ADDRESS BY THE REV. DR. BEGG.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 785, 26 November 1873, Page 2 (Supplement)

ADDRESS BY THE REV. DR. BEGG.

(From the Evening Star, November 19 .) Had the weather been at all fine, the Headquarters Drill-shed would have been crowded to excess last evening to hear a farewell address from the Rev. Dr Begg, of Edinburgh, who returns to Scotland by the outgoing mail. As it was, the fierce rain did not prevent several hundreds, many of of whom came from a considerable distance, attending ; and the hall was well filled. The Superinfceiident presided ; and on the platform we noticed the Revs. Dr Stuart, Will, Dr Copland, Blake, Bowie, of Canada, Watt, Johnstone, M'Naughton, M'Cosh Smith, Gow, Davidson, Messrs E. B. Cargill, John Cargill, his Worship the Mayor, Ac. After prayer by the Rev. Dr Stuart, His Honor explained that they were assembled to hear a parting address from a most distinguished visitor from the Mother Country—(applause)—a man famous in all the church's, and a representative man. They had never been visit d by anyone who had taken so prominent a part in the great movement which took place now nearly a quarter of a century ago—a movement out of which emerge;! the original settlement of Otago. Little did the fath rs of that move ment anticipate that one of its effects would be a nation being born in a day at the antipodes.—(Applause.) Little did they auticipate that in the short period of tweuty-rivc years a community would be congregated here more important, as resp ctsitst.ade, its commerce, and its powers of production, thau many of the petty states of Kurope. (Applause) Were thisn-'t a land of liberty, he (the Superintendent), as the representative of her Majesty in a very small way, might have laid an embargo on their friend, and have refused him a passport.—(■ aughter.) Perhaps he might have been sentenced to confinement during good behaviour, hod in the police station, but in the new cathedral on Bell Hill. Talking of the new cathedral, by the way, and joking apart, it was very much to be regretted that the managers of the church had not availed themselves of the presence of Dr Begg in the Province to have consecrated that church.—(Hear, hear, and applause.) The opening of the church could not have come better than from one of the few survivors of that noble band who led the van of the ten years' conflict. He was sure that he gave utterance to the feelings and sentiments of all of them when he expressed his regret that Or Begg's visit among them was so short. He (his Honor) should have liked if Ur Begg could h ive mauaged, to go into the interior of the country, and there have seen its own resources, and what it was like. He might say that there were three men whom he had often desired to have seen in this country—one was his friend on h.s right (the Rev. Dr Begg), the other two had gone to their rest: he alluded to Dr Guthrie and Hugh Miller, of Cromarty. He recollected strongly urging the Government of the day to offer Miller a thousand pounds, to pay bis expenses, if he would come out for only twelve months. It was hard to say what the effect of the voyage to New Zealand would have been as regarded the lives of these men, and he was certain that Hugh Miller would have produced a book which would have scut more people to the country than all the immigration agents put together, and all the attractions of the goldtields themselves. The Rev. Dr Beu<;, who was received with loud applause, proceeded to speak as follows I feel that I occupy a very peculiar and somewhat delicate position in addressing this large meeting, especially after the very kind remarks which have been made by your respected Superintendent. Most assuredly I should never have thrust myself forward to make any such address; but at the same time, when I was asked to speak at such a meeting as this, I not only did not feel at liberty to decline, but I reckoned it an opportunity for doing two things which I was particularly anxious to do. In the first place I wish publicly to thank the many kind friends from whom I have received so much attention since I came to your shores. The truth is, I might have been eating two or three dinners every day—(laughter) -not to speak of other tokens of regard. I wish in this public way to express my cordial thanks for all that kindness. In the second place, I was very anxious to have an opportunity of a public kind to say how sorry I was that I was utterly unable to visit the many places from which I received earnest requests to visit. 1 have received uch retmests from Adelaide, from Hobart Town, from Sydney, from Brisbane, from Wellington, Wanganui, Christchurch, and indeed from so many places that it would puzzle me to enumerate them, not to speak of the difficulty of mentioning some of their names. --(Laughter.) I wished to say in this public way how glad I would have been, had it been possible, to visit all those places; and I earnestly trust that a deputation will be sent from our Church of competent men to go and see with their own eyes the wonders that are really presented to us in these Colonies. For, as our chairman has justly said in reference to this Colony—and I have no doubt from what I saw in Victoria that the same thing, although perhaps not in the same degree as in reference to Otago, may be said in regard to all these Colonies—it is a most wonderful production for five and-twenty years. I may said that I stood at the cradle of this Province. I had much conversation with Captain Cargill, and Dr Burns, and .VrM'Olashan before they left Edinburgh, and at that time certainly I never anticipated having an opportunity of addressing such a meeting as this in a Colony which then was only about to be founded. But I would say, moreover, that there are most delusive impressions prevailing at Home, some of which I shall try, if I am spared, to remove.