A GOOD EXAMPLE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 19, 11 May 1899, Page 6

A GOOD EXAMPLE.

PROTESTANTS PRETEXT AN ADDRESS TO A CATHOLIC BISIIJP.

The Right Rev. Dr. Gibney, Bishop of Perth, vi^ted Bulong, W.A., some time ago, for the purpose ot opening a, ba2.nr h -Id to laistfunds for the re-erection of the Catholic ( 'Lurch, which had b<. hj recently blown down. During his Lordship's •-^.^y he wu^ entenat uc i at the Council Chamb rs by the- Mayor. H<-iv h" v\;is ;>rc>uue t\s uli an address by the Protestant inhabitants. The addrr *.s, winch unsigned by Mr. Geor/o Grennell, church w.irde >. and o\< i thirty oUier-, was as follows .— iothe Mo-t Reverend Dr. luouey. lii-lvpu IV th. — We, the Protestant inhabitants of the loy.il tow not Uuionsf.dt.s-ne to avail ourselves of the opportunity offered by your Most Reverend Lordship's visit to expitss tj your-clf ami your co-religionists throughout the cjloiiy our sympathy iv connection with the trials you have expenencea in your eii'oits to extend the c efi's of rtligion and civilisation to this remote corner of the Austra'iaa Contederacy. Though wo are aware the utmost etl'ort on our part m the way of prayer, sacrifice, and labour may often be in^ufhci -nt to protect us fioui the desoiatiug t it'ects of such natural agencies as that which laid low the edifice in which your Lordship's .spiritual flock in the district have been accustomed to meet (and seek that manumission from the thraldom of f-in ar,d unorden d lives, ah the , equally with ourselvis, so earnestly desiie\ we no less iippnomte your Lordship's solicitude in the mora* and physical welfare of a 1 of U3. whether Roman Catholic or Protestant, a& evidenced by this episcopal and very triendly visit. Though separated from you in some points of religious thought and' ecclesiastical discipline, we a.c conscious that your venerable division of the Chiistian Church has still many claims on oar gratitude and good- will, and while we are glad to notice the expansion of science has not diminished the love and regard of our Roman Catholic neighbours for their most militant, well disciplined, and self-sacriiicing Church, we gladly join

with them m welcoming their Bishop, and further venture on the liberty ot offering you all our sincere and respectful congratulations on the now almost secured recovery of his Holiness the Pope from one ot the trials incident to a laboriously beneficent life, at his great

Bishop Gibney, returning thanks, said they had given him almost the greatest surprise ami the greatest pleasure in his life, tie could understand the spirit that inspired their address, and appreciated it. He had al ways desired to see people live in harmony, notw ltnstanding their differences of opinion with regard to religious matters He trusted that no one in this colony of West Australia, m which he had been known for ?>:> years, could accuse him of being a religious bigot. He claimed freedom for himself to worship God in the way that he believe l to bj the right one, and ho wished to accord the same liberty to all others. How could he as a Christian man, as a reasonable man, demand of others that they should outrage their consciences in a matter of such importance ? He had an honest taiih in bis own Church. He would die a thousand deaths rather than be forced from that fuith. At the aune time, he fully believed that there were others holding different opinions whose convictions were as st-ong and as sacred as his o»vn. In this b-hef he had always refrained from questioning those who had come to him tor help, and they had been many, as to their faith He h^i always been willing to do his best for those who required his assistance without the slightest regard to the reli/ious belief of the applicants. He would sink with shame if he suspeett-d that any man had thought it necessary in order to obtain his friendship or his help to deny or dissemble his religious opinions. Differences on this point were unavoidable, and therefore he would say to anyone who required his good offices, ' stand before me as a man, treat me as a man, and I will treat you as a brother and a « ,'hrisian.' He felt that he could do no less than that for were they all more mindful of the teachings of the faith they respectively professed, there would be less quarrelling as to those teachings. There waß one great precept which was found in every Christian Church, ' love God above all things and your neighbour as yourself.'