BIBLE CLASS. Entelligence. YORK ROAD CHAPEL YOUNG WOMEN'S the divine blessing is sought, especially upon the labours of our much-loved Report read at the Annual Tea Meeting, president. A similar meeting is held on held in the School Room, on Wednesday the third Sabbath of every month at the Evening, January 7th, 1863. close of the usual exercises, composed We have much pleasure in presenting of church members only, on behalf of the Third Annual Report of the YOUNG the various members of the class who WOMEN'S BIBLE CLASS, held in con- are in need of special sympathy and nection with the York Road Chapel. help. This class has been in existence many years, and God has from time to time been pleased to own and bless the instructions received in leading many to decide for Christ, and to the good of most of those who have attended it. The class meets every Sabbath after-religious tracts among the poor residing noon for the purpose of gaining a practi- in the vicinity of the chapel. cal acquaintance with the word of God, and is attended chiefly by young women, although, it is not restricted to age, as it includes at the present time many who are more advanced. Another of these meetings is held on the last Sabbath of the month before the morning service for the purpose of seeking a more abundant outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the labours of those who are engaged in distributing The number of class members on the books in January, 1862, was 41; 37 members have been received during the present year, and 13 have left, making the total of 65 now on the books, showing an increase of 24. Out of the 13 who have left, 9 have received a Bible as a token of affection, presented on behalf of the class by our esteemed pastor, who has kindly presided on these occasions. During the year 9 have been received into church fellowship, making the number of communicants in the class 42. In addition to these, all of which are held in the class room, the members meet every Tuesday evening, from halfpast seven till half-past eight, at Miss Sherratt's house, No. 8, Lambeth Road, when prayer is offered for the general good and prosperity of the class. This has been attended by an average of 18 throughout the year, and we rejoice to find that God has, in answer to our supplications, poured out the spirit of prayer on many of our number. We feel assured that our prayers have not been in vain; that the Lord has been pleased to manifest his presence at these seasons, and many have been enabled to feel that it is good to meet together in such a way. Besides these gatherings for prayer,inquirers are met every Saturday evening, from 7 to 8, by Miss Sherratt, at her house, for the purpose of imparting spiritual counsel and guidance to any who may Out of these, 8 have left us, either through removals or to become teachers, leaving a total of 34 church members now on the books. Prayer meetings in connection with be desirous to decide for Christ. the class are held as follows: On the afternoon of the first Sabbath of every month, the time which is spent in the usual way on other Sabbaths is employed in devotional exercises, when It has been already hinted that there is in connection with the Class a Society for the distribution of religious tracts among the poor; and considering the short time we have been engaged in the work we have met with great encouragement, at least 16 have been induced to attend York Road Chapel, who seldom went to any place of worship, and we have every reason to hope they will become regular attendants, having expressed deep interest in the ministry of our Pastor. We have met with very little opposition, and that only where Roman Catholics have resided. A poor woman, who is a lodger in one of the houses, asked for one of the little books to be left for her, as she had two in the house and thought them very interesting; we are happy to say that we frequently meet with such requests. We feel it exceedingly desirable that as many of our number as possible should be present at our monthly morning prayer meeting, as those who cannot assist in the work of tract distribution, may greatly help us by uniting their prayers with ours. The few who have met for this object have found the moments "sweet and rich in blessing," which they have spent together at the throne of grace, and God in his mercy has permitted us to see that our hearts' desires have not been expressed in vain. The following has been collected during the year: Leaving a Balance in hand of £1 5 10 A donation of 10s., included in the above, was kindly procured for us by our esteemed pastor, and we feel it a duty and privilege to express our gratitude for his kindness in this instance, and for the earnest and loving appeals made by him on occasions like the present, and we trust that we may have for many years to come, the sympathy and co-operation of one whose ministry is so highly appreciated, and whose name will be ever dear to us all. The members of the Class cannot close this brief Report without expressing their grateful sense of the continued diligence and kindness of their beloved teacher, Miss Sherratt, and earnest prayers that her valuable life may be long spared for increased usefulness. Passing Events. THE event which has absorbed the marriage of the heir apparent of these interest of the whole country during realms, inasmuch as it is possible, and the past