North Shields.-Statement of contributions during the past year : For the Liquidation of Congregational Debt, Synod's Foreign Missions, Synod's Fund for Liquidating Debt, Newcastle Presbytery for Home Missions, Religious Tract Society, L.30 0 UNION OF RELIEF AND SECESSION CHURCHES. The following resolutions have been unanimously adopted by the First and Third United Secession Congregations of Greenock : RESOLUTIONS OF MR SINCLAIR'S CONGREGATION. 1. That the union of all Christ's disiciples into one visible Church is represented in Scripture as an object to be desired by every Christian, and that all are encouraged to pray and strive for it by the example of the Saviour, the certainty of its accomplishment, and the consideration of the advantages which will accrue from it to the Church and the world. 2. That while the meeting laments the disunion which at present exists among the followers of Christ, as giving occasion of triumph to the irreligious, preventing love and co-operation among brethren, hindering the conversion of the world, and obscuring the display of the divine glory by the Church, it would remember that any union of which the Saviour will approve, must be effected on a sound agreement on the principles and practices of his holy word. And, therefore, the members of this meeting do not regard it as inconsistent with, but as manifesting their desire for, union with all Christians, to bear their testimony against all corruptions which yet exist, in any section of the Christian Church, and which are barriers to their union with their brethren. 3. That this meeting rejoices to know that there is such an agreement between the United Secession and Relief Churches, in doctrine, discipline, church government, and practical religion, as to warrant a speedy union of both into one Church. 4. That this meeting resolves to petition the Supreme Court of the United Secession Church at its first meeting, to take such measures as in its wisdom may seem best fitted to effect this union as speedily as possible. 5. That the mover and seconder of the resolutions, along with the other elders and managers, be appointed a committee to prepare a petition according to the tenor of those resolutions, to obtain the signatures of as many members of the congregation as possible to it, and to take proper steps to have it transmitted to the Synod at its meeting in May next. RESOLUTIONS OF MR FINLAYSON'S CONGREGATION, 1. That a general union of all Presbyterian Dissenters holding evangelical principles, is much to be desired, and in particular a union between the Relief and United Secession churches at the present time, appears to this meeting not only to be truly desirable, but also practicable. 2. That this meeting can see no such differences between the Relief and United Secession churches as to prevent their being incorporated into one body, both holding the word of God as the only rule of faith and manners; both acknowledging the Westminster Confession of Faith, with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as the confession of their faith, and expressive of the sense in which they understand the Holy Scriptures, and both being agreed in removing anything in these symbolical books which teaches, or may be thought to teach, compulsory or persecuting and intolerant principles of religion. 3. That the Relief and United Secession churches are already agreed in maintaining the Presbyterian form of church government as being agreeable to, and founded upon, the word of God. 4. That in these circumstances, it appears to this meeting that the Relief and United Secession churches ought no longer to continue as separate religious communities, but should be united together in the sacred bonds of the Gospel, so that the power of brotherly love and affection may be made manifest, and that, thus united, they may go forth with more energy, zeal, and success to the conversion of the world. 5. That these resolutions, and a petition founded upon them, be presented to the United Associate Synod at its first meeting. MONTHLY RETROSPECT. Ireland. Few of our readers can fail to be aware that this part of the empire has, for some time past, been almost entirely absorbing public attention. The civil and political bearings of the discussions to which it has given rise must, to every good man, be possessed of a deep and painful interest; but the province of such a journal as this scarcely extends beyond religion and education, and respecting even these our space will admit of only a brief and imperfect summary. We are glad to be able to say, at the outset, that there seems no immediate prospect of any further endowment of popery, unless possibly in the form of an increased grant to Maynooth College. It may not be improper to record the sentiments of some of our leading statesmen on so momentous a point, which must, ere long, again and again come under the consideration of Parliament. Lord John Russell declared himself favourable to the measure, but considered it impracticable at present, as the Catholics had declined support from the state. He would, however, give the additional grants for the education of their priests-would allow their bishops to take the titles of their seesand would remove from their clergy every badge of degradation. "It may seem," said he, "at this moment rather a visionary speculation; but if you adopt the voluntary system in Ireland, I don't know how long you would be able to refuse an enquiry into the number of Dissenters from the Establishment in the United Kingdom, and the utility of an ecclesiastical establishment altogether. Therefore, the system I would prefer would be to place the present Established Church of England and Ireland, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Presbyterian Church of the north of Ireland upon an entire equality. I know there would be difficulties in the immediate accomplishment of this, but I would look forward to the time when it may be realized." Sir James Graham said, "I would consent to no inroads on the Protestant church." Lord Howick said, "The Protestant Establishment is at the root of all the discord. Instead of defending it on the broad ground of