another in St. George's New Town, and giving ample particulars of the new ragged school and church in Canal Street. These particulars were of a deeply interesting and encouraging character, and gave evident delight to a most attentive audience. He concluded by making an earnest appeal for funds. A financial statement was then made by the secretary; and, after gratifying addresses by the Rev. James Wilson, Mr. E. H. Rabbits, and other friends, this successful meeting terminated with devotion. It is the wish of the friends to open the new chapel entirely free from debt, as other erections of the kind are contemplated.

BRUNSWICK.— A new mission station has lately been opened in this circuit, in a room in Ann Street, Coburg Road, Old Kent Road. During five evenings of last week special services were held, conducted by Mr. Job Clare, at which much good was done, and a considerable amount of inquiry after religious things has been awakened in the locality.

BOLTON CIRCUIT.

THE annual sermons in support of the Methodist New Connexion Colonial and Foreign Missions were preached in St. George's Road Chapel, on Sunday morning and evening, November 25th, by the Rev. J. W. Williams, of Mossley. On Monday evening the annual meeting was held in the same place. Mr. Councillor Marsden presided, and there were on the platform the Revs. J. Williams and S. Smith, the deputation; the Rev. Levi Waterhouse, Wesleyan; Rev. C. Edwards, Free Church; Rev. E. J. Baxter, circuit superintendent; also Councillors Pilling and Openshaw, and Messrs. J. Cunliffe, W. Barlow, and G. Barlow. There was a good audience. After devotional exercises,

The Chairman said that whilst they were met to promote their own missions they at the same time wished success to the missionary operations of other denominations. It was our duty to do all we could in sending the Gospel abroad unto all the earth. He was glad to welcome on the platform two ministers belonging to other denominations, and whose presence showed their good-will towards this society, and their desire for its prosperity.

Mr. G. Barlow read the report, which stated that looking at the entire field of the society's operations, they

had reason to thank God and take

courage.

Rev. C. Edwards said, the principles lying at the foundation of the missionary cause might be resolved into three propositions. First: They assumed that something was wrong in the world; that the world was perishing by a moral disease. Second: That a remedy had been provided; the Gospel would cure all the maladies from which the world suffered. And, thirdly, their great aim was to bring the remedy in contact with the disease. He urged them to go on in this blessed work, and people of many climes, where their operations were conducted, would bless them for their labours.

Rev. S. Smith then addressed the meeting, reviewing the career of several active missionaries of the society, giving especial prominence to Messrs. Hall and Innocent, and Messrs. Thompson and Hodge, who are labouring in China.

Rev. L. Waterhouse, who was warmly cheered, said he was wishful to show a kindly feeling towards any Christian denomination whose grand object was to disseminate the glorious Gospel throughout the world, and especially one that bore the same cognomen with a very slight difference from that to which he belonged. The only difference between the two was in minor matters; they were one on the great doctrine of the world for Christ, and Christ for the world. They would be recreant to their principles as Methodists if they were not thoroughly missionary; and they could only prosper in proportion as they were missionary. He congratulated the society that they had emphatically a mission to the heathen. Their mission to China was a noble effort, and it was a great success to get four missionaries there in a short space of seven years. He concluded an admirable address by urging his audience to consecrate themselves afresh to the missionary cause.

The Rev. Mr. Williams then delivered a very earnest and practical address, and concluded by an eloquent peroration, pressing upon his audience the duty of increased prayer, faith, and liberality in the missionary cause, and was warmly cheered on resuming his seat.

Mr. Cunliffe proposed that the best thanks of the meeting be given to the collectors, which was seconded by Councillor Openshaw, and adopted.

Cordial votes of thanks were accorded to the Deputation and to the Chairman, and the meeting ended with singing and prayer. The collections exceeded those of last year. -Bolton Guardian.

[A very gratifying fact connected with the above services deserves to be recorded. At the prayer-meeting following the evening service, twenty persons professed to find mercy, nearly all of whom are now meeting in class. A gracious influence was experienced at all the meetings held in the circuit during the week. Our friends here will enjoy, and gratefully remember the visit of Mr. Williams.] December 6th, 1866.

