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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 5, 6 January 1879, Page 2

Londox telegrams to the 31sfc Decerube r will be found elsewhere, the Port Darwin line having been repaired. The cable between Singapore and Bataria is not yet spliced, and the messages were brought by steamer to the latter place on Saturday just as the break in the overland line occurred.

The Provincial Hall was filled last'.nightby a large audience to hear the first of MrGordan Forlong's lectures on " Fulfilled Prophecy." The lecturer stated at the outset that he should deal only with fulfilled, and in no way touch on unfulfilled, prophecy, and in so doing should be very careful to mention nothing but facts. As this was Sunday evening it was his intention rather to preach than to lecture, and he should therefore on the present occasion merely mention one or two established facts of history clearly proving the fulfillment of one prophecy. The question might be asked " How do we know that those prophecies were written at the time Christians claim for them ?" He would mention one fact, which alone was sufficient evidence that they were written at the commencement of the third century after the Christian era, viz , that at this time a heathen writer had written against them and ridiculed their fulfilment as impossible. The lecturer then asked the attention of the audience to the promise made to the Church at Philadelphia (Revelations 111, 10) and then showed how remarkably and literally it had been fulfilled, briefly sketching in a most interesting manner the subsequent history of that city. According to the Historian Gibbon some centuries later the Mahommedan power hud risen and carried nearly all before it, and this city alone had been able to withstand their power, while every one of the other Asiatic Churches had died out. For eighty years it was besieged and had successfully resisted every attempt to take it, and then had opened its gates only on the conditions that might remain a Christian city. This condition was kept, and while the other Churches had disappeared a Christian Church had, according to promise, be preserved in Philadelphia, and was flourishing in the present day, a living witness of the truth of God's word — Mr Forlong was listened to with deep attention throughout, and at the close intimated th;it, he would give the second-lecture of the series in the Provincial Hall this evening at 7 30. p.m. Admission is perfectly free to all, and we can strongly recommend all who care to do so to attend, especially those who have never looked into Fulfilled Prophecy as one of the evidences of Christianity.— Commuuicated. The anniversary of the Lower Wakefield Institute was celebrated as usual on New Year's Day, when there was a fair attendance, considering the greater attractions of the meeting of the Tradesmen's Athletic Club in town, which took a good many from the country. The tea was well patronised, and proved a financial success. The sports were good and well contested, the following being the chief events :— Boys Flat RaceTV. Ratt 1, L. Fowler 2. Girl's Flat Race— Tunnicliff 1 , Eva Smith 2. Men's Flat Race — E. Biddle I, A. Bird 2. Vaulting with Pole— A. Bird and 11. Tunnicliff tie; height 9ft Gin. Three-legged Race— l. Desauuais and Gapper 1, Fowler and Ratt 2. Running Flat Leap for Men— Biddle, 16ft llin, 1 ; A. Bird, 16ft loin, 2. Egg Race for Men, 11 entries— A. Bird 1, W. Tear 2. Egg Race for Boys, 6 entries— L. Fowler 1, C. Baigent 2. The pgg races were the most amusing, especially the men's. The distance was about 300 yards, and the eggs had to be carried in tea spoons and held at arm's length. The remainder of the events were chiefly juvenile races. A ball in the Choral Hall finished the day. The annual tea party of the children attending the Ngatimoti school was held on New Year's Day, and in the evening there was a meeting in the schoolroom, when the prizes were distributed iu accordance with the examiner's (Mr D. Rodger) report, which alluded in complimentary terms to the order and neatness of all the school arrangements, and the behaviour of the children, the general tone of the school, and the kindly feeling existing between the scholars and the teacher, Mr Sutcliffe. The following is the list of prize winners:— First Class: Emma Remnant 1, Elizabeth Lloyd 2. Second Class: Lily Lines I, Sophia Remnant 2, Rose Delaney 3. Third Class: John McGaveston 1, Annie Heath 2. Fourth Class: Johu Delaney 1, Fanny Heath 2. Fifth Class: Ist division, Isabella Lines 1, James Remnant 2, Francis Knowles 3. Second Division: Unice Canton 1, Alfred M'Gaveston 2, Mary Heath 3. J V iSerjeant Fraser (says the Chronicle) is to be removed to Nelson. Kelson's gain will be Wellington's loss. A more efficient officer, or more courteous gentleman than Serjeant Fraser the New Zealand police force does not possess.