Letter No VII.

I am both pleased and proud to learn from the Argus of Monday last, that the Rev. J. S. Spencer argued in his sermon delivered on the previous evening, that Creed is the most important thing in life. It shows that although the rev. gentleman is not a light in our church he is still sound and Orthodox.

I do not mean by this that the Mohammedan, Bhuddist, or Brahminical faith is to be considered above everything else, but that my Faith, and perhaps that of the Rev. J. S. Spencer is.

I will state a few reasons why I deem Creed above all things else in its importance :—

1st.	Whilst men believe they are generally ignorant. Whilst they are ignorant they are easily governed. Therefore belief is a safeguard against insubordination.
2nd.	Whilst men believe they attend church. Those who attend church don't go anywhere else. Therefore Belief is a safeguard against Sabbath rambling and the like grievous sins for the good of human health.
3rd.	A Believer respects his clergyman, and thinks that he is almost a god. This does him good inasmuch as it provides him with a worthy object to look up to. Therefore Belief is a safeguard against disrespect.page 28
4th.	Believers support the clergy. By this means they prevent the labour-market being over-stocked in other directions. Therefore Belief is a safeguard against idleness. It employs the idle to preach for us.
5th.	Believers, furthermore, by supporting the Clergy cultivate habits of benevolence, since they often give the very necessities of life in order to keep the clergy. Hence Belief is a safeguard against miserly habits.
6th.	Belief does away with the necessity of Thinking and Reasoning. It is therefore a safeguard against intellectual advancement.
7th.	Belief makes the clergy the most important men in human society. It is therefore a safeguard against intellect being placed above such men of piety as I am.
8th.	Creed helps men out of difficulties. It gives them a character. Without a creed they would have no character. At least they wouldn't have a very good one. With a creed their character entitles them even to the laudation and respect of the clergy.
9th.	Our creeds are often our passports to society, position, wealth, and honour. Just to the extent of a man's Orthodoxy does he get on in our church. The most Orthodox are even smiled upon by our bishop.
10th.	Creeds give a man an easy conscience. However big a sinner he is, his creed gives him an assurance that everything will be all right in the end.
11th.	The worst men in the world have got to heaven through their creeds. The greatest villains of the page 29 world to-day, simply because of their creeds, stand a chance of getting to heaven that no infidel has, however good he may be.
12th.	This is the most important reason. If a man do not believe in what such as I and the Rev. J. S. Spencer tell him, he cannot possibly get to heaven. We have a patent-right upon these creeds. We have got a sole right to the narrow road, and no one can pass along or find his way unless he gets his instructions from us. Our creeds are the only keys that unlock the doors of heaven; and he who will not use them must not grumble if he be left outside.

I know the infidel will say he is just as good as a parson; but that has nothing to do with it. The question is : Does he believe our creeds? However good a man may be, he is only fit for hell if he doubts myself and the Rev. J. S. Spencer. We two, and others like us, are here to show men to heaven and to sell them their tickets, and anyone who has the audacity to buy a ticket at another shop will have to burn everlastingly for it. This serves them right, for both the Rev. J S. Spencer and myself have done all we could to show our own importance, and to convince the people that we are the only people who have been favoured with the means of climbing the narrow road which leads to joy, save and except, of course, those who believe what we tell them and do as we command. All outside the Orthodox Faith are in very deed on the broad road, along with the Editor of the Reflector, and those who deem it more important to do what good they can, rather than believe in us.

Let me then, dear reader, beseech you to believe. Believe all and everything the church teaches. Never mind how absurd or nonsensical it may be, it is your duty to believe it, if you wish to get to heaven. Throw away your reason, silence your intellect, and crush your common sense; for what are these but carnal things? Faith is what you want, or rather what we want; so let us have it abundantly, and so oblige quite a number of

Country Clergymen.