portion of God's Word shall be read at each meeting.

In the Sunday-school I introduced the excellent set of rules prepared by our Sunday-school Committee, and they are about to come into operation in Franklin Sanday-school.

We have formed a Christian Workers' Association, the object of which is to prepare for and carry forward combined and systematic work in the city for the conversion of souls. Over thirty have joined the association, a secretary and treasurer have been appointed, and we have now got fairly to work.

Our class-meetings have been reinforced by a number of additions. I have taken charge of the Young Men's Bible Class, which the pastor used to meet on Sunday afternoons. The Young Men's Christian Association, which Mr. Birks recently started, I meet on Friday evenings. The Wednesday evening service is attended by from thirty to forty persons. On Sundays the congregation has run from 75 to 150. Last night we had over 160 in the church. There are fewer young people in the congregation than I have been accustomed to see in England. Our school is extremely small. This I deeply regret. We have 161 scholars on the books. The attendance is 70, and this number about fills the school. After the first two Sundays I felt "at home on the rostrum, and have laboured and prayed for immediate results. God has graciously begun to answer our prayers. Last night week, in response to a quiet, firm appeal to the unsaved to give themselves to the Lord, thirteen came forward to seek the great gift of eternal life. Some of them have long heard the Saviour's call, others are young. All were joyfully welcomed to the mercy-seat.

One of these was a man who had been coming to the church for fourteen years, and had long won the esteem of the friends by his generous spirit and manly conduct, but who had never

accepted of Christ as his own Saviour. When I said, "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come," with much feeling and decision he replied, "I will come," and at once did so. Another told me he had found Christ while I was preaching, but felt he must come out and openly confess his Lord. For the first time he could now say, "My Lord, and my God," though he had long heard the Word. Another, an intelligent young woman, in a letter to her teacher said, "Now I feel like a new creature. I have long been trying to live as Christ would have me, but my heart was never so touched before. From the first word of the sermon to the last I felt the tears quietly coming; I could not have stopped them if I had tried my ut

most.

Before the finish I felt as if I had before been bound with irons, and that all at once they had burst, and I was free, and from that moment I felt that I was saved. I feel like one in a different world, and can say, as never before, Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.' I now trust that the rest of my life will be spent in His service, in trying to bring others to the love and knowledge of my Saviour.”

At our Sunday night prayer-meeting on the 23rd, though none came out openly to seek the Lord, a most hallowed and quickening power was felt. We had from 65 to 70 present. I trust showers of blessing will come down on all our circuits and mission stations, at home and abroad.

I have, in the foregoing statement, given you simply facts. It is too soon yet to say much about hopes, impressions, fears, or convictions. I have recorded only one regret, and that just oozed out of its own accord, and I will let it go, now it is out. Will you kindly allow me in closing to send my kindest regards to the many, many friends in England, of whom I shall ever think with deepest and tenderest affection?

BURY HOME MISSION

STATION.

EFFORT TO REDUCE THE DEBT.

ON Wednesday, October 17, a grand bazaar was held in the Athenæum, Bury, by the friends connected with our church. R. N. Philips, Esq., M.P., promised to open it, and was suddenly called from home (but sent a donation of £10), so Alderman Duckworth, Mayor of Bury, kindly supplied his place. Alderman Peers, whose family for years have taken a deep interest in our Bury cause, and whose help in the present undertaking has been most valuable, presided at the opening ceremony, and spoke in hopeful terms of the prospect before the church when it should be entirely untrammelled by debt. The Mayor (formerly a member, and a local preacher of our body) spoke of the early days and struggles of the church, and exhorted the friends to promote, according to the power they had, the education of the young. The Rev. J. Medicraft announced the opening hymn, and gave some words of encouragement to the few loyal connexional friends of Bury. Rev. R. C. Turner supplicated the blessing of God on the project. The Revs. S. Walker and J. E. Walsh, with Messrs. W. Hill and W. H. Kempster, spoke to the thanks offered to the Mayor and Alderman Peers for their services. To save expense the friends themselves erected the stalls, and attended to the whole of the decorations, under the supervision of the Minister. There were six stalls, three containing clothing and fancy articles usually found at bazaars, one set out with china, earthenware, majolica, &c., most of which was generously presented by our friends the manufacturers of Longton, to whom our thanks are due and are hereby given. The fifth stall contained plants and flowers, and the sixth refreshments. These stalls were prepared and presided over by ladies and gentlemen of

the congregation, all of whom deserve unqualified praise.

