The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-01-16 00:00:00

improved,ralthoug,h the number of ' desertions seems ,
to be on the increase, judgini from the Home Office
circular, which has tile bee* read at the respective
corakiof Quarter Sons. The reciniting sergeant'
not 'tidy finds it moreliffictl ktia
italit was to get men,
they cannot be kept w en
,
but ey have been got.
The Duke of Cambridge recognises the evil as being so.
serious that in a speech lately delivered by His Royal
Highness, he hinted that if the ranks of the army could
not otherwise be filled, it must be done by compulsion.
This might be necessary in time of war, but it is
doubtful whether the British Parliament would, in a
time of peace, sanction such a paralysis of industry as
must be caused by the removal, even temporarily, of
vast numbers of bread-winners frim the occupations
of their lives. The tax-payer would rather see an
increase in the army estimates than submit to com-
pulsory military service.

THE REV. NEWMAN HALL ON
RELIGION..
In London, on Sunday afternoon, a lar-,e congrega-
tion attended the afternoon service at *St. James's
Hall, to hear a sermon by the Rev. Newman Hall,
LL.B. The preacher selected for his text the 2nd
verse in the 6th chapter of the Second Epistle tu the
Corinthians, and the substance of his remarks was a
strong reproof of the indifference to religion shown in
the present day. After remarking that the subject of
his discourse was "Now," he said that last Sunday after-
noon he urged three arguments against procrastination
in seeking help from God. His fourth argument, to
which he would draw their attention that day, was
that the difficulty increased with delay; therefore he
would urge them to seek the hell) now. Why should
a future day be more convenient? Sick people said
"only wait till I am well, and won't I serve God ;"
and people in the enjoyment of good health were in-
clined to wait untill they in tarn were ill. They knew,
however, that death might come instantly and give
them no opportunity—they were, in fact, leaving the
most difficult of businesses to the time when they would
be unable to do anything:, ' The difficulty. of the work
which they thought to dcety-and-by was inereasing by
the power of habit. There, was, for instance, a rough
road, over which it was difficult for a carriage to move.
An engineer came, however, and levelled it, and so we
passed safely over. If they had a habit of twenty
years of evildoing, it would be more difficult to
break from that habit if they added ten years
to it. How many young people say they will
wait till they are older, and go on putting it off till
"to-morrow, when the inducement will be lost. It
was the same with the miser, who, as he got older,
ifirninished his chance of enjoying the money he had
hoarded up. The physical pleasure of evildoing might
cease, but the desire for it remained. The preacher
pursued this branch of his discourse still further by
the aid of other illustrations. None, he said, who had
spent a long life in procrastination were different at
the end of that life—they ended it as it had been
passed. Gravity was not godliness, and it might even
be very irreligious. Divine grace was at hand; would
they refuse it? "Behold I stand at the door and
knock," says Christ. Did they say they would wait
longer, till He knocked louder? The difficulty of their
task increased by waiting for a more convenient season,
for if they were weak to-day, they would be weaker
to-morrow. In introducing a fifth argument the
preacher remarked that it was a great mistake to
suppose that our glorious Christianity was for the last
moment of life; it was for life. Repentance is turn-
ing to lead a new life; and the penitent thief must
not be quoted as a reason for deferring religion till the
close of life, for if he Lad been taken down from the
cross and survived a number of years he would not
have put off any further attention to religion till he
thought his end was coming, for this would have
proved him not to be penitent. Did the Apostle
Paul say "I repented too soon," and was there a real
earnest Christian who could wait for years? Doubt-
less some of those present would be in eternity before
the end of the year, but why should they not get
rid of the evil and . prepare for their approaching
end? When they knew that they had work to
do and put it off there was a feeling of unpleasant-
ness. It might be that a necessary surgical opera-
tion had to be performed, and it would be unfortunate
if they put it off. He would say to them go
through it at once. A past sinner did not forget his
past faults. While they were going on in sin, and
promising to repent "to-morrow," the wrath of God
was upon them. In pursuing his argument further,
the preacher said that people seemed to think that
religion was only given to them in order to get benefit
by and by. It was their duty to God, however, to
serve Him to day, and would they dare to say that
they would wait till "to morrow ?" Suppose that
there was a rebel again-t his lawful prince,
and that he had an amnesty granted him. When
called upon to surrender, what kind of submission
would it be if he replied "I will do so ' to-morrow ? "
God, however, had given us a nature like His own; we
had a will and could determine our own actions. In
conclusion, the preacher urged them to delay no
longer, and to remember that now was the day of sal-
vation.