A LATIN SERMON AND THE STOCKS

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1145, 5 June 1911, Page 4

A LATIN SERMON AND THE STOCKS

MB. SPEOTT AND THE REGIUS PROFESSOR. In the course of his speech on Friday in acknowledgment of the gift of a pectoral cross of Irish design, the Bishopelect of Wellington (the Rev. T. 11. Siirott) relieved the seriousness of the occasion by one or two touches of humour. The story of his experiences in connection with the degree of Doctor of Divinity was o.uito amusing, especially his dealings with the Regius Professor of Divinity at Dublin University, and the Latin sermon which ho wrote on one occasion for submission to that learned and august personage. Mr. Sprott drily remarked that the Regius Professor had not up to the present returned that sermon, and he had an uneasy suspicion that he (the professor) had retained it to regale himself with during his hours of leisure. After expressing his very sincere thanks for the beautiful gold pectoral cross and highly praising its workmanship, the Bishop-elect remarked that his native town of Dromore was one of the few places in Ireland which still retained a town cross; and alongside that cross stood the ancient stocks. Mr. Sprott thanked the donors for giving him a pectoral cross of Irish design, which would remind him of his birthplace, and, he added, with a" twinkle iu his eye, ho also thanked them for leaving out the stocks.