Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan

              Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan
Poster of the Whitefield Congregational Church.
Sydney, Australia.



CAREER. PRESS NOTICES. PERSONAL REFERENCES. EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS.


Figure

Faithfully Yours, E. Tremayne Dunstan




FOREWORD



Mr. Dunstan has been granted 
leave of absence
 from his church in order that he may make an extended lecturing tour through the States and Canada.




These notices and letters may serve as an introduction to Ministers and Churches 
en route.




It is not altogether in accordance with his own taste to publish them; but the fact that he is going among total strangers is his excuse for printing what others have been kind enough to say of him and his work.




Mr. Dunstan will be accompanied on his tour by twoone of his friends and fellow-workers—Mr. and Mrs. Willson.  Mr. Frank Willson is an accomplished organist and vocalist and Mrs. Willson is a popular contralto and skilled violinist. These friends bear with them the highest testimonials as to their musical ability and standing, though their arrangements were not completed in time to include these in this leaflet.






SKETCH OF CAREER

IN 
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
 WHEN APPOINTED CHAIRMAN CONGREGATIONAL UNION.


The Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan, the new Chairman of the Union, was born in Cornwall, where his father was for over forty years the principal of a boarding and day school.  In common with many of the cultured sons of Cornwall, Mr. Dunstan possesses warm sympathies, a keen sense of humour, quick perception and a bright cheery disposition.  He was brought up among the Wesleyans, who were not slow to discover his 
gift of speech.
  or to utilise it in the service of the Church.  At the age of 16 he was in great demand as a boy-preacher, and two years later he was received as a candidate for the Wesleyan ministry.  He spent one year in circuit work, and at the age of 19 entered Richmond College, Surrey, where he remained for three years, at the end of which time he was fully ordained and appointed to a responsible charge in South Africa.  While holding this pastorate his views on matters ecclesiastical 
suffered a change
 which necessitated his abandoning his connection with the Methodists, when he accepted a call to a Union Church.  Two years later he returned to England and became associated with vigorous work carried on by Dr. J. Clifford in London.  Finding the English climate trying after the enervating heat of Africa, he, in 1888, accepted the pastorate of Trinity Congregational Church, Perth, W.A.  He arrived in Perth to find a disappointingly small congregation, not half filling a building that would only accommodate three hundred people.  Nothing daunted, however, he set to work, and with his genius for organisation and infectious energy soon roused the congregation of the West until in time a beautiful brick and stone church was erected, capable of holding 800 people, into which 1.000 and sometimes even more were often packed.  The property is a very prosperous one, being worth nearly £40,000, and is situated in the principal street of the city.  While at Perth Mr. Dunstan identified himself with various public and social movements, and attained a deserved popularity, but after remaining in the charge of Trinity Church for six years and having a deep conviction that a too lengthy pastorate is good for neither people nor pastor, he was led to resign, accepting an invitation from the church in Pitt St. Sydney, a change which has been amply justified by its results.  In every department of church life and activity, improvement has been manifested, and at last year's meeting of the Congregational Union, after little more than a twelve months labour in New South Wales, he was elected Chairman man for the sessions of 1896.  Welcomed to Pitt St. Church as its pastor on July 11th. 1894, he is this day, October 20th. 1896, introduced as the Chairman of the Union, an honor of which any minister might be proud.  He has done good work for his church and the community during his residence in Sydney, and, circun stances permitting, he may be expected to do good work for the denomination of which he is for the year the leader.





WHITEFIELD PASTORATE



During the past five years Mr. Dunstan has been Pastor of the Whitefield Congregational Church in the heart of the city of Sydney.  The membership, as will be seen by the Secretary's letter, is not large, but only those willing to pledge themselves to active service have been sought, and on Institutional lines the church has been so organised that the Pastor can take an extended leave and still feel assured that the efficiency of the various departments will be maintained.  The church supports a vigorous mission work among the poor, classes for physical and intellectual culture, clubs for men and women, and, among other agencies, is a society with a skilled physician at its head for the treatment of defective children.  There are also the usual agencies connected with a church.  Sunday school, Bible classes, Literary society etc, and the church has maintained its own printing office and publishes a weekly paper.






