prayer, in which he implored the blessing of the Lord on the engagements of the day, which were brought to a close by singing the doxology. On the first of the Lord'sdays in August, I had the pleasure of baptizing two believers on a public profession of their faith, who sat down with us at the table of the Lord in the after-part of the day. The attendance on that day was good and has also since been cheering, and we do hope that these tokens will prove to be as the drops before the shower, and our prayer to God is, that if consistent with His will, and for the honour of his name, He will continue to bless us with peace and prosperity. Our respected brother Legatt, who has been connected with the church for more than forty years, and has for many years held the office of deacon, is still spared to aid and encourage the cause. G. H. HOLLAND. Vincent walk, Southampton, August 15, 1866. At five STEPNEY.-BAPTIST CHAPEL, WELLESLEY ST.-The second anniversary of Mr. T. Stringer's pastorate was held on Lord's day, July 29th, and Monday, 30th, 1866. Mr. T. Stringer preached on Lord's day morning and evening. Mr. G. Wyard preached a good Gospel sermon in the afternoon. On Monday 30th, Mr. J. Wells preached a great, good, glorious discourse from Hosea ii. 4. It was a discriminating, searching, encouraging sermon. o'clock, about 200 sat down to tea; at halfpast six, an hymn was sung. Brother Savill implored the Divine blessing. Mr. T. Stringer made a few introductory observations, stating the cause was in a happy, healthy, peaceable, prosperous condition; that things went well with them, doctrinally, experimentally, practically, augmentatively, and financially. The church has increased within two years from 30 to 100; 15 members, with 7 or 8 for baptism, the last week in August. Brotherly love, union, and communion existed throughout the camp, for which they thanked God and took courage. The good brethren, Felton, Webster, Banks, Maycock, Nicholls, jun., and Steed then warmly addressed the crowded meeting on solemn, sweet, interesting Gospel topics. We had no formal given subjects-Christ and the truth as it is in him, was, is, and ever shall be, the one great and glorious subject. There was no bickering, backbiting, calumniating, nor slandering any one, but one harmonious, unanimous effort made to crown King Jesus "Lord of all." All was good-good attendance, good preaching, good tea, good speeches, and good collections; and to our good, great, gracious, and glorious God, Father, Son, and Spirit, shall we ascribe all the honour, praise, and glory, for ever and ever. ONE WHO WAS THERE. SIBLE HEDINGHAM, ESSEX.REHOBOTH CHAPEL SABBATH SCHOOL.Mr. Editor,-I have great pleasure to in form you of the success of our school. On the 29th, our respected former pastor, Mr. J. Howell, preached three appropriate On the following day, Monday, sermons. after the teachers and children had enjoyed themselves, they, with sixty-three parents and others, partook of tea, after which a public meeting was held. The superintendent first read the report up to last quarter, which showed that eighty children and thirteen teachers were then connected with the school; after which, the meeting was addressed by Messrs. Smith, Wheeler, and Howell, in very encouraging and practical speeches. A report will be issued to our subscribers at the end of the year, in consequence of which I reserve my financial statement.-Remaining, yours faithfully, JAS. D. BowTELL. ST. NEOT'S AND SHREWSBURY.— The details of the distressing circumstances laid before us, are too heavy and too hot, to be given in a hurry. Like little whirlwinds they sweep across our path; but they only make more clear the apprehensions long entertained. Complaints of Chatteris, and all other places, which become more and more numerous, we leave, except this following little note, which many wish to see clearly answered:-"DEAR MR. EDITOR,— Is Mr. George Wyard, junior, gone to an Open Communion Church at Shrewsbury? When I heard him in Reading, in June, I was assured he was bordering that way. An answer will oblige A CONSTANT READER OF THE VESSEL." DACRE PARK, KENT.-The annual treat to the scholars of the above schools was given on Thursday, August 2nd, 1866. Ninety children and seventy friends and teachers were conveyed in vans to East Lodge, Bexley Heath, where they met with an exceedingly kind reception from Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker. Tea was provided in the Congregational School Room, kindly lent for the occasion. Before returning each child received a prize or present from Mr. Whittaker. The journey out and home was accomplished safely, and all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. T. G. C. A., Sec. KENNINGTON. HORNS ASSEMBLY ROOM.-On Sunday, July 22, the Pastor of the Church meeting in Trinity Baptist Chapel, preached a sermon in the above room in the afternoon of the day. We are glad to say that the large room was nearly full, which for the afternoon was a grand success. The hymns sung were given away at the doors. It was a large good meeting; and we believe the Word found its way to the hearts of many. May coming days show that it was so, and our glorious Lord shall have all the "honour, praise, and power." STEPNEY.-SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY, CAVE ADULLAM.