RISK AND PROGRESS of the Presbyterian Church of Otago history of the churches otago

Otago Witness, Issue 2298, 17 March 1898, Page 45

RISK AND PROGRESS of the Presbyterian Church of Otago

history of the churches otago

By the Rkv. W. Bannkkman

(jJsSjB'^HE Jubilee of the Presbyterian Church of Otago is •/■l^ contemporaneous with that of the Otago Province. ■ 11l They had a common origin. The earliest settlers were writ \\ members of the Presbyterian Church, and laid the \syj yk foundation of their Church in the colony immediately on their arrival. They brought their minister with them, .also a schoolmaster, the purpose being to found a settlement characterised ecclesiastically and educationally in accordance with the order of things in Scotland, where and when church and school were linked together and had been so since the days of John Knox. Some provision was made with the view of having a church and primary school attached for every settled district, and of having in course of time a Grammar or High School in the leading towns, and these to be crowned with a University. The noble scheme was initiated with indeed :i small beginning— one minister of the Gospel, one teacher, and one congregation, the record of whose work in laying the foundation of the present Church and the educational system that has reached its present development was worthy of the character they bore with them from their home to their adopted country- The Rev. Thomas Burns, the first minister, was a noble specimen of the Scottish pastorate— scholarly, courteous, sympathetic, diligent in the discharge of duty, interested in all that concerned the welfare of young and old, wise in counsel, and, above all, a faithful minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of men. The individuals and families composing the first settlors of Otago proved themselves of a stamp well fitted to start the noble enterprise of pioneering a now branch of the ever-growing British Empire. The progress of this new settlement owes much to the undaunted courage and practical sagacity of those who in remote Otago sought to make a home for themselves and their families, and opened up the way for others doing- likewise. In this respect such progress was made that ere six > ears had passed since the arrival of the first minister and the formation of the first and only congregation, several other congregations had arisen, and more ministers were needed. To meet this need, the result of increasing population and advancing settlement in the rural districts of the new colony, application was made to the Mother Church of the great body of the Otago settlers— the Free Church of Scotland — in 1853, for two ministers. In answer to that application, the Rev. Win. Bannerman and the Rev. W. Will received appointments to Otago, where they arrived by the good ship Stately, in command of Captain Ginder, early in February, 1851. They received a hearty welcome from the venerable founder of the Church, who felt a great relief through the arrival of the&e brethren to share with him the responsibilities that had hitherto rested on him alone. In the following June, the Presbytery of Otago was erected, consisting of the three ministers (this number being necessary to the constitution of a Presbytery) with Captain Cargill, elder representing the Session of First Chuich, and Mr, J. Allan, elder representing the Session of Taieri congregation. To these were added Mr. John McGlashan, as procurator of the Church. Other elders were associated with the Presbytery, who, though they could not vote, were able from their experience (o counsel and advise with the constituent members of the court. Important business was transacted by the Presbytery on the occasion of its first meeting, such as the institution of a Sustentation Fund, to be supplied by all the congregations according to their respective strength and means, in order to supply the means of grace throughout the land. Immediately on arrival, Mr. Will proceeded to the field allotted to him, extending from Green Island to Waihola, both included. Mr. Bannerman occupied all the settled territory south of Waihola Lake including Tokomairiro, Inchclutha, South Clutha, Warepa and Kaihiku. Two years after, extending settlements southward necessitated his visiting these, which he did at first on foot, .■journeying as far as Itiverfcon, visiting the scattered settlers in their houses, holding public services where people could come together, celebrating marriages and administering the ordinance of baptism. Prior to this enlargement of bis field of operation southward, Mr. Banncrmnn nvidr* a ministerial visit, by appointment of the Presbytery and .iwompiinied by Mr. J. MoGlashan, to the several districts 'north of Dunedin, from which resulted

