able, which is not dearly purchased at the expense of peace. Truth is, indeed, of an awful presence, and must never be affronted with the rudeness of direct opposition; yet will she consent, for a moment, to pass unregarded, while your respects are offered to her sister Charity.

If it be the obscure, the minute, the ceremonial part of religion for which we are contending, though the triumph be empty, the dispute is dangerous: like the men of Ai, we pursue, perhaps, some little party that flies before us, and are eager that not a straggler may escape; but when we look behind, our city is in flames.Sermons by Samuel Ogden, a Churchman!

OBITUARY.

Died, on Sunday, March 8, 1846, in the 85th year of her age, Mrs. Price, the mother of the late Mr. Thos. Price, who for many years was pastor of the Baptist church at Yeovil. This excellent woman was born at Horsley, in Gloucestershire, in the year 1761. At about eighteen years of age, the work of grace was begun in her soul; and soon after removing with her parents to Bristol, she was baptized at the Pithay Meeting-house, by the Rev. J. Thomas. In 1785 she married her late husband, and in 1793, removed

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with him to Yeovil. In 1817, Mr. Price died, in the midst of his usefulness, and to the deep regret of the church, which was flourishing under his ministry. this severe stroke our departed sister was left a widow, with seven children; one of whom, the Rev. Joseph Price, is pastor of the Baptist church at Montsent. In 1819, Mrs. Price removed from Yeovil to Crewkerne, and was one of the six who were first formed into a church there. Her christian character was unimpeachable, and few have maintained a religious profession for nearly seventy years, with so much consistency. Nearly through life she was subject to many doubts and fears; but within twelve months of her death, they were mercifully removed, and she could say with the apostle, "I know in whom I have believed." As her end drew nigh she would say, "He is faithful who hath promised." "I have no hope but in him." On one occasion she said to her minister, "What a mercy in the end to have an everlasting Father to hang upon." The last words she was heard to utter were, "Glory, glory, a little heaven;" when her emancipated spirit took its flight to the realms of perfect day. Her death was improved the following Sabbath evening, to a large congregation, by the pastor, from the words she had herself selected:" "They shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins."

ROMAN STATE-CHURCHISM.-Many are not aware of the fearful hazards which early christians incurred in their dissent from the State religion, and their endeavours to overthrow it. Every Roman emperor claimed to be worshipped as a god. Poets celebrated his divine honours. The great erected his statues and adored them, and all expectants of civil promotion were forward in their zeal to pour out libations, and offer incense on the emperor's altar. "Temples were erected to him,altars heaped with his sacrifices,-oaths were sworn by his name, and festivals were solemnised in honour of him; his images invested the place where they stood with the right of sanctuary. The adoration paid to the emperor was perhaps the only universal worship of the empire. All idolaters regarded it with favour, for it afforded them countenance and support.' Tertullian shows that the adoration of the emperor was at times the most fervent of all; even the humane and enlightened Pliny tested christians by "compelling them to call on the gods; then to offer frankincense and a libation of wine to the image of Trajan, accompanied by suppli

cations; lastly, to utter maledictions against Christ." A friendly police-officer having arrested the venerable martyr, Polycarp, an aged disciple of the apostle John, said to him while leading him along, "What harm can it be to you to say, Our Lord the Emperor, and to offer sacrifices." Such was the danger of our fellow-believers and fellow-dissenters then. They were held guilty of treason-guilty not only of denying the right of the civil governor to meddle with things divine, but of denying that he was divine. All who wished to obtain favour with the beast (Rev. xiii.), had but to accuse and persecute those who would not worship him. The battle of Dissent may have its dangers and its "hardness" now; but are they to be compared with those of Roman christians? While thankful for our greater liberty, and our inferior hazards, let us remember, that the Captain of our salvation has not given us a securer encampment to foster our indolence. It still is true, that if under Him we go not forth to meet, and to conquer the enemy too, we shall eventually be conquered ourselves.

NEGLECTING THE BIBLE.-Dr. Thos.

