiterate that only one minister receives a salary above £400 a-year. Another gets £350; while about three pastors get about £300 each. The others get only the equal dividend, something below £6200! Verily there is room left for the laity "to make better provision for them than formerly." But, will they do it? Why, we have conversed, and do frequently converse, with laymen from all these thirty-six parishes, and they uniformly say that their ministers "get as much as they deserve, perhaps"more than they would get elsewhere." To retort the words or our correspondent,—" Is not one plain solid fact worth more than a ton of reckless assertion or ribald declamation?"
We grieve to say that, next year, they will get lees, owing to
The writer of "Passing Notes" did not malign the Synod: on the contrary, his words have been re-echoed from Waitaki to Riverton.
Hinc line lachrt/mae. Is "Zeugma" a knave or a fool, or a strange mixture of both? Is he ignorant of the fact that Presbyteries and the Synod also "met in private recently" to deliberate upon tho
The Presbyterians of Otago do not want an apologist of the type of a "Zeugma." They know too well the reckless character of the spiritual milk-and-water food served up to them here, and deplore the want of the strong meat so freely enjoyed by the most isolated village of their native land. They glory in Presby-terianism, but they are heartily ashamed of its mongrel representatives in Otago. They are not likely to forget the disgraceful insults heaped upon the memory of its Great Founder, through the eccentric innovations and deviations which have already been sanctioned, and of which more are in contemplation. "Zeugma" must have fearfully degenerated, else he never could have written such an absurd string of pedantic categories: or perhaps he is not a Scot after all. We are aware, however, that: some Scotchmen are quite as superstitious as Irishmen, with this important reservation:—While Pat will give his last sixpence to his priest, and deem it a great privilege so to act, Sandy will carefully keep any bad penny he may get during the week and drop it religiously on Sunday in the "Lord's plate." "Zeugma "is not, we fear, a true blue Presbyterian, jealous of the honour of Scotland and her church. Caledonians love and court manly criticism of their pastors. They have too much of the perfervidum ingenium Scotorum to put up with mediocrity in church, or state, or school. Such a spirit is sadly wanting in Otago. All honour to "Sigma" for trying to stir up Scotchmen to a sense of duty and honour in such momentous matters. There is nothing offensive in the tone, style, or sentiments of his invaluable "Notes." "Let him," as royal poet David said
Our churches require such a judicious castigation. What do wo find at present? Good men leaving and finding excellent positions elsewhere, while drones leave Australia and America, &c., go home for a season, and are sent out to "canny Otago" to keep them from beggary and starvation. If Zeugma will have the manliness to give us his name, throw off iiis mask, ami fling his "nom de plume" to the limbo of oblivion, we shall endeavour to remove the scales of ignorance from his leaden, jaundiced, prejudiced and hypocritical eyes.
Why are all the ministers brought to the First Church temporarily from Victoria so immensely superior to our pastors? Because the people of Victoria offer splendid attractions for home ministers. The Rev. Mr Campbell of Geelong, in the course of bis address to the Dunedhi 'Presbytery, told our ministers that if they wanted good men they must pay for them. The very fact of Dr Cairns, of Chalmers Church, Melbourne, having been allowed an annual stipend of £1,000 from the outset operated very beneficially in 1 ho direction of drawing men of talent to Victoria, But the truth of the matter must be plainly spoken. So long as the Otago clerical Merry-Andrew, who is supremely "an empty-headed fool," is allowed to send home for men of a certain sycophantic type, to suit his own mean purposes, so long will the church languish in Otago. We would advise the First Church to offer a £1,000 a-year for a man of talent, and men of standing at home will be attracted to our shores. There is, indeed, great need for them, for the people are fearfully ignorant of Scripture when they can swallow such a wretched parody of Christianity as was doled out recently Sabbath after Sabbath in the Queen's Theatre under the auspices of Christian communicants and' office-bearers. Bradlaugh, the atheist, would have been heartily ashamed of parading such a silly caricature of Christianity in his London rat-hole. Nowhere but in Dunedin, could a Christian minister be seen in a Hall of Infidelity, heartily applauding a Yankee clown while busy ridiculing the personal appearance of a brother minister, and worse than all, caricaturing Christ on the cross, and scoffing at his miracles as the clever tricks of a conjuror. These things have not been done in a corner.
Froude, in his second volume, entitled "Short studies on great subjects," asserts that "the phenomena of spirit-rapping show us that the half-educated multitudes are ready for any superstition." But it remains for Dunedin to show to the world that its ministers and office-bearers are capable of supporting and even hospitably entertaining at their manses, the deadliest enemies of the Christian Faith. They laugh at the Royal Psalmist for having written thus: "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the
Again, what a fanatic, according to the notions of Presbyterian doctors, was Israel's King, when he averred,
So degenerate are the Presbyterians of Otago, that they will allow, day after day, the memory of John Knox to be insulted, and parodied, in the person of a public charlatan, whose whole life proves that God is not in all his thoughts. On the 25th November last, the people of Dunedin went out "to see a reed shaken by the wind" of a rotten public opinion. They laid a stone upon the head of John Knox, and left it in a dirty hole, and never after looked near the spot, In the evening they assembled to drink tea and hear the plagiaristic verbiage of the materialistic Professor of the Otago night-school. That animal clod, however, unconsciously gave utterance to one original prophecy—to wit, that "he was the forerunner of a monkey-show." It was, indeed, a "monkey-show" got up to caricature the character of the man "who never feared the face of man." We could wish that the spirit of Knox did really actuate the minds of Scotchmen in Otago. Then they would arise and would spue out of their mouths the sneaking, political and professional charlatans of Otago. Knox was an embodiment of conscience. He did not stand up in a pulpit, like a devirilised coward, bent on pleasing everybody and offending none. "I am," said the brave reformer, "in the place where I am demanded of conscience to speak the truth, and, therefore, the truth I speak, impugn it whoso list." This was the eternal aspect of his moral character. And it is the characteristic of every great and good man. But we forbear; for the congregation that desecrates his name is at sixes and sevens, despite pretences to the contrary; and, in due time, the wheat will be separated from the chaff, the tares from the pure grain, the gold from the dross and the scoundrels and hypocrites who labour to
The worthy pastor of Knox Church seemed to enjoy himself intensely at Dr Dunn's entertainment. Evidently he saw there a geniune reflection of his own character. Like draws to like. We suppose the session of Knox church will not trouble itself with the escapades of one of its own deacons. Either the session must be silent or it will have to libel the pastor: for the deacon conducted himself with decorum, at least, while the pastor seemed to be quite frantic over the buffooneries of the healing medium and clairvoyant who had done "a good many cures in Dunedin by spirit power." Dr Dunn's reply to Dr. Copland's lecture "would be a disgrace to a public bar-room," to borrow the very words of the spirit doctor himself. We pretend not to bo able to judge of the qualities of spirit-poetry, but when a Spiritualist condescends to quote some six lines from the celebrated Essay on Man, we are able to say whether the quotation is genuine or
The words italicised by us are not in the original. The poetry is caricatured. Even the ear of a Dr Dunn might have saved him from perpetrating such egregious blunders.
The philosophical and satirical lines run as follows:—
be a fool!
Mr Peebles also misquoted a noted couplet of the Essay on Man,
The "Seer of the Age" ignorantly read the last line thus:—
He can't be wrong, &c.
Is there a new edition of the "Essay on Man" published in America under the auspices of the spiritual college that conferred the degree of M.D. on Mr. Dunn? Americans claim the unenviable prerogative of improving upon the orthography, grammar, logic, rhetoric, test, and pronunciation of English authors. Besides the whole structure of the letters, lectures, and sermons of Mr Peebles and of Drs. Dunn and Stuart, completely sets the rules of composition, as well as the principles of Christianity at open defiance.
On Scotsman newspaper. The "real moral nuisance" complained of in that article, reflects disgrace upon Germany, America, Aberdeen, and St Andrew's. There is no occasion for resorting to the silly expedient of tracing Dunn's diploma to the spiritual spheres: for a degree of any sort can be easily secured in any of those mundane universities. The ancient Academy of St Andrews has covered herself with shame perpetual in having allowed herself to be seduced to betray her sacred trust, as she did recently in the matter of throwing away her honors in Divinity upon the most ignorant charlatan that ever crossed earth's central line. When a vacancy occurred in the professorial ranks of the Melbourne University, it was stipulated, much to the annoyance of Scotsmen, that none but a graduate of Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin could be eligible for election. The abominable conduct of the Senatus Academicus of St Andrew's University, in the matter of the Otago D.D., is a severe blow and a sore discouragement to any man who would manfully stand up to resent similar insults gratuitously heaped upon our Scottish Universities by any of the Peddlington Universities of Polynesia. Should this come under the eyes of the Fife-shire Professoriate, we hope they will heartily repent of their blinded action, and be more careful for the future. The evil is so glaring, and the imposition so bare-faced, that real scholars henceforth will refuse, like Carlyle, to accept such alphabetical appendages to their names, as e.g., M.A., M.D., Ph. D., and D.D., &c. "Letters"—says the Scotsman—-" are often used as a synonym for learning, but we suspect that in the case of a very large number of the individuals we refer to they are lettered only in the literal sense. Nor can it well be otherwise, considering, on the one hand, the reasons for which the supposed literary honors are often bestowed, and, on the other hand, the queer fountains from which they are frequently found to flow. The United States can grow degrees as plentifully as they grow corn, and with as little trouble. All that is needed to constitute a University out in Kentucky or Wisconsin is a few cart-loads of logs and two old schoolmasters. If two school masters can't be got, one (with spectacles) will do. The logs go to form the outward body of the
For American, read Australasian, and we have a life-like picture here of the rise, and progress and present position of the Universities of Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and notably of Dunedin.
As for the New Zealand University, it has not yet provided itself with the necessary outward or inward logs to constitute "the body of the Academy." The title of Doctor, at least in Otago, is "fruitful of jokes." "We agree with the Scotsman, "that the man who is so mean as to purchase the honours of a pseudo-university, or of any university, the authorities of which can know nothing whatever about him, and who has the impudence to append them to his name, and flout them in the face of his fellow-men, is only a degree below the house-burglar in the moral scale. He is a contemptible pilferer, who has stolen a miserable rag of reputation which, if he had common sense, he would see could do him no real good. But his successful theft does not the less detract from that common store of honour which is the rightful property of learning and ability. It is surely high time such academical jackdaws were effectually dealt with."
Collections are being raised in the Presbyterian churches to defray the expenses incurred in connection with the bringing out from Great Britain an additional supply of labourer; for the vineyard. The people seem not to be very hearty in this matter. Let, however, a general collection be levied for the special purpose of covering the expenses arising from the transportation of our present clerical incumbents to the old land, and we predict the Laity will liberally respond to such a praiseworthy appeal. Presby-terianism played a great part in the seventeenth century in England. Prelacy was ostracised by the British Parliament, and the parochial pulpits of England rung with the stentorian voices of the true-blue Presbyterian ministers of Geneva. But, in Otago, Calvinism is languishing, withering, and fast dying out. Nothing will save it, but the forcible removal of almost all our ministers, beginning at Knox Church and emptying the East and "West Taieri pulpits, together with their satellites. While the Synod closed its annual labours, the spiritualistic vagrants began their pernicious ministrations in Dunedin. They burlesqued not the Bible only, but all standard authors. The clergy were cowardly silent, and we had to drive the wolves from their folds. How largo audiences could have listened with patience to Peebles and Dunn's incoherent effusions, we pretend not to divine. Nor yet are we able to understand how one clerical augur could have
There is a vast difference between personal satire and low ribaldry. Dr Copland's lectures were said to be full of personal epithets. And so they were: but there was nothing low about them. Oh! but say the parasites of Knox Church, "how unchristian the language!" "Well, it was not of the milk and water type to which they are accustomed. A spade was called a spade and a rogue a rogue. Men are wofully mistaken about the spirit of Christianity. Christ was a very severe and merciless censor. He excelled a Cleon or a Clodius in personal invective. Do you doubt it? Read, for example Matthew xxiii. There you will find a black catalogue of maledictions against hypocrites, rogues, and sycophants. We award considerable praise to Dr. Copland for his plucky utterances, even at the eleventh hour. We hope he will turn over a new leaf, and, in company with such an estimable man as the grave and honest minister of St. Andrew's, that he will form in the church courts a "true-blue" party that-will resume Pressby terianism from the unholy gripe of a parcel of "scribes, pharisces, and hypocrites," who would really ruin any cause which they even so much as touched with their slimy lingers. "The time is short," Be up and bravely "cast aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light," and put to the rout the low-born jugglers, whose self-elected mission seems to be to drag down to the very dust of public humiliation all manly, righteous and holy institutions that exist only for the moral ami religious elevation of degraded humanity. Every good man and true will join such an earnest fraternity.
The Rev. Mr Johnstone of Port Chalmers is an honest man, but weak as clay in the hands of (ho potter. Yet he may be redeemed. Rev. Messrs Greig, M'.Naughton, Blake, and Davidson might be reasoned with and brought over to the new party. By and by, we hope the First Church will have a man of weight to join the party. As for the elders, they may be relied upon. Then will shame and confusion overwhelm the cursed trio of mongrels who have made Scotland and her Zion to "stink in the nostrils" of all high-minded and honourable and God.-fearing men.
We believe in Divine Providence, and feel convinced that the end of that trio shall Not be peace. "When things come to the
not be." 'The place that knows them now shall soon know them no more. Their remembrance shall die out of the land, which they had desecrated with their odious presence. Religion with such sycophants is only a cloak for covert immoralities. The young will rise up and curse the memories of the men who nursed Spiritualism, and endowed Materialism, and there by poisoned their young minds in the opening buds. They will curse their parents who were so infatuated in mind, and so spiritually darkened in soul, As To countenance and reward open ribaldry that early polluted the pure springs of life of their children. It is very dangerous tamper long with conscience, which eventually becomes hardened and darkened, and will not be roused from its lethargy, till the simultanious flash of a past resuscitated life of infamy and wickedness shall pass over the darkened chambers of imagery at the perilous hour of dissolution. Memory is the Book of Life. Spiritualism is undermining the faith of the young, and Materialism is sapping the springs of immortality. Impostors who make money, honestly or dishonestly, by hook or by crook, are openly applauded and "held up as the true models of moral beauty; and thus conscience, that ought to be "tender as the spirit-touch of man or maiden's eye," is hilled into a Lethean torpor' and humanity sinks beneath the condition of the brute creation, Principle is a fool's word, and is openly laughed at in Dunedin. ".Make money, and never mind your conscience," is eternally rung in our cars. Sycophants and rogues carry away the palm and wreath of victory, and honesty is ruled out of the market as a worthless;: old commodity that no man regardeth. The political barometer has fallen so low that there is no sence of religion or morality left beating in the public pulse. Show us men's political idols, and we will show you the characteristics of their moral and spiritual character. The Ideal is the metre of the real. "When the good are exalted, the people rejoice; but when villains and knaves and sycophants ride on the high places of the earth, then society becomes morally rotten and demoralised. Religion pines and dies for want of sustenance.
Family worship is the very core of public devotion. Where the sacred vestal flame of domestic piety is not daily fed with the pure oil of heart-felt worship, there religion becomes outwardly eclipsed, and will become finally extinguished. He who cannot govern his own house is not fit to take charge of the duties appertaining to the House of God. Dancing, like a butterfly, in the sunshine of village popularity, is bad preparation for the services of the sanctuary. And, in very deed, the blood of those whom he mechanically baptized, married and buried, will be finally laid upon his devoted head in the day when "the
It is not palatable or gainful, but we have long ago counted the cost, and have never yet shrunk back from the faithful discharge of our sacred duty. Let us acquit ourselves as faithful stewards, and God will own our labours in due time, if we faint not.
Trimmers, time-servers, and hypocrites, are our especial aversion. Let a clerical buffoon attend a public picnic, and go through certain gymnastic exercises at shinty, and bow and scrape and fawn for popularity, verily we say he has his reward in the feigned approbation of fools and the contempt of the
Let the stout champions of spiritualism, under the mask of religion, Saturday and Sunday, disport in" Logan's bonnie woods and braes," and concert plans and schemes to sap the very foundations of Christianity. Verily, they, too, shall have their well-merited meed. But we mistake greatly the temper of the people of Otago, if they will not soon turn round and transfix with the spears of public opprobrium such spiritualistic snakes as would inject their lethal poison into the very core of humanity. 'These stout spiritualists indulge in blasphemy and ribaldry of the coarsest and most offensive character. But their ignorance of theology is only equalled by their impudence when they would parade their vain and inane jargon of "angel communion" with a view to slander Christians and caricature the leading doctrines of Christianity, of which they are as profoundly ignorant as they are concerning the mythology of ancient Greece or Rome. It is vain to address the words of Joshua to such silly creatures, for they can neither grasp nor digest a subject; nor have they that invaluable quality of rational humanity, to wit, decision of character. At the eleventh hour we would say to them this, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve," Make up your mind for Christ, or the spirits. Be one thing or the other; or forsake both, and hold your peace, and then there will be some small hope of directing your leaden eyes towards the pure worship of the holy God and Creator and Preserver of this truly beautiful world whose fair face your foul footsteps desecrate, and whose pure atmosphere your organs of respiration, impregnate with deadly poison. These men hate the English Bible, and no marvel; for, as Dr Davidson writes, "There are, indeed, terrible things written in the Book of God against the workers of iniquity; things so terrible, that when they are brought home to the conscience by the Spirit, they make the stoutest-hearted man to tremble." Such
Could a philosopher enjoy the society of an ignorant and flippant clown? Could he keep company with the low herd of crazy spirit-rappers or applaud the conduct of such as trample morality, religion, and virtue beneath their impious feet? How then expect that the Holy God will permit the wicked to stand before His Divine presence.
"The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,"
A Few Sundays ago I endeavoured to point out to you, my friends, some of the lessons which, it appeared to me, were taught by present social and political troubles. To-day I propose to address to you a few plain remarks on the ecclesiastical and religious troubles of the present, and to draw your attention to the Lessons which these troubles seem to teach us.
Ecclesiastical and religious history runs no more smoothly than social and political history. From the beginning the Christian Church has been the battle-field of contending parties. Even when the Master was on earth, his disciples strove as to which should be the greatest. Even a Paul and a Peter had their sharp contentions. Even Churches, over which the great Apostle of the Gentiles presided, had their sects and party cries—" I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cophas, and I of Christ." The present times form no exception to the rule. As in the days of our Lord, as in the time of Peter and Paul, as in the Corinthian and Galatian Churches of the first century, as in the days of Athauasius and Arius in the fourth century, of Augustine and Pelagius Id the fifth century; or, to come down to a later period, as in the days of Luther, Calvin, Zwinglius, and them that follow after, of whom the time would fail us to tell, so is it do-day. From the beginning until now, the history of Christianity has been a history of conflict between opinion and opinion, sect and sect, genuine Christianity and pseudo-Christianity, darkness and light. The course of our religion, as of all human life, has been like a winding stream flowing over a rugged channel, now lost in darkness, now foaming and swelling over its narrow banks, now dashing against jutting rocks, now sweeping away opposing sandbanks with the houses which foolish men had raised upon them.
Never was there a time perhaps since (he Protestant Reformation when men's minds have been so much stirred as at present. The waters roar and are troubled, the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. As in the political world the demos has taken to itself its power and reigned, so in the religious world. The divine right of kings in the one case, the divine right of ecclesiastical rulers in the other, has been superseded by a new order of things. And just as in the State we are beginning to feel the full force of the democratic movement which has been gradually maturing, so in the Church we are also beginning to feel all that was meant by the Protestant Reformation. Principles are being pressed to their fulfilment—questions which were once only in the background come to the front, and clouds which were only like a man's hand now cover the heavens with threatening darkness.
This movement in the Church does not take its rise from one source. It is partly political. We all know how the Protestant Reformation was not a purely religious movement. There were those who took part in it from political motives. 80, still, the cry for liberty in the Church is in part a cry born of our democratic tendencies. The present movement in the Church is partly also intellectual. The revival of learning had something to do with the Protestant Reformation. So, still, the intellectual activity of the Western nations has much to do with the demand for religious liberty and the present conflict of opinions. The expanding, searching, truth-loving mind seeks room in which to live and move. And lastly, this movement in the Church is religious in the strict sense of that word. The Protestant Reformation was in great measure brought about by the low spiritual tone, and the gross immoralities of the Church. Had the Church, in the sixteenth century, been a deeply spiritual and moral Church—had there been men in it of the stamp of the Oxford Tractarians—men like Newman or Manning, a reformation would have been much more difficult. So, still, the demands of men's moral and spiritual nature have something to do with (he modern struggle. The Christian soul cries out for what is spiritual and true. It rebels against what crushes our finer feelings, or materialises the spiritual. The so-called liberal writers and teachers of our day have not been mere intellectual men. They have deen driven out
And truly the sound of these many waters has gone through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. The literature of the day is intensely theological. You cannot read a common magazine without stumbling on the religous question. Even the newspapers must talk about it, in their own sometimes flippant way. The Churches, and especially our own Presbyterian Churches, are being stirred and shaken by it to their very foundations. Read the accounts of our last Scottish Assemblies. The Church, which of all others was regarded as the most conservative and orthodox, has suddenly developed the newest tendencies of theological thought. I refer to the Free Church of Scotland, which, by a majority of only two in her Assembly, has decided to libel one of her most distinguished professors, on account of his views regarding the date and authorship of the Book of Deuteronomy. A sister Church, the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, has also suspended one of her well-known ministers because of his views on future punishment The Established Church of Scotland has rejected, not for the first time, a motion to relax the formula of subscription which has to be signed by her elders. These are but ripples on the surface of a great movement which is going on secretly and silently often, but surely, in the depths of all our Churches. These are but the straws which show in what direction the wind is blowing. The painful discussions, the restlessness, anxiety, sense of insecurity, suspicion,
This, brethren, is no alarmist view of the present state of ecclesiastical affairs; and what is perhaps, far more important, of the religious perplexities and fears by which the hearts and minds of many good Christian people have in these days been beset. No one who has eyes to see and ears to hear, can fail to discern these plain signs of the times; and no one who is religiously in earnest can fail to ask what these things mean.
Now, what are some of the lessons which these dangers and troubles should teach us?
In the first place, the ecclesiastical and religious troubles of the present, like the social and political troubles of the present, to which a few Sundays ago we referred, should teach us the Necessity for Education.
As in the State, so in the Church. The Christian people have become alive to their liberty and to their power. The choice of their ministers is entrusted to them. They read and think for themselves after a fashion. They virtually control the Church. They are the Church. With them practically, and even theoretically, lies the ultimate appeal. You have manhood suffrage in the State. You have the same in the Church. A very solemn and awful power this is which has been given into the hands of the Christian people, and one which, once acknowledged, cannot be again disallowed. The time has gone past when congregations, and
We must go on as Providence seems to direct, "following the truth in love," trusting in God "as a faithful Creator," to guide us to the right end, though we may have a long journey and some hard experiences before us.
But if we are to go on, brethren, in any true sense of the word, we must have more and deeper education. The three R's, a merely commercial or technical education, such as we are often disposed to rest satisfied with, will not suffice. The Christian people must have a wider knowledge and a richer culture. For, consider what are the questions which are coming up for us to decide. They are questions upon the highest subjects, questions which need hard heads and clear minds, as well as pure hearts, to solve. Take, for example, the two questions to which I have already alluded, the date and authorship of the book of Deuteronomy, and the conditions of a future state. Or take such questions as the exact date and origin of the Gospels, the authorship of the Acts and Epistles, the Pauline theology, the connection between Judaism and Christianity, the origin and growth of religious ideas, the miraculous element in Scripture—necessity and free-will, the doctrine of sin, the doctrine of sacrifice, or the apparently simple question, What is religion, and what is Christianity? These and other problems have arisen and will yet arise, as men begin to reflect. They will be brought to the front as one set of theologians comes into conflict with another, and as such subjects are discussed in popular magazines or on public platforms. They cannot be avoided. The Church will be brought face to face with them, and deal with them she must. Now, how are the majority,
is necessary that they should be more intelligent, better informed, and able to arrive at a common-sense and Christian judgment, or to recognise such a judgment when arrived at by others. It is necessary that they should be more intelligent and better informed, were it only to enable them to suspend their judgment where all the facts of a case are not before them.
And yet, brethren, though this seems perfectly plain, what do we find? Do we not often find the most lamentable ignorance, superstition and prejudice, or that flippant incapacity which treats all religious matters with impatience or disdain? We find the Christian people not only uneducated in general subjects, but ignorant of that very Bible to which they either clamorously appeal, or against which they foolishly and captiously talk. We find that, though we have had about a century of Biblical scholars and critics, the people's knowledge of the Bible is superficial, some parts of it being almost unknown to many, almost undiscoverable by well-dressed congregations. We find even teachers of religion ignorant of what has been said and thought about its different books, their date, authorship, and meaning. With how little but "the letter "do we find even those to be acquainted who profess to know their Bibles well? And when we go beyond the Bible, with what ignorance or misunderstanding of religious subjects do we not meet? Are there twenty people here to-day who have even heard of some of those questions to which we have already alluded? And yet we are coming up face to face with such questions, and on the answer perhaps to them, we are to determine whether a minister is fit to be a minister of Christ and a physician of souls or not? We are called to give oar judgment on men who have made such questions their life-study, and say whether they are orthodox or not! We, the Christian people, have taken the power into our own hands, and yet know nothing of Church history,
It is this ignorance, brethren, which lies at the root of much of the commotion and disturbance which we are at present witnessing in the ecclesiastical world. Ignorance is the mother of superstition, fear, and angry confusion. If these important intellectual difficulties which are coming to the front, are to be fairly met by us for ourselves—if the men who are pushed to the ecclesiastical bar are to be fairly tried by the Christian people—we must have a wider knowledge and a richer culture in the Church, among the elders, the ministers, and the private members of our congregations. This, I think, is the first lesson which present ecclesiastical troubles plainly teach—the necessity for better education and instruction in the school, in the home, and from the pulpit—so that both young and old may be able to meet intelligently the problems which in the course of Providence are presented to them.
A second lesson which present troubles seem to reach us is—The Necessity For More Ecclesiastical Liberty. Here we stumble, my friends, upon a very intricate and difficult subject, but it is one which the Church must face in some way or other, if she is to have intelligent, truthful, and competent minister's and elders to preside over her, and if she is to be a healthy, vigorous Church, doing the work which God has given her to do in the present and the future.
Intelligent, educated men, will not readily enter a society where they are liable any moment to be bearded, misrepresented and abused by thoughtless or ignorant people. Conscientious men will not care to be tied down by burdensome formulas of subscription. Prudent men will not care to become servants of a
But it may be said, what would you have? Will you allow infidels and atheists to rush in upon us? Certainly not, if we can avoid it (though it is difficult, even under the present system, to prevent practical unbelievers from invading the offices of the Church.) But we would have the door to office in the Christain Church thrown open wide as Christian charity can open it—wide as we can think Christ Himself would throw it open were He here again. We would have the door of admission to Church membership, eldership, and ministry widened so as to admit every man, otherwise qualified by a certain amount of necessary knowledge or by special gifts, who in his life and conversation showed, as only life and conversation can show, that he belonged to the band of Christ's disciples, and was inspired with the spirit of Christ. We would have the door of ecclesiastical liberty so wide that no such unseemly wrangling and division could take place as we have lately witnessed in our Scottish Churches, wrangling and division over questions which can only be fairly settled in the quiet impartial atmosphere of the student's study. We would, in the interest of fair play, honesty, and truth, have it so ordered
something of more importance than these, and that the truth on these things would be more likely to be discovered if men felt that they were free to think and search and speak—if they felt that the only thing which could bring disgrace upon them would be unfaithfulness to the law of truth and love, neglect of Christian duty, prejudice, bigotry, or dishonest judgment.
Doubtless, brethren, we have ecclesiastical liberty to a certain extent. There are points which by almost universal consent have been left open. No man now would be interfered with for not accepting the doctrine of six days' creation, or of the damnation of the heathen, or for exercising his critical powers on what are considered "non-essential" matters. Common-sense and growing enlightenment would not suffer anyone to be persecuted for differing on certain points from the traditions of the Fathers; but our ecclesiastical liberty is more wrung from us than gracefully granted, and any day some less enlightened member of the Church may put the ecclesiastical machinery in motion to crush a more enlightened brother for his views on Deuteronomy, or the Song of Solomon, or the future life, or some other question of theology or literary criticism. We must have orderliness in the Church, no doubt,—some recognised symbols and forms—but the present cumbrous system seems rather to lead to disorderliness, anger, malice, and all uncharitableness, and is in many ways unfavourable to the attainment of truth.
A last lesson, brethren, which present troubles seem to teach us is The Necessity for More Spiritual and Practical Views of What Christianity Is.
The root of much trouble is, that we have confounded Christian faith, hope, and charity with certain intellectual propositions, with certain views of history, with certain traditions and
to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and have departed from the simplicity of " the truth as it is in Jesus." What was it that made the Apostle Paul so tolerant, so clear, and so sensible, in his judgment of the questions which the Corinthians and Galatians brought before him? What raised him above party-strifes and war-cries? Was it indifference? No; it was simply this, that he had apprehended more fully than others that "for which he had been apprehended by Christ Jesus." It is when we see into the heart of things, when we have grasped principles, that our minds become clear and calm. And this is the reason why we are not calm: We are not spiritually minded; we have not seen into the heart of Christianity, and have not felt in our souls the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free—the liberty of sons in a father's house—the liberty of Christ's friends, whose hearts beat in unison with His. "In Christ Jesus," wrote Paul to the Galatians, who were still wrangling about circumcision, still associating Christ with the observance of "days and months and times and years "—" In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love." Had the GaJatians only realised this, questions of ritual and doctrine would have fallen into their proper place. And so, if the Church of the present day realised this more fully—that to be a Christian is to be a spiritually-minded man, to be in spiritual sympathy with Jesus, to be a friend of Christ, and a child of the Highest—if we more fully realised that Christianity is a life hid with Christ in God, a practical earnest life of faith and love, a battle for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness—questions about the authorship of Deuteronomy or the Song of Solomon or future punishments, about Sabbath days and ritual, and other matters
All these disputes and troubles seem to me to read us a lesson, and it is this, that we should go back more to the simple elements of religion, and thinking less of the letter of the Bible, less of forms and traditions, strive to cultivate a deeper, simpler, healthier, more Christ-like and Paul-like piety.
Christian Brethren, let us seek to learn these lessons. Strive, in the first place, to be as intelligent and enlightened as you can be in your intellectual views on religious questions; strive as conscientious and responsible men, to follow the truth in love; strive also to teach your children religion in the most intelligent and enlightened way, for it is on account of your children more even than of you that I am concerned.
Use your influence in the second place, in support of ecclesiastical liberty. If you are really in earnest, if you really love the Church, and desire that she should fulfil her noble mission to
And, lastly, cultivate a deeper and healthier piety (I do not use the word as a mere cant phrase)—a humble, reverent, and devout mind—a wholesome, practical Christianity, which shall be known, not by its words or forms merely, but by the tenor of your lives. Cultivate that spiritual knowledge of the truth which alone can make you free—free as a son in a father's house,—partakers of that spiritual insight that liberty of love, wherewith Christ has made us free, without which, however rich and wide our mental culture, however great our ecclesiastical liberty, we cannot hope to "come unto the unity of the Faith, unto a perfect man in Christ."
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The Lord Mayor presided on Wednesday at the Mansion House over a large, influential, and enthusiastic meeting, convened "to express public opinion upon the outrages inflicted upon the Jews in various parts of Russia and Russian Poland." The Egyptian Hall was crowded in every available part, and the reserved seats on the platform were altogether inadequate to accommodate those who were invited to take part in the proceedings. Lady Burdett-Coutts-Bartlett sat on the right of the Lord Mayor, and amongst those present were: The Earl of Shaftsbury; The Lord Bishop of London; The Lord Bishop of Oxford; Canon Farrar; Rev. Newman Hall; Canon Spence; Sir Julian Goldsinid; Edward Clarke, Esq., M.P.; Lord Reay; Lord A. Russell, M,P.; Lord Stanley of Alderley; Mr. Alfred Goldsmid; Sir George Bowyer; the Honourable Saul Samuel; Mr. Alderman Cotton; Mr. Phillip Callan, M.P.; Lord Elcho; Br. Munro 5 Dean Plumptre; The Dean of Wells; Rev. John Wilkinson; Dean Bagot; Alderman Breffit; Rev. Edward Henry Bickersteth; Rev. Charles Voysey; Rev. Henry Landsdell; Rev. Dr. Martineau; Professor Rogers, M.P.; Mr. H. Brinsley Sheridan, M.P.; Dr. Gladstone; Mr. C. McLaren, M.P.; Rev. Canon Jenkyns; Mr. A. Cohen, Q.C., M.P.; Sir W. Rose Robinson; Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild, Bart., M.P.; Hon. Rollo Russell; Rev. Dr. H. Adler; Rev. A. L. Green; Sir Alex. Galt; Mr. F. W. Buxton, M.P.; Mr. Cyril Flower, M.P.; Rev. Dr. Mensor; Rev. Horrocks Cocks; Rev. Alex. J. D. D'Orsey; Dr. Henry Behrend; Rev. G. C. Bellewes; Mr. Montague Guest, M.P.; Mr. Magniac, M.P.; Archdeacon Blunt; Rev. J. Wilkinson; Lady Winford and Hon. Miss Mostyn; Sir A. Otway, M.P.; Rev. Dr. Gordon; Rev. W. Cadman; Archdeacon Brooks; Mr. T. Rogers, M.P.; Right Rev. Monsignor Capel; D. Grant, Esq., M.P.; Sir J. Vogel; Sergt. Simon, M.P.; Professor Bryce, M.P.: Mr. W. T. Merriott, Q.C., M.P.; Mr. J. B. Montefiore; Mr. Edward M. Leon; Mr. Pugh; Lord Haldan Malcolm; Mr. Leopold Schloss; Rev. H. Jephson; Mr. I. Seligman; Mr. H. L. Beddington; Mr. J. Bergtheil; Rev. W. R. Rowe; Alderman Lawrence, M.P.; Sir T. Lawrence; Mr. Robert Browning; Louisa Lady Goldsmid, Dr. A. Asher; Countess D'Avigdor; Mr. Israel Hart, High Bailiff of Leicester; Alderman Emanuel, of Southsea; M. Leon Jolivard, &c.
The Lord Mayor, in opening the proceedings, said: My lords, ladies, and gentlemen—At the request and in compliance with the memorial which has been presented to me, and which has been most
My Dear Lord,—It is a distress to me that I am forbidden by my medical attendant to take part in the meeting your lordship has undertaken to call together to enter an emphatic protest against the recent outrages to which the Jewish people have been exposed. Unable to attend myself, I have asked Canon Farrar to be present and express the horror with which I contemplate the disgrace brought on the Christian name by these shameful persecutions.
The Duke of Westminster has written. He says:—
I am unable to attend the meeting to-morrow. I cannot, however, repress my feeling of horror and of indignation at the barbarities and ruin worked upon the defenceless Jews in Eussia. I am afraid there can be no doubt as to an enormous amount of great and hideous wrong-doing; but we want more inforrcation—to obtain which every effort should be made, and for acquiring which, I believe, the Russian Government are willing to give facilities. Meanwhile, I can well understand, and can sympathise with the feeling that prompts thousands of our fellow-oountrymen to givent vent to their indignation against the perpetrators of these barbarities, and of sympathy with those who have suffered and are suffering under these enormities.
Again, I have a letter from the Bishop of Exeter. He says :—I should have greatly desired to join my voice to those that will be uplifted in protest against such cruelties. No language can well be thought too strong to declare our abhorrence of such conduct, and our appeal to the Russian authorities to use every effort to punish it and prevent its repetition.
Then I have a very interesting letter from the Bishop of Manchester. He says:—
As I signed the requisition to the Lord Mayor, begging him to call a public meeting at the Mansion House, at which an opportunity might be given for the expression of the feeling that, I imagine, is strong in the hearts of all Englishmen with regard to the outrages to which the Jews appear to have been subjected in Russia, I regret that it is out of my power to attend that meeting in person; but the Mayor has called a similar meeting at Manchester, on 3rd February, at which I hope to be present, and when I shall have an opportunity of saying what I feel. I will merely say now that these outrages, as they have been reported in England, have aroused in my breast the liveliest feelings of pity and indignation. I cannot for a moment believe that any civilized Government could either encourage or connive at them, and it seems to me that the Government of Russia owes it to the place it occupies in Christian Europe to extend the strong arm of its protection to the weak and helpless, and to repress, with all the force at its command, acts of pillage and violence which one would have thought were only possible in some byegone age of barbarism.
The Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol writes:—
I particularly regret that diocesan business of importance prevents me attending and raising my poor voice against the horrors and barbarities that have taken place. Pray express publicly, if you think fit, my deep regret that I am prevented attending the meeting, and that I thus lose this opportunity of joining with others in expressing abhorrence at the atrocities perpetrated in a Christian country against God's ancient people—the Jews.
Mr, Alfred Tennyson writes :—
I am unable to be present at the Mansion House on 1st February. Not the less am I dismayed by the reports of this madness of hatred against the Jews (whatever the possible provocation), and of the unspeakable barbarities consequent. If they are not universally denounced, it can only be that they are so alien to the spirit of the age as to be almost unbelievable. The stronger the national protest the better. Our Government, however, may have reason to fear that they may do more harm than good in official intervention.
The Master of Balliol, Professor Dyer, writes :—
The cruelties which have been inflicted on the Jews in Russia are detestable, and should be denounced by the unanimous opinion of civilized nations.
Lord Kinnaird writes:—
Feeling deeply how scandalous are the outrages inflicted upon the Jews in Russia, and I may add, elsewhere, I should have wished by my presence at your meeting to manifest my sympathy, and to testify my abhorrence of the wrongs to which they have been subjected.
The Dean of Ripon writes:—
I hope the meeting will be very largely attended, and that the protest against the cruel and cowardly persecution of the Jews in Russia will be strong enough to check the continuance of barbarities which are a disgrace to the Christian name. I hope that every Mayor in England will follow your good example in convening a public meeting on the subject.
Mr. Karl Blind says :—
Strongly sympathising as I do with the praiseworthy object in view, I can only say that every person with a human heart, every one able to influence public opinion, every statesman worthy of the name, ought to join in condemning this mediaevalish madness which is passing over large parts of Europe, and which, if not speedily stopped, by united efforts, will dishonour a so-called age of progress and make it a byword for the future historian.
Mr. W. Fowler, M.P. for Wolverhampton, writes:—
It is the duty of Englishmen, irrespective of creed or party, to utter their strongest protest against this brutal and barbarous persecution. If the Russian Government have sanctioned, connived at, or condoned these fiendish cruelties, no considerations of a political or dynastic character should be allowed to stifle the voice of England.
The Venerable Dr. Adler, the Chief Rabbi, writes:—
My Dear Lord Mayor,—I regret more deeply than I can express that the state of my health renders it impossible to me to be present at the public meeting to be held at the Mansion House to-morrow, under your Lordship's presidency.
I need hardly assure your Lordship how keen is the grief which I share with every member of my community at the pitiable calamities suffered by my coreligionists in Russia.
But in the midst of the darkness which overshadows my oppressed brethren there is, happily, a gleam of light. For there appears to me no small probability that deliverance may arise through the influence of the public opinion of free and enlightened England, and through the noble and spontaneous outburst of sympathy from our Christian fellow-countrymen. Grateful, indeed, do I feel, in common with every Israelite in this land, for the enthusiastic and practical sympathy which has just found utterence; and the grief which oppresses my heart at the dire woes of my brethren is not a little assuaged by the consoling thought that I have lived to witness in the people of England the noblest development of religious toleration—the union of all creeds on the broad platform of common humanity.
May God, our common Father, bless your philanthropic efforts, and crown them with success.
I will read a characteristic letter from the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. He says :—
I am sorry that I am quite prevented by prior engagements from being at the Mansion House to speak against the outrages committed upon the Jews. I am, however, relieved by the belief that the heart of England is one in a strong feeling of indignation at the inhuman conduct of certain savages in Russia. Every man and woman amongst us feels eloquently on behalf of our fellow men who are subjected to plunder and death, and still more for our sisters, to whom even worse treatment has been meted out. Hence you have the less need of speeches and orations. As a Christian, I feel that the name of our Redeemer is dishonoured by such conduct on the part of his professed followers. As a Nonconformist and a Liberal, believing in the equal rights of all men to dwell in freedom and safety, I must protest against a state of things in which the Jew is made an outlaw. Lastly, as a man, I would mourn in my inmost soul that any beings in human form should be capable of crimes such as those which have made Russia red with Israelitish blood. But what need even of these few sentences? The oppressed are sure of advocates wherever Englishmen assemble.
Letters were also read from the Earl of Boseberry (which was received with loud cheers), Sir Benjamin Philips, Baron Henry De Worms, M.P., and the Hon. George Russell.
(The reading of all these letters was received with loud applause.)
And now my lords, ladies, and gentlemen, I have to inform you that, in addition to the numerous distinguished men you see on the platform, the Bishop of Oxford has just honoured us with his presence. (Great cheering.) I will now ask the Earl of Shaftesbury to propose the first resolution. (Cheers.)
The Earl of Shaftesbury, who was received with loud and long continued applause, then moved the first resolution, "That in the opinion of this meeting, the persecutions and outrages which the Jews in many parts of the Russian dominions have for several months past suffered are an offence on Christian civilisation, and to be deeply deplored." His Lordship said,—My Lord Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen,—The Lord Mayor has very rightly described the great intelligence of this meeting; it is special and peculiar in its character. There may be or there may not be a precedent for such a meeting as
Times and other papers. (Hear, hear.) They have been supported by testimony which cannot possibly be surpassed, and especially by the wise, touching, and unanswerable memorial presented by the Jewish community. (Cheers.) My lord, we are filled with horror and disgust, and we are come here for the purpose of expressing our opinions, and of praying God that a stop may be put to those atrocities that have afflicted, and that are a disgrace to the generation, and the age in which we live. (Great cheering.) To all statesmen denials are made, and the denials come in from official authority. Of course it was to be expected that that should be so—(hear, hear)—but I maintain from all that I have heard that the evidence in favour of the truth of our statements is so great, so overwhelming, and so powerful, as to take away all hesitation whatever as to the acceptance of that evidence. And if they say it is exaggeration, I give them the benefit of the doubt, for if there is a tenth part true of all that has been stated, it is quite sufficient to merit our condemnation. But they are not content with denials in the sense of refutation; they proceed further, and in these quasi-official docu-
The Bishop of London : One circumstance, my Lord Mayor, and one circumstance alone, justifies me to rise at your request to second this resolution, because such a meeting as this I am not fitted to address, and in the presence of those I see around me on the platform; and that one circumstance is the necessary absence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. I quite admit—indeed I deeply feel—that the Church of England ought not, and I am sure will not be backward in joining in the expression of feelings of indignant sorrow—for it is indignant sorrow—in the statements that have come before us lately in regard to the treatment of the Jews in Russia; and in the absence of the Archbishop it may not be presumptuous in me, the Bishop of the most populous and most prominent diocese in England, if I venture, in the absence of any one more fitted for the office, to second the resolution which has been proposed. Happily for me and you no words are needed. The case has been stated to you by the noble Earl with a vigor which shows that age has not diminished his power of speech any more than it has enfeebled, and never can enfeeble, his sympathy with the suffering and his sense of indignation at injustice and crime. (Cheers). The facts can scarcely be denied. If they could have been denied—thoroughly denied—what need for all these reasons that have been assigned why the English should be so moved at reading these atrocities? (Cheers). If the Russian Government could be able to say the statements are false and can be proved to be false, they need not have said that the English have a hatred of Russia, or that we are unfavourable to, or in favour of, this or that ministry. (Hear, hear)- We have seen the papers : we have seen an attempt, hardly to deny the facts, but certainly to palliate them, and palliate them by excuses, not only improbable but utterly inadequate, and set before us, I must say, with the cynical indifference which we would be very thankful to believe, had not been placed in the paper by the hands of a foreigner, (Hear, hear). There is one circumstance, my Lord Mayor, and it is the only one I dwell upon, there is one circumstance in these atrocities which must make every member of the Church—indeed every Christian—feel together with his indignation, a certain feeling of shame. A few
Cardinal Manning, who was received with great cheering, said: My Lord Mayor, my Lord Shaftsbury, Ladies and Gentlemen, it has often fallen to my lot to move a resolution in meetings such as this; but never in my memory have I moved a resolution with more perfect conviction, or with more reason, or with more entire concurrence with the feelings of my heart than I do on this occasion. (Hear, hear). My lord, before using any further words, it will, perhaps, be proper to read the resolution I have to propose. It is to this effect:—" That this meeting, while disclaiming any right or desire to interfere in the internal affairs of another country, and desiring that the most amicable relations between England and Russia should be preserved, feels it a duty to express its opinion that the laws of Russia relating to Jews tend to degrade them in the eyes of the Christian population, and to expose Russian Jewish subjects to the outbreaks of fanatical ignorance." (Cheers). I need not disclaim, for I accept the eloquent disclaimer of the noble Earl, that we are not met here for a political purpose. If there was a suspicion of any party politics I should not be standing here (hear, hear); but it is because I believe we are high above all the turmoils and all the conflicts of party politics, and in the serene region of human sympathy and human justice, that I am here to-day. I can only declare that nothing can be further from my intention—as I am confident nothing is further from yours—than to do that which I believe would be a violation of the laws of mutual peace, order, and respect which bind nations together, viz., that we should attempt here to interfere in the domestic legislation of Russia. (Hear, hear). And I am also bound to say, I share heartily in the words of veneration used by the noble Earl towards the Imperial family of Russia
Times newspaper or the Fall Mall Gazette; I hold the proofs here in my hand—(cheers)—and from whom do they come? From an official document, from the report of the Minister of the Interior, General Ignatiew. These horrible atrocities had continued through May, June, and July, and in the month of August this document was issued. The first point in it is that he laments and deplores—what? The atrocities on the Jewish subjects of the Czar? By no means; but "the sad condition of the Christain inhabitants of the southern provinces." (A laugh). The next point is "that the main cause of those movements and riots—to which the Russians, as a nation, are strangers—was but a commercial one." The third point was this, that "the conduct of the Jews has called for the protests on the part of the people, as manifested in acts of violence and robbery." Fourthly, we are told by the Minister of the Interior, that the country is subject to malpractices, "which were, as is known, the cause of the agitation," To say nothing of the logic of the document, its tone and insinuations are most inflammatory, and I can readily see why, with the rescript in their hands, the Russian people should be encouraged to violence. The document then goes on to say that a commission has been appointed to enquire into what? First of all, "What are the trades of the Jews which are injurious to the inhabitants of the place?" Secondly, "What makes it impracticable to put into force the former laws limiting the rights of the Jews in the matter of buying and farming land, the trade in intoxicants aud usury?" Thirdly, "How can those laws be altered so that they shall no longer be enabled to evade them, or what new laws are required to stop their pernicious conduct in business?" and lastly, "give (besides the answers to the foregoing questions) the following additional information; on the usury practised by the Jews in their dealings with Christians, in cities, towns, and villages; the number of public-houses kept by Jews in their own name, or in that of a Chris-
Canon Farrar, in seconding the resolution, said: "I think it is a good rule when you have a good cause to read not what those say who agree with you, but the opinions of those who disagree with you; and acting on that principle, I have read what has been said by the Russian papers on this question, and what has been said has been already referred to by the noble Earl. They call this agitation malicious, anti-Russian, and anti-philanthropic, and they say that we are founding our indignation on a mass of falsehood and exaggeration; that we are desirous of setting English and Russian society altogether by the ears, and that this was an opportunity which had been seized by Her Majesty's Opposition to weaken and embarrass the Government of Mr. Gladstone. Now, on the first point, some falsehood and some exaggeration doubtlessly there may have been, and we are, indeed, but too glad to believe it; but it is certain that we have not been listening to entirely unfounded and malicious charges, for the events of which we complain have been recorded in every European newspaper, and the facts authenticated by names, and dates, and places, which have come to us not only from Jewish sources, but also from other sources and correspondents, like the correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette, who has gathered information on the very spot. Secondly, it is said that this is an agitation got up to damage Her Majesty's Government, but certainly the Duke of Westminster and the Earl of Rosebery are not the men to embarrass Mr. Gladstone's Government. The requisition for this meeting has been signed by a large number. I always have been a Liberal, and not a single Opposition leader has raised his voice against this meeting. And I am sure there is not one of us who would not abhor the notion of dragging the name of charity into the noisy arena of party-politics. There are none of us who would not be utterly ashamed to make a feeling of humanity an engine of political warfare. (Cheers.) The third charge is that of fostering enmity against Russia; but the noble Earl who has just addressed you is one who has devoted his whole life to promoting the peace and happiness of his fellow men. The Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal Manning, whose voice has never been wanting in the cause of the oppressed; the Bishops of Oxford and London, and the numerous ministers of all denominations who have signed the requisition, would think it a sin to violate the first principle of their religion which teaches them the universal fatherhood of God, and the universal brotherhood of man. (Applause.) The fact that Prince Lebanoff would not transmit to the Emperor of Russia the memorial of the Jews of England does indeed betray the fact that there is a certain amount of irritation against the Jews existing. All that I can say is, that nothing is further from our intentions than to foster or to deepen the irritation : we only want to raise a friendly remonstrance. We claim the right to remonstrate against those men of high rank who have by their words and actions fostered this deplorable hatred between race and race. Between the Russian and the Bulgarian atrocities there is no parallel. The crimes are, in many instances, analogous, but the position of the Turkish and
Professor Bryce, M.P., moved the next resolution. He said: My Lord Mayor, ladies, and gentlemen, I feel highly honoured to have been asked to address this meeting to-day, and I ascribe the honour to the fact that some few years ago I took a part in making an active protest against the Bulgarian atrocities, which were then sending a thrill of horror throughout the civilised world. Having taken a part in the agitation on that subject, I am, to some extent, the better able to bear witness to and confirm what has been already said by a previous speaker as to the horror which was then felt at the atrocities committed by Mahomedans against Christians being reproduced now, and the suffering victims are Jews. I do not attempt to draw any parallel between the case of the Bulgarian massacres and those which are now taking place in Russia; but we cannot but charge the Russian Government with great remissness and neglect in not suppressing outrage and violence with a strong hand. (Hear, hear.) I do not draw a parallel between the two cases on other grounds, because we find that the acts of revolting brutality which accompanied the Bulgarian outrages are absent, or nearly absent, from the case of the Russian massacres. But when all deduction is made, when every allowance is made for exaggeration, there is enough left to justify the holding of a meeting like this, and to make it a necessity and a duty of every Christian inhabitant to enter his protest. We are bound to express our opinion of the conduct of those who have been guilty of these horrors in Russia, more openly than any other country is bound, because it is England which was the first to admit the Jew to the privileges of full political and civil equality—(cheers)—because we have admitted him to our learned professions, and because we have seen that, wherever we have found him, whether on the bench or the bar, we have found that none rank higher than he; and we therefore, speaking from experience, say that the only true way to do justice and to make the Jews the good citizens which they are capable of becoming, is to grant them the fullest equality in civil and political life. (Renewed cheers.) My Lord Mayor, I will not say more on this subject, as it has been dwelt upon by many of the speakers who have preceded me, and I will content myself with saying a few words on the resolution which has been placed in my hands. The resolution is :—" That the Lord Mayor be requested to forward a copy of these resolutions to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone and the Right Hon. Earl Granville, in the hope that Her Majesty's Government may be able, when an opportunity arises, to exercise a friendly influence with the Russian Government in accordance with the spirit of the preceding resolutions." Now,
The Hon. Lyulph Stanley, M.P.—My Lord Mayor, it gives me great pleasure to rise and second this resolution, and it gives me the more pleasure because by its terms it calls the attention of Her Majesty's Government to the two resolutions which have already been passed unanimously to-day. The first resolution is one in which you express detestation for the outrages which the Jews in parts of the Eussian dominions have for several months past suffered, since they are an offence to civilization. The second resolution is, however, the more important perhaps, because it touches not only the evil but the remedy. "When the outbreaks of race-hatred take place, we cannot, I think, but feel that the only safety which we have from their recurrence is to put all the inhabitants of a country upon the same footing of citizenship, and so wipe out all those distinctions which result in so much cruelty. And now I come to the resolution in my hand. It is to bring the question before Mr. Gladstone and Earl Granville, with the hope that they will be able so to exercise their kindly offices, as to secure a better treatment of the Jews in Russia. I, myself, strongly feel the force of the remark of Professor Bryce, that it is a delicate thing so to interfere in the internal affairs of another nation as to secure good results from intervention. Your object to day is to secure remedial measures for the unhappy objects of persecution in Russia, and I hope that the condition of the Russian Jews in the future will be put on so sound a basis that no fresh call for remedial measures will be necessary. For myself, I do not believe that the Russian people, if properly approached, have any desire for brutaility and outrage in their midst, or that the Russian Government has any wish but for the progress of humanity. We know that in that country there is a government penetrated with desires for western civilization, but that their environments are not of such a character as to enable them to carry out their design in that direction, and so when we make suggestions we must take care that we do not make them in such a way as to pique the national sentiment, and so injure the very cause which we have most at heart. We should before all things, if we would be successful, approach the Russian Government in a spirit of fairness. As I have said, it has been a great pleasure for me to come here today, because I think if ever in England there has been a public recognition of civil and religious unity, that recognition has been to-day. (Applause). What we have asserted is the principle that no man should suffer civil disability on account of his religion—(renewed applause)—and we may be assured that, if that principle is fully recognized, we shall not have recurrences of such outbreaks amongst ignorant people as have but too lately disgraced Russia. This is not a party question, nor are we actuated by party feeling;
The Lord Mayor: I have just received the following telegram from New York, "That at a meeting of the New York, United States, Evangelical alliance, resolutions were passed protesting against the persecution of the Jews in Russia, and it was decided to memorialise the Russian Government thereon." (Loud cheers).
The third resolution was then carried by acclamation.
Mr. J. G. Hubbard, M.P., moved the next resolution, which was that a fund be opened in order to assist the Jewish inhabitants in Russia, and that a committee be formed to see that it is properly admiuistered. He said: This meeting is not held as a threat to Russia, or as a hostile demonstration, but I do think that the best influences may be expected as its result. I feel that despite all obstacles the voice of this great meeting will reach the ears of the Czar, and that it will not be without its effect on the policy of Russia.
Mr. W. Fowler, M.P., in seconding the motion, said:—We are assured that the Russian Government is not responsible for the outrages to the Jews, and I hope sincerely that that is so; but it cannot be denied that there are officials in Russia who are not so active as they ought to have been, and they ought to hear some very plain speaking on the subject. We certainly should not hold our tongues for fear that Russia might be displeased, for we gave entire freedom to the Jews, and we are entitled to ask that they should be free also in Russia. (Cheers.) I should be the last to counsel interference in the internal affairs of Russia, but when we hear of events such as these outrages, it is impossible to be silent.
This resolution was also carried unanimously.
Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild, M.P., proposed, and Serjeant Simon, M.P., seconded a vote of thanks to the Lord Mayor, which his Lordship formally acknowledged, and the meeting was brought to a close with the announcement that a Mansion House Fund for the relief of the Jews in Russia had already been opened, and that a list was open for subscriptions.
The following donations have been already promised to the Mansion House Relief Fund :—Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild gave £10.000—£5,000 on behalf of the London house, Messrs. Rothschild and Sons, and £5,000 on behalf of the Paris house. Donations of £1,000 each were contributed by Messrs. Louis Cohen and Sons (whose praiseworthy exertions in collecting a fund before the Mansion House meeting was organised will be remembered), by Mr. Samuel Montagu, Beddington and Seligmann Brothers. Baron Henry de Worms, M.P., gave £800; Baron G. de Worms, £100; Mr. Louis Goldberg, £210; Mr. David Goldberg, £100; Mr. Nathan S. Joseph, £100.
[The above Report has been extracted from the columns of the Jewish Chronicle of
Lyon and Blair, Printers, Lambton Quay, Wellington, N.Z.
Fear is the dungeon of the mind, and superstition is a dagger with which hypocrisy assassinates the soul. Courage is liberty, I am in favor of absolute freedom of thought. In the realm of the mind everyone is a monarch; everyone is robed, sceptred, and crowned—everyone wears the purple of authority. (Applause-) I belong to the republic of intellectual liberty, and only those are good citizens of that republic who depend upon reason and upon persuasion; and only those are traitors who resort to brute force. Now, I beg of you all to forget just for a few moments that you are Methodists, or Baptists, or Catholics, or Presbyterians, and let us for an hour or two remember only that we are men and women. (Applause.) And here allow me to say, man and woman are the highest titles that can be bestowed upon humanity. Man and woman And lot us, if possible, banish all fear from the mind. Don't imagine there is some being in the infinite expanse who is not willing that every man and woman should think for him or herself. (Applause.) Don't imagine that there is any being who would give to his children the holy torch of reason, and then damn them for following where the sacred light may lead. (Applause.) Let us have courage. Priests have invented a crime called blasphemy, and behind that crime hypocrisy has crouched for thousands of years. There is but one blasphemy, and that is injustice. There is but one worship, and that is justice. (Applause.) You need not fear the anger of a God whom you cannot injure. Rather fear to injure your fellow-man. (Applause.) Don't be afraid of the crime that you cannot commit. Rather be afraid of the one that you may commit. There was a Jewish gentleman who went into a restaurant to get his dinner, and the devil of temptation whispered in his ear, "Eat some bacon." (Laughter.) He knew that if there was anything in the universe calculated to excite the wrath of the Infinite Being who made every shining star, it was to see a gentleman eat bacon. (Laughter.) He knew it (laughter), and he knew this Infinite Being was looking (laughter), and that he was the infinite eavesdropper of the universe. (Great laughter.) But his appetite got the better of his conscience, as it often does with us all, and he ate that bacon. (Great laughter.) He knew it was wrong. When he went into that restaurant, the weather was delightful,—the air was as blue as June,—and when he came out, the sky was covered with angry clouds, the lightning leaping from one to the other, and the earth shook beneath the voice of thunder. And he went back into that restaurant with a face as white as milk, and he said to one of the keepers, "My God, did you ever hear such a fuss about a little bit of bacon?" (Great laughter.) As long as we harbour such opinions of infinity—as long as we imagine the heavens to be filled with such tyranny—so long the sons of men will be cringing, intellectual cowards. (Applause.) Let us think, and let us honestly express our thought. Do not imagine for a moment that I think the people who disagree with me are bad people. I admit, and I cheerfully admit, that a very large proportion of mankind—a very large majority, a vast number—are reasonably honest. I believe that most Christians believe what they teach—that most ministers are endeavouring to make this world better. I do not pretend to be better than they are. It is an intellectual question. It is a question, first, of intellectual liberty, and after that a question to be settled at the bar of human reason. I do not pretend to be better than they are. Probably I am a good deal worse than many of them. But that isn't the question. The question is, bad as I am, have I a right to think? And I think I have, for two reasons: First, I can't help it (laughter), and secondly, I like it. (Laughter.) And the whole question is right at a point. If I have not the right to express my thought, who has? "Ah," they say, "we'll allow you to think; we'll not burn you." How kind; Why won't you burn me?
for my thought is that you believe it would be infamous in yourselves, and yet you worship a God who will, as you declare, punish me forever. (Applause and laughter.)
The next question, then, is, Can I commit a sin against God by thinking? If God did not intend that I should think, why did He give me a thinker? (Laughter and applause.)
Now, then, we have got what they call the Christian system of religion, and thousands of people wonder how I can be wicked enough to attack that system. There are many good things about it; and I shall never attack anything "that I believe to be good. (Applause.) I shall never fear to attack anything I honestly believe to be wrong. (Applause.) We have, I say, what they call the Christian religion; and, I find just in proportion that nations have been religious, just in that proportion they have gone back to barbarism. I find that Italy, Spain, and Portugal are the three worst nations in Europe. I find that the nation nearest infidel is the most prosperous—France. And so I say there can be no danger in the exercise of absolute intellectual freedom. I find among ourselves the men who think at least as good as those who don't. (Laughter,) We have, I say, the Christian system, and that system is founded upon what they are pleased to call the New Testament. Who wrote the New Testament? I do not know. Who does know? Nobody. (Laughter.) We have found some fifty-two manuscripts, containing portions of the New Testament. Some of these manuscripts leave out five or six books,—many of them; others more, others less. No two of these manuscripts agree. Nobody knows who wrote these manuscripts. They are all written in Greek. The Disciples of Christ knew only Hebrew. (Applause.) Nobody ever saw, so far as we know, one of the original Hebrew manuscripts; nobody ever saw anybody who had seen anybody who had heard of anybody that had seen anybody that had ever seen one. (Loud and continued laughter and applause.) No doubt the clergy of your city have told you these facts thousands of times (laughter and applause), and they will be obliged to me for having repeated them once more. (Laughter.) These manuscripts are written in what are called capital Greek letters; they arc what are called "uncial copies;" and the New Testament was not divided into chapters and verses even until the year of grace
And I suppose that I cannot tell whether I really believe the Testament or not until I see that new translation. (Applause and laughter.) You must remember also one other thing. Christ never wrote a solitary word of the New Testament,—not one word. There is an account that He once stooped and wrote something in the sand, but that has not been preserved. (Applause.) He never told anybody to write a word. He never said, Mattthew, remember this;" "Mark, don't forget to put that down" (laughter); "Luke, be sure that in your gospel you have this;" "John, don't forget it." (Laughter.) Not one word. And it has always seemed to me that a being coming from another world with a message of infinite importance to mankind should at least have verified that message by bis own signature. (Applause.) "Why was nothing written?" I will tell you. In my judgment, they expected the end of the world in a very few days. (Laughter.) That generation was not to pass away until the heavens should be rolled together as a scroll, and until the earth should melt with fervent heat. That was their belief. They believed that the world was to be destroyed,—that there was
gladly pay the tribute of my admiration and my tears.
in his day. He was an infidel in his time. He was regarded as a blasphemer, and His life was destroyed by hypocrites who have in all ages done what they could to trample freedom out of the human mind. (Applause.) Had I lived at that time I would have been His friend. (Applause.) And should He come again He will not find a better friend than I will be. (Applause.) That is for the man. For the theological creation I have a different feeling. If He was in fact God, He knew there was no such thing as death; He knew that what we call death was but the eternal opening of the golden gates of everlasting joy. And it took no heroism to face a death that was simply eternal life. (Applause.) When a poor boy 16 years of age goes upon the field of battle to keep his flag in heaven, not knowing but that death ends all, not knowing but that when the shadows creep over him the darkness will be eternal, there is heroism. (Applause.) And so for the man who in the darkness said, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"—for that man I have nothing but admiration, respect, and love. (Applause.)
A while ago I made up my mind to find out what it was necessary for me to do in order to be saved, (Laughter.) If I have got a soul, I want it to be saved. (Renewed laughter.) I don't wish to lose anything (laughter) that is of value. For thousands of years the world has been asking the question, "What shall we do to be saved?" Saved from poverty? No. Crime? No. Tyranny? No. But "What shall we do to be saved from the eternal wrath of the God who, made us all?" If God made us, He will not destroy us. (Applause.) Infinite wisdom never made a poor investment. (Renewed applause.) And upon all the works of an infinite God a dividend must finally be declared. (Applause.) The pulpit has cast a shadow even over the cradle. The doctrine of endless punishment has covered the cheeks of this world with tears. I despise it, and I defy it.
I made up my mind, I say, to see what I had to do in order to save my soul according to the Testament, and thereupon I read it. I read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and I found that the Church had been deceiving me. I found that the clergy did not understand their own book. I found that they had been building upon passages that had been interpolated. I found that they had been building upon passages that were entirely untrue, and I will tell you why I think so.
was written by St Matthew, according to the claim. Of course he never wrote a word of it (laughter), never saw it (more laughter), never heard of it. (Roars.) But for the purpose of this lecture I will admit that he wrote it. (Great laughter.) I will admit that he was with Christ for three years; that he heard much of His conversation during that time; and that he became impregnated with the doctrines, the dogmas, and the ideas of Jesus Christ. Now let us see what Matthew says we must do in order to be saved. And I take it that if this is true, Matthew is as good authority as any minister in the world.
The first thing I find upon the subject of salvation is in the fifth chapter of Matthew, and is embraced in what is commonly known as the "Sermon on the Mount." It is as follows: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Good. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Good. Whether they belong to any church or not; whether they believe the Bible or not. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Good. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake"—that's me a little (great laughter)—"for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." (Applause and laughter.)
And in the same sermon he says: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfil." And then He makes use of this remarkable language, almost as applicable to-day as it was then: "For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." Good.
I find the following, and it comes directly after the prayer known as the "Lord's Prayer: "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive their trespasses." I accept the conditions. There is an offer. I accept it. "If you will forgive men that trespass against you, God will forgive your trespasses against Him." I accept, and I will never ask any God to treat me better than I treat my fellow-men. (Applause.) There's a square promise. There's a contract. "If you will forgive others, God will forgive you." And it dosen't say that you must believe in the Old Testament, nor be baptised, nor join a church, nor keep Sunday. It simply says, "if you will forgive others, God will forgive you," And it must of necessity be true. No God could afford to damn a forgiving man. (Applause, and a voice, "Forgive Democrats?" at which there was great laughter.) Oh, certainly. Let me say right here that I know lots of Democrats (laughter), great, broad, whole-souled, clever men, and I love them (applause), and the only bad thing about them is that they vote the Democratic ticket. (Laughter and applause) And I know lots of Republicans so mean and narrow that the only decent think about them is that they vote the Republican ticket. Great applause and laughter.) Now, let me make myself on that subject perfectly plain. (Laughter.) For instance: I hale Presbyterianism, but I know hundreds of splendid Presbyterians; understand me? I hate Methodism, and yet I know hundreds of splendid Methodists, I dislike a certain set of principles called Democracy, and yet I know thousands of Democrats that I respect and like. (Applause.) I like a certain set of principles—that is, most of them—called Republicanism, and yet I know lots of Republicans who are a disgrace to those principles. (Applause.) I do not war against man. I do not war against persons.
that I believe to be wrong (cheers), and I give to every other human being every right that I claim for myself. (Applause.) Of course I did not intend to-day to tell what we must do in the election for the purpose of being saved.
The next thing I find is in the seventh chapter and the second verse: "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again." Good. That suits me. (Laughter.) And in the twelfth chapter of Matthew, "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother!" "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He shall reward every man according"—To the Church he belongs to? No. To the manner in which he was baptised? No. (Laughter.) According to his creed? No. "Then he shall reward every man according to his works." Good. I subscribe to that doctrine.
In the sixteenth chapter: "And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst, and said. 'Verily I say unto you, Except ye shall be converted
So, I find in the nineteenth chapter: "And behold one came and said unto Him, 'Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?' And he said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but one that is God; but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." And he said unto Him, "Which?"
Now, there is a pretty fair issue. Here is a child of God asking God what is necessary for him to do to inherit eternal life, and God says to him: "Keep the Commandments," and the child said to the Deity, "Which?" Now, if there ever was an opportunity given to the Almighty to furnish a
with the necessary information upon the subject (laughter), there was the opportunity. (Laughter and applause.) He said unto Him, Which? Jesus said: "Thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; honour thy father and thy mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." He did not say to him: "You must believe in me, that I am the only begotten Son of the ever Living God." He did not say: "You must be born again." He did not say: "You must believe the Bible." He did not say: "You must remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." He simply said: "Thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; honour thy father and thy mother; thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And thereupon the young man—I think he was a little fresh (laughter), and probably mistaken—saith unto Him, "All these things have I kept from my youth up." I don't believe that. (Laughter and applause.)
Now comes in an interpolation. In the old times, when the Church got a little scarce of money, they always put in a passage praising poverty. So they have this young man ask, "What lack I yet? and Jesus said unto him: "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasures in Heaven." (Laughter.) The Church has always been willing to swap off treasures in Heaven for cash down. (Roars of laughter and applause.) When the next verse was written the Church must have been dead broke. (Laughter.) "And, again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." Did you ever know a wealthy disciple to unload on account of that verse? (Laughter and cheers.)
And then comes another verse, which I believe to be an interpolation: "And every one that hath forsaken houses, and brethren, and sisters, or father or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." Christ never said it (applanse); never. "Whosoever will forsake father or mother!" Why, He said to this man that asked Him, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" among other things, "Honour thy father and thy mother;" and we turn over the page, and he says again, "If you will desert your father and mother, you shall have everlasting life." It will not do. "If you will desert your wife, your little children, and your lands,"—the idea of putting a house and lot on an equality with wife and children I Think of that? I do not accept the terms. I will never desert the one I love for the promise of any God. (Lond applause.) It is far more important that we should ove our wives than that we should love God, and I will tell you why: You cannot help him; you can help her. (Applause.) You can fill her life with the perfume of parpetual joy. It is far more important that you love your children than that you love Jesus Christ, and why? If He is God, you cannot help Him; but you can plant a little flower of happiness in every footstep of the child, from the cradle
and wives and children. St. Augustine says to the devotee, "Fly to the desert. Tnough your wife put her arms about your neck, tear her hands away. She is a temptation of the devil. Though your father and mother throw their bodies athwart your threshold, step over them; though your children pursue with weeping eyes beseeching you to return, listen not, it is a temptation of the Evil One; fly to the desert and save your soul." Think of such a soul being worth saving! (Applause.) While I live I propose to stand by the folks. (Laughter and applause.)
Here, then, is another condition of salvation. I find in the twenty-fifth chapter, "Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me? I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me." Good! And I tell you to-night that God will not punish with eternal thirst the man who has put a cup of cold water to the lips of his neighbor (applause); God will not allow to live in the eternal nakedness of pain the man who has clothed others. For instance: Here is a shipwreck, and here is some brave sailor who stands aside to let a woman whom he never saw before take bis place in the boat, He stands there, great and serene as the wide sea, and he goes down. Do you tell me there is any God who will push the boat from the shore of eternal life when that man wishes to step in. (Applause.) Do you tell me that God can be unpitying to the pitiful: that He can be unforgiving to the forgiving? I deny it. And from the aspersions of the pulpit I seek to rescue the reputation of the Deity. (Applause.) Now, I have read you everything in Matthew on the subject of salvation. (Laughter.) That is all there is. Not one word about believing anything. It is the gospel of deed, the gospel of charity, the gospel of self-denial, and if only that gospel had been preached persecution would never have shed one drop of blood. (Applause.) Not one.
Now, according to the testimony, Matthew was well acquainted with Christ. According to the testimony, he had been with Him and His companion for years. If it was necessary to believe anything in order to get to Heaven Matthew should have told us. But he forgot it, or he didn't believe it, or he never heard it. You can take your choice. (Laughter.)
The next is Mark. Now, let us see what he says. For the purpose of this lecture it is sufficient for me to say that Mark agrees substantially with Matthew,—that God will be merciful to the merciful, that He will be kind to the kind, that He will pity the pitying. It is precisely or substantially the same as Matthew until I come to the sixteenth verse of the sixteenth chapter, and then I strike an interpolation put in by hypocrisy, put in by priests who longed to grasp with bloody hands the sceptre of universal authority. (Applause.) Let me read it to you. It is the most infamous passage in the Bible. Christ never said it. No sensible man ever said it. "And He said unto them" (that is unto His disciples), "go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Now, I propose to prove to you that this is an interpolation. How will I do it? In the first place, not one word is said about belief in Matthew. In the next place, not one word about belief in Mark, until I come to that verse; and where is that said to have been spoken? According to Mark it is a part of the last conversation with Jesus Christ, just before, according to the account,
If there ever was any important thing happened in this world that is one. If there
that there was another world. (Applause.) And yet He said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel." And He knew then that it would be
Now I come to Luke. (Laughter.) And it is suffcient to say that Luke substantially agrees with Matthew and with Mark. But let us first read. I like it. "Bo ye therefore merciful as your Father is also merciful." Good I "Judge not, and you shall not be judged; condemn not, and you shall not be condemned; and
And I come at last to the nineteenth chapter: "And Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.' And Jesus said unto him,' This day is salvation come to this house.'" That's good doctrine. He didn't ask Zaccheus what he believed. He didn't ask him, "Do you believe in the Bible? Do you believe in the five points? Have you ever been baptised? (Roars.) Sprinkled? Oh! immersed?" (Great laughter.) "Half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold," and Christ said "This day is salvation come to this house." Good. (Applause.)
I read also in Luke that Christ, when upon the cross, forgave his murderers; and that is considered the shining gem in the crown of His mercy—that He forgave His murderers; that He forgave those that drove the nails in His hands and in His feet that planted the spear in His side; the soldier that, in the hour of death offered him in mockery the bitterness to drink.
yet, although He forgave them, He will in the nineteenth century damn to eternal fire an honest man for the expression of his honest thought. (Applause.) That won't do. (Laughter.)
