TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCHESS OF KENT.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS,-We, the general body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the three denominations residing in and about the cities of London and Westminster, beg to present to your Royal Highness the expression of our most sincere congratulation on the auspicious event, which in the birth of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has given to these kingdoms an heir apparent to the throne.

As Protestant Dissenters we cannot fail to retain a most grateful remembrance of the magnanimous attachment to the great principles of civil and religious liberty which distinguished your late illustrious consort, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, and we regard the promise that the throne of our much loved country will be long filled by the descendants of such a sire, as affording warrant to cheering anticipations concerning our future history as a people, and as a powerful demand made upon our gratitude in respect to that Gracious Being, by whom kings reign and princes decree justice.

May it be the felicity of your Royal Highness to find the most cherished wishes of your heart as a parent, and your most benevolent desires in regard to the virtue, piety, and happiness of the people of these lands in every way realized, and to partake of every expression of the Divine regard, that may assure your Royal Highness of obtaining after the present life, an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Her Royal Highness gave the following reply :

:

"My best thanks are most cheerfully rendered, for the acceptable address you have now presented to me; and I beg you will be assured that I am deeply sensible of your invocation of Divine blessing on my beloved daughter, and on the loyal and devoted people over whom, I trust, she is long, and happily, destined to reign."

The Duchess repeatedly expressed herself as much obliged by the address, and the ministers were highly gratified by the truly cordial manner in which they were received by Her Royal Highness.

BRIEF NOTES ON PASSING EVENTS.

THE foreign news of the past month does not require to be stated at great length. No intelligence has been received from CHINA of a decided character, but the halfyearly report of the English and American missionaries has reached us, which states, that they look with intense interest to the results of the war with that people, as likely to open a wide door for the introduction of the word of life into the celestial empire. The accounts from AFFGANISTAN confirm the principal facts announced in our last. There is every reason to fear that 6500 troops, and 7000 camp followers, have perished. Ere this, it is probable that fearful vengeance has been taken against the insurgents. The Friend of India seems to justify it, for it says, we cannot retire discomfited from any scene, into which our arms have once been carried, without virtually abdicating the throne of India;" and the Governor-General has announced, "that he regards this partial reverse only as a new occasion for displaying the stability and vigour of the British power, and the admirable spirit and valour of the British Indian army."

AMERICAN affairs are far from satisfactory, but we trust that the arrival of Lord Ashburton at Washington, will be blessed of God, to consolidate the amicable relations between the two nations.

It is lamentable to observe with what tyranny the pro-slavery party rules even in the chambers of legislation. Mr. Giddings, a representative of the State of Ohio, presented some resolutions on the affairs of the ship Creole,* favourable to the slaves, which he was compelled to withdraw, when a Virginian slaveholder moved, that "his conduct was unwarranted and unwarrantable, and deserving the severest condemnation of the people of this country, and of this body in particular.” This was carried by a majority of 125 to 69. Mr. Giddings took leave of his friends, left the house, and resigned his seat, but it is believed, that his constituents will send him back again at railroad speed to Washington. But where are these things to end? Surely slavery will endanger the integrity of the Union.

There is reason to suppose that the news respecting the unfriendly reception of Bishop Alexander at JERUSALEM, if not fabricated, was greatly exaggerated by French agents. Still, the extracts that have appeared in the church journals, from a letter of the Rev. J. Nicolayson, show that the Armenian Patriarch is not free from anxiety, lest his flock should be in any way meddled with.

In SPAIN, the cause of liberty still maintains its ascendency, in spite of the curses of the Pope, and the prayers, shame on them, of Irish and English Roman Catholics. The ominous silence of FRANCE, connected with the years and ailments of Louis Philippe, is like the stillness which presages a storm. The volcano is not extinct, it only sleeps: fearful will be the next display of its dormant power.

