INTELLIGENCE.

Western Unitarian Society.

ON Wednesday, July 10, the Annual Meeting of the Western Unitarian Society was held at Crediton. The Rev. S. C. Fripp had been expected to preach upon the occasion; but, as he found himself unable to attend, his appointment devolved on the Rev. Dr. Carpenter. The service was introduced by the Rev. G. Kenrick, and the Rev. W. Hincks gave the intermediate prayer. Dr. Carpenter's text was Ephes. i. 7. The discourse, as might have been expected from the preacher, was an impressive illustration of an important subject. The business of the Meeting was next discussed; and the members and friends of the Society then assembled at the inn, where more than sixty dined together. In the course of the afternoon much was said, that was heard with deep pleasure, and will not soon be forgotten. Nor did it diminish the interest of the occasion, that the Society had held its first Meeting at Cre diton; and that, after a very long interval of time, many who had witnessed it in that infant state, were present to be gratified by its augmented importance. In the evening, the Rev. B. Mardon, of Glasgow, took the devotional service; and the Rev. John Kenrick preached from Psalm ii. 1, 2. It was a masterly and substantial discourse, a happy unison of the beautiful and the useful. After the evening service, the assembly dispersed, and there appeared but one general feeling of satisfaction with all that had taken place in the course of the day.

J. J.

Southern Unitarian Society. THE Annual Meeting of the Southern Unitarian Society was held at Newport, Isle of Wight, on Wednesday, July 24, 1822. Mr. Bennett, of Poole, commenced the service by reading the Scriptures; Mr. Scott, of Portsmouth, offered the prayer before the sermon; and Mr. J. B. Bristowe, of Ringwood, preached from 2 Cor. ii. 17: "For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God." The preacher enumerated the texts of Scripture which are most usually adduced in support of the Calvinistic scheme, and shewed them to be either mistranslations, or that they by no means necessarily bear the sense which Calvinists put on them. He then made several quotations from the works of the reputed orthodox,

noticing particularly a sermon which has been lately printed at Ringwood: contrasting the statements contained in these works with the Scriptures, he shewed them to be totally irreconcileable with each other-while it plainly appeared, that from whatever other vices Calvinism might preserve its votaries, it by no means secured them from a disposition to heap unmerited calumny and reproach on their opponents. The preacher concluded with a forcible exhortation to his Unitarian brethren so to conduct themselves as to prove that the invective with which they are so frequently assailed, is as unmerited as it is most undoubtedly unchristian.

After the service the annual business of the Society was transacted, when tharks were unanimously voted to the preacher for his very able and eloquent discourse; and it being considered, that, from Portsmouth being more in the centre of the district over which the Society extends, as well as from the very flourish. ing state of Unitarianism in that neighbourhood, it would be the most desirable place at which to hold the Quarterly Meetings of the Society, it was resolved, that they should be held there in future, instead of at Newport; and Mr. D. B. Price, of Portsmouth, was requested to accept the offices of Treasurer and Secretary for the year ensuing.

The members and friends of the Society afterwards sat down to an economical though comfortable dinner, at the Bugle Inn. The reporter trusts he shall be excused for mentioning that it is a rule with this Society, that the dinner shall be ordered with the strictest regard to economy, and that there shall be no general reckoning after the removal of the cloth, every person present being at liberty to call for any species of beverage he thinks proper. The rich and the poor are thus enabled to meet together on terms both agreeable and convenient to each, and that Christian fellowship and co-operation is secured, which it is so desirable should prevail among persons who have the same important objects in view.

In the evening, Mr. Fullagar, of Chichester, preached from Isa. xxxv. 8. The preacher pointed out the inconsistency of those who reject the doctrine of Tran substantiation on account of its absurdity, though supported by the very words of Scripture, while they retain other doctrines equally absurd, which, even by their own confession, rest on inference

Intelligence.-Scottish Unitarian Association.

alone. He then shewed that the doctrines held by Unitarians, so far from being liable to the charge of robbing Christianity of its glory, were of them selves sufficient to make men wise unto salvation; while of Unitarianism alone it can be said, that, by the plainness of its precepts and by the simplicity of the principles it inculcates, it proves itself to be that heavenly path of which it was prophesied, that "the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein."

who would be truth's traitor Than part with dear integrity. Who would be ev'n the mitred slave, knave,' That either purse or life would save,

Entrench'd in base hypocrisy ?"

