Page 2 Advertisements Column 1

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 517, 29 March 1851, Page 2

[advertislment.]

TO THE PRESBYTERIAN COMMUNITY.

YOUR COMkITTCE, in pursuance of the duty imposed on us at our last Congregational Meeting, (held outside the Church doors) have prepared the following Address to the Presbytery of Edinburgh; but, having been twice refused the use of our Church for congregational business, have determined to publish it in both Journals, and afterwards wait on you for signature. For the Committee. Alexander Wright. Chairman. Auckland, March, 29th.

Auckland, New Zealand, March 27th, 1851. To ihe Very Reverend t?ie Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland, Edinburgh. Rev. and Dear Sirs, — We, the undersigned, were seat-holders and members of the Free Presbyterian Church in this place, during the pastorate of the Rev George A. Panton, hut, sinee hii rejection by his Office Bearers, and their assumption of powers not by you vested in them, have thought it our duty to withhold our countenance and support from practices so evidently unscriptural »nd anti-christian in their origin, and so baneful in their influence not only in the Church of Christ but to the world at large. The accompanying 1 documents may be considered as exegetical, and supplementary to the Office- Bearers printed letter, addressed to the Convener of the Colonial Committee of; the General Assembly, and set forth to be " written fyr the sole purpose of enabling the Colonial Committee and Presbytery of Edinburgh to form a correct judgment of the questions at issue between the Office- Bearers of the Presbyterian Church in this place and their late Pastor, the Rev. Geo. A. Panton.'' Our desire to aid tlie Presbytery in forming that " correct judgment" induces us to draw up the beforementioned documents, as also to write to the Office Bearers, and to the Rev. John Inglis, for such further information as we thought they coult 1 and ought to furnish, although they decliiu-d t<) d > *o Having stated this, our minds ,i\"t to » . print-'d balance sheet, bearing date 30th June, 1850, where it appears " There are 400 sittings let at an average of thirteen shillings, yielding £260." At present we cannot ascertain the number of Mttii>gs that are let, but the attendance varies from about fifty to seventy, to whom the Rev. John Inglis ministers once on the Lord's Day. In reviewing the past, we read the Memorial sent to you under date 27th May, 1847. and remember the very remarkably handsome manner in which you sent us a Pastor and provided his support for the full lerm of three years, nor have we forgotten his arrival amongst us, and his unanimous recognition at a public meeting held in the Hall of the Mechanic's Institute (see Southern Cross, 27th Jan., 1849). When we compare your magnanimous philanthropy with the conduct of our Office-Bearers, as shown in their printed letter generally, but especially in the list clause of the 48ih page, •' we feel an emotion of shame" for those whose cheeks never blush, but flushed with vanity, say, " He will bring forth our judgment ai the light, and our righteousness as the noon-day."— Pipe 29th. We would faia ask you to send us another Paitor, but we know not how to do so. Our only plea it our moral degradation and utter unworthiness. Our only hope is that you will be prompted, not by our deserts, but by our condition, and that you will anxiously imitate Him who sent to the husbandmen a servant that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard, and they caught him and beat him and cent him away empty ; and again, He sent unto them another servant, and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled ; and again, He sent another, and him they killed, and many others, beating some and killing some— Mark xii., 2,5. " Therefore be not weaty in well-doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not"— Gal. vi., 9 And we will not forget that our Lord has ascended on high and led captivity captive, and received gilts for men, yea for the rebellious also, ibat the Lord God might dwell among them— • Psalms, Ixviii., 18. We know that nothing is too hard for the Lord, and we humbly hope that light may yet arise out of this dark and trying dispensation of Hie providence, and for which we wait and humbly pray that you may be directed by God the Holy Spirit to adopt such measures as will effectually heal all our backMidings. We have the honour to subscribe ourselves, Reverend and deir Sirs, Yours in Christian love.