The Evening Star TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1873

Evening Star, Issue 3388, 30 December 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1873

We never object to fair and candid criticism. It is what every journalist should be prepared to meet, and, if needful, to answer. Il an opinion, expressed in opposition to a social theory attempted to be established, fails to rouse discussion, the probability is that it is too weak to be thought worthy of notice ; and, on the other band, should the theorists feel constrained to reply, the force of the argument may be measured by the general character of the replication. Tested by this standard, the editor of the ‘Tablet’ must have felt keenly the force of an article published in the Evening Star on the 18th instant, pointing to the combination of effort by the Anglo-Episcopal and Romish Churches to substitute denominational for misectarian education in the Province. In that article we referred to history to show that, judged by what they have done, neither of those Churches has the slightest claim to be entrusted with the education of children We did not deny that during the supremacy of both, scholars, philosophers, and artists of repute had risen ; but our contention is that they rose to distinction altogether irrespective of their ecclesiastical education ; and in many instances in spite of it. Had this assertion been false, it would have been easy to have refuted it by citing the means pro posed by’ those Churches for the advancement of popular education. But no such straightforward way has beeu adopted instead of that the Star is said to express contempt for Christianity, “when Catholics cross its path ” to “for’ get all decency and prudence,” and to burst “into uncontrolled fury;” and our sentiments are characterised as “brutal. We do not for one moment pretend to be such adepts in abuse as the writer of the article in the Roman Catholic organ, for we did not graduate at Billingsgate. He may be lay or he may be clerical; but whether one or the other he is evidently not gifted with the Christian graces of truth and meekness ; and so far as regards those religious essentials we may fairly apply his own reasoning, and say in the words he applies to the Star, “in this extract Catholics cannot fail to see a specimen of the teaching prepared for their children,” We leave it to them to say whether the language we have quoted is calculated to promote peace in society or to secure for Catholici that “tenderness and courtesy ” which we claim ever to have exercised towards men of every religion, who have been willing to accord to others that which they expect for them selves. We charge the writer in the ‘ Tablet,’ in addition to this vulgar abuse, with falsifying the text of the article in the Evening Star, by inserting in italics words neither expressed nor implied in a quotation from it. As printed in the ‘Tablet' the sentence runs thus : “The Church threatened, anathematised, and persecuted, but they its enemies— “ triumphed, and the result has been those splendid discoveries in science, and attainments in art, of which they laid the foundations, and we, their successors, are reaping the rich fruits. Nor has that sect changed its tactics.” The passage in the Star was

That men have burst the fetters attempted to be thrown around them by the dominant priesthood, is true ; for the world has never been left without masterspirits, who spurned the bonds that were found sufficient to check less daring souls. Acknowledging no authority in man to bind the mind by dogma, they bent themselves to read God in nature, and sought to learn his biws as revealed in things that are seen. The Church threatened, anathematised, and persecuted, but they triumphed, and the result has been those splendid discoveries in science and attainments m art of which they laid the foundation, and wo, their successors, are reaping the rich fruits.