—! Loud applause.) One of them is that you arc surrounded with cannibals- (laughter)—and that in coming to this country a man iB in danger of being eaten.—(Loud laughter.) And I would say it is a mistake to send only such photographs of New Zealand as have generally come to our country. They present a spectacle of snowy mountains, wild gorges, or representations of nature in her most rugged forms. That is all very well for a man who makes pictures, but is not very well for your immigration purposes, and I shall be extremely glad to rind you acting upon the hint I take the liberty of throwiug out—viz., that you should represent your broad plains, your Taieris, your Tokomairiros, and yourWaitaki Vallies. These are what should be represented at Home, so that our people may understand that this is a laud in which a man can live and live in comfort. The truth is this is the land of mountain and Hood, but I would also add that it is a land flowing with milk and honey into the bargain. It is a land in which, if a man chooses to behave himself, anil is able to work, lie need not starve. In fact, he need not starve even if he cannot work, because I have seen nobody starving here. You have no poor rate, and I hope you will long be kept from having one. There is another mistake of a very serious kind which I think I may have an opportunity of correcting. It is this : that this Js ew Zealand is a sort of ecclesiastical infirmary—a sort of sanatorium to which to send invalid ministers—(Loud applause and laughter.) Now there cannot be a greater delusion than this. It is a country for hard work on the part of ministers. It is a country in which it is dangerous for a man to live who is afflicted with any pulmonary affection, on account of your very sudden changes of climate, as you have witnessed to day and to-night. It is a country to which a waft »hou}d cow

strong in health, ready for work, and anxious for work. Let such ministers be sent, and I have no hesitation in saying they will be both welcome and useful; but keep your invalid ministers at Home.--(Applause.) Amidst the many delusions which prevail at Home there is this delusion-although it is not peculiar to these Colonies—for when I was about to visit the American Colonies, I found the same delusion existing respecting them, namely: that whilst this is the most distant place—really it is so distant that one wonders it was ever discovered, and we can never sufficiently admire Capt. Cook and the others who discovered it -yet people think that once you get here all the places are to be found with the greatest possible ease. It reminds me of the Highlandman who went to Edinburgh, and arriving at the west feud of the town, rapped at the door of the first house he came to. He asked of the landlord Is this Edinburgh?" "Yes," was the answer. Then said the Highlandman. "Is our lonald in?"—(Loud laughter.) Well, the same idea exists with regard to the Colonies, when 1 went to the American ('olonics I was asked to crry letters to several friends there ; but when I arrived I found that to deliver those letters would be very much the same thing as for a man in Edinburgh to deliver a letter at .St. Petersburg. When I was about to come out here, I had people waiting on me, and speaking about Auckland as if it were just next door to Dunedin. One man said, " I have some property at Wamranui, and I hops you will go out to have a look at it." I asked, "Is it near Dunedin?" and he replied, "I don't know; but it's in New Zealand at any rate."—(Laughter.) These and some other delusions I hope to have some opportunity of endeavoring to dispel; and I would just say, dismissing the subject, that I think you are entitled to able ministers, and if I can help you in any way by representing the c.isetothe Colonial Committee —for I came here simply as an individual, and not as a representative of anyone -I shall do so with all my heart.—(Applause.) After referring to the struggle which led to the founding of the Free < hurch. and the part lie took in it, he went on to refer to 1 social questions Touching local self-govern-ment, he said : There is one great advantage you have, and that is, you have to-some extent the power of self-government. You have not only a general Legislature, but you have a local Parliament for the management of local matters. We have not that advantage, and I believe, although we have gained immensely by the union with England, in some respects we are placed at a great disadvantage ; because we cannot make a crossing through a man's field, we cannot get water to any of our towns, we cannot make the slightest change, without going to London. I hope you will never give up that power of self-govern-ment- (hear)—fight for it to the utmost. . . . As long as you can help it, do not have any Poor Law at