ST. MARY'S GUILD CONCERT.

Timaru Herald, Volume LI, Issue 4932, 3 September 1890, Page 4

ST. MARY'S GUILD CONCERT.

Bfc; Mary's school-room was crowded on Mon day evening, the occasion being an entertaiu- . ment arranged by the Ladios' Guild. The room was decorated m a tasteful quiet style, and the plaifortu prettily. The concert was opened ■with a piauforte duet by Mrs Gibson and Mr Goooh. after which Miss A. Mcc delightfully sang Cowan's beautiful song, "It was a Dream," the accompaniment being tastefully played by Misb Lovegrove. The singer received an enthusiastic recall. The " Powder Monkey " was creditably sung by Mr A. Hope, and was followed by a violin solo by Dr Morris, of Pleasant Point, who played m a masterly manner but who chooses pieces too classical for such a gathering. The first part was brought to a close with a tasteful rendering of " When thou art near," by Mr F. Cargill, who, like his predecessors had to reappear to an encore. ■ The Bey. Mackenzie Gibson then ascended the platform, and *aid that it gave him much pleasure to ask Bishop Julius, on behalf of the ladies of the Guild, to give an address, and to welcome him, on the ladies' behalf also,-to this part of the diocese. Mr Gibson referred to his Lordship's first visit, and to the sympathy and love he had gained from the people, and expressed the opinion that so far as they of Timaru were concerned the Bishop not only came, but he saw and ; conquered (Applause.) He was Bure, too,^that it gave pleasure to all to see •' Mrs Julius, to whom also he, on behalf of, the church, extended a most hearty welcome. (Applause ) The large audience rose to receive the bishop and enthusiastically applauded him. Hiß Lordship said that he could not tell them how deeply he felt their kindness on this his second reception at Timaru, and how thank- ; ful he felt that some 'put' of this welcome was for his better half j they would findjthat she was a very good hulf if they knew her be well as he did ; that if ever thore was a good bishop'a wife, Mrs Julius was that wife. He had indulged m some plain speaking on Sunday, had spoken freely on the matter of the debt on the church, and he was glad that practical results bad followed his plain speaking. Timaru should be mado a great centre of usefulness to the diocese. An endeavour wbb beiDg made m Christchurch to complete a system he had long upheld, of fixing a centre from which clergymen would as it were radiate, and so extend services to the country, where if a clergyman were resident he would certainly starve. Out districts would be far better cared for by planting a strong body of clergy m a centre, bo that they could radiate from tnat centre and carry forth much greater enthusiasm for the welfare of the church. He hoped to see such centres m many towns of the diocese, and m a short time perhaps, to see Timaru one of the moßt valuable; of them. That was one reason hephjaded earnestly for the removal of the debt. Another reason was that he disliked " bazaars." He had pleaded for " cheerful giving," and was glad to mention that one parishioner had given £100, that one other was ready to give £100, and if there were cix or eight others willing to do so be wuuld be thankful for it. He thought that there were three or four present that evening who were just longing to do so. It was wonderful how catching, how delightful, how easy, it was, to give, and if they only went the right way to work how quickly they could sweep the debt right away. When hey had done with the 100 pounders they ould come down to the smaller guns ; 18---pounders and 5-pounders were exceedingly effective. Another reason be bad for plain speaking was the great regard be had for Archdeacon Harper. He had only met the Archdeacon once, but he had jnst returned from tbe West Coast where he became acquainted with the great love the people there bore their dear old bishop and his son the archdeacon. He was very thankful that the parish of Timaru had been ss well looked after during the archdeacon's absence ; it was indeed fortunate that the parishioners had fared so well. He | hoped that the congregation would never | 1 become a " respectable " congregation.' What they as members of the church should try to do was to get m tbe masses of the people. There was a tendency, he thought, m Timaru, to attend upon the " upper crust " to the neglect of tbe poorer clastes of the commanilv. He could not say that that was really tbe* case here ; he did not know but that they were all respectable— all appeared to be so. Speaking of the annivereary services the bishop spoke of the delightful way they had been rendered on Sunday. Hs spoke m this way not because the attendance at tbe services were large, but because the services were hearty and fervent, and it did his heart good to see and listen to them. He bad now come to the part on wbioh he was going to strike — he had to apeak m Temuka next evening, and to deliver a lecture m Christchurch the following evening— he would close with just a word or two about the labour strikes. They were all aware of what was going on m their midst just now — of the great fight between oapital and labour, and of what had been said and written of it. To seek the cause we must go back into the history of labour. Our forefathers ground down the working men, having the power to do it; and could they blame the men when they had tbe power for using that power ? It was a pity that our forefathers had not lived to reap some, of tbe fruits of the seeds which they had sown. People now were aware of the organisations which had gathered men together ,- but they had only eeen the beginning of the struggle, and what tbe end would be he could not tell. Some people Baid that it would ruin the country, ruin the farmers ; but this had been said m England years and years ago. All classes, rich and poor alike, mutt be .moving forward. Let the rich man change places with tbe poor, and tha poor obange places -with the rich ; the poor would at once become conservative, and the rich men would strike at once. Tho rich were always trying to get richer, and if tho poor were placed m a similar position they would try and get richer too. Give a poor man 60,000 acres of land and he would become one of tbe greatest Tories m tbe land. The truth was that men could not be idle ; they could not stop, and therefore the rich tried to get richer. For his part bo was sure that the great struggle must lead to some great change; what that change would be he could not tell at present, but he sincerely hoped that by the blessing of God it would work out right. He sincerely trusted that true Christian feeling would prevail throughout, that men would treat one another with brotherly love and feeling. In his calling be had to deal with all sorts of men ; he was a friend of tho well-to-do, and he was a friend of the working man. He would help all m his power, and be trusted that they would fight out the struggle kindly and good humouredly, as Christian men and brothers. His Lordship closed his address by once more thanking them. Throughout bis address applause was very hearty, and the greatest attention was paid to his remarks.

The interval, was filled m by the audience partaking of refreihments, which were most liberally provided, and the second part was commenced by a song charmingly rendered by Misß Wardrop. Dr Beid sang " Tby Foe " m fine style; Miss O. Lovegrovo did justice to " Sweethearts," as alu> did Mr F. Jones to " When a Man's Single," Mr Ziesler bringing the concert to a close with a Dolishod rendering of Blnmenthal's "Boat Song." The accompanists' were Mrs Beid, Miss Lovegrove, and Messrs Goooh, Wolf, and Normington.