Ecclesiastical Notices. MISSION TO CHINA.-REV. W. C. BURNS. of witnessing the examination of this school | After the examination, prizes of books and A VERY interesting meeting was held in sent. WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. ON Thursday, April 29th last, the Westminster Presbyterian Church held its fourth Annual Soiree. After tea in Buckingham Chapel School-room, the friends adjourned to the chapel, kindly granted to them on the occasion by the Rev. E. A. Dunn, the pastor of the Church assembling there, and his deacons. After some excellent remarks by the Chairman, W. Brownley, Esq., a numerous meeting was addressed by the Rev. W. Nicolson, London-wall; the Rev. J. Fisher, Southwark; the Rev. R. H. Sheppard; the Rev. E. A. Dunn; and the Rev. R. Henderson. It was agreed to commence a Building Fund that evening in the prospect of building or purchasing a place of worship. This important object has been since steadily kept in view. On Wednesday, the 2d June inst., the Third Annual Missionary Meeting was held in Buckingham Chapel. The devotional exercises were conducted by the Rev. R. Henderson, and the Rev. E. A. Dunn. Interest ing and stirring addresses were delivered by the Rev. W. C. Burns; the Rev. J. Moore, from the South Seas: and Mr. Rosenthal, a converted Jew. The meeting was numerously attended. On Thursday, the 10th ult., the Sabbath-school at this place was examined by the Minister of Risley, assisted by the Rev. Alexander Munro, in the presence of a number of Christian friends from Manchester and elsewhere. The scholars, of whom there are about seventy in regular attendance, and who were nearly all present on the occasion, evinced great proficiency in the various exercises. Most of the classes, besides repeating portions of Scripture with hymns and paraphrases, showed, on being questioned, that they properly understood them. The more advanced classes seemed to have become well acquainted with the Shorter Catechism; as the younger are with catechisms of a more elementary character. To those who have had opportunity WHITEHAVEN. Burns, the Minister of the Church, addressed necessity of being born again-the shortness FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE FREE CHURCH ON the evening of Thursday, the 17th June, preach the Gospel to their countrymen in India; and the mission buildings having been unequitably taken from Dr. Duff and his brethren, new premises must be provided; and the desolating effects of the Caffir war in Africa have added to the embarrassments of the mission in that region. The meeting was large and respectable, and appeared to sympathize warmly in the cause of missions, and in their admiration and affection for the faithful and able men by whom they were addressed. On Wednesday, the 23d, at two o'clock, a second meeting was held in the Music Hall, Store-street; Colonel Anderson in the chair. The meeting was addressed by Dr. Wilson, one of the Free Church Missionaries to Bom bay, who is about to proceed to the sphere of his labours; and who gave an interesting statement of the good now doing by missionaries, both to the various tribes in India, and indirectly to our own countrymen, many of whom, even in high station, are truly pious characters, and exemplify in their lives the best graces of Christianity. CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS. To the Editor of the English Presbyterian Messenger. MY DEAR SIR,-In proceeding to give you an account of what has been done at Birkenhead, in organising and working a congregational association, I would have it plainly understood, that this is done only for the purpose of en couraging others in following a similar course. We had often felt, that as a congregation, we did far too little in the way of contributing to the schemes of our church; and we were not among the number who complained of the faithfulness of the letters of London. In the outset, a series of sermons written in the "Messenger," by Dr. Stewart was preached on the missionary enterprise at home and abroad, and on the obligations resting upon all to give of their substance to the promotion of the Lord's work. To ascertain, with due correctness, the residence of every seat-holder in the congregation, printed forms were laid in every pew to be filled up, and returned on the following Sabbath. An address on the schemes, and on the propriety of contributing to these, was meanwhile drawn up by the Session, was printed, and kept in readiness for distribution. A table of rates was also drawn up, was and printed, and kept in readiness for distribution. So soon then as all the returns in regard to the residences were given in, copies of the address, and tables of rates for every member of the family, or household, were sent, with the request that they might be filled up, returned on the following Sabbath. This was done in a way, and to an extent far exceeding our most sanguine expectations. Old and young, rich and poor, came forward, handing in their returns with a degree of cordiality and delight never before manifested in any of our undertakings. We then made arrangements for the collectors, about thirty of whom had already presented themselves, or had agreed to act, when requested. We were desirous of making their work as light as possible; and so far as we could, we only gave to each collector, or to two collectors conjointly, about six families or individuals. By agreement, as will be perceived, from the accompanying papers, these collectors call upon the contributors on the first Monday of every month; and by another arrangement, the collectors present their books with the money collected, on the Thursday evening following, immediately after Divine Service. These meetings are opened and closed with prayer. Nothing has cheered and encouraged the hearts of the minister and office-bearers so much, as the interest taken in this matter by the congregation generally, and, as