LONGTON.-Two, by C. Springthorpe. The first in our new chapel. NETHERTON, Ebenezer.-Two, by W. Millington. NOTTINGHAM, Woodborough Road.-Two, by F. G. Buckingham. The first baptism in our new chapel. MARKET HARBOROUGH.-Four, by W. Wood. MARRIAGES. BELCHER-GLOVER. - Oct. 30, at Barton Fabis, by Rev. G. Needham, Mr. Chas. Belcher, to Miss Mary Ann Glover, both of lbstock. BLOWER-ASHBY.-Nov. 13, at Barton Fabis, by Rev. J. Greenwood, Mr. John Blower, to Miss Mary Ashby, both of Bagworth. THIRLBY-THIRLBY.-Oct. 18, at Normanton-le-Heath, Mr. Benjamin Thirlby, of Stone House Packington, to Sarah Jane, younger daughter of Mr. Thos. Thirlby, Normanton. OBITUARIES. BROOKS.-Nov. 11, at Heaton, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, Rev. John Brooks, formerly of the Orissa Mission. DARLASTON.-Our lately departed brother, Mr. Wm. Darlaston, was born at Upton, Leicestershire, on the eighth of April, 1814. He was the youngest son of Thos. and Mary Darlaston, who came from Hellford, Staffordshire, to Upton, in the last quarter of the last century. He followed the trade of his father, that of carpenter, which seems to have hallowed associations connected with it, seeing that He wrought at it for many years who was the Revealer of the Divine purposes to a sinful world. His parents were God-fearing people, and so he was early instructed in those truths that led to his salvation and conscreation to God's service. Up to the age of seventeen he attended the Sunday School in connected with the Established Church at Sibson. To this Church his parents went, because there was no chapel within a reasonable distance that they could attend. Coming with a member of the Barton Church, then residing at Sibson, to hear the word at Barton, he was impressed, and decided to become a follower of Christ. He was baptized on the 15th of June, 1884; and that day was to him a gladly solemn one. The friends at Barton then baptized in a natural baptistery in the open-air, a little way from the present chapel. It is a spot dear to many whose locks are now almost as white as the newly fallen snow. Married to a member of the Baptist Church at Hinckley in 1840, he and his wife came to Barton to worship for many years. For the last seven years of his life he did not get there more than about six times a year, though he was very regular at Bosworth morning and evening. He was a lover of God's house and people, and never seemed happier than when engaged in the sacred services of the sanctuary. His daughter informs the writer that she was the companion of her father to Bosworth for nine years; that they had many Sunday dinners in the road between Bosworth and Barton; and that no wet or cold weather ever kept them from the house of God on the Sabbath, although they had several miles to walk there. There were three other sisters who would have done the same, but were physically unable. Our brother was known in the village in which he lived as a good man. He lived a true, manly, and Christian life, and let his "light shine" before and upon his neighbours. As he lived, so he died. He was patient in his illness, and dwelt much upon God's loving-kindness to him. He was a good husband, an affectionately wise father, and an exemplary Christian. He passed to his eternal home on the 9th of May of this year. (1877.) DAVIS.-Mary Davis, an honoured member of the church at Old Basford, died Oct. 22, 1877, aged 73 years. Our sister and her husband were baptized at the same service more than fifty years ago. He died early in life, leaving her to struggle with five children-the youngest of them a boy eleven weeks old. She bore up bravely, laboriously, and Christianly, and lived to see the little orphan a deacon of the church at Old Basford. She was a sincere, ripened Christian; and the remembrance of her cheerful and kindly piety will not soon fall from the minds of some of her fellow-members. Her pastor can call her memory to the minds of younger disciples when he asks them, in apostolic language, to be "imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." W. D. HARRISON, MR. HERBERT WM., of Derby, died Oct. 26, 1877, aged thirty-eight. "God's finger touched him, and he slept." TURNER.-Nov. 4, at Peterboro', Mrs. Sarah Turner, in her fifty-seventh year. Early in 1862 she was transferred to the fellowship of the Baptist church now meeting in Queen Street, Peterborough, and remained a consistent and useful member until her death. Her affliction was long and painful, but was borne with Christian submission. Her end was peace. SNOWDEN, EMMA, fell asleep in Jesus, August 6th, 1877, in her 61st year, having been a worthy and consistent member of the Carrington Church for twenty-one years. Her place in the House of God was seldom vacant when she was well, and all departments of Christain labour received proof of her sympathy. She had the happiness of seeing all her children come into the fold of Christ. Her protracted and painful illness was borne with such beautiful patience and resignation that it was a source of pleasure and profit to visit her. WHAT GENERAL BAPTISTS ARE NOT. See General Baptist Almanack, 1878. FOR PORTRAIT OF