THE TEACHING OF THE MISSION.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2105, 5 January 1886, Page 2

THE TEACHING OF THE MISSION.

TO THE KIU i Oil. Sin,— My motive in corresponding is not to enter into religions controversy, but to hold up to public bcini the writers on above subject in your i-.iiu of fcjaturd ij% One signing himself " Habet,"' mikes the a-.-er-tioii that ha was wiitlen a.i " as-. " by th-3 Rev. J. S. Boyd. If "Habet'' moans that Mr Boyds letter made him api^ar an ass, I venture to siy lie w.w not alone m forming th.it conchwon, but if he memt whit any ordmaiy reader would infer, that ho was styled an " ass " in Mi Boyd'a letter, to that I would i eply that such an im,njtati>>n is not only unbecoming one desuoiis ot beiutr considered a gentleman, but is a lie on the face of it. .Such an expression is not used by Mr Boyd, and " Hahet," must be as stupid as an ass to think that the public would not detect his lie. Should " HabetV," explanation be that he was proved an ass by Mr Boyd, I would reply that a lie that is half a truth is the wor«t form of a lie, and proves him to nso the same deceit as the father of lies when he first tempted the human race. I do not pretend to quote Iremeus and T ertulhan for the purpo-e of showing what other errors miy hi in " Habot's" pro hiction, but I conclude that a character capable of the above misconstruction is also capable of miiquoting or so quoting portions of sentences with the iutention of misleading others. The letter of " Englishman," 1 is a curiosity of its kind. There ii .such a halo of sanctity about the man that one is loath to touch on any inconsistencies which his letter dUclosfis\ Still some are ho glaring that they mu->t be noticed. Why should Englishman sneer at another for adopting a uom do plume, when he himself uses such '! But woise still is his sneer at the Rev. J. S. Boyd, and it is this inference in his letter L desire to notice chiefly. It is perfectly (jlain from his mention of the above gentleman, that, "Englishman" does not acknowledge him entitled to "Rm." Note his words " styling himself." "Evidently Englishman' 1 is a resident in the district in .vluch Mr Boyd was inducted, ace uding to the forms of the Presbyterian Chinch, to the oversight of tt well-known charge. " Englishman" cannot plead iguoranceof this fact, it was not done in a corner, theiefoie hitrue spn it pai takes of that fur which the Head of the Church sharply rebuked his di»ciples when they forbade others (outsirlo their immodhte circle), from doing their Ala-jter'a work. This spirit is freely made manifest by a large portion of the Church, to which "Englishman " claims attachment. Now I c mnot see the harmony bdtween such a spirit and the sanctified state, the holy living, of which "Englishman "gives us a picture in his letter. I am not awaro that '• Hahet " speaks of religion as a peiaonal nntter. '* Englishman s "letter -tiaips him as a hypocnte of the deepest dyj. Of tha two characters " Habet's "is the pieferable. Neither of their productions raise in public e->teein the Church they seek to defeud, also the sooner they retire trom the contest the better for their own honour, though from the character of " Habat " I predict another " bray." — Yours faithfully, J. R. E. Hatrick.

TO THE EDITOR. Sin,— l am wirry that " Englishman " should characterise my la*>t letter aa " a bitter attack," because I tried to avoid raying .mythiiisr hitter or unkind in both my letters. But, Sir, the plain statement of ti nt!) often appear* hitter or harsh to those wh-ile jr'-j'i iic«s it opposes. If there was anything bitter, I can assure youit wa>. quite immtw itioual. Jl« tikes up wh.it hf calls the two main of my letter ; but, as he gi v e- ttie-u, thi»y aie not to be found in mv letter it .ill. I would therefore advise him to bu a little levsjinpetuous, and not to rush into piitit ttefni" he know what he is going to write .vhd.it. I never charged Mr Mason, in imtioular, with anything but what was cm tuned in hi> most unehnrchm v.like 'r>tt> j i. I asserted that the MissioneiH taught the doctrine ot the Confessional, bec.tu«.« 1 have seen it a<> asserted iv the Auckland papon, and ih' becauae I have heard Mr B-nHngton teach something so near it that it is impossible to tell the difference. lam glad that " Englishman " is able to give this the unqualified denial that he does with regard to Mr Mason. As to the next statement, the charge of "neglecting morality and and practical religion in favour of ceremonial and doctrinal schemes of salvation," was not made against Mr Mason, nor yet against the Missioned, but against the Ritualistic clergy generally, in reply to an assertion made by " Habet," as may bo seen on referring to my letter. And lam afraid many of our dissenting clergy come under tin's charge also. With all my heart I congratulate the Hamilton people on the good results of their mission, and more especially on the worthy manner in which they are about to commeuifTrate it. I always appreciate goodness wherever I find it. I have not the slightest doubt that the Catholic Mission now in progress in Auckland is conferring blessings on some of the members of the Church, but I still maintain, as I did in my first letter, that Mr Mason has done an incalculable amount of harm to religion generally, and to the Church of England in particular by the assertions contained in his extravagant letter. He has lowered the prestige of our Church in the eyes of our brethren of other Churches, and it will be long ere the schism he has raised will be forgotten. In conclusion, I must say that it is very straugo that your correspondent should find fault with me for doing what he immediately aftpr does himself, viz., writing under a " norn de plume." In reply, I would remark that it is the best way of avoiding peisonalities which some times disgrace public disousMons, ospuciaHy on religious topics. Our correspondence can tiien be discussed on its own meriu, apart fr(>m the good reputation, or defects and shortcomings of. the writers themselves, liut when such men as Scott and Dickens have written under assumed names, there cannot be much disgrace in it.— Yours very obediently. Broad Churcfmak.

Messrs W. J. Hunter and Co. will sell at Ohaupo on Tuesday, the 12th inst., spoyed beilcrs from .Morimutu, and a largo number of all dcs* criptiom qf c*mq. §te list.