ents, we have but one answer to give, and it is this: It is infinitely easy to wish. We sometimes indulge in the luxury ourselves, and it is one of the few luxuries we do indulge in. And then we wish our correspondents, instead of asking, would just send us such papers as they desire. We are quite certain that our labours of all sorts are fully equal to those of any half dozen of our fellowwishers. Let them, then, give us their aid,

TO OUR FRIENDS AND CORRESPOND- and supply such papers as we can approve of,

and we promise them insertion in the "Mes

senger.

Dr. Hutcheson's communication will appear as soon as our space will admit of it. We have received a communication from the Rathbone-street Sabbath-school, Liverpool, containing a correspondence between the teachers of that school, and some of the most eminent superintendents of such schools in the three kingdoms, upon the question whether merit tickets should be used in Sabbathschools? The parties written to, unanimously answered in the negative. The poetical piece from the same quarter we have not yet had time to read, and cannot therefore speak as to its chances of insertion, only, we may state in passing, its chances would be greater were it shorter.

An admirable address to the members of the Juvenile Missionary Association, by the Committee of St. Peter's-square Church, Manchester, has just come into our hands; and if it had not been accompanied by an interdict, it would assuredly appear in this number. The grounds on which the interdict is based are not tenable. Besides, we are not very much disposed, in our editorial supremacy, to pay much regard to any interdicts whatever, when by violating them we are certain to promote the good of the Church, as we know would be the case in this instance. All the respect, therefore, we are disposed to pay to this instrument is, to delay the publication, in the hope that when it is known we are resolved to be contumacious, the interdict will be quietly withdrawn.

We have noticed the above donations in our Notices to Friends and Correspondents, and need not here repeat our observations. Donors Harmonia Ex Evangelistis Gomposita. will have the goodness to send their addresses, that they may be noticed in the "Messenger."

Hugonis Grotii Annotationes in Libris Evangeliorum R. A. KIRKALDY begs to inform

COLLEGE, COLLECTION, COURSE OF ṣential, prayers are essential also. Let us have both contributions to cause bone to come to his bone, until in all our students we possess the perfect mechanism of science and litera

Ox Sabbath the 9th of this present month of ture waiting for the animating principle from loved them as thou hast loved me."

have obtained supplies of our own from our own College. Oh, let us send up a loud united prayer to the Lord of the harvest, that he would raise up, qualify, and send forth labour. ers into his own fields. Are they not ripe unto the harvest? Are they not waiting, inviting EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE; CONFER- forbidden to impose them upon others.

It is acknowledged on all hands that the Mosaic economy was much more rigid, and, so to speak, punctilious in its specification of rites and ceremonies, and matters of outward observance than the Christian dispensation. And yet it is a question which all who have considered the subject feel little difficulty in answering, whether personal liberty was altogether taken away, even under that economy? Whether, in other words, devotion was restrained within certain set forms, and the results of experience altogether discarded; in short, whether every rite, provision, and practice observed in Israel in the time of Hezekiah or of Christ, had been originally revealed and expressly required by inspired authority?

