The Evening Star FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1874

Evening Star, Issue 3438, 27 February 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1874

Evekyonb has read the “Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor,” in the “Arabian Nights.” Where is there to be found a man who has not in his boyhood heartily sympathized with poor Sinbad while reading of his futile efforts to get rid of “ that cursed old fellow,” “ the Old Man of the Sea V’ It appears to us that our morning contemporary the ‘ Otago Daily Times,’ is in much the same predicament as was the unfortunate mariner above referred to. It, too, has “ a cursed old fellow” on its shoulders, who will eventually choke it out of existence, unless it can succeed in getting rid of its troublesome burden. From time to time there have appeared in the columns of our contemporary articles, which are, to speak plainly, a disgracetojournalism. Thesearticles,evidentlyiall written bythesamehand,show that the writer lias very considerable ability, but at the same time they are characterised by an utter recklessness and a singular disregard of the feelings of those persons who are being attacked by the writer. Indeed, no one can read these articles without being struck by their thoroughly unscrupulous character. They are nearly all written in a depreciatory tone; those that are not so are remarkable as specimens of fulsome adulation. In fact, the writer seems to know of no middle course : everything is either exalted by him to heaven or cast -down a considerable distance below Hades. These articles are full of “hard-hitting,” the sort ot “hard-hitting” that prevails in a free fight, where the object is not so much to hit a particular person on the nose, say, but to hit somebody somewhere. .Occasionally, however, -when the writer in question imagines that he is backed by popular opinion, he displays remarkable tenacity of purpose in directing his blows to one par-

ticular spot, and does his very best to utterly annihilate the person whom he is attacking. Lest it be thought that we are ourselves committing the faults mentioned above, and are bringing random changes against an unoffending individual, we may cite as evidence the series of attacks on the Rector of the High Sphool; the “ side-wind ” attack on the - district schools, -which formed part of an article; : on Sunday funerals; and last, but not least, the attack. on the clergy of the Province, which appeared in the ‘Times’ of Monday last. Conventionally, we ought to suppose that the editor of the ‘Times’ is the author of the articles referred to; but as we believe that we should be doing that gentleman very great injustice if we entertained any such supposition, we prefer rather to consider him as a sort of Sinead, who has somehow become burdened with an Old Man of the Sea, whom [he does not well know how to get rid of. The earnest and manly letter of the Rev. Dr. Stuart, which appeared in yesterday’s ‘Times,’ forms an excellent answer to the “ ferocious attack” made by that paper on the clergy of Otago, and will go far to turn whatever “edge” that attack may have had. There is, therefore, no need to analyse the statements and arguments contained in the said article. But there is a very curious sort of apology, in the shape of another leader, accompanying Dr Stuart’s letter, which certainly deserves a word or two of comment. After giving us to understand that his object is “to point the finger of scorn” equally at all Churches, and not at the Presbyterian Church only, the writer goes on to intimate that the ministers of the Gospel in Otago, and more especially Dr Stuart, are model men in most respects—indeed in every respect save one, and that is that most of them are muffs. He then goes on to show that all clergymen, muffs or not, who have large parishes, must, sooner or later, necessarily become muffs, because a man who has to ride far has no time to skim through the magazines. He thinks that an increase of “ screw ” might work wonders, and concludes this astonishing article by reiterating the assertion that “the ministers in Otago are infinitely below the mark.” There is one statement, however, hitherto unnoticed, which is perhaps more remarkable, showing as it does the peculiar views of the writer, than any other part of the article ; it deserves to be quoted in full“ It would be possible to reckon on the two hands the number of ministers of all Churches who are really capable of directing, advising, and teaching the more educated members of their flocks.” Here, then, we have the root of the whole matter. The minister ought not merely to be the conductor of public worship, the visitor of the sick and the dying, and the comforter of the afflicted —but he ought also to be the intellectual superior of all the members of his congregation, their master and teachei’, and the keeper of their consciences. What he wants to see is not ministers, but priests. The sort of model religious teacher that this writer has in view is altogether out of date. A man might be got from Home, at a salary of LIO,OOO a-year, for the First Church, and yet he would not be allowed t» do the thinking for even the moderately educated part of his congregation : that is a thing that people in the present day have got into the habit of doing entirely for themselves, and they get their intellectual pabulum not from the pulpit but from books. The march of modern science cannot be stayed by any preacher, even by one with an infinitely large salary, and who reads every magazine that is published; but a minister, even with the smallest of salaries, if he only possesses the virtues of earnestness, of selfdenial, and, above all, of charity, will always be able to lead men on the heavenward path, in spite of any merely speculative difficulties they may feel. For men are now really just as ready to become truly religious as ever they were, but it is not special pleading or flowers of rhetoric that can make them so. Hence it happens that the mere tickler of itching ears, though he may have a large and fashionable congregation, may fancy that there is reason for believing that religion is decaying; while a less brilliant but better man may see that there is no real ground for fearing any such thing.