ever, enjoyed a private rehearsal in a church-meeting, and both he and the presiding deacon who welcomed him appeared quite au fait as to the details of the interesting ceremony. Pleasant as it must be to welcome a new pastor, happy is the church that is not often so employed. Fresh pastors are angels, doubtless, and it is better that their visits should be few and far between. Don't misunderstand me. I wouldn't wish to make a similar mistake to that of the old lady to whom the fourteenth pastor of the church remarked, "Oh, but you mustn't grieve at my departure; you'll get a better man than I!" "Alas!" said she, "I fear not; we've had fourteen already, and they've been worse and worse each time!"

May it be many a long day before the Thames Church has another recognition-meeting, say I, and let the deacons say "Amen!" The meeting went well. We had an official speech from the chair, and a pastoral from Mr. Woolley; "the Bishop" was allegorical and nautical; Mr. Carter (of Ceylon mission fame), practical; two local ministers, cordial; and T. S., colloquial. An interesting item (at least to the writer) was the singing of a hymn by C. H. S., which, with the explanation that the church members, as soldiers, were entering on a new campaign, and, as sailors, were setting out once more, seemed very pertinent to the occasion. Here are two verses of it :

"Upon the battle field,

Before the fight begins,

We seek, O Lord, thy sheltering shield
To guard us from our sins.

"Ere yet our vessel sails

Upon the stream of day,

We plead, O Lord, for heavenly gales
To speed us on our way."

God bless the battlers! God speed the ship!

A church in a mining district has many trials. The constant shifting of the population, the varying fortunes of the mines, and the unhealthy excitement connected with gold-getting, are great drawbacks. It is impossible but that the churches feel the result of such ups and downs financially and spiritually, just as the little creeks are affected by the ebb and flow of ocean tides. The hills about the town have drained their veins into the assayer's crucible. The nugget-finding and surface-working days are over, and the town which once could hardly hold the crowds of adventurers, is now but the ruin of its former self. It appears to suffer a periodic recovery when one or other of the claims "looks up;" but the revival, as a rule, is transitory, and the reaction damaging. Yet, still they dig and delve, and hopeful spirits are to be found who" wouldn't be a bit surprised to see the place as prosperous as ever it was." Surprising revivals, scarcely less remarkable than the original outbreak, have happened in many an auriferous district, so these Micawbers may see it "turn up" yet. However that may be, we trust that many a prize more precious than gold may be found for King Jesus by the earnest labour of the pastor and people of the Thames Baptist Church.

Next morning" the Bishop" and the two curates embarked on a smaller and slower steamer than the "Enterprise," named the "Patiki," which, being interpreted, is a flat fish. And well she might be flat, for she had to travel on a winding, narrow stream, with a rapid current and many shallow places. For nine hours we turned and twisted, sometimes having to shove the flat fish's nose off the banks, until we reached Te Aroha. This is a comparatively new township, with a huge mountain of the same name towering above it, whose steep sides are undergoing the honey-combing and burrowing process to which the Thames hills have already been subjected. I must not forget to state that the curates never had a cheaper journey than this one, for the Patiki's skipper declared that the rule of the company was to frank all ministers. "The Bishop" had to pay full fare, probably because being on a river was, to the captain's thinking, identical with being off the see. (They tell me that the

Co. has never yet declared a dividend. All I can say is, they deserve to do so, though, being a minister, I have not ministered to their profit.)

In June '83 I had the honour of helping to form a branch of the Blue Ribbon Army at Thames, and I was gratified on arrival at Te Aroha to find that the movement was in operation there.

Some "American Evangelists" were announced to hold a temperance or Blue Ribbon meeting at half-past seven, and thither we wended our way, "the Bishop" securing a front position, while we neophytes contented ourselves with back seats. The hall (a good-sized one) was filled with an intelligent audience, mostly males; but such a meeting I was never at before, and never-well, never mind. Of Yankee twang and Yankee slang there was enough and to spare, while two Misters and one Mrs. sat in a row on the stage like the Christy Minstrels, another Mrs. meantime haranguing the crowd about the Washingtonian movement and the whisky war in Ohio. By-the-way, I fancy there is no better word extant than Ohio for demonstrating the peculiar powers of the proboscis as an organ of speech. The lecturess was eloquent indeed, if the term is applicable to quantity rather than quality of language; for after speaking more than an hour (with one break, during which the other lady sang “The Little Bit of Blue"), she declared she had not begun, and would continue in the next week. The address was rich in imagery, the favourite metaphor being a rapid stream (the drink traffic) which carried thousands "over the cataract and into the abyss below." This was repeated "as the heathen do." A noteworthy sentence ran somewhat as follows:-"There were seventy-five praying women out in the street in front of the saloon-we call 'em saloons in America, we do and the publican couldn't sell a bit of drink for the mess o' women. There was one tit-bit which mightily amused the people. Speaking of the success which attended these Crusaders, the Evangelist said, “As soon as one saloon was cleared the band of praying women left for fresh battle-fields, but not without leaving a picket-you know what a picket is?—of two or three women armed with paper and pencils, and their tongues." (Roars of ironical laughter.) The best joke was, I feel sure, unintentional; 'for one of the Misters, whose office evidently was to prompt and applaud, did not even smile when the Demosthenes of the occasion, with upraised hand and flashing spectacles, declared that these publicans were selling drink that wasn't meet." Once the prompter ventured to suggest that his better-half should tell them about the Dutchman, to which his spouse promptly replied, "I was just going to;" and continued: "Now, there was a little small Dutchman," &c., but the &c.'s were drowned by renewed laughter. Mister Prompter also announced a collection," not one cent of which," chimed in his helpmate, "goes to us;" and the other Mister did his share by reading the pledge.