At the close of the bazaar, the gross receipts were announced to be £642. Friends in large and wealthy circuits may look upon this sum to be small as the result of a grand bazaar, but we regard it as satisfactory and pleasing. We have no wealthy people among us, and our congregation is but small. The weather was most unpropitious, and the friends in a wealthy circuit in the district were holding a bazaar at the same time, so that altogether we were left pretty much to ourselves. Though we do not supply for publication a list of subscriptions, it is only right to say while the friends on the spot contributed right nobly, that substantial help came from friends in Hartlepool, Nottingham, Scarborough, Lindley, Barnsley, Sussex, Durham (the late Mrs. Love, £100), Bolton, Manchester, and other places. To all these friends we present our cordial thanks. Those who know the Bury cause will remember that we engaged to raise £750 to claim the grant of £750 by Conference.

We shall "try again" by holding a supplementary sale of the surplus goods. We shall most gratefully receive subscriptions to help us in attaining the object we aim to accomplish. POPE.

GATESHEAD CIRCUIT.

HIGH FELLING.

A bazaar on behalf of the above was held in the Gateshead Town Hall, on Wednesday, October 24. There was a good attendance of visitors at the opening, The Rev. R. Fanshawe occupied the chair, and he was supported on the platform by Mr. W. H. James, M.P. for the borough; the Revs. J. Bellamy, A. F. Riley, T. B. Saul, W. Mills, T. Porteus, T. England, Alderman Robinson, Councillors Penman, T. Scott, J. Lucas, and J. Davidson, Messrs. E. Smith, J. Scott, G. Huntley, and J. Alder.

Mr. Fanshawe, in opening the proceedings, said the Methodist New Connexion had been in Gateshead about fifty years, and had had a somewhat chequered, but on the whole a successful career, and at the present time their prospects, financially and spiritually, were brighter and more hopeful than they had been for very many years past. During the last three years they had reduced the Sunderland-road Chapel debt by £500, and reduced the Dimston Chapel debt by £550; Bethesda Chapel had been improved and beautified at a cost of £240, and new windows placed in the school at an outlay of £20; Mount Pleasant Chapel had been internally fitted and made more attractive at a cost of £100, and a new school erected at a cost of £300, towards which over £170 had been raised; Teams Chapel re-pewed and painted at a cost of £90, and the debt upon the estate brought down from £80 to £10; Sunniside Chapel beautified, and the debt of £36 removed; at Felling Shore improved accommodation had been provided for the school, involving an outlay of £46, which had been paid, and the debt upon the chapel of £30 cleared off.

During the time these things had been engaging the attention of the friends, and taxing the resources of the Circuit, the good people at the Felling had been waiting, patiently waiting, their time, and he was glad to think that their turn for financial release had come, and that the responsibility of the trustees would, by this effort, be materially lessened. The above chapel was erected eight years ago, at a cost of £1,250, and £750 debt still remains. Encouraged by an offer by the Connexional Chapel Fund Committee of £100, they resolved to hold a bazaar, first at Gateshead, assisted by the friends there, and raise £200; and then to hold another at the Felling early in the year, and raise £100; and, from what he saw around him that day, the first part would soon be accomplished.

Mr. W. H. James then gave an address, in which, after expressing the pleasure of the work being done, he went on to refer to the question of distributions. They saw on one side, he said, great poverty, and upon the other enormous wealth. He thought the religious denominations were doing much to remedy this state of affairs. He was glad to see that they had spent so much for the cause of education. There were two kinds of freedom, intellectual and moral, and intellectual freedom was promoted by a liberal education, which had been defined as trying to know something of everything and everything of something. They must also endeavour to promote moral freedom, aud try to discredit such things as cruelty, the preying of the weak upon the strong.

