Harbinger, Dec. 1, '65.

1 That being immersed believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, acknowledging his authority in all things and the perfection of the faith and polity delivered by his Apostles, we now declare ourselves the church of Christ in this place, and avow our duty and intention to be, to do, and to suffer whatsoever Holy Scripture requires; and also that our standing and action as a church shall date from this time, &c.

2. That in accordance with the request made to David King by those of us who formerly assembled here, and approved by those who come from Charles Henry st., we now invite him to do the work of an

evangelist in connection with the church, and to take such provisional oversight as he may be able, with a view to setting in order the things that are wanting and the ordination of elders, so soon as it is manifest that the Lord has blessed us with qualified brethren.

On Lord's day, Nov. 5, the first services were held in the chapel. In the morning some seventy brethren attended to the Apostles' doctrine, the fellowship, the breaking of the bread, and the prayers. There were present W. Perkins, J. Prior, G. Sykes, from Manchester. In the afternoon J. B. Rotherham, of Bath, delivered a discourse from the words, "Beginning at Jerusalem." In the evening David King preached from the "Types of Christ in the Most Holy Place." R. Mumby, from Nottingham, assisted at Charles Henry-street in the morning, and in the afternoon and evening in the new chapel. On Monday afternoon about 170 partook of an excellent tea, after which a public meeting was addressed by W. Turner, J. B. Rotherham, R. Mumby, T. Johnson, G. Dowling, &c. The whole of the addresses were in harmony and directed to one point -an exhibition of the distinctive features of the church. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings the gospel was proclaimed by J. B. Rotherham and D. King. On the following Lord's day the attendance was good, and on Thursday evening, after a discourse from Rom. vi. D. King, having received the confession of seven persons who were moved to give themselves to the Lord, buried them by baptism into the death of Christ. Two others, formerly immersed, applied for membership, and several interesting inquirers were left for further converse. T. Wallis, of Nottingham, assisted at the baptismal service.

D. K.

BRIGHTON, NEAR MELBOUrne. Through the mercy of God our Heavenly Father, I and my little son have been brought in safety and health to our Australian home. Many kind brethren in England will be glad to hear this. My dear wife and children are well-God has been

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very good to all of us. His name be adored and praised!

A

Our voyage was a rapid one of 57 days. Captain Gray, the well known commander, deserves the celebrity he has obtained. He is the beau ideal of a British seamanfrank, courteous, self-denying, and prompt in obeying the call of duty. He was considerate and kind to all, and with much gratitude to him I bear my humble testimony to his excellence and worth. We had some rough weather, but one night in particular is deserving of notice. About a week before entering port, the fury of the storm burst upon us. The wind shrieked through the rigging, and the sea roared; men's hearts failed them for fear. tremendous wave struck the ship, the water poured in over the bulwarks. One of the saloon doors was destroyed, the saloon was flooded; and from thence the water descended to our part of the ship (the intermediate) Our gallant vessel seemed for a time at the mercy of the waves, and laid over rather alarmingly. Many thought that the last enemy had come on the wings of the tempest. Sighs and tears, and louder demonstrations of woe, burst from the affrighted women. I went upon deck and viewed the awfully majestic scene. The heavens were sparkling as in the days of David, when he spoke of their declaring the glory of God. On the left was the beautiful constellation of Orion, and on the right the Southern cross. I

lifted up my heart to God, and felt assured that he would do all things well, and thought of the passage, "Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's."

"O glorious hope of perfect love,
It lifts me up to things above-

It bears on eagles' wings." Our merciful Father preserved us in the hour of danger, and a meeting for thanksgiving and prayer was held and largely attended. During the voyage I had many facilities for speaking on behalf of the gospel. I obtained a good hearing from first to last, and received the thanks of many who professed to be benefited by the word spoken.