we doubt not, it has had a very beneficial influence on the congregation itself. We have not found the congregational association to interfere with our usual weekly collections, nor with the stated collections for the schemes of our church; on the contrary, we believe that there has been an increase on the latter. The young of the congregation, and the children attending the Sabbathschool, have also been brought to take a deep interest in missions, and in education, and are coming forward with their mite to aid in carrying the glad tidings of salvation to others at home and abroad. It is proper to add, that the services of the first Thursday of each month have a special bearing on missionary work. The monthly revenue from the congrega tional association is from 147. to 167. The Session at Birkenhead would record its thankfulness to Almighty God for the measure of success with which he has blessed their efforts, and would express the hope that much more may yet be done by them and others, in carrying forward the beneficent schemes of the Church. I am, My Dear Sir, yours, very truly, Birkenhead, May 6, 1847. P.S. I might have added, in shewing that the association has in no way diminished our efforts otherwise, that we sent upwards of 857. to aid in relieving the destitution in the Highlands of Scotland; that our Ladies' Clothing Society sent new clothing, to the value of 40%. one-half to Ireland, the other to Scotland, and one large bale of cast-off clothing to each kingdom. [Along with the above letter, Mr. Gardner has sent copies of the documents used in originating and working the Birkenhead association. In the address to the congrega. tion, the objects of the Synod's schemes are briefly described, and an appeal made in their behalf. In the circular for obtaining the names and addresses of those willing to contribute, there is a scale of twelve rates, from 4d. per month up to 17. and upwards; the parties to whom the circular is sent, being requested to state the particular rate which they agree to give monthly. These circulars being returned to the session, are distributed by them to collectors who call for the contributions each month. A meeting of the collectors is held monthly, a day or two after the day appointed for payments, and the amount entered by the congregational treasurer. It is suggested by Mr. Gardner, that, instead of local printed appeals, one general appeal from the Synod, applicable to all the churches, and explaining the schemes and urging the duty and privilege of supporting them, would be more suitable and effective. We are much indebted to our brother for the information and example he has given in this matter.-ED.] IN the visible Church most men come to know of the truth of the Gospel, as it were, whether they will or no. And the general design of it they find to be a separation between them and their sins. This sets them at a distance from it in affection, whereon they can never make any near approach unto it in knowledge or understanding. So we are assured, John iii. 19, 20.—Dr. Owen. SCOTLAND. Edinburgh, June 9, 1847. LAST night, the General Assembly of our Free Church finished its protracted and eventful session. Every one of the yearly meetings since the Disruption in 1843, was marked by its own distinctive character and proceedings; one by serious and humbleminded tone, another by attention to the religious interests of our neglected and remote countrymen; and a third, for noble zeal in the cause of education. But the session of 1847 may be said to have comprised within itself the notabilities of all that preceded it; and crowned as it was by the sad event of the sudden removal of our own world-beloved Chalmers, no one who witnessed its proceedings will be likely soon to forget it. I doubt exceedingly whether such another assemblage of talent, and piety, and honour, could be found anywhere. In the Assembly of 1847, were to be seen men who had, at the call of duty, forsaken homes endeared by the recollections of a long and happy life; men in their prime, or in the bloom of youth, giving up all the hopes that animate those who are engaged in secular pursuits, the prospect of wealth and fame and honour, for the sake of labouring among the poor of the land, amid discomfort and poverty, with no reward in view but the joy of winning souls to Christ, and the smile of Him who says, that such shall in nowise lose their reward. In that Assembly were to be seen men whose powers were equal to the guidance of a senate or an empire; men of eloquence, of business, and of integrity, whose aim it is, amidst reproach and scorn, to uphold the cause of Evangelical truth, to advance sound and useful education, and, if the necessity should arise, as, alas! it has done, to mitigate the ravages of famine and disease; and to show the power of moral good in arresting and soothing the most terrible forms of physical evil. kept alive among their countrymen the knowledge of the truth. These were the men; and when the Disruption, breaking down the distinctions of this and that parish boundary, sent forth ordained ministers of an organized and Evangelical Church, the people and the men found what they had long been seeking; and hence the almost universal adherence of our Celtic population to the Free Church of Scotland. On the question of Education, the Assembly acted with great dignity and good sense. On the one hand, they gave due credit to Government, for the usefulness of their purpose, and the honesty of their intentions; while they fully admitted the difficulties of their position amid the numerous conflicting interests to which every Administration must attend in a free yet discordant community; and while they protested (as was meet for religious men to do) against favour alike to truth and error, they left every one free to follow the dictates of conscience in accepting or refusing aid. But, on the other hand, the Free Church of Scotland