I find, too, in Luke the account of two thieves that were crucified at the same time. The other Gospels speak of them. One says that both railed upon Him. Another says nothing about it. In Luke we are told that one did, but one of the thieves looked and pitied Christ, and Christ said to that thief: "This day sbalt thou meet Me in Paradise." Why did He say that? Because the thief pitied Him, and God cannot afford to trample beneath the feet of His infinite wrath the smallest blossom of pity that ever shed its perfume in the human heart. (Applause.) Who was this thief? To what Church did he belong? (Laughter.) I don't know. The fact that he was a thief throws no light upon that question, (Roars.) Who was he? What did he believe? I don't know. Did he believe in the Old Testament and the miracles? I don't know, Did he believe that Christ was God? I don't know. Why then, was the promise made to him that he should meet Christ in Paradise? Simply because he pitied innocence suffering upon the cross. God cannot afford to damn any man capable of pitying anybody. (Applause.)
And now we come to John; and that's where the trouble commences. (Laughter.) The other Gospels preach the doctrine that God will be merciful to the merciful, forgiving to the forgiving, kind to the kind, loving to the loving, just to the just, merciful to the good. Now we come to John. And here is another doctrine. And let me say that John wasn't written until centuries after the others. This the Church made up. (Laughter.) "And Jesus answered and said unto him: Verily I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Why didn't He tell Matthew that? Why didn't He tell Luke that? Why didn't He tell Mark that?
or they forgot it, or they didn't believe it. "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." Why? "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit," and He might have added, "That which is born of water is water. (Laughter.) Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again." (Renewed laughter.) And then the reason is given, and I admit that I didn't understand it myself until I read the reason, and when I read the reason you all will understand it as well as I do. And here it is. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth." (Great laughter.)
So I find in the book of John the idea of the real presence. So I find in the book of John that in order to be saved we must eat of the flesh and we must drink of the blood of Jesus Christ, and if that Gospel is true the Catholic Church is right. (Great applause.) But it isn't true, (Laughter.) I cannot believe if, and yet, for all that, it may be true. But I don't believe it. Neither do I believe there is any God in the universe who will damn a man simply for expressing his belief. (Applause.) "Why," they say to me, "suppose all this should turn out to be true, and you should come to the Day of Judgment and find that it was all true, what would you do then?" I would walk up like a man and say, "I was mistaken." (Applause and laughter.) "And suppose God was about to pass judgment upon you, what would you say?" I would say to Him, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." (Applause.) Why not? I am told that I must render good for evil. I am told that if smitten upon one cheek I must turn the other. I am told that I must overcome evil with good. I am told that I must love my enemies, and will it do for this God, who tells me, "Love your enemies," to say, "I will damn mine?" (Applause.) No, it will not do. It will not do. (Renewed applause.)
all this doctrine of regeneration, all this doctrine that it is necessary to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, all the doctrine that salvation depends upon belief,—in the Book of John all these doctrines find their warrant; nowhere else; nowhere else. Read these three Gospels, and then read John, and you will agree with me that the Gospels teach that we must be kind, we must be merciful, we must be forgiving, and thereupon that God will forgive us,—and then say whether or not that doctrine is better than the doctrine that somebody else can be good for you, that somebody else can be bad for you, and that the only way to get to Heaven is to believe something that you don't understand. (Applause.)
Now, upon these Gospels that I have read the Churches rest, and out of those things that I have read they have made their creeds. And the first Church to make a creed, so far as I know, was the Catholic. I take it, that is ths first Church that had any power. That is the Church that preserved all these miracles for us. (Laughter.) That is the Church that preserved the manuscripts for na. That is the Church whose word we have to take. That Church is the witness that Protestantism brings to the bar of history to prove miracles that happened
to take the veil and renounce the beauties of the world (loud applause) until she is at least 25 years of age. (Laughter.) Wait until she knows what she wants. (Laughter and applause.) I am opposed to allowing these spider-like priests to weave webs to catch the flies of youth. (Applause.) There ought to be a law appointing Commissioners to visit such places at least twice a year and release
"Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic faith. Which faith, except every one do keep entire and inviolate, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. Now the Catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity." Of course you understand how this is done, and there is no need of my explaining it. (Laughter.) "Neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance." You see what a predicament that would leave the Deity in,—if you divide the substance. (Laughter.) "For one is the person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Ghost is uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible." And that is the reason we know so much about them. (Laughter.)
"The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Eternal. And yet there are not three Eternals, but one Eternal. As also there are not three uncreated, nor three incomprehensibles, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible, In like manner the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. (Laughter.) So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet there axe not three Gods, but one God. So, likewise, the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Ghost is Lord. And yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord. For, as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there are three Gods or three Lords. The Father is made of no one, neither created nor begotten. The Son is from the Father alone,—not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son, not made nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers;" why should there be if there is only one Son? (Laughter.) "One Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity there is nothing before or after; nothing greater or less; but the whole three persons are coeternal to one another and coequal. So that in all things the Unity is to be worshipped in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity. He, therefore, that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and Man. He is God of the substance of his Father, begotten before the world "—that is, a good while before his mother lived (laughter); "and He is a man of the substance of His mother bora in the world. Perfect God and perfect Man; of a rational soul and human flesh subsisting; equal to the Father according to His Godhead, and less than the Father according to His manhood; who, although He be both God and Man, yet He is not two but one Christ; one, not by the conversion of the godhead into flesh, but by the taking of the manhood unto God." You see, that is a great deal easier than the other way. (Laughter.) "One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational soul and the flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ, who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven; He sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead."
In order to be saved it is necessary to believe this. What a mercy it is that man can getto Heaven without understanding it! (Laughter and applause.) In order to compel the human intellect to get upon its knees before that infinite absurdity, thousands and millions have suffered all agonies, thousands and millions have perished in dungeon and in fire; and if all the bones of all the victims of the Catholic Church could be gathered together, a monument higher than all the pyramids would arise, in the presence of which the eyes even of priests would be suffused with tears. (Applause.) That Church covered Europe with Cathedrals
Of course I admit—cheerfully admit—that there are thousands of good Catholics But Catholicism is contrary to human liberty; Catholicism bases salvation upon belief; Catholicism teaches man to trample his reason under foot; and for that reason it is wrong.
Now the next Church that comes along in the order that I wish to speak is the Episcopalian. That was founded by Henry VIII.—now in Heaven. (Laughter.) He cast off Queen Kathcrine and Catholicism together, and he accepted Episcopalianism and Anne Boleyn at the same time. (Laughter). That Church if it had a few more ceremonies, would be Catholic; if it had a few less, nothing. (Laughter.) We have an Episcopalian Church in this country, and it has all the imperfections of a poor relation. (Laughter.) It is always boasting of its rich relative. In England, the creed is made by law, the same as we pass statutes here; and when a gentleman dies in England, in order to determine whether he shall be saved or not, it is necessary for the powers of Heaven to read the acts of Parliament. (Laughter.) It becomes a question of law; and sometimes a man is damned on a very nice point—(laughter)—lost on demurrer 1 (Laughter and applause.) A few years ago a gentleman by the name of Seabury—Samuel Seabury—was sent over to England to get some apostolical succession. We hadn't a drop in the house. (Laughter.) It was necessary for the Bishops of the English Church to put their hands upon his head. They refused; there was no act of Parliament justifying it. He had then to go to the Scotch Bishops, and, had the Scotch Bishops refused, we never would have had any apostolic succession in the New World. God would have been driven out of half the world, and the true Church never could have been founded. But the Scotch Bishops put their hands on his head; and now we have an unbroken succession of heads and hands, from St. Paul to the last Bishop. (Laughter.) In this country the Episcopal Church has done some good; and I want to thank that Church for having on the average less religion than the others (laughter); on the average you have done more good to mankind. (Laughter and applause.) You preserved some of the humanities, you did not hate music; you did not absolutely despise painting; and you did not abhor architecture. You finally admitted that it was no worse to keep time with your feet than with your hands; and some went so far as to say that people could play cards, and that God would overlook it all, or look the other way. (Laughter.) For all these things, accept ray thanks. When I was a boy, the other churches looked upon dancing as the mysterious sin against the Holy Ghost; and they used to teach that when four boys got together in a hay-mow playing seven-up, that the eternal God stood whetting
waiting to strike them down to the lowest hell. (Laughter and applause.) So that Church has done some good.
After a while, in England, a couple of gentlemen by the name of Wesley and Whitfield said, "If everybody is going to Hell, somebody ought to mention it." (Laughter.) The Episcopal clergy said: "Keep still, don't tear your gown." (Laughter.) Wesley and Whitfield said: "This frightful truth ought to bo proclaimed from the housetop on every opportunity, and from the highway on every occasion." They were good, honest men; they believed their doctrine, and they said: "If there is a Hell, and there is a Niagara of souls pouring over the eternal precipice of ignorance, somebody ought to say something." They were right, somebody ought if such a thing is true. Wesley was a believer in the Bible. He believed in the actual presence of the Almighty. God used to do miracles for him. (Laughter.) He used to put off a rain several days to give his meeting a chance. He used to cure his horse of lameness. He used to cure Mr. Wesley's headaches. Mr. Wesley also believed in the actual existence of the Devil. He believed that Devils had possession of people. He talked to the Devil when he was in folks, and the Devil told him that he was going to leave, and that he was going into another person, and that ho would be there at a certain time (laughter);
We had a meeting of the Methodists, and I find by their statistics that they believe that they have converted 130,000 folks in a year. And in order to do this they have 26,000 preachers, 226,000 Sunday-school scholars, and about $100,000,000 invested in church property. I find, in looking over the history of the world, that there are forty or fifty million people born a year, and if they are saved at the rate of 130,000 a year,
for that doctrine to save this world? (Laughter.) Good, honest people; they are mistaken. In old times they were very simple. Their churches used to be like barns. They used to have them divided—the men on this side, the women on that—a little fortress. They have advanced since then, and they now find as a fact demonstrated by experience that a man sitting by the woman be loves can thank God as heartily as though sitting between two men that he has never been introduced to. (Applause and laughter.) There is another thing the Methodists ought to remember, and that is that the Episcopalians were the greatest enemies they ever had. And they should remember that the Free-thinkers have always treated them kindly and well. There is one thing about the Methodist Church in the North that 1 like, but I find that it is not Methodism that does it. I find that the Methodist Church in the South is as much opposed to liberty as the Methodist Church North is in favour of liberty. So it is not Methodism that is in favour of liberty or slavery. They vary a little in their creed from the rest. They don't believe that God does every thing. They believe that He does His part, and that you must do the rest, and that getting to Heaven is a partnership business.
The next Church, the Presbyterian, in my judgment, is the worst of all (laughter and applause), so far as creed is concerned. This Church was founded by John Calvin, a murderer. (Sensation.) John Calvin, having power in Geneva, inaugurated human torture. Voltaire abolished torture in France. (Applause.) The man who abolished torture, if the Christian religion is true, God is now torturing in Hell; and the man who inaugurated torture, he is now a glorified angel in Heaven. (Laughter.) It won't do. (Renewed laughter.) John Knox started this doctrine in Scotland; and this is the peculiarity about Presbyterianism: It grows best where the soil is poorest. (Laughter.) I read the other day an account of a meeting between John Knox and John Calvin. Imagine a dialogue between a pestilence and a famine. (Convulsive laughter.) Imagine the conver-sation between a block and the axe. As I read their conversation it seemed to me as though John Knox and John Calvin were made for each other, and that they fitted one another like the upper and lower jaws of a wild beast. They believed happiness was a crime. They looked upon laughter as blasphemy. And they did all they could to destroy every human feeling, and to fill the mind with the infinitegloom of predesti-
Then they got a new trial, and the next jury decided that the Old School was the Church of God, and that settled it (Great laughter.) And that Church teaches that infinite innocence was sacrificed for me. I don't want it. I don't wish to go to Heaven unless I can settle by the books, and go there because I have a right to go there. I have said, and I say again, I don't wish to be a charity angel. (Laughter.) I have no ambition to become a winged pauper of the sky. (Roars.)
The other day a young gentleman—a Presbyterian, who had just been converted—came to convert me. (Shouts of laughter.) He gave me a tract, and told me that he was perfectly happy. Humph! (Laughter.) Said I, "Do you think a great many people are going to hell?" "O yes." "And you are perfectly happy?" "Well, he didn't know as he was—quite." (Laughter.) "Wouldn't you be happier if they were all going to Heaven?" "O yes," "Well, then you are not perfectly happy?" "No, he didn't think he was." (Laughter.) Said I, "When you go to Heaven you will be perfectly happy?" "Oh, my! yes." "Now, when we are only going to hell you are not quite happy, but when we are in hell and you in Heaven then you will be perfectly. You won't be as decent when you get to be an angel as you are now, will you?" (Laughter.) well, he said that wasn't exactly it. (More laughter.) "well", said I, "suppose your mother was in bell, would you be happy in Heaven then?" "Well," he says," I suppose God would know the best place for mother." (Shouts on shouts of laughter.) And I thought to myself then if I was a woman I would like to have five or six boys like that. (Great laughter.) It will not do; Heaven is where those we love and those who love us arc (applause), and I wish to go to no world unless I can be accompanied by those who have loved me here. (Applause.) Talk about the consolaion of this infamous doctrine,—the consolation of a doctrine that makes a father say, "I can be happy, with my daughter in hell;" that makes a mother say, "I can be happy, with my generous, brave boy in hell;" that makes a boy say, "I can enjoy the glory of Heaven, with the woman who bore me, the woman who would have died for me, in eternal agony" (Great applause.) And they call that "tidings of great joy." (Great applause and laughter.)
I have no time to speak of the Baptists (laughter), that Jeremy Taylor said were as much to be rooted out as anything that was the greatest pest and nuisance on earth (laughter); nor of the Quakers, the best of all, and abused by all. I cannot forget that George Fox, in the year of grace
what they preach in the pulpit The people in the pews don't believe what they hear preached." "Oh," they say to me, "yon are fighting something that is dead—that is all form. We don't believe a solitary creed. We signed it, and swore that we believed it, but we don't, and none of us do." (Laughter.) "And all the ministers," they say, "in private admit that they don't; believe in it—not quite." I don't know whether it is so or not; I take it that they believe what they preach. I take it that when they meet and solemnly agree to a creed, I take it that they are honest, and believe in that creed. The Evangelical Alliance, composed of all the orthodox denominations in the world, met only a few years ago, and here is their creed: "The Divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures; the right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures." But if you interpret wrong, you are damned. They believe in the unity of the Godhead, and the trinity of the persons therein. They believe in tie utter depravity of human nature; and there can be no more infamous doctrine than that. They look upon a little child as a lump of depravity; I look upon it as a bud of humanity—(applause)—that will, under proper circumstances, blossom into rich and glorious life. (Applause.) Total depravity of human tature! Here is a woman whose husband has been lost at sea, and the news comes that he has been drowned by the ever-hungry waves. She waits, and something in her heart tells her he is alive. She waits, and years afterwards, as she looks down towards the little gate, she sees him; he has been given back by the sea, and she rushes to his arms, covering his face with kisses and with tears. If that infamous doctrine is true, every tear is a crime and every kiss a blasphemy. It will not do. (Applause.) According to that doctrine, if a man steals, and repents, and takes back the property, the repentance and the taking back of the property are two other crimes, if he is totally depraved. It is an infamy. What else do they believe? The justification of the sinner by faith alone; not any works, just faith—believing something that you do not understand. Of course, God cannot afford to reward a man for believing anything that is reasonable; publicans and sinners believe what is reasonable; God rewards you only for believing something that is unreasonable. If you believe something that you know is not so, you are a saint. (Laughter.) But what else? They believe in the eternal blessedness of the righteous and in the eternal punishment of the wicked. Tidings of great joy! They are so good that they will
they will not associate with Unitarians: they will not associate with Scientists; they will only associate with those that believe that God so loved the world that He made up His mind to damn the most of us. (Laughter and applause.)
But then they say to me, "What do you propose? You have torn down our hope, what do you propose to give in the place of it?" I have not torn it down; I have only endeavored to, trample out the ignorant and cruel fires of Hell. I do not tear away the passage, "God will be merciful to the merciful." I do not destroy the promise, "If you will forgive others, God will forgive you." (Applause.) I would not for anything blot out the faintest star that shines in the horizon of human despair, nor in the horizon of human hope; but I will do what I can to get that infinite shadow out of the heart of man. (Loud applause.) "What do you propose in place of this?" Well in the first place, I propose good fellowship—good friends all round. No matter what we believe, shake hands, and say, "Let it go; that is your opinion, this is mine; let us be friends." Science makes friends; religion, superstition, makes enemies. They say, belief is important; I say, no! actions are important; judge by deeds, not by creeds. Good fellowship! We have had too many of these solemn people. Whenever I see an exceedingly solemn man, I know he is an exceedingly stupid man. (Laughter.) No man of any humor ever founded a religion—never. Humor sees both sides; while reason is the holy light, humor carries the lantern; and a man with a keen sense of humor is preserved from the solemn stupidities of superstition. I like a man that has got good feeling for everybody. Good fellowship! One man said to another, "Will you take a glass of wine!" "I don't drink." "Will you smoke a cigar?" "I don't smoke." "Maybe you will chew something?" "I don't chew." "Let us eat some hay?"
I believe in the gospel of cheerfulness; the gospel of good nature; in the gospel of good health. Let us pay some attention to our bodies; take care of our bodies, and our souls will take care of themselves. Good health! I believe the time will come when the public thought will be so great and grand that it will be looked upon as infamous to perpetuate disease. I believe the time will come when men will not fill the future with consumption and with insanity. I believe the time will come when with studying ourselves and understanding the laws of health, we will say we are under obligations to put the flags of health in the cheeks of our children. (Applause.) Even if I got to heaven, and had a harp, I would hate to look back upon my children and sec them diseased, deformed, crazed, all suffering the penalty of crimes that I had committed. (Loud applause.) I, then, believe in
and I believe in the gospel of good living. You cannot make any God happy by fasting. (Laughter.) Let us have good food, and let us have it well cooked; it is a thousand times better to know how to cook it, than it is to understand any theology in the world. (Loud applause.)
I believe in the gospel of good clothes. I believe in the gospel of good houses; in the gospel of water and soap. (Laughter.) I believe in the gospel of intelligence; in the gospel of education. The school-house is my cathedral; the universe is my Blble. (Loud applause.) I believe in the gospel of justice,—that we must reap what we sow. I do not believe in forgiveness. If I rob Mr. Smith, and God forgives me, how does that help Smith? (Laughter.) If I by Blander cover some poor girl with the leprosy of some imputed crime, and she withers away like a blighted flower, and afterwards I get forgiveness, how does that help her? If there is another world, we have got to settle; no bankrupt court there. (Laughter and applause.) Pay down. Among the ancient Jews if you committed a crime you had to kill a sheep; now they say, "Charge it. (Laughter.) Put it on the slate." (Renewed laughter.) It won't do. For every crime you commit you must answer to yourself and to the one you injure. And if you have ever clothed another with unhappiness as with a garment of pain, you will never be quite as happy as though you hadn't done that thing. (Applause. No forgiveness; eternal, inexorable, everlasting justice—that is what I believe in. And if it goes hard with me, I will stand it. (Laughter.) And I will stick to my logic, and I will bear it like a man. (Applause.) And I believe, too, in the gospel of liberty,—of giving to others what we claim. And I believe there is room everywhere for thought, and the more liberty you give away the more you will have. In liberty extravagance is economy. Let us be just. Jet us be generous to each other. I believe in the gospel of intelligence. That is the only lever capable of raising mankind. Intelligence must be the saviour of the world. (Applause.) Humanity is the grand religion. And no God can put a man into hell in another world who has made a little heaven in this. (Applause.) God cannot make miserable a man who has made somebody else happy. God cannot hate anybody who is capable of loving his neighbour. So I believe in this great gospel of generosity. "Ah," but they say, "it won't do. You must believe." I say no. My gospel of health will prolong life; my gospel of intelligence, ray gospel of loving, my gospel of good-fellowship will cover the world with happy homes. My doctrine will put carets upon your floors, pictures upon your walls. My doctrine will put books upon your shelves, ideas in your mind. My doctrine will relieve the world of the abnormal monsters born of the ignorance of superstition. My doctrine will give us health, wealth, and happiness. That is what I want. That is what I believe in. (Applause.) Give us intelligence, and in a little while a man will find that he cannot steal without robbing himself; he will find that he cannot murder without assassinating his own joy. He will find that
He will find that only that man carries a cross who does wrong, and for the man who does right the cross changes into wings on his shoulders and bears him upwards
One world at a time. That is my doctrine. (Applause.) It is said in this Testament, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." And I say, sufficient unto the world is the evil thereof. And suppose, after all, that death does end all. Next to eternal joy, next to being for ever with those we love and those who have loved us, next to that is to be wrapped in the dreamless drapery of eternal peace. (Applause.) Next to eternal life is eternal death. (Applause.) Upon the shadowy shore of death the
Eyes that have been curtrined by the everlasting dark will never know again the touch of tears. Lips that have been touched by the eternal silence will never utter another word of grief. Hearts of dust do not break. The dead do not weep. And I bad rather think of those I have loved, and those I have lost, as having returned to earth, as having become a part of the elemental wealth of the world. I would rather think of them as unconscious dust. I would rather think of them as gurgling in the stream, floating in the cloud, bursting into light upon the shores of worlds. I would rather think of them thus than to have even a suspicion bat their souls had been clutched by an orthodox God. (Great applause.) But for me I will leave the dead where nature leaves them, and whatever flower of hope springs up in my heart I will cherish. But I cannot believe that there is any being in this universe who has created a soul for eternal pain, and I would rather that every God would destroy himself, I would rather that we all should go back to the eternal chaos, to the black and starless night, than that just one soul should suffer eternal agony. (Great applause.) I have made up my mind that if there is a God He will be merciful to the merciful. Upon that rock I stand. (Applause.) That He will forgive the forgiving; upon that rock I stand. That every man should be true to himself, and that there is no world, no star, in which honesty is a crime; and upon that rock I stand. An honest man, a good, kind, sweet woman, or a happy child, has nothing to fear, neither in this world nor in the world to come; and upon that rock I stand. (Loud applause.)
[The announcement that Col. Robt. G. Ingersoll would deliver the following lecture at Haverly's Theatre yesterday, and that on the same occasion he would reply to some of his critics, drew to that house one of the largest audiences ever seen within its walls. Every available seat was occupied, and all vacant spaces on the stage and in the building were crammed by people who seemed glad to get standing-room. The lecturer was frequently interrupted by hearty bursts of applause and laughter, often lasting for some time. At the mention of Thomas Paine's name, tremendous applause and cheers were given again and again. The lecture occupied nearly three hours in delivery, but the vast audience manifested no evidence of weariness—on the contrary it showed every indication of an anxiety to hear more. Chicago Times,
Man advances just in the proportion that he mingles his thoughts with his labour—just in the proportion that he takes advantage of the forces of nature: just in proportion as he loses superstition and gains confidence in himself. Man advances as he ceases to fear the gods and learns to love his fellow-men. It is all, in my judgement, a question of intellectual development. Tell me the religion of any man, and I will tell you the degree he marks on the intellectual thermometer of the world. It is a simple question of brain. Those among us who are the nearest barbarism have a barbarian religion. Those who are nearest civilization have the least superstition. It is, I say, a simple question of brain, and I want, in the first place, to lay the foundation to prove that assertion.
A little while ago I saw models of nearly everything that man has made. I saw models of all the water craft of the world, from the rude dug-out, which floated a naked savage, up to a man-of-war, that carries a hundred guns and miles of canvas; from that dug-out to the steamship that turns its brave prow from the port of New York, with a compass like a conscience, crossing three thousand miles of billows without missing a throb or beat of its mighty iron heart from shore to shore. And I saw at the same time
from the rude daub of yellow mud to the landscapes that enrich palaces and adorn houses of what were once called the common people.
I saw also their sculpture, from the rude god with four legs, a half-dozen arms, several noses, and two or three rows of ears, and one little, contemptible, brainless head, np to the figures of to-day,—to the marbles that genius has clad in such a personality that it seems almost impudent to touch them without an introduction.
I saw their books—books written upon the skins of wild beasts—upon shouder-blades of sheep—books written upon leaves, upon bark, up to the splendid volumes that enrich the libraries of our day. When 1 speak of libraries, I think of the remark of Plato: "A house that has a library in it has a soul.
I saw at the same time the offensive weapons that man has made, from a club, such as was grasped by that same savage, when he crawled from his den in the ground and hunted a snake for his dinner; from that club to the boomerang, to the sword, to the cross-bow, to the blunderbuss, to the flint-lock, to the cap-lock, to the needle-gun, up to a cannon cast by Krupp, capable of hurling a ball weighing two thousand ponnds through eighteen inches of solid steel.
I saw, too, the armour from the shell of a turtle that one of our brave ancestors wore upon his breast when he went to fight for his country; the skiu of a porcupine, dried with the quills on, which this same savage pulls over his orthodox Head, up to the shirts of mail that were worn in the middle ages, that laughed at the edge of the sword and defied the point of the spear; up to a monitor clad in complete steel.
And I say orthodox not only in the matter of religion, but in everything. Whoever has quit growing he is orthodox, whether in art, politics, religion, philosophy—no matter what. Whoever thinks he has found it all out, he is orthodox.
which rots, and heresy is that which grows for ever. Orthodoxy is the night of the past, full of the darkness of superstition; and heresy is the eternal coming day, the light of which strikes the grand foreheads of the intellectual pioneers of the world. I saw their implements of agriculture, from the plow mude of a crooked stick, attached to the horn of an ox by some twisted straw, with which our ancestors scraped the earth, and from that to the agricultural implements of this generation, that make it possible for a man to cultivate the soil without being an ignoramus.
In the old time old time there was but one crop; and when the rain did not come in answer to the prayer of hypocrites a famine came and people fell upon their knees. At that time they were full of superstition. They were frightened, all the time
I saw at the same time their musical instruments, from the tom-tom—that is, a hoop with a couple of strings of raw-hide drawn across it—from that tom-tom, up to the instruments we have to-day, that make the common air blossom with melody, and I said to myself there is a regular advancement. I saw at the same time
from the lowest skull that has been found, the Neanderthal skull—skulls from central Africa, skulls from the bushmen of Australia—skulls from the farthest isles of the Pacific sea—up to the best skulls of the last generation—and I noticed that there was the same difference between those skulls that there was between the products of those skulls, and I said to myself: "After all, it is a simple question of intellectual development." There was the same difference between those skulls, the lowest and highest skulls, that there was between the dug-out and the man-of-war and the steamship, between the club and the Krupp gun, between the yellow daub and the landscape, between the tom-tom and an opera by Verdi.
The first and lowest skull in this row was the den in which crawled the base and meaner instincts of inankind, and the last was a temple in which dwelt joy, liberty and love.
And I said to myself it is all a question of intellectual development. Man has advanced just as he has mingled his thought with his labour. As he has grown he has taken advantage of the forces of nature; first of the moving wind, then of falling water, and finally of steam. From one step to another he has obtained better houses, better clothes, and better books, and he has done it by holding out every incentive to the ingenious to produce them. The world has said, give us better clubs and guns and cannons with which to kill our fellow Christians. And whoever will give us better weapons and better music, and better houses to live in, we will robe him in wealth, crowa him in honour, and render his name deathless. Every incentive was held out to every human being to improve these things, and that is the reason we have advanced in all mechanical arts. But that gentleman in the dug-out not only had his ideas about politics, mechanics and agriculture: he had his ideas also about religion. His idea about politics was "right makes might." It will be thousands of years, may bo, before mankind will believe in the saying that "right makes might." He had his religion. That low skull was a devil factory. He believed in hell, and the belief was a consolation to him. He could see
dashing against the rocks of dark damnation. He could see tossing in the white-caps the faces of women, and stretching above the crests the dimpled hands of children; and he regarded these things as the justice and mercy of God. And all to-day who believe in this eternal punishment are the barbarians of the nineteenth century. That man believed in a devil, too, that had a long tail terminating with a flery dart; that had wings like a bat—a devil that had a cheerful habit of of breathing brimstone, that had a cloven foot, such as some orthodox clergymen seem to think I have. And there has not been a patentable improvement made upon that devil in all the years since. The moment you drive the devil out of theology, there is nothing left worth speaking of, The moment they drop the devil, away goes atonement. The moment they kill the devil, the whole scheme of salvation has lost all of its interest for mankind You must keep the devil and you must keep hell. You must keep the devil, because with no devil no priest is necessary. Now, all I ask is this—the same privilege to improve upon his religion as upon his dug-out, and that is what I am going to do, the best I can. No matter what church you belong to, or what church belongs to us. Let us be honour bright and fair.
Suppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, if there was one at that time, had told these gentlemen in the dug-out: "That dug-out is the best boat
Suppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, if there was one—and I presume there was a priest, because it was a very ignorant age—suppose this king and priest had said: "That tom-tom is the most beautiful instrument of music of which any man can conceive; that is the kind of music they have in heaven; an angel sitting upon the edge of a glorified cloud, golden in the setting sun, playing upon that tom-tom, became so enraptured, so entranced with her own music, that in a kind of ecstasy she dropped it—that is how we obtained it; and any man who says it can be improved by putting a back and front to it, and four strings, and a bridge, and getting a bow of hair with rosin, is a blaspheming wretch, and shall die the death."—I ask you, what effect would that have had upon music? If that course had been pursued, would the human ears, in your judgment, ever have been enriched with the divine symphonies of Beethoven?
Suppose the king, if there was one, and the priest, had said: "That crooked stick is the best plow that can be invented; the pattern of that plow was given to a pious farmer in an exceedingly holy dream, and that twisted straw is the ne plus ultra of all twisted things, and any man who says he can make an improvement upon that plow, is an atheist;" what, in your judgment, would have been the effect upon the science of agriculture?
Now, all I ask is the same privilege to improve upon his religion as upon his mechanical arts. Why don't we go back to that period to got the telegraph; Because they were barbarians. And shall we go to barbarians to get our religion? What is religion? Religion simply embraces the duty of man to man. Religion is simply the science of human duty and the duty of man to man—that is what it is. It is the highest science of all And all other sciences are as nothing, except as they contribute to the happiness of man. The science of religion is the highest of all, embracing all others. And shall we go to the barbarians to learn the science of sciences? The nineteenth century knows more about religion than all the centuries dead. There is more real charity in the world to-day than ever existed before. There is more thought to-day than ever before,
to-day as she never was before in the history of the world. There are more happy families now than ever before—more children treated as though they were tender blossoms than as though they were brutes than in any other time or nation. Religion is simply the duty man owes to man; and when you fall upon your knees and pray for something you know not of, you neither benefit the one you pray for nor yourself. One ounce of restitution is worth a million of repentances anywhere, and a man will get along faster by helping himself a minute than by praying ten years for someone to help him. Suppose you were coming along the street, and found a party of men and women on their knees praying to a bank, and you asked them, "Have any of you borrowed any money of this bank?" "No, but our fathers, they, too, prayed to this bank." "Did they ever get any?" "No, not that we ever heard of." I would tell them to get up. It is easier to earn it, and it is far more manly.
Our fathers in the "good old times,"—and the best that I can say of the "good old times "is that they are gone, and the best I can say of the good old people that lived in them is that they are gone, too—believed that you made a man think your way by force. Well, you can't do it. There is a splendid something in man that says, "I won't; I won't be driven." But our fathers thought men could be driven. They tried it in
I used to read about the manner in which the early Christians made converts—how they impressed upon the world the idea that God loved them. I have read it, but it didn't burn into my soul. I didn't think much about it—I heard so much about being fried forever in hell that it didn't seem so bad to burn a few minutes. I love liberty and I hate all persecutions in the name of God. I never appreciated the infamies that have been committed in the name of religion until I saw the iron argumenta that Christians used. I saw, for instance, the thumb-
is a good institution." Now, when some man had said some trifling thing like that, they put this thumb-screw on him, and in the name of universal benevolence and fot the love of God—man has never persecuted man for the love of man; man has never persecuted another for the love of charity—it is always for the love of something he calls God, and every man's idea of God is his own idea. If there is an infinite God, and there may be—I don't know—there may be a million for all I know—I hope there is more than one—one seems so lonesome. They kept turning this down, and when this was done, most men would say, "I will recant." I "think I would. There is not much of the martyr about me. I would have told them, "Now, you write it down and I will sign it. You may have one God or a million, one hell or a million. You stop that—I am tired."
Do you know sometimes I have thought that all the hypocrites in the world are not worth one drop of honest blood. I am sorry that any good man ever died for religion. I would rather let them advance a little easier. It is too bad to see ft good man sacrificed for
and cattle. But there is now and then a man who would not swear the breadth of a hair. There was now and then a sublime heart willing to die for an intellectual conviction, and had it not been for these men we would have been wild beasts and savages today. There were some men who would not take it back, and had it not been for a few such brave, heroic souls in every age we would have been cannibals, with pictures of wild beasts tattooed upon our breasts, dancing around some dried-snake fetish. And so they turned it down to the last thread of agony, and threw the victim into some dungeon, whore, in the throbbing silence and darkness, he might suffer the agonies of the fabled damned. This was done in the name of love, in the name of mercy, in the name of the compassionate Christ. And the men that did it are the men that made our Bible for us. I saw, too, at the same time,
Imagine a circle of iron, and on the inside a hundred points almost as sharp as needles. This argument was fastened about the throat of the sufferer. Then he could not walk nor sit down, nor stir without the neck being punctured by these points. In a little while the throat would begin to swell, and suffocation would end the agonies of that man. This man, it may be, had committed the crime of saying, with tears upon his cheeks, "I do not believe that God, the father of us all, will damn to eternal perdition any of the children of men." And that was done to convince the world that God so loved the world that He died for us. That was in order that people might hear the glad tidings of great joy to all people.
I saw another instrument, called
Imagine a pair of shears with handles, not only where they now arc, but at the points as well, and just above the pivot that unites the blades a circle of iron, In the upper handles the hands would be placed; in the lower, the feet; and through the iron ring, at the centre, the head of the victim would be forced, and in that position the man would be thrown upon the earth, and the strain upon the muscle would produce such agony that insanity took pity. And this was done to keep
I saw at the same time
This was a box like the bed of a waggon, with a windlass at each end, and ratchets to prevent slipping. Over each windlass went chains, and when some man had, for instance, denied the doctrine of the trinity, a doctrine it is necessary to believe in order to get to heaven—but, thank the Lord, you don't have to understand it. This man merely denied that three times one was one, or maybe he denied that there was ever any son in the world exactly as old as his father, or that there ever was a boy eternally older than his mother—then they put that man on the rack. Nobody has ever been persecuted for calling God bad—it has always been for calling him good. When I stand here to say that if there is a hell God is a fiend; they say that is very bad. They say I am trying to tear down the institutions of public virtue. But let me tell you one thing; there is no reformation in fear—you can scare a man so that he won't do it sometimes, but I will swear you can't scare him so bad that he won't want to do it. Then they put this man on the rack and
and kept turning until the ankles, the hip, the shoulders, the elbows, the wrists, and all the joints of the victim were dislocated, and he was wet with agony, and standing by was a physician to feel his pulse. What for? To save his life? Yes. In mercy? No. But in order that they might have the pleasure of racking him once more. And this was the Christian spirit. This was done in the name of civilization, in the name of religion, and all these wretches who did it died in peace. There is not an orthodox preacher in the city that has not a respect for every one of them. As, for instance, for John Calvin, who was a murderer and nothing but a murderer, who would have disgraced an ordinary gallows by being hanged upon it. These men when they came to die were not frightened. God did not send any devils into their death rooms to make mouths at them. He reserved them for Voltaire, who brought religious liberty to France, He reserved them for Thomas Paine, who did more for liberty than all the churches. But all the inquisitors died with the white hands of peace folded over the breast of piety. And when they died, the room was filled with the rustle of the wings of angels, waiting to bear the wretches to heaven.
When I read
it seems to me sometimes as though I had suffered all these things myself. It seems sometimes as though I had stood upon the shore of exile and gazed with tearful eyes towards home and native land; it seems to me as though I had been staked out upon the sands of the sea, and drowned by the inexorable, advancing tide; as though my nails had been torn from my hands, and into the bleeding quick needles had been thrust; as though my feet had been crushed in iron boots; as though I had been chained in the cell of the Inquisition and listened with dying ears for the coming footsteps of release; as though I had been taken from my fireside, from my wife and children, to the public square, and chained; as though fagots had been piled about me; as though the flames had climbed around my limbs and scorched my eyes to blindness, and as though my ashes had been scattered to the four winds, by all the countless hands of hate. And, while I so feci, I swear that while I Iive"I will do what little I can to augment the liberties of man, woman and child.
and superstition everywhere. I believe in liberty and happiness and love and joy in this world. I am amazed that any man ever had the impudence to try and do another man's thinking. I have just as good a right to talk about theology as a minister. If they all agree I might admit it was a science, but as they all disagree,
Do you know that this world has not been fit for a lady and gentleman to live in for twenty-five years, just on account of slavery. It was not until the year
was, in my judgment, in many respects, the grandest man ever president of the United States. Upon his monument these words should be written: "Here sleeps the only man in the history of the world, who, having been clothed with almost absolute power, never abused it, except upon the side of mercy."
