REVIEW

Southland Times, Issue 16786, 15 July 1911, Page 7

REVIEW

Jubilee of the First Church, Invercargill, 1860-1910. W. Smith & Co. Agents : Bible Depot. One Shilling.

This history of the mother Presbyterian Church of Southland makes interesting reading. It Is easily evident that the compiler, whose name Is modestly withheld, must have gone to considerable trouble in ransacking the files of the past. We have tested the accuracy of the brochure and have in every case found the particulars correct —a state of affairs not generally observable in such publications. Of its hundred pages, the first forty are devoted to an historical resume of (he introduction of Christianity to the Maoris, the subsequent colonisation of the various provinces, and the establishment of Christian institutions therein. The remaining sixty pages deal fully with the growth of Presbyterianism in Southland, and ought to make interesting reading to the great body of Presbyterians in Southland, as well as to others. In the latter half of the book the First Church receives particular attention ; lists of office-bearers down the half century, notices of notable men. and women of the congregation, extracts from the Church records, and photographs all finding a place. Anyone who has had experience of the difficulties of compiling such a record in the dearth of data through the disappearance of old records must appreciate such a work as this ; for it renders readily accessible and preserves in convenient form what would otherwise be probably searched for in vain. We congratulate the compiler on his industry and commend the book to Southlanders. A word of praise is due to the printer ; the type is clear and the paper and binding good.