duty; let us but do it, according to our means, and everything will prosper amongst us; our Funds, our Chapels, our Missions, our Schools, our Ministers, our Magazines, will receive increased strength, operate with greater energy on our beloved Community, and throw an hitherto unknown influence (of which we are capable) along with other denominations, on the institutions, the morals, the liberality and religion of the British empire. Leeds.

B. J.

MONTHLY RECORD.

DREADFUL SUICIDE.- Perhaps one of the most affecting suicidal tragedies that have happened in the metropolis for many years occurred within the last few weeks, at the dwelling of a Mr. Duckett, an accountant, No. 9, Raven-row, Mile-end, viz., the self-destruction of Charles William Duckett, aged 21, and Elizabeth Williams, aged 22, lovers, from the effects of prussic acid. As may be imagined, it has created the greatest sensation in the immediate neighbourhood, and during the whole of the morning the excitement was of the most intense character. The circumstances are of the most painful description. It appears that for upwards of nine years the unfortunate young persons were closely attached to each other, and were never known to have quarrelled. On Sunday afternoon they had tea at Mr Duckett's house, and took their departure at half-past five, stating that they were going to church. Not returning home by eleven o'clock alarm was felt, and Mr. Duckett discovered that his son's bed-room was fastened in the inside, the key being in the door. The bodies of the young couple were found stretched on the bed, life having been extinct apparently for some time, with their arms round each other's necks. Cups were found which smelt of prussic acid, as also two bottles on the mantel-piece, which had contained that deadly poison. The girl was respectably connected, her father being a surgeon in Cannon-street-road. The young man was a clerk in the Tower Hamlets Court of Requests, Whitechapel. On the table was found a letter, bearing the following superscription:-"To Miss Margaret Chapman, No. 21, Lucas-street, Commercial-road,-It is our last and sacred wish that this letter be delivered into the hands of the above lady. Such is our final request, and whosoever may find this, we pray they may give the same to her.-E. W. C. U. D" The handwriting is that of the young man, and displays much firmness, being clear in the extreme. On the contents of the stomachs being carefully analysed, upwards of half an ounce of prussic-acid was extracted. The young man purchased it at Battley's, the chemist in Fore-street, Cripplegate, having procured it by representing himself to have been sent by a druggist who deals with the firm. According to the request of the deceased, inscribed on the letter found in the apartment, and directed to Miss Chapman, in Lucas-street, it was delivered at her residence, and opened in the presence of Mr. Porter the constable of Stepney. On the envelope being broken open, it was found to contain two letters, both of which were addressed to Miss Chapman, and written in the handwriting of Duckett. One was a piece of poetry, in twenty-four verses, called "The Last Lay of Two Broken Hearts," written and composed by "C. C. D.," most exquisitely executed in the illustrated Old English style, with a variety of inks. It bears the date of November 8, and it was evidently written as far back as September, as that date has been erased, but it is still partially discernible. In it he bids adieu to his parents and all other relatives, and prays forgiveness, Poverty had blasted his prospects, and "Since fate had marred their earthly bliss, they would seek an early grave." The same strain was displayed throughout the piece; "his Lizzy begging that his grave might be her grave also." The second is written in the same style and bears date last Sunday, on which day he effected his fatal purpose. The tenor of this letter fully confirms the supposition that has been entertained amongst the friends and relatives of the poor girl, that he had prevailed upon her to close her existence with his. It stated, That ere she (Miss Chapman) had received that epistle, they would be in the sweet sleep of death. Fate had marred his bliss in this world; he was prepared to leave it; and she for whom he had lived had told him, 'If you die without me, you will be my murderer;' and, to use the word of Lady Jane Grey, death had no terror for them." Both letters had deep black borders round them, and from the manner in which they were written they must have been a work of considerable time. The Coroner's jury have returned a verdict, "That the deceased persons, Charles William Duckett and Elizabeth Williams, died from imbibing a certain quantity of prussic acid; but by whom, or how administered, there was not sufficient evidence before the jury."

