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for the occasions, and a pleasant evening is spent in social intercourse, improved and enlivened by choice music and recitations, and other appropriate means of social enjoyment. The last of these meetings for the present season was appointed for the 6th of March, so as to afford an opportunity of welcoming the members of the Hymn-Book Committee, all of whom were invited to be present. The room was neatly carpeted and adorned with flowers and pictures. Refreshments were served during the evening, and all the proceedings were of the most pleasing and interesting kind. Mr. Presland in a brief address welcomed the members of the Committee, the welcome being responded to by the Rev. R. Storry and Mr. Broadfield.

LONDON (Camberwell).—Presentation of a Testimonial to Mr. E. Austin.-The annual tea-meeting of the Camberwell Society was held as usual on Good Friday, the 11th ult. About sixty friends partook of tea, and this number was more than doubled at the subsequent proceedings. Mr. E. Austin, whose resignation of his office as minister of the Society formally took effect on the last Sunday in March, but who is serving the Society until his successor commences his labours-took the chair in the church at about seven o'clock. A hymn having been sung, the chairman read from the liturgy the "Glorification of the Lord" proper for the day, and then offered a few appropriate remarks upon the same sublime theme. Mr. I. J. Alvey, the senior deacon, and one of the originators of the Society, then, prefacing the act by a few explanatory remarks, proceeded on behalf of the Society to present to Mr. Austin a very beautiful illuminated testimonial, framed and glazed, together with a gold watch and chain. The wording of the former is Testimonial, together with a gold watch and chain, presented to Edward Austin, Esq., on his relinquishing the office of minister of the New Jerusalem Church, Camberwell, London, in affectionate recognition of his invaluable services to the Society from its commence ment in 1863 until March 1879. Signed by the members of the Church Committee on behalf of the Society." Upon the watch is engraved a monogram of Mr. Austin's initials, and inside the case the follow

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ing inscription: "A token of esteem: presented to E. Austin, Esq., on his resigning the ministry of the Camberwell New Church Society after fifteen years of faithful service. London, 11th April 1879." Mr. Alvey concluded his earnest and affectionate address with an expression of the heartfelt wish of Mr. Austin's congregation that in his retirement from his ministerial labours he may speedily regain that robust health which his combined secular and religious avocations have seriously jeopardized. Mr. Higham, the Secretary of the Testimonial Committee, then supplied some details concerning the testimonial, drawing attention to the fact that the object aimed at by the Committee was not the collection of a large sum of money, but the presentation to Mr. Austin of something which, while intrinsically of no great value, should yet be calculated for daily use, and thus constantly to remind him of the high esteem in which his constant services for fifteen years were held by the Camberwell Society. No large subscriptions had therefore been received, and not even the smallest had been ignored; so that the result practically represented the united offerings of all the congregation. Moreover, no person not immediately connected with the Camberwell Society had been applied to, the proposed presentation being held to be, as it were, a family affair. Mr. Higham mentioned that the testimonial was the work of Mr. J. Elphick, a member of the congregation, who had executed gratuitously, as a token of his high respect for Mr. Austin. In conclusion, the speaker expressed his own high appreciation of Mr. Austin's services, more particularly eulogizing his performance of the duties of President of the Mutual Improvement Society. Mr. A. C. Moore then uttered a few hearty words, after which Mr. Austin rose to reply. Having most cordially thanked the friends for the testimonial, and for their kind expressions concerning his work, he drew attention to the success which had attended the operations of the Camberwell Society during its first fifteen years' existence, a success which he believed to be largely due, under Divine Providence, to the men who had formed its Committee, four of the first members of which, viz. Messrs. Alvey, Braby, Brown, and Gunton, still

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occupied that position, and he trusted that this important element of success would never be wanting in the future history of the Society. Referring to his own secular avocations, he showed how they had operated to the advantage of his ministry in that they had infused into his work an element of order and method not always imparted even by the strictest ministerial training, and moreover, that they had endowed him with a knowledge of the trials and temptations of business men which was invaluable to one whose sermons needed to a great extent to be fitted to such an audience. But while he believed that in securing the services of one not wholly devoted to the ministry at the commencement of the Society, and in retaining those services until the congregation was settled and consolidated in a building of its own, the Committee had acted with a wise discretion, he was yet of opinion that such a state of things should not be perpetuated. It was, he believed, right ‍and proper that certain men should be set apart for the ministerial office, and he thought it would now be very desirable that the Camberwell Society should possess such a minister. In conclusion, he assured his audience of his undying interest in the New Church, and in the Camberwell Society, but begged them not to good-naturedly conspire against the perfect rest from ministerial work which it was his earnest wish, at any rate for the present, to secure for himself.

