We notice with great pleasure that our volume of portions, entitled "Morning by Morning," has now reached the hundredth thousand. We have received a large number of personal testimonies to its hallowed influence upon individuals. The Lord's name be praised that in such times as these there are so many spiritual persons who can enjoy our simple sentences upon the gospel of our Lord!

Country friends will find no difficulty in getting into the Tabernacle, even on Sundays, if they come early. Let them not forget that on Thursday evenings the service is at seven o'clock, and no sort of ticket is needed; all are freely admitted. The same thing may be said of the Monday evening prayer-meetings. Mr. Spurgeon hopes to be always at home, except upon two Thursdays of July, the 23rd and 30th, when some good brother will occupy the pulpit.

The Collection at Tabernacle for the Hospitals was £200: much of which is given by those who may need the hospitality of such institutions.

Have our lady friends seen the very appreciative article upon Mrs. Spurgeon, in The Queen newspaper, of Saturday, June 20? We are glad that the ladies of England should know some of the workers for God who are in their ranks.

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Very sudden was the death of our muchvalued friend, Mr. JAMES BENHAM. enjoyed his company at Mentone, and now we shall see him no more till we meet before the throne. A more solid, reliable man of God we never knew. The Bloomsbury church will not readily fill the vacancy caused by his quick departure. He was ever our faithful friend, and the joyful face with which he looked up to us when we preached in the little room at Mentone remains photographed upon our heart.

PAXTON HOOD has also fallen asleep. We have been familiar with him from our youth up. What a bookish man! We do not know his equal in that respect. He seemed to have read everything. The lectures which he gave to our students were, some of them, very wonderful-we are obliged to say some of them, because he undertook too much, and therefore at times his work bore traces of hurry and disorder. Yet it was a rare treat to hear him talk. As a friend, he was very genial, and a man of warm attachments. He has been tossed in many a storm, and has not been wrecked; but we can well believe that he sympathizes with the mariners in the Psalm-" then are they glad because they be quiet.' It is no small satisfaction to us that we stood by him in one of his days of trial, and often received his thanks for so doing. We are glad to have numbered him among our friends. One by one the workers go home; let us work while it is called to-day.

On Monday evening, June 1, the annual

meeting of the ZENANA MISSION AUXILIARY was combined with the prayer-meeting at the Tabernacle. Pastor C. H. Spurgeon presided; prayers were offered by several brethren, and addresses were delivered by two missionaries, Mr. R. Spurgeon, from Bengal, and Mr. Fuller, from the Cameroons. Mr. W. Olney reported that the contributions to the Zenana Mission Auxiliary during the year had amounted to about £250, and that the total amount raised by the church and school for the Baptist Missionary Society had been about £700. Our Foreign Mission deserves the heartiest sympathy and help of us all. Never did it occupy a higher place in the love of our churches than now. It is admirably conducted, and doing good work for our Lord.

The following week, prayer was presented mainly in connection with our homemission work, and special reference was made to the TABERNACLE COUNTRY MISSION, the members of which are seeking to carry the gospel to the neglected districts of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, and Kent. Mr. Goldston, the President of the Mission, and Mr. Chalmers, the Secretary, recounted certain details of the work; Mr. Wickerson spoke of the progress made at Southgate, where a chapel has been built; and Mr. Walker described the state of affairs at Matching Green, Essex, where ground has been given, and funds are being collected for the erection of a suitable place of worship. There are twelve stations connected with the Mission, with twenty-five preachers, who freely give their services. In many instances churches, which are now important centres of usefulness, have been formed through the work of this Society; and, as the men and the means are forthcoming, a similar result will follow in other places. The Mission needs the services of more earnest, faithful preachers; and it also requires additional funds for the payment of travelling expenses, the hire of halls, the purchase of ground, and the building of chapels or school-rooms. All round London vast masses of people are congregating, and we must take our full share in supplying them with the truths that are so dear to our own hearts. Who will help? The first on the ground to-day will probably remain first in future time, and it is important that the full and free gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ should not be second to any diluted and attenuated forms of doctrine.

Monday, June 15, was the day set apart by the Conference for special united prayer by all the churches connected with the College Association. A post-card was issued by the President, reminding the ministers of the arrangement, and urging them to comply with it as far as possible. We have heard from quite a number of brethren, who tell us that they enjoyed a season of special

spiritual power. At the Tabernacle we had an extraordinary time of blessing. A goodly company assembled at six o'clock in the evening, and for two hours and a half prayer and praise and exhortation were happily blended, most of the students now in the College taking part in the public supplications. Of all our services the prayermeetings are the best. An unction from the Holy One is upon them.

