Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Issue 31, 3 December 1897, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME AND ABROAD.

THE VICTORIAN defence LEAGUE.

Although the Victorian Defence League has only been in existence for little over three months, it has already accomplished such results as to amply justify its existence. The first conference of dele-

gates from the various branches was held recently in the Hibernian Hall, Melbourne, when there were about two hundred present from nearly every electoral district in the colony. There was no lack of earnestness and enthusiasm in the meeting, and the various speakers evidently voiced the feeling of all the members of the League when they, with one voice, declared their determination to put forth all their strength until complete success should crown their efforts. The report which was presented was devoted mainly to explaining and vindicating the platform of the League, and to urging on Catholics and on Protestant sympathisers the duty of still more extensive organisation. We quote the concluding passage :—": — " No room having been left to doubt the object of Orangeism, the League claims the right to cleanse all our pnblic channels of the baneful influence of such a dangerous and scurrilous organisation. This right belongs to us under our constitution. and we are not only justified, but by duty called upon to avail nurBelves of every constitutional means to redress such an evil. The only way that this can be accomplished is to organise. To many such a combination may appear undesirable, but when they consider that such a position is forced upon them through no fault of their own, but in self-defence and preservation only, we feel confident that all will fully endorse the objects of the League appearing as they do in our rules. Although we have only been in existence for some twelve weeks, the results attending our efforts have far exceeded our expectations, and that success in the future is within our grasp, it only requires the unanimous and conjoined action of all sympathisers." The chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, made more detailed reference to the work done by the League, and considering- the very short period during which it has been in existence the results achieved are most satisfactory. The League was started on the Bth of August last, and since that time 31 branches have been formed, some of which have already a membership of between two and three hundred. The time between the inception of the League and the general election was of course far too short to allow the organisation to get fairly into working order and to show what it could do when properly established. The League exceeded, nevertheless, in exercising a marked influence on the elections. One very practical result of its efforts was the return of 28 members, who are pledged to vote solid for a Royal Commission on Orangeism in the colony. Twelve others were returned who were in sympathy with the platform of the League. The result is that when the time comes for raising the question in the House there will be a party " ready to espouse the cause, and to demand that the existence ot a sworn conspiracy against the civil and religious rights of colonists should no longer be allowed." Prior to the election the question of registration received the careful attention of the League, and fully 25 per cent, additional voters names were, through its exertions, placed on the electoral rolls. A practical illustration of the purely unsectarian character of the League was given at the general electior when, in some instances, Catholic candidates were asked to waive their claims in favour of non-Catholics whose chances at the polls were greater than those of their Catholic rivals. The Orantre test prosecutions have not been lost sight of, steps having been already • taken to prosecute certain individuals who took part in the illegal act, the intention being not to ask for any penalty, but simply to test the question of the legality of the processions. The details are in the hands of a committee outside the League, who have given ample proof of their determination to carry the matter through. Altogether the record of the work done by the League is most satisfactory. The results effected during the brief period of

its existence afford matter for sincere congratulation, and are a happy augury of the ultimate complete success of the organisation.

jews and catholics IN the Transvaal,

" A fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind," and the annoying: and humiliating disabilities under which both Jews and Catholics labour in the Transvaal have drawn these two bodies together In bonds of close and active sympathy. Under the laws at present in force in the South African

