I. It has always occurred to us, as a thing to be deplored, that any of our pulpits and congregations should be occupied and presided over by ministers of other communions. No personal disrespect is meant to those ministers in this reference, but in the nature of things we cannot expect them to bring the same amount of interest and zeal and effort to bear upon the Connexion as those living within its borders, and imbued with its principles. With all their endeavour to accommodate themselves, they will feel themselves out of place-a clog upon the congregation-a hindrance and not a help. Exceptions there happily are, but they are rare.

II. It is also to be regretted that congregations, in want of ministers, do not feel the necessity and policy of putting themselves in communication with the Executive Committee or the Trustees. Two heads are better than one, is an old and trite saying, and as applicable to congregations as to individuals. Surely it would be a seemly and a wise thing !— What bickerings and animosities it would often save. The idea that the church is a competent judge, is often, especially when not well organized, a fallacious one, in practice at least;—a little more modesty and deference to the opinion of others would be a great mercy to many a congregation.

III. I have always deplored the necessity, real or supposed, laid upon students to seek a sphere of usefulness in other communions, when their own proper field is the Connexion-out of which they are fairly elbowed the spheres which they ought to prefer are occupied by foreign ministers-and the field providence designed for them is thus entered upon by other labourers. Tell me not that they are disinclined to the Connexion give them the opportunity first. We believe but few of them would go elsewhere at any rate we have no right to condemn them till we have given them a fair prospect of employment among ourselves. "What are we to do?" said one of the senior students the other day, to the writer, when interrogated on this subject, "We must go somewhere." When questioned as to the general feeling among the students in regard to the Connexion, his reply was quite in its favour, and his conviction, that the majority would never think of other folds could they be employed at home. Say not the supply is greater than the demand.

Such an argument is lost upon us, while we see so many pulpits occupied by nonconnexional ministers. Let us first make the most of our ground and then we can adjust the demand to the supply.

IV. We also deplore the limited circulationof the Harbinger-that it is a loss and not a profit. This certainly bespeaks something wrong in the body—a want of life, energy, or zeal. In these days a Connexion of people without its Magazine would be like the body without the soul-it is a thing necessary to existence.

How easily all these deplorable things could be remedied! What difficulty could there be in occupying our pulpits with Connexion ministers and students? What is there to prevent any congregation, with a vacant pulpit, from putting itself in communication with the Trustees or the Executive Committee-who would be sure to study its interests, and in whom it would find a friend in need. What a sphere it would open up to our young men. would cement among us. What a living correspondence would spring up between the body and its several members-a living reality!-and then what of the Harbinger! Tell me if it would not spread its wings to the wind-and a gale of prosperity set in which would carry it in triumph to a successful issue. "Arise O Lord into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength.'

What a bond of union it

But there are hopeful signs — and among these we are disposed to set down I. As among the first in importance, the appointment of Mr. Sherman to the vacant Trusteeship-a gentleman every way qualified for the office, and possessing the entire confidence of the Conference and the Connexion. We regard this appointment as an omen for goodas an indication on the part of the surviving trustees, of a better feeling, and of a desire to meet the rational wishes of Conference, and of acting in harmony with the entire body. Looking at it in this light, we cannot too highly estimate the selection or too warmly anticipate the largest and most lasting good from the choice. The Lord give wisdom to our brother and his colleagues.

II. Then there is a hopeful sign in the increased good feeling which pervades all parties-the Trustees-the Conference the College.

The Trustees wish the Connexion well, and bye and bye they will be found working hand in hand with the Conference

we

"The

and College. The Conference is alive and active and better attended of late, than has been witnessed the last fifteen or twenty years. The College has marvellously revived; and although all things there are not to our mind, will thank God and take courage.' revival is in the right direction. And all these three powers are drawing closer together every year, and acting more and more in harmony. When they are consolidated in one power for the general good of the Connexion, we may expect the times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord."

III. It is a hopeful thing to see increased life and activity in the body. This pleasing spectacle is witnessed in the Conference, it is no longer a name, but an acting body. Witness the New Hymn Book, &c. &c. In the Executive Committee. Witness the African Mission, &c.—and this spirit and zeal has descended from the head to the skirts of the garments. Congregations have been quickened into zeal, earnestness, and love. The whole body will ere long be inoculated with the same spirit, and then will be heard the cry, "Let us go up and possess the land.'

All

IV. Nor should we omit as a hopeful sign, that a common and general desire animates the Connexion mind for its revival, prosperity, and success. that is required to the consummation of our fondest wishes, are union, co-operation, and prayer.

Let the things deplored be put away from among us--and let the things hopeful encourage us. Let the one humble and the other stimulate us. "Let thy work appear unto thy servants." Wherefore should we enquire "What is the cause that the former days were better than these?" Ilfracombe.

Review.

