THE ORANGEMEN AND GUY FAWKES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 766, 5 November 1886, Page 27

THE ORANGEMEN AND GUY FAWKES.

(united press association.) Auckland, October 28,

The following correspondence has been published—Grand Orange Lodge of New .Zealand, Pollen-street, Surrey Hills, Auckland, Hew Zealand, October 25th 1886. Rev and dear Sir. At a meeting of the Above brand Lodge held on the 16th inst., it was resolved to ask the Protestant ministers of Auckland to preach a thanksgiving service on Sunday, Ist November, in memory of the deliverance from the Gunpowder Plot. They, the members of the above Grand Lodge, will be greatly pleased if you can see your way to comply with the above resolution, as they believe such deliverance should be held in everlasting remembrance. —Yours faithfully (signed) J. Carnahan, G.S.

Bishop’s Court, Auckland, October 26tb, ISB6,

Dear Sir, —I have received your letter of October 25th, informing me of a resolution of the Grand Orange Lodge of New Zealand, and asking me to “preach a thanksgiving service in : memory of the deliverance from the Gunpowder Plot.” I would gladly comply with this request if I did not think that more harm than good would be the result of such a sermon. The principles of the Grand Orange Lodge are, I believe, reverence for Holy Scripture and loyalty to the British Crown. These are principles of Christian politics of which the whole of New Zealand must cordially approve, but we may honestly differ in opinion as to the most effectual means of inculcating them. The deliverance of November 5, 1605, should not be forgotten, but Ido not think that it ought to be commemorated in a manner that is offen-

sive to aiiy of our fellow-citizens. I have no reason to suppose that the Roman Catholics of Auckland approve of the plot of Guido Fawkes and his fellow conspirators

any more than yon and I do, and to act or speak as if the contrary were the case must be irritating to them, and is calculated to stir up and keep alive feelings of injury and resentment. Happily there is no more fear of the Bible, in the vulgar tongue, being closed to the people of New Zealand by the authority of the Pope of Rome than there is of New Zealand being invaded by another Spanish Armada, and I am not aware that the loyalty of the Roman Catholics of Auckland to Queen Victoria is at all inferior to that of our other fellowcolonists. Under these circumstances, I feel that Christian charity demands that British subjects in these islands should discontinue public commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot, freedom of conscience and general liberty of the subject being as secure in New Zealand as anywhere else in the world. . Love to our brethren, fear of God, and honoring the King are linked together in the New Testament. Let us do our best to

preserve, their combination in our daily lives as in other ways ; so also by discountenancing commemorations that are likely to cause heartburning and a desire for retaliation among any section of the community.— I am, &c., W. G., Auckland Bishop.”