Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News. THURSDAY, APRIL, 22, 1909 TWO MEN OF NOTE.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4401, 22 April 1909, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News.

THURSDAY, APRIL, 22, 1909 TWO MEN OF NOTE.

This above all—to thine owntelfbe true , ind it mutt follow at the night the day Thou eamt not then he false to any tnan Shakespeare.

Withsin the last week or two we have been called upon to take note of two of the great spirits of the last half century, two men who, being born within the earlier decades of last century, have both left their impress upon the Empire. The first, in point of time, and also in point of having gained, “ Port after stormie seas, ”

is Bishop Selwyn, whose strenuous labours throughout his immense diocese which comprised the entire Dominion, so far from outwearying his untiring spirit, actually left him eager for an extension of his duties, so that he seized upon the pretext afforded him by a mistake in the assigning of the boundaries of his diocese, to embrace among the members of his flock the inhabitants of the Pacific Island, and to found the Melanesian Mission. Bishop Selwyn was sent out to New Zealand in the ; early forties, a man rightly judged, and suitable for the work of incorporating in a definite Anglican Constitution the scattered effort of the Church of England missionaries already here. A man of great physical prowess, possessing all the physical qualities which combine to triumph over fatigue and peril, he possessed also the complementary qualities of administration and a commanding and winning presence He possessed that enthusiasm combined with thoughtful consideration for others which is such a high quality in the achievement of great results, and that Christian 1 hardihood in the face of danger by sea, river, and hostile savages which has been such a common feature of the pioneer missionaries of the South Seas, that we, of the later generations are apt to forget amid the easy conditions of these days, just how noble was the sacrafice made by men of the venerated Bishop’s calibre. He was a swimmer, a navigator, an adventurer into wild and perilous places, and ambassador for the truth to the threatening tribesmen who assem bled with menacing aspect to meet him and be disarmed by his presence. And when at the expiration of his term of labour abroad he was stationed at the See of Lichfield he carried with him the missionary enthusiasm which had been a fire shut up in his bones, seeking to spread the conflagration of missionary enthusiasm at home. He died on April 11th 1878. But his name will never perish so long as the Dominion is a free land under the British flag. The other great name is that of Genera Booth, who was born just twenty years- after Bishop Selwyn that is in the year 1829. On Saturday the tenth of this month he celebrated his eightieth birthday. His active work has extended over the whole of the latter half of last century and well on into the dawn of the present one. He entered the ministry of “ the Methodist New Connexion in 1850, and was appointed to conduct evangelistic services in connection with that church. This work he found so 1 much to his mind, that when later on the Conference appointed him to regular circuit work, he resigned from the connection and prosecuted his calling as an avangelist among the churches as]opportunity occurred. He, being of an observant and progressive character, and being much impressed by the need of the population of East London, which for the most part seemed lost to churches, decided to start the “ Christian Mission, ” which was commenced in 1865. The extension and militarisation of this mission resulted in the foundation of what we now know as The Salvation Army- The army now has its branches all over the world. It addresses its effort to the reclamation of the fallen, the help of the destitute, and the gathering into the scheme of its service for mankind of the well-intentioned. It has its own organ well-known as “ The ,War Cry, ” published at its headquarters the world over, and in addition to this paper published in English, it has a paper in Paris published in French, and entitled “ En Avant, ” one in Stockholme entitled “ Strids Ropet, ” one in Gurjarat called the “ Jangi Pokar, ” while in Madras one is published in Tamil, and in Ceylon there is one in Singhalese and in Bombay there is an 1 English and Marathi edition. Germany, Belgium and Holland, have each their pwn paper published in their own tongue. Eighteen hundred and ninety saw the publication by the General of “ In Darkest England, and The Way Out, ” with its scheme for the up lifting of the downtrodden masses. In response to the appeal for funds, money was forthcoming and the General commenced his extended campaign of socidl rescue. Rescue homes for fallen women, slum posts, shelters, food depots, factories, homes for inebriates, and a system of labour bureaux presently became the order of the day. The General i was businesslike in his methods, ( associating with himself in the ap- < peal for the immense funds re-<

quired such men as the Earl of! Aberdeen, and Archdeacon Farrar, Messrs 81. H. Fowler, ancj Labouchere besides submitting the working of his scheme to a committee of enquiry, consisting of Mr E. Waterhouse, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, and other public men. So that to great spiritual fervour and enthusiastic devotion to the saving of the lost he united a most practical sound sense. The General is too much with us for us to be able to pronounce upon the value of his work, but what the saintly Bishop Selwyn was to the heathen of the South Seas, he has been to the heathen of civilisation the world over, both in the Orient, the Occident and the Islands of the Uttermost Sea.