ADDRESS BY THE REV. DR BEGG.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3686, 27 November 1873, Page 6

ADDRESS BY THE REV. DR BEGG.

There was a numerous gathering of ladies and gentlemen at the Headquarters Drill Shed on the 18th inst., to hear an address by the Rev. Dr Begg. Hia Honour the Superintendent occupied the chair, and amongst those on the platform we noticed the Key. Dr Stuart, the Bey. Messrs Will, Copland, Blake, Watt, Johnston, M'Naughton, M'Cosh Smith, Gow, Davidson, and Bowie; Messrs E. B. Cargill, John Carj^ill, and His Worship the Mayor, Mr Mercer. Not-

withstanding that, it had been raining all the afternoon, and that there was, a fierce downpour, •when the meeting began, the large hall, which probably would otherwise have been crowded, : was weu filledi; alll the seats being occupied. I*r Begg's address was the main attraction of the eveuing; but as had previously been announced, other gentlemen, also addressed the meeting.- In the intervals between the speeches, selections of sacred music were, given by the Choir of the First Church in a creditable manner. The proceedings were opened by the .Rev. Dr Stuart with prayer. His Honour the Soperiktksdent remarked that the task whiuh.he had of presiding over the orderly conduct of the meeting would, he hoped, tea pleasant one. As they were aware, they ■were now assembled for the purpose of listening to an address—a parting address—from a most distinguished visitor from the mother country— (applause)—a man famous* in all the churches. They had had in. O*ago,; at one time or another, regal, vice-legal, and other distinguished visitors, but he questioned very much whether they ever had been visited by one who, to a greater extent, might be classed as a representative man than Pr Begg.—(Applause.) He was sure thsy had never been visit" d by anyone who had taken so prominent a part in tho great movement which took place now nearly a quarter of a century ago —a movement outof whiuh emerged the original settlement of Otago. : He believed little did the fathqrs of that movement anticipate that oue of its effects would be a nation being born in a day at the antipodes.—(Applause.) , He believed little did they anticipate that in the short period of 25 years a community would be congregated here more important, as respects its trade, its commerce, and its powers of production, than many of the pytty states of Europe.—(Applause.) He had no doubt there were some of them who looked. back to, the great disruption of the Church of Scotland with regret. He might , say, however, there were none, especially among those hailing from the northern side of the Tweed, who did not look back to it with pride, ,as affording one of the strongest incidents of moral heroism which history records. It was, His Honour pleasantly remarked, a matter of regret perhaps in this case that this was a land of-liberty; and that every man had a right to come and go when and where he pleased. Were it otherwise, perhaps the Superintendent of the Province, as the direct representative, in a very small • way, of Her Majesty, might have laid an embargo on their friend, and might have refused Lira a j assport.— (Laughter.) Perhaps he might Have been sen- _■, tenced to confinement during Rood behaviour, not in the Police Station, but in the new Cathedral on Bell HilL Talking of the new Cathedral, by the way, and joking apart, he thought it was very much to be regretted that the managers of Che new Church had not availed themselves of the presence of Dr Begg in the" Province to have consecrated that Church. —(Hear, hear, and applausß.)He wassurethattheopemngof the Church eo»14 not possibly have come better than from one «f the few survivors of that noble band who led the van of the ten years' conflict.,, He was •jkaure that he gave utterance to the feelings and *«enta«uentß of allf of-them-when he expressed his regret that Dr Begg's visit among them was. so abort. He (His Honour) should have liked if Dr jJegg could have managed to go into the interior «rf the country, and there have (seen its own resources, and what it Twas like. Ho might say that there were, three men whonv he had often desired to have seen in this country—-one was his friend on his right (the Rev. |)r Beggl, the other two had gone to their rest: he alluded toDr Cluthrie and Hugh Miller of Cromarty. He recollected strongly urging the Government of the jay to offer Hugh Miller a thousand pounds, to pay his expenses, if he would come out for only twelve months. It was: hard, to: say what the effect of the voyage to. -New; Zealand would have been as regarded the lives of these, men,, aadhe was certain that Hugh" Miller would have produced a book which,vrould have .sent more people to the country than all the immigration agents put together, and even all the attractions of the Goldfields themselves. : He was afraid that if he went on in this desultory style' he should be called to order, and he would, therefore, request Dr Begg to address them. The Key. Dr Bkog then came, forward and was received with loud and long continued applause. He 'said; —Ladies and.Gentlen.cn I feel that I occupy a very peculiar and somewhat delicate position in addressing this large meeting, especially after,, the very kind remarks which have been made by. your respected Superintendent. Moat assuredly I should never have thrust myself forward to make any such address; but at the same time, when I was asked to speak at such a meeting as this, I not only did^not feel at liberty to decline, but I reckoned it ah opportunity for doing two things which I was particularly anxious to do. In the first', place I-'.v. wished publicly to thank the many kind friends from whom I have received so much attention since I came to your shores. The truth is, I might have been, eating two dr! three dinners- every day '—, (laughter)—not t to speak, of other .'tokens of regard. I wish in this public way to express my cordial thanks for all that kindness. In the second place, I was very anxious to have an opportunity of a public kih'd'to say how sorry I was that I was utterly unable.to visit the many places from which* rieceiv'ed earnest requests to visit. . I have received such requests from Ade-

