LECTURE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1051, 3 October 1911, Page 3

LECTURE.

In spite of many other attractions, a good number attended the lecture given in All Saints’ schoolroom last evening by the Rev. H. F. Wilson. The subject of the lecture was the Melanesian Mission, and this was illustrated by lantern slides. Mr Wilson, who was master ot his subject, gave a vivid account of the lives of the natives in the isles of the sea and the work of the church among them. The pictures dealt chiefly with the villagers and occupation ot the natives of the different islands. Two very fine portraits were shown on the sheet, one of Bishop Selwyn, an immortal name in the Southern Hemisphere, and the other of Bishop Wilson, who has resigned the see of Melanesia, owing to ill health. The beautiful Church of Norfolk Island was spoken of at some length, the lecturer explaining that it was unquestionably the most beautiful church in this part of the world. People in England had sent money to build it exceedingly magnificent, so as to set before the natives a standard of church buildings. At certain .ntervais hymns were sung, the verses being thrown on to the sheet, the tunes being played by Miss Jenks on the Sunday school organ. The audience joined in heartily, but the hymns were slightly highpitched. The speaker spoke very earnestly of the great work of those who went out to preach Christ. He related some of the stories of the martyrs and amongst them, the noble Bishop Patterson who laid down his life for the love of his Master, and the souls of men. The story of Pattersou is one that will be handed down from generation to generation. “He was a pure-hearted, gallant boy of Eton College, and gave up every pro spect in England to labour amid the Pacific savages; and twice plunged into the waters of the coral reefs, amid sharks and devil fish, to escape the flight of poisoned arrows, of which the slightest graze meant a horrible death.” He became Bishop of Melanesia, fixing his episcopal see at Norfolk Island, and there won souls to Christ. Owing to the treachery of some Australiau traders on the natives, in which five Melanesians were stolen from their homes, the South Sea Islanders determined to take revenge, and the first victim was the pious Bishop. . In the service of Christ he died by the clubs of the very savages whom he had often risked his life to save —and then they laid the young martyr in an open boat to float away over the bright blue waters, with his hands crossed, as if in prayer, and a palm branch on his breast, and there, in the white light, he lies now, immortal for ever. The lecturer went on to say how that these heathens v/ere the brothers and sisters of every Christian, and the duty of every God-fearing man was to do something for the spreading of the Kingdom of Christ. A beautiful illustration was given of the crucified Master, the Common Saviour of every nation and race. The two last slides were the most beautiful; the first was a copy of a great painting,|the reception of the Holy Communion in a Cathedral Church. Round the altar the worshippers knelt in adoration, while above, the ethereal form ot the Saviour could be seen holding a Chalice. The lecturer explained that at this, the highest service in the church, every true child of the church could remember the Melanesian Mission and ask God’s blessing upon it. At the close a hymn was sung, followed by the collection for the Melanesian Mission.