METHODIST SOCIAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8133, 1 December 1904, Page 2

METHODIST SOCIAL.

SYNOD DELEGATES ENTERTAINED. The delegates to the District Methodisl Synod now sitting in Hawera were entertained at a conversazione in the Opera House on Wednesday evening. There was a large attendance, and the hall was very attractively furnished by Messrs Arthur and Wilson, the arrangement being done by Mr C. Bates. The stage, which was dressed by Mr Wilson, looked particularly pretty. Seats were arranged so that social intercourse might be enjoyed, and all present appeared to spend a pleasant evening. . , The evening was opened by singing part of the Old Hundredth and devotional exercise led by Rev. Porter. The Mayor (Mr Robbins) was then introduced, and, on behalf of the citizens of H&wera, welcomed the delegates to the town, and trusted their gathering would result in benefit to the Methodist Church, which had such a good record. Rev. Keall (Marton), Chairman of the district, was then called upon to preside over the meeting, his good qualities in that capacity being eulogsed by Rev Porter. The Chairman delivered a brief but interesting and humorous address He claimed to be the oldest travelling Methodist minister now in New Zealand. Referring to Hawera, he said that since his stay here he had not heard a single word spoken against it by way of complaint, which was unusual. He acknowledged the great kindness that had been shown the delegates, and in proceeding to call upon the various speakers said "long-winded brethren were warned that a bell would ring when they had spoken for ten minutes, which had been fixed as the time limit. The chorus "Gloria" was splendidly sun p by a large choir under the leadership of Mr Hutchens. Rev. J. J. Mather (Palmerston *orth) referred to the fact that 21 years ago the Mayor of Hawera and himself had advocated the cause of prohibition when il was not so popular a question as it wa? to-day. The church in New Zealand had done much, but not so much as it should have done, against the trinity»-dnnk, gambling, and impurity. The speakei then proceeded to address himself to th«temperance question, and his vigorous re. marks won* repeated applause. It had been pointed out;. he said, that New Zealand spends newly six times as much hi I strong drink; »fti» upon the education ol I her children:' It was claimed by sonid that education would overcome stronjj drink, but he nad to say that drink had degraded sonic of the strongest and keen est intellects that the world had known. He instances various authors, and gave other pitiful examples. "They could gel rid of the evil," he concluded, " by personal influence and the force of example. Mr W. Hutchens sang "Every Valley, which was rewarded with loud and pro> ' longed applause. 1 Mr W. G. Bassett (Wanganui) expressed 3 his pleasure at being in Hawera, whicli s place he knew when it was a series o! grass paddocks with a blockhouse and s s single hotel. Now it was a well-kept littl* s city, with up-to-date water, drainage ami ' lighting arrangements. He was sorry thaj 1 the lighting arrangements had not bee* * retained by the borough instead of part - ing with the rights to a company. Turn * ing to the subject of his address, he * spoke of the churches' obligations to th« c young men of the country. The futur» d of the colony depended upon how th< d growing boys and girls were trained, am m that respect he was sorry to say thai c the churches in the past had not recognised '< nised their obligations as they shoulc S have done. The church could and shoulc >f use its influence upon civic life, and h< -» was glad the time had come when Chris c tian men acknowledged that they had c their share of public duty to perform, ■r He thought a first-class club for the young people should be established here h and felt sure that if the borough bor 1 rowed £1500 to build one the wives am l n mothers and sweethearts would providt ie the furniture, Jje urged that the girh ie were neglected, too. but he was glad >c to see that at the District High School ». they were being taught to cook. « Mrs Dixon sang "Not Good-bye" very « nicely, and was warmly applauded, d Rev. J. G. Chapman (Wanganui) dc ;n; n livered a most humorous address, with ii ' r lesson in every point. It was chiefly I' on the joys and sorrows of life. Worry. Id the speaker was convinced, can be over- !• come by a supreme effort of the will !e The pill of any disagreeable duty should " be properly swallowed. Troubles usually 3- were greatly magnified, and rehearsals . f '° disagreeable things that had to be done * only made matters worse. In the daily n walk of life we should get the most irk- >'! some tasks done first. The worst pill »t to swallow is the pill of imaginary b- trouble ; it is fighting shadows that wears ?■ life out. The speaker was loudly applauded upon concluding. »t The choir rendered "Blessed be the 5e5 c Lord." ' Rev. J. N. Buttle (New Plymouth) i* spoke of the difficulty of choosing a subject t- on such an occasion. One of the greatest ie difficulties was to mix the grave with »htje gay and say the right thing at the right s» time. He referred incidentally to *.ht great work being done by Messrs Isitt. :h and the remarks were met with applause. «t After recalling the names of some of the colony's earliest Methodist pioneers he r* ts peated a remark made by one that "it >c is a glorious thing to be at the spring 10 of a young country." Looking round th»tt room* he saw many young men an*l i- women, and said it must make them fe->! s. the responsibility of moulding young lif>> sf In the future a great city would be when* c- nawera now is. and all should work •«» id make their mark upon it. If they wanted ss the town to be worthy of this growing »& colony they should see to it that they put r- the right 'sprit into it. and that spirit rs and character should be of the Lord Jesus >c Christ. If they did that they would be ■H bringing heaven down to earth. is Mrs Berry contributed "I know that It my Redeemer Hveth," which was perhaps -s the gem of the evening, a Rev. Porter thought they would all •y agree that they had had an enjoyable and r. inspiring evening. He had to thank s, Messrs Arthur and Wilson for providing r, the furnishings, and Mr Bates and his ir army of lady assistants for arranging the * decorations. As to the speakers they had d excelled themselves. . At the speaker's f. suggestion these and the singers of the nl evening were accorded hearty apprecia>u tion, signified by vigorous acclamation. >f To tlie remarks of the Rev. Porter the i- Rev. Chapman replied on behalf of the | :<! visitors. I >d An abundance of refreshments was then >f provided, and after they had been dis11 cussed the meeting was closed by singing ig a verse of the National Anthem.