The subject for October will be, "Charity," as commended in the Scriptures; and the prize to be given for the best Essay on that subject, a copy of Foxe's "Book of Martyrs." All competitors must give a guarantee that they are under fifteen years of age, and that the Essay is their own composition, or the papers will be passed over, as the Editor cannot undertake to write for this necessary information. Papers must be sent direct to the Editor, Mr. T. Hull, 117, High Street, Hastings, by the first of September.] THE cross is the distinct announcement to us of that wonderful law, that "through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of heaven." Perfection through suffering--that is the doctrine of the cross. There is love in that law. Interesting Items. ON July 15th, after two sermons by Mr. Hull, at Rochdale Road, Manchester, £44 9s. 5½d. was collected for the Sunday School there. SALE OF PICTURES.--The _Chester Chronicle_ states authoritatively that Lord Tollemache has sold two of his pictures by Sir Joshua Reynolds for £15,000 each, and one by Gainsborough for £14,000. IN addition to the present from a London banker of 10,000 books, a lady in the City has sent a van load, about one and a half tons, to the Mariners' Mission, Burdett Road, London, E., for free distribution among sailors and others. LOW RENTAL FOR LAND.--Eight hundred acres of arable land in the Isle of Sheppey, well known for its productive nature, have just been let to a new tenant at the unprecedentedly low price of 1s. 2d. an acre. The tithe on the land is 12s. an acre. ON June 1st, 1883, a toad was placed in a cavity hollowed in a large stone, and the opening was sealed up with cement. On the 1st of June, this year, the stone was broken open, and the toad was found alive, and strangely enough, it had grown considerably. MR. JOHN WHITE, of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, erected a highly horrible scarecrow in a field. Three weeks afterwards he went to inquire after its health, and found that a robin had built her nest in one of the pockets, and a tomtit had utilized a sleeve for the same purpose. A MAIDEN SESSION.--There were no prisoners for trial at Cambridgeshire Quarter Sessions, July 13th, 1888. Mr. Sperling, the chairman, who was presented with a pair of white gloves, said that, during an experience of over thirty years, he did not remember a previous maiden session. THE Dundee sealing steamer _Esquimaux_ arrived the other week at St. John's, Newfoundland, from seal fishing, with a catch of 23,000 seals. The _Aurora_, another Dundee vessel, followed, with a cargo of 25,000 seals. The seal fishing off the Newfoundland coast has this season been a great success.