dined together. The evening was spent in the most agreeable manner.

REMOVAL.

The Rev. Joseph Ford, formerly a student in Wymondley College, has accepted a unanimous invitation from the church and congregation at Long Melford, Suffolk, to succeed his late venerable father as their pastor.

NOTICES.

The next annual meetings of the Kent Union Society, for the sssistance of aged and infirm ministers, widows, and orphans. The Congregational Association and Auxiliary Missionary Society will, (D. v.) be held at the Rev. J. Pulling's Meeting-house, Deptford, on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 5 and 6. The meeting of the Union Society will be held on Tuesday afternoon, at four o'clock.

The Association sermons will be preached on Tuesday evening, at half past six, by Rev. W. E. Parrett, of Lenham, and on Wednesday morning, at eleven, by Rev. E. W. Harris, of Dartford; the annual public meeting at three in the afternoon; and the at half-past six. Missionary Meeting in the evening, The Rev. S. S. Wilson, from Malta, will attend as a deputation from the Parent Society.

We understand that the Fifth Anniversary of the Northern Congregational School, for the Sons of Ministers and Missionaries, will be held at Silcoates, near Wakefield, on Wednes. day, the 6th July; when the Rev. W. H. Stowell, Theological Tutor of Rotherham College, is expected to preside. The present number of pupils in the Institution is 64. The school will re-open after the Midsummer vacation, on Wednesday, the 17th of August.

OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH IN
SWITZERLAND.

The Society for the better observance of the Lord's-day, established at Vevey in the Canton of Vaud, has offered five prizes for the best Essays on the following subjects. 1st. To describe the various instances of Sabbath profanation, and to point out the connection between the violation of the Lord's-day, and the commission of crime. 2d. The influence of the Sabbath on national, domestic, and individual prosperity. 3d. The excuses for disregarding the Sabbath. 4th. The Sabbath for the poor. 5th. The Sabbath for children. For the first two subjects, the prize is 180 francs, for the last three, 120. The Rev. Alexander Chavannes, of Jongny, in the Canton of Vaud, is the President of the Committee nominated to decide on the merits of the Essays.

INSTANCES OF PERSECUTION, AND OP OPPOSITION TO THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL IN SWITZERLAND.

The government in the Canton of Schwitz has prohibited the distribution of Religions Tracts, on pain of fine and imprisonment. Mr. Jocin, of Bale, has N. S. NO. 139.

lately been imprisoned and fined 480 francs for having circulated religious books.

Mr. Fisch de Bruel, one of the Divinity Students of Lausanne, has been imprisoned four days, but released on bail, and fined 384 francs for a similar offence. The Commission appointed to enquire into the character of the Tract he had circulated, condemned it on the ground of its having declared unequivocally that "Jesus Christ died for our sins."

An individual in the Canton of Uri has been sentenced to imprisonment and fine, for having distributed a Protestant version of the Scriptures.

A zealous Christian, at Turin, in Piedmont, has been condemned to five years imprisonment for selling a copy of the Scriptures.

STATE OF RELIGION IN SPAIN.

The journals are every morning filled with accounts of the political and military affairs of Spain; every skirmish between the armies of the Christinos and the Carlists is detailed, and every debate between the ministry and the op position is related at length. But what is the religious state of the Peninsula ? 3 N

Will the Spanish people always bow to the yoke of superstition, or are they beginning to perceive their condition? On these important topics our political papers say nothing. They observe in Spain only the struggles of the dynasty and the movements of the constitutional mechanism. All the rest-that is the religions, moral, and intellectual condition of the nation, is carelessly laid aside. The complaint is sometimes made, and not without reason, of historians who retrace only the biography of kings, and the intrigues of courts; but does not this reproach apply with equal force to our journals, which are pre-occupied with a few questions of comparative insignificance and of limited extent, and overlook religion, the manners, and opinions of the Peninsula. Two facts only which have come to our knowledge, through the medium of the French press, may throw some light upon the state of religion in Spain, and these two facts would seem contradictory, if we did not recollect that extremes meet: the one is the burning of converts, and the assassination of the monks; the other is the account of a new restriction on the press, which prohibits any thing to be pablished concerning the Catholic religion and the Holy Scrip tures, without authority from the ordinary, Thus, on the one hand, the populace is opposed to certain Catholic institutions