For two hundred years the Christians of the United States deliberately turned the cross of Christ into a whipping-post. Christians bred hounds to catch other Christians. Let me show you what the Bible has done for mankind. "Servants, be obedient to your masters." The only word coming from the sweet heaven was, servants, obey your masters. Frederick Douglas told me that he had lectured upon the subject of freedom twenty years before he was permitted to set his foot in a church. I tell you the world has not been fit to live in for twenty-five years. Then all the people used to cringe and crawl to preachers. Mr. Buckle, in his history of civilization, shows that men were even struck dead for speaking impolitely to a priest. God would not stand it. See how they used to crawl before cardinals, bishops and popes. It is not so now. Before wealth they bowed to the very earth, and in the presence of titles they became abject. All this is slowly but surely changing. We no longer bow to men simply because they are rich. Our fathers
The worst you can say of an American now is, he worships the gold of the calf. Even the calf is beginning to see this distinction. The time will come when no matter how much money a man has, lie will not he respected unless he is using it for the benefit of his fellow-men. It will soon be here. It no longer satisfies the ambition of a great man to be king or emperor. The last Napoleon was not satisfied with being the emperor of the French. He was not satisfied with haying a circlet of gold about his head. He wanted some evidence that he had something of value within his head. So he wrote the life of Julius Caesar, that he might become a member of the French academy. The emperors, the kings, the popes, no longer tower above their fellows. Compare, for instance, King William and Helmholtz. The king is one of the anointed by the Most High, as they claim—one upon whose head has been poured the divine petroleum of authority. Compare this king with Helmholtz, who towers an intellectual Colossus above the crowned mediocrity.
The queen is clothed in garments given her by blind fortune and unreasoning ehance, while George Eliot wears robes of glory woven in the loom of her own genius.
And so it is the world over. The time is coming when a man will be rated at his real worth, and that by his brain and heart. We care nothing about an officer unless he fills his place. No matter if he is president, if he rattles in the place nobody cares anything about him. I might give you instances in point—but I won't. The world is getting better and grander and nobler every day.
Now, if men have been slaves; if they have crawled in the dust before one another, what shall I say of women? They have been the slaves of men. It took thousands of ages to bring women from abject slavery up to the divine height of
is tender, pure and true, civilization is impossible. Ladies, the ornamenta you wear upon your persons to-night, are but the souvenirs of your mother a bondage. The chains around your necks, and the bracelets clasped upon your white arms by the thrilled hand of love, have been changed by the wand of civilization from iron to shining, glittering gold.
Nearly every civilization in this world accounts for the devilment in it by the crimes of woman. They say woman brought all the trouble into the world. I don't care if she did. I would rather live in a world full of troubles with the woman I love, than to live in heaven with nobody but men. I read in a book an account of the creation of the world. That book, I have taken pains to say, was not written by any God. And why do I say so? Because I can write a far better book myself. Because it is full of barbarisms. Several ministers of this city have undertaken to answer me—notably those who don't believe the Bible themselves. I want to ask these men one thing. I want them to be fair.
in the city of Chicago that answers me, and those that have answered me had better answer me again—I want them to say, and without any sort of evasion—without resorting to any pious tricks—I want them to say whether they believe that the Eternal God of this universe ever upheld the crime of polygamy. Say it square and fair. Don't begin to talk about that being a peculiar time, and that God was easy on the prejudices of these old fellows. I want them to answer that question, and to answer it squarely, which they haven't done. Did this God which you pretend to worship ever sanction the institution of human slavery? Now, answer fair. Don't slide around it. Don't begin and answer what a bad man I am, or what a good man Moses was. Stick to the text. Do you believe in a God that allowed a man to be sold from his children? Do you worship such an infinite monster? And if you do, tell your congregation whether you are not ashamed to admit it. Let every minister who answers me again tell whether he believes God commanded his general to kill the little dimpled babe in the cradle. Let him answer it. Don't say that those were very bad times. Tell whether He did it or not, and then your people will know whether
or not. Be honest. Tell them whether that God in war captured young maidens and turned them over to the soldiers; and then ask the wives and sweet girls of your congregation to get down on their knees and worship the infinite fiend that did that thing. Answer! It is your God I am talking about, and if that is what God did, please tell your congregation what, under the same circumstances, the devil would have done. Don't tell your people that is a poem, Don't tell your people that is pictorial. That won't do. Tell your people whether it is true or false. That is what I want you to do.
In this book I have read about God's making the world and one man. That is all he intended to make. The making of woman was a second thought, though I am willing to admit that as a rule second thoughts are best. This God made a man and put him in a public park. In a little while He noticed that the man got lonesome; then He found He had made a mistake, and that He would have to make someone to keep him company. But having used up all the nothing He originally used in making the world and one man, he had to take a part of a man to start a woman with. So he causes sleep to fall on this man—now, understand me, I do not say this story is true. After the sleep had fallen on this man, the Supreme Being took a rib, or, as the French would call it, a cutlet out of him, and from that He made a woman; and I am willing to swear, taking into account the amount and quality of the raw material used, this was the moat magnificent job ever accomplished in this world. Well, after He got the woman done she was brought to the man, not to see how she liked him, but to see how he liked her.
and they started housekeeping, and they were told of certain things they might do, and of one thing they could not do—and of course they did it. I would have
And then trouble commenced, and we have been at it ever since.
Nearly all of the religions of this world account for the existence of evil by such a story as that!
Well, I read in another book what appeared to be an account of the same transaction. It was written about four thousand years before the other. All commentators agree that the one that was written last was the original, and that the one that was written first was copied from the one that was written last. But I would advise you not to allow your creed to be disturbed by a little matter of four or five thousand years. It is a great deal better to be mistaken in dates than
In this other account, the Supreme Brahma made up his mind to make the world and a man and woman. He made the world, and He made the man and then the woman, and put them on the island of Ceylon. According to the account it was the most beautiful island of which man can conceive. Such birds, such songs, such flowers, and such verdure! And the branches of the trees were so arranged that when the wind swept through them every tree was a thousand iEolian harps.
Brahma, when he put them there, said, "Let them have a period of courtship, for it is my desire and will that true love should forever precede marriage." When I read that, it was so much more beautiful and lofty than the other, that I said to myself, "If either one of these stories ever turns out to be true, I hope it will be this one."
Then they had their courtship, with the nightingale singing and the stars shining and the flowers blooming, and they fell in love. Imagine that courtship I No prospective fathers or mothers-in-law; no prying and gossiping neighbours; nobody to say "Young man, how do you expect to support her? Nothing of that kind—nothing but the nightingale singing
as though the thorn already touched its heart. They were married by the Supreme Brahma, and he said to them, "Remain here, you must never leave this island." "Well, after a little while the man—and his name was Adami, and the woman's name was Heva—said to Heva, "I believe I'll look about a little." He wanted to go west. He went to the western extremity of the island where there was a little narrow neck of land connecting it with the mainland, and the devil, who is always playing pranks with us, produced a mirage, and when he looked over to the mainland, such hills and vales, such dells and dales, such mountains crowned with snow, such cataracts clad in hows of glory did he see there that he went hack and told Heva, "The country over there is a thousand times better than this, let us migrate." She, like every other woman that ever lived, said, "Let well enough alone, we have all we want, let us stay here." But he said, "No, let us go." So she followed him, and when they came to this narrow neck of land, he took her on his back like a gentleman, and carried her over. But the moment they got over
and, looking back, discovered that this narrow neck of land had fallen into the sea. The mirage had disappeared, and there were naught but rocks and sand, and then the Supreme Brahma cursed them both to the lowest hell.
Then it was that the man spoke—and I have liked him ever since for it—"Curse me, but curse not her; it was not her fault, it was mine."
That's the kind of man to start a world with.
The Supreme Brahma said, "I will save her but not thee." And then spoke out of her fullness of love, out of a heart in which there was love enough to make all her daughters rich in holy affection, and said, "If thou wilt not spare him, neither spare me. I do not wish to live without him, I love him." Then the Supreme Brahma said—and I have liked him ever since I read it—" I will spare you both and watch over you and your children for ever."
Honour bright, is not that the better and grander story?
And in that same book I find this, "Man is strength, woman is beauty; man is courage, woman is love. When the one man loves the one woman, and the one
this, "Blessed is that man and beloved of all the gods who is afraid of no man, and of whom no man is afraid." Magnificent character! A missionary certainly ought to talk to that man. And I find this, "Never will I accept private individual salvation, but rather will I stay and work, and strive, and suffer, until every soul from every star has been brought home to God." Compare that with the Christian that expects to go to heaven while the world is rolling over Niagara to an eternal and unending hell. So I say that religion lays all the crime and troubles of this world at the beautiful feet of woman. And then the church has the impudence to say that it has exalted woman. I believe that marriage is a perfect partnership; that woman has every right that man has and one inore—the right to be protected. Above all men in the world I hate a stingy man—a man that will make his wife beg for money. "What did you do with the dollar I gave you last week? And what are you going to do with this?" It is vile. No gentleman will ever bo satisfied with the love of a beggar and a slave—no gentleman will ever be satisfied except with the love of an equal You can never be so poor, that whatever you do you can't do it in a grand and manly way. I hate a cross man. What right has a man to assassinate the joy of life? When you go home, you ought to go like a ray of light, so that it will, even in the night, burst out of the doors and windows and illuminate the darkness.
that will pay 10 per cent of interest on the outlay. Love is the only thing in which the height of extravagance is the last degree of economy. Joy is wealth. Love is the legal tender of the soul, and you need not be rich to be happy. We have all been raised on success in this country. Always been talked with about being successful, and have never thought ourselves very rich unless we were the possessors of some magnificent mansion, and unless our names have been between the putrid lips of rumour we could not be happy. Every little boy is striving to be this and be that. I tell you the happy man is the successful man. The man that has won the love of one good woman is a successful man. The man that has been the emperor, of one good heart, and that heart embrace all his, has been a success. If another has been the emperor of the round world and has never loved and been loved, his life is a failure.
It won't do. Let us teach our children the other way, that the happy man is the successful man, and he who is a happy man is the one who always tries to make some one else happy. I tell you it is not necessary to be rich and great and powerful to be happy. A little while ago
a magnificent tomb of gilt and gold, fit almost for a dead deity—and gazed upon the sarcophagus of black Egyptian marble, where rest at last the ashes of the restless man. I leaned over the balustrade and thought about the career of the greatest soldier of the modern world. I saw him walking upon the banks of the Seine, contemplating suicide. I saw him at Toulon—I saw him putting down the mob in the streets of Paris—I saw him in Egypt in the shadow of the Pyramids—I saw him at Marengo—at Ulm and Austerlitz. I saw him in Russia, where the infantry of the snow and the cavalry of the wild blast scattered his legions like winter's withered leaves. I saw him at Leipsic in defeat and disaster—driven by a million bayonets back upon Paris—clutched like a wild beast- banished to Elba. I saw him escape and retake an empire by the force of his genius. I saw him upon the frightful field of Waterloo, where chance and fate combined to wreck the fortunes of their former king. And I saw him at St. Helena, with his hands crossed behind him, gazing out upon the sad and solemu sea.
I thought of the orphans and widows he had made—of the tears that hail been shed for his glory, and of
pushed from his heart by the cold hand of ambition. And I said I would rather have been a French peasant and worn wooden shoes. I would rather have lived in a hut with a vine growing over the door, and the grapes growing purple in the
It is not necessary to be rich in order to be happy. It is only necessary to be in love. Thousands of men go to college and get a certificate that they have an education, and that certificate is in Latin, and they stop studying, and in two years to save their life they couldn't read the certificate they got.
It is mostly so in marrying.
when they get married. They think we have won her, and that is enough. Ah! the difference before and after! How well they looked! How bright their eyes! How light their steps, and how full they were of generosity and laughter. I tell you a man should consider himself in good luck if a woman loves him when he is doing his level best.
And another thing that is the cause of much trouble is that people don't count fairly. They do what they call putting their best foot forward. That means lying a little. I say put your worst foot forward If you have any faults admit them. If you drink, say so and quit it. If you ohew and smoke and swear, say so. If some of your kindred are not very good people, say so. If you have had two or three that died on the gallows, or that ought to have died there, say so. Tell all your faults, and if after she knows your faults she says she will have you, you have got the dead wood on that woman for ever. I claim that there should be perfect equality in the home, and cannot think of anything nearer heaven than a home where there is
and true democracy at the fireside. All are equal.
And then, do you know, I like to think that love is eternal; that if you really love the woman, for her sake; that if she really loves you, for your sake; that love does not look at alterations, through the wrinkles of time, through the mask of years—if you really love her you will always see the face you loved and won. And I like to think of it If a man loves a woman she does not ever grow old to him, and the woman who really loves a man does not see that he grows old. He is not decrepit to her. He is not tremulous. He is not old. He is not bowed. She always sees the same gallant fellow that won her hand and heart. I like to think of it in that way, and as Shakespeare says, "Let time reach with his sickle as far as ever he can; although he can reach ruddy cheeks and ripe lips and flashing eyes, he cannot quite reach love."
I like to think of it. We will go down the hill of life together, and enter the shadow one with the other, and as we go down we may hear the ripple of the laughter of our grandchildren, and the birds, and spring, and youth, and love will sing once more on the leafless branches of the tree of age. I love to think of it in that way—absolute equals, happy, happy, and free, all our own.
But some people say," Would you allow a woman to vote? "Yes," if she wants to; "that is her business, not mine." If a woman wants to vote I am too much of a gentleman to say she shall not. But they say woman has not sense enough to vote. It don't take much. But it seems to me there are
as for instance, the question of peace and war, that a woman should be allowed to vote upon. A woman that has sons to be offered on the altar of that Moloch, it seems to me that such a grand woman should have as much right to vote upon the question of peace and war as some thrice besotted sot that reels to the ballot-box and deposits his vote for war.
But if women have been slaves, what shall we say of the little children bora in the sub-cellars; children of poverty, children of crime, children of wealth, children that are afraid when they hear their names pronounced by the lips of their mother, children that cower in fear when they hear the footsteps of their brutal father, the flotsam and jetsam upon the rude sea of life, my heart goes out to them one and all.
Children have all the rights that we have and one more, and that is to be protected. Treat your children in that way. Suppose your child tells a lie. Don't pretend that the whole world is going in bankruptcy. Don't pretend that that is the first lie ever told. Tell them, like an honest man, that you have told hundreds of lies yourself—and tell the dear little darling that it is not the best way; that it soils the soul. Think of the man that deals in stocks whipping his children for putting false rumors afloat. Think of an orthodox minister whipping his own flesh and blood, for not telling all it thinks. Think of that! Think of a lawyer beating his child for avoiding the truth!—when the old man makes about half his living that way. A lie is born of weakness on one side and tyranny on the other. That is what it is. Think of a great big man coming at a little bit of a child with a club in his hand! What is the little darling to do? Lie, of course. I think that mother nature put that ingenuity into the mind of the child, when attacked by a parent, to throw up a little breastwork in the shape of a lie to defend itself.
as much larger than we are,—as we are larger than a child five years of age,—should come at us with a liberty pole in his hand, and in tones of thunder want to know "who broke that plate,"—there isn't one of us, not excepting myself, that wouldn't swear that we never had seen that plate in our lives—or that it was cracked when we got it.
Another good way to make children tell the truth is to tell it yourself. Keep your word with your child the same as you would with your banker. If you tell a child you will do anything, either do it or give the child the reason why.
Truth is born of confidence. It comes from the lips of love and liberty. I was over in Michigan the other day. There was a boy over there at Grand Rapids about five or six years old, a nice smart boy as you will see from the remark he made—what you might call a nineteenth century boy. His father and mother had promised to take him out riding. They had promised to take him out riding for about three weeks, and they would slip off, and go without him. Well, after a while, that got kind of played out with the little boy, and the day before I was there they played the trick on him again. They went out and got the carriage, and went away, and as they rode away from the front of the house he happened to be standing there with his nurse, and he saw them. The whole thing flashed on him in a moment. He
and turned to his nurse and said, pointing to his father and mother, "There goes the two biggest liars in the state of Michigan!" When you go home fill the house with joy, so that the light of it will stream out the windows and the doors and illuminate even the darkness. It is just as easy that way as any in the world.
I want to tell you that you cannot get the robe of hypocrisy on you so thick that the sharp eye of childhood will not see through every veil, and if you pretend to your children that you are the best man that ever lived—the bravest man that ever lived—they will find you out every time. They will not have the same opinion of father when they grow up that they used to have. They will have to be in mighty bad luck if they ever do meaner things than you have done.
When your child confesses to you that it has committed a fault, take that child in your arms and let it feel your heart beat against its heart, and raise your children in the sunlight of love, and they will be sunbeams to you along the pathWay of life.
Abolish the club and the whip from the house, because, if the civilised use a whip, the ignorant and the brutal will use a club, and they will use it because you use the whip.
Every little while some door is thrown open in some orphan asylum, and there we see the bleeding hack of a child whipped beneath the roof that was raised up by love. It is infamous, and the man that can't raise a child without the whip ought not to have a child. Some Christians act as though they really thought that when Christ said, "Suffer little children to come unto me," he had a
They act as though they really thought that he made that remark simply to get the children within striking distance. I have known Christians to turn their children from their doors, especially a daughter, and then get down on their knees
call me an infidel because I hate the God of the Jews,—which I do. I intend so to live that when I die my children can come to my grave and truthfully say, "He who sleeps here never gave us one moment of pain."
When I was a boy there was one day in each week too good for a child to be happy in. In these good old times Sunday commenced when the sun went down on Saturday night, and closed when the sun went down on Sunday night. We commenced Saturday to get a good ready. And when the sun went down Saturday night there was a gloom deeper than midnight that fell upon the house. You could not crack hickory nuts then. And if you were caught chewing gum, it was only another evidence of the total depravity of the human heart.
Well, after a while we got to bed sadly and sorrowfully, after having heard heaven thanked that we were not all in hell. And I sometimes used to wonder how the mercy of God lasted as long as it did, because 1 recollected that on several occasions I had not been at school when I was supposed to be there. Why I was not burned to a crisp was a mystery to me. The next morning we got up and we got ready for church—all solemn, and when we got there the minister was up in the pulpit, about 20 feet high, and he commenced at Genesis about
and he went on to about twenty-thirdly; then he struck the second application. And when he struck the second application I knew he was about half way through. And then he went on to show the scheme how the Lord was satisfied by punishing the wrong man. Nobody but a God would have thought of that ingenious way. Well, when he got through that, then came the catechism—the chief end of mau. Then my turn came, and we sat along on a little bench where our feet came within about fifteen inches of the floor, and the dear old minister used to ask us :
"Boys, do you know that you all ought to be in hell?"
And we answered up as cheerfully as could be expected under the circumstances, "Yes, sir,"
"Well, boys, do you know that you would go to hell if you died in your sins?"
And we said, "Yes, sir."
And then came the great test :
"Boys "—I can't get the tone, you know. And do you know that is how the preachers get the bronchitis. You never heard of
getting the bronchitis, nor the second mate on a steamboat—never. What gives it to the minister is talking solemnly when they don't feel that way, and it has the same influence upon the organs of speech that it would have upon the cords of the calves of your legs to walk on your tip-toes, and so I call bronchitis "parsonitis." And if the ministers would all tell exactly what they think they would all get well, but keeping back a part of the truth is what gives them bronchitis.
Well the old man—the dear old minister—used to try and show us how long we would be in hell if we would only locate there. But to finish the other. The grand test question was :
"Boys, if it was God's will that you should go to hell, would you be willing to go?"
And every little fellow said,
"Yes, sir."
Then in order to tell how long we would stay there, he used to say,
"Suppose once
a bird should come from a far distant clime and carry off in its bill one little grain of sand, the time would finally come when the last grain of sand would be carried away. Do you understand? "
"Yes sir."
"Boys, by that time it would not sun-up in hell"
Where did that doctrine of hell come from? I will tell you, from that fellow in the dug-out. Where did he get it? It was a souvenir from the wild beasts. Yes, I tell you he got it from the wild beasts, from the glittering eye of the serpent, from the
with their fanged mouths; and it came from the bark, growl, and howl of wild beasts; it was born of a laugh of the hyena, and got it from .the depraved chatter of malicious apes. And I despise it with every drop of my blood and defy it. If there is any God in this universe who will damn his children for an expression of an honest thought, I wish to go to hell. I would rather go there than go to heaven and keep the company of a God that would thus damn his children. Oh; it is an infamous doctrine to teach that to little children, to put a shadow in the heart of a child, to fill the insane asylums with that miserable, infamous lie. I see now and then a little girl—a dear little darling with a face like the light, and eyes of joy, a human blossom, and I think, "Is it possible that that little girl will ever grow up to be a Presbyterian? Is it possible, my goodness, that that flower will finally believe in the five points of Galvanism, or in the eternal damnation of man?" Is it possible that that little fairy will finally believe that she could be happy in heaven with her baby in hell? Think of it. Think of it. And that is the Christian religion.
We cry out against the Indian mother that throws her child into the Ganges to be devoured by the aligator or crocodile, but that is joy in comparison with the Christian mother's hope, that she may be in salvation while her brave boy is in hell.
I tell you
about hell—I want to kick it out every time I go by it. I want to get Americans in this country placed that so they will be ashamed to preach it. I want to get the congregations so that they won't listen to it. We cannot divide the world off into saints and sinners in that way. There is a little girl, fair as a flower, and she grows up until she is 12, 13, or 14 years old. Are you going to damn her in the 15th, 16th, or 17th year, when the arrow from Cupid's how touches her heart and she is glorified—are you going to damn her now? She marries and loves, and holds in her arms a beautiful child. Are you going to damn her now? When are you going to damn her? Because she has listened to some Methodist minister, and after all that flood of light failed to believe? Are you going to damn her then? I tell you God cannot afford to damn such a woman.
A woman in the state of Indiana 40 or 50 years ago, who carded the wool and made rolls and spun them, and made the cloth and cut out the clothes for the children, and nursed them, and sat up with them nights and gave them medicine, and held them in her arms and wept over them—cried for joy and wept for fear, and finally raised ten or eleven good men and women with the ruddy glow of health upon their cheeks, and she would have died for any one of them any moment of her life, and finally she, bowed with age and bent with care and labour, dies, and at the moment the magical touch of death is upon her face, she looks as if she never had bad a care, and her children burying her, cover her face with tears. Do you tell me God can afford to damn that kind of woman? One such act of injustice would turn heaven itself into hell. If there is any God, sitting above him in infinite serenity we have
Even a God must do justice; even a God must worship justice, and any form of superstition that destroys justice is infamous. Just think of teaching that doctrine to little children! A little child would go out into the garden, and there would be a little tree laden with blossoms, and the little fellow would lean against it, and there would be a bird on one of the boughs, singing and swinging and thinking about four little speckled eyes warmed by the breast of its mate—singing and swinging, and the music in happy waves rippling out of the tiny throat, and the flowers blossoming, the air filled with perfume, and the great white cloud floating in the sky, and the little boy would lean up against that tree and think about hell and the worm that never dies. Oh! the idea there can be any day too good for a child to be happy in!
Well, after we got over the catechism,
in the afternoon, and it was exactly like the one in the forenoon except the other end to. Then we started for home—a solemn march, "not ft soldier discharged his farewell shot"—and when we got home if we had been real good boys, we used to be taken up to the cemetery to cheer us up, and it always did cheer me. Those sunken graves, those leaning stones, those gloomy epitaphs, covered with the moss of years, always cheered me. Wheu I looked at them I said "Well this kind of thing can't last always." Then we came back home and we had books to read which were very eloquent and amusing. We had "Josephns," and the "History of the Waldenses," and "Fox's Book of the Martyrs," Baxter's "Saint's Rest," and "Jenkyn on the Atonement" I used to read Jenkyn with a good deal of pleasure, and I often thought that the atouement would have to be very broad in its provisions to cover the case of a man that would write such a book for the boys. Then I would look to see how the sun was getting on, and sometimes I thought it had stuck from pure stubbornness. Then I would go back and try Jenkyn again. "Well, but it had to go down, and when the last rim of light sank below the horizon, off would go our hats and we would give three cheers for liberty once again.
I tell you
The idea that there is any God that hates to hear a child laugh! Let your children play games on Sunday. Here is a poor man that hasn't enough money to go to a big church, and he has too much independence to go to a little church that the big church built for charity. He don't want to slide into heaven that way. I tell you, don't come to church, but go to the woods and take your family an 1 a lunch with you, and sit down upon the old log and let the children gather flowers and hear the leaves whispering poems like memories of long ago, and when the sun is about going down kissing the summits of far hills, go home with your hearts filled with throbs of joy. There is more recreation and joy in that than going to a dry goods box with a steeple on top of it and hearing a man tell yon that your chances are about ninety-nine to one for being eternally damned. Let us make this Sunday a day of splendid pleasure, not to excess, but to everything that makes man purer and grander and nobler. I would like to see something like this: Instead of so many churches, a vast cathedral that would hold twenty or thirty thousand of 'people, and I would like to see an opera produced in it that would make the souls of men have higher and grander and nobler aims. I would like to see the walls covered with pictures and the niches rich with statuary; I would like to see something put there that you could use in this world now, and I do not believe in sacrificing the present to the future; I do not believe in drinking skimmed milk here with the promise of butter beyond the clouds. Space or time cannot be holy any more than a vacuum can be pious. Not a bit, not a bit; and no day can be so holy but what
will make it holier still.
Strike with hand of fire, oh weird musician, thy harp strung with Apollo's golden hair. Fill the vast cathedral aisles with symphonies sweet and dim, deft toucher of the organ's keys; blow, bugler, blow, until thy silver notes do touch and kiss the moonlit waves, and charm the lovers wandering 'mid the vine-clad hills. But know your sweetest strains are discords all compared with childhood's happy laugh—the laugh that fills the eyes with light, and every heart with joy! O, rippling river of laughter, thou art the blessed boundary line between the beasts and men, and every wayward wave of thine dotb drown some fretful fiend of care. O Laughter, rose-lipped daughter of Joy, there are dimples enough in thy cheeks to catch and hold and glorify all the tears of grief.
Don't plant your children in long, straight rows like posts. Let them have light and air, and let them grow beautiful as palms. When I was a little boy, children went to bed when they were not sleepy, and always got up when they were.
I would like to see that changed, but they say we are too poor, some of us, to do it. Well, all right. It is as easy to wake a child with a kiss as with a blow; with kindness as with a curse.
All the advance that has been made in
has been made by the recklessness of patients. I can recollect when they wouldn't give a man water in a fever—not a drop. Now and then some fellow would get so thirsty ho would say, "Well, I'll die any way, ao I'll drink it," and thereupon he would drink a gallon of water, and thereupon be would burst into a generous perspiration, and get well—and the next morning when the doctor would come to see him they would tell him about the man drinking the water, and he would say, "How much?"
"Well, he swallowed two pitchers full."
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
So they would go into the room and the doctor would feel his pulso and ask him :
"Did you drink two pitchers of water? "
"Yes"
"My God! what a constitution you have got."
I tell you there is something splendid in man that will not always mind. Why, if we had done as the kings told us five hundred years ago, we would all have been slaves. If we had done as the priests told us we would all have been idiots. If we had done as the doctors told us we would all have been dead. We have been saved by disobedience. We have been saved by that splendid thing called independence, and I want to see more of it, day after day, and I want to see children raised so they will have it. That is my doctrine. Give the children a chance. Be perfectly honour bright with them, and they will be your friends when you are old. Don't try to teach them something they can never learn. Don't insist upon their pursuing some calling they have no sort of faculty for. Don't make that poor girl play ten years on a piano when she has no ear for music, and when she has practised until she can play "Bonaparte crossing the Alps and you can't tell after she has played it whether Bonaparte ever got across or not.
women are vines, children are flowers, and if there is any heaven in this world, it is in the family. It is where the wife loves the husband, and the husband loves the wife, and where the dimpled arms of children are about the necks of both. That is heaven, if there is any, and I do not want any better heaven in another world than that, and if in another world I cannot live with the ones I loved here, then I would rather not be there. I would rather resign.
Well, my friends, I have some excuses to make for the race to which I belong. In the first place, this world is not very well adapted to raising good men and good women. It is three times better adapted to the cultivation of fish than of people. There is one little narrow belt running zigzag around the world, in which men and women of genius can be raised, and that is all. It is with man as it is with vegetation. In the valley you
There never has been a man or woman of genius from the southern hemisphere, because the Lord didn't allow the right climate to fall on the land. It falls upon the water. There never was much civilisation except where there has been snow, and an ordinarily decent winter. You can't have civilisation without it. Where man needs no bed-clothes but clouds,
is the normal condition of such a people. It is the winter that gives us the home; it is the winter that gives us the fireside and the family relation and all the beautiful flowers of love that adorn that relation. Civilisation,
I have got another, t think we came up from the lower animals. I am not dead sure, out I think so. When I first read about it I didn't like it. My heart was filled with sympathy for those people who leave nothing to be proud of except ancestors I thought how terrible this will be upon the nobility of the old world. Think of their being forced to trace their ancestry back to the Duke Oraug-Outang or to the Princess Chimpanzee. After thinking it all over I came to the conclusion that I liked the doctrine. I became convinced in spite of myself. I read about rudimentary bones and muscles. I was told that everybody had rudimentary muscles extending from the ear into the cheek. I asked: "What are they?" I was told: "They are the remains of muscles; that they became rudimentary from lack of use." They went into bankruptcy. They are the muscles with which your ancestors used to flap their ears.
Well, at first, I was greatly astonished, and afterward 1 was more astonished to find they had become rudimentary. How can you
unless we came up from the lower animals? How can you account for a man that would use the extremes of torture unless you admit that there is in man the elements of a snake, of a vulture, a hyena, and a jackal? How can you account for the religious creeds of to-day? How can you account for that infamous doctrine of hell, except with an animal origin? flow can you account for your conception of a God that would sell women and babes into slavery?
Well, I thought that thing over and I began to like it after a while, and I said, "It is not so much difference who my father was as who his son is." And I finally said I would rather belong to a race that commenced with the skulless vertebrates in the dim Laurentian seas, that wriggled without knowing why they wriggled, swimming without knowing where they were going, that comes along np by degrees through millions of ages through all that crawls, and swims, and floats, and runs, and growls, and barks, and howls, until it struck this fellow in the dug-out. And then that fellow in the dug-out getting a little grander, and each one below calling every one above him a heretic, calling every one who had made a little advance
and finally the heads getting a little higher and donning up a little grander and more splendidly, and finally produced Shakspcare, who harvested all the field of dramatic thought, and from whose day until now there have been none but gleaners of chaff and straw. Shakespeare was an intellectual ocean whose waves touched all the shores of human thought, within which was all the tides and currents and pulses upon which lay all the lights and shadows, and over which brooded all the calms, and swept all the storms and tempests of which the human soul is capable. I would rather belong to that race that commenced with that skulless vertebrate; that produced Shakespeare; a race that has before it an infinite future, with the angel of progress leaning from the far horizon, beckoning men forward and upward for ever. I would rather belong to that race, than to have descended from a perfect pair upon which the Lord has lost money every moment trom that day to this.
Now, my crime has been this: I have insisted that the bible is not the word of God. I have insisted that we should not whip our children. I have insisted that we should treat our wives as loving equals. I have denied that God—if there is any God—ever upheld polygamy and slavery. I have denied that that God ever told his generals to kill innocent babes, and tear and rip open women with the sword of war. I have denied that, and for that I have been assailed by the clergy of the United States. They tell me I have misquoted; and I owe it to you, and maybe I owe it to myself, to read one or two words to you upon this subject. In order to do that I shall have to put on my glasses; and that brings me back to where I started—that man has advanced just in proportion as his thought has
Now, they tell me—and there are several geutlemen who have spoken on this subject—
a gentleman standing as high as anybody, and I have nothing to say against him, because I denounce a God who upheld murder, and slavery, and polygamy, he says that what I said was slang. I would like to have it compared with any sermon that evor issued from the lips of that gentleman. And before he gets through he admits that the Old Testament is a rotten tree that will soon fall into the earth and act as a fertilizer for his doctrine.
Is it honest in that man to assail my motive? Let him answer my argument Is it honest and fair in him to say I am doing a certain thing because it is popular? Has it got to this, that, in this Chrisian couutry, where they have preached every day hundreds and thousands of sermons—has it got to this, that infidelity is popular in the United States?
If it has, I take courage. And I not only see the dawn of a brighter day but the day is here. Think of it! A minister tells me in this year of grace,
I call publicly upon Robert Collyer—a man for whom I have great respect—I call publicly upon Robert Collyer to state to the people of this city whether he believea the Old Testament was inspired. I call upon him to state whether he believes that God ever upheld these institutions; whether he believes that
whether he believes that God commanded Moses or Joshua or any one else to slay little children in the cradle. Do you believe that Robert Collyer would obey such an order? Do you believe that he would rush to the cradle and drive the knife of theological hatred to the tender heart of a dimpled child? And yet when I denounce a God that will give such an order, he says it is slang.
I want him to answer, and when he answers he will say he does not believe the bible is inspired. That is what he will say, and he holds these old worthies in the same contempt as I da
Suppose he should act like Abraham. Suppose he should send some woman out in the wilderness with bis child in her arms to starve, would he think that mankind ought to hold his name up for ever for reverence?
Robert Collyer says that we should read and scan every word of the Old Testament with reverence; that we should take this book up with reverential hands. I deny it. We should read it as we do every other book, and everything good in it, keep it; and everything that shocks the brain and the heart, throw it away. Let us be honest.
has made a few remarks on this subject, and I say the spirit he has exhibited has been as gentle and as sweet as the perfume of a flower. He was too good a man to stay in the Presbyterian church. He was a rose among thistles. He was a dove among vultures—and they hunted him out, and I am glad he came out. I tell all the churches do drive all such men out, and when he comes I want him to state jnst what he thinks. I want him to tell the people of Chicago whether he believes the Bible ia inspired in any sense except that in which Shakspeare was inspired. Honor bright, I tell you that all the sweet and beautiful things in the Bible would not make one play of Shakspeare; all the philosophy in the Bible would not make one scene in Hamlet, all the beauties of the Bible would not make one scene of the Midsummer Night's Dream; all the beautiful things about woman in the Bible would not begin to create such a character as Perdita, or Imogene, or Miranda. Not one. I want him to tell whether he believes the Bible was inspired in any other way than Shakspeare was inspired. I want him to pick out something as beautiful and tender as Burns' poem to Mary in heaven. I want him to tell whether he believes the story about the bears eating up children; whether that
I want it distinctly understood that I have the greatest respect for prof. Swing, but I want him to tell whether the 109th psalm is inspired. I want him to tell whether the passages I shall afterward read in this book are inspired. That is what I want. Then there is another gentleman here.
He says it is not fair to apply the test of truth to the Bible—I don't think it is myself. He says that although Moses upheld slavery, that he improved it. They were not quite as bad as they were before, and he even justified slavery at that time. Do you believe that God ever turned the arms of children into chains of slavery? Do you believe that God ever said to a man, "You can't have your wife unless you will be a slave! You cannot have your children unless you will lose your liberty; and unless you are willing to throw them from your heart for ever, you cannot be free." I want Mr. Herford to just state whether he loves such a God. Bo honor-bright about it. Don't begin to talk about civilisation, or what the church has done or will do. Just walk right up to the rack and say whether you love and worship a God that established slavery. Honest! And love and worship a God that would allow a little babe to he torn from the breast of its mother and sold into slavery. Now tell it fair, Mr. Herford, I want you to tell the ladies in your congregation that you believe in a God that allowed women to be given to the soldiers. Tell them that, and then if you say it was not the God of Moses, then don't praise Moses any more. Don't do it. Answer these questions. Then here is another gentleman, Mr. Ryder,
and he says that Calvinism is rejected by a majority of Christendom. He is mistaken. There is what they call the Evangelical Alliance. They met in this country in
Dr. Ryder is mistaken. All the orthodox religion of the day is Calvinism. It believes in the fall of man. It believes in the atonement. Its believes in the eternity of hell, and it believes in salvation by faith; that is to say, by credulity.
That is what they believe, and he is mistaken, and I want to tell Dr. Ryder to-day, if there is a God, and He wrote the Old Testament, there is a hell. The God that wrote the Old Testament will have a hell. And I want to tell Dr. Ryder another thing, that the Bible teaches an eternity of punishment. I want to tell him that the Bible upholds the doctrine of hell. I want to tell him that if there is no hell, somebody ought to have said so, and Jesus Christ himself should not have said, "I will at the last day say: 'Depart from mo, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" If there was not such a place, Christ would not have said, "Depart from me, ye cursed, and these shall go hence into everlasting fire." And if you, Dr. Ryder, are depending for salvation on the God that wrote the Old Testament, you will inevitably be eternally damned.