Republic both Jews and Catholics are debarred from holding the most subordinate office in the state ; they are both denied a share in the Government grant for education ; and both may be arrested on suspicion without warrant. Against these irritating and insulting disabilities both Jews and Catholics have made frequent, though so far ineffectual protest. According to a correspondent in the London Tablet the Jews are about to make one more determined effort to secure redress. A committee consisting of the most influential members of the Jewish persuasion have sent a letter to the Executive Council, setting forth the disabilities under which their co-religionists suffer, and asking that the ordinary rights of citizenship be extended to them. Mr. H. Solomon, the chairman of the Stock Exchange, and a large number of prominent Jews have taken great interest in the movement, and an influential deputation will shortly wait upon the Executive. Should the Jews succeed in obtaining the measure of justice they ask for from t^e Boer Government it is certain that the Catholics also, sooner or later, will reap the benefit of the concession. The South African Cut hoi io Magazine has the following remarks on the movement thus initiated by the Jews of the republic :—": —" The Jews, who are both influential and numerous in the Transvaal, are beginning to agitate more actively for the removal of those disabilities to which they are there subje.t in common with ourselves. It is not the first time we have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Jews in such a contest. Of course it is only a question of time. Even Mrs. Partington kept the Atlantic off her doorstep for a while by vigorous plying of her mop ; but tne Atlantic always wins in the long run. We wish our Jewish fellow-citizens speedy success." It appears that there are other influences which tend to bring about a kindly feeling, and to establish the happiest possible relations between Jews and Catholics in the Transvaal. '• There is another point," con(inues the writer we have just quoted, '"in which it has been remarked that we are often drawn near to the Jews. I have seen the matter discussed in some papers quite recently. I refer to the number of Jewish children in our schools. One would say at first sight that the Jews ought to find least in common with the most uncompromising form of Christianity. The fact really is that what moves men is not paper-teaching, but the concrete expression of belief in real life. As so regarded, the Jews find they have more in common with us than with Protestants^ and we on our side find their children often better Christians in deed than many who bear the name. The beautiful traditions of the best form of domestic life are common to them and to us by unbroken descent from the remotest antiquity. This is the salt that has saved Judaism ; it is what we prize for ourselves, and what we admire in them. This is the real reason why so many, of their girls at least, are so willingly sent to our schools. They do not like the happy-go-lncky way in which many Protestant schools treat those virtues which require delicate and constant training. The new-woman army, with its aggressive eccentricities and unbalanced moral feeling, is not largely recruited from either Catholic or Jewish maidenhood. I think, too, that in our social atmosphere they feel a greater liberty. Catholics have a discipline which is strict enough for themselves, but part of this discipline is to allow the widast possible liberty to others. Puritanism is perpetually getting shocked or severely laying down laws for others to keep, A Catholic child in a Protestant school cannot do any of the most ordinary external religious acts without being made to suffer. Catholics, however, have sympathy with personal religion, whatever form it takes." There is much truth and sound sense in our contemporary's remarks, and we heartily endorse his statement that

Jewish children (and parenfs too) are often better Christians In deed than many who bjar the name.

THE ANCIE.VT TRANS LA.TOBS OP THE PROTESTANT BIBLE.

In an interesting article in the Sydney Frsenvm the Itov. Dr. Hallinan gives some striking examples of the corruption and mistranslation of the Sacred Scriptures which were practise-d by the early translators of the Protestant Bible. He maintains that tor the most part they had no intention of translating the Bible in conformity with truth, but that their one object was to so render the SacreScriptures as to make them declare the special dcctrine3 of the trans lators. Everyone one is familiar, for example, with the audacious interpolation by which Luther succeeded in intruding his doctrine of justification by faith alone into the New Testament. In the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, c. i., v. 17, the Apostle, quoting Habacuc, c. ii., v. i, says : — "The just man lives by faith." That this could not mean that a man is taved by faith alone is clear from the same Apostle's declaration in his Epistle to the Corinthians c. xiii. v. 2, " If I should have all faith so that I could remove mountain?, and have not charity, lam nothing." Nevertheless the passage had to be made somehow to teach Luther's great doctrine, and he boldly added to the text the word '• alone," so as to make the Scripture seem to declare the doctrine he had himself invented. According to Dr. Hallinan the word added by Lutlur remains to this present time in the German Bibles. Id St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians, c. is., v. 5, we read : '• Have we not power to lead about a woman, a sister, as well as the rest of the apostles." The Protestant translators give in the text the w. rd wife instead of the word woman. The effect of this alteration is to make the passage seem to tell against the celibacy of the clergy, and we have ourselves frequently heard this verse appealed to to show that the Apostle claimed the right to have a wife and to take her about with him in his missionary work. The passage gives no room whatever for such an inference. The Greek woid ustd, according to Dr. Hallinan. is "gunaica," the accusative case of "gune"; the Latin word is '■ mulierem " ; both words signify woman, and givo no intimation whatsoever whether she is married or single. The authorised Protestant version now gives the word woman in the margin. The ancient translators almost invariably rendered the word ecclexia by the word " congregation." Thus the wellknown passage, "Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church," was translated, " Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my 'congregation,'" the intention being to negative the idea of the Church as a visible organised society with power and authority to teach the world. The early Protestant translate r» of the Bible also purposely expunged the name "priest" trim the New Testament except where reference was made to tlie pi ics' s ot the Jews and Gentiles, and especially where they were mentioned with reprobation, or when the t^rin was used in a purely metaphorical sense. '• Priest " suggested the idea of •' sacrifice." and that the Reformers had altogether repudiated as having no part whatever in Christian worship. Accordingly for "priest" they Bubstituted '-elder"; for "bishop" they substituted "overseer," and for aliar they substituted '• temple.'' It is true that according to the roots, '" overseer "is a proper translation of the Latin word episcopus, and " elder " a proper translation of the Greek word uresb uter ox ; but, as Dr. Hallinan points out, the roots do not usually give us the proper meaning of words according to u-<a<r(\ and according to usage the idea of a priest has certainly blw.iyt been a person who has the power of offiring sat ii (ice. 'lhc Protestant translators did not bvlieve in sacrifice at all, hence their' recourse to the root meaning of the word. But p rhaps the rnosd darin«" liberty which the early translators took with the &..cred text was in connection with the word used for " idol " in the New Testament, and on this point we will give Dr. Halhnan's own words. "Wheresoever the words 'Eidolon' (Greek), ' Idol it m (Latin), are founl in tho Bible with reprobation, the anoieufc translators, instead of rendering them proparly by the word ' idol, 1 mistranslated them by the word ' image.' The so-called Reformer: taught the people from the corrupted Bible that every respect paid to images was idolatrous. They made the impression on the peoplt that the possession of them was an evident sign of idolatry on iht part of the possessor. By this teaching the people became furious, and demolished the beautiful images of Christ and His saints which .decorated the cathedrals and other Catholic churches of which the Protestants robbed the Catholics, and which they retain to the present day. Illustrations —2nd Epistle of St. Paul to tht Corinthians, c. vi., v. IC, the Apostle says : " Wh it agre -mont hath the temple of God with idols ?" In the Latin Testament the word for idols is idol is. The Protestant Bible had :— • How agreeth tin Temple of God with images ?' This was n, nv>st wilful corruption of the sacred tett. In the Ist Epistle of St. J\>nu. c v., v. 21, tin Apostle says : % Little children, keep yourselves from ido's.' For the word 'idols' we read 'i.naga*' in the anjieut Protestant translations. St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Colossians, c. iii., v. 3 Btyles avarLe ' the serving of idols.' The ancient Protestant trans

