Great thanks are due to the following friends, viz. :-Mesdames Mundy, Haynes, J. Haynes, W. Haynes, Glanfield, Kellow, Ellis, Crewes, Collins, and Hall, the Misses Haynes, Fisher, Thomas, Kellow, Harris, Bennetts, Joslin, Sweet, and Bassett, and Meesrs. Haynes, Glanfield, Bastow, Ellis, Crewes, Congdon, and Kellow.

T. E. MUNDY.

NEWPORT, mon.

THE anniversary of Newport Chapel was held on the 23rd and 24th of October, Brother J. C. Honey, of Cardiff, preached two excellent sermons on the Sunday. Monday was wet, but the friends came in large numbers to tea; about £9 was taken. The chapel at the evening meeting was well filled, J. F. Fawckner, Esq., upon whom we can always depend for two things, a kind word and a good donation, presided. The Pastor made the financial statement, which showed that the revenue from seat-rents was larger than any previous year, and also that a considerable sum had been raised by lectures and other means, the disbursements included 10 10s., the sixth instalment to the loan fund; £7 10s. for interest; £9 17s. for ground rent; and for chapel renovation, £5 9s. 7d.; with several other smaller sums. The following report of special effort on behalf of the chapel was also presented to the meeting.

Total...... 137 0 6

Present debt £70, with £42 due to the Loan Fund.

Total...... 137 0 6

Another effort will be made at Christmas, when we hope to dispose of the things remaining from the bazaar; some good promises have yet to be paid, our endeavours to pay off the debt will only cease with its extinction. This report, which was very heartily received, was followed by stirring addresses from the Revs. W. Gibson, H. Soulby, J. C. Honey, and Mr. Lock.

SUCCESS OF MISSIONARY SCHEME.

With the yearly reduction of grant it was thought that the financial difficulties of this station would generally increase; but the friends, with their minister, are thankful to be able to report that the claims of the quarter board have been fully met (for more than two years past) quarterly, by the weekly collections and quarterly subscriptions, without resorting to any special means.

REVIVAL INFLUENCES.

Within the last few weeks a number of precious souls have been brought to Jesus, about twenty at Newport, a few at Cwmbran, and also at Lantarnan.

NEEDED ENLARGEMENT.

The schoolroom at Newport has become too small, notwithstanding several of the adult classes being drafted into the chapel, it is inconveniently crowded. At no distant date our friends will have to arise and build.

A GENEROUS GIFT.

By the kindness of one of our friends, a neat porch, made of brickwork, is being built at Cwmbran. The writer was pleased to be informed by the donor, that no one would be permitted to share the expense, as the good brother, Mr. W. Shackles, would meet the entire cost.

THE re-opening of the Bible Christian chapel here took place on October 9th and 10th. Before alluding to the results of the re-opening, it may be admissible to state that the renovations which have been made were greatly needed. For some time

past the friends have been agreed as to the advisability and the necessity of making the house of the Lord more attractive and comfortable. Well, the set time came, and we may say, as did Nehemiah, that "the people had a mind to work." After the preliminary arrangements had been completed, the matter was placed before our friend Mr. Cardwell, whose estimate was accepted, and at once the work began. We cannot here accurately particularize all the alterations that have been made, but a simple reference to them may be allowed. If we begin with the rostrum, we note here a new desk, a new Bible and hymn-book, the gift of two ladies, two new gas-stands, with five burners to each, and five chairs, likewise for platform meetings. The seats also have been thoroughly cleaned and varnished, the walls made to look exceedingly well, and two clocks, the gift of a gentleman, are placed in the chapel and school-room respectively. These, with sundry other improvements, have produced quite an agreeable transformation. One important feature of the re-opening was, that Br. I. B. Vanstone's services had been secured. As many of his old friends gratefully remember his pastorate on this station, his coming was anticipated to be an important factor in the success of the services.

All speak highly of the services on that day. As an evidence of it we should like to state that the Sunday's collections were over seven pounds. But the crowning time was yet to come: nearly a hundred took tea. The tables were presided over by Mesdames Martin, Nevill, Cardwell, Thetford, Misdale, and Skinner, and the Misses Pearson, Heywood, Nevill (two), Huxtable, and Rickett. The evening meeting was presided over by Mr. S. Heywood, who has been quite a leading spirit throughout the whole affair. An interesting report was presented by Mr. A. E. Martin, son of the pastor, whose rising was loudly applauded, as it was his first attempt to do any thing of the kind. The report showed that the receipts, by subscriptions and collections, &c., were something over sixty pounds, and the disbursements something more than the receipts. Br. T. G. Vanstone, of Lee, gave a speech of great interest and power. The writer then made a remark or two, and then the Rev. I. B. Vanstone's coming to the front was hailed with delight. The friends were exceedingly glad to hear the voice of their former pastor once more. Br. Martin was then called upon, and he more than sustained the interest of the meeting. His speech, which bore chiefly on church work, was most emphatic, clear, and earnest. At intervals the singers, with Mr. Marriott at the harmonium, rendered some very appropriate hymns. Through the kindness and liberality of Messrs. Heywood and Thetford, the tables and the rostrum were beautifully decorated with a choice selection of variegated plants and flowers, some of which were afterwards sold, the proceeds going to the chapel fund. A vote of thanks to all was at the close carried with acclamation.

J. DATSON.

Brief Notices of Books.

The Acts and Epistles of St. Paul. By Rev. F. A. MALLESON, M.A. Hodder and Stoughton. (Price 12s.)

