TRACTS FOR THE TIMES. No. 2.

Dunstan Times, Issue 860, 11 October 1878, Page 3

TRACTS FOR THE TIMES. No. 2.

—o— On Spiritnal Advisers and Journals in general, and the. present Minister of Justice in particidar. By Philochristus. The warring hosts of Lucifer had been led, bound and captive, standing round the Eternal Throne, there awaiting to receive their several punishments as a fit desert for endeavoring to excite a rebellion amongst the Angels of Heaven, Philochristus saw numbers burled fthe doors of Heaven, to fall through,flpace, and yet never to alight upon any planet, for upon nearing any of these celestial bodies, they produced such a shook to their systems that it has not been recovered from even to this day.

i —q one continue their courge through space, as comets, the other as falling angels. At last, it came to his turn to receive his punishment. Two choices were olfered him—to join his fellow wanderers amidst infinity, or to be banished for countless ages to an uninhabited and unfinished Continent, just emerging from the bottom of the sea, and the last which Eternal Force considered necessary for the completion of this planet. He chose the latter. The Angel Gabriel was commanded to lead him away. Flying through space, they both quickly left light and heat far behind them, to alight upon a mass of rocks and shingle rearing their desolate heads from among a covering of snow and ice. Gabriel pointed out to iris companion that immense glacier-slowly moving to the East, and surrounded upon all sides by mountains ; also, the openings in them, where in all probability the glacier would find its way to the sea. There were ho Professor Hutton’s in those days, yet, still the Angel made a. very shrewd guess in geology. He lea Philochristus to uuderstand that on the disappearance of the ice a vast plain would become exposed during the progress of ages —by no means so fertile ,os that of Mesopotamia, and by no means so barren as the Sahara desert; its soil, also should not lack for depth, nor its neighboring mountain tops, fertility, and that it should be called by the name of Maniototo. ■Farther visions of futurity were also shadowed forth to him, but alas, the molecular atoms ofjhis cerebral organs have-been unable to retain what Gabriel pointed out. flic has a dim recollection of having been shown the course that a railway should traverse through this great plain ; hut a mist, like unto that of Mirga’s prevented him from seeing where it should lead to, and it appears that a like mist has come over ‘Macandrew’s eyes in regard to the Strathtaicri railway, he and. others are unable to see its commencement let alone it§ termination. It was not as St John, in the Isle of Patmos, with pen and pencil inhand scribbling down his ihs'aue delusions, to bo known to posterity under the comprehensive title of Revelations. The visions foresha lowed to Philochristus have all come true, while those related by St John have but produced a crop of parsons of the Dr Camming stamp who are eternally preaching the end of ail things—that the milleniuin is close at hand, that earlyfmoriiing communion is necessary for salvation, and th it a regular attendance at church, and a regular payment of church dues, the sum total of the ‘fen Commandments, which shoulctjbe embodied in a final clause, and called the Eleventh.. But these are postglacial comments, while Philochristus has but reached the preglacial ago of the Maniototo plain. He is left in complete solitude, not the faintest sound reaches his ear, either of animate or inanimate matter, and eternal solitude—an eternal silence proclaiming an eternal doom. Would not our clerical advisers of this ago he overjoyed in having such power as that of sending their rebellious subjects to a similar punishment? Woe betide Huxley and Darwin, not to mention such lesser lights in the materialistic firmament as Charles Bright, should they fall into the hands of the orthodox expounders of the Revelations when in possession of such a power. The final command of Gabriel to the banished rebel was to go to sleep, but his slumber should not be eternal, for on three separate occasions was he to be awoke for the purpose