Numerous visits have been paid, several satisfactory; and a few remarkable conversions have taken place. The congregation at Chertsey is almost a new one, and contains a large proportion of intelligent people. The services are usually characterized by deep feeling. The Sunday-evening attendance has greatly improved, and our sittings are nearly all let. I am anxious to estabnish cottage-services in the town and neighbourhood. My visits have been, for the most part, welcomed; and we are praying, and expecting God's blessing. 4.-HORSHAM. The Rev. J. W. Winspear writes: I found our congregation and Society here in a very low numerical condition. The few Methodists are, however, alive to God, and are united to each other for the Lord's sake. I find, in my visiting, a mercenary spirit among the poor, though there are exceptions. During the quarter, the Sunday-school has increased; a Bibleclass of thirty young persons has been formed; and the congregations are four times as large as I found them. The population of Horsham is about 6,000; and, in consequence of the extensive range of the Dorking Circuit, (of which it forms part,) and the insufficient number of ministers for the work required, it has not received due attention. It is hoped that the residence of a HomeMissionary minister in the town will be accompanied by extensive good; and the promise of satisfactory results is encouraging. 5. BRIGHTON. From a Letter of the Rev. W. H. Johnston.-November 30th, 1864. Our new chapel work is now completely organized, and collectors are appointed to canvass the town; an effort in which I find it necessary to take an active part. I have also carefully to look after the persons who have recently joined our church, lest they should relapse. At the commencement of my work here, I did not meet with that cooperation which was desirable. The case is quite different now, as there is on all hands a willingness to work heartily with me. We have opened several places for prayer-meetings, &c. A Sunday-school has been commenced, with marked success. The congregation is greatly improved, and the classes have increased in numbers, and in average attendance. There are three classes at the Home-Mission chapel. I have also another class; and a fifth, for boys, on a Saturday afternoon, My Bible-classes have been well appreciated, and promise much good in the future. But I most value the continued success vouchsafed in the salvation of sinners. We are holding continuous services for a fortnight; which, so far, have been much blessed to many. I may add, that my attention to the soldiers, at the barracks, has had good results. The Wesleyans in the Army deserve and repay the best attention of their ministers. [The necessity of a new chapel here must be apparent to all. We rent the Home-Mission chapel, and may be dispossessed of it at any time. Looking at Brighton as a place of resort, and at the facilities for doing good at the WestEnd, where most of the visiters stay, and where there is not a Nonconformist place of any kind, and far from sufficient pew-accommodation in the churches, we must feel that it certainly presents strong claims for Connexional aid, and for the liberal help of visiters who know the urgency of the case.] 6. LIVERPOOL.-Pitt-Street.-From the Journal of the Rev. James Wayman.During the summer months of June, July, and part of August, fifty-one openair services were held in connexion with this Mission. Of these, those held at the Custom-House secured a large attendance of sailors, emigrants, and others; the numbers being from four to six hundred. The others were held in some of the worst parts of the town. In general, the people assembled have shown great attention to the preaching; the only attempts at interruption having been made by drunkards and Papists. One of the latter furiously threatened to knock the minister down with an axe; but none have proceeded to actual violence, neither has there been much disturbance from these vulgar antago nists. During one of the services at the Custom-House, the mate of a ship was powerfully affected. At the close he introduced himself to the preacher, informing him that he was the son of a Methodist minister, deceased; that he once enjoyed faith in Christ; that he had become careless and unfaithful, so that for eight years he had been leading a sinful life. He expressed an earnest desire to amend, and join the church from which he had wandered. acted accordingly, and a subsequent record in the journal mentions his having obtained peace with God.] During a visit of the minister to the hospital, an old man, (formerly a Romanist,) who [He had met in one of the Mission-classes, died. In response to an inquiry respecting his hope of heaven, he quoted the well-known lines, "Other refuge have I none," &c. 7. MANCHESTER.-Grosvenor-Street.The Rev. E. Hawkin, December 1st, 1864, reports that he has great difficulties in dealing with the ignorance, poverty, and awful indifference of the people in his district, of whom a large majority habitually neglect public worship. Among these he meets with a large number who were for years in Sunday-schools, and not a few of them teachers. This fact, which is not confined to any particular locality in the kingdom, deserves the most serious, prayerful, and practical attention of all who are engaged in the management of Sunday-schools. Some, of this class, have not been into a church or chapel for ten or more years! Cottage-services have been productive of valuable results, and the congregations are in an encouraging state. Mr. Hawkin also gratefully acknowledges the kind and willing assistance given him by the friends in the Circuit; and notes, especially, that they have engaged the services of a young man, a Local preacher, to help him in his labours among the crowded masses of the population. 