CHRONICLE OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION OF ENGLAND AND WALES: OF THE BOARD FOR GENERAL EDUCATION: AND OF THE THREE SOCIETIES FOR BRITISH MISSIONS CONNECTED WITH THE UNION.

As the period for the expected Autumnal Meeting of the Union approaches, the Committee grows naturally anxious that no means or endeavours should be neglected by which the proceedings may be rendered such as to sustain and carry forward the spirit and influence of former similar meetings. The proceedings of the last Autumnal Assembly at York were indeed of such a character as to render it difficult to go beyond them in interest and vigour; but every effort should be employed to rise, if possible, above that high example, and by no means to fall below it. Everything requires at our hands vigorous counsels and powerful movements. The state of our own denomination in particularits ministry, literature, churches, and schools; above all, the state of its theology, spirituality, and virtue-requires that no numerous body of our ministers and other brethren should in these times assemble without devout, decided, and enlightened proceedings, adapted to promote the purity and power of our churches. Then the state of our country, and of all Europe-not the political so much as the mental condition of this vast and influential portion of mankind in philosophy, theology, religion, and general tone of thought-is such as cannot but press strongly on all thoughtful minds and benevolent hearts. Our denomination may not be great and mighty, but it is far too extensive and influential to admit of its neglecting, without deep criminality, at such a period, the inquiry, What can be done by its wisdom and fidelity to promote truth, religion, philanthropy, and human welfare? Therefore the brethren assembled at Leicester will not come together for trivial, formal, narrow purposes and proceedings. There will be prayer, counsel, humiliation. Facts, truths, and obligations will be considered. The great purpose will be, improvement, advance, usefulness. Every attending brother will bring his contribution of thought, feeling, and concern. There will be anxiety to make the proceedings a lasting blessing in the town where they are held, and no less to the denomination they are intended to serve. May a sacred influence from above guide all preparations, and attend all proceedings on this occasion!

This Tenth Autumnal Meeting of the Union will be held at Leicester in October. Former arrangements have been found effectual, and will be followed on the present occasion. The preliminary devotional meeting on the Monday evening-the three morning meetings for counsel-the sermon and two public meetings on the three successive evenings of the same days, will take place as on former similar occasions. Mr. Binney will be chairman of the morning meetings; Dr. Harris will be preacher; and Mr. Leeman, of York, will be chairman of the two evening meetings.

One entire morning session it is proposed to devote to fraternal conference on our religious state as a denomination. Among the subjects for consideration in the other morning meetings

one is, "By what means can we, as a body of Christians, best promote the religious good of the working classes ?" on which important inquiry Dr. Massie, Mr. Swaine, and Mr. Wells have each undertaken to prepare and present short papers, setting out their respective views thereon. Another subject proposed for consideration will be, "The best means to promote the religious efficiency of our Sunday-schools;" on which Mr. Martin, of Westminster, has promised a paper on the question, "How best to produce religious impressions in infant worship, Sundayschool classes, and classes for the more advanced improvement of those who have ceased to attend the Sunday-school;" and Mr. Poore, of Salford, another "On the best measures for retaining in our congregations young persons who have left our Sunday-schools."

Other important and practical subjects will no doubt come under discussion; and no efforts will be spared to secure, with the Divine blessing, a happy and successful series of meetings.

Resolution in Memorial of the late Dr. Payne and the late Dr. Hamilton.

The same affectionate and grateful respect for the memory of two brethren so distinguished and useful in this Union as Dr. Payne and Dr. Hamilton, which led the Committee to adopt the following resolution as a sincere tribute to their names, has decided the Committee to make it public, assured of general sympathy and approval in a testimonial so deserved and so just:

"The Committee of the Congregational Union of England and Wales deems it a mournful duty and pleasure to place on record a tribute of grateful and affectionate respect to the memory of two eminent brethren recently deceased, who had filled the office of chairman in the assemblies of this Union, and had rendered to it other distinguished services: the late Rev. George Payne, LL.D., Theological Professor in the Western College; and the late Rev. Richard Winter Hamilton, D.D., LL D, of Leeds.

