RELIGIOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1639, 21 April 1883, Page 13

RELIGIOUS.

THE SALTATION AEMT.

The detachment of the Salvation Army which has been despatched to operate in New Zealand may now be considered fairly domiciled at the Temperance Hall, and a few comments on their mode of working may not be uninteresting or out of place. So far as regards the ordinary services conducted on Sundays and during the week by the captain in command, there is not much that is novel or particularly startling, as might have been expected from reports of the doings of the Army elsewhere. The mode of worship adopted by the Salvationists in Dunedin, although, of course, differing from that in vogue amongst settled congregations of the various denominations, is not so very unlike the ordinary run of "revival" services. The tone is not the most lofty, and the proceedings are distinctly such as will recommend themselves mainly to the uncultivated section of the community; but on the part of the "officers," and the immediate following of the "Army," there is perhaps more good sense and earnestness than was looked for. The impression conveyed is that most of the disgraceful scenes, and most of the profanity aud disorder, with which the name of the Salvation Army has been associated, emanated rather from the rabble that hung on its skirts than from the leaders themselves. The remarks and action of the latter tend rather to promote a devotional spirit (aided by a mild hysteria) than any of those ebullitions which have unfortunately been too frequent.

A stranger attempting to enter the Temperance Hall during one of the Sunday evening services will probably find his task 6ne of considerable difficulty. He will discover himself on the heels of an eager and somewhat turbulent crowd, thronging the Btaircases, and vainly endeavouring to press their way inwards. The proceedings inside will be almost inaudible, but the din of hob-nailed boots upon the boards, and the remarks which are freely bandied among the crowd, cannot fail to excite some feeling perhaps stronger than mere displeasure. If, however (an improbable hypothesis), the stranger succeeded in forcing his way into the interior, he would see a great deal that was strange and in questionable taste, but nothing whatever that was scandalous. Notwithstanding the faofc that on these occasions an odd hundred or two of people are standing olosely jambed in attitudes the reverse of comfortable, the order maintained is, on the whole, marvellously good. It not unfrequently becomes necessary for the "captains" to pause and address a few warning words to the gallery, but suoh a remonstrance invariably has its due effect. An officer will occasionally pause in his discourse to utter some such homely formula as " When you're done I'll go on," and for the credit of the gallery be it said that any incipient disturbance is generally quelled by such a remonstrance. As regards the service itself, it is of the rough and ready style, and most especially is it " ready." The officers literally stand shoulder to shoulder in the breach, and there are no awkward gaps or pauses in the proceedings. Their oratory is not of a very refined or impreßsive description, but it is vigorous, and no sooner is one speaker drawing to the close of his remarks than his brother in arms is actually at his elbow to take up the parable. There is not the delay of a single second between discourse and exhortation, exhortation and " knee-drill." Before, indeed, the majority of the assemblage can by any possibility have assumed a kneeling a,fisud,o, the prayer

has been commenced by either one of the " captains " or Mrs Burfoot, who assists not infrequently at such emergencies. This certainly strikes the beholder as combining in a remarkable degree military precision with religious fervour. As regards the singing, there is an absence of much that we have previously heard of as objectionable. The Salvation hymn-book includes some poetical efforts anything but refined in tone or suggestive of sacred surroundings, but it also contains numbers culled from old-eatablished hymnals, to which no exception can be taken. The greatest surprise that is likely to befall the listener is to hoar some sacred verses very energetically sung to the air of " Auld lang syne," and, as the tune ia a good one, the inappropriateness will probably be overlooked. Instrumental accompaniments are rare at the Temperance Hall ; but the time is accentuated by the officers by an emphatic swinging of the arm and body, and the congregation is vociferously led on to .the chorus or refrain.

The most singular and emotional part of those services occurs, as a rule, at the " after meeting," or at the special "holineßS meetings" which are occasionally held. The spectacle at one of these latter is certainly a strange one. The extraordinary nature of the occasion is marked by the " officer" in charge glutting the platform and conducting his ministrations in the body of the hall, surrounded by the most impressionable of his hearers. The language used is a trifle more extravagant than on ordinary occasions, and the demonstrations indulged in by those composing the inner circle are certainly somewhat startling. At the close of a hymn or a brief address the captain sinks upon his knees hurriedly, begging someone to ' ' engage in prayer. " Strange to say, there is no lack of volunteers. Before the words are well past his lips one of the foremost in the kneeling circle has commenced one of those extemporaneous supplications which, if somewhat rambling, ara evidently earnest. It is not bo much the prayer that is remarkable as the behaviour of the auditors. The speaker has not completed a sentence before he is interrupted, or perhaps assisted, by a loudly-spoken "Amen' to that," which is at once echoed in various quarters. His succeeding remarks are accompanied by a running chorus of such ejaculations as "Hallelujah !" "Amen," "Ah, that's it ! that's it ! " and although these may tend to somewhat obscure the sound of his eloquence, they do not for an instant interrupt it. He haß no sooner ceased than the thin voice of a woman is heard entering upon a similar devotional exercise, and the tame interpolations are repeated for the most part in hysterical and half-sobbing tones. All this, however, is no exaggeration of scenes that have been witnessed with revivalists from the days of the fiery and eloquent Irving down to the more recent services conducted by Messre Moody and Sankey and others. The fcialvationists might well, perhaps, add a little refinement to their devotions ; but there is no reason to believe that the leaders, at all^e vents, are less sincere than those mentioned above.