town.

He then returned thanks for the warm and hearty reception he had that day received.

Mr. Lundie of Birkenhead next enforced and illustrated the necessity of united action in the evangelical work, and in the vigorous prosecution of all Christian duties. Mr. Brewer, Baptist minister of Leeds, in terms of fraternal goodwill, gave to Mr. Adam the right hand of welcome. Mr. Kemp of Bolton expressed his gratification at the permanent settlement of the congregation. He stated that Presbyterianism was no new thing in England, and trusted that it would soon become better known; and in an excellent and most able address, showed that no system of Church order could more effectively buttress and bind together the aspiring Protestantism of this great country. He then briefly stated the Scripture grounds upon which the unity, government, and liberties of the Presbyterian Church rested; and the historical evidences of its existence from Apostolical times. He referred to the persecutions which it had borne and braved, and over which it had triumphed; and to the noble stand which it had ever made against every form of religious error.

Mr. Munro, of Manchester, expressed his pleasure at meeting with the minister and members of the congregation, and their receiving so cordial a welcome from the ministers and members of other denominations. He read to the meeting letters from the Rev. Mr. Reynolds, the Rev. Mr. Stalker, the Rev. Mr. Guest, and the Rev. Mr. Walker, ministers of the town, expressing their regret that they were unable to be present, and wishing the minister and his flock every success in the undertaking. He then pointed out very ably the great benefits which the Presbyterian Church had been the means of conferring upon her adherents-those who had been educated and trained within her pale. Much might be said about their difficulties; but he thought that, when taken out of the mist of generalities, they were simply these, they had to build a church, and to get money. They must, therefore, contribute liberally, and ask other friends to help them. He warmly eulogized the generous and warm-hearted character of Englishmen; and concluded with an eloquent tribute to the national virtues and prowess of Scotland.

Mr. Campbell, a warm and devoted friend of the Church in Leeds, gave a short and interesting account of the beginning and progress of the Presbyterian cause, expressing a desire and hope that he would yet see a complete apparatus of Presbyterian order and education established amongst them.

The Rev. Mr. Brown, (Independent), of Leeds, very cordially welcomed the young minister as a servant of Christ; and in a

very kind and felicitous way, stated, for the encouragement of the congregation, instances which had come under his own observation of the attachment of Presbyterians to their own form of worship. He assured them that Mr. Adam would meet with a kind welcome from the other evangelical ministers of the town.

John Barbour, Esq., of Liverpool, stated that he had from the first taken a warm interest in this Church; that he had frequently visited them, and had always been delighted with the spirit which they had manifested. Every time he came to Leeds, he was glad to notice their gradual advancement, and unquestionable prosperity; and the proceedings of the evening had far exceeded his expectations. He had no doubt that they would soon be able to build a church and schools, and that they would contribute liberally for this purpose. He concluded with assuring them that he and others would willingly give them a helping hand in this good work.

Mr. Cromar, of Liverpool, while referring to the difficulties which the minister and congregation might expect to meet with in the prosecution of their labours, added, that their difficulties might all be overcome by these three things, which were inscribed on a monument commemorating a great achievement in one of the cities of ItalyTime, Faith, Energy. The combination of these would level mountains, and crown their efforts with success.

A vote of thanks was then given to Mr. Barbour for his able discharge of the duties of the chair; after which a Psalm was sung, and the meeting dismissed with the benediction. Altogether the addresses of the different speakers displayed great ability and force, and must have left an impression in Leeds which will not be easily effaced. On Sabbath, in the morning, Mr. Munro introduced the minister to the people. He preached an eloquent and able discourse to a large audience, in the saloon of the Music Hall. Mr. Adam, the minister of the congregation, preached in the afternoon, from Romans xiv. 7, "For none of us liveth to himself." Mr Munro preached again in the evening. The attendance throughout the services of the day was numerous, the body of the large saloon being well filled. Indeed it far surpassed expectations, considering the inclemency of the weather.

the object of their choice. Mr. Hardie, as one of our preachers, has been educated at our Presbyterian College in London, and licensed by the London Presbytery, in the summer of 1851, since which time, he has been actively and successfully occupied in a sphere of duty well fitted to prepare him for the career of usefulness on which, as we trust, he is about to enter, as a stated minister of the Gospel. It is gratifying to all who are really interested in the welfare of the Institutions of our Presbyterian Church in England, and especially of our College, so essential to our virtual independence in the future, thus to see so many of our congregations settling their choice and their affections on the probationers of our training. We have no doubt that they will find their interest in so doing; and that the energy and devotedness of the young men of our College who have been lately chosen and ordained, will be such as to revive and benefit their own congregations, and in this way to induce others to make choice of ministers from the same source, to which it is clearly the duty of the Presbyteries of our Church to direct their attention.

