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walls, surmounted by a tower-called a church, it is considered as an "irregularity," not only ecclesiastical but civil-a crime which cannot be too severely or too speedily reprobated.

In the capital of the Grand Duchy of Germany, it was publicly announced, that should any one secure the person of and deliver him to the police, he would be considered a benefactor to the State. Who, then, is the criminal? it was enquired. He is a foreign merchant. What is his crime?

He has been holding meetings among our peasantry, whilst professing to follow his trade. "What an honour!" exclaims a rationalist journal, after having detailed this occurrence,"What an honour to a government is such a disposition, to protect the truth against the invasion of Sectarian Methodists." Thus despotism and a virtual infidelity are united to hinder the propagation of the gospel.

This being the state of things-(but blessed be God, there are some noble exceptions, at the head of which we may mention Wurtemberg and Prussia,) imagine what is likely to be the religious state of a country, where the gospel can be heard only in the four walls beforementioned, and which frequently resound with the Anti-Christian doctrines of Rationalism! Picture to yourself St. Paul, coming into such a country-he who preached in the most public resorts, in the Areopagus,- and on the sea shore; -or Luther re-appearing in his own beloved and professedly Lutheran country!-these men of God would be thrown handcuffed into prison. What would England now be in a religious point of view, had the rousing appeals which God directed to that nation, by Whitfield and the Wesleys, been hushed by a suspicious and despotic magistracy? Where would those institutions have been which are the brightest glory of Great Britain, and which diffuse their rays of celestial light to the extremities of the globe.

Christians of France! the liberty which God has given you to preach the gospel to every creature, is to be prized by you, as an invaluable treasure!—O may you be enabled to consider and use it, as a talent for which you must render a strict account!

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Three years since some friends of the gospel, at the head of whom were Messieurs Bickell, member of the superior tribunal of Appeal in Haynau, and adjutant of the Electoral Prince Ewald, assessor, and the Pastor Lange resolved upon establishing a Missionary Society at Cassel. Rationalism, however, in its boasted tolerance, so strongly opposed it, that the populace, irritated by its influence, assailed the house of the Pastor Lange, and produced such confusion, as to require the presence of a detachment of soldiers, with bayonets and artillery levelled at the crowd, to re-establish order. It was not without some difficulty that these malevolent passions were excited. The old Pastor E. who has preserved in all its integrity the Rationalism of 1780-1790, and who is celebrated for his theological writings, one of which is a "Sermon on the Moon," commenced at Cassel, from the pulpit, a crusade against the gospel. Very soon the friends of the mission became the objects of the vilest calumny which political journals, day after day, ponred forth with unwearied perseverance. A satire, printed at Leipsic, was industriously circulated at Cassel. Nojabsurdity was too gross to be repeated or to be believed respecting them. A Cassellian traveller assured the whole company in the diligence, with the most unblushing confidence, that he had himself seen the Pastor Lange, in baptizing a child, take a little broom to drive away the devil from the little innocent.

Rationalism, that phantom of religion, usurping the name of gospel, that cold denial of all that is divine and life-giving in Christianity, enjoyed so full and peaceable a possession of the whole population, educated as they had been in its barren principles, that the majority of the inhabitants believed the advocates of missions to be a set of Christians never before heard of. Full of this idea, 115 of the parishioners of the Pastor Lange addressed to him a remarkable letter, in which they accused him of founding a new species of Christianity, and of advocating doctrines opposed to the universally received faith of the gospel.Glad to find they had the honesty to discuss the subject of doctrine, he, with his Bible and Augsburgh confession in his hands, triumphantly and with ease refuted the charge brought against him. His reply, as well as the letter which prompted it, have been published; and with the Sermon by E- forms, the commencement of a long series of controversial tracts of a highly important cha

racter.

Never, with the exception of what oc

curred a few years since in some of the Swiss Cantons, were the first effects of a revival of religion, particularly the formation of a Missionary Society, attacked and followed up with greater fury and ignorance of the truth. Rationalism had so stifled all religious feeling and benevolence, that it attributed every display of zeal to some concealed and sinister design. The issue of this agitation was the removal of Lange to a curacy in the country. The enemies of the truth, however, have gained nothing by his dismis sal, for his successor, animated by the same spirit, employs his energies in the same cause, and is, like Lange, one of the most active members of the Missionary Society.

Three years have elapsed since these occurrences took place. The formation of the Missionary Society was then the object of most furious attacks; and now I have before me its third report detailing the most encouraging and remarkable proofs of its success. With the society at Cassel nine auxiliary societies are connected and give energy and importance to its operations. Of these the most interesting is that at Marbourg, patronized by Dr. Puchta, Professor of Law, and by many of the University Theological Professors.