"The Committee participates with the whole denomination in lamenting the loss of a brother so eminent as a theological professor and author as the late Dr. Payne, when his matured character, learning, and wisdom were yielding fruits to ripe and abundant; and while yet at his season of life some further years of useful and honourable labour might have been anticipated -services most peculiarly to be desired and valued from a divine of his decided tone and masculine powers in the present period of shifting and enfeebled religious sentiment. Dr. Payne occupied the chair of this Union in its sixth annual assembly with great ability and acceptance; and in the spring of the present year he represented the Union as its delegate to the annual meeting of the Congregational Union of Scotland, on which occasion his presence and services proved most highly gratifying to the brethren of the Northern Union; and his visit to Edinburgh, in particular, revived many holy recollections of his early pastoral labours in that city. The Committee feels confident of universal support in declaring that the late Dr. Payne lived and died in the veneration and confidence of the whole Congregational brotherhood, which he eminently adorned, upheld, and served, and his

unwavering attachment to which was the result of thorough research and conviction, and embraced with equal warmth its doctrine, its polity, and its spirituality.

"This Committee takes its full share in the profound grief produced by the decease of the late Dr. R. W. Hamilton in the hearts of all who knew the great acquirements and powers, the amiable qualities, and the extensive usefulness of its honoured brother, so early removed from the service and the affections of the community, in which he held a very distinguished place. But the Committee would in particular lament the decease of Dr. Hamilton as an afflictive loss to the Congregational Union, of which he was among the most able and zealous advocates, and to which he rendered various and effective services. At its fourth autumnal meeting, held in Liverpool, October, 1842, Dr. Hamil. ton preached a very able sermon on the intercommunity of churches, and having printed his discourse by the unanimous request of the meeting, generously remitted the profits in aid of the funds of the Union. When the Union held its fifth autumnal meeting at Leeds in October, 1843, this honoured brother was foremost to hail the assembly with a cordial and joyful welcome, and to use every private and public exertion for its full success. With distinguished ability Dr. Hamilton presided as chairman of the seventeenth annual assembly of the Union, and of its adjourned meetings held at York and Derby; and his two most able and instructive opening addresses to the assemblies in London and York were printed at the unanimous and earnest request of those respective meetings. At the eighteenth annual assembly, held in May last, Dr. Hamilton presented the annual letter to the churches, on the literature of the denomination -a production strongly marked by his characteristic decision, generosity, and inexhaustible knowledge of the writers of his denomination and of his country; and though its lamented author declined to print the letter as a document of the Union, because of its numerous personal though most friendly allusions, yet had his valued life been prolonged, it was among his intimated literary designs to present it to the public in some other form. Bereft by this second stroke, in so short a period, of two brethren so eminent, so closely united by endeared friendship, and so powerfully sustaining and serving the Congregational Union, as Ely and Hamilton-honoured and cherished names!this Committee pays its tribute to their memory, bows in submission to the great Master who has called them hence, appeals to his care and power to repair the heavy loss, and feels summoned to redouble its attachment and its devotedness to that sacred and undying cause for which they lived and laboured."

American Slavery.-Answer to the "Free Synod of Cincinnati.”

The fraternal letter to the Union from the Free Synod of Cincinnati, to which the following is a reply, will be found in the July Number of the WITNESS, page 350. The duty of forwarding a reply having been confided to the Committee, the following letter has been prepared accordingly, in the hope and belief that it expresses the sentiments which prevail in the Union on this truly humbling and afflictive subject:

"To the Free Synod of Cincinnati,' representing the Free Presbyterian Church of America.' "DEAR BRETHREN,-Your address to the Congregational Union of England and Wales, duly signed by your Moderator, the Rev. Arthur B. Bradford, and countersigned by your stated Clerk, the Rev. J. R. Gibson, having been received as addressed to the Chairman of the Union in due course, was presented and read to the second adjourned meeting of the Eighteenth Annual Assembly of this Union, held in London on Saturday, the 13th of May last, whereon the following resolution was adopted unanimously: That it be left in charge with the Committee of the Union to send a fraternal reply, in the name of this meeting, to the letter from the "Free Synod of Cincinnati," now read, which the Assembly has received with deep interest and sympathy, as expressing a firm protest against the sin of slaveholding.'

"This pleasing duty thus charged on the Committee, it now proceeds, dear brethren, to fulfil, with great respect towards you, and with much care to represent faithfully the sentiments of the body in whose name and by whose authority it addresses you in response to your important communication.