CROOKHAM.-On the evening of Tuesday, the 5th of October, the members of the Male and Female Bible Classes, connected with the English Presbyterian Church in this place, assembled to take tea. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather, a very large proportion of those usually attending these classes were present.

During the course of the evening, Mr. W. H. Douglas, in the name of the Female Bible Class, presented Mrs. Edmonds with Blackie's edition of "Barnes' Notes," and "Paxton's Illustrations of the Bible" (in all nineteen volumes), along with a very handsome paper-knife, and silver pen-holder, with pencil attached, in testimony of the high esteem which the members of the class entertain for her, and in token of their gratitude for the deep interest she has taken in their spiritual and mental improvement.

Mr. Edmonds was also presented by Mr. W. H. Douglas, in name of the members of the Male Bible Class, with "Liddel and Scott's Greek and English, and English and Greek Lexicon," along with an elegant copy of the Greek Septuagint, as a proof of similar feelings cherished towards him by his class, in whose spiritual and intellectual advancement he has manifested how deeply he is interested by his abundant labours in their behalf ever since he was called to be their pastor.

Mr. Edmonds, in his own name and in that of Mrs. Edmonds, at considerable length and with much feeling, returned thanks for the valuable gifts presented

them.

Mr. Robinson, of Etal, then addressed the Bible Classes in an excellent speech, on the importance of the study in which they were engaged, setting before them the great privilege they enjoy in the care and attention bestowed upon them by Mr. and Mrs. Edmonds, and exhorting them to be diligent in their studies and regular in their attendance, that by the blessing of God upon the means employed by them, they may grow up in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The proceedings of the evening were closed with prayer, and the company parted, much delighted with the evening's entertainment.

We

These classes were formed in May last, and are now attended by 110 young persons, from the ages of fifteen to thirty, whose desire to profit by the instructions they receive is truly encouraging. hope that many more such classes may be instituted throughout the Church. If this were done, we should have good reason to expect a revival of religion in the Church, and the furnishing of a band of intelligent labourers to do the work of the Lord.

TRINITY CHURCH, NEWCASTLE.-At a Meeting of the Sabbath-school teachers of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Newcastleon-Tyne, the Superintendent of the above School (Mr. F. Noble), in name of the teachers, in a suitable and appropriate speech, presented Mr. John Thomson with a splendid Polyglot Bible, bearing the following inscription:-" Presented to Mr. J. Thomson, by the Sabbath-school teachers of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Newcastleon-Tyne, as a mark of esteem and approbation to his zeal, activity, and untiring diligence in promoting the best interests of the rising generation among us during the last five years. Trinity Church Vestry, 27th July, 1852." Mr. Thomson pathetically responded, and thanked the teachers for the kind feelings they had exercised toward him, and the unexpected token of their love and esteem. After commending Mr. T. and family to the care and protection of God, during their voyage to Australia, and when in the land of their adoption, the Meeting was dismissed, each feeling a loud call, from the loss of Mr. T.'s valuable services, to be more active and zealous in the good work of training the young "in the way they should go, that when they are old they may not depart therefrom."

BOLTON. A soirée in connexion with St. Andrew's Church, Bolton, was held in the Temperance Hall, on the 19th October. The hall was gracefully decorated with evergreens and flowers. Upwards of three hundred of the congregation and their friends partook of tea and other refreshments. On the platform there were several

gentlemen from Manchester. The Rev. Mr. Kemp, minister of the church, having been called to the chair, expressed his gratification at meeting for the first time in a social capacity so numerous an assembly of his congregation and friends. He mentioned some of the difficulties which were incident to the work of the ministry in manufacturing towns. He had now been two years amongst them, and although he came with some anxiety, yet he could not but express his satisfaction at the success which, by the blessing of God, had attended his labours; and he trusted that by perseverance in organized efforts to promote the cause of Christ, they would yet meet with more abundant blessings from above. The meeting was afterwards most ably addressed by the Rev. Mr. Munro, of Manchester, the Rev. Messrs. Brown and Best, of Bolton, and other gentlemen. An efficient instrumental band was in attendance, who, together with the church choir, ably performed suitable pieces of music. After spending a most agreeable evening the meeting was closed with the benediction.

FALSTONE SABBATH-SCHOOL.-Ten of the ladies of the congregation showed the esteem in which they hold the Sabbathschool by entertaining to tea, on the afternoon of the 30th ult., the scholars, and their friends the elders. The guests numbered more than a hundred, and the pleasure of all was visibly increased by the suitable addresses of Messrs. Clarke, M'Adie, and Glendinning. At half-past seven the cheerful and grateful party broke up; and at the suggestion of the ever-thoughtful Mrs. Oliver, of Otterstonlee, a piece of cake was given to the more youthful portion of the children "to help them over the Fells." It should not be unrecorded that Mr. Robson kindly conducted the singing.