At the close of an excellent address, he declared the bazaar open.

The ladies presiding at the stalls were Mesdames Fanshawe, Huntley, G. Wilson, J. Alder, Ridley, Charlton, Harbottle, Hall, Davidson, Dixon, Walters, Miller, Gillespie, and Bell; the Misses Hall, and Misses Smith, Scott, Hopper, Boiston, and Miller.

The bazaar was open two days, and realised the noble sum of £197 8s. 11d.

LAYING MEMORIAL STONES OF A NEW

SCHOOL AT SHERIFF-HILL.

ON Monday, November 5, four memorial stones were laid by Miss Clarke, the Hermitage, Sheriff-hill, Mrs. Fanshawe, Miss Scott, and Mr. J. R. Miller. The building is to be of stone, and its dimensions are to be 39 ft. by 21 ft., and it will accommodate 200 scholars. Adjoining it is to be a vestry 13 ft. by 11 ft., and both will be fitted with lavatories. The architect is Mr. Thos. Reay (an old scholar), Newcastle; the contractor is Mr. Thomas Seymour. The total cost will be about £320. There was a large company at the above ceremony. An excellent tea was provided in the Board school, at which over 200 sat

down. After tea a public meeting was held in the chapel. Mr. J Thompson, of Newcastle, presided. Addresses were given by the Rev. E. H. Denton, of Durham, R. Fanshawe, J. K. Robson; Messrs. G. Huntley, J. Alder, and J. Scott. The amount raised by the day's proceedings was £35, which, with £140 already in hand, will leave only about £155 debt, and this can easily be dealt with by the energetic and loyal friends at Sheriff-hill. R. FANSHAWE.

BATLEY CIRCUIT.

REDUCTION OF CHAPEL DEBT AT
HANGING HEATON.

ON Thursday, October 4, a three days' bazaar, towards liquidating the debt on our chapel and Sunday-schools at Hanging Heaton, was opened at Zion School-room, Batley, kindly lent for the occasion. The opening ceremony was performed by Joseph Talbot, Esq. There were also present Alderman Preston (ex-Mayor), Alderman J. R. Fox, Councillor J. H. Senior, the Ministers, and Messrs. John Jubb, J.P., A. Brooke, J.Brooke, J. J. Fox, A. P. Parker, Thos. Thackrah, J. Halmshaw, I. Smith, W. Greenwood, A. Green, J. S. Newsome, &c.

The proceedings commenced with the usual devotional exercises, after which Alderman Fox introduced Mr. Talbot.

Mr. Talbot, who was received with cheers, said this was the first time he had occupied a position of that sorthe did not know about its being the last. Some people objected to bazaars. There might be something in the objection, but for his own part he thought they were a capital means of raising funds for a good object. There was no doubt that the people of Hanging Heaton were deserving of all support, and he might say that had it been any other society he would certainly have declined to open the bazaar. He would just like to give them some idea of the financial posi

tion of the society at Hanging Heaton, which had been supplied to him by the chancellor of the exchequer. The cost of the premises erected in 1879 was £2,750, towards which the sum of about £1,100 was raised, leaving a total debt of about £1,650. There was £1,000 on mortgage, and the aim of that bazaar was to get rid of the debt of £650 at the bank. The chapel committee had promised £100, on condition that the sum of £550 be raised locally. The Zion ladies had generously promised to raise £100 of that sum by a stall which they had provided, and which they expected to realise not less than £100-he thought they might venture to say they would get a little more, really leaving £450 for the Hanging Heaton friends to raise. When the effort was completed the balance of £1,000 could no doubt be worked, although it involved a great effort, even then. The £1,000 was being paid off through a building society, and about £100 had already been paid. The annual payment required £65. Other payments brought it up to £100, and altogether they had to raise about £150 a year. In conclusion he said he hoped the bazaar would prove a great success, and would result in raising the whole of the £673. He was sure everybo ly there were determined to do their best. When they saw people helping themselves, they deserved all the assistance that could be rendered to them. He now declared the bazaar open.