COLLEGE.-Mr. John Maynard, who was at one time an inmate of the Stockwell Orphanage, and who has since completed his course of study at the Pastors' College, has been accepted by the Baptist Missionary Society Committee for work on the Congo. It is deemed desirable that he should have a year's special medical training at the University Hospital, at the close of which he will be appointed to one of the stations of the Baptist Mission on the Congo. It is a subject of special thanksgiving that our two principal institutions have thus united in preparing a brother who will, we trust, be greatly used by the Lord in the foreign mission field.

The following students have accepted pastorates:-Mr. C. Rudge, at Sevenoaks, Kent; Mr. J. Stanley, at Semley, Wilts.; and Mr. F. Walker, at Thaxted, Essex. There would seem to be no lack of churches for the right sort of men; but as a rule the churches are poor, and not able to support men with large families. We have, however, good evidence that many churches might do more in this direction if they only made the attempt. For the sake of many poor brethren we wish deacons would try what the people could do to provide comfortably for pastors who are now left in need.

One of our students, Mr. George Davies, is working with much earnestness, amid discouraging surroundings, at Romney Street Chapel, Westminster. The building sadly needs cleaning and repairs, which cannot be done properly for less than £300. There is already a debt of £400; and, as the church is small and poor, this amount cannot be raised without considerable help from wealthier friends, although the people will do what they can. Contributions for a bazaar, or donations towards the renovation fund, will be thankfully received by Mr. Davies, Pastors' College, Temple Street, Southwark, S.E. This is a needy church in a very poor neighbourhood, and it deserves to be liberally aided.

The students will shortly be leaving for their summer vacation, which ends Sept. 1st. So many of our brethren have accepted pastorates that the number of men left in the College has been greatly reduced; but we have selected as many candidates as we think it wise to receive, and they will enter for the autumn session. It may save some disappointment to intending applicants if we inform them that we are not likely to have further vacancies until September next year.

Mr. H. Atkinson, late of Southbank, has gone to Wycliffe Chapel, Reading; Mr. J. Bateman, from Tue Brook, Liverpool, to Hanley, Staffs.; Mr. R. T. Lewis, from New Whittington, to Shipston-on-Stour; Mr. A. H. Smith, from Chesterfield, to Clarence-road, Southend-on-Sea; Mr. F. J. Steward, from Calne, to Corsham, Wilts. ; Mr. J. E. Moyle, from Papineauville, to Moosomin, Canada.

At our recent Conference we had not to report the death of any pastor belonging to our fraternity, but since the meetings closed, one of our brethren, Pastor James Hope, of Redditch, has been called home to his rest and reward. We were in some measure prepared for his departure by a serious illness, which threatened to prove fatal some months since, but he appears to have recovered, at least partially, and was preaching till within three weeks of his death. The Canadian Baptist we also learn that another member of our holy brotherhood, Pastor D. Menzies, passed away on the very day that the Conference meetings began. Last October he was obliged to resign his pastorate at Papineauville through ill-health. Both our departed brethren have left a noble record of consecrated lives and self-denying labours.

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Mr. J. S. Harrison, who expected to return from Australia for evangelistic work in England, has had his plans altered; and he has become pastor of the church at Geelong, Victoria.

Mr. T. G. Churcher, M.D., M.R.C.S., has accepted an appointment as medical missionary in connection with the work carried on by Mr. Baldwin among the Kabyles, at Tangier, Morocco, where he hopes to go in October.

Mr. W. L. Mayo, who resigned the pastorate, at Bury, Lancashire, under circumstances which reflected much honour upon him, expects to sail for the United States this month. We can commend him without reserve to any vacant church. Letters for him can be sent to Pastor W. Fuller, Varysburgh, Wyoming Co., New York.

Another of our best-known and highlyesteemed brethren is about to leave England to strengthen the ministerial band at the Antipodes. Dr. Landels has been asked to select a pastor for the church meeting in Wharf Street, Brisbane, the largest and most influential Baptist Church in Queensland. His choice has fallen upon our brother, W. Whale, of Middlesbrough; and while we regret the loss of his services in the home country, we heartily congratulate the colony to which he is going. In each of his pastorates Mr. Whale has done noble service for our Lord, and his voice has often been heard to good purpose on public platforms, where he has ably advocated the cause of righteousness, temperance, peace, education, &c. More than once his weighty words at our denominational meetings have carried consternation into the camp of those who would lead men away from the truth;

while at our own Conference gatherings his portly form, happy face, and genial speech, have endeared him to us all. May the Lord send a worthy successor to fill the gap that will be caused by his departure, and richly bless him in his new sphere of labour on the other side of the globe!