Goodwin once heard Mr. Rogers of Dedham, preach to his people about their neglect of the Bible. In the sermon he personated God, telling them, "Well, I have trusted you so long with my Bible; you have slighted it; it lies in such and such houses all covered with dust and cobwebs; you care not to look into it. Do you use my Bible so? well, you shall have my Bible no longer." And he took up the Bible from his cushion, and seemed as if he were going away with it and carrying it from them; but immediately turned again and personated the people of God, fell down on his knees, and cried most earnestly, "Lord, whatsoever thou dost to us, take not thy Bible from us; kill our children, burn our houses, destroy our goods; only spare us thy Bible; only take not away thy Bible." And then he personated God again to them, "Say you so? well, I will try you awhile longer, and here is my Bible for you; I will see how you will use it,-whether you will love it more,-whether you will value it more, whether you will observe it more,— whether you will practise it more, and live more according to it!" But by these actions he put all the congregation into so strange a posture, that he never saw any congregation in his life; the place was a mere Bochim, the people almost deluged with their own tears; and the doctor told me that he himself, when he got out and was to take horse again to be gone, was fain to hang a quarter of an hour upon the neck of his horse weeping, before he had power to mount; so strange an im*pression was there upon him and generally upon the people, upon having been thus expostulated with for the neglect of the Bible.-John Howe.

THE POOR MAN'S CHURCH.-Persecution of a poor Baptist Deacon by a State Church Clergyman.-In connection with the small Baptist church in the village of Studley, Warwickshire, and deacon thereof, is a Mr. John Edkins, a hard-working, pious, but poor man. Sometime in December last, the constable of the parish called at his house for a poor-rate and Easter dues, but Mr. Edkins not being at home, was directed to call again. Shortly afterwards, another call was made for the poor-rate, which was then paid, but without mention on either side of the Easter dues; nor was any further notice given until the man received a summons to appear before the Alcester bench of magistrates for "refusing to pay the same." Although Edkins had conscientious objections to the impost, yet, as he had never been asked for it, and, consequently, could not have refused to pay, he determined on visiting the clergyman, and remonstrating against the harshness of the proceeding; but the successor of the Galilean fisher

men refused to see him; and all ulterior efforts to obtain an interview were equally without avail. Expenses ran up from eightpence to three pounds, when on the 25th March, a constable and a bailiff made their appearance, and having rifled the house, distrained goods for the amount. On the 31st, the goods were put up for auction; but not one lot could be sold, until an old woman, who afterwards confessed that the landlady of the public-house had engaged her for the purpose, bid two shillings for a set of china, which was knocked down at the first bid. The people cried "shame" at this proceeding; and the auctioneer, ashamed of his job, left the premises. The matter still remains undecided; and neither the poor man nor any of his friends know what is to come next. -Nonconformist.

THE VAUDOIs.-The first thing that strikes a stranger, on entering the temples of the Vaudois, is the perfect contrast which their services present to those of the church of Rome. Here are no visible objects of worship,-no meditating priests, -no splendid vestments,-no gaudy or childish ceremonies,-no pompous processions, no trumpery relics of paganism; but all is simplicity, decency, and order. The pastor and the reader are the only persons who officiate in the congregation, and contribute to their edification. Instead of a magnificent altar, decked with gold and silver and precious stones, towards which the worshippers are to turn, or before which they are to prostrate themselves, there is only a plain table in the pew before the pulpit, from which the elements of the Lord's-supper are dispensed to the communicants. Instead of mass-books in an unknown tongue, is the bible in a language which all understand, and of which copious portions are read at each service. Instead of chaunting-priest, singing-boys, pealing orchestras, and ignorant multitudes gazing and listening with silent and superstitious admiration, we find the whole congregation celebrating in full and intelligent chorus the praises of Jehovah. And this simple worship-which reminds us of that of the primitive christians before the fathers broke in upon its integrity by the addition of rites and ceremonies of their own invention there is every reason to believe, is pretty much the same that has obtained in the valleys of Piedmont from ancient times. * *Of the present Vaudois ministers, I feel warranted to affirm, from my own personal intercourse with them, and from the testimony borne by themselves mutually, and by others, that they are sound in the faith, and that in none of their pulpits is "another gospel to be heard."-Henderson's Vaudois, 1844.

