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NEW ZEALAND. 103
when certain doctrines were propounded, as reported in the papers, contrary
to the doctrines of this church.
That, being waited on by a committee appointed by the session, to
remonstrate with you, and express its strong disapproval of your conduct,
you avowed your right to appear where you did on Saturday or Sunday,
and refused to abstain from such conduct in the future
I am, &c.,
This gentleman, Mr. Logan, was a
John Bovie,
Session Clerk, Knox Church.
most exemplary man,
a faithful officer in the church, and a clerk to the superintendent
of Otago, his family occupying a high social position.
And yet he was arraigned, tried, convicted, and
excommunicated by presbytery and synod ! And why ?
was it crime ? No. Vicious misdemeanor ? No. For unchristian
habits ? No. For immorality of any kind ? JVo.
This was the only cause, — encouraging the investigation of
Spiritualism ; a subject that takes hold upon immortality,
upon the soul's holiest affections, and upon the ministrations
of angels and spirits, of which Jesus Christ stands as the
great exponent of the ages.
Let this disgraceful decision of
the Dunedin Presbytery go down to posterity.
RACIAL INFLUENCES.
Is it not true, ethnologically speaking, that the children
of settlers partake of the nature of the original inhabitants
of a country ? Is there any reason for it ? Deer and foxes
certainly leave the scent of their footsteps along their " runs."
Aboriginal men impart a characteristic aroma to the soil
their naked feet press, and the atmosphere they breathe.
Seemingly minute causes produce mighty effects. People
born in the western portions of America become tall, wiry,
angular, and active, like the Indians.
In South Africa, children
born of European colonists are not only more rounded
in features, and sluggishly heavy, but they are inclined to he
indolent, like the Hottentots. This theory finds considerable
confirmation, in my mind, from studying the physique