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thinkers, delivered two sermons, one of six times on three Sundays, lectured which we heard, on his reasons for re- once, presided over two reading meetings, nouncing Infidelity. They were de- and one Society's meeting. At Yarlivered in the Augustine Independent mouth he lectured twice during his visit Church, Clapham Road, and there was to Lowestoft. Mr. Deans has also naturally a very large attendance of per- preached at Lowestoft six times on sons eager to hear them. They have since three Sundays; on two of these Sundays been published, and in a brief prefatory Mr. Rhodes officiated at Brightlingstatement Dr. Sexton states that about sea, and on the other Mr. Gunton. five years ago he was led, by a course of While at Lowestoft Mr. Gunton visited providential circumstances, to re-con- the Sunday-school, and addressed the sider the whole question of Christian scholars, on each of the three Sundays. evidences which he had so long been At the Society's meeting the state and accustomed to look upon as closed, so prospects of the Society financially and far as he himself was concerned, and otherwise were carefully reviewed, and that the result was the discovery of the an intended course of action proposed. utter fallacy of his sceptical views. The Society is still needing a minister. Gradually," he says, "I returned as The visit to Chatteris was after a long far as the broad principles of Christian absence of missionary aid, and the truth were concerned-to the faith of Society was found in a feeble state, but my early life, and finally, to the posi- with some intimations of improvement. tion with which I commenced my public The Rev. Thomas Chalklen now resides career, that of a preacher of the glad there, and reads one of his discourses, tidings of salvation through Christ." which were spoken of as excellent, every The two discourses to which we have Sabbath. Other friends read the service, made reference were delivered on the and a discourse from the Messenger. suggestion and at the invitation of the The visit to St. Ives was to toll the Rev. David Thomas, D.D., pastor of funeral knell of the Society. The pretty Saint Augustine's, and whose reputa- little church, out of debt, freehold, has tion for zeal and ability is no doubt been closed about five months, and a sufficiently well known to our readers. resolution was adopted to let the buildThe first of these sermons was entitled, ing, as it cannot be sold by the trustees "Without God in the World." We until it has remained unused for worship pass by Dr. Sexton's mode of dealing for two years. This shows the need of with Atheism, Pantheism, and so on, to young, energetic, self-sacrificing, minisgive his closing words on the necessity ters; men of earnestness of purpose, of faith in Christ "To reject Christ is who do not hesitate to walk a dozen to be without God in the world, for miles when necessary, and talk earthere is no way to God but through nestly any number of times in the week: Him, who is the brightness of God's with one such placed over the Societies glory, and the express image of His Per- at Chatteris and St. Ives, officiating son. You may pile up systems upon once at each place every Sabbath, new systems of philosophy; you may invent life, vigour, and usefulness would be great schemes for regenerating mankind; infused into every one connected with you may penetrate into nature's inner- the Societies, and many persons surmost recess, and wring from her secrets rounding them. At Northampton a hid from the beginning of the world; very different state of things exists. The you may propound schemes of society Rev. Mr. Payton suits his congregation, for the perfection of social order and which has considerably increased under ethical codes for the reformation of con- his pastorate. The attendance on the ducts,-all these are good in their way; occasion of Mr. Gunton's visit was excelbut they will not save the soul, because lent; in the evening the room was quite they are incapable of regenerating the full. On the Monday a tea and Society's inner man.' meeting was held, both of which were well attended. The friends here, sonie few of them at anyrate, have for some time desired a proper place of worship. To reach their present room every one has to ascend over fifty steps. The few before mentioned, some time ago, com

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NATIONAL MISSIONARY INSTITUTION. -During the month of October Mr. Gunton has visited Lowestoft, Yarmouth, Chatteris, St. Ives, and North ampton. At Lowestoft he preached

able persons to become Honorary Members, whose subscriptions of 2s. 6d. a year would help the finances of the Society, and in this sense be doing useful service.

