CHAPTER XII.
ON the completion of the new church the office-bearers resolved that it should be opened for Divine service on Sabbath the 5th of November, 1876. The following account of the opening is taken from the Otago Daily Times of November 6, 1876:—"Probably no event in the history of Otago has been looked forward to with a greater degree of interest by a large section of the community than the opening of Knox Church, which took place yesterday morning. Long before 11 o'clock, the hour fixed for the first service, George street presented a more than usually animated appearance, being crowded with pedestrians anxious to be in time to secure seats. The congregation yesterday included not only the members of Knox Church, but, in addition, many of other Christian denominations, as well as of the different Presbyterian churches in the city, and not a few visitors from a distance. The deacons of the church were unremitting in their endeavours to make things as comfortable as possible by providing seats for all, and in order to do this chairs and forms had to be placed along the aisles. The Rev. Professor Salmond officiated in the forenoon, and the pulpit platform was occupied by the Rev. Dr Stuart, the respected pastor of the Knox Church congregation, the Revs. Messrs Will and Todd, and the elders and office-bearers of the church. The morning was very fine, and the sunlight streaming in through the eastern windows and illuminating the well-finished interior of the church, which was crowded in nave, galleries, and aisles by a fervid congregation of over 1500 people, produced the most pleasing and brilliant effect. Indeed, the Building Committee and subscribers must have felt highly gratified with the result of their labours and liberality, which have been instrumental in raising in this country, so remote from Scotland—the centre of Presbyterianism—a noble house of prayer in which they may worship God in the manner they have been ac-
