'TRUTH' AND THE CLERGY.

Hot Lakes Chronicle, Issue 117, 27 February 1895, Page 4

'TRUTH' AND THE CLERGY.

Recently 'Truth.' pave a romantic story about tho wife of the Court tailor a! Cabul (an Englishwoman) being captive in the harem of the Ameer of Afghanistan. It turns our. to be all pure imagination, and Mr Labouohere, in apologising, says a clergyman was hi? authority for the

' ttoment, nnd consequently ho thought it ,vas all right. He then goes on to say : ' This case is a lesson to me, although T confess with shame (hat it is a lesson I ought not to have needed. Often have I vowed that never again would T make a statement in' Truth' upon tho authority of a clergyman. Once upon a time I published certain allegations about a village pump. They were communicated by a clergyman. The village pump cost mo £IOO in damages, and I forgot how many hundred pounds in costs. T\vo or three years back I made some remarks about tho relations of a Xbrlcsire squire to the church. My information that time came exclusively from clerical sources. It costs me £l5O in damages and over £I,OOO in costs. On four occasions in my editorial experience have I come off second best in a lihel action, and for two of those tho clergy have been the cause of mj- downfall. Now comes the above instance of tho accuracy and trustworthiness of information from clerical sources. Henceforth, if tho whole Bench of Bishops send me a joint communication, countersigned by tho two Archbishops, I shall decline to look at it until tho statements are verified by independent evidonce.'