"The Congregational Union of England and Wales has cultivated friendly relations and correspondence with both the Presbyterian churches of your country, from which you have found it your painful but necessary duty to separate, for the sake of liberty and power to carry out fully your Christian protest and opposition against that dreadful evil-Slavery! This Union stands in full and firm accordance with those churches in maintaining all the cardinal doctrines of the glorious gospel; it recognizes, with devout joy, the eminent men they have produced, and the noble services they have rendered to our common Christianity; and it cannot doubt that there are now to be found in their fellowship many of Christ's true servants and disciples. Therefore would the Committee of the Union, in speaking the sentiments of the body it represents, guard against all disrespectful and uncharitable judgments towards those great bodies of fellow Christians, while expressing deep regret that they can deem it their duty so decidedly to uphold slavery by their ecclesiastical action as your letter represents them to do, and cordial sympathy with you in your separation from them on that sole but solid ground.

"It is not necessary that this Committee should declare its accordance with every regulation and sentiment contained in the declaration against slavery incorporated in your form of government, and transcribed in your letter for our information; but in the main substance and spirit thereof you have its most hearty approval and entire sympathy. The Committee rejoices with unfeigned joy to see the holy antislavery cause adopted by Christian churches in America, and brought within the scope of their pure, wise, calm, and just action. The Committee beseeches the great Father of Lights that you may not fail of any grace needful to do full honour and service to the glorious but most difficult cause you have thus so decidedly undertaken. May you, dear brethren, have a full share in the blessedness and renown assuredly awaiting those who shall take the lead in ridding your country and the world of the awful curse of negro slavery, by no arms but those of reason, justice, religion, and the power of God!

"The Congregational Union of England and Wales is composed of churches long exercised in the duty and difficulty of separation for conscience' sake from powerful religious communities. But they know this painful course has never been without tokens of Divine approval, great freedom in the service of truth, and blessed advantages to the cause of God. Fear not failure, therefore, dear brethren, while you hold fast by your principles and your purity, though you seem few and feeble. In all such cases the appeal is not to numbers, but to truth; not to man, but to God; and the issue will be accordingly.

"You will see, dear brethren, that this Union, and the Committee now addressing you on its behalf, have frankly responded to your letter, in confidence reposed on your representations, doubtless well-deserved. We salute you as an orthodox, evangelical, pure fellowship of Christian brethren, separated unto a death conflict against slavery; and as such we hail you as worthy our honour, and needing our prayers.

"How shall we rejoice when, in order to be what you are in all other respects, separation will be no longer necessary; when the communities you have left shall open wide the door for your return, by adopting your principle and your cause, and moving forward in all the power of truth and of God to perform the great lustration of noble America, by cleansing her soil from the defilement and curse of slavery.

"Thus, dear brethren, we echo back across the Atlantic the great sentiment of your address, and send up to heaven our prayer for your success. In the name of our Union we reciprocate your subscription, and remain yours, for Christ and his cause,

"BENJAMIN HANBURY, "Chairman of the Union Committee. "WILLIAM STERN PALMER, "ALGERNON WELLS, "Secretaries of the Union."

HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY. It would be difficult to magnify, beyond its just importance, the present juncture of public affairs among the nations of the earth, as well as in our own land; and it would be impious to be indifferent to the voice which, in the midst of national convulsions, crieth unto the city. The man of wisdom will bow to the rod and discern Him who smiteth with it; and while the counsels of statesmen are paralyzed, and the strength of ancient empires is crumbled into dust-while the subtilty of serpentine Jesuitism is exposed, and the last crutch of the Papacy is brokenthe Christian will read in the signs of the times his own duty, and the sovereignty of Him who is exalted "Lord of all." The colonies of Great Britain are happily at this moment free from tumultuous and political agitation. The cry of oppression or of resistance is unheard in the west or in the south; nevertheless, in those foreign dependencies there is a continuing influx of the Anglo-Saxon population, whose streams may ere long change provinces into empires, and colonists into confederated citizens. That they may prove New England states, excelling in all the virtues of their fatherland, every British patriot will earnestly desire; but the devout Christian will do what he can that they may become lights of Divine truth, and sanctuaries of scriptural religion and of a holy brotherood.

