In The series of meetings was brought to a close on Friday evening by an expository address (called in the bills, "A Lecture to Working People') delivered in the Mechanics' Hall. connection with this occasion, several of Mr. Samuel Morley's warehousemen, acting on the suggestion of their noblehearted employer, had made special efforts to bring the fact of Mr. Varley's visit under the attention of the operatives of the town, and the result was a magnificent gathering and most interesting service. Never surely has our renovated and enlarged Mechanics' Hall presented a more animating or impressive scene than it did when the immense throng stood up to sing the last hymn "There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins." Altogether there is amongst the Christian friends who have had to do with the getting up of these meetings but one feeling of thankfulness and joy in the review. The only regret on the part of many who attended them is, that they are now over. It is pleasant to know that several hopeful cases of decision for God on the part of the previously undecided have already come to light; but it is believed that the chief benefit resulting has been the evident quickening of the piety and LIGHT AT GATHERED around the open grave of a London cemetery stood a group of lonely, orphaned children, weeping bitter tears over the sharp stroke which had separated them from a beloved and precious mother. A fierce storm was raging. Rain, snow, and hail dashed with wild and merciless fury upon that sorrowful band, as if to drive further into the wounded and quivering heart the poison-tipped arrows shot from the Archer's fatal bow. Nature was in one of her harshest, most sullen, and cruel moods, utterly without sign of living pity, and seemingly full of malignant revelry at the sight of useless tears welling forth over the spoils of Death. Scarcely could we picture a sadder fate. To look on our coffined dead down in the deep darkness of the grave, and hear the words, "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," is at any time a woeful lot, but zeal of many of Christ's professed disciples. Our own readers will be interested to know that on the Thursday morning Mr. Varley visited the College at Chilwell, and at the request of the tutors gave a short address to the students. Later in the day, the students, together with the Nottingham Town Missionaries, took tea with Mr. Varley at the house of our hospitable friend, Mr. Goodliffe; and the time between tea and the public meeting was most delightfully spent in conversation and prayer. A friend who was present describes it as one of the most hallowed and profitable seasons he has ever enjoyed. The writer of this notice would respectfully suggest that it might prove useful to many of our churches if they would arrange for similar series of services, and secure the help of our estimable brother Mr. Varley. For the guidance of any friends who may wish to write to him, it may be added that his address is 13, Brooklyn Road, Shepherd's Bush, London. Only let it be observed that, for the success of such meetings, it is essential that there should be previous effort and prayer, and expenses should be met by a private subscription, so that there may be no collections. THE GRAVE. W. R. STEVENSON. how much worse amidst such a tempest of discomfort those only know who have been called to endure it. The unrest without makes more painful the grief within. Rough winds almost put out the flickering lamp of hope, and the "comfortable words" of everlasting life are hardly heard above the din of the elements. The heart already burdened enough is ready to break under the double strain of its load of grief, and the close fight with these armed messengers of despair. But in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the whole scene changed. Just as the preacher read with tremulous voice the words given for our consolation by Him who is the resurrection and the life, " And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours,"—at once, Nature, as if checked in its course by a transient sympathy, cast aside her dark and dismal robe, and stood forth in garments of unwonted beauty. The beclouded sun, glad to be released from the mountains of "black foam" that had held him captive, leapt from his hiding-place, and flushed his glory all around. The storm was chased away. The growing darkness was dispersed, and the light of heaven blazed upon those rueful countenances, and sent a thrill of inspiring hope through those mourning hearts. Welcome visitant! Even sorrow is easier to bear if thou dost smile upon us. Instructive and beautiful symbol! Acceptable image of the rising of that "better sun" with healing in His wings upon the mistencircled souls of the bereaved. For as on that afternoon the beams of the sun conquered the storm, and with one magical stroke drove away the snow, and hail, and rain, and then rested like a mantle of glory and loveliness over the whole landscape, so He who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light by His gospel, arises above the darkness of our grief, and pours into the grave itself the light of His own eternal life, so that our reviving hearts learn