MR R. GILLIES AND THE REV. W. BANNERMAN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 367, 24 June 1874, Page 6

MR R. GILLIES AND THE REV. W. BANNERMAN.

* : - '■■'.-'. ■ [By Telegraph.] - ■'. -I'-. U • ' l&iCttrrHlLi Jtme 18. ; TTliteC^uthi Presbytery cnet to-day. After' the formal business, Mr Bannerman "read 'a long* and virulent address,' which was objected to by Mr Gillies, the accusation not defining 'the slander in exact terms. - After a -desultory and, achnVnious djscnssibn, the Presbytery adjourned till four o'clock, to pefAit'Mr Gillies to amend; : Thf Presbytery delivered the' following judgment :—" That this Presbytery having Itf^fd' Mr ' Gillies in support of the charge made* by him against Mr Bannerman, finds t&twiffle 'Bannerminy as reported in Q°der mistakY in attritatisf ,£*iir.GilUes the article described as there.is no evidence in the report of jj»£*pieel» of Slandering, Ift r Gillies; Bnt inaamoc^/is; soipejof his statement* may be *as9ient' jip aggrieve. Mr Gillies,' Mr BannerBaa : be requested to/make a public statement, with a vie^r^f having tbe said statement withdrawn, which .seemed to' represent Mr^illles-as th«,»uthor of. the, said article.. Farther, that Mr' Gillies be requested to the kster,seiit .to Mr Bannerman the eiarge of. slandfer i qiade." . -'■•■ 'i 'i <-> — w — - ■ „ ,i . - ->.". . .^^fioDiWpigisin full th> report of the *^oeii}~t'2Mt& of Mr 'Kuwermaa'* speech at jßalcWuJt, on Aprili!:— He w«« astonished ihatihes ©«ld have b»en asked to Uke-p*rt _\io tki, ptow*amgs ' befengmss as h» dii, to •'the eit of incafjaWeswbioßtbe'Duoeiin Daily Titaee^' kad^etfared 4he miftisteta of Ota^tobei H« was *ill more astonished ' that cm the platform w many of thope minis-

of those gentlemen associated with the Press, who counted themselves so Very superior, tint they might despise all others;.* It did happen that there were 4ew matt si** affecting the social ,well-being-^eapeci&Uy in the direct ' tions intellectual and .religioaa- r that the . irinisters of Otigo were not requested, and earnestly pressed to lend a helping band. | E,:e was not aware, however, that the editor or the 'Daily, Times' did, or was asked to tuke part in such "matters. Certainly he was i&nqrast of any occasion when the editor of tie 'Daily- Times.' had taken his place amongst those .who have been privileged in -public assembly to address their fellow-men oa matters affecting the .'highest interests in t^me and eternity. He took it as a sign that taose who' had arranged this meeting,, and t3Oßewhocomposedit,didnotsympathisewith the representations of the miustry, 89 recently • made in the columns of the ' Daily Times.' and that not for tbe first time then. The j latest, however, was of such a k^nd as far ■ to exceed, in its bitterness and. apparent animosity, all similar previous attacks made on the Christian Ministry of Otago. It was evident' that it originated in recent discus- < tiions on the Sabbath question, in connection with which, as in most .questions affecting the religious interests of the community, tjhe ministry of the Presbyterian Church had been most prominent; and though couched in terms •that gave them a more extensive application than previous . similar < articles ,ip the 'Daily Times,' no one could doubt that' it was the ministry of, the Presbyterian Church that was specially aimed at : — <4 fae 'had good reason to believe that the article referred to was not written by the responsible editor of the 'Daily Times,' but by one -himself a Presbyterian, formerly an officebearer in thc= Presbyterian Church, understood to be a large shareholder in the I'aily Times Company, and not without influence in the management of that journal — a gentleman who had publicly taken part in the discussion that resulted in the opening of the Athenaeum on the I ord's Day," which has resulted, as they were informed in tbe public Press, in a rush for tbe magazines and newspapers in which little ceald be found that would prepare msn to meet the Almighty in judgment, or fit him for that holiness' in which ohiSfly consisted that eternal life, which was the gift of God, through Jesus Christ their Lord. He did' not think the author of the article referred to was -now *n office-bearer of the "Presbyterian' Church ; perhaps he was not no w a member of it. . . . Certainly there was nothing in anything that bad been spoken or written on' the Sabbath question by any minister «r member of the Presbyterian Church that warranted the attack he had- made on the former, and he could enly account for its • excessive bitterness of the article on tbe ground that the writer was ill at etUe 1 in lub Conscience, because' of the part he himself played on the Sabbath ques- * tion ;. that he was conscious he had done wrongly ; was too pf bud to acknowledge his error; and sought to -find lelief for his ,own bitterness of soul by seeking to make others equally ' Wrong; • aad saying of them ' 'what ' was truer of ' himself, laying blame on others which he should have laid, and which he was- conscious should lay at his own door. 1 ' He had no intention of defending himself against the attacks of such an one, under such circumstances and for- such an end. Personally he had gone in and out among them for twenty years, largely engaging himself in many matters affecting their intellectual and- religious "srell-bejjig. Though conscious of much weakness ana^'manifoid infirmities, he was conscious- of having shrunk from no duty or shirked any toiL He was content to leave his position and the way he fulfilled the work Kivfiu him to do'in f he hands of those who were familiar witu m^.! &~ m . '• At the same time, he would- take this. public opportunity of denying the right of any such indi"vidual as the reputed author, of that 1 article to . -sit on judgment,. as he has done, on a body of "men the nujst ' self-denying the' community,' and whose services are -more largely sought outside the special wo>k of their profession than those of any o>her section of the community. He believed that one great cause why the Presbyterian ministers* were so specially signalled out as objects of attack by the ' Daily Tunes ' was the fact that they held forth more fully -and insisted ; more frequently on the great truths of reverlation ; that holding to the truth of Jesus, they gave less countenance and less support to the designs -ol men whose . sole dreams .•rested on things seen and temporal, whose idea of happiness went no "further than carnal -indulgence, sensual pleasure/. &c Let - the Presbyterian ministers cease to oppose horse-racing and gambling ; let them go in for increased facilities for amusement, especially on the Lord's Day ; let them cease to proclaim that men should deny themselves, take up the- cross, and follow Jesus, denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts/ and living soberly, righteously, and godly, and then will the tones of the * Daily Times' be changed."