all. -(Hear, hear.) Go on with your Benevolent Institution. Give liberally as the Lord has prosi)ered you, for the poor of the land will never cease out of the land. Hut therj is a vast difference between those who become poor in Providence—who are a very small number in compari-on—and those who make themselves poor by their dissipation and drunkenness, and who should not be a burden upon the community, but who should be made to feel the eril results of their own evil deeds. (Applause.) I may say you have here what I have long argued for at Home : you have a gaol that is, to a large extent, self-sustaining. I have long declared that that was a possible thing ; but men have scouted the idea. In fact there is great sympathy with criminals in the Home Country. They are the most petted class of the community. —(Laughter.) I remember that when in Paisley a worthy bailie told me that an Inspector from London had debated with him on the question whether criminals should have one or two pairs of slippers. (Laughter.) The worthy bailie could not see why the convicts should have slippers at all, but the man from London urged that if the men got their feet wet outside, they must have a dry pair of slippers to wear in tinprison. In fact a man who can break windows and break heads ought to be made - as you make them -to break stones also. If any man shall not work, neither shall he eat, s«>ys the Apostle; and I think that applies with double force to those who so work as to make themselves the pests of the community. It is a gre.vt advantage in this country for a man to learn how to ►handle a spade. A great deal of the crime that exists aris' s from idleness, and if you teach a man how to handle a spade and a wheelbarrow you give him a fortune. It is a grand privilege to be so treated. Whereas if you tike the opposite plan, that we adopt, instead of the Civil Magistrate being a terror to evil-doers, the evil-doers are a terror both to him and to us, on account of the immense expense they entail. he referred to the Permissive Bill and eight hours system, remarking : -- I think you have made a vast improvement in adopting the Permissive Bill, and I hope you will use it wisely and energetically, and at the same time do what you can in private circles and in family circles to prevent the increase of intemperance.—(Applause.) I also rejoice exceedingly to find you have passed a measure shortening the hours of labor for females.— (Applause.) »Ve at Home have long struggled in that direction, but struggled in vain. The interests concerned are so great, especially in London, that all our efforts have been defeated, and the result is—l have no hesitation in saying it -that actual murder lias been committed. What the poet has said -that they were sewing with a double stitch, a shirt and a shroud—was not in the least degree exaggerated. Again, it is a beautiful thing to find that you have the eight hours system in operation universally, and I hope your immigration agents will tell our ploughmen that fact, for we have no eight hours system. I hope you will do your best to retain the advantage you have gained. Those directly concerned have most readily acknowledged the services of him who has been chiefly instrumental in having this measure passed, and I trust you will continue to maintain that ground, for all these things tend to promote the strength and stability of a new community especially. Remarking next that we in New Zea'and build our houses in an incredibly short space of time ; and that he did not see here any of those miserable dens in which the people of Great Britain have so miserably deteriorated —he went on to say : In Scotland we still have, I regret to say, what is called the " bothy " system. That is to say, the ploughmen on large farms paying high rents are huddled together in a hut called a "bothy." Of course they are not expected to many ; they are thoroughly Malthusian by constraint, at any rate. And 1 would just say, in passing, that had Malthus lived to see New Zealand ami those legions beyond it, lie would have abandoned his theory—(applause)—for the world is full of room yet. and is likely to be so for a long time. Well, for example, I was on the ('arse of Gowrie -which is not unlike what your valley of the Waitaki will be when it is thoroughly cultivated—and I saw there six ploughmen occupying a small apartment, I dare say about ten feet square. It had three beds in it, and these six nteu had no other place to sleep or eat in than in this single apartment. I went at a time when the bothy men came in to dinner, and they of course had to light their own hre, and make their own brosc—(laughter) —which consists, as you may know, of hot water and oatmeal stirred together. I do not want to disparage- oatmeal, because I believe it to be the staff of lift;, and I would not be here to-day but for the virtues of oatmeal. But I like my "parritch" well boiled, with asmooth skin upon them—(loud laughter)—and I believe this plan of mixing in a hurried way of hot water and oatmeal, and then swallowing it, has a very bad effect. Well, that was the state of things under the " bothy system," and what has been the result? I went to all parts of Scotland to explain in the best way I was able the great mischief likely to flow from all this. Many of those people now confess to me if they had followed the course I had suggested it would have been immensely better for their interests. For what has been the result? Instead of troops of young ploughmen growing up around the cottages, the race of ploughmen has been dying out, anil the farmers have been forced to bring ploughmen from the cities. When I was at the Carse of Gowrie, not long ago, I found solemn palefaced youths standing between the stilts of the plough instead ef the great strong, stalwart men who used to be the ploughmen of my young days, and even these palefaced youths are hard to bo got now, because wage* in the cities are rising, and; fanners snd they

