to take this first step. Having bought their ground, the business of the church is next to arrange on paper their buildings, as completed, with all adjuncts to the church as we have previously described. Then to arrange the order in which these shall be erected. This is the critical step. Ambition, show, "prudence," seem to suggest that a large and commodious chapel will furnish accommodation for those who will come and pay both for the chapel and the surrounding buildings. This is the principle upon which chapel committees and building societies generally act. A plan more in conformity with the spirit of this paper would be to reserve the erection of the chapel, the most expensive of all the works, until the "old place," or the school-room, or the school-room and lecture-room combined, were absolutely too small for the congregation. The church in this, its adolescent state, would not distribute all its funds, but put by a portion every year to meet the claims of the new OUR CENTENARY OUR Centenary movements are exerting a healthy influence upon us in many ways, and one, not the least important, is the stimulus it is giving to our literature. We have no lack of room for additions. A General Baptist Centenary Library, containing all the works that have been produced amongst us, the magazines, minutes, pamphlets, and sermons, would be a substantial and useful, but still a somewhat slender stock, in this age of works. Dan Taylor wrote much and so well, that his works will repay study to this day. Jarrom's ninth of Romans is a highly creditable piece of criticism. Deacon's Poems were very useful when they first appeared, and are interesting to us as photographs of the religious life of bygone times. Mr. Pike's works are well known and much used. Of living writers we may not speak; "sacrifice being reserved for living heroes till after sunset." Still we may rejoice in accessions to our library, and specially such as (like those mentioned at the foot of this page) seek to familiarize our minds with the signal service rendered to God and man by our fathers in the century gone by, and at the same time and by that means to stimulate and assist us in doing our work better in the days that are coming upon us. The Life of Dan Taylor, by W. Underwood, D.D. The Story of a Hundred Years, by T. Goadby, B.A. Part I. Johnny Trueman: a Poem, by S. Deacon. The General Baptist Year Book, or Minutes, 1870. by J. Clifford. Leicester: Winks & Son. buildings it might require for its new and increasing charities. In some such way as this, each church having been helped in its first difficulty of paying for its ground, might become self-supporting, and of ever widening utility, without forced appeals and spasmodic efforts. We endeavoured, at the outset of the former paper, to establish the principle that the great aim of the church in its work and its buildings should be the purifying of men. This sentiment should equally be present to the individual in all his monetary concerns. While avoiding the lowering influence of asceticism, and whilst remembering that all things, given "richly," are given for us "to enjoy," let each one consider whether he cannot so modify his luxurious or unnecessary expenditure, as to give to an all-embracing scheme of charity a penny, twopence, or threepence on each working day. J. WALLIS CHAPMAN. LITERATURE. The Life of Dan Taylor needed to be written for a generation that knew him not. His is a character that we ought not willingly to let die. His career reminds us, with force-fraught eloquence, that we may give our own lives the sublimity of a high and sacred purpose, of an intrepid courage, that never submits or yields to difficulty, and of a devout and gracious consecration. No man can read his biography, and not work harder and better for the next week or two, and I for one am thankful to any book that will shame me out of indolence, and force me to fill with more and better work the days as they fleetly pass. The sight of a good man struggling with adversity is fabled to be a sight for the gods. So it is, but the gods of the ancients were first men. are the men, who, by the sight of such heroes warring with dfficulty, gaining strength by suffering, are made partakers of the divine nature. We Moreover, the Life of Dan Taylor is the warp and woof of our earlier denominational history. His name runs through the first half-century like that of Wesley through the history of Methodism, of Luther in that of the Reformation, and those of Paul and Peter in the annals of the Primitive Church. What did he not do! He shirked no task. He "scamped" no work. He was ready for anything and everything. He was a very Titan in labour. And in all he lived not and worked not for himself. He was founder and tutor of the College. Editor of the Magazine, Chairman of the Association from year to year, controversialist and preacher, sometimes, like Paul, working with his hands in trade, instant in season and out of season, and always and in all things living and working for Christ. The memory of the just is blessed; that of the heroic and self-denying is both blessed and inspiring. Dr. Underwood has told the story of Taylor's life well. The chief incidents of his career are narrated with an ease, force, and piquancy that must make this "monogram" attractive. It is brimfull of incident, and though not autobiographic, yet it is vivid and man-revealing in such a degree, that you feel at the end of the book that you have dwelt with the youthful methodist on the Yorkshire hills and seen his work, followed him to London, and know him as another friend in the wellstored chambers of memory. It is not wanting in facetiousness, and the "spice" of dear old Fuller