“BUZZ,” AND THE BISHOP OF NELSON.

Marlborough Express, Volume V, Issue 253, 15 October 1870, Page 4

“BUZZ,” AND THE BISHOP OF NELSON.

To the Editor of the Marlborough Express. Sir,- I had no intention of again intruding on your time and space, but various circumstances have caused me to change my mind : First, I heard a remark last week to the effect that the letter of “ Buzz,” in the News , “ they supposed, had settled me,” the speaker being totally adrift as to my personal identity. I could not reply without discovering my incognita, which for the mere fun of the thing, if for nothing else, I feel disposed to preserve. With regard to “Buzz,” I have only this to say, that I have too much self-respect to degrade myself to his level by “answering him according to his folly.” He certainly chose an appropriate nom de plume, for his letter was a buzz et preterice nihil; albeit, ’twas long enough to entitle the learned and sapient author to a seat in the Pickwickian parliament as the honorable member for Verbosity. Secondly, I perceive, by a few lines in your contemporary, that another Richmond has taken the field. I wish him joy of the contest, though 1 fear his arguments will be thrown away on this doughty champion of Christian mercy and religious tolerance. (?) But, as I observed in my last letter, not in his Church alone do we find intolerance. I was not a little surprised at some of the observation contained in the Bishop of Nelson’s late address to the Synod. It does appear strange that any man not totally blinded by superstition should deprecate the “ straining after infallibility. ” What is infallibility ? It is truth—the complete possession and practice of the truth—the search, “ the straining after ” which is the highest aim of the human mind. But the gist of the matter lies in a nut-shell: the searcher after truth submits to no dogmatism, and without dogmatism there could be no priest-

hood. Does my Lord Bishop condemn the presumption of those who yearn to be made perfect after the image of their God, and yet see no presumption in the assertions made by the priests of every creed—“ By this, and by no other creed, shall ye be saved ?” From whom do they receive this high commission to “ Deal damnation round the land ?” I thought the object and end of the entire scheme of Christian redemption was the perfection of the human race ; but I find there is this condition attached : “ You must be made perfect my way,” says the Pope; “ No, my way,” shouts the Patriarch of the Greek Church ; “They are both idolaters,” says the Anglican Bishops ; “ Come our way,” say the Presbyterians. Follow any one of these —declare yourself “a worm,” “a wretch,” “a miserable sinner” and society acknowledges you “ a Christian.” But walk erect, follow the dictates of your own conscience, submit to your own clear convictions, and seek to work out your own perfection, and society, led on by an army of “ Buzzers,” will condemn you as everything bad, sensual, base, and .crown it with the one word—Atheist. If this is Atheism, it is the long-cherished religion of A New Man. Blenheim, Oct. 10, 1870.