E. J. B.

MISSIONS, THORNE CIRCUIT. WE have held missionary services in eleven chapels on this circuit in aid of our Colonial and Foreign Missions, and in every place we have an increase on the past year. We commenced with Scotter, Westwoodside, Grazelound, and Eastoft. The Rev. T. D. Crothers and Mr. Pilling were the deputation. They discharged their duties well. Our next effort was at Epworth, Haxey, and Belton.

The

Rev. C. Hibbert and Mr. John Shaw were the deputation. They were well received. Our next appeal was at Thorne, Fishlake, Levels, and Wormley Hill. Rev. W. Woodward was the deputation. He was well received. In all the places the deputations were assisted by the Revs. J. Argue and J. P. Goodwin, ministers of the circuit, and at Thorne by the Rev. Star, Wesleyan minister. At every place a local preacher presided efficiently. Two places deserve special notice, namely, Scotter, where the public collections were near to £20; and Fishlake, where the public collections were above £15. It is cheering to find that in the birthplace of Wesley and Kilham the missionary spirit is not dead, but the streams of liberality are overflowing their banks and bounds. May they go on and increase, recollecting that they who water others shall be watered themselves. JAMES ARGUE. P.S.-Yesterday morning a friend at Shanded to me £10 for our

home mission-a good beginning for our next effort-the first fruits. Have we not fifty or a hundred friends in the Connexion who could give £5 or £10 each to our Home Mission, and give it a good lift onward? They should go and do likewise.-J. A.

MISSIONS, BURSLEM CIRCUIT. THE annual sermons in aid of our Foreign and Colonial Missions were preached at Burslem, November 4th, by the Rev. R. C. Turner, of Macclesfield, and on the same day at Cobridge by the Revs. R. C. Turner and T. Rudge, and at Smallthorn by the Rev. J. Pott. On Monday, November 5th, the annual missionary meeting was held at Burslem, presided over by Mr. J. H. Tomkinson, M.A., and addressed by the Revs. H. O. Crofts, D.D., R. C. Turner (the deputation), S. B. Schofield, T. Rudge, J. Pott, and Messrs. J. Watkin and W. Mellor. On Tuesday, November 6th, the annual meeting was held at Cobridge, presided over by Mr. James Harrison, and addressed by the deputation, the ministers of the circuit, and Mr. W. Mellor. On Wednesday evening, November 7th, the annual meeting was held at Smallthorn; the chair was taken by Mr. W. Mellor, and the meeting addressed by the deputation and ministers of the circuit.

De

Also December 2nd, sermons were preached at Tunstall by the Revs. A. R. Pearson (of Macclesfield), and_at Dalehall by the Rev. J. Pott. cember 3rd the annual meeting was held at Tunstall. The chair was taken by Mr. W. Mellor, and the meeting was addressed by the deputation, the ministers of the circuit, and Mr. J. Alcock. On Tuesday, December 4th, the last meeting of this kind was held in this circuit at Dalehall, presided over by Mr. J. Ball, and addressed by the deputation, the ministers of the circuit, and Mr. W. Mellor. The labours of the esteemed deputation on both sides of the circuit were productive of great spiritual good to our people, and the collections in aid of our missions are a little in advance of those of last year. To God be all the praise. T. RUDGE.

TIENTSIN, June 26th, 1866. ALTHOUGH last in order of occurrence, I shall first refer to our encouragements. At our early morning service last Lord's day, I had the very pleasurable duty to discharge of baptizing two elderly women, who had been warmly approved by the members of our little church for admission to the privileges of Christian fellowship. These women are widows, and their conversion to Christ has resulted almost exclusively from the influence of consistent faithful "piety at home," exhibited by two of our native brethren. A brief resume of the circumstances may not be unacceptable.