LETTERS.




From Mr. Walter T. Colyer, A.S.I.A. Hon. Sec. Whitefield Congregational Church, Sydney, N.S. Waltes. Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan,




Our Dear Pastor,




As stated to you verbally at the close of a most representative meeting on Wednesday last, the members of the church and congregation unanimously declined to receive your letter of resignation, but urged in lieu thereof that you take leave of absence for six months, the term to be extended if mutually agreeable.




We can look back with deep thankfulness to the work that has been done for nearly five years amid much to discourage you.  Starting with a number of earnest sympathisers, Sunday services have been regularly maintained with all the usual organisations; while, in addition, for two years, you have acted as superintendent of an Institute where the whole of the funds raised have been spent on that work.  We now have some 240 members and adherents enrolled, and our prayers and best wishes wlll follow you that the object of your journey may be accomplished and that there may be many years of useful work before us as a Church and Pastor.




Many of us were also co-workers with you in your previous pastorate for about eight years and no one can say but that a most successful work was done in a church that many had placed among the 
has beens
—Your palpit gifts and elocutionary attainments are such that we shall miss you sorely but we shall look forward to hear of your progress and, until your return next year, the members stand pledged to maintain the work in the strength of Him, whose work we believe we are doing.  May His presence and blessing go with you!




With kindest regards and earnest good wishes Yours sincerely,

Walter T. Colyer




SYDNEY 22, [0, 07.




From Rev. Llewelyn D. Bevan, D.D. Vice President International Council.  Formerly Pastor of 
Brick Church
 New York.




It gives me much pleasure to commend my friend, the Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan, to any to whom this note may be presented.




Mr. Dunstan is about to proceed to America where, I trust, he will have many opportunities of preaching and lecturing.  He is a capable man of popular and attractive address, and has gained a large reputation as a preacher and lecturer.




My friend needs no influence to secure kindly treatment which he evokes by his own generous and helpful spirit.  At the same time I give him this letter to secure from those to whom he may be unknown such a welcome as I shall regard a personal favour conferred upon myself.




Llewelyn D. Bevan.




MELBOURNE 15, 11, 07.




FROM
 Rev. A. J. Griffith M. A. Secretary Australasian Union.  Delegate to Boston 1898.




The Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan is a friend whom I have known for nearly fifteen years.  During much of that time he was minister of the Pitt Street Church, Sydney; afterwards of the Whitefield Congregational Church, in Sydney.  He is a very generous, brotherly man.  He is a forcible speaker, and one who quickly captures the public ear.  As a lecturer he has special and singular powers.  His faculty for picturesque description, for humour and pathos is of very high order; and he is exceedingly forcible in the direct and epigrammatic application of this theme.




In November 1897, Mr. Dunstan conducted an evangelistic mission for me in my church at Waverley in Sydney.  The results attending these services were very marked; and Mr. Dunstan's powerful presentation of the gospel with the Divine blessing brought conviction to the minds of very many.  I earnestly wish him success in the objects for which he is visiting America.




A. J. Griffith.




BRISBANE, 27, 10, 07.




From Rev. W.J.L. Closs, B.A. Secretary Home Mission Board, Queensland.




I have much pleasure in introducing my friend, the Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan, and may heartily commend him to the regard of those to whom this may come.




For several years I was associated with Mr. Dunstan in New South Wales on union and committee work, and ever found him wise and brotherly.  Since coming to this Northern State I have wa ched his work at 
Whitefield,
 with much interest and sympathy.




I cannot speak too highly of him as a lecturer, as of all our Australian lecturers, he is 
facile princeps,
 and his histrionic and entertaining abilities are of the first order.  He only needs to be once heard to be sought after again and again.  He has served me and my churches both on the platform and in the pulpit and has always been a most welcome visitor and acceptable speaker.




I would most warmly commend him and trust that his visit to the great American Republic may in every way be the success he deserves.




I remain, very faithfully yours,

W.J.L. Closs.




