A " HOWLY " BROTHERHOOD.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3852, 9 July 1873, Page 3

A " HOWLY " BROTHERHOOD.

Tihe religious sect of " Howling Repentants," which was formed two years ago, arid which met in a room behind University College., has come to a premature end. The residents in the neighborhood must be greatly delighted ; far the howling of the " repentants," however blessed it may have been to themselves, was far from pleasing to the •ears of those whose ■" repentance" was n-ot in a manner so ferociously eair,neßt. The sect flourished a while. To show sorrow for sin by screaming at tbe pitch of their voices was an occupation in which nearly two hundred fanatics gladly engaged, and on some Sundays the body ef sound sent out of their room was powerful enough to reach to the skies and a great deal further. Tbe "dfepentants" howled when the " spirit" moved them ; aad, according to a distracted mortal who lived next door, tlie *' spirit" took care to " move " them pretty often, and io " move," moreover, as many at a timers made the volume strong enough to be effective. Whether from the fact that all their sins had been repented of, or from other causes less -encouraging, thelfcqpentanfcs have dwindled away to a number so small that, to use the words of the aforesaid afflicted resident, " their sins are hardly wewth howling for." £n the day of their prosperity, the Repeatants, like all other prosperous churches—-Es-tablished, Free, and otherwise, — were very exclusive. Unless you undertook to howl when moved, you could no mane enter the tabernacle of the howlers than fly in the air. If anything approaching a smile was seen there in the neighborhood of your countenance, out you went. The main conditious of admission, and retention of your place when in, was a face as long as a fiddle and a capacity to roar, and with these you could remain a member of the sect as long as the need for roaring remained. Newspaper men often tried without success to find their way among tbe howlers. Even Mr Archibald Forbes, of the " Daily News," who will gain admission where most other men will fail, could malo nothing of the doorkeeper to the howlers. His face wasn't half long enough. — " Dundee Advertiser" correspondent.