courage as a patriot Statesman and Soldier his wisdom and energy as a citizen-and his benevolence and integrity as a man, will at last compel the admiration of the world."

"His great popularity and influence exposed him to jealousy and envy, and he was one of the first objects upon which the power of that domineering and persecuting Primate, Archbishop Laud, was brought to bear. He was driven from his church in London, and compelled to abandon his country. He fled to Holland. But his fame had preceded him, and he was immediately called to take charge of a congregation in Rotterdam. He remained four or five years in the United Provinces. While there, he attracted the admiration of the learned men throughout the continent, and so great was the regard in which he was held, that the celebrated Dr. William Ames, the memorable champion of the Reformed Churches at that period, removed to Rotterdam for the sole purpose of enjoying his acquaintance and co-operation in the ministry. The learned Amesius,' says Mr. Peters, in one of his writings, breathed his last breath into my bosom, who left his Professorship in Friesland to live with me, because of my church's independency at Rotterdam. He was my colleague, and chosen brother to the church, where I was an unworthy pastor.'

"It was while he was thus living in prosperity and in honour, that his active and benevolent spirit felt an attraction towards the poor and feeble settlements of New-England. He perceived a wide field of usefulness opened to him here, and came over the ocean to occupy it. Within about two years from the time of his arrival, he was ordained pastor of this church. His residence in America continued seven years. Faithful tradition, corroborating the testimony, and supplying the deficiencies of the imperfect records of that day, has informed us of his energy, his usefulness, and his eloquence.* He left the stamp of his beneficent and wonderful genius upon the agriculture, the fisheries, the manufactures, the commerce, and the navigation of New-England. Salem never advanced so rapidly, as during the period of his residence here. He reformed the police, introduced the arts, and erected a water-mill, a glass-house, and salt-works. He encouraged the planting of hemp, and established a market-house. He formed the plan of the fisheries, and of the coasting and foreign voyages. Under his influence many ships were built, one of them of three hundred tons. He checked the tendency of the people to religious dissipation, by diminishing the number of lectures

Enon was the name originally given by the Colonists to the district which has since been incorporated as the town of Wenham. Near the shore of the beautiful lake in that place, and not far from the public road, there is a small conical hill, which is often called Peters' Hill, or Peters' Pulpit. It is related that, on one occasion, Hugh Peters addressed a large concourse of people from its summit. The following was his text: John iii. 23, “ At Enon, near to Salem, because there was much water there. This will ever be regarded as a classical and consecrated spot.

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and conferences which they were in the habit of attending. As a preacher and pastor he was eminently successful. In the course of five years, eighty male and as many female members were added to his church. He took an active part in the service of the infant College; and through his whole life continued to confer his benefactions upon the inhabitants of the Colony. It was not until after repeated solicitations on the part of the General Court of Massachusetts, that his affectionate and admiring church and congregation consented to let him accept the commission to which he had been several times appointed, that of agent or ambassador from the Plantations to the Government at home.

"It is honourable to his character to find, that, after his return to his own country, he continued to hold in grateful and respectful remembrance the people with whom he had resided in America. In a sermon preached before both Houses of Parliament, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, and the Assembly of Divines, he passes the following eulogium upon our early ancestors; would that their descendants might also merit it! 'I have lived,' said he, 'in a country, where, in seven years, I never saw a beggar, nor heard an oath, nor looked upon a drunkard.'

"Soon after his arrival in England, he was led to visit Ireland. He found the people of that island, who, through the whole period of their history almost to this day, have at the same time challenged the admiration of the world for their ardent virtues, and awakened its compassion for their wretched condition, in a most deplorable state of poverty and distress. His heart was touched by the sight of their misery; and, prompted solely by the dictates of his generous nature, he seized the first moment of leisure, and undertook to go over to Holland, the country of his former residence, for the purpose of collecting the means of relief for the poor Irish sufferers. And, in a short time, he returned with what would be considered, even in our day, an enormous sum gathered by the individual exertions of a private man, thirty thousand pounds sterling. It was wholly collected in the United Provinces, and Mr. Peters enjoyed the heavenly satisfaction of distributing it to the impoverished and the hungry. This noble act proves the energy, the influence, and the benevolence of his character.

