very materially, in many points, from the volume before us. In some respects we consider it even a superior production; but a hundred hands are required to exhaust the subject, since, viewed by different men, from different points, it will be seen in a corresponding variety of aspects; so that the one will prove supplementary to the other, and instead of superseding, each will but fortify his fellow. INDEPENDENCY-FAULTS IN THE WORKING. To the Editor of the Christian Witness. SIR,-I avow myself one of those who account Independency perfect in its principles; believing them to be clearly revealed and certainly involved throughout the Epistles of the New Testament,-the sole statute-book of the kingdom of Christ. In which persuasion I am confirmed by the fact that they are not stereotyped as the order of Independency, but subject to constant revision by appeal to the very word of Christ. Yet I would by no means contend that the practices in which they are wrought out are all equally perfect. This I should not expect, as they come from God and have to be carried out by man. And experience shows some imperfections; though none but such as every church might and ought to remedy. Foremost among our principles is Purity of Communion-the resolution that none but converted and consistent professors of Christianity shall be admitted to the table of the Lord or meeting of the church. This we justly prize as the only pledge of the benefits promised to the churches. As a rule we are duly jealous of this; using all fitting means to prevent the intrusion of the wicked and the worldlings. And the law becomes the bulwark of the law; the pure member being ever anxious for pure communion. Thus have we a confidence in each other not to be otherwise secured. Notwithstanding this, however, it is also a principle among us that those who are thus admitted still require oversight; which devolves in part upon every member, but especially upon the pastor, "whom the Holy Ghost has made overseer of the flock." It is in this, I think, that we are much wanting; even in the active sympathy and kindly faithfulness to which we stand mutually pledged; which apprehension I will justify by only one illustration and proof. It is a common thing for a family to remove from a neighbourhood where some of the members are members of the church, without any direct intimation of their removal, and then to seek occasional communion with the church in their new locality as members elsewhere, which becomes regular, as far, at least, as the mother and family are concerned, though the father may sometimes go by coach or rail to the former place of worship. Yet no inquiry is made as to their purposes; whether any of them ever appear at the communion or not. They neither ask to be transferred, nor are told that they ought to be. So their membership dies out. They are communicants belonging to no church and having no pastor. Now I do think that these Arabs, who wander about regardless of the law of Christ, are not good Christians; and that there is a fault both in the church from which and the church to which they come, and this the more because they mostly come from a strong church to a weaker, and have influence which is thus altogether lost. There ought to be an annual revision of the book of every church; that those who have altogether removed from the place should be directed to transfer their names and their energies to the church with which they actually commune, being fraternally recommended to its sympathy and oversight. There may be in many cases a natural desire to retain even nominally those who have been valuable and honourable members, and who may be liberal subscribers to the various institutions in connection with the church; and many may be naturally reluctant to be separated from the church of their first love, or their favourite teacher. But what is our will against the law of Christ, or the good of the church? In every Christian pastor, church, and man, there should be the generosity to make any sacrifice for the prosperity of the churches involving much of individual edification. If, then, this be evidence that oversight is too lightly estimated, and too little exercised in many of our churches, and that thus great general interests are sacrificed to personal inclinations; and if it be found that around the metropolis especially this is a wide-spread and serious evil, productive of much disadvantage to the individuals, to the families, and to the churches, they should wisely resolve to consider the matter, and to carry out the revealed intentions of the Master. Persuaded that many pastors and churches that now mourn over communicants who take no interest in the affairs or the fellowship of any church, will feelingly approve this brief argument, I venture to ask it a place in your valuable periodical, so strong and clear in the announcement and maintenance of our principles. CONSISTENCY. CHURCH RULES. SIR, I have before me the July Number of the CHRISTIAN WITNESS. I concur entirely with you in admiration of Dr. Ross, and gratitude to God for his abundant success. His Church Rules are a good specimen of the class to which they belong; but I object in toto to what is known among us as Church Rules. In our contest with Episcopalians and Roman Catholics, do we not maintain the sufficiency of the New Testament? And if the New Testament be sufficient, why should we supplement it with