with the debasing and scul-destroying practices of paganism, which was once the only religion known in this now far-famed island. He next contrasted the circumstances in which we were found with those of our forefathers, who lived when popery was the established religion of this country, and when the people were treated as children, not being allowed to act or speak on religious matters only as they were permitted by an evil and corrupt priesthood. He spoke on the progress of civil and religious liberty, and stated that the time was not far distant when the law, which compels men to pay for the support of a system of which they disapprove, will be abrogated, and when all sects of religionists will have to stand or fall by their own merits.

The Rev. J. Bate having been introduced to the meeting, said that diversity was a prominent feature in every part of creation. We saw variety both in the heavens and on the earth. Men varied in intellect and circumstances. We saw the same feature in the church as we beheld in nature. All good people were not rich, but those who had wealth should employ it in support of the cause of Christ, and in the moral renovation of the world. It was his conviction that whatever men gave to the cause of God, they would be repaid. This statement he illustrated by several anecdotes.

After votes of thanks to the ladies and the chairman, the doxology was sung, and thus terminated a very interesting and profitable meeting. The proceeds amounted to £12.

DAWLEY GREEN.

On the 24th December last, a social tea meeting was held in Hollins Wood Chapel, for the benefit of the Sabbathschool connected with that place, when the chapel was densely crowded. The Rev. C. Mann presided, and the meeting was addressed by Messrs. Rickers, Babbs, Tart, and Evans, Wesleyan Reformers. The choir sang several suitable anthems, and a little after nine o'clock, the friends separated greatly delighted.

On the 11th February, a circuit tea meeting was held in Brandlee Chapel, Dawley Green, and though the day was very wet and dull, two hundred and fifty persons sat down

to tea. The special objects of the meeting were, not merely to improve the financial position of the circuit, but by calling together the members and friends of the different societies, to strengthen the bonds of union already existing, to give an impetus to the special services to be held during the week at Dawley Green, and to assist in promoting a revival in the whole circuit and neighbourhood. The minister of the circuit presided, and the brethren J. Nock, W. Powis, T. Evans, W. Heaford, J. Morgan, T. Rickers, and J. Barker, addressed the meeting, chiefly on the revival of the work of God, and urged the importance of carrying out a plan just put in circulation, requiring each member to seek the conversion of at least one soul during the quarter. Mr. R. Lewis ably presided at the organ, and added much to the interest of the meeting. At the January quarterly meeting, it was found there were twenty-five on trial, persons brought in during the preceding quarter, and since then several more have been added at Dawley Green, and at one or two other parts of the circuit. Although in some of the societies great deadness still prevails, and a few declensions have taken place, the circuit on the whole presented a decided and gratifying improvement. Arrangements were made for the holding of revival services at all the chapels during the quarter. May the Lord pour out his Spirit, and save many souls.

C. M.

STOCKPORT CIRCUIT.

MR. EDITOR, -Though you have heard nothing from this circuit lately, it must neither be supposed that we are doing nothing, or that we have no gratifying intelligence to communicate. Taking this circuit as a whole, we have great cause for thankfulness. We have profound peace, accompanied by the most encouraging tokens of prosperity. Our hope is chiefly with the young, and with this conviction special attention has been directed to Sabbath-schools. At Mount Tabor we have great improvement. Mr. Alderman Chapman has thrown his energies into this school, and E. Hallum, Esq., has just followed his noble example. The effect of this is evident to all. The

our

number of scholars has greatly increased, and several of them have already united with the church, and promise well for future usefulness. Our congregations at Mount Tabor, on a Sabbath evening, are delightful; and it is not uncommon to see the tear of contrition and to hear the groans of penitents crying aloud for mercy. Our covenant service on the first Sabbath of the year will be long remembered; and all our sacramental services are seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.

Heaton Lane was in a very low state, but that has been much revived of late. Mr. Baggaly commenced a class there about six months ago, which is now doing well. Mr. Wild has given himself to this school, and the influence of his example tells well upon the place.

Portwood.-Though the congregations have been in a low state, they are now improved, and the school, under the vigorous care of our devoted friend, Mr. Evans, and his worthy coadjutors, is one of the best and most flourishing institutions in the neighbourhood.