had been habitually associated with what | in consequence of an invitation addressed we content ourselves with giving a mere was sinful. (Acts xv. 20, 28, 29, and by individual members of seven denomi- skeleton of facts, referring our readers for xxi. 25.) But this very principle of nations in Scotland, to individual members further information to the account which limitation proves how very extensive their of almost all the Evangelical denominations the London Committee were instructed to liberty must have been. in England, Wales, and Ireland, to meet publish from the authentic records of the together to consult as to the best means Conference, which will perhaps appear as of opposing certain of the great anti- soon as these lines. scriptural forms of error of the present The object of the Conference was not to day. Great were the fears, grievous the effect a union in the ordinary sense of that misgivings, both of the inviters and the term, that is, an incorporation. This it was invited, as to the results of bringing toge- perfectly evident, from the diversity of ther materials apparently so charged with sentiment that prevailed on various points antagonistic and explosive elements. conscientiously deemed important, could be Some openly prognosticated that instead accomplished only by compromise, conof union, the rent would become more cession, or concealment, and any union wide and disastrous, and therefore that could be effected on such a basis, declined to attend. Others resolved to must be necessarily insincere and hollow, be present, but apprehensive of the at best only an armed truce, a masked attempts that might be offered, deter- peace. But it was acknowledged on all mined to take very special care against hands, that the points on which we were all compromise or concession, which they agreed were incomparably more important feared would be attempted in order to than those on which we differed. On all effect a union. Others again prayed amid points that can be regarded as of the much misgiving, and hoped against hope essence of the Gospel-all that is essenfor a favourable issue. And others still tial to the eternal salvation and even perwent merely as spectators, desirous to sonal comfort of the sinner, there was a witness the proceedings, but as they anti-perfect identity of belief and profession; cipated no beneficial result, resolved to keep themselves disengaged from all participation in the conduct of affairs.

Uniformity, absolute, rigid, punctilious uniformity of rites and ceremonies is morally and physically impossible. And even granting that you could induce men to conform to the same precise routine of phrases, postures, and formulas, the uniformity would be merely semblable. The lively and the phlegmatic, the excitable and the unimpassioned, the enthusiastic and the unimaginative, would expand or contract your forms-instinct with life, would mould your ceremonies into plastic vitality, or swathe them with funereal bandages, until they would be as diverse in reality, however identical in form, or even in every line and lineament, as Lazarus on the mountain from Lazarus in his grave. Uniformity in every minute rite, in every punctilious form, was never commanded in the worship of God; or, what is the same thing in effect, are morally and physically impracticable, and yet almost all the disputes and dissensions that have ever taken place in the Church, have arisen from an attempt to reduce all the diversities of gifts, graces, and emotions, within the shackles of an unauthorized and impracticable uniformity.

But we have been withdrawn from the object we have at present before us, which is not to write a disquisition on rites and ceremonies, but to give a short account of the Conference on Christian union recently held at Liverpool. We had the happiness to attend that Conference, and till the day of our death, we shall deem it a cause of gratitude to have been present. Never did we attend, never on earth did we expect to attend, such a meeting. Whatever may be its proximate or ultimate results, and our anticipations are very sanguine both as to their nature and their magnitude, among the more special causes of gratitude to Almighty God, which we can trace in a life which has been full of mercies, one of the very chief is, that we had a share in originating the "EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE."

The Liverpool Conference took place

On Wednesday, the 1st of October, there met at Liverpool, between two and three hundred of the most leading members of seventeen denominations, from all parts of the United Empire, including members of the Established Churches of the three kingdoms, Free Church, English and Irish Presbyterians, Wesleyans, Congregationalists, Secession, Baptists, Relief, &c., &c.; and as we looked round the Hall, and remembered the past controversies of the parties assembled, and reflected on the points on which they differed, our anticipations of even peace were certainly not very sanguine. The first session was spent in devotional exercises, conducted by Presbyterians, Prelatists, Wesleyans, and Congregationalists; and as we marked the identity of doctrine and the unison of sentiment that pervaded those prayers, we could not help feeling that there was actually unity and harmony here on the most momentous of our common interests, and that whatever might be our diversities in outward things, in life and spirit and heart we were certainly one. That those prayers had a most solemnizing and harmonizing effect-that they were prayers of faith, and were answered, was not only the opinion, or even the belief, but the felt experience of every person present. In fact, the results arrived at were not accomplished by discussion or votes, for there was no discussion or vote from first to last, nor by conference or consultation, but by prayer and by the Spirit of the living God, granted in answer to prayer. The spirit infused into the meeting by those opening devotions remained unaffected to the very close.

