THE JUBILEE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1597, 21 June 1887, Page 2

THE JUBILEE.

To -day we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the accession of Her ' Majesty the Queen. We made arrangements for presenting our readers , with an illustrated supplement giving the principal incidents in the Queen’s 1 life, but the arrangements miscarried, and at the eleventh hour we find ourselves disappointed. The Queen is the only child of Edward Duke of Kent, the fourth son of George 111., her mother being Princess Luise Yictorie, daughter of the Duke Saxe- , Coburg, and widow of the Prince of i Leiningen. She was bomj on the 24th of May, 1819, but then there appeared but little prospect that she would ever reach the queenly dignity. Those, who stood between her and the , throne, however, died, and on the 20th June, 1837, she succeeded her 1 uncle William IY. She had only just passed her eighteenth year when she ascended the throne, and on the 10th ' February, 1840, she married her cousin, Prince Albert, second son of , the Duke of Saxe-Coburg Gotha. He died on December 14, 1861, leaving Her Majesty a widow with five daughters and four sons. On New Year’s day, 1877, she was proclaimed Empress of India, and she is therefore the first Sovereign who has borne that title. Her Majesty’s reign has been remarkable for many, things. Her reign has been one of peace and prosperity, as compared with previous reigns. The British nation has spread over a great part of the earth’s surface, art and science have made wonderful progress, education has become more general, and the condition of the people has been improved and their privileges greatly extended. It is, however, impossible for ns, in the space at our disposal, to go more fully into these matters, and therefore we will conclude with the loyal wish ,i Qon Save the Queen. IHE CHURCHES. TBMUKA. On Sunday last special pi ayer and thanksgiving was offered up on the occasion o! Her Majesty’s Jubilee in St. Saviour’s Chureh, Temuka, and St. John the Evangelist’s, Winchester. The form of prayer with thanksgiving appointed in the book of Common Prayer to be; used annually on the 20th of June was used, with the addition of a special prayer framed by the Bishop of Christchurch, and special hymns. Two of the hymns were sung to the National Anthem, another commencing “ 0 God, our father’s God, and ours,” being composed by Dr Bickersteth, Bishop of Exeter. The singing was most heartily taken up by the congregation. The Incumbent preached at 6t. Saviours in the morning from the text “ Righteousness exalteth a Nation, but sin is a reproach to any people ” (Proverbs xiv., 34). Mr Proudlock, organist of St. Saviour’s, played Handel’s Coronation Anthem 11 The King shall rejoice ” at the close of the evening ; service. During the afternoon the Incumbent distributed the Sunday School prizes at Rangitira Valley and also held ' Divine Service, special Jubilee hymns • being sung. < At the Wesleyan Church, the Rev, 1 W» G. Thomas in bis sermon made •

special reference to the Christian of the Queen’s character, and also referred to the subject of the Queen’s Jubilee in the prayers. _ , At the morning service at the Primitive -4 Methodist Church, the Key. J. W. De«n spoke for a short time 00 the subject of Hei Majesty’s reign, pointing out the general prosperity ot it, and tbe loyalty of Her Majesty’s subjects. A special prny -r was also offered np.

GERALDINE. Sunday morning broke Very unpromiaing in Geraldine. Heavy rain was falling and the weather had every appearance of having sei in for a thoroughly wet day. About nine o’clock, however, the rain ceased and shortly afterwards ,the sun shone out, tbe remainder of the day, though cold, being perfectly find. Church parades of tbe Geraldine Rifles were ordered for, the Presbyterian Church in the morniog aud St. Mary’s in the evening. In the morning only about twenty-five of all ranks mustered at the drillahed at the hour appointed for parade and the captain dismissed them and they dispersed. MORNING SERVICE.

