thence to assist Dr. Tennison, at St. Nicholas, Newcastle. He was of the sect called Congregationalists. He was invited to Hamburg, but the Lord Chancellor Hyde prevented him. He went to Stockholm and to Dantzig; on his return to England, in 1665, he fixed his residence at Hackney, where he died. William Durant, M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford, married the sister of Sir James Clavering, and was minister of All Saints' Church; he was of Congregational principles. He died towards the end of Charles II.'s reign, and was buried in his own garden. Henry Leaver, grandson of Thomas Leaver, Edward VI.'s chaplain, and one of the refugees at Frankfort in the reign of Mary. After his return home, he became Master of Sherborne Hospital, near Durham; he was an intiImate friend of the famous Bernard Gilpin, of Houghton-le-Spring, the "Apostle of the North." From Sherborne Hospital he proceeded to the rectory of Brancefelt, as successor to Bishop Cosins. He was one of the Commissioners for erecting a college at Durham, in 1659. He removed to Newcastle before the Restoration. When ejected from St. John's, in that town, he removed to Shincliffe, but returned to Newcastle in 1665. At the period of the Indulgence, he had a call to Darlington. He died not long after, and was buried at St. Nicholas', Newcastle, in 1673. He was intimate with Lord and Lady Wharton.

He is

described as a man of learning, moderate principles, great piety, and sweet temper; much of a gentleman, affable and courteous, and very agreeable in conversation; he was also a faithful minister, an affectionate friend, and remarkable for his generosity and liberality (Palmer, vol. iii., p. 79). Thomas Trurant, at Ovingham; he continued to preach after he was ejected, and by his moderate and prudent carriage, gained much upon the public and his enemies. He afterwards laboured at Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex, where he had a meeting-place, until his death, in 1676. Humphrey Bell, at Portland; though much pressed to conform, he refused, after mature deliberation. He gained his livelihood by farming. On his death-bed he thanked God that he had kept a good conscience in this matter. John Owens, at Stunnerton; he preached frequently at his own house, and at those of

neighbouring gentlemen; he was fined for preaching at Mr. George Horsley's, and was conducted as a prisoner to Newcastle, where he was treated with great harshness, but was discharged on the payment of the fine by his friends. Lord Lauderdale made him a kind offer of a settlement at Hownam, in Scotland, which, at first, he refused, but afterwards accepted through the persuasion of Mr. Rutherford's son-inlaw. There he laboured till, worn out with age and infirmity, he could not be heard, when he returned to England, and died. He is said to have resided some time in Newcastle. George Hadden, or Howden, M.A., at Stunnington. Alexander Gordon, at Tynemouth; after his ejection, he went into Scotland; he is mentioned in Woodrow's History, vol. i., p. 418. William Mene, at Tweedmouth and Spittle Chapels. Ralph Wickliffe, at Whalton, the sober son of an extravagant father, who wasted a handsome estate, was born at Sunderland; he was nephew to Henry Leaver the younger. In the severest times, after the ejection, he preached. He was a member of Mr. Ward's congregation, at Harlburn, and ordained by the presbytery at Morpeth. He died at the end of 1683, about fifty-two years of age, leaving behind the character of a prudent and sober man. Archibald Moor, at Warkworth, made a great reformation in his parish, by his prudence, diligence, and obliging behaviour. He died at Tredagh, Ireland, in 1670. Abraham Hume, M.A., was educated at St. Andrew's, and came to London as chaplain to the Countess of Hume. On her return to the North, he accompanied Lord Lauderdale (the Countess's sonin-law) to Paris and Geneva, remaining abroad two years. He accompanied his lordship, who was Lay-Commissioner for Scotland, to the Westminster Assembly. He was invited to Benton near Newcastle, where he was honoured and successful in his ministry. Being a firm Presbyterian and Loyalist, he was turned out of his place by the existing government, chiefly through the influence of Sir Arthur Haslerigg. He led a private life, in Scotland, till the time of Cromwell's Protectorate, when he had a call to Whittingham, where Sir Arthur had an estate. Sensible of the injury he had done Mr. Hume formerly, he now joined in the invitation, and treated him with great