IPSWICH 22, 10, 07.





From Rev. Robert Dey. Editor 
A. C. World
 and ex-secretary Cong. Union of N. S. Wales.




I have much pleasure in bearing testimony to the great ability of the Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan of Whitefield Congregational Church, Sydney, as a pastor, preacher, and lecturer.  It has been my privilege to know Mr. Dunstan intimately and to hear him frequently during the years from 1894 till now and there are, in my opinion, few to equal him and fewer still to go one better in the pulpit or on the platform.




As a missioner as well as a popular lecturer Mr. Dunstan has been singularly successful.  He can get and retain the sympathetic attention of the largest audiences.  He is never dull, but wings his arrows with apt illustration and incident.  Personally, Mr. Dunstan is a charming man and one well worth knowing.  I commend him most cordially.




Robert Dey.




From Rev. Albert Rivett. Editor 
Murray Independent.




For several years now I have enjoyed the pleasure and honour of brotherhood with the Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan of Sydney.  Learning that it is his intention soon to leave Australia for America to engage in mission-work, and take lecturing engagements, I have every satisfaction in asking and bespeaking for him a generous confidence and liberal support.  As a preacher few equal, if surpass him in N. S. W., whilst as a lecturer he has a charm that is all his own.  His preaching ability is acknowledged in all the churches, whilst those who have been favoured with him once as a lecturer have always sought him again and again.  Mr. Dunstan seeks for a time a larger sphere and chance, but it is the sincere wish of his many friends, that in the not distant future he may see his way to return to Australia.




Albert Rivett.




From Rev. Robert Betts, A.T.S. Theological Professor, Melbourne, Victoria.




My dear Mr. Dunstan,




As you are going to America on a lecturing and evangelistic tour, a letter from an old friend may be found helpful.  We in Kew know you in both capacities and have the most cordial memory of your visits.  Your mission was fruitful in blessing and your lectures were the most enjoyable of their kind that I ever listened to.  There was no man coming our way who could delight an audience like yourself.  I'm sure you have only to be known on the other side of the water to do great things.  I mentioned to my deacons on Sunday morning that I was writing you and they all wished me to express their warm appreciation of your visits to Kew and their hopes for your success.




Believe me,
Yours very sincerely. 
Robert Betts.




KEW. 23 10, 07.





From Rev. Loyal L. Wirt, B.D, Chairman Queensland Union.




This will serve to introduce the Rev. E. T. Dunstan, who for many years was pastor of the old historic Pitt St. Church, Sydney, and for the last five years of 
Whitefield
 Church and Institute in the same city.  Mr. Dunstan is an able preacher, popular lecturer and genial companion.  He is leaving Australia to seek a new home and wider sphere of Christian service in my native land.




Any church seeking a pastor, a missioner or a lecturer, will make no mistake in opening negotiations with my friend Rev. E. T. Dunstan.  He is an American in spirit and I shall be pleased to learn of his happy settlement in the land of Independence.




Faithfully yours,

Loyal L. Wirt




SYDNEY 23, 10, 07.




From Rev. Sidney W. Baker, Congregational Church, Palmerston North, N. Zealand.




My dear Mr. Dunstan,




I am extremely pleased to learn of your intention to take a much needed holiday, that you purpose making a prolonged tour through the United States.




My very warmest wishes go with you.  Your ability as a lecturer, the vivid Cornish scenes with which you are all so intimate, and which you have the happy and striking faculty of making so real and intensely interesting to your audience, should ensure you a very successful tour, and I believe it will, not financially alone, but physically and mentally, bring you back to these Southern Seas with a renewed lease of good spirits for future service.




God be with you!




Yours always

Sidney W. Baker.




PALMERSTON. 29, 10, 07.




From Rev. G. E. Rowe, BRISBANE. To whom it may concern




I have much pleasure in stating that I have known the Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan for the past 28 years.  From the time he was a student of Richmond College, Surrey, England, until his departure from Sydney for America.  He is a popular preacher and lecturer and has addressed with pleasure and profit some of the largest audiences and congregations in Australia.  Personally I regret very much his departure, which is a distinct loss to the community.  I have no doubt whatever that he will succeed in preaching and lecturing, wherever he may use his gifts, as he has in Australia.  I hold him in great affection and respect and commend him to the Christian Church.




