406 HOW TO HELP OUR MISSIONS. TO THE EDITOR,-DEAR SIR, cause. I am trying to interest the Sunday school scholars, here, in the Missionary I enclose you two or three of the cards which I have had printed, for the use of Sunday school scholars. I am in hopes that the plan will answer at least as well, if not better than any I am acquainted with. The plan is my own. Considering that there are so many children in connexion with the Association, why should we not try to get them to do something for the Missions? Last Sunday about fifty of our scholars in two schools took cards; some have already been filled, and I am in hopes most of them soon will be. I have fixed the amount as low as sixpence, that none of them might be discouraged, and thinking it better to give them a second, (which in some cases I have already done) than one of larger amount. I think, in course of about half a year, just before the holding of the missionary meetings, I could give cards round again. You will be able to say what you think of them, and whether to recommend them to the Sunday schools. I think a considerable amount, in the course of the year, would be realized from the scholars by them. A fac simile in the Magazine would make the plan generally known, and, perhaps, lead to its being taken up by the preachers and teachers in most of the circuits. By some such plan, we shall be gathering up the fragments, that nothing be lost. Suppose only about a sixth or eighth of the scholars in the entire body get cards filled up, the amount will be far from insignificant. Let us give it a trial. B. GLAZEBROOK. Thinking this plan likely to be productive of considerable benefit to our Mission Fund, we give a copy of the cards, and, if we find it to be the wish of our friends, we shall have some printed that they may be supplied from our Book Room. METHODIST ASSOCIATION MISSIONS. By placing a half-penny against each square, Sunday School Scholar, will be able to present Sixpence to the Missionary Society. On the reverse side are the following verses : I've promised to fill up my card, I'm very much pleased with the task: And if you won't help me, 'twill really seem hard, O give a HALF-PENNY I pray, (A trifle is often of use), It may help some poor black on his heavenward way: I'm sure that you cannot refuse. Mr. Glazebrook has properly suggested that shilling cards on the same plan may be made by putting shilling for "sixpence,' on the front, and altering the fourth line of the first verse, and the following verse thus, Since 'tis only a PENNY I ask O give me a PENNY I pray. 407 RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. LEEDS. On Wednesday the 11th, and Sunday the 15th, of September, the Anniversary Sermons of Lady Lane Chapel were preached, by Dr. Raffles, of Liverpool, and Mr. T. B. Young, of Sunderland. On the Wednesday, a good congregation listened with much attention to an excellent discourse, by the Rev. Doctor; to whom the trustees are much indebted for his kindness in visiting Leeds for the occasion. On the Sabbath, Mr. Young preached; the weather in the early part of the day was very unfavourable, much rain falling; but at noon it cleared and this large Chapel was up, filled in the evening. The services of the day were attended by a gracious unction from above; and the visit of Mr. Young will, it is believed, be long remembered by those who had the pleasure of sitting under his ministry. The Collections were upwards of £66. M. J. WEELEY, ESSEX. On Monday the 2nd of September, we held a Missionary tea meeting, at the house of our friend Mr. Robert Bloom. The tea was provided at the sole expense of Mr. B. After tea, we adjourned to the Primitive Methodist Chapel, and the Meeting was addressed by Messrs. Goodrick and Balls, and the writer. From what we could learn, all present were much pleased with the proceedings of the evening. The proceeds of the tea and meeting, will be devoted to the Missionary Fund. The friends in Essex mean to augment their contributions this year. We are praying, believing, and striving for a general revival of the work of God. W. JONES. ROCHDALE CIRCUIT. On Sunday, September 15th, two excellent sermons were preached in the Wesleyan Methodist Association Chapel, Bailie Street, Rochdale, by the Rev. John Peters, of Leeds; and NEW MILLS CIRCUIT. The foundation-stone of a new Chapel was laid at Hawks Green, on Saturday, September the 7th, 1844. Its dimensions are to be 36 feet long, and 27 feet wide. The ceremony was conducted in the following manner. The Sabbath school scholars, teachers, and friends met at the old school room (which has become too strait for their accommodation), and walked in procession to the site where the new chapel is to be erected. The hymn beginning :— Except the Lord conduct the plan," was then given out by the Rev. J. Carveth, minister of the circuit. After singing, he read the 84th psalm, and Brother Jones, one of the local preachers engaged in prayer, then another hymn was sung, beginning "Lord of hosts, to Thee we raise, Here a house of prayer and praise." After which, the stone was laid by our kind friend Brother Taylor, (the donor of the land), in the name of the ever blessed Trinity. A short address was then delivered by Mr.Carveth, in which reference was made to the solemnity, interest and object of this transaction. The service was then concluded with singing and prayer. About 400 persons were present on this solemn, interesting, and I may say, profitable occasion, for truly a divine influence rested upon us. Our prospects in this place are encouraging, we are devoutly praying, and confidently expecting that the erection of this sanctuary, under the divine benediction, will be made a great and lasting blessing to the inhabitants of the village and neighbourhood in which it is to be built. "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts." OBITUARY. DIED, at Bradford West, in the Clitheroe circuit, August 8th, 1844, Mr. Edmund Chippindale, in the seventyseventh year of his age, having been a member of the Methodist Society fiftythree years. He was convinced of his lost and ruined state under the ministry of that eminently holy, and useful man, the Rev. Joseph Benson, in Manchester. After struggling and wrestling for mercy for some time, the Lord manifested his love to him in such a way, as enabled him to rejoice abundantly in the God of his salvation. In his subsequent history the Saviour's words have been verified; "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace." He