laide, from Hobart Town, fnm. Sydney, from 5 Brisbane, from Wellington, Warganui Christehurch, and indeed from so mainy piaaes that it •would puzzle me to enumerate them, not to ■peak of the difficulty of mentioning iame of their names. — (daughter.) ;I wished to say in this public way: how glad I would hay been, had it been possible, to visit all those places; and I earnestly trust that a. deputation will be sent from our Church of competent men to go and see with their own eyea- the wonders that are really presented to ns-in those Colonies. 3For, as our chairmaa lias justly said in reference; to this Colony—and I have no doubt from what I aaw in Victoria, that the same thing, although perhaps not in the same degree as in reference to Otago, may be said in regard to ; all these Colonies—it is a most wonderful production' for five-and-twenty years. I may say that I stood at the cradle of this Province. I had, much conversation with Captain Cargill and Dr Burns and Mr M'Glashan before they left Edinburgh and-< at that time certainly 'I never anticipated having an opportunity of addressing such a meeting as this iuaColony which then was only about to be founded. But I would say, moreover, that there are; most delusive impressions prevailing at home, some of, which I shall tiryi if I am spared, to remove.— (Loud applause). One of them is that you are Burrounded withcamribals—(laughter)—and that in coming to this country a man is in danger of being eaten. —(Loud laughter.) And X would Bay it is a mistake to send only such photographs of New Zealand as have generally come to our country. They present a spectacle of snowy mountains, wild gorges, or representations of nature in her most rugged forms. That is all very ■well for a man who makes pictures, but is not very well for your immigration purposes, and I shall be extremely glad to find you acting upon the hint I take the liberty of-throwing out —inairiely, that you should represent your broad plains, yourxaieris, your Tokomairiroa, and your Waitaki Valleys. These are what should be repre-. sentedat home, so that ourpeople may understand that this is a land in which a man can live and live in comfort.' The truth is that this is'the land of mountain and flood, but I would also add that it is a land flowing with milk and honey into the bargain. It is a land in. which, if a man chooses to behave himself, and is able to work, he need not starve. In fact he need not starve even if he cannot work, because I hav3 seen nobody starving here. You have bo poor rate, and I hope you will long be kept from having one. There is another mistake of a very serious kind which I think I may have an opportunity of correcting. It is this: That this New Zealand is a sort of ecclesiastical infirmary--a sort of sanatorium to which; to send invalid ministers. —(Loud applause and laughter.) Now there cannot be a greater delusion than this. It is a country for hard work on the part of ministers^ It is a country in which it is dangerous for a man to live, who is afflicted with any pulmonary affection, on account of your very sudden changes of climate, as you have witnessed to-day and to-night. Jt is a country to which a man should come strong in health, ready for work, and anxiousforwork. Let only such ministers be sent, and 1 have no hesitation in saying. they will be both welcome and useful; but keep your invalid ministers at home —(Applause.) Amidst the many delusions which prevail at home there is this delusion— although it is not peculiar to these Colonies—for when I was about to visit the American Colonies, I found the same delusion existed respecting them, namely: That whilst this is a most distant place- really it is so distant that one wonders it was ever discovered, and we can never sufficiently admire CaDt. Cook and the others who discovered it—yet people think that once you get here all the places are to be found with the greatest possible ease. It reminds me of the Highlandman who went to Edinburgh, and arriving at the west end of the town, rapped at the door of the first house he came to. He asked oSe landlord, "Is this Edinburgh?' "Tea," was the answer. Then said the Highlnnlman, "Is our Tonald in ?'— (Loud laughter.) Well, the same idea exists with regard tothe Colonies. When I went to the American ColoBice I was asked to cairy letters to several friends there ; but "when I arrived I found that to deliver those letters would be very much the same thing as fora man in Edinburgh t-> deliver a letter at St. Petersburg. When I was about , to come out here, I had people waiting on me, and speaking about Auckland as if it were just next door to Dunedin. One man sud, I havo

some property at Wangaiiui, and I hope you will co out to have a look at it." I askod " ts it near Dunedin..?" rand ho replied, " I don't know; but it's in New Zealand at any rate." — (Laughter.) These and some other delusions I hope to have some opportunity of endeavouring to dispel; and I would just say, dismissing the subject, .that I think you are entitled to able ministers, and if I can help you in auy way by representing the case to the Colonial Committee —for I came here simply as an individual, and not as n, representative of anyone—l shall do so with all my heart.—(Applause.) Now, this is a general meeting, and therefore we must not speak upon what is peculiarly Tree Church or peculiar to ourselves, but I, certainly look back with interest upon, that straggle to which our respected Chairman referred. I was brought up myself in a mans**, and had a most profound respect for the Established Church, as I thought rightly constituted - as I am still in favour of the principle of Established Churuhes—but no one more willingly and readily threw aside all the temporal interests with which it was concerned than I did myself, when I found we could not have the liberty wherewith Christ had made us free in connection with the Church of tho Establishment. I look back with interest upon that Btniggl6,and I believe although it was a very serious struggle, so far as many ministers wore concerned, it has been a great advantage to Scotland. I had cause to pass through n\anydistrictsofScotlanda*thattime,and I found many of them were destitute of true Gospel preaching, which they now possess. But I shall say no more upon that subject. Indeed, liiave been requested to speak in regard to what may be called more temporal affairs. I do not hold that a Christian minister is bound to confine himself merely to preaching., I have been preaching much since I came here,' both on Sabbath and week-days, and I regret that I have not had the privilege of hearing any voice but my own—but at the same time I hold that a Christian minister is bound to interest himself in all that cone'erns mankind.