our Rules? Do we not strongly protest against the ex animo oath of the Church of England? Why, then, should we be ambitious of doing a little in the same line? Some thirty years ago, I had the happiness of meeting that venerable and excellent man, the late Mr. Ewing, of Glasgow, at his son-in-law's, in Durham, when the conversation turned on this subject. I was much impressed with a remark of Mr. Ewing's to this effect: "I have now been pastor of a Congregational Church more than thirty years; and I have never yet met with a question of order or discipline, for which I could not find a solution in the New Testament." I believe that all who have made the experiment, as Mr. Ewing did, will confirm his testimony. And if it be so, what need of Church Rules? Let us content ourselves with the statute-book of Heaven. Are your Church Rules in the New Testament ? If not, they are destitute of religious obligation; but if they are, then let them have their due weight and authority by being brought forth, as occasion requires, not from the churchbook, but from the Bible. Have you transcribed all New Testament rules relating to churches into your church-book? If not, or if you have added anything not found in the Scriptures, do you stand quite clear of that awful malediction Rev. xxii. 18, 19? In brief, I object to Church Rules as inconsistent with our avowed principles; as a stumbling-block to the strong, as well as to the weak, -as a needless source of division and separation in and amongst churches, avowedly of the same faith and order, -as calculated to do more harm than good,-and above all, as throwing a doubt over the sufficiency of the New Testa P.S. In your July Number, Mr. Corbin has thrown out some useful hints on the "Choice of a Pastor." It struck me, it would have been well, if he had reminded church members that they have in the New Testament, and especially in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, an infallible and authoritative directory in the choice of a pastor, to which they will do well to take heed. It struck me also, that he too easily takes for granted, that there will be a minority. I hope these minorities are the exception, and not the rule, amongst us. Many of our pastors, the larger proportion, I trust, have been chosen by the unanimous vote of the church. No means should be spared to secure unanimity. R. C. Column on Conversion. STRIKING CONVERSION. THE following is from the excellent Work of Mr. Freeman,* just issued. While Mr. Freeman, possessing richly every qualification for an enlightened traveller, had an eye keenly alive to the variegated representations of Nature, he was still more alive to those of a spiritual character, and the special object of his mission; and he has presented his readers with one of the most beautiful narratives ever given relative to the regeneration of the Negro, or the Sons of Ham. THE CONVERSION OF GENOTE. There resides at Avontuur a native, a Kaffir of the Gaika tribe, of the name of Genote, whose history illustrates the value of Missions, and the power of Divine truth. Several years ago, he went with some companions, out of sheer curiosity, to see the missionary, Williams, then in Kaffirland. They had heard of him, but knew not what was meant by the designation. Much to their surprise, they found him a human being, but of a different colour, dress, and language to their own. man; he has been restless and sleepless these two nights" On being asked to sit down and open his mind, he confessed that he felt an impression of danger,-danger he could not understand nor describe,-and he was distressed; he felt as though he had committed some grave offence, and was about to be punished. When asked what he thought might be the cause of this uneasiness, "Oh!" said he, "my sins,-my sins! The immensity of my sin makes my heart as heavy as a mountain of lead! I have no knowledge,-no wisdom. I know not what to do. Tell me, therefore, what to do." The missionary spoke of God, and found he had a tolerably clear perception of him as Creator and Preserver; "but," said the man, "I want something more. I cannot be satisfied,-I cannot rest. Tell me what it is." The heart thus prepared for the truth, the missionary unfolded to him the words of life and the wonders of redeeming mercy. The Kaffir told him what a change he had felt in his heart. "Some time since," said he, "a child of mine died; I became frantic, and should have destroyed myself, had I not been restrained by force. A month ago, another of my children sickened, and I said in my heart, 'The great God who gave him to me, has a right to take him from me; let him do his pleasure.' I loved my child; it was a hard struggle; but I gave him back to God. When the child was dying, my friends came in to weep and to lament with me. I put them out of the room, for I thought I should lament too, and * "A Tour in South Africa." By J. J. FREEMAN. London: John Snow. Zwart Booy, as Genote was usually called, remembered much that was said, and could not divest himself of the exhortation "to flee, for there was danger." The missionary had no doubt been urging the same truth that John the Baptist did in the wilderness of Judæa; but the Kaffir knew of no danger, except that of being wounded or killed in war. He was on the spot when Williams, the missionary, sickened and died, and he was employed to carry a letter on the subject to Mr. Hart, of Somerset. Just