COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2413, 7 June 1900, Page 29

COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES.

THANKSGIVING SERVICE IN FIRST CHURCH. Despite the fret that tfis decision to hold a religious service last evening was arrived at when it wss tco "late to make it wicleiy known, and despite the great excitement possessing most of the citizens, there was a large gathering in First Church at 8 o'clock. The Sew J. Gibb (president of the council) occupied the chair, and on the platform were the Rev?. W. Saunders, I. Jolly. £>. Borne. A. North, A. Chandler, and Dr Waddell ami Messrs A. C. Begg and A. S. Adams. The service being strictly a religious one. there was no applause ; but the proceedings, from first, to last, were cic-ply impressive. The keynote of the hymns, pc&yers, and addres&es was " God hath done this ; to Him be the piaise." The addresses, ot which there were three, delivered respectively by the Revs. I. Jolly, W. Sinclair, and J. J. Lewies,_ were marked by much thoup hi fulness. While intensely patriotic to the Empire, they sought to emphasise the duty of tho far higher loyalty to the throne of God. The perils of vaingloiv. the temptation to arrogance and boastfulnoss in the hour of victory, were plainlyset forth, reminding one at many points of the warnings so impressively conveyed in Kipling's great recessional, "Lest we forget.'* The lessons the nation ought to learn from this war were also pointed out in a fashion impressive alike to the minds and hearts of the congregation. Tue hymns sung were all well known, being The Hundredth Psalm. "' O Godofßelhel. by Whose Hand." "Now Israel may say," " Thou whoso almighty word," and the National Anthem. They were sung with immense vigour, and with an accent of sincerity which left nothing to be_desired. The Revs". D. Borne and A. North led the coneregatiow in prayer, every sentence being manifestly tho expression of heartfelt conviction. The President read, as the lesson, the 72nd Pralm. The meeting was in every \ny memorable of a, great occasion, and will bo long remembered by those who were privileged to be present. The Rev. J. Gibb. in a few introductory remarks, said that all the circumstances being taken into account, it was a cause of sincere congratulation to see so many assembled them that evening to give thanks to God and call

