the years of our Connexional labours passes away to the spirit-land. Let the events quicken our zeal, and make us eager to crowd as much energetic and useful labour as possible within the narrow space of life's remaining hours.

RECENT DEATHS.

DIED, April 13th, in Birmingham, Mrs. HODGKINSON, in the 67th year of her age. She had been a member of the Methodist New Connexion for more than fifty years. She was one of the excellent of the earth. Her end was peace. An extended memoir of this truly pious woman we would have written gladly; but the solemn promise which she, on her death-bed, exacted from her daughter, Mrs. Northwood. that no memoir of her should be written, prevents us from attempting this labour of love.

H. O. CROFTS. DIED at Warsop, Nottingham Circuit, April 30, William Halifax, aged 58 years. Deceased had long been an humble follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, and was universally respected by those who knew him. He shared largely those ills which befal the sons of toil; but the grace of God sweetened his bitter cup, so that he was enabled to say, "Father, thy will be done, not mine." Death for him had no sting, for that sting had been extracted by the blood of the Lamb, and in its place there beamed on his soul the assured hope of everlasting life. He has entered into rest, and is comforted.

attendance; nothing but affliction could prevent his attending them, and his hearty responses proved how much he enjoyed them. It was a regular habit with him to pray with his family three times each day; and, indeed, of late he seemed to have lived entirely in prayer" to rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything to give thanks." For some few years latterly he has been gradually and fast declining in his bodily vigour, until at length his feeble frame was overpowered by the pressure of years and growing infirmities; yet he could realize the fulness of the psalmist's assurance in a similar case, and often said with him— Although "my flesh and my heart fail, God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever." His death was rather sudden and unexpected, although in one respect his friends were prepared for it by the gradual decay of his nature. He had long been tottering upon the verge of the grave, and at length, without a pang, dropped into it. As was his usual custom, he had laid himself upon the bed after dinner to rest a little, and when he had been there a while his wife thought he appeared to be somewhat changed in his countenance, and asked if he wanted anything; to which he replied, "Only one thing I want more grace." She feared that death was fast approaching, and sent out for his son and other relatives, who, when they came, perceived that his end was near. He assured them that all was right, and that he was ready. His last words, frequently repeated, were, "Jesus is sweet, Jesus is sweet." Thus died our venerable brother, "like a shock of corn coming in his season," ripe, and ready, and "of a full age. Truro.

:

W. J.

DIED, at Hanging Heaton, Dewsbury Circuit, August 6, 1853, Lydia Stansfield, aged 74 years. Our late sister was one of our oldest members, having been connected with us for more than thirty years. She evinced great love for the means of grace, was distinguished by much simplicity and warmth of heart, and was universally respected by all that knew her. During her last illness she suffered much pain, but her faith in her Saviour was firm, and she prayed to be with him and be at rest. She passed in triumph through time to eternity.

J. N.

THE CHINESE INSURRECTION AND THE PROPOSITION TO SEND ONE MILLION COPIES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. -The extraordinary insurrection continues to spread through the celestial empire, and, from the weakness of the imperial forces, and the general disloyalty and alienation of the population, it seems likely that the insurrection will prevail to the overthrow of the existing dynasty. The Rev. Angell James has proposed that British Christians raise a special fund to supply, at this crisis, one million copies of the New Testament to be distributed among the Chinese. Noble project! And a noble response has already been made by Christian men. There is no doubt the object will be realized, and thus a movement commenced under obscure and fanatical views of divine truth, may, under Divine Providence, be rendered an occasion of bringing the millions of China to a knowledge of the true God and the Gospel plan of salvation.

RUSSIA AND TURKEY.-The terms proposed by the mediating powers not having been accepted by Turkey without some modification, and that modification having been rejected by Russia, general apprehensions of war are revived, and the difficulties of a pacific termination of negotiations are greatly increased by the warlike dispositions of vast hordes of predatory and ill-disciplined barbarians now blended with the Turkish population. Just as we are going to press, the Times intimates that probably the next mail may bring the intelligence that hostilities have commenced.

In

THE CHOLERA.-This dire disease has again visited our country. Newcastle-on-Tyne and Gateshead its ravages have been awful. Beginning with a single case, on the 31st of August, it has gradually increased, until, on the 15th of September, it reached near 100 fatal cases in Newcastle, and continued at about this ratio each day up to the 19th, when a total of near 600 deaths had transpired, besides upwards of 200 in Gateshead. Solitary cases have also occurred at Hexham, Shields, Edinburgh, and London. Where its virulence may next break out, how far it may extend, and how long it may prevail, none but the Governor of the Universe can tell. Meanwhile it behoves all to use every

proper means to avert the scourge, by habits of cleanliness and temperance, to live in constant readiness for a better world, and to improve the visitation by warning the careless and profane to flee from the wrath to come.

