ORANGE CELEBRATIONS

Southern Cross, Volume 12, Issue 16, 16 July 1904, Page 7

ORANGE CELEBRATIONS

On Sunday evening the members of the Sons of Levi Orange Lodge attended a special service in the Biles Road Primitive Methodist Church, where an appropriate sermon was delivered by the Rev. Mr Pybus. The annual entertainment took place in Ashley’s Hall on Tuesday evening, and drew the largest attendance for years, the building being crowded.

The Rev. Mr Wilson, of the Queenstown Presbyterian Church, chaplain, presided, and said that five years had elapsed since he had attended an Orange gathering. It was in Scotland, and people gathered in thousands to protest against the Government’s proposal to endow a Roman Catholic University. Some held that there was no need for the Orange Society, but at Home in recent years they had helped to prevent two evils —Home Rule for Ireland, which meant Rome rule, and the endowment of a Roman Catholic university there at a cost of a million sterling. The Order, as a matter of fact, was as much required now as ever it was. The Roman Church was losing ground on. the Continent. The monastic orders had been expelled from France, in Austria thousands of persons had become Protestants, and the gospel was preached even in Rome ; but the Church was trying to gain all the power it could in Britain and the colonies. Orangemen had been designated as Protestants in earnest, and it was their duty to protest against the Church of Rome because of her errors and false doctrines, and against all encouragement her system. Ministers were sometimes told to preach the gospel and leave the Chmch of Rome alone, and the men who talked like that claimed to be tolerant and open-minded ; but a great deal of this so-called tolerance was simply due to want of conviction. If people were convinced of the truth of Christianity they would protest against everything opposed to the Gospel of Christ. Christ and the Apostles were not content with simply proclaiming the truth —they ' spent much time in denouncing evils as well. They waged war against everything evil, and Protestants were unfaithful unless they followed that example. They protested against the Church of Rome because it has corrupted the Gospel of Christ, because it is tyrannical, the foe of civil and religious liberty. Take its attitude to-day-ffowards the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible was giveu that we might know God and bis will concerning us, but the Church of Rome had banished the Bible wherever it had the power. It had expelled it from our schools in New Zealand, and now when an effort was being made to restore it that Church, was protesting against it. In this, he thought, they had played into the hands of their opponents. The Roman Catholic Bishops in their latest manifesto declared that the reading of the Bible in schools would be teaching denominational education, and in saying that they practically admitted that the Protestant religion was founded on the Bible, while theirs was not. If their church was founded on the Bible, the reading of the Bible would not be denominational. Rome was also anti-Christian. Take the matter of Sabbath observation—a very serious matter in N.Z. Amongst Protestants the observance of the Lord’s Day was an obligation—not so with the Roman Citholics. They might go to mass in the morning and do what they pleased the rest of the day. The Sabbath was the safeguard of the Protestant religion —abolish it and the churches might as well be shut up, and religion also abolished. In Queenstown, where there were a large number of Roman CatholicPj he had seen them going to mass in the morning, and engaging in football and cricket and other forms of desecration in the afternoon, and leading nominal Protestants to do the same. The Church of Rome was also the

enemy of civil and religious liberty—it was not only a religion, it was a vast political system. The Pope claimed temporal as well as spiritual powel—lordship over the kings and rulers of the earth. The Church had never relinquished that claim. He had been quite amazed a few days ago to read what the Roman Catholic Bishops said in reference to the reading of the Bible in schools. They said —“ The rights of conscience of a minority, however small, are as sacred and inviolable as those of a majority* however large. God gave them, and man cannot lawfully take them away.” Imagine Roman Catholic Bishops pleading for freedom of conscience ! They must think that people had forgotten the past — the atrocities of the Inquisition, and many other episodes. And now the Church talked about the rights of the minority ! Why, in Roman Catholic Ireland to-day, if a man preached in the open-air he would be in danger of his life, and in South America today no Protestant missionary could labour openly. Wffen in a minority the church appealed for liberty, but when in power it had no toleration. The liberty it cried for was the liberty to take away other people’s liberty. The great danger was not so much from the church itself as from the indifference of so many professing Protestants, some of whom sent their children to convent schools, saying that the nuns were so gentle and kind. Of course they were, but the foolish mothers of such children did not see that efforts would be made to win their little ones over to the Roman Church. France had awakened to the danger, and had expelled the monks and nuns, but we allowed them to come within our shores, although they were a menace to our civil and religious liberty, and we allowed convents to be erected here and there, although they were not open to inspection—they were safe against that —but the people should insist on such institutions being open to Government inspect’on. He had also been told that the N.Z. Government gave preference to Roman Catholics in the postal, railway, and police departments, itfo Roman Catholic should be given preference in the public service unless justly entitled to it—no matter what Government was in power, no matter to what party in politics they belonged, such a system should nob be tolerated there should be equal justice for all. He had been told that if a young man with a letler of recommendation from a priest applied for a position he was taken on at once. He was further told that fifty women were employed at Government House, Wellington, in cleaning the place and lighting fires, and of these 48 were Roman Catholics, and the other two came from the West Coast. —(Laughter.) The people ought to be free to speak their minds, and to tell whatever Government was in power that they would not be trampled on, but would have their rights. He hoped their Order would increase and prosper, and that its members would be ever faithful and maintain the liberties their forefathers had fought for, suffered and died to win for their country. Every Protestant minister should be a member of the Order, for although of different denominations, they could meet on a common Protestant platform, and work unitedly for a common aim and purpose. The Rev. Mr Raine delivered an address on “ Freedom,” and urged Protestants to greater earnestness and unselfishness. “ Our religion,” he concluded, is one of unselfishness and of true love for our fellow-men. God help ns to live it.” The musical programme was of a very enjoyable character —one of the most popular of the many carried out under the auspices of the Order. Mr D. Black’s orchestra contributed two selections with very good effect, the national airs being especially well received. Mrs Forbes-Williams gave an exceedingly sympathetic rendering of “ Douglas Gordon,” for which she was encored, and she was also heard with great pleasure in “Waiting.” Miss D. Ross treated the fine

gong, “ Island of Dreams,” in a manner that brought out its full charm. Miss Dryden pleased with “ All in the hush of Twilight*” and Miss Lumsden sang “ The - Long Avenue ” very sweetly. Miss L. Stevenson danced the Highland Fling most gracefully, and was loudly applauded. Mr F. J. Lillicrap’s clarinet solo was a most enjoyable item—not less so Mr E. La Petit’s selection-on the flute, which earned a recall. Mr B. S. Perry’s “Russian Love Song” was a piece of very good work, and Mr Porteous fully maintained his reputation in “ There’s a Land,” and gained the loudly expressed admiration of the audience in his encore number, “ The Deathless Army.” Mr E. R. God ward’s song with banjo accompaniment had the usual ending —he had to give a further taste of his quality —his cuckoo notes still linger in our ears. Mr C. E. Griffiths’ -descriptive song “ Alone on the Raft ” brought into full relief some of the perils of those that do business in great waters. “ The Bugler” by Mr R. Abel introduced a new and very good singer to an Invercargill audience. Mr A. S. Wallace’s recitation, “ The Pipes at Lucknow,” took the fancy of the public so well that he had to re-appear, when he gave “ The Alarm ” —a false, but very amusing one, it proved. The accompaniments were excellently played by Mrs Blue. On the motion of the Rev. Mr Pybus the services of the singers, musicians, and speakers received enthusiastic recognition, and after a verse of the National Anthem had been sung, the gathering, which included a number of country visitors, dispersed.