then there was a prospect of war, and he made up his mind to leave Kaffirland, and enter the colony. He hired himself to a farmer, and was much prized for his fidelity and honesty. He afterwards settled nearer to Avontuur, from which the farmer's residence was separated only by a steep and rugged mountain. He and the missionary met occasionally. After having been observed at the chapel on a Sunday, a friend brought him, in the course of a day or two, to Mr. Hood, and said, "Have the kindness to speak to this old then wish to hold him back; and how could I, after I had resigned him to God? My child died, and I was still and silent. Now, who could have made me feel so," asked the Kaffir, "but the great God? What can I do to serve him ?" He listened with breathless anxiety while the missionary explained to him the grace of the Saviour. He partly comprehended the matter; light was breaking in. "Tell me again," said he, "for I am old and stupid." His eyes were fixed; tears streamed down his sable cheeks, and his tall and noble figure trembled with mental agitation; and as soon as he could find utterance for words, he expressed his astonishment at the mercy and condescension of God. These interviews were repeated, and at length he expressed the wish to come and live on the spot. He endeavoured to arrange this with some of the people; but as he had some cattle, there was difficulty in the way, the land which they occupied being already as full as the pasturage would permit. Naming this to Mr. Hood, he said, "I am a Kaffir, and I am fond of my cattle; but I'll get rid of the last of them, if I cannot otherwise come to reside here to hear the word."* As the missionary was needing a shepherd, he proposed to him to come and tend the herd, and that he might graze his cattle with them; and he should have a monthly payment for his services. Genote was silent a few minutes, and then said, "That is not your plan; it is," said he, pointing upwards, "it is He who has put it into your heart." He accordingly arranged to come, and to bring his wife and little stock of movable property. The farmer with whom he lived was unwilling to part with him. "What possesses you?" said the farmer; 66 you are not far from the church, -you can go there as often as you like. I never hinder you." "True," said the man; "but the mountain on the road is steep, and I am old "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who, when he hath found one pearl of great price, goeth and selleth all that he hath, that he may obtain possession of it." 66 and weak. Besides, you count all the days I am absent, and deduct them from my wages." "But why should you go so often? I do not," replied the farmer. Ay," said the Kaffir, “but you have a great Bible lying in the window, which I hope you read every day. I cannot read ; so that all I obtain must come in at the ear, and I must live near the man that can tell me every day." "But why not, then, do as we do?" said the farmer; "we invite the minister to one of our places, and then we meet together to hear." "I'm afraid," said the poor man, "little good comes of that; besides, we have no places to invite our minister to, and you know you would not give him your place; and so I mean to go!" And go he did, and came to Avontuur, and resides there still; conducts himself in a truly exemplary manner, and lives in the good-will and confidence of all around him. He has been baptized, is a member of the church, is earnest in prayer, and diligently exhorts others to seek the peace which he has obtained through faith on the Son of God. Genote often prays in public; he did so the Sunday I was there. He began in Dutch, but as his heart warmed, he gradually and naturally fell into the Kaffir, with which he was more familiar; and the people felt that there was the earnestness of devout supplication and thanksgiving, even though they (familiar only with Dutch) could but imperfectly comprehend all the words he employed. The wife of Genote, now generally called Samuel, the name he chose on his baptism,— is a sister of Makomo, of whom so much has occurred in the late conflicts between the Colony and the Kaffirs. Her long absence from her own country is making her forgetful of her native language; and yet, most inconveniently, she has great difficulty in acquiring the Dutch, and still more in getting the English, which is but occasionally used there. A very fatal confusion of languages in her case, certainly! Review and Criticism. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D. By His Sonin-law, WILLIAM HANNA, LL.D. Hamilton and Adams. THE Third Volume of this great undertaking has appeared, and it will be found fully to sustain its precious predecessors. We hesitate not to say that it has furnished us an amount of pleasure not exceeded by that derived from either the first or the second volume. It has much more to do with public men and public measures; and while it abounds in Correspondence, it exhibits also a good deal of a documentary character. Altogether it is, we conceive, precisely what it ought to have been. Dr. Hanna may assure himself that no fault whatever will be found with the copiousness in which he has indulged. From the outset, it will, perhaps, be remembered by some of our readers, we allowed him at least four volumes. With less than this we felt satisfied he could not do justice; and with this he will furnish the amplest, completest, and