has declared, that with help or without it, be the enterprise easy or difficult, soon or slowly to be accomplished, the people of Scotland shall be invited to receive at her hand an education fitted to make them useful citizens, and enlightened Christians; that she will, as far as in her lies, raise them in the scale of intellectual and moral beings; that her teachers shall be active and able men, imparting vigour and energy to every class they teach, and causing Scotland to keep and to extend its noble character of being the best educated, the most enterprising, and most successful of the European communities. It was very pleasing to see the interest taken by the public, in the proceedings of the Assembly; and by the public I mean, the solid, the virtuous, the domestic portion of the middle classes: that class of society which, removed alike from the gay volatilities of the upper ranks, and the degraded vice and poverty of the lower, really carries on the business of human life, and contains the largest portion of virtue and happiness. These people did not come out to hear harangues at an evening lounge; but, in the forenoon diets were to be seen in great numbers, taking much interest in all the proceedings. It was very pleasing to see the affectionate Christian benevolence manifested by the members towards each other, the easy and unaffected courtesy of their whole deportment, and the benevolent welcome which they held out to Christians of other denominations. There were some matters, not among themselves, but as relating to their As to the solemn and affecting blow which, dealings with the Establishment, which were just when the Assembly was about to break calculated to excite rather bitter and indig-up, protracted its sittings for another week, nant feelings. I allude to the seizure of our churches, and the refusal to settle the question on the principles of equity, instead of holding by the "bond" and the technicalities of law. Some asperity of language, and some sternness of reproof, it was not wonderful for human feeling to utter on such an occasion. Your readers are probably aware, that, with very few exceptions, (and indeed the fact has been admitted in Parliament,) in the Highlands, the Free Church is the Church of the people. The fact seems to puzzle extremely the clerical as well as lay members of the Established Church. They think it is owing to the barbarism of the people, led away by superstition, and by the arts of certain fanatical persons, emphatically called the men, who are found in many Highland districts. The true explanation is this:-for many a dark year, the Highland parishes were occupied by ministers who knew little and cared less about the spiritual welfare of their flocks; and the people must gradually have lost the blessings of Gospel light, had not a few patriarchs, taught by the Spirit of God, and well versed in his Word, you have no doubt abundant materials from other sources to give your English readers a sufficient and salutary account. Nothing could be more awe-struck than the Meeting of that day, when the venerable head of our College was expected to address the Assembly on the subject of College Education. Every face really seemed to " gather blackness;" and after a short devotional service, the House adjourned. We had expected him to appear amidst the welcome of multitudes, but he had already joined the General Assembly and Church of the first-born which are written in heaven; and had gone to God the Judge of all, who had so long honoured him to be a champion for Gospel truth and active benevolence. Your readers are aware that his latest enterprise was to raise from the dust the inhabitants of one of the most degraded districts of our city; and the evening before he died, he had the satisfaction of being informed that the "brick and stone" of his favourite church and school were all paid for; while he knew that the Lord had provided the more important instruments of a faithful minister and zealous teachers. THE SLAVEHOLDING RESOLUTION OF THE ALLIANCE. AT the Edinburgh Meeting of the Alliance, Captain Trotter read and laid on the table a communication from several brethren, expressive of their non-concurrence with the resolu tions of the Manchester Conference, on the subject of slaveholders,-setting forth their reasons for such non-concurrence, but affec tionately expressing their continued deep attachment to the brethren, and the proceed ings of the Alliance, and their determination, notwithstanding, still to adhere to the organ ization. We trust that THE LATE DR. CHALMERS. THE following is an extract from a discourse preached in the Scotch Church, St. Peter'ssquare, Manchester, June 6, 1847, by the Rev. Alexander Munro : "The issues of death belong unto the Lord, also, inasmuch as he appoints the time, the circumstances, and the way, in which men are removed from the world. Death it comes after this manner, to others after under all aspects is a solemn thing. To some that manner; but to all it comes as a messenger to conduct them into an untried state of being. Circumstances, however, may sometimes render it peculiarly impressive. The very young or the very obscure may die unnoticed, and their name be quickly forgotten. But death rests not content with removing the feeble twig or the decayed branch. He often lays his axe to the root of the palmiest tree. At one time he cuts down an individual strong in hopeful enterprise, and This resolution was signed by Robert C. L. Bevan, Esq., Lombard-street; Hon. A. Kinnaird, Pall-Mall East; Hon. William Cowper, Admiralty; Rev. Joseph T. Parker, M.A., Kensington; Rev. Owen Clarke, Pentonville; Rev. A. S. Thelwall, M.A., Pentonville; Rev. H. H. Beamish, M.A., Trinity Chapel; J. D. Paul, Esq., Temple Bar; and other respect his purposes perish. Or, perhaps, he removes able and influential names. the hasty and unwise resolution of the Alliance on this subject will be yet