Prince's Bridge, Melbourne
The man who writes thus abruptly, treading upon the tender susceptibilities of Kentucky pilgrims, calls for more than passing mention. When hundreds flocked to the Australian gold fields, Thomas Magarey established a mill, and sold flour to the prospectors. Gold was found in abundance, and easily parted with; but while others dug it from the earth, Magarey ground his meal and watched the yellow tide as it came his way. "Twenty years of homesickness," on his part, was well rewarded. He owned a palatial home in South Australia, was immensely wealthy, and was a Member of Parliament.
His religious life was diverted into its present channel by reading articles by Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott in the Christian Baptist. His brother, some time before the coming of the Carrs to Australia, perished in a fire at sea. Thomas took his brother's family into his own home, where all live as one. His sheep ranch, his cattle, his horses, his milling business, his civic affairs, occupied the greater part of the day, but his evenings were spent with his wife and children.
On Sundays two carriages took them to church in the morning, to Sunday-school in the afternoon, to preaching at night. At the Governor's receptions, the jewels of the Magareys flashed with the costliest; at church, their garments were as simple as the simplest. And if there was no preacher, as indeed was usually the case in this land where preachers were so scarce, Thomas Magarey addressed the congregation, after the Australian manner.
The better to understand this manner, let us return to the Carrs, and take a brief view of their religious life. As we have seen, the preacher delivered a sermon only on Sunday nights. The primary object of the Sunday morning service was the observance of the Lord's Supper. For the Church of Christ, in its desire to do just as the Christians did in Apostolic times, met on the first day of the week to break bread, not "to keep the Sabbath day holy", which they said had been done away, with the old dispensation, but to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
Besides the communion service on Sunday morning, there would be exhortations to religious life by laymen, who had been appointed a month in advance. These men took pride in preparing brief addresses which they hoped might prove edifying; and so general was the custom, that if the minister failed to be present, his absence was unfelt. Such a custom tended to build up a permanent and fervid religious sentiment in the very heart of the congregation—a speaking Christianity which business men carried during the week into their shops and offices.
The congregation would assemble promptly in the morning, and, a minute or two before eleven o'clock, would sit with bowed heads. Exactly at eleven, all would rise to their feet, and lift up some familiar hymn such as "Safely through another week, God has brought us on our way." Among the five hundred there were not a dozen silent mouths. Following the hymn, a chapter would be read from the Old Testament, another from the New. A third layman would announce a hymn, usually reading it; a fourth would lead in prayer. Still another would preside at the table, to be followed by those appointed for short addresses.
The congregation preferred to take business affairs from their own number, rather than from the minister. As an example—One morning a man rose and said: "Since I have been hearing Brother Carr preach, my Bible has become a new Bible. I never understood it till now. But there is one subject Brother Carr has omitted—the duty and privilege of financially supporting the preacher." Having delivered himself upon this neglected theme, the man concluded: "You know me and my circumstances. I am a shipwright. I will give half a crown a week. My wife will do the same. There are many present who can do as well. Now, will you do it?" And the audience rose and said, "We will do it!"
Before a house had been selected for the missionaries, Mrs. Carr went on a visit to some new-found friends; as a result we have a series of letters between her and Mr. Carr; we trust our extracts from them will be both judicious and interesting.