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The meetings of the Congregational Union also began with a sermon, which was addressed to ministers and members who had come to participate in the week's conference. The preacher was the Rev. Thos. Binney, and his text was Heb. xiii. 22"Suffer the word of exhortation." sat and and read his discourse, which was on the spiritual life, and the best means of cultivating it. For an hour and a quarter he sustained the attention of the large auditory, many of whom had to stand in the aisles. On Tuesday morning the Rev. Dr. Raleigh, the chairman, delivered an opening address on the great ecclesiastical contest of the times, which is said to have been artistic in its construction, finished in style, and most happy in its allusions and illustrations. Papers followed on the terms and design of church membership, by the Rev. J. Beazley, of Blackheath; and on the relation of children to the church, by the Rev. W. Roberts, London. At the East Parade chapel an immense congregation was presided over by Mr. E. Baines, M.P., at which papers were read by the Rev. Jos. Harrison, on "The importance of a firm adherence to Protestant principles;" by the Rev. R. W. Dale, on "Congregationalism in relation to national life;" and by Dr. Parker, on "Christian simplicity in religious work and worship." On the following day the Rev. J. Hallet, of Norwich, read a paper on Lay work in the churches," describing what it should be; and Mr. Henry Spicer followed with another paper, which offered suggestions for its extension. These were followed by a discussion, in whlch the Rev. J. R. Thompson, of Tunbridge, the Rev. J. H. Wilson, of Craven chapel, the Revs. J. S. Pearsall, G. M. Murphy, Henry Allon, and Messrs. Lee, Manton, and S. Morley took a leading part. THE TEMPERANCE MOVE

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MENT was advocated by the Rev. A. Hannay, of Croydon, on which a resolution was moved by the Rev. E. R. Conder, of Leeds, to the effect that the temperance movement claims the support of Congregational churches, since the prevailing habits of the people in respect to intoxicating drinks impede the evangelization of the country, and frequently bring disgrace on the profession of Christianity. This resolution was supported by several ministers, and by Messrs. Baines and Morley. On Thursday morning, after speeches by ministers from Canada and Scotland, Mr. J. Carvel Williams, of the Liberation Society, read a paper on the duty of Nonconformists at the approaching election. A resolution followed thereon, to which many spoke, and the carrying of which closed the business of the third day's session.-At one of the meetings, Dr. Mullens, secretary of the London Missionary Society, gave an instructive summary of the wonderful religious reformation now going on in Madagascar. On the accession of the present Queen, the idol-keepers approached her to offer their allegiance, to whom she said, "You are needed in this palace no longer." She has declined to receive ambassadors or to transact any state business on Sundays. Public worship is attended by large crowds of the heathen. and in the capital alone the Mission has seven large and two small buildings fully occupied. It is estimated that there are now between 25,000 and 50,000 of professing Christians in the island.

Dr. Livingstone has sent despatches from Cazembe's country and Marungu reporting "all well;" and Sir R. Murchison is sanguine in his hopes of soon seeing him in this country.

Marriages.

SINCLAIR-BATTY.-Oct. 8, at the Baptist chapel, Crowle, Lincolnshire, by the Rev. J. Stutterd, Mr. George Sinclair, of Howden Dyke, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Batty, teacher of the senior Girls' Bible class.

GUTTERIDGE-KIRBY.-Oct. 15, at Wood Gate Chapel, Loughborough, by Rev. J. T. Gale, Richard Gutteridge, M.D., of Leicester, to Patty Green Kirby, of Park Road Villas, Loughborough.

WOOD-HAINES.-Oct. 20, at the General Baptist chapel, Fleet, by the Rev. F. Chamberlain, Mr. Ephraim Wood, Holbeach, to Charlotte, youngest daughter of Mr. Jonathan Haines, farmer, Fleet.

HANFORD-LACEY. - Oct. 21, at Wood Gate chapel, by Rev. J. T. Gale, Mr. Wm. Hanford, to Eliza, daughter of Mr. J. S. Lacey, Market Place, Loughborough.

Recent Deaths.

