felt assured that the study of the Life of Christ had proved a permanent gain to the thirty young women who were able to attend. About the same time Miss Fitzgerald, of the Normal School, formed an advanced class for girls, with a view to their preparation for the work of Sabbath School teaching, but the state of her health compelled her to discontinue her useful work in 1879. This class was then conducted for a time by Miss Jardine (now Mrs Will, of the Manse, East Taieri) with most gratifying success. The class is now merged in Mr Chisholm's.
The Congregational Weekly Prayer Meeting, conducted by the minister with the assistance of the office-bearers and friends, has been held without intermission since the very outset. It meets in the classroom of the Old Church every Thursday evening, at half-past 7 o'clock, and lasts for about an hour. Special attention is given at the meetings to all matters affecting church work, and to the operations of benevolent and philanthropic institutions.
Subject to occasional interruptions, a special week of prayer has been set apart annually for a number of years, and has proved a season of spiritual profit and enjoyment to many. Meetings are held from Monday to Friday inclusive, and besides praise, prayer, and the reading and exposition of portions of Scripture, short addresses have usually been given on these occasions on such subjects as the following:—"Christ our Prophet," "Christ our Redeemer," "Christ our Intercessor," "Christ our King," "Christ, the Church's King," "The Lord's Supper," "Our Young Communicants," "Religious Decision," "Personal Responsibility," "Christian Work," "The Christian Race," &c. For several years prayer meetings, usually conducted by office-bearers of Knox Church, or the congregational missionary, were held at Pelichet Bay, N.E. Valley, Wakari, Pine Hill, and Mr Simpson's house, near the Water of Leith.
