tongues he did then; but, though he yearned for the Missionary's gift, he was thankful that he had the Missionary's spirit. Some weeks after when they reached Cape Town they partook of the Sacrament, and one month after that, on reaching Melbourne, they partook of the Sacrament again, and at once felt they were "at home." Again, months after, when they had left Australia and reached Brooklyn, at Dr. Talmage's church they participated in the Sacramental service there, and had the delight of seeing 350 new converts and church members received into fellowship. The question had been asked him when in America, whether he was a minister. To which he responded, "Not in your sense; but, telling what he was, the declaration was made that, "he'd do ;" and, forthwith, he found himself blossoming into the Rev. B. G. Berry. Here in Sheffield he found himself announced as B. G. Berry, Esq. But like those to whom the Chairman had referred, he began to preach in a little cottage behind a chair, and had reached his culminating point in the cathedral church of Melbourne, where only six local preachers had officiated in fifteen years, and he was the sixth. He had been requested by the President of the Local Preachers' Association at Melbourne to present their fraternal greeting to the Association in England; and that he had done in the afternoon of that day. He had heard local preachers declare the truth in the new country, but it was the same Gospel as was declared here; their words and ways might shock some Englishmen, but the Gospel truth was clearly taught, the trumpet had no uncertain sound, and sinners found peace in believing, and could, and did sing

"My Jesus to know,

And feel His blood flow; 'Tis life everlasting: 'Tis heaven below." Some of the holiest men he had known he had found in Melbourne. And happy deaths were not confined to local preachers. A wife who had been converted by the instrumentality of a local preacher, was laid prostrate by that terrible disease, consumption. She was a mother with several chil

dren. He had sat at her bedside, and had seen her youngest child, two years old, brought to her. He had heard her testimony to the preciousness of the Gospel. No fear, no dread was entertained, but perfect trust and confidence in the love of Jesus was possessed; and when some time afterwards he received an Australian paper, it contained an account of her triumphant death. Yes, local preachers did not work in vain; and he would exhort them in the words of the first hymn they sang that night, to"Toil on, faint not, keep watch, and pray; Be wise, the erring soul to win; Go forth unto the world's highway, Compel the wanderer to come in." The Collection was then made. Bro. J. Milsom, of Reading, had a speech an hour ago, but it was now quite gone. He congratulated Sheffield on being a good place for a Local Preachers' meeting. Sheffield had found them a good President, and it had also provided a good Chairman. It had an indefatigable Secretary in Bro. Turtle, and an elect lady Miss Sharman, who collected a large sum every year (nearly £30), and he trusted she would live many years to collect similar or even greater amounts. He then gave some statistics respecting the work of Local Preachers and the Association, and urged increased contributions.

" in

The Chairman announced that the collection that evening was £28 16s. 3d.; and the various collections on the preceding day over £300.

The Hymn of "Christian Brotherhood" was then sung in the usual hearty and genial manner.

Bro. E. Benson, of Tring, complained of being called upon, as he could only play upon one string; but he delivered a most effective speech, dwelling upon the union of the brethren in work, and giving instances of the good accomplished by the Association.

Bro. Towne, in a humorous address, proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was seconded by Bro. Thos. Cole, and carried with great enthusiasm. The Chairman responded, and a most successful meeting was concluded by the singing of the Doxology.

THE TUESDAY EVENING TEMPERANCE MEETING.

June 21st,

IN connection with the assembly of the representatives of the Association, a temperance meeting was held in the Temperance Hall, at seven o'clock in the evening. The president of the Sheffield branch of the Association, Mr. G. H. Hovey, occupied the chair; and he was supported on the platform by Messrs. G. C. Amphlett (London), W. T. Raper (Cardiff), J. Milsom (Reading), E. Braimbridge (Leeds), and other representatives. The attendance of the public was not very large.

The Chairman said he felt that it was unnecessary for him to make any apology for their appearing as advocates of temperance. The Methodist local preachers were well known as earnest, intelligent, sincere, spiritual workers, as successful winners of souls to Christ, and as reformers in every sense of the word, both religious, moral, and social. Englishmen, as a rule, were true patriots, but most of them felt that there was a blot on the escutcheon of the country-(applause) -that our character was seriously interfered with, that our influence for good in every respect was seriously diminished by the sad fact that so many of the people of the country, not merely the working classes, but the literary and aristocratic classes, were strangely in the habit of being under the influence of drink. They, as local preachers, desired that this blot should be removed off our character. He trusted that the effort which was being made, and which had already been so successful, and which was rapidly growing in its influence in all the Christian Churches in the land, would go on to complete success. He was glad to think that in Scotland and Ireland intoxicating drinks were not permitted to be sold on the Sabbath, and that a Sunday Closing Bill for Wales would soon become law. (Applause.) He trusted that before long the sale of intoxicants on Sunday would be declared illegal in England. (Hear, hear.) If this could be done he felt sure that they would remove out of the way of spreading a know

ledge of the Gospel a very serious difficulty. In conclusion he instanced how the work of a section of that body of Christians known as the Salvation Army, in a village of the South of England, had caused drunkenness there to decrease.