A short interval here took place, during which the friends present availed themselves of the opportunity of examining the testimonial and presents.

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of the new minister the friends would be as united as were the little band which, fifteen years ago, unanimously agreed to invite Mr. Austin to preside over them. Mr. Barratt expressed his own deep thankfulness to Mr. Austin for his clear and convincing expositions of the Word from Sunday to Sunday, and especially for his attention to the meetings of the junior members' section, Mr. Barratt being able to testify to the usefulness of this work from the experience of members of his own family. Mr. Joseph Bormond, the well-known temperance lecturer, and a member of the Camberwell Society, added his testimony to the efficacy of Mr. Austin's preaching. Mr. Orme said that when first he heard of Mr. Austin's contemplated retirement, he felt that it would be an irremediable blow to the Society; but he knew that such an idea was wrong, as, if the congregation humbly looked to the Lord, He would provide them with a man for the work. Mr. G. W. Thomson regretted the necessity which was the cause of the present testimonial, but was glad that Mr. Austin at almost every hour of the day might be pleasantly reminded of his old friends at Camberwell. Mr. R. J. Tilson confessed his own great indebtedness to Mr. Austin, who was indeed his spiritual father, having admitted him into the New Church by the gate of baptism, and strongly countenanced him in commencing his present position as a student for the New Church ministry.

In the course of the evening the choir sang several choice pieces of music. The proceedings were terminated by the chairman pronouncing the benediction.

Mr. S. B. Dicks, minister of the Dalston Society, then spoke of his early connection with the Camberwell Society, LONDON (Camden Road).—The annual and of the great kindness shown by Mr. meeting of this Society was held on Austin to him (the speaker), in answer- Monday, March 17th, Mr. Gunton in ing the numerous questions which per- the chair. From the reports presented plexed his mind when fighting his way to the meeting it appeared that nine into the New Church. Mr. I. Gunton new members had been added during reminded the audience that the real the year; four had resigned their memcommencement of the Camberwell bership, thus leaving a net increase of Society was the delivery of a course of five. The attendance at the evening lectures in Kennington Lane in the early service had somewhat declined during part of 1863, and that five or six mem- the winter months, though the attendbers of the present Society were the ance of strangers had continued. A result of that effort. He also remarked small deficit on the current expenditure upon the success which had attended was at once provided for by a subscripthe Society under Mr. Austin's ministry, tion from the members present. On and expressed his hope that in the the 2nd of April a social meeting sim

sire was expressed that the forthcoming bazaar might be a successful one. Should there be any friends in the Church at large who would like to contribute to either the Building or Bazaar Fund, they can do so by forwarding their contributions to the chairman, Mr. E. Lowe, Hampson Fold, or to the Secretary of the Building Committee, Mr. W. Hodgson, New Road, from whom an acknowledgment will be sent in due course.

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ilar to the one held at Argyle Square in its desire to do the work at once, was held in the lecture-room, to which and to do it well, and a general dethe members of the Hymn-Book Committee were invited. The room was well filled with members of the Church connected with the several London Societies, and members of the Committee engaged in the revision and extension of the Hymn-Book. The room was adorned with a choice collection of wellexecuted pictures in oil and watercolours, and the tables laden with photographs and illustrated works. A very choice selection of music, both vocal and instrumental, was most skilfully and ably rendered by members of the choir SOUTHPORT.-Mr. W. A. Bates, who and church, among whom were included since the completion of his studies at Mr. and Mrs. Mudie, Mrs. M'Kechnie, the New Church College has been Mrs. Tafel, and Miss Lydia Smith. Dr. labouring at Horncastle, has been Tafel, who was in the chair, briefly appointed to the vacant pulpit at this welcomed the Committee, and a response town. Mr. Bates is a young man of to his address was given by Mr. Broad- promise, and he will have here an field. The evening's proceedings were ample field for the exercise of his talents. brought to a close by an organ recital Some additions have been made to the in the church by Mr. Whittington, the members of the church since the deparorganist. ture of the Rev. Mr. Thornton to his distant home in Australia. The debt which encumbered the church building has also been removed, and there is every prospect of the establishment of a useful and influential Society.