At Paisley, the conference once a fortnight is continued with much spirit, under the judicious management of the Elders. A highly interesting and detailed account of which, drawn up by one of the Paisley brethren, formed part of the Report. It also noticed the desirableness of a minister's being settled at Dundee, to second the exertions of our highly respected friend Mr. Millar, whose recent accounts of the prospect in the North are highly encouraging, and describe it as a good field for preaching.

At Glasgow, a series of doctrinal Lectures were delivered the last winter as usual, in which the minister of the chapel received the assistance of two other preachers, and which were attended by large congregations.

The Report also included reference to the proposal for erecting à Unitarian

Chapel in a very eligible situation in Edinburgh; a proposal in which every Scottish Unitarian, from a knowledge of the beneficial influence which the respectability of the cause there must excite upon Scotland in general, feels the most lively interest; and it is confidently hoped, that the published "proposal," under the judicious and excellent management of the friends in Edinburgh, will induce the Committees of the Fellowship Funds in England, to contribute their speedy, simultaneous and effectual support.

The Rev. David Davis, of Neath, is appointed the preacher at the next Association.

B. M., Secretary.

Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Protestant Society for the Protection of Religious Liberty.

THIS Anniversary was held on Saturday, May 11th, in the City of London Tavern, Lord JOHN RUSSELL in the Chair. We regret that we have not been able to give an earlier account of its proceedings. In this and a following number we shall extract from "The Supplement of the Philanthropic Gazette," of Friday, May 24, as full a report as our limits will allow. MR. WILKS's speech was, as usual, the great attraction of the meeting, which was crowded to excess: the speech occupied nearly three hours and a half, and was received with acclamations of delight. After a suitable introduction, Mr. Wilks said that before he adverted to the transactions since the last Anniversary, he would allude to some of those matters to which attention was then most awakened. The destiny of AMOS NORROWAY, the intrepid and enlightened labourer at Ewelme-the result of the prosecution of GRIFFIN for a riot-and the Bill as to the Education of the Poor, excited the deepest interest.

For AMOS NORROWAY, he was happy to announce, that a secure asylum from the visitings of persecution was obtained. In a comfortable cottage, well repaired, surrounded by fruit tress now full of blossoms, and with a garden-plot, purchased by one who could revere the love of principle in a peasant breast, he had found a home, whence he would not remove until he entered his last and happier home in heaven. There his consistent conduct pleased the pious, profited the observing, awed the unfriendly, and exercised that moral influence over the numerous villagers, which such conduct will create. There he had even the Curate for a guest. He acknowledged his industry and worth, and as he wondered

at his wisdom, and knew the authority of his example, he sought to obtain from him that attendance at the church, which his conscience induced him to decline. There he thought without envy-with kind compassion-on his prelatical opponent, who might be excited to his frequent and almost hebdomadal diatribes against education, unconnected with the church, by the remembrance of the reproofs and firmness of that modest, welltaught cottager, whose form and sufferings memory might introduce amid the convocations of his clergy, and beneath his gilded canopies of state.

The affair of GRIFFIN was important, as on that depended whether the Toleration Acts would afford protection to the public worship of Protestant Dissenters. That offender had been convicted at the Hampshire Sessions of a riot, and under the last Toleration Act, was sentenced to pay the penalty of forty pounds. But the magistrates decided that the Act gave them no power to enforce the penalty; the offender was liberated-impunity produced insolence and new offences-and village worship throughout that county would have be come insecure. By an application to the Court of King's Bench, at a considerable expense, orders and writs were obtained that enforced the penalty by the committal of the culprit to the county gaol. Compunction was the result, and as his aged parents needed his labours, as he contritely applied for mercy, the Committee, mindful that mercy should temper justice, acquiesced in his discharge. But there yet remained an obvious need that some legislative provisions should be made to prevent such trouble and expense, and to secure the prompt attainment of the justice which the Toleration Laws were enacted to confer !

