AUSTRALIA. BALLAARAT. MR. BICKFORD's letter will be read with pleasure, particularly in the West Indies, where he laboured long, before removing to his present sphere. The tokens of Christian progress in Ballaarat cannot but be hailed with gratitude and delight by all observers who wish well to the wonderful colony in which it is situate, and to its sister colonies on the same vast island. From our hearts we echo the motto which one of them has, we understand, adopted, "Advance, Australia!" Extract of a Letter from the Rev. James Bickford, dated Ballaarat, As the Royal Mail ship" Columbia" calls here to-morrow for the Victoria mails, I write a few lines relative to the work of God in this Circuit. Our last Quarterly Meeting was held in the Gravel-Pits chapel, Ballaarat East, on the 5th ult. We commenced at ten A. M. to hold the Local Preachers' Meeting, at which were the Rev. Messrs. Bickford, Crisp, James, and about forty brethren. At two P.M. fifty-three brethren sat down to the Circuit dinner; after which Mr. Whitfield Raw and Mr. James Oddie, the Circuit-Stewards, were in their places, and in an hour had taken the moneys from the respective Society-Stewards. The income for the quarter was £365, and the expenditure, for three Ministers' salaries and current expenses, was £350. These having been unanimously passed, a long and interesting conversation took place on the necessity of using more vigorous means for the promotion of the work of God in the Circuit. In the evening, the usual quarterly lovefeast was held. The brethren from the country stations particularly reported on the state of their Societies and congregations; and great was the rejoicing of all at the healthful condition of these outposts. It was a melting time; God "made our hearts soft;" and we solemnly consecrated ourselves anew to the service of our great Master. The number of members was 591, being an increase of 152 on the number reported at the last Conference. There were also 42 candi dates for membership amongst us. On the 19th of January last, Sir Henry Barkly, K.C.B., Governor of Victoria, in the presence of at least fifteen thousand persons, laid the foundation-stone of our new church in Ballaarat West, The Building Committee, on that deeply-interesting occasion, presented to His Excellency a gold trowel, set in an ivory handle, and ornamented with specimens of quartz, in testimony of his great kindness in laying for them the "monumental stone," and also as a memento of the golden resources of the Ballaarat district. On the 18th of July, the Rev. Daniel Draper, Secretary of the Conference, solemnly dedicated it to the service of the Most High. He delivered two lucid and effective expositions of our theology, and in such a manner as to delight and instruct the crowds who sat at his feet. In the afternoon the Superintendent Minister preached to the Teachers and scholars of the township, and of neighbouring Sabbath-schools. About eight hundred, including parents, were present. The children appeared much delighted in being recognised, in these services, as an integral portion of the church; and it is believed that many of them were savingly impressed by the affectionate counsels given them on the occasion. On Tuesday, 20th, a public tea took place, at which six hundred sat down; and at the subsequent meeting, held in the new church, many, in addition to that number, were present. James Oddie, Esq., J.P., one of the Circuit-Stewards, occupied the chair, and greatly interested the audience by a rapid sketch of the introduction and establishment of Wesleyan Methodism in this locality. J. A. Doane, Esq., one of the Treasurers of the Building Fund, read the Report, list of subscriptions, and accounts. The Rev. Messrs. Henderson, (Free Church,) Searle, (Episcopalian,) Draper, Bickford, Taylor, Crisp, James, (Wesleyans,) and John Crombie, Esq., addressed the Meeting. On Sunday, 25th, the Rev. Joseph Dare, of Sandhurst, preached both morning and evening. His discourses were characterized by much acquaintance with the sorrows of God's children in their pilgrimage to the skies, and with the dangers to which the colonists are exposed, in this their adopted country, of substituting worldly gain for the more enduring riches of Christ. In the afternoon of the same day a lovefeast was held for the members and for "serious persons 99 belonging to the congregation. Upwards of four hundred were present, many of whom bore testimony to their enjoyment of a full salvation realized by faith in the blood of Christ. Truly God was in the midst of his people, making the place of his feet glorious. On Monday evening, the last of the series of services connected with this Christian festival was held in the schoolroom. The Rev. Theophilus Taylor, although extremely unwell, presided on the occasion. Mr. Dare, by special request and appointment, addressed the congregation on the constitution and adaptability of Wesleyan Methodism to the peculiar circumstances of