must pay two prices for ploughmen. Thia must be a great obstacle to you in the way of your assisted immigration. The state of affairs reminds me of the story told of an old Scotchman who wished to sell his horse. He told the purchaser that the horse had only two faults, but he declined to describe the faults until the bargain was completed. When the money was paid lie told the purchaser that, in the first place, the horse was very difficult to catch ; and, in the second place, it was not worth keeping after it was caught.—(Laughter.) That is very much the case with those ploughmen now; they are very difficult to get, and they are not of very much value when you do get them. Well, the result, however, has been to get a vast number of cottages erected, and these cottages have all got two or three apart ments. I may say that when I was first appointed minister of Liberton parish, which is next to Edinburgh, out of four or five thousand acres of land, yielding perhaps about L-'W.OOO a year, there was not a single cottage with two apartments, and there I was shocked to see the dead and the living, the sick and the healthy, all mixed indiscriminately together. Since that time there was not a single cottage there that has not been rebuilt, and that does not contain two or three looms. So matters are improving—(applause)—and matters are also improving in the cities. The workmen of Edinburgh, some years ago, did not believe it possible that they could ever become the owners of houses; and, by the way, when I go hack I shall te'l them that I have seen here multitudes of owners of houses and land, and that it is the easiest thing in the world for a steady, solwr man out here to become what Dr Chalmers called "a proprietor of a section of the planet." But, to return to Edinburgh, I mav state that Building Societies have been established there of late years, and these Societies are worked entirely by the men themselves, and the issue has been that thert are now thousands of houses in Edinburgh " selfcontaineil," as we call it, and all owned by the working men themselves. (Applause.) Thirtysix streets ami crescents have been built by them—and built with great taste, although the houses are only two storeys. They have actually spent on these houses Llsfi,ooo during a very small number of years, and yet, when the scheme was propounded originally, no one could believe it possible. Here you have every facility in that direction. I would have you to watch closely the beginning of the very system which has been so ruinous to Scotland. It is a very tempting thing when men are taken up-country to say that the unmarried man is cheai»er than the married man ; but in the end of the day there is a vast difference. What we want is men and the continuation of men. The foundation of society is the family system. When God made man he nude him in connection with a marriage, and that lias been the foundation of human progress and prosperity in all ages of the world. The subject of education was nex l ; touched upon, and after referring to the system in vogue in Scotland, and particularly to the normal schools of Edinburgh and Glasgow, which had been regular successes, the rev. doctor alluded to religious instruction : In Scotland, I am glad to say, though we have not what is propeily understood as denominational teaching, we have Scriptural instruction in our schools.—(Applause.) Denominational teaching is teaching the peculiarities of the different sects into which the Church of Christ is unfortunately divided. This is never done in Scotland ; but on the other hand, the Bible has been taught, and I have no hesitation in saying that the teaching of the Bible in the schools has been the main element in the success of our Scotch education. — (Cheers.) Mr Macaulay says, "Scotchmen rise like oil to the surface;" but that is not because they aie cleverer scholars. Mr Caldwell, your highly respected and intelligent gaoler, will tell you that he has men who are capital scholars under his c large ; but the fact that men can read Greek or Latin is no security that they will be food members of the commonwealth. What the magistrate ought to look to is this : "What will make good subjects and good citizens /" and the whole experience of the world proves that you will not and can not make good sub jects and citizens by means of mere education apart from appeals to the conscience and the instruction of the children in the truths of the Divine word. The Divine word is really the foundation of all the laws of England, as Blackstone tells us. There is no law that is entitled to approval except it is in accordance with this higher law. . . . Now, f am extremely glad to find a certain proposal was made here some time and