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Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1820, 6 March 1884, Page 3

(" Civis," in Otago Witness.) Archokacon Edw wins at S. Paul's on Sunday nioinmg ticated .1 dismil subject in a manner w lucli tlio^-c who listened to him must ha\e found hot li no\el and "^interesting. By leijuestof the \f»tiy lie ) igave the congiegation a piece of hi-s mind -'about the pre> alenee of tlneepuiny-bits in the offeitoiy. " One half the congiegatiou," he baid, " never contubuted to to the offeitoiy at all ;"' the \estiy had ascertained the fact "by having the congiegation counted as will as tlic offer tory." Rather 'onto tin's on the ] ait of the vestty. I am lemindjd of Mrs Candle's lemark when Caudle mentioned that one " dear lamb/ who was lepreeented by Mrs C. as chopping into a consumption, had tucked as\ay sixteen slices of bread and butter at bieakfast, — " More shame foi you, Candle, to count "em !" It may be intjiesling to ascertain that there aie twice n& many people in church as theie aie coins in the ofier tory, but the eongiegafu>n will think it rather a graceless Imimihss in the church officers to count 'un. 1 don't know ■whether S, Paul's is or is not the "fashionable congiegation' of Dunedin, but, in any case, one w ould liked to have seen their faces w lien the Tpicacher delivered himself of the foltowing : Some of them managed to spend large sums on jewelleiy, dress, and pnrt'es, and when tiny went to chinch they thought they did their duty by gmng a " threepenny-bit " towards the maintenance of the sanctuaiy. That was " unnttetable meanness." No thinj? like calling a spade a spado ' The pulpit is not dead yet, nor likely to die, whilst preacheis talk with the straightforwaid plainness of Archdeacon Edwards. On the great thieepenny-bit questiou itself, howc\ er, my \ lew is net exactly the Ai chidiaconal one. The tin ee-penny-bit seems coined expressly with a view to church ofTei tories. Thei cis haidly any secular use to which you can apply it. Mrs Civis — who, I may remark, is an excellent chinch woman, and who is in entire agieement with me on the subject under discussion— Mis Civ is ob | serves, i>olfo voce, that there are tram fares. Yes, no doubt there aie tram fares, but trams are cjuite a recent invention, never dreamed of at the time when threepenny-bits weie coined. It is significant too, that tram conductor neaily always give you coppeis in change — especially on Mondays. Why especially on Mondays ? Because the Sunday offertories aie. not yet banked. The threepenny-bits, you see, can't get into circulation again till Tuesday, at the earliest;. Looking at all the facts, I maintain that the Enalish tlncopenny-bit is a sacred coin, arsweting to the Jewish half-shekel, and that it is doubtful whether one is justified in introducing any other coin within the walls of the chtuch. Three courses, it seems to me, \ are open to the respectable churchgoer when the oftertoiy-bag goes lound : 1. Pass it on couiteously to your neighbour. 2. (This requires some moial courage) Put your finger in and stir it up. 3. If moved by the sermon and feeling religious, drop in your sacred threepenny — the " half-shekel of the sanctuary." After this, as the Archdeacon says, you may possibly feel "mean." Never mind. A feeling of meanness is no other than humility, and humility — as the Archdeacon himself would allow — is a Christian virtue.

It is a man in the mud who sees something in the rain to add mire. Captain Mayxe Reid, whose last , story, " The Land of Fire," is to appear in St Nicholas during the present year, wrote as follows to the editor of that magazine a few weeks before his death :—: — «* I have heard that you intend honouring ' xne by a biographical sketch, and furthermore, that lam to receive this honour |at the hands of one of America's mo&t Hielebrated, and justly celebrated, writers, "~Mf Trowbridge. Will you kindly notify this gentleman that the only thing about myself I especially care to have recorded is my great love and reverence for the American people, and, above all, the affection warm and strong almost as a • man would feel for his own children ? I am told it is reciprocated ; and tin's knowledge it much— l could say full— * pompensation for a life of toil which has Jjeea otherwise ill.rewardedV'