But we must be brief, and therefore

and not only so, but to a greater extent than had been anticipated, except by those who had specially studied the subject, it was found that to a very considerable extent, there was also an entire harmony regarding the comparative importance assigned to the various tenets, and even to the terms in which they should be conveyed. After some consultation in Committee, it was found that a confession of faith, embracing all the points that were by all deemed essential, could be agreed upon, and by a unanimous voice in the Conference as in the Committee, the following doctrines were adopted as the basis of the Alliance. I. The inspiration, all-sufficiency and sole authority of holy Scripture as the rule of faith and morals. II. The right of private judgment. III. Trinity in unity, and the incarnation of the Son of God. IV. The fall of man, and his consequent guilt and depravity. V. The redemption of sinners by the sacrifice and atonement of Christ. VI. Conversion and sanctification through the Holy Spirit. VII. Justification by faith alone. VIII. The divine institution and perpetuity of the ministry, and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. These eight tenets (which we give from memory, and consequently only in their headings) were declared to be fundamen tal, were unanimously adopted by the Conference, and required to be professed by all who became members of the "Evangelical Alliance,"-the denomination assumed by the Association then formed.

Four Committees, with power to add to their numbers, and form affiliated Committees, were named to sit in London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Dublin, and were instructed to hold an aggregate meeting in Liverpool in January, and in Birmingham in April next. As the Liverpool Conference was only prelimi

nary to a still larger meeting which it was deemed desirable to convene, it was remitted to the London Committee to make arrangements for an Ecumenical Council to be held in London in the month of June next, and they were instructed to issue invitations to members of all the Evangelical Churches in the world to attend that general council in the capital of Evangelical Christendom. Various other practical measures were passed, which will be found in the authorized narrative. The Conference closed on Friday. Saturday was occupied by an aggregate meeting of the Committees, and about three o'clock on Saturday afternoon, this pentecostal assembly broke up in the spirit which pervaded all its sittings. How we wish that all Christendom had been present at that apostolic Agapae that feast of love!

Before we close this paper, purposely brief and imperfect, there is a remark or two which we must beg permission to offer. And 1st. We have already alluded to the devotional character of the meeting, but must repeat that this was one of its greatest charms. Every one felt that the Holy Ghost as a Spirit of brotherly love as well as of truth, was in very deed present with us. As Mr. James, of Birmingham said, in terms which elicited a response from every one present, we needed not the visible evidence of the lambent flames of Pentecost to convince us that the Spirit was in the midst of us; we felt it, and could no more doubt the evidence of our own consciousness, than we could the demonstration of our very senses. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name be the praise and glory," was the repeated exclamation of speaker after speaker.

that I might witness on earth other such
re-unions as this," although the sentiment
appeared in words diverse from that of
the aged Simeon, "Now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, for mine eyes
have seen thy salvation," every one felt
that the feeling was one, although
diversely expressed, and that the one was
just as natural and appropriate as the
other.

3d. But perhaps the most remarkable
feature of the whole meeting, was the
most unflinching and intrepid maintenance
of individual and denominational senti-
ment, combined with the largest toleration
of the diverse sentiments of others.
There was no concealment of individual
opinions, no concession of denominational
peculiarities, no compromise of consci-
entious principles. These were openly
avowed on all sides, and yet there was
not only no jar, but the purest harmony.
It literally appeared as if we all had lost
our previous passions, and had all been
transformed into the spirit of the apostle
who could rejoice, yea, and would re-
joice, if only Christ was glorified, whether
by his instrumentality or by that of those
who opposed him. Statements, which at
other times would have roused a tempest
of discussion, were received with a smile
of affection, just as a father kisses his
contradictious child. Of a truth, the
finger of God was visible in the meeting.
The leopard and the lamb did lie down
together, and the one was as meek and
as sportive as the other.

one united Church out of the discordant
sects that now fill Christendom?-and
we answer, No; at least, not at present.
Some may on this account undervalue
what has been done and what it is still
intended to do. But it just on this very
and specific account that we are so rap-
turously delighted with what has been
done, and the results we anticipate from
it.
In no one point do we perceive more
demonstrative evidence that the wisdom
which cometh down from above guided
the meeting than in the fact that, while
all the members of the Evangelical
Alliance profess the principles contained
in their confession of faith, they are left
at the fullest liberty not only to hold but
to teach their individual and denomi-
national views on other matters. There
is no compromise, concession, or conceal-

ment.