Ireland has been again tossed with political tempest, and exposed to the alarms of civil convulsion. Wave upon wave of trouble has visited that distracted nation. Famine, with its terrors, had prepared the way for pestilence and its desolation; and now the tumults of the people, agitated by the storms of fierce and maddened ambition, threaten the foundations of society, and drive to their wits' end the most prudent and self-possessed. But He that sitteth on the floods is mightier than the waves, and hath said, "Be still and know that I am God." The enlightened Christian is well assured, that no power is greater than the truth of God, or more constraining than the love of Christ; and that no means of amelioration will be more effectual than the principles of the oracles of God. If the inhabitants of Ireland can be brought to gather the fruit of that tree, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, then will all other things be added unto them. Famine and pestilence will either be stayed, or blessed for good; and the rule of "that kingdom," which is "not meat and drink," will bring righteousness and peace; and the knowledge of salvation will be the stability of their country.

The evangelical agencies employed in that land, which are untainted by political asscciation, and freed from the opprobrium of secular establishments, or the recollection of sanguinary conflicts and military exactions, should, at such a time, be carried on with vigour, and sustained in efficiency. And by their means that Gospel which brings peace on earth and good-will to men, should be eagerly commended to the consciences of the multitude, so that glory to God in the highest may yet be the song of many that now sit in darkness. As they were devoted evangelists who most sedulously ministered to the wretched and perishing amid famine and pestilence; so should the agents of an untaxed and free Gospel be the mediators in the midst of strife, and the messengers of reconciliation to a misguided and alienated people. Like Moses and Samuel among his prophets, and Aaron with his censer among his priests; so should the faithful servants of Jesus Christ interpose their influence and prayers for the preservation and welfare of Ireland.

While the nations around reel to and frowhile their rulers and princes are exposed to the vicissitudes of revolution, and their benevolent associations and religious confederacies are paralyzed and unsettled-England and her institutions are comparatively tranquil, and the service of her God, in its divers operations, proceeds with few interruptions. Yet the sympathy which she has with contiguous countries, and the intercourse which, in her commercial as well as political relations, she sustains with the European system, causes simultaneous commotion, and vibrates a tremulous response among the inhabitants of Britain. In all political convulsions England participates more or less intimately with Continental changes; and it is a paramount duty of Christian obedience to uphold and extend such operations as will secure a preached gospel, and bring to the people glad tidings of salvation. Puseyism, in its semi-papal superstitions; infidelity, in its many-coloured distortions; and blind error, whether Catholic or sectarian, amidst a rapidly-increasing population, can only thus be encountered and overthrown. The sedulous and prayerful missionaries

of the cross are the best conservators of England's liberty and peace.

The disciples of Christ have it in commission from their Lord that they should be the salt of the earth. By their piety and prayers would ten righteous men have saved Sodom and the other cities of the plain; and by their evangelical zeal and fervour did Nonconformists keep alive the fire of Christian love, and shed abroad the light of scriptural truth and godliness, when the clergy of an Established Church slumbered and slept, and when infidelity and heterodoxy threatened England with a blighting impiety. The churches and Home Missions of modern Dissent in rural districts and secondary towns, though they be little among the princes of Israel, are the repositories of truth-the piquets, the outposts, and the advanced guards of the army of Zion. The agents thus employed give

no uncertain sound when they blow an alarm; and, as watchmen, their services are of infinite value to the sinners, to whom the God of mercy sends them, that they may warn them of their danger, and direct them to flee for refuge to the hope set before them in the Gospel.

It is gratifying to the Christian to be assured that so many such stations are faithfully occupied, sustained by the benevolence and liberality which have been brought into association by the Home Missionary Society. The truly generous friend of his country would desire to witness yet more energy and extended operation. Nor is it desired to conceal the fact, that many who prefer a separate, or another organization, are labouring for the same purpose. The county associations of Congregational churches, as well Baptist as Pædo-baptist; and the Independent churches, which act by distinct agencies, whether gratuitous or salaried, happily occupy many important and prosperous spheres in the land for the preaching of the gospel ;-and their energies are not wasted, nor are their labours in vain for the Lord. It would be a valuable testimony to the efficiency of the Voluntary principle, were a full return obtained and published of these diversified services, whether isolated or as the work of confederated coadjutors. In the meanwhile, the Home Missionary Society presents facilities to the individual and to the church, to the liberal Christian of every name, and to the county or district association, for direct and prompt co-operation; and the Board of British Missions confidently appeals to the judgment and heart of their fellow-Christians at this time of need and encouragement.