—(Applause.) And speaking in connection with a place whose Hall of Legislature has the picture of* Christian Minister as one of its •riginal founders;!think I may safely take that ground. I was equally interested in America in. finding the picture of Dr "Wetherspoon, and in finding his aignature to the great deed which established thitt rniehty Republic. Christian ministers must never forget that they are bound to do good to all men -as they have opportunity. I have always taken an interest in all social question*, and I iim extremely glad to find thut you are making more progress on this side of vie mighty ocean; than we at home have yet made, whilst: pei-awps ia some respects you may also.learn someiKoson* from us. There is one great advantage you have, and that is, you have to some exteut the power of self-government. .Yon have not only a general legislature, but yeu have a local parliament for the management of local matters. Well, we hare apt that advantage, and I believe, although we have gained immensely by the union with England, ia wme respects we are placed at a great disadvantage; because we cannot make a crossing through "a man's field, Lwe. cannot get water to any of our towns, we oannot make the slightest change without going to London. I hope you will never give up th*t power of self-goverameat-(hear)—fight -for it to the utmost. We would never hare Had'a division amongst the Scotch Presbyteriana but for the fact that the English Parliament,* who disposed of all our affairs, were so utterly iitnoraut of Presbyterianism—and somei no doubt opposed to it. All the Scotch, members Voted in iuch a way as would have prevented such a divwion, but the Parliament of England brought it-about; • In< like manner, the English Parliament thrust upon us tho English Poor Law, which has .now saddlod , Scotland with an assessment of nearly a milliou sterling. We have -wfcat*are W*f k*, houses," but ia fact they are "Idle houses"— I places where men and women live without deing any work; As long as yon can help it, do not have any Poor Law at all.—{Hoar; Hear.) Go on with | your Benevolent Jnttitutien,; --Give;! liberally as the Lord has prospered you, for the poor of the land will never cease out of the land. But there 'is a vast diff^renoe between those who become poor in Providence— who are a very small number in comparison—' and those who maka themselTes poor; by their dissipation and drunkenness, and who shouldnot be a burden upon the community, but whoshould be made to feel the evil results of. their own evil deods:—(Applause.) I may myyo* have here what I have long argued for at home: you have a Gaol that is, to a large extent, selfsustaining. I have long declared that that was a possible thing; but men have scouted the idea. In fact there is grwt.symptthyiwith eriinin'Ujbin; the borne country., They are the mo«t petted claw of the community.—{Laughter.) I remember that when in Paisley a worthy bailie told me that an Inspector from London had debated with him the question whether criminals should have one or two pairs of slippers.-^(Laughter.) The worthy bailie could n»t see "why fth» convicts should have slippers at all, but the man from London urged that if the men'got theirfeet wet outside, they must have a dry pair of slippers to wear in the priabiu In facta man who can break windows ana break heads ought to be. made^ae you make them—to break stones also. If any man shall: not work, neither ,shall he eat, says Ithe Apostle; and I think that that.applies with double force to those who so. work as to make themselves the peats of the community. It is a great advantage in this country for a. m«n to learn how to handle a upade., A great deal, cf .'the crime that exists arises from idleness, arid if you teach a man how to handle a spade and a wheelbarrow you give him a fortune. It is a grand privilege to be so treated. Whereas if you take the opposite plan, thatwhieh we adopt, instead of the Civil Magistrate being a terror to evil-doers, the evildoers are a terror both to him and to us, en account of the immense expense they entail. I find also you have adopted here what we have long argued for at home without success, namely the Permissive Bill. It always.seamed to me that that is a most reasonable measure. T do not mean to say, and never meant to say, that youcan cure a moral evil with a physical remedy; but mo3t assuredly the great mass;ro£"mankind fall into drinking habits; not because they have any natural propensity to drink, for it is an acquired taste—no. but because. they.,,are..tempted and drawn right and left into the multitude jof. public houses set up by permission 6£.the[State—(applause)—which are so many pitfalls into which people tumble. When I went to my parish of Liberton—«o long ago that I: would scarcely like to toll yon the' time—l found that there" w;erc 33 public houses in that parishi.; I immediately set to work and made a calealation as to the quantity of drink consumed 4 in those 33 public houses. I found from the return made by the officer of excise;; that; dOOO'gallons were consumedjuinually .inLthat parish, .with a population of 4000—that is to.. aactj t more than two gallons a-piece for every man, woman, and chUd. I published-this, and. the landlords of the parish extinguished seven ofthese hoiwesi at a blow, and now I find they have been1 gradually diminishing them until there are only 13. Twenty of these houses have been rooted out since the process of; extermination' began.3 'But we have no principle according to which we license. I have gone; with others to the Licensing Court; but they only listened to us as a matter of favour, and then dismissed us. The people have no power whatever to prevent the licensing pf, public houses; and I think that what a man said to Mr Gladstone not very long ago On that subject was very pertinent. He said: ■.". Would you like it if a public?house was set down at your; gate, and your servants continually tempted to enter into it and «et drunk V "Oh, no," replied Mr Gladstone. .-." WelL? said, the men; .** that's our case exactly. You are putting public-houses justat our doors, and our wives, bur children, our neighbours-all of us—are being tempted day after day to go into them, because those possessing pubUc-bouges, and those connected with them, are missionaries, who work as if for theirlives— for it is their living -and do what they can to lead people into temptation." I think you have made a vast improvement in adopting the Permissive Bill, and I "hope you will use it wisely and energetically, and at the same time do whutyoucan in private circles and in family circles to pr«vent the increase of intemperance.—(Applause.) I also rejoice exceedingly to find you have passed a measure shortening the hours of labour for females. —(Applause.) "We a* home have long struggled in that direction, but struggled in vain. The interests concerned are so great, especially ia London, that all our efforts have been defeated, and theresult is—l have no hesitation in saying it —that actual murder has been committed. What the poet has said—that thc.y were sewing with a double stitch, a shirt and a. shroud—was not in the least degree exaggerated. Again, it ia an admirable thin.j to find that you have the eight hours system in. operation universally, and I hope your immigration agents will tell our p'oughnvm that fact, for we have no eight hours system. The theory of old King Alfred was, that the time of man should be divided into thrje parts — eight hours for sleep, eight hours for work, and eight for devotion and recreati )n. We have never had that in force. So far from that being the case, we have people working from the earliest hour to the latest, and on Saturday nights Lit st of all, and the result