CONSCIENCE AND THE CONFESSION. AL. In a town in Massachusetts a Ro

man Catholic had stolen an axe, and had it in his possession a year or two. In conversation with the Protestant minister of the place, he told him that his stealing the axe lay very heavy on his mind, and that he wanted to go to Boston to confess to the priest, that he might be pardoned. The minister advised him to return the axe to its lawful owner, and confess the injury that he had done to him. He replied that he wanted to keep the axe, for he feared that he should not get another as good. He wished to confess to the priest, and yet retain the stolen property. If he could only confess, the burden that lay so heavily upon his mind would be removed. Such is the education which the conscience gets at the confessional. To steal is nothing, and to keep stolen goods is nothing;. but not to confess to the priest is a damning sin!

JEWISH SABBATH.-We learn from a German paper that many of the most influential Jews in that country, have adopted a resolution to keep the Sabbath on the Lord's-day; and the reform committee sitting at Frankfort, ordered divine service to be performed on the Sunday in the Jewish temple in that city. The same parties voted also, after a long discussion, that the Messiah is already come. A great movement is commenced among the children of Abraham; may they soon turn unto the Lord.

A SHARP REPROOF TO A LADY OF TITLE. When Lady Huntingdon withdrew from the fashionable circles of the great, the line of conduct she thought proper to pursue, naturally excited the enmity of those of her own rank, although she had a testimony in the consciences of them, as appeared even in their words, that what she did was right. One day, at court, the Prince of Wales inquired of Lady Charlotte Edwin, a lady of fashion, where my Lady Huntingdon was, that she so seldom visited the circle? Lady Charlotte replied, with a sneer, "I suppose praying with her beggars." The Prince shook his head, and turning to Lady Charlotte, said, "Lady Charlotte, when I am dying, I think I shall be happy to seize the skirt of Lady Huntingdon's mantle, to lift me up with her to heaven."-Life and Times of Lady Huntingdon.

RELIGIOUS TOLERATION IN CHINA. -It having been represented to the Imperial Commissioner Keying, by Sir J. F. Davis, the British plenipotentiary, that some doubt existed as to whether Chinese professing Protestant Christianity would be protected by the law as well as those becoming Roman Catholics, Keying has replied, that "Virtuous Chinese shall by no means be punished on account of the religion they hold. No matter whether they worship images or do not worship

images, there are no prohibitions against them, if, when practising their creed, they act well." The Imperial Commissioner also promises to direct the early issue of a proclamation to the above effect. The concession is one of true liberality, and will, when stamped with the force of law, be the charter of religious freedom in China.

ROME'S COMPASSION FOR ENGLAND. -A novena, or nine days' service, in the church of the Jesuits, was appointed last January in Rome, by the Vicar-General, "in order to implore from Almighty God the wider spread and happy increase of the Catholic faith in England." He has granted a partial indulgence of three hundred days for every visit, and a plenary indulgence to all who attend this novena five times at least. Such is Rome in the nineteenth century; and such is the expectation created among Romanists by the popish spirit which has arisen in this country.

WILBERFORCE AND SIR WALTER SCOTT'S NOVELS. "I am always sorry," said Wilberforce, "that they should have so little moral and religious object. They remind me of a giant, spending his strength in cracking nuts. I would rather go to render up my account at the last day, carrying up with me 'The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain,' than bearing the load of all these volumes, full as they are of genius."

