Reports. EXETER. ST. JAMES'S FREE CHURCH.-The annual festival of the Sunday-school connected with this church was held on August 24. The children assembled at the school-room early in the afternoon, bringing flowers in their hands, which, with their nice summer attire, made an attractive appearance. With their minister, the Rev. J. S. Hill, at their head, and their teachers in attendance, they proceeded to a pleasantly situated field in the vicinity, where, after various amusements eagerly enjoyed, they were regaled with buns and tea. The children were well attended to. The teachers and friends next partook of tea. Mr. Knapman, the Superintendent, and Mr. Barry, the Secretary, with other teachers and benevolent friends, spared no pains to make the young people happy. According to custom, apples were distributed, nuts scattered, and a variety of prizes awarded to successful competitors in the games played. But so considerate were the arrangements and numerous the prizes that almost every child was enabled to carry off some little trophy. With great reluctance did the happy and unexhausted ones hear of breaking up. After cheers to minister and teachers, a hymn was sung, selected from the hymn-papers used at the anniversary on the previous Sunday, and this, with a short prayer and the Benediction, brought the engagements of the day to a formal close. HOLLINWOOD.-ST. JAMES'S FREE CHURCH.-On Sunday, July 2, the anniversary sermons in connexion with the above church were preached in the morning and evening by the Rev. John Dunning, minister of the place, late of Wolverhampton; and that in the afternoon by the Rev. Wm. Troughton, of Ulverston. During the day the teachers and scholars "sat up" on an elevated gallery which had been erected at one end of the school, all being dressed in white, which presented a very beautiful aspect. the harmonium, and Mr. Needham officiated as conductor. The singing on the whole was well rendered, especially at the evening service, when the choir sang the most beautiful anthem, "O Lord, our Governor," and the "Hallelujah Chorus," which reflected great credit on Mr. Needham, the conductor, who, it is only fair to say, has laboured very hard to raise them to such a standard of perfection. In the morning and afternoon the teachers and scholars, to the number of 300, walked in procession through the village; but the rain in the afternoon put a stop to their proceedings, which brought them back to the school very early. After each service collections were made in aid of the Day and Sundayschools, amounting to 207., which has since been increased to 217. 16s. At the close of the evening service the Lord's Supper was administered by the Revs. J. Dunning and W. Troughton, on which occasion, we are happy to say, there were upwards of 30 communicants. After the sacrament had been administered to all, the Rev. W. Troughton said: "I hope that as this has been the first time this solemn duty has been performed within these walls, it will not be the last. The ice has been already broken, and I hope you will not let the frost of indifference prevent you coming again to this holy and most solemn ordinance. I Mr. Booth presided at believe you are now on the eve of improvement, and that, with the help of our friend, Mr. Dunning, who, I am glad to say, is about to labour among you, you will all rally round him with heart and soul, and go in for one common object-namely, the salvation of souls. You have been in the mire long enough, and I am happy to say that now I think there is some probability of your future prosperity. When I heard, a short time ago, at a district meeting, how you had been persecuted, my heart bled for you. When I saw the tears trickling down the faces of many robust persons who were present, I could not but feel a deep sympathy for you. But remember, dear friends, this has all been for the best. You must work on a little more, and try to forget your past troubles. We at Ulverston will pray for your success. There is another thing I should like to mention, and that is, that you commence a prayer-meeting as early as possible, for there is nothing which will assist you more than prayer. Pray for me, and ask God to make you all useful in His cause, and there are abundant promises that your labours will not be in vain in the Lord." The Rev. J. Dunning then said he "would not detain them long; but he would just say, in the first place, that the request of Mr. Troughton should be granted-they would pray for him at their meetings. He had often asked himself the question, 'Have I been called to this place?' I feel my inability for the place; yet now that you have thought fit to choose me your minister, I will do my best to work in co-operation with you for the good of the church and school." In conclusion, we may just give an extract from the Oldham Chronicle of July 1. Speaking of the schools, it says: "The Rev. J. Dunning, who has been appointed, seems to be a thorough Free Churchman and a hard Christian worker, and as such will be an indispensable help to the cause of Free Churchism in Hol linwood." ROCHDALE. - ST. STEPHEN'S SUNDAY-SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY.-The an nual services of the Sunday-school were held in St. Stephen's Church, on Sunday, September 10, 1871. This day, which, as usual, had been looked forward to with considerable interest by our young friends, was ushered in with favourable weather, and in its subsequent engagements proved a great success. The Rev. E. C. Lewis, our esteemed pastor, who has for fifteen consecutive years preached the school sermons, again officiated, and spoke with his accustomed energy and power. The discourses were founded respectively upon Mark xii. 41-44, and Mark ix. 41, and illustrated the great principles of Christian liberality and Christian charity. The musical portions of the services were unusually well rendered by our efficient choir, assisted by upwards of 80 of the scholars, and appeared to give general satisfaction. In the afternoon, owing to the illness of the Rev. T. Harwood Pattison, minister of West-street Baptist Chapel, who had been announced, Mr. Lewis addressed the teachers, scholars, and friends, and gave a forcible exposition of parental responsibility and influence, as suggested by Exodus ii. 9. The collections for the day amounted to 72l. 10s. 101d. With grateful hearts to the Giver of all mercies, and cheered by the support of our Christian friends, we "thank God and take courage." THE COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON'S COLLEGE AT CHESHUNT. Last year the foundation-stone of the first portion of the new College at Cheshunt was laid by the Earl of Shaftesbury. At the anniversary gathering on Thursday, June 29, the new buildings were formally opened by Earl Russell. The new wing, which has just been completed, and which will afford accommodation to about forty students, was thrown open to all the visitors, and was, of course, the great object of attraction. The preliminary service was held in the chapel, which was tastefully decorated with evergreens and roses. The order of morning service was read by the Rev. Thomas Dodd, and the sermon was preached by the Rev. R. W. Dale. The text selected by Mr. Dale was, “Holding fast the faithful Word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers."-Titus i. 9. The design of the discourse was to show the necessity of a thorough education for the work of the Christian ministry—an education that should develop and discipline all the intellectual powers, as well as secure a large knowledge of theological truth. The next portion of the day's programme was the ceremony of opening the new buildings. Shortly after one o'clock Earl Russell, who was accompanied by Lady Russell, took his seat upon a platform which had been especially erected for the occasion. He was surrounded by a large number of the prominent ministerial and lay friends of the College. The following address to his lordship was read by the Rev. HENRY ALLCN: "MY LORD,-Before your lordship formally declares this new building open for collegiate purposes, the Trustees and Committee wish to state to your lordship and to this assembly one or two facts connected with the College of which it forms a part. "Since the passing of the Act of Uniformity, which not only excluded Nonconformists from the national universities, but made collegiate institutions of their own illegal, they have had great difficulties in securing the education of their ministers. Most of their existing colleges have sprung out of private academies, some of which, true to their traditions of high culture, acquired so great a reputation as to attract to them even foreign divines. At the present time the Congregationalists alone have in England and Scotland sixteen collegiate institutions for the education of their ministers. There are 38 professors and 368 students connected with these institutions. "As yet no attempt has been made to incorporate these scattered colleges into a university system, although at different times amalgamations have taken place. "The College at Cheshunt, although its alumni chiefly enter the ministry of the Congregational churches, by which again it is principally supported, differs from all other English Nonconformist colleges in that it pertains to no one religious denomination. Founded by the Countess of Huntingdon to provide ministers for her own evangelizing enterprises, it was, during her lifetime, supported and administered solely by herself. When, after her death, the estate at Cheshunt was purchased, and put in trust for collegiate 1 purposes, the Trust-deed was studiously made catholic.* Its only requirements are that students educated here shall assent to fifteen doctrinal articles, drawn chiefly from the Thirty-nine Articles of the Episcopal Church; so that every student, when his education is completed, is at perfect liberty to exercise his ministry in whatever section of the Church of Christ he may prefer. The fact that so many of its alumni enter the Congregational ministry is owing solely to changes in church parties and in popular sympathies. In the administration of the College its catholic character is jealously maintained. "The College was founded at Trevecca, in Wales, in 1768. Its constitution was prepared by Whitefield, Wesley, Fletcher of Madely, Romaine, and Venn. Mr. Fletcher was its first President. Lady Huntingdon commonly resided at the College House. A few months after her death, in 1791, the College was removed to Cheshunt, the dedication sermon being preached by the Rev. John Eyre, a clergyman of Hackney. The number of ministers educated in connexion with it has been 482. During the last eleven years, . under the presidency of its honoured and beloved Principal, Dr. Reynolds, and chiefly, under the blessing of God, through his accomplished scholarship and untiring, devout, and loving service, aided by the hearty and affectionate co-operation of his colleagues, Professors Todhunter and Evans, applications for admission to the College have been in excess of its capacity. Hence