upon His name. The decision to hold that oieating had bsen come to when it was too late to malce the matte:- known, save by advertisement in the paper which had come into Lheir hands only an hour or two before that. Why the decision w?= taken so lite in the clay required some explanation^ which, he would not then give them. If he did they would see that the executive of the council had besn treated somewhat discourteously. He might mention that tho executive intended to hold a great united meeting in some church, 0£ more probably hi one of the large halls of the city, as soon as } ence was declared, or which practically camo to the same thing, as f-oon a* the Transvaal was annexed. At the projected service they would endeavour to celebrate tho occasion with all due dignity and impressiveBess. But he trusted that the present impromptu meeting would prove in many ways helpful to them all. The Rev. I. Jolly said: "We are here tonight to render thanks to Almighty Gcd for His great goodness to us as a nation m forming us within sisht of victory m Soutli Africa. To Him be oil the glory. We a-e ■oioud of the valour of our soldiers and of our "brave and skilful generals : but we know thai God is <ncr all, and that our present poMuon as an Empire is due to the goodness of the God of Battles. As we think of the contrast between our feelings to-night and the feelings of sad foreboding that sometimes nlted our niinds las" December, we realise keenly our pieat cause for thankfulness. Some of us u;u remember how, when our synod was met in this church last November, news amvea oi a disaster afc Ladysmith, and we learned how several battalions of British soldiers had been forced to surrender to the enemy. Then dismay was written on every face as ths news was read to the synod. Only a few months have passad and nil is changed. Then we almost feared to open our newspaper, lest it -should tell us of another disaster ; now our hearts arc tilled with gladness as we feei that •victory is assured. And our feeling of gratitude to God should be still further deepened as we think how readily disaster might have attended our arms. We know now that other 50,000 South African Dutch had pledged "themselves to rise in support ,of fr.he Boers, and the fall of L?dysmith was to be the signal for their rising. It makes us feel deeply serious, now that the danger is past, to thing how readily it might have fallen. The oueaiy had heavier and better guns around Isadysmith than the field artillery which General White had with him, and had not -ihe commander of one of our warships mounted two naval guns and sent some bluejackets into Ladysmith, it is difficult to see Siow our brave soldiers could have kept the •Jag flying there and have avoided being taken as prisoners to Pretoria. And had that happened, the whole South African Dutch would ihave rieeii against us. And, furtfaer, the relief of Lndysmith was only secured just in E-ime. Only four days' rations were left. After •Shat surrender must have come. As we think of all these facts, we feel that we must give .•praise to a gracious Providence, that so overruled events as to prevent this great disaster, and lead us to rejoice to-night over victory and a near prospect of peace. And as we rohink not only of the dangers we have escaped in South Africa, but o£ dangers which were arot merely possible, but which we sometimes felt were probable through hostile action cm the psxt of one or move 'of the Eiiropean nations, we would seek with still deeper gratitude to say, 'The Lord hath clone great things for us whereof we are glad."' We know that the nations on the Continent of •Europe do not love our Empire. And Rx\ssia has before now taken advantage of the difficulties oi other nations to secure her ends. >We feared that Fhe might mov9 her vast fvrmies against India. We also feared what action might be taken by Germany or France. We know that none of them love us ; and as /we see our hour of peril passing away and fthat none of them has sought even to emfoarras3 < us, we cannot help recognising the goodness of our God in thus overruling tho minds of men and so guiding the councils of nations as to secure our Empire's safety. The thought of these things must fill our heni'U ■with thankfulness to-night. Another leasoa ■which X would mention for our renderingthanks to God is that He has thus preserved and strengthened and led us and pobeied and purified our Empire. With all our faults, we believe that, on the whole, the British Empire stauds for truth and righteousness. We believe that God has ussd, and. ; s vising, it for the advancement of His kingdom. Its flag' brings liberty to the slave. Its statesmen peek the good of the mass of the jpeople. It is a land of open Bibles and of iusc laws. It is favourable to missionary enterprise. Had our beloved nation been seriously weakened, had her swaj r be^an diminished, we know that it would have basn a disaster for liberty, for civilisation, and, I ■will add, for 'pure religioii. And through giving victory to our arms, Gcd in His mercy has averted this calamity. Fox this we should render our deepest gratitude and praise to Him. In this connection we have to think of how this aspect of this conflict has affected the native racea in South Africa. To-clay they share our iov. Tho Boers have boan their oppressors. They even hindered in the past evangelistic efforts pmong them. And now the Ba&utos, the Fingoes, the Zulus, and the other African tribes are sharing in our joy as we praise Almighty God for the victory which -He has been graciously tfrleacsd to vouchsafe to us. And ere sitting down. I ■would still further say that we have cai?sc for thankfulness at the near ending of the, thorrors of war. Even a just war is a dreadful thing. Every battle, aye. every skirmish, has ■brought sorrow to many homes. Men who a few months ago marched to battle in his»ii hope, and with spring in their steps, now lie cold and stiff 'ncath South African soil, and fathers and mothers, and wives and sisters, aro mow mourning their dead. Home?, both in vhese colonies. a.nd in Britain, and in Africa, are now desolate/!. Thank God, this slaughter of bravo men will soon be ended. We urpi>-3 Him for His mercy. Ws hope that through His grace tho time will «jon come ; Till the war drum throbs no longer, and the

battle flag is furled. In the Parliament of man, the federation of the world, {When the common sense oi: most shall hold a

fretful realm in awe, I4.nd the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in

universal law. '■iLnd for this and all other bikings we put our trust in God. "The Lord of HostS j is .with us. The God of Jacob is oi*r refuse."

The Rev. W. Sinclair said that as ho passed .through the crowded streets and saw the imm n r.so multitude of excited people, and then .Wir.e to this quiet, helpful meeting, he was vtr^ngly imprpswd by the contrast between \ l ,he two. He, indeed, would be the last to ihrow cold wate.- on the popukr enthusiasm— \hat was' inevitable;— -but all ihe more needful fe« such a meeting- a-; the present, where the phief omnlia^is must be or the Rhino Fr.clor In the SouMi African \m\ They were erte'ivating victory. It wa.. the hand of God diat had given them the victory. Twelve