G. E. Rowe.





From Rev. George Walters.




My dear Mr. Dunstan,




I trust that your visit to America may be in every possible way satisfactory to yourself and to those whom you may meet.  Your broad evangelical teaching should find acceptance among the Churches of the great Republic, and your popular lectures are sure to appeal to an exceedingly large circle of intelligent hearers.  Your lectures in Sydney have certainly been marked by originality, earnestness, and the faculty of 
gripping
 an audience.




With all good wishes for a prosperous tour,




Yours sincerely,

George Walters.




SYDNEY 23, 10, 07.




From Rev. J. Reed Glasson, Ex-Chairman N. Zealand Congregational Union.




I have known the Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan for some fifteen years as one of the most successful ministers in Australasia.  He is an exceedingly popular lecturer.  Mr. Dunstan is, I understand, thinking of visiting America.  He carries with him my hearty good wishes, and I commend him to the good offices of those whom he may meet in his travels.




J. Reed Gtasson.




WELLINGTON, N. Z. 17, 10, 07.




From Rev. Mearns Massie. Chairman Congregational Union Tasmania.




I have much pleasure in certifying that for the past six years I have known the Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan, first as Pastor of leading Congregational Church, Pitt Street, Sydney, and during the last five years as pastor of the Whitefield Institutional Church of the same city.




Mr. Dunstan, who is about to take a trip to America, is one of the leading men of our denomination, and I most heartily commend him to the fellowship of our Church in America.




Mearns Massie.




LAUNCESTON TAS. 20, 10, 07.




EXTRACTS.



I have much pleasure in stating that I have known the Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan pretty intimately for the last seven or eight years.  He is one of the most able and popular preachers and lecturers we have ever had in Australasia, and what is more important, I believe he is a really good man.


(From Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister Education, N. Z.)




I write to wish you well in your new undertaking.  The genial enthusiasm and oratorical powers that lifted you into the first pulpit in the continent and sustained you there, will make you of greatest possible service on the lecture platform and wherever you are called to put your whole working soul into your task.


(From Asbury Caldwell, Esq. American Consul, Brisbane.)






PRESS REFERENCES



“
The West Auslralian
” Perth.


In Mr. Dunstan we have one of our most cultivated, earnest, forcible and broad-minded preachers, a man of whom it is no mere form of words to say that his religion is instinct with the spirit of humanity, and his humanity with the spirit of religion.  It is probably due to this element in his preaching, that his labours have been so successful as to compel a temporary migration to the Town Hall while the larger church is being erected, his congregation having overflowed their own place of worship.




(Leading Article.)




“
Australian Independent
”


Few ministers leave a church so prosperous and united, or carry away more general and hearty wishes for the future than the Rev. E. T. Dunstan on his departure for Sydney.  He has been efficient all round, but especially successful in his social work and his work amongst the young.




“
Daily News
” (Perth)


Trinity Church has made most wonderful progress since Mr. Dunstan has been in charge.  From no other cause than the indomitable pluck and energy of the Rev. Gentleman the present handsome and spacious building has been erected, and owing in a great measure to him also the church is financially in a sounder condition than that of any other denomination.




(Leading Article)




“
The Quiver
”. (London)


That much can be done in these colonial cities, as in London and Liverpool, by well-directed and well-sustained personal effort—the outcome of tact as well as ability—has recently been shown in Sydney by the Rev. E. Tremayne Dunstan, the minister of Pitt Street Congregational Church.  
Pitt Street
 is the 
mother church
 to the Congregationalists of New South Wales, and has seating accommodation for something like 2,000 people.  Yet for two years it had a congregation of only two or three hundred.  What is called 
surburbanism
 in Australia had been the main cause of this parlous condition of things.  Then Mr. Dunstan was appointed to the pastorate, and in this short time he has refilled the church.  Mr. Dunstan is a Cornishman, and in preaching has all a Cornishman's fervour tempered by the critical spirit of a thoughtful and widely-read man.  In personal intercourse Mr. Dunstan is one of the most genial of men, a circumstance which has assisted him in his ministerial work in Sydney, equally with his previous colonial experience in South Africa and Western Australia.  Pitt Street Church, I may add, is said to have now the largest Protestant congregation in New South Wales.




