Page:Letters from New Zealand (Harper).djvu/243

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Letters from New Zealand
211

him and, as he left, he said: "Well, I may be wrong in some respects, but it's a good thing you've come, for, like St. Paul, you'll do your son Timothy here a lot of good." Without doubt the Dean has done us all so much good that it will be long before his powerful yet practical sermons are forgotten. He was especially welcomed by several Tasmanian families, who have made Timaru their home, such as Messrs. Arthur and Cecil Perry, and Mr. J. W. White, our principal legal firms.

Sunday School work is progressing; we have started a small branch school in the suburbs, in a rented cottage, under the management of Mrs. Luxmoore, and hope it may lead to the purchase of a site and a building of our own. There is little poverty here, but cases of distress and misfortune are inevitable, and so, to meet these, with the aid of Mr. W. Evans, an old West Coast friend, and others, we have organized a Benevolent Society, of which all Ministers of religion are members, there being no Government system yet of charitable relief. I have also got together a Guild of Ladies for Needlework, who will raise funds for certain portions of the new Church. Things are progressing generally in South Canterbury; whether this will last, I cannot say; in a young country people take short views, and are inclined to let the future look to itself, and, I think, also to live too nearly up to their incomes.

My work is pleasantly varied by occasional visits to Christchurch, one of which was to the Consecration of the Cathedral, of which the nave is completed, with a temporary chancel. Sir Gilbert Scott furnished the design, in Early English style, and, with some modifications, the work has been carried out by Mr.