St. James' Presbyterian Church.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2143, 16 November 1875, Page 2

St. James' Presbyterian Church.

ANNIVEBSAKr SOIEEE. j The annual soiree in connection with the above mentioned Church took place last evening in Sfc George's Hall. The Hall was tastefully decorated with flags, mottoes, and flowers> and thirteen tables were provided, at which fully 250 people sat down. This year in addition lo presiding, the ladies provided the good thinfs usual on all such occasions; the following is a list of their names :—Mesdames Hill, Macnab, Lumsden, Murdock, Pitkcthley, Sinclair, Mennie, Thomson, and Kennedy, and Misses Macky, Mark, Hill, Trevin, Lumsden, McKenzie, and Moore. Tea being over the after part was commenced by Mr Hill, the pastor of the church, taking the chair. The rev. gentleman in his introductory remarks stated that he was very sorry indeed that their meeting should hkve come into collision with another one in aid of the Thames Mechanics' Institute. He hoped, however, that the entertainment in aid of that valuable institution would bo a success, and that their funds would be considerably augmented. The services at the Presbyterian | Church on Sunday and the soiree at which they were then preseni were commemorative of his induction as pasior of the Thames Presbyterian Church. When a young man takes charge of a church for the first time it is called an ordination, but when a clergyman leaves one church to; take charge of another/it is called an induction. The Presbyterian body have only one anniversary in the year; some other congregations he knew have more than one. They were enabled to talk of matters at their one annual -which were not quite suited for the pulpit"j one ■ thing presented itself very prominently to; him, namely, the bad attendance at church.; When people came to the colonies they neglected to attend -as -well as they had been accustomed.to do at home. Did the congregation attend as it should, he was' sure the church on the. Thames would not be half large enough. Those who only come once on the sabbath not only discouraged the rest of the congregation but also the minister, for no minister, he could assure them, liked

preaching to empty pews. In looking back on the past year he could see a great deal to encourage them; and he could also see muqb. to encourage them in the year ; *begipning. They all knew it was a timeij of great,, commercial depression, and churches "witE -.jjtiber^ institutions must necessarily suffer^ But he hoped that depression would s6ojj cease, and that the congregation 'woold- unite more heartily together^ and nofc*let it keep them away .fronT church on v the Lord's day. He was nappy to say that two ministers of the Thames were present and would address the meeting; he had, he was sorry t© say, toapologiw -for the Bey. Mr Grump,;who" was called away to Auckland. He then called on the choir,, who rendered " I will lift up mine eyes." Their singing manifested careful practice, aIF the parts" chiming in harmoniously together. The Bey. Mr Ijaishley then addressed the meeting. In the first place he thankqd t^enTfor the good character the' Chairman Shad given him; hi was perplexed to find„a suitable subject for a speech. "J They had all heard of Mr Spurgeon, but perhaps not all of them were so familiar with : Mr % Spurgepn's brother. ;He had had the pleasure of: being oh the •same platform with him at a tea-meeeting in Southampton, and that gentleman was placed in the same predicament. Mr Spnrgeon related an anecdote, which "he wftuld.girefthem; a landlord of:an hotel required a new signboard, and he applied to a young artist to paint him one. Now, tjie artist, was only proficient in painting a lion, so, as he was much pleased with the honor the landlord had done him, he wished to know what sort of a lion was required,.but the.landlord said there were plenty of lioris-^black,' white, and golden —what he wanted was an angel. An angel wa3 a new idea to the artist, so he told the landlord that he wo,uld pajnt one, but Ke lmust :> forgive him if' his angel somewhat refiembled.a.lion.^4^d f so with, his speech; they must fofgi^hiffi ir*lt partook of che.nature of a sermon. The rev. gentleman then addressed a few remarks to the younger members of the cbngrflgation," urging upon them the necessity of cultivating, a calm of character, and strength to know when to say "no" and when to say " yes." Mr Laishley illustrated this part of his discourse with several amusing anecdotes bearing on this subject, among others DriKlinklm's account of John Thompson, hatter,l who made and sold hats, and who, through his indecision of character took the advice of first one frjend and then another, until, his signboard appeared "with only John 1 Thomson and the sign of'a hat tindel it. He also gave examples of decision of character as exemplified bythe-Be^. Dr. Moffat, the African missionary, and by "Moses," the Hottentot, as, depicted bf Mr Cornford, of Auckland, ih> his admirable work on missionary labour. The rev. gentleman was listened to throughout-with inarlced attention, and at the conclusion of his speecfrwas loudly applauded; ; The Ghoir then :gave-7—" With, angels and archangels." : The next on-, the programme was the Bey. Mr Hintbh.■.":-In introducing him to the meeting the Chairman said he did so with mingled feelings of happiness and sorrow^ !He^ himself was"the patriarch among.thesMinistersi of the Thames V he had be, en. amongst them seven years, and had .«jeienHmany changes. ? Some; t)f the ministers he had known had been called away to oTther spheres of usefulness, and others had died. The late Baptist Minis", ter, Mr Da-vies, was always glad to be/at any meeting of the sort, and while expreßsing^: sdrr6#r for his departure he thanked God' for raising up another to supply his place. Mr Hinton—who on rising was received with hearty congratulations by those present—observed that where he had come from he might claim to be the patriarch among the ministers there. They :all knew that Jacob had to serre seven years for afi wife; ■Mr Hill had had to serve seven for his congregation for the love he bore them—he hoped, he might continue long to do so. he went on the.Thames he met with:fragrant recollections of .his predecessor, and he hoped not only to keep up the friendly feeling existing between- the congregations here but if ariything ;iItD improve it. Before leaving Australia he was told that the