ENGLISH
 “
Christian World
,” Reviewing volume of Sermons


—These are pointed and living messages for the times.  Mr. Dunstan is not afraid to speak out in opposition to popular tendencies, and his earnestness and sound commonsense are as conspicuous as his courage.






Public References
 To Mr. DUNSTAN'S MINISTRY.



Rev. JOHN CLIFFORD, D.D. LONDON.




Mr. Dunstan's ministry contains the promise of abiding success.  He is a man with a conviction, and one man with a conviction is worth 99 with mere sentiment.




The Hon. GEORGE RANDELL Chief Sec. W.A.




There can be no mistake that the ministry of Mr. Dunstan has met with the general acceptance of the citizens.  He has made his mark in Perth, and is leaving behind him a loving recollection of that generosity and that social characteristic of mind which so largely distinguish him as a lecturer and a man.




The Hon. Sir GEORGE SHENTON. Pres. Legis. Council W.A.




It is a pleasure to pay my tribute to the good work which Mr. Dunstan has done in this colony.  His principal work in this city has been the great interest he has manifested in the young people, and the handsome new church in the Terrace is a monument to his successful labours.




Rev G. E. ROWE.  President Methodist Conference.




I know no man in West Australia in any department of life who is so popular as my friend Mr. Dunstan, and deservedly so.  How could a man leave better than he is doing, crowned with the noble testimony of the senior deacon, with the affection of a united church, with the sympathy and affection of the sister churches, and with the esteem of his fellow-citizens throughout the colony?




Dr. JOHN FORDYCE, Chairman Australian Congregational Union, reviewing a volume of sermons by Mr. Dunstan, in 
The Australian Christian World.
—




Anyone who reads this volume will easily be able to understand and to account for Mr. Dunstan's popularity.  The sermons, even as found here on the printed page, are full of life and movement, and the illustrations, which are constant, are borrowed from the streets, the homes and the ordinary life of the people.  We can honestly say these are good sermons.  We have read every one of them, and some of them more than once.




Rev. A. J. GRIFFITH, M.A. Ex-Chairman Cong. Union.




Mr. Dunstan's mission work in the various churches in and around Sydney has made a lasting impression.  My own church at Waverley has derived great benefit from his visit.  By his remarkable tact, power of illustration, and facile adaptation of Christ's teaching to the various needs of his hearers he is able in a very special manner to reach the hearts of many.  While we have him with us we have no need to go outside for special missioners.






Lecture References.




Sydney Morning Herald.



A large audience thoroughly enjoyed the excellent programme provided.  The lecture on Cornwall, given by one evidently racy of the soil, was a great success, a fact that was evidenced by the liberal applause bestowed at the conclusion.




Daily Telegraph

(SYDNEY)


Cornish life and character were told to an exceedingly large and demonstrative audience.  The entertainment was a great success from every point of view.




Newcastle Morning Herald.



The audience was convulsed with laughter when the lecturer related in th Cornish dialect his stories of the West.




Maitland Mercury.



The descriptions were brimful of humorous stories, and, as the lecturer was a native, told in inimitable style in the dialect of the people.




Port Elizabeth Advertiser
 (S. AFRICA)


The lecture was both able and amusing, abounding in anecdotes which fairly convulsed the audience.




Cape Mercury
 (S. AFRICA)


The many illustrative stories, racily told, kept up the laughter of those present with a continuity which was as pleasant as it is rare on such occasions.




Western Advocate
 (ORANGE)


It was a relation for an hour and a half of history, local incident, and joke, and funny story followed so rapidly on funny story that no one found time to feel really serious.  Mr. Dunstan knows his people and hits them in the right place.  He is a fluent and facile speaker, and at times eloquent and impressive, and has the magnetic gift of riveting the keen interest of his audience from first to last.