AT HOME, the measures of parliament have advanced but slowly, and the party in power are now made to feel how difficult it is for a government to expedite its plans in the face of a considerable opposition. Although there can be no doubt that Sir Robert Peel will carry all his fiscal measures, yet it will be at a sacrifice which no man in the country is better prepared to estimate than himself. Popular interests have gained a triumph even in this unpopular parliament, by the virtual establishment of the right of petitioning against taxes, which the Commons may have resolved on. Sir R. Peel at first denied this right upon the usages of parliament for a century and a half, but when it was tried by a vote, and he had only a majority of one in favour of his doctrine, he wisely abandoned it.

The proceedings of the election committees have revealed the mal-practices of both Whigs and Tories at the last election; and we hope that parliament will devise some stringent measures to correct the horrible abuse of bribery.

The state of trade continues fearfully depressed; the weavers of Lancashire, the nailors of Worcestershire, and the miners of North Wales have begun to exhibit by public meetings, &c., unequivocal symptoms of impatience under their severe distress.

Surely the state both of the church and nation demands the spirit of humble and earnest prayer in all true Christians, that God would be pleased to revive us again, that we may hope in Him.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

Favours have been received from Drs. Hoppus-Henderson-Styles-Leifchild. Rev. Messrs. Mann-G. Smith-Thomas Durant-C. P. Hobbs-E. Griffith-C. Birch-R. Chamberlain-W. Owen-J. Godkin-N. Jennings-J. E. Richards. Major Biddle.

Messrs. J. R. Mills-Ebenezer Smith-and J. Brown.

Amator Poesis.-V.

The Editor regrets that he cannot comply with the requests that are often made by correspondents for the return of papers sent to him for insertion. He has never promised to make such return; which would involve an amount of trouble that his correspondents are little aware of.-Several articles, which are in type, have been deferred, for want of room, till our next.

* Vide page 143.

THE

CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE.

JUNE, 1842.

MEMOIR OF THE LATE REV. CHARLES NICE DAVIES, THEOLOGICAL TUTOR OF BRECON INDEPENDENT COLLEGE, FORMERLY A

LIEUTENANT IN THE BRITISH ARMY.

In the unexpected decease of Mr. Davies, lately the divinity tutor at the Independent College, Brecon, this magazine has lost one of its earliest and most faithful friends. Its pages have, from the second year of its existence, been frequently enriched and enlivened by his valuable contributions; and it has now become our mournful duty to devote a few of them to the record of his remarkable life, amiable character, and distinguished attainments. The solemn obligation which Christian friendship thus imposes, reminds us how soon the mural tablet must be associated with our best performances.

Twenty-four years have passed since the Congregational Magazine was commenced. Some few of its projectors and first conductors still remain to witness and enjoy the advancing triumphs of those principles for the promotion of which it was established; but many have passed to their rest and reward, and among them our late excellent and beloved friend, Mr. C. N. Davies, whose devoted and enlightened attachment to Congregational principles, as well as his disinterested and continued services rendered to the cause in which we are ourselves engaged, justly entitle him to every mark of respect and distinction which, as editors, it is in our power to confer. "Other men have laboured, and we have entered into their labours." Our highest ambition is, that when our part is performed, we too may "enter into the joy of our Lord," and receive, as we are assured our friend has, "the crown of life that fadeth not away."

Charles Nice (or Lewis) Davies was the son of a serjeant in the Foot Guards. He was born in a church at Ghent in the year 1794,

