1848.] Intelligence. 151 INTELLIGENCE. E. S. Gamett RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. Rev. Ecclesiastical Record. - The ministerial changes within the last two months have been comparatively few. Rev. Frederic W. Holland, having accepted the appointment of Secretary of the American Unitarian Association, has resigned his pastoral connection with the church in Rochester, N. Y. Rev. Charles Briggs, we understand, will remain in the office of the Association, and attend to its local business. Mr. Weiss of Watertown has accepted an invitation to become the pastor of the Unitarian church in New Bedford. - Rev. Mr. Barry, formerly of Framingham, has resumed the duties of the ministry, as pastor of the Second Unitarian church in Lowell, a situation which he was on the point of occupying when ill health obliged him to relinquish all professional labor, and which restores him to the scene of his earliest ministry. Rev. Mr. Huntington, late of Ashby, has taken the permanent charge of the congregation at Milwaukie, Wis. Rev. Mr. Tenney has resigned his office as pastor of the society in Kennebunk, Me. Rev. Mr. Huntington of Boston has again declined an invitation from the church of the Messiah in the city of New York. Rev. Mr. Angier of Milton will preach to the congregation in Bangor, Me., during the winter. Rev. Mr. Palfrey, late of Barnstable, is preaching to the society in Belfast, Me., the arrangement with Mr. Rice, to which we referred in our last number, not having gone into effect. - Rev. Charles Brooks of Boston, on a recent visit to Vermont, preached several times in Montpelier, where we hope soon to hear that a Unitarian society has been formed. We notice with pleasure the disposition of some of our congregations to repair or replace their time-worn sanctuaries. The South Congregational church in this city have, within the last year, raised the sum of $10,000, partly for this purpose, but more especially for the liquidation of their debt. — The Twelfth Congregational church in this city have, also, given a new face to the interior of their house of worship. The society in East Cambridge, over which Dr. Ingersoll has just been settled, have expended $2000 in repairs of their meetinghouse. - The Unitarian society in Baltimore have not only renovated the interior of their beautiful church, but have made some important improvements in its construction, and have also paid off the debt with which they were encumbered. - The Unitarian meetinghouse in Athol has been repaired and remodelled. — The First Congregational society in Stow have suffered a severe loss in the destruction of their meetinghouse by fire, but propose at once to erect another in its place. — The Unitarian society in Barre are engaged in erecting a new meetinghouse. - The First Congregational parish in Brookline have decided to take down their present church, that they may build one better adapted for public speaking. — The Dedication services at the church of the Saviour and at the Indiana Street Congregational church, in this city, are noticed on another page. The former, from its situation as well as the solidity and style of its architecture, has been a costly structure, and is a con spicuous ornament of our metropolis, but, by the terms of the subscription, the larger part of the cost can never fall as a debt upon the society. The latter is a less expensive building, though the interior is particularly beautiful, and is designed to accommodate those persons who may be able to pay but a small annual assessment. In our notice of the Autumnal Convention at Salem we remarked, that a "considerable number of ministers were present." A friend has informed us, that, by actual counting, he ascertained the ́number in attendance during the whole or different parts of the sessions to be one hundred and twenty-three. Memorial to Congress on the War.- A meeting of Unitarians was held in the chapel in Bedford Street, Boston, on the 21st, and by adjournment on the 28th, of October, 1847, to consider what action they might take in reference to the present war with Mexico. Rev. Mr. Waterston of Boston was chosen Chairman, and Rev. Mr. Palfrey of Barnstable, Secretary. After some discussion, the following resolutions were passed: "Resolved, That it is expedient that Unitarians memorialize Congress against the continuance of the present war. "Resolved, That, as Christian ministers, we are bound to, and do hereby, utter our deliberate condemnation of the war now existing between the United States and Mexico, and our solemn protest against its continuance. "Resolved, That, in our opinion, it is the duty of Christians, without distinction of sect, to address memorials to Congress at the opening of their next session, urging the Representatives, Senators, and Executive of the United States at once to take the necessary steps for securing an immediate and permanent peace with Mexico, by withdrawing all troops of this nation from her territory, restoring to her possession the provinces which we now occupy, offering the amplest atonement in our power for the wrongs which we have inflicted, and appointing Commissioners empowered to adjust questions in dispute between these sister republics." A committee of nine was appointed under the first of these votes, viz. Rev. Messrs. Stetson of Medford, Channing of Boston, Ware of Cambridge, Palfrey of Barnstable, Clarke and May of Boston, Francis of Cambridge, Stone of Salem, and Gannett of Boston; to whom were afterwards added seven