"THE STONEWALLER."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1385, 11 March 1912, Page 6

"THE STONEWALLER."

CRICKETERS' SERVICE. ADDRESS BY REV. E. 0. BLAJIIRES. There was a packed attendance at tho New Theatre last evening, when tlio Rev. E. 0. Blamires delivered another of his "Cricket and Life" addresses. Young men were numerous in the audience, and it ineluded not a few well-known oricketers. Mr. Blamires took as his subject "The Parable of the Stonewaller," and at the outset drew a parallel between it and tho Biblical parable of the talents. There \vero three cricketers, he said, one of whom had five scoring strokes,' another two, and another only one. The man with five strokes practised until he had ten, and the man with two practised until ho had doubled that number, but tiic man who had only ono stroke was afraid to take any risks and finally lost tho only stroke lie had. This was tho stonewaller, and the stonewaller in life was a man who was usually detected by the crowd as one who wasted his powers and did not use his talents. There was a good deal to be said for the stonewnller. Ho was nil right as far as ho went, but he did not go far enough. Ho was a man who played with a straight bat, and very watchfully, and he had an impregnable defence. And, coming to analogy, tho stonewnller might be likened to a man who had an honest and upright life—a man who guarded himself from evil and overcame temptation—but was imperfect, first of all because ho never ventured.. "Never ■venture, never win," was the motto of a good man. Mr. Blamires went on to state that the life of the worldling had nothing in it that Christ could not turn to profitable account. In order (o lead a true life, a man must Have something of the spirit of venturesomeno.ss in him that would lead him to say, "I will stake my whole life on _ my convictions concerning Christ. I will live the Christian life or die in tho attempt." Then, said tho preacher, he would not die. Tho stonewaller failed in that ho' never practised an offensive stroke. With him it was all defence. His life was all negative and never positive. Truo life began when a man dared to tako the offensive. Tho ■ evil in life, both in ourselves and ■in others, was to be attacked, and tho confidence of victory in such a contest was'the true source of joy. The stonewaller came short in that his life was not one of scoring. The stonewaller in life spent all his time in advancing his own interests, and could never forget himself in tho interests of others. Life was a community thing, and the true secret of it was to lose sight of oneself in the interests and the life of others. This-the: stonewnller could could never do. In telling how the* stonewaller might become a scorer, Mr. Blamires quoted tho advice of W. G. .Grace, who had said that, to obtain all round preficiency, constant practice and sound coaching were.necessary. Tho coach in cricket was the ono who knew all.about tho game, and the one who knew, all. about tho. game of life, and in whose hands it was the duty of men to plnco themselves, was the Captain of their salvation, Christ, the Master of life. Finally, Mr. Blamires quoted Tnnnicliffe, captain of the Yorkshire eleven/ who recommended the Christian life as the right life.for a man to live, and advised an assembly of-men, whom he once addressed, to model their lives on the following'lines :— "I live for those who love me, for those who love mo true; - For the Heaven that smiles above me, and awaits my-spirit, too.. 'Gainst the wrong that needs resistance, for the good that needs assistance, For the future in the distance, aud tho good that I can do." The man who took from this verse his principles in life, snid Mr. Blamires, was more than a mere stonewaller. He was a champion who, with his pads on and his bat in hand, could smite tho bowling of adversity and temptation in all directions, and" give the field a great old leather hunt. Next Sunday Mr. Blamires will take as the subject of his evening address, in the New Theatre, "Christ and the Working Man." ___________