CORRESPONDENCE.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 8615, 3 August 1895, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

Party Polities and the Pulpit,

io wra mwosi

f »,—£■ r«ply to My letter in My defence, you say perliaps you were in error in saying the greater part «f my remarks were an undisguised attack on tho Seddon Ministry. Thank yon! I must be grateful for the little confidence you have in my veracity. I also reiterate that there wa» only one short reference to tho Government, which was a reflection on party govovnment more than on tne Government of the d»y. As to your statement that two shorthand writers and a third person agreo that I usad the word sfability, lam satisfied that they a«e mistaken. I rcmembar distinctly whafc I said, and as you think perhaps you were ia error about the morning sermon y»u maj yet find you are wrong respecting the evening. You, sir, think tome things I say in the pulpit are " uncalled for," " indiscreet, and unfounded." I often think the same about what is written in your paper, but; I have never said co in tha pulpit. Mine, sir, is not the only glass houip, and you must not claim a monopoly to throw stoae'. As you declined my letter on tho Parihaka mooting bec^mi it was "couched in unnecessarily effjnsiTO langusge," I shall in eolf defencs have to publish it, and let the publio judge betiveon us. — I am, etc., T. G. Hammonjj.

Pa'ea, August Ist, 1895.

10 THE KD'TOB

•Sib, — The wont of manners shown by the Hey. T. Q. Hammond in presenting himself an uninvited guest at Te Wh/iti'a door ao shortly after pub,lio!y Bpoaking of that dusty celebrity in terms of camura nfc a public meeting in Patea showei ai amount of audacity rnly equalled by his converting the pulpit of Trinity Cbureli into a poiitical plaiform from which to thunder his political opinions in on "rx falhedra " manner for tfea bonefi 1 ; of the good | eojjle of that congregation, who had a right to expoot from a visitor pntulum of a more spiritual and edifying nature. Tho prisßtly arogaDce of tono in the latter part of hisletter published in reply to your strictures, stating his intention of deciding for himself as tj Mb conduct and criticipiDß in the pulpU, is what might might ha expected from ono whose long residence amongit Maoris has lessoned his sympathy for his pakeha brethreQ, aal savours somewhat of tho domineering tone assumed by rangatiras whan haranguing a native gathering. But, Sir, thw is not tha kind of teaching required to day to win tho masses back to the churches, which have been emptied in many instances by the Conserrafcive proclivities of their pastor*, who appear unable to sympathise with the aspirations and efforts of the working olajaos ia their struggles for political, social, and religious freedom. — I am, oto ,

LIBEIUI/,