arrangements for the erection of congregations and requests lor ministerial supply. In 1858, help in this direction was to some extent secured by the settlement of Rev. Win. Johnston in Port Chalmers, whereby Dr. Burns was relieved from that portion of his charge, while Mr. Johnston was able to give some attention to the requirements of the districts northwards. In the same year Mr. Will was relieved of Waihola and adjacent districts by the settlement of Rev. John MeNicol. In the following year Rev. A. B. Todd was inducted into Tokomairiro as a pastoral charge, disjoined from Mr. Bannerman's original charge. This enabled the latter to give more frequent service to the other districts under his charge. In 1860 Mr. Bannerman received further relief by the settlement of Rev A. H. Stobo over First Church, Invercargill, who undertook the oversight of the extensive territory between the Mataura and Riverton, visited till then by Mr. Bannerman. While the Church was thus extending itself and meeting the requirements of increasing settlements in their several directions, it had become manifest that Diinedin, from the increase of its Presbyterian citizens, required that an .addition should be made to the ministry and the church accommodation there. With the consent of the Presbytery, a second congregation was organised, and steps were taken to secure a suitable minister. These resulted in the selection of the Rev. D. M. Stuart, of Falstone, in the North of England, who arrived in Dunedin in January, 1860, and was inducted into the new pastoral charge designated by the name of Scotland's great reformer Knox. Gradually the suburban districts around Dunedin a'so received ministers. These and other districts had ministers supplied to them partly through the efforts of Rev. W. Will, who had been commissioned to the Mother Church to secure more ministers, and partly on his return to Otago by communications addressed to the Colonial committee of the Free Church of Scotland. The Presbytery guaranteed to those ministers who came from the Home Church a share in the Sustentation Fund, which in those days was so attended to as to yield an ever increasing dividend to each minister as their number increased. Interest in those dajs was more directed to the maintenance and increase of this Fund than to obtain funds from seat rents and church door or church plate collections, as these were for local objects while the Sustentation Fund stood related to all the congregations and ministers as having a common interest in the fund. Besides guaranteeing to the ministers received into thfc Church a suitable maintenance and a manse, the Church provided what was required for their outfit and passage from Home. The amount required for these was duly remitted to the Home Church, from which its Otago daughter sought nothing but suitable men, and to which it has been no itherwisc indebted, being the only colonial church that has not been pecuniarily assisted by the Mother Church. While the Church in Otago was actively engaged in extending itself within its own bounds, a movement originated to unite all the Presbyteries, and Presby teria n congregations throxighout New Zealand into one Church, which resulted in a Conference being held in Dunedin on November 20th, 1801, for the attainment of this object. The Conference lasted three days. Tt was resolved to form a united Church in New Zealand. The Conference agreed upon a basis and other matters affecting the interest of the Church at large. These were ordered to be sent to Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions for consideration, with instructions to report their conclusions to a second Conference appointed to be held in Auckland in November, 1862. Thih Conference was duly held and was attended by two ministers from Otaa;o, Messrs. Will and Todd, and by ten ministers and seven elders from various parts north of the Waitnki. The several returns lrom the remit of the previous Conference, having been received and considered, a basis of union somewhat altered from that adopted by the Dunedin Conference was agreed to by the Conference, and a resolution passed to consummate the union on the basis there and then .adopted. This was done by the members of the Conference constituting themselves into a General Assembly and i^roccc^ine: fo legislate for the Church throughout New Zealand. When the report

of these proceedings reached Otago much dissatisfaction was felt with them, especially on the ground that the union had been consummated on a basis to which in its altered form the consent of the Presbyteries and Sessions had not been sought, and which indeed they had never seen, and on the ground also that the assumed Assembly had set aside the arrangement made by the Conferences at Dunedin and Auckland for the government of the Church by Synods as well as by Sessions, Presbyteries, and a General Assembly, and had made the meeting of the latter annual instead of biennial as agreed to by the Dunedin Conference, and embodied in the formula adopted by the Auckland Conference. That dissatisfaction was manifested at a mee'ing of the Otago Presbytery, and led to the passing of a resolution that refused recognition of the proceedings of the General Assembly as other than those of a Conference, and also sanction of the action of the Auckland Conference in completing the union on an altered basis without the approval of Presbyteries and Sessions. This action of the Otago Presbytery prevented the union taking effect, and to this day the Presbyterian Church of Otago has continued a separate Church, though frequent proposals for union have been made since these Conferences had failed to effect it. At the same time it is to be noted that the Otago Church, considering the territory occupied by it. has steadily continued to make greater progress in increasing its ministry and the number of its congregations than has been the case with what is now mostly called the Northern Church, embracing as it does all New Zealand from the Waitaki to the North Cape. The progress in Otago was such that in 1865 it was found to be necessary for the proper government of the Church to divide the then Presbytery of Otago into several Presbyteries, and to constitute a Synod as the Supreme Court of the Church. Three Presbyteries were instituted. These have since increased to six, being only one less than the number of Presbyteries existing in the larger field occupied by the sister Church north of Otago. The Synod was formally constituted January 16th, -1866, under the Moderatorship of Dr. Burns, who conducted divine service, preaching from Romans ii. 18, 29, and afterwards delivered an inaugural address, dealing with the original settlement of the Church in Otago, the formation of the original Presbytery, and the progress made by the Church and the colony during the previous eighteen years of their existence. The first meeting of Synpd consisted of twenty-one ministers and ten elders. Of these ministers thirteen still survive, but of the elders only three remain to this day. All the others have gone the way of all the living and the places that knew them have only the memory of them. Each returning Synod has witnessed an increase of membership, significant of an increasing number of congregations, and fresh territory occupied by Presbyterian settlers. What that increase has been during the intervening years is indicated by the number of ministers and elders on the roll of the last meeting of Synod in 1897. That roll bore the name of seventy-five ministers, all of whom were present save three, one being on furlough and the other two on a sick bed; also the names of seventy-one elders, in all one hundred and forty-six, compared with the thirty-one members of the first Synod in 1860.

