Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 392, 15 October 1880, Page 1

Current Topics

AT HOME AND ABROAD.

ANOTHER PHILOSOPHER.

Is the Revue deg Deux Maudes of June Ist, M. EmiledeLaveleye gives us a sketch of the coining hostj for whom European Govermnonts are now making the way clear. This is the followers of Bakoumne, the Russian Socialist whom M. de Laveleye calls the Apostle of Universal Destruction. He says, "Itis he who, borrowing the name and organisation ef the international has spread anarchical Socialism in all the Latin countries. It is his ideas, as we shall prove that were dominant in the Paris Commune. It is they which now form the basis of the programmes adopted by the Socialist associations in Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, and even in France. Bakounine, he tells us, was born in Russia in 1814 His family was noble, and it was while exercising his duties as a military officer in Poland that he became filled with a hatred of despotism. In consequence he retired from the service and went to study philosophy at Moscow. After various vicissitudes, including imprisonment, which increased his ardour until it b3came fanaticism, ne founded a new society for the propagation of his system. This society was named the Alliance of Socialist Democracy, and of its nature the following extract from its programme will speak sufficiently :-« !The AlUance decUres itself atheist. It wills the definitive and entire abolition of classes and the political, economical, and social equahsafaon of the two sexes. It wills that the land, the instruments of labour, like all other capital, becoming the property of collective society taken all together, should only be utilised by the labourers, that is to say by the agricultural and industrial societies It recognises that all political and authoritative conditions at' present existing should disappear in the universal union of free associations » The changes thus contemplated were to be brought about by the employment of violence, as Jnclard, one of the followers of Bakocnine, addressmg more moderate revolutionists, has declared : « You wish to preserve existing institutions in order to ameliorate them ?» he said •Yam attempt. They canonly be the instruments of tyranny and spolia^ hon. We are logical; we wish to destroy all. We separate ourselves from you, and we tell you so. You shall have war, and it wiH be terrible. It will be waged against all that exists. Yes, we must make an end of the middle classes and their institutions. It is only on their smoking ruins that the definitive republic will be established It is upon ruins covered, I do not say with their blood-this long time they have had none in their veins-but with their accumulated X£ *- plaDt the bßnner of the BOcial revolution." in 1872 Bakoumne was expelled by Marx from the Intcrnatioßal, and four years afterwards he died at Berne.

bakounike's BYSTEM.

Of the institutions founded by Bakounine, and the doctrines propagated by means of them, M. de Lavcleye informs us to the following effect :— " The Alliance of Socialist Democracy, founded in 1869 a Society partly public like the International, and partly secret like Carbonansm, assumed as its leading principle that revolutions are produced by the movement of ideas and facts. All that a secret society need do is to spread abroad through the masses ideas that lead to revolution, and make provision for the proper direction of the out break when it takes place. The programme of the Alliance is that of Nihilism. It aspires to a universal revolution, social, philosophical economica 1 , and political ; so that cf the existing order of things, there may not remain one stone upon another at first in Europe, and afterwards throughout the world. In his work entitled "Words addressed to students," Bakounine opposes science and instruction and praises "holy and wholesome ignorance." The students must quit the schools and universities, and live with the people in order to promote their spontaneous deliverance. «• Pay no regard," says the writer, '• to that vain science in whose name they would bind your hands." " The robber is the true hero, the popular avenger the irrcconcileable enemy of the State, the true revolutionist in action, without phrases or rhetoric drawn from books" In