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NEW BAPTIST CHAPEL, BREARLEY, NEAR HALIFAX.-An account of the opening of this place of worship was given in "The Church" for December last. This small chapel is well attended, and a good Sabbath-school commenced. prospects for usefulness are encouraging. On Lord's-day, March 22, a few members, dismissed from the Baptist church at Hebben-Bridge, were formed into a church, when the Rev. P. Scott, from Shipley, preached a sermon in the afternoon, on the constitution of a christian church. At the close of this service, the ordinance of the Lord's-supper was administered. Several members from the Baptist churches at Halifax, Hebden-Bridge, and SteepLane, communed together on the occasion. BREARLEY-HALL.-Brearley-Hall is situate about five miles west of Halifax, in the vale of Todmorden, and was for many years the residence of the late Rev. Dr. Fawcett, who here wrote most of his smaller and most useful publications. It was also hallowed by the visits of Dr. Carey, Andrew Fuller, Medley, Crabtree, and Sutcliffe; and here the late John Foster was brought from obscurity, and received his first instructions for the christian ministry. In a natural cavity in a field, near the house, the members of the Baptist church at Hebden-Bridge were for

many years baptized; and John Foster was one of the number. Dr. Fawcett was in the habit, on the Lord's-day, after two services at Hebden-Bridge, of preaching in the evening at his own residence, in the hall or centre of the house, where he had a new and large congregation from Halifax and the vicinity. After the lapse of half a century, the house has again been kindly granted for the same purpose, and on Wednesday evening, the 18th March, the Rev. William Fawcett preached to a large and attentive audience. Many and delightful were the recollections connected with the renewal of seasons, which it is hoped will be frequently repeated.

TUBBERMORE, IRELAND.-On Wednesday evening, the 25th of March, a teameeting was held in the Baptist chapel, Tubbermore, at which about 220 brethren and friends attended. The ministers present on the occasion, were the Revs. John Barnett, D.D. Thos. Heron, J. K. Leslie, John Bates, Geo. C. Moore, W. S. Eccles, R. H. Carson, and others. After tea, Dr. Barnett, a most attached and worthy friend of the late Dr. Carson, and an able minister of Christ, was called to the chair. Having opened the meeting with singing and prayer, he proceeded to remark briefly on its nature and object; in doing which, most affectionate and honourable allusions were made by him to the church at Tubbermore, and to its late and its present pastor. At the request of the chairman, Mr. Carson acted as secretary, when excellent addresses were delivered by the other ministerial brethren, on Missions, Sabbath-schools, and Loan Trust Societies. The overplus proceeds of the sale of tickets, are designed to form the commencement of a Loan Trust Fund.

WESTGATE CHAPEL, BRADFORD.The members of the church connected with the above chapel, took tea together in the school-room, on Easter Monday. After tea, an interesting meeting was held in the school-room, when Mr. Dowson, the pastor of the church, presided; and several impressive addresses were delivered by Messrs. Hunter, Hughes, Dunwell, and Turner. It was stated, that since the year 1835, when Mr. Dowson became the pastor, 534 persons had been added to the church, of which only 22 had been excluded.

BAPTIST VILLAGE MISSION.-The annual meeting of the Baptist Village Mission, for Kirkstall and the Neighbourhood, was held on Good Friday, in the Temperance-Hall, Kirkstall, when upwards of sixty subscribers and friends sat down to tea. The business of the evening was of an interesting and animating character. J. Richardson, Esq. presided. The report for the past year, showed that upwards of 3,500 household visits had

been made by the missionary of the society, to teach the gospel, and visit the sick, -190 public services for preaching, had been held,-4,300 tracts and handbills distributed, the Sabbath-school conducted by five or six gratuitous teachers,-and the sale of a considerable number of bibles and testaments, at cost price, effected. That during the last month alone, 189 bibles and 287 testaments, in all 476 copies, had been sold and paid for. Addresses were delivered by Messrs. J. Macpherson, and J. Cliff, of Bramley, W. Colcroft, of Stanningley, T. Morgan, J. Whitaker, and J. Hardy, of Leeds.

ACCRINGTON.-Mr. Peter Prout, late of Accrington-College, having received a unanimous invitation to supply the church at Heywood, commenced his labours there on Lord's-day, March 1. Also Mr. Benj. Evans, of the same institution, has accepted an invitation from the church at Inskip, and entered on his sphere of labour on the 1st of March.