THIS is a valuable work. When we took it up first and had glanced at the titlepage, we were inclined to ask, what room could there be just now for another book on St. Paul? and would not any man run a great risk who came forward with a new work on the Apostle of the Gentiles so soon after the publication of the splendid volumes of Canon Farrar on the same subject, and with Conybeare and Howson's and Mr. Lewin's standard works in universal acceptance as well? But on acquainting ourselves with the work, we arrived at a different conclusion. There is room for such a book as this. Though a volume of good size, it has the advantage of being more compendious than those larger works; and to many readers it will prove, we think, more serviceable and attractive, because the copious footnotes, large appendices, learned excursuses, and endless references that present so formidable an appearance in those great works are here altogether avoided. Mr. Malleson is favourably known as an author through his successful book on "Jesus Christ, His Life and His Work," published last year; and we do not doubt that this new production of his pen will be well received, and that where it becomes known it will be prized. The chapter on the "Preparation for the Gospel," which may be taken as a fair specimen of the work, is an admirable summary of the subject; the spread of the Empire of Alexander the Great, of a flexible and exact language-the Greek; the dispersion of the Jews, and their natural greatness; the Septuagint; the Roman Empire, and means of easy transit under it; and the man, Paul, in whom the essential qualifications for the work he was called to do so completely met, he being a Jew, a pure Jew, who knew Hebrew and Greek, and was a Roman citizen, these points are treated with great skill and clearness and force. A more instructive and handy volume for the student of the life, work, and epistles of the Apostle Paul, we do not know. We commend the work to our young men, and our Sunday-school teachers, and elder scholars especially, with the conviction that they will find it most helpful on the subject of which it treats. If they would give the spare hours of the winter months to a careful study of Mr. Malleson's book, Bible in hand, they would lay up in store a good foundation for the time to come, and qualify themselves more completely for work among us of an intelligent, effective and useful kind. The Greatness of Christ, relatively and absolutely considered. By T. S. ENGALL. Hamilton and Adams, 32, Paternoster Row.

A NICELY got up book of nine chapters, thoughtfully and devoutly written. The chapters are on, Christ Greater than the Temple, Greater than Solomon, Greater than Jonah, Greater than Jacob, Greater than Abraham, Greater than Aaron, Greater than Moses, Greater than the Angels; and on, The New Testament "I am."

"Join all the names of love and power

That ever men or angels bore,-

All are too mean to speak his worth,

Or set Emmanuel's glory forth."

Uncle Tom's Cabin: A complete and unabridged PENNY EDITION. Longley, 39, Warwick Lane, E. C.

A COMPLETE edition of this famous book, in clear and readable, but small type, for one penny! Our Sunday-schools could not use their funds better than by

scattering copies by the thousand. If they would do something toward putting out of the market the penny trash that is so amply provided for the young, let them forthwith put into the hands of every Sunday-school scholar a copy of this thrilling work, which furnishes most captivating reading, and plenty of it. A Bag with Holes. The Annual Temperance Sermon, preached in Kilburn Chapel, Sunday evening, August 14th, 1881, by our friend and Br. Brokenshire, on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of The Henry Davis Lodge of Good Templars, is an eloquent and skilful adaptation of the words of the Prophet Haggai to the present aspects of the great Total Abstinence Question. The Prophet assured the people who gave themselves up to the acquisition of wealth whilst the house of the Lord was neglected, that their gains would be no blessing to them; the money they earned and saved was put into "a bag with holes"; they would lose it, and be in the end no richer for all their painstaking and care. This language of the Prophet's is used in the discourse before us as bearing on the wealth of the nation. The gains of the liquor traffic are not gains solid and lasting, they are put into "a bag with holes." As bearing on the health of the body, and on the religious life of the community. The sermon was well adapted to the occasion, and the Lodge must have thought themselves advantaged in obtaining so able and earnest a brother in the temperance cause, as Br. Brokenshire is known to be, to conduct the service and preach the Anniversary Sermon. The sermon ought to have a wide circulation, for it is of more than local interest, and might be suitably used as a temperance tract for distribution.

Davy's Friend: And other stories. By JENNIE PERRETT. Wesleyan Conference Office.

DAVY is a street newspaper boy in London, whose father is dead, and whose mother had ruined herself and broken up her home through her drinking ways; and it is touching to read how little Davy still loves and clings to her because she is his mother, as did little Susy, his sister, "until Davy's Friend, as he called Jesus, took the child away from the streets of London to the city of the King." Davy, by honest and obliging ways, makes friends in the busy city; and one of them, a gentleman who had given Davy a half-sovereign in mistake for a sixpence, for fetching a cab for him one foggy day, took Davy out to Australia and gave him a good start in life on his own sheep-farm, for Davy kept a look out for this gentleman, as he knew the handing of him a half-sovereign was a mistake, until he found him; and he wanted to give back the half-sovereign, which he had kept all the while safely. But the greatest Friend, the Friend Davy had learnt to call "My Friend," is Jesus, in whom he trusts, and whom he seeks to The story is well told, and points a moral in the most impressive way. The other stories also are capital.

serve.

The Clerical World: A paper for the Pulpit and the Pew. (1d. weekly.) Hodder and Stoughton.

A NEW weekly religious newspaper, at a penny. It aims at being a paper of the highest class; and so far as we can judge by the first few numbers, it is likely to attain its end. Good reports of sermons by known preachers, chiefly of the Church of England, are given; and several series of articles on subjects of interest to thoughtful and cultured minds are ably commenced.