A Facetious Apologist

New Zealand Tablet, 13 September 1906, Page 9

A Facetious Apologist

The A<bbe Duplessy is one of those who believe in * ' getting religious truths home with a smiling face.''"arid,"a friendly 1 dig in his opponent's seventh rib. ln f this he is unlike ' The Prig,', whose irritating satire- is r to sensitive minds what the application of a currycomb or a bunch of teazles would be to a sensitive skin.' v The' American ' Ecclesiastical Review ' describes .him? as '" a' facetious apologist. But for all his - Vquips and 'nods and becks and wreathing smiles,', .-he, contrives to get in some shrewd thrusts under or'over " his adversary's guard. Here, for instance, is a- story which (apropos of religion as the basis of morality) he tells of M. Renaud, who went to Paria in 1871 to attend the National Assembly. 'He engaged rooms at 150 francs a month, to 'be paid in advance. When the landlord offered to write a receipt.for the sum, Renaud said : " There is no-need for it ; we are both honest men, I take it; and it suffices that God has witnessed the transaction."—" Oh," said" the proprietor smilingly, "I see you believe in God."—" And do not you ? " queried Renaud.—" No, I have given that up long-ago." —" Then .please give me a receipt for the payment of my lodging," naively replied the deputy from Bordeaux '.