to such an extent as to overturn them with the most atrocious barbarity, and on the other, the authorities will not or dare not permit the examination of the Catholic doctrines by the means of books or journals; an unbridled licentiousness, a furious hatred against monastic establishments, prevail amongst the people, whilst their rulers maintain a stern opposition against every thing which has a direct or indirect tendency to injure the Romish charch, and a just and wise freedom, in matters of religion, is no where to be found. After this new enactment, there will be only one sort of religious persecution possible, that which has been so cruelly perpetrated by the lower orders of Catalonia and Andalusia. Catholicism has thought to promote her true interests by asking for rigorons measures respecting her instructions and her worship. It is easy to foresee that the privilege will be used with the greatest severity, and that philosophical publications of the mest moderate character will be rigorously interdicted by the clerk of the ordinary. But the episcopate is deceived in its calculations and its hopes. Persecution is an instru

ment which wounds those who have the imprudence to use it; and it won'd be better policy even, for the interest of Catholicism, to open a legal and peaceful outlet for opposing opinions. What will be the consequence? Nothing will be legally published against the church; but numbers of improper writings will issue from a clandestine press. Besides which, the works of the French philo sophers, of the eighteenth century, will be secretly introduced into Spain, and they will be read with an avidity proportioned to the severity with which they are interdicted. Irreligion will extend on every hand, under the garb of a hypocritical formality; in short, that which happened in our own country sixty years since, will again be witnessed in the Peninsula, an official exclusive religion, armed with terror sustained by power. bat abandoned by the great body of the nation; the edifice will present an imposing front, but the interior will be found to contain only a heap of rubbish and of ruin. "France," said M. de Pradst, who deserves attention on such a subject, “France, covered by and means of worship, wrought, I had almost said ploughed np, during a hundred years, by the Jesnis and Jansenists, is itself, at this day, without religion." "This," adds the ve nerable Archbishop of Malines, “is too serious a consideration, not to force upon us a most instructive lesson"

monuments

Yes, this is a startling fact; and the lesson it conveys ought not to be lost upon the Catholic clergy of Spain. When the ministers of religion demand penal statutes to stifle all religions discussion, the words of Jesus Christ to his Apostles must be applied to them, "Ye know not what spirit ye are of." To proscribe examination, is to make many people believe that it cannot be sustained, and thence religion falls into contempt. But what is a despised religion but an edi fice undermined at its foundation, and which may be expected to be overwhelmed by its own weight? Do the Spanish bishops flatter themselves that they shall keep Spain in the contented ignorance of the middle ages, and deprive them of all means of reflecting upon religious subjects. But in the nineteenth century, when intercourse is so extended, and points of contact are so numeroas, is it not a mad and useless attempt to impose upon Spain a blind and irresponsible faith? The Pyrenees were no obstacle to Louis XIV., is it imagined that Voltaire and his school will find them any impediment?

We insist upon this subject, because even in France there are Catholics so little enlightened as to express a wish, that the dogmas of the church may be protected by the authority of human laws. They lament over the freedom of discussion; they give to it the names of licentiousness and anarchy; they would desire that political power should make common cause with religions anthority, and protect by fear of imprisonment the Catholic faith. Imprudent men! If their wishes were fulfilled during one mouth, Catholicism would be retarded more than it has advanced during five years, under the reign of liberty. Scoffing unbelief, which is violent in debate, fruitful in calumnies, indefatigable in dispute, but which is now confined to village orators, and the workmen in our suburbs, would again appear and flourish amongst us. Has not the experience of our fathers been sufficiently strong and melancholy to enlighten their children? Shall it never be understood that the Gospel has nothing to fear, but every thing to hope from liberty? If I were an unbeliever, I should wish that a law were promul. gated to prevent discussion on Christian doctrines. By this means alone my most contemptible epigrams would find numerous responses, and my worst argnments would be considered admirable. Every penal enactment placed before the doctrine of the church is a weapon placed in the hands of impiety to reduce it to dust. That Spain will renew their fatal experiment, we may be certain, should the law we have spoken of be adopted.

