"THE CITY ITS SINS AND SORROWS."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9888, 6 November 1893, Page 3

"THE CITY ITS SINS AND SORROWS."

or * At the Congregational Church, Great Xii street, last evening, the Rev. A. H. Walla _ delivered a sermon the subjecfc of which wi " The City . its Sins and Sorrows." In a vei earnest and powerful discourse the preachi ;h referred in very plain terms to fche sins cf ii ie temperance, gambling, and lu.t. There wen :e he said, Christian men and women in Dunedi it who declared that the statements of the Rev: re Saunders and Gibb were exaggerated. Ho jt could they know that? Had they gone int I. the slums of the city and investigated for then a selves ? What data had they for their coi y elusions? Speaking for himself, he believe '■• the immorality of Dunediu had been undei »i stated rather thau overstated. There wer c even some who thought the Revs. Gibb am r Saunders were troublesome slanderers wh ■t should be removed from the city ; but it shouli - be rememb?i-ed that a searchlight did no fc create dangers—ifc only revealed fchem,—am i that ignorance did not alter facts. The exist 3 ence to a serious and even alarming extent o r the evils was beyond question. He coul< , endorse what had been said concerning thi , gambling in hotels, which was carried on witl - the knowledge and to the pecuniary proflt o 3 owners and licensees. One owner of a hote , had made £7 in one game on his owi c premises. A man, earning £3 a week, hac in a hotel for eight consecutive weeks losl ali his wages, directly or indirectly, bj gambling; and a lad who earned 27s 6d weeklj i had for months spent all at fche gaming table ir a local publichouse. As to the social vice, it . was difficult to form anything like a correel estimate of its extent. It seemed to him thai there was an overstatement as to the numbei ! of single meu who visited houses of ill-fame, '■ bufc the number of married men had been very ! much understated. From his own knowledge as a worker in connection with the midnight mission in the Home country, and from knowledge gained in Dunedin and elsewhere, he believed that a great number of the immoral places were maintained by the money of married men. How were they to deal with these evils? Judgment must begin afc the House of God. Ministers, office-bearers, and members musfc have clean hands. There must he no intoxicating drink on the Lord's table. The church musfc protest against gambling. The man who gained money without merit and ■at another's loss was committing sin against God, and it was the duty of the church to take notice of this. The position of the church towards men who took profit from sin must be also uncompromising, A member of a church in this city, a teacher in a Sabbath school, let a number of houses for immoral purposes. He had seen this man going from door to door collecting rents from those whom he knew to be living in sin; and the man who had the presumption and audacity to take this money said it was as good as anybody's money. Was such a man to be received into church fellowship, and to be allowed to teach the children at Sunday school ? As to the remedy, any society of devoted men banded together, for the purpose of making society better was worthy of their sympathy and co-operation. The law should be enforced ;-immoral men should be placed on the same footing as fallen women; gambling should be regarded,as criminal; and.the law relating to the drink traffic impartially and fearlessly enforced. The officers of the law should be supported when they did their duty, and unhesitatingly condemned when they failed. In conclusion the preacher quoted and endorsed the following from Dr Starrs:—"A member of the church of the future is to be no less a churchman, but much more a Christian. The voice of men will be heard in instruction none the less, but there will be a hundredfold more of sensitiveness to the voice of Jesus Christ. The constituency of the church of the future will walk none the less loyally in the old paths of revivalism, conversion, and edification, bufc into a hundred new paths in practical application of the life of God to society. The future will be none the less anxious to some men for another life, but a thousandfold more desirous to save body as well as soul in this life. Such is the church which already begins to appear. We hail its dawn with rapture and delight."