WESLEYAN SUNDAY SCHOOL ! ANNIVERSARY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1367, 11 October 1886, Page 2

WESLEYAN SUNDAY SCHOOL ! ANNIVERSARY.

The superb weather with which yesterday morning was ushered in supplied one of the essentials to a sucr 'saful Sunday School anniversary celebration, and as an event of this kind has been looked forward to for many weeks past by our Wesleyan friends, with an Interest closely akin to anxiety, the benign way in which old &I beamed forth was a matter of supreme I gratification to the teachers and officers of 'he Institution under notice. Perfect, however, as the weather proved, there were other considerations upon which interest centred—the hymns to be sung by the scholars, and the offertories of the congregation. Apart from the patient and unwearied manner iu which a conductor may have drilled bis juvenile choir, there is always more or leas of uncertainty as to how they will respond to his o»ll and acquit themselves when the culminating occasion arrives ; bat of the sinking more anon. Any fears that the school treasury might suffer through a continuation of the colony’s financial “ dark days may be considered already dissipated, the total collections yesterday amounting to over £7, and with a fail house to-night, the gross proceeds of the celebration should realise £2O. The item of the proceedl iga . upon which no anxiety was felt was when Mr F. W. Isitt consented to give his services at the yearly festival- Mr Isitt has a colonial as well as a Canterbury reputation as a pulpit and platform speaker of rare merit, and the whisper of his name was sufficient guarantee that the congregations wo ild bo large and the sermons effective, both of which anticipations were realised to the full. Mr isitt chose for his mornings remarks tha words of Christ “For of such is the kingdom of heaven." The relationship to the church allowed 'or disallowed to the children by the respective denominations was referred to in disparaging terms, theWealeyan Church itself coming in for a fair share of stricture for is misinterpretation of Christ’s views regarding the voung, the preacher maintain! g iu decisive terms that the children were born into the Kingdom of God, and only by their own action in after Ufa could tn y be detached from the family of God. The evening sermon was based on the love o f God, manifested by the greatest gift he could confer upon mao, namely, that of His r wn Son, and from this sublime theme Mr Isitt gave an impressive discourse, replete with careful study and originalitv.

At; the afternoon service the Rev T. W, Newhold an address to the scholars, in which he succeeded in riv t lag their attention by his apt and Illustrative manner of dealing with his one-word text —“Love ” Preceding the address, Mr W H. Oollins, Superintendent, read the annual report, from which wo glean the following items of Interest;—There are 205 scholars and 20 teachers on the roll. Four teachers have left during the year, th-ae having left the district, and one retired from the work. These vacancies have been fi led by others The balance sheet shows that the institution is in debt to the amount of £3 17» 21, the library requires replenishing with new books, and It is hoped the proceeds of the anniversary will allow of this being done. A number of conversions have taken place daring the year, and the spiritual state of the school is cause for great thankfulness. Mr J. Gamble deserves credit for the high state cf efficiency into which he has trained the scholars, and with one or two exceptions the singing was better this year than ever. There was a precision and acc iracy in some of the pieces which coaid only have been attained by careful inat uotlon, and the hearty way in which some of the spirited choruses were rendered was quite refreshing. Miss Potter manipulated the instrnment with considerable ability. The behaviour of the scholars at each service was irreproachable and worthy of commendation. We may agein remind our readers of the lecture to night on “Fred. Dmglas.” Mr Isltt mentioned yesterday that the subject of his lecture was still living, and if ha were asked to name the ten greatest orators of the day, Fred Douglas would take one of the foremost places. In addition to a number of slave songs being sung the lecture will be illustrated by diagrams.