of noting tile changes taking place around him. The command was obeyed and Philochristus slept—how long ho knew not. On this his first awakening, lie found that Evolution had wrought a complete change on the face | of nature around him ; no longer snow and ice: Solitude no longer. A vast plain stretched at his feet with its winding river and placid lake, on the latter of which he discerned a few Maories in the ennobling pursuit of fishing for eels. Some of the lowest forms of vegetable life covered the surrounding hills, viz., tussocks and speargrass, while lizards and Maori hens made up the compliment of the animal portion. It is still the lament of Naturalists that evolution should have come to so sudden a termination here ; they have just cause for deploring nature’s niggardliness in this respect, while in nfdier portions of the same island she has lavished her gifts with a profuse band. The sheep of the squatter, and the miners’ pick had not yet commenced to Solve the Darwinian problem of the survival of the fittest, nor yet had the reporter of the Otago Daily Times been over Maniototo plain to vex the souls of Mayors and_Managers. Philochristus looked drowsily around, and not having obtained that token which the Angel had promised should be sent him as a sign that his age of slumber was over, betook himself once more to bis couch, which now consisting of a tussock, was a trifle more comfortable than the lump of ice which formed his previous resting place. The slumbering of Philochristus is a mere counterpart of that which the various Churches of Christendom is at present engaged in ; now and then they awake but to squabble over some trifle such as what constitutes original sin, or the inspiration of . the books of Moses—looking sleepily around they exclaim, why cannot wo lot well alone, and then like the sluggard turn again to their dreams of renovated cathedrals, of chanted services, and of old wives’ fables. It is either an inherent inability or a supercilious contempt on the part of those spiritual guides which prevents them from taking part in, or even of countenancing the present advano monts of humanity. The doctrines of Evolution sweep away at one blow the utility of such guides at all, for if man through a series of ages be gradually advancing to a more and more perfect state, and this perfection arises in him thrnigh his own exertions, and not by the implanting of a‘ divine power in him : what becomes of the so-called Grace of God of conversion and of such like terms by which our guides persuade themselves and their followers that in such alone can be found the means whereby to uplift degraded humanity. By admitting that the doctrine of the Conservation of Energy is true, another blow is delivered at. tbe Christian Churches. The old Italian philosopher who announced that nature abhors a vacuum, erred, but had he stated that nature abhors a waste, he would have expressed in plain English what philosophers moan when they talk of the Conservation of Energy. The human frame is composed of the same chemical constituents, and its various organs fulfill the same functions as those of its animal compeers, who have lagged behind in the race of Evolution. After its short sojourn on this planet has terminated, tbe human body is resolved into tbe very same substances from which it sprang—the earth takes its share, the water appropriates a certain portion, likewise the atmosphere—nil go back to the original storehouse in order that the supply of material may not become exhausted Would not nature’s same plan be applicable to what is at presentcalled the immortal part, but from the foregoing statements it is self evident that the inanimate part of creation is just as immortal as that which our guides call the Soul. The spirit, the will, or the motive power of a hunqin being—call it as you wish—may it not likewise return to a vast storehouse to he again handed out as required, and would not the sura total of this motive power correspond with Creative | Force. The mind is no extraordinary function superadded to the human system ! alone ; it is simply the secretion ofthe brain, 1 as the gall is that of the liver, or the tears