At the Presbyterian Church the attendance was rather small. The Rev. Mr Barclay conducted a special service in concretion with the Jubilee, and took for his text the words ; —“ And Saipuel said to all tbe people, see ye him whom the Lord hath chosen that there is none like him among all the,.people: and all the - people shouted and said God save the King.*” I. Samuel, x., 24. This, the rev. gentleman stated,, was where the Israelites were giving expression to their enthusiasm and satisfaction at the accession of ' their new-mader. king. Some fifiy years ago a similar salutation had greeted the *' ears of Queen Yiotorih when tlbe had been crowned In the presence of representatives of all the Courts of Europe, of illustrious soldiers and* statesmen, and when the shout went np from tens of thousands “ God Save the Queen.” The preacher then went bn to say how, by the good hand of God, she. Kid occupied for the past 50 years the throne of her . ancestors. Hb thought that at this Jubilee time, when they were called upon to return jj thanks for the presentation of Her Ma-' Jesty, and for the great blessings of the past fifty years, that the first thing to be thankful for was the preservation of a life in which there, were so many great and noble qualities. It n bald be an easy task, were it not such an unpleasant one, to refer to the vices that for many generations had prevai’edt among the predecessors of Her M-jaity.- The exceeding good fortune of tbe Queen in, her early nurture and bringing up—her own expressed' determination “ I will be good ” when at the early sge of twelve years she became aware of. her nearness to the throne —were dwelt upon at considerable length, and the Queen's; tenderness of her rt and ready sympathy with her subjects, either with her'soldier's, with her immediate friends, with the orphan children of England, or wherever suffering or trouble existed, were vividly pourtrayed. Her deep religious cony.ioti.ons, and unswerving faith in God, the troubles and bereavements she had been called upon to pass through-—her instance upon her constitutional rights being respected—, and her preservation-despite the many attempts made upao, lier life were spoken of by the rev. gentleman. The duty ho said, of the subjects of this noble Queen, who had set them such an excellent example, was to sea that they were good citizens of that Qa<eo whose subjects they were, and of whoseejnpire they formed a part. He would also remind them that there waa a greater empire still, namely of the Kingdom of God and a great Sovereign above them ill, namely the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. . He exhorted his hearers to serve well this King so that at Inst they might share in the Great Jubilee and hear the welcome, “ Well dooe, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,’’ At the conclusion of the service the whole of the congregation united iu singing “God Save tbe Queen.” evening service. A Church parade of the Geraldine Rifles took, place in the evening «l St. Jj Mary's, when 28 of all ranks were preseat,' The services at this church were also special, and were of a united character, the Primitive Methodist Church being closed in order to allow of its members being present. The attendance was very large, the church being crowded in all parts. Seats were also -placed down tbe aisle, which were well filled,; The choir was a large one, being assisted by the members of the Presbyterian and Primitive Methodist choirs. At the far end of the church were a cross and crown, and at the other the letters Y.E., the whole being worked in autumn leaves and flowers. The Rev. Jas. Preston, Incumbent, conducted the service, the lessons being : -read by Dr Pish. Tbe offertory taken up was in -aid of the Geraldine Church of England. Bene volenti Aid Fund. This is a fond that has beefy in existence for many years past, and hss _ dene a large amount of good.' Tbe money a subscribed towards it has been devoted to J the relief of - tbe poor and needy of every denomination. During the past seven years there has never been any money collected towards the fund. It has been kept going solely by chance subscriptions. The rev. gentleman took for his text the words “ For. there ia.no power but of God; the powers., that be are ordained of God.” Romans xill., 1. He went on to speak of the mercy of God in retaining upon the throne,' fojr,• siripany years the Sovereign who had'Tiilied-with such a beneficent hand over the English nation. He dwelt upon the absolute,; necessity that existed for a nation to be; a| God-fearing nation if it was to be a happy and pros-

perous one, and, instanced the case of other nations that had been overthrown

because they departed from the true and living God. To have a God-fearing nation they must have laws based upon Godlfi own truth, and to obtain these they must? have men at the . head ,of .the nation's . affairs that would make such laws, He"w urged upon his hearers to return no men to Parliament who had not the fear of

God and respect for His word before their eyes, and expressed an earnest hope ere long the nation would see the uttetm* urong and folly of. shutting out of our j schools that book upon ‘ which the laws of England and : all moral laws were based, i During the service the Jubilee hymns, composed by the Dean of Chrischurch and Archdeacon Harper respectively, were sung, and ;iat the dose the congregation and choir united in einging the National Anthem. ■ 'i §