HUTCHINSON-Sept. 2, at Stalybridge, Hannah Hutchinson. She was a scholar in the General Baptist Sabbath school, and while there had been always remarkably attentive and well behaved. She was only in her fourteenth year, yet gave indications of the work of Divine grace being in operation on her heart and life in a striking manner for some time before her death. She was very severely afflicted during the last six months of her life, scarcely ever being an hour without severe pain that no medical skill could remove; yet in the very midst of her keenest pain she displayed strong sympathy with the sufferings of her dear Redeemer. Often was she deeply moved at the thought of the intense suffering he voluntarily endured on account of sinners, and frequently expressed her hope in Him as her Saviour. She was very much pained if any of the teachers or scholars deliberately acted as if they had no regard for Him.

On one occasion she called her father to her bedside, and said, "Father, there is one thing upsets me to-day, and that is, that so and so," mentioning their names, teachers in the school," are breaking the Sabbath today by taking a trip to Blackpool, but I hope the Lord will forgive them." Thus did she display her sense of obligation and consistency on the part of those who loved the Saviour. Her last day on earth was marked by much struggling and pain; but

her last moments were calm and peaceful. She fell asleep in Jesus with the full possession of all her mental faculties.

MEE.-Sept. 11, at Heanor, in the twenty-fourth year of her age, Catharine, the beloved wife of Mr. James Mee, an occasional preacher in connection with the Baptist church of which the deceased was a member for nearly four years. They were married soon after her conversion. For two years past she had been sinking under consumption. Her long affliction was borne with true Christian patience, and she died in peace, much respected by those who knew her best. At the desire of the bereaved husband and friends her death was improved on Lord's-day, Sept. 26, by Mr. Wright, of Derby. The attendance was very numerous, and many appeared greatly impressed with the discourse, which was founded on Rev. xiv. 13, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

TAYLOR.-Sept. 28, at Bakewell, Mr. John Foster Taylor, aged forty-three years.

SMITH.-Oct. 1, at Haxey, Lincolnshire, aged seventy-four years, William Smith, for many years an acceptable local preacher in the Epworth church. He was a good man, and feared God above many. His end was peace.

Varieties.

THE TRADES OF ANIMALS.-The following observations, which we copy verbatim from an "Old Curiosity Shop," have reference to animals, and exhibit their at least apparent knowledge of the sciences; also, their professions, occupations, and employments. Bees are Geometricians-their cells are so constructed as, with the least quantity of material, to have the largest-sized spaces and least possible loss of interstice. So also is the ant-lion-his funnel-shaped trap is exactly correct in its conformation, as if it had been made by the most skilful artist of our species with the aid of the best instruments. The mole is a meteorologist. The bird called the nine-killer is an arithmetician; so also is the crow, the

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wild turkey, and some other birds. The torpedo, the ray, and the electric eel are electricians. The nautilus is a navigator-he raiess and lowers his sail, casts and weighs anchor, and performs other rautical evolutions. Whole tribes of birds are musicians. The beaver is an architect, builder, and wood-cutter-he cuts down trees, and erects houses and dams. marmot is a civil engineer-he not only builds houses, but constructs aquaducts and drains to keep them dry. The white ants maintain a regular army of soldiers. The East India ants are horticulturists-they make mushrooms upon which they feed their young. Wasps are paper manufacturers.-Qnce a Week.

Missionary Observer.

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armoury is full of the weapons of defence, and the service of each year tends to furbish anew those already in use, as well as to introduce others of substantial value in the warfare with evil. Much use is deservedly made of the logic of success. Accomplished facts are invincible. Victories, mostly of vast range and high quality, have crowned the self-denying and martyrlike labours of the missionaries of the cross wherever they have gone. Whilst many fields have borne a hundred fold, not one has been tilled without the promise of a harvest of precious grain for the granary of God. The word of the Lord has sounded abroad from the various homes of the Anglo Saxon race, and the missionary stations of Greenland and Labrador, India and China, are echoing it as from so many different centres, to the remotest parts of the earth. The gigantic edifice of caste, no structure built of sand, but an adamantine barrier, has been shaken to its base by the thunderbolt of human brotherhood shot from the heavens of the divine word. Those two thousand missionaries sent from the protestant churches of Europe and America, and sustained with all their diverse works of schools and colleges, of churches and orphanages, of translating and preaching, at a cost of a million pounds per annum, have already accomplished a work of unspeakable blessedness for the nations of the earth, and have prepared the machinery by which the knowledge of the Lord shall be made to cover the

This Paper is the substance of the Address delivered by our worthy brother at the Missionary, Meeting in connection with the Baptist Union, on the 13th ult., at Bristol. It has been forwarded for insertion in our pages at the special request of the Secretary.

earth, as the waters the depths of the sea. If, therefore, the effort to regenerate mankind is ever abandoned, it certainly will not be because of the proved incapacity of the gospel to grapple with the astute evils of idolatry.