There is no hope, for you. It is just as bad to deny hell as it is to deny heaven. It is just as much blasphemy to deny the devil as to deny God, according
Prof. Swing says the Bible is a poem. Dr. Ryder says it is a picture. The garden of Eden is pictorial; a pictorial snake—and a pictorial woman I suppose—and a pictorial man—and maybe it was a pictorial sin. And only a pictorial atonement,
Then there is another gentlemen, and he a rabbi,
and he comes to the defence of the great law-giver. There was another rabbi who attacked me in Cincinnati, and I couldn't help but think of the old saying that a man got off when he said the tallest man he ever knew, his name was Short. And the fattest man he ever saw, his name was Lean. And it is only necessary for me to add that this rabbi in Cincinnati was Wise.
The rabbi here, I will not answer him, and I will tell you why. Because he has taken himself outside of all the limits of a gentleman; because he has taken it upon himself to traduce every American woman in language the most disgusting I ever read, and any man who says that the American women are not just as good women as any that were ever made is an unappreciative barbarian.
I will let him alone because he denounced all the men in this country, all the members of congress, all the members uf the senate, and all judges upon the bench; in his lecture he denouueed them as thieves and robbers. That won't do. 1 want to remind him that in this country the Jews were first admitted to the privileges of citizeus; that in this country they were first given all their rights, and I am as much in favor of their having their rights as I am in favor of having my own. But when a rabbi so far forgets himself as to traduce the men and women of this country, I pronounce him
and let him alone.
Strange, that nearly every man that has answered me, has answered me mostly on the same side. Strange that nearly every inan that thought himself called on to defend the Bible was one who did not believe in it himself. Isn't it strange? They are like some suspected people, always anxious to show their marriage certificate. They want, at least, to convince the world that they are not as bad as I am.
Now, I want to read you just one or two things, and then I am going to let yon go. I want to see if I have said such awful things, and whether I have got any scripture to stand by me. I will only read two or three verses. Does the bible teach man to enslave his brother? If it does, it is not the word of God, unless God is a slaveholder.
Col- Ingersoll here read the following extract from the Old Testament:
"Moreover, all children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy of their families which are with you, which they beget in your land, and they shall be your possession. Ye shall take them as an inheritance for your chddren after you to inherit them. They shall be your bondsmen for ever."
Upon the limbs of unborn babes this fiendish God puts the chaina of slavery, I hate him.
"Both thy bondmen and bondwomen shall be of the heathen around about thee, and them shall ye buy, bondmen and bondwomeu."
Now let us see how they believed in the rights of children :
"If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them, then shall his father and his mother lay hold oa him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place, and they shall say unto the elders of his city, "This, our son, is stubborn and rebellious, he will not oboy our voice, he is a glutton and a drunkard." and all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, so that he die. So shalt thou put away evil."
That is a very good way to raise children. Here is
He went off and asked the Lord to let him whip some people, and he told the Lord if he would let him whip them, he would sacrifice to the Lord the first thing
When you go to the old testament, to the great law-giver, you find that the woman has to ask forgiveness for having born a child. If it was a boy, thirtythree days she was unclean; if it was a girl, sixty-six. Nice laws? Good laws! If there is a pure thing in this world, if there is a picture of perfect purity, it is a mother with her child in her arms.
Does the bible describe a God of mercy? Let me read you a verse or two.
"I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. Thy foot may be dipped in
"And the tongue of thy dogs in the same.
"And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little; thou mayest not consume thorn at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
"But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
"And He shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven; then shall no man be able to st;md before thee, until thou have destroyed them."
Does the Bible teach polygamy?
had a discussion with Elder Heber, or Kimball, or some such person in Utah, whether the bible sustains polygamy, and the Mormons have printed that discussion as a campaign document. Read the order of Moses in the 3lst chapter of Numbers. A great many chapters I dare not read to you. They are too filthy. Read the 31st chapter of Exodus, the 31st chapter of Deuteronomy, the life of Abraham, and the life of David, and the life of Solomon, and then tell me that the bible does not uphold polygamy and concubinage!
Let them answer. Then I said that the bible upholds tyranny. Let me read you a little. "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers—the powers that be are ordained of God."
George III." was king by the grace of God, and then our fathers rose in rebellion; according to this doctrine, they rose against the power of God; and if they did, they were successful.
And so it goes on telling of all the cities that were destroyed, and of all the great-hearted men that they dashed their brains out, and all the little babes, and all the sweet women that they killed and plundered—all in the name of a most merciful God. Well, think of it!
is filled with anathemas, and with curses, and with words of revenge, and jealousy, and hatred, and meanness, and brutality.
Have I read enough to show that what I said is so? I think I have. I wish I had time to read to you further of what the dear old fathers of the church said about woman. I will read you a little.
St. Augustine in his 22nd book says: "A woman ought to serve her husband as unto God, affirming that woman ought to be braced and bridled betimes, if she aspire to any dominion, alleging that dangerous and perilous is it to suffer her to precede, although it be in temporal and corporeal things. How can woman be in the image of God, seeing she is subject to man, and hath no authority to teach, neither to be a witness, neither to judge, much less tu rule or bear the rod of empire."
Oh, he is a good one. These are the very words of Augustine. Let me read some more "Woman shall be subject unto man as unto Christ." That is St. Augustine and this sentence of Augustine ought to be noted of all women, for in it he plainly affirms that women are all the more subject to man. And now St. Ambrose, he is a good boy. "Adam was decieved by Eve, and not Eve—called
He is another good man. "Woman," he says, "was put under the power of man, and man was pronounced lord over her; that she should obey man, that the head should not follow the feet. False priests do commonly deceive women because they aro easily persuaded to any opinion, especially if it be again given, and because they lack prudence and right reason to judge the things that be spoken; which should not be the nature of those that are appointed to govern others. For they should be constant, stable, prudent, and doing everything with discretion and reason; which virtues woman cannot have in equality with man."
I tell you women are moro prudent than men. I tell you as a rule women are more truthful than men, I tell you that women are more faithful than men-ten times as faithful as man. I never saw a man pursue his wife into the very ditch and dust of degradation, and take her in his arms. I never saw a man stand at the shore where she had been morally wrecked waiting for the waves to bring back even her corpse to his arms; but I have seen woman do it. I have seen woman with her white arms lift man from
and hold him to her bosom as though he were an angel.
And these men thought woman not fit to be held as pure in the sight of God as man. I never saw a man that pretended that he didn't love a woman; that pretended that he loved God better than a woman, that he didn't look hateful to me, hateful and unclean. I could read you twenty others, but I haven't time to do it. They are all to the same effect exactly. They hate woman, and say man is as much above her as God is above man. I am a believer in absolute equality. I am a believer in absolute liberty between man and wife. I believe in liberty, and I say, "Oh, liberty, float not for ever in the far horizon remain not for over in the dream of the enthusiast, the philanthropist, and poet; but come and make thy home among the children of men!"
I know not what discoveries, what inventions, what thoughts may leap from the brain of the world. I know not what garments of glory may be woven by the years to come. I cannot dream of the victories to be won upon the fields of thought; but I do know that, coming from the infinite sea of the future, there will never touch this "bank and shoal of time" a richer gift, a rarer blessing, than liberty for man, for woman, and for child.
The following pages are re-printed from the Whitehall Review, and give the better-known Names of those who have returned to the Catholic Church; and likewise a series of Aiticles bearing on the question of these Conversions The publication has attracted a good deal of attention in England and has been the subject of a considerable amount of newspaper correspondence. Amongst other writers, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone says, "I "am glad they are to be published in the form of a Pamphlet; for "good, according to some, or for evil according to others, they "form as a group an event of much interest and significance."
It has been thought that the re-publication here in a complete form would not be without interest even to those who are not of the Catholic Church, inasmuch as it marks an important phase of that great intellectual movement that has taken place in England during the past forty years, and which has given Catholicism some of the most profound Scholars and sincere Christians of modern times.
To the Catholic reader the perusal of the list must be attended with special interest, as in it are to be found the names of many who now hold the most exalted positions in the Hierarchy of the Church, and who have been won over to her side by the steady light of truth, which has been in all ages and is the triumphant witness of her divine origin.
The world, as Sir Henry Taylor has said, does not know its greatest men as long as they are in it; neither, let us add, does it measure the significance of contemporary events. Among the many incidents of to-day, political, moral, and social, which we hardly take the trouble to note, but which will be important items of the history our descendants learn, few will be treated as more momentous than that Homeward movement which for the last forty years has swept on, silently yet swiftly, in our midst. The list which we print in another column of some of these proselytes will contribute to a better realisation of an important tendency of current religious thought, and will be of interest to Protestants and Catholics alike, though on very different grounds. Compiled without any official aid, it is merely such as any little knot of converts are able to make out from among their own acquaintance, and it has, therefore, no claim to be other than incomplete. Moreover, although there have, of course, been continuous reversions to Romanism ever since the days of Henry VIII., and not merely, as some suppose, since the birth of Tractarianism in
Mr. Gladstone is very fond of telling his friends that at the time of Dr. Newman's secession, feeling seriously troubled, he ran down to Lavington and opened his mind to his friend the Rector." "Tell me," he said to the then staunchly Protestant Archdeacon Manning, "are we to take each separate conversion to Rome as a separate testimony to Romanism, or is there any one characteristic, peculiar to all the converts, that will afford a common explanation of their change?" "There is," replied the Archdeacon, in his calm, incisive way; "they have all one common characteristic—a want of truth." Before six years were over the speaker so fully retracted this dogmatic dictum by his own secession, that no one, we suppose, would venture on its serious repetition now. Other attempts to interpret by some single idiosyncrasy or weakness a whole set of conversions have all as signally failed. It could not well be love of power or of fame that led Dr. Newman to exchange the Oxford that adored
dilettante antiquarianism, or in the dreams of bookworms, brought up in a university and unfamiliar with practical life, for some of its most ardent disciples are gathered from the ranks of gay Guardsmen, and many a whilom soldier and salior son of England has doffed his uniform to don the cowl of the monk and the cassock of the priest. Men of recog-
Lord Beaconsfield, not long ago, declared that Dr. Newman's secession had inflicted "a blow on the Church from which she still reels;" and it is easy to understand the loss which the Anglican Archidiaconate has sustained in Cardinal Manning; nevertheless, wo do not think that Anglicans need fear that any serious damage has been done to the Establishment by desertions to Rome, numerous and influental as they are. In a communion of millions, the units, or even the hundreds, are not easily missed; and the list of learned and pious men that remain is glorious and long. To the Roman communion, on the other hand, the new acquisitions have been obviously a gain, both socially and intellectually. The priest whose uncouthness made him an unwelcome guest wherever refinement had a home belonged to a race that is now almost, if not quite, extinct; and the Catholic laity, emerging from the dark holes and corners where they had long crouched to escape, if possible, the contempt that followed their footsteps in the open day, became intelligent apostles of culture, lovers of letters, and polished men of the world. There is hardly a single English noble family that has not given one or more of its members to the Roman Church, and the intercourse thus opened between the two formerly uncommunicating camps has resulted in a feeling of mutual good-will and friendliness, which the gteatest intellects and largest hearts on either side cordially encourage. And when we remember that this culture among Roman Catholics, resulting from "convertism," is a benefit not only to themselves, but also to the State, of which they are numerically so important a part, and to Society, which
Last week we gave a first list of converts to Catholicism, which, as we said at the time, had no claim to be complete. To-day we add a supplementary list, and next week we propose to publish the whole, with corrections and additions, as a Supplement to
From Roman Catholics in general, and converts in particular, we have received scores of communications, correcting and adding to the list; these will appear in due turn, and for all of them we here take occasion to express our acknowledgements Among the side lights thrown on the Romeward and Ritualist movements by the publication of the List, it is a signficant fact that some of the High Church papers show decided symptoms of a desire to keep its existence, as far as possible, in the dark. Having long contended that Ritualism is a religion in it itself and not merely a make-believe, with Rome for its only legitimate issue, it would be a suicidal policy on their part to call attention to the vast amount of evidence pointing to a very different conclusion which we have been able to bring together. Not that all shades of prior religious thought are not represented in the list. Low Church and Broad Church, as well as High Church, contribute their quota,—and among those who never belonged to the Establishment, but flung themselves straight from the arms of Dissent into the bosom of the "Mother and Mistress of
The list was not intended to comprise the names of ladies, unless, by some accident, they were already prominently and publicly known in their character as converts. The fact, however, that a large number of ladies' names has been forwarded to us, indicating, in all cases at any rate, a local importance such as makes privacy impossible, has led us, in the present number, to modify the rule. For although the Romeward movement has been on the whole more distinctly a masculine one than theological movements have generally been in England, the "devout female sex" (as the Roman breviary as it) has contributed a strong contingent of amazons to the general body of recruits. It has gathered its forces principally from what might have been regarded as the sheltered homes of pious, traditional, happy, and useful Anglicanism—from rectories and parsonages of the country. The parson has gone over in his fifties, but the parson's wife and daughter have gone over in their hundreds; and it is not too much to say that among the "martyrs by the pang without the palm" to the claims of Rome, these ladies have had the hardest, as the obscurest share. Estrangement from husbands and fathers, enforced separation from children, with the severe yet lessor evils of loss of fortune and of social standing, have been the lot of a larger number of educated English-women than the world dreams of. If the female members of a layman's family take the grave step of a formal change of faith they need not, as a rule, lose home or kindred; theological feeling seldom run so high as to render a break-up necessary; but it is inevitably otherwise when the priestess herself disowns and denounces the sacerdotal claims of her lord. Her rebellion is not agairst his Church or his Articles merely—conjugal and paternal affection might endure thus far; but it is a far more intimate, personal, and intolerable protest against his orders, his precepts, his sermons—and a protest so publicly made that not only a natural self-love but a necessary ministerial dignity seems to demand the expulsion of the otherwise faithful wife, the otherwise dutiful daughter. The thing is not pleasant to think of, but it is very common. No one, for instance, who has lived in Italy, especially in Florence or Rome, is unfamiliar with the figure of the solitary English Catholic lady, who lives in a straitened seclusion, who haunts the churches, who pitches her easel before a favourite Raphael, and manufactures repeated copies of Fra Angelica's angels, turning to hard account the one accomplishment of her school-days which can now be utilized for the purpose of bread-winning. And in London the same class literally abounds—although it finds little representation in our list.
It would be a task of too great magnitude to attempt, in these pages, to determine the chief motives that have led multitudes of men and women from England to Rome. "Conversions" are emphatically individual affairs; but, before leaving the subject, we may quote from a letter adressed to us by a clergyman of
Having a private income of my own, I cannot lay claim to much, of that fighting against "starvation" that you truly speak of in some other cases. It was a loss to me of some £200 a year and the regard of all my relations except one family. However, I have succeeded in "living it down" to a great extent. It was with me and my wife a pure case of conscience. It was evident to us after diligent study and reflection that it was impossible to believe that the Church of England was really what was originally supposed—a "true branch of the Catholic Church,"—for a multitude of reasons, chiefly because there was no visible head—no definite creed—every clergyman being at liberty to preach pretty much what he liked. I was convinced likewise that she was thoroughly Lutheran in Spirit—that her prayer-book could not fairly be said to countenance anything like Sacerdotalism, but that, on the contrary, she had eliminated from the formularies which were based on the breviary and missal everything that could be construed in that direction. For which reason, though always a high churchman, I had stoutly objected to wearing the "vestments," and never did wear them.
The future historian of the nineteenth century, if he be a writer of the Lecky school, will have to devote a chapter to the consideration of the questions at which we can only hint; and he will find, ready to hand, much material for his purpose in the current numbers of The Whitehall Review.
The number of new names of converts to Catholicism forwarded to us during the past week makes it advisable to give to-day a third and entirely fresh list, and to postpone for a week or two the publication of the promised pamphlet, which will contain, we may safely assert, a more correct and complete catalogue of Rome's Recruits than any that has yet appeared in print, or, indeed, than any that exists in the private archives of the Propaganda. The public interest aroused when the subject was first mooted in our columns still continues to find expression in the letters and papers, which come to us by every post. "By thousands of Roman Catholics," writes a correspondent, "the articles have been fully appreciated;" and one, as we learn from another source, was read out on Sunday from the altar of an Irish chapel. We must again reiterate that we made no pretension to completeness for either of the lists already published; though, touching this point, we might, perhaps, complain of the carlessness of several newspapers, the
At a time when the spirit of religious inquiry is abroad, and when theological controversy is conducted with so much candour, it naturally happens that a large number of our readers, confronted for the first time with evidence of so extensive a change of faith on the part of their countrymen, should express curiosity, not only as to the motive of the conversions, but as to their effect on the individual character of those concerned. The remarks of some of our convert correspondents bear on the latter point. "I do not regret the change out of doubt into certainty," writes an Oxford man, "although," he adds in common with scores of others "the experiment has not paid in the matter of money." Another Oxford man, formerly a Cornish clergyman, writes :—
"I will venture to say that many among; us would willingly give not only all their worldly goods but their lives also could they thus prove their love for their brethren left behind. I would indeed. For ourselves we only say thankfully with the Psalmist, ' Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowier; the snare is broken and we are delivered.' "
The same tone pervades the letters of a great number of others, and all may be summed up in the words of the illustrious man whose name is on the lips of Protestants and Catholics alike, and who was the mainspring of that Anglo-Catholic Movement which has led him where he is:—
"From the day I became a Catholic to this day (writes Dr. Newman) I have never had a moment's misgiving that the Communion of Rome is that Church which the Apostles set up at Pentecost, which alone has the 'adoption of sons,' and the glory, and the covenants, and the revealed law, and the service of God and the promises, and in which the Anglican Communion, whatever its merits and demerits, whatever the great excellence of individuals in it, has, as such, no part. Nor have I ever for a moment hesitated in my conviction, since
A certain number of reversions no doubt there are. Mr. J. M. Capes, a gentleman of literary taste, has been to "Rome and Back," and, after the manner of the "Amateur Casual," has written a book about it. Mr. Husband, having long played with candles and incense, at length seriously apprenticed himself for some weeks or months to that Church in which candles and incense, though prominent features of a public service, are, after all, we are told, nothing more than the merest accessories, or at most symbols, to the initiated; and Mr. Husband also went away sorrowful to practice in a Protestant Church the latest developments of Ritualism. Mr. Ffoulkes has discovered that Charlemagne and one of his Pontifical contemporaries made some remarks to each other of which he, Mr. Ffoulkes, entirely disapproves, and he too has retired, like Achilles, to his tent. And there is a moral as well as a mental cause for reversions to which reference must be made. A story is told of a certain priest who called one day on his Bishop to confess that he had troubles as to some point of doctrine, and that he had made up his mind to leave the Roman Communium "because—because—well, because he had a scruple." To which the Bishop, a man of shrewd worldly sense, replied by laconically inquiring: What is her name?" In other words, petticoats play a prominent part in religious as in most other controversies; and we find that Mr. Suffield and one or two others who left Anglicanism to take Orders in the Roman Communion, and who have since disappeared from the firmament where they shone with more or less brilliancy, so contrived their fall that they landed on terra firma not altogether lonely, nor without loudly expressing their pity for those who, in the words of old Isaac Disraeli, have "eluded the individual tenderness of the female."
Next week we shall publish a fourth and concluding list. It was intended to reproduce the whole of the names in a supplement the The Whitehall Review; but the additions to the original list are so large that we have resolved, in compliance with a very general wish, to reprint the four lists and the accompanying articles in a pamplet, due notice of the publication of which will be given.
Since the foregoing list was sent in for re-publication here, we observe by the arrival of late files of the Whitehall Review, that a third edition has been published in England, containing over 2000 names.
The following names, having been inserted in error, are omitted in the later list:—
Caxton Steam Printing Office, 156 Pitt Street, 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. Allworth, 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
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
himself, his
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.
The Rev. C. Chiniquy said—In the 66th Psalm, David says, "Come and hear all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul!" It is the same with me. When I consider what God has done for me, I wish I could go over the whole world, and tell the children of God the great things He has done for me and so many of my dear countrymen. Now, my friends, I do not come here this evening to satisfy your curiosity—I have a higher object in view. In a few days I will be in my grave. Every-thing I say or do wears a very solemn aspect, when I consider that I shall soon have to; give an account to my God. I come here this evening to ask you to bless the Lord, and I, know when you go home you will say, "Oh, God of our salvation, may Thy name be for ever blessed, for Thy mercies towards the poor sinful man, who has spoken to us tonight."
You all know that I was born in Canada, and that I was raised to the priesthood of the Church of Rome in the year
About that time, the Bishop of Chicago did a thing which we Frenchmen could not tolerate. It was a great iniquity, and my countrymen and I, after long consideration, decided that it was our duty out of respect for ourselves, to protest publicly against the conduct of the Bishop. Accordingly, we published a letter in the Press against his action. The Bishop was angry, and he wrote letters condemning us, and all the bishops took his side. During the whole year a burning discussion was going on in the Press between him and us, and at the year's end I took all the documents written by him and us, and I sent a copy to the Pope, and a copy to the Emperor of France. I asked the Emperor to read the facts, and if he, through his ambassador, found them correct, to help us at the Court of Rome, that such a wicked man might be removed from our midst. And I asked the Pope if he would appoint some of his archbishops to make an inquiry into the facts, and if he found them correct, to take away from us a bishop who was a scandal to our church, and was destroying all religion. An inquiry was made by the Emperor of France, through his ambassador, and by Cardinal Bedini, sent by the Pope; the Bishop, being found guilty, was taken from our midst, and sent to Ireland, where he had the good sense to die in a couple of years. (Laughter) Another bishop was sent in his place—a very good man. He said to, me, through his Grand Vicar, Mr. Dunn, "Chiniquy, we are very glad you have beaten that bishop, it is a glorious victory, and we are thankful to you; but as you have handled him rather roughly, it is believed now in England and France that you are a Protestant. We know better but would you not give us a document by which we may prove to the world that you still are a good Roman Catholic priest?" I said I had no objection; but it seemed to me it was the golden opportunity for me to know whether the voice which was troubling my rest for so many years, which was saying to me, "Don't you see in your Church of Rome you do not follow the Word of God, but the lying traditions of men ?" was from God or from Satan. I wrote these very words, "My lord, we want to live and die in the holy Catholic Church, and to prove this to your lordship, we promise solemnly we will obey your authority according to the Word of God as we find it in the Gospel of Christ." I showed that to the Grand Vicar, and asked him what he thought of it. He said it was just what was wanted. I said, "I fear the Bishop will not accept this submission, I because it contains a condition. I say I submit myself to the Bishop according to the Word of God as we find it in the Gospel of Christ." The Grand Vicar answered, "Well, is not that good ?" I said, "I think it is too good for the Pope." (Laughter.) He said, "What do you mean ?" I answered, "My dear friend, you know there is not a Roman Catholic priest to-day who has studied the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers more than I have done, but I must tell you the more I compare the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers the more I see that in our Church of Rome we have no; other God but the Pope, and no Gospel but the lying traditions of men; and if it be so the Bishop cannot accept this submission, based on the Word of God." "Well," said he, "you are wrong, Chiniquy. Come to the Bishop, and you will see he will accept your submission, and will be pleased with it." I went to him, and to my great surprise he was beside himself with joy. He threw his arms around my neck, and with tears of joy, he said, "The bishops and the Pope will be most happy to hear you have submitted yourself to us."
Now, to show my blindness, and the great mercy of God, I must confess, to my shame, that I was glad I had made peace with man when I was not at peace with God. My Bishop gave me a letter to say I was a good priest, and that everything was right between him and me. I went back rejoicing among my countrymen; but my God had looked down upon me, and was going to break that false peace and give me His saving light. Ten days after this I received a letter from the Bishop, telling me to go to him. When I went, he asked me to show him the letter he had given me a few days before. I handed it to him, and after making sure it was the one, he threw it into the fire. I was so astonished at this proceeding, that I was almost paralysed. After a moment I ran to the fire to save the letter, but it was destroyed. I turned to him and said, "My lord, how dare you take from my hands a document which is my property, and burn it without my permission ?" He said, "I am your superior, and do not choose to give you any account of what I do." I replied, "Yes,
Now, my friends, I left the Bishop, who was trembling and surprised at my determination. I engaged a room in a hotel, and locked the door. There I fell on my knees in the presence of God; and I reflected on what I had done. It was then clear to my mind that the Church of Rome could not be the Church of Christ. I had learned the terrible truth—not from the lips of Protestants, not from the enemies of my Church, but from my Bishop, who had told me I could not remain a Roman Catholic except by giving up the Word of God. I saw I had done well to break the ties which united me to that Church. But a dark cloud came over my poor guilty soul, and I began to weep. I said, "My God, my God, the Church of Rome is not Thy Church, but where is Thy Church? Where must I go to be saved? I have given up my country, my friends, the Church of my father and my mother. I have given up the Church which has made me so great in the world, but where is Thy Church? Oh, God, speak to me!" But no answer came to my prayer. I saw that by giving up the Church of Rome, I had given up everything that was dear to me. I hope you will never understand what that means. Yes! I pray God He will never ask from you such a sacrifice. I did not regret what I had done, I only wanted to know the will of God; but it seemed as if he would not hear my prayers, nor see my tears. After crying for more than an hour, I saw that a battle to the death would begin that day between the Church of Rome and me. I saw that the priests would attack me in their press, in their pulpits, in their confessional, where they strike a man and you cannot see where the blow comes from. I saw a struggle would begin which would end only with my life; and I looked around to see if I had any friends left to help me. Not one remained. In the Church of Rome even my dear brothers were bound to curse me, to look upon me as an infamous impostor. Among the Protestants there were none, as I had spoken against them all my life. I saw I was left alone to fight the battle against the giant power of Rome. It was too much for me, and if God had not stopped this guilty hand, I would have cut my throat in that dark hour. Oh, my friends, I was on my knees crying for light, asking God to come to my help, life had grown such a burden that I could not carry it any longer. To go from that room into the world where I would not find a single hand to press my hand, where I would be an outcast, was more than I could bear. I preferred a thousand times to die! But, thanks be to God, He stopped my hand when I was about to commit the horrible crime of self-murder. Great drops of sweat fell from me, my heart was fainting, and every moment I expected to fall a corpse. I cried, "Oh, my God, I die; I am lost; have mercy upon me. Tell me where I must go to be saved." Then the thought flashed through my mind that I had my dear New Testament, which I used then, as now, to carry everywhere with me. And the voice said to me, "Read and you will find the light; "and with a trembling hand, but a praying heart, I opened the book, and my eyes fell on these words:—" Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." The English is good, but oh, the French is beautiful—" Vous avez été achotes à Grand Prix; ne devenez point les esclaves des hommes." And with these words a light came to me so beautiful, that the rays of the sun are nothing but dark clouds compared to it. Then I saw for the first time the way of
It seemed as if God could not hear my voice, because of the mountain between Him and me, and that He had nothing to do with me, but open the gates of hell, and send me to that prison I so richly deserved. I thought my God was far away, but He was very near: for in that moment, before the eyes of my soul a very strange thing was seen. Often when crossing the ocean in a thunderstorm. I have seen the sun break through a bank of dark clouds, and everyone was saying, how beautiful it is! It was the same in the midst of that dark night. I saw a beautiful light; I could not be mistaken. My dear Jesus was in the midst of the light. I saw His bleeding wounds. His heavy cross, His crown of thorns, and He came very near to me and said, My dear friend, I have seen thy tears, I have heard thy cries, and I come to take away thy sins; salvation is a gift, take My word for a lamp to thy feet; give Me thy heart. I will take away your sins." And for the first time I fell at the feet of Jesus; and more with my tears than my lips, I said, "Dear Jesus, speak again to me. Thy words are so sweet to my soul. Oh! my dear Saviour, cannot you take away that mountain, it is crushing me down." Then my Saviour stretched forth His mighty hand, and the mountain was removed, and thrown into the deep waters of the sea. I felt the blood of the Lamb was cleansing my guilty soul, and I felt a peace so great that the angels of God could not be happier than I was, and I cried out, "My dear Jesus, Thou hast saved me. The mountain is gone. Oh! what joy and peace! Oh! dear Saviour of my soul, Thou hast paid my debts. I give Thee my heart. Gift of God, I accept Thee! Abide in me and grant me to abide in Thee for ever! Make me strong and pure." Yes, friends, for the first time I knew I was saved, for the first time I was drinking the pure waters of life, and they were so sweet! I took my dear Gospel and pressed it to my lips, and swore never to preach anything but what I would find there. I said, "Dear Jesus, I have my feet on the rock of Thy salvation. Grant me to go to my countrymen, that I may bring them to Thee." I then rose and washed my face to conceal my tears; paid my bill, and took the train for my colony. I arrived at the door of my church at the hour of service the next day, which was a Sabbath day, There was a large multitude of people, and they said, "Father Chiniquy what news ?" I told them to come to the church and I would tell them what the Lord had done for my soul. When I gathered them there I said, "Frenchmen, I must tell you that Jesus said before He died, that He would be to the disciples the cause of great scandal. I will be the same to you; but as the scandal which Christ gave to His disciples has saved the world, so, by the great mercy of God, the scandal which I will give will save you. I bring you strange news. I am no longer a priest; but, Frenchmen, I do not come here to tell you to follow me; no! do not follow me, but follow Christ, and Him alone. He paid your debts, shed His blood for you, and is preparing a place for those of you who will believe in His name, and serve Him." I then gave them the reasons why I left the Church of Rome. I spoke for two hours; and after I had finished I said, "The hour of sacrifice has come, I must go away. I respect you too much to impose myself on you; but I will not go before you tell me to go. You will cut with your own hands the ties so sweet which have attached me to you. Frenchmen, these are my last words." There were tears and sobs. I asked them to be calm. I said, "Here are my parting words: if you think it is better to follow the Pope than Christ, and better to invoke the name of Mary than Jesus, and better to put your trust after death in the fabulous purgatory of Rome, rather than in the blood of Christ, and better to have a priest of Rome to preach to you than me, stand up !" To my surprise not a single one moved. They were all in tears. The church was as crammed as this hall is this evening, and not one moved to tell me he was sorry I was leaving the Church of Rome. After five minutes' silence I said, weeping, "Frenchmen, you are acting very foolishly. Why don't you tell me to go ?" A young man said, with a strong voice, "Jesus died for me on Calvary. I will never invoke any but His name." Another said,
During the lecture, Mr. Chiniquy requested the audience not to applaud, but several times they could not refrain from expressing their approval in a very demonstrative manner.