is most disastrous. So I hope you will do your best to retain the advantage you have gained. Those directly concerned have most readily acknowledged the services of him who has been chiefly instrumental in having this measure passed, and I trust you will continue to maintda that ground, for all these things tend to promote the strength and stability of a new community especially. The question of houses for the people very likely doss not interest you so much as it does us in the home country, ifor I nod you build a house here in an incredibly short period, and I believe you have run up some houses since I landed. Yopr houses do not need—as ours do—a year to build, and a year to dry before they are habitable. ; I see your wooden houses are as dry as a bone as soon as they are set up, and they are set up in two or three weeks. I have not seen here any of those miserable dens in which the population of Great Britain lias so miserably deteriorated. Frobaoly very few people in this distant part of the world have the slightest idea, of the wretched dwellings inhabited by large masses of the population in Scotland. In the first place, in regard to the cities, the great masses of the people lived in houses of only one apartment— if they can be called houses; and any one who knows human nature can have no difficulty in determining

what the result of that state of things must be. In order to bring the matter to the test, as our statements were denied, I, along with one or two friends, wenttoLondon before the Census of 1801, aud we succeeded, after a long process of persuiision, in getting a column inserted in the census table, setting forth tho number of rooms in every house in Scotland, and a statement whether the house so calledhad or had not a window. I might say, in passing, that the census taken at home—every ten years- -might be turned to far greater account than it is. 1 don't know how you manage the matter here, but I would give you a hint in passing that the census ought to bring out all kinds of facts which concern the best interests of the commuuity. Merely to tell us how many people exist in the country is not worth the expense of taking a census. The result of that column which I was the means of getting inserted in the home census was certainly very extraordinary, and shut the mouths of all those who had previously made strong objections to our statements as exaggerated. Here is the return for Scotland :—Houses without windows, 7964; houses with one room, 226,723 —that is to say, about half of the whole people of Scotland living in houses with only one room. But that is not the worst of it. Of those houses with only one apartment, 18,983 have six persons living in each; 11,770 with seven persons; 5994 wkh ci^ht persons living in each; 2538 with nine persons living in each: 936 with ten persons living in each; 295 with. eleven persons living iv each ; 123 with 12 persons living m each; 40 with 13 persons lining in each; 11 with 14 persons living in each; 9 with 15 persons living in each; and 4 with 1(5 persons living in each room,—(Laughter.) This was something like the story told of a number of Irish people living in London. They had a i famUy living in each corner of the room, and a family inthe middle. Some one asked Pat— " How did you get on?" Pat replied -"Och, we got on very well until the man in the middle of taking in a lodger!"-- (Great laughter.) Well, that is the state of matters in Scotland; and in connection with it we have had, and stilt have, I am sorry to say, what is called the '■" bothy" system. That is to say, the ploughmen on large farms paying high rents are huddled together in a hut called a " bothy." Of | course they are not expected to marry ; they arc I ■thoroughly Malthusian by constraint, at any rate. And I would just say, in passing, that had j Malthus lived to see New' Zealand and those regions beyond it, he would have abandoned his theory—(applause)—for the world is full of t-oom yet, and is likely to be so for a long time. Well, for example, I was on the Carse of Gowrie— - which is not unlike what your valley of the Waitaki will be wheu it is thoroughly cultivated— and I saw there wr ploiiglimen occupying a small apartment, I dare say.about ten feet square. It had three beds' in it, and these six men had no other.place to sleep or eat than in this single apartment. I went at a time when the bothy men came into diuner, and they, of course had to light their own fire, and make their own brose^— (laughter)—which consists, as you may know, of hot water' and oatmeal stirred together. Ido liiot vwt£nt to disparage oatmeal, because I believe it to be the staff of life, and 1 wo did not be here to-day but for" the virtues [of oatmeal. But I like my;: porrifceh well, boiled, with a smooth, skin upon it—loud laughter)—and I believe this plan of mixing in a hurrieciway of hot water and oatmeal, and then.swallowing it, has a very bad effect. Well, that was the state, of - things under the ,*,' bothy system,'! and what has been the result? "I went to all parts of Scotland to explain the beetway I was able the great mis-' chief likely to flow from all tlu3. :Many of those t people now confess to mo if they Jhad followed the course I had suggested, it would "have been immensely batter . for -their; interests. for what has been the. result? Instead of '^troops of young ploughmen growing up around the cottages' the race of ploughmen ,has been dying out, and the farmers, have been forced to • bring ploughmen ' the cities. When I was at the Carse of Gowrie, not long ago, : I.found come palefaced youths standing between the stilts of the plough instead of the great strong stalwart men who us^.d to be the ploughmen of my young.days; and even these pale faced youths are hard to be got now, because : wagoa in the cities are rising, and farmers find they.must ipay two* prices for ploughmen." ' This must be a srreat obstacle> to, you in the way of your assisted immigration.,. The ' state of affairs reminds me. of, the. story .told fof an old Scotchman-who wished to sell his horse. ~JHe told the purchaser that the horse had only two faultej but he declined;to describe the faults :uif)til 'the bargain'was completed.- When the ;mohey.waß p.ild he told the purchaser that, in <the .first place, the horse was very difficult to catch; and, in the second place, it was not worth koeping after it was caught.