The daily gazette., 1879-11-17
MONDAY, NOVEMBER II. 1879.
Harvest Home.

Harvest Home.
THE ANNUAL CELEBRATION BY GRACE NJ.
Z. SUNDAY SCHOOLS, SUNDAY AFTER
| NOON.
The be autiful ceremo nies Incident upon
the Harvest Home, annually celebrated
by the Sunday Schools Of Grace M. e.
Church, took place yesterday afternoon,
commencing at 3 o'clock, and was most
successfully gone through with. The
celebration took place in the main audi
torium and this was crowded long before
the opening hymn was sung. Every seat
In the large room was occupied, and In
consequence of the crowd, many were
unable to gain entrance. The afternoon
and infant schools Of Grace church, and
the Madeley chapel Sunday school at
tended in body, and the Epworth chapel
was largely represented.
| THE DECORATIONS.
One of the grand features of the affair
and one which was mot fitting and ap-
prolriate, was the manner in which the
| church was decorated. The whole was
under the supervision of Mrs. DR., w. j,
Stevenson, Mrs. q. II. Rudolph and Mrs.
w. II. Bllany, and the result of the la
Dor cf these ladies shows that they have
acted with commendable taste and dis
elimination. The central figure of the
decorations was an immense pyramid,
which stood IN front of the pulpit plat
form. The base and lower half of this
was composed of vegetables and cereals
in the sbeaf and ear, and the upper part
Of various kind of fruit. The appearance
was strikingly beautiful. To the right
and left of this, and on either side of the
chancel, were small stacks of corn and
wheat The front of this was trimmed
with grasses and stands of grasses of
10 nd han fsVl 1arp rnli. xrad ba
unusual appearance of the display. In
the background were the banners of the
different schools. just here it may BOT
| be out OF place to state that the decOra-
tions excited so many enconiums that II
was dec ded to leave them untouched
until to-day and have the beautiful scene
photographed.
| THE EXERCISES.
| Prof. Rhoads had charge of the musi-
| cal part of the exercises, and in openiU z
the school sang "Come we that Love the
Lord" beautifully under his direction.
Prayer was then made by Rev. David
Dodd of Madeley Chapel who offered up
fervent petition to the Most High, and
prayed that the harvest of the Lord
might be fruitful in gathering in all those
who had met on the occasion of the Har.
vest Home, to offer up praises to Him.
| The following beautiful hymn, written
for the occasion by Rev. WI. Steven
son, the pastor, was then sung by the
audience, with great effect:
| "oUR HARVEST HOME"
"We worship Thee, the Lord of earth,
| To Thee our hearts we raise!
AS keeping now our Harvest Home,
We come with songs of praise.
CHORUS:
sour Harvest-Home, our Harvest Home,
We celebrate this hour;
| Praise God from whom all blessings flow
| We own his gracious power.
'Thy hand dropped down those perfect
| or sunshine and of rain,
That, scattered wide Ger all the land,
Matured the golden grain.
The seasons move at thy command:
The fruits in order come;
| The reapei's work at last Is done;
! The harvests gathered home.
"And soon the angel bands will come
| To carry us away
To that blest land, so beautiful,
| Where reigns eternal day.
"Then let us bear to yon bright world
| The sheaves we've gathered here,
| And shout our Harvest Home above.
| Mid friends and school mates d, ar"
"Ring the Glad Bells" was now sung.
and an exercise was gone through with
| by the infant school, 1t is known as the
"clock exercise" and was very interest
| ing. By an arrangement, a clock would
sound the different hours and at each
stroke question would be asked, "what
does the clock say now" to this an ap-
propriate response would De made in con
| cert by the children. The schools next
sang "Bringing in the Sheaves."
Rev. DR.. Nixon, of the Central Pres
| byterian Church, was here introduced
| and made an address. Plucking from
the pyramid of grain and fruit an ear OF
corn AMI an apple, he made them the
subjects of an interesting talk. He
showed the fidelity of the one to the law
of growth, and the value of the other In
its soundness and then with appropriate
and clever treatment, applied them to
the growth of human character, and the
soundness Of spiritual life. The corn
grew up in obedience to the law of ma
ture, and so should all human beings grow,
uprightly and faultlessly in character -
the apple was perfectly sound, and
beautiful to behold, and had not been
permitted to fall bruised to the ground
and there rot How much more beauti-
ful were lives whose spirituality was I'M
bemished. The points of analogy in
the objects referred to were nicely work
ed out, and the address was very pleas
ant.
After this there was some more beau
tiful singing, the selections rendered be-
ing els my Name Written There" and
ERE the Sun Goes Down." and then
the pastor made few remarks. He ex-
pressed great pleasure at the large atten-
dance, and the way in which every thing
had been conducted and was glad to note
that So much interest was taken in the
celebration of the Harvest Home. Since
the last one had been held the schools
had prospered and there had been an ad-
vance all along the line. The outlook
was encouraging. The then Sabbath
schools present, Grace infant and after
noon, and Madeley, represented one
hundred and seven officers and teachers,
and nine hundred and eighty scholars,
making a total of one thousand and
eighty seven. This number Joined to
Epworth school, not present but repre-
sented, made the total one thousand four
hundred and fOrty-fouf.
The ceremonies closed with singing
"Must 60 Empty Handed " ana the
doxology and benedictiOn by Rev. j. NJ.
Williams of Wesleyan Female College.