weeks past. The Directors know, and the Constituency knows, what men they have got in their service, and a little wordy clamour, partaking obviously of personal pique, will not tempt them to part with them. To pay more, and get worse men, would surely be a refinement in folly.

Dr. Reed's closing series of questions bespeaks a sad animus. He tells the public that he has satisfied himself "with round figures." Ought any honest man to do this, where the character of an individual or a society may be at stake? Exaggerations, misrepresentations, and loose statements, are frightful things; and no protestations of purity of motive can render them even tolerable, Dr. Reed may deceive himself; but he has sinned against his brethren, and against the cause of Christ, and until he takes suitable steps to heal the breach he has made, the confidence of those who really know the merits of this case can never be restored.

THE MINISTERIAL MEASURE ON NATIONAL EDUCATION.

In the March number of our Miscellany we expressed our determined hostility to any measure for National Education which should be based on the "Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education in August and December, 1846." The reflection and observation of another month have only tended to confirm the adverse opinion we had formed, and to induce us to use all fair and constitutional means to resist the progress of a measure fraught with incalculable mischief, both to liberty and religion. How the present Government, with Mr. Shuttleworth even behind the scenes, could imagine that the plausible delusion would take, in the present enlightened state of public opinion on the subject of education, we are utterly at a loss to conjecture; but this we are bold to affirm, that no proposition half so objectionable has ever been made, by any ministry in this country, in reference to the education of the people. If Dr. Hook, and men who think with him, will consent to pay for all other religions, because they know that, in their circumstances, they will get their own religion better paid than all the rest, it does not follow that those of sterner principle (and we hope they are many) will readily consent to adopt a principle so essentially vicious. It would be wrong in Government to pay for the religious education of one sect, at the expense of every other sect; but it would be a still greater deviation from the right course were it to undertake to certificate, or to get certificated, under plea of national education, all the errors which exist in this

country. Under such a system, the effectual teaching of Popery, Unitarianism, Judaism, and everything else, would be a task enforced by Government in certain of its schools, and the penalty awaiting those who failed to inculcate the said errors would be the withdrawment of the Government aid.

Our respected friend, Sir Culling Eardley Smith, has well exhibited this feature of the Government Plan, in the following truly enlightened observations:

"I have looked at it carefully," he writes, (the Government Scheme,)" and the more I examine it the more I am persuaded that it strikes the axe-as far as a Government plan can-at the root of vital religion. It puts all religions on a level,-not by taking cognizance of none, but by taking cognizance of all. It requires that, in all schools aided by Government, religion shall be taught,-but that religion is any religion, or all,-Unitarianism or Popery, Evangelism or Puseyism. You and I are to contribute to schools in which it is to be certified by the managers,' that the children are adepts in the arguments of Priestley against the Divinity of Christ! You and I are to contribute to an Oscott, a Prior Park, or a Stoneyhurst, in which it is to be certified by the managers,' that the scholars can disprove the right of private judgment and the doctrine of justification by faith alone. The Morning Post said, a few days ago, that seventy clergymen had gone over to Popery within eighteen months. What is to hinder the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Shrewsbury, the Petres, Jerninghams, &c., setting up in London one of the best schools in Great Britain, with the élite of these Oxford converts at its head? What is to hinder Mr. Newman becoming the principal of such an institution, surrounded by scholars like Dalgairns, Faber, Oakley, &c.? If the (Romish) Bishop of London were to require any one of these men to take such a post, they must comply; and, supposing the principal to take only a dozen pupil apprentices, at the end of five years he would receive from Government alone, 2791. of your money and mine?

