August 26, 1874 - Mr Miller’s Lecture

“Original Correspondence.

Mr. Miller’s Lecture. was formerly of opinion, that at any time Mr J. A. Miller came before the public with a speech, he knew what he was going to speak about, but having attended his lecture last Sunday eve, I was muchly disappointed.

I would have refrained from making any remarks, had it not been for an assertion read by him in his lecture, which reflects discredit not only on himself and the community at large, but also on the age we are living in. I hope the lecture will never appear in print. Mr Miller said, “The Roman Catholic Clergy forbid the laity to read the bible because they do not wish them to be contaminated with it.” The word “contaminate” rings in. my ears yet, and I regret that I heard it from Mr Miller.

A grosser and more unfounded slander cannot easily be found, and Mr Miller ought to be the last man to utter such a statement before the public.

If Mr Miller would read the preface to the Douay Bible, he will find that the Roman Catholics are admonished by their clergy to read the bible for their great spiritual profit, with due reverence, and on occasions when they are fit for it, which shows that the Roman Catholics hold the bible in as much reverence as any other Christian denomination.

From whence does Mr Miller know that the Roman Catholics think the bible a book which contaminates? If he is a true and just thinker he should without delay recall his statement, as the above mentioned source ought to be authentic proof for him that he was wrong.

In times gone by, weaker denominations were accused of actions and principles of which they were innocent, and although repeatedly refuted and clearly the contrary proven by the accused, it could not be entirely eradicated from the mind of the ignorant. I would advise Mr J. A. Miller to entirely eradicate the notion out of his mind that the Roman Catholics do not wish to be contaminated by the bible. — I am &c.

Orthodox.

Arrow, August 26th, 1874.”

Source: LAKE COUNTY PRESS, VOLUME IV, ISSUE 169, 28 AUGUST 1874, PAGE 3 (https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LCP18740828.2.11)