The daily gazette., 1879-12-30
d C"Ftstnsas- Tide Catherine.
LIE EXERCISES OF THE FIRST PREsBY-
hhiAN SUNDAY SCHOOL LAST

NIGHT.
FIRST Presbyterian Church is not often
Go"ueo s;e as II was last night, the occa-
s, s,oh Deing the exercises incident upon
one Chrislnlas holidays, which have re-
eon''y become SO generally observed by
our sunday schools. The room was
pc..iiy decorated v it'll ailands Of ever
green's and stands Of plants set of the
puipit with hand, ONE effect
nc exercises opened at 8 O'Clock.
wheh the Rev. Mr.. DuVal, the pastor,
ue'lVered fervent PRAYER. The scbooi
,n .nen sang chorus, "Giory to God in
Ine highest" after which the secretary
Vi .fie school made his report. The re-
port stated that there was reason for
thanking God for His goodness. when
the way IN which He had cared for The
sem Oh was taken into consideration.
mere had been all increase in scholars
ana an Increase in the interest taken in
me school. During the wear hut one
schola- had died. The financial condi-
.i .ion OF the school was good the collec
s."ls Ior the year had amounted to
10 and the expenditu .es 1866. 10,
leaving balance of %I.I4. During
tne year The pastors bible class had
opehed room in the back part of the
cnurch, and the work had been done
wi'houe any expense to the school.
many OF them worked on it themselves:
many gave money from their own pock-
cts' ana all had united in raising what
| ever sum was needed to nav off the
| iilt'e bills incurred. The r, port CON-
| P.iulenttd those who had done the work.
hr. clarence Shank, the organist, was
also complimenle ed very highly, and the
| report went further and said that il
wouid De Incomplete did 1t fail to com
P''melt The teachers in the highest man
her. The average attendance of teach
ers had been twenty and the aver.
aye OF scholars, 1G4. Miss Laura Ople
an esteemed teacher, whose death 6a,i
very recently occurred was spoken of a.
n''c whose kindness AID efficiency would
be sadly missed.
The school then sang "Sing Merry
Ihrlstmas" in excellent style, and fol-
lowing IL came a singing exercise by the
h'aht school. Another hymn was sung
ny The school, after which the pastor in
trouuced Rev. Geo. A. Latimer, of
Philadelphia, as an old resident of vii
mlngton and one whom he waS glad tn
welcome hack.
Mr. Latlmer responded in a lengthy
anu somewhat amusing address. He
was siad TO come back to his Old home.
ne said, ana remembered with pleasure
tile warm welcomes he had received in
flist Presbyterian Church before. Sew
.ral times before he had been here on
New Years occasions and thew had ali
been linJoyable. He called attention to
the fact that this was Christmas time
anu tlme OF gifts, AMI said that he
proposed 10 Tell OF the gifts of God to
dis children. lie then took as a subject
from winch to speak, the seventeenth
ana eighteenth verses Of The CXXXIX.
fsal'n, and spoke at some length of the
olble and its value. The reason of
this great value, he said, was that the
thoughts of God were so precious.
Every thought of God is an act each
act a good gift, and every good
OF Miss Lamar Ogie, he offered it with
an address OF touching eloquence upon
the memory of the deceased. Even
christmas time, lie said, had its sorrows
ana TINS was one of them. With all of
tis, however, IL is only matter of "A few
years. The gift was offered In the men,
o'y OF one whom the school had only
anat day, followed 10 the grave.
The emblem offered here was n
most appropriate one, for she loved
glf' Is mercy. These mercies and Gifts. IL
would be readily noted, were prsa. In
number. They wee so numerous that
u was Impossible to count them. There
was molly man once who tried to count
these giits,-it was David and he says
Pa L..
the sands" And If any one was to try to
count the sands on the sea shore he
wonid have an endless take; so 1t is with
tiod gifts. la addition bei ng many in
number, these gifts we're great in value.
anu their worth cannot be estimated in
hgures. The gift of the mind and of the
soui,-how great are they! The Bible
says, "what Shall it profit a man if he
wins the whole world and loose his ow n
SOUL In closing Mr.. Latimer Impress
Ell upon the minds of all the necessity of
givi x all the gifts to Gods ser vice. and
be thankful to Him.
"A hymn Star of the East was then
sung, AID, following, came the memoir
iai exercises. These we're very appropri-
ate. Mr.. DuVal advanced to the front
OF the PLATFORM, and holding in his hand
beautiful representation of a harp,
which had been offered to the memory
music OF all things. The speaker went
on at some length to speak of the char
acter OF the deceased and said that his
first recollection of her was of aiding in
the Sabbath school and doing all she.
could. He hoped that the sweet strains
of her music might still vibrate in the
hearts OF all the school.
A beautiful wreath was next offered
in the memory of Miss McCaulley of Nj rs.
Ochel' rees class. The pastor spoke
touchlngly of the many lovely traits of
character OF the deceased scholar, and
closed, saying "if there ever was any
one on whose heart the Star of Buthle-
hem shone " was hers"
There was now some more infant
school exercises announced, when six
lltile girls mounted the stage and went
through their parts very nicely.
The presentations came rext, and
among those who received presents were
the following: Samuel Mckee. VIM.
Lewes, Mary Morson, May Hughey,
Samuel Irwin, Bessie Moore, Ellie Ten
Weges, Mary Irwin, Millie Roberts j no.
Roberts, August Vieweig, Lizzie Ennes,
Martha Chadwick, Miss y. l.. Francis,
Mr.. Clarence Shank.
Wake Song of Jubilee" was then rem.
dered by the school and after the choir
had sung chorus, the beneiictiOn was
pronounced and the anniversary was
over.
The exercises were conducted in very
| enjoyable and successful manner, and
great credit is due Mr.. Shoemaker, the
supcrinl endent.
Il Good Record.