fruits of the earth. Therefore, none need starve; there is food for every man; and, with food, there is ample wealth in the nation to purchase it. We have only to exercise that fraternal feeling which prompts one to help another, and the distress will be alleviated. The providence of God seems to say to us, "See, I have remembered you in mercy. I have provided an ample supply for all your necessities; therefore freely dispense my gifts to one another. Some of you are destitute of means, but others of you have plenty; you have coin in your chests and clothing in your wardrobes. Distribute my bounties among your suffering brethren. Freely ye have received, therefore freely give. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and my blessing, and the blessing of him that was ready to perish, shall come upon you."

3. Again, thanks to God, we have no pestilence in the land. In other parts of the world dire pestilence is raging. In the city of Tien-tsin, as we read in Mr. Hall's deeply touching letter in our present number, ten thousand of our fellow-creatures fell victims to the cholera in fourteen days. How terrible the scourge! In China death reigns in defiance of human power to arrest it. Not so with us. The nation is free from any epidemic, the air is pure, the season is remarkably healthful. Providence thus wonderfully concurs with human benevolence to mitigate the calamity which has fallen upon us, and invites and encourages the efforts of philanthropy. With a salubrious atmosphere around us, with a plentiful supply of food provided for us, with peace in all our borders, and abundance of wealth secured as the result of former prosperity, we have ample means of warding off death by starvation from every family in the land. How different, after all, is our position from that of America! to which we refer with profound sorrow-almost the sorrow of despair. There misery and death are self-inflicted. The useful works of man and the bounties of a kind Providence are wilfully destroyed by wholesale; and

carnage, of the most revolting kind, and to a most awful extent, is made by the rage and fury of citizen against citizen, friend against friend, and brother against brother; and hope itself finds but little to sustain the anticipation of a speedy return to union and prosperity. This, thanks to God, is not our lot. Although a quarter of a million of our fellow-countrymen are suffering, there are twenty millions to sympathize with them, to help them, to save them from death, and also from the dire extremities of want. The effort required may be great, and the necessity for it may be prolonged for several months to come; but, as a great nation, we have the power, and with the power we have the disposition-nay, the determinationto save every single sufferer from death by starvation.

4. Great as the evil is at present, we may expect from it a far greater good in the future. Wonderful, indeed, is that compensating principle in Providence, by which the direst calamities are made to subserve the good of mankind. It will doubtless be so in this instance. For, in the first place, the timely flow of benevolence will draw closer than ever the hearts of all classes of England's population. The industrious operatives of our land will see who are their real friends. Henceforth the noisy demagogue, who seeks to enrich himself by sowing discord between the wealthy and the poor, the employer and the employed, will not so easily find dupes among the Lancashire workmen. The present crisis, brought on by no fault of our own, and sustained by exemplary patience on the one hand, and met by prompt benevolence on the other, will show that England, with all its faults, is the land of genuine freedom, of broad intelligence, of enlarged philanthropy, and of real security. Here capital and labour have their freest scope, here mutual rights find their deepest respect, and here social happiness has its safest abode. It is no small boon when a calamity becomes an occasion of strengthening the bonds of a nation's sympathy and confidence, and

of promoting concord, patriotism, and loyalty.

We anticipate from this calamity extensive good to the world in general, and especially to our colonies. The absence of a supply of cotton from America will force attention to its growth elsewhere. This was a necessity, and if not felt to be an immediate necessity to ourselves, it was to others; but now it is become a necessity, and a stern one, even to ourselves. We cannot do without cotton, and we cannot get it from America; therefore we must get it elsewhere. The broad and fertile, but unoccupied acres of Africa, Australia, and India, are ready to supply it to any extent. Why has God given us Australia, and added India to our possessions, and opened the interior of Africa as a new world rich in all the gifts.of Providence? Undoubtedly that their great resources might be developed. Necessity now urges us to the duty. Here, then, are new openings for capital and enterprise-new markets for our home industry, with new opportunities for promoting the civilization, the physical and moral elevation of neglected millions in distant lands; and, as the best of all, their evangelization and salvation. We sometimes say that "there is a good time coming." It is true, and our present terrible distress will hasten its arrival. A little more patience, a little more devoted liberality, combined, as they should ever be, with the prayers of faith and piety, and God will accomplish wonders in this world of ours. Famine, pestilence, war, distress of nations, and falling despotisms, are the harbingers of that predicted era of blessedness, when "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; when the fertile earth shall yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall see his salvation."