respect. Though nothing could induce Mr. Hume to acknowledge the authority of Cromwell as the rightful head of the government, his unaffected piety, his fervent preaching, and his graceful deportment, endeared him to persons of all denominations. Yet, after suffering and doing so much for the royal cause, he was turned out, after the Restoration, as readily as others, for Nonconformity to the prelatical government and worship. His Nonconformity alienated Lord Lauderdale from him. He went a second time to France, where he formed a friendship for M. Claude, minister of Charenton. Compelled by circumstances to return to England, he was kindly entertained by Alderman Plumpin, of London, during the rest of the alderman's life. After his decease, Mr. Hume became pastor of a Dissenting society at Bishopsgate-street Without; the society having been broken up by inward dissensions, he preached privately at Theobald's, in the parish of Cheshunt, till King James's Declaration of Indulgence, when he took charge of a congregation in Drury-lane, which he served until his death, in 1702; he was buried in Bunhill-fields. John Lomax, M.A., of Emanuel College, Cambridge, was minister of Wooler, much respected by Lord Grey, to whom the town almost entirely belonged; after the Restoration, he removed with his family to North Shields. He practised medicine, kept the only apothecary's shop in the town, and preached to a congregation, who raised him £4 per annum. He suffered much for his Nonconformity in the reign of Charles II. Palmer gives an interesting account of his eminently pious mother, and says of Mr. Lomax himself, "He was a man of a very comely aspect and a pleasant humour, yet grave, without affectation. His conversation was so agreeable and obliging, that he was valued by all who knew him. He was of a very even temper, and was never soon ruffled, or heard to rail at any person or party. He was just to every man's character, and when he could not commend, he was silent. He was a judicious and solid preacher; and though he used notes, which was not so common in this country as in other parts, that did not at all hinder his acceptance; he was so reserved in his opinion about Church government, that very few besides his intimate friends

were acquainted with it. He broke communion with no good man whose terms were not unscriptural. He was a man of substantial and polite learning, which Bishop Cosins (a prelate of great integrity, though very high in his notions as to ecclesiastical polity) did him the justice to acknowledge. When Dr. Cartwright, then Prebendary of Durham (afterwards made a bishop by King James), took occasion to reflect on Mr. Lomax, among other Dissenting ministers, the bishop said to him, Doctor, hold your tongue; for, to my certain knowledge, John Lomax is a learned man. Indeed, that learned prelate seemed more solicitous to get him to conform than any other preacher in the country; and, though he did not succeed, he often spoke of him in terms of respect. Mr. Lomax died about 1694." (Vol. iii., p. 85.) There are now in Northumberland thirteen Congregational churches.

In reviewing this sketch of the History of Congregational Churches in the Three Counties of Cumberland, Durham, and Northumberland, have

we

1. The power of the principles which actuated the clergy, and large portions of their people, at the time of passing the Act of Uniformity.

2. The effects of the vicinity of these counties to Scotland.

3. The zeal of Lady Huntingdon, Romaine, De Courcy, and others, in the great religious movement of Methodism in the last century.

4. The constant services of all our colleges, especially of those in Yorkshire and Lancashire.

5. The valuable aid of private individuals, in London and elsewhere. 6. The energetic and persevering usefulness of the County Associations.

I can only express my regret that the limits of your time prevent my enlarging, as I had intended, on these labours, and on the many proofs which it has been my happiness to witness, in these counties, that the Gospel of Christ is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;" that this Gospel has been fully preached in these counties in connection with our ecclesiastical principles; that so large a number of honoured brethren are still labouring in faith and hope; and that the spirit of evangelization is now in such active and successful operation. While I rejoice, with peculiar

thankfulness, in beholding this assembly of the Congregational Union of England and Wales in the towns of Newcastle, Sunderland, and Shields, it is my earnest prayer that we may all partake of that Spirit, who can make

our gathering another new centre of hearty thanksgiving, holy love, and revived energy to every church in the district, and to all of us who have partaken of their Christian fellowship.

A work on the above subject, especially addressed to the nurses in hospitals, has recently been issued by Messrs. Longman, which, while a most unpretending, is an exceedingly valuable publication. It must not, however, be supposed that it is adapted only to Nurses in public Hospitals, or to nurses any where; it is a book for the human family. Sooner or later, every house is a hospital for sick children, where either "the mother, the professional nurse, or the servant, becomes the subject of serious responsibilities." We attach exceeding great importance to the little book; which, although comprising only some seventy or eighty pages of matter, abounds with facts of the highest moment to the welfare of society. The subject is one on which there is the utmost need for popular instruction, since, for the want of it, to a vast extent, the aid of the physician is rendered unavailing, and human life, to an extent, incalculable, is lost. "The Nurse" is, and will ever be, a most important personage. Pity it is that much more attention is not paid to the preparation of such individuals than has hitherto been generally thought necessary. We consider the nurse to hold a place only second to that of the physician. In many points, indeed, we should even give her a primary place. A judicious, wellinformed, and experienced nurse, may work wonders without the physician; whereas, the first physician in the world may be unsuccessful through a stupid, selfish, slothful, and vicious nurse. Nurses ought to be prepared for the public, and so prepared they ought to be handsomely paid for their labour.

