for his welfare and his prosperity in the land to which he is going, and hoping that he may do even better there than here (hear, hear); and though this country must necessarily experience the loss occasioned by his removal, yet we have some consolation in believing that that country to which he is going must experience a great blessing, which I am sure it will feel in his presence. (Loud cheers.)

HARBOTTLE. Mr. Andrew Davison, of Netherton, waited upon the Rev. Samuel Cathcart on the 8th of November, and presented him with a purse of gold as a tribute of esteem and a token of gratitude from parties belonging to various religious denominations, for his monthly ministerial services during the lengthened period of more than six years in their village, which is nearly five miles from Harbottle. It is pleasant to hear of this home missionary effort, and encouraging to ministerial assiduity when the labour is appreciated in so praiseworthy and becoming a manner.

BEWCASTLE. The church here, which was built about seventy years since, had latterly fallen into a very dilapidated and dangerous state, so much so, that to make it secure and comfortable, and to effect a permanent improvement, a complete renovation was found to be indispensable. Through the exertions of the minister, Mr. Tweedie, this has now been accomplished in a very satisfactory and efficient manner. The congregation having been excluded for some weeks, while the church was in the hands of the painters, re-assembled in it on Sabbath, Nov. 12, when an appropriate and impressive discourse was delivered by the Rev. John White, of the Free Church, Carluke, Lanarkshire, to a large and attentive audience. Though the members of the congregation and many friends in the district gave liberally of their money and labour to the work while it was in progress, yet, when they saw it completed, and as a proof of their approbation and delight in the improvement made, their united contributions at the reopening of the church amounted to the handsome sum of 221. The minister, who had charge of raising the requisite funds, is now enabled to report the entire cost, amounting to 1201., as paid, all but 107., and hereby acknowledges his obligations to the many friends who aided him in the undertaking, particularly to the Right Hon. Sir James Graham, Bart., and Robert Barbour, Esq., of Manchester, for subscriptions of 101. respectively.

STAFFORD.-The anniversary sermons were preached in the Presbyterian Church, Stafford, on Sabbath, the 5th ult., by the Rev. James Speers, the minister of the congregation, after which collections were made in aid of the church funds. On the following evening a soirée was held in the schoolroom, and about 200 persons sat down to tea; after tea an adjournment took place to the church, the audience having been considerably increased. J. A. Wise, Esq., M.P., occupied the chair; and L. J. Abington, Esq., of Stanley, delivered a most interesting lecture on the Catacombs of Rome, and illustrated the subject by the aid of well-executed diagrams. At the conclusion of the lecture, a vote of thanks having been accorded to the lecturer and chairman, Mr. Wise stated that nothing gave him greater

pleasure than to meet with a portion of his constituents on such occasions; he only wished the students at Oxford had the opportunity of hearing such lectures-he thought they would have the effect of making them better Protestants. The proceeds of the anniversary services amounted to 247.

SOUTHAMPTON.-The Presbytery of London met in the Presbyterian Church, Southampton, on Thursday, the 16th of November, for the induction of the Rev. Mr. Wright, late of Morebattle, to the pastoral charge of the congregation. The Rev. Wm. Chalmers, of Marylebone, preached an excellent sermon from 1 Cor. iv. 20; Mr. Weir, of River-terrace, addressed the minister, and Dr. Hamilton the people. The services commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon, and the church was well filled by a respectable and attentive audience, which embraced nearly all the dissenting ministers of the town.

On the following Sabbath Mr. Wright was introduced to the congregation by the Rev. Dr. Begg, of Edinburgh.

We have to congratulate Mr. Wright on the auspicious circumstances under which he enters on his new duties at Southampton:-in one of the most handsome edifices occupied by any minister of the Church, and in a people so active and vigorous as to have already raised within eight hundred pounds of the entire cost of the erection, we cannot but see the earnests of future prosperity, which, we trust, both minister and people will be long spared together to enjoy.

Obituary.

---

This

DEATH OF JAMES NISBET, ESQ. month we have the painful duty of adding to our list of obituaries for the year the name of one who has been so long known in connexion with us, that his name and memory has in some measure become the Church's property. On the first Sabbath of November Mr. Nisbet assisted at the communion in Regent-square Church, in his ordinary health; on Tuesday morning he was, as usual, at the Orphan Working School, Haverstock-hill, at eight o'clock; in the evening he felt slightly indisposed, and on Wednesday afternoon, while his medical adviser was speaking to him, he suddenly expired.