"He served the Republican cause most earnestly and most faithfully during the wars of the Parliament, and the government of the Protector. While he gave his whole soul to that cause, he was ever found the advocate of mercy and mildness towards the Royalists. But, notwithstanding this, so great was his ability, and so important had his services been to the Puritans, that he became a distinguished mark for the reproaches, the invectives, and the vengeance of the friends of the Royal government; and, upon the restoration of Charles II. he was selected as one of the most conspicuous victims of his wrath. He was condemned to execution.

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During his confinement in the Tower, he composed a small volume for the benefit of his daughter, entitled 'A Dying Father's Last Legacy.' It would not, perhaps, be saying too much

to affirm, that there are few, if any, better works of the kind in the language than this. It is judicious, practical, and interesting. A lofty and pure strain of devotion pervades it. The child to whom he addressed it, appears to have been the object of his most tender love. It is replete with the evidences of his genius and eloquence, although there are throughout those peculiar marks of incorrectness, inadvertency, and abruptness in the style, which reveal an agitation of soul to which an affectionate parent, in circumstances like his, could not but have been subject. Many beautiful and affecting passages might be collected from it. He thus recommends an approving conscience. 'Do not grieve conscience twice; it must be your best friend, yea, when friends, and world, and all leave you to solitariness. It will make a soft bed for you in your greatest sorrow. **** Remember, a good Conscience and Sin cannot live together: Let but this bird sing sweetly within, and let heaven and earth come together,-thou shalt be safe, my poor child.'”

"It is enough to make the heart bleed to think of the situation in which the 'poor child,' to whom he addressed his dying advice, was left. She was a forlorn, forsaken, helpless creature; the memory of her revered father was loaded with infamy, she was utterly destitute of friends, of sympathy, and of the means of subsistence. I do first,' says the wretched parent,commend you to the Lord, and then to the care of a faithful friend, whom I shall name unto you, if a friend may be found in this juncture, that dare own your name. And if I go shortly, where time shall be no more, sink not, but lay thy head in His bosom who can keep thee, for He sits upon the waves. Farewell!-And since we must part-must part: take my wishes, sighs, and groans, to follow thee, and pity the feebleness of what I have sent, being writ under much, yea very much discomposure of spirit.' After advising her to procure, upon his departure, a situation as a servant in some godly family,' he makes the following proposal. • But if you would go home to New-England (which you have much reason to do), go with good company, and trust God there: the church are a tender company.' Although the imagination is left to conjecture the particulars of the life of this desolate young orphan, it is delightful to our hearts to think that she did seek refuge in that New-England, which was so dear to her father. The God to whom he committed her in his dying hour, did not desert her. There is reason to believe, that the people of this place, that tender company' to whom he commended her, received her into the arms of their love and compassion, and did for her every thing that gratitude and benevolence could suggest. "On the day after his condemnation, Mr. Peters was sufficiently composed to preach a sermon, it being the Sabbath, to his fellowconvicts in Newgate. It was from this text, 'Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him.' He was dragged to execution upon a sledge, and was compelled to witness the death of his friend and co-patriot, the former Solicitor-General, Mr. Justice Cook; while in this situation, some one came to him, and

