REMOVALS, APPOINTMENTS, &c. The Rev. John Clayton, for 47 years the honoured pastor of the Weigh House Meeting, East Cheap, has resigned, and the church have unanimously invited the Rev. Edward Parsons, of Halifax, to succeed him, who, we understand, has accepted the invitation. The Rev. Thomas Russell, M.A., the laborious editor of Dr. Owen's works, is appointed Trustee to Mr. Coward's funds, vacant by the death of Mr. Townsend. Dr. Harris has accepted the invitation of the church at Newington to become their pastor, and will therefore resign his office, as resident tutor at Hoxton Academy, at Midsummer, but will still retain the theological chair in that Institution. The Rev. George Collison has relinquished his ministerial connection with the congregation at Well-street, Hackney; and the Rev. Mr. Hughes, late of Hoxton Academy, succeeds him, RECENT DEATHS. Died, on Wednesday, March 29th, the Rev. P. S. CHARRIER, of Liverpool. He had been only a few days confined to the chamber of affliction, and, in the week preceding his death, had been actively engaged in the discharge of pastoral duty, and in making arrangements for the public services of the Rev. W. Cooper, of Dublin, on behalf of the Irish Evangelical So. ciety. That gentleman arrived in Liverpool, in pursuance of those arrangements, on the morning of the 29th, and, on entering the place of Mr. Charrier's residence, received the distressing intelligence of his sudden removal! Scarcely had he recovered from the shock of this mournful announcement, when a letter was put into his hands, which had just been received from London, containing the information that Mr. Cooper's youngest son, Mr. CHARLES CooPER, A. B., who had been appointed, only a few weeks before, the Classical Tutor of Cheshunt College, was in dying circumstances ! The father hastened from the scene of death to the metropolis, and arrived just in time to witness his son's dissolution! Thus one who had just girded on his armour in the service of his Lord, was suddenly called from the field of action to his eternal reward; and another, distinguished by his matured experience and honourable activity, who had, indeed, passed the meridian of his life, but on whose long-continued exertions all who knew him fondly, calculated, was also called most unexpectedly to "rest from his labours!" "Even so, Father ; for thus it seemed good in thy sight." Mr. Charrier was, we believe, a native of Portsmouth. His father was a native of France, and had fled from the storm of persecution in that country to England, as an asylum for the oppressed. He was, for many years, a member of the Church at Portsea, under the care of the Rev. John Griffin; and, at his death, an interesting Funeral Sermon was published by his esteemed pastor. His son was educated for the ministry at Mile End Academy, under the care of the Rev. Dr. Addington. On finishing his studies, he succeeded the Rev. George Burder, as minister of the Independent church at Lancaster, on the removal of Mr. Burder to Coventry. There he remained till the year 1810, when he became pastor of the church meeting in Bethesda Chapel, Liverpool. He was highly esteemed in the circle of his extensive connections. His religious principles were always firmly and consistently maintained, without evasion or temporising. There was nothing equivocal or ambiguous in his sentiments. He was a man of comprehensive views, of sound and discriminating judgment, of great self-government, and distinguished urbanity. In his intercourse with his brethren in the ministry, he was remarkable for the kind and affectionate spirit which he uniformly maintained; and, as might be expected, he had a large share of their confidence and esteem. In the various Societies established for the dissemination of the Gospel, both at home and abroad, Mr. Charrier was actively and efficiently employed; and his removal will be deeply deplored in the county in which, for more than thirty years, he laboured with unimpeachable consistency and great success. We hope to be able to present a memoir of this excellent man in a future number. NOTICES. The Anniversary of the Union of Christians for Bedfordshire and neighbouring places will be held at Bedford, on Wednesday, the 31st of May, when the Rev. James Stratten, of Paddington chapel, and Rev. John Morris, of Olney, are expected to preach; the former in the morning, at 11 o'clock; the latter in the evening, at half past 6. Hoxton Academy.-The Anniversary of the Hoxton Academy (when three Students will deliver short discourses) is to be at Claremont chapel, on the evening of Wednesday, the 28th of June. The examination of the Students is to take place on the day preceding; but the annual meeting of subscribers will be postponed till Tuesday, the 5th of September, when it is hoped that the friends of the Institution may assemble at Highbury College. It is proposed to postpone also, till that time, the annual meeting of the ministers of the Hoxton Association, The Annual Meeting of "the Protestant Society for the Protection of Religious Liberty" will be held at the City of London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, on Saturday, May 13th, at half past ten, for eleven o'clock precisely, when some illustrious friend to civil and religious liberty will preside. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. COMMUNICATIONS have been received this month from the Rev. Messrs. S. HillyardJ. Jukes-H. F. Burder-J. Gawthorne--Isaac Taylor--John Sibree-Thomas Fisher -Thomas Mann--W. Orme-S. Curwen J. Betts--J. Fletcher--J. Roberts-J. Holgate--G. Redford--Dr. J. P. Smith--J. Blackburn. Also from Messrs. A. Pellet-James Edmeston--W. G. Wilkins--C. Holmes--M. Swinney-J. B. Williams--Thomas Wilson--Amicus-A. G. L.