THE REV. J. G. GREENHOUGH.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7139, 1 November 1901, Page 2

THE REV. J. G. GREENHOUGH.

Tiie Eev. J. G. Greenhoujh, whose visit has been looked forward to for some time, arrived in Palmerston yesterday. Mr Greenhongh comes as the repretentative of the Free Church Council of England, and also as the delegate to the Jubilee Baptist Conference to be held at Nelson. Hj is an eloquent speaker, and his addresses last night bringing tidings of the welding together of the English Evangelical Chun-hes, nude a deep impression on his hearers, who w?re frequent! v moved by his earnestness to prolonged applause.

Early in the cvenina a reception social, at winch there was a fair attendance, was'held in the Baptist Church ior the purpose o£ extending a welcome to the Key. and Mrs Greenlfon.h Th» Key. E. luchards presided, an d after ■refreshments had been landed round and a hymn sung, he said that so f iU - as the occasion touched the Baptist Church it was a unique one, for it was fifty years since the first Baptist Church in New Zealand was opened at Nelson. Though the progress' of the Chureli since then, had not been so great as might be wished, there had been many blessings and reasons for thankfulness. When it was decided to try to get .in English representative to attend the Jubilee Conference at Nelson, it was resolyed to endeavour to ha ye a visit from the bast man procurable, and that man was their distinguished visitor,..Mr Gr.eenh.ou3U, who came not merely as the representative of the Baptist Church, but as the delegate from the whole of the Free Churches of. England, he bein" president of the Free Church Council" which embraced all the-. Evangelical Churches. The speaker was glad to be able to give Mr and Mrs Greenhough a hearty welcome to Palmerston.

Rev. T. W. Newbold (Wesleyan) said it afforded Mm greab pleasure to be present. He had the privilege and joy or hearing Mr Greenhough preach a mission sermon in the city of Leicester, England. Mr Greenhough s sermons not only draw large audiences in England, but they received much attention. The Eev. S. Baker (Congregational) was pleased to add hi 3 testimony to those of his brother ministers and to join in the feeliug of gratification at the presence of Mr and Mrs Greenhough amongst them. He also wished to join with the members of the Baptist Churchin their rejoicings at the jubilee of their church in New Zealand. He hoped that the visit of Mv Greenhough would strengthen the good work and extend the kingdom of God in the town. Mr Brownie iPrcsbyterian) extended to Mr Greenhough a hearty welcome, stating ho was sure he voiced the f-^el I'igs of the Presbyterian congregation in doing so He hoped the visit would be blessed with great blessing The Eev. Mr Keall (Wesleyan). of Marton, also addressed a brief weVome to the visitor, referring in the course' of his remarks to the many changes for the better which had been effected in colonial ehnrehes since their establishment.

■_ The Rev. Mr Greenhough, in thanking the speakers for their kindly references to himself and Mrs Greenhongh, said he was delighted to be surrounded by so many Christian brethren. He thanked them all for theirkind and touching welcome. His partieularlv warm feelings went out to the Baptist Chureu, of which he was a member. They were yet but a small people in these islands, but they looked forward to greater things. He was glad to meat the representative of the Congregational Church, which had been born amidst the same political and religious strife as his own church and had stood side by side with the Baptist Church, and had suffered the same trouble for their liberties and freedom of conviction. Ho was pleased to meet the Presbyterians, who wore staunch in the faith, true to their ideals and profound theologians. They were ever defenders or religious liberties and opponents of priest-craft. For the Methodists he had a great admiration. He looked on them as the legitimate descendants of the old Puritans, because they had caught- up the dying tot eh of Puritanism "in ■ the early part of the ISth Century. He was glad to find that in New Zealand the churches were coming together into one great brotherhood, just as the evangelical churches of England were dom<* In conclusion he again thanked them for the warmth of their welcome. After the Benediction had been pronounced, an adjournment was made to the Presbyterian Church.

