THE Orange SOCIETY BY THE REV. H. W. CLEARY LONDON CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY 69 SOUTHWARK BRIDGE ROAD, S.E. Br 12100.5.15 HARVARD MAR 18 1943 Treat Tim. & Reprinted from plates of the Tenth Australian Edition, 1897. ་ Preface to the First Edition. FOR several years past a distinctively forward movement has been manifest among the Orange lodges in the colony of Victoria. Certain phases of this movement-such as, for instance, the attitude of the brethren towards the Party Processions Act, the undisguised spread of the association in practically every Department of the State, and the increased bitterness and publicity of their attacks on a large section of their fellow-citizens-have had the effect of focussing public attention more closely on the society than, perhaps, at any previous period of its local history since 1846. The interest in the proceedings of the lodges received a notable fillip through the publication of certain matters which were brought to light during the sittings of the Melbourne Post Office Inquiry Board in 1896. The main features of the evidence in point -which go to indicate a menacing condition of things for one portion of the population of the colony-are given as follow in the Minutes of Evidence taken by the Board': A letter, penned some eighteen months previously, in the handwriting of a line-repairer named William Taylor, had fallen into the hands of the Departmental police. It charged a trustworthy public servant, cable-jointer James Sullivan (a Catholic), with having stolen a quantity of kauri pine, the property of the Department. The letter was produced at the Board's sitting of July 1, 1896.5 Its appearance in the Age report of the following morning was the first intimation received by Sullivan regarding the charges which had been made against him." At the opening of the sitting of the same day, Mr. Maxwell, who appeared to assist the Board, brought forward, with the sanction of its members, the evidence of James Sullivan and two others to show that the statements contained in the letter were wholly devoid of foundation." 1The official Minutes are now (fourth edition) substituted for the Ag report, which appeared in previous editions. "Minutes of Evidence, Q. 845. Ibid., Q. 591. 4Ibid., Qq. 827 sqq. 5Ibid., Qq. 595-596, 605. Ibid., Q. 836. "Ibid., Qq. 826 sqq. |