ON SABBATH EYE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11933, 5 January 1901, Page 2

ON SABBATH EYE.

'A COLUMN OF RELIGIOUS READING. ; (Conducted bt the Rbv. F.-W. Bobeham.J A TE DEUM. Dt THE POET UUBSATB. Now let me praise the Lord, The Lord, the maker of all! I will praise Him on timbrel and chord}' Will praise him whatever befall. Shall I.pick and choose for His praise? Shall I thank Him for good, notull? He is the Ancient of Days, And He hows the rocks as He will: So I praise Thee, 0 Lord, for the good, For the ill, for tho weal, for the woe, For tho cushat that coos in tho wood, Aud the wolve3 that howl in the snow. ALFBED AHSTINi THE OLD, OLD STORY. A One-minute Sermon by the Rev. Dβ Parker. :

If this were my last testimony as a public preacher of the Kingdom of God, I would declare that tho Evangelical faith, as learnedly a..d experimentally interpreted and practically applied, answers'more questions, solves more problems, settles more difficulties, and opens up vaster vistas to tho religious imapnatioa than any faith or any theorj, over submitted to the confidence of mankind. We want more definite assertion of. definite principles. I • not believe in narrow dogmas, in literal -nprisonment; I believe in the great bedrock of truth, and over it the great eky of religious imagination and spiritual interpretation. I believe that all life is a great problem and a great parabje. And I am Bure that there come times in the history of the soul when nothing but the Cross—deride it. who may—can touch the agony of our life. Believe a- man who has seen a great deal of human experience, a man who has known difficulty and strenuous effort, and unrelentiug and unrelaxing devotion to what he'believes to be true. I have been a man, of war from my youth; I have feared the face of no man. I have believed my cauee to be righteous. I may have spoken inadvisedly; I may, on the spur of the moment, have selected words which I would not in calmer leisure have selected; but I will say thiei that nothing but the Cross of our Lord .Teeus Christ can follow a man all day aria all night, up tho hill und through the valley— nothing will .-Hand by him in such steadfast purpose and friendship as the love of God .is seen in Christ Jeeus the Lord. I tell the generation of preachers yet to come, if my words Bhould be. preserved for their attention, that they can preach all their little theories and read all their elaborate pnd eoulless_ essays; they can be as literary and ingenious and even poetical as they please, hut if the Cross be not the staple of their ministry, their' congregations will turn away as hunger turns away when stones are offered it instead of bread.

ODDS AND ENDS. _Mr Frank T. Bullen, the author of, "Th<r Uuise of the Cachalot," hae been talking' to young men on " Jonah " from a sailor's point of viow. He began by enlightening the,popular misunderstanding respecting the swallowing capacity of the whale-a sperm whale, he said, could comfortably swallow a dozen Jonahs. CommentiiiK on the verse, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and He heard me," Mr Bullen raid that he had known what it was to be out in a little whaleboat, out of sight of the ship, and with not more than a gleam of hope of ever getting back to it alive, 1 "and I might have uttered Jonah's prayer if at that time I had known very much about it." Everyone listened yery earnestly as he told .the story of his conversion, in the old sail-loft at Port Chalmers, after hearing the story of the Prodigal Son. " Christ came to remove that libel on God's character, that lie. that God wae Chalmers, after hearing the story of kthe Prodigal 3on is the picture of God drawn by the one Person in the universe who knew." He spoke very impressively of the influence of a gonuine Christian character in the fo'o'ele, and pleaded, above all, for the living of the Gospel.