There is no forcing or fusing together discordant materials. Each denomination retains its own peculiarities within its own pale; and yet, when it enters the sacred precincts of the Evangelical Alliance it becomes Catholic. Beyond that hallowed circle a man may be a Presbyterian, or Prelatist, or Congregationalist, as he will, but within it, as within the portals of heaven, he is a Christian, and only a Christian. Here Jew and Gentile are terms unknown. Christ is all, and in all, and only they are acknowledged who are in him, and only because they are in him.

Of a truth uniformity, as we have already said, never existed in the Church But what is all this to end in-what is and never will, and incorporation has to be the practical result of these Con- never been tried but it has ended disferences? We fancy we hear some astrously whether for a time it existed in business-minded man exclaiming,-and semblance, or the very attempt issued in we answer, although there were no other a wider and more hostile disunion. Our result than what has already been principal ground of hope for the present 2d. The next most remarkable feature achieved, it is sufficiently glorious to attempt arises from the fact that incorpoof the meeting was the brotherly love that make the Liverpool meeting an epoch in ration has not been attempted, has not pervaded it, and knit together heart to heart the history of the Church. It has already even been once thought of. Honest men in a feeling of living and felt love and been demonstrated that the Church of who honestly differ on vital points never unity. Men who had never met, shook Christ is one, one in doctrine, one in can coalesce, and the union of knaves, hands and conversed together as if they heart, and that it needs only to bring the hypocrites, or Latitudinarians can never had been sworn brothers; and, more children of God together to make them be permanent. This is a truth which, remarkably still, men who had spent their recognise one another as brethren. It although self-evident, the world has been lives in controversy confessed their faults has been proved that should the occasion slow indeed to learn. The present indeed one to another, craved and obtained mu- arise we are all ready to hold our diversi- is the first instance in the history of the tual forgiveness, and sacrificed their ties in abeyance and unite together as one Church of an attempt at union without rivalry and jealousy on the altar of bro- man, striving together against the common concession, compromise, concealment, or therly love. In fact, there was such an foe for the faith of the Gospel. It has abeyance of principles. Many have been atmosphere of love pervading the assem- been proved that the allegations of Rome the attempts at incorporation. The bly, that one could not long breathe it, and Oxford and of the world that lieth in Council of Florence in 1441 attempted without partaking of its hallowing in- wickedness, regarding our irreconcileable to unite the Eastern and Western fluence. For our own part we look on diversities and unappeasable antipathies Churches. Leibnitz and Bossuet atall who were present as really and truly are untrue, and that let the enemy assail tempted to reconcile the Lutherans and friends and brothers, and it is one of us calculating upon our disjointed and the Papists, and Wake and Du Pin the our most delightful anticipations of the disorganized array, and he will find us Churches of England and Rome; but, future, that we hope often to meet shoulder to shoulder, a sacramental band as must have been anticipated, if all with the men whom we there learned to of brothers, linked together as an indis- parties were conscientious and sincere, love. It was in truth a penumbra of the soluble phalanx to fight the battles of the the attempts not only failed, but brought glory of heaven-a foreshadowing of the Lord. Our short-sighted bigoted friends the parties engaged in them into susblessedness of the millennial amity. And may undervalue the results of this Con-picion with their respective bodies. The when the aged Dr. Leifchild, with tears ference, but our sagacious enemies must Presbyterians and the Independents in of joy suffusing his patriarchal counte-appreciate its importance and apprehend 1692 formed in England what was termed nance, exclaimed, "I could almost even accordingly. the "Happy Union," but a most unhappy compromise it proved to the former, and

wish the term of my departure postponed, But is it intended, asks another, to form