month, has been the MARRIAGE even probable, that he will at some of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales with the Princess Alexandra, daughter of Prince Christian of Denmark. We spare our readers a repetition of the many titles of the Royal Bridegroom, or the almost equally numerous names of his Bride. While the country takes a lively interest in all that concerns the family of our beloved widowed Queen, there is a special importance attached to the future period occupy the throne, and that it is of vital concern to the nation that the throne should be shared by one who will maintain the high moral tone by which the British Court has for many years been distinguished. In the Queen of William IV., as well as in Queen Victoria, an example has been set, the influence of which cannot be estimated. The present marriage constrains us to look backward to the last marriage of PASSING EVENTS. con The seclusion in which her Majesty has remained ever since her great loss, and which she still feels herself unable a Prince of Wales, and when we re- to the Prince's income, and have also member the disgraceful circumstances settled £10,000. a year on the Princess, so as to enable them suitably to support under which that marriage was tracted the unfavourable omens which their high station. attended it--and its lamentable results, we cannot but feel devoutly thankful that we can look upon the present union with feelings of unmingled satisfaction. to leave, has cast much gloom over the We are assured that it is what every the country, and especially over the marriage should be-an union of affec- metropolis-the tradesmen of which feel tion; and all that has been made public severely the absence of that stimulus relative to the Princess Alexandra, en- which the presence of the Court occourages the hope that that affection casions. All parties, therefore, seemed will be an enduring one. In answer to desirous to take the opportunity of an enquiry made in the House of rendering the arrival of the Princess an Commons as to whether the Princess occasion for allowing the people a season was a Protestant, our lively Premier not of relaxation and enjoyment, and most The only gave a satisfactory answer to that thoroughly did they enjoy it. question, but amused the House with suffering ribbon weavers of Coventry a little more information. Lord Palmer- were set to work to manufacture wedding favours to be generally worn; and ston, said : the carpenters and decorators of London were engaged in preparing the means for enabling its inhabitants to display their loyalty and affection. It would be in vain for us to attempt any detail of the pageant which extended from Mar "When the question arose as to the selection of a Princess to be the wife of the Prince of Wales, the following conditions were held to be requisite. First, that she should be young. Secondly, that she should be handsome. Thirdly, that she should be agreeable. Fourthly, gate to Windsor; and, thanks to the that she should be amiable. Fifthly Penny Press, probably all our readers that she should have been well brought have already been made familiar with up; and lastly, that she should be a it. Protestant. All these conditions, I am happy to say, are united in the Princess Alexandra." This afforded the Cor The intimations of unfavourable weather led to the departure of the Princess from Antwerp, on Thursday, March 5th, instead of the following day; In making the pecuniary arrange- on that night her yacht anchored in ments necessary in connection with this Margate Roads. marriage, fresh proofs have been afforded poration of that town an opportunity of how much the Queen and her children, getting up an address, and they were as well as the whole nation, have been thus the first to welcome her Royal indebted to the late lamented Prince Highness on her arrival in England. Consort for his industry and prudence. On Friday, she proceeded to the Nore, It appears that the revenues of the and on Saturday, to Gravesend, where the Duchy of Cornwall, which belong to Prince of Wales met her. There they disthe Prince of Wales, have been so care- embarked and proceeded through the fully managed during his minority, that town, which had been uniformly decorated, they now amount to £60,000. per annum. | to the Railway Station, where the carriThere has also been an accumulation of ages were waiting, which speedily conabout £550,000. which has been princi-veyed the Royal party to the South pally expended in the purchase of the The Sandringham . estate in Norfolk. legislature have added £40,000. a year Eastern Station in the Kent Road. seated in the carriage with her, to witness such a spontaneous effusion of affectionate greeting, and her younger sisters, who were in the preceding carri We can only mention that the Royal party passed through the lines of 17,000 volunteers in Hyde Park, reached the Great Western Railway Station at Paddington, at five minutes past five, and alighted at the Slough Station at thirteen minutes after six; where they were met by several members of the Royal Family, and entering their carriages proceeded through Eton to Windsor. of evening were now gathering, and somewhat heavy rain had set in; but neither of these were sufficient to prevent the hearty welcome of those assembled to greet them, including the boys belonging to the Eton School. The shades to receive them. The