to say "There are no dead! The forms indeed did die That cased the ethereal beings now on high'Tis but the outward covering is thrown by. This is the dead. The spirits of the lost, of whom we sing, Have perished not, they have but taken wing, Changing an earthly for a heavenly spring. There are the dead." J. CLIFFORD. THE CENTENARY FUND. THE following urgent appeal has been sent to the ministers or deacons of all our churches: "DEAR BRETHREN,-I am charged by the Centenary Committee respectfully but earnestly to urge upon you the fitness and propriety of making immediate efforts on behalf of the Centenary Fund, or of continuing with increasing vigour the efforts already begun. We ask for a Congregational Collection everywhere, in every chapel and preaching station throughout the Denomination, before Midsummer next, and for a thorough canvass of every church and congregation for subscriptions. "I am requested to remind you that an occasion of distinguished privilege for our churches has arrived-the Centenary year of our Connexion. It will be exactly a hundred years on the 7th of June next since the New Connexion of General Baptists was formed. By the mercy of God it is given to us to see this memorable year. It is ours to rejoice with the exceeding great joy of a double jubilee. An oppor tunity thus offers for special service for God in our churches which will not again occur in the lifetime of any of us. Shall it not be promptly and zealously used? "The Committee duly appreciate the wisdom of individual churches in seeking to enlarge their houses of prayer or liberate themselves from oppressive debts. But so rare an occasion as the Centenary of a body of churches can only be fitly employed for larger and broader purposes, and the Committee feel assured that no private interests or local enterprises can be suffered to stand in the way of this general Denominational celebration. The Centenary Fund will be a perpetual and public memorial of thankfulness to God for His favour during a hundred years, a token of respect to the fathers, and a pledge of new zeal in the Lord's service for years to come. Nothing short of such a memorial will appropriately signalize an occasion so extraordinary as the Hundredth Anniversary of our Connexion. "I enclose a copy of the first list of subscriptions, with all needful information as to plans and modes of action. The Fund has been increased by £160 since this list was published, and now amounts to £780. It is desirable that half the £5,000 shall be obtained before the Centenary Association in June. "May I again press upon you the importance of making, before midsummer, congregational collections for the Fund, and of appointing some energetic and earnest friends to canvass the church and congregation for subscriptions. The exact birth-day of the Connexion was the 7th of June, 1770. The Delegates met on the 6th, and dissolved on the 8th, but it was on the 7th that the New Denomination was born. A simultaneous collection in all our chapels on Sunday, June 5th, 1870, would be appropriate, but it may not everywhere be possible. It will be possible, however, everywhere to do something for the Centenary Fund before the next Association; it will be possible everywhere to hold a Centenary prayer meeting on Tuesday, June 7th; it will be possible on the Sunday previous to this our Hundredth birthday everywhere to prepare the mind for the Centenary celebration, to preach or speak to the people, recounting the toils and rehearsing the memories of a hundred years. The occasion comes to us once for all. Every one of us must desire suitably and worthily to observe it. Take ye, therefore, from among you 'an offering unto the Lord,'-'a free-will offering to the Lord God of our fathers;' 'whosoever is of willing heart, let him bring it.'" The Secretary sincerely hopes that in every case the appeal has been, or will be without delay, brought before the assembled church, and fully and favourably considered. He feels deeply that what four Associations have deliberately endorsed and sanctioned, what every friend of our churches who has any public spirit at all must in his conscience thoroughly approve, and what all the world would admit to be a suitable and appropriate commemorative movement, cannot be regarded by our churches anywhere but with warmest interest and most hearty sympathy. Already from some quarters the response has been prompt and liberal. The London district speaks of "strenuous effort" for the Fund; Yorkshire and Lancashire were "forward a year ago;" Cheshire and the West are showing hopeful signs of co-operation; Lincolnshire and the East sent the first contributions and the first words of cheer. No one can doubt that in these quarters the fullest share of energetic and helpful work will be done, and as much as the fair proportion or more will be contributed to the Fund. It remains now for all the churches of the Midland district to awake to the greatness of the opportunity, to put aside self for the moment and the pressing calls of home, to rise to the measure of this memorable occasion, and show themselves worthy children and successors of the earnest men of a hundred years ago. The Secretary has never once dared