The Rev. Mr. Chiniquy said-Dear Christian friends, I have to speak on a very solemn subject to-night. Some time ago the Roman Catholic Archbishop of this city asked the question, "Are the Protestant Churches a branch of the Church of Christ?" and he replied, "No!" I will put the question, "Is the Church of Rome a branch of the Church of Christ, or is it only old Heathenism under a Christian name ?" and with the help of God I will prove to you that she is an idolatrous Church; that long ago she threw away the true worship of Christ; that the Pope is nothing else but a man who has gone to Rome and stolen there from the temples of the Pagans their Jupiter Tonans, and written on the forehead of that false God the sacred name of Jesus Christ; and that he has presented that idol to the world, under the name of the Saviour of the world. I do not come here to abuse the Roman Catholics, I would prefer to have my tongue cut out and eaten by the dogs, than to speak against the Roman Catholics. No! I come here to tell them the sacred truth, the saving truth; and not only to give them the truth, but to prove it. In the Church of Rome there are many good things which I admire. In many things the Roman Catholics are your superiors, Protestants! I have travelled a great deal, in England, Scotland. Ireland, France, all over Europe, and the continent of America, and I am sure that everywhere I have been, the Roman Catholics are more in earnest for their faith, though it is a false faith, than you are for the true religion. They consider that their goods, their fortune, their time, their life, are not theirs, but belong to God. Everything they have they will put at the feet of the priest. The only thing they have in their minds, the only desire of their hearts, is that their Church should rule the world. And it is because they are true to their principles, and you are not true to yours, that God permits them to have so much power. It is only by miraculous operation of the Grace of God that the Church of Rome will be conquered. In the United States they are gaining ground rapidly, because they are more in earnest for their Church. In England, and in old Scotland too, they are gaining ground. I do not know how they stand here, but I leave it to you to see if they are your superiors in zeal and devotedness to their principles. I fear at the last day that when the Roman Catholics are compared with you Protestants, it will be found, as a general thing, that they have been more in earnest, more zealous, and have made more sacrifices for their Church that you have for yours. Now, my friends, the Church of Rome speaks of Christ. His name is always on her lips. Beautiful hymns in His honour are sung in her temples. No doubt some of you when you heard I was going to speak of the Church of Rome as an idolatrous church, thought I was going too far, and that I exaggerated, and was uncharitable. My friends, at my age, when I expect every day that God will call me to give an account of my administration, I do not exaggerate. Every word is solemn under such circumstances. I speak to you in the presence of God the words of truth. And I hope, if there be any Roman Catholics here to-night, that they will, with the grace and mercy of God, understand me. In the Church of Rome they worship a Christ, but it is a false Christ. They pray to a Christ; they kneel down before a Christ; they adore him as the Son of God; but he is a false Christ, an idol. You remember that our Saviour said, "If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect: wherefore, if they shall say unto you. Behold He is in the desert, go not forth; behold He is in the secret chambers, believe it not." Matthew, chap. xxiv., verses 23 to 26. Christ comes to warn us that in these latter days there would be false Christs, who would establish such a beautiful religion, and do such wonderful things, that even the elect would be in danger of being deceived. Now, my friends, where is the church which constantly speaks of miracles and of her marvellous deeds? Is it not the Church of Rome? Tell me where is the church which constantly boasts of her miracles, besides the Church of the Pope. I have seen in that church wonderful things, things which I considered miraculous. I even had the reputation of having performed several miracles. And at the time, I was so completely deceived, that I believed them to be miracles. It is easy to know that grand, marvellous, powerful establishment, which is so wise, so full of able and wise men, that she deceives almost the elect. Our Saviour says these false Christs will have three characters, and the Christ adored by the Church of Rome possesses these three characters. The first character is that, generally speaking, the false Christs will live in a deserted place, in a desert; the second is, that
secret chamber, which is called the tabernacle, and of which I had the key. Perhaps some of you will not believe what I tell you, but I will force you to believe. Let any one of you go to the Bishop of Sydney to-morrow morning, and say to him, "Chiniquy has come to give us a lecture, but we fear he is crazy. He lias told us such strange things about your religion, that we cannot believe them. Will you please come into your church and answer us some questions we will put !" As a gentleman he will go with you to his cathedral, and when you arrive before the altar, look up, and you will see a beautiful little door, which is a masterpiece in its way. All that is rich and precious, and beautiful, is put on that door. Ask the Bishop if there is a secret chamber behind that door, and he will answer, yes. Then ask him if there is anybody in that chamber, or what is the name of the personage who is in it. He will tell you that Jesus Christ is there. You will say, "We presume, sir, that you mean that it is something to represent Christ, some memorial of Him. You do not wish us to believe that it is Jesus Christ Himself, who is there in person." The Bishop will answer, "Yes sir, it is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the living Christ, the Son of God who died on Calvary for you." If the Bishop does not say this, I consent to be hung in your city to-morrow. Thus you will hear, not from the lips of Chiniquy, but from a Romish Bishop, that the awful prophecy of Christ is accomplished. You will hear from the lips of that Bishop, against whom I have not a word to say, except that he is terribly in the wrong, as I was, that the false Christs foretold by the Saviour of the world are worshipped at your door, that they reign over multitudes, and are dragging them to perdition, Now, my friends, not a
My Christian friends, the subject of my address is very painful to me. It is with a sad heart that I look back upon the rivers of blood and the torrents of tears of which the Church of Rome has been the cause. I am sad when I look back three hundred years, and see those priests of Rome lighting with their own hands the fires which consumed father, mother, and children alike; and going all over Europe, dagger and sword in hand, piercing the bosoms of the multitudes who differed from them in religion. The reason of my sadness is that I love the Roman Catholics, and the more you love a person the more you are sad when you know his hand is reddened with blood. If you have a dear friend in whom there is something exceedingly wrong, you are sad. The Roman Catholics are walking in the wrong track, their church has put them out of the pale of civilization. I need not say they are out of the pale of Christianity, as that is too evident. But they are outside civilization, and many of them do not suspect it. I do not come here to abuse my friends of the Church of Rome; but I come with the help of God, to open their eyes. I do not ask them to believe my mere word: I want them to open their own books, the records of their own Church, and judge whether I say a word which is not recorded in their own history. The Church of Rome is the deadly enemy of liberty. She is ever plotting against all the laws of God, and the liberties of men. And if to-day she could take away from herself her natural hatred of liberty of conscience, to-morrow she would fall. She lives by persecution; hatred of liberty is her life, her fundamental principle. I have read their councils for ten centuries back, and I challenge the Bishop of the Church of Rome here and his priests, publicly to deny that there is a single council that does not say that heretics must be burned. All proclaim that it is not only the right, it is the duty of the Church of Rome to kill heretics and to press Governments to put to death everyone who does not submit himself to the Pope. I need not speak of the Council of Constance, where they not only declared that every heretic must be killed, but where the bishops in that Council forced the, Emperor to put to death one of the brightest lights of past ages. And what did Pope Leo say when writing to the Emperor about Luther? He said, "Why do you not go and: burn that heretic ?" And it is so much in the nature of the Church of Rome to live by the death of her enemies, that when the King of France committed the most horrible crime which the world has ever seen, when he did a thing which no nation the most savage and degraded would do, a crime which has left an eternal blot on the face of France, when he ordered all the Protestants to be slaughtered, and then expressed the hope that not one had escaped, when 75,000 Protestants were slain in cold blood in one night; the Pope, when he received the news and heard that the blood ran in the streets to the horses' knees, and that the river was choked with dead bodies, when he heard with his imagination the cries of the dying and the lamentations of mothers who were forced to witness the slaughter of their children, felt incredible joy. He raised his hands to God and said "May our mighty God be praised." He sent a letter of congratulation to the King of France; he gave a large sum of money to the man who had brought him the news; he ordered all the bells of the city of Rome to be rung, and all the cannons to be fired. Now, my friends, search from the beginning of the world in the histories of the most infamous nations, and tell me if you can find any deed of cruelty to be compared with that, if you can find any such want of humanity? I say, "humanity," not "Christianity," for there was no Christianity possible in the heart of such a man as that Pope. Now, was that Pope not a man, that he should do such things? He was a man, and his heart would have been as kind as that of the kindest man here, had he not been Pope of Rome. But he was at the head of the Church of Rome, and there was something in him which came from hell and destroyed every sentiment of humanity. When I was a priest, I had the reputation of being a learned man. I must confess I never was learned. I have studied exceedingly. I have read as many books I dare say as any man can read, but the more I read the more
Breriarum thanks God that it was written, and says it is so good that it is evident that the Spirit of God inspired Saint Thomas Aquinas to write it. As the book is in Latin, I wish, to avoid suspicion, that some person would come forward and read a passage and translate it. [As no one else offered, the rev. lecturer handed the book to the Rev. George Sutherland, who read the following passage and translated it—"Though heretics must not be tolerated because they deserve it, we must bear with them till, by a second admonition, they may be brought back to the faith of the Church. But those who, after a second admonition, remain obstinate in their errors, must not only be excomunicated, but they must be delivered to the secular power to be exterminated." Now, Mr. Chairman, do you understand what the word "extermination "means? (Laughter.) It is not said, We must try to convert them, to give them more light: no, it says. "they must be exterminated." "When a priest of Rome. I had the reputation of being a gentleman, but it was a gentleman in the manner of the Church of Rome, and in the presence of God I confess to you that there was nothing I found so good, so according to the laws of my Church, as this sentence of condemnation to death, of all Protestants. I have been raised in their colleges in the belief that when the Church of Rome has killed, not thousand, but millions, she did well. When I read that in France four millions of Protestants had been killed, that in Piedmont more than half a million had been destroyed, that in Germany they had been slaughtered by hundreds of thousands, that in the Netherlands the blood of more than one hundred thousand Protestants had been shed, that in France 75,000 had been slain in one night, I felt so glad, I only regretted that they had not all been killed, and if it had been in my power to put a million barrels of gunpowder under the feet of the whole Protestant world, I would willingly have applied the match to blow them up, even though I knew I should lose my life in the attempt. God knows I say the truth. I would have done this with pleasure, because my church told me (and I believed her) that you Protestants are the enemies of God, that you are condemned to hell, and that you are the only cause why the Church of Rome is not mistress of the world. I hated the Protestants beyond all expression. And there is not a single Roman Catholic priest, who, if he is honest, would not make the same confession. It seems incredible to say this of these gentlemen, who always meet you with such fine manners and smiling faces But it is true. Now, Protestants, is it necessary for me to bring you back to the days of the Reformation, the days when the voice of God spoke to your ancestors, and told them to take His Word for a lamp to their path, and when the Pope told the rulers to kill those heretics who read the Bible? Oh! how interesting it is to read of the noble young Hamilton, a young man connected with the noblest families of Scotland, who was condemned to death for reading the Bible. How touching it is to see that young man preferring to die rather than to kneel down before the idols of Rome. How beautiful it must have been to hear that noble young Scotchman at the stake when the fire was coming to consume his body, repeating these words—" How long, O Lord, shall darkness cover this realm? How long wilt thou suffer this tyranny of men? Lord Jesus receive my spirit." And then he died without any bad feeling towards his persecutors, and asking Jesus to receive his soul. Not long after, Russell of Glasgow was martyred. He and another young man were condemned to die because they would not give up their Bible. He said to his young friend "Take courage! The sufferings through which we pass will be short, and an eternity of glory is there in store for us. Let us try with our Master, Jesus, to enter by the same strait gate through which he has entered. Be sure death cannot destroy us, for it is already destroyed by Him for whose sake we suffer." And then he died, blessing the Lord. And there was that woman whom Scotchmen should never forget, Mrs. Robert Lamb, of Perth. When She was asked by the Bishop of Glasgow if she would pray to the Virgin Mary, she said "No; I will pray only to Jesus my Saviour, who died for me. He told all sinners to come to Him. He did not tell them to go to Mary. I go to Him because He shed His blood on Calvary for me. Mary is a holy woman, but Jesus alone saved me." She was condemned to death. She
extermination of heretics shall enjoy the same indulgences, and be protected by the same privileges as are granted to those who go to the help of the holy land. We decree further, that all who may have dealings with heretics, and especially such as receive, defend, or encourage them, shall be excommunicated. He shall not be eligible to any public office. He shall not be admitted as a witness. He shall neither have the power to bequeath his property by will, nor to succeed to any inheritance. He shall not bring any action against any person, but any one can bring an action against him. Should he be a judge, his decision shall have no force, nor shall any cause be brought before him. Should he be an advocate, he shall not be allowed to plead. Should he be a lawyer, no instruments made by him shall be held valid, but shall be condemned with their author." So, Protestants, you see you have no right to your property, nor to your lives. They belong to his Holiness the Pope. (Laughter.) And this bishop had to swear that before the Court of Kankakee. Some will perhaps say that these laws are past and gone long ago. But I tell you they are still the laws of the Church of Rome. She has not repealed these lans, In her last Council, held eight years ago, she declared that those who do not believe in the justice and perfect holiness of these laws are going to hell, that it is a crime unpardonable to condemn the Church for passing these laws. And the bishops are bound by oath to believe that these laws of extermination come from God, and should be put in force directly everywhere they have the power. I will read you a few extracts which I have made from Roman Catholic journals in the States, because I want to make; things clear to you. "The Church is of! necessity intolerant. Heresy she endures when and where she must. But she hates it, and she directs all her energies to its destruction. If Catholics ever gain an immense; numerical majority in this country (the United States), religious freedom is at and end. So our enemies say; so we believe."—The Shepherd of the Valley, St. Louis, ."—Catholic World, Freeman's Journal, New' York, Catholic World, New York, Rambler, an English organ of Popery, of Catholic Mirror, the public organ of the Bishop of Baltimore, lately addressing the Roman Cathclics, says: "Let it be your first duty to extirpate heretics; but be cautious as to the manner of doing it. Do nothing without consulting the bishop of the diocese in which you may be located: and if there be no bishop there, advise with the metropolitan bishop; he has instructions from Rome, and he understands the character of the people. Be sure not to permit the members of our Holy Church to read the Bible; it is the source of all heresies. Let the land be purchased for the Pope and his successors in office. Never yield or give up the divine right which the Head of the Church has, by virtue of the keys, to the Government of North America, as well as every other country." I could keep you all night reading extracts of this kind. It is certain that before long you will hear that the Church of Rome is triumphing there, that she rules that great magnificent country, but you will hear at the same time of a terrible conflict—the Protestants will not bear that tyranny. (Loud applause.) Perhaps the Roman Catholics here will tell you in conversation and in their press, that the Protestants have killed the Roman Catholics. I know it, I acknowledge that the Protestants have killed the Roman Catholics; but why? Because the Protestants were forced to defend themselves and punish their murderers. If the Roman Catholics put these murderous laws into execution, the Protestants must defend themselves. Many times when I have been speaking in places where the Protestants were in a minority, the Roman Catholics have come round the building, and the stones have fallen round me like hail, so that I thought every moment would be my last. I have been surrounded many times be more than a thousand men, but by the Providence of God my life has been saved. The noble-hearted and fearless Orangemen were always ready to protect me, and received many times the blows that were aimed at me. Several, in protecting me, have been killed. Now, after several years of such persecution, four Orangemen went to Bishop Bourget, of Montreal, and said to him, "We conquered Canada about 100 years ago. When we conquered it, we gave you liberty of conscience; but it was on condition that we should have that liberty also. At present we have not that liberty. You think that you have the right to prevent us from worshipping God as we wish, and from speaking to each other publicly, and here is a man whom you have wounded, and whom we have invited here. We are come here to tell you something. If Chiniquy is killed, we are 200,000 men sworn to come to Montreal, and the next week after his death, not a priest or nun will be seen. All your Churches will be swept away as if by a hurricane. Now, good-bye." (Great cheering.) And the four men left. Well, the very same day the bishop sent his priest to tell the people not to kill Chiniquy, or those infamous Orangemen would kill them. It was so in Scotland and in England. After the Protestants had been burned at the stake, after their blood had run like rivers, they began to defend themselves. And the argument which the Roman Catholics deemed so good, they could surely not object to. Here is a question which I would like to put to Archbishop Vaughan, of this city. What assembly of priests and bishops have declared that it is bad to slaughter Protestants! In what year did the, Romish Church declare that she was in error in putting Protestants to death? I want him to tell me when the Church of Rome repealed the bloody laws which she passed in the days of old. You will see that he cannot answer. The blood of all the martyrs is still on her hands; she has never washed it away; she has never regretted it! Their priests come before you and make fine speeches in favour of liberty of conscience; and when you hear these beautiful words, you think they understand them in the same sense as you. But you are cruelly, shamefully deceived. When a priest of Rome speaks of liberty of conscience, it means that
My Christian friends, the mere mention of the subject of my lecture brings up a dark cloud in the mind. The simple fact of a bachelor priest being allowed to pry to the very bottom of a young girl's heart is revolting in the greatest degree. Unfortunately I was a confessor for 25 years, and have heard the confessions of, I suppose, about 50,000 men and women. I have heard the confessions of bishops, priests, and nuns, of rich and poor, of old and young, and I can truly say, in the presence of God, that auricular confession is one of the greatest impostures and abominations the world has ever seen. How many times I have gone into the confessional-box with a heavy heart, and wept bitter tears because I was forced by the Church of Rome to ask such questions as no gentleman would ask. Words cannot tell you of the horror which seized me every time I entered that detestable place. I heard two voices speaking to me. One of these was saying "Are you not ashamed to hear such polluting things? Why do you not blush when you put such questions to a timid girl or a respectable lady? If the husband could know what you ask his wife, or if the father could know what you ask his daughter, or if the brother could know what you ask his sister, your brains would have been blown out long ago. Shame on you! Come out from that pit of iniquity." I had to believe that this was the voice of Satan, and I shut my ears to it and struggled against it.
And there is not a single Roman Catholic priest, if he is honest, who will not tell you he has passed through the same experience, but he has to believe that that voice which is coming from heaven comes from hell. The other voice I heard was the voice of the Pope saying, "Remain in that box, you do well to hear the confessions of those men and women. Remain there from morning till night. Let your heart be corrupted, let your soul be polluted, it is your duty to be there." One day I went to my father confessor, the Bishop of Quebec, and told him that after I had heard the confession of many priests, it was my earnest belief that a priest could not hear confessions and not be corrupted. He said, "I know well that priests cannot hear these things without being polluted." "But," said I, "If they fall, they are lost." "Oh, when they commit sin in that way, they have only to go to their father confessor and be forgiven," he said. A bishop who was first cousin to the King of France, Charles X., and also his Secretary, came to Canada. His name was Forbin Jansan; he had been Bishop of De Nancy, Loraine, France. After confessing to me one day, he told me that there was a book I should have which would guide me in putting questions to priests in the confesional; it related to the sins of priests. He gave me a copy which I have to-day, and which anyone is at liberty to read at my house. This book confirms what PÈre Hyacinthe says, that ninety-nine priests out of a hundred fall and are polluted. And bear in mind that Hyacinthe's statement was publicly made in France and has never been denied, I said one day to the Bishop of Montreal that I feared that auricular confession did not come from Christ, nor from the apostles, but that it was an addition. He said, "You are mistaken. You read the Bible too much, and if you do to you will become a Protestant. You interpret the Bible according to your own little intelligence instead of seeking the unanimous consent of the fathers." I said, "Neither Matthew, Mark, Luke, nor John mentions auricular confession. Paul wrote fourteen epistles, Peter wrote two, and John wrote three, and there is not a word in any of them about it." He said, "I acknowledge there is no direct mention in Scripture about it, but it is in the Holy Fathers." "And where can I get them?" I asked. He laughed at me and told me it was a work of 200 volumes, and that he had it not I then went to a bookseller, the father of the present Bishop of Montreal, and asked him for the work. He said he had not got it, as it was a work of such magnitude that nobody would buy it. I told him to get it for me, and he sent to France for it. It cost me three hundred dollars. Well, I read several of the Holy Fathers right through. I read the life of Paul the Hermit of the third century. In his life there is not a single mention of auriclar confession. It is evident then that he lived without confessing his sin to man. I read the life of Saint Mary of Egypt, who was a woman of great beauty and a great criminal. She was converted, and her name is in the Saints' Calendar, and every year the priests of Rome have to make a memorial of her. Her history, written by one of the first of the Holy Fathers, goes into every detail of her life, but there is not a single word about auricular confession in it. I then read the life of Saint Cyprian, written by Pontius in the third century. This is the Saint who had the great fight with Pope Stephen. The Pope excommunicated him and he excommunicated the Pope, and, though he died excommunicated by the Pope, without repenting of it, the Church of Rome has put him in her Calendar. In his life there is not a single word about auricular confession. So it is with Gregory, Ambrose, Chrysostom. I
public confessions of public sins. The idea of auricular confession was invented by the Pagans long before Christ. They had festivities in honor of their gods to prepare the young people to know what they called the mysteries. Some of these mysteries were communicated in auricular confession to the young men and women who wanted to be initiated. I speak to you of the evils of the confessional that you may thank God for His mercies towards you, for having taught you that it is not at the feet of any man that poor sinners can find pardon, but that God alone can forgive sins. In the Church of Rome they bring two texts to prove that auricular confession is Scriptural. The first is Matthew xviii. 18. There Jesus says, "Verily I say unto you that whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaved, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The priest tells the people that Christ has here given the priest power to forgive their sins, and that they can only do so after they have heard the confession of their sins. Now they conceal the truth when they speak thus. When the priests say that these words of our Saviour were spoken to the Apostles in particular, they speak falsely: they do not know the Gospel. Our Saviour had been speaking to the people around him, and telling them that if any of them had a brother who had offended him, he was to go to him and try to make friends with him. If the brother would not consent to live in peace with him, he was to take two witnesses with him and renew his efforts at reconciliation; but if he still persisted in not making friends, he was to be reported to the church; and if he even refused to hear the Church, he was to be considered as a pagan. And then our Saviour added these words, "What you will bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what you will loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." For instance, if Peter offended John, and they agreed to make friends, Jesus says to them. "I give you power to forgive each other the sins you have committed against each other, and as it is on earth it shall be in heaven." Our Saviour speaks of sins committed by people against each other; and if Roman Catholics read their Bible they would see the imposture of the Church. Read a few verses on in the same chapter, and you will see that Peter understood our Saviour to mean the sins committed by people against each other, for he asked Christ how many times he should forgive an offending brother, and Christ told him "as many times as he offends against you." The other text by which the Roman Catholic people are deceived is—" What sins ye retain on earth shall be retained in heaven, and what sins ye remit on earth shall be remitted in heaven." The Church of Rome tells her people that these words were spoken to the Apostles. This is another imposture; for if you will read Luke. ch. xxiv., on the same subject, you will see that there were women and children present when Christ spoke these words. He meant that the sins committed against each other if they forgave would be forgiven. In the Lord's prayer we pray that our sins may be forgiven as we forgive those sins committed against us. The doctrine of the Gospel on that subject is clear—it means only that when a man forgives the brother who has sinned against him, he can go boldly to Jesus Christ and ask for his own sins to be pardoned.
After a few similar remarks, the rev. gentleman said, I have great confidence in the character of Irishmen. I have been twice to Ireland, and I know all that is good and noble in the character of the Irish. I khow their bravery on the battle-field. Yes, Englishmen, your greatest victories have not been won without the blood of the Irish. The Irishman is intelligent, and it is for that reason that the priest forbids him to hear with his own ears. If the priests had been honest they would have said to their people. "Chiniquy the apostate is coming to preach against our Church, and the more you will hear him the more you will see he is in the wrong; go and hear him." But they know well
The singing of a hymn, the pronouncing of the benediction, and the singing of the National Anthem brought the meeting to a close.
The subject of the lecture was "Auricular Confession." The rev. gentlemen said:—Have you ever remarked in the epistle to the Romans how Paul begins his salutations? In specifying some names which were dear to him and to the whole Church, he begins by giving expression of his gratitude to the women he had known. The more you read the Gospel of Christ, the more you will be struck by this strange thing that woman always appears in everything to have a higher place in the heart of Christ. It is evident that one of the objects of our dear Saviourwas to raise woman from the degraded position brought upon her by the first sin. As Eve was the first to fall, the daughters of Eve were the first to be raised up. It was of a woman that our Saviour said he had not found such faith in Israel as hers. It was not to a man that He paid such a compliment. And after his resurrection who was chosen to be the first to see Christ? A woman. When the apostles were in tears and desolate, and in doubt whether the Saviour would rise again, whose heart was filled with joy because she had seen the Saviour? A woman's. When men had banded together to crucify the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, do you find a single man among that multitude who felt for the victim? do you find one man whose heart was touched by his sufferings? Not one. But you see women weeping there. They understood the great sacrifice of the Saviour of the world. It is evident that as Satan had 'begun the destruction of mankind through a woman, so Christ came to raise the daughters of Eve before the sons of Adam, and to pour upon them His greatest blessings. It must have appeared strange to the Romans to hear Paul blessing the women first, because before Christ's time woman was degraded everywhere. She had come down below the level of the beasts; everywhere she was the slave of man. Even in the great Republic of Rome, which raised herself so high in sciences and in the arts, where philosophers spoke with such eloquence, where a Cicero filled the world with his beautiful language, where Virgil wrote poems which are still the object of our admiration, where there were so many wise, so many learned, what was the rank of woman? It was that of a brute beast; women had no rank at all in society. A man had the right to kill his wife without being brought before the law. The child was not obliged to obey his mother. In Greece woman's position was still worse. Now Christ came to save you, woman. He came to raise you up from your former degradation. See how the women of that time understood Christ and felt that he had come to raise them. See Mary who had lost her name and had become the scandal of Jerusalem, at her dear Saviour's feet, bathing them with her tears and pressing her lips to them; and what does the Saviour say to her?Woman, thy sins are forgiven because you have loved much." And He said that where-ever the Gospel would be preached, the action of that woman would be proclaimed. In the temple when Christ was at the door looking at the people giving for the public service of God, who attracted his attention? A woman. Now, my dear sisters, bless the Lord for having come to save you, not only from the yoke of man, but from the yoke of Satan. Bless Christ for having come to raise you up, to tell you that you are the daughters of God, the equal of man, that you are one with your husband. It is only in Christian nations that woman is on a level with man. For that reason, woman, keep near to Christ; let Christ reign in your heart. Christ was constantly helped in his work by women. He
Tribune of Chicago that it was evident I was guilty, because two priests had sworn they had detected me in the act, and I would surely be sent to gaol. The newsboys were running about the streets crying out, "Chiniquy will
Tribune that day, because every Roman Catholic was jubliant. Among the Roman Catholics who bought the paper was a man named Narcisse Terrien, who told his wife the good news that I was to be imprisoned for life, or hung. She said, "he is not guilty; I know it." He was surprised, and asked how she knew that. She said, "I and another young lady, Mary Moffat, were paying a visit to the niece of the priest, who was with his sister in the parlour. The door of the room was ajar, and we could hear all the conversation that took place between the priest and his sister, but they could not see us. And we heard the poor woman saying that Chiniquy was innocent, and had always been honourable in all his dealings with her. And we heard the whole plot of the priest. "Well," said the husband, "I do not like Chiniquy, but it would be a crime for you and me to let him go to the Penitentiary when we know he is innocent." Then they ran down to the railway station, got into the cars, and came to the city where I was being tried, a distance of 100 miles. They arrived late at night, and went to Abraham Lincoln, and told him all, and he then came to me and rescued me. You see how the priests make the poor people believe they can commit any crime provided they go to confession and get absolution. That is the reason why your gaols are filled with Roman Catholics; that is the reason why Roman Catholics who are naturally as honest as you, are made dishonest. Now you must pray for them, and help me in my work; help me to throw light into the midst of this abominable darkness. I do not come to beg. It would be infamous if I were to change this great mission into a begging affair; but it is my duty to tell you my position. I have sixteen young men ministers, and I want fifty more. I want to keep up a college for them, to be perpetuated after my death. When a priest comes out of the Church of Rome, he is in danger of starving to death. He is an outcast from the Church of Rome, and the Protestants have no confidence in him. These priests come to me, and I have sometimes to support them for five or six months. They have cost me much already. I know priests who would immediately come out if I could keep them for a short time—give them a home, where during a few weeks or months they could study the Word of God, and prepare themselves to preach. Pray that God grant me success, and through those converted priests, many souls will be saved, by the grace of God—and the walls of Babylon will be shaken and fall.
The benediction was pronounced, and the audience sang the doxology and the National Anthem.
The subject of the rev. gentleman's lecture was, "The Education of Protestant boys and girls in the Colleges and Nunneries of Rome." He said—My friends, the subject on which I have been requested to speak this evening is one of vital importance, and one of those I wish Protestants could understand. Everywhere the Church of Rome builds beautiful houses of education, whose surroundings wear such a bright colouring that Protestants are bewitched and deceived. We read in the history of pagan nations that the parents used often to offer their children on the altars of the idols to appease the wrath of their god when he was angry. The fathers and the mothers brought the children decorated with garlands of flowors and laid them on the altars, and the priests of the idols cut the throat or pierced the bosom of the poor victim. This was a horrible crime, and it is hardly credible that parents could have consented to the slaughter of their children and rejoice at it. But there is a crime committed every day among Protestant nations which is more heinous in the sight of God than that of the old Pagans. It is when Protestant parents immolate their children on the altars of Rome, hand their dear children over to the care of the nuns and priests of the idols of Rome. Your children do not lose their temporal life but they lose their eternal life, and as the soul is more precious than the body, so the iniquity of modern Protestants is greater than the iniquity of the Pagans. Oh! if my God would grant me here what He has granted me in several places in the United States and in Canada, that the day after I had spoken on this subject, the children of Protestants were taken out of the nunneries. Protestants, you are terribly mistaken about education in the Church of Rome. The word education is understood in a very different sense among the Roman Catholics from that in which you understand it. When you send your child to be educated, you desire that he should be raised in the sphere of knowledge; that his mind and heart should be enlarged; that his intelli
Educare, in the Latin, means "to take from low places to high regions." Elever, in the French, is also a beautiful word; it means that you take the child, and from the lowest degree I of intelligence, you raise it as much as possible. And when the little pupil in your Protestant schools begins to rise, he hears around him voices of encouragement, and he takes up his wings like a young eagle, and I rises again; and as they rise they hear their! pastors and parents saying to them, "Rise! rise again! rise in intelligence, in science, in all knowledge, till you lose yourself in that ocean of light, and love, and knowledge, which is called God." (Applause.) No: fetters are put on that young eagle who wishes to raise himself. Thus the Protestant nations march as giants at the head of civilisation they are the advanced guard in the ranks of Science. They go from one invention to another; the whole world is conquered by them; they rule the winds; they take possession of the elements. This is how Protestants understand education, and, this is how Christ understood education when He told his disciples to teach all nations the saving truth; but the word has a very different meaning in the Church of Rome. The poor little boy and girl in the colleges and nunneries of Rome are allowed to rise. Yes, but it is only till they reach the Pope's big toe, and then a shout comes to them from every side—Stop! do not rise any higher; kiss the Pope's toe, for the Pope is the fountain of all knowledge, science, and light. (Laughter.) It is forbidden to know a thing which the Pope does not know. It is forbidden to understand a thing in the way the Pope does not understand it. (Laughter.) How many times, when I was in the college of Rome, have I and my fellow-students tried to raise ourselves? But when we attempted to soar up as young eagles, our poor little wings were cut, and we fell down. Often hare my fellow-students and I bewailed our lot at not being permitted to raise ourselves, and at being forbidden to discuss such and such questions. We felt severely the heavy chains which galled our shoulders. One day one of my fellow-students, who was afterwards one of the first men in Canada, Mr. Joseph Turcot, said to me, "It is evident they want to make asses of us here."
If you want your children to believe that a man can make his God with a little wafer, send them to the nuanories. If you want your children to believe that it is by going to the feet of a mute idol, or statue of Mary, that they must be saved, send them to a nunnery. But if you want your children to learn that they are created in the image of God, that they are created with an intelligence and a soul, that it is their privilege to rise in all knowledge, do not send them to the nunneries. In the nunneries they will learn that man was not created to be free, to follow the dictates of his conscience, but simply to obey his superiors, to serve under masters who have the right to think for him. Christ denoted the corner-stone of your emancipation, the foundation of your power, when He said, "If your son ask bread will you give him a stone, or if he ask an egg will you give him a scorpion? If your earthly father will give you what you ask, much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him." Jesus here promised that everyone of His followers would have the right to look up and see with his own eyes that light which is so bright, so magnificent, that light which comes from the Gospel. Christ said that light is for everyone, great and small, rich and poor, old and young. You have only to go to your Father in heaven and ask from Him the light in Christ's name, and it will be granted to you. In the schools of Protestants there is nobody put between God and man. No dark cloud obscures the light which comes from God. Man has the privilege to go and swim every day in the regions of light and truth and life which is called God, and the more he goes there the more he feels like his God. And that is the reason why you Protestants advance as giants in the ways of progress, while the Roman Catholics are just like a stone round your neck. Who has made the great inventions in the world? Who invented the railroad? Was it a man who was educated in the colleges of Rome? No. It was a man who read his Bible every day. And who invented that latest wonder, the electric telegraph, by which I can sit at a table here and speak to my friends in London, and three minutes after receive their answer? Who discovered that great secret which was hid in the bosom of God since the beginning? Who has gone high enough in the regions of light to take that spark of light from the Spirit of the Lord? It was a man who never set his foot in the college of the Jesuit, who read his Bible every day. Where are the great inventions of the Roman Catholics? I will be told that there are great men in the Church of Rome. I acknowledge that. There are giant men in her. She has had in her bosom men of an extraordinary intelligence. I have read their books, and every page indicated that these men were as much above the common people as the sun is above the earth. But these men have been great in spite of the Church of Rome. (Hear, hear.) Galileo was a great man in the I Church of Rome. He discovered the motion of the earth round the sun—a marvellous dis-
Universe Venillot, a great Roman Catholic organ, say about him after having studied his writings? He say, "Bossuet was a disguised Protestant." It would take three or four hours to go fully through the subject of my lecture and show you that the colleges of the nuns and Jusuits are the very places where the intelligence is killed. They are places of fine exterior and colouring, but nothing better. I know what I say, for I have been a teacher in their midst. Every step ahead I made was always in spite of my professors. It was always at the risk of my position that I made any advance. These were the principles which must constantly guide the young student in a Jesuit college, or a nunnery, settled not by Chiniquy, but by the infallible Pope Gregory XVI., in his celebrated encyclical of the
When a Protestant parent takes his child to a nunnery to be educated, he finds every, thing about the place pleasant. The nun has a fine appearance, she has the face of an angel, she is excessively polite, everything seems to breath an atmosphere of purity and honesty. The flowers are so fragrant, the trees so beautiful, the garden so well laid out, the situation of the house so well chosen. You think you could have no better place for your child to be educated in and as you hand her over to the care of the nuns you stipulate that as you are a Protestant your child's religion shall not be interfered with. The nuns say, "Oh, certainly; we will not interfere with your child's religion." And you go away and have no fear. But you have not walked ten paces away before the nuns have a hearty fit of laughter at your expense; they say, "That poor fool has got a promise from us not to interfere with his religion, but he ignores what we know, that a Protestant has no religion at all." Among Roman Catholics Protestantism means negation, and it is very easy to promise not to interfere with a religion which
Glories of Mary is hereby approved by John, Archbishop of New York, religievse, and grateful for the mercy of Mary, led the life of a saint. At her death she made known the foregoing incident to the glory of this great queen." Now, Protestants of Australia, if you want your daughters to believe that, provided they say some prayers to Mary, they can live the life of prostitutes if they go to confession, send them to a nunnery. Mind, it is not Chiniquy who tells this story, it is their own books. This is the morality of the nuns. Perhaps you would like to hear a little more about the teachings of the
The rev. gentleman then proceeded:—Now this story is not made by Chiniquy. It is written by the Jesuits in Montreal, the same kind of men as those who have just come into your midst, to educate your children. To what height, I ask, will they raise them? What kind of pupils can come from the hands of such men, who teach such trash, and whose religion is founded on such lying rubbish Friends, your foundation is Christ; if you want to be blessed by God, you have nothing to do but to keep your children in that atmosphere of truth, and light, and science, which Christ has brought from heaven. Your nation is so great, because the Bible is the corner-stone of Great Britain; and for this reason she has been chosen by God to march at the head of civilisation. Now, friends, remain where your ancestors have brought you; remain in the light and truth of God. Honour Jesus Christ by inducing your children to follow Him, and to love Him. Never trust your children into those houses of deceit and iniquity, where they will see nothing but what will bring them to the feet of the idols of Rome; nothing but what will weaken in them the virtues which make women vir tuous and great, and a people noble. When God laid the foundation of this Australia he evidently had in His mind to make it the leader of civilisation in the future. Now, if you want to be great; if you want to be happy and free, oh, take Jesus Christ and His Gospel for the only light, the only life, the only truth of your nation. (Applause.)
The evening's proceedings were concluded, as usual, by the pronouncing of the benediction, and the audience singing the doxology and the national anthem.
he reverend lecturer prefaced his lecture by saying that he had not, as far as he could remember, lectured on this subject publicly before, and his object to-night was, not to satisfy the curiosity of the audience, but to show them still another reason to thank God because their forefathers had been delivered from the yoke of Popery. He said that when he was a priest he had persuaded ninety-three Protestants to join the Church of Rome, but he was sure that if they had known what he was going to tell the audience then, they would not have given up the light for the darkness. He then said—Celibacy is a Pagan Institution. The priests of ancient Greece and Home were celebates, as the priests of India and China are at the present day. They are obliged to live outside the sacred bonds of marriage. But every one knows how the old Pagan priests of Babylon and Greece kept their celibacy, just as well as the modern priests of China and Hindostan and Home keep it to-day. Celibacy is a diabolical institution. It came from the devil. God has never said it is holy for man to be alone, nor that it is more good for man to live without his wife. He has positively said quite the contrary from the beginning. At the creation He said to Himself, "Let us give Adam a helpmeet." And as heaven and earth shall pass away before the Word of God, so what He said to Adam in the Garden of Eden, he says to mankind now. And a, Christ came to fulfil the law of His Father, He could not, nor did He ever, give any command contrary to the will of God, His Father. Paul, who tells us that God spoke to him about that matter, says positively these very words:—"Now, concerning the things whereof you wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman." But he explains himself. He says it might be good, on account of the troubles of that time, for some men not to marry because then they were exposed constantly to the risk of martyrdom and other troubles of those persecuting days. But he says immediately—"Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." This is the Spirit of God, who speaks to every one of us, and says positively that it is the wish, the command of God-that if we wish to sanctify ourselves we should follow His holy laws in that respect. And what does Paul say again? "This is a true saying—if a man desire the office of a bishop he desireth a good work. A bishop, then, must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach, &c." Now, the first quality which the Holy Ghost requires from a bishop is to have a wife. Does not God himself tell us that the forced celibacy of Rome is a diabolical institution, when He says—" Now, the Spirit speaketh expressly that in latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth?" 1 Tim. iv. I must tell you a thing that will surprise you. When I studied my theology, and came to the conclusion that it was the will of God that I should be a priest, it was necessary that I should make a vow of celibacy before I could take holy orders. Before making that vow I studied the Scriptures, and it seemed to me that Christ never asked such a sacrifice from any man. We were twenty ecclesiastics preparing ourselves for the priesthood, and when the time came for taking the oath, I wanted to know on what ground it was required of us; our Superior told us that Jesus Christ had ordered it; and when I asked him for the passage to that effect in the New Testament, he gave
This is the celibacy of Rome. It is horrible, horrible. Now my friends I would put before you a fact, not a fact of old times, but of the present day, a fact which no priest will dare deny. It is the nistory of the Neapolitan Nunneries, written by a lady known all over Italy under the name of the Countess Henrietta Carracciolo. She thought the best way to go to heaven was to become a nun, so she consecrated herself, made the vow of celibacy, and went to a nunnery. She passed through all the grand ceremonies about which the Church of Rome make so much noise. The officers of the court and the princes of Italy filled the church, and the grand ladies of the; kingdom were the witnesses of her so-called consecration to Jesus
Pastor Chiniquy lectured before a large audience on Thursday evening, December 5th, on "The Jesuits, what they have been, what they are, and what they will be to the end." The Rev. D. Galloway, B.A., occupied the chair, and made a few introductory remarks.
The Rev. Lecturer said: Mr. President and friends, the question which is presented to the world to-day is-Will the Jesuits govern the world, or will Christ remain the King of kings, and rule the nations with his Gospel? From the beginning of the world there is a thing which puzzles the philosophers—the men who like to understand the reasons and causes of the different events of this world, a thing which is a dark mystery, a mystery of which the Christian alone has the key. It is, that evidently in the world, there are two great principles fighting against each other—the principle of evil and principle of good. We feel those two principles at work in our hearts every day; when the principle of good is putting good thoughts and resolutions into our mind, showing us the way we must go, if we would be happy in this world and in the next; the other principle speaks to us in a very different way, and combats the good impressions which the great God has sown in our hearts. Now the men who do not believe in the Bible cannot explain these things, nor understand them. But, we, Christians understand them—for in the Bible, at the very creation of the world, we see these two principles fighting against each other. God created Adam and Eve in His image with His mighty hand and the breath of His power. He puts them in an earthly Paradise, and with His own finger, He writes in their hearts the first principles of a holy life. He tells them that if they follow those principles they will be happy and will live for ever; the world will be subjected to them—there will be no tears, no suffering-the earth will be covered with flowers and fruits, and all the creatures by which the earth is inhabited will be their servants. This is the glorious promise of God—the principle of love, of light, of truth, of joy, of eternal happiness. Now, that God has left His law engraved in the hearts of Adam and Eve, what do you see? You see, coming from the bottomless pit of hell, the great enemy of God and man—that false angel who tried in heaven to raise his rebellious head against his Creator. He comes forth from his dark and burning prison to
unless he orders it in the name of Jesus Christ, and, as your superior! With such a religion, is not man changed into a brute of the lowest order? When I was a priest I was obliged to believe that, but many times I have had a struggle because my conscience could not accept such a doctrine. Do not think it is an easy thing for a man to become a brute. Do you know how many years a man is tried before he is accepted as a Jesuit—do you know how long he is a novice? Ten years! Yes, it takes ten years to kill his intelligence, to entirely destroy those grand principies of truth and light which God has planted in the heart of humanity. It takes ten years of a struggle before the poor man becomes a Jesuit. But when he accepts their doctrines, lie is no longer a man, because he is deprived of intelligence; he is a brute. (Hear, hear.) He has the face of a man, the tongue of a man, but he has the heart of a devil, because he is bound by oath to commit any crime, provided it be ordered by his superior in the name of Jesus Christ. It seems impossible to believe that, but it is true.