But though we rejoice in the fact of success, and accord to it some weight as an argument for further service, we do not worship it as a fetish, nor depend upon it for the noblest impulses to our work of faith and labour of love. We never borrow our principles of christian labour for God and souls from the low and base-born policies of every-day life. The great Baal of expediency is not our God; and the doubtful paradise of success is not the only heaven to which we aspire. We know better. We remember that the Mahometan, the Roman Catholic, and even the chief Adversary himself, can employ the same argument for the causes they respectively promote. Our hearts are moved to duty by an irresistible impulse when success utterly fails us, and we are forced to cry in bitterness, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?" We recognize Christ Jesus as the invisible Lord and Master of the conscience he has redeemed, and feel it to be our highest duty, as it is our most perfect act, to obey Him fully, omitting no fragment of His teaching because it is small, excluding no command because it is irksome and unpleasant, and slighting no wish, however expressed, since to us every desire of His is clothed with stronger sanctions than those which made the Israelites quake before Sinai, and urged upon us with a love so pure, tender, and infinite, that we cannot resist. Whether, therefore, we succeed or not, the christian conscience, accepting Christ's mandate, is bound, beyond the chance of release, to the work of the conversion of the world, and we must go on with it or be guilty of treason against our King. In such christian consciences, illuminated by the teaching of God; educated by its acknowledged Master, Christ; roused to the full use of all its powers, and aglow with the love to sinful and miserable men He has kindled, is the central stronghold of all gospel missions to the

heathen at home and abroad. Political expediency may dictate a generous treatment of the degraded Hindoo, and urge to many acts having the form, if not the power, of godliness; philanthropy and brotherly kindness may give birth to a number of good Samaritans ready to pour the oil and wine of their charity into stricken, wounded, and half-dead Orissa; the victories of the cross over a "creed which enjoins suicide and self-mutilation, prostitution and murder, and whose temples are little better than consecrated brothels," may revive the faith of the despondent and cheer the hearts of the sad; but the broad and solid basis of christian mission work is not political expediency, fitful philanthropy, or brilliant success, but men, living men, who have entered into it because they have Christ in the conscience, its light and power, its teacher and master, its absolute owner, and imperishable enthusiasm. With a race of such men, aye, even with a few such men, whatever betide, this is certain, the gospel will be preached to the nations that have not seen the brightness of the light of Christ and rejoiced in the blessings of his beneficent reign. Such men will live and act though all societies decay; and will continue in the way of duty whoever forbids and whatever opposes, constantly achieving triumphs thought by friends and foes alike to be impossible. In such christian consciences is the impregnable citadel and the exhaustless motive power of all the chivalrous enterprises of the church for the salvation of a lost world.

Each such man says in effect, I am in this new and divine order of disciples and servants of Jesus, and I must yield henceforth perfect obedience to whatever He commands. He is my King and I ought to do whatever he bids irrespective of my changing fancies and wayward desires, and without consulting my pleasures and pains. He is the unseen but real ruler of my conscience, and to the furthest limit of my power, to the last fibre of my spiritual life I am bound to carry out His command for getting the gospel of God's love into the ear and heart of every human being in the world. I am to do this. It is my personal work as a christian man, and because I belong to Christ and His church, and I cannot neglect a single possible effort to discharge this obliga

tion without endangering the completeness of my fealty to Him. Necessity is laid upon me, and woe is me if I do not preach the gospel or get it preached as far as I can everywhere. I am debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and unwise, and so much as in me is, I must preach the gospel to them all.

Nothing should be allowed to corrupt or weaken such a conscience. Neither facts nor words should be permitted to come between it and the will save as they contribute something small or great towards the realization of the end to which that conscience points. The church in its corporate acts must steadily watch against enfeebling by any of its movements this personal conviction of duty. Its keen edge must not be dulled by the operations of societies, or assuredly we shall convert any living men amongst us, acting at the spur of a conscientious feeling of responsibility, into a set of brokers perfunctorily transferring coins from one place and person to another.