only seems to give a better relish for the good and well-prepared food. We earnestly hope all our members will read at once this cheap miniature biography. Brother T. Goadby's "Story" is coming out in "parts," and our notice must be in "parts" also. The second and lengthier part we reserve till we have seen the whole, and merely stay now to express our warm appreciation of this first issue. It has all the merits known to characterize Mr. Goadby's productions. It is clear in conception, beautiful and finished in expression, elaborate in execution, and faithful in its records. We must give it an extensive circulation. These words express its purpose:-" Only by self-forgetting personal service, fired with the glow of a holy zeal, can Christian enterprise overtake the wants of our time, or win success at all proportionate to the hopes that are cherished, or the means God has placed within our reach. With this conviction deepening in the mind, "the Story of a Hundred Years" has been written. It recalls the faith, the sufferings, the toils of the founders of the New Connexion of General Baptists. It traces the development of the Connexion during its first century. It indicates the pro minent features of the work that has been done, and sketches the character and lives of the men who have done it. But in large measure it leaves the facts detailed to convey their own lesson. It is hoped it may prove a useful and seasonable narrative. The laments and aspirations of the churches at this memorable period suggest with remarkable emphasis the fitness of remembering the former days, that the children may be led to drink, as the fathers drank, from the purest founts of inspiration and truth, and may learn to live as the fathers lived for the glory of Him by whose grace we are saved." Johnny Trueman, or the Young Convert," is now complete, and forms a work of 264 pages, gilt-edged, and well bound. Good sound sense, scriptural advice, and humorous descriptions, presented in a pleasant rhyme of this poem, will interest and profit the young people in our churches and Sunday schools. The " Year Book" for 1870 will have exceptional interest, and without risking the blame of "praising one's own bantling," we may add it will be a marvel of cheapness. For sixpence our readers may have a full account of the condition of General Baptists in England, a "Centennial Survey," a glance at "Our Future," the laws and constitution of the Association, the articles of religion, "minutes" of the business of the Association, and statistics enough to satisfy any "Fellow of the Statistical Society." There will also be an account of our Conferences, a table showing the particulars of the Association for the last quarter of a century. completing in that respect "Wood's History." Tables will be given showing our increase year by year, in periods of ten years and twenty-five years, and some observations upon the last quarter of a century, together with a brief account of our Society, etc., etc. I honestly believe every General Baptist family should have it, and that would mean a sale of at least 4,000. J. CLIFFORD. THE FRANCO-GERMAN WAR. The THE peace of Europe is broken. fiends of war are again let loose. Two countries having thirty-eight millions of people, and the largest and best supplied armies in the world, are coming into fierce collision with each other. For the last twenty years France has been engaged in extending, improving, and reinforcing, in every possible way, the military organization of the empire. The highest intelligence of a nation based upon soldiers, and governed by a military despot, has been concentrated with the keenest eagerness on the art of war, and during the four years just gone the study of this art has been secretly quickened by a vindictive jealousy and diabolical envy that will not be satisfied without actual warfare. France must fight, and will fight. Empires built up of soldiers must have war. They cannot exist without it. It is necessary to their permanence. And besides this, Napoleon is doomed. Death is at hand; and the way to the throne, which he made through the slain bodies and liberties of the French people, is not so clear for his son as he desires, and therefore, for personal and dynastic ends, he will ruthlessly expose hundreds of thousands of men to be food for powder, and myriad homes to be tenanted by brooding sorrows and thickening gloom. He is a manifest conspirator against the peace and good order of Europe, an enemy of humanity, and therefore a foe of God. Prussia is at the head of the whole German people, excepting the six millions of Austro-Hungarians, and strong in the recollection of the recent victories of Sadowa and Königratz, she is not unready for the summons to arms. The eighteen governments of the Northern Confederation have declared their adhesion to the King's policy. The South keeps not back, and the inspiring cry " For our Fatherland" is sounded abroad from the Alps in the South to the Baltic in the North, and from Luxembourg in the West to Silesia in the East. She is united and strong. Still it is not unlikely she may reap the chastisement due for her wrongs to Denmark six years ago, and her injustice to Austria yet more recently. But whatever the course of this most fearful war the guilt of inciting and abetting it, must rest with the man, who, even when the first pretext for hostilities has confessedly broken down resolves deliberately and in spite of the enlightened opinion of Europe upon so painful an extremity. Louis Napoleon cannot rebut the charge of having committed a great crime against humanity. But, alas! it is yet in vain to arraign military despots at the bar of public opinion. Nevertheless we believe