the Australian colonists. He spoke for upwards of an hour on the origin, doctrines, discipline, agency, successes, and probable destiny of Methodism in our world. A vote of thanks to Mr. Dare, for his eloquent lecture, was moved and seconded by Messrs. Oddie and Morgan; after which the seventh collection was made, and the meeting was concluded by prayer. The financial result of these services is £403. The total cost of the erection, including gas-fittings and extras, will be about £4,750. The amount already received is about £2,000; and it is hoped that in four years the entire balance will be met. It will be interesting to our many friends to be furnished with a description of the building. A friendly correspondent has thus described it : "The building is constructed of solid blue-stone; the plinths, corbels, strings, buttresses, windows, door-dressings, &c., being faced with Roman cement, relieves the façade, which would otherwise present a heavy appearance. "The church, with the galleries, will afford accommodation for rather over a thousand persons. Its external size is eighty-seven feet long by forty feet wide. The interior is fitted up in a manner corresponding with the exterior generally. In the appearance of the galleries, however, which are square and plainly pannelled, there is something which has an air foreign to the style of the edifice; but, in the main, the interior arrangements are judicious, and the church promises to be a most comfortable one. The pews are open slips, with Gothic ends, the pulpit being of similar design, and approached by a flight of stairs at either side. "The roof is open-timbered, ornamented with handsome pannelling, cut in keys of timber, and corresponding with the general design. It is boarded under the rafters, from the apex down to the walls on either side. The walls themselves are plastered and picked out, to represent freestone. "The entire structure is well lighted, and the arrangements for ventilation are very perfect. The galleries are approached by side-entrances, and the body of the church by a front-entrance and lobby, affording ample means of exit. "The church is roofed with slate, and the façade presents a handsome and even imposing appearance. As it is built upon a slope, there is ample room for a large school-room underneath its eastern end. The size of the latter is forty feet by fifteen, and it is lighted by windows facing the flat. "The building is highly characteristic of the purpose to which it is to be devoted; and we shall hail with pleasure the day when many other such edifices are erected in our town." We beg to present, through you, our grateful thanks to Mrs. George Fox, Miss Lidstone, and other friends in Kingsbridge, for a large supply of tracts, &c., which they have recently sent us for gratuitous distribution on the Ballaarat Gold-Fields. I am happy to say that a new era in our educational affairs has begun here. We have secured the invaluable services of Mr. George Oldham, a Westminster student, for our township school; and once a month he and Mr. Kent, from Cornwall, meet the other Teachers, with a view to their improvement. SOUTH AMERICA. DEMERARA. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. David Barley, dated Demerara, On OUR Kingston chapel, although not quite finished yet, was opened for divine service on Thursday, September 30th, by our Chairman, and the Rev. Mr. Scott, of the London Mission. Sunday, Messrs. Cleaver and Greathead preached; and on the Tuesday following, Mr. Griffith closed the opening services. The entire series was a festival to our friends at Kingston: all seemed to feel that God was with us. If we had not the "cloud" filling the house, we had, to a gracious extent, the presence of the Divine Spirit, whom that cloud symbolized. The collections amounted to upwards of 213 dollars, exclusive of donations. I am glad to say that, with the enlarged chapel (now eighty-two feet by fifty) we already perceive an enlargement of the congregation. We are now making additional special efforts to get the building painted inside and out. The expense of this will necessarily be great; but paint in this climate is really necessary to preserve our structures of wood from rapid decay. Trinity chapel is in the hands of the builder; and he is advancing with the alteration and enlargement. I hope this week to see the entire frame of the Training College erected. All matters connected with this project I leave to the correspondence of the Chairman with the Committee. We had very good and numerouslyattended tea-meeting in the Trinity chapel two or three weeks ago; the financial results, upwards of 300 dollars; and I think I may truthfully add, the moral results will much benefit the church. I now refer to another topic, which, although at present remote as to its bearings on Methodism, may one day seriously affect us in this city. I mean our sea-defences. I am sorry to write, that the high springs of Saturday night last swept