religious truth'-the ground on which I rest my own convictions, but which I cannot force upon another -we must legislate for Catholics on perfectly equal civil grounds as we would have Catholics legislate for Protestants. No distinction can be recognised on the assumed truth of our own faith. Either we must make the Catholic the established church in Ireland, as the Protestant in England, and the Presbyterian in Scotland, or we must abolish all state endowments in Ireland, or we must equally divide the state endowments, between the different persuasions. Either course presents great difficulties; but the difficulties must be manfully faced, if we would regain the affections of the Irish people." Lord Stanley objecting to the endowment of the Catholics, said," Will they submit to your laws, admit of your control in ecclesiastical matters, permit the crown to appoint their bishops, or consent to your regulating their fees? Will they allow you to interfere in any portion of their policy? No. But they say 'Give us all the advantages of an Establishment in alliance with the state, and relieve us from all the restrictions which you impose on the Protestant church, and which are the consequences of its alliance with the State.'" Mr O'Connell said, in a passage which we give at length, for the sake of its statistics and its voluntaryism, both of which we highly value, the latter nothing the less that it comes from the member of a church which has always been a principal supporter of establishments: "You tell me the Protestant religion would fall, if its ministers were not supported by the state. If that be the case, what a triumph it must be to me to belong to the Roman Catholic church! The Catholics once had all the livings. They have been taken away, and the Church has had only some donations since the Reformation. You deprived the Roman Catholic Church of Ireland of all her revenues, and hunted her priests into the fastnesses. You set the same price on the head of a wolf as you did on that of a priest. And has the Catholic Church fallen for want of money? No. She never was in a more triumphant state than at the present moment. She has four archbishops, twenty-three bishops, fifty deans, sixty archdeacons, two thousand parish priests, with two or three curates each. She has an unbroken hierarchy, as regular, as orderly, and as perfect as it was the day before Henry VIII. ascended the throne. It is not money, then, that supports her. She is no disciple of money, and in that respect she gives you a lesson. Have you not, then, the same faith in your Protestantism that I have in my Catholicism?" Sir R. Peel expressed his conviction that the Established Church ought to be maintained in its integrity; by which he did not mean that necessary reform should be excluded; but that its revenues should not be divided between it, the Roman Catholics, and the Presbyterians." On the part of all churches," said he, "there is a disposition to remonstrate against the exercise of the civil power-there is an impatience, a great impatience, of civil control. You have thought proper to control the church. You have been ever jealous of those who claimed more than ordinary exemption from secular authority. In Scotland, within the last two years, you have found a party in the Established Church claiming exemption from civil control, demanding to be subjected to spiritual authority only, and requiring that the boundaries between spiritual and civil control should be defined. You have not conceded these demands. What would you do with your own, the Protestant Episcopal church, supposing she was to ask for the same immunities and exemptions now demanded on behalf of the Catholic Church of Ireland? Would you grant her supreme authority in civil matters? I am sure you would not; and I ask, therefore, what right has a church which refuses to submit to your control to claim to itself the transfer of those privileges which now belong to a church which submits itself to you?" All this needs no comment. The population of Ireland is said to consist of 6,427,712 Catholics; 752,064 Episcopalians; 642,356 Presbyterians; and 121,808 Protestant Dissenters of various denominations. It is estimated that the Popish clergy in Ireland receive yearly-for confessions, L.30,000; for christenings, L.33,333; for unctions and burials, L.60,000; for marriages, L.360,000; for prayers for the dead, L.100,000; as collections at chapels, L.541,632; as curates' collections, L.22,500. Which, together with the government grant of L.8928 for Maynooth College, make a grand total of L.1,426,430. The younger portion of the Irish population have for a few years past been deriving unspeakable advantage from the National School System, which, upon the whole, is admirably conducted; and the Government, we understand, intend raising the grant for that object this year from L.50,000 to L.75,000. That some parts of the country are still in a state of the most deplorable ignorance will be strikingly apparent from the following extract from one of the tracts issued by the Irish (Presbyterian) Home Mission. The Rev. Mr M Mannus, their agent, being about to preach out of doors in one of the glens in County Galway, says :-" On going into the cabins of the inhabitants in order to give them notice of the intended sermon (for placards would be of no use) and conversing with them on this and other subjects, I, though not unaccustomed to such scenes, was astonished at their extraordinary ignorance. A great number could not understand even what was meant by the hour appointed for preaching! True, I told them, as plainly as words could express it, that we should meet at seven o'clock in the evening; but to no purpose. In fact, I might as well, I believe, have said at seventy-seven o'clock as at seven. The one was nearly as intelligible as the other. The only way in which I could surmount this difficulty was by changing the hour to eight o'clock, telling them in their own language (Irish) that we should meet ' about the lying or setting of the sun.' Mr M'M. goes on to inform us that he had difficulty also in getting them to comprehend the nature of the meeting, or of the exercise proposed. Additional Endowments for the Church of Scotland.