"Surely, if the Dissenters are the worthy descendants of the Puritans, and if the evangelical clergy and people of the Established Church have the cause of the Bible and of Protestantism at heart as much as I believe they have, neither party will ever allow this Minute of Council to become law. Submit to this scheme, and resistance to the endowment of the Irish priesthood is at an end. Our arms are wrested out of our hands, and our arguments out of our mouths. Let us once pay, with our eyes open, a small body of priests to educate children in England,-(not, we shall be

told, for the sake of the religion they teach, but for the sake of the secular good to be obtained in connection with the religious teaching,)—and how can we resist, next year, the payment of a large body of priests to educate adults in Ireland, with the very same pretext? We cannot; and therefore our watchword must be Principiis obsta! We have an advantage now which we had not in the case of Maynooth. We have the whole plan before us in the shape of a Government minute, and we have a general election between us and the possibility of its becoming an act of Parliament. I can only say that you have my best wishes in the movement you are commencing. wholly sympathise with the Dissenting view that the scheme is tantamount to a new Establishment. I sympathise with the constitutional view, that it is in point of patronage worse than Mr. Fox's India Bill. above all, infinitely above all, I feel the argument which I have imperfectly stated, that it is a measure against all positive religious truth, and therefore against the Christianity of the Bible.

I

But,

"I know not whether the Congregational Board will think it right to take any steps for originating a general Christian movement. I trust, however, that such a movement will be made, and that an opportunity will be afforded to evangelical Churchmen to show how highly they prize the cause of Divine truth. I believe that, sooner than see that truth undermined by our statesmen, whatever may be their convictions in regard to existing Establishments, the party to which I have alluded are prepared to say, that there shall be no new meddling by Government with the sacred interests of religion, no new endowments of truth to be purchased by a simultaneous encouragement of error.'

We must regard the scheme as directly infidel, inasmuch as it treats all religions as equally true and equally false; and as, indirectly, POPISH; for if it is suffered to become a law, we cannot resist, the very next session, a Popish parochial endowment for Ireland.

Dissenters are obviously shut up to one course, viz., to resist, by all means in their power, this attempt, on the part of Government, to set up a new religious Establishment. Whatever hope might have been entertained by any of their number as to the possibility of Government adopting any plan to which they could have given their sanction, that hope has now completely vanished; and no time must be lost by them in expressing, by petitions and otherwise, their strong and settled aversion to the proposed scheme. We are glad to find that our great towns and cities are all beginning to move; and that many others beside Dis

Some of our contemporaries have recently directed attention to the subject of Life Assurance. It is one that demands the serious consideration of the head of every family, and we think that but one result will follow from such consideration. Were it

generally considered and acted upon, much of the misery that exists around us would be obviated. We know of no scene more afflictive than that of a destitute widow, surrounded by helpless children, whose father brought them up in circumstances of comfort and respectability.

Then, there is a great improvement in the system of life assurance. Its advantages may now be derived through societies conducted on principles unquestionably entitled to the confidence of the public. One of these has been brought under our notice recently, of which an advertisement appears in this number of our Magazine,—THE BRITISH EMPIRE MUTUAL LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY. Its tables, based upon calculations derived from the Government returns for the whole nation, are low as compared with other societies. It is a mutual office, and therefore all the profits will be divided among the assured, and its directors and officers are names well known to us in connection with other institutions. These circumstances seem to us to afford a guarantee for its future success, or rather, a continuance of its present success; for we are informed that the number of proposals at present sent in are unexampled in the early history of Assurance Companies. The plan of affording loans to the members on good security, we have no doubt, will be a boon to many who could not hope upon other terms to secure to themselves a little inde

pendence by purchasing their own houses, or other property. These loans are to be repaid by monthly instalments, a plan which brings these advantages within the reach of a large class of persons who have been too long overlooked. We say, without hesitation, that the plan of this Company commends it to our approbation, and we recommend its prospectus to the careful attention and the confidence of our readers.

DR. CHALMERS AND THE FAMINE.

