Presbyterian Church, Temuka.

Temuka Leader, Issue 3508, 21 October 1899, Page 3

Presbyterian Church, Temuka.

CONGREGATIONAL GATHERING

The congregational meeting held annually in connection with the Temuka Presbyterian Church was largely attended on Thursday evening, and the large Drill Shed, in which the congregation assembled, presented quite an animated picture, especially while tea was in progress. It is recognised that a gathering of this description would be of but little account were it not for the provision of the cheering cup, and the ladies of the conKregation on this, as on other occasions, provided such a profusion ot good things that even ;he young ones, although evidently beut on doing thenutmost,' had to cry " Hold, enough I " long before their hospitable entertainers had ceased to press upon them their dainty "cookies." After lea, which was not ooncluded until quite eight •.■'clock, a concert, interspersed with speeches,'wa-s given. A choir, comprising members of all denomina tions, under the leadership of Mr W . G. Rutland, wore stationed upon the si.ige, and in the course of the evening contributed a number of anthems and se>ec-. tions of concerted music very tastefully. The Rev. J. Dickson presided, and in the course of his opening remaiks drew a contrast between the contest in which t.iey had lately been engaged, the war upon provisions, with that now going on in the Transvaal. Thoy must all deplore he necessity for that war, but as p ttriotic :;nd loyal subjects of Victoria, their gracious Queen, they could not but real so that they were part of a great and united Empire*. They had, he thought, every rea»un to place implicit confidence in th ir political ministers of the day. Sir Arthur Miiner had stated that there were certain d mauds which must be complied with, and Mr Chambertain, who was not what is known as a fighting man, agreed that the position cf affairs could not be permanently adjusted without war. He was glad to announce to them that a telegram, had just been received from the seat of war, s: ating that in an encounter between the rival for es 400 Boers had been slain, and apparently no loss was received by the British. (Applause.) He felfc that they were justified in their applause, but he took it that they did not mean that they applauded the necessity for war. They would, with him, deplore that the Boers were so obstinate and keen for warfare as to allow themselves to run their heads into a noose. It was to be hoped that they would quickly realise the position, and that the war tvould be brought to a speedy close. The chairman and all present then sang a verse of the National Anthem.

The chairman having extended a, hearty welcome to those present apologised for the absence of several speakers. The Rev. Mr Farley could not attend through unavoidable causes. The Rev. Mr Williams, of Geraldine, had an important engagement, and the members of the Presb\ tery who were to have been present had to attend meetings elsewhere. Mr Morrison was engaged at Waimate, and the Revs. Mr Gillies, Mr Mackie, and others were engaged at a function at Totara Valley. They had, however, their near neighbours, the Rev. Mr Todd, and also the Rev. Mr Borrie, of Dunedin, whom they would all welcome.

Miss Smith played brilliantly an overture upon the piano, after which the chairman made a few remarks upon the subject of Presbyterian. He referred to an address he had given at Timaru during the last sitting of the Presbytery on " Why am I a Presbyterian," and said that he was proud to belong to a church which recognised ail communities. He was proud, to ~>, to believe that the Presbyterian Church •was the most catholic of the lot. He thought it was partly due to this that they could aee so many members of other demonstrations present.

A short musical programme followed. Mr P. McCaskill sang " True to the laxt" very well indeed,' Miss Baillie sang " .No night there," the Misses contributed a duet, " The goat bells,"' and the choir's contributions were two antuems. Miss Warren acted as accompaniste to the several performers. The Rev. A. Bruce Todd, who was accorded a hearty welcome, said that it was always a pleasure to him to come to a soiree at Temuka. He had been there in all weathers—in howling not-'-westers like that which prevailed on Wednesday, on days when the ram poured down aud left speakers, singers, and congregation in miserable plight, and on pleasant eveatugs like this, when they >ver favored wi h flue weather and a full moou. He thought the pleasure arose a giod deal through his being a near neighbor, aud tv-cause he hr.d a good many ufb.it> own people now restdcn 1amongst them, oume of his own congregation had left him aud belonged to Temuka. and some of these had become office-bearers. A fair exchange, it was said, was, no robbery, but he could not say there was anything of a fair exchange in this case. The speaker then referred to the absence of several ministers, and related au amusing incident of a similar ol'Cu rence where, when apologising for the absence of several speakers, he was told by one that " It did not matter," and by another " That's a blessing." If they really meant it he thought it w.is a fortunate thing that there were several soirees that evening, and, consequently ministers conld only accept on,- invitation. lie knew that there were plenty of people who liked ministerial addresses, and the speaker gave one or two ins'::nces,but he rather thought himself that miaisters looked upon soirees as necessary evils. The speaker continued, in humorous v-;;in, to discuss why it was that Presbyttr :«s seemed to take to tea drinking in fining and told some very amusing sto; iws" more or less apropos to the subject. He Laeu touched the subject of Presbyterian is in more seriously and said that he was no humble Presbyterian. He had a love for hi* enurch. was prouder of it the mores he knew. It had a glorious history, and as t'i.ve Wi:r « trees whose branches towered high in proportion to the depth of the root below, so Presbyterianism reache 1 high on account of its glorious past history. Its government was on lines that were in existence in Mosaic times. Like modern institutions, too. it was thoroughly democratic, and by it the rights of every person were safeguarded. The presbytery, session, and synod were courts checking each other, and open to every member of the church. This system of government was proving itself the beat, and no less a person than Dr Joseph Parker, of London, a promia.ent Congregationalism, upheld it. He (the speaker) hoped that they would uphold Presbyterianism and do nothing to disgrace it. In conclusion he said that during their . minister's absence the congregation would be under his own charge for some nine months, and he trusted the friendship now subsisting between them would grow more and more. Mrs Brown, of Riverslea, sang, " The Master stood in His garden," and ha; to repeat the last verse. Mr G. Richardson sang " Conquer or die," the choir contributed an atbem, and Miss R. Smith also sang very pleasingly. Mr Rutland's song "The band of the brave," was accompanied by Miss Warren, and Mr R Morri- played a violin obligate to it. The singer was loudly npplaudedV Miss Hitfginssr.ng '•Thestarof Bethlehem," and in respo-se to an imperative encore contributed another charmin-.' song. The R*v. Mr Borrie's remark* were very brief. He expressed pleasure at visiting Temuka, for it reminded him in many roapoct? of his native land in the " Strath of Tay." He told several humorous etones, and concluied wit. suggesting tt erne > up n which he could have *uch a . " How to build up the Church of the future." and "Talent and Tact" The latter, he thought, wouM be appropriate to the occasion. They had had before u em that evening splendid m-tancea of t; Vn'. both musical aud an . rhe' would witness now an equally b; ii an example of tact. Her. thh .-p.-.tk-: r q,. , kly left the platio.in a-ni i-t a hearty bur,., ot lauehter. Before anDonn-in ; = tie last it=;r..s *<.*• chHirm&D proposed a th.ti.k: ia'ue epeaisew, singers, ami tuo Lwksb iot pro-

vising tea. These were carried by acclamation. Mra H. Blair Stewart sang " The Fisherman and his child," receiving warm applause, and an anthem by the ohoir, concluding with the doxology. gave the sign-il to disperse.