Materials for Thought.
Eloquence — Eloquence is spooking out — a quality taw eoteem, mid fewer" aim at. Blessed is the man that bends his will to his Bibluj and not his Bible to his will. Maintain purity by yielding up noththing that is God's ; maintain pence by yielding up sill ihar is your own. The highest rule in a kingdom of this world is not so honorable as the meanest service in the kingdom ot Christ. Alienation from the love of God leads to alienation from the love of man ; hence fallen men are described as <v hatp.fulj and hating one another." There is too much of the legal, and too lit ile of the filial, spirit among believers. Many act more as hired servants, than as adopted children. Earnestness. — Unless a man appears by his outward look and gesture to be himself animated by the truths he is uttering', he will not animate his hearers. .It is the live coal that kindles others, not the dead, I With, what a uiixtuv« o*' fea^, reverence, und holy joy should we open the Bible — the book of truth and happiness ! God's heart opened to man ! and yet the whole and every part of it secreted from him, and uid tinder an impenetrable veil, till he opens his heart to GoH. — Adam. Devotion. — If faith be the mainspring, devotion winds up tin machi-* nery, and keeps it in continual motion. It is as impossible for the soul to remain strong in faith and active in obediernv, ' without continual Communion with God, the fountain of all grace, as it is for a clock to perform its revolutions ! without being' regularly wound up. A dewfh'opj falling in tlie wild soa wave, Exclaimed in feur, " I perish in the sravo !" But. in a shell received, that drop of <low Unto n pearl of marvellous beauty grow; And, happy now, the grace did magnify Which thrust it forth, rs it had f wired, to die r Until again. '■ 1 perish quite," it. suiit, Torn by rude diver from its Ocean bod. O unbelieving !— so it came to gleam •. • Chief jewel in a monarch's diad in. — Richahd C. Trench.Energy. — What is wanted to ensure success is not so much skill, genius, or" even opportunity, as that which is expressed in this word} Knerjjy. Spasmodic efforts are common to multitudes, and although much strength is un such occasions put forth, it cannot be truly denominated energy. Energy keeps f MI at the life task whatever may be tlie disadvantages and whatever the diiß> culties. DiiVoTHDNHBS. — The patient selfconsecration to a chosen department ot' thought and action exhibited by men of science, both in its higher and lower walks, should put to shame the indolent half-heartedness of many who call themselves messengers of Christ and workers for God. Do we dream of becoming eminent, educators for the young, or even skilled expositors of the most nmn'enf, comprehensive, and momentous of all books by the. aid of fragmentary exernon, divided zeal, and partial de- votedn°ss ? • i Piety At HoM^s. — Not a few have" \ a feeling that they can do little or no \ good in the world ; they cannot go ouc and seek the poor and the lost. To such these words shoulc bring comfort. Let them " show piety at home." That may be, dear reader, theonly place Providence has designed you should show it. The home circle is your sphere. No placa is more favorable whereon to let your" "liy-lit shine," and by influencing those under the same roof for good, they may go out and win others to the Saviour. You may " sow in tears," they may " reap in joy." " A cup of cold water* given to a disciple duet not lose its reward, if done for Christ's sake. How easily any one can give that — the poorest, as well as the richest; a gentle smile, a loving look, a kindly word,a silent reproof, a tender admonition, . waiting on the sick. All this can be done at your home " without money • and without price." Bking and Appearing. — The desire of appearing to be useful, rather than of being- so, is a dreadful hindrance to real usefulness. By making present visible resulrs the measure of value for' one's labor, is produced superficial habits of thought nnd action. By setting tip men's opinions and prejudices in place of the truth, it destroys the earnestness and sincerity of nature* corrupts' the simplicity of our motives, and makes us vacillating and time-serv-ing The man whose aim is to seem rather tlinn to be^ is self-exiled frdm the noblest field of human activity, which lies always in »he strong, deep r still, undercurrent of influences that* Unheeded by the thoughtless multitude* slowly j silently, but irresistibly shape" the destiny of society; He is not permitted to do a thing in the best way unless this way should happen to bd that which will secure to him present eclat, — a rare confidence !ft or may he" .hold oil the even tenor of his way* through gdod report' and evil report* but. he mupt he asbrt of public weather^ cock, that shifts with etery popular (s£* citemeiit:
of such a meeting, and to persuade all and sundry that it would inevitably prove a failure on account of the small number who would put themselves to the trouble of attending-, and also on account of the alleged irregularity of the proceedings. The Convention, has been held, and even the most ardent Centralist must admit that so far as attendance was concerned it was a success, that its deliberations "were conducted wiih the utmost prudence, and that the resolutions passed were definite and appropriate. So great was the success that the Centralists have been completely nonplussed, and instead ot continuing their revilings, as was expected, they at once hastened to attract public attention to every other subject except the Otago Convention. Let us look at the class of gentlemen 'who composed the Convention. They were, first, the members of the House of Representatives and Provincial Council, gentlemen who had been elected as the ablest and truest exponents of the political opinions of the people of Otago upon the very questions his Honor submitted for their consideration. Then there were the Chairmen of Road Boards and School Committees, men to whom the people had committed the practical carrying out of the laws, and who, in consequence of their superior ability, energy, and tact, had been elected by the various Boards and Committees to posts ot honour and hard work. They were no needy adventurers who sometimes secure seats of honour by striking a chance chord in a popular cry, but permanent settlers, men of intelligence and practical common sense, who, by their daily walk and conversation, by their prudent counsels and energetic actions, had gained for themselves the respect and fullest confidence of their fel-low-colonists. These were the men whose advice his Honor sought, and the result of the meeting showed the wisdom of the choice. Seeing that the intention of calling the Convention was not frustrated, the hope of the Centralists centred in the expectation that at the meeting extravagant words and counsels would prevail, and that an illegal and rebellious course of action would be resolved upon. Such, we confess, might reasonably have been anticipated, considering the extreme provocation the inhabitants of this Province have received. But throughout the whole proceedings there was not an imprudent word uttered, and the resolutions passed were in accordance with the strictest rules of law and good order. We believe no number of gentlemen ever before were called together who so fully represented the opinions and feelings of the people of this Province upon the matters submitted, and the t'esnlt of the meeting will have general approval Of course the organs of the Centralists will deny this, but it was shewn at the •Convention that the statements made by these did not represent the mind of the people. The first business was to 'consider the influence used and grossly partizan conduct of the Governor in the matter of the Abolition of the Provinces. The meeting believed that his conduct was unconstitutional and detrimental to the interests of the inhabitants of this Province, but instead of condemning the man, simply asked /fler Majesty to ■enquire into the matter. Again, the Constitution Act, granted us by Her Majesty, has now been in use for many years, and its machinery has got out of good working order. The Convention applied to the maker of the constitution either to put it to rights or give us a new and improved one suited to our present circumstances. We cannot see anything unreasonable in such a retjuest, nor any reason why it should not be granted. Thevariousdespatches from the Earl of Carnarvon upon the subject clearly show that the gentleman the Imperial Parliament has placed in charge of the Constitution here is incompetent lor his office, that he either does not understand the working of the machine or that he has wilfully misrepresented the cause of the present disorder, and hence the necessity of sending competent men to explain this. This seems only a prudent course to pursue. Should they fail in their mission ; should they be unable to secure for the majority of the people of these islands those rights and privileges which British subjects have hitherto been led to regard as their, birthright, then they must appeal to the source of all political power — the people themselves, and should Auckland and Otago continue united as at present, no power can prevent them securing all they at present ask for. While the temper of the Convention was neither reckless nor rebellious, it was earnest and determined, •and the feeling which pervades all classes of the community at the present time is one which it would not be wise to trifle with,
We have only to congratulate the Clutha district on the response it made to the Superintendent's request. No other district was nearly so well represented in the Convention a3 was the Clutha. This was fully acknowledged by all, and accordingly it was accorded a corresponding representation in the Executive Council of the Convention. Its member in the House of Representatives was elected President, while one ot its members of Provincial Council and another of the School Committee were placed on the Council. This must be gratifying to the inhabitants who have all along been most consistent and stable in their words and actions in connection with the present important
political crisis. We have no doubt they will continue so till their just demands are granted, and in the future order of things the district of the Clutha will unquestionably occupy a position of considerable influence.
Not a little excitement, says a contemporai'y, has been created in Wellington by the sudden disappearance ef two residents. The gentleman is a married man, and his wife and seven children have been left behind. The. lady is young, good-looking, and unmarried. She left her home nominally to attend a wedding, but', instead of that, came by the railway to town and withdrew a aum of L4OO which stood to her credit in one of the banks. She was then accompanied by her male neighbor, and they departed together in the City of Sydney for America. Il was not till late on Sunday that any suspicion were aroused.
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Bibliographic details
Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 123, 17 November 1876, Page 3
Word Count
1,897Materials for Thought. Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 123, 17 November 1876, Page 3
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