NAPIER CATHEDRAL. DEAN HOVELL'S APPEAL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 10059, 29 July 1895, Page 3

NAPIER CATHEDRAL. DEAN HOVELL'S APPEAL.

A NOBLE KESPONSE. A week ago Dean Hovell made au nppeal from the pulpit of the Cathedral for a sum of £1000 to clear off half theremainiDg liability upon the Cathedral building aud district, In spanking to his subject] the Dean said that) a considerable ourn had already been privately promised him, but it would need a very determined and united effort on the part of tho whole congregation to enable Mm to claim the amounts promised by several of the parishioners, which were conditional on £1000 beinp raised. The Dean stated that live yea r s ago the debt amounted to £4000, but since then he had munnged to reduco it by one half. In support of the Dean's remarks circulars were distributed thronchout the building, setting the whole matter out very clearly, and some of these were afterwards forwarded to the members of the congregation who were absent from the services. There was a certain amount of adverse criticism In the town, some saying that the sum asked for was far too mncli, in fact absurd, more especially lv view of the fact that tliero was very considerable depression amongst the people, Yesterday morning, however, when the procession entered tho Cathedral from the vestries, it was noticed thati tho Dean ciuiied tha Inrsc. Cathedral almsdish piled high with coin and papers. On reachirjg the chancel steps, the Dean turned round and spoke an follows : — My clear people, a week a>;o I askod you to assist mo in mialng £1000. It appeared to many an impossibility. By tho blesslug of God upon our endravors, I now hold in my bund over £1200, which han ben forwarded to me during the last Btvou days. It has been a very wonderful week. I shall tell you more about that which to mo has made It appear bo wondetfal, ia the course of my sermons to-day, I most earnestly thank God for Ihe way in which He has helped us, and I thank you to with all my heart. Having mad this the Dean proceeded to the Holy Communion tnblo to offer the people's gifts, and as he did co the whole congregation rose anil sc.ng tho Doxolcgy with thrilling effect), The following prayer was then offered up by the Diißn :— niosseil bo Thy namo, O Lord our God, that, it linth pleased Thoo to put into tho hearts nf thy servants to give so generously to Iliy worship and service. Bless, wo humbly hpscccli Thee, all thoso by whoso liberality £1200 of our ilobt has bcon swopt away. Bless llioir families and thoirsubslnnco. Homcmuer tliom concerning this ; forffet not this kindness thai they have shown for tho house orthoirGod. And yrnnl Unit all who enjoy tlio blessing of this noblo hoiiso of prayer mny uho it right thankfully to tho glory of Thy nnrao, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amuu. The ordinary service was then proceeded with, the loesons being lead by the Rev. W. Colenso, F.K.S., and tho Benediction being pronounced by the Bishop. The evouiuc service took the form of a " service of thanksgiving, ' r ~the Cathedral being decked as for a hich fcstivul, and tho whole of the music, being of a jubilant character, Iv the course of his sermons, both morning and eveuiug, tbo Dean alluded at some length to the subject which, as ho truly said, was doubtless uppermost in their thoughts. In the morning ho took his text from St. Matthew xxi., 42: "This U tho Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our oyoa." In tho evening the discourse was b'taed upon the words in ,S\ Matthew vli., 7: "Ask nnd yo shall lecelvo " "The effort that has bp.en tutulo durlog the past week is very woudetful to me," said tlie Doan, "fri.m tho fact that it has differed so imiirbly in its ircideuts from any effort fur raieing n:oncy for church or oihor purposes with which I have hitherto lipcn acquainted. One hns usually found didicullica of all kind? thrown lv the wny, excuses of many -orts urged OKalnst) giving, which in i lie present instauce have been practically eutirely absent;. Having put tho matter before you as cloarly as 1 could ou Sunday last, and having asked for your prayers, I have since dove practically libtlo moro thnn distribute tbo circulars nnd Icivo tho matter with God uud yourselves. I ein only «iy thut I liavp been living iv a kind of financial fniry-lam! during (h« whole of the week. To begin with, early on Monday morning came achequo for £'100 from my dear and vcncmblu liiund, the Kuv. W. ColmiHO, who hud Won with me in chuicb on tho previous day, accompanied by ft letter worded in aiieh n, touching •v.iy Hint it) brought tlu; tenrs In my cyo v . Dinctly ufterwiudn a pojr viiilow— puor, {hn.ii I>i to say, ns fur ah this world's goods are concerned, thonijli rich iv faith— cama nud oflbred half a crown, which was half her wi-pk's living.- From then until now, peoplu hnv) vied with ono another, apparently, to seeing how kind and generous thoy could be. At every street corner ulmost, men hsvn met me ; who iv liv klndeßb wny huve allied me into their houspi or shors nud h'lvo written out clipquo-i or given mo promises of money. !i\nt nißht, just alont ifutk, I w.ii ri!hin:ii](! home frim my rounds, wlmmi ii poorly-dioiißil uoumii HlnnpLd mi: uud tlirust snmrthlui; inlu my bund. It wan mi envelope lvhieii, on being opened, contained n thil)i»t> m><\ iljo woidfi. 'A v/ldow'n mite, with n pruyer for God's blessing.' Npurly i:vciy girl tit the Miioii i:chool, is? well n« tbu girln of tho Sumlayachool I'iblo Ciiiß«, have lorwurdod me their lltilo i-Rviiiga. It ban been most) touching, and tho way In which many of the gifts liuvu been forw.nded bus beru vt<ry bcHutiful. Venti-idny morning, fur instance, a lovely bnrkat of fl'.nvorn arrive;! •it my door; when they were lift*.,! pup, theru licnuatL ihtm lay mi suvelu|i > with an olTuiini;. Wlnt a gracious v i.y uf i-ivlug. Tif.ii, nfior I came ii.tn" t«itCathedral this morning unu hroiigh!, me to (ihu vcMtry v ]>roini- i v nf f 5, niu'ilhui' n llt.tlo pnekugo of pencu nnd Imlf puniio wrapped up In n noto ivj follows : — 'I li'ivj opened my liio-my- Ijox ; it luih 10 poace, I toud il towntdu llio £1000.' (joil bless both tho fjiverfj. But timu would

fail me to tell of the many ways in whim the gifts have come, some hundreds of them In all, towards the object we have had in view. It has all been, as I said before, very wonderful and very nnnsnol It appears to me that the power of God has been working, as we prayed lost Snn day and since that it might, and baa iuolined yonr ruinda to give. I thank yon from the very bottom of my heart for the kindly loving way in which you have responed to my appeal,"

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