-On Lord's-day, July 29th, two sermons were preached by Mr. John Webster. A liberal collection made in support of the above school, numbering 170 children and seventeen teachers. Three of the scholars have died during the year, (two by cholera and one by consumption), affording satisfactory evidence of the result of Scriptural instruction. Many of the teachers have been baptized by the pastor, and the majority are in communion with and members of the church. PLYMOUTH.-RE-OPENING OF TRINITY CHAPEL.-With pleasure, we record the re-opening service on Sunday, 12th August, and three following days,-a period in the history of Trinity chapel which will not be forgotten by those who were favoured to be present. Our brother, Mr. James Wells, gave us, in four successive days, six good, sound, soul-reviving Gospel sermons. We bless the Lord for disposing the heart of our brother to accept the invitation to come to Plymouth, to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ; and we do feel encouraged to find that the attendance at the meetings, was satisfactory, so that our brother had not to return to London disappointed. A hearty and warm reception was given him; the meetings were crowned with success. The prayer meeting on the Sunday morning, at seven o'clock, was well attended. The forenoon service commenced at quarter to eleven, when Mr. Wells preached to over 900 persons: the testimony was blessed; we believe our brother was quite at home. In the afternoon, Mr. Corbitt preached to a congregation of over 700. In the evening, Mr. Wells preached to a crowded assembly, of full 1,100 persons. On Monday afternoon, at three o'clock, Mr. Wells delivered a discourse to over 500: it is encouraging to find, in a commercial town like Plymouth, so large a number desirous to hear the Gospel. At five o'clock, a tea was provided in the Temperance hall, when near 300 persons sat down. Our esteemed brothers, Mr. J. Wells, and Mr. John Corbitt, and a goodly number of ministers from all parts of Devonshire were present, among whom we saw, Mr. Z. Turner, from Exeter; Mr. Seecombe, Moretonhampsted; Mr. Williams, Denbury; Mr. Claney, Southbrent; also many friends from Torquay, Newton Abbott, Ashburton, South-brent, Modbury, and Ivy Bridge, and many of our brethren (ministers) residing in the three towns-Mr. Collins, Mr. Westlake, Mr. Easterbrook, &c. At seven o'clock, service was held at the chapel, when Mr. Wells preached to over 1,100 people. Tuesday evening, seven o'clock, Mr. Wells preached to more than 900. Wednesday evening, at seven, Mr. Wells preached his last and farewell discourse (for this visit), to a congregation of 1200 persons. After the sermon, our brother gave out that Christ exalting hymn "Crown Him Lord of all." This closed the re-opening services of Trinity chapel; a period long to be remembered. It would be useless to make any attempt to speak of the excellent discourses Mr. Wells was lead by God the Holy Spirit to deliver,in which noble and Christ-exalting testimony, our souls rejoiced. The large attendance, as well as the close attention of the congregation, will sufficiently testify how much the living family of God rejoiced at Plymouth, in such good tidings as our brother was led to declare. The history of Trinity chapel, cannot record a greater event than the present, in that it has been re-opened with such abundant success; and we hope and trust, we shall from this day forward, go on in peace and prosperity, under the guidance and protection of our Great Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. J. CHAMBERS. August 20, 1866. was 2 Chron. vii. 14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." After the sermon it was announced that prayer meetings would be holden every evening during the week. The following bill was issued:-"Meetings for Prayer will be holden in Squirries Street Chapel every evening this week, namely, Monday evening, August 13th; Tuesday evening, August 14th; Wednesday evening, Aug. 15th; Thursday evening, August 16th; Friday evening, August 17th, commencing at 7:30 precisely. Mr. C. Longley will preside. Addresses at the close of the meetings. On Monday evening, by C. W. Banks; Tuesday evening, by Mr. Lee; Wednesday evening, by Mr. Hall; Thursday evening, a sermon by C. W. Banks; Friday evening, by Mr. Isaac Pegg. 'Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."" These meetings were holden every evening, even up to Saturday evening, and large numbers attended; we believe great good resulted. Brother Webster, in a kind note, also says: DEAR BROTHER BANKS,-Through the mercy of the Lord our cholera cases are affording hopes of recovery. Young Mr. G. Evans has been very bad, but now trusts he will be spared to his family and the Church. It has been a trying and awful visitation around us; but not one of our members yet have fallen; and may the Lord overrule this fatal epidemic to the salvation of many, thus bringing His hidden ones to the light, restoring wanderers, and imparting decision to the halting. We had a very encouraging devotional meeting on Monday evening last, at the Cave, for special prayer for those belonging to us who were suffering, and for the merciful interposition of the Lord in staying the ravages of the plague. The invitation was given from the pulpit the previous evening, and well responded to by the congregation; such a prayer meeting was never before witnessed at the Cave. That the blessing of our gracious Dweller in the Bush may rest upon you personally, and upon your labours and family, is the prayer of your affectionate friend and fellowlabourer, JOHN WEBSTER, finished and posted the morning of the 15th; 2nd epistle of John, 12th verse-[which we read with gladness.