During the ministry of Mr. Milner new school-rooms were erected, at a cost of £336. 6s. 5d. There are 95 children in the Sabbath-schools.
The accommodation in the Chapel, we are informed, is not so great as it ought to be; nearly every seat being taken, so that there is no surplus room to which to invite the poor. Architectural difficulties have hitherto stood in the way of enlargement, but it is hoped that some way of surmounting them will, in no very distant period, be found.
SECTION 4.—COMMERCIAL STREET CHAPEL.
The Independent Chapel in Commercial Street, Northampton, presents a pleasing memorial of the Christian zeal and liberality of the late Thomas Wilson, Esq., of Highbury Place, London—a gentleman who devoted his time, his energies, and his property to the promotion of the cause of Christ, more immediately among Protestant Dissenters of the Independent denomination.
Mr. Wilson's attention was directed to the town of Northampton as a place which, on account of its increasing population, required some additional efforts for promoting the kingdom of the Redeemer. After many inquiries had been made for ground that would present an eligible site on which to erect a Chapel, a purchase was made in Commercial Street for £600; and a neat and respectable Chapel, sixty-two feet by forty-two, was there erected, at a cost of £2,000, besides £100 for alterations. This was at a considerable distance from other places of worship.
The Chapel was opened for public service on the 9th of April, 1829. The Rev. J. A. James, of Birmingham, preached a very excellent sermon in the morning, on sanctification, from John xvii. 17—"Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."
Rev. J. Stratten, of Paddington, preached with much energy in the evening, from 2 Thess. iii. 1—"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified."
The Chapel was for some time supplied by the Rev. Messrs. Blackburn and J. Clayton, of London; Adkins, of Southampton; Gear, of Harborough; Johnson, of Farnham; and Prust, of Highbury College.
After the Rev. Edmund Thornton Prust had finished his studies at Highbury, he was invited by the congregation, no Church having then been formed, to supply for six months.
On the 1st of December, 1829, a Christian Church was formed in the presence of Mr. Walter Scott, late of Rowell, now of Airdale, and the late J. Pinkerton, of Weedon.