RADCLIFFE.-On Wednesday evening, the 19th day of March, a general meeting of members, seatholders, and friends was called for the purpose of inspecting revised plans, etc., for the proposed enlargement and alteration of the church. About 150 sat down to tea. The plans were exhibited and fully explained by the architect, Mr. Thomas Thorp, of Besses-o'-th'-Barn, which on the whole were approved of, and it was decided to commence the work at once. The structure will be of stone, treated in a classical style of architecture. The present building is calculated to hold about 420, the new one will hold about 660. The chairman, Mr. E. Lowe, reported that up to that date there had been promised the sum of £350 towards the Bazaar Fund (to be held in October next), and £910 to the Building Fund, total £1260, and since the meeting commenced a further sum of £150 had been promised, bringing the total up to £1410. Nearly the whole of these promises are from those who either have attended or do attend the church. The estimated cost of the alterations is put down at £2500. The Committee flatter themselves that for use and elegance they will have a church, when completed, second to none in the New Church. The meeting was quite unanimous

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earth is concerned, will never be refilled, and has brought near to those who are left, in a way as nothing else can, the solemn truths that, "Here have we no continuing city," "Our home is not here."

The Accrington Society has been called to part with many of its old and esteemed friends lately with a frequency and to an extent it has no recollection of ever occurring before. With the commencement of the winter one and another, especially of the more aged and infirm, began to decline, and soon it became evident they were about to exchange their earthly for their heavenly homes.

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Scarcely a week has passed without one or more of the members of the church or congregation receiving the summons to come up higher." And the appearance of the congregation on the Lord's day shows how widely it has been affected and deeply touched by the successive bereavements that have taken place.

Our limited space forbids any details of the Christian and useful, yet uneventful lives, whose first stage is now completed, and for whose further and fuller development we must wait till we too follow them. To those who know the Accrington Society it may be sufficient to mention the names of Mr. Thomas Riley, died 19th Nov. 1878, aged 73; Mr. Joseph Grimshaw, died 3rd Dec. 1878, aged 55; Mr. Francis Hargreaves, died 25th Dec. 1878, aged 72; Mr. Hargreaves Dixon, died 30th Dec. 1878, aged 49; Miss Alice West, died 7th Jan. 1879, aged 65; Mrs. Sarah Whitehead, died 19th Jan. 1879, aged 76; Miss Sarah Wolstenholme, died 25th Jan. 1879, aged 60; Mr. William Roberts, died 5th Feb. 1879, aged 44; Mrs. Agnes Bridge, died 11th Feb. 1879, aged 78; Miss Jane Tasker, died 13th Feb. 1879, aged 38; Mrs. Ann Howarth, died 20th Feb. 1879, aged 71; Mrs. Grace Gregory, died 26th Feb. 1879, aged 86; Mrs. Mary Bamber, died 28th Feb. 1879, aged 74; Mrs. Ann Wigglesworth, died 18th Feb. 1879, aged 59; Mr. James Lonsdale, died 5th March 1879, aged 61; and Mr. Thomas Morriss, who, with others less known, have all since November last, we have good reason to believe, died in the Lord, and whose works follow with them.

There is little to particularize in any case. The record of one will, with little variation, serve for all. Life was a chequered scene, and yet it bore testimony to the unchanging faithfulness and love of their Divine Lord and Saviour. In all their afflictions His presence sustained, His comforts delighted their souls. And now they have already found, or are finding, the angelic society with which their happy and eternal lives shall be spent.