most valuable Ecclesiastical Biography of modern times. There was more in the single life of Chalmers to interest and instruct than in that of the whole Bench of English Bishops, his contemporaries, united. The present volume starts with the Doctor's departure from Glasgow, and conducts him to St. Andrew's University, where, for a few years, he discharged the functions of Professor of Moral Philosophy. His settlement there, however, was by no means a comfortable one. The cold, irreligious atmosphere of that ancient city was most uncongenial to his devout spirit and generous heart, and his unhappiness increased with his residence. The progress of events, however, at length conducted him to Edinburgh, where he found himself in his native element. Never was sphere more suited to individual, nor individual more suited to sphere. While Professor of Moral Philosophy, it is not to be understood that Dr. Chalmers had desisted from preaching; on the contrary, he preached much. Nor were his services confined to Scotland; occasionally we find him crossing the border, and, among other places, granting the benefit of his matchless eloquence to Stockport Sunday-school. This matter in itself is so important, and, withal, so characteristic, that we cannot withhold from it the circulation of our pages. STOCKPORT SCHOOL: AN EXHIBITION EXTRAORDINARY. Sadly annoyed all last night with the quackish advertisement, and spoke further of it at break fast. About twelve Mr. and Mrs. Grant came in their carriage, and the former accompanied me in a chaise to Stockport. I was to visit the Echool at one, and the sermon was to begin at half-past five. My other friends from Manchester were to come in the evening in two carriages, and one of them a chaise and four. I reached Stockport at one with Mr. Grant. Could see a certain hard and ungracious reception of me, perhaps from the consciousness of something wrong on their part. Mr. M- -, my correspondent, did not appear for some time, and when he did, there was a blush in his countenance, and a tremulousness in his voice. I was in the midst of managers, and the stairs to the different rooms of their immense fabric were crowded with scholars. I asked what they were about; and with some hesitation and difficulty they told me that they had been practising for the music of this evening. When I went to the great preaching-hall, I found that there was just this practising before an immense assemblage, on which I called out, in the distinct hearing of those about me, that there was an air of charlatanerie about the whole affair, and that I did not like it at all. I would stay no longer in that place, and went along with them to the committee-room, where there were about twenty managers and others. I said that I had come from a great distance on their account, and had therefore purchased the privilege of telling them plain things; that they should have consulted me ere they had made their arrangementsthat I was quite revolted by the quackery of their advertisement-that they had made me feel myself to be one of the performers in a theatrical exhibition-that what they had done stood in the same relation to what they ought to have done that an advertisement of Dr. Solomon's did to the respectable doings of the regular faculty, &c., &c. I was firm and mild withal -they confused and awkward, and in difficulties. I said that still I would preach, but that I thought it right to state what I felt. On the other question of the urgency, and the pleading a promissory obligation on my part, I have as yet had no reckoning. I left there in the carriage with Mr. Grant and Mr. Marsland, for the magnificent place of the latter gentleman on the banks of the Mersey. He introduced me to his two daughters, who, I thought, had that peculiar stiffness and ceremony which I have often noticed in English ladies of high breeding. I was there shown to my room, when I got a second letter from a minister on the subject of the indecent exhibition of Stockport. I had got one the night before from another minister on the same subject. It seems that many serious people here are scandalized at it, and that many eyes are fixed upon my conduct in regard to it. Mr. Marsland told me in his carriage that he had forewarned the managers that they were carrying the matter too far, and that I would probably decline preaching altogether. My feeling is, that this would have been too violent, and I have several reasons for not carrying my resistance this length. However, I begged Mr. Marsland to send for Mr. M, that I might hold conversation with him. Mr. Msent back word that he could not possibly come; and why? because he was presiding at a dinner given before sermon to the Gentlemen of the Orchestra, and he was just in the middle of a speech to them when my message came. On this Mr. Marsland and Mr. Grant walked down to Stockport, and told Mr. M- of my difficulties and wishes; that I would not comply with their arrangement until it was altered. They wished my prayers and sermon to be mixed up with their music-me all the while in the pulpit. I said that I would not be present at their music at all-that my service should be separated altogether from their entertainment * --that I should pray, preach, and pray again in continuo, not entering the pulpit till the moment of my beginning, and retiring from it so soon as I should have ended. The gentlemen had their interview with