The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-20 00:00:00

THE BYRON CONTROVERSY.

The Rev. G. C. .Dunbar, in a sermon delivered at All
Saints, Lambeth, yesterday morning, alluded to the all-
absorbing topic of the Byron controversy. lie said that
there was a strange movement at the present day to which
the press had directed much attention. It was consented,
he said, there was no honest calling of a man which a
woman was not wholly free to follow—no political rights
which a man possessed to which a woman might not
equally 1.4 y claim. The movement suited well the republi-
can spirit of the times, which was all for change, breaking
down distinction, levelling inequalities, and removing
restrictions, but which in its haste did not stop to inquire
whether they were not casting away Divine authority,
and bringing in that which was antagonistic to the Spirit
of God. What would woman be when made the equal of
man in the knowledge of sin and evil ? Alas ! he feared.
they could already see; for, on whatever other points she
might bo capable of being the equal of man, she had shown
that she could not be so in the matter of the confessional.
St. Paul said, "It is a shame oven to speak of those things
which aro done by the wicked." But what were the news-
papers speaking of now? Why, they were full of nothing
else. And what did it all spring from? The fact that a
woman had lost that meek and gentle spirit which was in
the sight of God of groat price, and, leaving her vocation,
had brought up a subject the most disgusting, and been
the cause of the most revolting ideas, the most obnoxious
thoughts, and a most astounding amount of knowledge of
sin being sot out before the minds of the public, oven boys
and girls, as well as men and women. It was a flood of
the knowledge of evil enough to drown the youthful soul.
The knowledge of sin would beget further knowledge.
Lo ! the brook would become a river, and the river would
become a sea. The heathen law of old said " nothing
concerning the dead but good." The Jewish law said,
" Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbou r."
And the Christian law saith, "Thou shalt not bear false
witness, or true witness either, against thy neighbour, if
it bo such as thou would'st not wish to be borne against
thyself." "Thou shalt do unto all men as thou would'st
they should do unto thee." " Yet," said the preacher, " we
find all this witness borne against the dead, and all these
ideas of evil placed before the living. Why ? For the
sake of a notoriety as great as that of Judas Iscariot, or
for the 30 pieces of silver offered by a magazine editor!
Scarcely to carry out the wishes of the dead. Was it not
the care of a lifetime to bury that secret, supposing it had
ever existed ? Let the dead bury their dead. Surely this
is a robbery from the tomb. No man could ha ve committed
it, for the want of manliness would have condemned him.
No woman of a meek and quiet spirit could have committed
it either. But are not the editors of such magazines to bo
severely censured ? I see a newspaper excusing the one
responsible for the matter having been made public in the
magazine edited by him on the ground that he knew that
if ho did not publish it somebody else would. But is this
any excuse? As well might he be justified for robbing
his neighbour, because ho believed that if he did not rob
him somebody else would. If editors and managers of

places of public amusement aro not responsible, who is ?
They have great power placed in their hands, and they
are responsible to God how they use it. Of this they will
be persuaded hereafter, if they cannot be persuaded now.
But we trace the evil farther. The public, they say, has
an unwholesome palate, and will accept of no less highly-
seasoned a dish. Surely there is enough evil around us
on all hands. Wo need Lot, as resurrectionists of crime,
grub up the sin of a bygone generation. Ono of England's
greatest poets had many of our sins, but wo believe him
to have Lad much that was noble, in the words of his
wife 'much of the angel in him.' Supposing it were not
so. Supposing wear() under a delusion. it is a beautiful
delusion, and we do not wish to have it destroyed. Lather
let us follow the Chrirtian virtues. Let us 'judge not,'
but let hope all things.' "

I)UNvILf.EJ and Co., Belfast, are the largest
holders of 'Whisky in the world. Their Old Irish Whisky is re
commended by the medical profession in preference to French
Brandy. Supplied in casks and cases for home use or exporta-
tion Quotations cn application to Messrs. Dunville and Co ,
Belfast; or 4, Beaufort-buillings, Strand, London, W,C.—[Ad
Yezti§emeat.