tree. Since then they have by subscriptions raised £24, which they have applied to the reduction of the debt on their chapel. Great praise is due to them for their liberality and earnest work.

R. HAWKEY.

THE building is in the Early Gothic style of Architecture, and consists of spire and tower at south-east angle and turret at the west angle; the former will be about 80ft. high, springing from a square base and terminating octagonally, in Bath-stone, both of which will contain stone staircases leading to gallery. The front elevation will be executed in Kentish-rag and Bath-stone, having four lofty doorways, with a large five-lighted traceried window fitted with tinted glass. The arches to same will be coursed alternately in Bath and red Mansfield stone. The side walls will be executed in stock bricks, the arches, &c., being in white bricks. The side windows will be glazed with cathedral glass, with ventilators in same. The roof is to be covered with Bangor slates. The building will be situated in a good locality and in a prominent position, and it was thought desirable to erect such a structure as shall compare favourably with other Nonconformist places of worship in the neighbourhood, and prove a credit to our Denomination. The internal arrangements consist of spacious lobby (paved with

tile), chapel, choir gallery (recessed) at rostrum end, end gallery, and stewards' and ministers' vestries in the rear, the latter having lavatory and offices. Over the vestries there will be two class-rooms. The building is to be heated with hot air. The floor of chapel will slope 18 inches. The whole of the seating will be executed in pitch-pine, and the pew-ends will be open. The platform and rostrum will be made to special design and in various woods, the whole of which will be French polished. The gallery front will be part panelled in wood, the upper panels being in iron, carried by iron columns. The walls will be match lined about 4ft. high. The roof will be carried by a number of principals of hammer beam construction resting on massive stone corbets. The ceiling will be panelled with matchboarding laid diagonally, in the centre of which there will be a row of ventilators pierced to design; the whole of the woodwork will be left in its natural colour, and may be sized and varnished, and part stained. Special attention has been paid to ventilation, over the ventilators (and in the roof) an air trunk will be constructed and connected with louvres in end of gables. Fresh air will be admitted by hit and miss ventilators in sills of windows, and Tobin's system will be adopted in the angles of walls in gallery. The walls will be plastered throughout and coloured, and part stencilled for relief. The seating accommodation will be between five and six hundred. The contract for the whole was signed on the 18th inst., by Mr. Edgar Banks, builder and contractor, Morden House, Lewisham, S.E., for £3,100. The building is to be roofed by the 31st December, 1882, and completed within nine months of signing the contract. We hope to lay the memorial stones on the 1st November, 1882. This is a heavy undertaking for us, and contributions from our friends will be gratefully received by the writer. T. G. VANSTONE.

24, Lenham Road, Lee, S.E.

BISHOPS TAWTON.

THE friends of this place have made a noble effort to liquidate the debt on their chapel. The chapel was built in 1868 at a cost of £330, of which £230 was raised at the time, and £100 remained upon the building. Some time ago it was thought the time had come for getting rid of this incumbrance, the friends heartily concurred in a suggestion to that effect, and five of them promised £5 each towards the object, while others promised smaller sums. To raise the residue many ladies of the congregation and neighbourhood worked heartily for a bazaar, which was held on September 27th. W. Avery, Esq., of Barnstaple, open ed the bazaar at two o'clock, when a large concourse of people assembled. Mr. Lane preached at three. A public tea at five, of which 300 partook. A public meeting at half-past seven, presided over by Mr. P. H. Andrew, of Park Gate. The following is the result:

Mrs. Yeo, Darch and Manley's Stall

£ s. d.

32 05

We have raised £34 more than we expected, whilst some portion of the goods furnished to the bazaar remain over for some other object in the future. We are preparing the way for the appointment of a third preacher to the circuit at the next Conference. Friends are united, congregations encouraging, and should we prove successful in securing a third preacher for the present winter months, the way for the third preacher by Conference would be easy.

BARNSTAPLE.