Corporation of the Royal Pair, and joined heartily in the Metropolitan City, left nothing undone plaudits which greeted their advance. to do honour to the occasion. In addition It must have been intensely gratifying to presenting the Princess with a neck-to the parents of the Princess, who were lace and pair of ear-rings valued at £10,000., they determined that no effort should be wanting on their part to make the procession one of great interest. In this they had much difficulty to encoun-age, appeared highly amused at the ter from the Government, who feared scene. that the labour thus imposed on the Princess might be too great for her. It was a trying time for a young lady of nineteen, to be thus made the object of special observation and criticism, by hundreds of thousands during a slow progress of seven miles; but yet it was so glorious a sight to witness the enthusiasm of the whole body of the people, from the highest to the lowest, that we are glad she was not hurried through the city, and have no doubt the Princess herself fully concurs in this, now that the trying ordeal has been passed. We considered it our duty on the Saturday morning to pass through the triumphal arch in Southwark, to inspect the arrangements which had been made to do honour to the occasion, in the decoration of London Bridge, the splendid arch forming the entrance to the City, the gay apparel which the ordinarily dingy Mansion House had put on, and the splendid ranges of seats provided by the Cor-programme, which would not be very poration in St. Paul's Churchyard for the accommodation of 10,000 of their friends, and then quietly took up a convenient station in Ludgate Street, provided by the kindness of a friend, and quietly awaited the arrival of the mingled procession of constables, soldiers, banners, footmen, and carriages, which occupied about an hour and ten minutes in passing. We did not of course see the Lady Mayoress descend from her balcony and present the bouquet; nor did we witness the departure of the civic procession at old Temple Bar, which had been cased with scarcely appropriate drawing room decorations, but we had a most satisfactory view of the We have left ourselves no space to speak of the actual marriage, which took place on Tuesday, March 10th, at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and at which the Queen was present, but privately. It would be in vain to say more about it, unless we were to copy out the edifying. The Archbishop of Canterbury ̧ officiated, and our readers will join with us in earnest prayer that the union thus auspiciously formed may be a long and happy one. The Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society have prepared a magnificently bound copy of the Holy Bible to be presented by their President, the Earl of Shaftesbury, to the Prince of Wales on his marriage. A similar present will be made by the Sunday scholars of Manchester, the subscription from each being limited to one penny. Many meetings of scholars were held in various parts of the country on the wedding-day to celebrate the event. At Devonport the following adaptation of the National Anthem was sung: "God save our gracious Queen, Send her victorious, Happy and glorious, Long to reign over us, God save the Queen." God bless her Royal Son, God of his childhood's days, From every snare. Smile on the young Princess, Long may the Royal Pair Thy choicest gifts in store, To sing, with heart and voice, On the Sunday morning we listened to an excellent sermon from Eph. v. 32, in which the event which had so much interested the public on the preceding day was made the means of spiritual instruction. Doubtless this was the case in many other places. On Monday afternoon, March 9th, special prayer-meetings were held in Willis's Rooms, King Street, St. James's, and in Exeter Hall, to supplicate the Divine blessing on the union to be formed on the following day. We did not attend either of them, but in the evening joined with much pleasure in one of a similar description. May the prayers thus offered bring down abundant blessings on those on whose behalf they were especially presented! Mr. TENNYSON, the Poet Laureate, has written a welcome to the Princess, which we have pleasure in preserving in our pages: Sea-kings' daughter from over the sea, Saxon and Norman and Dane are we, Welcome her, thunders of fort and of fleet! Welcome her, thundering cheer of the street! Welcome her, all things youthful and sweet, Scatter the blossom under her feet! Break, happy land, into earlier flowers! Make music, O bird, in the new-budded bowers! Welcome her, welcome her, all that is ours! Warble, O bugle, and trumpet, blare! Flags, flutter out upon turrets and towers! A pleasing coincidence was noticed in a meeting of Christian friends, where the arrival of the Princess in England formed the subject of conversation. The captain of the vessel in which William Carey, the Founder of the Baptist Mission, had engaged his passage to India, alarmed at the risk he ran, compelled him and his companions to leave the vessel. He returned to London disconsolate, and went to the Jerusalem Coffee house, to seek some captain to take them, but in vain. He was, however, referred to the agents of a Danish ship, and in the "Cron Princessa Maria," Carey and his colleagues proceeded on their Godlike enterprise. When the East India Company sought to drivethem from India, |