-Can he suggest ideas?-Judas-Ananias-Can he direct the attention to tempting objects?—The advantages he possesses over us-invisibility, experience, &c. &c. -Our danger-apathy-Mistakes respecting the temptations of Satan-Our dutyBest way of resisting temptation-General improvement-Conclusion.

OPENING OF A NEW CHAPEL AT DUNFERMLINE.-A very elegant and commodious chapel was opened for public worship in Dunfermline, on Sabbath, the 2nd of January. Mr. Cullen, of Leith, preached in the forenoon; Mr. Thomson, the pastor of the church, in the afternoon; and Dr. Paterson in the evening. The house was respectably filled during the day, and in the evening crowded to excess. Hundreds, it is believed, were unable to obtain admittance. The audiences, since then, continue to be most encouraging. In the afternoon and evening, which are the only parts of the day on which there is regular preaching, the chapel is respectably filled. The church is increasing in numbers, and, with the pastor, are cheered by increasing tokens of the Divine blessing.--Scottish Congregational Magazine.

CENTENARY SErvices at the OLD MEETING HOUSE, NORWICH.-The completion of the second century since the settlement of Congregationalist Christians in Norwich, has induced the members of the church which traces its existence to that distant event, to celebrate the Divine goodness to them and their ancestors in a series of religious services.

On Lord's-day, Feb. 27, their pastor, and the Rev. A. Reed, delivered two centenary discourses. That in the morning embraced a survey of the civil and religious position of the exiles, who, after some years' residence in Rotterdam, where they found shelter from religious persecution, returned in the year 1642 to their native city, and became the nucleus of the Norwich church.

In the evening, the preacher sought to remind the church of several practical lessons derivable from the above historic sketch. Probably these discourses will soon appear in print.

On Monday Evening, Feb. 28, a special Prayer Meeting.

On Tuesday Morning, March 1, the first stone of a new Sabbath-school was laid by the Rev. A. Reed. It is to cost about £700; the greater part of this sum is already raised. The structure will be large, commodious, and contiguous to the meeting.

At twelve o'clock, the school, consisting of about 350 children, was assembled. All preparations were made. The morning proving rainy, the ceremony was hastily performed-about £20 of fresh contributions was laid upon the stone. The assembly adjourned to the meeting, where the Rev. A. Reed addressed the adult audience, and the Rev. J. Curwen, of Stowmarket, the children. The children sang some pieces suitable to the occasion, and received some cakes, &c.

The pastor and his friends proceeded to plant several trees in the burial-ground, as memorials of the centenary.

In the evening, a large and attentive congregation was addressed in the meeting house by the Rev. J. Alexander, of Norwich; Rev. J. Curwen, of Stowmarket; Rev. W. Brock, of Norwich. The appeals and statements referred chiefly to the centenary, and also to the first anniversary of Mr. Reed's ordination, which occurred on that night.

On Wednesday evening, March 2, the members of the church met to tea in the assembly rooms-the expense being defrayed by subscription. After tea, the meeting commenced by solemn prayer and praise. Mr. Reed briefly opened the evening's engagements. The deacons of the church followed the pastor with addresses of much seriousness and power. Between the addresses, the pastor read, and the church 2 P

N. S. VOL. VI.

adopted, some letters which he had drawn up, and proposed to send to the sister church at Yarmouth-to the church at Rotterdam, where the Norwich expatriots found refuge--to the Norfolk association-to the Congregational Union-and to the congregation usually worshipping in the Old Meeting House. It was unanimously agreed to despatch the former to their various destinations, and to request the pastor to read the last after service on Sabbath morning, the whole church pledging themselves to pray for its success. They separated after praise and prayer.

Apart from these services-in consequence of Mr. Curwen's visit to the city, a densely crowded meeting was held in Princes Street Meeting, on Thursday evening, March 3, when Mr. C. addressed the friends, teachers, and children of Sunday schools, on the best methods of communicating instruction to the young.

BRIEF NOTES ON PASSING EVENTS.

It is not an easy task, within the narrow limits assigned for this department, satisfactorily to notice the many events of public interest which have transpired during the last two months, which have been probably the busiest of the year. Our readers must, therefore, excuse the brevity with which we glance at some of them, that we may find space for others that are more important, as relating to the progress of truth and goodness at home or abroad.

The FOREIGN news since we last wrote has supplied intelligence of the deepest interest and anxiety.