S. ALLIN.

Anniversary SERVICES.-On Sunday, Sept. 17th, the Rev. J. Osborne Keen, D.D., preached the annual sermons on behalf of the Thorne Memorial Chapel, in this town, and large congregations were attracted both morning and evening. The discourses were given with that eloquence and impressiveness characteristic of the reverend gentleman, and were listened to with great attention and interest. The following Monday a public tea was held in the schoolroom contiguous to the chapel, to which a fair number sat down, the tables being efficiently presided at by Mrs. Gale, Mrs. Berryman, Mrs. Hammett, Mrs. Jefferies, Mrs. Lethaby, Miss Lethaby, and Miss Bratton. In the evening a meeting was held in the chapel, the body of which was full, the gallery having also to be brought into requisition, for the purpose of hearing a lecture from Dr. Keen, when the chair was occupied by the Rev. S. Allin. The meeting having been opened with singing and prayer by the Chairman, that gentleman subsequently made a few remarks on the condition of the affairs of the chapel. This was, he said, the sixth anniversary of their house of prayer, it having been opened for Divine worship in Sept., 1876. The cost of the premises, that is, the chapel, schoolroom, and the house adjoining, amounted to £2,430. Their friends had raised out of that amount about £1,500, leaving a debt on the entire premises last year of £987. This, considering all things, he thought was very praiseworthy. About two years ago they purchased the organ in the chapel, and they raised something like £100. He then presented the working expenses of the past year, amount of collections, &c. Last Sunday's collection amounted to £6 5s. 7d., and the total receipts of the year were £59 16s. 7d., against disbursements, 59 16s. 8d. He estimated that they would make up about £18 by their anniversary. In conclusion, he said they were very grateful to their friends for the help they had rendered in the past, and encouraged them to continue such for years to come. He hoped they would realise the great expectations they had formed, during the coming winter months; he himself thought their sanguine hopes would be realised, and that they would have great prosperity.

The Chairman subsequently called upon the Rev. Dr. Keen, who was well received, and who proceeded to deliver his lecture on "Odds and Ends." Under this rather uninteresting looking title, he gave a long discourse, which throughout was full of power, teeming with striking passages and impressive deductions and metaphors, and which evidenced on the part of the learned lecturer a wellcultured and refined intellect, with a deep perception of human nature-various phases of which he vividly pourtrayed. The appreciation of the audience was most apparent, frequent outbreaks of applause greeting his remarks. At the conclusion, the collection was taken, after which the Chairman said that, to judge from the appearance of the baskets, he should think that £20 would be nearer to the amount obtained through the anniversary than £18.-North Devon Herald.

TIMBERSCOMBE, KINGSBROMPTON CIRCUIT. THIS Chapel has been closed for some time for extensive alterations. It has been reseated and otherwise improved, both externally, and internally, and made one of the neatest and most inviting sanctuaries to be seen in a country neighbourhood. The Re-opening Services were held on Sunday and Monday, September 24th, and 25th. On the Sunday, two sermons were preached by Mr. W. Terrett, of Bristol. On the Monday at two p.m., a Bazaar was opened for the sale of goods, in the National School-room; public tea was provided at five, followed by a public meeting. Mr. Durham, of Dunster, took the chair. Messrs. Balkwill and Warren were the speakers. The services were all largely attended.

Great credit is due to many of our friends for the zeal and liberality that they have manifested in this work, but it is only fair to say that the success of this effort has largely resulted from the exertions of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Cording. We have now a beautiful chapel, free from debt; but our great want at present is a revival of pure and undefiled religion. May it be speedily realised!

Correspondence.

A REVISED HYMN-BOOK.

J.D.B.

