ORANGE CELEBRATION.

Southern Cross, Volume 11, Issue 16, 18 July 1903, Page 12

ORANGE CELEBRATION.

The Twelfth of July was duly observed by the Sons of Levi L.O.L. on Sunday last, when they attended h e evening’ service in the Biles Road Primitive Methodist Church, and listened to a special sermon by the Rev, T. A. Pybus, Provincial Grand Chaplain of the Order, whose theme was “The Open Bible.” On Monday night the annual concert took place in the Temperance Hall, which was crowded with members and their friends. The Rev. Mr Pybus presided. After a wellplayed overture by Black’s orchestra, the chairman delivered a short address. He expressed his pleasure at seeing such a large audience. This was the anniversary of the Order, and throughout the world lodges were celebrating the occasion. They believed that righteousness exalted a nation, and the Order stood up for God’s word and the reformed faith. An Orangeman was essentially a Bible-loving man and loyal to bis country and his king. However, whilst Orangemen were proud of their institution, they did not wish to say one word harmful to those of the opposite faith ; they simply claimed for themselves the liberty that they extended to others. The Rev. Mr Muirhead said that the Battle of the Boyne had been fought more than 200 years ago., and they might ask —‘ What was there in that victory that it deserved to be commemorated so long after the event?’ Its importance lay in this—that it was a conflict between the forces of Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, and the future not only of Ireland, but of England, and consequently of these colonies, depended on the result. James II sought to be absolute, and his defeat was not only a victory for Protestantism, but also for liberty over despotism. If they would know exactly what the victory of the Boyne meant to us to-day they had only to study (he condition of Roman Catholic Ireland at the present time. He had been studying the subject a good deal, and had read, among others, two recently published books by a Catholic, Mr M. McCarthy, entitled ‘ Priest and People in Ireland’ and ‘ Five Tears in Ireland.’ They were books that every Protestant ought to read. They were in the Invercargill Athenaeum, and there had been a run on them, and especially on ‘ Priest and People in Ireland.’ He was told that many Roman Catholics were reading it because Dean Burke had written a letter about it in the Otago Daily Times. Mr McCarthy contrasted Protestant Ireland in the north-east, with the’ rest of Ireland, which is Roman Catholic, He asked why Protestant Ireland, which had no legislative or natural advantages over the other part, was prosperous and industrious and contented, while the rest was poor and discontented, and the reason he gave was this—that in the one case, the people are dominated by the priesthood and in the other they are not. According to Mr John Redmond the population of Ireland had declined from 8|- millions in 1841 to 4|- millions in 2901, but this was only true of Catholic Ireland—the population of Belfast, the Protestant city of Ireland, had increased in 60 years from 70,000 to 300,000. Moreover, while the population of Catholic Ireland had been decreasing at a great rate, the number of ecclesiastical establishments had been increasing enormously, and the poor population ot Connaught, numbering 622,677, had as many bishops as the whole of wealthy Belgium, with a population of millions. The religious communities in Ireland greatly outnumbered the Imperial and local government forces, and the larger the number of persons who entered religious houses, the fewer there were left to do the work of the country, and the greater the burden thrown on the producers to support the non-producers. Many thousands of pounds were raised to erect cathedrals and other costly edifices, and there was little

left for industrial or commercial enterprises result, stagnation, The rev. gentleman made further quotations from Mr McCarthy’s books, and in closing said that he had not spoken in order to cause sectarian hatred or produce discord —on the contrary he loved the Roman Catholic laity, and would help them as soon as he would help his Protestant brethren, but he did nob love the Roman Catholic priesthood, and he thought that in the colonies there was a tendency to look with too much complaisancy on Roman Catholicism.

The musical programme submitted was greatly enjoyed. Mrs ForbesWilliams sang several of her best songs and was encored each time, one of her encore numbers being “ Husbeen,” which was given with great sweetness and charm. Mrs Blue was very happy in her songs and not less so in her treatment of them, and was, of course, encored. Messrs Hensley and Richards contributed a very enjoyable item in the duet “ Excelsior,” and Miss Dryden sang “ The Children’s Home ” with considerable feeling and expression. Mr L. Broad was doubly encored for his “ All our very own,” and the recitation given by Miss Vera Richards was so well done that she was recalled. Mr A. Stewart danced a sailor’s hornpipe very deftly. Songs were also given by Messrs T. Brown, C. E. Griffiths, and A. Dickson, and Mr Carl Collier made his skill as a banjo player pleasantly manifest. The concert closed with the singing of a verse of the National Anthem.