Infidelity is more extended in this country than is commonly supposed in France. We have before us a journal, written during the last year by an English Missionary, who has travelled through the Peninsula, with the view of circulating copies of the Bible. This mis sionary everywhere heard the most vio lent discourse against monachism, and it is known that the Spanish people scarcely know how to separate the Christian religion from monastic institutions. The hatred and contempt which is felt towards the convents returns even upon the doctrines of the faith; and in ceasing to respect the monks, Spain will cease to believe in the precepts of the church, because the two are imposed by the same authority.

Our traveller is astonished to find so little piety remaining in Seville. Amongst a population of 90,000 inhabitants, it is computed that nearly 70,000, do not

practice even the external rites of Catholicism.

The students of the university, who are about three thousand, in general manifest but little devotion. Many of them brought books to the English Missionary, which, under the titles of ascetical works, contain the writings of Voltaire and other infidel philosophers.

These books which present religion on the title page, and which teach infidelity by their contents, are a sufficiently correct emblem of the state of religion in one part of Spain Piety is on the surface--infidelity within. The larger cities have already cast off even the appearance of religion, as has been seen in the capital of Andalusia, and the country will follow the example, if great care be not taken. To such a fatal termination will slavery in matters of faith always tend.

At Madrid the English traveller did not encounter less of infidelity than at Seville. But he was rejoiced to find there also a pions bishop, who has been recently employing himself in translating the Bible into the Spanish language. This bishop informed the missionary, that he had extended a second edition of the Bible to three thousand copies, for the purpose, he said, of circulation amongst the heads of families, amongst the priests who have great need to read the Scriptures, and amongst the monks, who are very ignorant. This bishop is singular amongst the Spanish clergy; he acknowledged that the reformers had reason to protest against the abuses of the Romish church, and only blamed them for having been too distant in their opposition. He granted but a very secondary value to the bulls and decretals of the popes. He wished that the Spanish clergy had renounced the superstitious practices and the popular traditions which have been bequeathed by ages of ignorance. He declares that the great enemy of the church is not Luther or Calvin, but the spirit of infidelity; and that Christians of all denominations ought to lend their aid to resist it. At the convent of St. Felipe Real, at Madrid, our traveller saw an Angustine monk, who equally well appreciated the true state of things in Spain. These are some of his reflections:-" The inqui sition has ruined my country; in the most literal sense, the nation has been conquered and subjugated by Rome. True religion has been oppressed, and is almost extinguished. Infidelity has flowed in from every quarter, and the people who have been left in ignorance

are overwhelmed by a torrent of irreligious opinions. Our youth are in a deplorable state, without respect for religion and manners. The only remedy is in the hands of the clergy, who ought to give to Spain solid and truly evangelical instruction; but things will become worse in stead of being ameliorated. Our priests are almost all profoundly ignorant; instead of replying in an able manner to the objections of infidels, they wish to place themselves at the receipt of custom, and send out of the kingdom strange books, of which they do not even under stand the title, nor read the first page.

We ought to unite (the Christians I mean of Spain and of England.) taking for the rule of our faith, first the writings of the Old and New Testaments, afterwards the Fathers of the Church, during the first six centuries, and upon such a foundation we shall easily coalesce."

The Augustine Monk of St. Felipe Real is a man of good sense. Assuredly he will not vote for the enactment which prohibits the publication of any thing without the authority of the ordinary; but such men are rare amongst the Spanish clergy. From the Semuer, 13th Jan. 1836.

Protestant

Churches

....

18,300

96,300

96,300

705,000

31,000

30,000

University of Montauban

University of Strasbourg

D

STATE OF EVANGELICAL RELIGION IN FRANCE.