In a very able letter of Dr. Chalmers, which appeared in the Scottish Guardian, on Tuesday, 9th March, upon the subject of the present famine, in which he urges, with great force of argument, the necessity of prompt and vigorous measures to relieve the sufferings of the poor Highlanders, we have the following judicious observations :

"Before that we conclude let us offer one remark on these visitations regarded as judgments from Heaven. We hold it to be extremely hazardous, nay, often presumptuous and unwarrantable in the highest degree, to pronounce on the special delinquency that may have called forth some temporal infliction in the form of a penalty or chastisement. But it is not unwarrantable, nay, to us it seems consistent with the soundest and most enlightened piety, to deduce from such an event the very moral which our Saviour himself propounded on the fall of the tower in Siloam: unless we repent we shall all likewise suffer-suffer, it may be, in like manner with our now famishing countrymen in the Highlands and Ireland. If the agonies and cries of these dying creatures do not reach

our

ears to the awakening of an effectual compassion, it may be that they will reach the ears of Him who sitteth above, to the effect of a fearful retribution

upon ourselves. Even though our subscriptions should be so enlarged as to place our own households on a somewhat shorter allowance, this is no greater sacrifice than what the crisis seems imperiously to demand. We believe in the special providence of God, and that it is now putting us to the test; and the lesson which it seems to be giving forth is, that we should spare, for the relief of these sufferers, out of our comparative abundance, lest, in the re-action of a similar calamity, some worse thing shall befall us. He who hath all the powers and elements of nature at his command might stretch forth his hand on other crops of the earth, or the other forms of vegetation, so as to descend in successive blights on all the varieties of staple food in our land. It is thus that the cup of vengeance might pass round over the whole of our British territory; and it were well that we stood more in dread of such a consummationwell, if, when these judgments are abroad over the face of our country, the inhabitants thereof should learn righteousness-learn to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God."

RECOGNITION OF REV. JOHN ELRICK, M.A. On Thursday, the 11th of February, the Rev. John Elrick, M.A., late of Sudbury,

Suffolk, was publicly recognised as the pastor of the Congregational church assembling in Whitefield Chapel, Charles-street, Long Acre, London.

In the absence of the Rev. James Sherman, who was prevented being present, owing to family affliction, the Rev. J. C. Harrison, of Park Chapel, read the Scriptures and prayed. The Rev. Dr. Leifchild, of Craven Chapel, gave a concise and lucid statement of Congregationalism, as it is found written in the New Testament. The Rev. Samuel Martin, of Westminster Chapel, called on one of the deacons of the church to give an account of the steps which had led to their assembling on that occasion. In reply, Mr. Haggan read an interesting statement, including the correspondence between them and their newly elected pastor. Mr. Elrick gave an account of his reasons for accepting the invitation, and of the manner in which he purposed to conduct his future ministry. Mr. Elrick's replies to the questions proposed to him were equally creditable to his head and heart.

The Rev. Thomas Lewis, of Islington, offered a most impressive recognition prayer. The Rev. Thomas Adkins, of Southampton, in his usual lucid and affectionate manner, delivered the charge, which was founded on the words, Heb. xiii. 17, "They watch for souls, as they that must give an account." The Rev. John Robinson concluded with prayer. The other parts of the service were conducted by Revs. J. A. Miller, J. W. Richardson, J. Kennedy, R. Machray, G. Rose. The chapel was well filled, and the services proved a devout and deeply interesting season to those who were there.

After the morning service a large company of the ministers and friends dined together at the Freemasons' Tavern; the Rev. J. Elrick occupying the chair. After which, they adjourned to the school-rooms connected with the chapel, where they took tea, and the meeting was addressed by Josiah Conder, Esq., Rev. Drs. Morison and Carlile, on topics connected with the prosperity of the church.

In the evening, the Rev. J. A. Miller, of New Court Chapel, commenced by reading and prayer. The Rev. Dr. Morison, of Brompton, addressed the church in a very faithful, feeling, and impressive manner, from Col. iv. 11, which was listened to by a deeply attentive congregation; and the Rev. Dr. Legge, from China, concluded with prayer. The other parts of the evening service were conducted by Revs. Dr. Carlile, T. Evans, of Shaftesbury, and J. Dickinson, of Hounslow.