At the institution of the Church it was contemplated that the education of the youth of the colony should be conducted in connection with the Presbyterian Church, and some provision was made for this purpose, in connection with the system of land purchase that prevailed when first Otago began to be colonised. A landed estate was to be purchased after meeting preliminary expenses for church and school purposes, towards which the rents of the estate were to be devoted. The estate was to be purchased by one-eighth of the price of each property paid to the New Zealand Company being so ex-pended. The arrangement was but partially carried out, necessitating others to be made both for church and for school purposes. For the former the Sustentation Fund and other funds were instituted, for the latter the Provincial, and more lately the General Government made provision. The Presbyterian Church, however, recognising that the landed estate secured to her had justly claims upon it on behalf of education, applied to the New Zealand Legislature for leave to make available the proportion of revenue due to education for the establishment and maintenance of chairs in the University of Otago. This was granted by an Act passed in 1860, in giving effect to which the Church has endowed the following Professor-

ships, A'iz., of mental and moral philosophy, of physics, and of English literature, all which chairs have been in operation for several years, the first having been contemporaneous with the opening of the University, of which at its origin and till he died Dr. Burns held the office of principal.

The Presbyterian Church in Otago has also maintained a Theological College for the education of candidates for entrance into its Ministry and that of the Northern Church. Two professors have been' provided whose services have been a\ ailed of not merely by students of the Presbyterian Churches, but of other churches also, from neither of whom are class fees exacted. More recently a Greek tutor has been invited to this institution.

While making provision for the charges within her borders the Presbyterian Church has not been unmindful of the obligation resting upon her, to care for others. In the first congregation, while yet it stood alone regular quarterly collections were made for mission objects undertaken by the Mother Church, and were regularly transmitted to her Treasurer. So soon as the Church took a larger form similar contributions were made, till at length as a church the New Hebrides Mission wa"s joined, to further which a missionary was appointed and supported in the person of Key. Peter Milne,'who with his wife broke ground in that virgin field nearly thirty years ago, and where he continues till this day to labour with a success greater than has attended any other missionary there. His roll of membership drawn from originally heathen cannibals, numbers more than any communion roll of Otago congregations, save only that of Knox Church. Two others have, since his appointment, been added — Rev. Oscar Michelscn and Rev. T. Smaill, who have proved themselves worthy coadiutors

of the Church's pioneer missionary. These ha-\ c been aided by a band of native teachers, numbering over eighty, who have been taught and trained by Messrs. Milne and Michelsen, who have also supplied other missionaries with not a few of the like native helps. Besides thusaiding the New Hebrides Mission for some > ears a missionary was pro\ ided for the aborigines at Port Chalmers Heads and other districts. On his retirement, and while a successor was being sought. Bishop Neyilliook o\erthc work, w Inch led the Presbyterian Synod to lea\ c it in his hands as unwilling to sec rival agencies at work in a field so limited. The Synod has. however, maintained an agent in Stewart Island to attend to the spiritual interests of the Maori natives and half-castes there. On the influx of Chinamen on the discover} of the goldficlds provision was made for their instruction in Christian truth, first by obtaining a Chinese catechist, Paul Ah Ching, from Victoria, and on his resignation securing the services of Rev. Alex. Don, who was sent to Canton to learn the language spoken there, and which is what prevails among our Chinese immigrants. Recently a manse has been erected in Dunedin for Mr. Don, and a church where service is held, and teaching is carried on for the benefit of such Chinamen as choose to avail themseU cs of them. More recently the Synod has undertaken to support a Zenana missionary in Madras in the person of Miss Henderson, late of Akaroa school. Sabbath Schools and Bible Classes have been prominent institutions of the Otago Presbyterian Church during her whole past history. These have been supplemented in later years by the Christian Endea\ our Societies that are now in operation in many of the congregations in town and country. In connection with the Church's Theological College a very valuab'e library has been provided, additions having been made to it from jcar to } ear. Looking back over the fifty years that ha\ c passed since first the Presbyterian Church took origin in Otago, she has good cause to thank God for the progress she has made and hopefully to enter upon a fresh career of usefulness in the Master's ■work at home and abroad, at the same time humbling herself because more has not been done in the past.