lation styles it ' the worshipping 1 of images.' Let the above serve as a t-pectrnen of the wilful corruption of the Pacrcd Scriptures by Prote.-tant translators." Many of the more glaring corruptions and mistranslations in the early Protestant Bibles h ive been rectified in what is known as the Authorised Version, now commonly used bjr Prot stants, but a considerable number still remain to hi correct^"

the technical KDUCATioN BILL.

Mil. Seddon has redeemed the promise made in the Fin mcial Statement that something would be done t ) make better provision for manual and technical eiu nation in the colony, and has introduced the Technical Education Bill. It is an interesting 1 and comprehensive measure. " Technical Instruction " undor the act is defined to mean instruction in the principles of science and art applicable to industries> and in the application of specific branches of science and art to specific industries ; and includes such instruction in the use of tools and appliances as is necessary to the full illustration of the application of any branch of science and art to any spscific industry. It also includes instruction in such other branches of science or art, whether applicable to industries or not, as the Governor in Council from time to time specifies in that behalf. Any Education Board may order manual instruction to be given in classes in any specified public school under its control, and in such case manual instruction shall be deemed to be included in the list of subjects of instruction prescribed by subsection one of section 84 of the Education Act, and shall be given in classes during the ordinary school hours. In order to enable this to be done the Education Board may modify the general school system to such extent as it thinks fit. and may lighten the work in the other subjects of ins' ruction in such manner, and to such extent aa the Governor in Council prescribes by regulations under the Education Act. Any Education Board may also from time to time, in respect of any public school under its control, authorise any teacher or any other fit instructor to hold therein classes in the subjects of manual instruction or practical domestic economy at hours outside the ordinary school time. Education Boards may also, apart from the ordinary course of public instruction, establish and maintain out of their general funds continuation classes, or classes for manual instruction, for technical instruction, or for practical domestic economy. In any district where the Education Board omits to establish such classes, a license to establish them may be given to other authorities. Payment to the Education Board, or other authority conducting technical classes, is to be made according to the following scale :—ln: — In the case of manual instruction or practical domestic ecmoiny, vhire the instruct' on is given for two hours or upwards each week through a term of ten complete weeks, a payment in re>-pect of each unit of the average attendance at the class during the term, at the r.«te of one shilling and ninepence multiplied by the number of hours' instruction given in each week of the term ; and in the case of a continuation cla«s, where the instruction is given for one hour or upwards each week through a term of ten complete weeks, a payment in respect of each such unit at the rate of one shilling compute! in the manner and on the basis beforementioned. Provision is made for increased payment in the case of any class conducted for practical work and also in the case of country classes. The Education Board or other authority may, subject to the consent of the Minister, fix and charge fees for attendance. Sub^-i.ics on voluntary co itributions for the purpose of encouraging the formation or increasing the efficiency of classes established under the Act, shall be payable out of the Consolidated Fund at the rate of ten shillings for every pound of bequest and il for £ of every other voluntary contribution. The Governor in Council may from time to time make regulations for the purpose of defining the courbe of instruction under the Act, issuing certificates of competency or proficiency, inspecting and examining classes, and providing for the establishment of scholarships in any subjects of instruction under the Act. The question involved in the Bill is one of pressing importance, and it is earnestly to be hoped that it will be fully discussed and dealt with this session.