Our countrymen were pursuing their victorious course along the coasts of China, and, at the date of the last dispatches, the Island of Chusan was re-occupied, and the cities of Chinhoe and Ningpo were captured, and another attack on Canton meditated. A sad reverse, accompanied with the severest sufferings and a most frightful loss of life, has befallen our army on the west of the Indus. The expedition to AFFGANISTAN was undertaken to restore to the throne of his ancestors, the Schah Soojah, who had been in poverty and exile for nearly thirty years. The object of this enterprize was to place a friendly power between our Indian frontier and that of Persia, whose court, at the time it was undertaken, was far more disposed to further the wishes of the Russian Autocrat than of the Governor General of India. Our brave countrymen, on their march into that remote region, endured appalling hardships, and displayed prodigious valour. Though every where victorious, yet they felt that the cold, haughty bearing of the Schah would never win the regard of his subjects, and that the stability of his throne depended not on his own character, but on that of his British allies. Unhappily, a misunderstanding about the payment of a species of black mail, or tribute to petty, but independent, mountain chiefs, who command the passes, has given occasion for an insurrection amongst these daring mountaineers, who possess much of the courage and all the malignity of genuine Mussulmen. The details of the sad effects of their revolt against their sovereign and our army have not yet come to hand; but it is too well known that our troops were compelled to evacuate Cabool and commence a disastrous retreat, in which it is feared several thousands perished by the harrassing attacks of their foes amidst the rigours of winter and the effects of fatigue and famine. But a most humiliating part of the story is yet to be told. Sir W. H. M'Naughten, the British envoy and minister at the court of Cabool, while engaged in a conference with the sons of Dost Mahomed, the deposed Schah, on the 25th of December, having had terms proposed to him which he considered derogatory, replied, "That death is preferable to dishonour: that we put our trust in the God of battles, and in his name would defy our enemies ;" when he was sud denly assassinated by the faithless Mussulmen, together with his attendants, his body being cruelly mutilated, and his head exhibited, with every mark of indignity, to

their barbarous soldiery. It is painful to add, that Lady M'Naughten, with many others, fell into the hands of the rebels, but it is hoped that their persons have been held sacred. A most formidable British armament was on its way to Cabool, only awaiting the opening of the spring, and humanity shudders at the thought of the consequences which will necessarily follow this treacherous murder of the ambassador and representative of our gracious Queen. Policy dictates a course over which philanthropy and religion must weep.

The Bishop of JERUSALEM has made a public entry to the ancient capital, attended with a showy cavalcade, which the French papers smartly say, was not like Him who came "lowly, riding upon an ass," surrounded by humble pedestrians, his poor disciples. It is stated, that the Porte, having declined to issue any special firman in the bishop's favour, or to own his rank or mission, the worthy prelate soon found himself in painful, and, indeed, humiliating circumstances; for groups of boys and men, nominal Christians, gathered around his abode, and expressed their hostility by groans and offensive words, and when he performed Divine service, he was interrupted by menaces that threatened him personal injury. He applied to the Governor for a guard, which was declined. A message was sent to the Consul General at Beyrout, who dispatched the Phoenix steamer to Constantinople with intelligence for Sir S. Canning respecting it. Our ambassador is said to have made a very stringent representation to the Porte, but that no answer had been received. The College of Ullmahs are opposed to the building of a Protestant church at Jerusalem, and their Mahometan prejudices are strengthened by popish intrigues. And what is to follow, if the Turk will not give way? Must we go to war about it, or submit to have British authority despised? Such an alternative may follow this unadvised mixing up of our government with the ambitious projects of the Church. While all is excitement about this matter at the consulate in Beyrout, many of the clergy of Berlin ask for information respecting this Anglo-Germanic project before they make collections. In the mean time, we see that there is to be a collection at the Jews' Chapel in Bethnal Green, on behalf of " The Jerusalem Bishopric Fund!"

Affairs in the south of EUROPE must interest every friend of the rights and liberties of mankind. PORTUGAL has been the scene of recent political changes, the tendency of which is unfavourable to papal domination. SPAIN has been threatened by the intrigues of traitors, sheltered in the territory of France, with another fratricidal war. It is most satisfactory to record, that a frank and generous avowal of sympathy with the Regent of Spain has been made in Parliament by Lord Aberdeen and Sir Robert Peel, which has blighted the hopes of the plotting incendiaries, and made the name of England still more dear to the Spanish people. As the property of the church in that country has to a great extent been employed for the exigencies of the state, the Pope has published an Apostolic letter, addressed to the faithful, in which he states, “that Spain, once the most zealous country for the defence of Catholic union, is now menaced with separation from the Holy See, and that the Catholic religion is exposed to the attacks of discord and impiety;" and therefore orders that the prayers of all good Catholics shall be offered up for a change in the oppressed state of religion in that country. While Espartero forbids the receipt, circulation, or execution of any mandate from Rome, within the kingdom of Spain, under certain penalties, the Archbishop of Paris has obeyed the injunction of his Holiness, and has called upon the clergy of France to unite in prayer to that end. This has excited a lively discussion in the French papers, some of which deprecate the conduct of the archbishop, who, as a public functionary, and paid by the state, endangers the peace of the two countries. Others contend, that the church is independent of the state; to which it is replied, that that can never be while his stipend is derived from the funds of the nation. It has been truly and eloquently said: "Governments can no