There were between twenty-five and thirty ministers present at these solemn and deeply interesting services. We found it both good and profitable to be there, and

the presence of so large a number of respected ministers and brethren from sister churches was considered a very high testimonial of the esteem and affection entertained for the newly recognised pastor and his people. We understand that Mr. Elrick has been presented with a very handsome copy of Baxter's Pulpit Bible, elegantly bound in morocco, accompanied by an elegant pulpit Watts, and Congregational Hymn Book, with a suitable letter, from the members of the church and congregation.

It is gratifying to know that our young brother has entered upon his new sphere of labour under favourable circumstances, and has received already considerable encouragement to go forward in his arduous, but delightful work.

COLONIAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

Statements and Appeals.

The state of this Society must be kept distinctly and prominently before the public view. Its financial position, coupled with the demand, the pressure upon it for extended operations, has brought it into very serious difficulties.

The income of this Society ought to be five thousand pounds per annum; that amount would be fully required to sustain the operations called for at the present time. And the operations alluded to as now demanded, are of such a nature, that to neglect, or even to delay them, will be grievously hurtful to the sacred cause of evangelical truth and liberty in the colonies.

A less income than three thousand five hundred pounds per annum will not effectually sustain the scale of operations already undertaken-inadequate and contracted as that scale is.

Now no one thoughtfully looking at the extent, importance, and prospects of the British colonies, or considering how momentous it is that they should be the scene of vigorous evangelical missions, will think even the larger of the two sums named more than the Congregational churches of England should appropriate to that department of their efforts for advancing the Saviour's kingdom. As little would any one acquainted with the extent and resources of those churches judge them unable, by moderate exertions, in which all should unite, to raise that larger income.

Yet what is the fact? The income of the Society does not exceed half that sum ! It is indeed about two thousand five hundred pounds annually. By strenuous urgency of appeals, for the two years preceding the present, about three thousand three hundred pounds were obtained for each of those years, and progress was thus made in

reducing a debt of nearly one thousand pounds, with which the Society was burdened at the commencement of that period. But now it is seen that these exertions were extraordinary and temporary; the income of the Society falls back this year to its former amount of about two thousand five hundred pounds; and it is a too hopeful estimate to expect that a new debt, to the amount of five hundred pounds only, will be contracted this year.

And while support is thus withholden, what is the aspect, what is the promise of the work in the colonies! Canada was never more inviting and encouraging, and five hundred pounds additional yearly expenditure would advance the cause there to great efficiency. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick present a field hardly less important, and perhaps even more hopeful than Canada itself. In every one of the Australian colonies additional labours are most urgently needed.

Then other parties are not supine, if we are. Popery proper, and the highest of high churchism, are in emulous activity. Sacramental religion is everywhere propagated with successful zeal. Ecclesiastical pretensions are urged in their loftiest form ; and state establishments, patronage, and power, are put forth with energy, or insinuated with craft. No effort is spared to prevent the colonies from being what their very origin and constitution point out that they ought to be-scenes of expansive religious equality, and of pure evangelical churches.

Hitherto, the support of this most necessary, most excellent Society, has been maintained principally by a section of the Congregational body. Some few churches have been its constant and bountiful friends. Some few wealthy brethren have, with enlightened zeal, appreciated its importance, and done nobly for its help. But it has not gained general support. Some powerful churches have never once contributed. Many but rarely, and to but trifling amounts. This is what needs to be corrected. Let all unite, and the work will be easy, the funds ample, and the cause prosperous.

POULTRY CHAPEL.

It affords us much pleasure to announce to our readers, that the Rev. S. B. Bergne, of Lincoln, has received and accepted a very cordial invitation to become the successor of the Rev. John Clayton, A.M. We understand that he intends entering on his new and important charge on the last sab. bath in April. Most fervently do we pray that the Divine blessing may rest upon this auspicious union.

CHRISTIAN MUTUAL PROVIDENT SOCIETY.