when the late Duke of York had the command of the British army. His father fell in battle during those sanguinary conflicts in Flanders which brought so much disgrace upon the British name, and in which so many brave men were sacrificed to gratify the royal folly of an incompetent commander. The termination of the French war found the infant under the protection of a step-father. Mrs. Davies, his mother, had married another serjeant, of the name of Nice, whose attachment to the boy induced him to connect with him his own name, and he ever afterwards went by the name of Charles Nice, instead of Lewis, Davies. Serjeant Nice was a soldier of most exact and correct habits; a well educated man, and a great favourite in his regiment. He remained in England some years after the termination of the war with France, and brought up his step-son Charles with as much care and affection as if he had been his own child. Serjeant Nice was favourably noticed by the Duke of York, and obtained a lieutenancy. His interest also procured an ensigncy for Charles at the age of twelve years. It was probably owing to the Duke of York's influence that the young ensign was introduced to Queen Charlotte, and chosen by her, on account of his beautiful appearance, to attend her as a page on the occasion of some public fête given at that time at Windsor. He has often made himself and his friends merry with the description of the extraordinary figure he cut when first arrayed with his sash and sword; the latter he could scarce keep from trailing along the ground, while its hilt reached his shoulder.

In the year 1808 he was ordered to join his regiment, the 22nd, then in India, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir J. H. Craig. Through the interest his step-father had with the Duke of York and Lord Lake, the Governor-General of India, Charles was soon promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and subsequently to his arrival in India was exchanged from the 22nd to the 53rd, in which his stepfather had now become adjutant. By this prudent measure he was placed more immediately under the eye of his friends, and received every attention and advantage which their circumstances could afford.

In India he first evinced the eminent talent he possessed for the acquisition of languages, by making himself master both of Hindoostance and Persian. The advantage of these acquirements soon became apparent by his being appointed interpreter to the regiment. Here also his taste and skill in music were developed. He became a proficient in the German flute, and persons well qualified to judge have pronounced him one of the best amateur performers they had ever heard.

During the period of his stay in India, which was from the year 1808 to 1814, he was engaged in active service, against the chiefs of the Mysore country. In an assault upon a fortress he received a wound on the head with an Indian spear, and on the same day lost his

step-father. In consideration of his wound, and the success of the attack which he had led, he received a handsome reward from the India Company.

Those who knew Lieutenant Davies during this period have testified, that he had every prospect of becoming a distinguished officer. His mind was ardently devoted to his profession; but unhappily his tastes and propensities were utterly opposed to real religion. The few pious persons then to be met with in India were the objects of his scorn and ridicule. Yet he possessed even at this period a taste for literature, and thirst for knowledge far beyond his means. In English society, his fascinating manners, conversational talent, and taste for music, made him a general favourite. His thoughts, however, were wholly devoted to the pleasures and honours of this life; and if he had any religious preference, it was for the Roman Catholic worship, to which, indeed, he once declared himself attached. But the fact was, he had never thought of religion, and in the circle to which he was then confined, met with little indeed to press it upon his attention, or bring him in any degree under its influence.

In the year 1814 he was recalled from India, to join the second battalion of the 53rd, then on active service in Spain. After his arrival in the Peninsula he was but partially engaged in the war. The following year he returned to England, and was placed upon the halfpay, though he subsequently shared in the prize-money awarded to the British troops who had been engaged in the Peninsular war.

When the battle of Waterloo occurred, and the allied armies moved towards Paris, finding himself at liberty and wholly unoccupied, he resolved to hasten thither. On the road he met with several apparent gentlemen, who also professed to be travelling to Paris. Being disappointed of a regular conveyance, they agreed to post it, but as that conveyance could not take all their luggage, one of the party proposed to remain behind, and bring it forward the best way he could, while the others proceeded. There is no doubt that this was the trick of a swindler; for neither traveller nor trunks could afterwards be found, To Lieutenant Davies this was a serious disaster, for his trunks contained all the little property he then owned—his entire wardrobe-some valuable Oriental manuscripts—and a considerable amount of cash for arrears of pay recently received. The only gratification he obtained by his imprudent haste was the pleasure of being the second Englishman that entered the gates of Paris-and of doing so at no small personal risk, owing to the bitter mortification of the inhabitants. high spirits were, however, nothing abated by the loss he had suffered. His heart was set upon gay amusements and martial glory, at a period calculated not a little to gratify both his national feelings and his military pride.

His

In the circumstances of destitution in which he was now placed,