8. OLDHAM.-From a Letter of the Rev. J. W. Henderson.-December 12th, 1864.-This Mission continues, by the blessing of God, to be successful. Many have been recently brought to God, and our services have been "times of refreshing." This quarter we shall report an increase of nine members, and about forty on trial, in connexion with the Mission-chapel; and an increase, in the Circuit, of twenty members, with one hundred and forty-eight on trial. Our Day and Sunday-school buildings are too small. The average number of children in attendance during the past month, has been three hundred and thirty-four. You will be pleased to hear that we have just held our first Foreign Missionary meeting, and, notwithstanding the bad times, the collection amounted to £25. [Thus, as on the other stations, the revival of our aggressive labour at home provides additional means for the extension of the work abroad. Such an income as is desirable for our Foreign Missionary operations can never be wisely calculated upon as the result of special efforts, or periodical bursts of liberality; but must arise out of the practical and well-sustained gratitude of those who in much larger numbers than heretofore are converted to God, and brought into communion with our church.] many 9. BLACKBURN.-Four years ago a room was taken in this neighbourhood, at a place called Bolton-gate, for public worship and a Sabbath-school; and by God's blessing the work has steadily progressed. At the last Conference, the Rev. Charles Christien was appointed as Home-Missionary minister. A few weeks before this appointment took place, a large warehouse was kindly lent to us, free of rent, by Mr. W. Birtwistle, in which we have since been worshipping, and the congregations have already increased from about one hundred and twenty to more than three hundred. Bible-classes for young men and women have been formed; cottage-services are held, and are well attended; by means of house-to-house visitation persons who for years had neglected public worship have been led to resume it; and, better than all, sinners have been led to God, and new classes are formed. On Sunday, the 27th November, anniversary sermons were preached by the Rev. Joseph Smithies. On the following Wednesday, the Rev. W. Chambers presided over a most interesting and enthusiastic public meeting. The report of the Sabbath-school showed an increase of seventy-nine children during the year, with about two hundred on the books. We have purchased land for a school and chapel. The schoolbuilding is in progress, and we expect to open it early in the spring. But, as it will hold only a few more than the warehouse, a chapel will be speedily needed. The cotton famine cripples our energies, but with God's help we intend to go on. No town in England more needs Home-Mission effort. 10. BEESTON, Leeds.-From a Letter of the Rev. Thomas Ayrton.-December 15th, 1864.-The work of God continues to prosper, though we shall not be able to make much advance till we get a chapel at Beeston. Till then we cannot add to the congregation. We have, however, an increase of members; and the Society at Beeston-Hill, where we have good chapel-accommodation, is growing in numbers and in stability. Cottage-services, and improvementclasses for the young, are in a satisfactory state. I have given attention to some other places in the Circuit. At Pottery. Field we have a day and Sunday-school situated in the midst of a dense population, and of great spiritual destitution. Till lately, it was found impracticable to maintain a Sunday-evening service at this place. We determined, however, on making a vigorous effort, and have commenced a series. On the first Sunday night there was a good congregation, and fifty persons remained to the prayermeeting. Many of these earnestly professed a 66 desire to flee from the wrath to come;" and three of the number found peace with God. GENERAL RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. TURKEY.-STRANGE SCENE IN A CITYCOUNCIL.-One of the most promising and influential young converts connected with the mission of the American Board at Bitlis, in Eastern Turkey, has repeatedly suffered from the bitter hostility and injustice of the Armenian taxgatherers. One of them having summoned him before the city-council, not satisfied with going to the extreme limit of insult allowed in his calling, took occasion, in presence of the venerable assembly, to abuse and slander the Protestants, stating that they were infidels, and did not worship God. The young man, hearing his religion thus scandalized, and seeing the barefaced impudence of his accuser, in endeavouring to make the Mussulmans believe such charges, which he did not believe himself, was moved with righteous indignation, and could keep silence no longer. With calm boldness, and in courteous language, he turned to the twelve men constituting the council, and said: "Venerable Sirs, you hear that we are accused of being infidels, and not worshipping God. This is a matter which you can decide; and with your permission, I will pray to my God, after which let this man, my accuser, pray to his; and it shall be left to you to judge which prays to the true God." Contrary to all precedent, permission was granted and improved. The young man kneeled down, removed his fez from his head, spread out his hands to heaven, and began his prayer. At the head of that body sat the only green-turbaned Mussulman present, indicative of his being the high priest of that