The cordial approval and recommendation which we gave in our March number to the principles and plans of the Christian Mutual Provident Society have been fully justified by the success which has already attended its operation, and which demonstrates that the feeling of our friends is with us in the opinion that the Society is calculated to confer material advantages upon the members of our churches and congregations, and others, and that its data having been tested by experience will fully secure the benefits holden out.

It cannot be too strongly borne in mind, that by the simple process of a branch, any town or congregation may have a firm Society, even if its own members be small. The augmenting strength which a branch affords to the entire Society is retained by itself through the general affiliation which pervades the whole.

We have learned with great pleasure that since our March impression, besides the enrolment of London members, branches have been formed at Sherborne, Stroud, Alton, Andover, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Wandsworth, with Battersea and Putney; and the directors have applications before them for similar objects at Liverpool and other important towns. Thus has the Society a nucleus of influence which cannot but promote its success and conduce to the ends for which it was established.

MIDDLETON-ROAD CHAPEL, DALSTON,

LONDON.

An interesting service took place on the 2nd Feb., 1847, at Philipps-street chapel, Kingsland-road, London, preparatory to laying the foundation-stone of the new chapel, to be erected for the church and congregation under the pastoral care of the Rev. Clement Dukes, A.M., at present worshipping in Philipps-street chapel, when an address was delivered by the Rev. J. Jefferson, of Stoke Newington, (in the absence of the Rev. Algernon Wells, of Clapton, who was prevented from fulfilling his engagements by illness,) and the devotional services were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Hall, of Cheshunt, Rev. Dr. Hewlett, Rev. Mr. Davis, of Homerton, and the Rev. T. Aveling, of Kingsland, after which the congregation adjourned to the site of the new chapel, when the stone was laid by J. R. Mills, Esq., who first placed in it a sealed glass bottle, containing, on a parchment scroll, the following record of the sentiments of the people for whom the sanctuary is to be erected :

"On the 2nd of February, 1847, the ceremony of laying the first stone of this

sanctuary took place. It was erected for the Congregational church which worshipped in Philipps-street, Kingsland-road, and this spot was chosen on account of the immense number of houses which had been recently erected around it. The sentiments of the founders of this place were those of Evangelical Dissenters; they repudiated all endowments, and all State interference whatsoever; they viewed the Bible as the only standard of truth and duty, and the voluntary contributions of the people as the only legitimate revenue of the church. The stone was laid by John Remington Mills, Esq., Stamford-hill, in the county of Middlesex.

(Signed)

CLEMENT DUKES, Pastor. "RICHARD CHANDLER, Deacon. Jesus Christ defend it." "May the God and Father of our Lord

In the evening upwards of two hundred of the friends took tea together, when a number of interesting and powerful addresses were delivered by the pastor and other ministers present, among whom were Dr. Hewlett, and the Rev. Messrs. Aveling, Wilkins, of Broad-street, Addiscott, of Taunton, and Vardy; and the meeting terminated with rejoicing to every heart, that the day, long anticipated, had arrived, when their desires to rear a new and large sanctuary to their God should be commenced. The chapel is to seat 1,000 persons, and will have excellent school-rooms attached; the chapel and schools, together, measuring 102 feet, by 44 feet; and the cost will be 2,7397., a noble enterprise entered upon by a small church and congregation, which we trust will prove the efficiency of the voluntary principle.-Donations towards this important object will be thankfully received by the Rev. C. Dukes, 5, De Beauvoir-square; Mr. Chandler, 19, Mortimer-place; and at the bank of Roger Cunliffe, Esq., 24, Bucklersbury.

PROVINCIAL.

INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, BUXTON,

DERBYSHIRE.

Buxton is a place of resort to all classes in the summer season. Among the visitors every year are to be found many of the influential members of our churches and congregations. It is of importance that these should have the means of religious worship provided for them during their stay in the place. There are in Buxton an Episcopal church, a Wesleyan Methodist, a Primitive Methodist, a Unitarian, and an Independent chapel.

The last-mentioned place is a neat and

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