more restrain mind within the church, than they can prevent minds from quitting or protesting against it. And they will find ere long that there is a Vesuvius beneath their feet, which nothing can render innocuous but procuring a peaceful vent for the lava, by destroying the connexion of church and state.” *

It is worthy of remark, that while Sir Robert Peel eulogized the present government of Spain, and delivered sentiments to which the opposition warmly responded, Mr. O'Connell denounced Espartero, and complained of the sufferings of the clergy. By which it is apparent, that when the liberties of a nation are opposed to the interests of the church, even the most liberal Roman Catholics will uphold the authority of the one at the expense of the freedom of the other.

At HOME, public attention has been occupied by the movements of a truly royal visitor, the good King of Prussia; by the meeting of Parliament, and all the plans and projects of ministers and oppositionists to meet the exigencies of the state.

King Frederick William, of Prussia, has witnessed the pompous ceremonials of the royal baptism, with blazing tapers on the altar, and water, from Jordan, in the font, visited many distinguished persons and places, and received addresses of congratulation from incorporated and voluntary associations, amongst which, we may name deputations from the British and Foreign Bible Society-the Jews Society-and the dissenting ministers of London. He was entertained at (amongst other places) the Archiepiscopal Palace of Lambeth, where he revived the old Jacobite toast, and gave "Queen and Church." As a truly religious man, these scenes, when contrasted with the primitive simplicity of his own clergy, must suggest some interesting reflections, and it will require all the tact of his minister extraordinary for ecclesiastical affairs, to persuade him and his people, that such worldly splendour can comport with the genius of the New Testament.

Parliament met on the 3rd of February, and has been occupied in considering the proposed amendment of the Corn Laws, and the financial plans of the new Premier. Unsatisfactory as are Sir Robert's views on the corn question, yet his measure, if carried, will permanently lower the price of bread, and it must be owned, therefore, as a step toward the abolition of unjust restrictions on that prime article of life.

His proposed Income Tax is an unequal, inquisitorial, and, in its effects, will, assuredly, be found an immoral measure. The farmers and the clergy united to secure "the advent" of Sir Robert. Both classes will speedily pay for their triumph, and, what is more, will witness this measure calling forth, in the minds of the present generation, who know not what its practical working is, such a feeling of dissatisfaction throughout the country, as will drive from office, never to return, the men who, in a time of comparative tranquillity, could propose an impost that will only be borne by a free people when the enemy is at the gate.

* We quote this passage from a sound, right-minded, and eloquent leader in the Morning Advertiser of Saturday, March 19, and cannot but express our delight at finding such noble, Christian sentiments in a paper, which probably circulates daily amongst nearly half a million of the people. Surely, this is a sign of the times.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Favours received from Rev. Drs. Halley-Shoveller.

Rev. Messrs. W. Froggatt-R. W. Hamilton-Thomas James-A. ReedT. Milner -A. Wells-W. Owen.

Mr. E. Griffith.

THE

CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE.

MAY, 1842.

THE MISSIONARY CONVENTION AT JERUSALEM.

A TALE.

THE Rev. David Abeel, the devoted American Missionary to China, published at New York, in 1838, the following interesting story, in which he gives "An exhibition of the claims of the world to the Gospel." As the work has not been reprinted in England, the Editor proposes to insert its successive parts, in subsequent numbers.*

THE FIRST DAY'S DISCUSSION.

WE will imagine that at the expiration of eighteen hundred years from the ascension of the Saviour, a grand assembly convened at the ancient city of Jerusalem, to discuss the relative claims of the various nations of the world to "the Gospel of the grace of God." Representatives from all the different countries of the earth were present. Jews, Mahometans, Pagans, Christians, in every variety of their numerous sects, had each their respective delegates at the meeting. Among this mingled multitude, so different in national peculiarity and early education, there was one common feature. Though they were the representatives, or rather the advocates, of all the nations and classes of men in the world, they themselves had been "delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son." Convinced of the absolute necessity of the Gospel, they were all desirous that their countrymen should enjoy that measure of its blessings which its great author designed for them.

Any person who wishes a copy of the American edition, may obtain it at Messrs. Wiley and Putnam, American booksellers, Paternoster Row.