CHELSEA.-PRESENTATION.-The ladies belonging to the Presbyterian Church in Chelsea, lately presented their minister, the Rev. Thomas Alexander, with an elegant pulpit gown and cassock, as an expression of their affection for himself, and appreciation of his ministerial services. We trust he may be long spared to fill the important position which he occupies, and, as the best of all encouragements, be the means of turning many souls from darkness unto light.

ment, and Mr. Gordon, Workington, concluded the services of the evening by an affectionate address to the minister and people. The attendance was large and highly respectable; a deep interest was taken in the proceedings; and we rejoice to add that the warm-hearted welcome Mr. Harvey has met with omens well for the future prosperity of our Church at Maryport.

THE BELGIAN CHURCH.-In accordance with the recommendation of last Synod, meetings have been held in St. George's Presbyterian Church, Liverpool, Birkenhead, Regent Square, and Marylebone, London, and Greenwich, to aid in the promotion of the Gospel among the Romanists in Belgium. One of these meetings was held in Regent Square Church, on Monday evening, Oct. 18, the Rev. Dr. Hamilton in the Chair. The Rev. Leonard Anet, of Brussels, addressed the assembly at considerable length, and gave an interesting account of the origin and progress of the Belgian Evangelical Society. He was followed by the Count de Zuylen De Neyevelt, from Holland, who had resided for several years in Belgium, and bore testimony to the faithful self-denying labours of the Protestant pastors of that country. After an excellent speech in French by the Rev. M. Dupont, the meeting was further addressed by the Rev. G. J. C. Duncan of Greenwich, and the Rev. Prof. Lorimer; but the interesting account of the Professor which appears in another part of our columns, renders it unnecessary to give in detail here the statements of the speakers. A liberal collection was made at the close of the meeting in aid of the Belgian Evangelical Society.

CRYSTAL PALACE. THE following answer has been received by the Moderator of Synod:

Whitehall, Oct. 23, 1852. pole to acknowledge the receipt of your letter Sir, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Walof the 15th instant, and to inform you that he has had the honour to lay before the Queen the Memorial of the Ministers and Elders of the Presbyterian Church in England, assembled in Commission of Synod, at Liverpool, praying that provision may be made in any Charter granted to the Proprietors of the Crystal Palace for closing the said Palace during the entire Sabbath.

I am,

Sir, your obedient servant,

J. R. Mackenzie, Presbyterian Church, Broad-street, Birmingham.

WM. J. H. JOLLIFFE.

THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.

THE last number of the Children's Messenger for 1852 is printed, but the work of its readers is not yet done. Instead of collecting sixty pounds for the support of the Jewish Mission School, the subscription cards do not yet amount to thirty pounds. We are very sorry at being obliged to write this at the close of the year; but the truth must be told. Perhaps some were too late in beginning to collect, and others have not begun at all. Well, this is just the manner in which too many people spend their lives. They find life ended before their work is finished. Some never begin to seek God at all; others begin when too late, and both, too often, lose their souls in the end. We hope it may not be so with you.

But we would not blame those who are blameless; and we are very glad to say, that some of our young readers have acted nobly even this year. And when we say this, we feel that it would be wrong not to mention especially the children of our Sabbath-school in Woolwich. Had each of our Sabbath-schools sent us as much as they have done, instead of sixty, we should have had nearly four hundred pounds! And it ought to be known, too, that very few of these children have much to save or spend as pocket-money: nor have they rich friends to apply to for subscriptions to their cards. Very many of them are the children of poor soldiers, who have very little money to give. We trust that not a few of them may yet grow up to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ; and that the Saviour will greatly bless those little ones, who have done what they could for the poor Jews in Corfu.

But little George says,—“ Mr. Editor, you are too fast, I have been thinking of the Jews, and collecting for them too; but my card is not yet sent in." Now, we beg Master George to remember, that the blame is not with us, but with himself; we are by no means "too fast," but he is too slow. He has allowed December to come upon him before he was aware. But we do not wish to be too particular in this matter, and, therefore, we shall keep

the account open until the week before Christmas; but we must beg of all our young friends to send us their cards by the 20th of December, not later, so that we may be enabled to get the whole of the sums acknowledged in the January number.