It will be seen that not a word was said about the Church's enemies. The passage refers to men of science, to whom the priesthood were opposed. adopting the loose phraseology of the Komish priesthood, we observe we used the word “ Church,” when “hierarchy” would have more appropriately expressed our meaning The great men alluded to were not opposed to the Church. No better friends to the Church have arisen than men of science. They have freed religion from superstition, set the example of free inquiry, and are working out civil and religious liberty throughout the world, aad these are precisely the blessings the Church was placed on earth to secure. These blessings are what we earnestly desire to perpetuate by freeing national education, from, sectarian interference; and these blessings will be endangered by acceding to the denominational demands of the Anglo-Episcopalian and Romish priesthoods. It is false, and the writer in the * 1 ablet ’ must know it, to assert that the Evening Star is opposed to our Roman Catholic fejiow-colonists. Personally, they have a right to the free and uncontrolled exercise of their religion, and so far as this journal is concerned, their social right will be held sacred and defended. It lathe assumption by theirpriesthood to dictate t) other* and to seek to subvert a system that has worked well that we object to. We do not object to any arrangement made by any Church for giving instruction to children in peculiar doctrines. It is the duty of a Church to do so ; but it ia no part of the duty of a State. It is, however, the duty of the State to see to it that children are taught arts and sciences necessary to fulfilling their duties as citizens. We hold it also to be the bounden duty of the State, to discourage in every way that tendency to disintegration of nationality and weakening of educational power, that invariably result from doling out funds for the support of schools in proportion to the numbers included in the different religious sects. So long as instruction in religion is left to the Churches, all sects are on an equality. It is a branch of education that can be added to unfc'ectarian teaching in our day schools. To give to any one sect a specific sum out of the public revenue for school purposes, is at once to introduce the prin iple of State support to religion : for churches are but educational institutions. Injustice must of necessity result. We know no class likely, directly or indirectly, to suffer more from such a course thau our Homan Catholic population. We do not think it needful to say a word in reply to the nonsense in the ‘ Tablet ’ about the Evening Stab being a Government organ. It is just as open to defend the Roman Catholics from oppression as the ‘ Tablet ’ itself j but when called upon to do so, care will be taken that the example set by the ‘Tablet’ of distorting facts, asserting falsehoods, and substituting abuse for argument, will be avoided.

There was a crowded house at the Queen’s Theatre last evening, when the peformance was under the patronage of his Excellency and Lady Fergussou. The pantascope drew another good attendance to the Masonic Hall last evening; the various views as described by Mr Bent being well received. The pantomime was repeated at the Princess Theatre last evening to a very good attendance, and ran more smoothly than on either of the previous occasions. A commencement has been made with the erection of the railway bridge across the Taieri river at the Reliance Hotel, ihe lir-st cylinder was partly driven on Wednesday evening. The following gentlemen were prevented from attending tiic Governor’s levee from various causes: Hon. Mr Paterson, M.L.C., Mr Tolmie, M.H.R.. Lieut.-Col. Rutherford, Mr Hutton, and Mr Cutten. To-morrow afternoon there will be three private matches rowed at the Port; the first between James Hall and Kncwstub, the second between Wm. Jnnia and J. Jackson, and the third between Wm, Waters and Wm. Jackson. The Circus was again well attended this evening, when several new items were given. Young American and Miss Murray, a young lady of eight or nine years of age, and the only female performer in the company, went through some clever feats on horseback ; and Messrs Gorman and Brahme performed on the flying rings. The Church of England Sunday School children at Port Chalmers held their annual picnic yesterday. The children assembled at the school at 11 a.m., and shortly afterwards marched, with their teachers, to Mr M‘Dermid’s paddock at Sawyer's Bay, where refreshments were provided, and the children amused with different games, A writer in the ‘Australasian’ observes:— “In two years the Victoria Racing Club has paid away about L 24,000, and its present liabilities are—Llo,ooo on debentures, and Id,ooo to its bankers; so that some good profits must have been realised. Next year it is likely that the stakes will be increased, and even now I am told that there is more added money at our Spring meeting than in a whole year’s racing at Doncaster.”

The immigrants by the City of Dunedin were conveyed to town by the Oolden Age shortly after noon to-day, and landed at the foot of the Jetty-street wharf. The Clutha engine, to which was attached four secondclass carriages, was in attendance to take them to the Barracks. This is the first batch of immigrants who have been conveyed from the Fort to the Barracks by rail, and everything was found to work satisfactorily.

A meeting of painters took place last evening at the South Australian Hall. Though of a preliminary character,, the meeting evinced a most unanimous desire that a Trade Union should be formed, having for its object the welfare of the trade generally, and to perpetuate the continuance of good feeling at present existing between masters and men. A committee was appointed to furnish a list of general laws at a full meeting of the trade, to bo held at the above hail on the Bth of January next, at 8 p.m.