was a great lover of prayer meetings, and was mighty in public prayer; in times of revival he was remarkably active, exerting all his powers in bringing souls to Christ, and particularly the young. His last affliction was short and severe; he said, "I am not the subject of rapturous joy, but feel Christ to be my only refuge." The Sabbath before his death, he was cheerful and well, and engaged in the public exercises of religion; on the Monday, busy in his hay field, and on the Wednesday following, his spirit took its flight to the regions of eternal JOSEPH TOWNEND. rest. POETRY SABBATH EVENING. The day has fled, how short its stay, He who for hardened rebels bled Exalted on the eternal throne, Hell owns his power, and trembling stands; The King of kings, to saints above, Our joy and comfort this- "The Lord our Righteousness." That bliss shall never pass away, Will fill our hearts with joy- CHARLES BEVERIDGE. T. C. JOHNS, PRINTER, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. THE WESLEYAN METHODIST ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE. NOVEMBER, 1844. MEMOIR OF THE LATE MR. JOHN SUTTON, By Mr. D. Rutherford. THE subject of this brief account was born on the 20th of January, 1776, at Leftwich, near Northwich, of poor and honest parents. Just after he had attained his seventh year, his father was suddenly called away by death, leaving a widow and five helpless children utterly unprovided for. However, He who hath promised to be a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow, enabled Mrs. Sutton to bring up her family without any parochial assistance, and to furnish each of her three sons with a trade. JOHN, the subject of this memoir, was remarkable in his earlier days for retirement and serious meditation; and he was one of the first scholars in the Northwich Sundayschool, which was opened in the Methodist chapel, 1783. The kindness and attention manifested towards him by the teachers made a deep impression on his youthful mind. He had afterwards to remove to Manchester, where he resided a short time, and became deeply impressed with the necessity of a religious life. A storm of thunder and lightning, which took place in the summer of 1796, was the means, under Divine providence, of awakening him to a sense of his lost condition. Soon after this, the good hand of the Lord brought him amongst the Methodists, worshipping in Oldham Street chapel, Manchester. Shortly after this, by the light of the Divine Spirit, he discovered the plan of salvation; and in a public prayer meeting, obtained a sense of the pardon of his sins. So clear was the change which took place in his mind, that he testified both with his lips and his life, that "old things were passed away, and all things had become new." Soon after his conversion, he visited his relatives at Northwich, when a friend, in Great Budworth, who was pleased with Mr. Sutton's piety and zeal, thought he ought to engage in the work of the ministry, and without acquainting him, or obtaining his consent, but with the consent of other persons entitled to be consulted, announced that on a certain evening Mr. Sutton would preach. He considered this as the voice of God, through his church; therefore, he conferred not with flesh and blood, but with much fear and trembling entered on this solemn work. The same evening the Lord graciously confirmed the word preached, by causing two persons to pass from darkness into marvellous light. Before Warrington was divided from the Northwich circuit, Mr. Sutton laboured much in preaching in the villages and hamlets, which now form parts of the Warrington circuit. In the year 1819, Mr. Shelmerdine, who had known Mr. Sutton in Lancashire, was appointed to the superintendency of the Northwich circuit, and he proposed at the preachers' meeting that Mr. Sutton's name should be placed on the plan, which was unanimously agreed to; and from that time, until he was laid aside by affliction, he faithfully fulfilled his appointments. On one occasion, as he was going to preach, he observed five young men gambling in the open air, on the Lord's day, whom he rebuked in the fear of God, warned them against Sabbath breaking, and invited them to the chapel, where he was going to preach. They accepted the invitation, and the word came home with power to their hearts; they came again in the evening, when the previous impressions were deepened, and from the visible change in the conduct of three of them, there was reason to conclude a gracious work had then taken place in their hearts. Soon after he returned to reside in the Northwich circuit, the leader of the class in which he met fell from grace, and by the unanimous wish of the members, he was appointed their leader; and how faithfully he laboured in this sphere of duty, is well known to many. He possessed an original and useful talent as a class leader, and his lively and short exhortations were frequently rendered very beneficial to the members. His attachment to class meetings was undiminished to the end of life, and the last time he left home was for the purpose of meeting his class, and exhorting the members "to work while it is day." It was his desire, when dying, that a hymn might be sung, at the door of the house where his class met, when his mortal remains should be carried to his long home; which request was solemnly complied with. His attachment to fellowship meetings is well known to many in the Chester and Nantwich circuits, and in other places which he was in the habit of visiting. It was, however, in band meetings and love feasts that his holy zeal and devotional spirit appeared to the greatest advantage. It is usually remarked, that a life of trial, of all others, is the most interesting, and, in many respects, most strikingly developes the Christian character. This was verified in the history of our late brother; for during a great part of his Christian pilgrimage he drank largely of the bitter cup of adversity; and in one of these trying moments he was relieved in the following remarkable manner. One day his wife and three small children, were without food; supper time came, but he possessed nothing to supply the wants of his almost fainting wife and little ones. The children on being put to bed, anxiously enquired, if there would be any food for them in the morning! He tried to sing a hymn, but his wife was too much cast down in spirit to join him; he then read a portion of that Word which had often refreshed his weary and fainting |