Vonths' Department. ROCKHAMPTON PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL. (With Engraving.) THE accompanying sketch represents the Primitive Methodist Chapel, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia. Some of our juvenile friends probably have never heard of such a locality; therefore, a little information may be acceptable. The eastern coast-line of Australia is about 2,000 miles long, extending from Cape York on the north to Wilson's promontory on the south, and it forms the eastern seaboard of the three important colonies of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. Rock' ampton is situate on the south bank of the Fitzroy River, which discharges itself into Keppel Bay, just within the tropic of Capricorn. The town is forty-five miles from the sea, and the river, with its numerous tributaries, is the largest and most important stream on the eastern shores of the continent; it was first navigated in 1855. In 1858 it was noised abroad that gold in considerable quantities had been discovered at Canoona, a place some sixty miles west of the present site of Rockhampton. An unaccountable mania became prevalent in the adjoining colonies, and a “rush to the new Eldorado was the result; in a few weeks 30,000 people were landed here, who, after wasting their means, and breaking up their homes, discovered that the so-called diggings were a complete failure. Most of them returned to their old homes in the other colonies; but some remained behind, either from choice or of necessity; and, although grievously disappointed, if not absolutely ruined, those that returned home published abroad, far and wide, the beauty of the landscape, the verdant appearance of the pasture lands, and the general capabilities of the rich valley of the Fitzroy. The town of Rockhampton was proclaimed, and the first land sale took place in 1858. Since then the population has steadily increased, and now numbers about 5,000 souls. Being the highway to and from the splendid sheep and cattle country of the western and northwestern interior, the trade of the town has rapidly increased, giving constant employment to seven steamers, as well as sailing vessels. As the future historian of the Connexion may desire to know when, and by whom, the first Primitive Methodist Service was held in Rockhampton, it may as well be recorded here. At the time of the "rush" in 1858, the Rev. Miles Moss, formerly superintendent minister of the Sydney Circuit, accompanied by his wife, arrived in Rockhampton, with the intention of remaining in the district. The site of the present town was the canvas town, or camping place of the new arrivals. Mr. Moss took the opportunity of holding open-air services on the Sabbathday during his stay, which lasted but a few weeks, and no doubt his were the first sermons preached in tropical Australia. In 1862, the writer and his wife, formerly of Sydney Circuit, settled here, and shortly afterwards the "Utopia," emigrant ship, arrived in Keppel Bay, bringing several of our members; but these having obtained engagements in the interior, left Rockhampton. Believing that this town would become a very important centre of trade and population in a few years, the writer felt desirous of having a Primitive Methodist minister stationed here. The Rev. William Colley, then stationed in Brisbane, was written to on the subject, and he accordingly paid a flying visit to Rockhampton, and preached in an unoccupied store, morning and evening, Sunday, July 12th, 1863, to good congregations; at the close of the services, he announced that his successor would shortly arrive in Brisbane, and that he would reu ove without delay to Rockhampton, to open the mission. Mr. and Mrs. Colley, and family, arrived in the October following; the use of Mr. Grant's store was obtained gratuitously: a society was formed, and in the follow ng month, a site for a church and parsonage was purchased for £725, one of the best and most suitable corner allotments in the town. The minister's house and church or chapel, were erected and completed, and the chapel was opened for public worship on Sunday, January 17th, 1864. Sermons were preached, morning and evening, by the Rev. Robert Hartley, of Sydney; and in the afternoon by the Rev. Samuel Savage. A tea-meeting was held the following evening, attended by about 300 persons. The cost of the chapel and parsonage, with additions and improvements to the present time, has been more than £650, exclusive of the price of the land. There is a flourishing Sunday-school, which has been in operation ever since the opening of the chapel, and it now numbers over seventy children, with eight teachers. The juvenile missionary society in connection therewith, collected as Christmas offerings (1864), upwards of £6. If all the Sunday scholars in our Connexion would do likewise, the missionary income from the Sunday schools alone would amount annually to £20,000. W. ALLEN. A SERMON BY A YOUNG LADY. "Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting."-Dan. v. 27. WE learn from these words three things: 1. Man's accountability to God. 2. That God is impartial in his requirements. 3. That men who stand alone, are helpless, wanting creatures. First. Man's accountability to God. He is only a probationer, a subject of the Mighty one. The Almighty never was an usurper, nor will He give His glory to another; He has an infinite and unchanging right to make laws for, and expect obedience from, his subjects, of whatever clime, country, age, or standing in society they may be. This right arises from man's creation. For God and His glory all things are and were created. And also from his dependence upon God. In Him we live, move, and have our being. It is the power and beneficence of God alone that preserves this world from falling, and being dashed, with all its inhabitants, back to a dark, cold, everlasting chaos. We have then not only social and domestic ties, but also this grand relationship to God, which, if well attended to, would give a greater beauty and pleasure to the others, for they circle themselves around this one. Let us then remember that we are stewards for God. Second. God is impartial in his requirements. All ranks are as one before Him: kings, princes, or subjects, rich or poor. None are hastily condemned; all the words, works, and motives of all men, are weighed in fair balances. Justice holds the balance, the Commandments are the weights, to which are added thousands of helps and opportunities. The judgments of God were inflicted upon the character referred to in the text, forasmuch as his crime was aggravated by the knowledge of God's righteous, retributive providence with his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar; for where much light and many op portunities are given, much will be required. Then let us make the best of all our opportunities. Third. Men who stand alone are helpless, wanting creatures. Talents wasted, strength decayed, time squandered, love changed to hatred; everything still needful to facilitate happiness, is expressed in the word 'wanting." Yet, in those men, the image of God is defaced, sense is gone, joy is fled, the soul is polluted; Heaven is forfeited by them, and they are fit for destruction. 66 Through Christ, and through Him alone, can we meet justice, and have the approbation of a sin-avenging God. It is alone through Him you may be able in the Judgment Day, to give up your accounts with joy. Oh! then let us at once repent of our sins, and believe in Jesus Christ, and live. MARY ANN FRY. A LESSON FOR MOTHERS! My dear young friends, I have addressed this article to mothers, and it is designed especially for them; but I trust that you, the thousands of children and young persons who regularly read our deeply interesting and most valuable JUVENILE MAGAZINE, month after month, will also read this important lesson. And not only read but mark, learn, and often let your thoughts revert to it. It refers to a good and heroic boy, who was saved from intoxication, blasphemy, and death, through practising lessons which a good and pious mother had taught him in early life. The lesson was written by the late excellent Mrs. H. L. Sigourney of America. She says:- "The evils of intemperance at sea it is impossible for my pen adequately to describe. The oaths, the quarrels, the debasing vices that it occasions among sailors, may, in some measure, be imagined from what is seen on land. But the narrow limits to which they are confined, allow no opportunity of concealment, and more immediately extinguish all moral sensibility. There are no dark lanes in which to sleep off their debauch; no home to which they might stagger, and in the misery inflicted on wife and children, hide awhile their sin from the public eye. All is open and shameless. 66 'But the suffering inflicted on passengers by the intemperance of those to whom they have entrusted their property and lives,—the wrecks that have ensued by a helm badly steered, or wrong orders from those who have tarried over the bowl until the storm was high,-the |