A STIRRING ADDRESS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 14139, 19 February 1910, Page 7

A STIRRING ADDRESS.

VISIT OF REV. H. S. WOOLLCOMBE STRAIGHT TALK TO MEN. , One of tho most stirring addresses heard in New Plymouth for many years was delivered by tho Rev. H. S. Woollcomhe, travelling secretary to the Church of England’s Men’s Society, to a great gathering of men in tho Theatre Royal last night. Clear, eloquent, and powerful, with a dominating personality, and with an ample share of the humanising power of humour and a fund of apposite anecdote, Mr. AVoollcombc quickly riveted the attention of his hearers, gripped their sympathy, and wormed his way into their innermost feelings. They soon realised that here was indeed a men’s man, no more orator, but a man who had had a long and vivid experience of the things ho spoke about, who had fought’ bravely and well against the evils of which ho spoke, a man of deep convictions and of great courage, fearless in every way, and withal a man . of great sympathy. The Mayor of New Plymouth (Air. G. Tisch) presided over the meeting. 'With him on the platform were tho Bishop of Auckland (Dr. Neligan), tho Rev. F. G.‘Evans Vicar of St. Mary’s, Mr. H. Okey, M.P., and the Rev. H. A. Favoll, of ’ Stratford, aoting-Chaplain to the Bishop. The Bishop briefly introduced Mr. Woollcombe, remarking that as head of Oxford House, London, Mr. Woolloombe had needed and had shown a groat knowledge of the social problems, and had devoted much time and labour to their amelioration. Mr. Tisch extended to Mr. Woollcombo a very hearty welcome to New Plymouth, whore Mr. Tisch was sure his presence would do n‘great deal of good and would help to stimulate interest in the greatest movement of the C.E.M.S. In New Zealand we probably had more advanced ideas than in tho Old Country. Wo had State railways. State coal mines, State insurance, and free and compulsory education, hut religious instruction in our schools was tabooed so far as tho Government was concerned, and was left to private work. Mr. Woollcombo would ho verv pleased tn hoar that the New Plymouth branch of the C.E.M.S. -was oxertine a very great influence on men outside the church, such an influence, in fact, that if it continued it appeared that before long there would bo none outside the church—all would be inside. His Lordship tho Bishop very cordially welcomed Mr. Woollcombe on behalf of the diocese of Auckland, in which New Plymouth was tho first town to be visited by Mr. Woollcombe. He thanked the Mayor for so kindly presiding over tiro meeting, and pointed out that when the men at tho head of municipal affairs' wore prepared to help those engaged in religious affairs a great and beneficial influence was brought to boar on the community. His Lordship humorously remarked that Mr. Woollcombe had many advantages, but there wgs one that, unfortunately for himself, he did not possess —he was not an Irishman. That was not his fault, but he did the next best thing, he was a Devonshire man. Mr. Woollcombo’s visit was not primarily for tho formation of now branches of tho C.E.M.S., but for .the purpose of “bucking up” those already in existence. They wero encouraged and helped by the presence of members of other churches. He was sure that when these men had heard Mr. Woollcombe they would say, “Well, that old Church of England has got A RIPPING GOOD MAN this time.” The Rev. F. G. Evans briefly extended a welcome on behalf of the clergy and laity of tho archdeaconry of Taranaki. They felt proud to welcome a man who represented 85,000 or 90,000 of their follow-clmrohmeu in England. Mr. Woollcombe received a great ovation on rising to speak. Ho remarked that ho did not feel altogether a stranger to New Plymouth, for in tho early days of Canterbury his uncle, “old Billy Woollcombe” as he was often called, had been ono of the pioneers sent out by the Church. As Resident Magistrate at Timaru, “Old Billy” had filled many positions, celebrating marriages, registering births, looking after mails and sorting letters, “and giving ’em a couple of months when they wanted it.” Nor could he feel a stranger in a town with the, name of New Plymouth. He was proud of being a Devonshire man. His Lordship tho Bishop had commiserated with him because he was not an Irishman. His Lordship was proud that he was an Irishman, hut he (tho speaker) was prouder still that he wav a Devonian. “You know,” added Mr. Woollcombe with a smile, “Ireland has caused England a lot of troiihlo, hut Devon has done her a lot of good.”—(Much applause and laughter, in which the Bishop joined.) Mr. Woollcombe hoped that any Devonshire men in the. audience would wait behind for “a shake of the flipper.” Then Mr. Woollcombe made another neat hit at the Bishop, who much enjoyed it. “You know wo arc very clannish in Devon, and shako hands with ono another, instead of, knocking one another over the head, ns they do in another place.” From an amusing anecdote Mr. Woollcombe drew the lesson that the Church of Christ, using tho term in its widest significance, was not so much what Tt looked like, but what it was doing in service and good in tho wo'Hd. It was no good cutting tho tops off thistles. If we wanted to eradicate thistles—dashoods they called* them in Devon, ho needed to dig 'them up by the root. , If we wanted to make tho world a hotter place we must go to-the root of evil and do our very utmost to <lig it right out, both in ourselves and in other people. By some of our legislation, we in New Zealand had done a great deal to prevent many of the social evils which accompanied increase of population, and from which they suffered at Horae. But wo must not make a mistake. Legislation alone would not root out social evils. The man .who thought it would was AN ABSOLUTE FOOL. It was useless to talk to him (Mr. Woollcombe) of the improvements of conditions of living doing away with social evils, for ho had not lived for 14 years with blinkers on in East London. Of course it helped. But what was at the root of sweating, where a woman was paid 2Jd a gross for making match boxes, and had to find her own paste? What was at tho root of slums, and slum property, of long hours, so long sometimes that ho had known a little boy to fall asleep in tho middle of a comic song at a particularly cheerful concert, because ho had worked so long ho could not keep his eyes open? It was someone clso’s selfishness.