It is a tremendous fact that the mortality of children, under ten years of age, notwithstanding all the improve

ments in medicine, and of a sanitary character, is only 2 per cent. less than it was fifty years ago. Of 50,000 persons dying annually in London, no fewer than 21,000 are children under the age of ten. The fact is appalling; and it indicates that there is a dreadful short-coming somewhere. The hospitals of London are utterly inadequate to afford accommodation for sick children. In January, 1843, of 2,336 patients in all the hospitals, only 26 were children under ten, suffering from diseases peculiar to their age, a fact which demonstrates that the mighty mass of infant sufferers are deprived of the advantages of hospital treatment, which shows the unspeakable importance attaching to the qualifications of nurses. The mass of nurses are old women, or young women of a particular class, both, as a rule, being utterly ignorant of the duties of their office, and of the proper method of treating children. As matters now stand, in fact, a special hospital for children is much needed, since the proper care of sick children requires special arrangements not provided for even in the great public institutions. It is humbling to remark, that our own noble country, the head of all nations in many respects, is completely behind in this matter. Childrens' Hospitals have been successfully established in seventeen of the chief cities in Europe, while there was not one such hospital in the United Kingdom, till the hospital for sick children was opened in Ormond-street.

The importance of the provision has not escaped the notice of medical men, but the public have been wanting in their duty. Dr. Latham says:

I will venture to say that the poor, as a class, will gain more from the establishment

of a Hospital for Children's diseases, than they would from any general hospital.

Dr. Watson takes similar views of the great importance of this subject. He says:

It is a truth which ought to be confessed, that the disorders of early life are less generally understood than those that are incident to maturer age; and it is a truth which still more deserves publicity, that the imperfection of our knowledge is mainly owing to our want of hospitals dedicated to the reception of sick children.

Dr. Burrows has testified to the same effect:

The proposal to establish in the immediate vicinity of London a Hospital for Sick Children, is a measure so fraught with prospective benefits to every class of the community, that I cannot but regard it with deep interest and solicitude.

Drs. Locock and Ferguson have expressed themselves after the same manner; while Sir John Forbes says:

The establishment of a Children's Hospital in London, while proving an inestimable boon to themselves and their distressed parents, must also tend greatly to the advancement of medical knowledge in the important department of infantile diseases.

All this goes to show the vast importance of two things a hospital for children, the position of whose parents might render their removal desirable for the obtaining of more efficient medical aid, and the necessity of preparing a sufficient supply of nurses to meet the necessities of all but innumerable families that can afford to keep their children at home. But the matter, in our mind, admits of a loftier contemplation. It strikes us that every house ought to be, to all intents, a hospital for children; that is to say, every nursery ought to be a well-conducted hospital. Wherever

there are children, there will, there must be sickness-there may be danger and death. The nurse ought, therefore, thoroughly to know her duty, and be capable of co-operating with the family physician. That she may learn to magnify her office, we shall cite the following:

There are bad doctors sometimes; doctors who were idle when young, and are perhaps stupid, and obstinate, and self-conceited when old, and there can be no question but that a good nurse is worth a great deal more than a bad doctor. How, then, is a nurse to acquit herself of her duties, so as, whether the doctor be good or bad, to render the

greatest possible service to her patient, to promote his recovery to the utmost of her power?

1. Let her constantly have before her mind a sense of the high importance of her own duties; of the infinite value of human life, of the strict account she must give, not to man, but to God, of the manner in which she performs what she has undertaken, and then all such foolish, paltry feelings, as jealousy of the doctor, dislike to him, or desire to show off her own knowledge, will not enter into her heart, or if they do for a moment, they will not abide there, will not influence her conduct.

2. Let her be firmly convinced that, even as far as her employers are concerned, real knowledge of her duties, and zeal in their performance, real skill in understanding the signs of disease, or in perceiving when a plan of treatment is likely to be useful or injurious, cannot remain unnoticed, will seldom be allowed to pass unrewarded.

3. Let her remember, however, that this knowledge must be real, this zeal sincere, this skill founded on patient watching, and careful observation, not a mere pretence or idle talk. I never yet knew the doctor who would not listen with attention to the remarks of a careful, judicious nurse, or consider her suggestions; but when she has nothing more to say than such stuff as, "The poor thing will be lost for want of strength;" or, "I never knew any good come of those nasty blisters;" or, "I am sure all that calomel is not fit for a child;" or, when she says, "I thought the child would have died several times in the night;" or, "I thought he would have gone into fits;" or says he is much better, or much worse, without being able to give reasons for her opinion; or always talks in an exaggerated way, of "burning hot," or "stone cold;" or declares that a child "takes nothing at all," when it turns out that he has had a little tea, or a little barley-water, or a little arrow-root, no attention will be paid to her: the doctor, if a kind man, takes no notice of her: if unkind, he shows by his manner that he thinks her ignorant and stupid, and, perhaps, even says so.