Mr. JOHN JUBB, J.P., said he had a very pleasant duty to perform, in moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Talbot for his kindness in opening the bazaar; and, in the course of a few remarks he made, he expressed the hope that the bazaar would be a great success, and said he would give £20 towards it— that would be his subscription.

Mr. SAMUEL MITCHELL, on behalf of the Hanging Heaton friends, expressed their sense of gratitude to Mr. Talbot for so kindly coming to open the bazaar. They were deeply obligated, not only

to Mr. Talbot, but to all their Zion friends; not only for present assistance, but for all they had done for them in the past. If it had not have been for Batley, he did not know

whether they could have existed at all as a church at Hanging Heaton. God might, in His own way, have worked by some other means, perhaps. He trusted they would all keep more in earnest at Hanging Heaton in the future, and show their gratitude in a consistent Christian life, and in full de votedness to the service of Christ. Although he had left Hanging Heaton, he was still one of them, and had a deep interest in their welfare. After again expressing their gratitude to Mr. Talbot, and also to Mr. Jubb, he went on to speak of the early history of the cause at Hanging Heaton, and said if he had the power the debt should be extinguished that day.

The Rev. A. R. Pearson said, before tendering formally to Mr. Talbot the thanks of the meeting, they had the presence of three persons who occupied the position of patrons of that bazaar-Mr. Thackrah, Alderman Preston, and Alderman Fox; Mr. Lipscomb had kindly sent one guinea; Mr. George Clay had sent £1, and an expression of his regret that he could not be there; Mr. Marmaduke Fox had sent a cheque for five guineas; Serjeant Simon, M.P., had stated that he could not allow his name to appear as one of the patrons, as he did not wish to assert any superiority over others, but that conscientious objection of his did not prevent his wife contributing a little, and she had sent two guineas; altogether they had received £9 88. He then tendered the thanks of the meeting to Mr. Talbot.

Mr. Talbot briefly acknowledged the compliment, and handed a donation of £20 towards the bazaar fund.

The sales were then proceeded with by the ladies, as under:

Zion Stall.-Mesdames J. Preston, W. J. R. Fox, J. J. Fox, Geo Brooke,

B. P. Parker, Josh. Talbot, T. Tomlinson, W. Brooke, and G. Wrigley.

Hanging Heaton Stall.-Mesdames Lister, Mitchell, and Rogers.

Juvenile Stall.-Mrs. Green, Miss Hirst, Misses A. Gardner, M. Mitchell, E. Day, S. Thurmand, E. Blakeley, A. Wilby, E. Roebuck, E. Smith, E. Bentley, J. Lee, and S. A. Watson.

Refreshment Stall.-Misses S. A. Mitchell, L. Gardner, S. E. Bentley, E. France, M. Tomlinson, E. J. Fox, E. Wilby, A. Lee, E. Pratt, M. Day, S. Lyles, M. Woffenden, S. Mitchell, and A. Fox.

Gentlemen's Stall.-Messrs. F. Mitchell, G. H. Brooke, Amos Brooke, Jas. Watson, Henry Bromley, B. Mortimer, E. Wilby, and C. Lodge.

Children's Stall.-Miss Marsden, Miss Woffenden, Miss France, and Miss Thurmand.

This large sum does credit to the Hanging Heaton ladies, who have worked most strenuously for some months past. Mention ought to be made on behalf of Zion ladies' stall, provided entirely on behalf of another society. The sum necessary to cancel the Bank debt is not yet realised, but by a further effort at Christmas or Easter it is hoped that it will be obtained. We are thankful for the past, and, with the blessing of God, we hope to do greater things in the future. W. MATTHEWS.