Oxford and Cust Obserber. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, January 18, 1890.

Oxford Observer, Volume 1, Issue VXXII, 18 January 1890, Page 4

Oxford and Cust Obserber. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, January 18, 1890.

We notice that .a high function o. the Orange body was celebrated i# Dunedin recently ; ._.'j.',was; the ai_iua_. v , meeting of the Orange Grand* Lodge,, ■''*•■ and, after the election of the several ; : Grand Officers ior the coming year,, lV was decided 'to hold a ; .special meeting , m July, to consider the propriety o inviting competent persoa^tol'-vii-it^he . Colony and lecture m opposition -to the Home Bute movement; *' ''■■■■■ We f ar,e : -nqii Oi^ngemeh , ourseiyesy nor- __deed- can we claim- to belong, to any- of -the ■ particular '* organisations which are. now, so numerous . in these colonies! as. .well;- a^in., the; Home, : Countryj but we cdnfess to -'a very < strong \J^^ \ :frie»d.s 0 $ i tae[,pra^ ..sej. \[ •acknowl-dge- thati'we'. do not. see' thencT inocessity ;ihf these *times^ *for thii cdntinuance, of an institutip-f*i ". which 'was' into . existe'iicei towards the; end! ' * 'of tiie last century under circurn'sknbes r ' widely, different from - tiipse^ whicli ofitain -m our day. . Th_- Church -ia. *no \ longer m daliget^t^^ tor nal ; enemies • ,'_' tlie CrowW ia iipfc threatened; the last -scion: of.t/he.iit-v ' : fatuat'ejHou^e of Stuart -is gsne to * hisv^ ■;• rest,'; and 'the niost' tilhid 'alarmist ,c_i_ - '■ have; no fears pf a ; suceessipn to 'the throne of; this Great 'Empir*e, to i■• which we all i s6;p^Qudly ! daiM' ! ci'tizbfe'''; ship,, and i.xyhVl]^ stands ■withoitt'tianf^B'^alvr^ -get ] the Orange ihstitution/remam^hbt 'tier* '. : haps m its .wj&fl^ and perhaps deplores vinVthese dege_.er t rafce^day3,. the r sl*ln_\ilu_ M tjib tremeftdi;.* 5 01^^ oj?pWtiony :^hic|r Jnilani^d. t_|aV r 1 ardor 'of !its< members and attracted' .to . ; ; its r rkn_s mon of < distinguished 'abiiitv* ' ■■*--'•'•' '-i-.i fr, -i ,-r ■■'"■'■;' •■■•; '-r ■- „-s " - ; art*! ppsition' ;i in the O|d;poimtr'y,^on - whose zeal hi-the fartherance £>£. every -1 Christian virtue induced them"to**.speml*' ■■ their ; substaice^ ■ ■!• and . their' lives uif ■ I necessary, m the' fullest- support of Uxq l question of Protestant . ascendancy; "and m^eyehemerAjd^ftnciati^ TliQ f Scarlet Lady .Vf ; and .■< all ; hey, ,wo;i*ks.y Tliere may be, too; a^feelihg' akin**.6 ; sadness m : tliej.a_. tliat not" manynoYp* • '■ '• ' ■:■-''■ '■ r-':Aj.'i[i. ; y'\ •iifo'f f:* 7 "''"V ojiithe, great pivnpble,. tal^any vpart '4m the'iproceddin^s^ _f the Orange assenK b^i"*^^:^^ wqre content to quietly withdraw ;frpra> an institution, which^in their bpiiiioh; ffip ;! cpn'di„bns of ihe age m; Wliioh vf c! live no longer requii-ed^th^ tion with the onoe. prominent or^anisa-r tion which no longer brought distinc^on —rather the reverse— since, the^ovej-a--ment:: of the day is unmistakably mr clined tp -100k ', * coldly on tliis pe^utUagc* e^pre^icm ipf ilbya_t;y .^" Alf'ine \ g^pre hono? wQ.say ; to the.few courageous 'pi'en who, vi th'esb/days'of prbsia.. u'tili'can calt thpir;reg_r^ r b3,pk io those glorious times when,, rfai Orangeman was 'a nariie ; and * m ;the' l-ij-d, andj-th^ in^|u|i.^,ppu^ |not ia-j-r : claimj:tp. the^distiiiijpu''^ ; branded;.as k) and; a ; %ajfe_-;felfis .:;'-'•"* We Si-W s^d't-atwe^fe muc^;, .admiration for , o our ;;; rQ|||igp Me^dsy^aj^we repeit ; it; itHey jvaro held on their 1 wa'y^b^f'go^^ ous majority against them, and hQedkig

not the sneers of lukewarm partisans We confess there is something touching m this unwavering loyalty to a declining cause. We feel pity lor the man who can witness without emotion the unfurling of tnat gorgeous flag with its proved motto of "No Surrender" by the small band of men whose minds dwell on the treasured past, and shake the dust off their shoes at a world abandoned to wicked and Popish devices. As regards the proposal to invite competent persons to come forward to lecture, m opposition to the Hbnie Eulers, by all means let us have them, no good cause ever suffered from pub* licity. It is of the utmost importance that so. great a change as the Home Bulers are endeavoring to bring about should be openly and exhaustively dis- : cussed. We may be sure they have . not' sent out their least attractive . orators to advocate their cause, and we shall therefore look forward with much interest to the advent of those competent persons whom the Orange society may select to present to the uninitiated the opposite side of tins great question. We have already expressed a doubt as regards the necessity or wisdom of continuing an organisation which,, m. our opinion, appears to possess so small a field for usefulness. The necessity certainly does not exist — we doubt if it ever existed, except m the excited imagination ot an acknowledged warmhearted and impetuous people. The dangers which were supposed to threaten the whole fabric of society and which called into existence the Orange Lodges of 1995, never assumed a tangible shape, and have long since ceased to disturb men's minds. To acknowledge the greatness of William the third is no doubt quite proper; he held his own with the greatest Statesmen of his time, and, to use the .wo-ua^,-of hid historian, "He contended with honor m the field with the greatest Marshals of France." The manners of his time would make people of the present day stare, as the same authority tells us, " He devoured all the early peas at table, leaving none for his wife." While, therefore, the harmless custom of our Orange friends, m continuing down the ages to drink the " glorious, pious, and immortal memory of good King William," is calculated to provoke a smile. The concluding clause of the toast, which fervently curses the Pope, we hold to be distinctly improper and unwise. Tlie , times are changed, the harsh and cruel laws which exasperated a rude and easily excited people exist no longer, the grievances (real or imaginary) that oppressed the masses have been removed ; or are rapidly disappearing, the manners .of the age are softened, the blessed spirit of charity is more fully recognised. We live m days when the efforts of the good and noble, the wealthy and learned, are directed towards the promotion of schemes for . the relief bf poverty, the prevention of , crime, the instruction of youth, , and -j the general improvement of the condi- ■ tion of the masses. Ih these circum- : stances is it wise, we ask, to seek, to . keep alive m men's minds, by continually reverting to the history of a rude and by-gone age, feelings of burning irritation ? We submit that

the Orange society, with quasi-religious eWacter, has this ; tendenoy, and therefore, we hold that its, continuance is neither wise nor necessary. v