ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 537, 21 January 1878, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

-■ e RBAPER AND BINDER. TO THE KDITOU OF THE EVENING MAIL. Sin, —lt should lio good news to your numerous readers in the fanning interest to hear that the reaping ami IjiikHiilt machine is a success. I had a look at it on Saturday, and, on nearly lovi-1 ground, its work is very good. I consider the introduction of tfiuid machines the great event of the day for farmers, and one which will bring about a wonderful change in harvesting, as next year it will come into almost general use. Any farmer, with a few hands, can do his own harvest, and will not therefore be at the mercy of swaggers.—lam, &c, A Farmer. Waia.reka, January 21. ® -. DR. SOMERVILLE, THE REVIVALIST. TO THE EDITOR OP THE EVENINI! MAIL. Sin, -Under the heading "Auckland," I observe in your last evening's paner this telegram, "Dr. Somerville held a special prayer meeting for ladies to-day, from which gentlemen were excluded," J should have imagined that after tho very strong opinion recently expressed by the Melbourne inhabitants and Press with regard to M'Cartuey and Varley's attempts in this direction, and the deplorable blunder made by Dr. Somerville at Brisbane, the species of sensationalism indicated in the above telegram would have been abandoned ; but it seems it is to be tried on here, and it is quite within the bounds of probability we, in New Zealand, may have a repetition of the Brisbane outrage. Well, there is this to be said, the woman who would go to a revival meeting from which her husband, father, brother, or other male relative is excluded, can only blame herself if her feelings of modesty and propriety meet with a considerable shock. J clip the following from the Australasian of Deoember 15 last, and ask you to give it insertion in your paper.—l am, &0., 11, S. Oamaru, January 10, 1878.

The Brisbane correspondent of Th<: Art/us, writing on November 26, says:—

j In Brisbane we have not suffered for want of bustle. First of all wo had Dr. Somerviile, the great revivla preacher. All "evangelical" congregations at the Exhibition Building to listen to this wortny and venerable man, who has more reverend looking long white onrla than any individ\ial since the time of the patriarchal Oasby in Little Jkirrit. A younger Somerviile accompanied this fine old pastor, ai;d supplied the (dements of music and pimples, being fairly endowed in both respects. The services made a great impression, and were the scene of

much genuine earnestness on the part of the attendants. But the general effect has been marred by a terrific blunder which the silver-haired teacher fell into. At one of his services the doctor requested that all of the male sax, except thoso who assisted in tho choir (and who, it may bo presumed, were supposed either to bo requisite for theatrical effect, or else to possess peculiar delicacy of feeling as an accessory to an oar for music), to withdraw. Accordingly there was a solemn stampede of all the men in the con- , gregation. As soon as they were gone, the venerable revivalist requested, in delicate terms, that all women who were sensible of having led a life of sin, and who desired to lind peace, would stand up. There were about 1,500 women present, and only about a dozen failed to understand the rev. gentlemen. That dozen being simple and innocent-minded young persons, hud heard that "all moil were sinners,"' and took "men "lobe a generic term including "women." Accordingly, under tho impression that there would "bo a universal roll no, they rose in their places, and were astonised to find themselves unsupported. Their further amazement and horror may be conceived when 1 mention that the revivalist began to harangue these innocents as lost sheep, in "a fleshly sense, and insisted on their leaving their places, parading tip the long aislos under the thousand-fold lire of all tho other women present, and introduced them to a private room, where ho solemnly deprecated their immoral courses, and prayed for them as a group of Majjdalenes." Of course, tho poor young things were by this time hysterically weeping with shame, confusion, and anguish. The higher they wept, the higher rose tho exultant extacy of the good old man. Not one of the despairing young people liml the nerve to enter upon an explanation necessarily delicate, and distressing to unmarried young ladies and to young wivcß. They wanted to escape by a side door, but the revivalist was determined to snatch these brands from the burning, and insisted that they should march back to their places, which the nearly frantic creatures actually did. And then tho venerable man got all tho knowing balance, who had not considered themselves sinners, to pray for their sinful sisters, and ho glorified the Almighty and himself (as an humble instrument) for having plucked them forth and brought them to a sense of tho evil of their ways, the outward expression of this sense being that the victims were almost cataleptic with distress, embarrassment, and Buffering. Now, I know three of tho young ladies who were exposed to this outrage from the blundering conceit of a foolish old man. One is the young wifo of a member of .Parliament, and two are tho daughters—then unmarried—of one of our highest Government officials. All three have been brought up, as it were, under tho eyes of every old resident of Brisbane, and since childhood have never furnished occasion for an unkind remark. Everybody knows them for exemplars of ' all that is iuuooent and pure in girlhood, and a sentiment of deep indignation pervaded all but the fatuous circles of evangelicism at tho cruel torture arising ■ from" the conceited assumption of infallible insight by a sensational travelling • preacher. This found expression in the writings of a local humorist in the evening paper, who brielly condensed a caustic account of tho terrible blunder. I unload .- of an apology being forthcoming from the proper quarter, the organ of the evangelicals—the Mnndnrd— poured a torrent of , abuse on the writer, and accused him of having outraged the feelings of women !