-The Lord Advocate has obtained leave to bring in a bill for the disjunction, annexation, and creation of Parishes in Scotland. The object is understood to be the legalising and endowing a number of the so-called quoad sacra parishes. The sources of the contemplated endowments, it is believed, are partly the unexhausted teinds and partly the exchequer. With respect to the first, the heritors of Scotland are likely to be on the alert; with respect to the second, we hope the public at large, and especially Dissenters, need but a word. The Free Church will co-operate here with right good will. Anti-State Church Conference.-Perhaps we need scarcely mention (as abundant information will doubtless be afforded through other channels) that the Provisional Committee have appointed the sittings to be held in London, and to commence on Tuesday, 30th April. The Conference is to be composed exclusively of representatives chosen by Churches, by public meetings, or by Dissenting Colleges. Each of these bodies may send two; or, any number of Churches uniting, may send four. Every representative must be prepared to give a distinct declaration to the effect that he regards the union of Church and State as contrary to the principles of the New Testament, and that a conference such as this seems to him a desirable method of commencing a movement for the dissolution of the union. It is to be hoped that the movement thus begun will proceed with spirit. Let dissenters throughout the kingdom keep in view the day of convention, and by the prompt appointment of delegates and other preliminary arrangements, show that they are alive to the importance of the occasion. The friends in London having done their part with alacrity and energy, the dissenting community at large are now called on heartily to respond to the appeal. To the Nonconformist newspaper belongs the credit of originating this important measure; with characteristic vigilance it continues to watch over its progress, and to vindicate it from the suspicions and charges with which, in some quarters, it has been assailed. This journal has all along approved itself the uncompromising advocate of the voluntary principle-exerting talent of a high order, and a zeal that never flags in furtherance of the common cause. From some of its political views not a few dissenters will, we dare say, withhold their unqualified assent; but nothing can be more groundless than the charge that the anti-statechurch conference is connected with party, or has political ends to achieve. The Eclectic Review and Nonconformist have both been at pains to place the matter on a right footing. Some regret has been expressed by members of the Free Church of Scotland that a movement should be concerted in which they cannot take part. But surely it could never be expected that the supporters of the voluntary principle should not, when circumstances call for it, act for themselves. That each body should follow its own course in things pertaining to itself, and at the same time stand ready to co-ope rate in matters of common concern, is, as we supposed, the mutually and well understood ground of agreement. To this basis let all parties uprightly adhere, and there will be small risk of collision. The proposed convention will probably serve as a test how far the principles of union on common ground, and freedom without offence, are understood and fairly adopted. Be this as it may, dissenters cannot be true to themselves, and hold their principles in abeyance. The mere breathing of a wish they should do so, instead of operating as an objection to an anti-state church convention, would, as we judge, be an auxiliary reason for giving it support. QUARTERLY RECORD OF THE MISSIONS IN CONNEXION WITH THE UNITED SECESSION CHURCH, FOR APRIL, 1844. CONTENTS: JAMAICA...... Extract of a Letter from the Rev. William Niven, Extract of a Letter from the Rev. John Aird, Extracts of Letters from Mr Dawson, Letter from the Congregation of Bellevue to the Rev. Peter Anderson, Extract of a Letter from the Rev. James Niven, Extract of a Letter from the Rev. John Aird, CANADA..... .Extract of a Letter from the Rev. William Proudfoot, Extract of a Letter from the Rev. James M'Fadyen, Extracts from Minutes of the Missionary Presbytery of the Canadas, PAGE 209 210 211 213 215 215 215 217 218 221 222 JAMAICA. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. WILLIAM NIVEN, dated Stirling, 4th September 1843. I received your letter of the 11th July a few days ago. And as to-day is packet post day, however hurriedly I may write, I shall not lose the opportunity of forwarding it immediately. I am gratified that the ladies of your congregation are preparing a box for myself and brother-we are both much in need of help-but I feel the more gratified, as their present employment shows the interest they feel in our success. I am now more in need of help, for the support of schools, than while Mr Goldie remained with me at this station. I have not, for the past year, drawn rent for the school and teacher's house; and in addition to the loss of this, I have also paid the teacher here during, and for the past year, L.24 of salary, beside the school fees; and last week, have made arrangements for commencing another school, and engaged to pay the teacher L.25 sterling per annum-a box or two would help us much. I may add that the want of support compelled me some time ago, to retire from a station and give up a school, where now we might have had a good congregation. At this station we are getting on pretty steadily, our audience is good, and is still improving, though slowly; our numbers amount to 170, after the deductions mentioned last year, and one or two since. I have, however, nothing peculiarly interesting to say of the people here. We have already made very considerable progress, and during the last nine months we have had excellent evening meetings for instruction, three times a week; the average, in good weather, may have been between fifty and sixty, sometimes more. On the other evenings the numbers were necessarily limited from the nature of the meetings held. NO. IV. VOL. I 2 c |