CANTERBURY CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 6, 29 May 1885, Page 17

CANTERBURY CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

Christchurch, May 23. In consequence of the bazaar in aid of the convent funds being Tafi^ on one of the nights, there was no meeting of the Society on the evening of May 4. The programme for May 11 consisted of a lecture by Mr. Nolan on the •' civilisation, customs, and social habits of the Romans." The lecture was criticised at considerable length by Messrs. Cora, O'Sullivan and Dr. Bakewell, each of whom complimented the lecturer on hisinduslry and research and also for the exhaustive and able manner in which he handled his subject. On the evening of May 18 Mr. Nolan continued this lecture on the Romans, dealing especially with their religious beliefs. Religion, he said, was part and parcel of every Romau ; it was ingrained in him. Temples dedicated to the worship of the various gods were as plentiful as hotels in a colonial town, but still they were the most corrupt, licentious, and cruellest people in the whole world. This was not so much to be wondered at, if we consider that those acts which we as Christians look upon as heinous crimes were regarded by them as being very acceptable to the gods. Woman, too, had so debased herself that her very name was despised and her position in sociecy was somewhat similar to what it is now among barbarous nations. Mr. O'Connor did not see what good would result from a study of the debaucheries of the Romans. Society was bad enough at present without raking up for its inspection the sins of past times. Mr. Leahy would admit that the history of ancient Rome offered a wild field for the researches of the student and historian , a fact which Mr. Nolan took advantage of to the fullest extent. He did not think they were anything worse at that time than we were at present. They gloried in their crimes and did not attempt to conceal them as 'was the case at present. Mr. Nolan in reply contended that in order to get" at a true knowledge of ancient history it was necessary to look at both sides of the question. His object was to contrast Roman civilisation with Christian civilisation, and also to demonstrate that the prosperity and wealth of nations in our own days were no more a sign of their being favoured by God than in ancient times when Rome was the centre of the wealth and vice of the world

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