Mr. Milsom spoke at some length against the practice of having alcoholic drinks at home, and said it seemed to him that their duty as religious persons was to support the temperance movement.

- was

Dr. Scatliffe (London), an honorary member of the association, said about a quarter of a century ago one could almost count on his fingers' ends the number of medical men there were in London who were total abstainers. Now things were somewhat different; he was treasurer of a medical temperance society, of which the celebrated Dr. Richardson (applause) president, and which comprised between 250 and 300 members. (Hear, hear.) It was a difficult thing for a medical man to be a total abstainer and try to make other people so, because in doing away with the use of drink he was simply doing away with all the people's illness. (Laughter.) He went on to speak of the disease caused by the use of alcoholic drinks, remarking particularly upon what is sometimes called "alcoholic consumption," which was found in the systems of prizefighters and publicans.

Mr. Amphlett next moved that a petition be signed by the chairman on behalf of that meeting, and forwarded to Mr. Mundella for presentation in the House of Commons, declaring a belief that the sale of intoxicating liquors on Sunday was a special source of intemperance, immorality, and crime, and asking the House to stop such sale. He also eloquently spoke of the evils arising from drunkenness, and of the benefits derivable from total abstinence.

Mr. Bennett (Downham) seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously.

Mr. Harding (Sydenham) addressed the meeting at considerable length, and towards the conclusion of an interesting and somewhat amusing speech, he referred to the service held

J. Rose, Temple Street, Aylesbury.
Thos. Turtle, 34, Bank Street, Sheffield.
John R. Cossons, East Dereham.

W. B. Carter, Houndsgate, Nottingham.
H. Wright, Frimley Villa, Edghill Road,
Plumstead, S.E.

G. Amphlett, Frithville Gardens, Shepherd's
Bush, W.

J. B. Ingle, 6, Morden Road, Blackheath, S.E. J. Wade, Lower Green, Mitcham, Surrey, S.E. J. Harding, Grosvenor Villa, Perry Hill, Catford Bridge, S.E.

[S.W.

G. Candler, 1, Chatham House, Brixton Hill. J. Cropper, 28, Green St., Theobalds Rd., W.C. J. R. Hill, St. Saviour's Gate, York.

W. Leach, Westleigh, Oldham.

J. Webster, 22, Collier Gate, York.
R. Daws, Unthanks Road, Norwich.

H. K. Atkinson, 89, Camberwell New Rd., S.E.
J. Neal, Broomspring Lane, Sheffield.
Captain Smith, Centenary Hall, E.C.
S. M. Johnson, Sheffield.

J. R. Redman, Keithley.

E. Benson, Pitstone, Tring.

Ald. Dowsing, Beverley Road, Hull.

M. L. Clapham, 13, Queen's Road, Bayswater. John Towne, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. A. Wardley, Child's Hill, Hendon.

A. Andrew, 11, Wellington Terrace, Reddish, Stockport.

henomena of the Months.

AUGUST.

THE sun rises on the 1st at twentyfive minutes after four, and sets at forty-six minutes after seven, On the 31st he rises at twelve minutes after five, and sets at forty-eight minutes after six. Thus the day shortens one hour and forty-eight minutes during the month.

Full moon on the 9th at seven minutes after nine in the evening. New moon on the 24th at forty-five minutes after eight in the evening. She is nearest to the earth on the 9th, and most distant from it on the 22nd. The moon is near Saturn during the evening hours of the 15th. She is near Jupiter during the evening hours of the 16th. Near Mars during the evening hours of the 17th. Near Venus during the morning hours of the 21st, and Mercury during the morning of the 24th.

MERCURY is a morning star, rising on the 4th one hour thirty-two minutes before sunrise. At the end of the month the planet and the sun rise nearly together.

VENUS is a morning star, rising on the 9th three hours thirty-seven minutes before sunrise, about the same time during the month.

MARS rises on the 1st at eighteen minutes after eleven p.m. On the 28th three hours twenty-six minutes after sunset.

JUPITER rises on the 8th thirtyeight minutes after ten p.m., and on the 28th two hours twenty-nine minutes after sunset.

SATURN rises on the 8th at nineteen minutes after ten p.m., and on the 28th two hours after sunset.

High water at London Bridge on the 1st at eighteen minutes after five in the morning, and thirty-five minutes after five in the afternoon. On the last day of the month at twenty-five minutes after five in the morning, and forty-two minutes after five in the afternoon.