THE LATE DR. BURNS. See General Baptist Almanack, 1878. BACK TO LEVITICUS AGAIN. (With Illustration). See General Baptist Almanack, 1878. CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE. With Illustration and account. See General Baptist Almanack, 1878. It is only One Penny, and contains, beside the above, Calendar and Text Mottoes-List of Chapels and Ministers-Local Preachers-England's Conversion-Michael Angelo and the Sistine Chapel-The Turtle-Dove (with Illustration)-Christians Outside the Church-General Baptists and Liberty of Conscience-"Take Sides"-Poetry, etc., etc. THE MISSIONARY OBSERVER. DECEMBER, 1877. New Year's Sacramental Collections. We DEAR BRETHREN,-We beg to remind you that the first Sabbath of the New Year is the usual time for making simultaneous SACRAMENTAL COLLECTIONS for the Widows and Orphans of our Missionaries. hope it will be convenient for you to continue your usual contribution, and, if possible by a little extra effort to increase the amount. The sum required to pay the several Insurance Premiums, together with the allowance to an invalid missionary, is over Two Hundred Pounds, and it is most desirable that this should be raised apart from the ordinary funds of the Society. Should the first Sabbath of the year be found an inconvenient time to you, we would suggest that the collection might be made on the first Sabbath of February or March. It will prevent confusion in the accounts, and ensure the correct appropriation of the Sacramental Collections, if they are sent direct, and separate from ordinary the contributions of your church to the Society. We remain, yours faithfully, W. B. BEMBRIDGE, Ripley, near Derby, Treasurer. Post Office Orders to the Secretary should be made payable at the General Post Office, Derby. Death of Mrs. Lacey. It is with intense grief that we have to announce to the friends of the Mission the death of Mrs. Lacey. This sorrowful event occurred at Cuttack on Wednesday, November 17th, the painful tidings having been conveyed by telegraph, to her only daughter, Mrs. Bond, at present residing in London. Beyond the fact nothing further is known, but in due course our readers will doubtless be furnished with information in reference to our venerable sister's life and death. As Mrs. Lacey, along with her husband, arrived at Cuttack, December 19th, 1823, her connection with the Mission has extended over the long period of nearly fifty-four years. To the heathen of all classes, as well as to our native Christians, her removal will be a great loss, especially as regards the medical help she has so long rendered, and in whose skill they had such unlimited confidence. In Mrs. Lacey has passed away the last connecting link between the early and later labourers in Orissa. Happy day when "he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.' DEAR MR. HILL,-In sending my third list of contributions for the Rome Chapel on the day of my departure for the South of France and Rome, I feel as though I cannot leave for a month or more in utter silence respecting the good work that has called forth the prayers and the energies of our churches, and has awakened the sympathies of Christian friends of other sections. You will see that my contributers are nearly all "outsiders," and £5 10s. of the amount in my present list was given as the result of a visit to the chapel, in its unfinished state, by my late tourist party. The subscription Lists in last month's Missionary Observer are very encouraging. Birchcliffe has set a noble example in sending over £62 without any large donation. £20 "on account" from Burton is also a promising beginning, and some of the smaller churches make a good appearance. Corresponding space, as well occupied in each of the next six numbers of the Observer will obliterate a good many rising fears as to the ultimate issue of the appeal. Personally I have a strong desire, if it please the Heavenly Father, to live to see this work accomplished, and a good Mission well established in Rome; and now I, who have taken or sent thousands to health resorts, am going alone to the mild climate of the South of France in the hope of warding off an attack of bronchitis like that which laid me low in April and May. I shall spend three weeks in getting to Rome, lingering by the way at Cannes, Nice, and Mentone, and then travelling by the Comiche and Riviere roads to Spezzia, Pisa and Rome, where, on the 25th inst., I hope to meet Mr. Chapman in Mr. Wall's Sala Christiania, in the Piazza in Lucina, No. 35. I am pleased to think that Mr. Chapman will travel in company with the author of "Pen and Pencil Sketches in Italy." The last few days in the month in Rome will be devoted to the examination of the buildings, and their transfer from contractor to proprietors. Then may be expected, I hope for the January Magazine, the Report of our professional brother, and the time for the opening of the chapel may be announced. As before intimated, I will then try to show the best and cheapest ways to Rome, in the hope of having the company of a good muster of ministers and representative members of churches, who, when they see the situation, will be better prepared to consider what in the future is best to be done for the Rome Mission. Hoping to meet another good Rome number of the Missionary Observer before leaving the "Eternal City," I am yours very truly, London, Nov. 5, 1877. THOS. COOK. P.S-Subscriptions for my Lists may be sent to Miss Cook, Thorncroft, Stonygate, Leicester. Journey to Sumbulpore.