The preface to the rules of the Association is so remarkable, as an evidence of the progress of evangelical religion in a region hitherto beclouded by the dark. ness of Rationalism, that I will make an

extract.

"Grounded on a lively faith in Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Mediator of men, by whose merits we confess, with a deep sense of gratitude for the free grace of God, that we have been delivered from the darkness and uncleanness of the world and have become partakers of the blessings of his kingdom.

In the conviction that the Christian Church is to unite the whole human race in one fold, under one shepherd; and persuaded that the intellectual but worldly education now adopted in Europe will

only serve as a poison to the minds of men when separated from real Christianity; we feel it to be incumbent on all Christians, in virtue of their vocation and privileges, and in obedience to the command, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,' to labour to extend the kingdom of God over the whole earth."

The writer then proceeds to urge the duty of zeal, from the consideration of the lasting consolation which the gospel would administer to the nations who have been subdued by the superior force and injustice of professed Christians; from the salutary re-action of missions in reviving religion at home; from the indefatigable exertions of the wisdom of this world; and the beneficial example of the societies and missionary institutions established in Germany.

The report of the Cassel Missionary Society states the proceeds of the year to be 763 thalers, about 3050 francs. This sum, small as it is, proves how much the Missionary spirit is on the increase in this country, for it has been collected almost exclusively from the working classes, by subscriptions of a few pence.

If we contrast this report with the condition of the country three years ago, when such violent opposition was excited, what may we not expect!

Another remarkable feature in the religious condition of Germany, is the fact that 55 young Christians, almost all Wertembergians, are candidates for admission into the Missionary Institution at Basle; where, however, from want of room, few of this noble band can be received.

At Frankfort on the Maine, the monthly prayer meeting, hitherto almost unknown, and held in a small room, was, on Easter Monday, renewed in the German reformed church. It was crowded in every part, even to the aisles, and a most delightful and memorable evening it was to the friends of missions.

These facts will certainly show that the Lord is reviving his work in this interesting country.

SUPPORT OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CLERGY IN FRANCE.

As we have already given our readers the Budget of 1837 for the various denominations of Protestants in France, it may not be uninteresting to present a similar extract relating to the Roman Catholic religion in that country.

Francs.

Expenses of regulating the Ecclesiastical Departmeut

176,000

Two Cardinal Archbishops and the Archbishop of Paris, at 25,000 francs

75,000

Eleven Archbishops, at 15,000 francs.

165,000

Sixty-six Bishops, at 10,000 francs

660,000

Various indemnities for the Archbishops and Bishops, expenses of
Bulls, &c.

142,000

One hundred and seventy-four Vicars-General

365,000

Six hundred and sixty Canons

Three thousaud three hundred and one Vicars..

Francs. 1,003,500 4,190,100

Twenty-five thousand one hundred and seventy-five Curates

20,900,000

New Chapels of Ease to be erected in 1837.

40,000

Five thousand four hundred and nineteen Vicars

1,896 650

Grants for double service ....

315,000

The Royal Chapter of St. Denis

Two thousand five hundred and twenty-five foundations in Colleges.

.....

97,000

1,010,000

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490,000

25,000

550,000

5,000

Expenses of Diocesan Edifices...

Purchases, Erections, and keeping in Repair Residences of Bishops

445,000

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COMPARATIVE STIPENDS OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH BISHOPS.

The salaries of the prelates of France and England have within a few months been determined by the legislative body of each country. The contrast is remarkable.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND MINOR CORRESPONDENCE.

Since our former acknowledgments favours have been received from the Rev. Drs. J. P. Smith-Halley-Rev. Messrs. R. W. Hamilton-R. Ferguson-C. B. KiddT. Lewis-J. Morison-Thomas Guyer-J. Crossley-J. Rooker-J. Edwards-A. Pope-G. Smith-Algernon Wells-J. Belcher.

Also from Mr. T. T. Sadler.

We hope in our next, to present our readers with a complete digest of the new Acts of Parliament for Registration and Marriage, with some necessary remarks

thereon.

ERRATA IN THE LAST NUMBER.

Page 567, first column, last line, for engineer, read inquirer.

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569, first column, sixth line from bottom, for distinction, read destruction. 560, second column, eleventh line from bottom, for Russian, read Prussian. 565, first column, thirty-sixth line from bottom, for his last, read the last.

THE

CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE.

NOVEMBER, 1836.

