Religious Freedom and Bazaars

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XIX, Issue 2000, 3 December 1886, Page 2

Religious Freedom and Bazaars

In opening a Jewish Bazaar at Dunedin on Monday week, Sir Julius Vogel is reported to have spoken as follows :

Now I may say the bazaar represents generous assistance all the world over. There ate represented in the bazaar donations and contributions from all parts of this colony, from the neighboring colonies, from America, from several European countries, from Great Britain, aud from Ireland. But 1 speak on behalf of ourselves when I say that what has touched the Jewish ■ community most throughout their exertions is the cordial assistance which they have received from all denominations amongst which they reside. Before the bazaar was intended assistance had been rendered outside the Jewish com* munily, but when this great effort was inaugurated that assistance became more general, aud the Jews of Duuedin and Otago have to thank persons of all denomu nations and of all creeds for the hearty assistance and generous encouragement which has been given to the efforts, the results of which you see. 1 cannot help thinking, when we consider the history of past times, and the persecutions aud atrocities which have been committed in tbe name of religion, that we are fortunate in living in an age which has witnessed, so to speak, the almost entire growth ot freedom ot religion. Wo are happily of this geneiation. When tha histoiy of the age comes to oo written, and its features recorded, I doubt if even the nse and application of steam and of electricity, and tue vet more heuelioient discovery of the nse of ana sureties will stand foith more pi eminently than the freedom which religious worship has gained. It is a monument la the moral and intellectual development of the day that there is no restriction on those who choose to worship according to the creed which their fathers have taught them or which their own intelligence suggests. I cannot help myself regarding bazaars with a kindly feeling. They are associated with many pleasures, which 1 remember ; and I was surprised not long since to read that a high ecclesiastical authority passed rather a sweeping condemnation on them. 1 could not quite follow his reasoning, it was rather over my head, but if 1 understand it correctly it meant this : that toe amusement incidental to bazaars were somewhat undignified in connection with the exercise of religion. Bat I think there is a wide difference between the exercise of religion itself and the surroundings which facilitate that exercise. A solemn and pure service can he celebrated under the blue vault of heaven as in the most costly edifice. The aids to religion must not he confounded with religion itself. It is natural, perhaps, that high officers of the church should do so ; but to my mind the exercise of religion in its purest condition is one of so high a character and is so distinct from the surroundings which we are now attempting to aid, that there is nothing incongruous or improper in tbe amusements which are incidental to the pro* gress of a bazaar in aid of the cost of a building dedicated to religious purposes. On tbe other hand bazaars call forth excellent q nail ties We cannot have a bazaar organised without the exercise k of a great deal of patience, a great deal of industry—of hours well spent which otherwise might he wasted—or without a great deal of generosity of feeling, of companionship and kindliness. In short, it appears to me that a bazaar may call forth so many high qualities that there is no harm in throwing ourselves run amove into it and its enjoyment, and feeling conscious that are doing good work.