About six weeks ago Mr. Chapman invited all the leaders and local preachers at Stockport to tea at his house. Most of them were present, and a long evening was devoted to the formation of plans for future usefulness. Special attention was devoted to Portwood. There, though the school is so prosperous, the congregations are small. Amongst other things, it was resolved to hold a gratuitous teameeting, and to invite the parents of all the children in the school, with the members and seatholders, to be present. The invitation was pretty generally accepted, and on Wednesday evening, January 30th, our spacious school-room in Cross-street

was

crowded to excess. After the guests had been regaled with everything they could desire at the tea-table, they sat down in a most orderly manner to receive instruction andi improvement for the mind; the originator of the meeting, Mr. Alderman Chapman, in the chair. He spoke briefly, but to the point. The Rev. W. Baggaly addressed the meeting at length, pointing out the advantages of a life of piety, and urging his hearers to attend the house of God. His address-illustrated and enforced by facts drawn from personal observation-told well upon the au

dience. Messrs. Good, Johnson, Lester, Evans, Hallum, Tyas, Maynes, and Barrow, took part also in the meeting, which did not separate until after ten o'clock.

But when arranging for this great meeting, Mr. Baggaly suggested that it would be well to connect with it a series of revival services. The proposition was adopted, and many will have cause to be grateful for it throughout eternity. Nothing remarkable occurred on the Sabbath; but on Monday evening, during the service conducted by Messrs. Good and Barber, one soul found peace with God. On Tuesday evening, Messrs. W. Baggaly and J. Lester conducted the service. A powerful influence rested on all present, and nine were brought to rejoice in the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins. This was a good preparation for the tea meeting, and produced a blessed effect upon it. Thursday, Messrs. Johnson

and Maynes conducted the service, when about eight more took the kingdom of heaven by storm.

Most of our classes have been revived and improved. Some very remarkable cases of conversion have taken place, and a general expectation prevails that we shall see still greater things than these.

It may not be improper to remark that, about seven months ago, Mr. Baggaly, meeting with a number of rough youths who evidently required instruction, generously offered to teach them writing and arithmetic, with suitable religious instruction, if they would meet him on Saturday evening. They came, and the number has ranged from about ten to eighteen. Seven of these now meet in his class, and at our last Sacrament about eight were found with the followers of the Lamb around his holy table.

Much praise is due to several of our leading friends, who have appeared to vie with each other of late in encouraging both the young in our schools and the various members of our societies. In due time they will have their reward.

Another meeting is in contemplation for Wednesday next, of which you will, no doubt, hear in time, for your April number. May a gracious rain descend and water all the churches in our beloved community. M. Y. Stockport, Feb. 16, 1856.

OPENING OF A NEW CHAPEL, RADCLIFFE, BOLTON CIRCUIT.

MY DEAR SIR, -Our beautiful new chapel was opened on January 13th. The first sermon was preached in the morning by our much respected superintendent, the Rev. S. Smith, in the afternoon by the Rev. T. Allin, and in the evening by the Rev. J. Mills.

On Sunday, the 20th, the Rev. T. W. Ridley preached in the afternoon, and the Rev. J. Stacey, of Halifax, in the evening; the congregations were very good. On Monday the 21st, a tea meeting concluded the opening services, when from 160 to 200 sat down. The writer was called to the chair. After tea, powerful and effective addresses were delivered by the Rev. S. Smith, A. Lynn, T. W. Ridley, F. Thompson; also by Messrs. W. Jenkinson, J. Cunliffe, S. Marsden, J. Harston, J. Stanley, and T. Bullock. Mr. S. Holt was excused on account of bodily indisposition. The The speeches were intermixed with good lively singing. Altogether the speeches, the praying, and the singing, produced upon the minds of the people a very good influence, and a good impression on the neighbourhood.

The chapel is built in a very good situation, fronting the best public road in the town; it stands about six yards from the road, and is bounded by a neat iron palisading. The size of the chapel is 42 feet by 36, with a small vestry behind. The front is built in the Grecian style of architecture; the centre contains a bold projection, in which is a moulded circular-headed entrance of finely polished stone, with pillasters, caps, and archivolt. On each side of the door, to light the vestibule, are two small circular-headed windows, of moulded and polished stone. Above the doorway are two circular windows, springing from one pedestal in the centre, and on each side of the projection is one large window. At each angle of the building is a pilaster surmounted with a bold moulded capital, and on the top of that, which runs the whole length of the front, is the entablature, formed in projecting cornices of bricks, the whole finished with a moulded stone cornice. In the centre above the front projection is a pediment, on which is cut in large letters "Methodist New Connexion, 1855."

I hope the above inscription will be put on the front of all our chapels.

