ately for the gratifying information it contains.

I will cause it to appear in the Intellectual Repository, and our friends will rejoice to learn that the New Church is spreading in Switzerland.

Mr. Baumann, I think, I have once met in St. Gall. I rejoice that he and others are beginning to preach those blessed truths which have descended from heaven to make men heavenly and the world happy.

Go on, dear brethren, and be assured your English fellow-members of the New Jerusalem Church will pray for your success, and hail with joy every step of progress you may make. The copies of the newspaper containing the further account of your history and meetings have not yet arrived, but we shall receive them with interest and pleasure.-Your brother and fellow-labourer in the New Church.

:

J. BAYLEY.

ALLOA. We noticed in our last the opening of the church at this place. The following particulars are from the report in the Alloa Advertiser. -The building is in the Gothic style of architecture and in the east end, or front of the building, is the main entrance, consisting of a portico arched doorway, above which is a thin light pointed arched window, and a light pointed arched window on each side. On the apex is a large finial, with two smaller ones on each side. In the west is a large pointed arched window with three lights, and the apex as on the front, while in each of the sides are two pointed arched windows. The ridges of roof are furnished with a Gothic cresting. At the west end is placed the vestry, with other places of convenience. On stepping inside, the visitor is impressed by a feeling of neatness and order of arrangement. The entrance is a porch or vestibule, with two doors covered with crimson cloth, and diverging to the right and left hand, leading to a passage running up each side of the church. The ceiling is divided into four panels at each side, based with a large ornamental moulding, running the entire length of the building, and a smaller one forms the boundary top of panels, while the centre of the ceiling forms one complete panel. In the centre of this is a very fine ornamental ventilator, from which is hung a pendant

containing twelve lights, admirably adapted for the purpose to which it is applied. In the west of the church, and stretched across the entire width, is the platform, with the pulpit in the centre, octagon in form, and projecting sufficiently to break the line and render the appearance agreeable. From each side of the pulpit is extended a rail, with spiral balustrade, terminating in pillars and finials.

The organ, a fine-looking and beautiful toned instrument, the gift of Thomas Downes, Esq., Glasgow, stands on the west side of the platform, while the vestry door, also covered with crimson cloth, is placed on the east side of the platform. The whole of the woodwork has been stained and varnished, and the pulpit and outside door have been painted imitation oak. The church is capable of seating two hundred persons. It stands 12 feet back from the street, on the line of which is a boundary wall and an iron railing of Gothic design. The cost, we understand, will be about £600.

On the Sabbath the services were conducted in the morning by the Rev. Mr. Potts, B.A., of Glasgow, who selected as his text the last three verses of the thirty-third chapter of Exodus, but dwelling chiefly on these words: "And it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in the cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by." The preacher impressed upon his hearers that the cleft of the rock represented our duty and our uses, and when conscientiously doing these we are safe. At the close of this service the Lord's Supper was administered-Mr. Potts and Mr. Barlow officiating.

In the afternoon the Rev. Mr. Barlow, B.A., Edinburgh, preached, choosing as his text the sixty-third verse of the sixth chapter of John: "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." The Bible, he said, was the book of God, and like His book of nature, is inexhaustible in its blessings, adapted to every state, and always presenting some new and higher light to the Christian in his progress in the regenerate life. The speaker answered many objections which had been issued to the world by men of science and others against the Bible, and concluded a most learned and excel

entrance into the body of the hall as well as they could. I never saw anything much worse about a low theatre. From great numbers among such an audience it would be vain to expect any appreciation of the doctrines of the New Church; nor does it appear that the large and better class audiences which Dr. Bayley attracted were so impressed as to yield a fair number of recruits to the cause of our Church. In fact, Leicester may be said to have been hitherto impregnable, and my experience here gives weight to the declaration made to me by one who knows the people well, that they are (with the usual exceptions) very deficient in knowledge of the very first principles of spiritual truth, and that a minister here must consider himself in partibus infidelium, and teach them the A B C of our great system of faith if he is to do any good.

Following this hint, I have devoted the Sunday evenings to doctrinal lectures, and am happy to say that though the audiences have not been large, they have increased considerably, and have been intelligent and appreciative. I never had profounder attention.