In taking a review of the state of Evangelical Religion in France, the Archives du Christianisme, contain the following remarks:

1. That there is cause for gratitude to Him, in whose hand are the Spirits of all flesh, that prejudices are rapidly giving way, and that the friends of vital religion meet with fewer impediments, in the prosecution of their works of faith and

labours of love. Time and observation have proved, that they who were once designated as enthusiasts, are now to be ranked amongst the most enlightened supporters of education, humanity, and religion. Some of the most intelligent of the Protestant community, are to be found in connection with the evangelical party.

2. That there is an increasing convic. tion of the propriety of attaching greater importance to consistency of conduct and zeal, in the propagation of the Gospel, than to religious controversies. The faithful followers of the Lamb, are aware of the duty of contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints; but they do not forget, that the most powerful argument is that which is derived from a conversation which becometh the Gospel, and that their Lord did not pronounce them to be happy, who could defend the precepts and doctrines of his word, but they who loved and observed them.

3. That the number of the devoted servants of Christ, both among the clergy and laity, is on the increase. It is now, no uncommon circumstance for the young ministers of the Gospel to abandon the cold and unscriptural latitudinarianism, which once they professed, and to preach a Saviour crucified for sinners with exemplary earnestness and fidelity. It also appears to us, that those who had already believed, have become more decided in the profession of their religion. They are more ready to speak and act, and (when the providence of God calls them to endure reproach for his name) to suffer as Christians. This moral courage is of essential importance to the prosperity of the cause of the Redeemer.

4. That it is matter for regret that the religious publications, during the past twelve months have not been so numerous, as on the preceding years. This remark applies only to France. In Switzerland, religious publications have been on the increase. The decrease in France is not to be attributed, we apprehend, to the listlessness of the public, and their indisposition to read books, calculated to impress and edify the heart or to the want of writers of piety and talent, in the reformed churches; but to the long season of persecution, when the Protestants were forbidden to express their sentiments through the medium of the press, and never since that period have they been distinguished for their theological writings. Let the Protestants, however, lay

these things to heart, and consider, that it was among the reformed churches of France during the seventeenth century, that the most eminent and laborious theologians of Europe were to be found. It is with pleasure we add, that the decrease is yet more palpable among the advocates of heterodoxy. Arianism and Socinianism seem afraid of the light, for during the last two or three years, their disciples have not published in France a single work of any extent.

5. That the work of evangelization, in the benighted villages of the country, through the instrumentality of the reformed churches, is very encouraging. Wherever the standard of the Gospel, has been erected there it remains. Not a solitary instance can be adduced, of a Protestant interest having been abandoned after being once established. Small assemblies become congregations, and congregations are formed into churches. Pastors are greatly needed in many districts. The churches where the Gospel is preached in its purity, are attended by congregations ever on the increase. New fields for labours are continually presenting themselves. The Evangelical Society already employs thirty faithful labourers, and were the cries of the needy to be heard, as they ought by the churches of the Lord, their number would immediately be doubled.

RESOLUTIONS OF THE DISSENTING DEPUTIES UPON CHURCH RATES.

At the Half-yearly Meeting of the "Deputies from the several Congregations of Protestant Dissenters, of the three denominations-Presbyterian, Independent, and Baptist-in and within 12 miles of London, appointed to protect their Civil Rights," held at the King's Head Tavern, in the Poultry, London, on Wednesday, the 25th day of May, 1836; Henry Waymouth, Esq., in the Chair,

It was Resolved,

1. That while the religion of the State was Roman Catholic, tithes were applied to the maintenance of the poor, and of the ecclesiastical fabrics and worship, as well as of the clergy, both superior and subordinate. That since the Reformation they have been discharged from the relief of the poor, and nearly the whole of the present Church revenue has been ap propriated to the use of the clergy,

2. That it appears from the Report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England and Wales, that the net annual income of the archiepiscopal and episcopal property, is £160,114; of the cathedral