rescinded. Why connexion with property in slaveholding countries should be in itself a disqualification for membership of a Christian society, it is not easy to perceive; and if errors in practice as well as in doctrine debar from the Alliance, there are many other sins as proper for selection as tests of membership. We know of several cases of excellent men in this country having property, or trusteeship of property, in slave countries, who are thereby enabled to provide for the moral and religious well-being of many hundreds of their fellowcreatures, who would otherwise be left in darkness; and if the charge was given up by them, the persons of these slaves would, by the law of these countries, belong to Government, and their social or spiritual welfare be utterly neglected. the head of a household; the wife is widowed, the children are orphaned, and, instead of dwelling together in competency, as under a sheltering wing, they are cast forth on the chilly charities of the world. Or, he takes aim at a prince or a statesman replenished with practical wisdom and invested with political power: a nation feels the shock of his fall; its safety, as if an earthquake shook the soil. and society, in all its ranks, trembles for Or, see! he removes a man of might in the realm of mind, a luminary in the firmament of thought, a monarch among the sons of intelligence and light; and reflective men look up in sorrow and in fear, as if an eclipse were burying in darkness the beneficent sun. what matters it how it come, if the soul is prepared, having on the wedding garment? Blessed is that servant. For whether,' says an old divine, whether the gate of my prison be opened with an oiled key, by a gentle and preparing sickness, or the gate be be burned down by a raging and frantic hewed down by a violent death, or the gate fever; yet a gate into heaven I shall have: for, as from the Lord is the course of my life, so unto the Lord, the God of salvation, belong the issues of my death.' "But diverse are the forms in which this messenger comes to men, as well as the conditions in which he finds them. In the case of some his approach is stealthy and slow, as It is a piece of great absurdity, that, while several of your families have lately witnessed. men acknowledged to be of the highest In the case of others it is sudden and sure, Christian worth and public influence are as the recent appalling events on our lines of tabooed from the Alliance for this cause, we travelling can testify. Violence, with pain, are compelled to sit on platforms and meet precedes the demise of one; tranquillity, with in committees with men against whom there peace, marks the end of another. Yet, though are charges of dishonourable and discredit-instant death is not generally to be desired, able conduct unexplained or unanswered. Is not this straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel? We read lately an article in a religious paper, entitled, "Forgery by a clergyman." If that individual, for example, were applying for membership of the Alliance, such a moral misdemeanour ought to keep him out, or to put him out if already a member; and so of any other breach of social and Christian honour, far rather than the mere fact of connexion with property in countries where the system of slavery is not yet extinct. The difficulties attending the position of many of our Christian brethren on this question are greater than in our favoured land we can readily enter into. At all events it is not by harsh censure and hasty exclusion that the desired end will be effected. The counsel of Dr. Chalmers was truly wise, when he said, that if the conduct of our Christian brethren were wrong in maintaining any connexion with the system of slavery, there was the more need of their being brought into contact with brethren by whom they might be favourably influenced. while suggested by several instances of re"The tenor of these thoughts, my friends, moval among us of late, has, I may say, been that have reached us of the death of one drawn in a particular direction, by the tidings whose name has occupied a higher place in the Church and in the world, than many, if any, have attained to in these our days. "And what are those tidings? Thomas Chalmers is dead and buried. When I have uttered this bare and brief sentence, I have said enough to fill all bosoms with sadness, and to draw every heart to reflection. It is not for me to venture on any attempt fully to delineate his character,-to measure the altitude of his intellect or the depth of his discernment. It is not for me to analyze the components of that mind which, kindled and kept glowing by the united fervours of grace, genius, and benevolence, has continued, for nearly forty years, to pour such floods of burning and of shining light down into the depths and up along the loftiest pinnacles of society. Others, with competent time, opportunity, and materials at command, will forthwith be addressing themselves to this arduous and equitable task. Suffice it now to say, that the Church at home, with the Church throughout the earth, has lost one of its most industrious servants,-one of its ablest and there is a prince and a great man fallen this most renowned leaders. Know ye not that day in Israel?' For, if massive talents combined with touching simplicity, if profound attainments with practical uses, if hightoned theology with charity towards all that differ,-if breadth of view with precision of detail,--if force of reasoning with aptitude of illustration,-if imaginative splendour with shrewdness of remark,-if colouring of language with sobriety of sense,-if the beauties of holiness with the meekness of wisdom,and if ardent zeal for the glory of the Supreme with ceaseless benevolence for the welfare of souls,-if these attributes were ever found effectively harmonized in a minister of the Gospel, since the apostles' days, they were found in that man, now lying