away the "sea-wall," and inundated the front lands of the Kitty and Thomas Estates; and so contiguous are these plantations to Kingston, that immediate steps were requisite to keep out the water from that portion of the city. This is the third time that the embankment has failed to resist the aggressions of the tides: indeed, for some years past the sea has been gaining on us in this immediate locality. It is probable the Colony will erect defences more inland; but such repeated instances of compelled retirement before the sea awaken apprehension for the safety of Kingston. There is, however, a large amount of Government and other property at Kingston, which will induce the Colony to do all that is possible to ward off the danger. Lately we have had very fine and very hot weather, attended by a large amount of sickness. The comet has been very brilliant here; but it is now rapidly fading from sight in the dim distance. WEST INDIES. ST. KITT'S. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Walter Garry, dated Dieppe-Bay, You will have heard that, in consequence of family affliction, we were appointed by the last District-Meeting to St. Kitt's. Dieppe-Bay, our present residence, is a small village with a population of about five hundred it is sixteen miles distant from Basseterre, the capital of the island, and is situate at the base of Mount Misery, a lofty mountain of volcanic origin, whose summit is almost always covered with thick clouds, from which circumstance, I believe, it derived its name. The Mission-premises here are commodious, and the site on which they stand advantageous, being open to the Atlantic, across which a refreshing and invigorating sea-breeze is nearly constantly blowing, and which has proved highly beneficial to myself and family in enabling us to shake off the enervating effects of the Dominica fevers. The two stations under my more immediate care and supervision are DieppeBay and Tabernacle. At the former place there are 414 members in Society, and at the latter 341; in each of these places we have a day and Sabbath school in active operation. The DieppeBay chapel is capable of accommodating about seven hundred persons, and the chapel at Tabernacle will seat nearly five hundred. Both places of worship are well attended on the Lord's day, and I believe a spirit of serious concern for the salvation of their souls has been awakened in the minds of our people in the above-mentioned places. I admitted at Dieppe-Bay 18, and at Tabernacle 22, persons on trial for membership last quarter. We held our Missionary Meeting at Dieppe-Bay on the 24th ultimo: the attendance was large, and our people seemed to vie with each other in giving practical expression of their sympathy with the great Missionary cause. donations and subscriptions in this place for the year 1858 amounted to the noble sum of £33. 6s. 9d, being £13 in excess of the receipts of last year. The The Missionary Meeting at Tabernacle was held on the 25th ultimo. The contributions from this station towards the Mission fund are £12. 10s. 11d., being a little in advance of the amount collected last year. On both the above-mentioned stations our people are in indigent circumstances; so that in doing what they have done towards sending the Gospel to the "regions beyond," I may say, that "their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality." We have lately held some special services at Dieppe-Bay, with reference to a revival of the work of God in this village; these services were well attended, and, I doubt not, have proved highly beneficial to many. The PrayerLeaders of this Society are very zealous ; indeed, I have seldom met with any more so. We are agreed as to the necessity of the aid of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of souls, and in the enlargement of the kingdom of the Messiah in the world, and we implore God to baptize us with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. O that the sacred fire which is now burning on the continent of America might fall upon us in the islands of these seas, that our "little one may become a thousand," and our "small one a great nation!" BARBADOES. THE following letter is interesting in several points of view. It is a specimen of many applications made to the Committee for assistance in building or repairing Mission-premises, which, during the late period of great financial pressure, they have been compelled to decline. The efforts of a poor but willing people to help themselves will be noted with pleasure, and held to deserve encouragement. A small conditional grant has been made, in order that the spiritual work may not be retarded by defective accommodation for the congregations. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. John C. Barratt, dated Speight's-Town, As the time when you will take into consideration the affairs of this District, is fast approaching, I wish to bring one matter before you, as I think it deserves and claims your special attention. mean the effort for raising funds to build a new chapel on this station. I For many years the place we at present occupy has been too small, on Sunday evenings far too small, for the accommodation of the congregation assembling there. The chapel is crowded to excess, notwithstanding it is one of the most unhealthy and inconvenient places ever built for a house of worship; and there can be no question but that both Preachers and people have frequently suffered in their health from having to occupy such a place. Our people are willing to do all they can towards the erection of a new building; but as they are principally of the labouring class, their contributions are necessarily small. The men seldom earn more than tenpence per day; and when employment is scarce, they only receive : sevenpence-halfpenny. The women do not get more than the last-named sum, and frequently only sixpence, per day; and when everything is going on tolerably well with them, they find it hard work to maintain their families, and to pay their weekly and quarterly contrinntions in their classes. But this year, besides having to contend with low wages, and only partial employment, they have suffered the loss of their provision-crops in the early part of the year these entirely failed on account of the drought; and the corn-crop, which ought to be reaped during the present month, has been almost entirely destroyed by the worm. They have thus been compelled to lay out the whole of their earnings to purchase food for themselves and their families, instead of being in part supplied from their lands; and, to increase their difficulties, provisions have been from fifty to seventy-five per cent higher in price than they were two years ago. In proof of the statement made above, that they are willing to do all they can, I may just say that last year we raised from all sources about £200, and this year we have realized upwards of £100 more. The effort is still being carried on; but, from the above-named causes, it progresses very slowly. I think I may venture to say, on behalf of our people here, that our case is one that should claim the sympathy and support of the Committee; and I think I am justified in asking you for help. If you would give us that help in the shape of a grant for the purchase of the land required as a site for the chapel, we would fight our way through. A most desirable spot has been offered to us, the cost of which would amount to about £150; but as the plot is larger than would be required for a chapel, we should be able to dispose of what we did not want; and this would reduce the price to £100, or perhaps a little more. We should be obliged, in the first in stance, to purchase the whole, in order to obtain the part we require. If we can obtain the land without interfering with the funds we have been raising for building-purposes, we should be able to commence the erection of the new chapel about next May; that is, as soon as the next sugar-crop is reaped : but, if not, we shall have to take at least twelve months longer; and this delay must prove disheartening to the people, and highly injurious to our cause in this place. I might say much more in support of my appeal; but I think I have said enough to show you how greatly we stand in need of help. Mr. Hurd will be able to confirm the statements I have made, and I have no doubt can materially strengthen our case. I conclude this request by earnestly entreating you to give the matter the consideration it deserves. We are not making much headway with our chapel-effort at Selah, in the parish of St. Lucy; the same causes interfering with us at this place also. Our apology for a chapel is in a most deplorable state: nearly one-half of the shingles have rotted away, and part of the place is near tumbling down; and, in addition to this, the building has to be reached by crossing a cane-field, where we have no right of road, and which is impassable after a heavy shower of rain. Here we have raised, during the present year, upwards of £30, and we hope to increase it to £70 by the end of the year. I am thankful to say that we have been encouraged in prosecuting our labours since the last District-Meeting. Most of those who joined our ranks during the special services still hold on their way; many have come into the enjoyment of the blessing of pardon, and are now striving to grow in grace. influence of the services on the members and office-bearers in the church was immediately apparent; and they are still seeking a larger outpouring of grace from on high, and we are all earnestly praying, "O Lord, revive thy work." The TOBAGO. In the decease of Mr. Williams, the Society loses a valuable Missionary, which, in the present scarcity of properly-trained labourers, is a heavy affliction. The Committee thankfully recognise, with gratitude to God, the alleviation supplied by his triumphant end; and they are not unmindful of the great kindness of Mr. Keens and his |