LECTURE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2256, 19 September 1891, Page 4

LECTURE.

There was an appreciative, audience at the Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldirie, on Thursday evening to hear the Rev. W. 0. Wood deliver a lecture on " Duncan Matheson, the . Scottish Evangelist." Mr C. E: Sherratt occupied the chair. The lecturer said, you could not jgo into any Presbyterian community S'thout hearing the name of Duncan atheson mentioned with pride. The true record of his whole life's work would never be known until eternity revealed its mysteries, for: Duncan- Matheson,..was always adverse to anything biographical on himself. He was born at Huntley, in ■1824. One or two persons noticing? his manliness, of character advised him $6 enter the -Ministry,. and offered, to, s?ud him to the University at their own expense. . Matheson . refused, the offer,, saying that "'A Minister must be converted, and I am not, and I wont go:" |Mathespn then, took to the work of a ' stone mason, but some time after the death of his mother made an impression on his mind, and he at last became an . Evangelist. He gathered together j a of workmen, and, being a good draughtsman, he.,taught, them drawing, and ait the same time did some good Evangelical work among them. His first sermon was pne,,preached tp wjQmen.from iihe text" Tremble ,ye women;; wbo be at Matheson was a man of great ability as a stone cutter, and might have made a fortune at his trade, but he gave it up and entered the Ministry for a paltry £4O a year. Matheson thought he could do a great deal of good by distributing thousands of tracts in Edinburgh} so he got an old printing machin3,and a. case of old worn out type, and set to work,arid, soon fount! out that he knew as much about the machine as the machine knew about him. However, he persevered, and before long was able to print 2,000 fourpage tracts a day. Day after day he could be seen with his bundle of tracts under his arm, and he was spoken of as "the converted stonecutter, who composed, printed, arid distributed his own tracts," His great life work was at the Crimean war, where he endured many privations and did a great amount of good amongst the soldiers. His health failing him while there, he was forced to go back home, to get restored. It was at this time when the Presbytery met at Auckland, New ( Zealand, and sent a liberal offer to Duncan Matheson to come to New Zealand, but he refused the offer, and went;, back to the Crimea and coiripleted his work. Duncan Matheson died on the 16th September,' 1869, at the age of 45.