EVANGELISTS. - After the Conference, Messrs. Fullerton and Smith returned to Huddersfield, to finish their series of services. A great blessing rested upon the work. During nearly all the past month our brethren have been at Oldham, by ararrangment with the two Baptist churches. The attendances have been large, the enquirers many, and the converts not a few: to God be all the glory. July is a bad time for special services, so the evangelists use it for rest. In August they hope to be at the Edinburgh Castle, Stepney; in September, at Shoreditch Tabernacle; in October, at Abney Park and Devonshire Square Chapels; and in November, at Abbey Road, St. John's Wood.

We have received from the Baptist Union of New Zealand, a very pressing invitation for Messrs. Smith and Fullerton to visit "Brighter Britain." If satisfactory arrangements can be made, they will probably go next summer, and take the opportunity of holding services also in the other Australasian colonies.

Mr. Burnham is now at Whitchurch, Shropshire, and is arranging for a series of services in Dorsetshire in connection with the county Congregational Association. He also hopes to spend September, as usual, in the Kent hop-gardens.

Mr. Russell completed his course as a member of the Society of Evangelists by holding a successful mission at Dorchester. He has now settled down to pastoral work at Hull, for which his two and a half years' labour as an evangelist will have been, we trust, a good preparation. There should be in Hull a far greater number of Baptists than at this present. There is room for a dozen churches without intruding upon other denominations.

The brother who will fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Russell's retirement is Pastor A. A. Harmer, Dolton, N. Devon, who is coming to London ready to commence work in September. Both in the country and in London Mr. Harmer has been greatly blessed in evangelistic efforts, and he has felt called to give himself wholly to the work. He will be glad to hear from brethren wishing to avail themselves of his help. In our judgment Mr. Harmer has special adaptations for evangelistic work, and we would urge our brethren, especially those in the country, to secure his services.

Messrs. Mateer and Parker have recently held services at Gresham Chapel, Brixton; and Diss, Norfolk. They have arranged to leave England by the steamship Gallia, for New York, on Aug. 1; and, if the Lord shall open the way, will spend several

months in evangelistic work in the United States. They are hereby commended to all Christian churches among which they may sojourn. May showers of blessing rest upon them in thus going forth among our brethren on the other side of the sea!

ORPHANAGE.-The annual festival was celebrated on Thursday, June 18, the day before the President's fifty-first birthday: and in every respect it was an unqualified success. The weather was all that could be desired; we had about as many visitors as we could comfortably accommodate, probably between eight and nine thousand persons being on the grounds in the course of the day, and the financial result was very encouraging, about £1,100 being brought in by collectors and donors, paid for admission at the gates, or sent by post by friends unable to be present. The new bakehouse was used for the first time, and under the kind superintendence of Mr. J. Plant, of Norwood, several batches of penny loaves and cakes were baked, and sold for the benefit of the institution. In the afternoon, the President laid the memorial stone of the

laundry, but as only a limited number could be admitted to witness the ceremony, a meeting was held in the grounds, where some thousands gathered around the platform. In the course of his speech, the President announced that about £2,400 was still required to pay for the buildings now being erected. A few kind words were spoken by Admiral Sir W. King Hall, K.C.B., prayer was offered by the Rev. John Spurgeon, and then the assembly dispersed, to meet again in still larger numbers at six o'clock for the evening meeting. At this gathering, the Earl of Aberdeen, who was accompanied by the Countess, occupied the chair, and addresses were delivered by the President, Vice President, the Revs. J. E. C. Welldon (Head Master, Dulwich College), D. Davies (Regent's Park Chapel), G. Shaw (Madagascar), A. G. Brown, and C. Spurgeon; Messrs. W. Willis, Q.C., M.P., and W. Noble, of the Gospel Temperance Mission; and Dr. Barnardo. We were very grateful to all the speakers, and especially to the noble chairman, for their loving expressions of sympathy with us in our work of caring for the widow and the fatherless. As soon as the platform could be cleared, the Clapham Gospel Male Choir took possession of it, and delighted a large audience with their singing, while Pastor C. Spurgeon gave brief addresses between the sacred songs. The day's proceedings were brought to a close by the illumination of the grounds, and a procession of the children carrying banners, lanterns, &c., and headed by Dr. Barnardo's band, which our good friend again kindly placed at our service. Thanks are due first to the Father of the fatherless for all the pleasure and profit of the festival, and then to every one of the hundreds of givers and workers who, in any degree, contributed to the success of the