BaktLr -^ \ D \ mcd tt * " Princi Pl<* of Bevolation" Bakounine points out the means of breaking down everything. J*? 7*7 * *? lOrmßl OrmB * **™«« may be extremely varied. dagger slip-knot, the Revolution sanctifies all without distinct «The C r?vo V l^° 1 ; tlonai T.5 ;atechi^ «c describes the men of his party, PerLnS inw ?* "" * dWotafc He *"****" "Shi STS iL v I' DOr bUBineBB) nor ******* nor Property. H« £? both g ? W al T rbedin one — «***• inferek fa one sole thought, and one sole passion.-the revolution. He has only one end one science.-destruction. For that, and for nothing but that, he studies mechanic, physics, chemistry, and sometimes medicine: With the same design he studies men, characters, the positions, and II i; of the "^ order - He de »p i9eß and^*» «***« morality For him everything is motml that favours the trinmphtf the revolution ; everything i B immoral and criminal that obstructs it. Between him and society there is an incessant, irreconcilable, deathstraggle. He should prepare himself to die, to endure tortaw, and with his own hands to put to death all those who oppo.e an obstacle to the revolution. So much the worse for him if he has in this world the ties of relationship, friendship, or love. He is no true revolntionary if these attachments arrest his arm. Nevertheless he should live in the middle of society, pretending (o be that which he is not. He should penetrate everywhere ; into the higher as well v into the middle classes ; into the shop of the dealer, into the Church, into the public offices, into the literary world, into the secret police, and even into the Imperial palace. A list must be drawn up of those who are condemned to death ; and they must be made away with after the order of their relative ill-doing. A new member can only be received into the society by unanimity, and when he has given his proofs, not in word, but in action. Each associate should have under his hand several revolutionaries of the second or third degree, not completely initiated, (A hint that has probably been taken from the example of Freemasonry where a kindrad ordinance has been found so valuable.) 'He should consider them as a part of the revolutionary capital placed at his disposal, and he should expend them economically, and so a? to derive from them all profit. The most precious element is women completely initiated, and who accept our entire programme. Without their co-operation we can do nothing."

IN ITALY.

Such, then, is the system that now largely prevails throughout Europe. In 1872, for instance, the Italian Socialists adopted it, and their numbers have continued to increase. They exist in almost all the towns, of late years, to escape the vigilance of the police, assuming the nama of " Circle for Social Studies." They carry on an active propaganda At Naples, the students said to M. de Laveleye, " Advanced men are hardly any longer republicans. What is the good of overthrowing a king more devoted to his country than the best president.' But many of us are socialists." The Plehe, the organ of the party, wrote as follows concerning the Italia irredenta movement-" What ! you will make war on Austria for the purpose of wresting from her a part of the Tyrol or Trieste, but consider our tcrrc redente, our territory set free ; they are dying there of pestilence and hunger." No more Government, remarks M. de Laveleye— no more authority ; anarchy, such is the final end.

THE MINISTRY MADE EASY.

We hare in our day heard the irreverent describe the laying-on of hands that takes place at an Anglican ordination as resembling a game at "hot cockles ; " let us observe, it is not the " Popishij " irreverent to whom we allude ; it is the irreverent of the ultra- " Evangelical " party in tlie Church of England itself, only separated from open dissent by the strange, and not altogether honest, inconsistency of professing adherence to a communion which they in, fact dislike, and even ridicule. It must have been in some festive mood akin to that prompting to some pleasant small game that the Right Rev. Dr. Cowie, Bishop of Auckland, officiated the other day when ordaining a deacon of his Church. We base our judgment of the matter on a report of his lordship's sermon, published by our contemporary the Mum Zealand Herald, and than which it has never been our fortune to peruse anything more childlike, cheery, and altogother innocent and amusing. The freedom, indeed, with which th«