to doubt that they would do so, and that his brethren in the ministry would gladly speed him in his toil. He would not have undertaken his task, and given his time and labour so freely and cheerfully in its discharge, but that the faith which is "the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" has never failed him. He can give even now to all who speak of or who place "lions in the way," "a reason for the hope that is in him;" and he appeals with especial emphasis but with unshaken confidence to the ministers, deacons, and members of the churches in the Midland district to render prompt and immediate aid in this timely and seasonable effort. In the Midland Counties, where most of the fathers were born or laboured and died, where the first and most signal successes of the Connexion were won by the grace of God, where the remembrance of the Deacons, the Smiths, the Pickerings, of Donisthorpe and Grimley, of Orton and Felkin, of the elder Stevenson, Jarrom, Pike, and Goadby, still lingers fresh and fragrant in the churches; in the Midland Counties, which gave in the beginning five out of the seven first churches that stood firm and true to the pledges of 1770, and where now are found those flourishing societies that rightly regard themselves, and are regarded, as the centre, the mainspring, the forefront of the Connexion; in the MidJand Counties, where the public spirit of the denomination has ever been nourished and fostered, and the earlier zeal of the denomination has left its deepest and most abiding mark upon the public mindhere assuredly rather than anywhere else the joy of the Centenary will be most intense, enthusiasm in its celebration will be most easily kindled, and the desire to unite in raising a worthy denominational memorial will be most apparent and zealous. Called by the memory of the Past, by the needs of the Present, by the hope of the Future,-actuated by respect for the fathers and by respect for their own good name,-moved by sympathy with their brethren, by the love of God, and by zeal for the kingdom of Christ among men,-the churches in the heart of our Israel must respond, and respond at once nobly and freely, one and all of them, to this urgent appeal, and pour into the treasury thank-offerings to the Lord God of our fathers; for the grateful commemorative work that is contemplated by this Centenary enterprise is work beyond the narrow sphere of local and private interests-out in the great wide fields of the world around. THOMAS GOADBY. Brief Notices of New Books. The Hallelujah; or, Devotional Psalmody. Memorial Edition. Edited by Dr. Waite. London: J. Haddon & Co.-This book is second to none as a choral book of psalmody. It is a manual of cultivated taste and musical skill, full of rich melo dies and varied harmonies, convenient in form, cheap in price, and comprehensive as to metres. It is the sort of book to give to a friend for educating and elevating his taste, refining his feelings, and taxing his skill. But it is ill-adapted to the present state of congregational singing. Many of the melodies are set so high, that only trained voices can reach them, the harmonies are too florid and difficult for general use, and the modulations are occasionally abrupt and unnatural. C. G. An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, as held by the people in scorn, called Quakers. By Robert Barclay. Thirteenth Edition. Manchester: Irwin, 24, Deansgate.-To those who wish to understand the doctrines and principles of the Society of Friends, we cordially commend this volume. Others, such as Clarkson and Gurney, have written expositions of the principles of Friends in a more popular style; but no one, so far as we know, not even George Fox himself, has ever given such a succinct and lucid statement of their fundamental beliefs as is to be found in this volume. The fact that a new edition of 10,000 copies has been printed nearly two hundred years after its first publication, is a striking testimony to the inherent worth of the book. Probably no Christian community has exerted such a widespread and beneficent influence, not only upon Great Britain, but upon America also, as the Society of Friends. Still that Society is imperfectly understood. This is greatly to be regretted. For whilst intimacy with their sentiments and practices may fail to convince us of the soundness of their principles as a whole, yet there is no Christian society, and scarcely an individual outside their circle, that might not gain considerable advantage from a better acquaintance with their history, beliefs, and polity. We hope at some future time to give our readers a more detailed statement of the contents of this remarkable book, and to shew some of the many points of agreement between the "Friends" and ourselves. J. C―k. An Appendix to the New Hymn Book. Nottingham: Allen & Sons.-This long desired supplement to our Hymnal contains eightysix hymns and nineteen anthems. appropriate passage of Scripture is prefixed to each hymn, and the collection is arranged in alphabetical order and printed in clear type. The character of this brief compilation is seen in the fact that the chief singers of the church are represented in its pages by some of their best productions. We recognise the works of Alford, Bernard, Bonar, Bowring, Heber, Keble, Lynch, Lyte, Longfellow, etc.