OUR PROTESTANT FOREFATHERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 255, 30 October 1901, Page 2

OUR PROTESTANT FOREFATHERS.

LECTURE BY THE REV. J. G GREKNHOUGH.

The Whiteley Church was filkd to overflowing oa Tursday evening, by an audience embracing nearly all shades of theological tenets, in fact just such an assembly as must have delighted the heart of the Rev. J. Q. Greenhough, whose sympathies are extremely large, and who never appens to better advantage than when addressing a gathering comprising all classes of what may be termed Evangelical Christians. The subject of " Our Protestant Forefathers " which Mr Greenhough took for hh lecture was one which is well adapted-to bring out all the beat of the lecturer's feelings and abilities. To enjoy the matter to its fullest extent, one ought to fit with closed eye?, and let the ears alone ba brought into play, for though all public speakers have ce tain mannerisms nf action, unfortunately that of Mr Greenhough is somewhat disconcerting, but in all other respects he is a most instructive, amusing, fluent and lucid speaker, and a logical reasoner, with just a spies of thegViqwman thrown in to give efl'.ct to some of tha inciden's narrated. However, he h evid 'ntly a ke.'it obse-ver of the human race. He can, with an artistic touch, lightly and deftly place a finger on the weak spots in the moral,religious and domestic natures of humnni'y, and while exposing the underlying motives which prompt to action sometimes good and at others bad, his sympathy and tender beirtedness is an ever present factor in enlarging the better fealings of his audienc, whi'e his earnestness is most impressive. By way of introduction, Mr Greenhough said that we wera always hearing of the many great achievemants of the present times, until we almost believed that wisdom came into existencn at about the same time as we did. Referring ti our forefathers of .300 yeirs ago, ho said they had bof-n grossly misrepresented and shamefully abused, Pmi'an and Puritanical having become tgpms of Shakespeare had written that ('The evil men do lives af r er them, the giod is oft interred with their bones." This he took to mean that men's weakness and eccentricities were magnified after they had passed away, while their good deeds wore som forgotten. He mentioned iEsop's fahles of the ass and the dead lion, to show how when the strong and powerful are Blive they command respec% hut when dead any aes may I bray over and kick them. This was evidenced when Cromwell's helpless remains wf-re taken from their resting! piso9 and hung in chains at Tyburn, a! a desecration which the 1c 3turcr de nounced in forcible He contended that the Puritans (Jid a good and grpat work and fought a gocd fight, wVereby they overthrew tyranny and oppression and prepared the way for England's greatness and ejfpansion, hut when the greatness came the dead lions who had fought so valiantly for it were rewarded with assinine kicks They had made enemies by their reforming measures, espeoially of the clergy, who were very bitter against the reform of a corrupt ! church, so these Puritans were [more evil spoken of and ha'ed thin any others whohad livecl oo JBrifcish land. Fifty years ago,, hofrfflpy th»

tide turned, and such men as Thos. Carlyle, Lord Macauley, and David Gearson presented many of the prominent Puritans in a new light, and now we were getting to know tbem better and to realise their sterling worth. That the Puritans were sour and I miseiable creatures was a pure fiction and absolutely untrae. Referring to , the nasal twang and drawl ascribed to ! them, Mr Gresnhougb said they im-' parted that twang to Amerca, arid he caused much amusement by reproducing it whilt dealing with this part of bis subject, bs he alsa did by rattling off some of the long and curious christian names which they grve thoir children. He outlined the principles of their faith and showed thft the men who held their views were mighty in their passion of devotion to King Jesus, but posseted heartß tender as a woman's, He attributed the reason of our not understanding these men to the fact that we had not their religion, and that he regretted. Whatever the Puritans were they were not hypocrites and by way of illustration he presented a picture of what would happen if the Prime Minister of England and all the Cabinet as well as all those who dispensed public patronage were avowed J3aptists,*and he pointed out that what would happen would be that there would he such an influx of office seekers to the Baptist Church that would take 50 years to remove. In this picture Mr. Grsenhough showed his regard for Carlyle's style and took a leaf out of Sarior Besartus with great effect and much humour. After describing the outcome of Puritianism which in Sea'land developed Presbyt?rnns, in the Midlands Biptists and Independents and in the South Jttvangelical?, he prsceeded to deal with the events of the reif,n of the much married Henry VIII., under.whom, through a fit of spkenagainst the Pope, the Bible was made an open be ok for all, thus laying the foundation stjneofthe new structure of national liberties and the opening up of a new world. Modern democracy, said Mr. Greenhough, with all that was best in it, was born in the time of the Puritans. Then followrd a tribute to Queen Elizabeth, succeeded by a humourous, but sweeping, denunciation of James 1., Charles I. and 11., and James 11. In dealing with th<se monarcbs the lecturer treated tbem much as the renowned showman, Artemus Ward, might have done, and again and again raised hearty laughter by the way in which he laid bare their foibles and selfishness, while he spared not the lash on their cowardice and incompetence. The full measure of his sarcasm and invective was, however, reserved for Archbishop Lrad, whose diminutive figure ha described, and relative to whom he related that being present at a banquet, and being asked to say grace, Laud said he was not in the mood, but directed that the jester should do so, which he solemnly did in the following words: " Great praise be given to God, and Utile Laud to the devil." (Laughter and applause.) The lecturer then made some scathing remarks anent the practices pursued by the High Church party, and pointed out that now it could bi understood what the feeliogs of the Puritans were in their time, as they had fiercely opposed Roman Catholicism and sacerdotalism. The lecturer then reviewed the main achievements of the Puritan Fathers, whioh mijjht be placed under five sections(l) They estab'iihed the constitutional monarchy; (<2) they made the House of Commons the real governing power of Great Britain; (3) tbey established the principles of religious toleration; (4) they had proved that re igiou could be strong and maintain its influence without the help or patronage of governments; (5) Puritanism had given to the waild the gieat fiee nation of th» United States. Red Protectant sentiments, and literature—so full of Christian ideals—had come down to us from the Puritans of old, ■ The ideals of Cromwell and Milton had been the establishment of a great free State and church, equal rights for all men, and liberty of thought and speech. These ideils were being realised to-day in the gre»t Australian States and in the colony of New Zealand. The men of old had thus done a great work, giving the people of to-day a grand inheritance of freedom. The lecturer resumed his Eeat amidst applause. A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Greenhough for hie addreis, on the motion of Rev. S. J. Sirpell, seconded by Rev. S. S. Osborne. A similar vote was accorded the Wesleyan congregation, for placing its church at the disposal of the lecturer, on the motion of Rev. W. I}rew, seconded by Mr. W. Ambury, The usual compliment was pass»d to Mr. McD) armid for presiding, and thp sjtiging of a hymn brought the proceedings to a close.