that from glands situatod around" the eye, mind parishes along with that which produces it. • The doctrine of eternal punishment sounds ridiculously al>surd when there are no spirits to punish, neither a place existing for sfich punishment as' our guides delight in forewarning ns will he the doom of who break the Ten Commandments, who forget the shorter Catechism, and neglect all the other right I and l ceremonies handed down front medieval superstition. But Philochristus has, by...this time, awakened from his second slumber; and now what a different prospect meets his eyes : the sheep and wire fences of squatter and cockatoo cover the plain, while the miner has polluted the creeks aid rivers with lus muddy water anil tailings, leaving as ugly marks and sears behind him as smallpox m passing over the face of his victim. .In fact,, it was a splash from a miner’s hose which awoke our sleeping prisoner, and had he remained much longer under his friendly tussock the chances are that ho would have boon washed down a tail-race, or cut up by a long handled shovel. But his career was not to have so tragic an finding. After arising and looking round he espied a whitishcoloured article, square in form, but not very large; at first, in mistake, he thought it to lie a woman’s unwashed apvon. as, before leaving Paradise be had seen Eve sporting about with one in the Garden of Eden. Curiosity led him to examine it more, when 10. and behold ho read in large characters Mount Ida Chronicle, the front page containing tho occupations and residences of several w,vlknown inhabitants of Maniototo's capital; and the last one the advertisements of various well-known vendors of quack medicines and pills. Not being greatly interested in any of these, he turned to the • middle portion, in the expectation of obtain# something more readable or Instructive. He was rewarded by meeting the following congratulatory paragraph on the safe deliverance of a little boy from the bite of a goose “We regret to learn that on Thursday-' last the youngest child of our distinguished fellowtownsman Mr Jellaby, met with an accident which might have been more serious than it is. It appears that the child was playing, as his custom after dinner is, by the side of an open drain, which runs along the street, when a goose alongside made a furious attack on him, biting him, and inflicting a severe wound upon his big toe. It is probable, but that for fhe-prompt manner in which Mr Smalls pulled the poor little fellow away, that the ferocious animal might have in j lived him in a mono vital part. ” The probability is that the gose mistook the boy’s dirty toe for a potatoe, and was quite justified in the endeavor to satisfy bis keen demand for appetite. Thus thought Philochristus on perusing the t paragraph. But the next which followed aroused more than ordinary interest, for ho clearly perceived that he had at last received tho sign promised him by the-angel. It was a comment on no less a personage than himself, accusing him of attempting to take away several peoples’ good name; of spending money away from home ; and of writing the greatest piece of stupidity imaginable, and himself a fool into the bargain. Well, says he, -Solomon advises fools to be answered by their own folly, and the Mount Ida Chronicle has clearly written itself fo he one by such absurd twaddle as that of “ A Lady’s Diary through India ;” by inserting such abominable insults to females,, veiled under the 1 form of an advertisement; not to mention its ridiculous canard of a little boy having been nearly bitten to death by a goose. Tho thought passed through his mind, as he carefully picketed the paper, with the intention of reserving it fora meaner, if not more 'useful purpose, of the old proverb under a new application, that tho Mantototo Journal was unable of saying bo to a goose. Philochristus has been now released from his slumber, aud allowed to wander over tho face of tho earth, and behold tho wonderful change wrought by the hands of men. If the solitude had previously been oppressive to him, tho din of wrangling, squabbling, of backbiting and blackguarding each other was even more so. especially that, as like perpetual motion, there was no stopping of it amongst the people of Naseby. The case of a Chinaman, for ill-treat ng a European, appeared to him to engross the people's attention ; for, as he entered tho township he found it in ,a great stptc of commotion Two Europeans had, in their turn ducked the Celestial, who had just been engaged in the experiment of testing the hardness of the European’s head with a long-handled shovel. They stood their trial for the offence, and received seven days’ imprisonment, while the Chinamen received fourteen. But note tho different effects produced. A monster petition was atri nnee. sent up by telegram to the Minister of Justice, who immediately ordered tho release of the Europeans. ITc never made any enquiries what the opposite side had to say on the matter, and yet he considers this justice, or thinks that he shall compel people to imagine it as such. Mark you, the injustice does not consist in liberating tho prisoners, but in thonffhandedand careless mannerin whichit was done. Tbe Hon. John Sheehan, and others in his Ministry are at present engaged in carrying a Bill through tho House of Assembly to curtail and restrain tho power of the judges ; hut the identical thing that they are striving to prevent being done by others they do themselves in such a dictatorial manner. Acts like these, and committed by whom it has been hitherto customary to regard as tho personification of justice itself, are of very grave importance : they tend to become precedents, and precedents of ill omen to the Colony at largo. Justice is felt to be a power and respected as such, when it is conducted in a passionless, calm, and determined manner ; but a biased, erra tic, and blundering sentence .nr decision strlkcs'at it's very foundation, and that is its certainty. Magistrates and judges 'will become unwilling to convict when they find that theirdecisions are liable of being called into question, or of being rendered null and • void by the.veto of a careless or indifferent Minister of Justice. Tho people- the sovereign people, if yon please—arc always ready to make use of any lever which may come to hand : they quickly insert the one end of it, make a fulcrum of- some unfortunate wretch, and then laying all their strength to the other end forget that, on having performed its part, it becomes very liable to fall and bruise their own corns. Perhaps Mr Sheehan hiay liberate the mur derer Walsh on the receipt of a petition from his friends stating that the poor fellow had always been known as a quiet and inoffensive person, and that he had no intention of jutting his wife’s throaty but that the fault. to have had a keener edge than had been anticipated. By proceeding in this manner from precedent to precedent, what a fine selection of murderers, thieves, pickpockets, and bankrupts will not our worthy Minister not have for inspection. It certainly is too bad to bo thus flung back again to the times of the Middle Ages, after that which our forefathers have fought, bled, and died for in the cause of tyranny ; but unlike them we have no intention of taking up the sword, or demanding an investigation before the House of Assembly. We calmly rest onr faith in the survival of tho fittest, and shall patiently await its fulfillment in the person of the present ; Minister of Justice. Philochristus is still awake, and on some | future relate what farther befell him during his sojourn in this City of the Plain. ;