cold in the grave, who was wont to bear his breathless audiences on through regions of hallowed thought, as in a winged train of chariots of fire. and writings have proved an inestimable "To human society, also, at large, his life boon. He loved the poor. He loved their lowly homes. He loved their temporal interest; and he strove for their immortal weal. The diver, stripped of his attire, goes down into the deep Indian sea, seeking goodly pearls; so he, stripped of every urgent entanglement, went down into the depths of humble life, that he might gather thence jewels to brighten eternally in Emanuel's crown. It was the sacred passion of the man, a passion never quenched or cooled,to lift the lowest in the scale of the community, to surround them with the comforts of which their state is capable, and to invest them with the intelligent dignity which for them God had designed. To the rich, the prosperous, and the powerful, he showed their true vocation-their high calling, casting their natural pride with their acquired prejudices into the dust; drawing their affectionate attentions, with firm and gentle hand, to the needy and perishing; opening to their view paths of duty with sources of enjoydreamed; and so striving to bind in golden ment, of whose existence they had but rarely links of mutual beneficence and gratitude the dissevered ranks of social and immortal men. His views, clear, bold and broad, of the structure, the interests, and the new exigences of society, broached upwards of thirty years ago, and embalmed for us and for posterity, in a long series of imperishable volumes, are but lending their influence to move the tardy beginning to have their full effect,-are now minds and measures of statesmen; legislation, with time, advances, they will be held in growing estimation. Though dead, yet to future ages Chalmers will continue to speak. and as "But time would fail to speak of the public services of the departed; of his value to the Church to which he especially belonged, in whose cause he was so powerful a champion, and of whose interests he was so efficient a friend; or of the worth of the man whose converse in private life and in his family was so lovely, so playful, so instructive, that moments spent in his presence seemed at the time and afterwards to be moments of gold. 666 Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth; He continues to teach with great assiduity, | education, in connexion with this Church. for the faithful fail from among the children and gives me much assistance. He seems to Without expressing any opinion regarding of men! While mourning his removal, and have a sincere desire to enlighten his poor the secular advantages or prospects of the while adoring, with submission, the sove-ignorant brethren, as well as to acquire proposed undertaking, the General Assembly reignty of the Most High, who has with- knowledge for himself. highly approve of the principles on which the drawn him from a sorrowing family and a settlement is proposed to be conducted, in so lamenting land, by a death of peace into a far as the religious and educational interests world of glory and of rest, O, let it be our of the colonists are concerned; and the prayer that the Lord may, in mitigating Assembly desire to countenance and enmercy, raise up others in his room, who, in courage the Association in these respects." every goodly and gracious enterprise, shall tread in his steps, and in the steps of the Great Master whom he followed and served." Missionary Entelligence. CORFU. LETTER FROM REV. W. CHARTERIS. May 21, 1847. OUR girls' school now numbers eleven Jewesses, and a little Maltese girl, daughter of one of our servants, makes twelve. My own labours have been arduous during the last month. Three times per week my class for teaching English to Jewish youths have met at five P.M., and it now numbers twelve. Three times also, and on the same evenings, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, my elementary class for those who do not know how to read Italian,-unfortunately a great proportion of the youth here,-meet at half-past seven, and continue till past nine. There are about twenty-five of these now. It would gratify you to see their diligence and progress -a good many who a month ago could not tell one letter from another, can read and spell amazingly well. They are about ready for reading the Bible, but I have kept them as yet to the elementary tables prepared by Giusto, and I read the Bible myself to them and close with a short prayer. Then much for me to overtake without assistance. The shoemaker continues frequently to read with me, and his improvement in point of intelligence is very great. I was told that his brothers had offered him a little money as a capital to commence business with, on his own account, provided he would not come to my house; but, although very poor, he had refused. He did not communicate this to me himself, but to O, who said to him, "What shall it profit a man though he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul." I could have baptized this young man some time ago, but have thought it better to put him to a longer proof. The case is still a doubtful one, and, in the meantime, I will commit it to God, and will just begin with the many others who come to me in the evening as I did with him. I will endeavour to disarm prejudice, to give them a love for the New Testament,-to enlighten their gross ignorance, and, by God's help, there may be many who will turn to the Lord. I have by their request opened up a communication with the brethren of the Free and Irish Presbyterian Missions to the Jews, which promises to be most useful and refreshing. Our correspondence is to be every two months. FREE CHURCH COLONY IN NEW ZEALAND. tian man must approve. WE invite the careful attention of our readers to the accompanying letter and to the advertisement of the New Zealand Company. The secular