While the weather was warm and fine, religious meetings were held on the deck, where a large number could hear. The Church of England service was read in the forenoon of the Lord's day by one of the saloon passengers; in the evening I proclaimed the word of life. Great order and decorum prevailed. On Thursday evenings the truth was also set forth; about 300 usually assembled on deck. In the cold latitudes we met below, in the intermediate, where I spoke to the people twice on Lord's days, and once during the week. Crowded assemblies attended.

Harbinger, Dec. 1, '65.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CONFERENCE.

Sunday Schools for the impartation of religious instruction to the young are, after all, but an alternative, an auxiliary to the church, which the apathetic condition of society has forced upon her.

What our country needs most of all is not home missions, not reformatories, not Sunday schools; but a generation of Christian, praying mothers. Had we these the huge catalogue of moral delinquencies which blot the annals of our land wouldI will not say, become a thing of the past, but-be considerably reduced, and society relieved of much of that blasting process known as meting out the law to offenders; and though good, much good has been done by these institutions and movements, yet they do not meet the great want of the age. A generation of real Christian mo. thers would do far more towards raising the standard of morality among the children of to-day, who are to be the men and women of to-morrow, than all of them put together.

But, then, we have not these mothers, and the next best thing to be done is for the church to devise means whereby the children may receive that instruction which is indispensable to their answering the purpose of their being in this world, and essential to their welfare hereafter. So the brethren in Birmingham thought, and to this end a general invitation was given on the cover of the Harbinger to brethren who approve the object, to attend a conference upon this important question, and improve the occasion, either by personally giving their views upon, and experience in the matter; or if not able so to do, by sending short essays or suggestions upon the various phases of Sunday school opera tions. To this invitation the committee of the conference received several interesting and instructive papers from various brethren, some of which came from a distance, testifying to the interest felt in the movement. After having gone carefully through these communications, selecting such as were deemed, by their brevity and practical suggestive characteristics desirable to be read at the commencement of the first sitting of the conference, as a basis for the whole proceedings, the committe were enabled by their aid to draw out a programme which, while it would facilitate the discussion of Sunday school work in all its aspects and bearings, should at the same time regulate and economise the naturally limited time.

The first meeting was commenced on Lord's day, Nov. 20, at two o'clock in the afternoon, Bro. King presiding. Among those present we recognised our beloved Bro. and Sister T. Wallis, of Nottingham; Bro. and Sister Dawson, of Wolverhamp

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ton; Bro, Almond, of Wigan, and others. After the usual devotional exercises, the papers were read to the meeting, among which was a paper from Bro. Mumby, of Nottingham, and one from the brethren at Huddersfield. Some thirty minutes were thus occupied, after which the president delivered a brief address upon "Sunday School Evils," showing very clearly that in many instances, through the disunion of the Sunday school and the church-the former being considered a separate and independent institution-the improper though prevalent system of appointing its officers, much contention, turmoil, and frequent bickerings had been entailed upon the church by the disaffected, and an amount of painful anxiety and odium, calculated to weaken her influence for good in the world, and to reflect upon religion generally. These remarks, of course, applied to no par ticular section of the religious world, but to every section where the practice alluded to prevailed. The speaker strongly advocated the union of such institutions with the church-the church to be the head, the controlling authority that all appointments should come down, and not go upcome down from the church to the teacher, and not go up from the teacher to the superintendent, &c. which had resulted, in many instances, in a squabble and separation.

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The programme was then read, which embraced the following topics, each of which had a proportionate amount of time allotted for its discussion, varying according to their supposed interest and importance:-Qualifications of a Teacher-Age for Admission of Children into School Attendance of Children in Chapel-Financial Arrangements-Opening and Closing Services-Appointment of Officers-Juvenile Literature School Hours - Rewards and Punishments-Course of Instruction-Visitation of Scholars and Parents.

We may safely say the first meeting was a success, and the amount of interest evinced on this occasion was encouraging beyond our expectations; and though unanimity of opinion was not arrived at on every point, the spirit of love was preeminent.