* BY THE REV. W. MILLER. T. C. Mahanuddy River, 24 miles from Sumbulpore, Feb. 20th, 1877. HERE we are on our return journey. We left Sumbulpore yesterday at nine a.m., exceedingly pleased and encouraged by our visit, and regretting our inability to occupy the station at once and permanently in the name of the Lord. The door is now wide open for us to enter, and many of the people, including most of the educated and influential babus of the place, as well as the highest Government officer and his excellent wife, are most desirous that we take possession at once. There is, perhaps, no place where Hindooism sits so lightly upon the people. The Brahmins on account of their vile deeds are a stench in the nostrils of all right-minded people. Altogether there seems to be a combination of most favourable circumstances in regard to the establishment of a Mission at Sumbulpore. The arrival of Christian teachers would be hailed with joy, and, with God's blessing, the fruit of their labours would soon be seen in the formation of a vigorous church, and various agencies for the spread of saving truth through * Continued from page 443. JOURNEY TO SUMBULPORE. 477 I mentioned in my out the length and breadth of this vast and inviting field. last that it was arranged to have services in Oriya and English on the Lord'sday. Balaram Babu offered his house for the former; but as it was not large enough for the number expected to attend, we decided to meet in the large tileroofed market-house, in which were placed chairs, benches, and rugs. Soon after eight a.m. a congregation of nearly three hundred persons of all classes and ages assembled, and conducted themselves in the most quiet and orderly manner. The service was conducted just as in our chapel-singing, prayer, reading of Scriptures, and sermon. The latter was from Acts xvi. 30 and 31, and was as much as possible adapted to the peculiar circumstances of the congregation. The greatest attention was observed to the close, and no one until then attempted to move. At three p.m. we attended the market, where at least three thousand persons were present. In addition to Oriyas, here we met with Khonds, Gonds, Coles, and other aboriginal tribes, nearly all of whom understood and spoke Oriya. There is a considerable number of the last-named in and near Sumbulpore; most of the servants and labourers belong to this class. At five p.m. we assembled in the commissioner's cutchery; he read the prayers, and Mr. Pike preached from Heb. vii. 25. Most of the European residents and several natives were present and seemed to appreciate the service. Our boat hails from Sumbulpore, is thirty-four feet long by three and a half feet wide, about two feet deep, with a frail tattee roof. We have with us Doolee, Bancha, three boys, three boatmen, with most of our traps and small tent. My available space for sitting and sleeping is six feet by two feet. Brother Pike's compartment is of the same dimensions. In moving about or changing our position great care is required, as our craft is top heavy, and the sides only eight inches out of the water. We have to travel in this way some eighty-eight miles to a place named Dolepore, where we expect to find the Herald to take us on to Cuttack, and in which we shall have more roomy and comfortable quarters. Dolepore is the highest point of the Mahanuddy to which the Cuttack boats can come; thence the river abounds with rocks and boulders, with narrow dangerous channels, through which the current rushes with the greatest rapidity, making a loud noise and throwing up waves which remind you of the sea. The first fourteen miles after leaving Sumbulpore are marked by an almost uninterrupted succession of these dangerous channels. At times we seemed to be rushing to destruction, and awaited with shuddering expectation the signal of our boat being dashed to pieces against the rocks ahead, which, to the unpractised eye, blocked up the way, but were, to our surprise, invariably guided safely through by the skill and strong arms of our boatmen. Several times the bottom of our frail craft grazed rocks beneath, but happily we glided off and got safely through. We have just passed four large boats of salt for Sumbulpore stopped by a policeman. Cholera, it appears, prevails at Beneka, lower down, and all boats passing up are kept in quarantine some days. We are now passing many of the Beneka people, who through fear of the pestilence have fled from their homes, and are living in little huts, constructed of bamboos and branches of trees, on the river bank, some miles from their village. The children make very light of it, and seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves in play and fun. Since laying down my pen, we stopped at noon to cook and eat in the shade of a noble tamarind