owever. During his long and useful ministerial career of
more than half a century, he had but one fold and one flock. He was
a firm disciplinarian; was somewhat of a clerical martinet; but his
people liked him, and were cheerfully obedient; and he descended to
the grave full of abundant honour.

Timothy East, of Steelhouse Lane Chapel, was a man of far greater
mental capacity and culture. His sermons were clear, logical,
conclusive, and earnest. It is not generally known that he was a
voluminous writer. He was a frequent contributor to some of the best
periodicals of his time. He wrote and published, under the titles,
first of "The Evangelical Rambler," and afterwards of "The Evangelical
Spectator," a series of exceedingly well-written essays, the style of
which will compare favourably with that of the great standard works
of a century before, whose titles he had appropriated. His son,
the present Mr. Alfred Baldwin East, inherits a large share of his
father's literary ability. Those who had the pleasure, a few years
ago, to hear him read his manuscript of "The Life and Times of Oliver
Cromwell," had a rare intellectual treat. Some of its passages are
worthy of Macaulay. I wish he would publish it.

Of the newspapers of that time, only two survive, at least in
name--_Aris's Gazette_ and _The Midland Counties Herald_. The latter
had just been started. For a short time it was called _The Birmingham
Herald_, but this was soon altered to its present title. It was
published on the premises now occupied as Nock's refreshment bar,
in Union Passage. It had four pages then, as now, but the paper
altogether was not much larger than the coloured cover of _The
Graphic. The Journal_, although its name is lost, still lives and
thrives as _The Weekly Post_. The two others are defunct long ago.
One, _The Philanthropist_, was published in Bull Street by Mr. Hudson;
the other was _The Birmingham Advertiser_, which, on the purchase
of _The Journal_ by the Liberals, had been started in 1833 by Mr.
Hodgetts, in the Tory interest. It was edited by Mr. Thomas Ragg. It
ceased to be published in 1846.

The Grand Junction Railway, from Birmingham to Liverpool and
Manchester, was opened July 4th, in the year I am writing of (1837),
and on this line, in October of that year, I had my first railway
trip. The "Birmingham terminus" of those days is now the goods station
at Vauxhall, and it was here that I went to "book my place" for
Wolverhampton