Last Sunday evening (Feb. 11) I spoke on the great subject of the Resurrection, and was pleased at the end of the service to be grasped very warmly by the hand of a stranger whom I had not seen before, and who said, "God bless you, sir; I hope we shall have many more happy meetings.' I reciprocated his kind expressions, not without thinking that some sad experience of his own might have lent weight to my words. He was followed by another gentleman, with a book in his hands, who drew my attention to the original Greek of one of the passages which I had quoted. I thanked him for doing so, and begged him to set me a-thinking any time about any point of doctrinal or literal expression upon which he would like my opinion, The quota tion he made was not adverse to my argument. He had attended before, and evidently made notes. His conversation was affirmative and liberal, and I hope to see him again. I am told that he is a preacher, but am not informed to what denomination he belongs.

As to the prospect of starting a per

manent society, it is yet too soon to give a positive opinion. Our own people were disunited when I came, but seem well disposed to work together now. Much, however, depends upon the health of our chief supporter, Mr. Thomson, of the Leicester Chronicle, and upon the continued life of another liberal hand, now very nearly ninety-one years old. We must, however, do our part as well as we can, and leave the Lord's cause in His own hands. He will provide.-Yours truly, J. W. HANCOCK.

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LONDON (Buttesland Street). — The Hackney Gazette gives a lengthened report of a sermon by Mr. Dicks, on the text, "What think ye of Christ? " "Three very different answers," said the preacher, are given by the Christian Church to this question. The first, given by the so-called orthodox section, is that the Lord Jesus Christ is God, the second person in the trinity of persons composing one Supreme Deity. The second, is that given by Dr. Priestley, and others like-minded with him, that Jesus Christ was not God, but a mere man,' a good useful man, but still only a man. The third is that given by the New Church, which is that there is One God, and that the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is that God.' This is the foundation-stone of our faith, the rock on which we build; all our prayers and praises are offered to Him alone as the only wise God, our Saviour.'

There is no doctrine more clearly set forth in the Divine Word than that conveyed in the declaration: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.' Side by side with this affirmation of absolute oneness we have this one God declared to be the only Saviour and Redeemer of mankind: I, even I, am Jehovah, and beside me there is no Saviour.' 'I, Jehovah, am thy Saviour and Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob.' It is generally conceded, and in the Word plainly stated, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer and Saviour of mankind: "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.' The only conclusion at which we can arrive from the consideration of these and other passages to the same effect, is that the Jehovah of the Old and the Jesus of the New Testaments are the same.

After further evidences of the truth,

the preacher proceeded to answer objections, and thus concluded his discourse: "It is worthy of note that all who reject the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ also reject the divinity of His Word. "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,' is the angelic announcement in the Apocalypse. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself' is the record of the Lord's words on the journey to Emmaus; but if we seek for the name of Jesus through the whole of the Old Testament, it is nowhere to be found. Are we then blindly to set Scripture against Scripture, and thus divide the house against itself? Nay, rather let us believe that Jesus was Jehovah manifested in the flesh and, our hearts filled with love to Him for His great goodness towards us, we shall with Zacharias joyfully exclaim, 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people."" We have received the following letter from Mr. Dicks, to which we ask the attention of our readers. Mr. Dicks' address is 129 Queen's Road, Dalston,

E.:

"Will you kindly allow me a small portion of your valuable space to call attention to the advertisement of the Buttesland Street Society appearing in this month's issue.

"The Easter Tree we propose to be a kind of bazaar on a small scale, the proceedings to be enlivened by a musical and elocutionary entertainment, with a plentiful admixture of the social element. "We do not ask for much, but every friend can help us a little. Any articles will be thankfully received by either of the gentlemen named, and it would help us very much if they were in our possession not later than the 27th of March.

"Our object is to obtain sufficient funds to enable us to take either a house or piece of land in the neighbourhood of Dalston or Hackney, where many of our friends reside. As a Society, we have done all we can towards this matter, in addition to supporting our present place, which of itself is a heavy drain upon our slender purse.

"There are several halls in the neighbourhood specified, but as they are all let for dancing on the Saturday evening, a justifiable feeling of repugnance is felt towards taking them.

"This is our position, and we ask our friends who can and will to help our eforts in the good cause. Those who cannot send presents can send money, which will be thankfully received by the gentleman named in the advertisement or by myself."

