on foot several miles, yet I would gladly write all night upon this delightful subject, if my endeared Hannah could be delivered from this enemy."

Happy would it have been for Mrs. Kilham had she met with equally faithful Christian advice in the subsequent course of her life.

MANCHESTER EVANGELICAL FRIENDS.

"ON Thursday, March 1st, Isaac Crewdson administered the ordinance of baptism to the following individuals, at the chapel of the Evangelical Friends, Grosvenor-street, Manchester: -Lucy Hoyle, widow of the late Thomas Hoyle; Susannah Thorp, widow of the late William Thorp; Elizabeth Goodier,widow of the late John Goodier; Isaac Neild, and Hannah, his wife; and Henry Neild, of Oxford-road.

'A considerable number of persons were assembled on the occasion. Isaac Crewdson first read a hymn; then a prayer was offered by W. Boulton; Isaac Crewdson then gave the parties an appropriate address, and afterwards administered the ordinance. A prayer was then offered by Isaac Crewdson, and one by Isaac Neild. The occasion was solemn and interesting, and we trust would be instructive to many, who become daily more surprised that they should so long have allowed the authority of man to induce them to set aside the authority of Christ and his apostles, and to dispense with the only ordinances which Christ hath appointed in his church."

MRS. ARTHINGTON'S DISAVOWMENT AT

LEEDS.

THE separation of this lady from the fellowship of the Society of Friends is a circumstance of great importance, not only on account of the high estimation in which Mrs. A. has been held, having heen recognised as an acknowledged

minister in the body, but as marking the continued hostility of the system to the ordinances of our Lord and Saviour.

TO BRIGHOUSE MONTHLY MEETING OF FRIENDS.

"Dear Friends, -Your committee have paid me a visit, informing me that you have concluded to disown me as a member of the Society of Friends, because I have been baptised with water. I requested them to tell you that I consider it an act of great injustice; but one of them proposed that I should address you myself in writing.

I wish, then, to express my astonishment that you have taken upon yourselves such a weight of responsibility as that of cutting off one of your members for following the example of our Saviour and his early disciples, in an act against which there does not exist any law, moral or Divine, and concerning which the Society of Friends itself has never formed a rule in any shape whatever.

'I think, my friends, you are infringing upon the rights of private judgment in a matter concerning which the apostle Peter said, Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptised, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?' Brighouse Monthly Meeting says, in effect, Yes, we can forbid it our members shall not be baptised; and if they persist in following the testimony of the apostle, we will cut them off from fellowship with us.' In conclusion, allow me to say, that I feel the supporting assurance that I

MINUTE OF BRIGHOUSE MONTHLY MEETING

OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS, HELD AT BRIGHOUSE, THE 9TH OF 2ND MONTH, 1838.

“Maria Arthington, a member of this meeting, having, according to her own acknowledgment, adopted opinions at variance with the views of our religious Society, and openly manifested her disunity with its well-known principles and practice, by submitting to the ceremony of water baptism, this Meeting, after the exercise of much patience, and unavailing endeavours to restore her to those views of the entire spirituality of the Gospel dispensation, which, as a distinct religious community, we have always thought it right to maintain on this and other subjects, believes itself called upon hereby to declare, that having thus virtually separated herself from religious fellowship with us, we no longer consider her as a member of our Society.

"Whilst we regret to have thus to part with a friend whom we still love, and for whose present and everlasting welfare we feel a Christian concern, we sincerely desire her restoration, and tenderly commend her to God, and to

In tendering into your hands my right of membership, I may just say, that my absenting myself, as above stated, is in consequence of the almost entire want of the preaching of the Gospel in those meetings, and the belief that the reading of the holy Scriptures ought to be practised in all our meetings for public devotion. I likewise believe that the views of the Society of Friends, as to the qualification for prayer, have tended greatly to hinder my progress in the saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and that nothing more is necessary to qualify us for this indispensable duty than a sense of our own sinfulness, of our need of a Saviour, and of our entire dependence upon an all-wise and merciful God for all blessings, whether temporal or spiritual.

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REPORT OF THE FRIENDS APPOINTED TO VISIT MR. NEILD.

"To the Monthly Meeting. "WE visited Henry Neild, according to appointment, respecting the letter which he addressed to the Monthly Meeting, tendering his resignation of membership in the Society of Friends.

"We had a pretty full conversation with him, on the particulars mentioned in his letter as inducements to him, in offering his resignation, in which he manifested much kind and affectionate feeling; but we thought he had a little misapprehension of the views of Friends, particularly on the subjects of prayer, and on the influence of the Holy Spirit; these we endeavoured to explain to him, which he received in an agreeable disposition of mind.

He informed us, that there were other important points on which, for several years, he had not accorded in sentiment with the Society of Friends; but he thought it better not to specify them from the reluctance he felt to controversy. He also stated to us, that the conclusion he had come to, of resigning his membership, had been the result of much serious reflection, that the contemplation of it had been painful to his feelings, on account of his esteem for the Society, and for many of its members, but he had believed it to be his duty; and since communicating his wishes to the Monthly Meeting, he felt satisfied with having done so, and continued to be desirous that the Meeting would comply with his request.

Signed DAVID DOCKRAY.

"GEORGE DANSON.

"Manchester, 2nd mo. 3, 1838."

[Mr. Neild states, that the deputation did so explain the views of Friends that he was quite satisfied he entertained no misapprehension as to their views on the subject referred to.-Eds.]

MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

WE have been favoured with an extract from a letter recently received from a missionary residing at Benares, one of the largest cities of Hindostan, situated on the Ganges. It is the principal seminary of the Brahmins, where some thousands of them reside, and considered to be a place of great sanctity. It is about six miles long and four wide, and very populous.