Departed this life on March 21st, aged thirty-three, after a lingering and severe illness, Mr. John Bainbridge, the only son of Mr. Joseph Bainbridge, of 61 Hamilton Street, Newcastle-uponTyne. Mr. Joseph Bainbridge was formerly a member and active supporter of the Society at Carlisle, until his removal to Newcastle some years ago, when he immediately connected himself with the Church there, and his son, who is now departed to his eternal rest, became a consistent member of the Church, a diligent worker in the Sabbath school, and, so far as time and opportunity permitted, an earnest supporter of the cause of temperance. The deceased had been educated from his childhood in the doctrines of the New Church, and, we have every reason to believe, had obtained, long before his departure from this life, not only a clear intellectual view of the beauty and consistency of those doctrines, but had also experienced under their influence such a renewal of heart and life, that while through long and weary months of sickness the outward man decayed, the inward man was renewed and purified day by day. In the midst of severe suffering, and as his end drew near, Mr. Bainbridge was earnestly questioned by friends of another denomination, who had kindly visited him, as to his spiritual condition. The calm reply of our dying friend was that he was in perfect peace, and quite secure in his dependence upon those truths in which he had been brought up. To him the Lord Jesus was a living Saviour and ever-present Father and Friend, ready to receive a repenting sinner and to afford help and consolation in every time of need. these observations it may be added that Mr. John Bainbridge was an occasional contributor to the Juvenile

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Magazine during the editorship of the late Rev. E. D. Rendell, and under the nom de plume of "Pax," wrote some very interesting and instructive papers. The deceased was quiet and unosten tatious in his demeanour, never obtrusive, but yet always ready to lend a helping hand in the cause of truth and goodness. We have to regret his loss to the Church on earth, and to his sorrowing parents and friends; but at the same time let us rejoice in the assurance that he is only gone before us to a more extensive sphere of uses in the Church above, and to the enjoyment of an eternal life in which sin and sorrow and suffering shall be no

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M. EDMUND DE CHAZAL.-We give from the Morning Light the following notice of the departure of this esteemed member of the New Church in the Mauritius: "We have to chronicle the departure into the eternal world of the much loved President of the New Jerusalem Church Society here, M. Edmund de Chazal, who was in his sixty-ninth year. This occurred on the 12th of February. He was one of the founders of the Society here, and its most active supporter. He was named its President not long after it came into existence, and so continued, with few interruptions, till the end of his stay among us. He gave largely to the funds of the Society, and without him we do not think it would now be in existence. A few months before his death he made an appeal to those interested in its welfare to contribute towards paying off the debt encumbering the building where the friends meet for worship, which appeal was fairly successful, all things considered, for some £400 were thus raised. Our late President was a regular and constant student of the works of Swedenborg, and possessed a very hopeful disposition, being fully convinced that the New Church truths would one day be universally accepted. He had also in a singular degree what the French call the courage of his opinions,' never shrinking from the proclamation of the truth, however great was the opposition he might have to encounter in so doing. Humanly speaking, the church here has lost in him a most attached and warm-hearted friend, and

a zealous and effective member; but we have not the least doubt that we gain largely by his transfer to a nobler and higher sphere of action, where his powers of will and understanding will be exerted on a different plane, but for the furtherance of the same cause he was so much attached to here below. All the newspapers published in this colony have spoken of him in high terms, and at his funeral men of all ranks and of every religious denomination united to do honour to his memory,'

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On the evening of Friday, April 4th, Sarah Harriett, the beloved wife of Mr. William H. Horrocks of Bolton, passed to her eternal home in the spiritual world. Whilst her release from physical suffering must be a blessing to her, the bereavement to her dear husband and family is distressing. Mrs. Horrocks had been in a declining and weak state of health for very many years, but often intervals of hope buoyed up a thought that there might come a permanent turn for her recovery. She was most amiable and intelligent. society was, for this reason, very enjoyable. Her father, the late Dr. Haddock, had afforded her excellent opportunities of mental culture, and she was thoroughly characterized by it. And although through weakness she was frequently au lit, her mind displayed thorough soundness and vigour. Being unable to attend public worship, it gave her deep pleasure and satisfaction to hear read to her the reports which her sons made for her of the sermons or lectures which were delivered at the church. Her motherly character was powerfully evinced in her earnest wishes and efforts for her children's spiritual welfare. the days of her health she took deep interest in the Sunday school, and was dearly beloved by all to whom her influence extended. She was no slavish follower of the doctrines of the Church. She had a mind eager and strong to see for herself, which was clearly manifest in her earnest desires for the growth of the Church. She wished to see the Lord's Church grow in the individual culture of her people, in order that every one might feel and truly say, "With Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light."

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