Mrs. Wen is the sister of our city chapel-keeper. Her brother is a man of meek and quiet spirit, a diligent reader of the scriptures, and remarkable for his devout and fervent observance of religious obligations. When he surrendered himself to God three years ago, he was in a responsible position on board a junk, and his employment sometimes occasioned an absence of years from his friends. At the time he was received into our communion, he was engaged to go to the south of China on an expedition which it was expected would take him from us for a lengthened period, and he made his arrangements accordingly. interested in his case, and believing that he would become an exemplary and use. ful character, I felt an extreme unwillingness to have him removed from our oversight, and as the time for his departure drew near, I determined, if possible,

Being much

to avert the trial. He had never offered a single word on the subject that could be construed into dissatisfaction with his lot; but when I appealed to him for a candid statement of his sentiments in view of his separation from the means of religious instruction, the poor man burst into tears, and replied that he looked forward to the privation with sadness inexpressible, and hourly mourned his ignorance of a trade which would admit of his remaining at home, and enjoying the precious opportunities he had learnt to prize so highly. I suggested the possibility of meeting his case, providing he could retire from his prior engagement with honour, and were willing to pursue a lowly calling, and content to receive a smaller salary than that to which he had been accustomed. He hailed the announcement with delight, and declared himself prepared to accept with thankfulness anything that would retain him in connection with the advantages he so ardently desired to possess. And so in order to save his soul alive, this poor man cheerfully sacrificed pecuniary benefits, took up the humble and ill-paid office of chapel-keeper, and from that time to this has shewn himself well satisfied with the choice he made. But what has all this to do with his sister's baptism? We answer "much every way," as a few lines will plainly indicate. His sister being a widow with children, it devolved upon him, according to Chinese custom, to take her under his protection, and furnish means of subsistence for herself

and family. This was the more imperative in his case as he had no family of his own. He promptly and cordially assumed the responsibility, and the situation he held yielded ample funds for the purpose. But when he was led by Christian motives to abandon that employment, and accept a position which, while securing his dependants from beggary, was likely to call for the exercise of no inconsiderable self-denial, it was natural that his heathen relatives should assail him with cruel upbraidings and persecutions. Such were the effects which really followed his pious decision. His home was rendered a scene of wretchedness, and for many days his widowed sister bitterly accused him of meanness, selfishness, and inhumanity, and threatened him with the vengeance of the gods for his departure from the practice of his ancestors. The new disciple bore her railings with uncomplaining submission, often entreating her with tearful eyes to listen to the wonderful teachings which had occasioned his seemingly strange conduct, and pledging that if she would patiently hear and consider these things she would eventually justify what he had done. Months passed away, and at length a change came over the woman's mind. She beheld her brother's holy walk, marvelled at his forbearance, and hearkened with amazement to his prayers. Her conscience troubled her. To her brother's great joy she asked him to read to her of the Word of God, and penitentially sought his forgiveness for all the hard things she had said to him. She joined him in prayer two or three times a day, and, as he once observed to me, "she appeared as though she could never hear too much of the Saviour's love and grace." Latterly, Mrs. Hu has been of much service to her in confirming her resolutions to follow Christ, and especially in strengthening her for an open profession of his name. And now, after a long attendance on the public services, she has become enrolled amongst the few who glory in the cross of Christ as their sole hope and plea for salvation and eternal life. In answer to my questions on Sunday morning, she modestly but firmly declared her solemn intention to

live and die a whole-hearted follower of the Lamb. Gratefully acknowledging Mrs. Hu's efforts for her welfare, she yet mainly ascribed the great change she had experienced to her brother's affectionate solicitude and godly example. Who will not pray that she may shine as the crown of his rejoicing in the judgment-day?