The Jesuits are not only the enemies of human intelligence, and the real murderers of human intellect and conscience; they are the irreconcilable and deadly enemy of every human government, right, and constitutional liberty. They are traitors and rebels to every civilised government; they are perpetual conspirators against all your laws, privileges, rights, and liberties. Here is the oath of the Jesuits, published when Clement XIV. issued a bull in
"I—N—now in the presence of Almighty God, the blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and the saints and sacred host of heaven, and to you, my ghostly Father, do declare from my heart, without mental reservation, that the Pope is Christ's Vicar-General, and is the true and only head of the Universal Church throughout the earth; and
"I do renounce and disown any allegiance as due to any heretical king, prince, or state named Protestant, or to any of their inferior magistrates or affairs. I do further declare the doctrine of the Church of England, of the Calvinists, Huguenots, and other Protestants, to be damnable, and those to be damned who will not forsake the same. I do further declare that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of His Holiness's agents in any place wherever I shall be, and do my utmost to extirpate the heretical Protestant doctrine, and to destroy all their pretended power, legal or otherwise. 1 do further promise and declare, notwithstanding that I am dispensed with, to assume any religion heretical for the propagation of the Mother's church interest, to keep secret and private all her agents, counsels, as they entrust me, and not to divulge, directly or indirectly; but execute all which shall be proposed, given in charge, or discovered unto me by you my ghostly Father, or by any of this convent.
"In testimony thereof, I take this most holy and blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, and witness the same further with my hand and seal, in the face of this holy convent."
That you may better understand the deadly, the diabolical hatred the Jesuits bear to your dear and noble mother-country, England, listen with attention to the following extract of an address of one of them to the Irish of San Francisco. Here is a part of his seimon to the Irish of that city, delivered the day of St. Patrick,
Have you ever listened to expressions of a more deadly hatred? Well, these are the sentiments which are in the bosom of every Jesuit, and of every priest. For, as I told you, every priest to-day is a Jesuit. By their cunning and power they rule to-day the Church of Rome. These are the sentiments which they openly when at a distance, but secretly when in your midst, inculcate to the Roman Catholics, all over the world towards your country.
And they will not dare to deny it before me. The Jesuits are determined to conquer the world to the Pope. They have large views. Their great object is to destroy Protestantism, they avow it publicly in their own books and sermons. But how do they wish to accomplish this end? Is it by arguments, by fair play, by coming before the world and exchanging reasons for and against? No, it is by secret ways, through the confessional, and their numberless secret associations. It is by assuming the names of Protestant ministers, and remaining at the head of Protestant congregations, as it is so often the case to-day in England, in the Episcopal Church, in order to deceive the people and entice them. They know they would be defeated in a fair battle. What are they doing? They whisper into the ears of their millions of slaves that the Pope and the whole Catholic world are ordered by God to destroy liberty of conscience, that no man has any right to serve God according to his conscience! This is the great fundamental principle of the Jesuits. This has not only been declared by them for the last three centuries, but it was declared at the last Council of the Vatican, where they say that a man who does not believe this is damned. Now, if I do not serve God according to my conscience, according to what conscience will I serve Him? According to the conscience of the Pope. There is only one conscience today in the world—only one intelligence, only one man who has the light, and who must guide the rest of the children of Adam, and that man is the Pope. And whoever does not believe the Pope is the only ruler in the world—not only in religious matters, but in civil matters, is damned. They say positively that every man who wants to be saved must believe that the Pope is the only fountain of light and truth, and knowledge, and that he alone has the power to guide the nations in their civil as well as religious departments, and that those who do not believe
The Doxology was sung, the Benediction pronounced, and the meeting terminated.
In another column we give an extract from an American paper, which will be perused with interest just now as bearing on the character and work of Pastor Chiniquy. Our readers will see that the Pastor has been successful in his long and expensive suit against the Popish Bishop Foley, who attempted not only to degrade the Pastor as an apostle from the Romish Church, but to dispossess him and his people of the Church property which they held. The Pastor therefore has taught the Bishop a lesson which he will probably remember for many a day. It must be humiliating to him to acknowledge defeat; but the defeat which he has sustained in the law courts is not half so humiliating and crushing as that which is involved in the exposure which the Pastor compelled the Bishop to make of himself and his Church when being examined. When the Bishop was put in the box Chiniquy put a few ugly questions to him which he did not like to answer. The Bishop, in fact, declined to answer them. But the judge told him he must answer. As he had come to the Court against Chiniquy, he must answer Chiniquy. As he had appealed to American law, he must submit to American law. Whatever he might think of the Pope and his Church and of the canon law, by which the Church desires to rule the world, he must remember that American law ruled the States. Therefore he must answer Chiniquy, and Chiniquy made him wish a hundred times that he had never ventured outside the walk of his episcopal palace. It was a grand and laughable sight to see Chiniquy holding in his grip the great Bishop, and compelling him to answer the questions which he put to him. The questions were about the authorities which rule in the Church of Rome. He wanted the Bishop to say whether or not the doctrines of St. Thomas and St. Liguori were the doctrines which are taught in the Church of Rome. He wished to get, on oath, an admission or denial that the teachings of those two saints are the teachings which the Romish bishops and priests give to their people. The bishop refused to answer. He contended that lie was not bound to tell such a mighty secret in the Church. He stood long silent and refused to say a word; but at last it came out! And the bishop admitted that St. Thomas and St. Liguori were the authorities; and that the principles and doctrines of those two saints were the principles and doctrines in which the Roman Catholic people were now being trained.—We urge our readers to study what the Bishop had good reason to conceal, but what he was compelled under oath to admit, The principles are atrocious. They contain all the violence, murder, and persecution of which we read when the Papal Church was in
nor pray with him! You must not tolerate heretics, and you must help to hand them over to the secular power to be exterminated! Heretics deserve the sentence of death. And Catholics who are especially zealous in opposition to heretics will get special indulgences—a high place in the kingdom of heaven!—Will our Protestant people consider that what is here stated is not a "Protestant slander," but the admission of a Popishbishop under oath? Will our silly talkers about charity see here that charity to such people is thrown away? Men who believe, that you ought to be burned—who; believe that you are weeds—who are taught that there is merit in exterminating such heretics as you, are traitors; such in tolerant enemies of civil and religious liberty ought not to be tolerated.—In bringing these facts out to the open day, Pastor Chiniquy deserves the thanks of the whole Protestant world. With immense labour he has won his cause. At immense cost of time and thought, and money he has succeeded in beating off Popish wolves who had gnashed at him with their teeth. A brave old man has, single handed, as Luther did, beaten his enemies into small dust.
The Kanhahec Times publishes the following communication from a member of the Illinois Bar. Though perhaps containing nothing new or strange to those who have studied the matter, the statement made may convince such Protestants as imagine the Church of Rome to be a harmless institution, of their great error. The principles of the Papal hierarchy remain unchanged. The wearer of the Tiara would as readily depose for simple heresy any temporal ruler of today, as his predecessor, six centuries ago, deposed and deprived of his estates, Count Raymond, of Toulouse, for a like crime. Religious liberty is both hated and dreaded by a Church which claime the right of enforcing its spiritual decrees by the assistance of the secular arm:—
In one of your past issues, you told your readers that the Rev. Mr. Chiniquy had gained the long and formidable suit instituted by the Roman Catholic Bishop to dispossess him and his people of their Church property. But you have not yet given any particulars about the startling revelations the Bishop had to make before the Court, in reference to the still existing laws of the Church of Rome, against those whom they call heretics. Nothing, however, is more important for every one than to know precisely what those laws are.
As I was present when the Roman Catholic Bishop Foley, of Chicago, was ordered to read in Latin and translate into English those laws. I have kept a correct copy of them, and I send it to you with a request to publish it.
The Rev. Mr. Chiniquy presented the works of St. Thomas and St. Liguori to the Bishop, requesting him to say, under oath, if those works were or were not among the highest theological authorities in the Church of Rome, all over the world. After long and serious opposition on the part of the Bishop to answer, the Court having said he (the Bishop) was bound to answer, the Bishop confessed that those works were looked upon as among the highest authorities, and that they are taught and learned in all the colleges and universities of the Church of Rome as standard works.
Then the Bishop was requested to read in Latin and translate into English the following laws and fundamental principles of action against the heretics, as explained by St. Thomas and Liguori:—
The next document of the Church of Rome brought before the Court was the act of the Council of Lateran, A.D. 1215:—
"We excommunicate and anathematise
"If any temporal lord after having been admonished and required by the Church, shall neglect to clear his territory of heretical depravity, the Metropolitan and the Bishops of the province shall unite in excommunicating him. Should he remain contumacious a whole year, the fact shall be signified to the supreme Pontiff, who will declare his vassals released from their allegiance from that time, and will bestow his territory on Catholics, to be occupied by them, on the condition of exterminating the heretics and preserving the said territory in the faith.
"Catholics who shall assume the cross for the extermination of heretics shall enjoy the same indulgences and be protected by the same privileges as are granted to those who go to the help of the Holy Land. We decree further, that all who may have dealings with heretics, and especially such as receive, defend, or encourage them, shall be excommunicated. He shall not be eligible to any public office. He shall not be admitted as a witness. He shall neither have the power to bequeath his property by will, nor to succeed to any inheritance. He shall not bring any action against any person, but any one can bring action against him. Should he be a judge, his decision shall have no force, nor shall any cause be brought before him. Should he be an advocate, he shall not be allowed to plead. Should he be a lawyer, no instrument made by him shall be held valid, but shall be condemned with their author."
The Roman Catholic Bishop swore that these laws had never been repealed, and, of course, that they were still the laws of his Church. He had to swear that, every year, he was bound, under pain of eternal damnation, to say in the presence of God, and to read in his Brevarium (his prayer-book) that "God Himself had inspired" what St. Thomas had written about the manner in which the heretics shall be treated by the Roman Catholics.
I will abstain from making any remarks on these startling revelations of that Roman Catholic high authority. But I think it is the duty of every citizen to know what the Roman Catholic Bishops and Priests understand by liberty of conscience. The Roman Catholics are as interested as the Protestants to know precisely what the teachings of their Church are on that subject of liberty of conscience, and hear the exact truth, as coming from such a high authority that there is no room left for any doubt.
Coulls and Culling, Printers and Stationers, Rattray street, Dunedin.
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The Bible, the Bible Only, is the Religion of Protestants, Whatsover else They Believe beside, it and the Plain Irrefragable, Indubitable Consequences of it, Well May They Hold it as a Matter of Opinion. I Will Take No Man'S Libeety of Judgment from Him; Neither Shall Any Man Take Mine from Me."— Chillingworth.
"What Thebefore God Hath Joined Together, Let Not Man Put Asunder."
"By this Act We Declare All Persons to be Lawful That be Not Prohibited by God'S Law to Marry."
"Our Sovereign Lord, with Consent, &c., Has Statute and Ordained, the Holy Band of Marriage Made by All Estates and Sorts of Men and Women to be as Lawful and as Free As The Law Of God Has Permitted The Same To Be Done, Without Exception Of Person Or Persons."
Fact 1. Marriage with a wife's sister is expressly legislated for in Leviticus xviii. 18, and there the prohibition is strictly limited to the lifetime of the Wife.
Fact 2. The Jews, to whom, in their own language, the sacred oracles were given, have always understood this marriage to be permitted by Leviticus xviii. 18, and set a special mark of approbation on such unions, by allowing them to take place when there are young children, within a shorter interval after the death of the wife than in ordinary cases.
Fact 3. This marriage was never prohibited by the laws of any country in the world before the fourth century of the Christian era.
Fact 4. None of the six General Councils, held between A.D. 325 and A.D. 680, condemned this marriage.
Fact 5. During the first 500 years of the Christian era this marriage was condemned by only one Provincial Council, that of Eliberis in Spain, composed of 19 Bishops. This council also forbade tapers to be lighted in cemeteries in the daytime, that the spirits of the Saints might not be disturbed, and required Bishops, Priests, and Deacons to live apart from their wives!
Fact 6. The Roman Catholic Church does not regard this marriage as forbidden in Scripture.
Fact 7. Protestant Dissenters regard the prohibition of this marriage as unscriptural and inexpedient, the Deputies of the Three Denominations having repeatedly petitioned Parliament for its removal. Fact 8. This marriage may be lawfully celebrated in every country in the world except Great Britain and Ireland, and those British Colonies settled since J 835, the prohibition having been recently removed, or increased facilities granted, in one American, and thirty Continental States.
Fact 9. In Canada such marriages have been judicially declared valid.
Fact 10. At the Cape of Good Hope such marriages are valid if celebrated under dispensation from the Governor.
Fact 11. Neither in this nor in any other country has it been shown that the permission of this marriage has been attended with injurious consequences; but, on the contrary, its beneficial effects have been recognized by the most learned and religious men in the countries where it prevails.
Fact 12. This marriage was virtually permitted in this country before
Fact 14. The Act of
Fact 15. The Bench of Bishops on that occasion consented to legalize marriages with a deceased wife's sister previously celebrated—a measure to which it was impossible they should have assented had they believed the marriage contrary to the Word of God.
Fact 16. The Royal Commissioners on the Law of Marriage declare that the Act of
Fact 17. Thousands of such marriages have been contracted; they are found in every town and neighbourhood in the kingdom.
Fact 18. 102 cases of such marriages have been discovered to have existed in the united parishes of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster, contrary to the assertion publicly made that only two or three cases existed there.
Fact 19. Society, almost without exception, regards persons so united as rightly married, and worthy of respect, and in so doing condemns the law which declares their marriage void.
Fact 20. Twenty-six Spiritual Peers, including two Archbishops, have declared it to be their opinion that there is no Scriptural prohibition of these marriages.
Fact 21. Very many clergymen of the Church of England have declared their conviction of the Scriptural lawfulness of such marriages; more than 400 of the metropolitan clergy having petitioned for their legalization.
Fact 22. The House of Commons on 61 occasions (commencing with
Fact 23. Last August, Her Majesty's Government, after 6 refusals, gave the Royal assent to a Bill for legalizing such marriages, passed by the South Australian Legislature.
"Some persons contend that these marriages are forbidden expressly, or inferentially, by Scripture. If this opinion be admitted, cadit quæstio. But it does not appear from the evidence that this opinion is generally entertained.
"We do not find that the persons who contract these marriages, and the relations and friends who approve them, have a less strong sense than others of religious and moral obligation, or are marked by laxity of conduct." "These marriages will take place when a concurrence of circumstances gives rise to mutual attachment; they are not dependent on legislation."—Report signed by the Bishop of Lichfield, Mr. Stuart Wortley, Dr. Lushington, Mr. Blake, Mr. Justice Williams, and Lord Advocate Rutherford.
"I cannot bring myself to believe that the Divine law prohibits a man from marriage with a deceased wife's sister."
"Your friend can no more convince me of the inexpediency of the existing law, that he can kill a dead man, for I am convinced already. If ever this question comes on when I am in the House, I shall be prepared to speak and vote accordingly."
"Whether the question is considered in a religious, moral, or social point of view, such marriages are
Dr. Tait,
"It seems to me to be established and admitted, that the moral feeling of the community at large is not with this law,—that the law, in fact, is not obeyed, and that a great number of persons, not considering themselves to commit any moral offence, do contract marriages which the law prohibits. This is not a state of things which ought to exist; and not being of opinion that there is any moral objection to the contracting of these marriages, and believing that the law as it stands is the cause of a great deal of misery and social evil, especially among the middle and lower classes of the community, I shall with great pleasure give my vote to the motion."—Speech of Lord Palmerston.
"I must say that I have satisfied myself, that there is not any religious prohibition of these marriages." "I think that there is a great and practical evil which we cannot very well refrain from remedying. The evil is not among the upper classes of society; but there is no doubt, partly among the middle classes, and much more among the lower classes, a feeling that, after the death of the wife there is no person so fit to take care of the children as the beloved sister of that wife.." I think where persons feel that they can without scruple contract such marriages, that they should be allowed to do so."—Speech of Earl Russell.
"He felt bound to do what he could to assist the honourable member in charge of the Bill. For many years he had felt the pressure of this subject to be extreme. Among certain classes, the change proposed would not be without a disturbing effect on domestic
"He had never heard yet, and he felt satisfied that he never should hear, an argument such as an honest and learned lawyer could offer to a learned judge against the proposition of his honourable and learned friend the member for Marylebone" (Mr. Thomas Chambers). "An accumulated sense of the inconveniences arising from the present state of the law, and a knowledge of the grievous and fearful cases of injury and suffering arising from that law, made him feel he could not give a silent vote on that occasion, and that he ought to use any argument that occurred to him, with the hope of influencing some of those who heard him to give their votes for a final and satisfactory settlement of the question." "He had heard this question discussed many times in the society of women—women of cultivation, and admirable in their lives—and yet he must say that he never heard in that society any of those fearful vaticinations which he had heard from the opposition side of the House." "He held that personal freedom should be the great rule in these cases. Men and women were themselves the best judges, on the whole, of the matrimonial contracts they should make." "He asked the House to support the bill on grounds of common justice, as between the rich class and the poor."
"Within the meaning of Leviticus, and the constant practice of the commonwealth of the Jews, a man was prohibited not to marry his wife's sister only during her life; after he might—so the text is. This perhaps is a knot not easily untied, how the Levitical degrees are God's law in this kingdom, but not as they were in the commonwealth of Israel, when first given."—Chief Justice Vaughan, and all the other Judges of England (
"The existing law had its origin in an erroneous interpretation of a single passage; it had grown up in variance with every principle of civil and religious liberty; it had been made binding on the whole people, although one half of them protested against the interpretation of Scripture on which it had been based. Such a Statute ought, he contended, to be offered up on the altar of civil and religous liberty,"
"I will undertake to say that in no part of the civilized world is there to be found a more moral and intelligent people, especially in regard to the intercourse of the sexes, than are the people of the State of Massachusetts; and yet, my lords, in that State the marriages which the noble lord seeks to legalize are consistent with the law. They are not only legal, but they are of constant occurrence."—Speech of Lord Lyndhurst.
"No man hath power to contract against a Divine law; but if he have contracted against a human law, his contract is established by a Divine law, which is greater than the human."
"Nothing is more common in almost all the States of America than second marriages of this sort; and so far from being doubtful as to their moral tendency, they are among us deemed the very best sort of marriages. In my whole life I never heard the slightest suggestion against them, founded on moral or domestic considerations. Everything that I have read upon this subject, for the last 20 years, has satisfied me that the objection is utterly unscriptural and unfounded."
"The computation of degrees is not safe without limitation."—Elements of Civil Law
"If the Act (of
"Doubtless it was very gratifying to our national pride to be told that a higher standard of morals prevailed in this country than could be found elsewhere; but surely it could not be denied that the rules of chastity were as strictly observed in the North of Germany,
"As far as I can judge, I do not believe one syallable of the unlawfulness of this marriage under the Christian dispensation."
"Chafin, that hath married two sisters, upon his appeal from your grace and me, hangeth still before the delegates, and, as much as I can perceive, is not likely to take any great hurt at their hands. I would they would decree it were lawful to marry two sisters, so should the world be out of doubt, as now it is passed away in a mockery,"—Bishop Jewell, in a letter to Archbishop Parker, dated
"The (Mosaic) judicial law excludes in all its branches, more particularly in that which was then the subject of frequent discussion, the intermarriage of persons within the degrees of consanguinity. On this head he exposes the unwarranted addition to the Mosaic prohibitions which had been made in the case of cousins, brothers' widows," &c.—Life of Bishop Jeremy Taylor.
"I am decidedly in favour of a change in the Law regarding Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister. The argument against them from Scripture has always appeared to me to break down utterly. And my experience of social life, among the poor in a Northern town, leads me to lament the existence of any arbitrary hindrance to the legal union of two persons whose illegal union is the certain alternative."
"The view which he had heard taken in that House respecting the operation of Scripture, must after all be a mere matter of inference and construction, and, applying himself to that view of the subject, he should say that such marriages as the Bill was intended to legalize were not prohibited, but were tacitly permitted by the words of the chapter which had been so often quoted. He protested against the opinions exepressed by those who contended that there existed any Divine prohibition."—Speech against the Marriages Bill (
"I admit that a marriage with a wife's sister is not forbidden in Leviticus."
"The petition was probably entrusted to me in consequence of my having declared without hesitation that the marriage of a sister of a deceased wife was not prohibited by the Levitical Law."
"I shall only add, that all persons who voted for the Act of Parliament which legalized such marriages of that description as had taken place, nay, all who had an opportunity of opposing that Act, and did not oppose it, must be regarded as subscribing to the declaration that these marriages were not in opposition to the Word of God."
"I could not support the law as it now stands."
"I have no hesitation in saying that opionion in Scotland is coming round to your views (in favour of legalizing marriage with a deceased wife's sister) to a very remarkable extent. I have been speaking to many
"So far as the poor are concerned, I believe that an alteration of the present law is much to be desired."
"Believing, as he did, that Scripture, so far from prohibiting, sanctioned these marriages, it was a grievance of which the people might justly complain, that the law of the land was out of harmony with the revealed will of God."—Speech of Dr. Bickersteth.
"My lords, the vote which I shall give in support of the Bill before your lordships' house, will, I think, be in accordance with, and not in opposition to, the Levitical Law. I acknowledge that law to be binding. I hold as strongly as any one a belief in the inspiration of the Scriptures; but in saying that, I mean that there is not a word too much nor a word too little. Believing, then, that every word has its own important meaning, I would remark that the verse in Leviticus, which has been so often alluded to, contains these words, 'during her lifetime.' My impression is that these are qualifying words; that they imply a prohibition to take a wife's sister as a wife during the wife's lifetime, to vex her—but that, the wife being dead, the prohibition was removed—that the marrying a wife's sister on the death of the wife is thus virtually pronounced to be directly lawful."—Speech of Dr. Villiers.
"These marriages are not contrary to the Divine command. The Scriptural argument against them seems to me to break down at every step. In proportion as, by our prohibitions, we multiply the opportunities of temptation, and prevent the enjoyment of any seeming advantage, not evil in itself, in
"As it is now admitted by the ripest scholars and most accurate critics, that there is not the slightest prohibition in the Scriptures against the marriage with a deceased wife's sister, I consider the legal restriction to be most unjust and injurious, producing the deepest social evils."
"I willingly subscribe the opinion already given on the subject by my respected Metropolitan, the Archbishop of Dublin."—(See ante, page 10.)
"But has it never occurred to you, my dear Wynn, that this law is an abominable relic of ecclesiastical tyranny? Of all second marriages I have no hesitation in saying that these are the most suitable, and likely to be the most frequent, if the law did not sometimes prevent them. It is quite monstrous, judges and lawyers speaking as they have done of late, upon this subject."
"I have never heard upon what principle of policy the law was made prohibiting the marriage of a man with his wife's sister, nor have I ever been able to conjecture any political inconvenience that might have been found in such marriages, or to conceive of any moral turpitude in them."
"Again, suppose a man had married a virtuous woman, every way fit for him, with whom he lived happily till it pleased God to take her off by death, leaving him a widower with young children, and his circumstances such as made it fit for him to marry again; and his deceased wife had a maiden sister
"No man has examined this subject more diligently than Fry, the author of a pamphlet which you justly commend, and you see my opinion perfectly coincides with his."
"This (Fry's) is the best tract I ever read on this subject. I suppose the best that is extant."
"I think the Scriptural criticisms of Mr. Fry well founded, and his reasoning invincible."
"Do you construe that passage in Leviticus (xviii. 18) as prohibiting marriage with a deceased wife's sister, or merely as saying that a man should not take two wives together, at the same time, being so related?" "Certainly, that verse appears to have the latter meaning, that two sisters should not be living together in the same house, as wives of the same person." .... "Is such a marriage held by your Church as prohibited in Scripture?" Certainly not. It is considered a matter of ecclesiastical legislation."
"It is not only not considered as prohibited, but it is distinctly understood to be permitted; and on this point neither the Divine law, nor the Rabbis, nor historical Judaism, leaves room for the least doubt—I can only reiterate my former assertions that all sophistry must split on the clear and unequivocal
in her lifetime."—Evidence of Dr. Alder, the Chief Rabbi of the Jews in the British Dominions.
"Against such a connection as that which your friend projects, there is nothing in nature, nothing in grace, Such marriages are frequently formed, and, in common life, I have never heard of any of them being disturbed. There are two or three of the travelling preachers who have married in such circumstances, one lately, where the preceding sister has left a large family."
"That the enactments of the Levitical law are entirely misrepresented when applied in condemnation of marriage with a deceased wife's sister, was the decided judgment of Mr. Wesley, the founder of our Societies; and I believe that similar views have since been entertained by many of those among us who have been led by circumstances carefully to examine the matter, and whose competency to judge of such a question has given great weight to their conclusion."
"Without pursuing the subject further, I shall give it as my opinion that the marriage in question is not against either nature or the law of God."
"Such marriage (with a deceased wife's sister) is not only in itself perfectly allowable, but may often be the best which an individual may contract."—Resolution of the Board.
"In the judgment of the Board, the marriage of a widower with the sister of his deceased wife is Scripturally lawful, and ought not to be prohibited by human legislation."—Resolution of the Board of Baptist ministers in London and Westminster.
"I am truly glad to find that my opinion on the subject of the Marriage Bill agrees with that of the most respectable body in whose name you write."—Letter to the Secretary of the Board of Baptist Ministers.
"In verse 18 of Lev. xviii., the prohibition is only against marrying the wife's sister during the lifetime of the first wife, which of itself implies the liberty to marry the sister after her death."
"Is the marriage of a widower with his late wife's sister within the 'prohibited degrees?' in all frankness and honesty I am bound to answer—No. It is interdicted neither by express veto, nor yet by implication. Canonical austerity is not to be identified with moral purity or matrimonial fidelity."—Rev. Dr. Eadie, Professor of Biblical Literature to the United Presbyterian Church, Scotland.
"Je m'impresse de vous informer, pour repondre à votre désir, que l'éxperience faite en France doit être considérée comme favorable, et que la loi qui autorise ces marriages, appliquée avec discrétion, produit de bons effets."—M. Delangle, Gard des Sceaux, Ministre de la Justice, Paris.
"He had given his best attention to the arguments adduced, to show that there was a Divine prohibition against these marriages, but he was satisfied in his mind that no such prohibition existed." ..." Then came the question as to the effects of this measure upon society, and he thought that the great preponderance of arguments, and facts upon which arguments were grounded, were in favour of the alteration of this law."—Speech of Sir George Grey.
"The present state of the law is fruitful of immorality and demoralization amongst the lower classes, and of suffering and cruel hardship to parents and to children in every class; and it will surely be admitted, that it is the duty of the legislature to apply some remedy to an evil which, as the Commissioners state, is not only already great in itself, but is daily increasing in magnitude."—Speech of Rt. Hon. James Stuart Wortley.
"I shall endeavour to show that the marriages it is sought to legalize are not forbidden by the Word of God; that they are not contrary to the laws of nature, and that they are not inconsistent with the interests of society."—Speech of Earl St. Germans.
"Among the poorer classes it cannot be denied that the law causes great immorality and unhappiness."—Speech of Lord Wodehouse (Earl Kimberly.)
"If the founders of our Church have incautiously adopted a canon prohibiting that which of its own mere authority it had no right to prohibit, and which Scripture does not warrant it in prohibiting, now that the evil has become apparent, it is surely time for that Church to rescind such canon, and to cease opposition to the repeal of any secular law founded upon it."—Speech of Viscount Gage.
"Upon the whole, looking at the law, the practice of foreign countries, and the unwillingness which prevailed in this country to submit to the present law, he should give his cordial assent to the second reading of the Bill."—Speech of Right Hon. Sir G. Cornewall Lewis, M.P.
"In
"That our Established Church should select one point of the canon law, and establish an arbitrary limit without giving any power of dispensation, was, he was sorry to say, a very great tyranny, and one which he felt convinced that the true principles of 'the Church of England did not sanction."—Speech of Lord Houghton.
"The passage (Lev. xviii. 18) requires no aid from a canon. It is so clear and distinct, as to leave no doubt on my mind respecting the divine permission to contract these marriages." "I shall vote for this bill, because I consider it calculated to prevent a vast degree of immorality among the poor; and because I hold the prohibition of such marriages to be a flagrant violation of the rights of conscience."—Speech of the Earl of Albemarle.
"We who support this bill do not think that the marriage of a deceased wife's sister is opposed to the law of God, and we do think that it is as wrong to restrict that which God permits as to grant dispensation for that which God forbids."—Speech of Viscount Lifford.
"Many years ago I examined, as I thought, fully, the question of marriage with a deceased wife's sister; and I came to a clear conclusion that there is no sufficient force in the objections which are commonly urged against such marriages. I have never seen cause to change my opinion, and I should be glad to see the law repealed which now prohibits such marriages."—Extract of a letter from the Eight Rev. the Bishop of Worcester.
"Seeing that it was not against the law of God—seeing the great social evils which arose from the, restriction, and believing that there was no comparison between the social advantages and the social disadvantages arising from this cause, he should give the measure his cheerful assent."—Speech of the late Duke of Norfolk (when Lord Arundel and Surrey).
..." Socially speaking, if a case was made out that morality would be endangered by the bill, that would be a reason for rejecting it; but he had not heard it established that such danger could arise. Marriage being a civil rite, they were bound to make that civil rite co-extensive with the feelings of the country. He had, therefore, come to the conclusion that it was his duty to support the second reading of the bill."—Speech of the Hon. Sidney Herbert, M.P.
"The Petition from the City of London, in favour of this marriage, was signed by a large number of persons, and amongst others by the Lord Mayor, the Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England, and a considerable number of the Directors of that establishment; 59 private bankers; by the Chamberlain of the Ciry of London; by 287 merchants, 146 solicitors, 124 barristers, and 61 physicians. It was his good fortune to be acquainted with a large
"After all the consideration he had been able to give the question, his conclusion was, that in no sense could the marriages proposed to be sanctioned by this Bill be said to be opposed to Scripture."—Speech of Rt. Hon. T. E. Headlam, M.P.
"He denied the right of the legislature to infringe upon the conscience of any individual whatever, with respect to those natural rights of which marriage was, of all others, the foremost and most necessary. The right of marriage was given by Providence, and it was not for man to impose restrictions upon it." Speech of Dr. Lushington, M.P.
"I have an amendment to move to the second clause; it is, 'That there be excepted from the operation of the Bill cases of marriage with the sister of a deceased wife where there is a child or children under 12 years of age.' There can be no doubt that there are many cases in which it may be of essential importance both to the father and the children that such a marriage should be permitted."—Speech of J. P. Plumptre, Esq., M.P.,
"He was sincerely favourable to the object of the Marriages Bill."—Speech of the Earl of Ellenborough.
"Such marriages, I apprehend, are nearly as frequent as the circumstances which usually give
"I know of no social disadvantages attending such marriages. The apprehensions expressed in England on this head are entirely dissipated by our experience."
"I am not one of those who hold that such marriages are forbidden by Scripture—and I am not aware that any special disadvantages, social or domestic, have resulted from them."
"From all I have been able to learn on the question, 'whether a man may marry a deceased wife's sister,' my opinion is, that neither does Holy Scripture anywhere forbid it, nor ever did the Jews."-Rev. Dr. Lee, late Professor of Hebrew in the University of Cambridge.
"Are marriages of this description considered in Germany to be all contra bonos mores?" "Not at all. So far from their being considered contra bonos mores, the feeling of the people of Germany is undoubtedly in favour of such marriages." "It frequently happens that a widower marries his deceased wife's sister out of a pious and affectionate feeling for his departed wife. And the feelings of the women of Germany are so strong in favour of such marriages, that it often occurs that the last parting request by a wife on her death-bed to her husband is, to marry her sister in case he should feel inclined to marry again."—Evidence of A. Bach, Esq.
"I believe all restrictions upon the nuptial union, unless founded upon the law of nature, or the express authority of Scripture, unwise and unjust; in neither of which sources have I found this interdict of marriage with the sister of a deceased wife."—John Quincy Adams, late President of the United States.
"I have perused, with much pleasure, your letters on the marriage of a man with the sister of a deceased wife, which not only confirm me in the opinion which I had long entertained, but must, methinks, satisfy every candid mind, that there is not even a pretence for the assertion that such a connexion is prohibited by the law of God."
"The very strongest reason for engaging in a second marriage contract is frequently to provide a suitable female head for a family of small children. In such cases, who is so likely to exercise the requisite maternal care and affection as the sister of the deceased mother? To prohibit a marriage under such circumstances seems to me inhuman."
"People in general do not consider such marriages improper. They cannot be proved to be improper by Scripture. The question is, therefore, one of expediency, and my experience as a parochial minister induces me to think the measure expedient."
"Had the intention of the lawgivers been to prohibit the marriage of a wife's sister altogether, even human wisdom would never have taken a course so sure to
"It appears to me, therefore, that first, as Scripture shows that there is nothing immoral in such a connexion; and, secondly, as it is obvious that much evil would be prevented, many poor children saved from misery and ruin by having that person over them who, in a majority of instances, would be the next best substitute for a mother, my own mind is led to believe that the law of man ought to tally in this respect with the law of God."
"Were the prohibition founded on Scripture, we ought, at whatever sacrifice, to obey God rather than man; but I cannot see the expediency of a law which, having no such sanction, is observed only by the scrupulous, evaded by the wealthy, and defied or disregarded by the poor."
"He asked them to reflect that the parting request of many a dying wife was that the man should marry her sister, which was the best testimony to the feeling of woman in this matter. Such marriages were not repugnant to nature nor to Scripture: and if they did but look calmly at these facts, sure he was that the day was not far distant when the obnoxious law would be repealed."—Speech of the Rev. J. C. Miller, D.D.
"My opinion of the law has long been that it is an impolitic restriction.
"The Scriptures should he the rule of life as well as of faith, and as I can find nothing that militates against such marriages, I feel bound to oppose any proposition that interferes with the liberty of the subject."—Rev. Sir Erasmus Williams, Bart., M.A., Chancellor of St. David's.
"My opinion is certainly in favour of the relaxation of the law prohibiting the marriage of a widower to his late wife's sister."
"If this marriage be lawful in the sight of God, then I go upon the broad ground that, in such a case, no man has a right to impose a restriction on his fellow-man which God has not imposed; that the doing so can only bring a snare upon the conscience, and be the occasion of sin; and that no sanction of human law can be expected ultimately to succeed in enforcing what a man feels is no transgression of the law of God." . . . "That it is lawful, according to the Word of God, I consider incontrovertibly proved by the passages in Leviticus, of which I feel sure I have established the only correct translation."
"I certainly have a strong opinion against the Act which forbids the marriage with a deceased wife's sister, and have no objection to put my sentiments on paper for you to make any use of, that you think proper."—Rev. J. H. Gurney, Hon. Canon of St. Paul's, and Rector of St. Mary's, Marylebone.
"You are understood to state that you are of opinion that so far as the interpretation of Scripture goes, either in the Mosaic or Christian dispensation, there
"That Leviticus, neither by implication nor by parity of reason, forbids marriage with the sister of a deceased wife is, however, conclusively shown in verse 18. 'Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, besides the other in her lifetime.' This sanctions marriage with the sister-in-law, after the death of the wife."—Rev. H. F. Bacon, M.A., Vicar of Castletown, Derbyshire.
"The three grounds upon which the petition proceeded were in perfect accordance with his own convictions—first, that such marriage was not forbidden by the Word of God; second, that there was no consanguinity or blood-relationship existing between the parties; and third, that such a marriage was wholly unobjectionable on moral considerations."—Speech of Rev. J. B. Owen, M.A.
"I speak advisedly when I say that I come here prepared to offer my opinion, that, theologically, it is correct that such marriages should take place; and I see no ground whatsoever on account of which such marriages may not be legalized."—Evidence of Rev. J. Hatchard, M.A.
"I express my conviction that Scripture says not one word against marriage with a deceased wife's sister. Surely it is not a crime, and, if it be not, the law that constitutes it so must be, for the worst of all crimes is an evil and unjust law."
"The prohibition of such, marriages is, in my judgment, sanctioned neither by Scripture, nor by physiology, nor by expediency."
"He frankly confessed that if he were founding a new Republic he might not be disinclined to legalize marriage with a deceased wife's sister."—Speech of Lord R. Cecil (Marquis of Salisbury) against the Marriages Bill.
"I am rejoiced to find that your decision on the subject of marriage with a deceased wife's sister is, that it is not forbidden by the Word of God, and that the passage in Leviticus is to be taken in what appears to me to be its plain and natural sense."
"My lords, I rise to present petitions from the city of Canterbury and other places, in favour of legalizing marriages with a deceased wife's sister. The prayer of the petitions is one which I cordially support."—Speech of Viscount Sydney.
"I have a very strong opinion of the expediency of amending the law of marriage.
"While no evils would attend the legalization of such marriages, the evils of prohibiting them were very great. It must be an inconvenience where the law was inoperative and ineffectual, where it was disregarded not merely by those who were in a state of moral antagonism to all laws, but by men who conscientiously held that marriage was a Divine institution, and that they had no right to fetter it by a number of arbitrary restrictions."—Speech of Sir R. P. Collier, M.P.
"I think it wrongly decided that a marriage with a deceased wife's sister is within the prohibited degrees and that if the question were res integra it would not be so decided now."