Thames was ugly. He did not think so. He loved the sea and the mountains, and he had them here. He was also told it was always raining here, but/they.,ceirtainly i; rhad fine .weather now, ; and he expected they would have more cf it. As the chairman had made a statement that while the Presbyterians had but one soiree and! anniversary in the year other denominations had .several, he wished Mr Crump were present, to explain, as he could do it better tban he could. The Wesleyans were proverbial for, raising money, and .he once asked the Be v. Mr Clark, who was the Wesleyan Minister where he was in Australia, for an explanation, and he told him that they take various objects for their anniversaries, and they raise as much at each as they would do if they lumped vthem all together. To him anniversaries suggested the same thoughts as birthdays, and they were not only good forsocial intercourse but for looking back on'the time past. Looking forward they might predict both sunshine and sorrow,"and it behoved all to render a more complete surrender to the claims of the Christian religion. He went on further to exhort those present not to remain in their present position either religiously, ecclesiastically or spiritually, and hoped that the next anniversary would find them, all more increased in spiritual grace. . The choir having sung " The Lord Descended," the Chairman announced.an interval of five minutes; after which the second part, consisting of what might be called a secular concert, was commenced. The following is the programme which was carried out:-—Piano duet, Misses Ferguson ; " Sweet Home,'- Mr Pulleine j vocal duet, " Paulaski's Banner," Misses Macky arid Day ; song, Mr Hewson ; Recitation, "The Outlaw," Mr Ferguson; duet, Misses Macky and Hill; trio, "Ye Shepherds," Messrs Weeks, Ferguson, and Hewson ; " Jessie the Flower of Dumblane," Mr Ferguson ; " Katie's Letter," Miss Olark; " The Englishman," Mr Weeks ; concluding with "The Lark is Aloft," by the Choir. All the ladies and gentlemen - who, tqok part acquitted themselves remarkably well, and it would be invidious, to draw comparisons between them. They, were all well received, and hearty applause was accorded to them; several very kindly responded to loud calls for an encore and substituted another song.

Mr Hill proposed a vote of thanks to the ladies who had presided at the tea, and had assisted alsp in entertaining thp meeting afterwards. Mr Somerville, who it appears has the

honor accorded to him every year, responded, and then for fear of an encore, beat a most precipitate retreat. The singing of the National Anthem brought the proceedipgsto a close/ Some slight dissatisfaction ~was felt .by. the young persons present that no dance took place afterwards, but it appears the members of the kirk, for reasons of their own, were averse to it. . ■ .