THE ANGLICAN PARSON.

NZ Truth, Issue 143, 14 March 1908, Page 4

THE ANGLICAN PARSON.

The editor of "Church News," that mouthpiece of Anglican parsondom m New Zealand, recently took a trip to the North Island, where as m Christchurch, he found "Truth" to be the people's bible. The pious gentleman subsequently embodied his observations m an editorial, wherein he .denies, that the anglicah parson dines with the rich and preaches to the poor. Hark to the . distinction :— ,. "Here we are on a railway platform. Who are these imm&culately-clothed, pinly-faced clerics who seem on such good terms with themselves and the world? Surely the^ hail from Mayuooth, and they first drew breath amid the soft airs of .the Emerald Isle. Or these two shreWd-looking men with the neat dress ? T"hev are probably Presbyterians. _ Are there, then,' no Anglicans m these parts? Ah, yes ! Here is one. Hat put of shape, coat green with age, face lined with care and gtudy., but a irian— . hard-working, earnest ; m, touoh with the realities of life-Mihere is no mis-" taking him." It is true that, physically and financially, the parsons have been likened unto their respective t.abernacles. Take a squat, comfortab.le prayer factory, you may bet your "bottom tray-bit .it 'is run hy a* fat. and prosperous wowser,' while your country Anglican parson is; tall and lean and anxious iflf e his steepled church. This merely goes to show that the wowsers pay, lor thfeir wowserism, while the Anglican goes to church merely as a matter of form. The unshapely hat, aged coat, and care-worn face are a reproach to the wealthy class they belong to and are probably the survival of the Anglican system of individual private wealth among parsons. Can the "Church News" name tuny rnissionising Anglican of the early days whose descendants are not wealthy people tenday ? The old reverends got m early with the heathen, and adding acre to acre, m open defiance of the scriptural law on the subject; took personal possession of what should have been the church's, and left nothing hut well-picked bones for those who came after. "Of special interest was the up-to-date printing establishment at Gisboriie under the supervision of Archdeacon Herbert Williams, which turns out Maori literature m excellent style." So writes the reverend editor, and it reminds us that Archdeacon Samuel Williams, Herbert's relative died about twelve months back, one of the richest men m these islands. The Maori gained spiritually, and lost financially by the venerable Samuel's ministrations. The editor remarks, "Yes, they do work hard. No wonder their faces are tanned and lined." If. the personal wealth of the early parsons were put into the church funds, parsonical privations m these times would be unnecessary. It would be unnecessary if the stipends of the bishops and superior city clergy were shared with the poor devils m the back-blocks. Anyhow, all this grafting • and sweating and tanning is a pathetic waste of energy, while the Anglican parson instinctively sides with the person with cash. By birth and education he is of Mammon, and though he be starving m badly-arranged economic sections, lie is with Mammon all the time.