RECOLLECTIONS

OF THE LATE

REV. JOSEPH WILLIAM HENRY PRITCHARD,

MINISTER OF THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH, ATTERCLIFFE,

NEAR SHEFFIELD.

WHEN the aged head is laid low in death and dust, we are prepared for the event. Signs have set themselves upon its brow not to be mistaken. We are forewarned that all the worth and usefulness associated with the time-honoured, venerable, countenance, must be speedily withdrawn. And we are, in some measure, reconciled to the dispensation. We can see nothing humiliating in it. It is but repose after long toil and glorious strife. The stricken saint has fallen by no rude shock, but according to a natural maturity. The fruit has dropt by its own ripeness. Mournful infirmities render life as little to be desired as expected. Friendship has uttered so many partings, that it were cruel to wish that it might survive to falter any more. And the influence of that example perishes not with the vital organs which gave it a concentration and palpableness. Every thing is in its proper course, its due order. The sun has swept its full circuit, has set in the west, and is still throwing up glories from beneath the horizon, newer, softer, richer, than those of its orient and its noon. But when youth is smitten; when

VOL. XIX. N S. NO. 143.

the hope excited by it is suddenly disappointed; when the auguries of our confidence have only mocked us, we require very different reasonings and lessons to ensure our resignation, and to control our grief. There is an absolute morjification. Our calculation is inverted. Our prediction is belied. Our bright dreamings of the future, our visions of delight, are scattered and made nought. A blank of vanity seems to spread itself over all. The distinctions of excellence have apparently ceased to avail. Life is dulled of its best charms. "The spring is torn out of our year."*

These are doubtless mistakes of thought and errors of feeling. We justify them not. The sepulchral urn, though filled with youthful ashes, is not placed in its dark niche by a capricious hand. As truly is here a work completed, as though it had reached a patriarchal term. There is no slight; there is no waste. "And he died," is the epitaph written over all the pious by the finger of God: nor is

• Εκ του ενιαυτου το ἔαρ ημιν εξαραι· prat.-Polymnia: Gelon in Herod. 4 Q

the date unheeded, or least “ precious in his sight." They who thus are summoned timelessly from us should be the rather honoured.— Their character has yielded to a more rapid formation. The purer vein of the material has invited the plastic skill, and obtained the quicker polish. If we may speak of their death as premature, we should properly apply that language to their goodness and their utility, the one expanded and mellowed, the other employed and signalized, so greatly beyond the common law and prevalent expectation. Despondency not unfrequently oppresses minds of this class and fate, that they are rejected; that upon their little trial they have failed; that they are cast out as unprofitable, Why is reserved to them so small an arc of their circle? Are not even the first fruits of their increase disdained? The very dew of their youth, is it not scornfully shivered, while the flower withers on which the morning saw it gleam? Oh, let these tender spirits know that they are the subjects of a process which the kindest mercy can apply. Small as is the arc, it is the ascending section of their circle, curving to the apex, and terminating there. Transient as is the dew, it is but exhaled to the heaven whence it fell. "The cutting off of their days" is only a sort of visual illusion. Life is condensed, not abbreviated. The sacrifice is not less costly because consumed in a keener fire. The race is not really less because of its speed.

How many of youthful prime and promise have I lived to see removed from our "present evil world." Some of these grew up with me, and we entered life in company. Others had taken their place more lately in this strange scene. Of them, it may be truly

said, that they won the esteem of us who had a little preceded them, and who could not have quite forgotten that we had ourselves been young. The interval was not large enough to forbid the full-hearted exercise of affection and confidence. There was no disproportion which could hinder friendship. The elder might serve the younger by that kind of experience which the first few years of active life can scarcely fail to acquire-an experience over which imagination casts many a fading colour still, and age has yet imposed no rigour. And we were stimulated by the advance of so much genius and goodness into the field. The fresher baptism, whose drops stood glistening on their forehead, reminded us of our earlier devotement. A community of feeling arose between us, reminding us of the Sacred Band of ancient Greece, in which the more practised warrior adopted the untried stripling hero, training him for battle, and leading him to victory. The issue has not been according to that model; we have not been heaped together in a common death!

His

One of these have I been very recently called to lament. pattern should not be lost. He attained to no ordinary stature of character. Few have attracted to themselves, in so short a period, a more complete esteem. He who now inscribes this little memorial, never came into contact with him but to be fascinated, instructed, and reproved. The position of

the teacher and the learner was in precise contrariety to the difference of their years. My only superiority was, that, having lived longer, I had suffered more.

"Mine own familiar friend" might have made himself known, and secured no mean celebrity. But he coveted not to act a bus

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