—(Laughter.) That is very much the cswe with those ploughmen now; they are very difficult to get, and they are not of very much value when you do ! get them. Well, the result, however, has been "to get a vast number of cottages .erected, and these; cottages have all got two or three apartments. I may say that when I was first appointed minister of Liberton' parish, which is next to Edinburgh, out of four or five thousand acres of land, yielding perhaps about £30.000 a year, there was not a. single cottige with two apartments, and there I was shocked to see the dead and the living, the sick and the healthy, all mixed indiscriminately together. Since that time there i»-not a single cottage there that has ; not been rebuiltj and that does not rcontain two or -throe rooms. So matters are improving— (applause)—and matters are also improving in the ! cities'.' The workmen of Edinburgh, some years ago, did not believe it possible that they could ever become the owners of houses ; anil, by the w»y, when I go back I sh«ll tell them that I have seen; here multitudes of owners of houses and land, and tliafr it is the easiest thing iii the world for ",o. steady, sober man out here to become what Dr Chalmers called " a proprietor of a section of the planet," But, to return to Edinburgh, I may say that a Buildinjr Society has been established there of latel years, and this Society is'worked entirely by; the men themselvos, and the issue has been that there arc now. thousands; of houses in Edinburgh -self-con-tained," as we cull it, and all owned by the working men themselves.—(Applause.) Thirty- . six streets and terraces; have been built by them —and built with great taste, although the houses arc only two storeys. They have actually spent on these houses £156,000 during a very small number of; years, and 'ye! when the scheme was , propounded originally,' very few could believe it possible. Here you: have every facility in that direction. I would have you to watch closely^ the beginging of the very system which lias been so ruia- * ous to Scotland. vlt is a. very tempting thing wheu men are' taken up-country to say that the unmarried man is cheaper than the married man, but in the end of the day there is a vast difference. What we want is men and the continuation b£men.; The foundation; of society is the family system.. .When God made man he made" him in connection with a marriage, and that has been the foundation of human progress and ' prosperity in. all'ages of the world. I^haye been asked to say a. few words upon the subject .of education, for I am glad to see that it is a subject which has engaged much attention amongst you^ and I trust tliat the discussion which is now being maintainel will lead to a thoroughly satisfactory result. In Scotland education is not a new thing. We have, had it since the: days of John Knox; we luwe had it 300 years; and we have had it particularly from the time of the Revolution. Macaulny, speaking in the House of Commons upon the subject of education, referred particularly to Scotland when he spoke in the following terms:—" The Parliament which sat in.. Edinburgh passed an Act for the establishment of parochial schools. What followed? An improvement such as the world has never seen took place in the moral and intellectual character of "the people. Soon—in spite of the rigour of the climate; in, spifco of the sterility oE, the earfch—Scotland became a country which had no reason to envy the fairest portions of the globe. Wherever, the Scotchman weiit —and there were few parts of the world to which he did not go -he earned his superiority with him. If he was admitted. into a public office, he worked his way up to the highast post. If he got employment in a brewery, or a factory, he was soon the foreman. If he took a shop, his trade was the best in the street. If he enlisted hi the army, he became a. colour-sergeant. If lie went to a Colony, he was the most thriving planter there. . . . The cry was that whereever he came he got more than his share ; that mixed with Englishmen or mixed with Irishmen he rose to the top as surely as oil rises to the top of water. And what had produced this great revolution ? The Scotch air was still jis cold, the Scotch rocks were still as bare, as ever. All the natural qualities of the Scotchman were still what they had been when learned and benevolent men advised that he should be flogged like a beast of burden to his daily task. But the State had given him an education." That is an importaut truth; but there were various elements in that education which must never be lost sight of. In the fir.-ifcplace, it was ediicafcion which enabled a man to rise from the lowest ground floor of society to its highest elevation. The idea of Knox was—and any man who looks at society properly will have tho same idea —that talent is not to be fouud in any particular department. It is to be found amongst the lowest ranks of society as well as amongst the highest. To do justice to all society you must have the ladder of promotion standing, as it were, near every man's cottage door, so that his son, if he have energy enough, may rise from his cottage to the highest place in the-land. That is the idea that prevails in Scotland, hence our parochial schools do not simply impart the three '*r's," but give a sound Rood common education. The result is, that from our schools all over the kingdom there is .sent up. to our Universities a larger number of "students in proportion to the population of England than is sent to the Universities' of Oxford or Cambridge. Some may say, "if you make a man learned-he is useless for all practical purposes." Nothing of the kind. Why, did not Dr Murray read the letter of the king of Abyssinia, when all the men in Oxford and Cambridge could not do it ? They found him a common shepherd »r ploughman writing letters with a black burnt stick on a hoard, and when no oue else could read this letter, he volunteered to read it, and did ho ! The truth is, give a man

education of the highest possible kind, and instead of doing him harm in any department, it will do him a world of good— (Hear.) Then we have an addition to our system, which is of great importance—Normal Schools. For a long period it was supposed that any man could be a teacher. Generally, men who did not succeed in becoming ministers became teachers. I have no objection to that, but to make, as was often done in Scotland, the weakest members of a family ministers, and to make those who out of this section did not succeed into schoolmasters, was just about as bad an arrangement as you could possibly imagine. The art of teaching is a very high art, and requires training. I believe nothing has done more good than the training schools of Edinburgh and Glasgow, which have turned out regular successes, and turned out educated teachers, who have been of value to the country, and elevated the standard of public instruction. Therefore T recommend - this feature most earnestly to your attention. No doubt the question, of religion in connection with education lias been very much discussed ; but in Scotland, I am glad to say, though we have not what is properly understood as Denominational teaching, we have Scriptural instruction in our schools.