CARDINAL mouan AND thk 'i)S culebuatiox.

The following cablegram from Sydney appeared in the daily papers of Saturday last : — " A proposal is afoot to celebrate the centenary of the Irish Revolution of 171)8. Speaking on the subject in an interviewer, Cardinal Moran said he would do everything in his power to oppose the celebration. Tie looked upon the 1798 movement as a terrible crime — a terrible blunder — and a crime on the part of the Government that forced on,' tbe revolution, and a blunder on the part of every friend of Ireland who t >ok part in it. To celebrate the centenary of what was a gnat civuie and a blunder would be a crime and a blunder in itself. Of course, it meant that a crime was committed by the English Government. Their official statements themselves show that there \\a< big picketing and other measuies, and that the military forctd the people of Ireland to take up arms, and all this preparatory to

depriving the nation of its Parliament." The message bears on the face of it unmistakable signs of having been " hashed up " in trans, mission, but; making all allowance for errors as to details it would eeem to be clear that the Cardinal has decided to discountenance the proposed celebration in Sydney. Previous utterances made in pb\ic by the Very Rev. Dr. O'Haran, secretary to Cardinal Moran, a djf'led us to believe that his Eminence gave at least a qualified approval to the celebration. Full details of the Ca-dind's attitude. however, and of the reasons for it. will come in duo time, and in the meantime it is safe to wait and not t) swallow too readily the sweeping statements of the sensation-hunting •' interviewer."

ODDS and ends.

The follt wing beautiful tribute to the Angels ol the battlefield is from atpc eh delivered not long ago by Captain Crawford, the Poet Scout: —" On

all of God's green and beautiful earth there are no purer, no nobler, no more kind-hearted and self-sacrificing women than those who wear the sombre garb of C itholic Sisters. During the war I had many opportunities for observing their noble and heroic work, not only in the camp and the hospital, but in the death swept field of battle. Right in the fiery front of dreadful wat where bullets hissed in maddening glee, and shot and shell fljw wildly by with demoniac shrieks, where deid and mangled forms lay with pale, blood-flecked faces, yet wearing the scowl of battle, I have seen the black robed Sisters moving over the field, their solicitous faces wet with the tears of sympathy, administering to the wants ot the wounded, and whispering words of comfort into the ears soon to be deafened by the cold, implacable hand of death. Now kneeling on the blood-bespattered sod to moisten with water the bloodless lips on which the icy kiss of the death angel left its pale ijiprint now breathing words of hope of an immortality beyond the grave, into the ear of some mangled hero whose last shots in our glorious cause had been sent but a moment before ; now holding the crucifix to receive the last kiss from somebody's darling boy, from whose breast the life blood was splashing, and who had offered his life as a willing sacrifice on the altar of his country ; now with tender touch and tear dimmed eyes binding gaping wounds from which most men would have shrunk in horror ; now scraping togethe r a pillow of forest leaves, upon which some pain racked head might rest vi t'l the spirit took its flight to other realms — brave, fearless of danger, trusting implicitly in the Master Whose overshadowing eye was noting their every movement ; standing as shielding, prayerful angels between the dying soldier and the horrors of death — their only recompense, the sweet, soul-soothing consciousness that they were doing their duty their only hope of reward, that peace and eternal happiness which awaited them beyond the star-emblazoned battlements above. Ah ! it was a noble work. My friends, I am not a Catholic, but I stand ready at any and at all times to defend those noble women, even with my life, for I owe that life to theoi."

