PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ANNIVERSARY SOIREE.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VIII, Issue 2200, 16 November 1875, Page 3

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ANNIVERSARY SOIREE.

The anniversary soiree of the Presby« terian Church was hold last ovening, at the St. George's Hail.' There w'a's a very' large attendance, about 350 sitting down to tea. ;The. ; tables iWere well spread and well served, aud afforded general satisfaction.. The trays were provided by the ladies of the' congregation, and the following ladies presided: — Mesdames Brown, DunlOp, Eergusson* Hill, Hanson, W. Kennedy, D. Kennedy, Lumsden, Mennie, H. Murdock, W. Murdock, McUlcery, Mncnab, Pcrston, Pitkethly, Sinclair, Muir, Thompson, Wilson; Missos Bill, , Irwin, ..Kay, Mackay, j Marks, Moore,"McKe'nzio, MoLever, and Lumsden. After all present had partaken, of the .good things .provided to their entire satisfaction, the tables were cleared away, and the business of the soiree commenced.,, Rev J. Hill, '.pastor of the Presbyterian Church, presided, and on the platform were the Revs I R.Laishley, J;T.;'Hinton,and Mr Fulljames. Order having been obtained— 1 he Rev J. B ill expressed regret that this■ meeting : should 'have come into Collision with the Mechanics' Instituto entertainment, and he was sure they all hoped that the funds of that valuable institution would be profitted by' the entertainment which was got up for its benefit;* The services which had brought them together were in commemoration of his induction as minister of this congregation. . They had only one anniversary in one year. : Others. had. two'or three, no doubt.because they found that their funds_ were increased by them. The event which they, were met' to commemorate was most important. ] he relations of a minister and his people were of ah important character, suitablefor Sab.bath services. A soireeshould also find.its place to review flypast; The attendance on the .Sabbath during the last year was not so good as it might have ibeeni When people came to the colonies they were not so much concerned many of them as they used to: be in the old country in Divine .'ordinances. It was ;discouraging to preach*to empty benches; If the Presbyterians took into consideration the effect tijtyfr the congregation and ;!he minister, th'tfy would be more regular ;in their attendance. This non-attendance also diminished their collections. The Scotch had the name of being 'careful on : this subject,.-but ho believed, that the . English,,, and . the Irish were just as anxious, and their numerous ,soirees • appeared to prove this. 'These ;werc some of the things which he ;faw in looking back at (ho past year.

'Therewasalsonmcuencouragement. As regards the future, they all regretted the commercialdepression in which phurches as well as other ''institutions must suffer, and it became the duty of congregations to bo.more united. He. hoped:that depression .would not destroy their, interest in Divine things and keep them away from Divino service on the Lord's Day. They had two ministers present with them; Ho received an apology from the Hev J. Crump,, who was obliged to go to ; .-.;;' ,'jTlie. Choir then sang .the anthem, "I will lift up. Mine Eyes," which was rendered, with considerable effect, showing that the members, before coming into public, had carefully rehearsed tho music. The Chaibsian then introduced the Bev Mr laishley, who addressed the meeting. He had, he said, seldom boen

t moro perplexed to make a speech. There \ were two or tlirco speeches struggling for [ pro-emiuonce, and ho was afraid that he i should, between them, come to the > ground.. Ho related an aneodote of tho i younger Mr Spurgeon on the occasion p. ol his first appearanco on the platform as !■ an-excuse for what might be termed , "sermonising." Ho advised decision of > character iu the younp, and related an ' incident in tho life of franklin. Jeffer- : son was annoyca at the manner in which i the declaration of independence, drawn i up by him, was dragged to pieces. 1 Franklin related the oft-told story of " John Thompson, hatter," who had his signboard altered so frequently, owing to his yielding disposition. He .also related an incident of Dr Moffat, then Mr Moffat, African' missionary. For twelve months ho'was, owing to the jealousy of the ..Government towards missionary labours, confined .to Cape Town, where he learned the Dntch language. After that time ho went into the country, and! having come to a, Dutch'house, he, in answer to inquiries, informed his entertainers that he was a missionary to the Hottentots. He was invited to preach, and on commencing he asked, " Where are the Hottentots?" The farmer replied, " Preach to the dogs; call in the dogs, preach to them." The minister did not expect such a storm of indignatiou, but he changed his text to '• Truth, Lord, but the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table." He preached from that with such force that the farmer cried out, " Bring in tho Hottentots." They were called in, and for the first time, probably, heard-the word of life, and years after, they acknowledged they were the better for the service. Tho farmer, it its conclusion, shook hands with him, and said that he was a brave, good, true man, and had .done his duty/ He concluded his .address by an anecdote related by the Key Mr Cornford of his missionary labours amongst the Hottentots. The white people suspected that tho Hottentot prayer meetings were the (source of evil, and determined to put them down. They arrested one leader and hung him, and while he was hanging they brought "old" Moses, the real leader, and the oilier slaves, and made them look on. They told Moses that that gallows was intended for him, and they would hang him if he carried on any moro of those prayer meetings. The.old man spread his bonds, and saidj "let us pray," : and" tho multitude ■ dropped on their knees, The white men looked on astonished, butold Moses was let go bis way without hindrance. Such was tho force of character. Tho Choir then. Bang the anthem, ".With tho Angels- and Archangels", very effectively. - .- - The Chaibsian then called on the Bev Mr Hiiiton.. : He said that ho did so with mingled pleasure and.sorrow.. He was;how the oldest minister of the Thames.: He had, during the.seven years of his 'ministry, seen many changes amongst itho ministers -some removed, somo called, away.to their long homos. The Baptist Church lost their pastor a few months ago. He could not. see his successor, -without somo sorrow mingled with ploasurc. God had raised up a successor to Mr Davis, and they were glad to see him in their midst, and they all wished that the connection between him and his congregation would be a lasting one. . .

The ifev: Mf-Hinton said that in the place from-which ho came he was a patriarch amongst tUo -ministers, and could therefore.sympathise with him, but he never mado the mistake their Chairmau did ia tho patriarchal way he treated his people. He hoped he would bo able to leave behind him at the close of his servico such a fragrant feeling as that which the memory of his predecessor had left. One of the chief attractions of the Thames to him was the kindly feeling which existed amongst the various congregations. He was told he would find the Thames a desperately ugly place. He did not find it so. He : loved the. hills and .the sea, and he had them here; but the chief attraction was the kindly feeling witli which he had been received here. Ho acknowledged that soirees paid,, and complimented the Wcsleyan body on their suecess.'iQ getting up tea meetings. He then alluded to the numerous tea meetings which were held aUlie.Thames, and his astonishment at finding so many coming in succession. He referred to the usefulness of anni« versaries of religious societies as a review of the past and a looking forward to the future. He prayed them not to_allow this anniversary to slip by them without resolving to make an effort to improve in the future; to see to it that in the future there would ho 'still less cause of regret and more of rejoicing. ' The Choir then sung the anthem," The Lord descendeth," ..,-. After a short interval a secular concert was carried through. ......