the determination to celebrate its centenary by a considerable enlargement and reconstruction, the first and chief portion of which your lordship has kindly undertaken to inaugurate to-day. "To the friends of the College it is a high gratification that your lordship's name will thus be connected with the College. To no public man more than to your lordship are Nonconformists indebted for the removal of disabilities which, had they remained, would have made our position to-day very different from what it is. At a time when it was a reproach and almost a peril to be an advocate of civil and religious liberty, your lordship was its fearless and uncompromising champion. And all who are here today join in a congratulation to yourself, and in a thanksgiving to our gracious Father in heaven, that He has crowned your lordship's life with length of days, so that you are permitted to see almost the completion of the edifice to which your early years of vigorous and noble-hearted work were so bravely given. May He give to your lordship days of peaceful rest and retrospects of holy satisfaction. May His conscious presence be the comfors and strength of your patriarchal years, and by the tender ministries of His love and Spirit may he meeten you for the 'well done' which He will pronounce upon all who faithfully serve their generation according to His will, and for the entrance into His joy with which He rewards and crowns their service. "In the name of the Trustees of the College I have to request that your lordship will declare these new buildings opened." Earl RUSSELL then rose and said: Before I declare this college open I have to return my thanks for the address which has been given to me, and for the praise of which I deserve but a small part. It was the increasing liberality of the age which many years ago induced the House of Commons to agree to the repeal of those disabling statutes to which you refer, and *This is not true.-ED. F.C.E.M. under the injustice and privation of which the Dissenters of this country so long laboured. It remained until our day an enactment of the Parliament of Great Britain that all persons who looked for honours from the university, who became fellows or part of the governing bodies, should belong to the Church of England, and conform to its Thirty-nine Articles. Happily, even those disabilities have been removed. A great man, a most enlightened illustrator of the history of the Christian religion, Dr. Lardner, who wrote the "Credibility of the Gospel History," lamented that he, being a Dissenter, was not capable of receiving the fellowships and the honours which were given in the national university. Happily, that stigma is removed; that disgrace to the country and to the Church of England was only the other day removed from our statutes, and I trust that all persons who profess and call themselves “Christians” will now enjoy the full liberty that they ought to have. It is a great privilege which those who are now educated and are about to be educated in this College will enjoy. I am happy to find that, more than a hundred years ago, Lady Huntingdon had that liberality and wisdom which we have only learned within the last year or two. I am happy that she did not restrict the benefits of the education which she provided to members of the Church of England, but gave it to those who were called Independents and Congregationalists, and others who sincerely believed in all the essential articles of Christianity. But then, when we consider to what it is that the persons here educated are to be admited, it is imposible not to be almost appalled by the thought of the sacred and sublime functions which they will fulfil. At the beginning of the teaching of our Lord and Saviour, when messengere were sent to Him from John the Baptist to ask who He was, and what He was doing, He referred first to the miracles that He was Himself performing, which have long since passed away with the necessity for them, but He ended by saying, “And the poor have the Gospel preached unto them.' That was what He pointed out as that which would remain for ever, and when He was about to depart from earth when His work here was done, He said to His apostles and disciples, "Go and preach to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." Thus, at the beginning of His course upon earth, and at the end when He was about to ascend to His Father in heaven, He declared that the most sublime office that a human being could discharge was that of teaching the doctrine which He had taught, and pointing out the way which He bad pointed out. Therefore it is that I say that those who are educated in this and similar places are about to assume a function than which there is no higher upon earth. Let us compare it, for instance, with that which the highest, noblest, and most chivalrous knights, six centuries ago, thought it a very great feat to perform when they devoted themselves to gaining the tomb of Christ and the place where His labours had been performed. That was, after all, but an inferior work. Merely to acquire the tomb in which He had been buried was a very little thing compared to the being imbued with the doctrines which He taught, and inheriting the spirit which He infused. Those doctrines and that spirit are incomparably more sublime and glorious than any mere possession of the ground on which He trod. It is for that reason that I feel it a great satisfaction to stand here and recognize your labours, and to congratulate you on the work which you are carrying on ; it |