May we not hope that religion in our own land shall, even this year, amidst our deep distress, revive and prosper? When families have so

much leisure-when so many hearts are bent in sorrow-when beneficence reveals the depths and tenderness of human sympathy-may we not hope that the pensiveness and gratitude of human feeling will be favourable to sober thoughtfulness and religious influence? May we not hope that when ministers are made the almoners of public and private beneficence, their influence will be increased, their sacred office be more revered, and their message of mercy and consolation be more readily received? And if so, ought we not, prayerfully, to expect a great spiritual work? Brethren, let us look up to God, and while we go about doing good, dispensing temporal aid and spiritual consolation, let us try to improve the present visitation to the revival and extension of the work of God, so that a season of temporal destitution may become the time of a great spiritual harvest, in which multitudes of precious souls shall be brought to Christ and salvation.

It rejoices us to know that a good work is going on in some circuits, and that active and generous movements are still being made in several quarters to lessen debts, improve our chapel property, and extend our religious influence to other places. The reports we publish of the efforts made at Bristol, in the Durham circuit, Tipton, Epworth, Cheslyn Hay, Berry Brow, &c., are very satisfactory. We have tidings, too, of a gracious revival in the St. Ives circuit.

Our readers will rejoice to know that the foundation of the college is laid. The event so long desired has at length taken place, and was crowned by a public meeting, at which the noble sum of £1,550 was subscribed, and subscribed with a spoutaneity and a heartiness that reflected the highest credit on the liberality of our friends, and evinced in the most unmistakable manner their determination to carry forward the great work to its consummation.

We earnestly recommend a careful perusal of the admirable letter of the Rev. William N. Hall. It breathes the

MY DEAR BROTHER,-The cover of the October Magazine announced to the Connexion that on Thursday, the 25th of September was laid the cornerstone of our College for the preparation of young men for the office of the Christian ministry. I now write to furnish some particulars of the interesting proceedings of that memorable day. The rains of the preceding day and night occasioned apprehensions for the order and comfort of the open-air arrangements. The morning dawned gloomily, and, on the Lancashire side of the hills, the continued rains kept timid travellers from venturing upon the journey they had proposed; but as the day advanced it became bright and pleasant-altogether such a day as our beloved Queen, in happier times, was wont to have when she made processions among her rejoicing people. At twelve o'clock a large concourse of our Sheffield friends, with a considerable number of visitors from surrounding circuits, had assembled in South Street Chapel. From thence they walked in orderly procession to the Collegeground, and found, on arriving there, that a still larger number had preceded them. The scene was truly animating, and every thoughtful and earnest friend of the Connexion present felt that a great and auspicious day had come. The magnificence of the surrounding scenery-the bright sunshine sweetly tempered by the autumn breeze-the warm affections gathered to the place-but chiefly, an intelligent appreciation of the sublime design on which we were assembledmade presence there a privilege of no common order. All felt that in ad

vancing that design they were pleasing God, serving their generation well, and providing priceless blessings for generations yet to come. The congregation sung the noble hymn, beginning

"Before Jehovah's awful throne."

An appropriate and fervent prayer was offered by the Rev. Thomas Boycott, and ministers and people sent forth to heaven their earnest supplications that in the college, whose corner-stone we had come to lay, enlightened piety, sanctified ability, all that can “make perfect the man of God," and "throughly furnish" him for the work of preaching Christ, and saving men, might successfully and unceas ingly be cultivated. Select and suitable portions of Holy Scripture were then read by the venerable and beloved Thomas Allin, who felt on that day that a large instalment of the answer to many prayers for the Connexion and its ministry was given to him.