It has been said by a careful thinker, one person with a conviction is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests," and we may add, that a perfect christian conscience, i.e., a conscience guided, swayed, and energized by Christ, has proved itself the mightiest power in the world after God and His angels. The few men with convictions and not mere opinions, with a sense of duty strong in them and not simply an interest outside of them, have ruled the destinies of the human race. Filled with a faith that could not be shaken, rooted and grounded in a single moral conviction, they have set afloat influences that shall finally put an end to the worst vices and villanies that exist. slavery has at length succumbed to the successive blows dealt by such men of conscience as Sharp and Wilberforce, Clarkson and Knibb. . . . . The highest missionary periods of the church's life have been the times when her conscience, or that of some of her members, has been raised to sit in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. In close fellowship with the Lord and with His last words as fresh as when spoken on the slopes of Olivet, the first disciples stood forth on the day of Pentecost and preached Jesus and the resurrection; and when afterwards called in question by the council of the Jewish nation they found the

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The Christian Conscience the Stronghold of Missions to the Heathen. 349

strong defence of their conduct and the inspiration to unflinching heroism in the conviction expressed in the defiant words, "We ought to obey God rather than man," a divine law compels us, and we have no choice between offending you and disobedience to the God of the conscience.

The revival of the missionary spirit in modern times was marked by a similar baptism of the conscience with light and energy from on high, by the same movement from within the souls of a few brave and courageous men. They heard a voice speaking in tones of unmistakeble authority, and though at first willing to close their ears against the message, yet they could not, and so leapt forth from the charms of home and country, and the dear delights of christian friends, and placed themselves in the very centres of opposition and difficulty. They waited not for societies. They knew nothing of policy. Conscience was inspired by Christ, and that was enough. The best of man was brought into fellowship with the best of Beings, and the best work for the souls of men was fearlessly undertaken and manfully sustained till the isles received God's law, and the Gentiles beheld the glory of their Redeemer.

And this indeed is no fit time for dispensing with the consideration of this first principle. Foreign missions are passing through a crisis of great importance. The whisper of distrust of our organizations is growing into a loud wail. Our societies are exposed to the hot fires of angry and indiscriminate censure, and we have need to look at ourselves and our defences. Still it is well to remember that an examination of the laws of human societies would have led us to anticipate such a condition as this; for however necessary and successful such arrangements may be in conducting vast moral movements, they are almost inevitably honeycombed with decay after a certain period of existence. As they become established and consolidated, they tend to induce mere acting; substitute dramatizing for life, elegant dresses for thinking men, the formal and cold discharge of official duties for the heartfelt sacrifices of enthusiastic souls. In their dawn they are replete with vigour. Life flows with unrestrained fulness. Machinery is understood to be machinery, and no more

than the mechanical is expected from it. Should it fail to work well, the directors at once blame themselves and correct their methods. Conscience is not overlaid with cold mechanism, but is stimulated into a healthier and freer moveIment by the sight of the motion of the works it has set going. But after a while the diseases of routine appear, health fails, energies droop, and the machine warranted to work within a hair's breadth of perfect accuracy, exhibits in its powerlessuess the folly of those who had come to trust in it, forgetting the living conscience necessary to maintain its original usefulness. The organization has been set to do the work of men of thought, conscience, and love, and, as might have been expected, it has grievously failed.

So with our missionary societies, at the first men joined them from profound convictions, but now their adhesion is largely due to the influence of custom. Whilst they were young and fiercely opposed, every member stood for a man of strength and substance, who was sure to do much besides pay the "war tax" when called to fight; but adopted by everybody and in every place, the rollcall contains many names that will be of no use to the Gideons who have to go down against the invading Midianites. Fifty years ago a contribution, large or small, represented the man, his conscience, his fervent prayers, and his strong sympathies; now it is to be feared that in many cases it stands for its money value in the markets of the world, and nothing more. We have better organized machinery and a larger host of subscribers, but we have fewer proportionately of the men of intense conviction and absorbing devotion to the salvation of the world. Let us therefore readjust our societies, so that in the fore-front of their plans may be the education of the conscience of those who are the professed followers of Christ; the training of the young, not to give only, but to give from a sense of duty to Christ and the world: so shall we secure the renewed health of our organizations, and the fulness and richness of the life that works them will be the best answer to the attacks of scoffing foes and unwise friends.

Professor Faraday delighted to prove that water possesses a positive antagonism to all impurities, and by a series of

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