DR GRATTAN GUINESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2497, 22 January 1902, Page 81

DR GRATTAN GUINESS.

The Agricultural Hall was crowded to its utmost capacity on Sunday afternoon by an audience of men only to listen to a lecture from Dr Guinness, of London. From e\ery part of the city men were =een thronging towards the street from 2 o'clock a«d onwards, and an air of expectancy w;>. 3 appatent throughout the gathering crowd. On the platform an efficient male choii rendered several sweet numbers before the formal commencement of the meeting, and punctually at 3 o'clock the chair wa 1 - taken by the President of the Council of Churches., the Rev. J J. Lewis, and the old hymn "" Statid up, stand up for Jesus" wab rung out by the manly voices of the great congregation. After the opening exorcises, m which the Revs. Wright (Oamaru) and Watt (Dunediii) took part, Mr Stevens sung with clear enunciation and considerable feeling the striking solo "Throw out the life-line." The Chairman then rose to introduce the speaker. In a sympathetic and admirable little speech he told how he had in early years known the father of Dr GuinnebF, when he was widely appreciated as one of the most popular preachers of the day, and how four years ago he had travelled on the Ballarat in company with a number of missionaries bound for China, and amongst them one of the most popu'ar men on the cship was the younger brother of the lecturer. He heartily welcomed to Dunedin, on the part of a large and representati\e committee, the mioMonPT who wa» to address them on so important a theme. Dr Guinneps, who was reo^ved with hcaity app'.ause, thanked the chairman for his welcome words, a«d told how frequently lie has been confused with his father, one gentleman having asked mm. " Ai" you your father or yourself? " A similar confusion had produced a humorous little incident in Aberdeen. The celebrated diune Dr Brown was knocked up one night m-t as he \\u.-> retiring to rest by an individual who urged him to come at cine to his wife, who was exceedingly ill "You ha\e made a mistake, said Dr Brown. "1 am the D I) , and the M D. of my name lues lound the corner. " Oh," said the anxious man, " you arc tho doctor that preaches; I want thedoUoi that practises'" In this case, though the father it, the D D. and the son the M.D., both of them are preacheis, and have proclaimed the Gospel in many lauds. Proceeding to the special matter of the lecture, the speaker showed the universality of temptation, and that in itsolf temptation wa- not sin. Thr> old Puiitaiis vi«od to -ay that one could not help the birds of the air fly ins; oior ore's head, but that we could prmeiit tlu m building their t c-ts in one's hair Christ was the most tempted of all men, yet with out Mn. It was not the impure thought that might be hurled like a fiery dart at the soul that constituted the wiong, but when such thought*, were haiboured and allowed to become a train of thought, then the e'ement of responsibility and of -in crept in As the submerged 'rock* of the ocean raused peril to navigation, and wcie the means of wrecking many a noble ship, so the ro<ks of intemperance and impurity c-aii-ed the wreckage of many a young man'- life. if dunk had -'am it* thousand-, l"-t had '•lam its ten^ of thou«and=. The death roll of drink war- calculated at 120,000 amiuallv. but that of lust was bo vnst that it could never be fully known The red '•conrge <>f war had been the means of sweeping away 20.0G0.000 of moii dming llic pie-Piit if" turv. but the battlefield of Mo was 'trewu with unnumbered dead .mcl dyintj men and women, and this aw fill fact r -,ii<.litutpc! one of the f ray est pioblt'ii oi the Church An advertisement he had seen for the dlm'-

" The Read to Ruin ' vividly portrayed the life of many a man. A coach-and-four is seen dashing reckleesly down a hill. On the box sit° "Youth," in whose hands the reins are lightly held, whilst on either side burn the flaring lamps of '" Piodigality " and " Passion." Beneath the horses' hoofs two female forms, '"Virtue and "Prudence," are beins; crushed to death, and on the hilltop old " Wisdom " ptands woefully wringing hi*, hands, whilst the \illagc church spire away in the background suggests how far religion has been left behind. In front the road grows darker and steepei, till heavy clouds cover the scene. The startling picture was calculated to make many a man pause in his career ond consider. After entering into the medical aspect of his subject, r«id showing what ravages were wrought in the human system by unchastity, the doctor pleaded strongly for purity. He entered a protest agairist moral responsibility between the sexes, and urged that an openly immoral man should be regarded as '" fallen a c much a« the " sister of phame." He earnestly advocated the position of the Austra lasian White Cross League in the following pledge: —"I solemnly promise, by the help of God (1), to treat all girls and women with respect, and endeavour to protect them fiom wrong and degradation. (2) To endeavour to put down all indecent language and coarse jetts. (3) To maintain the law of purity as equally binding upon men and women. (4) To endeavour to spread the=e principles among my comnanions, and to help my younger brothers. (5) To u=e every possible means to fulfil the command, ' keep thyself pure.' " The loctuiov waa listened to with the closest attention throughout, and produced a profound effect on those who were present. At the close of the address all tlic-he who heartily erdoisod the purity pledge that had been circulated in the meeting were a-ked to hold up their hand=, and immediately the whole audience, as far as could be soon, raised their mantis nnd testified their unmistakcable approval by loud applause. A very large nnmln of voting men To^e throughout the bmldincr, indicating their desire to begin the Christian life, and the«e subsequently gathered in the Victoria Hall for an after-meeting. It has been ar ranged that Dr Guinness shall delnei two mote address to men on siu revive Sunaay afternoons in the ■-ame building. The Garrison Hall was filled on Sur.dar. when Dr Giunne=s gave an e\ancrolibtic ad die^=. choosing for his text, " I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it i.- the power of God unto salvation." The doctor illustrated hU text by lefernnz to incident? in the work of D. L. Moody, telling lmvv that in London ho himself could bear testimony to seeing 10,000 come night after night to lieai this manly, eaine-t iian preach the "old Go-pel." fn Sydney recently the doc tor took part in the timu'taneour, mi-ion, when a= many as 25.000 people were a.=-Pf-mbled at one time to l.car the Gospel of Je-us Christ. The \.erv striking lllustra tioni of the text were given from experiences in London, '"'ma, and India. Meetings will bo held in the Agricultural Hall on the two following Sundays, Evangelist Eugene Farn&vvorth having kindly gi\rn up his light to the hall fot these evenings.