THE COMET.-Mr. J. R. Hind, of Mr. Bishop's Observatory Greenwich, writing to the Times on the 29th ult., on the subject of the comet at present visible, says "The distance of this body from the earth, at eight o'clock last evening, was 80,000,000 miles; and hence it results, that the actual diameter of the bright nucleus was 8,000 miles, or about equal to that of the earth, while the tail had a real length of 4,500,000 miles, and a breadth of 250,000, which is rather over the distance separating the moon from the earth. It is usual to assume that the intensity of a comet's light varies as the reciprocal of the products of the squares of the distances from the earth and sun, but the present one has undergone a far more rapid increase of brilliancy than would result from this hypothesis. The augmentation of light will go on till the 3rd of September, and it will be worth while to look for the comet in the daytime about that date: for this purpose an equatorially mounted telescope will be required, and I would suggest the addition of a light green or red glass, to take off the great glare of sunlight, the instrument being adjusted to focus on the planet Venus. This comet was discovered on the 10th of June by Mr. Klinkerfues, of the Observatory at Gottingen, but was not bright enough to be seen without a telescope until about August 13."

BOOKS RECEIVED, BUT TOO LATE FOR NOTICE IN THIS NUMBER.

THE LONDON QUARTERLY REview. No. I. London: Partridge and Oakey, Paternoster Row.

THE JUVENILE YEAR-BOOK, AND INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE MISCELLANY FOR THE YOUNG. London : Sunday-School Union.

THE LEATHER ALMANAC; or, Facts and Figures for Working Men. London: Partridge and Oakey.

THE DOOR IN THE HEART; or, Woman's Influence. London: Partridge and Oakey.

No. 107.

ΤΟ

CANADA.

[FROM THE REV. J. H. ROBINSON TO THE SECRETARY.]

London, July 12th, 1853.

Dear Brother,-Since Conference I have been very busy getting out the Minutes, and settling the diversified pecuniary and other matters always associated with the changes and arrangements of the moving of the preachers. I have sent you a copy of our minutes, from which you will see our condition; and I hope that you and the friends at home will feel satisfied that we are not labouring in vain, and that you are not giving your money for nought. We have great and trying difficulties to contend with; but on the whole, the work goes on, and the Lord is our shield and buckler. Our greatest difficulty is the want of suitable men for some of the stations; and every Conference we are much perplexed how to fill them up. Indeed, I do not see how we can much longer work some of them, unless we have an increase of suitable men.

My own labours are often beyond my strength, and must result in wearing down my constitution. Since Conference, I have visited the Owen Sound district, and I am now in London, supplying for Mr. McClure, while he is in Montreal, with a view to re-establish our cause in that city. I can scarcely hope that he will succeed; for I know not how we can give a permanent and suitable supply if the cause is re-established.

As a specimen of my work when from home, I will give you the following particulars:

On the morning of June 28th, I rose at four o'clock, to prepare for my journey. I took my horse and buggie to the wharf, and placed them on the steamer for Hamilton. We left Toronto at eight o'clock, and arrived in Hamilton at twelve.

The day was intensely hot, and I was obliged to wait in Hamilton two or three hours, till the heat abated a little, to enable me and the horse to bear it. At three o'clock, I started for Guelph, where I arrived the same evening. Rose at six on the 29th, and after partaking of breakfast, started for Arthur village, where I arrived at four in the afternoon. My principal object in visiting this district, was to secure land for chapel sites in Arthur, Durham, and Sydenham. We have laboured long on this line of road, and have three chapels built upon it; but none of them are in the villages on the line. I resolved that the first use I would make of your grant for chapels and parsonages, should be to purchase land in these three villages, while land is cheap; for in a few years it will be almost beyond our means. With this view, I remained in Arthur village, on the night of the 29th, and after hunting out a plan of the village, which I found at the postmaster's, I roamed through the woods to find a suitable lot. I was not long in accomplishing my object; after which, about nine o'clock, I retired to rest, to prepare for the journey of the next day.