At this stage of the proceedings there was placed in the cavity of a stone, underneath the corner-stone, a bottle, containing copies of the General Rules of the Connexion, the Poll Deed, the Minutes of Conference, 1862, the College Report, the Sheffield newspapers of the day, some current coins of the realm, and a document, of which the following is a copy:

"On the twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, this stone was laid by Mark Firth, Esq., of Sheffield, as the cornerstone of a building sacred to the purposes of training godly and gifted young men for the faithful ministry of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as the truths thereof are held and believed in the churches of the Methodist New Connexion. Thomas Firth, Esq., lately deceased, bequeathed by his will the sum of £5,000 towards the maintenance of this college, which is being built by the voluntary contributions of those who revere his memory, and participate his earnest desire that able and useful ministers of Christ may be multiplied in our land and times. The trustees of this college for the time being are the following ministers of the Gospel in the Methodist New Connexion-namely, Thomas Allin, James Henshaw, William Cooke, Charles James Donald, William Baggaly, Samuel Hulme, John Hudston, William

Mills, Thomas White Ridley, Henry Only Crofts, William Cocker, James Stacey, John Taylor, John Stokoe, and Alexander M'Curdy; and the following members and friends of the said Connexion-namely, John Whittaker, Mark Firth, Benjamin Fowler, Abraham Pilling, Henry Atherton, George Atkins, Edwin Lumby, William Scott, Joseph Tipping, Joshua Garsed Heaps, Enoch Blackburne, Benjamin Senior, William Sykes, James Gledhill, and Thomas Ford. Wm. Hill, of Leeds, is the architect of the building, and Thomas E. Mycock, of Sheffield, its builder. May He whose glory in the earth is humbly and devoutly sought by this erection deign to prosper it, and at his final coming own it graciously as a work well pleasing in his sight! Amen. Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Amen! Amen! Amen!"

After the secretary had read the foregoing document, the congregation sung an adaptation of the hyun, beginning

"This stone to Thee in faith we lay." The Rev. Dr. Cooke then addressed Mark Firth, Esq., in the following terms: To me has been assigned by the College Committee the pleasing duty of presenting to you, in their name, and also in the name of the beloved community they have the honour to represent, this trowel, wherewith to lay the corner-stone of our College. The committee feel that whatever honour there is in this part of the important ceremony of this day belongs especially to yourself - not only on your own account, but also as the representative of your sainted brother, whose munificence has so largely stimulated the liberality of the Connexion, and who has so nobly endowed this institution. How happy would it have been for us to have had his presence here this day-but he is gone! His Divine Master has removed him away to the land of the blessed; but surely, if it be permitted--as we believe it is that the spirits of the glorified should be cognizant of events in which they were profoundly interested while on earth-we may reasonably suppose that his blessed spirit is hovering over us, or looking benignly down from the realms of the blessed on this interesting and delightful ceremony. You know we all know

how ardently he was attached to our beloved denomination. You know how ardently he loved our ministry, and how intensely he longed that it might realize its highest efficiency. These desires, indeed, were amongst his latest thoughts and aspirations; they were commingled with the bright hopes of immortality as his triumphant spirit was passing away; and surely the knowledge that his pious and ardent wishes are now being fulfilled will tend to heighten even the bliss of heaven itself! We all rejoice - the Connexion at large rejoices to see you, my dear sir, occupying your present position as a public benefactor, as the special friend of our missions, and as a liberal supporter and promoter of education. And here permit me to say, that never has elevated station so bright a lustre never has influence so noble a sphere, and never has wealth so hallowed a use as when they are consecrated to such glorious objects. This is a memorable day in the history of our Connexion-a day which inaugurates a new era in our beloved community. The prospect expands and brightens as we contemplate the future. In days yet to come-in ages to come-long after your spirit and mine, and the spirits of all present, even the youngest, shall have been gathered home to their fathers, generations will look back with gratitude on the proceedings of this day. Our institution will stand as the centre from which true knowledge and religion shall radiate through the land, and bands of young men, pious, intelligent, and educated, filled with the love of God, and the love of souls, shall go forth to bless their fellow-men, and widely diffuse the knowledge of Christ in this and other lands. The contemplation of these subjects must impart a high degree of pleasure to your own mind on being called upon to perform the interesting ceremony of this day. Permit me to read the inscription on the trowel. It is-

"Presented to Mark Firth, Esq., of Oak Brook, on his laying the foundation-stone of the Ranmoor College, Methodist New Connexion.-September 25th, 1862."

