ADDRESS BY THE REV. E.:H. GULLIVER.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 432, 28 December 1889, Page 4

ADDRESS BY THE REV. E. :H. GULLIVER .

A»i? ! the Ghdrdl'MaUl-laafcOv^riing'the attertr darice, T owirig to tho 'heavy' rajnV'waa; smaller <fhan USual, atid oh" 'that' f acc'dunt,"'and! also in' re'dognit'ioti of the u season 1 .' 'MriGulliver announced that/ho'woul'd' postpone th'eilecbu're he'\tfas to hare given/- andwould;take thVfesbiva'l of "Christinas" as'his subject instead. By way of introducsbionu -he read a story „. called „„, '.^Xfrfc-, Cathedral Chimes," which told how, in bygone limes, there stood; rin^an^anoienb^city^jfjane^old Gothic cathedral. The clnief "glory "of "this cathedral was its beautiful set of chiming belly, given by a lady of the oldentiuie as a thank-offering for the safe return < of her lord irom, the. Crusades in Pale.st'ihp. ;A martyred bishop had blessed those/ bells. Thoyi pealed forth the news ot victory, they ran^ sweetly matins, and vespcra, they chimed the hours and half hours, Sprinkling the air with-musical notes both by day. and night. To Lhodismay of bhpeiti/ens, one morning' the chime's ceased to sound the;, hours, although, they rang for matins -as usual. The principal men of the city assembled and examined the machinery, bub rould find, nothing wrong* AH flay the townsfolk were sorrowful at the silence of their accustomed bolls, but after 'dark a strange, weird voice was heald from the belfry. It said, "We have borne. rib too long, we will bear it no longer ; we were placed here for nobler uses than to , bell the townspeople whe.u ,to, efit', drink, and 'sleep; wo will still ring for victories; matins and vespers, but'we Will no longer regulate by our chiming the common daily Hie of the city." There was' great lamentation at, this announcement' and the people were in despair' until a young Augustinian Friar suggested > that the' bells must be "possessed,", and' by, no good spirits either, for ,it was' obvious, that n spirit of pride was shown by this lefusal to take their accustomed part in the common routine of daily lite. He therefore advised that the spirits should' be: exorcised ; this was done, and at once the. pent-up music of the bell?" rang out afreshj over the delighted city, and the refrain' they seemed to reiterate , was „this,; 41 Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." The people were very thankful' to the young Augusbinian Friar for discovering what ailed the bells ; bub in time charges were brought against 'him' that he did not make proper distinction, be-! faween things "secular" and 'things "divine," and being tried for heresy, he was sentenced to the stake. As the flames wrapped round him, he looked up to the belfry whence the chimes were pealing their, .sweeb retrain, "Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of C4od." The lecturer then said that there was probably no word in our language which was richer in tender, joyful and sacred associations than this word "Christmas." Difteierit as the scenes might be, the same happy memories were stirred by the name of Christina?, whether in New Zealand or Old England. "There, in grandeur of snow-clad mountain, Here, in soLtnuss of flower ami fern. By parched hill side or sun-kissed fountain. Brightly the lights of Christmas burn." . Now, in connection with Christmas there was one thing that demanded consideration, and that wa^ the singular fact that not only was the 25th of December claimed as the birthday of Christ, bufc it was also claimed as the natal day of other pei-son-ages cognate with Christ, and who were recognised as deities by other and older religions. They recognised the fact that the advance of science and learning had materially modified their ideas on these subjects, and the question arose, how far could they continue to speak of Christinas withoub hypocrisy? and — baking ib apart from the mere idea of social merriment — what did Christmas still mean to us ? It' woul'i still recall the memory of a grand life — of the incainationof all that ismosttender, brave and loveable in our human nature — bub it also brought them face to face with a dogmatic religion which embodied itself in the Athanasian Creed ! Wo should still look back on the life oi Christ, shining out in its spotless purity, as of our' grandest brother. Others might be kings of the intellect — Christ would remain king of the heart. The dogmatism which pronounced authoritatively concerning things of which we had no , expertence was perishing, and would continue to perish under the combined influence of thought and knowledge. Our attitude,,' -towaids these matters could only* be that of 'reveient agnosticism, for we had no' knowledge of what was beyond our experience. The old thoughts of Christmas were still dear to ua, though not in the same form, We . were all conscious of a certain wrench to the -feelings caused by the altered aspect of familiar idea?, but was not that a leading feature of our, times? Could we even* wish to escape it, when we looked on the 'long roll of those who have with pain' 5 and sorrow turned from tho past and are now looking forward wistfully into the dim future ? And why? Simply because dear as were their old associations,' they held one thing dearer still, and that was " truth." Here, then, we stood, holding l the life of Christ perhaps dearer than those who call themselves orthodox, while detaching it reverently bub firmly from bhe dogmas with mliicu it has been overlaid. Whab, then, should be tho practical bearing on our lives of this change in ourmental attitude? We look out on the world around us and the sight makes us blush for our commonhumaniby. We &cc the fierce strife with which the Juggernaut car of competition is .driven over the bodies and souls ofi our fellow dentures, and then we look on bhe life and teaching' of Christ ; surely the shocking contrast should rouse each of, us as with a trumpet-call to be up and i doing the utmost that in us lies to substitute for the life we see, some nearer approach to the Christ lite we ad mire, and love. -