A nurse's duty towards the doctor is twofold.

1st. Strictly to carry out his directions as to the treatment of the patient.

2nd. To observe the patient's condition; to notice the changes in it, and what she may either know or suppose to be the effects of the treatment, so as to give a short, clear, and correct account to the doctor at each visit.

Both of these duties must be discharged truthfully. Directions must be carried out to the very letter of the rules given her; or, if for some good reason any direction has not been observed, this omission must be stated, and the reason for it assigned simply, honestly, with no concealment and no exaggeration. Any doubt as to the result of a plan which the doctor is pursuing, must be stated to him, quietly, respectfully, in the absence of the patient's friends; and no doubt should be expressed without a corresponding reason, and one more definite than the opinion that this or that has done no good, or that the

child has been worse since this or that remedy was employed.

These are excellent sentiments, which deserve very general attention. The language of childhood is a science, and well were it for the world were that science better understood. The following passage bears on this with very great truthfulness and beauty. Referring to the previous paragraphs, the author goes on:

The

But to discharge either of these duties well, and especially the latter, you must know what to observe; and the signs of disease differ as well according to the age of the child, as to the nature of the illness from which it is suffering. Cries are the only language which a young baby has to express its distress; as smiles and laughter and merry antics tell without a word its gladness. The baby must be ill is all that its cries tell one person; another, who has seen much of sick children, will gather from them more, and will be able to judge whether its suffering is in the head, or chest, or stomach. cries of a baby with stomach-ache are long, and loud, and passionate; it sheds a profusion of tears; now stops for a moment, and then begins again, drawing up its legs to its stomach; and as the pain passes off stretches them out again, and with many little sobs passes off into a quiet sleep. If it have inflammation of the chest, it does not cry aloud, it weeps no tears, but every few minutes, especially after drawing a deeper breath than before, or after each short, hacking cough, it gives a little cry, which it checks apparently before it is half finished; and this either because it has no breath to waste in cries, or because the effort makes its breathing more painful. If disease is going on in the head, the child will utter sharp, piercing shrieks, and then between whiles a low moan or wail, or, perhaps, no sound at all, but will lie quiet, apparently dozing till pain wakes it up again.

It is not, however, by the cry alone, or by any one sign of disease, that you are to judge either of its nature or its degree: but I mention this merely as an instance which any one can understand of the different meaning

that even a baby's cry will convey to different persons.

When a child is taken ill, be the disease from which it is about to suffer what it may, there is at once a change from its condition when in health, such as soon attracts the attention even of the least observant. The child loses its appetite, is fretful and soon tired, and either very sleepy or very restless, while most likely it is thirsty, and its skin hotter than natural. In many instances, too, it feels sick or actually vomits, while its bowels are either much purged, or very bound. If old enough to talk it generally complains of feeling ill, or says that it has pain in some part or other, though it is by no means certain that a little child has described rightly the seat of its pain; for it very often says that its head aches, or its stomach aches, just because it has heard people when ill complain of pain in the head or stomach. Some of these signs of illness are of course absent in the infant, who can describe its feelings even by signs imperfectly; but the baby loses its merry laugh, and its cheerful look; it ceases to watch its mother's or its nurse's eye as it was used to do, though it clings to her more closely than ever, and will not be out of her arms, even for a moment; and if at length rocked to sleep in her lap, will yet wake up and cry immediately on being placed in its cot again.

After this the beautiful tractate proceeds to show how the nurse may help the doctor to find out the disease; her reports, indeed, are the only things he has to go upon. We have many striking facts here presented in illustration, touching diseases of the brain, convulsions, and other maladies. The subject of giving medicine, leeching, and the application of cold, the temperature of the room, the posture of the child, the importance of quiet, the duty of amusing the sick, the arrangement of warm baths, and the all-important matters of the stomach and the bowels; and much besides, are set forth in a manner easy to be understood and strikingly illustrative of their import

ance.

MISS MARY PARSONS was the younger of two daughters of the late Mr.W. Parsons. She was born in Leeds, March 11th, 1770. When very young, she came with her parents to reside in Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Her mother seems to have had a strong mind, correct taste, and exalted piety. She trained up her daughters in the fear of the Lord. At that time the family attended the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Pow

ley, then vicar of Dewsbury Church. He was a holy man, who lived, studied, and preached to be useful. He was an extensive blessing in the whole of the neighbourhood. Here Miss Mary was taken in childhood; and to the end of life, she spoke of that good man with grateful emotions. But although his ministry was awakening and enlightening, and had its effect in deepening the impressions and strengthening the convictions of