NEW PLYMOUTH BROTHERHOOD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143783, 6 May 1912, Page 2

NEW PLYMOUTH BROTHERHOOD.

Tlio Rev. J. W. Burton must have felt gratified beyond measure at the splendid send-off tho New Plymouth Brotherhood—of. which ho is tho prime initiator—received on Sunday afternoon. That over 280 mon should have assembled in response to the invitation and entered so heartily into tho whole proceedings is an excellent augury for. the permanency of the movement. It is not necessary lor us in this placo to describe what tho movement is; its objects are perhaps most simply and at the same time most effectively exemplified in the one word “Brotherhood,” Scotland's immortal bard sang of tho time when “man to man tho world o’er shall brothers be, and a’ that.” Burns also it was who said that “man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.” All for tho want of that spirit of brotherhood which Mr. Burton and bis co-workers in the movement desire to bring about. If only men could see a little clearer, as our own Tom Bracken pule it, into others’ hearts and minds there would be less misunderstanding of motives and a greater spirit of brotherhood. It may be that there is a good deal of idealism in tho movement; in fact it is necessarily so, for it is an ideal that is aimed at. But it is a very lofty ideal, and if the methods by which tho efforts to reach it are such as all can adopt and participate in there is no reason why it should not in some degree at least be achieved. Tho launching of tho Now Plymouth Brotherhood on Sunday afternoon was a common mooting ground of all classes and all sects, and it was remarkable what a spirit of fraternity' and equality scorned to animate tho gathering. It will need careful guidance and a scrupulous avoidance of tho pitfalls of class distinction and religious controversy, and tho Now Plymouth Brotherhood bids fair to have a long and useful life.