THE REV. W. THOMPSON.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10589, 11 March 1902, Page 2

THE REV. W. THOMPSON.

A Few Tlt-bftslr>om His State Hteht at Wellington.

"My troubles in Palmerston Fori began in 1886. On the eve of the ge> S?»L^ ce f t » on 'Prohibition leaflet wg distributed in. the church in defiance c my instructions and without the' san turn of the Presbytery on a Sundt when I was preaching elsewhere. Th seriously affected .the puce- of the pc Tie. The Presbytery, when appealed!, would do nothing to censure the offem ing office-bearers.'' A secret conspiracy was hatch against me by one whom I had helpt in business to the extent of £200 yrM absolutely no security." (The name < the gentleman was given, and the "co j spiracy" discussed at length.) "The Presbytery of Wanganni ha^ ! given me to understand that they dea: with mo under a rule in the Book < Order enabling them to take actic against any minister whose name is- a sociated with a scandal. The scandal that I have built a church in Wellim ton without the sanction of the We lington Presbytery." . , "They haye asked me to explain np self for preaching to the Congzegatio alisto of Palmerston North— my ow much-wronged old friends in Palmer;, ton who were evicted front their chuxc?.. and whose property was confiscated tithe Presbytery of Wanganui,"-, I sha' preach to any religious- denominatiu in New Zealand— to the Catholics ;' they ask me/* ' " "' " "In building the Scots Church I hn-\ done absolutely nothing that had nr previously been done in connection 1 wif' the establishment of the Kent Terrar church." i "Before I left Palmerston I receive* sympathetic communications from ma minster* in the church. A reverent father ' in the Wellington Presbyter and city wrote: The affair cannot i you much harm. The history of sonof those working against you is we i known throughout the -church.' TV gentleman was effusively synrpathet while I was in Palmerston. He h? shown no symptom of the Good Samar itan since I oame to this city. A seonresider in the Presbytery and citr wrote: "You have been cruelly -ar<' shamefully treated.' This brother—orather, father— l have, always found • Christian and a gentleman. I wish 7 could Bay so much of all the father and brethren." (The names were men turned, and extracts from letters fro^ other •* weU-kn*wn .ministers- in/th" church read.) *' " ' ' ' Before I finally fixed upon a site iq my proposed new church I presented ny certificate to the Presbytery of Wcl lington.' My certificate was in due font and should, according to the usua Presbyterian - practice, bare been re «sT««s\ withAni- tUtttt* pr eottuii*Bl. 0 '•- of the Fathers (a quondam sympatheti friend) moved that my certificate V received on condition that I hand ove' the funds collected for my propose^ church to them to be administered tr ' treasurers" appointed by them. This 1 took as a. gross insult to myself and r treasurer, whose name and credential 1 were perfectly well known to themHad they accepted my certificate form ally, I, my committee and my treas nrer would have become amenable to Presbyterian discipline under the Presbytery of Wellington, and could be called upon to give an account of ourselves .it any time. It is well known that certain parties in Wellington oppose church extension, and yet I really believe that two-thirds of the Presbv;teriaiiß of Wellington rarely attend Di vine services. .There 'are Presbyterians enough in Wellington to fill ten churches, if only they could be got to appreciate Presbyterian supplies! The motion with respect to receiving my certificate was irregular and unconstitutional — and several member? of the Presbytery have admitted this since." - '

After I left Palmerston, and a movement for re-union was inaugurated; th« Presbytery fprced matters, and in s highly irregular way spirited in the clergymen who ministered to the dissentient minority (who worshipped in a hall in Palmerston and possessed not one 'penny's worth of property) into the St. Andrew's Church, thus evicting my old friends, and depriving them of nearly £2000 worth of church property. One hundred and sixty-nine members and adherents .protested and appealed to the Assembly which met at Wansranui against the action of the Presbytery. Before the Assembly met the intruded minister resigned (presumably ashamed of the part he had been made to play). When the appeal was heard in the assembly an acrobatic clergyman from Tintaru moved that it be not sustained. CThis wonderful Presbytery dismissed the appeal previously as "frivolous," though it was signed by 169 people). The .Timaru ecclesiastic moved in the Assembly that this appeal be not sustained. He has since been strongly urging in the Presbytery of Timaru that the objections of 104 people in a mnch larger congregation be sutained ! A beautiful instance of ecclesiastical and Christian consistency! I trust that fathers and brethren, will bear this in. mind* at the next assembly when ther come to deal with the Timaru scandal, which is evidently being hushed up in the 'Outlook.'" "It is, worth mentioning that the Wanganui Presbytery escaped censure in the Waneanui assembly by-only 8 votes. Ten elders from St. Paul's, Waneanui, and four from St. John's, Wellington, voted with the majority! Fancy ten elders from Wanganni sitting in iudgment on their own Presbytery! This is a scandal in itself — yet it is what is called Presbyterianism among ns!" "For the Bloo<j is the Life."— CLARKE'S 'WORLD-FAMED BLOOD MIXTURE in warranted to dense Ilia blond from all imparities 'from what ever cause aririn?. For Scrofula, Scurvey. Eczema. Bad Legs, Skin and Blood TH««ns:>p. Pimples, and Sores of aO kind* its effects are marvellous. Sold everywhere at 2s 9d. Thousands of Tentirronials. Beware of worthless imitations and substitutes'.