THE ATHENÆUM.

Evening Star, Issue 3413, 29 January 1874, Page 2

THE ATHENÆUM.

TothkilSditor. f. ! Si^—l any ; man the community, the intyoduetabh into , the management of our,Athenroumofclass> ; antagonism, or religions controversy ; but,, .now that the note of war has beenboldlv struck by the other aide, I feel that; it is incumbent on the religious part of the comma-, oity to; arouse its energies to prevent the institution beifig perverted to apublio.mis!°M- growihi influenees of scfiobl i 0 . free-thinkers, - and the, election* of*- one i®PlWtDaust after another to ,theyibe’.pib«i2?' m iett it itiiL .doubtful whether the genii loci werelriendly; ‘fLi . religion, there can surolyoe ; bttle doubt, now that a‘ proposal ismade; j after a good deal of tentative preparation on i fc ?« P art n * the • Times;’ to set at defiance the’ jrehmouaieeling of the o mnpnwty, by open. i“g, doors of the institution on the daV j of rest. ' • , . ' • Let not my fellow-citizens nnderraWtbe * gravity of the sitdatiom bdlie*e\Auf j Athenmum to be,'in its patposetyohe of the : noblest of our .public institutions. V Jt. is doing the ; saftrie ; kind’ of.. work l W bar tta£ versity, and, doing it bn!, a wider -scale.' tt wi! give a direction to she reading ’and thought; and a tone to the belief, of thd : morefntelligent among ouf young men. Ami this fact, however it. may be'ignored by our Churches, is perfectly understood by those I?, are out of symbathy with Christianity.’ By these its library shelves are being crowded with all the latest births : of philosophical or (to-adopt the BJatbnfc distinction) sophistical scepticism,, . -.A., few* ; al )tidotal works are introduced, it is trne.to save appdarinces, but the "net” of -the literature is pppoied to the Christian fakh. 1 .^ e .Sunday , school teacher will' find ’ hiif I search for well-known, volumes 1 fchteh may helphim in bis work perpetual by the apparition of obscure works -hevbr , heard of beyond the , “oiroleaM .of, Spiritual ism;,, The exposition ♦t,OhiastiML 3 'doo®e jin the Athenaeum seems to be abandoned to | a unknown to the fame of the L'hnroh; I and belonging, to one, of imamaßMt'seoteS-pame.-a Mr B. F. Newton! And his ! would not be in the Alhenfeum bat for the generosity of our late esteemed townsman, Mr Biss. ”f™ , The review literature, but for one or two conspicuous defects, and the readme room, do not call for . imich critical remark. No one will refuse crfcdlt to the managers of the institution for \ the atupie, and on the whole just selection of newspapers and periodicals supplied! ; Bnfc how longis theeye to be' offendedby the* sight of that table, oyer which mightbd onpropnately posted the notice, " rubbish' miy be shot here .Sureiy the committee institution are not justified in s Si?w Dg t f eir {u ? c tions as to aUowimy vile and profane rubbish: to be thrust upoa the obswvatmnlof itstpemberaj Tosaythftt nobody ,s bound to read the VReUgio-pSo-“sSf L%. ihstithtien. prints vriiich are oxdv calculated to outrage the religious feeing?©* its members, t It is a scandal and ft -ranroaoh thinglike the imnollyAdveft® wi ;m ° Bt fraculent passages scored ZSt, °° lored ' BhoHld 1 wp i*° n o“ r ta L Wes. . Obiter V Latanlßv lk ' b y c «mipoaitioa ; pmthe^ Or IB it only transatlantic English ? f: k u aojimmpnao a mass of fiotinn should encumber the library Athenseum does, not . exist to, pahdbr' fiT l vicious-taste : it shpuld leave 'zLit penny cmculate to cultivate, ’aha TO • y, t becirculatioh of certain! indeceht novels, meur the gulft of bVea^' aroS ‘m my B^h'\SS|i%

jo said have t&a djetter. Bnt let those whose-syropathies are on -the aide of r ’}qpk r :tp'-iit:v’//Al^aV4, an g er threatens one of the most import ant of our Sublic<institutioßS.-i >, It .is 5 sincere sense of uty, I trust, which itnpels me to sound this n6to of \rarning.—l am, fib., . Thomas Roseby. Dunedin, January 29. ’