Mr. M-, and he was very glad to comply. I dined at half-past two-retired for an hour to prepare-drank coffee after five. The two gentlemen walked before, to be at the music. The two ladies went down with me in the carriage at six. Will you believe it? an orchestra of at least 100 people, three rows of female singers, in which two professional female singers, so many professional male singers, a number of amateurs and I now offer you a list of the instruments, so far as I have been able to ascertain them-one pair of bass drums, two trumpets, bassoon, organ, serpents, violins without number, violoncellos, bass viols, flutes, hautboys. I stopped in the minister's room till it was over. Went to the pulpit-prayed, preached, retired during the time of the collection, and again prayed. Before I left my own private room, they fell too again with most tremendous fury; and the likest thing to it which I recollect is a great military band on the Castle Hill of Edinburgh. I went up with the ladies Amongst those whose performances were to be mixed up with the sermon and prayers, the name of a Miss Cheese had been announced; and Dr. Chalmers good-humouredly reinforced his argument with the managers by telling them that in his country the cheese was never served till the solid part of the entertainment was over. again in the carriage. They were far franker and pleasanter than before. Supped after Mr. Marsland's return. He told me that the collection was £398. Went to bed between eleven and twelve. I forgot to say that the number of my hearers was 3,500. Monday-I am told that the Stockport people, suspicious of my dislike to exhibitions, blazoned and advertised much less than they would have done; and the interpretation given by some to this is, lest it should meet my observation too soon. Found a company in David Grant's, and he kept me up till two in the morning. A kindhearted, rattling fellow. N.B. The collection is now £101. Behold the picture! It will be remembered by many of our readers that, a few years back, we animadverted, with proper freedom, on the periodical Exhibition of Stockport. Much truth we spoke, and great was the wrath our freedom called forth: we nevertheless had the satisfaction of doing something to stay what we held to be iniquity. If, unhappily, men of character and piety, and high position in the Church of God, by preaching, have still continued to support the abomination, yet we did somewhat to abate the evil, and to put parties on their guard who might otherwise, like Chalmers, have been caught unawares. At the moment we had revised the above for press, we received the following from an excellent Christian minister: I have compared with peculiar satisfaction the statements contained in the CHRISTIAN WITNESS (vol. ii., pp. 119 and 261) with the lively description given in the Journal of Dr. Chalmers (vol. iii., pp. 49-52). You were branded at the time with terms the most opprobrious that could be invented, for the mention of facts quite notorious. Some of your correspondents were ostracised, and one in particular (now a respectable teacher at Paddington) was dismissed from his situation in the vicinity of Stockport, on suspicion of being implicated. But truth cannot be overcome. Compensation will be given, sooner or later, for all the sacrifices fidelity to it involves. Our readers now, however, will have a more perfect picture, in the one before them, than they had previously; and we cannot doubt that the verdict of a sober and Christian public will be such as not only to ratify what we then did, but to show that we should have been wanting in duty had we not done it. But this is not enough: Dr. Chalmers has recorded the strange spectacle which appeared before him-the deception which was practised upon him-the feelings under which he fulfilled his engagement, and his indignant disgust with the whole scene; and having done this, he has gone into eternity, leaving the facts for Ir will here be seen that Dr. Davidson has at length completed his great undertaking, and consequently given to the world a work which will hand down his name to a remote posterity. The Preface of this volume concerns the entire undertaking, and details at length his views and obligations, the sources of his information, and his object in the present undertaking. In three such copious volumes it were strange indeed if there should not be here and there an expression or a statement which one might think would admit of amendment, and another which might be deemed to require correction. There would be no difficulty in issuing page upon page of a disputative character, but we should deem it labour thrown away. Works, like men, must be judged as a whole; and if these three volumes are thus judged, exalted, indeed, will be the tribute which every right-minded and reasonably competent Critic will feel himself bound to award to Dr. Davidson. We observe somewhat of soreness in the solemn passage with which he closes his copious Preface. On this matter we deem it fair to allow him to speak for himself: Encouraged by the favourable opinions of scholars in this land, in Germany, and in America, whose names stand in the foremost rank of learning, it is matter of devout thankfulness to God that the writer has been able to complete his arduous task. He has prosecuted his studies in the New Testament by day and by night, for several years, in the belief that though the work |