advantages of this new settlement we are not able at present to enlarge upon, but they are such as to render it advisable for I have another very anxious and interesting matter to relate. The Jew whom I have every intending emigrant to procure the information to be obtained at the offices in described as so whimsical yet talented, I have Edinburgh or in London, from Dr. Aldcorn employed at the rate of 16s. per month as a and Captain Gargill. The system of teacher in my evening class, which was too colonizing on which this settlement is proHe is very competent-and still continues to jected is one which every patriotic and ChrisAll the secular do well. Now when he was seen to frequent advantages of enterprising and independent my house, all the other Jews of my acquaint-emigration may be secured without the depriance began to speak of his baptism by the vation as is usual of social and religious Catholics at Constantinople, in such a sure way that I began to suspect O, (that is of the success of the first settlers in New benefits enjoyed at home. This was the secret his name,) had not told me the truth-and England. Even in their exile it could be therefore, one evening when the class had said of them, that "they sought first the kingdismissed, I fell into a confidential conversadom of God and his righteousness," and we tion with him, cautioned him as to the great know how largely power and wealth and all sin and danger of lying, and then put my other things have been added to them. If question in such a direct way as to leave him colonization again begins with the same spirit no ground to equivocate. He looked very of enterprising boldness, united with regard much distressed, but after some time's silence he confessed that he had been baptized! in of great and flourishing communities soon to spiritual advantages, there is little doubt the Catholic institute at Constantinople. He rising in these distant lands. told me that very shortly after his baptism, when at Easter they were carrying round the church the image of St. Peter, he repented of what he had done,-saw that he had become an idolater, and shortly after his brother having written to him to Corfu, he left Constantinople, and came here and rejoined the Jews. This confession perplexed me not a little; I thought at first of dismissing him for having equivocated on a former occasion, but as he expressed much contrition for having told me an untruth, and also for having become a Catholic, and as I had engaged him for a month, I thought I would continue him till the end of it. He accordingly still teaches in the school, and comes almost every day to read and consult my commentaries. It is a new thing in these days to see a band of emigrants going forth mainly anxious about the ordinances of religion and the means of education being secured among them. We shall watch with intense interest the progress of this CHRISTIAN COLONY. "Nil desperandum Christo duce et auspice Christo." We subjoin the deliverance of the Free Church Assembly when the subject was first brought forward in 1845: "The General Assembly learn with great pleasure the prospect of the speedy establishment of the Scotch colony of new Edinburgh (now Otago) in New Zealand, consisting of members of the Free Church, and with every security for the colonists being provided with the ordinances of religion, and the means of TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ENGLAND. Otago Rooms, New Zealand House, London, June 7, 1847. RESPECTED FRIENDS AND BRETHREN, That some of your body have emigrated to the British colonies, and are still emigrating, may be assumed tions, and although the numbers are too small as a fact. It is so with all other denominato be noticed at home, it is otherwise in the colonies, where population is scanty and its proportions conspicuous. One effect of the disruption in Scotland has been to rouse the Presbyterian settlers to a sense of their spiritual destitution-to raise from them a cry for help, and bring them into communication with the Church of their fathers. "The trumpet," as they have said, "gave no uncertain sound," and its vibrations had reached the remotest of their dwellings, where they were fast sinking into a state of indifference and irreligion. But wherever this untoward emigration has prevailed, it is to be farther assumed that persons of more caution and reflection have been deterred by a sense of the privileges which must thereby be abandoned for themselves and their children; and notwithstanding a clear perception of the advantages to be attained, have declined to seek these advantages at the hazard of their better interests. To such partics, and to such alone, we have a brief but important message. It would, other means, but lest a single individual should no doubt, have reached them in due time, and by meanwhile be tempted to emigrate as heretofore, we take the present method of announcing the new arrangements, and the facilities given by Her Majesty's Government for a state of things the very opposite of what we have now referred to. Our leading statesmen, of all parties, having been brought to the conviction that the art of colonizing had been absolutely lost for nearly two lation, and superabundant capital, seeking vent hundred years past,-that, with a teeming popuin foreign countries, to the loss and discomfiture of both, our own colonies, in congenial climates, and of abounding resources, were in such a state of confusion and inisrule as to have defeated every panies and New Zealand Associations had all attempt to make them available. Canada Comequally failed, and none but a few daring spirits, or thoughtless adventurers, had hitherto entered their precincts; or, if any attempt had been made, something like systematic arrangement, it was as in the case of the New Zealand Company, for speedily crushed by the hostile influences and inveterate policy of the Colonial Department. Of all this