The Klondyke boom has produced many strange inventions. The latest of these is the Klondyke bicycle, to exploit which a syndicate has just been formed in New York. The promoters ot the scheme hope to make their fortunes by facilitating the carriage of provisions to the goldfields. They argue that every miner must take with him about lOOUlbs weight of supplies. He can only carry these on his back, and at present is obliged to take 2Uolbs, carry it about live miles, then hide it and return for another load. To obviate this difficulty the syndicate has invented tho Klondyke bicycle. It is specially designed to carry freight, an I it is in reality a four-wheeled vehicle and a bicycle combined. It is built very strongly and weighs about ."iolbs. The tyres are of solid rubber, one and a hall: inches in diameter. The frame is the ordinary diamond shape, of st^el tubing, built, however, more for strength than appearance, and wound with rawhide, shrunk so a-, to enable the miners to handle it with comfort in low temperatures From each bide of the top bar two arms of steel project, each arm carrying a smaller wheel, about 14 inches in diameter, which when not in use cau be folded up inside the diamond frame. Devices for packing large quantities of material are attached to the handle bars and rear forks, and it is estimated the machine will carry 5001bs. It is proposed that the enterprising miner should load up his bicycle with half his equipment and drag it on four wheels for ten miles or so. lie would then convert his four-wheeled carriage into a bicycle and ride back for the rest of the load. The miner's Bensations on this return trip are hardly to be envied. Riding a trench pave road would be enjoyable in comparison.

Cardinal Newman's advice to the y)ung writor — '" Fir.->t think, then write " — seems to be pretty thoroughly forgotten (says the Avu Maria) by tho extremely young men who supply wisdom to the daily press at so much per chunk. Tho frantic outcry against Spain, anent the unpleasantness in Cuba, was a disgrace to American journalism — a fact whioh our boot new^pxpors aro now shamefacedly recognising. The contrast between the boisterous meddlesomeness of our press and Congress and the dignified mauner in which the people of Spain have borne with our dishonourable policy is not a

pleasing one for Americans to contemplate. The Spaniards are not understood by us. As ex-Minister Curry says in the Review of Reviews :—"ln: — "In the public mind, among well-informed persons, there is much misapprehension or ignorance of Spain, her history, people, government, and institutions. These, if seen at all, are seen through a discoloured medium. A thorough study, after a residence in the country and a familiarity with the civil administration and the habits and opinions of the people, is requisite to an intelligent understanding. This is true of all foreign governments and people ; and especially so, for manifest reasons, of the Ibernian Peninsula." The " manifest reasons " are the intense loyalty of the Spanish people to the Church and to their monarchy. There are Americans who fancy that every Spaniard carries an Inquisition around in his vest pocket ; while the truth is that in culture, refinement, civilication, conservative progress, and genuine religious devotion, Spain is to-day the peer of any nation in the world.

The solemn inauguration of the new Archconfraternity of Prnyer and Good Works for the Return of England to the faith will tak^s place (say 3 the London Tablet) on Sunday, October 17, at St. Sulpice in Paris. It will be remembered that this Archconfraternity was recently founded by a Brief from Leo XI II., and placed under the direction of the Superior-General of the Sulpicians. There is a special fitness about the home which the Holy Father has chosen for this league of prayer. It is well known that M. Olier was specially attached to this country, and was ready to lay down his life for the conversion of Souls in England. It was he, too, whose intercourse with Charles 11. in Paris bore fruit in the King's conversion. On the occasion of the inauguration at St. Sulpice on Sunday week, the Cardinal Archbishop and the Bishop of South wark will be present on their return from Aries. We understand that some of the greater colleges will send representatives, and that the Benedictines, Jesuits, Franciscans, Oratorians, and other religious bodies will send some of their members. The journey to Paris is now so easy that it is hoped a representative gathering of English Catholics will be there in recognition of Pope Leo's loving thought for England, and of the importance of this international movement. Such a visible proof given in the heart of Paris of the interest which the Catholic Church in England takes in this great Apostleship of Prayer, will be the best sort of encouragement to the Church of France to throw itself with zeal into this purely spiritual work of faith and charity.

An interesting ceremony took place at Arezzo on September 16, in the re-consecration of the Servite church of San Pier Piccolo, restored from the state of ruin aud dilapidation to which it had been reduced, with money disgorged by the Treasury under compulsion of a judicial decree. The law of 1866 for the suppression of the religious orders hal been interpreted by the authorities as legalizing the spoliation of the parish churches served by regular clergy of those Orders, though provided for by special funds set aside for the purpose, and these revenues had been for the last 28 years thug illegally expropriated. Several of the despoiled religious having appealed to the tribunals, the case was decided in their favour, and the judgment of the inferior court was confirmed both by the first Court of Appeal, and by the final Court of Cassation. The Treasury is condemned, not only to the future payment of an annual sum corresponding to the original endowment, but also to restitution of the arrears for the entire term during which it hi 3 bjen illegally sequestered. The re-opaain? of the church re-do 3or ate 1 and embellished with tho sum chus refunded, was hailed with general rejoicing not only by ths parishioners bat- by all tho citujni of Arez^o.