have been led carnestly to seek an increase of divine life, and several have engaged to give themselves to "God our Saviour" and his church, and we trust that his kingdom and government" will continue to increase and prosper amongst us.

Newcastle-on-Tyne, Nov. 15, 1850.

J. F. G.

REMOVAL OF OUR DEBTS.-The annual committee rejoice to hear that considerable progress is already made, in some circuits, towards raising the amount apportioned on them by Conference, for liquidating the yearly collection and paternal fund debts. These burdens have been a source of anxiety and inconvenience for some years, and it is now gratifying to see there is a prospect of their utter extinction. Some of the circuits have done nobly, and it is hoped that others will follow their example.

Friends of the Connexion, we are resolved to be free from debt! Conference proposed it, the committee have sustained the proposition, and our loyal and generous-hearted people say, it shall be done. They have already decided on the matter, and may be safely trusted with the issue.

But there wants co-operation. Every friend of our Zion should now take up the subject. National prosperity and Connexional feeling are in its favour, and one general effort will accomplish all we desire. Let us immediately rise up against this great enemy of Connexional prosperity. The death-blow is given already, and, if followed up with zeal and energy, he will soon be cast into the grave of forgetfulness; and, when Conference arrives, we shall sing his requiem.

Those circuits that have not yet forwarded their first instalment, should do so immediately, addressed to James Dean, Esq., Durham-terrace, Ashtonunder-Lyne.

All accounts forwarded on or before the 16th of December, will be published with the January Magazine; and we hope our preachers and friends will exert themselves in the meantime, so that a remittance may be then acknowledged from every circuit in the Connexion. WM. BAGGALY, President.

November 10th, 1850.

CONNEXIONAL EFFORT TO REMOVE THE PECUNIARY LIABILITIES OF THE CONFERENCE.-Dear Brother, On the 19th ult. a public tea meeting was held

in Mossley, in aid of the above object. At our July Quarterly Meeting, the £60 appointed by Conference to be raised in this circuit, was divided amongst the three principal societies, in the propor tion of £30 for Mossley; £15 for Oldham, and the same sum for Lees. I am happy to say, that with the assistance of the kind ladies in furnishing trays gratuitously, and the subscriptions given at the meeting, the whole of the £30 has been raised; and that amount has been placed in the hands of the Connexional Treasurer. Our Oldham friends have more than realized half of their quota, and have engaged to raise the remainder. At Lees, our friends are to commence their operations with a tea meeting on Christmas Day. By the time appointed (February 20) I am expecting the whole of the assessment to be raised.

At our meeting we were favoured with the assistance of our esteemed friends, W. Makinson, Esq., the Revs. G. Goodall, B. Turnock, and P. J. Wright; the latter having an engagement to preach at Stalybridge the next day, we were pleased with having the opportunity to avail ourselves of his valuable services. The speaking was admirable, the pecuniary results satisfactory, and the audience highly pleased with what they had seen and heard.

REV. S. HULME ON FAITH AND ASSURANCE.—TO THE EDITOR.-My Dear Brother, For some time I have felt that I ought to address you on the subject on which I am now about briefly to employ my pen, and then leave my communication entirely at your disposal. I begin by observing, that I have read with great pleasure, and profit too, the little work of my esteemed friend, Mr. H., on the subjects noticed in the heading of this address; and I have read it twice, and not slightly, but with care and attention; and I will state also that I purpose, if spared, to read it again and again at intervals, as a valuable standard produc tion on the topics discussed. Indeed, though I have now for a long period felt a lively interest in all the distinctive peculiarities connected with evangelical truth, as held by the most thoughtful and intelligent among Methodistic communities, and have been a somewhat extensive reader during a course of many years, I aver I know not of any separate volume on the same subject, to say nothing about its small size and trifling cost, equally clear and sound,

and better calculated to instruct and edify. If you, sir, or any of your readers do, and will point it out to me, I shall feel it to be a personal favour; and others of your readers will, I know. I shall be glad, very glad, to learn that it is become a popular work, and is extensively circulated in our community, among both its ministers and its people; and am sure you, in your official capacity, will cheerfully promote its circulation as much as in you lies. That you approve of the work I know, not only from your warm and intelligent attachment to evangelical truths, and your ability to appreciate such performances, but also from the earnest recommendations of the work which you have before given in the pages of the Magazine. I assure you, if these few lines in any degree tend to promote the object I have in view I shall heartily rejoice, having an inward assurance of having rendered service to some of my fellow-men who are intent on knowing the truth as it is in Christ, and, of course, to the cause of our adorable Redeemer.