A large audience, representing all the Evangelical Churches, greeted Mr Greenhough in St. Andrew's Church, where he spoke on '"The conditions of religious life and religious parties- in England." The Key. S. Lawry occupied the chair. The meeting was opened by the singing of the psalm, " All people that on earth do dwell," Rev. Mr Baker following with prayer. The Eev. Mr Richards apologised for the absence of the Eev. I. Jolly, who was attending the Presbyterian Assembly in Dunedin, and also on behalf of Ensign Mathers, of the Salvation Army, who was unable to attend. The chairman then briefly introduced the speaker. The Eev. Mr Greenhough said h,e appreciated greatly- the many gracious words of welcome which had been spoken during the evening. He said lie had foundjhat the colonies knew more about England than, the Motherland knew about the colonies, and the part taken in the South African war by the colonies and other things had served to remind some people in the Old Land that they had colonial kinsmen -and brothers across the seas. Eeligious life in the colonies resembled that of England in all ways but one—there was no State Church in the colonies, and he thanked God for it. In England, too. there was a small party of pessimists, but he was glad to say he did not belong to that regiment of God's army. He was an optimist who believed in leoking at the brighter side of things. In England they had gloomy pessimists, who pointed to passing war clouds, and said Britain was losing all her grit and power, the Empire was on the verge of dissolution, and all the good things were going out. The leader, of this was Mr Frederic Harrison, who lectured -at night to about twenty-five followers on the awful degeneracy of the times, and in the day went about like Diogenes of j old "looking for an honest man." Next to him were Mr John Morley and Mr Stead, who continually wailed about the glory departed. But the good things were only coming into the land, though there was a dark side to life in England. There was the wretchedness and extreme poverty of many of the people, and there was the fact that vast masses of the people in the cities and a smaller proportion in the country were out of touch with religious life. "While about one-half the population never entered the sanctuary, it should be remembered that all these people were not irreligious and that nine-tenths of them had attended the Sabbath schools. There was no avon-ed feeling against religion in England, such as existed in France, Atheism had almost entirely disappeared. The fault was more of forgetting than denying God. Science "once so hostile to religion was again reverent. There had been a great return to positive belief. There Sad been a return not to the narrow orthodoxy of their fathers but to the evangelical faith, a return to splendid and healthy vigor. The Dew church was more active and zealous in Christian warfare and the Free Churches were in the van in the attempt to win England for Christ Behgious parties all knew of the brineinotogether of the evangelical churches, and they had seen what had been but an iQ-eal, become a solid fact. Sects were no longer multiplied. He believed the punfying.influence came from Him who toyed ttam. and whom they adored. They had restored Him to His place in the church. They had made the name of Christ the rallying point. He thanked God for these changes. In the colonies there was no reason why all Christians holding the same faith should not unite but in England the barrier in the waywas the State Church. So long as the State put a stamp on a certain cliukJj so long would union be impossUjJe' But the great-minded men iojlijia Established Church were longingjp|tu>' praying for closer union, UaionfkS|

been proposed but the terms were sii-h that it would mean the •jivimuip of IVudearest convictions. Then lWl> v.-, H ; V, union-m the EtabJished Cimreh itself lnere was the evau^Hi-al or P.irie^icil party with whom the Free. Chim-he* agreed heart and soul, and there wr< the ■other iparty led by lord Halifax, w T»iJ-lI was separated from liome by a very thin partition Then the spread of the sacerdotal tendency in tlie State Ciurcli made union still more impossible. Lord Halifax declared that the misses of. inland were sick of a .lying Protestantism, but the masses remembered th-» -nisi Hits movement was not a question/of ritual, music, or ornate services ;-irw"as a a" question as to whether (he D-ies't should be elevated above his fellow men and through the confessional boxhave power over their consciences Wherever the priest held sway the nation worild be enfeebled, the individual dwarfed, andlibertiesdestroyed. It was the remembrance of what tha priest had been that caused this bandin"together of the Dissenting- Churches! iney had had their difficulties and to ™ ♦ they werd on]y an incenfive X? orl In conclusion, he ttp . disciples wasJ'Bsjof L^dla^Ka^. On the mition-of "*[ I "^S^ •seconded by 11. J Mini 4| vote of tuanlSs to the s >ei!,t{ W^ TilGuymn, "0, God of B S thel," followed by the Dosologv, brought the meeting to a close.