laymen, viz. Messrs. J. P. Blanchard, L. G. Pray, G. G. Channing, C. Sumner, C. F. Adams, S. Fairbanks, and J. A. Andrew, of Boston. This committee have since prepared a memorial embodying the sentiment, and much of the language, of the last two resolutions, which has been sent to every Unitarian minister in the country, for circulation, in such manner as he may think proper, among his congregation. Periodical Journals. · - Rev. Nathaniel S. Folsom of Charlestown has taken the editorial charge of the Christian Register, still, however, performing his duties as a minister at large. — Rev. James F. Clarke of Boston has, also, without relinquishing his pastoral duties, assumed the editorship of the Christian World. - The Christian Inquirer of New York is now conducted by Rev. Mr. Bellows and Mrs. C. Ŵ. Kirkland. The subscription has been reduced to one dollar a year, at which price a very large circulation alone can defray the expense of publication. - The 1848.] Intelligence. 153 Massachusetts Quarterly Review is the title of a new journal, the first number of which, if it have rather disappointed expectation, may only prepare us for a more agreeable disappointment in future. The names of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Theodore Parker, and J. Elliot Cabot as editors are a sufficient assurance that it will not be dull or timid. Independent in its own way, strong of purpose, and sincere in expression, it will, we suppose, deal with politics, art, and religion, with individual and social life, with the tendencies and wants of the times, in a manner to disturb some sensibilities and offend some convictions. We do not expect to like all we shall find in its pages; but its honesty and its energy, we doubt not, will entitle it to commendation. — The Harbinger, the organ of the Associationists, has been removed to New York. The experiment at Brook Farm having been relinquished, Mr. Ripley has gone to New York to conduct the paper and take charge of the interests of the cause to which it is devoted in that city, securing also, by this removal, a more central position for the efforts with which he is connected. Great Britain and Ireland. — Our readers are so well acquainted with the recent history of the relations existing between the Unitarians of the British Isles and of the United States, that we need not enter into details; nor do we wish to bear any part in perpetuating an unpleasant and needless state of feeling. The extreme earnestness of some of our English and Irish friends on the subject of slavery leads them to use language and adopt measures, the good effect of which we seriously question, while of the purity or kindness of their intentions we entertain no doubt. At the last annual meeting of the British and Foreign Unitarian Association, a warm discussion arose in consequence of a passage in the Report of the Committee, alluding in friendly terms to an invitation which had been sent from this city to our English brethren to attend our anniversary meetings. The invitation proceeded from a few individuals, but was unhappily supposed to have emanated from the American Unitarian Association, which had committed the offence of including a slaveholder in the number of its Vice-Presidents. The misconception of its origin was corrected, and the language of the Report was sustained by the vote of a large majority of the members of the British and Foreign Association. Since that meeting a reply to the letter of invitation has been in circulation in England and Scotland, and, having received the signature of fifty-four ministers and fourteen hundred and thirty laymen, has been recently transmitted to this country. If our pages were not crowded, even to the exclusion of domestic intelligence which we had prepared, we should insert this document; but its appearance in the weekly journals of our denomination has brought it before the eyes of all our readers. With "affectionate acknowledgments of our kindness, and all earnest desires to preserve and reciprocate it," the reply contains a fervent remonstrance on our imputed participation in the guilt of slaveholding. The same want of space obliges us to omit the "Response to the Address of the Irish Unitarian Christian Society, from their Brethren in America," prepared by a committee appointed at a meeting held in Boston in May, 1846, consisting of Rev. Mr. Briggs of Plymouth, Rev. Mr. May of Leicester, J. A. Andrew, Esq., of Boston,_Rev. Messrs. Clarke and Huntington of Boston, Rev. Mr. Peabody of Ports mouth, N. H., Rev. Mr. Osgood of Providence, R. I., and Rev. Mr. Holland of Rochester, N. Y. The Reply is written in terms of the closest sympathy with the Address which called it forth. The English Unitarians are much interested at the present time in establishing a collegiate institution in London, under the title of University Hall, which shall offer to students the advantages of an academical residence in the metropolis, and shall furnish them with instruction in branches not taught in University College, particularly theology and mental and moral philosophy. A society has been formed and subscriptions taken for this object. Rev. William Hincks, who, after resigning his professorship in Manchester College on its removal from York, established the London Inquirer, and edited it with marked ability for five years, preaching meanwhile to the congregation worshipping in the Stamford Street chapel, has relinquished his connection with the Inquirer, and is now in this country, where he will spend a year in