This young and zealous ambassador for Christ has been labouring there for the last four years, and, till now, with but little apparent success; and, considering the importance of the place, our readers, we think, will enter with interest into his feelings on the pleasing prospect before him, and join in a fervent desire that it may lead to an abundant accession of disciples to the cause of the Redeemer in that benighted land :

"Benares, Sept. 28th, 1837.

"It is a matter of great regret, that missionaries should think it to be their duty just to stay in the country till they are competent to do something, and then set off home, when all their Indian competency is, for the most part, at a small per centage below nothing. I am decidedly of opinion, that in this practice lies hid one cause of our failure in this country. Under the notion of the probability of our returning to Europe, English ideas and customs are kept up, and amalgamation does not take place between us and the natives. We do not become all things to them; foreigners we are at the beginning, and foreigners we remain ; while the natives, knowing our custom of staying here for a little time, and then returning, have not the confidence in us they otherwise would have, and know little or nothing of sincere affection to our And all this is persons and our work. still more increased by our living, not amongst them, but at a considerable distance from them, so that they cannot see our daily life, nor we become

the subjects of either their permanent love or hatred.

"Here, through the great kindness of God, we have begun to experience something like solid encouragement. You will have learned, from my last letter, how many and heavy have been our trials and afflictions, and that not from the heathen, but from our own brethren; and, to all appearance, without any adequate cause, and in return for much love and kindness; but now I have to communicate to you the glad tidings, that as our sorrows have been multiplied, so have our joys. A Pundit, of the name of Ramfrakas, who has been studying the Shaster in Benares for the last fourteen years, and who has been visiting me for the last two years, has now made up his mind to come and live among our native Christians. In this country this is considered tantamount to his actually becoming a Christian. His desire is, to be fully acquainted with the doctrines of the Gospel, and he spends his whole time in the study of them. He has now been with us for the last five weeks, and professes to have found the truth, speaks openly against his own books, and professes his delight in the doctrines and precepts of the New Testament. He attends our morning and evening devotional services, at which expositions of Scripture are invariably given, and also our services in the public chapel on the Sabbath. He has been exposed to a good deal of persecution, but he is not at all intimidated."

(To be concluded in our next.)

Christianity does not prevail, there are many features of the present day which call upon the Christian to take much comfort, and to persevere in every work of faith and labour of love.

One of these cheering features consists in the prospect, which we trust will soon be realised, that all persons who have a conscientious objection to taking oaths will have their consciences relieved.

There are various causes of satisfaction arising from the character of the proposed measure, in which intelligent and enlightened men of various sentiments on other questions are prepared cordially to unite.

1st, That it is not intended as a boon to any sect, but will be open to every individual who shall comply with the proposed salutary provisions for the security of truth in all cases of judicial proceedings; for whilst it is the duty of Christian governments to foster and protect every instance of tenderness of conscience by conceding to the wishes even of the scrupulous, wherever it can be done with safety to the community, it will be admitted that to confer peculiar privileges upon sects involves a doubtful principle of legislation, and is attended with danger, if not with positive injury to the objects of such preference; for peculiar privileges to sects exclusively must ever be strongholds of self-esteem and self-righteousness; and persons who belong to such communities, and have little of religion but the name, will cling to their peculiar privileges as if they were the very essence of piety; whereas, if you extend the privilege to the whole Christian community, the apparent religion of these persons is found to possess no reality, because their peculiar distinctions have ceased to have a being.

2nd, The measure to be proposed we conceive to be an unmixed good, securing, as we are assured it will, the better eliciting of truth on all important occasions, and tending to raise the standard of truth-speaking in the regular

intercourse amongst mankind; further, that it will, we trust, be carried into effect without waiting to determine the difficult question, whether oaths are, under every circumstance, absolutely prohibited in the New Testament.

The measure to which we allude is substantially this, that all persons may be allowed to register themselves as non-jurors, and shall be allowed to affirm; in all cases the penalties for false affirmation being the same as those for perjury.

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The number of persons belonging to various denominations of Christians who have a conscientious objection to taking oaths, we believe is very considerable they who have seceded from the Society of Friends, generally retain their objections to oaths, and, as the law now stands, they are unprotected, and liable to prosecutions; a few months past they could have claimed the protection, now, having become separated from the Society of Friends on other grounds than respecting oaths, the law denies them the exemption.

One serious evil attributable to the practice of taking oaths is, the distinction which it tends to establish between the importance of an oath, and that of stating the truth on simple affirmation; as if an oath possessed higher sanctions, and as if severer penalties were attached to its violation than to that of affirmation. Thus, when an oath is administered, conscience is enlisted to insure the truth being spoken, and the fear of some unknown as well as known punishment deters the individual from giving false evidence, but he retires

or

from the court of justice, and mingles with his fellow-men, amongst whom he may, so far as he has been taught to suppose, speak either truth falsehood with impunity; and, therefore, the standard of truth, with its sanctions and penalties, is so lowered in his estimation, that the only motives left to secure truth-speaking are reputation and interest; and the importance and necessity of telling truth at all times are diminished to an incalculable extent.

It is, however, well worthy of observation, that whilst the Scriptures contain no declaration of specific penalties to be inflicted hereafter on the falseswearer, they thrice over consign liars to the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, as if it were intended to direct the attention of mankind exclusively to the importance of telling truth.

If these Divine sanctions were proclaimed in courts of justice to the necessity of truth-speaking, and the same legal punishments were affixed to false affirmation which are now attached to perjury, the standard and importance of truth-speaking would be gradually and highly exalted in the estimation of that portion of the community who now feel little solicitude on the subject; and as regards the eliciting of truth in cases of great importance, there can, we think, be little doubt but that the ends of public justice would be far better attained, because the habit of violating conscience on ordinary occasions must render it less difficult to do so on great ones. W. BOULTON.