—(Applause.) Denominational teaching is teaching the peculiarities of the different sects into which the Church of Christ is uufbrtuhately divided. This is never done in Scotland; but- on the other hand, the Bible lias been taught, smd I have no hesitation in saying that the teachiug of the Bible in the schools has been the main element in- the success of our Scotch education.-—(Cheers.) Mr Macaulay says, " Scotchmen rise. like oil to the surface ;" but that is not because they are cleverer scholars. Mr Oaldwell, your'highly respected aud intelligent gaoler, will tell you that he has men who are capital scholars under his charge; but the fact that men can read Greek or Latin is no security that they will bo good members of the commonwealth. What the magistrate ought to look to, is this: "What will make good subjects and good citizens," and the whole experience of the, world proves that you will not and can not make gopd.subjects and citizens by means of mere 'education apart from appeals to the conscience and the instruction of the children in the truths of ther. Divine word. The Divine word is really the, foundation of all the laws of England, as Blackstone tells us. There is no. law; that is entitled -tpap-, proval except it is in accordance with this higher law, and Queen-Victoria knew this when she was asked what was the foundation of the peculiar distinction of England. She pointed to th>; Bible and said: That is the foundation of England's prosperity.—(Applause.) .This question has been; very fully discussed in the United States in connection with a:receht case that arose in the State of Ohio, and which .was decided by the Supreme Judges at-Cinctrinati.' There was there a deliberate purpose and resolution on the : part of the-School 7Board? to shut out the j Bible from the schools, and the question was raised —Was that lawful, in accordance with the j Constitution of theWnited 'States ? And the decision was. that it w«s ;unlawful-^tliat_.;it ,i was not in accordance with the Constitution of the United States to shut out the Wordbf G»d from one of the public schools.—(Applause.) And some very interesting facts came out, in connection with the discussion. ' For example, one Judge said that the old i^uritans who causedthe greatness of the American Republic, had made a law to the effect, audit wns still binding —-thu,t whilst you might confiscate and sell all' the other property of a nianforhis debta, you. could neither confiscate nor sell his Family Bible. This Family Bible was sacred, and could hoi be touched, even for his debts, in the most extreme, event that might arise. Further, every apprentice in America must receive a copy of ■ the Bible at the. end of his apprenticeship. Every person in a public gaol .received a copyofthe Bible: — and in fact, the Bible was so interwoven with the principles of the American Republic, that it was impossible—unless .by , a complete change—to eradicate it from that - constitution. Sow, i am extremely glad to find a certauvprbr;; posal w»s made here sometime ago; and I would ad viso you to assent to it, because it: seems tome a good common ground on which to stand. I was reading the other day. an address by-..Bishop, Suter, deUvered in 1871, in.'wnich' the'followjubg; passage occurs :—"Long may.O^o flourisK, b^ the reading of the. Holy Scriptures in the public; schools; they must not, and. they need;not, be made arenas of controversy or proselytising; but the motto' of Christians at least should be, 'Smffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of euch is the kingdom of Heaven."' We read, the Bible in schools, because if parents. read it at home, they at least will be thankful to be helped by the. additional study of 'it,.by their children in school; and if, from ignorance, or any other cause, the children do not read it at home, then we hold it to be more than ever a duty,and privilege for them to be taught it at school. At all events, we Episcopalians and Presbyterians are. at one on this pomt —we wish the Bible;read by our children,,, Are weto be refused this I ••• If so. wliere are our boasted liberty and toleration ? " I think that is a very good ; thing indeed., It seems to be hitting.the happy medium between, teaching the pecuUaHfcies,of: the v differjßnt.V<lend-: initiations,' which no reusonablo.man would attempt to do, and shutting out the Scriptures from thei public schools; Depend:,uponitf so far as the. world stands this moment, there is just one alternative? n you Haye-iiot religious * instruction, if your children are nbttraincd in the knowledge of Scripture, you1 will find wheritney grow up that their consciences' are uninfluenced, and that you' will have far more trouble, and that trouble after alTbootless, in attempting to control them,? thau if ,you had.begun,at ..the beginrning. I Bee many complaints in the' Colonial* newspapers of what they, pall "larrikins," a. word quite new to us, but 4uite intelligible when explaiuedV I understand they arc young persons who throw off nil restraint, and do mischief wholesale. ' 1 see - appeals. - made 'to the parents of those', young persons, and it is said that! their' .parents'':ought'' to. ; take care. that they do not net in, this way. ; .We 11,,1 was; very much struck with the principle which I; found laid down' by a statesman on the other isido of the water, in"Victoria :—"lii passing; h«i 'said, his"own opinion:'was to exclude parents of children from electing the Boards, and that some of the members of* the Cabinet thought the less; pa-rents of, .children had to do with the Kanagexnent'of'schools the better." Well, there is a grand despotism .for : you. Parents of children to whom the..children belong, and the pjvrcnts iVhioipaylthe money, were: to be excluded altogether;, from the direction of their children's education. That is a free country {of you. Tliat is what we will never Hubtnit to in Scotland. We give the parents of. children .the power of determining all such questions, and in the Scliool Boards, so far as I can discover, the men elected from Dan: to Beershclto, with few exceptions, are just the men who vrish to carry out -the- old- - system of education;" and train up their children in/ the adrnonitiottjOf the Lord, if that Us do.D»"here '..you will have "less, "to «ay about larrikins; hut if it is not done, instead of having a few larrikins you willhave plenty of them, and you will, learn, these things bj£,sad, experience if you will not learn them froni the Woul of. God;1 * Excuse' me for speaking plainly.: on this subjtct— (applause)—for i think it is of very great importance. I must now bring ,iny,remarks to a close. lam extremely thankful to God that I luive be«npermitted to execute a.purpose i, which I have loug entertained, of visiting .this country. I njpait that lam extremely sorry that my stay must be necessarily so brief, but I rejoice I have seen it, and am.prepared to depart under a deep impression of its'vast importance. It is a hind of vast resources, with a comparatively cxctill'jnt climate: and it is a laud which is destined, ifyou take care to have the foundations well laid, to stand pre-eminent in thevvPiiuV I agree eutux'ly that all those different \ ustfalian Colonies ought to have an undtiraktinling with each ot.lier irf i re-,; gard to common questions; but at tho siiiiie time I lejoiea to see a ijcoieh-Oniony tuul: :i Free Church. Colony nui.mfe.