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reproached him with the death of the king. He replied, with the most perfect mildness and presence of mind, Friend, you do not well to trample upon a dying man, and you are greatly mistaken, for I had nothing to do in the death of the king.' When the body of his friend had been cut down and quartered, the savage executioner came to him, rubbing together his hands besmeared in blood, and atrociously asked, How do you like this, Mr. Peters; how do you like this work?' The venerable patriot answered, "I am not, I thank God, terrified at it; you may do your worst.' As he approached the gallows, he beckoned to a person whom he happened to know, and entrusted to him a piece of gold, having first bent it, to be conveyed, as a parting token of affection, to his daughter. Tell her,' said he, that my heart is full of comfort. I am ready to die; weep not for me; let them weep who part and shall never meet again. You and I shall meet again in heaven; and, before this piece of gold reaches you, I shall be with God in glory, where is no night, no need of a candle, nor of the sun, for the Lord will give us light.' When he had ascended the ladder, he turned to the officer of the law, and said, in the most solemn manner, Sir, you have slain one of the servants of God before mine eyes, and have made me to behold it, on purpose to terrify and discourage me; but God hath made it an ordinance unto me, for my strengthening and encouragement.' The last words he uttered were these, Oh, this is a good day! He is come that I have long looked for, and I shall be with him in glory.' The faithful historian, who has preserved for us a record of the sublime fortitude, and true Christian courage of this great man, during the awful closing scene, informs us, that he smiled when he went away.'

"Such is a brief sketch of the life and death of a man, whose name is enrolled among the pastors of this church. What a delightful privilege will it be to him, who shall write its history, to rescue this illustrious philanthropist and patriot from the reproach which has been suffered so long to lie upon his memory, and to hold him forth to gratitude and admiration, as the eloquent and consistent defender of the Reformation on the continent of Europe, as the compassionate friend and helper of suffering Ireland, as the active, disinterested, and judicious benefactor of America, and as the intrepid assertor and faithful martyr of English liberty!"

(To be Continued.)

THE CHRISTIAN PIONEER.

GLASGOW, February 1, 1830.

THE Fifth Anniversary of the opening of the Unitarian Meeting-House, Salford, Manchester, was celebrated on Sunday and Monday, the 27th and 28th December. In

the morning of Sunday, the Rev. Dr. Carpenter of Bristol, preached to a numerous congregation in the Greengate Meeting-House; and in the evening, the Rev. Dr. Hutton of Leeds, preached to a large assembly of persons of various religious sects, at Cross-Street Chapel; and on Monday morning, Dr. Carpenter preached at the Unitarian Chapel, Mosley-Street. The collections on these occasions, towards the discharge of the debt due on the Greengate Chapel, amounted to £71: 12. On Monday afternoon, at two o'clock, the subscribers and friends to that chapel, about 140 in number, sat down to dinner in the schoolroom connected therewith. Mark Philips, Esq. of the Park, Prestwich, in the chair, and Mr. George Gill, vicepresident. After dinner, various suitable toasts and sentiments were given; and the company were addressed on the prospects of the Unitarian dissenters, on the separation amongst the Presbyterians in the north of Ireland, and other topics adapted to the occasion, by the Revds. Dr. Carpenter and Hutton, J. R. Beard, J. G. Robberds, John James Tayler, R. B. Aspland (of Chester), and other ministers. Mr. Richard Potter, Mr. John Edward Taylor, Robert Philips, Esq., Mr. Richard Collins, Mr. Gill, and one or two other gentlemen also addressed the company.

Synod of Ulster-The Father Inquisitors of this intolerant Assembly, have been labouring most zealously in their vocation-the excitement of strife and all unholy pas-" sions, in order that bigotry and ignorance may prolong their unrighteous reign. They have been aided by no unapt familiars in their crusade against the rising spirit of inquiry, and of Christian candour. Nor have their efforts been altogether fruitless. Ill-fated Ireland appears to teem with individuals exactly adapted to be the tools of fanaticism, whether religious or political. With such instruments to work with, dissension, and clamour, and ill will, have been stirred up in many a society, that would otherwise probably have remained at peace. It is a pity when St. Patrick cleansed the land from all noxious and venomous reptiles, that he did not also chase from its borders, the fearful spirit of sectarian presumption-the impious claim of lordship over other men's consciences. If, whilst he

was working his marvels, he had exorcised the foul fiend of intolerance, whose "sting outvenoms all the worms of Nile," he would indeed have been a benefactor, worthy