IN our last number we took notice of a letter by a Romish ecclesiastic which appeared in The Scotsman as a reply to Dr. Chiniquy’s lecture on “Rome and the Bible.” We now learn from The Bulwark that a reply was written to this letter by Rev. J. Sturrock, Original Secession Church, the secretary of the Scottish Reformation Society. Did The Scotsman welcome it as an expression of the sentiment of the Protestant community? No. Instead of doing so, it refused to admit Mr. Sturrock’s reply, though free from all personalities. The same newspaper that had adequate room for the Papist’s, had no space for the Protestant’s letter. Is this the toleration in which The Scotsman makes its boast? A very incongruous toleration indeed! Is this even common fairplay? No one that has a spark of conscience will say it is. What a mockery then for such a paper to pose as a champion of free opinion! One might have expected that The Scotsman, considering the name it bears, would have regarded it as a high honour to champion the cause of Protestantism. Instead, however, of seeking this honour to itself, and proving faithful to the noble traditions of the Reformation, which are the chief glory of Scottish history, yea, of the history of the world in modern times, The Scotsman disdains the very idea of Protestantism, and proves itself a swift ally of anti-christian Rome.
The following is Rev. J. Sturrock’s letter:—
“EDINBURGH, 27th November, 1896.
“SIR,—In opposition to Pastor Chiniquy’s statement that ‘the Church of Rome and the Bible are the greatest enemies in the world,’ your correspondent, Aloysius Donlevy, asserts that, ‘according to truth, tradition, history, and the very evidence of our senses, they are the greatest and most inseparable of friends, the one depending on the other for divine life as much as the body and soul on each other for an intelligible expression of their being.’ If the Church of Rome and the Bible be such close friends, it is only reasonable to expect that this friendship has at times found befitting expression, as other intimate friendships do. Well, how has the Church of Rome shown her friendship for the Bible? By committing it often to the flames, as a book not fit to be read by the common people; by denouncing Bible societies and their noble work of spreading it in all languages at home and abroad; by persecuting people to the death for the heinous crime of reading it for themselves and exercising their judgment regarding its teachings; and by withholding it as far as possible from her own people. These, it will be acknowledged, are strange ways of manifesting friendship, but I confidently appeal to ‘history’ in support of what I have stated. If the ‘Catholic Truth Society’ is to take fresh action as an agent of the Church of Rome in ‘ruling the world for truth’ (!), I would strongly recommend that society to include the Bible among the literature it circulates as the best method of influencing the world for good.—I am, &c., J. STURROCK.”