The Education Bill had, he hoped, passed away to that grave, where many mistaken projects of the benevolent and worthy, happily slumber to awake no more. Of Mr. BROUGHAM no man could think more highly, or would utter more cordial praise. In debate, he moved like a giant in a storm. As an advocate, as a political economist, as a statesman, as a philanthropist, he was pre-eminent. Since their last meeting, he had boldly and greatly, for a Royal client, stemmed the torrent of influence and power, and secured an amaranthine fame. As to education, his object was laudable, but his means needless and unwise. From a small source bubbling up in the vale of Gloucester, in the establishment of Sunday-schools, had issued a stream swollen by ten thousand charitable rills, widespreading and beneficent. Christian love

Intelligence.-Protestant Society; Mr. Wilks's Speech.

had added to these waters, till Wales and England, that had been parched and desert, were now among the best instructed nations on the earth. If a system parochial, clerical, compulsory, expensive, had been established, these waters of charity would have ceased to flow-the taxations of the country would have been enlarged the agricultural interests, now gaping for existence beneath too heavy burdens, would have sunk under a new pressure-the wrongs of Dissenters would have been increased-the ecclesiastical powers, already too dominant, would have received fearful augmentation-and an harvest would have been reaped of immediate evil and of abiding woe. Happily, however, the dark, oppressive cloud that blighted and overhung them had passed away, and all was again serenity and sunshine. May no fragments of the threatening masses ever re-appear! But he must entreat, as its needlessness was the best argument opposed to the design, that the friends to the gratuitous, religious, unpersecuting, unsectarian education of the poor, would, by their increasing diligence, give even to that argument accumulated force. Every where let there be established Sunday-schools, combined with week-day evening tuition-or Lancastrian schools for mutual instruction, under the British and Foreign School Society, till an untaught hamlet or alley here or in Ireland should be like an unknown land-and till the little plant of universal education, become the noblest tree, outspreading its undecaying branches, should afford to every Briton, infant or adult, the joy of beholding its blossoms, and sharing its inestimable fruit.

According to his former custom, he would first revert to those which were mere pecuniary demands. They included Turnpike Tolls, Assessed Taxes, Poor's Rates, and Mortuary Fees.

As to Turnpike Tolls, letters had been received from Hartland in Devonshire, Pinchbeck in the county of Lincoln, and Tremerchion in Wales. All such inquiries should include an extract of the exemption clause in each Turnpike Act. To Pinchbeck he had the satisfaction to reply, that the exemption they wished had been already inserted in the Act, and he hoped that as the bills were renewed, all the provisions unfriendly to Dissenters would disappear; because, to that object the Committee directed constant and needful care. Indeed, Cerberus could not be too wakeful to prevent surprise. Last year a General Turnpike Bill was proposed and postponed. All the old objectionable words were there inserted, but at their application were removed. This Session the measure was revived. The snake was scotched, not

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slain—and again the objectionable expressions re-appeared. The efforts of the Committee must also revive; they must renew against that evil their Herculean toils, and should so renew them with the hope that better triumphs than those of Hercules would be achieved.

In a Church-Rate case from Loughborough, they afforded their advice. For relief from the Assessed Taxes as arising from claims on a minister at Wern in Wales, and for Portland Chapel, Bath, they had taught their friends how to apply: and he repeated publicly the information, that Assessed Taxes were not claimable for any Meeting-house, and that all School-rooms for the poor, and rooms in Academies devoted to ministerial students, were, on account of their charitable appropriation, also exempt from charge.

One claim for a Mortuary Fee of ten shillings, was made at Keighley, in Yorkshire, on a poor woman who was left with three orphan children. As it did not appear that the fee had been demanded before the reign of Henry the Eighth, and had been since but occasionally required-the payment was withheld, though the clergyman offered greatly to lessen his demand. The transports of the widow, grateful that persons living so distant, not knowing her, and to her unknown, should step forward to soothe and succour her, afforded to the Committee a pleasant and pure reward.