And now, we feel somewhat sad in thinking, that this is the last time we shall write to you during the year 1852. Some of the children who read the first number of this year's Messenger, will never read any more. They expected a long life and many happy days; but death came soon upon them, and they have been called to give in their account to God. Their little chairs are empty in their father's homes, and their places vacant in the Sabbath-school. Their playmates have nearly forgotten them, but their mothers weep for them still. Did the "Children's Messenger" do them any good? We have asked this question many times, but we may not do it any more to them. But let us put it once more to you. Have you got any good from the monthly lessons we have sent to you? We wish very much that you would answer this question, for some of you may soon have to answer it to God. It was Him who put it into our hearts to send you these messages from time to time; and no doubt His object in doing so was, that you might be brought to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. We shall never all see each other here; but very soon, and they who write the "Messenger," and those who read it, will all meet at the judgment-seat of Christ.

We earnestly hope that the Children's Messenger for 1853 may be as useful and interesting as the one now finished.

And as some of our young readers have thought the type too small for them, it is just likely that in future it may be a little larger. We sincerely trust that the time will very soon come when, instead of having only a corner in the large "Messenger," you may have a CHILDREN'S ENGLISH PREBSYTERIAN MESSENGER of your own,-one which you could bind up at the close of the year, and place in your little libraries, containing nice little woodcuts, which, of course, we cannot give you

THE CHILD IS DEAD.

IT is hard to believe it: that we shall no more hear the glad voice nor meet the merry laugh that burst so often from its glad heart.

Child as it was, it was a pleasant child, and to the partial parent there are traits of loveliness that no other eye may see. It was a wise ordering of Providence that we should love our own children as no one else loves them, and as we love the children of none besides. And ours was a lovely child.

But the child is dead. You may put away its playthings. Put them where they will be safe. I would not like to have them broken or lost; and you need not lend them to other children when they come to see us. It would pain me to see them in other hands, much as love to see children happy with their toys. Its clothes you may lay aside; I shall often look them over, and each of the colors that he wore will remind me of him as he looked when he was here. I shall weep often when I think of him; but there is a luxury in thinking of the one that is gone which I would not part with for the world. I think of my child now, a child always, though an angel among angels.

The child is dead. The eye has lost its lustre. The hand is still and cold. Its little heart is not beating now. How pale it looks! Yet the very form is dear to me. Every lock of its hair, every feature of the face, is a treasure that I shall prize the more, as the months of my sorrow come and go.

Lay the little one in his coffin. He was never in so cold and hard a bed, but he will not feel it. He would not know it, if he had been laid in his cradle, or in his mother's arms. Throw a flower or two by his side: like them he withered.

Carry him out to the grave. Gently. It a hard road this to the grave. Every jar seems to disturb the infant sleeper. Here we are, at the brink of the sepulchre. Oh, how damp, and dark, and cold! But the dead do not feel it. There is no pain, no fear, no weeping there. Sleep on now, and take your rest!

Fill it up! Ashes to ashes, dust to dust! Every clod seems to fall on my heart. Every smothered sound from the grave is saying, Gone, gone, gone! It is full now. Lay the turf gently over the dear child. Plant a myrtle among the sods, and let the little one sleep among the trees and flowers. Our child is not there. His dust, precious dust, indeed, is there; but our child is in heaven. He is not here; he is risen.

I shall think of the form that is mouldering here among the dead; and it will be a mourn

ful comfort to come at times, and think of the child that was once the light of our house,

and the idol-ah! that I must own the secret of this sorrow-the idol of my heart.

And it is beyond all language to express the joy, in the midst of tears, I feel, that my sin, in making an idol of the child, has not made that infant less dear to Jesus. Nay, there is even something that tells me the Saviour called the darling from me, that I might love the Saviour more when I had one child less to love. He knoweth our frame; He knows the way to win and bind us. Dear Saviour, as thou hast my lamb, give me too a place in thy bosom. Set me as a seal on thy heart.

And now let us go back to the house. It is strangely changed. It is silent and cheerless, gloomy even. When did I enter this door without the greeting of those lips and eyes, that I shall greet no more? Can the absence of but one produce so great a change so soon? When one of the children was away on a visit, we did not feel the absence as we do now. That was for a time; this is for ever. He will not return. Hark! I thought for a moment it was the child, but it was only my own heart's yearnings for the lost. He will not come again.

THE FARMER'S BOY. I SHOULD like to guide a plough; Cut a furrow clean and straight; Run a-field and fetch the cow;

Eat my luncheon on a gate. Drive the team a-down the lane, Happy as I trudge along; Shout the rooks from off the grain; Whistle back the blackbird's song. Would I mind the frost or snow ?

Not a bit, if warmly clad;
Would I loiter as I go,

Like an idle, louty lad?
No; I'd rise with early morn,

Busy on throughout the day;
Idle hands but pluck a thorn,-

Honest work's as good as play. When I lay me down at night, Oh, how soundly I shall sleep! Whether it is dark or light,

Safely me my God will keep ;-
Keep me if I seek his love,

Rest upon his promised aid:
While I trust in one above,
If I rest or if I rove,

What shall make my heart afraid!