In Victoria, at least, there is no longer in the way to matrimony that great barrier, the marriage fees. We observe that the Church of England Assembly have resolved to abolish the marriage fees payable to clergymen, and to reduce the charge for special licenses to two guineas. Bishop Perry thus delivers himself un the point“ I have satisfied myself that I, as a bishop, have no power to authorise a clergyman, ami that no clergyman has of himself any authority to claim the payment of any fee for solemnising matrimony.”

The Tuapeka paper chronicles a chapter of accounts. At the Lawrence sports on Boxing Day a son of Mr Michael Nash received a kick from a horse, producing a fracture of the skull, though not of a very serious character. Another lad at the Blue Spur, named Irwin, was thrown from his horse and kicked on the back of the head, while on the 20th the eldest son of Mr Theyers, of Alexandra, was run over by a bullock dray. It is really marvellous how he escaped instant death, as the wheel of the dray passed over his back He was not seriously in jured, and is recovering as well as can be expected. The Kennedy family submitted their second programme to a capital attendance at the Headquarters Drill-shed last evening. The first part was solely devoted to Mr Kennedy’s humorous sketches, the most noticeable features being the courtship song “ Duncan Gray” (which was introduced by a couple of narratives illustrative of the Scottish mode of wooing), mil “Ham® cam oor gudeman at e’en,” the latter fairly convulsing the audience. For Miss M. Kennedy’s pianoforte solo “Heels and strathspeys” an encore was demanded, though not responded to. The best item in the second part of the programme was the quartette “ Wecl may the keel row,” which was rendered in capital style. The same programme will be represented this evening. Muera Te Rangitaumaha, of Ngahape^Napier, alluding to the letter of Hoani Nahc, published in ‘ Te Waka Maori’ of the 17th of September last, says the Maoris of his district (Ahnriri) have been striving to obey the laws which have been made by the Pakeha for the governance of the country, but they find them too hard for them—such knowledge is too high, they cannot attain unto it; and be supposes they must suffer, as the children of Israel did because they were not able to obey fche laws of God. Maoris, he says, have been sent to Parliament to represent the Natives, so that it may be seen that the Parliament is in reality a New Zealand Parliament; but “ their mouths are SO full of money that they cannot speak.” _ He thinks the Pakeha laws are cunningly baited hooks to catch simple Maori fish. A Mr de L’Eau, of Auckland, is the inventor of anew process for the manufacture of pulp from the refuse fibre of flax, for the purpose of being exported for conversion into paper at the British and Continental paper mills. Of it the ‘Herald’ writes “if Mr do L’Eau’s process is as simple and cheap as he states it to be, we have no doubt the discovery, from a commercial point of view, must be looked upon as a most valuable one. Those who are capable of giving an opinion state that the pulp now under notice is very much more valuable than that which linen rags would produce, and that the paper made from it is stronger and whiter than rag-made paper. Mr de L’Eau also claims Jo have discovered a fibre from the bark of a t«n indigenous to the Colony, which would make a snow-white paper, but not of such a superior character as that made from flax fibre,”

The commercial travellers of Dunedin held their second annual re-union last evening at the Imperial Hotel, when over forty gentlemen were present. Mr Haydon provided a most excellent dinner, everything, including the floral decorations, being unexceptionable. The chair was filled by Mr E. Kussell, Mr J. W. Thomson acting as vice. After the usual toasts, “The Commercial Interests of Otago ” was proposed h.v the chairman, who said that it was only in Dunedin (of the New Zealand towns) that such a number of representatives of those interests could be brought together. Ho trusted that all would unite in endeavoring to further their own interests and the interests of their firms. Dunedin held the palm as the commercial city in the Colony, and ifs “ bagmen ” were to be mot with in every town in the country. Wellington was only a subsidised place, and if deprived of its subsidy must inevitably collapse. The toast was received with musical honors, and the remainder of the evening was agreeably spent in drinking other toasts, singing, recitations, and general good humor. Thu songs were accompanied on the piano by Mr Moss,