The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1874-09-29 00:00:00

" Come- ye -thankful people come,
Mee the mog ol bareopt home,"

applying the theme in a spiritual sense. The text chosen by
the key. It. Everett was Psalm call, 12 and I 7—" What
shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards
me, . . . . I will offer to thee the WI Ike of thanks-
r,...:iiteand will call upon the name of the Lord." The
r remarked that the author of the psalm and the
circumstances under which it was ..,reposed were unknown,
but a warmer or more perfect expression of thanksgiving
could not be anywhere found. The person had been in
great trouble and distress of mind and body, and was
disposed to takes morbid view of human nature, but his
faith did not utterly fail him, for he could say "I believe,"
and from that sprung all his deliverance. His faith led to
Prayer, and God heard and helped him. The Lord
dealt very bountifully with him, and he then poured
forth this psalm of thanksgiving and of good resolutions
for the future. It was the habit of Englishmen to hide
their feelings, but we should do well to consider how by
such cowardice and false shame we shrank from giving
God the honour due to Him. If we do not confess Him
before men, bow could we expect he would acknowledge
us before the angels. It was not so with the writer of the
realm. He said " I will pay toy vows unto the Lord in
the sight of all the people. Let us mark also one or
two of his expreleionii. " I love the Lord,
" I will walk before the Lord,"" I will call
on the name of the Lord," each one of which might
be made • life motto. Ent to-day we wanted one for the
harvest festival. All must feel that it waa • prover thing
to give thanks singly for the many benefits bestowed on
WI individually, AM collectively as a nation, churches, or
, parishes, for mercies which affect the whole body, and
such a merry is surely • plenteous harvest—when the
wheat crop is far above the average, such a crop probably
as has not been seen for years, and which was in many
places cut and carried without use drop of rain upon at..
So far as be could learn too °Goa crops—potatoes, apples,
and hops were most abundant, and must have the effect
of cheapening bread and facilitating commerce, in which
all were concerned. We should like to see the loaf still
cheaper than it il now. High prices wean scarcity,
involving the children in many • large family going
abort, and many men and women getting less than will I
maintain the strength required for their daily work. I
Dear bread leads to poverty of blood and lownissa of the
screstepm,add produces hu.„ll
Is naturally connected
ofwrint?irtiitiltaiihwha;l:l
strength, peace and
_pro..perity ; an!' on this account we
i who live n a town have the same if not more reason to
rejoice than our country neighbours. Let us then give
thanks to God for His bounteous gift of an abundant
wheat harvest, worth so much to the nation in health,
enjoyment, and peace. Let it. pray to Him to pardon our
many sins of omission and communion, and to raise up
men amongst us to struggle against the faults and criines
of our time. During the past year we bad seen much of
bitter strife of classes, though happily not in this
Immediate ineighbourhood— which spoke well for Isith
farmers and labourers -the struggle or selignste interests,
every man seeking only his own and never the gooll
another. Great and probably long-continued must have
been the faults which produced inch a *tats of things. It
matters not into what part of the country we go—whether
to the rich corn lands of the eastern altires or the cold
sterile districts of North Wales: it matters not whether
the trade Le the ordinary calm occupation of husbandry
or whether it be that carried on, as he had lately men,
in one of the largest and most bustling manufactories of
locomotive engines. II he inquired of employers into the
wetter he was told the men were sullen, untrustworthy,
churlish, drunken, and unreasonable; and if he asked the
men they said the masters were overbearing, grasping,
and inopmideratak From the modem there was always

