Truth in Anger

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2, 11 January 1906, Page 2

Truth in Anger

A well-worn quotation from one of Horace's satires asks the rhetorical question : ' Quanquam ridentem dicere vemm Quid vetat ? ' Which, being interpreted, meaneth that there is nothing to prevent a man telling the truth with an inch-deep laugh upon his face. But neither is there anything to ' prevent him letting go a fact or two with a face as sour as a green gooseberry. In this latter way one Rev. C. R. Hewton told some unpalatable truths to his confreres at a meeting of the Orange-hued fraternity that— on the principle of ' lucus a non lucendo '—is known as the Victorian Protestant ' Defence ' Association. ' Roman Catholicism,' said he, 'is a wonderful power, and a power which is not abating. In this colony of Victoria we are confronted by a power which is not abating, but gaining. As far as I can see, you are making no impression on Roman Catholicism. You are making no headway in this movement. I am reminded of the story of a child who said to his grandmother : " Oh, Grandma, that dog is killing your chickens ! " "Oh ! " said Grandma, " let me catch that dog and I will cut off his tail." " But," he said, "it's not the tail that's killing the chickens ! " Now, we are in much the same position ; we are cutting off the tail of the Roman Catholic monster, when the other end is doing all the damage. We must fight them through education. The general opinion is that Roman Catholics are ignorant people, and that Romanism depends on the keeping of the people in ignorance and darkness. To my mind this is a popular delusion. Take, for instance, Roman .Catholic schools. People, send their children to convent and secondary ' schools, '! and even people who profess to be good Protestants do so, and why ? Because they say they get a first-class education there at less cost than any other secondary' school. Protestants should provide cheaper schools, cheaper education, to compete with these schools. There .should be more colleges, like the Methodist Ladies' College.' • We are very much obliged to the Rev. Mr. Hewton for the high, though angry, testimony which he bears to the superiority of Catholic ' convent and secondary schools.' Thus far, his fellow-Protestants have been content, to leave to Catholics a practical monopoly of Christian education in Australia and New Zealand. We should cordially welcome a division of the glory and of the sacrifice associated with this noble work. Many of the non-Catholic clergy are willing to have it done, in any slipshod way, at the expense of others— just ' as Artemus Ward .was nobly ready to sacrifice his wife's relatives for his country's weal. But the sacrifice of self and purse— ah, there's the rub ! Judging by past experience and present appearances, the Rev. Mr. Hewton's fair hope is the chasing of a rainbow— that will hardly be caught when the Archangel's trumpet sounds the crack o' doom.