THE BROTHERHOOD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 300, 12 May 1913, Page 8

THE BROTHERHOOD.

' J IS AIMS AND OBJECTS. \ At the meeting of the New Plymouth Brotherhood yesterday there was a good attendance of men, presided over by Mr. J. B. Hoy Mr. J, W. Has] am sang a solo, which was enthusiastically encored The address for the afternoon \va,i given by the Rev. J. W.. Burton, who spoke upon what the Brotherhood meant. He said:— I am to try to interpret the mean- ;, ing of our Brotherhood, and the task is "mil without difficulty, for to to translate a shining ideal into, matter-of-fact words is ever to verge upon the impossible. Much of what I shall say will be to main- exceedingly commonplace; but it is" well, at the outset of our new session, that we should keep before our minds thosa aims for which i our Brolherhood exist*.. The complaint j has been mad. l that the good which the Brotherhood does is, in the main, intangible. The question is asked, "what are you doing?" We live in an age which has a hunger for loaves and fishes, and is impatient of mere "influences." If the Brotherhood were dispensing soup to ragged children, lending books to politicians, giving coals for fireless hearths, or distributing tracts to ChrisI tianise churches, there would doubtless I be many whs would applaud its efforts. | Our times demand statistics, and if we i could presant long columns of figures to mystify people, the gallery would clap. I Personally, I am glad that the criticism is true, and that the good we do is, Tor the most part, intangible. Of this I ] am certain, that it has a levelling tendency in thi3 town; it has brought men nearer together; it has emphasised the things upon which good men, the world over, are agreed, and it has 1 promoted the spirit of brotherliness which is ever the noblest asset of any nation. These, I maintain, are Tadical tbjings, and, because so rooted, must bear flower and fruit. If we read history truly,'it is evident that all the great "movements of the world have been bom of "influences." The spirit always broods over the dark face of the wateTs before a world is called into being. The intangibles give birth to the tangibles, as surely as acorns produce oaks. How, think you, will war be ended? Not by Norman Angell's method—though he has done much to expose its economic in--1 sanity. There is only one force which will end war—it is Brotherhood. Al--1 ready we see the hands reaching out shyly across the seas,. Some day England will clasp hands with America and say "Brother, we shall never fight," And ; Germany will extend an open palm and , sav "There is no weapon here—we have t misunderstood and been misunderstood. , We are brothers." Christ strove • to put ■! a spirit into men. He was not anxious i about statistics and visible results. The * Kingdom of Heaven, He said, is like- unto leaven hidden away in meal. He knew ' that the spirit of Brotherhood would give a cup of cold water to the thirsty, , that it would stop and bind up the wounded man and care for him in the * inn. And our Brotherhood stands first and foremost for a spiritual! intangc ible, indefinable, but omnipotent spirit I shall fear for its success when we be- '■ come statisticians, for the best deed! 1 are untabulated. I. heard of a lady whe was doing a very beautiful and sister}} work, but she did it quietly and alone V An organisation heard of it, endeav i oured to get her to join its ranks anc li to work under its auspices. Keluctantlj '. | she consented, and then- they 'reported her work,.and the*beauty went out o a it. Brothers, Jet us not count our meet i- ing together a useless thing. We maj [. not be able to give the world a reporl r. of the things we have done, but if w< !, catch here inspiration and are touchec ,' with the mind that was in our Greal >j Brother, we shall go forth and do gooc . in the way He would wish—as. quietlj * and as secretly as possible. Nor is oui Brotherhood a competitor, with thi 7. churches. I have heard some say thai the Brotherhood is the only Church o r ' some men. Well, let the taunt stay. 1 e know mon who have been brought neare: *'• God and nearer their fellows throng! T< the Brotherhood, and I am thankful r " may not give expression; to an} n formal creed, but we; are riot withou n faith. We are trying to translate ai t- least one great thought of Jesu d Christ's into our human life, We exis ,o in no spirit of opposition to organise* a Churches, but we meet here, on neutra ■ ground, as members of a,ll churches, o: , e of none, and ask no question of ano ]- ther's creed—we demand only the faitl e . of Brotherhood. Personally I regre that so many men stay outside ou churches. It is their great loss—and th churches' lo?s. I fancy that many of th objections to the churches would dis appear if onlv men entered them in thi right spirit. "The church.is not so stif and formal, nor so harsh and rigid a many critics imagine; and I have yet ti find "any other institution in tho worh ie which keeps saying so constantly am ie so insistently 'live a good life and hel] your fellows.' I admit that there ar a . .certain elements in church life whicl a the spirit of our Brotherhood condemns y There is a certain comfortable smug ' ncss, a ridiculous pharisaism, an abomin * able 'wowserism' which must go if th [. church is to appeal to men. Well, ou Brotherhood is definitely anti-wowse 13 —and so was Jesus' Christ But do no *• let us forget that 'w.owsers' are not al '•j inside the church—we must watch tha l< * they do not creep into even our Broth '<* erhood, Nor is our Brotherhood a phi! re an thropic institution in the ordinary ac in ceptance of the term. We have beei >r scolded, at times, because.we have no taken upon ourselves the support _o re .families, .have not provided an annult; re for incurables, or have not procure* n, passages for men to Australia. All tha ii- we attempt to do is to offer temporar; e- assistance which will help men to helj V) themselves, and to see that our bene is' volent institutions treat cases in a spiri r ' : that does not injure self-respect. I an e ' Sure wo were all glad to read th r article in the "News" yesterday morn ' '. inir condemning the Hospital Board ii a Chrustcluireh for its treatment of a sicl : fireman. When the "News" leaves of fire-eating and jingoing, it becomes al most brotherly. And we must see t It here in this town that our charitabl Institutions do not belie their name ie The Brotherhood docs not recognise clas *" distinctions in any form whatever. W are children of one common Father, wit] equal rights and privileges. A man' ie value to society, we believe, depends upoi one thing alone—his serviceableness. Ai , honest chimney-sweep is better than i ' tricky lawyer; a hard-working black smith is holier than a lazy minister; i ie thorough carpenter is worthier than i careless doctor. We do not ask wha position a man occupies, only how he fill - it. We are neither capitalists nor labor ites, employers nor employed; but w believe that every true brother will bi a kinder and more considerate cmployei or a more honest and conscientious em nloyce as the result of our meeting here We profess no politics, but we stand fo a spirit which makes men act in th highest social manner, and we believ* that unselfish brotherly action anc thought will do more than all politica parties to bring about the rcdemptioi of our land. Last of all, our Brother hood means that the strong bear the in firmities of the weak. I said that w< had equal rights and privileges—! wisl to amend that. We do recognise certaii privileged classes, and we admit tha some have greater claims than othersthey are the. weak and defenceless. Wi shall try to put them, whenever we can into the centre of our fighting ring. close with an old story. A little Chinesi girl was seen carrying on her hip aheavi child, and some kind-hearted visito":

'said, 'What a heavy burden you are j bearing.' Indignantly she replied, 'He's ! not a burden; he's my brotherl'"