Mr. Charles Higham deplored the very slow growth of the Church as an outward organization. He was second to none in respect for the visible Church, but for his part should be equally happy if the world became New Church in life, as if our particular organization became universal. He went on to say that a very gratifying province of the work of the Society was, that it addressed itself to a considerable extent to the leaders of public opinion, and it was impossible to know where such influence ended.

menced a building fund, and their gene- of office. He pointed out, however, that rosity has put together over £150. With the rules of the Society enabled acceptthis in hand an earnest desire has come over the Society to take another step, and that step was taken at the meeting on Monday the 30th of October, which by resolution instructed Mr. Negus, Mr. Greeves, and Mr. Gunton, to conclude the purchase of a plot of freehold ground, 45 feet by 67, which they had previously inspected, at a cost of about £225. This ground is admirably situated, and in all respects very suitable for the purpose. The owner made an allowance of about £25, on account of its being for a place of worship, and allowed the Society, after paying the deposit, till the 1st of May to collect the remainder. After the payment of this sum the Society intends to tax itself to accumulate a fund for building purposes, and in due course will appeal to the Church at large for additional aid, which appeal will no doubt be responded to with the same liberality which has ever been shown on such an appeal being made. The accounts of the services of Mr. Boyle at Horncastle, and of Mr. Fairweather at Melbourne, appear to be of a very satisfactory character.

AUXILIARY NEW CHURCH MISSIONARY AND TRACT SOCIETY.-The Second Anniversary Festival of this Society was held at Palace Gardens Church on Wed

nesday, November 1st. Mr. J. A. Bayley, the President of the Society, occupied the chair. Mr. Bayley stated that the Society aimed at becoming a kind of New Church "Argus," whose eyes should be constantly upon any event that had reference, direct or indirect, to the cause at heart, and concluded by pointing out in what way the Society could be assisted by the friends generally.

One of the features of the evening was the presence of the Rev. W. B. Hayden, of the Portland (U. S., A.) Society, who kindly consented to address the meeting, and gave some very interesting items of intelligence, all showing that New Church truth is slowly but surely gaining ground in America. Refreshments were provided, and the pleasure of the meeting was much enhanced by excellent selections of music. The Rev. Dr. Bayley opened the meeting with prayer, and the Rev. J. Presland pronounced the benediction.

REV. DR. TAFEL.-The North Metropolitan of November 11th gives the following report of a meeting to welcome home Dr. and Mrs. Tafel:-On Tuesday evening there was a social meeting of the members and friends of the New Jerusalem Church, Camden Road, to welcome home their minister (Dr. Tafel) and his wife on their return from America. As it was anticipated that Professor Tafel would give some Mr. Cushing spoke on that part of account of his experiences in the great the Society's work with which he had Republic, there was a large gathering been much engaged, viz., the prepara- of members and friends; but as he had tion of a sheet of "short paragraphs" promised to give a lecture to the Junfor the use of editors. One thousand for Members' Mutual Improvement copies of this sheet had been printed, Society on the 28th inst., subject, and would be shortly distributed among "America Revisited in 1876," his rethose who could select from it passages for completing their columns.

Mr. Elliott, jun., the Secretary of the Society, explained that the Society was anxious to secure the active co-operation of those who would work hard and shrink from none of the responsibilities

marks on the present occasion were limited to what he found in the New Church in America, and comparing that with how things are done in England. In Boston the New Church is one of the fashionable churches, and the same might be said of it in Cincinnatti, and in Bath

in the State of Maine, so that the status
of the New Church in America is better
than here, and for the reason that there
is no State paid Church there. All the
Churches are on the same platform, and
those that can get the most paying
members can show a heavier front and
weigh more, financially, than the others,
but the New Church in many States
does not take such a prominent position.
Again, the members of the New Church
in America belong, generally, to the
higher classes, if there can be said to be
any higher classes in America, where
society is not ranked out as in this
country. The New Church is reputed
to be composed of members who are in-
telligent, well educated, and occupying
a very good position. All the large
States have their particular New Church
Associations, and these associations meet
every six months, and do a great deal of
the business which in England is done
at the Conference. The licensing of
ministers, the missionary work, and such
like, are done by the associations, so that
the general body of the Church, called
Convention, has little to do except to
receive the reports from the various as-
sociations and other bodies of the Church.
The American brethren are more con-
servative than in England. In America
they have sixty-three ordained ministers
officiating, and a dozen more who do not
officiate regularly; and lay preaching is
below par in America. Licentiates have
not the power to administer the Sacra-
ment, but in each of the associations
there is a presiding officer who is the
ordaining minister, and whose business.
it is to go to those Societies that cannot
afford to have an ordained minister and
administer the Sacrament. In some
places the worship differs very much
from others. In certain churches the
whole service consists of portions of
Scripture arranged in devotional order,
and hymns are excluded, chants only
being sung, while in other places the
singing of hymus is practised. In Phila-
delphia the New Church Convention
was held, and there was also another
gathering-the American Conference of
New Church Ministers, a most impor-
tant and useful body. Every year,
whether the Convention meets or not,
the Conference meets, and the ministers
are divided into twelve classes, each
class having a chairman and secretary.
All the questions that are raised in the