in God. He is the governor among the nations of the earth. Our appeal is to Him, the King of kings and Lord of lords. He reigns supreme, and we will at once pray with all our hearts for those unfortunate men, and women, and children, who not having made war have to bear the brunt of its evils, and for the speedy prevalence of the kingdom of peace and righteousness in all parts of the world. J. CLIFFORD. Brief Notices of New Books. A SAVIOUR FOR CHILDREN, and other Sermons for Little Folk. By J. Dunckley. London: S. W. Partridge. As mid-week services for children increase and the necessity of special preparation for educating the minds and hearts of children by means of addresses becomes more manifest, the demand will be raised for such suggestive and helpful sermons as these. Mr. Dunckley is well fitted for the work he has undertaken. The subjects chosen are such as children will delight in, and the richness of illustration, simplicity of style, and healthiness of tone, which characterize these productions, will make them very interesting to the children, and extremely serviceable to any who, beginning this work, inquire for a pattern of the way in which it should be done. The topics embrace such subjects as "Flowers and Birds," "Things Little and Wise," "A Neglected Child," "Playing in the Streets," "The Forgiveness of Sins," and "A Child whom God called." The book is got up in a manner rendering it every way fit for a gift-book to children. RHYMED HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. By Francis Barham and Isaac Pitman. London: F. Pitman. Its THIS work has a double purpose. sive by putting it into antique ballad verse, after the style adopted by Sternhold, Chapman, and other old national balladists. The author has achieved this with considerable success. The translation is, upon the whole, faithful and lucid, though in some critical cases, it seems to us, that the necessities of rhyme have interfered with the transparency of the thought: e.g., in the account of the conversation of Christ with Nicodemus. The second purpose is to present" a transition book from phonetic reading to the reading of books as now commonly printed," and therefore we have two columns, one giving the verse in the ordinary type and spelling, and the other presenting the same verse in the characters and orthography of the phonetic system. JESUS CHRIST THE CENTRE. London: E. STARTING With the principle that the Bible tian Church is the lasting monument. Indeed Jesus Christ is the sum and substance, the beginning and end of all things. These ideas are illustrated and enforced in language, clear, chaste, and well selected, with many apposite quotations from the Scriptures as well as from recent authors, and by a good helpful and transparent method. The work does not lay claim to originality, but it is likely to be a very useful manual for students of the Bible. SUGGESTIONS FROM READINGS IN MADAME GUION ON ST. JOHN. London: Hall & Co. ALL the characteristic excellencies of the devout and mystical Madame Guion appear in this little book. That vehement renunciation of self-will, that inner stillness of the soul, free from all complainings and bathed in heavenly "quiet," that intense love of God, that fixed regard for the inner springs and secret movements of the soul toward Jesus, which have made the name of Madame Guion dear to many, are reproduced in the words of this volume. But we strongly object to the way in which the book is made up. It lacks index, table of contents, and visible divisions or breaks of every kind. There is scarcely a trace of system in it. Even small books should be handy, clear in arrangement, and easy for reference. PAMPHLETS, SERMONS, ETC. The Supremacy and All-sufficiency of Christ. By J. Burns, D.D. London: E. Stock. One of the sermons preached at our recent Association, and marked by the featuresknown to characterize the author. The Ely Place Pulpit. By W. E. Winks. Five sermons, published in successive months, by our brother, Mr. Winks. The discourses are good, devout, scriptural, and calculated to minister to the comfort and guidance of followers of Christ. Family Prayers for a Month. Westonsuper-Mare: J. R. Leonard. Scriptural in sentiment and in language; comprehensive in range of subjects, and thoroughly devout in the spirit they breathe, but marred in several instances by "stock phrases" from the prayer-meeting. Evangelical Witness. London: E. Stock. Tracts for the Times on the Rise and Progress of the Papacy. Popery founded on Paganism. Opportune and useful. The Dwelling-place of the Master. Sermon by W. Heaton. London: E. Stock. An admirable and effective sermon preached before the Southern Association of Baptist Churches. The Father of Railways. By John Stokoe. London: E. Stock. A most able lecture on the life of Geo. Stephenson. Magazines, &c., received.-Sunday Magazine-Sword and Trowel-Old JonathanCongregational Miscellany-Hive - Church -Appeal-Sunday School World-Baptist History-Scattered Nation-Sacred Melodist-Your Child's Baptism-PhilatelistGilead-Stamp Collectors Magazine-Rainbow-Life, its Author. An essay in verse by E. H. PHARISAIC BAPTISTS. Two men go up into a temple to pray; the one a Baptist, and the other a Baptist. The first stands and prays thus with himself: "God, I thank Thee that I am not like the rest of men, Romanists, Episcopalians, Methodists, or even as this Independent. I go to chapel twice a week: I have been baptized, by immersion, on a profession of faith." We all know that that man is by no means likely to go down to his house justified. But suppose the other, instead of standing afar off, with downcast eyes, and smiting on his breast, and crying, "God be merciful to me, the