Miss Longley started to her school that morning with a light heart, thanking God for the courage which had enabled her to discharge her duty, and for crowning her effort with such a satisfactory result. She frequently visited at B.'s after this, but discovered no traces of the old partiality. Mrs. B. often thanked her for her kind admonition. The effect upon Martha was marvellous. She soon became lively and joyous. Her dullness seemed to have departed, and she succeeded remarkably well in her studies. At the close of the term, Miss Longley had the proud satisfaction of awarding to Martha a beautiful medal, which the directors had provided for the pupil who had made the most satisfactory progress during the term. Have any of the parents who read this a Squinty in their family? H. NOTTINGHAM Is a town of considerable antiquity. That it existed at a very remote period there cannot be a doubt. Its situation at the terminus of an extensive forest, and on the banks of the river Trent, with a fertile pasturage all around, on an elevation eminently calculated for war and defence (when war was carried on by missiles alone), was such that few sites could be found more tempting than this. It is assumed that a town of some description existed here prior to the birth of Christ, and indeed, anterior to the Roman invasion. Rowse gives Nottingham an antiquity as far back as 980 years before the Christian era, but on what evidence is not known. It was a flourishing town during the Heptarchy, and belonged to the kingdom of Mercia. One thing is certain, that the soft and easily excavated sandstone rocks were utilized to form dwellings, many of which were inhabited until a recent period, and a few remain to the present day. Some of these were of considerable extent; they were supported by columns more or less carved, and are believed to have been in some instances places of refuge for the inhabitants during the Danish invasion, and in times of religious persecution. The town was thus called Snodergaham or Snotingaham, probably from Snotterga "caves," and "Ham" a home or dwelling place. Since the Conquest it has borne the name of Nottingham, a name said by some to have been derived from the quantity of hazel nuts growing in and about it. "Nuthall," being cited as a corrobative illustration of this etymological theory. It can claim to have been a town of note for nearly 1,000 years; it has been governed by a mayor for more than 550 years, and it has sent two members to Parliament for the same period. Indeed its history cannot be better epitomised than in the language of a chronicler who wrote of it upwards of a century ago. "It is a town that has undergone both fire and sword, and weathered all the peculiar vicissitudes of time, holding up its head, ever trading, hardly any time wanting some profitable manufacture or other to employ the poor. Constantly advancing and at the same time enjoying the most prosperous state it ever was blessed with, or any inland town can hope for." The manufacture of dyed cloth was in the 12th century the staple trade of the town. Tanning was in the 17th century an important branch of business in Nottingham; and its matting trade has been for centuries of great repute. The staple trades are now hosiery and lace of all kinds, bleaching, silk throwing and dying, spinning and twisting. The modern prosperity of Nottingham is greatly attributable to the invention of the stocking frame by William Lee, in 1589. He was a native of Woodborough, near Nottingham. The circumstances counected with his invention are invested with considerable interest, although the details are open to dispute. One biographer states that he was paying his addresses to a young lady who was, whenever he visited her, so absorbed in knitting as to be unmindful of his appeals. Provoked by the successful rivalry of the knitting-needles, he tried to invent a machine which should liberate his lover's fingers, engage her affections, and ultimately success crowned his efforts. Another historian avers that the inventor was stimulated by the desire to lighten the labours of an industrious wife. There can be no doubt young unmarried ladies will believe the former statement, while all loving industrious wives will give credence to the latter. His invention was disregarded by Queen Elizabeth and by his countrymen generally; but he was invited to France by Henry IV., and he went to Rouen, and at length died in Paris. After his death most of his workmen returned to England and established the manufacture here. The trade was at first made a monopoly, but a company was formed and the trade thrown open. It gradually concentrated in the counties of Nottingham, Derby, and