Dungog Chronicle.



So varied and effective were the sketches that the audience were one moment on the verge of tears over some pathetic incident, and the next in roars of laughter This was one of the most interesting lectures ever heard in Dungog.




Newcastle Morning Herald.



The reverend gentleman's power of imitation is very true to life, and at intervals during his lecture he made his large audience fairly roar with laughter.




Brisbane Courier.



Mr. Dunstan kept his audience in the best humour from the beginning to the end of his lecture.




Queensland Times


The lecturer depicted the eccentricities of the Cornishman to perfection, and frequently elicited outbursts of hearty laughter from a most attentive and delighted audience.




Tasmanian News.



The lecturer, who is humorous, bright, patriotic, and entertaining, was listen ed to by the large audience with marked attention throughout.




Advertiser
 (ADELAIDE)


The incidents of life amongst the unsophisticated fisherfolk wereportayed in a series of idylls well worthy of the pen of Ian Maclaren or J. M. Barrie.






(SAMPLE PROGRAMME.)
Popular Lecture Entertainment.



IN THE 
Town Hall. 
Cousin Jack's Land.
 ON 
WFDNESDAY OCTOBER 30th, 1907.
BY REV. E. TREMAYNE DUNSTAN 
AND THE AEOLIAN GLEE PARTY
Music and Mirth.  Cornish life & characteristics told in song and story.






1.


Solo and Chorus—
Home, Sweet Home
MRS. FRANK WILLSON.
The magic word—Our Bethel—Our Village and our folk—Historical associations—The Phoenicians—Zenobia and her sons



2.


Part Song—
Sweet and Low.
(Barnby)
A lost language—Dolly Pentreath—The Queen's washing day.




3.


Song—
The King's Minstrel.

MR. FRANK WILLSON.


Arthur and the knights of the Round Table—The battle of Lyonesse—Cromwell and the Stuarts—Tre, Pol aud Pen.




4.


Chorus of the Western Men—
Trelawny.

(Holloway)

The fighting element—St. Blazey Militia—Hay leg and Straw Leg—
Scat up!





5.


Song—
The three Fishers,

The Cornish farmer—A Cornish Sunday—Strange Adventures of a Dumpling.





6.


Trio—
A little Farm well till'd.


(Hooke)


A fishing Village—Pilchards—Star-gazey pie—Wrecking—A fair start.





7.


Song—
The Wrecker's Light

MR. FRANK WILLSON.

Pluck, push, perseverance—Side—Swimnology—A true Ghost Story.





8.


Glee—
From Oberon in Fairyland.


(Stevens)


A religious people—Hunting parsons—Jack Russell—The huntsman and the Bishop—The Methodists—Mrs. Penwarden at the circus—Revivals—A strange Convert—
Close Hugs,





Conductor:  Mr. F. Willson Accompanist:  Mrs Bissell.




TICKETS, 2s. and 1s.






SYLLABUS
 OF LECTURES AND RECITALS.


CORNISH FOLK LORE AND SKETCHES,

1.


Cousin Jack's Land.


2.


The old folks at Home.


3.


The Parson and the Clerk.




These lectures have musical illustrations.




HUMOROUS AUSTRALIAN LECTURES.



1.


Wild days at the Diggings.


2.


Tne Bush Parson.




Musical illustrations





DESCRIPTIVE LECTURES.



1.


Sunny New South Wales.


2.


The Land of the Moa 
New Zealand the Wonderland of the Southern World


3.


Among the Boers in S. Africa.


4.


The Heart of Australia 
The Land of the Black Swan




These lectures are illustrated by limelight slides.





ELOCUTIONARY RECITALS.



1.


Enoch Arden.


2.


Miscellaneous Recital.




Musical illustrations.



New Lectures Some Socialism at Work.  The Reign of Democracy in Australasia





Printed by the Whitefield Press Printing and Publishing House 393 Pitt St. Sydney