EARLY MINISTERS,

Ri'.v. Tiioini \h Bi'RNS, D.D., was the first minister of the Otago Presbyterian Church, the first Moderator of its first Presbytery and first Synod and the first principal of the Otago University. He was born on April lith, 1796, in Mauchline, Ayrshire. His father was Gilbert Burns, brother of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns. After studying at Oloseburn and Haddington Academies and the University of Edinburgh lie was licensed by the Presbytery of Haddington, and shortly afterwards became parish minister of Ballantrae, in the South of Scotland. Thence after a few years he was translated to Monckton, Ayrshire. While there the disruption of the Church of Scotland occurred, when he joined thelFree Church, carrying with him the larger proportion of the parishioners of Monckton of nil classes, landowners and tenants alike. Having seen his Free Church charge fully organised he accepted the first colonial appointment made b> the Free Church, viz., to Otago, where he arrived with his family and a number of immigrants, April loth, 1848 On the very day of his arrival, which was Saturday, he proceeded to Dunedin whore he met Captain Cargill and other immigrants by the John WickliffethaX, had reached Port Chalmers three weeks before. Next day he conducted divine service in the chief surveyor's office. The building, though small, continued to be the usual place of worship till a schoolhouse was built, which for many years served in place of a church and for many other purposes, social, judicial, and political. Again and again the school house received additions to meet the requirements of an ever increasing population. Dr. Burns had brought with him material for his manse, which was speedily erected at the corner of Princes and Jetty streets. This he occupied for several years till a larger one was erected on Church Hill, which, however, was removed in a short time at the request of the Provincial authorities to allow of material being obtained for harbour reclamation, the removal of which left the hill at its present level as occupied now by First Church manse and the handsome First Church. These contrast greatly with similar edifices of Dr. Burns' day. Humble as these latter were, they were the scenes of much active work accomplished for the spiritual and temporal well being of an ever advancing population who were enccmraged to overcome the difficulties of a new life in a new land both by the a ble evangelical preaching of

pure gospel truth and the wise counsels which a large experience of country life and much intercourse wilh all classes of men peculiarly fitted Dr. Burns to impart. For well nigh six years he stood alone to discharge the duties of the ministry, acting as the Aaron of the new community, not the Moses as some have spoken of him. This latter appellation, belonging to Captain C'argill, was given him by the late Mr. John McGlashan in view of the civil position held by him. During these years Dr. Burns confined not hi" labours- (o Dunedin and its neighbourhood, but extended them as far as Clutlia, settlement having taken place southward rather than northward in those early years. Help was at length brought to him on the arrival of Messrs. Will and Bannerman in 1851, and later on of Dr. Stuart and others, by whom gradually the whole original province from Oamaru in the north to Riverlon in the South was supplied with religious ordinances according to the Presbyterian sj stem. All this Dr. Burns lived to sec accomplished in accordance with what was designed by the original scheme of colonising Otago. That scheme contemplated a Presbyterian minister in every settled district, town and ponntrj , a primary .school in each district, a secondary school in leading townships, and these scholastic institutions crowned with a University in Dunedin. All this was effected between 1848 and 1871, (he j oar of his death. He had lived to sec in Otago, which he found on his arrival a wilderness destitute of people and all (hat makes for ci\ ilNation. a condition of progress such as perhaps has never been witnessed elsewhere as made in a short space of twenty-three years His death was preceded by a considerable decaj of ph>sical vigour, rendering necessary some assistance for the work of his congregation, which had become a large one. This was secured by the appointment of the Rev. George Sutherland as his colleague and successor. When Dr. Burns retired from all active work he look up his residence at Bankton, London-street, which was his own property, where he expired January 23rd, 1871, lca\ing behind him a name revered throughout the land as a man. a cili/.on, a scholar and a dhine which all in the ministry would do well to aim at securing. His remains were committed to th'iir last resting-place amid the regrets of the entire com m unit. \ . A monument to his memory occupies a prominent place in the citj he so greatly loved and admired, the gift of an early colonial friend, admirer and co-worker. Kn-s't Church has had several ministers since the deatli of Dr. Burns., \ jz., Messrs Sutherland, Mackie, Gualtor, and its present pastor, Rev. James Oibb. Kk\. \V\i. W'ili,, Taieri, was horn 27th April, 1825, in the parish of Coll. ice, Perthshire. On reaching school age he attended the parish school of his nath c place, from which he passed to the (li-iimmar School of Dundee. In due course he entered the University of Edinburgh with a \ iew of studying for the ministry . His

