The New Zealand Evangelist

Notes Of December

Notes Of December.

Rural Phenomena.

Happily for the community, December has furnished little that requires to be chronicled in our pages; but that little is mostly of a pleasing character. The season is in all respects nearly a month in advance; the weather has been unusually warm and beautiful, and vegetation both in the wild wastes and in the cultivated enclosures is in a state of forwardness and luxuriance; the dark red flowers of the rata, in stripes and clusters amid the deep green folivge around, gives an aspect of beauty and grandeur to the scanery of the forest. In the valley of the Hutt especially, over many a broad acre the wheat waves, tall and heavy, delighting the eye and cheering the heart of the enterprising, hardworking husbandman; from fields of beans and clover the air is loaded with fragrant sweets, and stores are furnished in ample profusion from which the inmates of the dairy and the apiary eliminate productions of more certain value than the nectar and ambrosia of the poets, and which, from their abundance as well as excellence, will secure for this country the title of a “land flowing with milk and honey.” The orchards, though fearfully scourged by the south-easters of October, are giving full promises and fair pledges of what they will become in future years. The warm sunshine and the smooth, smiling waters have given an early and earnest impulse to the aquatic exercises of the season: the delicate are seeking health and the robust are seeking enjoyment in the delightful and invigorating exercise of bathing. It is to be regretted that, in a climate where bathing is more of a necessary than a luxury, some steps are not taken by which females might more easily and extensively enjoy the benefits of this practice during the summer months. The public health has been uncommonly good for several months; notwithstanding the great amount of exposure during the earthquakes, there has scarcely been a case of sickness in the whole community, and epidemics of every kind have been un known. The state and prospects of the settlement are in almost every respect prosperous and cheering, and such as call for gratitude and thankfulness. “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works unto the children of men!”

Places of Public Worship.

Among all the different religious denominations, nearly the same life and activity appear to continue. The Wesleyan Congregation are exerting themselves with great energy to raise the requisite funds for erecting a place of worship, in room of the one destroyed by the earthquake. They have received a very munificent contribution from their brethren in Auckland, and the members and adherents of the Wesleyan Church here, are coming forward with praiseworthy liberality. They contemplate the erection of a strong, commodious, and elegant building; one that shall comprise the highest possible combination of utility, elegance, and economy. The Lord should be served with the best of our property. The Independent Congregation have prooured a site at Kumutoto, for their place of worship, and have succeeded beyond their expectations in raising the funds necessary for the erection of a suitable building. This will be a much more suitable locality than that in which their former Chapel stood, a matter of no small importance; for all other things being equal, the Church that is most conveniently situated will always be the best attended.