PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH SOIREE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 261, 30 January 1873, Page 7

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH SOIREE.

The anniversary soiree of the Lawrence Presbyterian Church .took place on Tuesday evening. The weather was exceedingly cold and rough,- and it was feared that the success of the gathering would thereby be considerably marred. These misgivings were, however, not realised, for at the appointed hour the church was well filled. A noteworthy feature was the presence of several Chinese. The tea table's were garnished with an abundant snpply of the edibles usually provided ou such occasions, and the tea to assist their consumption was excellent. The following ladies presided over Mie tables— Mesdames Cameron, Jamison, M'Kinlay, Stenhouse, liow, Sutherland, M'Beath, Anderson, Walker, Downie, Dale, Moss, and Misses Darton, Eckhold, and Robertson. Their ministrations were well appreciated by those ■wlio enjoyed the felicity of taking tea on : the occasion, as indeed they well deserved to I be. The Rev. Mr. Cameron, the pastor of the consrrega'ion, presided i Whau the tables had b*en cleared, and | the audience comfortably reseated. I The Chairman nnde a few appropriate j inteo'ductory remarks, in the course of which

he stated that the J?ev. Dr. Stuart, of I Dunedin, the Key. Mr. ASui, of Waihola, and the .Rev. Mr. Gillies, of the Taieri, had been expected, but that their absence was probably attributable either to the bad weather, or to unavoidable engagements. He called upon the Church Secretary, Mr. Steimmise, to read tho financial statement. Mr Stenhouse read the statement as follows: — Keceipts — Balance of end of 1871, £2 4a. 6d.; collections, 1872, £138 Is. 9d. ; seat rents, £48 10s.; mission fund, £9 25.; Sabbath school mission, £14 12s. ; soiree, donations, &c, £95 6s ; sustentntion fund, £131 10s. 6d. Expenditure— Salaries, £283 ]os.; missions, £23 173.; other expenses £99 ss. 9d. Balance, £32 14s. The Church Commit cc, Mr. Stenhouse stated, had been only six months in office, and as they had nothing to bring forward except routine business, had not compiled a formal report In the ordinary course of things the committee ought to have retired at the end of the yaar, but having only been, a3 he had said, six months in office, they would continue their duties twelve months longer. The Church was in a nourishing condition, which was attributable, in great measure, to the earnest zeal of the pastor. The sustentation fund was steadily increasing , but he regretted that so li'tle Had been given towards the mission fund. The Sabbath school in this respect showed creditably, as the scholars had subscribed a comparatively large sum — far larger than that contributed by the church — towards the Dayspring, lie congratulated the congregation on the admirable singing of the choir, under the able leadership of Mr. Humphrey, who had 3parcd neither time, trouble, and expense to secure improvement. The Sabbath school was pro"io'B'ng favorably, still great2r strides might have been made, and the speaker impressed on parents tlu desirability of cooperating wirh the teachers in securing the attendance of the children, and dwelt on the advantages to the children religious instruction proved. j The Chairman mentioned, as .an encouraging fact; in connexion wih the Chinese mission, tha- on visiting Paul Ah Ching's house that afternoon he found four Chinamen intently engaged reading the Scriuturea. Ho exhorte I Ihs congregation to do their utmost to promote the s:>roalof tho gospel among the heathun. Mr. Jamison haid it wis within the knowledge of all the congregation how energetically j Mr. Sfcenhoube worked on bohalf of the church. How he, as superintendent, had carried on tho Sabbath school was also familiar to them, and Ann the successful manner in which he accomplished everything he took in hand. For the last two years he had labored assiduously to improve the psalmody, a 1 id nearly all the church members had availed themselves of his services. All this Mr. Stenhouse had done as a labor of love. The church could offer him no reward, a=s Mr. Stenhouse would receive his reward from a higher source. Still, as individual members of the church, they could do something to show their appreciation of Mr. Stenhouse's efforts. The psalmody class had resolved to do this, and the whole congregation had be p n invited to join, and had freely contributed. Tt had not been attempted to gather a large sum, but only a little had been asked from e.ich. But, in addition to the tangible proof he was about to present, all would testify to Mr. Stenhouse's valuable services in improving the psalmody. Mr. Stenhouse. for lhe purpose of musical instruction, had brought his harmonium to church, where it had been considerably knocked about ; and he thought the best way tho amount collected could be applied would be to the purchase of a new one. He had much pleasure in handing to the Chairman, for presentation to Mr. Stenhouse, the list and amount collected from the psalmody class in parliuclar and the congregation in general. The Chairman handed the list and amount to Mr. Stenhouse, accompanying the pre3entation with a few graceful remarks. A!r. Stenhouse said that instructing the psalmody class had given him as much, perhaps more, pleasure ihan those taught. His efforts had scarcely deserved the testimonial, still, a3 it was accompanied with the sympathy of the congregation and a spirit of appreciation of his services, ho gladly accep'ed it. He had tried to do his best to secure the goodwill of the congregation. He confessed that he liked to please and be well thought of by h s fellow men, and he was happy to think he had in some measure succeeded. The speaker concluded by repeating his sincere thanks to the congregation. The Rev. Mr. Menzies was the next speaker. A. subject to address a meeting upon was, he said, often a matter of difficulty. Providence, however, often came to the relief of the speaker, and on the present occasion Providence assisted him. He had received a pamphlet from the old country treating upon the relationship Sabbath schools ought to beai to the churches ; also an interesting speech on our Lord's address to Peter — " Lovest thou me ? Feed my sheep." That address had a new beauty imparted by another readiug in the Greek, which the speaker explained. He dwelt impressively on the importance of getting young people to decide for the Lord. The education question was being agitated in England, in Victoria, and in their own colony England was likely to adopt the secular system, Victoria had adopted it, .and New Zealand was likely to adopt it too. Some might grieve that such was the case, but he did not. The exclusion of the little- religious instruction now given in schools would not be a serious loss. For his own part, he w.^s willing to see it dispensed with altogether. Supposing it was dispensed with, the result would be that the responsibility of the religious training would resf with parents, with .Sabbath school teachers, and with ministers of religion. In England he showed, by s 1 atistics collected from 384 churches, that the proportion of children attending Sunday schools was far below what it ought to be; and he -dilated at some length upon the vital importance cf treating the young with kindly feelings and guiding them in the right path The rev. gentleman concluded an eloquent and telling address by 3tating that there was a vast amount of irreligion in their midst, the existence of which ought, to stimulate congregations to earnest efforts to abate it. Mr. M'Nicoll expressed his concurrence in what bad fallen from the ••'cv. Mr. Menzies, and briefly addressed the meeting on the duty of parents to their children and the value of parental example. Mr. James Robertson delivered a powerful oration on the duties of congregations in aiding theiv pastors infurtheriugChristiau work. He pointed out that the work of the church generally fell to the lot of a few willing members ; while the majority, either through carelessness or other causes, neglected their sacred duties. The greatest triumphs of the church had been achieved by union among its members, and if in these times there was union and concord, he felt assured the church could defy and conquer, all the powers of darkness arrayed against ib. The Rev. Mr. Bull agreed with the Key. Mr Menzies on the education question. It might seem against his principles to agree to the removal of the Bible from the schools ; nevertheless, he thought that such removal, universally carried out, would be attended with the greatest advantage to Christianity, as it would throw the work of imparting religious instruction to the young upon