Allow me now, my dear sir, in the name of the College Committee, to present, and be pleased to accept, this trowel, to enable you to perform the specified duty, and not only so, but to be preserved as a memorial of the confidence,

and affection, and esteem in which you are held by the community at large. It is accompanied by our earnest prayer, that your highest wishes, and the highest wishes of your sainted brother, in reference to the design of this College, may be fully realized that you, your esteemed wife and family, may personally enjoy the richest blessings on earth, and be finally gathered home into the paradise of God. Amen!

Mr. Firth having received the trowel from Dr. Cooke, and a mallet also, proceeded to the laying of the stone; which having done, he declared it to be laid, "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Mr. Firth, in then addressing the assembly, said,-My Christian friends, it affords me great pleasure to meet you here on this very interesting and important occasion; for important, certainly, it will be in the annals of our Connexion, and interesting it is to those of us who are privileged to witness the proceedings of this day. Very interesting would it have been to many of our departed friends could they have been with us on this occasion; and particularly so to one through whose munificence we are enabled to witness so early the events of this day-one who, had he been spared, would undoubtedly have occupied the honourable position in which I have been placed. Our object in raising this institution is not, as some, even of our own friends, have feared. It is not to train up young men to value learning more than piety, or to supply them with something human in place of that which is Divine. It is to afford to those young men, whom the circuits have approved and recommended, the opportunity of prosecuting their studies in a way that will enable them to be more efficient in the discharge of those duties which the Church expects them to perform, and make them ministers more acceptable to the growing intelligence of the times. We must all admit that the present times are very different from the times of Wesley and of Whitfield. Then the lower classes were very slightly educated - the middle classes not much more so; but one of the leading features of this day is the general diffusion of intelligence. The masses are educated now to a far greater extent than the middle classes formerly attained. No profession, of whatever nature, is entered upon with

out appropriate training. Even the mechanic must undergo a seven years' training before he is thought competent as a workman. Why, then, should Methodist ministers be brought directly from the workshop to the pulpit, and to fulfil the great duties of their office? Is it not reasonable that they, as well as others, should have some training before they set forth to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world? It is only reasonable that they should have the opportunity of studying the truths they have to teach, and of acquiring the best modes of teaching them. Why should we, in this respect, be behind other churches? The Established Church, the Independents, the Wesleyans, and others have their appropriate colleges, and why should we be without? We mean to have one. We have the power, the will, the determination, as you see today. By the blessing of God we hope to carry this work through successfully. It has long been felt by many of our friends, that we needed an institution of this kind. Difficulties, not easy to be overcome, presented themselves, until the munificence of one, well known to us all, and who is now gone from among us, enabled the Conference to take up the project, which the Connexion has handsomely supported; and we behold this day the commencement of the holy work. I commend the work to the good feeling, the confidence, and the support of the community at large, and then, with the blessing of Almighty God, it cannot fail to be successful.

The Rev. Thomas White Ridley, our worthy President, then delivered an elaborate and comprehensive address, which we regret not having space to supply. He commenced by describing our ecclesiastical position among Protestant churches, and specifying the leading doctrines which we hold and teach. He then proceeded to vindicate the special object we have in view in the erection of our College, and showed, from analogy, from antiquity, from the Word of God, and from the opinions and practices of all modern churches, that our object is wise, and good, and useful. Such an institution (said he) will prove a blessing to young ministers themselves. There are many young men in our churches of deep piety, vigorous minds, ready utterance, and powers to fit them for extensive useful