*fciug such a. wonderful Vigour and energy after Much a brief existence, and I; rejoice also to see so many of my noble Highland friends occupying many prominent places in the land, bothiu Clutrcii and.State. (Applause.) I read of M.' cNal« and Al'Leaus, and M'lntyres; and M'Kellars, and Campbells. Ihear of oneor' two iiighlauilinen standing on -opposite hiUs, laying off large portions of eountiy which they desired to occupy. Afc home uiany say fcliw Highlanders are people who never succeed. But they liave no proper opportunity of succeeding: in their own wmntry, becau.se the land is not their own, they have no leases, and the result is thatauy improvement they make only goes to iuciease their rent. But I find them the great men, the very ariatocracy, of this countiy, if I may so spdstk, autl I think Highland hospitality is extended to a degree which my friends at home have no idea of, although they are hospitable in their way. All tdwsts things are extremely encouraging, but the foundation of "the whole .natter is this—Righteousness exalteth the nation. It is necessary for the government of a country, it is necessary for the family, it is necessary for tho iudividuul'(.»ud the nation is mjul»upofiudmdu:ils). I have great pleitHuro in making these observations, and I merely repeat that i will leave this country dewp'ty impressed with its vast import-, auce, and deeply grateful for the mauy kindnesses I have received. ,

Dr B gij resumed Ms seat ainiust loud .and prolonged appfcune. The Key illr Wlu* said a, friend had remarked to him that after the eloquent. address they bad jusfc heard front Uc Begg, he (Mr Will} in rising to address them was somewliat to lie pitied, ami he w««kl proniise to occupy "their time for as brief a. period as possible, , white he would call their attention to some of the remarkable features of the early settlement of Ofcigo r and the early position, of the Presbyterian Church in the Proviice. Drßegg hud told them he was at the cradling of the settlement. He (Mr Will) was not, hat he had now the; honour of beiug the oldest minister in the Church, ami it wait on that account that, he was now put forward to address them. There were some pojml.tr misconceptions in regard to the position of the Presbyterian Church in Otsisjo which ho would like to dispel. fcSoiuehow or another, strangers—lawyers, and others whom lie would not characterise - had attacked the Presbyterian Church of the Province in regard to its' ■property, and spoke «-s it the Presbyterians haul kept property they had no right to Iceep, or took advantage of the other members of the coiaiuunity. Now, such juight he surprised to k«ar th&t. the jPresbyteKiau Church

in the Province had never received from the State a single farthing. They had never received any endowment from the State, and there wa3 nothing to, prevent any denomination from having an endowment like theirs if its members contributed th^ means. So far as he knew, all tliat the Presbyterian Church received f^om the State were the Manse reserves —the Church reserves in Dunedini and not one fraction:, more. What were these benefits ? He (AEr' Will) believed that when lie came to the i Province the. sections in question could have been purchased .for £100. .That they had become very valuable since then wjis not due to the; State—the State did not give them their present .value.. .What, they, would ask, of the large reserves throughout the country ? These, he would' reply, were contributed by the first settlers. Every man who bought land made a payment to the' Church; that, he contended^ was liot the State giving the land—it was the purchaser giving it. On every acre that ■ the settlers bought they paid 55,: which went to.purchase reserves for religiousand educational purposes —the fact was proclaimed ito... the world., ;The Presbyterian ,Church had never received a single penny from, the State. . Of course those who met the Ss willingly, paid it j the others who. had no choice were obliged to pay it also,' or they' 6buld! not become settlers in the Province. , So' great became the reputiition of Otago thatEpiscopali«ins and Ebinan' Catholics were attracted thither, and were willing to pay: 5s per acre on their purchaseajto the Presbyterian Church};and paid. it. The neighbouring Province, of -Canterbury was founded, in much the 'same, way. as ;this Province,' save the settlers were not of ; ,the t^iisbyterian Church. When.he came here tlie^e \vas just the ; termination Of a struggle, between Scotch aiid EnglLsli. l Many thought it yeiy unkind to send airy English minister here-i-but'the minister, the Bevi Mr'Fenton, when lie came' was well received. .'< fit' was a ■curious fact that those very persons who. regarded it as an intfu>." sion on the, part of the Episcopalians to send a minister here, and to come, and settle ,ia this pkee!, were those who ipdulged.. in'the idea of sending a Presbyterian ■minister to Canterbury,., and getting Presbyterians' to • Vgo there-r-tiiey could not See how' ihej'sime applied.there differently. ; He wished the meeting to understand that the Presbyterian Cliurch'hadnever received the funds; of the State ;> she simply received the; contributionsrof ethos early settlers with theiif eyes open to the fact thivt the. money so contributed went to her; and this arrangement ended wheni theoriginal- scheme was. broken 7 vtp. What he had to point out to them was the early history,, and pjositidn of the Church, in xegard tpjthejsettlement, and the special endowmetifcs it h»KI received, tie might'';sayi;iKa|*1h ie:.wis '£he'second' miukttr appointed t»..pt^6,jand4thati he had <hever re^ive^^a-smgleVsttp^nce-feTBTO^h^S or from the funds: contributed in.theimanner lie had described1 to theJsuppbrt; of tneGhurch. From thetre^y first ■ tHe ■ CK'iirch relied•'. oia;;'sug--' porting, herself, and^ contributions:of!the.pjebplft;!and'.he thougnt.it: was nbt by any; mean!B;thcL!Wor«t plan. ■■.;;: Jill that: he wanted was that the community should' give 'thePresbyterian^Church| credit'for fjurness'and honesty, and he-hoped neVer again to, ; hear;that Chui-chheld'upaw'.treceiyiug;%^e endowmeiits; front the State, and misapplying them. So far as she had received assistance • for.:the purchase of land, ■ she ' had expended the returns fronL, the; g^me upttn;the" ! peoplfe;' no. money 'from "that 'souroel'lisid''''been' exp^ndedibn .her. ministers, but all was bid but upon her churches, which were open to aU.to them.: ; ; " ; lSup§ly, they 'couldrdonbmore.than, this when they i first became a Church connected with the'place 'i Before coiicluding, he iwould reiiund them of the great difference .between the circunistances^M the Churchjih the flarly days of the and now.! He .lememberedthe time when.the Superintendent-—.welL known then as Mr Macandrew — was:most liberal in acting for the good ;of 'the;^^^Church.: On one .occasion he. had a conversation with; himon^ the'subject of '\ getting ihore miniuters but from home. " Mr Miic-, andreWiasked how much was necessary, jand^to, > his (Mr ~WiilI >s)*"surprise,;Mr^^Macanifirew appeared it the' Presbytery a fewhouj.