DEAR MR. EDITOR,-I am much pleased with the excellent and suggestive letter from Dr. Keen, in this month's Magazine, on the importance of an improvement being made in our Congregational Hymn Book, especially in the two-fold direction of greater variety of subjects, and an increased number of suitable hymns. The very limited number of hymns in our present collection, for several departments, must have been painfully felt by all who have had the conduct of our services, whether in public, or in our social means; and, as the late Conference has appointed a small Committee to "thoroughly revise both our Congregational and Child's Hymn Books," this may be taken as an indication of a general feeling throughout our Zion, in favour of improvement and enlargement, for the inspiriting and ennobling part of our religious worship, the "Service of Song." It also appears to have been a well-directed choice in the Conference, in the appointment of the Committee for revision, that Dr. Keen was selected to form one of such Committee; as his criticisms and suggestions conspire to prove his fitness for such service.

It may be, however, that some of our friends may think Br. Keen a little too severe, when he condemns as useless, or unnecessary, all the hymns at present in our Congregational Hymn Book which contain only two or three verses. Many of these, some think, are beautiful gems; just as the SHORTER PSALMS, are so beautiful and attractive to the mind and heart of the good Doctor, and in which he finds a soil so rich and productive. The statement "33 hymns are of no use at all, because of there being no tunes for them;" and the reference to the 35 8 lines 7s', and 6s', and the" goodly company of 8 lines 8s', of no practical use for the same reason," will assuredly require a little qualification. I have heard many of these hymns sung in our places of worship, and hope to do so again; and, if our musical, and singing friends were only so ready to find tunes for the hymns in our Congregational Hymn Book as they are, in so many instances, to adopt Sankey's Hymns and Tunes, and other similar selections, we should not need to complain of such poverty of "hymns" or "tunes," as is at present our want in so many places. Suitable tunes may be found in The Bristol Tune Book, or The Wesleyan New Tune Book, or other valuable works, for most, if not all, the hymns in our Congregational Hymn Book.

I am very sensible of the necessity for considerable improvement in the character, and greater variety of hymns, for our use in religious worship; but I am also deeply conscious of the fact, that, as a rule, our present supply is not used to the extent it might be, if our musical friends would only interest and exercise themselves, in the direction above indicated. My experience (extending over 35 years), teaches me, that, if we had a new and larger hymn-book in use to-day, and not tunes suitable for such hymns accompanying the book, we should not be anything benefited, so far as our choirs are concerned, though we might have the advantage in the form of variety. Unless I misunderstand my good Br. Keen, he seems to feel the difficulty in this direction; hence, he suggests, "that if it be considered impracticable to have a tune-book of our own forthwith, that we adopt pro tem, the Wesleyan, until the way be clear, &c. By this, I presume, the doctor means not the hymn-book, but simply the tunes. Then, if this course be adopted with a new and enlarged hymn-book, why not adopt a similar course at present with our limited selection? It should be borne in mind by our friends, that about eight or nine years ago, an attempt was made by our Book Committee, to supply, to some extent, the want long felt, of greater variety in our Hymnal; and a selection of 226 hymns was published, under the title of The New Hymn Book for Revival and Prayer Meetings. In the preface, the compilers say, “It is hoped that the book will be extensively useful, as it includes a much greater variety than is commonly found in books of this class; and while complete in itself, it will be found especially helpful in those congregations where The Bible Christian Hymn Book is used, to which it may be almost regarded as a supplement. On examination, this book will be found to contain a large number of hymns such as Dr. Keen desiderates; viz, "breathing the spirit of adoration, in which God is lauded and magnified in His Son, in His Spirit, in His Word, in His glorious nature, character, attributes, kingdom, purposes, gifts, and triumphs of power and grace.” On looking over the index, I find there are about 30 hymns suitable for Adoration, Praise, Worship; 40 relating to the Atonement, and Justification; 80 bearing on Christian Experience; 30 on the Blessedness of Religion; 50 having reference to the Holy Spirit's Work; 50 Revival Hymns; 20 on Growing in Grace; 10 on The Lord's Supper; 20 on Christian Pilgrimage; 20 for Missionary Work ; 40 on the Heavenly Home; 10 on Death; a few on Judgment, The Lord's Day, Ministers, Scriptures, &c. There are also about 70 hymns in the selection, suitable for Chants; and it so happens, that the two hymns that some "highly