theological studies were pursued in the Free Church College in the same city. While engaged in these studies he taught a mission school in connection with the Free High Church of Edinburgh. In the course of his student career his attention had been especially directed to the colonies as his sphere of ministerial labour. He resolved to give himself to that field, and offered his .services to the colonial committee of the Free Church. These were accepted, with the result that he received an appointment to Otago, from which the committee had received a request for a second minister. He was then duly licensed and ordained by the Presbytery of Irvine, within whose bounds he had been engaged in Home Mission work. He left for O'ago early in October 1853, in the ship Stately, and arrived at Port Chalmers early in the following February in company with the Rev. William Bannerman. Their arrival together enabled the Presbytery to be formed, which was named the Presbytery of Otago. Mr Will immediately after arrival settled in East Taieri. but extended his ser\iccs throughout the whole plain and also to Green Island on the one hand and to Waihola on the other. Gradually his wide sphere became lessened as sanctioned charges were formed and ministers settled in Waihola, Green Island, West Taieri and North Taieri. Mr Will visited Scotland in 1862, having been sent on a special mission to secure additional ministers which the increase of population and settlement had rendered necessary. In this ho was very successful. At a later period he was appointed with Mr Bannerman to represent the Otago Church in the General Assembly of the Victorian Church as a compliment on the occasion of their semi-jubilee as ministers in the colony. For many years Mr. Will filled the convenership of the Synod's Sustentation Fund

Committee. He still con- i tinues hale and hearty in the active service of the Church, , enjoying the honour^ of a I second Moderatorship of ' Synod with a view of presiding on the occasion of the Church's Jubilee on March 23rd, 1898. Rev. Wm. Bannerman one of the first three ministers of the Otago Presbyterian Church, was born in Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire, September Bth, 1822. His birthplace was left in childhood tor Edinburgh, where he received his > education, passing from the High School of that city to its University, and thence to the Theological College of the , Free Church in the same city. ; During his college course he , was largely engaged in pri- ' vate tuition, and with one of | his pupils made a continental tour, visiting France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Belgium. With the same . pupil he visited the South of . Ireland. He was licensed by ' the Free Church Presbytery of Edinburgh, and for a time was employed by the Home , Mission Committee of his ' Church in the parish of Cra- ' thie, which includes within it the royal properties of Bal- j moral and Abergeldie. In a I building belonging to the lat- , ter he conducted divine worship and a Sabbath School, laying the foundation of the present Free Church in that parish. Leaving Crathie, he ■ did work in Edit, near Aberdeen city, and afterwards in , the city of Perth. While in ■ the latter his attention was | directed to Otago, resulting 1 in the offer of his services to the Colonial Committee of the ■ Free Church for that colony, j His offer was readily ac- \ cepted, and his appointment made accordingly. This having been communicated to the Presbytery of Perth, he wah | ordained a minister of the Otago Church by that Presbytery, September, 1853, Dr. Andrew Bonar presiding on the occasion, as noted in his memoir. He sailed for Otago the following month in company with Rev. W. Will. Arriving together, they divided between them the settled districts lying south of Dunedin, the more southern ones falling to Mr. Bannermau. These included Tokomairiro, Inchclutha, South Clutha, Warepa and Kaihiku, all of which he had to undertake on foot for ten months, having been unable to procure a horse to aid him. Gradually settlement extended further sou thward.requiring to be attended to. As early as the close of 1856 he began to make periodic visits as far as Invercargill, and in years following as far as Riverton. These he continued till 1860, when Mr. Stobo was settled in Invercargill, who took in charge the large territory south of the Mataura. Thus relieved he turned his attention to Tapanui and Catlins districts, since constituted sanctioned charges. Meanwhile his own original charge had become subdivided bit by bit, by the settlement of Rev. A. B. Todd in Tokomairiro, Rev. James Kirkland in Inchclutha, and Rev. John Waters in Warepa and Kaihiku, while Popotu-