religion. Next him in rank was the judge, with his turban of spotless white, and then the white-bearded members of the council of lower grade. All these not only tolerated the young man, but listened to him in breathless silence, while he prayed (in their language) for twenty minutes, embracing in his petitions all orders and classes of men, from the Sultan down to the most menial subject, and ending each petition in the name of Christ! The venerable members of the council turned to each other, and candidly declared that to be a sincere, heartfelt prayer to the only true God! They then gave opportunity to the accuser to pray; but he, utterly confounded, and shrugging his shoulders, declared that he did not know how to pray! One of the council perhaps better informed than the rest, assayed to remove the embarrassment of the tax-gatherer by telling his companions how the Armenians prayed; viz., by often kneeling and kissing the ground, making the sign of the cross upon their faces, kissing the Bible, &c. ; and then this most singular interview was brought to a close. SYRIA.-Letter from a number of na tive Syrian Christians in the Lebanon.-From the Evangelical brethren in Syria to the Members of the Evangelical Alliance in England : "With due salutations, brethren beloved, we thank God exceedingly that He disposed you to establish a Society so beneficial to all Christians, and with so appropriate a name. Truly the sound of this name rejoices our hearts: for it assures us that Christians in England, and France, and Germany, and Switzerland, and Italy, and America, have been moved by brotherly love to create an association which has for its object the cementing of the union between all Christians in all parts of the world. We write to you, therefore, the more boldly, to inform you of our welfare; and we trust our letter will find acceptance with you. Though a wide ocean and a whole continent separate us from you, and we speak a language altogether different from yours, yet brotherly love in Christ makes the distant near, and the many one. "In regard to ourselves, we have to say that the Gospel continues to make progress in Syria, through the agency of the honoured American Missionaries. The number of adherents to the Evangelical Church in Syria is not far from two thousand. On an average, from twenty to thirty unite yearly with the Evangelical churches in Christian communion. There are to be found also considerable numbers who have become enlightened, and need only the power of the Holy Spirit, and more zeal on the part of Christians, to confirm and strengthen them in the truth. Then, too, we have primary schools and high schools, supported by the American Mission, and by ourselves, and by friends in England; and we have hope that the coming generation will be a still more enlightened one, both in religion and in science. Societies also have of late been formed among the Evangelical Christians for the purpose of spreading wider the knowledge of the Gospel, and individuals have been appointed by these associations to act as colporteurs in sowing the seed of the Divine word. Printing-presses have increased in number, and more has been printed daring the past year than during the previous one. More books, too, are sold now than formerly. "You, no doubt, know that our numbers, which we hope will continue to increase, are small in comparison with the adherents of other sects. On this account we earnestly desire that our union and mutual knowledge may be increased by means of correspondence, that thus our brotherly love and Christian union may be cemented, and you may be stirred up to aid us to the extent of your power. If the other sects in Syria make strenuous efforts to aid and strengthen themselves, how much more reasonably may we, who are the weaker, expect aid from you, as our necessities require! We trust that your love toward us may increase, remembering what is written in Eccles. iv. 9-12, and Eph. iv. 1-16. "We wish assurances of our love to each member of your Association. "SOLEIBEH JERWAN, HANNA SHAKKUR, AS'AAD ESH SHEDUDY, RISKULLAH BERBARY, DAUD KENA'AN, MEKHAIL MUSolly, RASHID MISHALANY." INDIA.-WORSHIP OF STATUES.-In the city of Kolapoor are two hundred and fifty-two idol temples, and but one building for the worship of the true God, lately erected. An American Missionary writes that "the statue of Lord Cornwallis, in the Town Hall, is wor shipped by the ignorant classes of Hindus with as much reverence as is paid by them to the images of Bram or Shive! This superstitious practice has lately extended itself to the Mohammedans. The worshippers are mostly women, and on an average no less than fifteen or twenty cocoa-nuts are broken daily on the base of the statue." Other cases are mentioned in which persons recently deceased have been deified, and worship is paid to their statues. BENGAL.-May we not hope that men, emerging from idolatry, who say such things as the following, are drawing nearer and nearer to the kingdom of grace? The Brahmin Reformer's Covenant.— Having full faith in this religion, I adopt the religion of the worshippers of Brahma. 1. I will live devoted to the worship of that one supreme Brahma, who is Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer (of the universe); the giver of present and eternal good; all-wise, all-pervading, full of joy, the good, and without form. I will worship him with love, and by doing things that will give him pleasure. 2. I will worship no created thing as the supreme God. 3. Unless disabled by sickness or calamity, I will every day, in faith and love, fix my thoughts in contemplation on the Supreme. 