-ED.] WARE, HERTS.-ZOAR BAPTIST CHAPEL ANNIVERSARY, held July 25. Mr. Sampford, the pastor, commenced the service, by giving out that all important hymn "Arise, O King of grace, arise," &c. Mr. Bloomfield, preached in the morning, from Gen. 1. 21, which he opened up most blessedly, shewing, Joseph as a type of Christ: 1, Joseph as the special love of his Father; 2, where he found his brethren, at Dothan; that is, under the law; how they treated him. Christ is the special love of his Father; he found us under the law. How Joseph's brethren treated him, and how we have treated Christ. What Joseph had to pass through before he became ruler over all the land of Egypt, for the benefit of his brethren; and what did Christ have to pass through for his brethren. Many precious things he brought forth. In the afternoon, Mr. B. preached from Acts xvii. 11, "Search the Scripture daily, whether these things are so." Mr. Flack, in the evening, from Ps. xxxi. 19, "O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee," &c. We had over 100 to tea; and we have reason to bless the Lord for his great goodness. We thank our ministerial brethren and our kind friends, who have favoured us with their company.-W. R. IRTHLINGBOROUGH.-Mr. G. Cook (late of Birmingham), who has been for a short time preaching at Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, has accepted a unanimous invitation from that church to supply the pulpit for three months with a view to the Pastorate. BETHNAL GREEN NEW TABERNACLE AND SCHOOLS. To my Christian friends in all parts of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, the Colonies, America, &c. Dear friends, without stooping to notice any of the efforts to hinder our progress, I only wish to announce that having had an interview with my esteemed Christian friend and brother, Mr. William Mace, the Treasurer of our Building Fund; he informed me that subscriptions steadily and continuously flowed in: no large amounts; but small donations from sincere friends in all parts of the country. He also expressed a desire that another PUBLIC MEETING should be holden in London as early as possible. My engagements are so numerous, that I begged it might be delayed until Monday, October 8th, 1866. On that occasion, if the Lord is pleased to spare us, we shall devote the whole day to services on behalf of the great object we have in hand; of which, we hope, full particulars will be speedily given. Meanwhile, I desire to acknowledge the great goodness of the Lord towards me, and mine. The following note is a specimen of many frequently coming to hand. Č. W. BANKS. 1, Portland Terrace, Victoria Park Road. DEAR SIR,-Please accept this trifle towards your New Tabernacle, from one who has been a constant reader of the EARTHEN VESSEL and CHEERING WORDS for many years, and very much have they been blessed to my soul many times. Wishing you success in all your undertakings, I am, sir, your well-wisher, Camden Road. K. T. [Five shillings in stamps enclosed.] He SOHO.-DEAR SIR,- The anniversary of Soho chapel, Oxford street, London, was held on Lord's-day, July 29th, 1866, and indeed it was a very happy and soul-enlivening day to all God's people present. Mr. Wilkins preached two excellent discourses; in the morning from Heb. xiii. 20, 21,— 'Surely the God of peace was with us;" and in the evening from Heb. ix. 24. gave us a beautiful description of heaven and its inhabitants, and we longed to be there. Mr. Bloomfield preached in the afternoon from Gal. v. 25, and in his usual loving and lively manner, showing us what it is to live in the Spirit, and also to walk in the Spirit; giving some long to be remembered admonitions. All seemed to enjoy this very happy and delightful day. I believe the Spirit's power was graciously felt. The Lord grant us many such days. Yours, W. OSMOND. [The lines some other time.-ED.] Sowing and Reaping, BY MR. JOHN CORBITT, OF TRINITY CHAPEL, PLYMOUTH. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.-Psalm cxxvi. 5, 6. THE cluster of natural figures in this text are to set forth spiritual subjects. The seed is the unadulterated Word of God, called, "precious seed," because of its value and perfections. Sowing in tears," shows the many sorrows the ministers of the Gospel meet with in their work of faith and labour of love. They weep from observing how few are the number that receive and profit by receiving the seed in good ground, and how few there are that sow the unadulterated Word of divine truth; also to see how numerous those are that sow to the flesh, and must of the flesh reap corruption. They see and weep over the multitude that have forsaken the fountain of living water, and have "hewn out to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water;" and with the prophet Isaiah they weep, and say, "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" And our Lord represents much of the good seed that ministers sow, as falling on bad ground-the wayside, the stony ground, and amongst thorns, and so bring no fruit to perfection; and thus they weep, because of their small success, yet having sown good seed, and to the Spirit, they shall reap everlasting life as their reward. Here the scene changes from