MADAME LOTTIE WILMOT'S LECTURE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3013, 21 February 1881, Page 2

MADAME LOTTIE WILMOT'S LECTURE.

Madame Lottie Wilmot gave her first lecture on Sunday night at the Theatre Royal before a large and an attentive audience. Commencing her discourse by a rapid review of the progress of education and science during the present generation, she referred to the history of the origin of man and of sin, as taught in the first chapter of Genesis. Disbelieving the truth of this account, and expressing the utmost contempt for its statements, ehe argued that unless Adam had tasted of the Tree of Knowledge, man, instead of being the chief of creation would have remained lower than the beasts of the field. From the time knowledge dawned upon the brain of man the human race had progressed. In latter years, the trammels placed upon investigation and free inquiry having been removed, the most marvellous discoveries had been made in every branch, of science, and this progrese was in spite of the opposition of those who regarded ignorance as the cradle of faith, and faith, as the essence of all that was needed to make man perfect. Completing her criticism of Bible history, Madame Wil« mot next touched upon the advantage of secular education, and stated her belief that the wonderful prosperity of America was due to the attention that had been paid to the self-reliant education of girle in that country. By educating the future mothers of the people the human race was bound to advance. A self-re-liant woman would never fear to marry a poor man; and the difficulties in the way of modern marriages once removed one of the greatest causes of sin and misery would disappear. lucidentally she mentioned that a tax of £10 a-year upon all bachelors above the age of twenty-five years would have a beneficial effect, and when the colony could produce a sufficient population for its needs there would be an end of emigration agents, and of the importation of the refuse of over-peopled countries. Madame Wilmot then touched upon what she believed would be the religion of the future ; and predicted that spiritualism, which was now pooh-poohed, would, when further investigated, afford the greatest consolation to those who now mourned the loss of those near and dear to them. The lecture was listened to throughout with the utmost attention, and Madame Wilmot repeatedly received load applause. The discourse was, bowever, in our opinion, very frequently marred by coarse allusions of the Ingersoll type, which, though they raised laughter, exhibited a want of taste and of judgment; of taste, because they jarred upon the feelings of the less advanced amongst the audience; and of judgment, because they were quite unneeded for the purposes of argument. On the conclusion of her lecture she announced that she would give two lectures in the course of the week, and that on Sunday next she would take as her subject " The Devil."