months ago the Peace Conference s?.t at the Hague, and e"*en fondly imagined it t^e prelf da to \iniverij>l and unbreakable peace. Yet scarcely had Ihe echoes of the conference died awaj* when the thunder of tho conuon was hear:!, and the nation was plunged into a deadly strife. War a dreadful evil, and some men might 0.-k: "Was it not out of place io hole 1 a thanksgiving service for anything in connection with so groat a woo as ■war." They krew that when the Kingdom o> Cnris 1 .. was fully come, war would T)e impossible. But. notwithstanding, there wer? rea?c-iu — many reasons — for thanksgiving that evening. He was one of those who pt first Lad regarded the war with groat suspicion, as probably due to th° lu-t of gold j»na greed of territory. He had been constrained by the item logic cf fact to change that opinion. Who couH doubt that what was aimed at was Dutch supremacy in South Africa. And the first thing to thank God for was that the Dulch would not now be — -..-ould never be — supreme in that land. Moreover, they came our of ihe v. ar with a uniiied Erapirp — '.he daughters and the mother now bound with indissoluble tie-. Further, they had to rejoice in ihe freedom which would be the pos?<;s-ion of all the inhabitants — Dutch and J'Jnj'.jUsh plike — jf the conquered States. The day« of tyrannic.il oligarchy were ended. Aqpiii. i''e war wo aid greatly strengthen the mis*ionai'y cau^e in South Africa. It would go low. aid by leaps and bounds now that the natives had been delivered from the hands of cruel and remorseless mater*. Aud one thing more there was for which they must thank Cod: They had a brave army: one of the bravest. They all knew that. But the war had proved that it was a sober army, and of many of the men it might be affirmed they wore Christian soldiers, as well as soldiers' of the Queen. The discipline they had undergone had net only strengthened their physical manhood, but elicited qualities, at least in many cases, of a distinctly moral and spiritual kind. Tint was surely a great cause of joy Io every Christian hsari.

The Rev. J. J. .Lawis c aid he. had come to the meeting at the bidding of the i^resident at very short notice, and a good deal of inconvenience. But ho was amply repaid by this goodly gathering, a gathering remarkable under the circumstances. He drew the a.udience some picture? of other notable meetings at which he had been present, or of which he had read. One of those vras the cornnany of sad-hearted men who in the Transvaal after the disastrous surrender in 1881 had buried thp English Sag. They buried it, but they placed above the grave a monument bearing the word ' Kesurgam '" — '" f shaii rise r train." One of ihes°. clays he expected to hear of the recurrection of this old Union Jack from its resting palce. He next referred to the great fight at Osesar's camp, and the thanksgiving service conducted thereafter in Ladysmith, when General White and his staff were present, and the Te Deurn was reverently sung by the martial congregation. Tho next memorable event lie would remind them of was the departure of the fourth contingent, and the thing which lingered most fondly in his memory was the overflowing congregation which had met in that building in the name of their common cause and common Lord to commend the soldiers io God's safekeeping. He asked: Why should we 'believe God was on our side? "Why should we. thank him that night? He answered, first, because a hostile Power, halfway between the motherland and her great Australasian colonies, had been deprived of all power to injure or annoy. Again, because our people, as a whole, believed the Bible to be the basis of all that wa= good and great in our national life, and. on the whole, practised thai righteousness Avithout which no nation could be exalted. Once more, because of the freedom and justice that would now be the portion of the native populations of South Africa. He could have jumped for joy when he thought how at that very hour the Basutos, the Fin2,'oes, the Kaffirs;, the Zulus, were rejoicing in our joy. Britain stood for equal rights io all men. The Transvaal stood for slavery to the black races. The'-'e were incompatible ideals. Sooner or later they would have meant war. Great was their indebtedness to Almighy God, whose arm had given them the victory. He would end by quoting to them a verso of Carlyle's rugged translation of Luther's great hymn. Surely it was most appropriate : — 'By force of arras we nothing can, Full soon were we down-ridden ; But for us fights the pioper man, Whom God Himself hath bidden. Ask ye who is this same? Christ Jesus is His name, The Lord Sabaotb/ss Son; He and no other one Shall conquer in the battle.

The benediction, pronounced by the Rev. Mr Saunders, brought a very fine," inspiriting meeting to a close.