258 PROPOSED CHAPEL AND TEMPERANCE HALL, AT WALLSEND.

For above forty years the society has worshiped in a small chapel, low and ill ventilated; the low level and damp nature of the soil having been more than once the occasion of the renewal of the wooden floor, which had been destroyed by damp rot. As many converts have been added to the society, for some time past the accommodation has been too small for the requirements of the increasing congregation and Sabbath school.

The need of a Temperance Hall has been much felt by the Wallsend Temperance Society, there being no Public Hall in the village; and it is confidently expected that the erection of such a building, with appurtenences for Tea Meetings, Special Vestry for the meetings of Benefit Societies, Sons of Temperance Division, and other associations-will give a new impetus to the work of Temperance reform which is advancing in the neighbourhood.

An eligible site has been purchased on the north side of the village; the south end of the building fronts on to a public road, and the east elevation abuts on a main street forty feet wide. The site is about fifty-six feet by thirty-six feet; a portion is devoted to an area at the south end, enclosed by a neat iron railing, with iron gateway to principal entrance to chapel. The building is fifty-one feet long, by thirty-six feet wide, and will be built of red brick, with chiselled stone dressings to doorways, windows, &c. The building has been designed by Mr. Thomas Parker, Architect, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne; the style adopted is Gothic, of the Early English period. The chapel is lighted on the east and west sides by means of ten lancet windows glazed in lozenge pattern, with coloured margin; corresponding two-light square windows give light to the Temperance Hall; over the principal doorway of the Hall is a small cuspated window as a side light to the end elevation or gallery. In the south gable the chief features are the principal entrance to chapel, over which, in the gable, is placed a wheelwindow, characteristic of the 13th century period of Gothic architecture, which will be filled in with lead glazing, the glass slightly tinted, and have coloured margin of simple leaf pattern; this gable, forming the main front, is surmounted with a moulded coping, and finished with an apex-stone and carved finial. The inscriptions and date, as shown in the illustration, are placed on the wheel-window and head of Temperance Hall doorway.

The CHAPEL, consisting of ground floor and end elevation, will contain about 300 sittings; the pews against the side walls being set anglewise, will enable the audience to see and hear with additional comfort. A neat platform, with communion railing in front, is placed at the north end of the chapel. At the south end, on a mezzanine floor are the en

trances to the chapel, on the side of which is a minister's vestry with staircase up to chapel, and on the opposite side of the entrance is the staircase to the end elevation; this latter being only about five feet above the level of the chapel floor at the front. The height of the chapel from floor to level part of ceiling is 21 feet; the ceiling is placed half-way up the roof, and divided into bays by the roof principals, and octagonal ventilator in each bay of ceiling.

The TEMPERANCE HALL, the principal entrance to which is seen on the right hand of our woodcut (or illustration), occupies the basement of the building, the floor being about five feet below the level of the street. The hall is fourteen feet from floor to ceiling, and will hold nearly 400 persons. It is designed for the purpose of Temperance Meetings, Lectures, and, when not occupied otherwise by our Trustees, will be available for letting for the general purposes of a public Lecture Hall; also on the Sabbath it will be used for Sabbath school purposes, the seats being provided with reversible backs especially for the convenience of ranging classes. At the north end of the hall is a platform with entrance from the vestry, with a separate entrance from the street on the north-west side of the building. On the other side of the platform is another vestry, fitted up with gas boiler apparatus, serving window and other appliances for tea meetings. The building will be lighted with gas, and warmed by means of gas stoves, three of which are placed in the chapel and two in the Temperance Hall.

Special attention has been given to secure efficient and uninterrupted ventilation. In addition to the ventilator on pivots in the windows, a perforated wooden cornice runs along the eaves-line on each side of the chapel, through which a constant stream of fresh air is introduced by means of openings to the external air; the outlets for foul air being placed in each bay of the ceiling, and thence by means of channels to the screw ventilator in the roof of the building. Equal attention has been given to the ventilation of the Temperance Hall; and it is expected that these permanent openings for the supply of fresh air, in a constant and equally distributed stream, will preclude the necessity of the objectionable practice of throwing open the windows of the building, and causing a rush of cold air upon a heated congregation.

The whole of the internal woodwork exposed to view will be stained and varnished a light new oak colour, and the ornamental railing to communion place and cast iron columns done in ornamental colours, and picked out with gold.

The entire cost of the building is estimated at present at about £1,050; and towards this cost several very liberal donations have been promised by the members of the scciety.

A DEVOTED MINISTRY

NECESSARY TO A REVIVAL OF RELIGION.

BRIEF THOUGHTS ON PSALM 1XXXV. 6.

"Wilt Thou not revive us again that Thy people may rejoice in Thee." This prayer was put up by the sons of Korah, and it seems quite evident that they believed their recovered piety would tend to recruit that of the people generally. Without, however, pressing this thought upon you, I hesitate not to affirm-what the words have suggested to my mind that a healthy and devoted ministry will produce a healthy, vigorous, and joyful church.

It is admitted on all hands that the Jewish Priesthood stood between God and the people, He blessing through it, and they approaching Him through the Priests. It is not remembered as it should be that the same principle exists now; that when Christians in their corporate capacity as a church are seeking blessing, it is through ordinances appointed by God that He conveys His blessings, and they their devotions. And it yet remains a fact, and one of vast importance too, that a holy ministry is essential to church prosperity.

That we may have a right perception of this subject it will be needful to understand the following things:

I. GOD HAS EVER HAD HIS PEOPLE IN A COMMUNITY.-Under the old dispensation God's people were the children of Abraham, distinguished by the rite of circumcision, the seal of the covenant which God made with their father. And, although most of them lived very disobediently, He yet recognized them as His, and spoke of and acted towards then as He did not to the rest of mankind. Under this dispensation God has a people, represented in their corporate capacity by a vine, a building, a temple, a body, and a kingdom, and are marked off from the rest of mankind by baptism, the seal of the new and better covenant. Amongst them there is great diversity; most, alas! living ungodly lives; many resting in the form or profession of Christianity; a minority only really and truly serving the Lord.