Leicester, in which district it still continues. The first cotton mill ever erected was built in Nottingham by Richard Arkwright in 1767, and James Hargreave, of Blackburn, who invented the spinning jenny, set up several machines here. The rising town has now its palatial warehouses and factories, in which tens of thousands are daily employed, the weekly wages of some of the talented artisans reaching £4 to £5. Its beautiful lace and hosiery are sent into every part of the civilized world, and serves to adorn royalty itself on its most As we purpose to important national and social duties and festivities. supply our numerous readers from time to time with brief articles on its antiquities, celebrities, ecclesiastics, institutions, &c., we will close this article by informing our friends that at present the town is governed by a mayor, 14 aldermen, 42 councillors, and has a staff of 104 police, and a population, including suburbs, of 150,000. The town has eighteen churches of England, with a suffragan bishop, &c., thirty chapels belonging to dissenters, a synagogue for the Jews, a Catholic Apostolic church, a Roman Catholic cathedral and bishop with a convent, &c. The first Primitive Methodist preparatory meeting, or Conference, was held in Nottingham in August, 1819, presided over by the Rev. Thomas King, who is still living in the town in his 82nd year. P. DAYKIN. THE GOLDEN CHAIN; OR THOUGHTS FOR THE THOUGHTFUL. LET our care be to build the Lord's house; and let him build ours.Alleine. O then, see that there be not a loose pin in the work of thy salvation. Rutherford. A plain man once said: "Before my conversion, when I prayed in the presence of others I prayed to them; when I prayed in secret I prayed to myself; but now I pray to God."-Phelps. God looks not at the oratory of your prayers, how elegant they be; nor at the geometry of your prayers, how long they be; nor at the arithmetic of your prayers, how many they be; nor at the logic of your prayers, how methodical they be; but the sincerity of them he looks at.-Brooks. A lazy minister in his younger years will make a poor old man.Halyburton. Let Jesus be in all. Study Christ. Preach Christ. Live Christ.M. Henry. Repentance includes a heart broken for sin, and a heart broken from sin.-Buck. The believer's last step will be on the head of the old serpent; he will crush it and spring from it into glory.-Mason. Sent by W. STEWART. LINES COMPOSED IN THE GENERAL CEMETERY DERBY ROAD, NOTTINGHAM. AROUND they lie! the grave, the gray, The Infant of a span! The Son, the Sire, with locks grown gray, Borne from the charming cozy cot, Or own, "Sweet home" so dear, They sleep, while wintry winds whirl by, Succeeding seasons o'er them pass, The busy, bustling tribes around, Who tug and toil so near, Break not these sleepers' sleep profound, They rest securely here. Unheeded now, the crowds pass by, Long lov'd and loving ones; A few step in, to see and sigh, And read the Inscription stones. Earth blends here with its kindred earth, Ashes on ashes lie, And dust which had in dust its birth, I sat beneath the willow shade, And thought what SIN had done, Then rose, retired in blissful faith, That faith through JESUS given, P. DAYKIN. THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN BRITAIN. HE above engraving is a representation of the first building reared in this country for the purpose of public Christian worship. Between this structure and the magnificent ecclesiastical piles which abound among us, there is a wonderful difference. If the simplicity and purity of Christianity had kept pace with its extension, religion would have presented to day a far more glorious appearance, and wielded a more powerfully beneficent influence both at home and abroad than it does. Substantial, commodious, and tasteful buildings are very desirable, and a great advantage to Christian worshippers; but they are not a true and certain index to the real character of those who have erected them. When Christianity first came to Britain, architecture had made little or no progress among the inhabitants; and altogether the social condition and manners of the people were rude and barbarous, a fact which must be taken into account when we think of the rude workmanship displayed in the above illustration. Glastonbury, in Somerset, claims to be the place where the first British Christian church was built. It was 60 ft. long, and 26 ft. broad. Its walls were made of twigs banded and twisted together after the ancient custom that king's castles used to be built. Its roof was of straw, hay, or rushes. The top of the door reached to the roof. It had three windows on the south side, and one on the east, over the communion |