Church have reference to one or other of these classes, and questions are committed to them to be reported upon. Dr. Tafel proceeded to give some very interesting details of his personal experience, which he related in a manner under which there was a quiet vein of humour, making the whole very entertaining. At the conclusion of the address, on the motion of Mr. Penn, seconded by Mr. Smith, it was unanimously resolved :-"That the members of this society, and friends present at this meeting, have much pleasure in tendering their very sincere congratulations to Professor and Mrs. Tafel on their safe return to England and their own society.' Afterwards a well selected musical programme was gone through in a most pleasing manner, and the social meeting was appropriately concluded by refreshments.

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TALKS TO THE CHILDREN. The Literary World gives the following notice of this interesting little book :"Twelve admirable little addresses delivered to the New Church Sundayschool, Camden Road, by the minister and teachers. It is to be hoped that this volume may find its way into the hands of very many besides those for whom it was originally intended. The 'talks' are sensible and practical, and can hardly be read without profit. Publisher: James Speirs, 36 Bloomsbury Street."

SCOTLAND.-ANNUAL MEETING OF

THE

SCOTTISH ASSOCIATION OF THE NEW CHURCH.-This meeting, which excites considerable interest among the members of the New Church in Scotland, was held on the 26th of October in the New Jerusalem Church, Cathedral Street, Glasgow. In the afternoon a meeting was held for the election of officers and the transaction of the business of the association. R. M. Paterson, Esq., of Paisley, presided, and a lengthened conversation took place on suggested methods of labour in the future, and improvements in the organization and working of the Society. At this meeting also the Committee's report was read and adopted. From the report it appeared that, considering the recent establishment of the Society and its limited resources both in labourers and funds, a large amount of useful work

has been accomplished. Public lectures have been given in many places by Mr. Gunton and by Revs. J. F. Potts and W. C. Barlow. A large number of New Church tracts have been distributed and books sold, so that the seeds of truth have been somewhat extensively sown. Other services are also in contemplation, and the Society has before it a great and promising work. To interest the members of the Church more extensively in this work, and thereby to obtain ampler means for the prosecution of its great mission, it was determined this year to print and circulate the report.

At the close of this meeting a large assembly sat down to tea. After tea a public meeting was held in the church, which was well filled in every part. Alexander M'Lean, Esq., occupied the chair, and in his opening remarks dwelt on the importance of the New Church doctrine of use. Every one could perform some use. We were required to be useful to ourselves, to our neighbour, and to the Church. The Church was especially deserving our efforts of use, and through the Church our uses were extended to the world around us.

The Rev. R. Storry, who was present by invitation of the Committee, dwelt on the mission of the New Church. Every institution, said the speaker, has its mission, and it succeeds or fails as it accomplishes or fails to accomplish this mission. The mission of Christianity is to make men Christian. This is more than the reception of a system of doctrine or of ethical teaching. It is faith in Christ united with life from Christ. It is a new life of love, love to God and love to the neighbour, enlightened and guided into wise and useful activity by genuine truth. Two agencies are ever active in the Church, the truth which it teaches and the error springing from evil, to which we are naturally inclined. The Lord predicted that evil and error would gain the ascendancy in the Church, but combined with this prediction the promise that He would come again. The New Church is the fulfilment of this promise. It is a restored Christianity. It is a wiser conception of Christian truth and a deeper inspiration of Christian life. The mission of the New Church is the mission of Christianity itself. It is to make men in the highest and best sense Christian. This involves the restoration, or, rather, the

institution of a rational faith and the formation, culture, and growth of a truly Christian character. Christianity was builded on facts. The mission of the New Church is to expound these facts, to make manifest their interior meaning and significance, to show their relation to the spiritual life, and to lead by the deeper wisdom of the Word to a higher and holier life.

Mr. Paterson, Paisley, dwelt upon the sphere and influence of Christian love. By love we attain elevation of mind and character, and from this elevation we are to let our light shine before men. So far as we are in good we are in God. To impart to others is the measure of our growth in goodness. If we do good, we shall receive good; if we do evil, evil will return upon us.

