FREETHOUGHT IN MELBOURNE.

Freethought Review, Volume I, Issue 7, 1 April 1884, Page 8

FREETHOUGHT IN MELBOURNE.

The following letter from Melbourne will be read with interest:—

Sir,Freethought in Melbourne, I fear, is rather behind what it is in your land, judging by the records of The Review. We are, however, progressing rapidly, and may take many useful hints from your example. We in Melbourne are handicapped from not being sufficiently organised and compact, and New Zealand has shown its unity and progress by building a Freethought Hall, The hall that our lectures are delivered in was previously a theatre, and the Australasian Secular Association have leased it for a long term, giving it the name of the Hall of Science. We have a building fund, however, and hope soon to possess a hall of our own. The Secular Association is numerically the largest Freethought Society in the Southern Hemisphere, though little over eighteen months old. In addition to our oratory we hold voluntary concerts, or " Social Mornings " (as they are officially called) every Sunday, and they prove very successful, financially and otherwise. We have lately started an excellent Mutual Improvement Class in connection with the' A. S. A., which has about 50 members/and promises well. Later still, a Sunday School has been instituted. The attendance at this has doubled during the three weeks of its existence, so that it is firmly established. It needs many improvements, however, and as you have been so successful over your schools, you may be able to give us some useful hints from your own experience.

Melbourne, as you are aware, has received a valuable acquisition to its Freethought ranks from the other side of the globe. Mr, Joseph Symes arrived here on February 10th on a twelvemonth’s lecturing engagement with the A. S. A., and has opened his campaign at the Hall of Science. This gentleman’s presence has put new life into the cause in Mel bourne. His popularity in England is but his due, for he is alike gifted judged from a personal ora professional standard. Mr. Symes is not only “advanced” mentally, but also physically, for his height is 6 feet 21 inches of solid atheism. He possesses an honest and intellectual countenance. His lecturing style is blunt and easy. He makes no display of rhetoric, but by means of a good command of language, ranging from philosophic argument to keen satire, he enchains the attention of his audience. His rich humor, brought out in a plain, homely manner, always hits the mark, and renders his lectures amusing as well as instructive. His range of subjects is a large one. When' he is not gnawing at the theological bone, he is unfolding the newest discoveries in science, or the beauties of literature and philosophy. In addition to his Sunday-evening lectures he delivers a scientific one one night in each week, He also intends to lecture in suburban and provincial districts on other nights of the week, so that, he shows an energy and determination that should prove highly beneficial to Melbourne Secularism. lam sorry to hear of the resignation of Mr. Braithwaite. Still it is but a natural result, for matter and spirit will no more mix than will oil and water. The pious ‘ Southern Cross,’ ever ready to do a mean action, devoted a leading article to the matter, and, by means of a careful selection of quotations, made the case appear very different to what it really is. The tenor of the article was evidently intended to cause the reader to think that the gentleman resigning was some atheistic champion who had found after years of god-denial that his system was injurious to humanity, and that the gods must be kept as a terror to evil-doers. The truth is, of course, that Mr. Braithwaite has always believed in God and spirits, and naturally enough found that he could not travel comfortably in the same harness as atheists. The only surprising feature of the affair, in my opinion, is that he had not long before found his resignation necessary. I regret that such is the case, for I dislike to see belief in any way hindering fraternity ; but Nature will have her way. —I am, &c., A r 11 , W. L A. Melbourne, March 17, 1884.