“Talk as you like on tho platforms, and vote as you like at tho public polling-stations, but so long as you have men grabbing and getting without caring what happens to others, you will have social evils.” THE GAMBLING EVIL. Then Mr. Woollcombe hit hard at the gambling evil, introducing his remarks with a story of otherwise decent men who spent their Sundays in playing “two-up.” “Go gambling on tho racecourse, if you are fool enough, hut don’t como and quack to mo about brotherhood if you do.” How could ono talk about brotherhood when ho gambled. Tho things wore polo from pole apart. “Brotherhood! Good Lord, how can you talk of brotherhood when you join a two-np school and pull five quid out of another follow’s pocket on the spin of two coins?” Men of the Church musthave clean hands in tho matter, for they could not do tho work of God and the work of tho devil too. Then there was the frightful sin of lust. It was not the poor half-starved beggar who sinned so much in tins respect as tho wo!l-fe,d man. This great evil must be faced fairly and squarely, and Mr. Woollcombe hoped that Now Zealanders would fight'it with every good measure in their power. If they woro wise men thev would go to tho root of all evil. If we disobeyed the law of God wo could not expect to progress either individually or as a nation. Tho idea of'the Church, continued Mr. Woollcombe, was a great centre of men, women, and children, with God, and the spirit of co-operation was necessary for success. Tho Church should bo run on the great principle of division of labour. Just as tho strength of an army depended not upon tho strength of its generals alone, but upon tho strength of the rank and file as well, so the strength of the Church depended upon the strength of laity as well as of the clergy. Wo should get rid of the thought that the Church depended,on a few at. the head, “like 1 my Lord Bishop here who wears such nice gaiters, or upon men, who, like mo, on a hot night like this are condemned to wear dog collars.” Tho power of tho Church rested not on good bishops and good clergy, but upon the rank and file of . the Church being filled with enthusiasm 'to put their shoulders to tho wheel and make the world true to God and true to itself., Somo men considered that the whole duty of a churchman wan to “roll up” to church occasionally, listen to tho sermon, and then go outside and say how much better they could have put it. Sometimes, perhaps, it was a good thing to criticise a parson, but we were not baptised at tho Church only to criticise, but to work. “Criticise if you liko, but make it justifiable by the fact that you aro SHOVING BEHIND and helpiiig the Church to do its work.” None of them know tho difficulties of tho parson’s life, or how easy it was for him to bo cast down, or they would think more generously of him and help him more. A railwayman at Home, addressing a meeting after-a .series of speeches by eminent churchmen and others, had told the bishops that their talking had all been of the good that the Church of England Men’s Society was doing amongst the laity. “We’re doing a lot for the clergy,” the man exclaimed, causing the clergy present .to prick up their ears. “Formerly, when you used to send down a curate, he was turned on to mother’s meetings, and they made an old woman of him. Now you turn him on to tho C.E.M.S., and they-make a young man of him.” “Don’t,” added Mr. Woollcombe, “let tho parson preach only to bonnets and hats. They’re not the most exciting things to talk to.” Men could do a groat deal of good by going regularly to church. The C.E.M.S,, continued tho speaker, was simply a brotherhood of men bound together to try to help forward tho work of tho church. Here in New Zealand we said we had got rid of social barriers, but ho had an, inkling that "we could do something more to get rid of them. The C.E.M.S. was doing much to establish brotherhood, level these distinctions, and create a groat freemasonary among the men of the church. We wanted not merely brotherhood in tho parish, but right through the Empire. “There are dangers in living in a beautiful and prosperous country liko. this. It is a sad fact that worldly prosperity does not make tho best and finest men on God’s earth, for worldly prosperity often leads towards selfishness.” There were men in the Old Country trying to qualify for the epitaph “Here lies the body of a man who did his best to have a good time.” What a glorious motto! remarked the speaker sarcastically. But there was not a man who did not feel in the very bottom of his heart that there was something bettor in life than this. The glory of service wag the true glory of life. Mr. Woollcombe resumed his seat amidst a thunder of applause from the great crowd of men, applause that continued for some time. On the motion of Mr. H. Okey, M.P., a very hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Woollcombe. The Mayor was also thanked for presiding. The Bishop pronounced the benediction, and then the singing of tho National Anthem concluded the mooting. To-night Mr. Woollcombe speaks at Inglewood, to'-momnv at 3 p.ra. and 7 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church, on Monday night at Waitara, and on “Wednesday night at Stratford.