-L. No Sceptic begs to propose the following Query :--After the revolt of the ten tribes of Israel from the house of David, by whom was the order of Priesthood supplied in Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem? Were individuals selected from among the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, or was only part of the tribe of Levi implicated in the defection of their brethren? Is it not implied in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, that the "Priests and Levites" were partakers of the captivity of Judah and Benjamin ? A Country Pastor, having been called upon in his ministerial capacity, to baptize the child of an unmarried female, wishes some of our intelligent Correspondents would give an answer to the following query, viz: What are the reasons, if any can be assigned, for not baptizing children who are thus born into the world; and if they should be baptized, what arguments can be adduced for the practice? A Dissenter begs to ask, What civil privileges are enjoyed by the Protestant Dissenters of Scotland and Ireland, which are not possessed by English Nonconformists? L. refers to the great interest excited by the course of Lectures recently delivered in London to mechanics, on the Evidences of Christianity; and, from the large attendance of young persons of a superior order also, he suggests that such a series would be highly beneficial in most towns throughout the kingdom. A Correspondent in Derbyshire informs us, that a pamphlet, entitled "The Unitarian's Appeal," printed at Yarmouth, has been forwarded to himself, and other Calvinistic ministers, by post; by which they were most unjustly subjected to the charge of a HEAVY DOUBLE POSTAGE. As the "Appeal" is, in every sense, worthless, he returned it to the publisher by the same conveyance; which course he recommends his brethren to adopt, in similar circumstances, as the most effective method of restraining this unrighteous effort of Socinian zeal. A facetious Correspondent recommends Young Mortality to imitate the doings of his venerable ancestor, and repair the inscriptions he gave us in the Monumental Remains, inserted in the last number, as he detects the following errata : For Ecclesiæstee read Ecclesiastæ. For dilecte read dilectæ. For conivci read conjugi or conivgi. For exhausissit read exhausisset. A Looker-on, observing that there are nearly fifty public services, and meetings of various Religious Societies, advertised for the present month, begs respectfully to intreat those gentlemen who may take part in the same to regard the exhausted state of those who will form their audiences, and to let short reports, short sermons, and short speeches be the order of the month. Our friend Rehsift will perceive that the delay of his communication was not its rejection. We wish to act fairly towards all" our Correspondents, which was the very reason we inserted the paper to which he alludes, rather than his own. He does not know how long that article was in our Portfolio before his communication came to hand. Iremain your affect - Serv. John Betridge 1. Mr Savage, Yours most affectionately in our Common Lord Whitefeld Autographs illustrative of the original Letters. Pub. June, 1826, for the Congregational Mag. by BJ. Holdsworth, St Pauls Church Yard, London. : A SERMON ON THE DEATH OF LADY HEWLEY, Preached in St. Saviours Gate Chapel, York, by Dr. Colton, at her solemn Funeral. ་་་་་་་་་་ LADY SARAH HEWLEY, the daughter and heiress of Robert Wolrich, Esq., Bencher, of Her husband, Sir John Hewley, Knt., represented the city of York in Parliament, from 1676 to 1678. It is not known that he was a Nonconformist; but he courteously entertained distinguished ejected ministers, which displayed his friendly regard. Sir John had two residences,--one in the city of York; the other at Bell House, about four miles from that place. In the latter residence, apartments were fitted up for public worship, where, doubtless, Nonconformist ministers preached; but, when the family was in the city, Lady Hewley attended the meeting-house in St. Saviours Gate, where, not many years ago, her seat was distinguished by a great chair, which was appropriated to her use during her declining years. Bereaved of two sons, who died in their childhood, and having no near relatives to claim her estates, this excellent Lady liberally devoted her property, after the death of her husband, to the relief of poor ministers, the support of public worship, the erection of Almshouses, and to other works of pious benovolence. About four years before her death, she executed two deeds of settlement, by which she conveyed to Trustees, for religious and benevolent purposes, estates, which now produce a rental of £3,800. per annum. DR. COLTON, the author of the following discourse, was the first minister of St. Saviour's Gate meeting-house, York, and one of her Ladyship's executors. The original manuscript, in the Doctor's own hand, is, we presume, still in the possession of the Rev. C. Wellbeloved, the present minister of the St. Saviours meeting-house, and tutor of the Unitarian Academy in that city, as that gentleman, some years since, lent it to a friend for transcription, by whose kindness we now present it to our readers. As an unpublished sermon of the minister who first established a nonconformist church in that archiepiscopal city, it is not devoid of interest; and as an authentic record of the orthodox opinions and enlarged benevolence of a distinguished benefactress of that church, its importance is greatly increased, and will assuredly justify its publication. "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity No mere man ever had a more comprehensive mind than Solomon; no good man ever made the costly experiment that he did; no wise man ever ran a greater risk, as to his eternal happiness, than he. Vanity of vanities-all is vanity"-this, then, is the first and last thought of every truly good man-this is the utmost that he NEW SERIES, No. 18. 66 can make of the things of this life -that they are vanity. The dous bling the word, according to the Hebrew idiom, shows the certainty of the proposition. I need not say much to explain the word. A thing is said to be vain, when it is to no valuable purpose, or tends to a very destructive one. Trouble of mind will make a man's enjoyments distasteful to him. All he has signify nothing to him; a fit of sickness, a bed of languishing, and dying minutes, make friends but miserable comforters, and physicians 20 |