tree. Before resuming our journey, the bitter, hopeless wailing of a female (who, with her friends, was living in a hut nearly opposite us) assailed our ears; news of the death of some loved one in the village from which she had fled had probably just reached her. How touching! how full of despair the language addressed to the deceased—“Why did you leave me? Where are you gone? What shall I do? I shall never hear your voice or see your face again." "Without hope in the world," is indeed painfully descriptive of the heathen of this land. Their shastres and teachers do not throw one ray of light, or give one spark of comfort, in reference to eternity. This is an aspect of Hindooism which I often advert to in preaching to the people, and contrast it with the "life and immortality brought to light by the gospel," and the blessed hope of the true Christian. Letter from Reb. T. Bailey. Piplee, September 22, 1877. I RETURNED late last night from Pooree, having been there mainly for the purpose of registering a lease of the land for the site of the bungalow proposed to be built there, in which I was happily successful. The plot is small-100 feet square-but sufficient for the purpose, and the rental two rupees twelve annas per annum. The situation is admirably suitable for the purpose. It lies between the fisherman's village and the Government Inspection Bungalow, but is a little further from the sea than either of them, and considerably higher. It is in full view of the sea, and will catch every breeze, and nearly adjoins one of the made roads over the sands. Its proximity to the Inspection Bungalow will be a special convenience, as by the new rules of Government the missionaries are permitted to occupy the latter free of expence for a limited number of days, and so generally put up there. One of our own people has, moreover, been appointed to have charge of the Inspection Bungalow, and will be able to look after the materials for the new building as they are forwarded. The movement, though so small, has awakened considerable interest in the town, and I was gratified to find among some of the most influential members of the native community a decidedly friendly feeling. Three native gentlemen holding good appointments under Government, came to visit me in the evening, and when I informed them that it was our desire to locate a native agent so as to occupy the station permanently, they were quite in favour of it. Another friend informed me of a piece of land within the town limits which would be eligible for building plots for a few Christian houses, and would himself be likely to be the most successful person in obtaining it for us. I have never known a conjunction of circumstances so favourable to our moving in the matter, and shall be much disappointed if some efficient action is not taken by the forthcoming Conference. We have, in my opinion, the time, the place, and the man, for a new aggressive movement fraught with promise to the Mission. It is not creditable to us as a Mission that a city of such supreme importance in the Hindoo world, and of such absorbing interest to the world at large, should be the scene of merely occasional and desultory effort, and I think the time has arrived when one if not two of our ablest native ministers should be permanently located there. A casual remark by one of the babus impressed me more profoundly than ever with the sad fact that the whole country is "given up to idolatry." He had promised to help in the purchase of timber for the new bungalow, and on my inquiry whether a supply had not yet come down the river, he replied that the wood for Juggernath's car had not yet arrived, and this took precedence of all other, so that there was as yet no chance. How full of sad significance the statement which was to him, no doubt, most commonplace! In the whole supply of timber for the season, the post of honour must be conceded to that intended for the idol car. My last letter would inform you that all the action taken in this matter has been with the consent and concurrence of the friends at Cuttack, and that we fully anticipate a favourable reply from the Home Committee. The present extremely economical temper of the Indian Government is well illustrated in a case which occurred while I was at Pooree. The magistrate is sending a poor and friendless girl to the orphanage, and has obtained sanction for a maintenance allowance of one rupee only per month till she is twelve years of age! I trust that at least there will be an extension of the time if not an increase in the amount of the allowance at some future and more auspicious season. Prices are still verging on the famine rate, and crops are failing sadly in large parts of the Pooree district. We are obliged to take special measures for helping our people, and the magistrate has applied to Government for a contribution of 10,000 rupees for famine relief. Monday, 24th.-I wrote thus far on Saturday. This morning I have been reminded most painfully of the scenes of the famine eleven years ago. You may remember that Chimneh Jacheck has a paddy* store in our village, and he * Paddy is rice in the husk |