On the morning of the 30th, I rose at four o'clock, and left Arthur before breakfast, on my way to Durham village. I stopped at brother Bunsen's, about five miles further than Arthur village, to breakfast; and having spent two hours of pleasant christian intercourse with this family, I set off for Durham. The roads were in a rougher condition than when I was in the neighbourhood last year. The farmers on the line had not performed the statute labour which the law obliges them to perform every year in repairing the roads, and the consequence was, they were as rough as the wear and tear of a whole year could make them. It matters not what kind of a horse a man has on these roads, he can only travel four miles per

hour. At a swifter pace than this, he would break any carriage he might have; unless indeed, it should happen to be a farmer's waggon; and in that case, should he travel at a greater speed, his waggon might hold out, but his own bones would not. Well, I crept on, as I best could, and arrived at Durham village about five o'clock in the afternoon. I may say of the country, from Arthur to Durham, that it is, as I described it last year, a very beautiful country; but as yet, its beauties, like the beauty of many a lovely child that I have seen, whose locks are seldom combed, are obscured by the forests which still conceal the attractions of its face. Progress, too, is visible every where. The miserable shanties are disappearing, and substantial log and frame houses are starting up in their stead. After ten years of hard struggling, the settlers are first beginning to have a dollar to spare; and by and by, this will be one of the finest, and certainly one of the healthiest parts of Upper Canada.

On arriving at Arthur village, I immediately waited on Mr. Jackson, the crown land agent, and acquainted him with the object of my journey. He shewed me every attention, and on the day after my arrival, spent the whole afternoon with me in looking for a chapel and parsonage site. The only part of the village yet settled, is the road leading through the middle of it. On this road every lot is taken up, and a new settler must go to a situation in rear of the front street. For chapel purposes this is no disadvantage whatever, as the front thoroughfares are more noisy than the streets in the rear. I selected two lots, of half an acre each; one for a chapel, and the other for a parsonage, for which I paid five pounds each. For the lot in Arthur, I paid four pounds, and it contains nearly an acre. I did not go on to Sydenham, for I had not time; but I bought a very eligible lot in this place, for which, however, I had to pay fifteen pounds. I have then, secured a lot in these three villages, for which I have paid about twenty-four pounds, English money, and we can build upon them when we have the means. We are independent of government grants in this case, and when the chapels and parsonages are built, there will not be a stone, or a plank, or an inch of land about them, but has been honestly paid for by the free will offerings of the Lord's people.

On Saturday morning, July 2nd, I left Durham village, to return home. I arrived at Mr. Bunsen's in the evening, at whose house I remained over the Sabbath, and preached twice in the chapel near his house. This chapel is now finished, and is a very substantial and comfortable building. We had, as last year, a blessed time together, and I left the brethren

much refreshed in spirit by my visit among them.

I left Mr. Bunsen's at five o'clock on Monday morning, and drove my horse fifty miles, on a dreadfully hot day. My intention was to drive through to Dundass, and so be near the steamer for Toronto next morning; but both horse and man were exhausted, and I had to stay at a tavern on the road side for the night, which place I left at three o'clock, to drive to Hamilton in time for the steamer at seven.

I left my horse in Hamilton-went down by the steamer-remained at home fortyeight hours, and then started with my oldest daughter for London. We arrived in Brantford on the evening of the day I left home, namely, July 7th; but here, the heat and exhaustion I had undergone during the last six days, brought on a serious attack of the disease prevalent in the country in the hot season-diarrhœa; and I was obliged to lie in bed all day on the 8th. On the 9th, sick and exhausted, I started for London; and as I had lost a day at Brantford, I had but one day for the rest of the journey, for I was expected in London on the Sabbath, and I tried to drive through, but my horse dropped down on the road with heat and fatigue; and we were obliged to dismount about eight miles from London; and after walking the horse in this way for about three miles, we came to a tavern about five miles from London, where we halted for the night. We arrived in London on Sabbath morning, but not in time for the morning service. I however feel recruited after a few days rest, and expect to remain here five or six weeks, till Mr. McClure is able to return. Such are the labours and incidents of this country, and of the work I have to do.

Affectionately yours,

J. H. ROBINSON.

YORKVILLE CIRCUIT:—
ITS PRESENT POSITION.

