Page:History of Knox Church Dunedin.djvu/147

Rh the great readiness he manifested at all times to be of service to the congregation, deserve most grateful recognition. I feel also warranted in saying that the admirable manner in which Dr Dunlop conducted the two communion services held during your absence gave rise to a widely-expressed feeling of satisfaction and thankfulness on the part of members of the congregation. I have now the pleasure of handing you the address.

"Dr Stuart said the pleasure he had in meeting Dr Dunlop, the elders, deacons, and members of the church, and in receiving the singularly beautiful address which had been presented to him, far exceeded his powers of expression. He need scarcely tell them that the document was prized by him, and would be prized and read, not for its style only, but above all for its sentiments, in the days to come. When he left Dunedin some seven months ago there was borne in upon his soul the full persuasion that the congregation, through the Divine blessing and the watchful efforts of the Rev. Mr Cameron, would have peace and fellowship, and in all his wanderings this conviction never wavered, but rather grew in intensity. And now he had the comfort of finding that his expectations had been more than realised. Between Melbourne and Otago he felt a mist cleaving unto him—a coldness and dampness which he could not shake off, but when he reached Mosgiel the unexpected appearance of the office-bearers of the church shot a beam of sunshine between the mist and his heart, removing the coldness and filling him with light and genial warmth. Then the bright talk afterwards, and the crowds of friends that met him at the Dunedin station, and the welcomes on every lip filled his cup of joy to overflowing. And, as he was driven home through the well-known streets and recognised the old friends and old neighbours, his heart beat fast and strong. He was conscious of a rare happiness—so great that he was perfectly certain he could not give expression to it. He need not say that the expression of the congregation's wishes in reference to the working of the church in the future would be a law unto him to which he would gladly conform. In all the efforts of the congregation to promote the cause of God in the place of their habitation they had always found a right way, and he was sure of this: that as they had hitherto worked eye to eye, bringing to the work helping hands and loving hearts, so long as God spared them their future would be as the past had been, and to every