THE COMET has made its appearance since we last penned our notice under this head. We have the following description of it from Pro

fessor Bois, of Dudley Observatory, Allebuy, America, who secured a number of valuable observations. He says that at two o'clock on Saturday morning, June 25th, 1881, its appearance both to the naked eye and in a telescope was magnificent. The head of the comet was very bright, and the tail thirty or forty degrees broad, extending nearly twenty degrees towards the North Star. The tail was very diffused and nebulous, spread out in fan-like form. Looking in the great telescope of thirteen inches' aperture, a multitude of details became revealed which are not visible to the naked eye. The head was there seen to consist of a condensed nucleus, apparently about as large as Jupiter seen in a telescope, but of far greater intensity of light. A spray of brilliant rays spread out from the nucleus on the side nearest the sun, then turning backward mingled with the elements which form the tail. This resembled the jet of a fountain very closely in its general features. The tail itself extended in a direction diametrically opposite the sun. The whole field of the telescope was filled with glowing nebulosity. I am inclined to think that this comet has not been seen before this year, in modern times at least. It is probably the same comet as seen in South America. It is now certain that this is not the longexpected comet of 1882. It is almost equally certain that it is not the comet of 1807. The period of the comet of 1807 is about 1,700 years."

This beautiful stranger appears to have come unexpectedly upon our astronomers, who make it their business to study God's heavens. It is no longer an object of dread as it was in days past to our fathers, but a welcome visitor, come to tell of Him whose wisdom is vast and power infinite.

Sir W. Herschell died on the 23rd, 1822. Faraday died on the 25th, 1867. Sir Rowland Hill, one of the greatest benefactors the world has known as the introducer of the Penny Post, died on the 27th, 1879.

DONCASTER BRANCH.

TAKING advantage of the Annual Meeting being held at Sheffield, we took steps to arrange for our anniversary at the same time, in order to secure a good deputation, and also, if possible, that the Association and its advantages might be brought more prominently before our brethren.

On Sunday, June 19th, Bro. J. Webster, of York, rendered us good service, morning and evening, in the Priory Place Chapel; Bro. G. Wain, of York, in the afternoon conducted the service in the Nether Hall Road Mission Room, with crowded congregation, and Bros. T. Hinchcliffe and D. Roberts at Askern, Bro. G. Mason, of Preston, at Bawley, Bro. G. Wain, at Bentley, and Bro. J. Cooper, of Hull, at Barnly Dan.

On Wednesday, the 22nd, we had a a public tea in the Priory Place Schoolroom, and afterwards a public meeting was held in the Chapel, presided over by J. Blyth, Esq., of Conisbro', supported by the Rev. J. I. Britten and J. Smith; Bros. Madder, Benson, Rose, Alderman Dowsing and others.

After singing and prayer, the Rev. J. I. Britten introduced the chairman (Mr. Blyth), who, in a few wellchosen remarks, spoke of the value of Lay Preaching, and wished the Local Preachers God-speed in their endeavours to proclaim the Gospel, and urged upon the necessity of providing for our brethren in old age.

The Secretary, Bro. F. J. Littlewood, read the Report, which stated that during the past year there had been an increase of three benefit and two honorary members. One brother was receiving sick pay; and during the year Bros. H. Smith and J. W. Brown had passed to their reward; the former for two years being the President of the Branch.

The Financial Statement as follows:

RECEIPTS.

£ s. d. 7 2 0 19 19 6 16 0 0

800

Bro. J. Rose in an eloquent speech advocated the claims of our brethren. Bro. Benson followed, giving an account of the rise and progress of the Association; and Bro. Madder (exPresident) gave an account of his journeying to and fro during his year of office, in order that the Association might be more extensively known. The Hymn of Christian Brotherhood was sung, and Bro. Alderman Dowsing spoke of the advantages of the Association. The Rev, J. Smith proposed, and Bro. J. Stringer seconded a vote of thanks to the chairman and deputation.

The result of the Anniversary is very encouraging, seeing that this Branch was only established in 1878. The amount of the collections on the Sunday and at the meeting was £19 8s. 10d.

F. J. LITTLEWOOD,
Local Secretary.

GENERAL COMMITTEE. MINUTES of Committee Meeting held at Bro. C. S. Madder's, Aylesbury, on Wednesday, July 13, 1881. Present: Bro. C, S. Madder in the chair. Bros. Amphlett, Clapham, Benson, Durley, Johnson, Rose, Sims and Wright.

The meeting was opened with singing Hymn 322 and prayer by Bro. Amphlett.

The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed.

Letters were read from the President, Bros. Milsom, Candler, Captain Smith and Dr. Aldom, expressive of regret for their enforced absence.

The monthly abstract was read, showing receipts from Branches: entrance fees, £16 14s. 3d.; fines, 6d; members' subscriptions, £110 128.; donations and legacies, £31 68.; free contributions, £60 9s. 3d. Total, £219 2s. Payments to Branches: expenses on remittances, 9s. 2d.;