Robbing God.—
The daring effrontery of men in robbing God of His Day has rarely been more boldly asserted than in a recent issue of a London daily illustrated paper (Daily Sketch). Under the heading of “Daylight Wasting” this paper defiantly demands that the Lord’s Day should be given over to games, etc. It boldly asserts that Sabbatarianism robs us of from 12 to 14 hours. Such barefaced robbery of God is, alas! getting very common. The recent decision of the London County Council to permit the playing of such games as cricket, tennis, bowls, etc. in the public parks of the city on the Lord’s Day marks a serious advance in the direction of secularising the Sabbath in this country. It is more than probable that the evil example of London in this, will be followed by other cities. “Shall I not visit for these things?” saith the Lord, “and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this.”
The Case of Abbe Delorme.—
The trial of this priest at Montreal for the alleged murder of his step-brother has awakened extraordinary interest in Canada. The judge, Mr. Justice Monet, who presided at the inquiry into Delorme’s sanity, was a Roman Catholic and delivered an extraordinary address to the jury. He had been written to, to remember his Catechism, and his answer to his adviser shows the churchman struggling with the judge:—”I do not ignore my Catechism,” he replies. “I am a Catholic like you, and I boast of the fact that not only have I been so, but I have practised my religion openly. A priest is a priest for eternity. It is not because the Abbe Delorme comes here once dressed in a civilian’s collar that he is no longer a priest. I know enough of my religion to have had the pleasure of witnessing the ordination of a priest at least some ten times, a ceremony marked by its pomp, its dignity. ‘You are a priest for all time. A second Jesus Christ thou art,’ it is said in the ordination of priests. But respect for the religion in which I believe, in which I believed before the Grand Jury as I believe before you, does not permit me to attach the name of Jesus Christ to the one present here, charged with a crime, one of the most monstrous ever committed in the world since Cain.”
A Roman Catholic Judge’s Dilemma.—
Mr. Justice Monet, referred to in the foregoing note, concluded his speech to the jury as follows:—”When I knew I might have to preside over this case, I wrote the authorities asking to be relieved of the responsibility of the case. I am a Catholic as well as the prisoner, and I thought I might be relieved of the burden which I hesitated to take. The reply I received ordered me to stay at my post. Therefore, as I am here, I do my duty. I have done all my work and if I have taken an attitude which has roused comment, I know that this case will figure in criminal annals as the greatest case perhaps in the Dominion of Canada—one which has re-echoed far beyond the seas. People there will ask, ‘What was the result of the Delorme case?’ All this had to be taken into it. I wish to say that here in the Province of Quebec, as well as elsewhere in Canada, the bench, like the wife of Cæsar, must be above all reproach.” The jury brought in a verdict of insanity with the result that the case did not go to trial. Delorme is to be confined in an asylum where interested friends, we may be sure, will soon discover that he is sane enough to be at large.
Pamphlet on Dancing.—
The article on dancing, which appeared in our April issue, was reprinted at the request of a friend, and copies may still be had from the publishers, Messrs. N. Adshead & Son, 11 Union Street, Glasgow, at the rate of two pence each (including postage), or 30 copies 2/6 post free. In view of the craze for dancing among the young these pamphlets should be widely circulated.