^ after the^teonversaf:, tion took;place, with a deputation which guaranteodthe expenses of the ministers, and notliing could be done but to send for them; He (Mr Will) was the second minister appointed, and he aud Mr Bannerman' arrived together^ ■'' Since then they had--increased"ro^n^i3erably^-TKey: had 32 or 33 ministers in regular charges, and 40 cbuf?regatious. Sometimes"**'the * Preabytermi ministers ! were spoken of as a wbrtliless set of fellows, who should not-Have been'aent out here, ! but he hoped the meeting would giyethem more i credit. Nothing wiuM delight utetii; moj% thun I thatDr Begg should send a'score like himself out —the iflinisters would bo gLad to^^;see'fabler.men t teaching them to do'b^tf^iJ K V^BD?i^ u <!oniebere. < ' with grand ideas, suul^ had-fo^d;^tw ;ail that the men before them we^Jn^ptfwlmucKitd^be d«spised. j - - _-..—.—.- — --.•■■ --• Mr John Oargili< remarked thatjhe^iwas now about tb pay the penalty fprsSeingSoiielbf the oldest inhabitants. He hadbeen:asked to address them on account pf his'having licen: isaociafced 1 wiih.Captain Cargilland Dtßnrns in the foundation of the settleinenfcoHe; wbuld^rieflyjlay^ before them:oheaspfectof the past"history:pf ; JtKe settlement. In 1847 the5 fc^ee,Church of, Scotland ,-was busy; ,inr^^ organisuigj t 'misßions 'andpother. schemes; ithere^wasagr^tjstrain^bn hep/attheitime, but' bug* nevertheless fotind' time for the fomation.-;of^hrari:settlementrr-r*lTiere*" was one. princij)le laidi,d«w>Kf m, the-tprms ,of! setUement, and-'-'it'*' lwas^thatr''''ifrbut the * firstj -there should be Churca" and School j that the first party was1 hot to start | Without jthe means of having Church find,,' .School from,;, the time ; they. landed j ,• in the -'.'Colony i " The Free-Cnuiich' sent an ex-' iperienced iniiuster, and also a" schoolmaster, sothatfroni the .first: the set.tlem.ent, had. both ''Church'iiiilSchoql. Qhurchanddchooltheyiiaxlto thepresent daj% and lie' hoped they always should nave theni in Otsigo.—(Applause.) He intended" these remarks for those who! came out «t a later time, and who:~were".not", aware "of*t&e.*"great, :,assistance:given by'the Free Church^ in enabling' tlife" iettlemont to be started. He would re-echo what [their Chairman had shml, namtdy,-?tKat of^; til their representative wen who hadever visited; the Colony. none could be more so,_and. could be held in; greater esteem than Dr Begg,rwho was one of the leaders of the Churcli,. and always took:an active^interest in. ifche^settlementr He thought that'they had in, Dr Begg a'strong "frienclj^and he was glad to hear that he carrieci awayiwith him a pleasing impression ef OJiagol i iiieGHArKMAif said lie now■■'■'na'd fco call upoii the last speaker, ;Mr .Ai;• J. Burns, but he tlid not see him in the room. .;' .„ , ~ j , Mr A." J. KyiiXS approached the platform, from the body of tlie hall, and said the Cuairniisiu lUul stated that *' he did not, see. the ,lMt-.speaker,"., but he was "there/anilayere^y.^t^ugUtcV) tHeconfeased th.it he wsis ndt" a'little prbudtonight in addressing the .meetiog.^lti^did.nOit . happen every daythait thc^ had sucua Visitor aii Dr Begg amongst them, who had coma thousands of miles on purpose to. visit the, country.and see fpr.hunself.. The speaker looked upon thateveu'.iDgjis(?bhe of their "white;-days,"'or -rather^ '^whiie"nights." He wns-glad to think tliat their friend Dr Begg would inform those ia the pld.country-what a number of misrepresentafcins had been made concerning- the^Colonies.— (Hear, hear ) It hud often beensaidthat"anytfiing would do.for; the ; Colonies," _ but,he, «umitaine<l that a,m«n would never rise in Otago bruny other part; of the Colonies unless he liad his wits nud energies about him)—(Hcai% hearl) tie pro-poaed'-;-"That a hearty vote, of -thanks »»e acconlcd to; Dr Begg for his aildress, ami also for h's pluck and energy in coining such a distance to see theiu." —(Applause.) ;The voeiferoiis apiJliv'ise which followed thi& re^flutibn- was so unanimous, that, the ..worthy1 Ciiaitiuiin ssiiditwas not necessary; for. liiin..tp '^ put the Question," so-He'wbuM sitnply convey the tbiiHks of the meetmg Dr.Begg.> , ;. Or BGC, in responding, erpresseit his liearV ■ felt thanks fjor,,the^unjiuuiioui( vote, .which laid beenpassed. He was pleased to see so uiaiiy present, that evening;-, in. the; hoo.ie country he thought it would be difficult tp aecuie so la)ge sin • attendance on such a bpisterouls nigiifc. He ouce more expresseil his -''gratUu-atUm,' smd promised ■to *dr> whatever ho could fco assist tkem .wiiuu- he returned to the old countiy.

His Worship, the MiLtoit proposed st vote of'thankYto the Giiairinan, which was carried with. acclamation. . ~ : , : , . . : .

Tlie'SDi'Ears'TES'DEKr, in responding; said he wa,s highly flattered by the "tosust" which had beeii awsonled him. Ho thought he ha-.l never attended a. ineefciiia: whie!i;h:ul given -litni greater satinfacfcion. It was -iiViout 31 years agu sirme he had the pleasure of hearing his fnend Dr Hugg. He was very'" thm " then.—Jf/anghU'-r.)! Tue sjieakcr svassorrv.that the reveriiriddoatorcould not see his way clear-to-remain sbtjte time longer amongst them, but he trusted that the presenttime would not be the last they should see of I»r Begg. —(Goutinued appbiuse.) : ' '".

The Ch.urkan proposed a vote of thanks to the choir, .who bad afforded them so excellent a musical trcut iluring the evening. TJiis was also entittLsiasticallj' curried.

The National Authetn. followed, wjien the Rev. Mr Will pronouncod the Benediction, and the meeting dispersed at a quarter past nine.

An enterprising individual in Cliristchurch has started preserving milk as an experiment, and has beeti very successful. It.was preserved in a bottle as far back as. 1872 ; '. the greater-portion-of &c water contained in the millc was evaporated, the residue being miked -with refilled sugar and hermetically sealed. '~_. The Canterbury Meat Export Company held their annual meeting recently, wheaifc appeared rtb at the bavlanceTsheet for the year showed a sinaU,profit.. __ Th« Qhainnan considered the eeffort satisfactory, aad alluded to the Company having obtained a medal at the Vienna Exhibition. He ...also thought having better; stock to work upon would benefit the • Company,' and noticed that not much boiling down was done now, the major portion being converted into xireserved meal —ft better paying article.