-a sufficient witness to the catholicity of the compilers, and also to the essential unity of all christian men in the higher moods of religious feeling and worship. Wherever this book is adopted, its hymns of Christian life and sentiment will rapidly make it a favourite. We have one regret. We miss many endeared strains from this collection, and for various reasons this was unavoidable. But we must prepare ourselves for further changes; the volume of Christian song increases from year to year, and our hymnals must expand proportionately if we are to make the most of some of the richest gifts of our heavenly Father. It would have been an additional charm to this appendix if the names of the authors had been given. Help-Book for Travellers to the East. Rev. J. Burns, D D., and T. Cook. Cook's Tourist Office, 98, Fleet Street.-It was a good thought in preparing a guide-book to the East to unite the labours of the divine and the professed and experienced tourist. Mr. Cook's descriptions, directions, etc., are given with the clearness, brevity, and sufficiency of one who knows exactly what is wanted, and how to supply it and Dr. Burns has gathered together a quantity of pertinent information that will make the book an acceptable companion and help to those travelling in Eastern lands. The associations of Egypt and Palestine with the Biblical records are fully pointed out, and the chief " 'objects of interest" are specified with that brevity which is one of the chief merits of such a work. There ought to be a full and alphabetically arranged index to everything contained in the book. This, our experience suggests, is an essential element. A Table of Contents is not sufficient. And why call it Help-book? "Guide" is a much better word in every way; and "Burns's Guide" would mark it off definitely enough from all others. A Catechism of Christian Baptism. By Rev. J. Gall. Edinburgh: Gall & Inglis. -Here is another book in favour of infant baptism, in which all the old foemen reappear, engage in a contest, and then pass away with a declaration of victory to Pædobaptism. Mr. Gall, acting as commanderin-chief, sends out into the arena with tolerable skill, but with little freshness, those time-honoured warriors, "Circumcision," "Households," "Hereditary Godliness," "Tradition," Propriety," etc.; and after having managed the war to his liking, shows the causes of the error of the Baptists on this subject. Now we saw these self-same veteran soldiers slain in our youth, and joined then in the shout of triumph. We have since been at a few conflicts, and witnessed the defeat of the thrice slain, and yet here they are again! Is this controversy never to end? Might not a conference of Christians and scholars, more easily than is imagined, help us to decide this subject, and so secure on one more point "that agreement of numerous and impartial inquirers to which the most cautious and erect understanding wisely and readily defers." The cause of this difference of judgment is surely not in the laws of our Master, but in the judges and interpreters of those laws, and it is to be hoped that the time is not far distant when these judges may give a clear and unanimous opinion on this question of Christian baptism. We are certainly much nearer such unanimity on the main points now than we were thirty years ago. There is Ancient Maxims for Modern Times. By Rev. H. S. Brown. London: Elliot Stock. -It would be difficult to find a better example of the fitness of things than the one offered in these sermons. scarcely a single imaginable qualification for the "understanding and interpretation of a proverb" that Mr. Brown does not possess. His practical common sense, his sharp, forcible, and thoroughly Saxon style, his strong humour (all the more powerful because you can see it is under restraint), his habit of "straight hitting," Correspondence. Sword and I can scarcely find words to express my gratitude to those who have thus made me the almoner of their bounty; and at the same time renew my solicitation for further assistance in lessening the sorrows of those on whom God's hand has so heavily fallen. Allow me space for the following incident, not for its own sake merely, but for the purpose of suggesting to your juvenile constituency a simple method of doing good. A ladies' boarding school attends my ministry, and the principal is a member of my church. As soon as the fatal issues of the late storm were known, an "Orphan Box" was put in the schoolroom, and it was resolved to forego the usual "breaking up" party, and have a Christmas Tree for the benefit of the orphans of the drowned fishermen and other poor children. Each young lady put something on the tree, nine little bags of money, into each of which as a special favour your correspondent was allowed to put a small silver coin, were also suspended from the boughs. A happy group of young ladies and friends assembled, and several of the widows and orphans were present, and received from "Old Father Christmas" a little bag of money, with the addition, in the case of the children, of a |