4. I will live earnest in the practice of good deeds. 5. I will endeavour to live free from evil deeds. 6. If, overcome by temptation, I perchance do anything evil, I will surely desire to be freed from it and be careful (for the future). 7. Every year, and in all my worldly prosperity, I will offer gifts to the Brahmo Somaj. O, God grant unto me strength that I may entirely observe this excellent religion. His views of the Duties enjoined by Natural Religion.-Be prayerful. Without prayer, religion is hypocrisy, and man a beast. A Brahmo without prayer is but a name. Thank God, and be content with what you have. Enjoy the world, but with thanks to God. A heart without thanksgiving is made of stone. Adore Him whose works the Pagans adore. Be grateful to Him for what you have. Murmur not against the Lord, but live contented as long as you live. You must pray Him, not that He should make you a sovereign, not that you should have the riches of Croesus, the might of Alexander, and the beauty of Edward; but that your heart be fortified against vice; that it should be His beloved seat; that it be ennobled with His presence; that you may master your passions; that you may be strengthened in the cause of truth, and that you may stand aghast against every temptation of this treacherous world, against every persuasion of evil, and against every persecution of the enemies of truth. The servant of God has the best master in the world. He is the richest man who has God for his Friend. Take every man for your brother, and every woman for your sister. The world is a house; all men are brothers, and God the common Father. You must stretch your right hand to every brother in need. You must wipe the tears from the widow's eyes. You must be all sympathy. You must feel aggrieved at others' grief, delighted at others' delight, blest at others' blessing. You must support the poor, and dry the orphan's tear. You must cultivate friendship with all; at least, be strangers to each other, but never enemies. If your enemy be ever weighed down with distress, light him of the burden; and he, out of the pushing of his own heart, will be your best friend. He who forsakes his needy brother is forsaken by God. Expect what you do. If you do evils, expect evils. If you do good, expect good in return. Be always in peace. Who does no ill has nothing to fear. Where peace is, there must God be. If you like a good revenge, then leave it with God. His views of religious privileges.Happy among us is he who, in this hall, feels the presence of his great, loving Father. This knowledge is the entrance to real life; this is an important step, a vital step, a step unto salvation. Get it, and rivet it to your soul. It is all-important, and therefore I do lay so much stress on it, though I am convinced that my repeatedly mentioning it will not add a whit to its importance, for it is allimportant. You are the sons of God; know ye your great Father. This knowledge, as it enters the soul, warms it by the renovation of the spirit. At first, it is something soul-bewildering: this knowledge charms the soul by its sublimity unspeakable. The soul drinks, and with one draught is its thirst quenched; and not only quenched, but it is over-filled. The soul can contain no more. This is knowledge of the infinite and the eternal; the soul knows, and shrinks back. It is dignified be yond measure, but it humbles itself. Pride, vanity, fly like winds from their abode. The soul is enlarged, but the self becomes short-nay, it is lost; the soul rises above personality. Knowledge, which thus breaks in upon us like lightning, bears the stamp of its heavenly origin, and afterwards assumes, through the operation of the mental powers, (the discursive, the cognitive,) shapes multiform, grand, beautiful, tender. It engenders hope, joy, and peace. God, thus revealing Himself to us, manifests Himself in His attributes, in those attributes which the human soul can know. This is not what some have supposed a fiction of imagination. In this transcendental mood of the mind, the imagination lags behind, being earthly in its nature. The spirit knows God to be infinite, knowable, but not comprehensible. The divine spirit in man knows God as spirit, spirit ever active, of infinite activity, ruling the universe, the universe incomprehensible to the imagination of man, and the minutest atom, whose existence the human imagination can have no idea of. God appears to us as the overruling Providence, full of energy, perfect energy. O awful thought! He is working in us, and without us. He appears to us as the living God, power infinite, energy infinite. He is life itself; He is the life of life; from Him flows all life. "Who would have lived, who would have moved, had God, the Joy and the Eternal, not been in this firmament? He giveth joy and life." The soul in its heavenly flight sees God as happy in Himself, perfect happiness. The soul knows this, and is happy. God is known to us as love-love perfect. He is our loving Father, from Him is all love; He is the fountain of love. Ye sons of God! what fear ye? infinite Love looks on you. ALGERIA. SUCCESSFUL LABOURS OF A SPANISH EXILE.-One of the most remarkable efforts carried on in Algeria is that among the Spaniards who live or travel in the country. A Spanish pastor reached Algiers in May, 1863. The Protestant Consistory granted him the use of its church at once, and on June 4th he preached to his countrymen for the first time. The hearers were few, but attentive and orderly. The pastor, besides preaching, received and made a good number of visits; he read the Bible, and distributed tracts, especially to the captains of vessels with whom he met. |