TEE CHAPMAN-ALEXANDER MISSION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1721, 11 April 1913, Page 7

TEE CHAPMAN-ALEXANDER MISSION.

X vast- /flsleil,''every foot of the j Town Hall last evening, wlleu.the Chap- , man-Alexander Missiou was. continued. , After, the..ch.oir,. led by Mr... Alexander, , had sung several hymns in a. full-bodied . hearty way, Dr. Chapman delivered an , address' on the' dangers that, beset people who arc cn the border-line of Christianity and yet in all innocence leJit themselves .to,ccrtaiii dangers, which.beset the young. He then proceeded to set out what these ; dangers were, and specified the theatre, i dancing, and cards. Referriug to. the 1 theatre, Dr. Chapman said that it was ' said that there were men and women on I the slage who were as true as steel, and j that there were plays presented of the ' highest moral tone which taught good '• lessons, and he believed it. But there 1 were others.- Would anyone approve of ' their sons visitiug • a theatre, and thero seeing the sex of his mother insulted and havo hi 3 passions inflamed, or would he sre them visiting the pictures, and there see depicted actions that were mean, and base. It was the danger, that they roprosentcd~not so much whether they were right or wrong. If any young man'saw him in the city of New York or London leaving the finest theatre after witnessing the best of plays performed by the greatest actor'on earth, would he not say: "Dr. Chapman frequents the I not, too?" ■ He had heard ft said that no two peciple of opposite sexes ever danced together without having impure thoughts, He did not believe that. Ho would not insult the young women and young men ■of New Zealand by thinking tluit that was the case. but. he gave point to his argument against dancing by tolling a story of a young lady, only 17 yeafs of age, w"h;> .had at the request of her mother and in her presence told him a story of dreadful shame, ami .questioned as to the start said it was tile dance. Again, he. said, it was not m&raly a question of light or wrong, but did it hurt? Turn--ing to cards, he said that thero were plenty of people who enjoyed a quiet game of cards in the home and in the presence of tho children. The illustration given in this instance was of a teacher who, after lessons, used to teach her pupils cards. Told in n confession, one of the seven pupils said that three of them had died on the gallows, paying the penalty for murder, two of them were Imprisoned for life, one was a fugitive from justice, and he was the seventh, and if it were known that he was in the church ho would be arrested. After that service, a heavily-veiled woman had sta.*geral up the aisle in gre.it distress, and confessed in great agony of mind that she was the teacher. Dr. Chnjvnnn exhorted all ipresent to beware of the dangers of life. Not to give up this or that, and find nothing else to do. Thefo was plenty to do for- (hose who had found Christ, and there was nothing so glorious as the, thrill of saving human souls. ' ■ '