Having dismissed that part of the programme allotted to the first sitting of the conference, the meeting adjourned until after the evening service, when we were cheered by the presence of our Bro. Paton, of Glasgow. The business was resumed with the same vigor, and in the same spirit, until the items of the programme apportioned for the second meeting had been disposed of. The conference then adjourned till Monday night, when the business was again resumed, and brought to a close by a petition to God to follow

VIRGINIA AND THE SOUTH.

Bro. Rice,-I take up my pen to speak of the cause in Virginia and the South. Of course the war has tried the piety of every man every where, and, therefore, far more where it mainly spent its force. In Virginia, in and near the battle fields and the camps and armies of the hostile forces, religion was mostly suspended, the inhabitants driven off, and meeting-houses used for hospitals and store-houses for army supplies. Especially was this the case on the Peninsula, between the York and the James Rivers. The churches in York, Warwick, and James City counties were entirely overrun and broken up. In years long since gone, I had baptized hundreds in those counties, and, therefore, I felt greatly for them when they were disbanded and scattered to the four winds of heaven.

In every portion of the land not overrun by armies we were all at work, holding up the standard of the cross, and urging the people to repent. We had more prayer meetings in all the land than ever before, and one good effect of the great pressure that was upon us was, to relax all partyism and lower the standards of denominationalism, and bring all lovers of Jesus nearer together. Bickerings ceased, and differ. ences were not dwelt upon and magnified as before, but the things in which we agreed were considered, and love expanded her wings and concealed a multitude of faults. The hard trials of the war called into use

all the graces of the Christian profession. In the midst of great calamities, during the ravages and devastations of war, could be seen the tears of trust, and with faltering utterance would be spoken out confidence in a gracious Providence. Never, perhaps, before were such earnest struggles of the soul in prayer, and often within hear. ing of the terrible roar of distant cannon.

The heralds of the cross were at work, calling sinners to repentance, and Chris tians to their duty. The operations of the State Meeting, or Missionary Society, were greater than ever. Richmond being shut in by the forces that environed it, the board was thrown upon the trial of an expedient which proved a great success. No meeting of delegates from churches could take place, and our paper having gone down, no notice could be given of a meeting at any other point, the board sent out an agent to visit

Harbinger, Dec. 1, '65.

the churches and collect funds as he went, which at once was eminently successful. Very soon it was found that more money could be raised in this way than could be on any other plan. This plan was fallen upon, without preconcert, about the same time both in Virginia and Kentucky. The Treasuries of both States evince the wisdom and the practicability of the plan.

The churches in Virginia were very liberal, as you may see, when I tell you that they raised from 300 dols. to 1200 dols. a year for missionary purposes, besides their other expenses. Last winter the Rappahannock church in Essex Co., raised 1200 dols. for the board, and Smyrna, in King and Queen Co., raised 2400 dols. Of course, these sums were in Confederate money. We are glad to see the old prejudice between the Baptists and our people in Virginia breaking down. Most kindly were our preachers invited to fill the pulpits of the Baptist churches in Richmond, at the State Meeting in 1863. Dr. Hopson was allotted to Dr. Sealey's pulpit; Bro. Cutler to Dr. Burrows', of the First Baptist church; myself to Dr. Jeter's, of the Grace-street church; and Bro. Henley and Bro. Walthal to the African church. Many inquiries were made among the Baptists, preachers and members, in reference to the union of the two bodies.

JAMES HENSHALL. Mayslick, Ky., Oct. 3, 1865.

HENRY DAWES, Bulwell, on the 30th October, 1865, aged 41 years. He was immersed in 1842, and for some years filled the office of deacon and secretary, and has also been an ardent laborer in the Lord's-day school. For a long time he had a slight cough, and a severe cold, taken last winter while conveying the message of mercy to sinners, terminated in concumptiou. His life was one of faith upon the Son of God, and his kind disposition endeared him to all.

PHEBE WALKER, wife of Arch. Duncan, Linlithgow, aged 48 years. She was one of the few who first formed the church in Grangemouth. She sat at the feet of Jesus and learned of him meekness and humility. She died as she lived, abounding in hope.