II. THIS BODY IS EDIFIED THROUGH DIVINELY-APPOINTED ORDINANCES.-There are 1. The preaching of the Word of Life; 2. Those who preach it; 3. The exercise of worship; 4. The ordinance of baptism; 5. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper; 6. Christian communion. No one possessing true faith can use these means and fail to be built up in that faith, whilst those of the body who despise these ordinances, or any of them, must lose spirituality, to which they can be restored only by returning in penitence and faith to their use.

* This does not invalidate the fact that true believers are a spiritual priesthood, each having the privilege of free access to the throne of grace as certainly as the Jewish High Priest had the exclusive right to approach the mercy seat on the great day of atonement; a privilege implying a power, conferred by grace, of bringing down upon themselves a glory excelling the glory of the Shekinah.-ED.

III. EACH OF THESE ORDINANCES HAS ITS OWN PLACE AND POWER.The efficacy of any one is not affected or lessened by the loss of power in any of the others. For example. Should the ordinance of a living ministry become weak or corrupt, that does not lessen or destroy the power of the Gospel, nor of the sacraments of Baptism or the Lord's Supper. This is a great blessing. For in all ages the ministry has varied, and often a people has been afflicted with an inconsistent or an inefficient ministry, yet God has honoured His ordinances even when administered by them, and made His Word a blessing even when preached by those who knew not its power in their own hearts. Had this been otherwise, what a terrible evil it would have been to the church; the people must, indeed, have perished. Still there has been lurking in such cases the good which a devoted spiritual ministry imparts. And this brings me to the next and chief theme, which is

IV. THAT A REVIVED AND HOLY MINISTRY LEADS TO A JOYOUS CHURCH. -1. To make the subject specially useful to the section of the church to which we belong, it will be well to ask-What must be looked upon as its ministry? It is somewhat extensive, comprising the local preachers and the class-leaders, as well as those who are set apart from secular callings to serve in the ministry of the Word. Hence it is peculiarly important that our ministry should be in a spiritually healthy condition. Experience proves that a devoted class-leader has generally a large and prosperous class, while one of the opposite kind is at the head of a languishing one.

2. In order to see that the welfare of the church is involved in the ministry thereof, we have but to remember that, if we take the similitude of a vine, the ministry is the roots; or that of a body, the ministry is the joints and bands, which, as Paul says, not only keep and knit all together, but they minister likewise nourishment and strength. Now, if the roots of a vine do not get water, how can the vine have its sap replenished? or, if the joints and bands of the body be dislocated or diseased, the body will be weak and disordered. Moreover, Paul says that when Jesus had ascended up on high, he gave certain ministers to the church, that through them the church might be edified and taken up to the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus.

3. The ministry may become weak and diseased; hence the need of a revival. And this loss of health and strength may be of frequent occurrence; hence the prayer of the Psalmist is-" Revive us again!" As other men, ministers are weak; infallibility belongs not to them; they are subject to the infirmities of the flesh, the deadening action of the world, and the deluding temptations of the devil; and, should they become smitten by any of these evil agents, the church under them will soon languish.

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A DEVOTED MINISTRY NECESSARY TO A REVIVAL OF RELIGION.

4. Thus, then, the prosperity of the church depends instrumentally on the healthy piety of the ministry.-For although God will still bless the word fallen or false ministers may deliver, and the ordinances they administer, yet their word must be of necessity meaner, and their performance of church-rites heartless, thus making their ministry comparatively feeble. For if the ministry be an ordinance, as well as the word preached, then that ordinance must be maimed in proportion as it is inconsistent. A minister can only give what he possesses; hence if he be worldly or sensual; if, in short, he lack personal spirituality, his perceptions must be dim, his experience barren, his acts careless, and the church to which he ministers will sink down to his level. On the other hand, a revived ministry possess.

(1.) Strong spiritual vision.-Their bodies are full of light, hence divine truths are clearly understood; they walk in the light; they rightly divide the word of truth; they are awake to the needs of the flock; know who are lame, sick, blind; who need reproof, who exhortation, who comfort. Thus are they eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, a well of water to the faint and weary. They have

(2.) Edifying power.-They speak of divine things from their own. experience. An opposite ministry speak from judgment or memory only. But a revived ministry, filled with the Spirit, speak what they know and testify what they have seen, felt, touched, handled of the word of life. Out of their treasury they bring things new and old. The grapes they give their needy flock are not out of a shop barrel, packed with saw-dust, but fresh and direct from Eschol.

(3.) Their labours are earnest and lively.-Not sleepy and languid, formal and mechanical, or measured by the pay they receive, nor performed that they may stand well with rule or the circuit authorities, or with conference. They are earnest men, as needed they should be, going after the lost sheep in the wilderness, and bringing it on the shoulders of their own faith back to the fold. Labouring with eternity in view, there is a vigour and a life about them and all they do.

V. A MINISTRY LIKE THIS PRODUCES A PROSPEROUS AND HAPPY CHURCH. —1. Universal observation sustains this proposition.-What awful deadness existed before the age of Welsey and Whitfield! And the amazing revival which took place in their day was the result of the abundant supply of spiritual bread which those men and their coadjutors brought to a famishing church. God" drew the people with the cords of a man, took the yoke off their jaws, and set meat before them." The whole land may have been said to have been filled with gladness. Mark; I do not say that a devoted ministry is the efficient cause of a peoples' salvation: that would be to make salvation spring from men's piety instead of Christ's