B. P.

THE THISTLE AND THE CEDAR OF LEBANON. By Habeeb Risk Allah Effendi, M.R.C.S., and Associate of King's College, London.-London: James Madden, 8, Leadenhall-street.

Under this oriental title we have a charming volume, full of instructive and entertaining matter, replete with practical wisdom, and abounding in anecdote and personal reminiscenses. The author is a Syrian of good family connections, and a protestant christian, who came to this country a few years since to obtain a sound English education, and who, while here, was induced to qualify himself for the medical profession. He appears to have made excellent use of his time, for he writes our language with a correctness, vigour, and good

taste, that would do no discredit to the most experienced book maker known in the "Row."

A

proof of the success of his work is seen in the fact that one edition of one thousand copies was exhausted in less than six months from the date

of publication, and this is the second and improved edition which now lies before us. The author, although he has chosen such a parabolical title, discourses in anything save on eastern fashion; he is eminently a "matter of fact man," and has crowded into 400 pages as much incident and detail of his life, travels, and opinions-the situation and peculiarities of his countrymen, as we have ever met with in the same bulk. And when we use the word "crowded," we do not mean that there is any real awkwardness or want of arrangement about the book; on the contrary, the chapters follow in becoming sequence, and each is a compact subject in itself. The volume is peculiarly valuable as a contribution to our literavigorous intellect is able to grasp at once all the ture by an orientalist, whose accomplished and advantages of civilizaton, and who sees in the semi-barbarous state of his countrymen the stamp of national degradation, and the greatest barrier to the propagation of a pure form of christian worship. Hence he is an enthusiastic advocate of education, and he invites the co-operation of the philanthopic towards establishing an institution overthrow of the Moslem superstition of his at Beyrout, having for its ultimate object the countrymen.-Cheltenham Examiner.

Connexion Intelligence.

ROCHDALE.

OPENING OF THE NEW ORGAN.
ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH.

Within the last month a new and powerful Organ, built by Groves, of London, at a cost of £420, containing 32 stops with all the modern improvements, has been opened in the above church. The services connected with its introduction into public worship were as follows.

On Thursday evening, Nov. 23rd, the members of the congregation, with other friends, assembled for tea, to the number of 400, in the spacious school rooms adjoining. The tables were kindly and gratuitously furnished by ladies of the congregation, and the proceeds resulted in £14 9s. At half-past 6 service was held in the church, which was soon filled by a highly respectable audience. An impressive sermon was preached by the Rev. G. W. Conder, of Leeds, from Gal. vi. 2. The Rev. Messrs. Burchell, Parkinson, and Spencer taking the devotional engagements of the evening. W. Barlow, Esq., organist of St. Ann's Church, Manchester, presided in the Orchestra, and a selection of sacred music was performed from the works of Handel, Hadyn, Drs. Smith, Clarke, &c. The collection amounted to £27 13 8. On the follow

ing Lord's-day, Nov. 26, two sermons were preached by the Rev. E. C. Lewis. There was a large congregation on each occasion, and in the evening the place was crowded long before the time of commencing service. The collections on this occasion amounted to £54 2s 5d.

BAZAAR.

In order to liquidate the debt incurred in the recent enlargement and improvements, the ladies of the congregation have most nobly exerted themselves, and a sale of plain and fancy work took place in the school room on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 6 and 7. The admission was 1s, the first day, and 6d. the second. The arrangements made were admirable, and the attendance of all classes and denominations in the town and neighbourhood highly gratifying and encouraging. It was hoped that the proceeds might result in £150, but to the joy of all who had exerted themselves in this matter, the nett receipts exceeded £250. The thanks of the Committee of management were gratefully tendered to the ladies at its close, and all separated happy in the consciousness of having made a united, kindly, and liberal effort to rid themselves of a heavy responsibility. Thus have the congregation in connexion with this place of worship raised among themselves for the improvement of their own sanctuary, and within a few months, the handsome sum of £1015 12s. 4d. Not in a spirit of self gratulation but of deep and heart-felt gratitude to God who has given both the means and the disposition thus to use them, is this fact recorded. May our renovated sanctuary be rendered increasingly the scene of spiritual birth, and consolation, and joy, and our praises flow from hearts deeply affected by a sense of the Divine loving kindness. E. C. L.

EBLEY.

COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON'S CHAPEL, EBLEY SUNDAY AND DAY SCHOOLS.-The annual sermons in behalf of these schools have for many years excited the warmest interest, but on Sunday last they were hallowed by special associations. The venerated minister, who had devoted himself to the welfare of man and laboured hard in the work he had undertaken,

was labouring under a painful and malignant disease, to which the stoutest con

stitution must eventually yield. He had

been prevented public ministrations for many months, and yet again stepped forward to plead with the public in behalf of the great object for which he had sacrificed his life. His friends had too much reason to fear the effort would be the last, and the preacher seemed conscious that the uncertainty of life was with himself a certainty. The risk was great, the consequences might be fatal, and yet he shrunk not. Relieved as far as possible from the laborious portions of the service,it was not until a brief interval before the sermons commenced that he stepped from the vestry to the couch, and, unable to stand, in a seated posture delivered two discourses which may be said to epitomise the teaching of his life. In the morning he illustrated the lifeless inanition of the soul shut out from educational advantages; and in the afternoon he graphically depicted the glorious privileges which the mind and spirit of man is capable of developing, by the aid of religion and intellectual cultivation. Here was a plea for appealing to a crowded audience; and eloquently did Mr. Parsons use his opportunity of referring to past achievements, by reading a letter from a little boy once a scholar in the school now employed at Birmingham, and whose enclosure of a dozen postage stamps was the first fruits of the collection. Sixty pounds were necessary to carry on the work of education upon its present scale, and the congregations promptly responded by making up that amount during the day.

Sincerely do we hope the melancholy anticipations which Mr. Parsons expressed on Sunday, that he was then preaching for the last time, may not be realised. Stroud has few men of his calibre, fewer still who will work with equal zeal for the public benefit, none who when called upon to bid adieu to the scene of life's probation will leave behind monuments of equal worth and equal durability. Ill can we spare him, and when he is called to enter into life, may his mantle descend upon others, who shall catch his spirit, and labour with equal zeal, talent, and disinterestedness in behalf of religious and intellectual education.

much in body, and with little, if any, Rev. B. Parsons is, we fear, suffering hope of recovery.

On Sunday, 17th inst., two very appropriate Sermons were delivered in the Connexion Chapel, by the Revds. Messrs. Wake and Fowler, in behalf of our West African Missions; and on Monday a numerous and respectable meeting was held in the Chapel for the same object.

The Rev. J. K. Foster, in the chair, introduced the business by showing that the charm of Liberty and Wilberforce-Lady Huntingdon and the cause

of Missions was assoctated with our labours at Sierra Leone; and after referring to Mr. Scipio

Wright and to Canroy Caulker, the youthful son of

Canrobah, King of a part of the Sherbro country, South of the colony, now under his care, and noticing the death of Mr. John Williams, who lately died in England, to which he had come for education as a school master in his native country, called upon the Rev. Geo. Fowler to state the substance of his observations while lately resident in Africa.

This statement was exceedingly instructive and telling, and produced thrilling interest, especially in the parts relating to the superstitions of this degraded but free and rising people; and exhibited specimens of their IDOLS.

Dr. Morton Brown then addressed the meeting with much feeling and appropriateness. The devotional parts of the exercises were led by the zealous Minister of the Chapel, Rev. L. J. Wake, and the benediction was pronounced by the Chairman. The collections exceeded £21.

ASHFORD,-KENT.

We regret that owing to a change in the printer of the "Harbinger," the appeal to our friends of the Countess of Huntingdon's Congregation in the above place is not at hand. The zealous friends then under the guidance of our esteemed brother, Mr. Turner, have determined to double the size of

the School Rooms attached to the Chapel to accommodate a population doubled within the last six or seven years, by means of the railway and its manufactories. We trust this little irregularity of ours will not prevent the liberality of our readers aiding a project which has unusually strong claims on all who desire christian educatioн.-Editor.

BRIGHTON.

We are happy to state that Rev. Jos. Sortain is so far restored to health as to be able to preach on Sunday mornings and Thursday afternoon, to the great joy of his own congregation.

SIERRA LEONE

We understand our Friends at Sierra Leone are in want of Hymn Books. As many of our Congregations at home are just about introducing our "New Hymn

Book," would it not be a good opportunity to make a gathering of those of the former editions which are in good condition and send them-doubtless the Secretaries would be happy to hear from those congregations who may be willing so to do.

NOTICE.

Our correspondents will receive our thanks, our friends at Bradford, Islington, and those whose papers do not appear in this number will kindly wait a month, remembring the limits of our space. They will also keep in mind the necessity of sending their communications early in the month. The Editor is encouraged by

the assurances of aid and of an increase of sale of the Harbinger.

AN APPEAL.

The present number of our magazine has been reduced in price to two-pence at the request of several of our friends and correspondents. At the beginning of this new year therefore it is earnestly hoped that all our readers will endeavour to increase its circulation. Various are the ways in which this may be done. Ministers may recommend it from the pulpits-Superintendents in the school

Friends at their social meetings-all to their acquaintance. We want to circulate double the number of last year, and at the reduced price, if all will lend a helping hand, the object will be easily achieved. We look forward to the New

Hymn Book as a source of profit towards supporting our missionary and other institutions, why may we not also derive assistance from the sale of the Harbinger? besides personal and connexional advantages we hope, in some measure, to counteract the effects of injurious publications.