" gospel " has made free the worthy prelate in question, may most justly be described as a freedom of hot-cockles, and skipping ropes, and of all that is pleasant, harmless, and untrammelled, in a way approaching to the " infinitely little." His only anxiety was lest the candidate should be incommoded by imagining himself about to be bound by any yoke whatsoever, and all that we wonder at is, why on earth it was considered necessary to go through with a prescribed religious service for the purpose of authorising a young man to do what he could have very well done without any authorisation at all ; that is, carry out into practice his own ideas on religion and everything else without admitting for a moment that anyone in the world had a right to ask him a question, let him do or say what he might. But let us take a short course through this Bishop's very pleasant little address, and comment a bit on what we find there. First and foremost, then, we find his lordship recommending his candidate to abide by his own free will, and be its master and defender on all occasions. " Their freedom of will distinguishes man from the lower animal creation," said the Bishop. " They were in this made in the image of God, knowing good and evil, and could choose which to follow. They were not like the lower animals, in a great measure automata, but could choose for themselves, and be conscious of their choice." It is perfectly clear then that his lordship has never had experience, for instance, of a horse that "jibbed," not to speak of a buck-jumper. It is less astonishing that he should know nothing whatever of the habits of the humble donkey, an animal with which no one could dream of a learned prelate's having had any relationship at any time. We may venture, however, to remind his lordship that Homer compares the determination of Ajax when at bay to the stubbornness of a donkey trespassing in a cornfield. It is the strongest example the poet can find of the force of free will ; and, on so high authority, we may, without offence, «onclude that even the free will of a learned prelate aimself may not differ much occasionally from that of an ass. The Bishop then goes on to " snuff out " the Archbishop of Canterbury. His Grace, he says, is a mere name and that is all, just like the Pope in ancient days. " Each province of the Church of England was independent of the other. New Zealand was constituted one province, and was independent of every other. Just as in the early days of the Church the primacy was conceded to the Bishop of Rome, but no supremacy was acknowledged, so in the Archbishop of Canterbury, although he was Primate, he had no supremacy. No prelate had any authority over the Church of New Zealand." His lordship's studies, we perceive, have not been very profound so far as ecclesiastical history is concerned. Of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome in early days he evidently knows nothing whatever ; on the status of the Archbishop of Canterbury in New Zealand we conclude he is well informed. The Bishop goes on to explain the attitude of the Church towards science, and shows it to be an easy one. Membeiship of the Church, with regard to dogma, Is also easy, " For admission to membership of the Church, ~a man has only to declare his fai+h in the Apostles' Creed, which had been received everywhere in the Catholic Church." The Apostles' Creed, however, is a mere bagatelle, a baby might receive it. The Church that could not swallow that without winking would be a very scrupulous Church indeed. "Of many points of doctrine that creed says nothing, such as the inspiration of scripture, eternal punishment, and many others. They were not bound to believe these." This is accommodation itself ; if piety doss not prevail extensively in the Anglican diocese of Auckland, it cannot be said that it fails because of any obstacles thrown in its way by the Bishop. His lordship has exalted the valleys and lowered the hills before it to the utmost of his power. There is' but one belief, indeed, which we find this Bishop declare to be prevalent in his Church, and to us it seems the most extraordinary belief possible. " They believed," said his lordship, " that the spirit of truth was with them now as with the Christian Church in every age, but they were not in bondage to any man's opinion." The spirit of truth has evidently changed its nature, it leads Anglicans to-day to believe or disbelieve much that their fathers knew nothing of or firmly held ; nay, it leads them to hold all sorts of opposite opinions, aDd instead of being the secular spirit of truth, unvarying, and one, it is of all spirits that have ever been manifested the most novel, varying and inconsistent. Puck himself was not one whit more whimsical. And now w r> -i A\ the summit of the Bishop's liberality : Who might not be a parscn now-a-days 1 " Even in ordination," said his Lordship, " the candidate was only a&ked to assent to the Book of Prayer, being still at liberty to retain his own opinion." It is charming to learn that you may swear you accept without even the slightest menial reservation the whole contents of a book from which your opinion on many points widely varies, and still continue an honest man, a good Christian, and guided by the spirit of truth. There is much edification to be derived from this Bishop's teaching, and much encouragement. We wcuild ask bis Lordship whether ho allows an equal latitude in the ordinary affairs of life ; many situations occur which would render it convenient to give an assent while retaining contrary opinions all the time. May it honestly be done in secular as well as in sacred

matters 1 We would gladly learn. We have no doubt, indeed, that, if such may be, this Bishop is the very man to proclaim it. His heart runs over with the love of liberty, and makes him its worthy champion. He is filled too with the milk of human kindness, and vould gladly render every one as comfortable as possible. How tender, for instance, is the feeling he displays for the candidate about to be ordained. " Here he would not be depressed by the sight of the squalor and misery which so often prevailed in the cities and suburbs in the home country. Here he wonld see comparatively little bodily suffering and no destitution. B| would have sunshine almost every day and beautiful scenery." TM path of righteousness, then, the way of the Christian ministry, is no longer the way of the cross. This also is absent from the Apostles' creed, and the spirit of truth has struck out a new line of duty and discipline. The road to heaven in the diocese of Auckland, in short, is strewn with roses ; the life of the pious there is, so to speak, all spiritual skittles and beer," and the soul of the genial bishop rejoices thereat. On the whole we have never heard of a more encouraging address than this we write of having been made to any candidate for anything in the world, sacred or secular. He is told that there will be nothing obligatory in the slightest degree in the obligations he is about solemnly to take upon him, and that he may lead a most jolly life in the midst of sunshine and plenty. A promising young opera-singer, in a word, could hardly be offered anything more delightful by an enterprising and seductive manager.