those on whom it properly devolved— the Sunday school teachers, the clergy, and tho parents. Ho spoke earnestly on the imperative necessity that existed for laymen co-opv'iabing with the ministers, and for individual exertion, quoting several notable instances of the success attending the faithful perseverance of Christian workers. Mr. I'.iui All Chin, the Chinese missionary, spoke on the work he wad engage. I in. Mr. M'Lelland adverted to th«> pernicious drinking customs which threatened to Wring this happy and prosperous country to a very low moral condition, and deplored the Ifsseniug influence of religion. He briefly touched upon the spiritist superstition, *an<l in speaking on the education question expressed a hope that he would never live to see the day when the J3ible was banished from the schools. lie would not have the Bible in the school as a tett book, but would have it there to tell and show the children that he believed it, and strove to be guided by its precepts. If the Government eliminated scripture reading from the schools, 'he foresaw a most baneful result. Religion had to contend against the writings of an infidel press. The writer of "Casual Notes "in the "Witness" was writing down ministers, Sabbath observance, the work of the church, and all that was good. Some few might applaud, but sensible men detesed both the writer and h>a efFh-sions. The speaker concluded his remarks by expressing his concurrence with the sentiments previously espressed regarding tie extension of ; Christian sympathy to the ministers by the congregations. The Key. Mr. Ohisholin, of Tokomairiro, expressed his gratiiiuatiou at seeing the s-jcial element so largely develops I iv Lawrence a3 shown by the gathering then preseut. He was also glad to riud, by the spfp'.-hes th >,i had been made, that the eon»r.*ga ion had | realised tho necessity of assisting their pastor !to propagate the gospel. Maiiy pojple at the present day were m the habit of sneering at Christianity, and asking what i w.13 doing to benefit society or ennoble mankind. Tho3a who spoke in that strain were of limited vision, and were ignorant of the achievements of the church in he past. It had beeu asserted that Christianity was a dead religion — that it promised much, butperfortne I i little. Why di-i not the cavillers apply to < their inquiries the principles that irui'd d ■ scientific researches ? Why did they n->t > bring the vaunted i<i Unlive method to bear? : Let th'jm look at the history of the church I Christianity had Hooded the pal ice and the j hovel, whi'.-h '.very previously m jAgin dark- ' ne^s-j, with mo lorn eulijlrennunt. Iho I speaker showed how, ->mcc the time of our , >aviour, the morals of the world had im- i proved, how the sanctity of human life had ; !>e"n established, slavery abolished, and how '■ in many other ways the church h<id exercised p. powerful influence in elevating mankind He maintained that Christianity was a power capable of ennobling man and elevating him to a height he could not otherwise a' lain. It was not the fanit of the religion that it was unsuccessful in surmounting obstacles— that was the fault of those professing Christianity but who did not use the great power placed in their hands. 'lhe contributions given by the Lawrence church towards mission work were lamentably small, t-itmtcd as they were, they should contribute largely to the work of evangelising the heathen Chinese m their i-iidst. The Chinese were spreading over the globs, and were destined to play an important part in the world's his-ory ; and by direc ing missionary effort 3to converting them, Christianity would be widely spreid. On the motion of Mr MVellr-nl, thanks were voted by acclamation to the ladies win hal presided over the tea tables and to the choir. On the motion of Sir. M'Nicoll, thanks were also awarded to the speakers The benediction was then pronounced by tho Key, Mr. Bull, which brought the proceedings to a close. At lutervals during the evening, 'he church choir, under the able leadership of Mr. \. Humphrey, sxng excellent selections of sacred music in a manner that elicited the enconiuins of those present.