the fullest admissions were made by the late Government, nor did that Government fail to shew an earnest desire to redeem its sifting reforms-reforms that should go to the pledges by the adoption of comprehensive and root of the whole matter, and make every colony, as expressed by Sir Robert Peel, "an integral part of the British empire." But this was a large question, and required the time and labours of eminent statesmen to adjust its requirements. That result as now been attained by the present Government, and the announcement, of the 14th ultimo, that the future colonization of New and the New Zealand Company, puts the copingZealand is to be the joint action of Government stone to the previous arrangements of Lord Grey, and breathes life and motion into all his plans. In a word, as the East India Company is constituted in concert with, and under supervision of, the Board of Control, for the purpose of governing a hundred millions of Asiatics, so is the New Zealand Company constituted, by means of a Crown Commissioner, having his seat with its Court of Directors in London, for the purpose of colonizing the waste lands of New Zealand with the British race; and which colonists are to manage their own affairs, and have a share in their own government, by municipal charters, and Representative Assemblies. But the most remarkable feature of this great measure, and to which your attention is specially called, is that which regards its provision for religious and educational institutions. Our statesmen were fully alive to the necessity of such provision, for the production of a well-conditioned community,-an offshoot, which should be vigorous in itself, and do credit to the parent state. The usual difficulties were in the way, but a case had recently occurred which relieved them from much embarrassment. It went to prove that even with a concentrated body of settlers, the mere provision of funds would not do, because of the varied beliefs of the people, and the frittering away of such funds by subdivision, together with the impossibility of satisfying the adherents of each denomination that they were getting their proper share of a fund to which all had contributed. Attention was thereby called to the history of the New England" states of America. where the religious element had been effectively cultivated from the outset, and that example was adopted. Class settlements, therefore, is the process by which New Zealand is to be colonized. Each denomination is invited to form its own settlement, and in place of the motley and feeble appliances of mixed communities-to say nothing of the wranglings and jealousies inseparable from such a regime-that each shall use its own appliances, with its own people, and in its own way, and that all shall compete with each other in producing the best fruits. The two parties who are first to appear in this competition I will be that of a High Church bishop in the north, a man of great personal activity, with large means, and a clerical staff to carry out his behests; and that of a sturdy Presbytery in the far south, with smaller means, but bedded in the affections of the people, and identified as part of themselves. We fear not to enter the lists, not only as to the production of a community which shall do honour to the parent state, but in settling the curious question also, as to whether Greek and mathematics may not, after all, thrive as well under the blue bonnet as under the three-cornered cap of an Episcopal student. How far the present measure may operate as a cure for existing evils may be doubtful, but assuredly it will now be the fault-we might add, the sin-of any individual who should hereafter emigrate either to Canada or New Zealand without previous concert and arrangement, so as to know that he is joining himself to a community secured in all needful privileges-religious, social, political, and educational; and where, moreover, would be superadded, by the very fact of such concentration, all the elements of economy and success arising from division of labour. But we are farther persuaded, with respect to the present settlers, scattered as it were in detached units over vast spaces in Canada and Australia, that unless they do something for themselves in the way of concentration, something that will bring them within reach of ordinances at given points, -all the galloping deputations from the Church of Scotland and the Church Established will be but labour in vain. If the disruption has awakened many to a sense of their Lot-like choice, it has also increased the difficulty of helping them, by dividing that which was already too small for the space in which it had to be sought for. W. CARGILL. POPISH POLYTHEISM.-One day two processions of the host, or consecrated bread, issued at the same moment from churches on the opposite sides of the street, as a man of some weight by his station and learning, hated by the Catholics as an obstinate and able leader of the Huguenots, came by. The fearless Reformer kept his upright position, with his hat on his head. The leader of one of the processions, a violent and persecuting priest, approached him fiercely, and said, "Impious man, why dost thou not fall down and worship thy Creator, the God whom we carry?" The Huguenot looked for a moment at the priest, and at the two processions, and then deliberately inquired, "Which of the two?" The priest was utterly confounded by this unexpected question, rejoined his procession without replying, and continued his way. ABOVE THE FEAR OF MAN.