CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3003, 28 September 1908, Page 7

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

There was a large congregation at the Congregational Church, last might, when the Rev. A. Hodge, -taking advantage of Dominion Day preached a special sermon, the subi Ject being "dome of the main factors ithatmade the Anglo-Saxon Empire 'what it is, and the duties of a British • citizen." Mr Hodge closed his ser•on by saying:—The nation has been a succeis. It is inspiring for any '. British subject to step out of the .middle ages, out of the midst of • darkness, and war and superstition into the light and progress, into • extension and expansion, into an era -of time and lasting nation building *which began with the 16th century. Holland and Sweden were once great, liut now they have dropped behind. Froftssf.r Sealey saya:—"England has grown steadily greater and greater afsolutely at least-it' nut relatively. It is far greater now than it was hi the 18th century; it was far V eater in the 18th century than it was in the 17th, far greater in the than in the 16th. The prodigious to which it has attained the question of its future infinitely important, and at the same time most anxious, because it is •eviderit the great colonial 'extension exposes us to new dangers from which in its ancient insular insignificance it was free. And now this JjL brings me to the last item on my f" programme to-night—the duties of a British citizen. The object of Do.inion Day is not merely to make a big noise about our greatness and to fly a lot of flags to remfbd us of our glory which has been won for us by the grit and grace of our forefathers but to teach us our own individual responsibility in holding the .position that we already have, and •to make it better and securer ttill. Ihe future depends upon us now and our children. Our • hearts swell with pride when we remember our heiitage, arid the marvellous opportunities that theVe • are for the skilled, sober and industrious. Look at Great Britain and Ireland, the United States of Amer- • ica, the Dominion of Canadi, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. Think of these six great countries .all one, speaking one language, claiming,, the same religion, having the same ancestry, obeying the same institutions, reading the same literature and singing the same songs. This is in perfect accord with the ■spirit of Christianity. In fact it was Christianity that rreated it, it is "Christianity that keeps it alive. Napoleon once affirmed the principle that no individual was responsible for crime committed collectively, and this has been described as a sublime aphorism. We have not eo learned '/ Christ. It is opposed to the spirit of - Christianity. Ouis is a Democracy, -and under democratic rule the humblest citizen has some means of ,his opinion on national affairs. He has a vote, a parliamentary representative, a school, a church, a home, a pen. Therefore he has individual responsibility. We , must make'for the social idea. Ido j hot know what men mean when they , talk about Socialism, that is too j vagus and uncertain a term for us to use; but we understand what Christ- } ianity means bjy the social idea. That no man rah liv* f unto himself alone; that the whole body suffers -with one member. The individual is , f responsible for national morality, he can (stem the of evil by example and legislation. He is responsible for public morals, and for all that degrades a nation, because there are agencies at work for the moral, social and intellectual of the people and he roust .join the cruisade, Let each man fshoulder his responsibility and woman too. We have the power to put whom we will into the pulpit. We mubt never he guilty of any attempt to gag the Press: but we have the! power to create our journalists. It is for us to say who is going to sic in our halls of legislature and make cur laws; and it is for us to obey them when they are made. Let each parson at once and for ever grpsp the resonsinility as citizen atd t comrade as Christian and soldier and the future ■of our race is assured. Let us imbibe the spirit- and principles' of Him who taught above all the secret of society building and extension of Emp>re-"No man llveth unto him»self."