WAVERLEY.

Patea Mail, 17 August 1880, Page 3

WAVERLEY.

[IMIOM OU1! COKBHSI'ONDEXT.] Monday Evening.

Tin-; Joockcy Club meeting on Friday night was very protracted, and the business was all well discussed. The races are to be held on tiie Prince of Wales birthday (9th November), and the sums to be run for are very considerable. The time at which the meeting is to be held may not suit some, but there ought to bo a good attendance on the course, the day fixed being a public holiday. The programme of events will soon bo published, and it is to be hoped there will be a large number of entries, as the course will be in very good order, being much improved since last meeting. Footisai.i,.— On Saturday afternoon the Patoa Club paid us a visit, and a match was played between them and our local club on the Reserve. The play throughout was very rough, and resulted in a drawn game. The Patea team claimed a goal, but it was decided against them ; so that the clubs had one point each. It may be manly exercise and a good old sport, but it struck me as trying on the temper and sore on the shins. There is some skill and real science in cricket and in boxing, but football, as played on Saturday, seemed a species of bollocking. THE NE I V CHURCH. The opening services of the new church, for the Church of England body in the Wavcrlcy district, were held on Sunday, morning and evening. The neat new structure, which is already free from debt, was crowded at the morning service, friends having flocked in from all parts of the coast within a dozen miles. A large contingent came from Patoa. About 50 additional seats would have been appreciated, and there was an oversight in not providing chairs. The choir from Patea church were present, and rendered the choral music with a fulness and finish that must have been a pleasing surprise to many in the district who had been long unused to the luxury of a musical service of a superior kind. The singing of Jackson’s fine arrangement of the “ To Deum laudamus” was really excellent for a voluntary choir. The rich mediaeval surroundings of Westminster Abbey—the long aisles, the fretted vault, and the deep solemn echoes—could not be realised at Wavcrlcy ; but that magnificent piece of church music appealed to the imagination with effect, and induced a devotional feeling without suggesting the vanities of overstrained ritual. The service was otherwise plain and “ low ” enough to satisfy puritan tastes, while it was quite as “high” in the musical part as is desirable. The introduction of an anthem by the choir is just that kind of innovation which old-fashioned Churchgoers regard as new-fangled and showy. The anthem is so natural a feature in cathedral service, that congregations in wealthy cities deem it to be indispensable. In so far as music assists towards a devo tional frame of mind, it is a desirable accessory in religious services ; but the choir should bo duly subordinated, as we think it was on this occasion.

The Ivcv. A. Dasent read the prayers at the morning service, and the sermon was preached by Archdeacon Thorpe, his text being the 4th verso of the Bth chapter of St. Mark. Mr Thorpe preaches with simple earnestness, and tiic lessons he deducts from a text are practical. Preaching is most impressive when the matter is simple, and the manner of delivery is cup tured and natural. There is no reason why the Bible, for example, should be read in any other than the natural manner a man would have of telling some impressive story which had moved him so much that, he could not help imparting his unstudied emotion to those listening to him. How rarely do any of us hear the Bible read so!

The members of the Patea choir were entertained to dinner at the, house of Mr D. Hunter, Waverley, and his free hospitality did him much credit.

The evening service was conducted by the Rev. A. Dasenl, his text being the 2nd verse of the 3th chapter of Mathew.