LONDON (Camberwell).-The annual business meeting of this Society took place on Friday evening last. Tea was served in the schoolroom, and the chair taken at 7 P. M. by Mr. E. Austin, the highly-esteemed minister of the church, the room being then well filled by members of the Society and of the congregation. A hymn having been sung, and the Lord's Prayer repeated, the minutes of the annual and of the last quarterly meetings were read and confirmed. The names of five candidates for membership were announced, and they were duly elected. The report of the committee and the treasurer's balance-sheet, which were then read, chronicled, on the whole, a very satisfactory and progressive condition of the Society's affairs. Notwithstanding removals, by death and other causes, of many friends, both the roll of membership and the list of seat-holders showed a considerable increase. The committee had endeavoured to purchase the freehold of the building, but the ground landlord refused to sell it. A sum of £20 had been expended during the year upon internal repairs to the building, and various other unusual expenses incurred, but there was still a balance of £8 in the treasurer's hands. prosperous, indeed, were the Society's financial prospects deemed to be, that a proposition to increase the minister's stipend by £20 per annum was carried unanimously, with an accompaniment of hearty and well-deserved applause.

So

Mr. Austin, in acknowledging this expression of the good feeling of his congregation towards him, gave utterance to his hopes that for many years he might be spared to occupy his present position.

Reports were then received concerning the operations for the year of the Junior Members' section, the Sunday-school, the Free Library, and the Theological Discussion Meetings, all of which were fairly satisfactory. Specially noteworthy among them was that of the Sundayschool, whose superintendent, Mr. Lewin, was able to report the addition of

twenty-six scholars during the year; also, among other matters, the successful carrying out of a Children's Service of Sacred Song, a Summer Excursion, and the Scholars' Annual Treat. The Bible Class for senior scholars, and the Monthly Social Tea Meetings, conducted by the Sunday-school teachers, had each prospered in a most gratifying degree.

The committee for the forthcoming year were next balloted for, and the election of the three representatives to the London Association of the New Church, and of auditors, then took place. Votes of thanks were passed to the gentlemen who officiate as readers at the Sunday services, to the members of the choir, and to the ladies who arrange the tea meetings.

A resolution, empowering the new Committee to procure comprehensive plans and estimates for giving increased accommodation both in the church and the schoolroom was then brought forward, and provoked considerable discussion. It was, at the suggestion of the chairman, so far modified as simply to express an instruction to the new committee "to take the question of enlarging the church and schoolroom into its careful consideration," in which form it was passed unanimously.

LONDON (Palace Gardens Church).— We have received an interesting letter from the minister of this church, which our space this month compels us to withhold. The conclusion, however, is of immediate interest, and is, therefore, here inserted: "In the early part of January Mr. G. S. Allbutt, B.A., of Cambridge, read for Dr. Bayley, morning and evening, and all were pleased with his devout and excellent rendering of the services. This gentleman had assisted in preparing for the courses of lectures at Cambridge given by Dr. Bayley and Mr. Gunton during the last few years. He was a student intended for the Church of England; but as his convictions gradually deepened, he felt a conscientious difficulty in proceeding in that course, and has at length determined to cast his lot with the New Church ministry. He is an amiable, earnest, spiritually-minded Christian gentleman, and prepared for what we hope, with opportunity and experience, will be a truly useful ministerial career. Mr.

LOWESTOFT.-A very successful entertainment was given on January 24th, in the New Church, Arnold Street, in aid of the funds of the Sabbath-school connected with that place of worship. The proceedings commenced at 7.30 p.m. with a pianoforte solo, which was followed by a very pleasing variety of recitations, songs, anthems, school hymns, etc., which were rendered very effectively by the different members of the school and choir. Several gentlemen and ladies unconnected with the church also willingly took part in the entertainment. In the interval between the two parts of the entertainment Mr. Weavers, a gentleman who takes great interest in the welfare of the school, made a few remarks upon the necessity of instructing the young in the principles of true religion, as derived from the Word of God. He gave a brief outline of the doctrines of the New Church, and maintained that if these doctrines were carefully instilled into the minds of the young, they would be furnished with principles which, if carried into practice, would make them happy and useful, and confer upon them advantages of inestimable benefit. He then proceeded to distribute prizes to those scholars who had distinguished themselves during the past year.

The church was very prettily deco rated with flags, mottoes, evergreens, etc., and every effort seemed to have been made to ensure complete success. Every; thing went off quite satisfactorily, and the various members of the audience expressed their appreciation of the proceedings by frequently "encoring " the different performers. The chair was occupied by W. R. Seago, Esq., the chief supporter of the church in this town, and a gentleman whose liberality has always been very great.

The proceedings were brought to a close by Mr. Seago proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Weavers and Miss Cooper, and the other ladies and gentlemen who