travelling and occasional lecturing on Astronomy, and on Botany, which he has made a particular subject of study. The publication of the Inquirer is continued, though it does not appear under whose editorial charge. The death of Rev. Mr. Johns of Liverpool is an event suited to awaken emotions of mingled sorrow and admiration. Mr. Johns had for ten years been the faithful minister to the poor in that city, and contracted the fever which occasioned his death in his attendance on the destitute sick whom he sought in their wretched and pestilential abodes. He was a man of poetic temperament and fine powers of mind, but devoted himself with unwearied zeal to the labors of his ministry, and has earned the meed of a true Christian martyrdom. Dedications. The Church of the Saviour" in BOSTON, Mass., was dedicated November 10, 1847. The Sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Waterston, the pastor, from 1 Corinthians iii. 11; the Dedication Prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Gannett of Boston; and the other services were conducted by Rev. Messrs. Parkman, Huntington, and Lothrop, of Boston, and Rev. Dr. Pierce of Brookline. The Indiana Street Congregational Church in BOSTON, Mass., was dedicated December 12, 1847. The Sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Fox, the pastor, from Ezekiel xiv. 3; the Prayer of Dedication was offered by Rev. Mr. Lothrop of Boston; and the other services were conducted by Rev. Messrs. Huntington, Peabody, Barnard, and Parkman, of Boston. The meetinghouse erected by the First Congregational Society in FRAMINGHAM, Mass., in place of their former house of worship, was dedicated December 1, 1847. The Sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Huntington of Boston, from 2 Corinthians v. 18; the Prayer of Dedication was offered by Rev. Mr. Allen of Northboro'; and the other services were conducted by Rev. Messrs. Bulfinch of Nashua, N. H., Ware of Cambridge, Sanger of Dover, and Muzzey of Cambridge. Installation. - REV. GEORGE GOLDTHWAIT INGERSOLL, D. D., formerly of Burlington, Vt., was installed as pastor of the Third Congregational Church in CAMBRIDGE (East Cambridge), Mass., December 5, 1847. The services were conducted by the Unitarian ministers of Cam 1848.] Obituary. 155 bridge, without the organization of a council. The Sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Newell, from 1 Timothy ii. 3-7; the Prayer of Installation was offered by Rev. Dr. Walker; and the other services, by Rev. Messrs. Ware and Muzzey. HON. ALEXANDer Hill EveretT died at Canton, in China, May 29, 1847, aged 56 years. Mr. Everett was born in Boston, the second son of Rev. Oliver Everett, then minister of the church in Church Green. He graduated at Cambridge in 1806, and not long after began the study of the law, under the direction of Hon. John Quincy Adams. When Mr. Adams went to Russia, as our Minister to that country, Mr. Everett accompanied him as his secretary, being at that time not quite twenty years old. This initiation into diplomatic pursuits was followed by a life devoted more constantly to similar occupations than to those of his first chosen profession. In 1815, he again went to Europe, as Secretary of our Legation at the Court of the King of the Netherlands. In 1817 he returned to America, but in 1818 embarked again for Holland, having been appointed Chargé d'Affaires. In 1825, he accepted the position of Ambassador at the Court of Madrid, where he remained till 1829. For many years after his return to America, he conducted the North American Review, to which he had contributed constantly for a long period. Besides some public business in Cuba, and his duties in our own legislature, his principal public services after his return from Europe were rendered in Louisiana, in 1842, '43, and '44, as President of Jefferson College, an institution endowed and sustained by the State of Louisiana, and in China as Commissioner from our government to the government of that empire. The nomination to this office took him wholly by surprise; but he finally accepted it, and entered on the studies necessary for its discharge with great pleasure and alacrity. His early acquaintance with Oriental literature, his constant interest in the institutions of China, and his carefully acquired knowledge of European society and political institutions, with his exquisite habits of observation, gave us reason to hope that his residence in that country would throw new light on many points of its manners and policy. During his residence in China, he applied himself with great zeal to his diplomatic duties, and to the study of affairs around him; but his strength was constantly yielding under the painful disease, before which his earthly life at last gave way. Mr. Everett looked forward to his death with a perfect consciousness of its steady approach, and without fear or anxiety. His warm religious principle, always high and strong, had such control of him, that he was neither crushed by the agony of long and increasing disease, nor alarmed at the announcement of its coming end. He was of philosophical habits of study and reflection, and his religious principles had through his life been single and clear; refuting utterly the insinuation, that philosophical study weakens, or deadens, the growth of religious sentiments and convictions. He was a careful metaphysician, and his study of the human mind made all the clearer to him its relations to God and eternity. His religious faith was, undoubtedly, directed by |