EXTRACTS FROM THE MISSIONARIES'
JOURNALS.

Ungodly Clergy and degraded People.-The Value of the School.

"A member of the church has recently died, the event of whose death I attempted to improve a short time since. She died a very happy death patiently wishing to depart and to be with Christ, was the language that she expressed to me when I visited her, and just before her death. At one time she was a constant attendant at church, but about two or three years ago she became one of us; her walk here, until the period of her death, has been consistent. For some weeks past I have constantly visited one of the congregation, a very bad man, whom the Lord has for the present aised up from a bed of serious illness; for at

one time it was feared he was past recovery, the doctor having given him over. Since which, the sufferer has told me if he had died then he must have gone to hell! In his case the Lord has evidently been very merciful; and I now look upon him as a brand plucked from the fire. I hope, however, since the fear of death has been removed, and his health somewhat restored to him, he will not return to his old vicious practices. May the Lord keep him from sin by his grace, and make him one of the household of faith!

"The spiritual and moral condition of this place is extremely low. The generality of the people wretchedly poor, and brutally ignorant. There is everything calculated to dissipate the minds of the inhabitants. A public-house nearly to every hundred of people! A factory, with its many loose characters. Drunkenness and immorality, with all their attendant evils, fearfully abound! And much wickedness is periodically brought into it by gentlemen and clergymen at the hunting seasons! Fishing, fox, hare, hind, stag, and otter huntings, occupy the greater part of the spring and summer months; and, during the winter, many give themselves up to poaching. For philanthropic efforts I have conscientiously made to check some of the prevailing vices, I have only received in the public streets the sinners' curses. Dissent obtains but little sympathy with us. It is church first, church middle and last. Amidst our many discouragements, we are cheered occasionally by the Divine blessing resting on us. This quarter we have had the addition of one young man to the church. He belongs to one of the worst families in the town. There are three or four very hopeful characters in the congregation. I am cautious in admitting members; and I find there is greater reason still for my being so. The church has expelled one member for drunkenness. This sorrowful circumstance, and other glaring inconsistencies, as may be supposed, act anything but favourably here towards the cause of Christ.

"I wish to dwell upon (to me) an important part of the cause, viz., the day-school; for the establishment of which I have made considerable efforts. It is in its third year of existence, and, "I am fearful, its last. Hitherto I made myself almost the responsible person for its support. This I cannot continue to do. One year

it was aided by the Congregational Board of Education; at present, the Board tells me, it has no funds at its disposal. To close this school will be a very untoward event to the town; this may be obviated by a little help of £20 or £30 a year. The new school-house is freehold, with no debt upon it. It was built when the question of Voluntary education was agitated through Sir James Graham's Bill, and in the full expectation that its support would be undertaken by the Congregational Board. We have made every sacrifice to keep it open until now, to remove, if possible, the mass of ignorance in our midst. If its doors be now closed, there is great danger that they will not be opened again. What would you, Rev. Sir, advise under the circumstances? Several of our fathers in the ministry have pressed us in the public prints to hold by the Voluntary principle. I have followed this direction, expecting, before this, that some plan would have been definitely fixed on, by means of which to support all existing schools, and not allow any to fall to the

ground, by taking up new and untried measures. What is to be the issue of schools in general, founded on the Voluntary principle, I know not; but of the particular one with which I am connected, the issue is plainly seen, unless speedily the friends of Voluntary education come to the rescue. There is great need here for the concentration of efforts to remove from our midst, with the blessing of God, its many brazen vices, barbarous customs, and destructive practices. The town, left to itself, must remain in its present degraded condition. It has ever been noted for its wickedness. Not long since I was in conversation with a lady, who has not visited it for twenty-five years, and, in this interview, she repeated a remark once made by a Wesleyan minister, That he had laboured in many places, but D- was the only place where he could not drive the devil out.' I say nothing as to the sentiment contained in the remark. I preach, it is not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord,' that the power of darkness is to be overcome.