the plural THEY to the single HE, which means Jesus Christ bearing the precious seed of eternal truth, the Word of life; for He spoke as one having authority and not as the scribes : He sows His good seed only on good ground, and receives an abundant crop. He went forth weeping, bearing this precious seed: He is the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and it is certain He wept over Jerusalem, and at Lazarus's grave; but His weeping did not arise from any inability in Himself, as some vainly assert; for He declared, that "all power was given unto Him in heaven, and in earth." He did not weep for fear His people should be lost; for they are saved in Him with an everlasting salvation. He did not weep for fear the devil should hinder His work, or steal His sheep; for He had already turned a legion of them out of one man; and John says, "For this purpose the Son of man was made manifest, that He might destroy the works of the devil ;" and Paul says, "through death He was to destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil." His weeping was from the pressure of our sins, and the wrath of God upon His holy soul and body, as our sin-bearing Sacrifice, by which He wept and sweat as it were great drops of blood; and it was the bitterness of that cup that contained all our sins mingled with God's wrath that made Him weep, and say, "O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me;" and then drank it dry, even to His own death, that we might live for ever. The word doubtless refers to Christ, and not ministers (but through Him), for there is always something doubtful in man, however good their motives may be, they may over-state, or underrate, what they say. There is sure to be some dead flies in man's oint U ment; some errors and imperfections in all they do or say. But this personal "HE" makes no mistakes in His attempts, for "a seed shall serve Him, and it shall be counted to Him for a generation." Thus, this " precious seed" shall have its effect. By this seed, sinners are made alive, and delight in the Lord; and now they begin to feel their need of increasing life and light, and find they cannot do anything towards their growth in grace more than the corn to which they are compared. The corn needs successive showers and cheering sun to fructify and mature it; so the Christian needs the showers of mercy and Sun of righteousness, to make him grow in grace and ripen him for glory. This seed is the fruit of God's everlasting love, and the effect of Christ's redeeming blood administered by the Holy Spirit, under the influence of the Sun of righteousness, which matures the crop; and so it can never fail. The fowls of the air fly away with one part, the sun scorches up another part, and the thorns choke another part of what men sow; and from that which is sown in good ground shall they have their reward. But I must come to the harvest-the gathering in time, when he who soweth only good seed on good ground, is represented as coming again, rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Sheaves are made up of many single straws, which are very weak and easily broken in that single state; but when reaped, and bound together into sheaves, you can neither bend or break them, and set two or more sheaves together, they defend and support each other: so when members and Church are bound together in love, they strengthen and support each other on their pilgrimage through this wilderness of woes; and though there is in every sheaf naturally more straw and chaff than wheat, the farmer takes care of the straw and chaff because of the wheat. The jeweller takes care of the casket because of the jewel, and the old clay cottage is cared for because of the tenant; so Christ takes care of His field (His Church), because of the love he has to it, and the good seed He has sown in it. The seed is the word of life; the good ground, the regenerated soul; the sower is the Prince of Life; the reaper is the Spirit of God that convinces of sin, and brings sinners together in Gospel order, and binds them together with the love of God in Christ. This personal He will come again and gather these sheaves together and then return to heaven taking His sheaves with Him. These single straws are represented by the Gadarene, the man that fell amongst thieves, the sheep that Christ fetched home on his shoulder, Paul, Peter, Philip, Bartholomew, Magdalene, and all gracious souls; who when bound together by the Spirit in Gospel order, gather strength. But I anticipate your objection, and expect that you are saying, you read that the angels are the reapers, and the harvest the end of the world! Yes, that is true, but if you look closely into the subject, you will find that the angels are to " reap the wicked," Rev. xiv. 15 to 20, "Gather out the tares and all that offend.” Matt. xiii. 41, 42, "and all that do iniquity, and burn them;" but the wheat is reaped off from the stubble and separated from the earth, and bound into sheaves; and this is done by the Spirit, for it is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; and Christ will come again and gather the wheat into His garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire and this will have its final fulfilment when Christ shall stand before his Father, and say, "Father, here am I returned with my sheaves all that Thou hast given me ; and I rejoice that I have not lost one nor found |