It only remains to be added that "entire consecration," or "the second blessing," was dragged in as a small matter of course, for these folk are "Holiness Evangelists" (soi-disant), and do not hesitate to state that those who see not and preach not with them are sending their congregation to hell.

Disappointed that the meeting had not been more to the point, "the Bishop" went to bed, and the curates to bath. Talk about getting into hot water! Here it was bubbling and boiling out of mother earth as if it were fresh from "the abyss below," and such an odour with it as Rimmell and Gosnell and the London Perfumery Co. combined could not produce, and would not wish to. It did us good, though: we perspired some of the weariness of the journey and disappointment of the meeting out of us, and slept the sounder for the soda-water bath. All night it blew great guns, as "it always does at Te Aroha," and next morning it rained "as usual." (The quotations are from one of the oldest inhabitants.)

Before breakfast we walked, in spite of wind and rain, to Wairongamaithere's a name for the new baby!-the centre of the mining interest, and saw the tramway and the battery. At the Premier Hotel we got some porridge and steak-that is, we juniors did, while "the Bishop," on principle, walked back

to the Te Aroha Temperance House, and got so wet as to necessitate the purchase of a complete change, and presently to bring on rheumatism in the foot-a sort of bishopric. We were glad we stopped at the hotel, not only because we got a 'bus back, but in that we came across a publican who attends all the Band of Hope meetings, who till lately worshipped with us in the Choral Hall, Auckland, and whose children have been in our Sunday-school.

Right glad were they to see us, and we to see them; but "couldn't we stop over Sunday?" was a petition that had to be negatived most emphatically.

Soon after nine o'clock we found ourselves-all three of us-ensconced in a light coach bound for Pacaroa, our only adventure en route being the half-hour work of removing a tree which had fallen right athwart the track. Thanks to the strength of a driver and a fellow-passenger, and to the wise directions of "the Bishop," we overcame that obstacle. At Pacaroa, fourteen miles from Te Aroha, we loafed, or rather, roast-beefed and apple-pied on mutual friends, who, residing at the Bank, might have been alarmed at the rush, had we not sent an admonitory telegram, which intimated that, after a rough journey, we would probably be disposed to fill up blank cheques for large amounts. The hospitality of our friends was more than equal to the emergency. Thence we travelled twenty-two miles by another coach, the horses of which at an early stage, ran away, and at a later might have done so, had there not been too heavy a load of ten inside and seven out. A gang of bushmen were with us, great strong fellows, rough enough in some respects, yet, as often happens in these countries, with signs about them of better things and scenes. They were talking once of the Salvation Army, and I could not help noticing what fun two or three of them made of the grammar of the soldiers. "We is the army of the Lord,' Aha! Aha!" and so on. This showed that these men had more of education than one would have supposed. We know that university men are to be found gold-digging, and gum-digging, and shepherding, and woodcutting throughout these colonies. Alas! for the ruin drink has made; for in nine cases out of ten such a come-down is traceable to the liquor! Our oratress was right about the cataracts and the abyss, without a doubt. I was also led to think that accuracy, if not elegance of speech, is not to be despised; and while I would not stay the tongue, however ungrammatical it is in delivering the Lord's message, I would desire such an improvement in style and language as would prevent scoffers noticing the mistakes rather than the subject. By seven o'clock that evening we were at the Thames again, and, parting from my colleague, next morning I returned home to prepare for the Sunday which could not be spent at Wairongamai, and, after it, to make up work which had fallen behind through our journey, and to write a rambling account of "A Trip up the Thames."

Notices of Books.

Fronded Palms: a Collection of Pointed Papers on a Wide Range of Subjects. | By W. Y. FULLERTON. Passmore and Alabaster, Paternoster Buildings. WE are pleased to see our evangelist, Mr. Fullerton, appearing again as a writer, and producing another volume. He writes well, as the readers of The Postman know. His chapters are embellished with over one hundred illustrations, and altogether he has made up a cápital half-crown's worth. We do

not understand his title, even with his own explanation; we, therefore, recommend readers to buy the book, and invent their own interpretations. Vivacious, witty, sensible, gracious talk here abounds. May God bless the book and

the writer!

Scripture Verities. By Rev. D. Pledge.
Elliot Stock.

THIS book, which we noticed last month,
can now be obtained for 1s. 6d., or six
copies for 7s. 6d.