The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-13
Bogus Claim of "Peligious City"

ligious city? Why do they single 1t out for the highest honor that can be be- slowed upon the habitations of men?
 One would be very glad indeed if Belfast were vertically religious city, for, to mention only this advantage. it would be an end of the Irish question. If Belfast were religious there would be no reasonable defiance of Parlia> menv. no drilling with seven-and six penny rifles. no savage and bloody as- saults upon inoffensive, unarmed Cath ollie workmen. For, what man in his senses will say that Christ, the Lamb of God, smiles upon any such turbu- lence? If Belfast were indeed religious, Ulster would be meek and lowly, would cheerfully and modestly accept the po- sition of a minority would strive to make home rule blessing to the Irish nation. The pu1pits would preach beau tiful sermons from the text which presume is never heard in that relig- ious city-"Blessed are the peacemak- CTS The Presbyterian lion would lie down with the Roman lamb. The Bell fast minister who wrote in a newspa- per about horsewhipping some anony nous correspondent would ask the drilling Orangemen Whichcote's search ing question, Will anyone expect sal vation from q Saviour that he will not "A 1cllS iOuS iDtlldol WOufu mean a Christian Ireland.
 l have already shown that Belfast is prominent among industrial cities for it's fragrant and quite detestable de- iiance of the Christian ethic. In these columns. and subsequently, in book form. l have proved that this city. which makes vainglorious boast of its righteousness, is very Chadband of cities-a city winch talks a great deal nf fpia xrrLi1 f tn1 fae ha inhuman sweating. and prospers on the labor of children in factories which are calamitous to health. This expos ure is gradually getting known. Eng fish people are amazed to discover that Belfast is not a tolerable imitation of Zion. But there are those who would hush up the exposure.
 The answer to my charges, delivered with a. frothing ferocity by the angels and archangels of Ulster. amounts to this: I have deliberately libelled and traduced the holy city. I am called a sentlmentalist am dismissed as a paid hack | am labelled as humbug and a rogue. Oh, you have no idea how an angel can below and roar if you ruffle his feathers, or an archangel shriek like fishwife if you topple his halo to one side. The most ferocious answers to my book have appeared in religious newspapers. But not single critic has had the honesty to state the grounds upon which I base my charges.
 Curious to relate. the religious news papers have been foremost in dismiss ing my exposure of Belfast as the ob- vious and sordid dishonesty of a polit- ical writer paid to lie in the interests of his party A friend tells me that so gentle. restrained, and modest a wri- ter as Mir James Douglas has accused me of monstrous exaggeration, in an article so violent that fl took away his breath. The world has made up its mind that Belfast is a religious city. al nd 1t Is regarded as a piece of insolent presumption that should dare to ques- tion that universal opinion.
 My critics. however, must really leave me out of the question. Their business is to answer those from whose statements l have formulated my ex- posture. Suppose I wrote a book about Germany, and quoted Herr Bernstein and Professor Delbruck as saying this and that; would 1t be an answer to those quotations to dismiss me. the mere chronicler, as sentimentalist who had spent but three months in the country? No; this kind of thing is all very well for disreputable people writing for the stupid and the ignor- ant. but 1t will not do for serious men honestly engaged in discovering truth
 Let the reader who would judge for himself whether Belfast has any pe-.