IMPERTINENT AND SILLY.

The Archbishop of Sydney, in laying the foundation stone of a school-church the other day, delivered an address in which he stated the various sums spent by the Catholics of his arch-diocese on schools and churches during the last six years. His Grace, having mentioned the names of various towns and districts, with the amount expended by each, continued as follows :— " Now, just look what the religious orders have done for us since I came to Sydney. The Jesuit Fathers have spent £18,000 (£6OOO of which is included in the returns from North Shore) on religion and education, the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, besides £13,112 included in the above mentioned returns from the districts in which their branch houses are situated, have spent £2400 on the same objects— making a total of £15,522. The Sisters of Mercy have spent £12,319 6s lid ; the Sisters of Charity, £4287 0s lOd ; the Marist Brothers, £5400 ; and the Sisters of St. Joseph, who have but recently arrived, have already spent £654 on the poor and little children. And, since I have been at St. John's College, £4294 10s 4d have been spent upon that institution. To sum up, in less than seven years, that is since January, 1874, the Catholics of this archdiocese are spending, or have spent, on St. Mary's Cathedral, £55,112 10s ; on other churches throughout the archdiocese, £72,734 5s lOd; and on schools and convents, £84,577 5s lid ; making a grand total, as I have said before, ot £212,424 Is 9d." There are many reflections which must suggest themselves to any one who reads this, but the conclusion drawn from the statement by the Archbishop was that Catholics who had done so much under ordinary circumstances would, under the pressure of the education act, certainly be able to support their own teachers, and build their own schools. It might have been thought that there was nothing in all this statement that would have met with anything but applause and sympathy, or at least the respect involuntarily felt, although unexpressed, by any man of common decency in presence of self-denial, public spirit aud action calculated to benefit society at large to a very considerable degree. Bat such, it seems, was not the opinion of the anti-Catholic press ; and in consequence, for example, we find the Sydney Echo making the following stupid comments :— " Well done, Eoman Catholics of the Sydnay Archbishopric : but what do you want more ? Those schools and churches are your own ; nobody wishes to take them from you or interfere with your use of them, but, on the contrary, the law will protect you m the full enjoyment of your property and your liberty. "Would that a similar protection were afforded to all religions under the shadow of the Vatican and wherever its influence extends. Yet you are told to complain of a grievance, and that in this free land you suffer oppression. Would you have the State to pay that little of £212,424 ? Its refusal to do that is the only oppression you can complain of, and you shave it in common with all your fellow-citizens." We quote tho passage as a fair example of the silly arguments, or rather want of argument, by which the bigotry of a majority in these oolonios is excited and maintained for the oppression aud unequal treatment of Catholics. The paragraph is the merest rubbish, and yet it has been widely quoted and approved of, and we frequently i find such quotations made. It contains an empty sneer or two such as any larrikin at the street corner might utter with far more smartness, and one or two glaring untruths. It is untrue, for instance, to say the " law will protect you in the full enjoyment of your property and your liberty." The law by means of the Education Act will on the contrary lay a] hea-\y embargo en my

such enjoyment. It will render it extremely difficult for Catholics to maintain their property in a becoming condition, and their liberty it will impose a heavy fine on. It will in effect levy on every Catholic child reared in the Catholic faith a considerable poll-tax. It is also untrue to imply that wherever the influence of the Vatican extends all religions except that of the Church are unprotected. In every Catholic country where there are established sects they are on a full equality with Catholics, and enjoy all the privileges of citizens unrestricted. There may be a Catholic Government or two, perhaps, that has refused to pass special ordinances for the introduction into theircountries of such virulant, harmful, propaganda as that of whi WW oT"o T" lft st week gave a description taken from the columns of a non-Totholic paper, the London Spectator. And surely a Government has a right, so long as it is possible, to exclude a foreign system that leads to dissension, that demoralises and corrupts its subjects in the worse way possible, that is by making them religious hypocrites. But even were all religions except the Catholic oppressed under the Bhadow of the Vatican ; is that any reason why Catholics should be oppressed in countries that boast of their entire freedom and liberality ? Are the Catholic subjects of jProtestant Governments to be looked upon as hostages held to insure the fair treatment of Protestants in Catholic countries, and may reprisals be taken upon them adlWUwm,? Are they to congratulate themselves even if they are let off scot free, as on having obtained an unexpected and undeserved boon 1 For this is what the argument implied in the paragraph we refer to really comes to, and a most absurd argument it is. Bigotry must indeed be rampant when such an unmeaning, contemptible, paragraph opposed to the reasoning of Dr. Vaughan can be admitted to carry any weight with it.