the same tale of Use Beres tyranny of combination putting
them entirely at the men's mercy; while the men urge('
the necessity that exists for protecting themselves from
the grinding driving oppression of their masters. Doubt-
less, both are wrung; yet., at the same time, both to •
certain extent are right. There are plenty of masters
who are ready to take an unfair advantage, and there
are also plenty of men who are idle, drunken, aud selfish.
The great striking characteristic of our times is the love
of money, eating out the very core of all that is Christian
amongst us. High and low, rich and poor are all alike.
Mammon is thus superseding God, and as that worship in-
c,n. reiases
become
eemmom t us
earthly
lcyo,lsedensr anui4
ancoldddere,,ilaniithNeus
nor himself could do it to change that state of things
certainly is unworthy of • Christian reople. He was
much struck last week by meeting with in a work by one of
our learned professors, of ten spoken of as an atheist, the
following passage—The world is tulle( sorrow and maitre.
Neither s
of
i
and, whatever tau be the cause ot it, the one obvious,
clear, and plain duty of every soul in it los to Ur and
make the little spot on which he lives—the little circle
in which he can exercise influence, brighter and happier
than it would have been without him. And he must be
right there, in whatever else he may be wrong. Each of
us in the station to which it has pleased God to call us
may do a little, and that little God may bless, not indeed
perhaps so far as to change the aspects of the nation, but
to make more happy, more united, more contented all
within the narrow circle in which our personal lot is cut
and that is no slight matter—we shall find it no slight
matter at the judgment day, for love can do what money
could never buy. In all our relations one with another—
friends or neighbours, relatives or acquaintances, em-
ployers or employed, let no bear and forbear, give and
forgive, thus striving to lighten one for another the
weary load of deity life, remembering that every day we
are drawing nearer to the time when our earthly work
shall be ended, money useless, and the want of it unfelt,
and when the only matter of consequence will be tc see
what we have been and what we have done. In that last
hour, while resting all on the Saviour's merits and inter-
cession, it would surely be no small source of comfort to
feel that we have done our best to fulfil the Apostle's
Injunction —"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil
the law of Christ." Let us express then our thank' to-day
not only for fine weather and an abundant tarrest, but
for all Hix benefits towards us. Every one of us might
take home to himself that text so wisely placed in the
porch "The Lord bath dealt very bountifully with thee."
Let them make offerings in any way thci pleased, in any
way which their own consciences mi t direct. That
day, as they knew, had been fixed u capital Sunday,
and their offerings would be given to the County Hospital.
A better cause, one having stronger claims from the
Inestimable benefit it is to the poor of this town and
neighbourhood, or • cease better known to every one, and
needing less one single word of recommendation from
him or anyone else, could hardly he thought be found.
" Glorify the Lord with they substance and the first-fruits
of all Wise increase, so shall thy terns be filled with
plenty and thy presses shall burst with new wine." God
give us all grace rightly to keep our harvest festival to-
day, and fill our hearts which are open to praise him and
express our thanksgiving, first of all with perfect
devotion to His service, and then with generous aid to
His poor. In the evening the sermon was preached by the
Rev. IL Urquhart, of Broadmayne, from Ephaians v. 20,
to a very full congregation. The choir sang the festival
anthem "0 taste and see," and the musical !services
throughout the day were very pleasing. The collections
amounted to All 15s. 3d.
At St George's Fordington, sermons were preached on
Sunday with reference to the harvest, and appealing for
the funds of the County_ HospitaL The preacher in the
morning was the Rev. M. F. Evens, whose text was Gal.
vi. 9, "Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due
season we shall reap, if we faint not." After an earnest
call to remember the special signs of the divine mercy in
this year's harvest, and to reflect on the benefit derived
by Fordington from the Hospital, ths preacher dwelt
briefly but most impressively on the spiritual reference
of his text ; insisting chiefly on the fact that the "well-
doing " there spoken of is above all things the well-doing
of the Christian's inner if. of faith, watchfulness, and self
denial. In the afternoon the Rev. H. Boole preached,
and referred to the 'object of the day. But the sermon,
being • series of confirmation addresses, at necessity dealt
only in passing with the topic of the harvest In the
evening the preacher was the Rev. H. C. G. Motile. His
text was St. Matt sib. 93; the close of the Saviour's
exposition of the Parable of the Sower. The two points
in that verse chiefly insisted upon as the characteristics of
the "good-ground hearer" were, first that "he under-
standeth the word, secondly that "he bringeth forth
fruit many-fold." The preacher spoke specially in con-
clusion of the fruit-bearing power of • Consistent and
happy Christian life. The collations at the close of the
day amounted to £7 13e, 3d. After the evening service the
Halleleujah Chorus was excellently performed by the
organist, Mr. Norman, who has recently made some
useful improvements in the blowing-action, te. of the
beautiful organ, which has now done good work in his
hands for three years.
. . . . .

.—--
AFAITS-al—nts,.the only variation from the nand course
was the selection of harvest hymns. There were collections
for the Dorset County Hospital, and the contributions
amounted to a Os. sd.

There were no special sermons at West Fordingtoo, or
at the.W.esleyn.hapeL .

At St. Peter's there were the annual collections for the
wish Sunday school, which is conducted by voluntary
efforts. The sermons are yearly held at this time, the
rent of the room being payable at Michaelmas; but we
understand that collections for the hospital will be made
in about a month's time. The preacher at the three
services was the Rev. E. W. Peen, the rector. In the
morning the text was Psalm cvi., 43-45. Tble rev. gentle-
man pointed out in the course of his sermon that this
country which has been chosen to be the light of the
world, is more dependent upon foreign nations than any
other for itz full supply of staple food, and that therefore
our thankfulness to God for the late good harvest ought
the more to abound. At the short semoe in the afternoon
the sermon was simply • gospel address founded on Ezekiel
xviii., the two last verses. In the evening the text was
Philippians iL, 1. and the discourse WAA—natural selfish-
ness and Christian self-denial contrasted. The collections
amounted to .Cl 3 Us. sd.

Theit-n-c;ii.s-We-re-p-riale.ed at the Congregational chapel on
behalf of the Hospital. In the morning the Rev. T.
Heave discoursed on the credentials which Christ furnished
on behalf of the Divine claims of His religion and its
supernatural origin, founding his remarks on Christ's reply
to the disciples of John the Baptist -"Go and tell John
again thee things which ye do hear and see-the blind
receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,
the dead are raised up. and the poor have the gospel
preached unto them." He crammed upon the great Law of
benevolence exemplified by Christ as the basis of his
nib:: as that which most characterise all its adherent&
At the conclusion of the sermon the rev, gentleman
referred to the setting apart of a Sunday in behalf of the
hospitals of our country. Those institutions were some of
itr mist honourable undertaking, as evincing the spirit of
Christ's religion which has niade England what it is. To
their erection and support all churches had contributed, a
circumstance which ought to hind them together in a
common effort instead of widening their distinctions. The
preacher followed a similar train of thought in the even-
ing, discoursing on the words of the lawyer "But who is
my neighlsittr I" After showing that the bond of a
common humanity was not recognised in the time of our
Saviour, the principle of neighbourliness being unacknow-
leiLed, and pointing out that externals occupied the place
of the real spirit and igtent of religion, the rev, gentleman
referred to the indications of • prevalence of the same
spirit now-a-daye in the devotion which is paid by all
religionists to externals, while the wants and sorrows of
suffering humanity are too frequently neglected. But
Christ taught the unity of the race, the brotherhood of
men •, religion as exemplied by Himself consisted chielly
in doing good to our neighbour: and the last great test to
be applied to character will have respect to this practical
sympathy, as shown by the words of the Saviour-" I was
a stranger and ye took me in, sick and in prison and ye
visited me, naked and ye clothed me : then shall He say
unto them, come ya blessed of my Father, inherit the
Kingdom prepared for you." The sermons, which were
exceedingly appropriate, were listened to with deep attmi-
tion. The collections amounted to £3 Os. lid