LECTURE BY DR ROSEBY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13209, 16 February 1905, Page 10

LECTURE BY DR ROSEBY

"HOW THE OLD, COUNTRY LOOKS ■ J. O A COLONIAL."

L\ery year the number of persons resident in the colony who can claim the Old Country as tho land of their birth is lesseainff in proportion to the number of New , landers w ' lo are native' horn. Tho keenest interest, however, is always taken m the little islands at the other sido of the world called "Home," and New Heatanders as a whole are always glad to read of or listen to descriptions of Britain and i s ptrop.e, more especially, of course, if the story bo told interestingly. No one who heard the licv. Dr Hoseby at the . Congregational Church last •night, where lie delivored a -lecture on "Ilow the Old Country. Looks to a Colonial—especially on the Social Side," coiul deny that lie made exceptionally good use* of the brief time at his disposal, and that he imparted information that was both pleasant and profitable to listen to. In the first part of his lecture Dr Koseby confined himself to a chatty account of the many places he had visited lu England and Scotland, and by de-ft and cor.oire reference he preserved his remarks from becoming, what they would have been ' in the hand?? of a less experienced speaker, a more catalogue of names and place.;. London, of course, bulked largest in the impressions given, and speaking of it Dr Roscby. mentioned that nothing had struck him more than his sense of familiarity with ths places and districts he visited.. Constant reference to them in his reading had made the names aimcst as familiar to him as the Octagon aud CargilFs Monument.. Tho mention of Fleet street and Temple Bar in London, Brighton, Portsmouth, Stonehenge, Oxford, Stratford-on-Avon in the provincc-s, and Glasgow and Edinburgh ;in Scotland, will indicate some of the ground travelled over by the lecturer and the interesting references, historical and otherwise, that could be mado, and ' wore made, by him. In tho second part of his lecture Dr ltoseby's remarks were con- . fined to his impression of the Old Country : so. far as the social side was concerned. ! He.said ho .was veiy much surprised how the expectations he had previously formed in connection with this matter coincidcd with the reality. With tho history of England, with its'churches, its public men, and :ts ecclesiastical and political life, years of study had made him pretty familiar, and ho found them to bo very much what lie expected them to bo. One or two features that were specially noticeable to him were the enormous accumulated wealth—a living, active, moving wealth—and the great disparity that seemed' to exist between the condition of tho very rich and Ihc. very poor. In London lie saw for himself General Booth's " submerged tenth "; but it seemed to him that even a greater depth of poverty existed in both Glasgow and Liverpool. What ho saw in 'these cities gave him an uneasy feeling about the existing social. conditions and caused him to ask himself with apprehension, How long could such a state of things lust! Reference was mado by the lecturer to the depopulation of the country districts; and a pathetic illustration given of the degradation that too often overtakes the labourer from the fields when lie has drifted into -the great towns. The terrible poverty that existed was a sad aspect of English life, and clearly it wag the duty of us in these colonies, where we wero at the beginning of things, to take such steps to prevent these fearful and iniquitous social inequalities from arising, It was incumbent on the young men of tho colony, and the young women too, to give their days and their night; to the study of this «ooial problem, for on a wise and timely solution of it depended the future of the country. But there was a bright sido to the social aspect of the Old Country too. In England he never felt that he was in a foreign country. The old gentbman he saw thero asking the policeman to assist him over the crowded street reminded him of similar gentlemen m Australia; so did the "cheap .lack" and the shambling tramp. Oxford street, in London, was like Collins street, Melbourne; ilie Strand like George street. Sydney, "only more so." Moving about tho Old Land he was struck with the number of places he saw where events bad occurred that had helped to make their history. Here was where Magna Charter had been signed: there where John Ball,-the. " mud priest of Kent," bad sounded the knell of feudalism; at another place had bej-u the homo of Drake; at another place still Ilerschel had made his wonderful astronomical observations; while Oxford aud the purple-clad hills of Scotland reminded him that, ihe blood of the martyrs had been shed there to win the religious liberty thev now enjoyed. The indications at Home were to the effect that great social and probably great religious changes were impending. These changes would be for tho better—they would need to be for the better,—and it would be well for New Zealanders to put money and labour into tho thought and education of their people. Teach them to be temperate, instruct them to bo wise, Christianise them especially. In Nelson's time the. signal had been "England expects every man to do his duty," and in this new crisis Christ ccrtainly expected every man professing Christianity to do his duty too. At the conclusion of tiio lecture, the Rev, W. Saunders, who presided, briefly conveyed to Dr Roseby the audience's hearty appreciation of his lecture. At tho interval in the lecture and prior to the commencement of it Mr D. Cooke contributed organ polos. During the eveninsr Mr Alexander Wright rendered a folo, "The last muster."