sinner!" takes his stand beside the first, or even a little in front of him, and prays thus with himself: "God, I thank Thee that I am not as this Pharisee. I, too, am a Baptist; but I am no bigot. I hate bigots with a perfect hatred and I bless Thee that Thou hast given me grace to hate them." Will this man be justified any more than the other? Will he not rather have the greater condemnation? What has he been saved from his bigotry for but that he may love bigots and try to save them? From Sermon on Isaiah lxvi. 5, preached July 24, by S. Cox. Church Register. THE CENTENARY BAZAAR. THE Leicester Committee have great pleasure in giving, to the numerous contributors in all parts of the Connexion, a brief account of the Centenary Bazaar. It is needless to say that the Committee looked forward to the opening with not a little anxiety, partly owing to the very slender information that had reached them concerning contributions, and partly owing to the difficulty of wisely managing a Connexional Bazaar. Happily both causes of anxiety were speedily dissipated; the first by the continued arrival, from widely dis tant places, of packages and hampers of goods; and the second, by the good temper and readiness with which the ladies who came to preside at the various stalls fell in with the pre-arranged plans of the local committee. Now that the Bazaar is a thing of the past, it may safely be pronounced a decided success. The decorations, the work of Mr. J. E. Issitt, a member of the congregation at Dover Street, were universally admired. But any mere description of the whole appearance of the Bazaar would very vaguely represent the gay result produced by a judicious use of green cambric, ornamented pilasters, flags, plants, mirrors, and Nottingham lace. The red and white canopy that covered the refreshment stall, and the flowers grouped on either side of the steps leading up to it, added to the general effect of the scene. The ten stalls of the Bazaar were arranged in the following manner: on the left of the entrance, the London district; Loughborough and Quorndon; the Curiosity Stall; Cheshire, Warwickshire, and Stafffordshire; Leicester; on the right of the entrance, the stall for books and photographs; Lincolnshire; Derby; Lancashire and Yorkshire; Nottingham. Until the various articles of interest from Palestine, Greece, Switzerland, and India, were sold off, the Curiosity Stall drew about it a constant crowd of admirers. It would, however, be invidious to make special mention of any other stall. Suffice it to say that each had some attractions of its own. In addition to the usual class of goods offered for sale at Bazaars, and which the ladies know so well how to produce, there were bats and stumps from Cheshire; a wringing machine, the gift of the young men at Birchcliffe; a sewing machine from Gibson Brothers, Hebden Bridge; a large musical box from Geneva; cushions from Constantinople, honey from Hymettus, and wild flowers and stained woods from Palestine (the last four the gift of Mr. Thomas Cook); beautiful filigree work in silver from India; walking sticks from Yorkshire; fenders and hardware from Birmingham; a china tea-service from the Potteries; a large prize Cheshire cheese, weighing a hundred pounds; lace from Nottingham; hosiery and boots from Leicester, &c., &c. In addition to these, some friends in Leicestershire and Yorkshire sent to the refreshment stall cooked hams, jellies, creams, cheese-cakes, and other delicacies. The following is a rough estimate of the receipts from the various stalls: £ s. d. 65 3 8 Leicester. Cheshire, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire 43 12 8 The attendance on some of the days was unusually large. On Wednesday, for example, more than a thousand persons visited the bazaar, although the heat was excessive. Perhaps the smallest company was present on the day of the Picnic (Friday). During the whole of the five days the utmost good feeling prevailed, and the sales were often brisk, but never obtrusive. Some of the young people caught the spirit of the bazaar, and rapidly and profitably disposed of minor articles among the crowd of visitors. For the encouragement of others it should be stated, that by the special desire of the local committee no raffling was resorted to for the disposal of any of the goods, and yet most of the more costly articles were disposed of without difficulty. Of course the expenses of holding such a bazaar are unavoidably heavy; but the Committee are happy to state that the nett profit, including the sales at the stalls, £25 realized by sales on Saturday evening, and some few donations in money, will be about £500. £450 have already been paid into the hands of Mr. Goodliffe, of Nottingham, the Treasurer for the Centenary Fund. SCHOOL EXAMINATION. BARTON FABIS.-The annual examination of the day school was held on WhitThursday. Among other subjects of examination there were Scripture and English history, grammar (English and Latin), geography, and natural philosophy, which were interspersed with singing and recitations. For two hours and a half the children were plied with questions of a searching character, and the readiness with which the answers were given showed the thoroughness of the instruction received. At the close, the Rev. T. Barrass, of Peterborough, and the Rev. H. Cross, of Coventry, expressed their pleasure in being present, and their great satisfaction with the examination, reflecting, as it did, great credit on the children themselves, as well as on their master and mistress, the Rev. W. Jarrom and Miss Bailey. At the close of the Scripture examination, Mr. Jarrom, in allusion to the education question before the country, said that though he was a |