noa, adjoining the latter, hail become a enarge under Rev. C. Connor. Pucrua and Port Molyneux continued to be served by Mr. Bannerman. In the former his manse had been erected in 1857 on a beautiful site, surrounded by bush, and beside a mountain stream. Here he continued to labour till 1884, when he met with a buggy accident, which so lamed him as to necessitate his retirement from active work, retaining, however, at the request of his congregation, the position of its senior minister. On his resignation, the congregation presented him with a purse of £120, and the Church at large with £500 and a silver salver suitably inscribed. Since his retirement he has resided in Roslyn, occasionally taking pulpit work where this can be done without much walking, and discharging the duties of Clerk to the Synod, an office he has held since the formation of that body. In 1870 he was deputed to represent thy Church in the " Alliance of the Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian System "at its meeting in Edinburgh. Twice he has been deputy to the General Assemblies of the Victorian and New Zealand.Churohes.

He has held the convencrship or Lug Synod's Mission Committee for many years, and in that capacity visited with Mrs. Banncrman the New Hebrides, to the grcn t sa t isl'action of the missionaries, thoii" wives and the Christian natives, so seldom visited by outsiders. In Church Court discussions he lias ever taken a prominent part, but never allowing tlifi erencc of opinion to mar the friendliness of privates or public intercourse. Rev. D. M. Stuart, D.D., first minister of Knox Church, was born in Kenmure, Perthshire, in 1819. After attending the parish .school there, he entered the University of St Andrews and afterwards that of Edinburgh. Because of his action in securing the election of Dr. Chalmers as Loid Rector of St. Andrews University, he with others was expelled by its authorities, who afterwards made the amende honorable by conferring on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. On finishing his Edinburgh University course, he pursued his theological studies at the institutions for this purpose of the Free Church in Edinburgh and the English Presbyterian Church in London. These having been taken, he was liccn&ed by the Free Presbytery of Kelso, while

acting as Classical Master in a seminary at Windsor. After being li-

censed he received a call from the Presbyterian congregation at Falstone, in the North of England, which he accepted, and was duly ordained and inducted into that charge. This he resigned in 1859, on accepting an appointment to Knox Church, Dunedin, as its first minister, into which he was inducted by the Presbytery of Otago on May 16th, 1860. On his arrival in Dunedin and on his induction Dr. Stuart met with the heartiest reception, both from his brethren in the ministry and the congregation of Knox Church, as well as from the citizens of Dunedin generally, among whom he soon came to hold a prominent position. As minister of Knox Clmrch, he continued to discharge his ministerial and pastoral duties till his death in 1894, which had been preceded by a short period of declining health, patiently borne, but with the regret that he could not as formerly go out and in among-his people and minister to them. Assistance was provided by (he settlement of Rev. A. P. Davidson, M.A., as his colleague and successor, who, however, after a short period, and when Dr. Stuart was on his deathbed, resigned this position and returned to Scotland. During his long pastorate in Knox Church Dr. Stuart secured and retained the affection and the confidence of the large congre-

fation he had drawn together— said, to be the largest in the outhern Hemisphere. Ever unflagging in the discharge of his ministerial and pastoral duties, he found time and opportunity to interest himself in and to further the educatioual and charitable institutions of the city. Indeed in all that tended to the moral, intellectual, and social well-being of the community no one loomed more largely than Dr. Stuart during his long and wisely influential life. Many sought his advice and received assistance that braced them for their respective duties in life. The University of Otago, in the principalship of which he succeeded the venerable Dr. Burns, the Boys' and Girls' High Schools, were objects of his affection, as also not a few of the primary schools of Dunedin, and received much attention at his hands. His interest in church matters was not limited to the sphere of his own congregation, but extended to the whole church. He lent his services wherever these were sought. Few congregations failed to have the opportunity of receiving and being benefited by them. The position so long held by him as convener of the Synod's Church Extension Committee brought him into contact with all parts of the Church, and enabled him largely to be helpful in increasing and strengthening its congregations. His office bearers were thoroughly loyal to him, not less than the large membership of his congregation, as witnessed by the successful erection of one of the most handsome, if not the most handsoms,and comfortable and best furnished churches in New Zealand, on which no debt remained when his services ceased to be available. This sad event cast a shadow not merely over the congregation of Knox Church, but over the whole community in town and country throughout Otago and Southland. Expressions of regret fell from every lip