As I am addressing you, it has occurred to my mind that I may with propriety add a few words on another publication, recently issued from the press, by our mutual friend, Mr. Allin; I refer to the improved edition of his able volume, entitled

"DISCOURSES ON MODERN ATHEISM," &c., by THOMAS ALLIN. Am I wrong when I pronounce this work one of extraordinary merit, creditable alike to its author, to our community, and to the age? I think, for close, sound argumentation, and powerful eloquence, these discourses stand unrivalled by any of a similar kind in our day. And in this view I am, as I well know, sympathized with by yourself and other highly cultivated individuals in different religious communities. I have reason to know, also, that the respected author possesses communications addressed to him by some eminently gifted men, congratulating him on his performance. I think, sir, that you would do well to induce him to furnish you, at least, with a few extracts from such communications, which, with some others taken from different reviews that have appeared, might properly be inserted in your pages, and tend to promote a wider circulation of this masterly volume, and gratify your readers, especially Mr. A.'s particular friends. I refer to this matter in this way for the very purpose, and should this, my address, be inserted in the Ma

gazine, let it be understood that you earnestly join with me in urging our friends to promote the circulation of the work. Ours, you know, is a limited community; and, of course, authors with us, however gifted and deserving, are likely to secure but a limited circulation for their labours-indeed, they are exposed to disappointment and losswhereas, under more favourable circumstances, i.e., in the larger communities, considerable and deserved emolument might have been derived. As, at most, we can do but little, we should do our best. Our deserving authors ought to be encouraged and sustained, and benefited to the very utmost. might with great propriety have distinctly referred to other productions, such as your own, which are most valuable; and to those of my esteemed friend Mr. Wright, and, it may be, to others I have not seen, but I fear trespassing too much upon your space.

Yours as ever, very sincerely,
W. SHUTTLEWORTH.
Melbourne-terrace, Broughton,
Manchester, Oct. 6, 1850.

I

Both these works we again cordially recommend to our readers, and therefore we gladly insert the above note from our friend Mr. Shuttleworth; and it will gratify him to know, that for some time prior to his intimation respecting Mr. Allin's volume, we were actually collecting testimonies which reviewers and eminent men had given to the value and excellence of Mr. Allin's volume, with a view to their insertion in our Magazine. We publish them as a well-earned monument to the distinguished abilities of the worthy author, and to the honour of the Connexion.

The first is an extract from a note by Dr. Pye Smith to ourselves. "Of Mr. Allin's work I have been accustomed to speak in high terms, from my full conviction, to my late pupils. The recommendation of it to them was renewed and enhanced by the publication of the new edition. I regard it as a most able and efficient assertion of the very foundation of all the happiness that can belong to rational beings; the basis of dignity and hope, of progress in whatever can be called good; without which human life is a mockery. The way in which Mr. Allin meets and confutes the talkings (for I cannot give them the name of reasonings) of those unhappy men who deny, or affect to disbelieve the existence of the all-perfect Deity, is to me most satisfactory. His work is indeed a precious boon to

every class of society, and every degree of intellectual cultivation. It is my heart's desire and prayer that it may have a wide and permanent circulation."

The second is an extract from a note by Dr. Pye Smith to Mr. Allin himself. "I cannot sufficiently express my dedelight in seeing this much augmented edition of the Discourses, with their enrichments. The class of subjects upon which I am now (May, 1850) lecturing, led me to bring down the volume to recommend it to my pupils, and to engage that it should soon be perused in class."-" It is indeed the very and appropriate depɔ" (gift of God). The comprehension of the subjects, and the manner in which they are treated, fill with, not satisfaction merely, but lively joy. Blessed be he who put the design of the work into your heart, and who has enabled you to accomplish it!"

The

The next is a notice from the "Manchester Examiner." "We congratulate the gifted author, ourselves, and the public, on the re-issue of this masculine performance, as no ordinary boon to the religious literature of our country. It is a work that deserves to live. first edition won the admiration of such men as Drs. Pye Smith and Kitto, Samuel Drew, Richard Watson, and other eminent theologians; and this second edition, with its numerous important additions, cannot fail to prove even more acceptable to men of similar attainments and pursuits."-"It is peculiarly applicable to our times, when so many, especially of our youth, are disposed to indulge in mental superficialities; and is calculated, in no ordinary degree, to serve the interests of sound philosophy and pure Christianity."