While God has been pouring out his holy Spirit on most of our Circuits this year in a glorious manner, we have had a a few drops of the blessed shower which has fallen on our Zion so copiously. Last December we commenced a protracted meeting at the third toll gate, which lasted nearly four weeks. The second week we had the valuable labours of the Rev. D. Savage. Evening after evening the word of the Lord was preached, and not in vain. Our people were revived, and blessed, and encouraged earnestly to contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints; backsliders in heart and life were reclaimed, and brought back rejoicing with joy unspeakable, and full of glory; and sinners were converted to God, and made happy in the Saviour's love, whose

path I hope will shine more and more unto the perfect day.

At the close of these exercises we had a social tea meeting-a happy one indeed. At that meeting it was proposed to build a chapel in which they might worship the God of their fathers, instead of a dilapidated school house, and that given by some with great reluctance. A subscription list was proposed and sent round, and that night £10 was subscribed;-a good beginning to our feast,-a delightful one, both physically and intellectually, and from which all retired to their homes to muse on the pleasures of the evening. As this place had been hitherto called third toll-gate, it was considered better to give it another name; so it was called Allinville, after one of our great and good men in England, the General Secretary to the Mission. Next morning I waited on Mr. Barnhart, a gentleman residing in our newly named village, who most generously and gratuitously gave us a site for the chapel, and a beautiful one it is. We have now between £20, and £40 subscribed towards its erection, and I have no doubt by the time the house is completed, it will be without a mill-stone about its neck, and deeded to the Connexion. I called on one man who is a person of wealth and influence, and presented my subscription list to him; after telling him the object for which we wanted money, he said that he would not subscribe, as he never intended to worship in it, for he was a member of the Church of England, and that he did not know any thing about the New Connexion Church. I then asked him if he would like to know our principles, and wherein we differed from other religious bodies. He told me he should; I then stated to him our glorious principles. I told him what they have done in England, Ireland, the United States, and Canada, and what they are still doing. While refering to the thousands who within the last few years have imbibed those principles, and by which the christian world is to be governed; our origin, progress, present position, and future glowing prospects, the man was so delighted that he could no longer forbear; he exclaimed, these principles I love, and shall teach them to my children, and all those by whom I am surrounded, and shall hold them, without wavering, until death. But actions speak louder and longer than words, and going to his till, he gave me a handsome subscription: but more than that, he also told me that if we should be short in our funds, and not able to complete it, to call on him again, and he would feel great pleasure in helping us.

THOMAS REID. Yorkville, March 29th, 1853.

THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE LATE CANADIAN CONFERENCE.

[FROM THE REV. J. C. WATTS TO THE
SECRETARY.]

Our Conference for 1853 was held in Toronto, the largest city in Canada West. Toronto has a commodious harbour, and is beautifully situated on the banks of the Lake Ontario, one of the loveliest, and unquestionably the most useful of the fresh water lakes of this gigantic Continent. This city is distinguished for its magnificent public buildings and literary institutions. In this respect it will favourably compare with any of the cities of Great Britain. It contains upwards of 37,000 inhabitants, having added 7000 to its population within the last two years. Benevolent organizations and Christian churches are very numerous, well sustained, and prosperous, in this city. Here we have a beautiful sanctuary, and a very good society, the majority of whom se ceded from the Wesleyan Methodist church about six years ago. Being dissatisfied with ecclesiastical despotism, and desiring a church government more consonant to Scripture model, and to the great principles of civil and religious liberty, these noble-minded, God-fearing men, made a decided protest, and subsequently identified themselves with our beloved community. At the Conference of 1852 they cordially and pressingly requested that its next session should be held in Toronto. To this laudable request the Conference cheerfully acceded.

On Wednesday, the 1st of June, the ministerial and lay representatives assembled in Temperance Street Church; and at half-past 10 o'clck, a.m., the President, our highly-esteemed brother, the Rev. J. H. Robinson, formally opened the assembly by singing and prayer. These devotional exercises being concluded, and the Conference organized, a new President and Secretary were balloted for; as the result of which the Rev. T. T. Howard was duly elected President, the Rev. Wm. M'Clure, Secretary, and the Rev. Henry Wilkinson, Recording Secretary.

The Conference lasted a week. At six o'clock every morning a prayer meeting was held. These were precious seasons of grace. The days were fully occupied in deliberation and discussion, which throughout was characterised by admirable temper, soundness of judgment, attachment to the Church, and supreme respect for the glory of God,-all proving that our community is in a healthy, thriving state. Each evening an appropriate discourse was delivered in the church by one of our own ministers. All who were thus engaged acquitted themselves as workmen that need not to be ashamed. Four candidates for the ministry were re