as the news spread that Dr. Stuart was no more. A public funeral was accorded his remains, attended by the civic authorities, by representative members of every religious denomination in the city, and by the largest body of general citizens that had ever joined a funeral cortege in Dunedin, while the streets through which it passed bore testimony to the feelings awakened by his departure. A monument to his memory, raised by public subscription, is expected to be unveiled on the occasion of Otago and the Church's jubilee, an appropriate time in view of the part played by Dr. Stuart as a citizen and as a churchman. Dr. Stuart has been succeeded in Knox Church by Rev. \V. Hcwitson, 8.A., who bids well to boas popular witli his congregation and the church at large as was his predecessor. Rev. Wm. Johnstonk, M.A., first minister of Port Chalmers, was born in 1823, in the parish of Crudcn, Aberdeenshire. He received the rudiments of his education in the parish school of his birthplace and in the Grammar school of the city of Aberdeen. He prepared himself for the ministry of the Free Church by attending the Aberdeen University, where he took his degree of M.A. with honours in mathematics, and the Theological Colleges of Aberdeen and Edinburgh connected with the Free Church. Having been duly licensed he accepted a commission appointing him to the Otago Church, and was settled at Port Chalmers in 1858, taking in charge the whole district of the province north of the Port, where his manse was erected. Over that wide area he extended his labours, laying the foundation, and witnessing the erection of several of the congregations now existing in its various parts. His services were welcomed and appreciated not less in the outlying districts than in the centre of his operations, Port Chalmers, where the original wooden church gave place to a suitable stone edifice under his auspices, which was opened by Rev. Wm. Will and Dr. Stuart in January, 1872. His health was unhappily not of the best. This greatly interfered with the desires that were his in connection with the work that lay to his hand. It finally gave way, and at the age of 58 years he fell asleep, to the profound regret of his congregation and the church at large. Mr. Johnston for a time acted as clerk to the Presbytery of Dunedin and as joint convener with Air. E. B. Cargill of the Theological College Committee. In the welfare of that institution he took the deepest interest. A year after his death his widow, who still survives him, was presented by Captain Thomson in the name of the congregation with a valuable property as a token of the regard in which it held her, and of its appreciation of her husband's services. Port Chalmers congregation since Mr. Johnston's death has had three ministers labouring in it, viz., Rev. John Riley, Rev. H. Adamson, and Rev. E. C. Tennent, its present minister. Rev. Alexandkk B. Todd was born in the ancient city of St. Andrews, Scotland,