The interior of the chapel is finished very plain, and the plaster on the walls neatly corniced. The ceiling contains an enriched centre piece, from which hangs a good bold chandelier with ten gas lights, capable of giving light to the entire place. Down the centre of the chapel are two rows of pews, which seat eighty persons, nearly all of which are let; the pews are all stained and varnished. Down each side are forms which will seat about 200 more, so that the chapel when filled will hold nearly 300 persons.

The cost of the building, including all extra and legal expenses, will be about £400, towards which the following sums have been realized. Subscriptions towards Radcliffe Chapel:John Whittaker, Esq., £30; Mr. George Whittaker, £20; Mr. John Whittaker, £10; John Buckley, Esq., £5; Joseph Love, Esq., £5; T. Jackson, Esq., £5; W. Jenkinson, Esq., £5; W. Pickstone, Esq., £5; John Healey, Esq., £5; Mr. A Pilling, £5; Mr. John Openshaw, £5; Mr. Jeremiah Marsden, £5; Mr. P. Heeley, £5; Mr. W. Allen, £3 3s.; Mr. H. Devenport, £2; Mr. J. Burton, £2; Rev. T. Allin, £1; Mr. S. Holt, £1; Mr. G. Chapman, £1; Mr. W. Darbyshire, £21s.; A Friend, £1; Mr.W.Warbrick, £1; Mr. J. Waterhouse, £1; Mr. H. W. Waterhouse, £1; Mr. A. H. Lawton, £1; Mr. J. Tipping, £1; Mr. Hampson, £1; Mr. J. Smith, £1; Mr. T. Entwistle, £1; Mr. R. Brooks, £1; Mr. P. Scholes, £1; Mr. J. Dean, £1; Mr. S. Diggle, £1; Mr. Haywood, £1; Mr. Booth, £1; small sums by Rev. S. Smith, £5 3s. By Mrs. John Whittaker -Miss Shallard, £1; Miss Wood, £1; Miss G. Wood, 1; Mr. T. Liddle, £1 1s.; Mr. J. Smith, £1; small sums, £3 12s. 6d. By Mr. T. Devenport R. Philips, Esq., £1; A Friend, £1; Mr. T. Devenport, £1; Mr. D. Smith, £1; Mr. W. Colley, £1; Mr. P. Sharps, £1; Mr. J. Stanley, £1; small sums, £2 12s. Collections, £19 28. 8d.; proceeds of tea party, £5 5s.[0d.; children's cards, £4 0s. 94d.; by Mr. G. Whittaker, 10s.-Total, £188 11s.

The trustees tender their thanks to the kind friends who have given of their substance for so worthy an object, and would very thankfully receive an offering from any other friend who might feel disposed to aid them. Too

much praise cannot be given to the Rev. S. Smith for the deep interest he has taken in the concern from the first. It is in a great measure owing to his deep anxiety for the cause that we have a chapel; he has always been ready at every turn to aid in the work, and to obtain the means necessary for its erection.

We have two excellent friends whom providence has directed into that locality, Messrs. John and George Whittaker, who have given their money and their efforts in furtherance of the cause. Their two excellent wives were brought in amongst us in another part of the Connexion, and now they have got a temple of their own, they are like the Jews when they left Babylon, and said, "When the Lord turned again our captivity, we were like them that dream." May the Lord long spare them, and bless them, and may their children rise up to carry on the good work. We have several other valuable friends, who have been brought in amongst us since we commenced at Radcliffe, Messrs. Davenport, Booth, Smith, and others; also a number of young people, who appear to be of the right stamp-good, lively, zealous, active Methodists. These are the sort we want in all our churches. May God increase the number. The friends are much obliged to Mr. Jenkinson, of Manchester, for the active part he has taken in the cause, and for the cheerful manner in which he has done it.