Rev. E. G. Gange, of Regent's Park Chapel, London, accompanied bj Mrs Gange and Colonel Griffin, were presont at Portman Rooms, Baker street W., upon the occasion of a somewhat remarkable gathering. The audience consisted of about 1000 young women, engaged in London shops, factories, and other places of business; they were now, or had been, residents of Mr John Shrimpton'a admirable series of Homes for Working Girls. The proceedings included a high-class musical programme, in which were interspersed addresses—both of an evangelistic order—by Prebendary Webb Peploe and Mr Gangel Mr Gange referred tojhe Lifo of Mr Moody, which he had jusl been reading, and incidentally* told tho interesting story of- Mr Spurgeon being, at the conclusion of one of liis. sermons, visited in the vestry by one of his hearers, an aged woman, who declared ha had made a .mistake in his discourse. "I have made several, mother,." he responded; "to which do you refer?" "You said you , would sing loudest in heaven because God had 6ave<l you so young: but you won't sing eo loud as I shall, for.He ha,s saved mo in my old age, after a lifetime of noglcot of Him.' Mr Gange urged upon his youthful hearers the importance of devoting their early days and their entire lives to the divine service and glory. ■ . . ' The fine Norman church of St. Mary at Turville was reopened recently. During the restoration the workmen found a- thirteenth century stone coffin of considerable size under the foundation of tie pulpit. Despite its antiquity, the coffin, which has been consigned to the belfry, is in excellent preservation. ' The life of General Wauohope—just published—shows him to have bean a most loyal Presbyterian. " From the days wtan he was an ensign, it was known among hie brother officers as a caeus belli to speak slightingly to him of his church. Ho would stand up for Presbyterianism, and would suffer for it if necessary, when its claims were in danger' of-being thrust into the background." Most touching are the pages which tell of the deep and simple pietv which was the secret of Wβ noble life. "Sis daily duties, he once remarked to a company of Sabbath school hoys* were largely influenced by his morning devotions." "Hβ believed in prayer and family worship, and it was doubtless this that sip much imbued him with strength and courage for many a day of arduous work and patielit pain." "He followed on to know the Lord,' , say 3 Dr Wiraly, of Malta, " and he came to know the truth of the Gospel, not only as ; a truth of faith, but a, truth of personal experience." In his own parish of Liberton he discharged th# duties of the eldership with, much acceptance, visiting among the parishioners and offieiatine at tho communion in the parish church. The Rev. George Dodds, of the Free Church, Liberton, said at the close of the memorial sermon: ''Much , which I could tell of him makes me know with undying conviotion that Andrew Gilbert Wauc''ope of Niddrie was one of the fineet Christian gentlemen .one could find in a lifetime'" Amongst the books of the autumn season, not one deserves a greater popularity than the "Life of General Wauchope."

The Archbishop of Canterbury has conform! tho dojirw of Doctor of Divinity upon thqßey. Joseph Barker. Archdeacon of Lady-. Rmifh. in recognition of his long services to the church in Natal, and also of his heroic conduct during the eiege of Ladysmith. . Principal Rainy, the first moderator of tlie United .Free Church of Scotland, will attain, the fiftieth year of his ministry in January. next, and arrangements are being ma<le for the celebration of his jubilee. To Dr Rainy morn than any other mnn h duo the union nf the Free and tho United Presbyterin'n Churches, and hie jubilee will be made the; occasion of a demonstration on an exceptionally large scale. Dr "Walter Smith, the pootpreiichor of the Free Church, and the author of "Olrit; Grange," attains, the fiftieth year of .his ministry next month, and is to be prespntod with an addreEs by the Edinburgh Presbytery of the 'new United Church. Dr John 0. Pnton is a nolable cxamole of a Rood steward. There was £14.000 due to him in the way of profits from his bioStraphr. Instead of holdine any part of this for hi* own nee, he pave the whole sum to the missionary society 'hat had supported him. sayioir: "It is the Lord's. Pass on the bread of life to my brethren in the South Spas." Mr Sankev. after his return to America, will finish the volume of autobiography on which lie linn been working now and again durinot the psst 10 yesrs. Tlie book.'Will oonUin rnminifenncee of manv of the English friondß of MoonV and Sankey, and intereitina; dot<ii'= r>f hiR intercourse with, among otherß, Dr Horatiun Bonar, Dr Wlllinra Amot, a»tl Profppsor Henry Drnmmond. •

Birmingham recently observed a "Younq Men's Sunday." In nearly 100 place's of worship sermons were prennhed with special mferenee, to young men. the arrangementf beinc made by the Y.M.C.A. ■■■ .. . The Archdeaconry of Wcstrninster hae been ponforrod.on Cnnon Basil Wilberforee, tie : fcoond canon, by the Dean and Ohnoter. ' In his lettpr to the mem Here of the .Western Church Anti-emoking S.ocioty, of wbioii lie hae Tiecomo patron, the hero of Mafekinß, Major-general , Baden-Powell, gives some wholesome advice to hoys. He is himself a nnn-smoker, and he says;—"A feeble youth"" who smokes.because he thinks it ia manly is just as liable to drink or «we»r because he has known grown-up men do it. then he* gets, into the habit of at, and it be- , comes part of him for tho rest of his life.'" The letter is being widely circulated .amon'e boyf ...■.•.,' :.. ... \ ff