INDIAN FAMINE RELIEF FUND.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5174, 22 October 1877, Page 2

INDIAN FAMINE RELIEF FUND.

THE REV. CHARLES CLARK’S SERMON’. The universal sympathy felt at the present moment for the famine-stricken subjects of the Empiess of India, and the desire to hear an. appeal on their behalf from the lips of one of the_ greatest pulpit-orators of the day, attracted: an immense concern se of people of all denominations to the Wesleyan Church, Mannersstreet, last night. At 6 o’clock (half an hour before the usual time for opening the service) every seat in the church was occupied; and probably as many as 2000 people were disappointed in obtaining admission. After singing the 100th Psalm, the rev. gentleman offered prayers and read lessons from the Old and New Testaments. Another hymn was, sung, and the preacher took his text from Acts xx, 35th verse “ I have shewed you all things how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give ■ than to receive.” The sermon was a wellargued and eloquent exposition of the “higher law of Christian charity,” and the array of facts, the poetic tropes, the exquisite language and burning earnestness of the preacher, held his listeners enthralled from beginning to end. The thrilling effect of the discourse was evidenced by the practical response of the congregation, in the shape of a collection which reached the munificent sum of £77 —a most admirable precedent for the churches of New Zealand.