-When the Empress Eudoxa, an Arian, sent a threatening message to Chrysostom, he said, “ Go tell her, I fear nothing but sin." Poetry. LINES ON THE DEATH OF DR. CHALMERS. NOT a sound was heard, save the murmur of grief, No pains distracted his aged frame, Nor feelings of sickness or sorrow, While he sank to his rest with his thoughts engaged With the useful deeds of the morrow. The morning came, but the angel of death Had passed o'er the camp: -and they found him With his emblems of warfare around him. He had finished his course 'mid the troubles below, No bloodshed followed his peaceful course, His footsteps were strewed with blessings of peace, Though statesmen viewed coldly his schemes to reclaim With the kindness of Howard and boldness of Knox, THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. THE aggregate Committee of the British Organization met at Edinburgh, June 10, in the Music Hall, George-street. The Rev. Edward Bickersteth, Rector of Wotton, presided at the first meeting, and conducted the devotional exercises. Sir Culling Eardley Eardley, Bart., was appointed Chairman of the Conference. The Rev. Drs. Bunting, Wardlaw, Steane, Raffles, Candlish, Brown, Cunningham, Symington, Grey, the Rev. Messrs. James, Haldane Stewart, Guthrie, Jordan, Drummond, and many other leading men in the different Evangelical Churches were present. The devotional exercises were conducted by various ministers each day. The Conference held its last meeting on Saturday evening, June 12, in the Hopeton Rooms, Queen-street. The following were the principal points of business transacted as to the constitution of the British Branch of the Alliance:- "That the Report of the North-western Divisional Committee on the Lord's-day be referred back to that Committee to prosecute the investigations suggested in that Report; that this Conference cannot thus remit the subject to that Committee, without expressing with one heart and voice their strong sense of duty devolving on all Christian people to set their face against the desecration of the Lord's-day, believing, as we all do, that the observance of that day is of Divine institution and of permanent obligation." At the request of the Committee, The Rev. Dr. CANDLISH addressed the Conference at the conclusion of its labours. He rose under no wish, as he had come without any intention, of addressing the House, except for the purpose of simply expressing his concurrence in the Resolutions they had passed. Having been unhappily absent from the former meetings of the Alliance, and also much absent on this occasion, so that at the meetings both in Manchester and Edinburgh he had been a mere spectator, he could only say that he had seen nothing that had not more and more incited his hope that, with the Divine blessing, their endeavours would terminate in good. He rejoiced the more in the establishment of the Alliance, because it held out the prospect of united action. He did not suggest to them any line of action as an Alliance. They should be quite prepared to wait, and to wait long. Their time would be more at their disposal hereafter to engage in the devotional exercises, which constituted the main business of an Alliance like theirs. But they could be casting an Evangelical eye from the one end of the world to the other. He was glad to find in one of their Resolutions three great subjects appointed to be treated in such a manner as tended not only to the maintenance of the Evangelical Alliance, but to sustain the truth of the living God. From the outset he had contemplated, as one of the most blessed results of the Alliance, not so much what they might be doing collectively, as their talking over what they might have been doing separately. He trusted that missionary topics would thus come to occupy a large space with them both with respect to Missions at home and abroad; and that they would meet and compare notes on missionary subjects, all in their several spheres, whether as Churches or as voluntary bodies. They could not as an Alliance take up Missions whether at home or abroad. Reporters may be present at meetings. Were they to take up any such, they would The meetings to be called Conferences, instantly be divided. But they might put a these to be annual; the time and place to be very great stimulus into missionary operafixed by the previous Annual Conference, or tions throughout the world, and even comby the Executive Council. Special meetings pare the work that was doing in this or in of Conference, for purposes specified, may be that part of the vineyard. The influence of called by the Executive Council, or at the re- the Alliance was thus indirect; but it was quisition of 100 members of divisional Com-likely to be great, were they to cast their eye mittees. over all heathendom, and popedom too, and see what was doing-consider what they should exhort one another still to do-and encourage one another in the work of the Lord. If there was one subject more than another which he hoped would occupy the attention of the Alliance in time to come, it was the peculiar position of Missions in various parts of the world-the state of the various missionary stations-the chastisements and disasters that had befallen them, such as those at Tahiti and Madagascar, overflowing with blood and desolation. In various parts of the field, where the most promising blossoms had been blighted, he A long discussion took place at a sub- thought the Alliance could do good by symsequent meeting on the subject of the observ-pathizing with them that suffered. They ance of the Lord's-day. The following Resolution was finally come to: to include females. The laws relating to admission of members The Executive Council, appointed by the Annual Conference, to administer the affairs of the organization till the next Annual Conference. The Council to consist of seventy persons, twenty-two nominated by the Southern Divisional Committee, and fortyeight by the other sections of the organization. The Council to meet every six months, besides holding meetings at the time of the Conference. Sir C. E. Eardley was appointed Convener of the Council. Various Resolutions were adopted regulating the admission of members, the administration of funds, and other matters. were but making an experiment, and this was untried ground. Shame upon the Christian |