Mrs. Tang, the other recipient of the rite of baptism, is the mother of an earnest man who has been in the church for more than a year. From the first, this man has borne a bold testimony to the excellency and power of the religion of Jesus. At his own home, among his neighbours in the busy streets, on the river, and wherever he may go, his voice is lifted up in honour of his Lord and Saviour. His mother thought him mad, and many shared her opinion. Now, however, she has become of his way of thinking, and is doing her utmost to induce her neighbours to embrace the same views, and pursue the blessedness she has attained. The change in her case has been brought about in this wise. Refusing for many months to extend any real regard to the exhortations of her son, she was nevertheless induced by Mrs. Hu to allow her house to be used for a weekly gathering of females for religious instruction. This meeting was generally conducted by Mrs. Hu's husband, and was supplemented by private conversations with the attendants on the part of Mrs. Hu, with the view of enforcing the subjects treated by her husband. Mrs. Tang was an object of special interest to her. After this had gone on for some time, the venerable widow expressed herself convinced of the divine origin of the new religion, and in proof of this agreed to the clearing of the house of all idolatrous objects. But she was still in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity, knowing nothing of spiritual life and liberty. At length God laid her on a sick bed, and her sickness proved very severe and protracted. Native medical skill utterly failed in the treatment of her disease, and now she was brought to serious concern about her soul. Her son and Mrs. Hu spent much time conversing and praying with her, and she was drawn by the Divine blessing on these means

to the sense of sins forgiven. Happiness she had never known took possession of her soul, and she resolved that if God restored her to health, her remaining years should be devoted to his service. From that time she improved in health, and ever since she has been a delighted attendant on the services of the Lord's house. She believes that God afflicted her body to save her soul, and on being asked last Sunday morning, in the pres ence of the congregation, whether she thought she could endure persecution for Christ, she replied with fervour, "I fear nothing that can come to me, beeanse I have the evidence in what the Lord Jesus has done for me already, that he will be sufficient for me in any cir cumstances that may arise." As she is connected with our little chapel in the suburbs of the city, and greatly resembles Mrs. Hu in her energy of character, we anticipate that she will be very useful in promoting the work amongst the women in that locality. Blessed be God for these new trophies of grace.

There were other features in last Sunday morning's service on which it would be interesting to expatiate. By my side sat the old mandarin, Hsu Lau Ye, whose interest in the Gospel is increasing. So far has he become enamoured of the golden moral precepts of our sacred writings, that he has caused some of them to be written out on large coloured sheets, and suspended in the public office with which he is connected. He did us good service a little while ago, by voluntarily issuing a proclamation, threatening with pains and penalties anyone who might molest us in our attention to the public services at our chapels. This was occasioned by a savage attack which was made upon one of our chapels, for the purpose of casting odium on the women who were worshipping with us. There has been no repetition of the offence, which is doubtless greatly owing to his timely interference. He remained with us as a spectator at one of our recent sacramental services, and at its close expressed himself as affected by what he had heard, and begged to be allowed to contribute his offering along with the offerings of the members. We cannot speak of him as fully converted,

but his heart is opening to gracious influences, and we believe that ere long he will be wholly on the Lord's side. Within a few yards of Hsu sat Han Hsienseng, the brother who has lately come to us from the Romish communion. This man has furnished abundant proofs of sincerity in the change he has made, and bids fair to be a most valuable accession to our numbers. He is a man of literary turn, who by his grave and thoughtful character secures general esteem. His abandonment of popery has been most thorough and enlightened, and consequent on an independent personal examination of the inspired records. Little did the papal missionaries imagine, when stationing themselves within a stone's throw of our city chapel, obviously in opposition to us, that this their catechist would thereby come to the discovery of his errors, and end in joining the sect he had been taught to revile. It was the contiguity of position that brought him into contact with our venerable Wang, who asked him for a statement of his religious opinions, and then vigorously denounced them as unsupported by the infallible standardthe Word. Although attempting a reply to the arguments of Wang, the poor Catholic soon found himself in a dilemma, from his ignorance of the Scriptures, which he confessed he had never personally consulted. Wang presented him

with a Bible, but this was taken from him by the indignant French priest, and in his presence committed to the flames. But the man's eyes were now opened, and the action of the priest only prompted him to go and obtain another copy of the condemned book, which was diligently read in secret. The priest's suspicions were aroused, and he sent the man away to Peking, that he might be kept from the contaminating influence of our teackings. This course proved but an additional link in the chain of events which was drawing him to the truth. While in Peking, he was specially noticed by the authorities of the corrupt church, and with a view to the deliverance of one so dangerously affected, extraordinary expedients were resorted to. He was shewn the bones and other relics of distinguished saints, and was urged to appropriate the