The vexatious subject of the assessment of Chapels at Bath, Chatham, Beverley and Paddington, to Poor's Rates, had renewed anxiety and labour. At Bath some additions to Argyle Chapel, principally for the accommodation of the Sunday scholars whom the members of that munificent congregation endeavoured to instruct, produced a treble assessment to the poor; as if these parochial patriots were fearful the noxious weeds of pauperism should vegetate too slowly, and would therefore, by a tax, forbid the wise instruction and infant piety-which can alone restore to the poor an independent but submissive spirit, and the love of labour, economy, comfort, and of a humble, but a happy home! At Chatham, during several years, the Rev. Mr. Slatterie had resisted, by every fair expedient, an assessment on his chapel which amounted yearly to the vast sum of one hundred pounds, and which now would subtract from the donations of the congregation a yearly sum of sixty pounds! By legal suggestions the Committee had enabled him to profit by some negligence and delay of his opponents, and to avert the payments of two rates which they threatened to enforce, and at which the majority of the

THE Rev. Dr. EVANS, of Islington, has on the eve of publication the fifth edition of his Golden Centenary, or One Hundred Testimonies in behalf of Candour, Peace and Unanimity, by Divines of the Church of England, of the Kirk of Scotland, and among the Protestant Dissenters; with One Hundred concentrated Sketches of Biography.

THE REV. DAVID REES, M.D., who, during his studies at Glasgow, was an land, has settled with the Society at occasional preacher in the West of ScotMerthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire.

student in Dr. Wardlaw's Theological THE Rev. J. S. HYNDMAN, formerly a Academy, is now supplying the congregation at Call-Lane Chapel, Leeds.

parishioners wept no tears but those of joy. The congregation at Beverley had not been before assailed. It was a small corporate town, where local antipathies and mere personal dislikes exercise illiberal and ungracious power. There, they had rashly distrained the property of an individual trustee-but, mindful of the place where he first plucked the flowers of spring, and gazed on the blue sky, the Rev. GEORGE COLLISON had manfully resolved to resist every extorsive and illegal act, and with a noble spirit had declared that he would rather "beg from door to door" than allow those measures to prevail. Paddington Chapel was erected at the sole charge of Mr. WILSON. It is one among many noble monuments of Christian bounty. Those monuments were dearer to him than the lofty column and the classic arch; than all the temples that, though in ruins, grace the Acropolis of Athens, or the hills of Rome. In those Pagan temples, the founders had memorials more durable than brass. Their grateful, though superstitious, country gave them spoutaneous acknowledg-room of the Rev. G. Harris, removed to ments and blessings. To their praise has signified his acceptance of the apthe New Meeting, Bolton, and that he immortal bards sang their lyric strains and elegiac verse. We, strangely niggard, pointment, repay kindness with taxation-and so would freeze up the genial ardour of devout munificence! Thus, though Mr. Wilson expended six thousand pounds in the building of that chapel, he is required to pay church rates and parochial claims for his own house of mercy,-though he never received interest, principal or rent; and asks and has no recompence but the bliss-producing consciousness of a desire for the glory of God, and the happiness of man!

(To be continued.)

We are authorized to announce that the Rev. W. HINCKS, of Exeter, has been chosen pastor of the Unitarian Congregation, Renshaw Street, Liverpool, in the

On Sunday morning, August 25, the Rev. S. W. BROWNE, Minister of the Chapel in Monkwell Street, preached a Sermon, as had been previously announced in the public papers, on the occasion of the late suicide in high life. We are desired to state that the Sermon was not, as has been represented in the Courier, "to the memory," but simply on the awful death, of the late Marquis of LonDONDERRY. We are allowed to add, that "some details" of this discourse will be prepared for our next number.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Communications have been received from Messrs. Mardon; W. Evans; aud N. Jones; also from G. P. H.; F. K.; Brevis; M. (for Obituary); and T. F. B. Various articles of Intelligence are unavoidably postponed. During the present cessation of public business, we hope to bring up our report of proceedings in Parliament and in the Courts of Law, as far as they relate to questions of religious liberty or general humanity.

We trust also that we shall be able to resume our account of Foreign Theological Literature, and to pursue other improvements in the Monthly Repository, which have been hindered by circumstances over which we had no controul.

The proffered "Essay on Sacrifices,” by the late Rev. H. Turner, will be thankfully accepted.

The Inquiry respecting the Rev. C. Wellbeloved's Bible," by A Subscriber, should be addressed to the Author himself, who will, we are sure, give the writer the informatiou that he seeks concerning the progress of that work.

Mr. Procter is requested to apply to the Publishers through his bookseller for the MUSIC-SHEET omitted in his number for June; and the same advice is given to any other Subscriber whose number may have been delivered without it.