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[We have inserted the preceding account as furnishing an awful instance of Satanic influence, and a melancholy specimen of human darkness and depravity. Here were two young people, respectably connected, and not wholly destitute of the advantages of education, and yet displaying the most profound ignorance of religious truth, and the most hardened insensibility to the claims of God, and the powers of the world to come. So far as the evidence goes no trace is perceptible of what can properly be termed mental derangement, in either of the parties; and the remarkable fact of the one having persuaded the other to unite in committing the dreadful deed, can only be accounted for by the admission that the devil was actively at work in tempting both to the perpetration of the same crime. Had these young lovers died by the hands of the public executioner, their end would have been comparatively enviable; then there might have been hope respecting them. Their deliberate and determined mode of proceeding in the awful business, shows what poor creatures we are when left to ourselves. Without the restraining grace of God, we none of us know into what sins we may fall, nor to what extremes of wretchedness we may be driven. Surely no young person who has read the above statement will dare to rest satisfied without that Divine influence which insures us the protection and blessing of a gracious Providence, and guide us into the way of wisdom, holiness, and peace. And the awful event should remind youthful professors of what they owe to religion. They should think not only of the actual privileges which the Gospel confers, but of the many evils and miseries from which it saves them. How many and how great these are none can tell. Oh! that all young people, who have given themselves to God, may hold fast the truth and cleave to the Saviour, and then their departure from this world of woe, will be ordered in infinite wisdom and goodness, and their end will be peace, and triumph, and joy. EDITOR.]

IMPORTANT ECCLESIASTICAL MOVEMENT.-An important ecclesiastical movement, designed to separate or eject several ministers and churches, is at present in progress among the Scottish Congregationalists; and he result, so far as we can learn, has been the disavowal of fellowship or union, on the part of the four Congregational Churches in Glasgow, with the churches and pastors of the same denomination in Hamilton and Bellshill. A similar proceeding is also in progress towards the Congregational Churches in Ardrossan, Cambuslang, and Bridgeton. The reason of separation, we understand, is a difference of opinion on the doctrines of special divine influence and of unconditional election, both of which are said to be denied by the churches at Hamilton, Bellshill, &c, and, on the other hand, maintained by the churches in Glasgow belonging to the Congregational Union. Five churches in this neighbourhood, hitherto associated with the Congregationalists, will thus be disconnected with that body, and, together with other churches in the north of Scotland, said to be similarly affected, will form, in all likelihood, a new and separate communion, recognizing the the Congregational system of church government, but disavowing the doctrinal sentiments already specified. We learn, farther, that the way in which this separation has been effected, was by means of friendly letters between the churches differing, and that the entire correspondence, exhibiting an interesting feature of the church polity of the Independents, will shortly be published, and doubtless afford considerable scope for polemical discussion.

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AMERICAN SLAVERY.-According to intelligence from New York we find that considerable agitation has existed among the Methodists on the subject of slavery; but opinion upon the expediency of general and speedy emancipation is greatly divided. The most animated debates have taken place at their meetings. A Number of the Boston Chronicle, dated September 30, states, that at the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, held at Marietta, at which Bishop Wranby presided, a gentleman from Virginia presented himself for elder's orders, but on its being understood that he had been a slaveholder, considerable excitement ensued. It was admitted that he had liberated his slaves about twenty years previously, but after having remained a short time in Ohio, they returned to the protection of their former master, and, though he had their services, he was not in fact their owner. This appeared satisfactory; but on its being ascertained that he had sold one of the slaves who had returned, a postponement of the case was immediately agreed to until the next session of the Conference.

TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES IN POLAND.-POLISH FRONTIERS, Nov. 11.-The cause of temperance societies has received a severe blow in the kingdom of Poland. They had been particularly successful in those parts of the kingdom which border on the republic of Cracow and in Upper Silesia, where the country people, following the exhortation of the clergy, renounced in a body the use of brandy. But the government has lately interfered to check the temperance societies, and published a circular pro

hibiting them, and forbidding the clergy to promote by addresses from the pulpit an object which was so beneficial to the country people.