"I concur in the prayer of the petition from Liverpool, in favour of legalizing marriage with a deceased wife's sister, and whenever the subject is brought before Parliament I shall be prepared to support the views of the petitioners with my vote."
"The injunction when polygamy was permitted, which forbade a man to have two sisters at once, has been construed, under the Christian laws, to apply equally to the case of a man marrying the sister of a deceased wife. The law itself, however, is so plain that it is difficult to conceive how its true object could have been thus misinterpreted. It may be safely said that such an idea would never have occurred in the East, where the Mosaic marriage law had its origin."
"The doctrine in the former chapter concerning the personal unity of man and wife (by which every one must perceive many marriages forbidden which not only the Talmudists but all the rest of the world permit) was so displeasing to the more modern Karaites, that they absolutely rejected it as altogether futile, and not accordant with Scripture nor admissible."—Uxor Hebraica, Lib. 1. c. iv.
"My lords, in the marriage of a husband with his deceased wife's sister, first of all, clearly there is no blood relationship, and, in the next place, who on earth is more likely to make the children of the deceased wife a better, a more proper, a more careful
"I am prepared to give my vote in favour of the proposed alteration of the law of marriage whenever the question is brought practically before the House of Lords."
"There was a growing conviction that these marriages were not contrary to the Divine law, and he trusted the day was not far distant when their lordships, in their wisdom and justice, would consider that the persons who contracted these marriages should not be treated by the civil law as transgressors, and that their children should not be visited with civil disabilities."—Speech of Lord Clarendon.
"Mr. Anderson denied that there existed in Scotland the strong and general aversion for those marriages which was alleged to exist."—Speech on Marriages Bill,
"Having satisfied myself that it is a mere social question, and that the balance of advantage is in favour of the marriage, I feel bound to give my vote in favour of this measure."
"Every unnecessary restriction which affected particular classes of persons in regard to such an object as marriage, ought surely to be done away."—Speech of Lord Lansdowne.
"As the Scriptures leave it unrestricted, I am inclined to think that the marriage in question is on social grounds desirable, and ought not to be prohibited by human laws. What God permits to be 'joined together,' let not men 'put asunder.' "
"The evils resulting from the present unscriptural prohibition of marriage with a deceased wife's sister are just what might be expected to result from any legislation which is based upon the theories of man rather than upon the word of God."
"On the whole, I feel persuaded that the time connot be far distant when the anomaly will be removed of England being the only country in Europe in which marriage with a deceased wife's sister is forbidden by law."
"Moses forbiddeth not a man, when his wife is dead, to marry her sister."
"I have read, with great attention, the pamphlets you were so good as to send me, on the marriage question, and I cannot conceive how any intelligent and right-minded person can resist the force of the arguments they contain. I consider it clear that the Old Testament directly permits marriage with a deceased's wife's sister."
"I fully accord with Dr. M'Caul in his criticisms." "It is futile to set aside the definite permission given in the Word of God (Lev. xviii. 18) by considerations drawn from analogy, whether scriptural or un-
"Elizabeth received the offer of Philip's hand, qualified as it was, in the most gracious manner. She told the Ambassador, indeed, that in a matter of this kind she could take no step without consulting her Parliament. But his master might rest assured that, should she be induced to marry, there was no man she should prefer to him."—Prescott's Philip II.
"I can find nothing in Scripture prohibiting marriage with a deceased wife's sister. At the same time 1 feel that conformity to the Word of God is always and in all circumstances the highest expediency."
"And the Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel, and like Leah, which two did build the House of Israel,"—
"Who, leaving their country, and following Jacob, as now Ruth had done, lived comfortably and lovingly together, and by bearing many children, multiplied Jacob's posperity and the Church of God."
The plain and obvious meaning of the 18th verse (of Lev. xviii.) allows the marriage with a wife's sister after the death of the wife. It only remains for us to express the satisfaction with which we have learned that friends in many of our meetings have concluded to petition the Legislature for the repeal of what we cannot but consider an unauthorised restriction of the law of marriage."—The Friend,
"There is no law forbidding such marriages in the State of Massachusetts; and, other things being equal, they are regarded with favour. I have never heard of any disadvantages attending, or supposed to attend, them; and I make this remark in reference to the apprehensions which, as I perceive from the public discussions, prevail in England."—Hon. Edward Everett, late American Ambassador to Great Britain.
"Such marriages, in Brazil, are as frequent as they can be. They inspire no repugnance, but, on the contrary, are considered extremely advantageous where there are children of the former marriage; for it is always to be presumed that the aunt who already knows the children of her brother-in-law, and is connected by the ties of relationship, will prove a better mother to them than a stepmother, who is an entire stranger to them, can possibly be."—His Excellency the Brazilian Ambassador.
"In Sardinia, when any one desires it, and has got the authorization of the Pope, it is considered just as good as any other marriage."—His Excellency the Marquis d'Azeglio, the Sardinian Ambassador.
"There was no prohibition of the wife's sister, except during the lifetime of the wife."—Rev. Professor Robinson, New York, Author of "Researches in Palestine.
"The generality of the people of this province do not conceive such marriages (apart from their being contrary to the law of the land) as irreligious or
"I have generally found the opinion of those with whom I have conversed on the subject to be, that the restriction alluded to is neither Scriptural nor expedient."—Very Rev. G. F. Pownall, Dean of Perth.
"The civil law of Prussia accords full liberty to the marriage of a man with the sister of his deceased wife. Such marriages are by no means rare. Experience does not show that in their consequences they differ essentially from other marriages."—Royal Prussian Consistory, Prussian Saxony.
"Public opinion in our country is entirely in favour of Such marriages, and when very lately this subject underwent discussion in both our Chambers, all our six dignitaries of the Protestant Evangelical Church, as well as the two of the Roman Catholic Church, pronounced themselves in its favour; nor were there any voices raised by the strictly religious of our community (of which, thank God, there are many) against it,"
"From various considerations, such marriages here have become very common. So far are such marriages from being opposed to public opinion, that people are, on the contrary, inclined to consider them both natural and desirable. We express our conviction that there ought to exist perfect liberty between widowers and the sisters of their late wives to contract such marriage."—Ducal Saxe-Coburg, Ministry in Council.
"Marriages with the sister of a deceased wife are not rare in Saxony, and occur most frequently among the labouring classes and the agricultural population, where, mostly, the support of such near relations of the survivors precedes marriage. Public opinion, for a very long time past, takes no umbrage at such marriages, which often have their foundation in a wish expressed by the deceased wife, upon the deathbed, that her sister should be a careful mother to the children she leaves behind; and when such purposes are fulfilled, these marriages enjoy a general approval."—Kingdom of Saxony; Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public Education.
"Those marriages have exhibited no evil consequences upon domestic life and matrimonial happiness; but, on the contrary, it must be acknowledged as a very beneficial consequence of such marriages, that children of a first marriage receive thus a truly maternal, and not step-motherly, treatment, care, and attention. Public opinion is favourable, rather than unfavourable, to such marriages."—Clergy and University of Heidelberg.
"These marriages were formerly permitted only by dispensation; but by a law of
"Public opinion in the country of Weimar, and in the "whole of Thuringia, regards such a marriage as unobjectionable, and only aims at abolishing the necessity for asking permission in each individual case, and at the introduction of perfect liberty in such matters. That the same may be obtained in England, the land of liberty and order, based upon a respect for the laws, is our sincere wish,"—Clergy and University of the Grand Duchy of Weimar.
"Public opinion, which feels no scruples of any kind as to such marriages, approves of them most particularly when there are young children of a first marriage, as giving them in the sister of their late mother a second loving mother. The permission of such marriages has, with us, been productive in no way of evil consequences."—Consistory Court of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Strelitz.
"Having again carefully examined the question, and consulted some of the highest authorities in Hebrew literature as to the meaning of the Scripture passages, I am confirmed in the opinion formerly expressed, that marriage with a deceased wife's sister is not only not prohibited, 'either expressly or by implication,' but that, according to Leviticus xviii. 18 (concerning the translation of which there is not the least uncertainty), such marriage is plainly allowed, I confess that when I entered upon this inquiry I had not an idea that the case of those who wish a change in the present marriage law was so strong. I had thought that the opinions of grave and learned students of the Bible were more equally divided, and that, as authorities were pretty evenly balanced, they who had contracted such marriages mut bear the inconveniences arising from doubtful interpretation. But I do not think so now. Confirmed by the testimony
"I altogether deny the assertion that to legalize marriage with the sister of a deceased wife would injuriously alter the moral tone, relations, and comforts of domestic life, as regards sisters-in-law. Such a statement is a libel on English domestic purity—a slander, and nothing else—for which there is not the slightest foundation. It ought to be met with a peremptory and indignant denial."
"The grievance of the present state of the law surely deserves to be remedied. The best subjects are those who suffer most." "It is among the poor that these marriages principally occur, amongst whom they are the greatest blessing in a time of sorrow and domestic bereavement. The House of Commons, representing now the whole of the people more completely than it has ever yet done, has a right to speak in the name of the poor as it has never spoken before on this subject."
G. Hill, Steam Printer, Westminster Bridge Road.
It is only necessary that the writer should explain that, in the following pages, he has merely expanded the notes of a lecture which he had prepared upon the subject. He has done so in much haste, and, he is well aware, very imperfectly, in consequence of his going to a distance. He trusts, however, that at this important juncture, such an important question will receive the careful attention it deserves. His brethren of the press, as well as the public, he hopes, will appreciate the motives which alone animate him in assuming a position of so much prominence, for they are none other than the welfare of the country.
Mr. President and Gentlemen,—I propose on this occasion to enter upon a brief exposition of the principles underlying a truly protective policy. Difficulties, I am well aware, we shall have to encounter, but trust however formidable they may appear at the outset, they will be found to melt away as we proceed with the discussion. I will endea vour to confine myself as much as possible to general principles, such as may be dealt with upon something approaching to a scientific basis, and formulated into something approaching to an economic theory. Such a definition of a protective policy should therefore be equally applicable to any new country, emerging from the purely pastoral to the agricultural and manufacturing state. In this colony I venture to say, moreover, that many causes contribute to elevate this question into one, both of much urgency and of great importance, and the time seems specially opportune for such a discussion.
At the very outset, permit me to say, that I have no sympathy whatever with the extreme views of the ultra-protectionist school, and I am persuaded that much mischief and no good can arise from such ill-judged advocacy, We should endeavour to let daylight in upon the subject; to promote enquiry; to disarm hostility; and above all things, "let our moderation appear unto all men."
In endeavouring to establish a scientific basis for a protective policy, we are cast very much upon our own resources. The great masters of political economy are held, by those whose appeal to au thority on this as on so many other questions, to be against us. Our position is assailed and sometimes thought to be demolished by such appeals. But, Sir, those great writers wrote under circumstances, and in a condition of things, with which we have little in common. Political economy is not, moreover, an exact science. "What may be true for any particular period or in any given conditions, may not be true for all time, and probably will not be true in a condition of things having neither analogy nor parallel. At this end of the earth, many problems are presented to us, which can never be solved by any such appeals to authority. They are, such as we ourselves must resolutely endeavour to solve, and a protective policy is one of these. We are in the position of the architect who visits some ancient ruins, he may discover much that may be eminently suggestive—here an entablature chipped and broken—there the fragments of some splendid capitol—here a broken column, there an arch in ruins. The finished structure must, however, be evolved out of his own
Before proceeding further, it will be necessary to enquire, what is free trade? What do we understand by a phrase so common? Let us survey the world as it ought to be. How vast and multiplied are its productions, all contributing to the necessities and luxuries of man kind. Nature, how beneficent; the gratuitous gifts of the bountiful Creator everywhere free! The air we breathe, the glad sunshine, the rain descending on the just and on the unjust! Man cannot fetter such universal benefactions. The bounteous earth too bringing forth her stores in rich abundance, and in such infinite variety; the tropical regions pouring forth their choicest luxuries to enrich the inhabitants of colder climes; the north stretching forth her hands to the south, the south reciprocating such unfettered interchanges. The oceans' highway everywhere free to the commerce of the world, the remotest regions freely interchanging their natural productions. A beautiful picture! That is free trade. What a grand and beneficent interchange of the world's productions, commerce running too and fro on the earth and ocean, as freely as you visit your neighbour in the next street or your friend in a neighbouring city. That is probably what is meant by free trade. Some such magnificent panorama floats before the imaginations of her enraptured disciples; but do we pos ses it? Again, survey the world as it is, and what do we discover? That modern invention, the custom-house everywhere; free trade nowhere. Great Britain affords, we are told, a noble example of free trade. Strange, anomaly however, she extracts over forty millions annually, by means of customs duties, out of the pockets of the people. A coast-guardsinan maintains his solitary watch at each mile of her coast; her cruisers everywhere; no thoroughfare" written in great letters over every port, and at the mouth of every river. Is this our boasted free trade?
We are told, however, that customs duties are imperative; her Majesty's Government must be earned on; and at this point we approach the question of a protective policy. The free-trader, you will observe, consents to such a violation of his principles for purposes of revenue for it is palpable that every restriction upon commerce is an infraction of the principles of free trade, pure and simple. Ac cepting then this violation of free trade principles as an inexorable necessity of State, we proceed to enquire what are the fundamental prin ciples involved in levying taxation for purposes of revenue exclusively. Such commodities are selected as (i.) inflict the least inconvenience upon trade and commerce; (ii.) are least liable to evasion, fraud, or
Well then, Sir, it being conceded that taxation for purposes of revenue is a necessity; and that for moral purposes and, for the purpose of reaching luxuries, some departures from the fundamental conditions, which ought to be regarded by the financier in imposing taxation for such a purpose are justifiable, wo advocate the inclusion of local industries and manufactures among the latter. Permit me here to point out, also, that for no reason whatever, except the liability of our legislators to blunder, such fundamental conditions as I have alluded to are almost universally disregarded; and, even for revenue purposes, a multitude of goods are included in the tariff of all the colonies which in no sense fulfil such elementary conditions.
I now proceed to state what are the fundamental principles to be regarded in any fiscal policy, which recognises the importance of encouraging local industry. They are:—
1st. The exemption from duties of raw materials entering into all local manufactures, and any part or parts of the manufactured article entering into the completely manufactured article. On the face of it, this is a purely free trade principle, yet, nevertheless, it is being constantly invaded. Confining myself exclusively to general principles, and purposely avoiding details, I merely remark that anyone with any knowledge of the subject will at once discover that colonial tariffs almost universally ignore such an important principle. Many industries which might be flourishing, have languished, or altogether vanished, in consequence of including a host of articles coming under this head in such tariffs for no conceivable reason, except the mistakes of colonial financiers, who thus invade a most important and fundamental principle common alike to a free trade and protective policy, and traceable to no policy whatever. The principle conceded, that it matters nothing to the tax-payer, per se what goods are selected for revenue purposes; let us have free trade in every commodity, entering into our local manufactures, and how immensely such remissions would benefit a host of industries, increasing production and competition, and consequently cheapening all such commodities to the consumer.
And, Sir, the 2nd proposition which we take up as fundamental in dealing with a protective policy, and by far the most
The financier, in levying duties for protective purposes, has thus two well-defined principles to guide him in the operation. About the first, there can be no question. About the second, we who profess protective principles, are, I trust, equally agreed. The financier in framing his tariff, aided by local knowledge of our manufacturing industries, will discover that there are a vast multitude of commodities which already fulfil the latter condition. He will be amazed probably at the extent, the quality and cheapness of a multitude of manufactures already being established in spite of clumsy and indiscriminating legislation, and he can have no difficulty in applying such a test in every instance in which it is sought to include any manufacture in the protected list. He will discover also that such a manipulation of colonial tariffs, even in those colonies which have made the greatest progress in manufacturing industries, will only touch one fifth of the revenue from customs. It can never therefore, be very embarrassing, and as the process of substituting local industries is necessarily a matter of time, he can rely upon such increased duties producing at least no less during the first year, notwithstanding that importations will be largely diminished. With such data as a single year's operations afford, he need fear no financial disturbance, for he can easily compensate the revenue by selecting some other commodities for revenue, or increasing the amount of duty upon such commodities as obviously best fulfil the conditions upon which all duties for revenue purposes should be raised. It is surely clear to you, Sir, that on the one hand the people pay no more by way of taxation, the revenue gets no less, and such a solution of the problem of a protective policy, as applied to new countries, is as free from objection to the financier who must provide ways and means to carry on Her Majesty's Government, as to the public at large
3rd. There is still another condition to which I desire briefly to allude before leaving this part of my subject. It is the protection of such commodities as afford some prospect of being successfully introduced among ourselves, but have not yet fulfilled, and may never indeed fulfil, the condition of value as compared with the imported article. Much of course may be said in any young country with considerable reason in favor of such a proposition. I myself have never insisted upon it however. If the articles coming under this denomination take the place of imported goods, which are cither cheaper or better, you at once involve a protective policy in the whirlpool of objections from which I have sought to deliver it. And, after all, if carefully considered, the number and value of such productions are of small importance compared with the vast multitude of manufactures comprised in the other definitions, which alone I regard as fundamental in dealing with a protective policy. There is imminent peril of going too far by a single hair's breadth, and I venture to say the more you ponder the matter, the firmer will be-
It now becomes necessary that we still further define our position, and it will be found, I think, that the commodities which we touch by our proposals can be conveniently ranged under one or other of the following divisions:
In the practical application of a protective policy, difficulties, if any, should now present themselves. If, however, the two principles upon which I have already laid such stress are kept carefully in view, difficulties will vanish. They afford a test of easy and prompt application, and I venture to say will meet every conceivable case. Those commodities coming under the first division are obviously woolens, blankets, clothing, boots, leather, saddlery, woodware, candles, doors, paper and other manufactures, the raw materials of which we produce in abundance and of great excellency. These are our wools, hides, tallow, timber, flax, and other natural productions. I hold, therefore, as an axiom in dealing with a protective policy that all such local manufactures as fulfil the one conditon of value should be rigidly protected. What are they? It would be in vain for me to attempt to answer such a question,—but whatever they are, so long as they fulfil this condition they may claim to be placed upon the protected list.
Of the second class, the raw materials of which we import, or any manufactured parts of which we import, entering into the completely manufactured article, there surely need be no difficulty either. Here we reverse the policy, and while laying duties upon the completely manufactured articles, admit the raw material as well as any manufactured parts which we do not ourselves manufacture entering into the completely manufactured article, duty free. Of the latter their name is legion. There axe an infinite variety of such specialities entering into almost all
The two remaining divisions call for little explanation. Nevertheless if the foregoing general principles are of any value they should be capable of easy application here likewise. Of raw materials which we produce—our wool, hides, tallow, timber, coals, hops, chicory, grain and some others—some at least are such as require no fiscal measures to preventtheir being interfered with injuriously. Others again—timbor and coals for instance—may fairly claim to come under the operation of such a policy as I am expounding. As I said before, if our principles are sound they are of universal application, and it follows that if timber or coals or any other local productions fulfil the condition of value, no harm but much good may result from a duty placed upon such commodities coming from abroad. The whole controversy hinges upon the one word value. That once settled, what can it matter to the consumer what duties are levied upon timber or coals or other articles coming from abroad so long as those substituted locally are as good and cheap. The importance to the country, however, of such a fiscal policy in accelerating the development of our own productions, the accumulation of local wealth, and in widening the area of our labour supply and consequently increasing the circulation of the wages of labour, and of skilled labour (so much more valuable than unskilled) can hardly be overestimated.
Of the raw materials, which we do not produce, encoring into our manufacturing industries, such as iron, tin, sugar, and other lines, these of course should come in free. A difficulty may present itself in the matter of sugar; an article winch has always been held as specially within easy reach of the financier for the purpose of taxation, but even in such a case a drawback should be allowed in this as in every case where dutiable goods are employed bond fide for manufacturing purposes. It will follow, moreover, that as local development progresses that oven iron, or tin, or sugar, may come to be reckoned among colonial productions, and fulfilling the one condition of value may claim to be brought under the operation of a protective policy. There is no finality in such a process. We recognise only one dominating principle operating in this and the generations that will come after us, until the plentiful resources of this grand
And now, Sir, I will endeavour to deal with some of the more prominent objections so persistently urged againt the adoption of such a fiscal policy. The most prominent is, that we tax one portion of the community for the benefit of another, the public at large to enrich a few favoured producers. That such an objection should survive is a palpable evidence of the widespread misapprehension of our principles. To those acquainted with the results of such a protective system in other countries it can have no force whatever. In America, for instance, her own manufactures have entered very largely into universal consumption; and writers of undoubted authority are unanimous in their testimony to the fact that such protected goods have been enormously reduced in price and improved in quality as a consequence of her protective policy. To any one, moreover, acquainted with the operation of such a protective tariff there is in this no cause for astonishment; it follows as the night the day. Local competition, an enlarged trade, greater skill, improved appliances, are all elements brought into existence by such a policy, and better value is an infallable consequence. If this policy, too, is so vicious, how account for Canada at length, after much controversy, following the example of her more prosperous neighbour? I can speak, after much experience and close observation, of the operation of such a tariff in Victoria; and I unhesitatingly affirm that there, likewise, her protected manufactures are better value than the imported goods they have so largely superseded. How otherwise account for such a vast export to the neighbouring colonies of Victorian manufactures? Till very recently her exports of boots, for instance, to this colony was enormous, and she still exports largely in other departments of manufacture. Ask anyone engaged in the trade and he will tell you that her woolens, her clothing, and other lines, are both cheaper and better than Home manufactures. How otherwise account for such a considerable trade as she does with New Zealand? Here she competes with all the world on equal terms, and were her protected manufactures not better value than those of other countries the trade would be a sheer impossibility.
This brings us to another prominent objection, namely, if local manufactures are as cheap and good as imported articles, what necessity is there for protection duties? This objection is exceedingly plausible, and nevertheless were it not for the protective tariff of Victoria, her industries, perfect and marvellous though they are, would speedily be extinguished. Hence the tenacity with which they cling to duties even upon such manufactures as can compete in New Zealand, and the other colonies, with all the world. How account for what appears so paradoxical? It is principally owing to speculative consignments, and the cronic state of glut, which such speculation is certain to create. Our position at the very ends of the earth renders us specially liable to such periodical over-stocking of our markets at the close of the season's trade in the mother country, for, so far at
A protective tariff is the only effectual barrier we can present to such a ruinous and suicidal state of things, it effectually closes our ports against such speculative consignments, and in accomplishing such an important object we may surely claim, not only the sympathy of the legislature; but the sympathy likewise of the legitimate trader, as well as the skilled workman whose occupation would otherwise be gone. Hence is it that in protected Melbourne the import trade, so unfortunately opposed to such a protective policy, is vastly more prosperous than in free trade Sydney, which suffers not only from the paralysis of all industry; but from the cronic state of glut, which is the inevitable and inexorable consequence of her fiscal policy. Hence is it too, that her Tweed manufacture, in which years ago she attained considerable celebrity, was crushed out, while in Geelong, woollen manufactures have grown and flourished, employing large numbers of skilled workmen, and adding largely to the wages fund of the community. Tasmania likewise affords another warning example, she had a long start of Melbourne, and for a period progressed with extraordinary rapidity. But what is the condition of manufacturing industry in that colony now? Tasmania has reverted into a sheep-walk, while her offspring by the stern necessity of their existence, are driven for that employment to the surrounding colonies, which her free trade proclivities has rendered impossible in the land of their birth. Do we desire to deliver New Zealand from such an appalling fate, the peril of universal desertion? It needs no prophetic vision to foresee that to do so, we must create new sources of wealth and industry to absorb our surplus population.
This specious objection, that if our local industries are as good and aheap as the imported goods, no protection is required, is difficult to dislodge. No amount of evidence will, however, convince objectors who are wilfully obtuse. It is in vain we reason with such impracticable people, and thus it is that such a plausible argument is so persistently dinned into our ears. But is it invariably the cheapest or the best articles the public buy? Are they never hoodwinked? Are we not continally confronted with state interferences to prevent adulteration or short-
It is surely surprising that for the most part commercial men are arrayed against a protective tariff. They do not perceive how much their own interests are involved in the question. Some reforms and almost all inventions inflict tremendous temporary evils upon commerce, but in the adoption of a protective policy there is no temporary evil even to be apprehended. The merchant if he loses some portion of his trade in imported goods which come into undue competition with local industries, can compensate himself by substituting the local manufactures, which will probably be found to pay much better. If he objects that the producer supercedes the merchant, all we can say is, so much the better; it is one barrier cast down between the producer and the consumer, in itself an important free-trade axiom. Society, moreover, gains by such a conservation of
The farmers and large landed proprietors are equally pronounced in their opposition. Strange and most marvellous anomaly I How can they be injured if such fundamental principles as I have pointed out are wisely regarded? And perhaps no class of the community are so intensely and immediately interested in the development of local industries as the land-owners and the farmers. The mouths to be filled should ever bear some fair proportion to the acres we plough. Local manufactures would inevitably restore some such equilibrium. A local market is ever better than a foreign one; and it may well be questioned whether the latter affords any fair prospect of remunerative farming. Are there no rocks ahead for this important industry? The farmer, were he wise in his generation and less liable to be swayed by the bogies of those who have foresworn a protective policy, would be heartily with us. Of equal importance is the question of local industries to the large land-owners; for the standard value of our land, for other than pastoral purposes, is involved in this question. The productions of the soil forced into foreign competition must inevitably have a correspondingly depressing effect upon the value of our lands. Intrinsically they must approximate to the value of the lands with which we are brought into such undesirable competition. These, Sir, I believe are simple economic truths which are of universal application. The standard value of our cereals! The standard value of our lands! These are tremendously important issues, and they are involved more intimately in this controversy, than is generally supposed. Labour moreover must be found for the unemployed and the partially employed or with the revival of trade in other colonies and other countries, the process of desertion will begin. New Zealand, notwithstanding her unraveled resources, will become discarded by multitudes. And how otherwise can we employ our people than in manufacturing pursuits? No country can maintain a large population on other conditions and, unless a truly protective policy is enforced, it will be as impossible here, as it has proved impossible in other new countries, to develope local industries to any considerable extent. We are now suffering from a period of great depression, notwithstanding our free trade predilections. Free trade, and with it free borrowing, has not saved us from such a
I repeat free trade was unquestionably the best policy for Great Britain at the time. She had skilled labor, her means of distribution were unrivalled, she had coal and iron in abundance; she had indeed become a mighty work-shop, distancing and defying all competitors. England no longer needed protection, what she needed was cheap food for her people—hence the corn laws were abolished. What she needed was the raw materials of her manufactures free—hence the remission of all such duties. What she needed was an untrammeled intercourse for her Argocies—hence the abolition of the navigation laws. England depended largely upon foreign countries for both her food and her raw materials. We do neither. We have abundance of both. England had no competitors at that period for her manufacturing skill, and such cheap food and untaxed raw products, enabled her to supply the markets of the world, exchanging the raw materials of other countries for her own manufactures, thus enormously enhanced in value. Whether the condition of things are precisely the same to-day in England, and whether her manufacturing population are as thoroughly free trade as they were some thirty years ago, may well be questioned. With France, Belgium, America, and other countries entering into such keen competition, there are unmistakable signs of some modification of her policy, so far as manufactured goods are concerned. Some at least, of her advanced thinkers are giving forth no uncertain sounds upon this very question. The one thing, however, important for us is carefully to mark that the condition of things with us had never any parallel in Great Britain. We have abundance of food and raw materials, and we are subjected in the very infancy of our manufacturing efforts to the over-whelming competition of Great Britain and other countries. Doubtless our raw materials are wealth, even when exported; but it is manufacture which gives tenfold value to such raw materials. Shall we for ever part with that? Shall we never cease to exchange our raw materials for the manufactured articles of other countries, and part with that—the wages of labor—which alone gives such raw products their principal value? A protective policy would enable us to substitute our own for foreign manufactures, and many millions which by our present method are lost to the country would be thus intercepted and kept in circulation among
Sir, I invite those who differ from us to examine our proposals without prejudice. There is surely nothing revolutionary or violent, or even extreme about such proposals. No one would be injured. It is the country at large that would benefit. But, nevertheless, we are taunted as if we desired to tear up the foundations of society and open the flood-gates of strife and anarchy. No such thing. If rightly considered we may fairly hope, that even extreme free-traders will eventually come to regard such proposals as the only safe, the only reasonable and rational policy for any new country to pursue.
I have thus endeavoured to explain the general principles which I respectfully submit should ever distinguish a truly protective policy. And is there anything in the comtemplation of such a subject so very disturbing or alarming? Legislation in such a direction would surely be no such dreadful experiment. Will our legislature give it a fair trial? The country, I believe is ripe for it, and what commercial and manufacturing activity would be the immediate result! What a vast sum would accumulate as a welcome addition to our wages fund; what avenues would be at once opened for useful and profitable employment! We should advance by leaps and bounds; our workmen would multiply and prosper; it would mitigate the condition of things to the farming community; our lands would become increasingly valuable. What should hinder it? It is surely the right thing to do, audit is thus that "Rightousness oxalteth a nation." The process is exceedingly simple, as well as exceedingly beautiful, and He who rides among the nations, would surely bless measures so entirely in harmony with the providential arrangements, and so calculated to promote the material and social progress of this fair portion of the earth. And if, Sir, there is any statemanship in our legislature, any energy or intelligence among our people, any hope indeed for our country in the midst of her anxieties and her difficulties, it is in maturing and applying a wisely protectionist policy.
Lyon & Blaib, Machine Printers, Lambton Quay, Wellington.
The following address was delivered by the Rt. Hon. Sir James Fergusson, Bart., of Kilkerran, to the members of the Glasgow Working Men's Conservative Association, in the Trades' Hall, Glasgow. Sir Windham Anstruther, Bart., M.P., occupied the chair.
Sir Lord Beacousfield's sympathy with the manufacturing population and the final settlement of their hours of labour in the Act of James Fergusson said—At a time when electoral privileges have been recently and widely extended, it is highly important that there should be a general and careful inquiry into political principles, so that the judgment of the constituencies may be exercised upon some grounds more satisfactory than partisan impulse or vague impression. The formation of such associations as that under whose auspices we are met will assist in affording a comprehension of the principles and objects of the Conservative party, and as one who believes those principles and objects to be valuable to the national welfare, I cannot withhold my humble contribution to their promotion and advocacy. It is evident that there has existed and still remains in Scotland a great prejudice against the Tory or Conservative party. Considerable as was the gain achieved by it in the last general election, and manifest as is the increase in its organisation throughout the country, its representatives are still in a comparatively small minority, and some time must yet elapse before we can hope to be numerically on a level with the professors of Liberalism of every shade. We have a hereditary prejudice to overcome. The exclusion of the middle class from electoral privileges in the counties, and the unreal representation of the burghs previous to the Reform Act of Sybil; or, the Two Nations, he drew a startling picture of the almost enslaved population which commercial enterprise had accumulated in the manufacturing centres, and called the aristocracy and the Church from their lethargy to be the natural leaders of reform which should restore the peasant and the artisan to their places in the commonalty of England, and obviate the perils of an epoch when so-called birth and wealth should be in one order, and labouring and suffering in the other.might profess—1st, the adoption of that practice so common and excusable in lower journals of ascribing to the Tory party as principles many rules of action which they would themselves universally disallow; 2nd, the habit of stating great public questions as lying between a party and the nation, when it is notorious that they lie between the nation and itself, as divided upon different principles, and in proportions which no man of sense would undertake to confute." In this passage, in which I have altered but a single word, you may recognise a description which is hardly inapplicable to the conduct of certain representatives of an honourable party, who are sorely troubled to keep in hand their heterogeneous followers, if these can be called followers who will not wait to be led, and who run into all sorts of enterprises most distressing to the calm aristocratic leaders, who cannot keep them in hand. You may have seen a certain noble Lord on the stage—I don't know if he had any politics—who, nevertheless, delivered himself of a remarkable political parable—"Why does the dog wag his tail? D'ye give it up? Because the dog is stronger than his tail. But supposing the tail was stronger than the dog, would the tail wag the dog?" It seems as if the tail of the Liberal would wag whether the dog will or not.
But, gentlemen, I must trouble you for a few minutes with a definition of what that principle is which we are banded to maintain. Starting from the central fact that we are subjects of a limited and Constitutional Monarchy, conferring the utmost extent of civil and personal liberty consistent with public order, it is a cardinal theory of Conservatism that our liberty is, on the whole, safer when based upon those institutions which have been found to be more desirable than any other form of government, and to which most civilised nations have sought to assimilate their own. The Protestant succession, the supremacy of the Crown over all causes, civil and ecclesiastical, and the maintenance of a National Church protected but controlled by the State, primarily as a security for the rights and liberties of its members, are regarded as fundamental adjuncts; and the Conservative views with suspicion all attempts to undermine or weaken these now ancient bulwarks. The late Lord Lytton, in an admirable essay on the spirit of Conser-
But an enlightened love of country comprehends the objects of philanthropy without making philanthropy its avowed object. That is to say, a man who has an enlightened love for his country will seek to identify its interests with a just and humane policy, with scrupulous faith in the fulfilment of engagements, with a respect as inviolably preserved towards weak as towards strong Powers, and thus he will strive to render the wellbeing of the State to which he belongs conducive to the general and enduring interests of the varied communities of mankind. But just as an individual becomes an intolerable plague to his neighbours, who is always interfering with their domestic affairs, though with the best intentions, so a weak State would become ridiculous and a strong State tyrannical, if, under the pretext of general philanthropy, it sought to force its own notions of right and
of respect for humanity, without which love of humanity is an intermeddling mischief-maker. Nevertheless, when the internal feuds of any one nation assume a character so formidable as to threaten the peace of other nations, intervention may become the necessity of self-preservation. But the plea of self-preservation should be a very sound one, and not, as it usually is, an excuse for self-aggrandisement, in profiting by the discussions which the intermeddler foments for his own crafty ends. It has been a question frequently discussed of late, and by no means satisfactorily settled, how far non-interference in the domestic feuds of other nations admits of the frank expression of opinion—the freedom of remonstrance—the volunteered suggestion of a policy; for such interference, though it be but what is called moral, is generally accompanied by such publicity that it cannot fail, when directed towards a troubled or convulsed community, to alter the balance of strength between contending factions or estates, or, from a misconception of its purpose, it may lead to expectations and to enterprises on the part of one of them which may result in damage and disaster. But in free communities it is impossible for a Minister to refrain from conveying to a foreign Government the public sentiment of his country. The popular Chamber would not allow him to be silent when a popular cause is at stake. To express opinions—to address remonstrances—are acts in themselves perfectly compatible with friendship, provided the tone be friendly. But for one Government to volunteer, in detail, schemes of policy for the adoption of another independent Government is seldom a prudent venture. It is too calculated to wound the dignity of the State advised not to provoke an answer which wounds the dignity of the State advising. Exceptions may arise, but they should be regarded with great caution, for there is scarcely an exception that does not engender on both sides those resentments of mortified self-esteem which, if they do not suffice to create war at once, render States more disposed to find excuses for war later. Many of you may recall the abortive attempt of Earl Russell in
Now, gentlemen, I must speak for a little of Conservatism in practice. You have had three years' experience of what has not been seen for thirty years—a Conservative Government in a majority. Since the party was broken up in "'Tis not in mortals to command success."
And it is much if Great Britain at least has not made vaunting professions which she has been unable to fulfil—if amid contending interests and ambitions her representatives have gained for her diplomacy the respect of foreign Powers, have increased her alliances, have restrained at least hitherto the demon of war, and have vindicated before the world the purity of her motives and the strength of her resolution. But although the Conservative Government will meet Parliament with no reason to fear an unfavourable verdict upon the past, with the ranks of their supporters unbroken, and with a fresh programme of useful legislation, we cannot shut our eyes to the necessity for vigilance and defence. There seems to be desperation among those who respect little the most ancient and honoured institutions if they will afford convenient ground of attack. While the Conservative is ready to deal in a reforming spirit with any institution which seems to require re-adaptation or improvement, our opponents seek that which is weakest, however useful, as the most convenient battle-field. What is wanted to render our party not only strong to resist attack, but strong to preserve what we are assured is useful to the country, is, in the first place, confidence in ourselves and in our principles; next organisation—thorough, detailed, and sustained. Let each man see what he can do, and set himself to do it; but, above all, act together. Such associations as this are fast multiplying. Their success has in many cases been tried and proved; and from them in their greater development great results may be expected. But confidence in theoretical principle and cordial organisation to maintain it will not suffice. We must carry our principles into practice. We must for ever disprove all injurious and calumnious accusations by showing that in reform and improvement is to be found the truest conservation; and if, as I believe, this period of Conservative Government will be for ever associated by large and palpable reforms in the social structure, which shall commend themselves to all honest and patriotic minds, we need not fear that our party will not acquire and long retain the respect and confidence of the country.