On Sabbath, November 19th, a funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Hamilton, in Regent-square Church, to a large audience, comprising many friends from other communions, who had been associated with Mr. Nisbet in various works of benevolence. Knowing that many of our readers would wish to see a lengthened obituary of one who had taken so prominent and active a part in our Church's interests for many years, through the kindness of Dr. Hamilton we were enabled to prepare one from his excellent sermon, and we deeply regret that unavoidable circumstances prevent us from giving it in our present number. But one whose long life has been so unceasingly devoted to every good work, and whose heart and hand have been ever open to the claims of the poor and needy, needs no biographer to record his actions or to perpetuate his memory.

BE KIND TO THE POOR.

AN interesting child, who was deaf and dumb, once accompanied some almoners. In her strong language of signs and gestures, she related what she had seen in an abode of poverty.

"It was a small, low room," said she; "the stairs were dark and broken. The snow through which we had walked was deep, and my feet felt very cold; but there was not fire enough to warm them. No: I could have held in one of my hands those very few faint coals; and there was no wood. The sick woman lay in a low bed. If she sat up, she shivered, and she was covered with scant and thin clothing. Her pale baby threw up its arms and cried. But there was no physician there. Then the father came in, having in his hand some pieces of pine, which he had picked up. He laid them on the fire. But how soon were they burned up and gone.

"His wife spoke to him, and when he answered, she looked sorry. Because I was deaf and dumb, I knew not what they were saying. So I asked my friend, and she told me the poor woman said to her husband, 'Have you not bought a piece of candle?' When he answered, 'No; I have no money.' She said, with sadness, Must we be in the dark another long, cold night, with our sick baby?""

As the tender-hearted child went on to describe, in her own peculiar dialect, the smiles that came suddenly over the faces of the sorrowing poor, at the unexpected bounty which she aided in bearing, tears of exquisite feeling glistened in her eyes; for her heart was awake to every generous sensibility, though her sealed lips were precluded from their utterance.

One of the best modes of assisting the poor is through their own industry. To give them work, and pay them promptly, and liberally, is far better than to distribute alms, which may sometimes encourage idleness, or be perverted to vice. It also saves that self-abasement which minds of sensibility suffer at receiving charity.

To remove ignorance is an important branch of benevolence. Study the art of explaining, in simple and kind words, their duty to those who fall into error for want of instruction. To distribute useful and pious books among those who are able to read, is an excellent form of bounty. They should be plainly written. A part of your money for the poor will be well devoted to their purchase.

Read the books that you intend to distribute attentively before you buy them. Be sure that there is nothing in their contents but what is intended to benefit the reader. Make a list of such books, with your opinion respecting them. Mention why you think they will be useful, and then you can give a reason for recommending them to others, who may desire to instruct the ignorant.

The biographies of those who have been distinguished for usefulness or piety, are excellent to awaken the spirit of imitation. If you are not able to purchase many, get one, and let it be easy of comprehension. If you are not able to give it away, lend it; and when it is returned, converse with the persons who have read it, and try to impress on their hearts the examples most worthy of being imitated.

Thus by the gift, or the loan of books, you may be scattering around you the seeds of usefulness and piety. You may do more lasting good than by the gift of clothing or money, which soon pass away, and may be misused. When you relieve the wants of the body, always remember the soul. For how greatly will it add to your happiness, when you grow up, to know that you have enlightened the mind of but one child, and assisted in making him wiser and better.

Do nothing charitable from vanity, or a desire of having your good deeds known and applauded. Let your motives be obedience to your Creator, and love for those whom He has created. They are all his family. He has breathed life into their bosoms. He watches over them. He has given them immortal souls.

ACTING LIES.

"I

"JANE, go into the store-room closet, and fetch me the large blue jar," said a mother to her little girl. Jane put down her book (for she was going to school), and ran to the closet, where the first thing she saw was a basket of large red apples. should like one of these to carry to school," she thought; but she did not know whether her mother would think it best for her to have one. So instead of asking, she slipped the biggest she saw into her pocket, and covered her pocket over with her shawl, lest her mother should see it. Jane then took the jar to her mother, and went to school with the apple, which proved to be a hard winter apple, unfit to be eaten.