It

It is only about eighteen months since myself along with Mr. Smith and Mr. Whittaker were appointed by the Bolton quarterly meeting to look out for a room, in which to commence a Sabbath-school and worship God. After a great deal of trouble, we met with an old cottage which appeared to be the likeliest place for our use. was occupied by a collier, but the great difficulty was to get possession, for he had been in only two days. We went to the house, and the man had just returned from his work. He stood by the fire just as he had come from the pit. After looking at the man, and he astonishingly gazing at for a moment, we said, "We are come to try to take the house, for the purpose of a Sunday-school and preaching place, and if you will move out and

us

give up the key, you shall have a Sovereign by applying to Mr. Whittaker." "In the morning," he says,

66

you shall have it." On the following day, he goes up to Mr. Whittaker as arranged, and takes a key, and thus obtained his money; but it was discovered that he had borrowed a key from a neighbour, in order to obtain the sovereign, and still remain in the house. However, at length, he left the house, and we opened it for worship, and many precious souls in the old dilapidated cottage were brought to God. The Sunday after the opening services at the New Chapel, the teachers and scholars formed a procession from the old to the new place, singing the praises of God and praying that God would bless them. They have now upwards of one hundred scholars, and nearly every Sunday sinners are crying for mercy. On a. Sunday evening, the chapel is nearly filled with attentive hearers of the word. A. PILLING.

[Most heartily do we congratulate our excellent friends at Bolton, and their faithful and laborious minister, on their success in the erection of this place of worship, and the encouraging spiritual results already realized. This is just the way to extend the cause, and promote the important objects of the mission. No standing still; no being content with snug rectories, and nice comfortable berths, with a sure income and little to do. Progress must be our motto. Every three years one church ought to become the mother of another, and thus be a centre from which light and salvation should continually radiate to all around.ED.]

GOOD NEWS FOR BOSTON.

MY DEAR BROTHER, -I am happy to inform you, that Mr. John Burges, one of our trustees, has very generously presented the trustees of Zion chapel with his share of £50, held in the trust estate. A few more such gifts would prove a great boon to the trustees. What is still better than gold or silver, precious souls are being converted to God: we had ten penitent seekers of salvation last night (February 17), most of whom found peace with God. To God be all the praise. W. PACEY.

Memoir of Amelia Opie. By Cecilia Lucy Brightwell. 12mo, pp. 244. London: Religious Tract Society. MRS. OPIE was the daughter of Mr. Alderson, a physician of some note in Norwich. At an early period she evinced superior parts, and rapidly rose into distinction as an author. Her talents and natural vivacity introduced her to gay society, and for a number of years she shone as a brilliant star in the circles of the great, the literati, and pleasure-loving coteries of the day.

Happily for her, she was brought into contact with the Gurney family at Norwich, whose influence brought her mind into contact with sacred truth, and she was gradually led to renounce both Unitarian principles and worldly pleasures, and give her heart to God. The power of association fixed her choice with the "Friends," and henceforth her life of gaiety was exchanged for one of sobriety, humility, prayer, and benevolent labour for the poor and the outcasts of society. Naturally, a woman of great sensibility and tenderness, these qualities shone with a celestial beauty when directed and ennobled by sanctifying grace. Her devoted love to her afflicted father, and her sympathy for the downtrodden and miserable, were remarkable, and every part of her conduct as a professor of religion evinced the divine reality of the change she had experienced. She had the happiness to see her aged father an humble suppliant for mercy, and a penitent believer in that Saviour whose divinity he had been taught to deny. Her holy life had a calm and happy close, and she was interred by the side of her beloved father, in the burying-ground of the Friends' meeting-house at Norwich.

The biography is well written, and its facts have more than a common interest, evincing the vanity of the

world, and the satisfying and ennobling power of religion. Annals of Christian Martyrdom. By the Author of "The Lives of

the Popes," "Ancient Martyrs." 18mo, pp. 384. London: Religious Tract Society. CHRISTIANITY has passed through a thousand fires, and each ordeal has found it and left it genuine imperishable gold. The history of Christian martyrdom exemplifies two important facts, which proclaim the divine origin of our religionits opposition to the spirit of the world, and its power to sustain the mind under the greatest sacrifices and the most excruciating torments. In an age when religious privileges are undervalued, it is well to remind an ungrateful generation of the price by which their despised immunities were purchased for them; and at a period when the spirit of languor, ease, fleshly indulgence, and worldly pleasure have so powerful an ascendancy, it is well to show men the self-renunciation, the spiritual heroism, the energy, decision, and earnestness of bygone ages; and at a time when an effeminate and trimming race are ready to barter their most precious blessings for some tattered rag of superstition, or some glittering toy of worldly advantage, it is well to rebuke them by the example of those noble

minded worthies who joyfully laid down their lives to secure purity of conscience, and the priceless treasure of saving truth. The work before us, though brief, comprises the leading events connected with the several periods of persecution; and while the style is suitable, the spirit is benevolent and evangelical. It is a manual well adapted for general circulation, especially among those whose means and opportunities preclude their access to larger works on the same subject.