I would advise you to assent to it, because it seems to me a good common ground on which to stand. I was reading the other day an address by Bishop Suter, delivered in 1871, in which the following jwssage occurs :—" Long may Otago flourish by the reading of the Holy Scriptures in the public schools: they must not, and they need not, be made arenas of controvery or proselytising; but the motto of ('hiistians at least should be, ' Suffer the little children to come unto me, and foibid them not; for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." We read the Bible in schools, because if parents read it at home they at le;ist will be thankful to be helped by the additional study of it by their children in school; and if, from ignorance, or any other cause, children do not read it at home, then wo hold it to be more than ever a duty and privilege for them to be taught it at school. At all events, we Episcopalians and Presbyterians are at one on this point—we wish the Bible read by our children. Are we to be refused this? If so, where are our boasted liberty and toleration ? I think that is a very good thing indeed. It seems to be hitting the happy medium between teaching the peculiarities of the different denominations, which no reasonable man would attempt to do, and shutting out the Scriptures from the public • schools. Depend u|>on it, so far as the world stands at this moment, there is just one alternative. If you have not religious instruction, if your children are not trained in the knowle Ige of Scripture, you will find when they grow up that their consciences are uninfluenced, and that you will have far more trouble, and that trouble after all bootless, in attempting to control them, than if you had begun at the beginning. I see many complaints in the ('olonial newspapers of what they call "lairikins," a word quite new to us, but quite intelligible when explained. I understand they are young persons who throw off all restraint, and do mischief wholesale. I see appeals made to tl e parents of these young persons, and it is said that their parents ought to take care that they do not act in this way. Well, I was very much struck with the principle which I fount laid down by a statesman on the other side of the water, in Victoria: " In passing," he said " his own opinion was to exclude parents of children from electing the Boards, and that some of the members of the • 'abinet thought the less parents of children had to do with the management of schools the better." Well, there i> a grand despotism for you. Parents of children to whom the chddien belong, and the parents who pay the money, were to be excluded altogether from the direction of their children's education. That is a free country for you. That is what we will never submit to in Scotland. We give the parents of children the power of determining all such questions, and in the School Boards, the men elected from Dan to Bcersheba, with few exceptions, are just the men who wish to carry out the whole system of education, and twin up their children in the admonition the Lord. If that is done here you will have less to say about larrikins ; but if it is not done, instead of having a few larrikins you will have plenty of them, and you will learn these things by sad experience if you will not learn them from the Word of God. Excuse me for speaking plainly on this subject--(applause) for I think it is of very great importance. And in conclusion he said : I am extremely thankful to God that I have been permitted to execute a purpose which I have long entertained, of visiting this country. 1 repeat that I sun extremely sorry that my stay must l>e necessarily so brief, but I rejoice I have seen it, and am prepared to depart under a deep impression of its vast importance. It is a land of vast resources, with a comparatively excellent climate; and it is a land which is destined, if you take care to have the foundations well laid, to stand pre-eminent in the world. I agree entirely that all these different Australian Colonies ought to have an understanding with each other in regard to common questions ; but at the same time I rejoice to see a Scotch Colony and a Free Church Colony manifesting such a wonderful vigor and energy after such a brief existence, and i rejoice also to tee bo many of my nobis Highland, friends

occupying many prominent places in the land, both in Church and state. ... I find them the great men, the very aristocracy of this country, if I may so speak, and I think Highland hospitality is extended to a degree which my friends at Home have no idea of, although they are hospitable in their way. All these thiugsareextreroelyencouraging, butthe foundation of the whole matter is this—Righteousness cxalteth the nation. It is m-cessary for the government of a country, it is necessary for the family, it is necessary for the iniividual — and the nation is made up of individuals. I have great pleasure in making these observations, and I merely repeat that I will leave this country deeply impressed with its vast importance, and deeply grateful for the many kindnesses I have received. The Rev. Mr Will and Mr Jons Cargill also addressed the meeting. Mr A. J. Burns proposed a rote of thank* to Dr Begg for his add res*, and for the pluck and energy displayed by him in coming out to Ot >go, which was carried by acclamation.