MODERN MIRACLES.-FROM THE RHINE, Nov. 19. The miracles of the holy coat, at Treves, are becoming more and more miraculous. Hear only the following story, which the clergyman of the Roman Catholic chapel in the village of, in the duchy of Nassau, has related to his congregation from the pulpit, and it will be confessed that the cure of a contracted leg is not worth speaking of. The worthy priest related, on the authority of credible witnesses, that in a procession going to Treves to see the coat of our Lord, there was an Infidel; the coat, however, when the procession appeared before it, perceiving that this sinner was near, had leaped out of its case and given him a box on the ear (in what way the priest did not explicitly describe). The coat afterwards returned to its case. Whether this has helped the patient to become a believer does not appear. The priest did not need to work a miracle. His faith was so strong that he counselled his parishioners to sell all they had, and even to borrow, in order to enjoy the sight of the holy coat.

I DR. KALLEY'S CASE.-We have advices from Madeira to the 1st instant. The affair of Dr. Kalley, and the disturbances connected with his missionary labours, were still productive of the greatest ferment throughout the island. The question has now been set at rest by negotiation between Lord Aberdeen and the Portuguese government. Dr. Kalley is to be paid immediately the sum of £650, as compensation for his illegal arrest, and a special law will be at once introduced into the Cortes, authorising the Government to remove from the country, at its pleasure, any promulgator of doctrines pronounced heterodox. The Imparcial of Funchal states, that Dr. Kalley has resolved upon leaving the island.

THE BAPTISTS IN AMERICA. The " Almanac and Baptist Register for the year of our Lord 1845," contains, in addition to the ordinary contents of an almanac, the statistics of the Baptist denomination in the United States, and interesting particulars respecting the Institutions supported by the Baptists. There are in the United States 7,323 churches, with 4,508 ministers, and 916 licentiates. These churches contain 638,279 members, and 86,254 were baptized in one year.-The Anti-Mission Baptists are a considerable body, numbering 1,907 churches, and 69,663 members. They have 865 ministers, and 88 licentiates. These Baptists "oppose all organized plans of benevolence in the form of societies, as not being specially mentioned in the Scriptures," and refuse fellowship with their brethren who think it right to seek the extension of the cause of God by these means. It is gratifying to learn that their number is lessening yearly. The Six Principle Baptists have 17 churches, 22 elders, and 3,055 members. The Seventh Day Baptists report 59 churches, 46 ministers, 23 licentiates, and 6,077 members. The Free-Will Baptists have 1,165 churches, 771 ministers, 150 licentiates, and 61,372 members. Besides these, there are certain Baptists, styling themselves the Church of God; they reckon 125 churches, 83 ministers, and 10,000 members. There are also the Reformers, or Campbellite Baptists, who are estimated at 2,000 churches, 1,503 ministers, and 175,000 members: and the Christian Connexion, or Unitarian Baptists, comprising 653 churches, 782 preachers, and 35,600 members. Leaving out the three last mentioned classes, the grand total is as follows:-Churches, 10,471-ministers, 6,212-licentiates, 1,177-members, 778,446. Our readers will particularly observe the great want of pastors in the States. It would require an importation of more than 4,000 ministers, in order to supply the existing deficiency. It is true that there are 1,177 licentiates, but they cannot meet the demand for instruction, and their labours are probably required, for the most part, in out-stations and itinerancies.-Montreal Register.

The BISHOP OF EXETER has written a pastoral letter to his clergy, enjoining or recommending certain customs and observances in the Church service to which many both of the clergy and laity do not seem willing to assent. Remonstrances have been addressed to him, but the bishop remains firm. A powerful excitement is the consequence, which seems likely to extend to other dioceses; and we should not be surprised if matters ere long come to a crisis. Certain it is that the elements of disunion now exist to a fearful extent in a church which boasts of its uniformity. It is rumoured that the bishop has had intimation, that if he persists in his present course, the Queen, as head of the Church, will interpose her authority.

CITY STEAM PRESS, LONG LANE: D. A. DOUDNEY.