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Rev. J. F. Potts in an able speech discussed the doctrine of Divine operation and human co-operation, pointing out their mutual relation and interdependence on each other. He was followed by Mr. M'Lachlan, Alloa, who spoke on "Our Church, its present position and future prospects. It is a great privilege, said Mr. M'Lachlan, to have a Church, to have confidence in its doctrines, and assurance of its growth. The present position of the Church as to its external growth is equal to that of any other Christian community. Its future would depend upon the faith and labour of its members.

Other addresses of interest were delivered, and a selection of appropriate anthems given by the choir. A novel feature of the meeting was an interval of nearly an hour, during which friends returned to the schoolroom to enter into pleasant social converse. During this interval fruit was served, and several part-songs were very effectively sung by the choir. The attendance was more numerous than on any former occasion, and the proceedings were throughout pleasant and interesting.

GLASGOW.-On Sunday, October 29th, two sermons were preached in the church in Cathedral Street, by the Rev. R. Storry. The church was well filled at each service by a most attentive congregation. At the close of the morning service the sacrament of the Holy Supper was administered to one hundred communicants. A pleasant social meeting was held in the schoolroom on Thursday

evening, November 2nd, by the young persons connected with the minister's Bible class. The class was joined by a few friends, the number present amounting to fifty. The purpose of the meeting was to present the minister, Rev. J. F. Potts, B. A., with a token of their esteem. The present provided consisted of a selection of forty-five volumes of books. The principal of these was Smith's "Bible Dictionary," the others were selections from Messrs. Clark's Foreign Library. The presentation was made by Mr. A. M'Donnell in a few appropriate and cordial words, and accepted by Mr. Potts as an evidence of their affection, and esteem for the truths he had with so much pleasure been permitted to teach them. The Rev. R. Storry in the course of the evening gave an address on the orderly formation of the external man. The rest of the proceedings consisted of music and recreations.

On Friday, November 3rd, the first of the monthly social meetings was held, and was attended by over seventy persons. At this meeting the Rev. R. Storry introduced as the subject for conversation, the question of the Sustentation and Ministers' Aid Fund. At the close of his address several other friends took part in the conversation. Mr. Andrew Eadie suggested several emendations in the rules adopted by the Council. But as these rules are suggestive and tentative, and will doubtless receive full consideration before their final adoption by the next Conference, no imperfections need to interfere with the collection of funds and the working of the institution. Rev. Mr. Potts dwelt on the importance of small contributions. There are very nearly five thousand members of the New Church. A subscription of a penny a week from each of these would give £1000 a year, which would be equal to our present wants. Of the sixty Societies in the New Church one-half were self-supporting. Assuming that the other half could raise two-thirds the amount required for their support, their contribution of £2000, added to £1000 from the fund, would make £3000, and give to each of these thirty Societies £100 per annum. Several other members of the church took part in the conversation, and the meeting closed with a resolution directing the Committee for Scotland appointed by the Conference to take im

mediate steps to promote the establishment of the fund.

BIRMINGHAM.-The November Manual of this society records the continued presentation of valuable gifts towards the completion and adornment of their new church. A friend from a neighbouring town, by a timely gift, has enabled the Committee to insert decorative glass in the screen near the entrance. "Another gentleman, a nonattendant, offered a handsome enamelled and gilt alms dish. The dish is large, and covered with suitable art work. In the centre is engraved and enamelled an outline group of the offerings of the wise men from the East. On the circumference is the motto 'Offer to the Lord of thy substance.' This is a valuable gift, and the more so as furnishing still another to the already many instances of Christian fellowship and good wishes on the part of members of other Communions. The church is now approaching completion, and everything looks promising for a tolerably complete state of finish by the opening date."

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LIVERPOOL.-There was a doubly interesting evening of the Bedford Street Society on the 24th ult., for the Liverpool auxiliary branch of Missionary and Tract Society held a meeting to enlist the members of the Church in their work and object, and the occasion was made use of to welcome back to England Dr. and Mrs. Tafel, who had arrived from America on the previous day. After tea the chair was taken by Mr. Whiteside, whose labours in connection with the Auxiliary Society are well known, and on the platform were also Mr. Parkes, the secretary, Mr. Pixton, and the Rev. R. Goldsack. The chairman having introduced the special business of the meeting in a speech full of missionary zeal, Mr. Pixton proposed a warm reception to Dr. Tafel and his good lady, and a vote of thanks to them for their kindness in remaining to take part in the proceedings of the evening. These were heartily accorded, and then Mr. Parkes detailed the course taken by the auxiliary committee for the past two or three years, showing what works had been circulated, what means taken of spreading the truths of the New Church, and calling upon the members of the

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