"P.S.-On the day-school's account I am involved in such pecuniary difficulties that it must close in September next, three months' notice I must give on the 24th of June. This alternative will be a serious blow to a weak cause. We have for £65 a year the services of a man and wife as teachers. They are Christians. The husband has been educated at the Borough-road, and is a Voluntary. Nothing will grieve me so much as to part with them, for the want of about £30 a year."

The School and the Missionary.

"The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." This passage was never brought home so forcibly in the experience of your agent as within the last month. On the first sabbath I rode six miles to H, and preached in the morning. In the afternoon, according to previous announcement, the public examination of the sabbath scholars took place. The service commenced at two, and closed at four; and, after addressing the parents for about half-an-hour, we retired to an adjoining cottage to take a little refreshment. Although the hour appointed to resume our work was six, the chapel was full to overflowing at half-past five; when we commenced with the junior classes, a little after eight, I could stand no longer, and was obliged to defer the address till some future time, as it was with difficulty I could close with a few words of prayer owing to the extreme heat; every sinew and limb was taxed to the very utmost before I could reach home. This, through mercy, I was enabled to do a little after ten p.m. The chapel was built to accommodate 200, but on this occasion upwards of 350, including children, were crammed within its walls, and many scores were counted on the outside. This was the third public examination, and the interest they have excited is most extraordinary. It was a gratifying sight. Think, dear brethren, of a company of poor rustics, amounting to 300 or more, one-half ignorant of their letters, listening to their children and grandchildren reading and answering questions relating to their immortal interests, so well and with such readiness, as to lead many of the old people to say, 'No parson could have done better.' Tears rolled down many cheeks, especially those born in the last century, on contrasting present

with former times, when no man cared for the souls of either young or old. The difference is owing, under God, to the instrumentality of your honoured Society. During a period of twenty-five years at C, I had gone through a greater amount of labour with comparative ease; but now I shrink at the thought of ever again attempting to engage in any public examination at such a season of the year. On Monday I remained a prisoner at home; and it was Wednesday before my voice or nerves resumed their accustomed tone. Last sabbath I rode to H, six miles, and preached to between sixty or seventy of the poorest of the poor. When I first visited this village, not a family or individual had the written Word. Now no cottage is without it; four fifths of the people listen to a preached gospel, and several have felt its hallowing influence, and can say, 'Whereas I was blind, now I see. From thence I rode three-and-a-half miles to H, preached in the afternoon, baptized two children, addressed teachers and scholars, made some arrangements in the school, and returned home in a light vehicle. It was not till then that I found such a conveyance more easy than riding on horseback; the latter shakes my poor frame so much, that, if my circumstances would admit of it, I should never cross a horse again. May our gracious Lord pardon his poor aged servant, for so often giving vent to his feelings of deep regret on account of his inability to do more."

COLONIAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

VALEDICTORY SERVICE.

A DEEPLY-INTERESTING Valedictory Service was held at the Tabernacle near the City-road, on Monday evening, the 21st instant, in connection with the departure of the Rev. J. M. Strongman, late of Farringdon, for Adelaide, South Australia. The attendance was very numerous.

The services having been commenced by sing. ing, the Rev. Mr. Woodman read the 72nd Psalm, and offered up the general prayer. At the close of the next hymn,

cess.

The Rev. A. WELLS ascended the pulpit and said: The present service reminds me of the departure of Dr. Ross for Sydney, whose valcdictory services were held in this place, and who continues to labour most successfully in the sphere to which he was appointed. The present service may recur to our recollection when we read accounts of our brother Strongman's sucOne object which I have in view is to call attention to the colony to which he is going forth; but I would first occupy you briefly with some remarks on colonization generally. Nothing seems more certain than that it is the will of God that the world should be vastly more peopled by the human race than it is at present. There are very extensive regions of the fairest climate and soil in the world still altogether unoccupied by man, or, at least, only wandered over by a few fragmentary tribes of barbarians. One means by which it is to be peopled is emigration from those parts which are crowded. Emigration is now going on from our country, and God has made us the colonizing people of the age. All the settlements in North America, the two Canadas, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, have been acquired by the