By and by Jane's class in history was called up to recite, and Jane was quite particular about getting her seat behind the stove, rather out of the way of the teacher's eye. Jane had her history in her hand, with her pencil between the pages of the lesson; and every now and then, watching her chance, she peeped into the book, but when the teacher glanced that way, she looked up as innocently as she could.

School was dismissed a little earlier than usual, and Helen Brewster went home with her, to get a book which Jane promised to lend her. But she did not want to let her mother know that school was done, lest she might want her to play with baby, or to help her in some way; so she opened the door very softly, and crept up stairs on tiptoe. A call came from the sitting-room, "Jane, is that you?" It was her mother's voice; but Jane made believe she did not hear. She crept down, and out again, and did not get back for some time. "I thought I heard you come in some time ago," said her mother; "I wish it had been you, for I have needed you very much. Willie has been very sick." Jane said nothing; but how she felt you can, perhaps, imagine.

We have followed Jane through a part of a day, and seen her just as she was, not as she seemed to be to her mother and teacher; and what do you think of her? There are many children like Jane, and perhaps they will see themselves in her. Jane, you see, was not a truthful child. "But she did not tell any lie," some one will say. No, but she acted lies; and you see in how many things she deceived in half a day's time. "Little things," perhaps you will say. But it is little things which show what we really are, and which make up the character. There is no habit more dangerous than a habit of deceiving in little things, because so easily fallen into. Let every child who reads this examine her conduct, and see if she is in danger of sliding into it. All deceit is displeasing to God. He desires "truth in the inward parts." He is a God of truth, and without iniquity. The "paths of the Lord are mercy and truth;" and his paths should be our paths, for He has told us to follow Him. Let your prayer be the prayer of good David-"Remove from me the way of lying. I have chosen the way of truth; I have stuck unto thy testimonies. O Lord, put me not to shame."

THE POOR OF THIS WORLD. God's ways are not as the ways of men. They often seem inexplicable to the human mind. None are more so than those which concern his choice as to the objects of his favour. He selects as a general thing, not the rich of this world, but the poor; not

the noble and the mighty, but the humble and the weak. Moses was the son of a poor Levite-Gideon was a thresher-David was a shepherd boy-Amos was a herdsmanthe apostles were "ignorant and unlearned." The Reformer, Zwingle, emerged from a shepherd's hut among the Alps. Melancthon, the great theologian of the Reformation, was a workman in an armourer's shop. Martin Luther was the child of a poor miner.

Carey, who originated the plan of translating the Bible into the language of the millions of Hindostan, was a shoemaker in Northampton. Dr. Morrison, who translated the Bible into the Chinese language, was a carpenter in Newcastle. Dr. Milne was a herd-boy in Aberdeenshire. Dr. Adam Clarke was a child of Irish cotters. John Foster was a weaver; Andrew Fuller was a farm-servant. William Jay, of Bath, was a mason; and the present Archbishop of York is the son of a draper.

in Glasgow, by Miss Fleming, Regent-street, per Master George Barbour

in Glasgow, by Mrs. Islay Burns, per ditto...

by Edward Wabob, 33, Royal Terrace, Edinburgh

,, by three Friends, at Balgowan, per Jessie Veitch

,, by Beatrice Nicol, per ditto ,, by Mrs. M'Ewan, per ditto ,, by Miss E. H. Potter, Warrington, per Rev. Joseph Wood.... ,, by Miss Helen Hamilton, Edinburgh.

,, by Miss Mary Bell, Birkenhead. ,, by Miss Margaret J. Nicholson, ditto..

by Miss Elizabeth Young, Clinch ,, by L. T. and A. R. Taylor, Trinity Church, Newcastle

,, by a Lady, at Greenwich, per R. Roxburgh, Esq.

E. A. and G. Moody's Missionarybox, Paisley, per Rev. W. Burns, Kilsyth

.....

1 10 0

0 10

05

0 5

0 5 0 1

100000

0 13 0

8 20