BISHOP-BURTON.-The cause of God has lately been, in some degree, revived amongst us. The truth is making steady and successful advances. Five persons, won from the world by the attractions of the Cross, have been baptized, and added to our communion; and several others are, we trust, truly anxious to follow their Lord.

WHITBY.-On Lord's-day, March 22, Mr. Evans preached twice for us, and Dr. Young once, for our Home Mission; and on the day following, an interesting party sat down to a social tea, after which spirited addresses were delivered by the brethren Parkinson, Clementson, Dr. Young, Andrew, Burton, and Evans.

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BURLINGTON.-On Good Friday, a number of friends took tea together in the Town-Hall, and were afterwards addressed the claims of Sabbath-schools, by Messrs. Harness, Trickett, Hethersay, Duning, and Evans. The profits from the tea are appropriated to the Sundayschools.

KILHAM.-On Lord's-day, April 12, sermons were preached for the Sabbathschools, by Mr. Trickett of Burlington, to large and attentive congregations, and on Monday, a large party of friends sat down to a social tea. The assembly was afterwards addressed by Messrs. Harness, Trickett, Hethersay, and Duning.

MARRIAGE. Married, April 13, at the Baptist chapel, Hall-Green, Haworth, by the Rev. Moses Saunders, Mr. Joshua Smith, to Miss Ellen Hudson, both of Sutton-in-Craven.

Leeds:

PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY J. HEATON, No. 7, Briggate;

To whom all communications for the Editors must be addressed, before the 15th of the month.

OR

In immediate connection with the temple in Jerusalem were small apartments, occupied by individuals devoted to the service of God. These little tenements were appropriate dwellings for those intercessors who pleaded with the Most High on be half of his people, the watchmen on the walls of Zion, who never held their peace. It was the will of Heaven that, as the sacred fire was maintained on the altar, so the incense of devotion should perpetually ascend from living hearts. The public services of the sanctuary never superseded the duty of intercession in the retirement of the closet; and if you, my dear reader, are built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, your closet has a relation to the church; you are a spiritual watchman; like the devout Daniel, you open your windows towards Jerusalem; and now, "Watchman, what of the night?"

Mark the privileges of your position as compared with those of other servants of your God. Your worship is not proscribed by the irreversible edict of a tyrannical sovereign. You do not leave the closet to enter the den of lions, or the fiery furnace. Your scene of retirement is not the Garden of Gethsemane, whence your divine Master was conducted by hostile bands to the judgment-hall and the cross. You are not a solitary believer, mourning, like Elijah, over the utter desolation of God's heritage. You may frequent the fig-tree's shade,- -no one daring to make you afraid; your eyes see your Teachers; there is a voice saying to you, as you enquire in the temple, This is the way, walk in it. You are a fellow-citizen of the saints, and of the household of God. The High Priest of your profession discharges his official functions, in the

VOL. III.-ENLARGED SERIES.

heavenly sanctuary, with an efficacy certain and immortal. Your supplications, presented in his name, shall ascend like the morning incense. The love and sacrifice of the Redeemer, assure you that He is deeply and eternally interested in the purity and the perfection of the church,and your prayers, harmonizing with the intentions of his death and his mediatorial reign, can never be unavailing.

The nature and constitution of the church may serve to convince you of the duty of intercessory prayer on its behalf. The frequent observance of religious rites, -the maintenance of established creeds and formularies,-an exact administration of all that is requisite to the outward forms of worship,-will not suffice to secure its prosperity. The church consists of individuals whose piety is of divine origin, and can only be maintained by the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of Jesus is spiritual, the church, when truly nonconformist, renounces the spirit of the world as well as alliance with its governments and secular dignities; whether you reflect on its nature and scriptural character,-its relation to the world or to the Saviour,—its enemies or the means of its advancement,you must recognize the necessity of imploring those divine influences which, imparted in immediate connection with the preaching of the gospel, and the administration of divine ordinances, render the church a hallowed scene of heavenly blessings, where men become new creatures, attain the character and privilege of the sons of God, and find a school of grace in which they are prepared for the inheritance of the saints in light.

The divine Redeemer-the greatest gift

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