BIGOTRY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4597, 14 December 1875, Page 1 (Supplement)

BIGOTRY.

(From the Argus.) William Howitt wrote a poem about four years ago entitled "The Mad War Planet," one canto of which commenced with these lines : The v.-orld abounds with Bedlams, where it sends Those that it deems most mad ;—oh, maddest world. Itself one mighty Bedlam. Of course, this is a cruel libel ou humanity, for who that has studied the history of the past, or that watches the progress of contemporary events, would ever dream of impugning the sanity of mankind ? But incidents occasionally do happen—and happily they occur a long way off—which certainly betoken a temporary aberration of intellect on the part of the chief actors in them. We may cite the G uibord affair in Canada as a case in point. As we perceive by the last American papers that it has advanced another stage, we may be excused for again referring to it. Some 'years having elapsed since we first called attention to it, it will be necessary briefly to recapitulate the history of the affair. In November, 1569, Joseph Guibord, a French Canadian, died at Montreal. He belonged to a literary institute in that city, which admitted into its library books which were disapproved of by the Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese, who insisted upon members of his church ceasing to subscribe to or to frequent that institute. This command Guibord declined to obey ; and dying in his contumacy, he was refused absolution before death and ecclesiastical sepulture afterward-*. His widow begged that the corpse might be laid in consecrated ground, even with such "maimed rites" as were bestowed upon Ophelia's. But this waß denied to it. Then Madame Guibord appealed to the courts, and ultimately to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England. But at this stage of the proceedings the widow died, and the institute, as her legatees, prosecuted the suit. Their lordships of the PrivyCouncil advised the issue of a Royal mandamus, commanding the authorities connected with the Roman Catholic cemetery at Montreal to prepare, or permit to be prepared, on tender of the usual fees, a grave for the burial of the remains of Joseph Guibord. But M. Kousselot, the cure in charge of the place, treated the Royal mandate with sovereign contempt. He was acting, he said, under the orders of his superior, the bishop, and he could not disobey them.

Such was tbe position of affairs on the 2nd of September last, when M. Boisseau, the superintendent of the institute, who had purchased a freehold in the Cemetery of Notre Danie des Jieiges, at Montreal, employed a gravedigger to prepare a grave in the same spot and immediately above the place in which. Madame Guibord's remains had been laid. This was done, and early in the afternoon preparations were made for conveying the body of Joseph Guibord to its final destination. But when the hearse arrived at the gates of the cemetery they were found to be closed, and behind them stood a'oout 300 ignorant and infuriated French Canadians, hooting and yelling like so many maniacs. Af ten a lengthened parley, the fanatics commenced atoning the hearse, and exclaiming, " Take the cursed Guibord away!" "We are guarding the cemetery for the Fabrique." By this time the crowd Uad swollen to many hundreds, and as M. Deroche, the guardian of the place, had been seen distributing ammunition to the mob inside, the friends of the deceased considered it advisable to withdraw the hearse. When the funeral procession had disappeared, the rioters —many of whom were inflamed with liquor as well as bigotry—filled up the grave, and when it was half full some of the fanatics rushed off to convey the acceptable tidings to the ruffians who were guarding the gates, by whom the news was received with shouts of applause and roars of laughter. Many of. the rioters were armed with revolvers, and some of them are described as being rowdies of the worst class, ready for the perpetration of any outrage, and full of pugnacity and religious ardour. On the evening of the 2nd September they announced that they were preparing for a bigger fight next time, aud declared that if by any possibility the remains of Guibord should be buried iu the Roman Catholic cemetery, they would dig them up and scatter them broadcast. One of the ringleaders of the mob was recognised as the beadle of St. James' Church, and the Montreal Witness states that the principal desire of the crowd appeared to be to get possession of the coffin, and to murder M. Doutre, a Canadian barrister, and the other prominent friends of the deceased who were present on the occasion. At the latest date, preparations were being made on an extended scale for a second and siiceesful funeral, the Prince of Wales volunteers and the Montreal Garrison Artillery having been ordered to hold themselves in readiness, and it is to be hoped that they will stand no nonsense with the riotous fanatics. For the question at issue is no longer whether a corpse, which has been mouldering in its coffin for nearly six 3*ears, shall- be laid in ground which is supposed to be " consecrated," but whether the authority of the Queen or that of the Church of Rome, as represented by Father Kousselot and his diocesan, is paramount in that part of her "Majesty's dominions—■ whether the dictum of a prelate owning allegiance to a foreign power is stronger than the Imperial law, as interpreted by the highest court of appeal in the realm. The Montreal papers describe Guibord as having borne an irreproachable character, and as having been quiet and unassuming iu bis manners aud thoughtful and studious in his habits. He had been a member of the institute for seventeen years; and was its first vicepresident. He was a sincere Catholic, and faithful and regular in the performance of his religious duties. His " Catholic conscience " told him that the institution was a beneficial and meritorious one ; and when certain members of it, acting under clerical advice, proposed to expel certain books from the. library, he voted with the majority in favor of a resolution affirming that there were no improper books iu the institution, and that its own members were the. sole judges of its mortality. For obeying the dictates of his " Catholic conscience," and ref using to submit to the behests of the Bishop —who was attending the Vatican Council in . Rome at the time—Guibord was denied the "consolation" of religion on his death-bed, aud his body remained unburied on the 3rd of September last. The lesson of these events should not be lost on the people of this colony, and no effort should be omitted or relaxed to secure to the children of all denominations such an amount and such a kind of education as will prevent them from ever becoming the fanatical tools of any priesthood, and the supple instruments of ignorance and bigotry.