THE STATE or THE CASE.

Apropos of the thread-bare accusation once more put forward so feebly by the Sydney Eclw relative to the influence of the Vatican on the treatment of non-Catholic sects, we find the following paragraph from a letter of the Abbe Martin to the London Times not out of place. " This is what we, the French clergy, do think : As a question of principle, we think with the Church, and, I hesitate not to say, with common sense, that it were much to be wished that all were of the same sentiments and in possession of the same truth. But as that is not the case, as, unhappily, we are divided by opinions which each believeß to be the truth, we, ia point of fact, ask for liberty on behalf of all opinions which are not directly at variance with reason and the natural conscience. The liberty which we claim for ourselves we are disposed to grant to others, within the limits of reason and of the natural conscience." We do not hesitate to affirm that the Vatican itself has always acted on just such a principle. It was such a principle that directed its action towards the Jews from time immemorial, and wherever Protestantism was established in any country subject to its spiritual rule, it was so guided likewise.

SCIENTISTS TO THE RESCUE.

It would seem that doubts are beginning to creep in as to the capability of the juvenile human skull for containing all that the advanced state of the century requires of it. It will bo hard, however, if our scientists cannot manage to force on evolution so as to remedy this matter ; they should set themselves seriously to work aad try to bring about something practical in the case ; endless talk is not a bit of good unless it leads to something practical. Will not scientific circles in Dunedin assume the management of this affair, and once for all vindicate their claim to originality and lasting fame, to the complete confusion of all scoffers ? The doubts we alluded to, then, have been occasioned to us by the following paragraph clipped from the London Times:—" The Bishop of Manchester, in distributing the prizes at Beaumaris Grammar School, remarked that the recent debate in the House of Lords on the subject of elementary education opened a most serious question. Thoughtful minds were beginning to inquire whether quality or quantity was best; whether it was preferable that a large surface should be slightly scratched or a smaller surface thoroughly cultivated. He did not desire to see the old curriculum materially changed ; and, while admitting that in some respects it had been prudently widened, he feared there was danger of running to extremes by including too many and varied subjects in the educational programme. His American experience had convinced him of the prejudicial effects resulting from the introductic multifarioui subjects ; how children quitted school with an ar^ot useless smattering of many subjects, but with complete and accurate knowledge of none. Now that knowledge was advancing co rapidly, it was difficult to fix a limit, but the question would have to be fought out sooner or later, and the earlier it waa decided the better. He trusted the education of English boys and gills would be concentrated on a few subjects, and not scattered over many." We learn, then, that the old saying, "Jack of all trades and master of none," applies to youngsters educated by somebody elso aa well as to certain adults educated — or, perhaps, non-educated — by themselves. The

propagation of such a class is not however desirable ; its members have a wonderful predilection for pedantry, and make the need for an additional supply of brains very evident indeed. Our evolutionists should really bestir themselves in this matter, for it concerns them closely.

JUST A POBTSCBIPT.

What on earth can Professor St. George Mivarfc have been thinking about, and does he really hint at the possibility of sticking Mr. Herbert Spencer'a nose down into the desert sand alongside of hia own, for he is treating of Mr. Herbert Spencer's opinions in the article we quote from. Listen to this that he says, "Of the people who, not content with the spontaneous certainty their nature gives them, fall into the absurdity of deDying the existence of either mind or matter most absurd of all, however, are those who, upon an idealistic basis, erect a materialistic system" (Dublin Review, January, '80, p. 40.) Metaphysicians aecounfable for a "materialistic system 1" What an " abuse of terms 1" As sure as fate when next we hear a voice cast back from the surroundings of the fens, it will, with an engaging defiuitenesa, call Professor St. George Mivart an "African bird." Birds of the kind, however, no matter where their heads may be, are given to kicking ; birds of the fens, that desire to preserve intact all the potency and credit of their cackle, will do well to avoid their heels.