The last is from the "Wesleyan Magazine." "It would be highly praiseworthy, in such persons as have it in their power, to deposit copies of this work in public libraries, to which seepties and unbelievers resort, and in any way to place it within the reach of those who unhappily deny their Maker and Redeemer

If these testimonies be regarded as reflecting honour on the excellent author, we beg to state that they reflect equal honour upon the Connexion to which he belongs; and for the interests of which he has devoted a long life of self-sacrificing labour and devotedness. While he has our carnest wishes for his con

tinued success and usefulness as an author, he has our prayers for his personal happiness as a Christian brotlier.

NEWCASTLE CIRCUIT.-Reverend Sir, At Scotswood we have followed the advice of many friends who at different times have written in our Magazine on the importance of a Sabbath and day school being connected with our chapels.

We have had for a few years, both a Sabbath and day school at Scotswood, but we were necessitated to hold them in our chapel, which has so defaced the pews and building that we fear it has compelled some to neglect, and others to despise it as a place of public worship, for sometimes even trifles light as straw form a plea for not attending the house of God; but truly, the place of happiest moments, richest feasts, and noblest pleasures, ought at least to be equal to other places in exterior respect and interior comfort. So the few friends at Scotswood resolved that a new schoolroom be erected in connexion with our chapel, and after that was done and the schools removed, the chapel to be thoroughly repaired.

The

The purport of this intelligence is to inform you (for we doubt not that it will be ever pleasing to you to hear of improvements in our chapels and schools) both these things are well done. chapel is not only now in a good and comfortable state, but we have a new school-room 32 feet by 23 feet, for a Mechanics' Institute and Reading Room, which was needed and requested in this neighbourhood. Part of the schoolroom is partitioned off, and we believe will be useful as a public place of instruction and resort, instead of the tavern, which we believe is too much attended.

Our re-opening services were held on Sunday, Oct. 13, by the Revs. T. Boycott and W. Cocker. We had crowded congregations. On the Tuesday evening, about 200 friends partook of tea in the new school and reading-room. The tea was gratuitously provided by a number of ladies. After tea we had a most delightful meeting, at which we trust some good was done. The chair was taken by our esteemed brother J. F. Grant, of Newcastle. The meeting was addressed by the Revs. T. Boycott, T. Lee, and several others, to the number of twelve, all expressing the agreeable surprise they felt at seeing so great an improvement effected for comfort and

Yours truly,

ROBT. SPEARS.

Scotswood, Oct. 19th, 1850.

ΤΟ THE

REMARKABLE PRESENT EDITOR.-About two months ago a parcel, directed for Rev. W. Cooke, was delivered at the Book-room. On opening the parcel, it was found to contain a copy of the Holy Scriptures, in quarto, very richly gilt, most superbly bound in morocco, with massive gold or plated clasps, richly chased. Scripture scenes are illustrated with

numerous en

gravings, in the most exquisite style. To whom the Editor is indebted for this handsome present, has been a subject of much conjecture. He has looked all round the Connexion for the donor, but in vain. Sometimes he has thought it may have been sent by some generous friend, possibly in the Wesleyan Association, in approval of the manner in which he has conducted his recent controversy with the Rev. Robert Eckett. As a dernier conjecture, the Editor has thought that, perchance, the superb volume might have been sent as a present from the publishers, Messrs. Eyre & Spottiswoode; but this is all uncertainty, as he is totally unknown to the parties. Under these circumstances, the Editor has thought it advisable to make this public acknowledgment of having received the present, and to tender his warmest thanks to the unknown but generous donor.

BAZAAR AT DAWLEY GREEN.-For some years the ordinary income of the circuit has been considerably below its expenditure; the consequence of which has been the rapid accumulation of circuit debts. On my appointment to this circuit I found a debt of this kind, with a quarterly deficiency of about £8. It is however gratifying to know, that during the last few months there has been a gradual improvement in our finances, notwithstanding the great poverty of this district, owing to the want of employment and consequent lowness of wages. About twelve months past the writer of this article suggested

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the propriety of getting up a bazaar to remove our pecuniary difficulties; this suggestion was well received by our friends, who set to work, cheered by the hope of removing a weight which crippled our energies, both for the circuit and the Connexion.

Our object has been accomplished. We held our bazaar on Monday, Oct. 21st, and following days, (in Mr. Tranter's room, kindly lent for the occasion,) when we realized the sum of £54, by which our stewards will be able to pay off the whole of our circuit debt, and place it in a position it has not enjoyed for some years.

We look forward with hope to the time when our income shall be fully adequate to meet all necessary expenses, and render us able to assist our beloved Connexion in carrying out its plans of love and benevolence. May "the time, yea, the set time, to favour Zion, soon come."-W. REYNOLDS.

J. POLLARD.

Bradford, Nov. 15th, 1850.