THE Thames Advertiser. FRIDAY, MAY 18, 1877.

Thames Advertiser, Volume X, Issue 2626, 18 May 1877, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. FRIDAY, MAY 18, 1877.

" The evil influence of Wesleyanism on the 1 English character" is something new, and, tempts us to notice it, at the: risk of treacling 011 dangerous ground, or even entering the arena for a theological or sectarian discussion. Our rule is to eschew reli- : gious controversy, and we have'llo desire to relax the rule, but when we see such a statement as "John Wesley corrupted and degraded the Cornish character," we cannot refrain from at least takiug the defensive on - behalf of. a highly'respectable mining :class ill this community hailing from the. Land's End district of England. We are not so much alarmed at the statement. respecting the evil influence of although that could be •' easily refuted, or with the stronger and more alarming statement that " Methodism is the mother of carnality,' and the throttling cord of modem England," but when we find a hard working, honest, and intelligent class of our community branded as "corrupted and degraded characters" it is enough to lead us out of the Ipcaten . truck of journalism to resist the wrong thus inflicted on an unoffending class. . The author of the slander was once : Yicar of Morwenstow, and an Anglican convert to the Catholic Church. There , is a Catholic organ and a Wesleyan organ in .New Zealand,—the former the 'Tablet,' and the latter tho 'Wesleyan.' The 'Tablet'complains i of the . bigotry sometimes evinced in the writings published' by the ' Wesleyan,' andicharges that periodical with a fondness for parading the alleged sins of" Romanists." As if to expose any belief in the superior purity of Methodism, the 'Tablet' produces the following as a bill of indictment framed against that religion by the late Yicar of Morwenstow John Wes'ey corrupted and degraded the Cornish character. He found them wrestlers, caused them to change their sios, and called it conversion. ,Be found the miners and fishermen an upstanding, rollic ing people. He left; them a down-looking, lying, selfish-hearted throng, It is not conversion to effect a change of sinsi Tho vices of the tody are, after all, bad, though they be not so hateful as the sins cf the mind. Those latter the demon prefers andpractices. He cannot be sensual, though he tempt men thereto; and even, herein, Wesleyan9 about here are secret dram-drinkers too often, and their lust is cruel and deadly,. When our Lord said, "by their fruits you shall know them," He did not refer so much to the conduct of the heretics themselves as to the result of their doctrine. I undertake to prove, statistically, that Methodism, is the mother of carnality, and the throttling cord of modem . England. —Surely Cornislunen will not dare .to hold their heads erect after perusing this, although it does not follow that all, Cornishmen can be classed as " Downy-looking Methodists," We happen to know some who make 110 , pretension to Methodism,—and these, at least, -will consider that the shaft of ■■ calumny is not intended for them. But Cornishmen come from a Methodist country, so to speak, and many of - those who do not claim connection with the Methodists here have, no doubt, sprang from Methodist families in that part of England where Methodism appears to have been a stronghold, and . these will also smart under the insult. • We are not going to find fault with - ■ the 'Tablet' for its publication of the extraordinary statement. It bears the stamp of authority, as an assertion,, so far as tho late Yicar of Morwenstow may be considered an authority 011 such a J matter, and that is certainly open to H very grave doubt. Who was the Vicar of Morwenstow T We are told by the 'Tablet' that his father and grandfather were Cornishmen and Anglican clergymen, that he was also an Anglican clergyman, but " a stern sense of duty " compelled him to come out from amongst this wicked class and join the : ! Catholic Church—abandon the faith of his forefathers) with their wickedness, their "upstanding rollicking," theii' : "downy-looking, lying, selfish-hearted* ■ ness." Well, we could not blame them, if the indictment is only half true. It was quite time a respectable man , turned his back upon such a community, and we can hardly wonder that so many good Cornish minors find their way to the Thames goldfield under these circumstances. Their native country is surely altogether too hot for, ' . them, honest men that they are. They cannot stay to bo called a " lying, selfish-hearted throng," and the only ; wonder is that a respectable family is left in Cornwall—that they have not " One and All," as their motto. runs, emigrated to other countries. The ' Tablet ' tells us that the vicar actcd a ■'

bold and consistent part in estranging himself from such a people. There is no doubt that ever after making the discovery which has immortalised him he disowned this degraded'lot,'just as he relinquished the church of his fore-' fathers. For our own part we fear he formed his opinion of' l the • people of Cornwall as easily as. he changed his religion, or his opinion of the "Reformers." .There is,, seriously speaking, a great deal of truth in the remarks which follow the extract we have given from the' Hew Zealand Tablet,' which we'now quote :-- There must be good and bad among the Wesleyan among other religious bodies, bat the tendency of their system,-it appears, is not good, and goes to create " lvhiict! sepulchres " rather than outspoken and really honest men. The Wesleyan may bo wiled the modern or English Pharisee, if the late Cornish vicar's estimate o£ their character be a true one. Had the Roman governor of Jndea during our Saviour's time issued an. edict to compile "criminal statistics" of the Jewish people, most likely few of the " denomination " of the Pharisees would have figured in the black list Yet we,know that, aa a body, they were very far from'p'ossessing'the friendship and 'favour of God, notwithstanding the outward decency of their manners and their attention to their religious duties. Let the editors of the A r ew Zealand Weskytm think of this when next they try to make out. their. Catholic neighbours to be such'wicked sinners.' Many of us, God Inows, are no better than we • should be. - But if there be many Catholic sinners, there are, andever havebeen, not a few Catholic saints too; real saints, men and women who have sacrificed everything the world values for the sake of God and his poor. •—The writer then becomes personal, for he asks:—"Are there any such, have there ever been any such among the Weslevan body? If so, let the editors of the' New Zealand Wesley an' name them." It is no part of our duty to follow the subject beyond this.