in the year 1821. On leaving school he was engaged in business for some time. As a convert of William Burns in the revival of 1839 he began to study for the ministry. The first year of his course he studied at the University of St. Andrews and thereafter he had charge of the Falmouth Academy, Jamaica, for three years, which was to him an interesting sphere of labour. Returning to Scotland he resumed and finished his Arts Curriculum at the University of Edinburgh, and thereafter attended the Theological College of the Free Church. He was licensed to preach by the Free Church Presbytery of St. Andrews in the year 1855. Asa probationer he laboured for a year among the miners of Cowdenheath, Fifeshire, and for several months at Kirkoswold, Ayrshire. He was ordained to office of the ministry in May bole, Ayrshire, in the year 1858, and embarked for Otago m the ship Mariner on the first day of January, 1850. The Rev. Archdeacon Edwards was a fellow passenger, and the two ministers, the one an Episcopalian, the other a Presbyterian, held service in the saloon alternately on the Sabbath, and the friendship thus commenced continues to the present day. The two ministers left London the same day, landed in Dunedin the same day, and retired from the active work of the ministry the same day, the 31t>t December, 1894. Mr. Todd's first charge was Tokomairiro, where lie was inducted in Jujy, 1809, and laboured for about ten years. He was the first minister who preached to the miners in Gabriel's Gully. In 1869 he was settled in St. Paul's, Oamaru. For several years he paid periodical visits to the stations on the Waitaki, preaching to runholders, shepherds, miners, etc., and helped to form several congregations as offshoots to St. Paul's. From failing health, after twentyfive years' service in Oamaru, he retired from the active work of the ministry on December 31st, 1894, and since then, has resided in Dunedin, rendering occasional service as his strength allows. Mr. Todd was succeeded in St. Paul's by Rev. James Milne, formerly of Sydney, who still remains in the charge. Rev. A. H. Stobo, first settled minister in Invercargill, was born Axigust 28th, 1832, in the parish of Avondale, Middle Ward, Lanarkshire. After attending the parish school of Lesmahago and of his birthplace he entered the University of Glasgow at the early age of 15. The four years course taken there seriously undermined his strength, necessitating at its conclusion an interval of rest, which he employed in starting a Free Church School in his native parish. At the end of a year thus spent he resumed his studies, giving attendance at the Free Church College, Edinburgh. On completing the theological course required there he engaged in mission work at Uddingstone. While labouring there he was licensed in November 1857. Soon after he was transferred to Montrose, undertaking similar work, and successfully carrying it on. It was when thus engaged that Mr. Stobo was ottered and accepted an appointment to proceed to Otago, with a view to his settlement in Invercargill for which the Colonial Committee of the Free Church had received an application for a minister. Towards the end of January, IS6O, Mr. Stobo left Scotland, reaching Port Chalmers April 27th, shortly after which he was duly received by the Presbytery, and arrangements made for his ordination and induction at Invercargill, Messrs JBannerman and Todd being appointed a commission to effect these. Though settled in Invercargill Mr. Stobo had virtually to do duty over the whole territory that was afterwards embraced in the Province of Southland. Faithfully he gave himself to the work required of him, commanding himself and his services wherever those were rendered. One of the earliest, he has also proved himself one of the ablest of the ministers of his Church in the pulpit, and in the conduct of the business of the Church courts, securing the esteem and confidence of his brethren not less than of the community among whom he has spent so many years. In 1875 he went Home, receiving a handsome send-off from his congregation. Some two years and a-half after his return to Invercaigill his health began to fail, and continued to do so, necessitating his resignation and retirement from active duty. He was succeeded by Rev. John Ferguson, now at St. Stephen's, Sydney, and more recently by Rev. J. G. Smith. In pursuit of health Mr. Stobo revisited Scotland. While there he attended and took part in the proceedings of the Presbj terian Alliance, as representing his Church, at the late meeting of the Alliance held in Glasgow. For a considerable time he has maintained regular service at South Invercargill and continues still to do so, despite the infirmities that have overtaken him. Rev. James Copland, M.A., Ph.D., M.D.

first settled minister in the Otago goldfields, was born in Edinburgh, 3rd February, 1837. He received hit, classical education at the High School of his native city, afterwards pursuing his btudies at the Universities of Edinburgh, Berlin, Heidelberg, and Aberdeen, and in the Theological Hall of the U.P. Church, in connection with which he became a licensed preacher in 1858. In 1854 he received from the Edinburgh University the degree of M. A., from that of Heidelberg in 1858 the degree of Ph.D., and in 1864 from Aberdeen University the degree of M.D. Dr. Copland arrived in Otago in Nov. 1864. After being received by the Presbytery, then the Supremo Court of the Church, he was called to the new charge in Lawrence, settling there in 1805. Here he continued to labour till 1871, extending his services to the neighbouring goldfields and farming districts, making available his m edical attainments as well as fulfilling his ministerial duties. In 1871 he accepted a call to the North Dunedin congregation, organised shortly before that date. This charge he resigned in 1881, with a view to follow the medical profession, removing after a time to Gore, where, and throughout the neighbouring districts, he has found ample scope to do so. On Ist January, 18(59, he commenced to issue the Evangelist, which he continued to edit till March, 1871. This periodical became merged in the Presbyterian, which Dr. Stuart conducted for several years. Its place and work are now occupied by the Christian Outlook edited by Dr. Waddell. Since the formation of the Presbytery of Mataura Dr. Copland has acted as its clerk, and in connection with the Synod he held for a time the convenership of its Mission Committee and still holds the convenership of its committee on Bible reading in schools. In both^capacities he has done good service.