The wonder now is at the rare examples, of which that spoken of was one, of its lengthened date. Discontent based on doctrinal grounds made entrance at last; though it is past all doubt that their unity would have held unbroken much longer, if their convictions and sense of duty had been left in their own keeping. But those faithful overseers of a man's flock, his brethren around, are seldom wanting to their supposed duty in the case; and here, as elsewhere, those who had been taught they were aggrieved, were allowed no rest till they found it in secession and a new altar. But their numbers were few; their fortunes certainly at no time bright; and the pulpit changed its incumbent with a most discouraging frequency. All at once a happy remedy to meet the exigency, and revive the dying-out light in this candlestick of true gold, was started by somebody,-by whom we know not, but where that credit rests, should by all means be traced out. The bequest of which we have spoken had been made to 'the Congregational Society of the place;' and now the quite original idea was, to dispute the title of the mother society to be styled 'Congregational' at all. Who could have encouraged these hopes, that were (or rather should have been) competent to advise, remains in the dark; but the hopes themselves waxed stronger, till they issued in the final appeal to the law. The trial came on last winter, and before a full bench: the hearing filled many days; and seriously, the plea most strenuously insisted upon for the transfer of the property to the new claimants was, that the keepers of it did not accept the Assembly's Catechism! Certain points technically legal, and which waited for a law term to be fully considered, deferred the final decision almost to the month of July, now just passed. It was the unanimous judgment of the court, that the plaintiffs had wholly failed to establish their position; and we ought to add, that four of the five judges were kindred in theological relations with those whom they thus dismissed. The Chief Justice incidentally spoke of himself as a member of the old (orthodox) church at Concord (Dr. Bouton's). "The documents comprising this case are just published, and their extent causes one to break out in wonder over the subtilties of a science, by which a proposition, to common view so simple, can become so complicated. The opinion of the presiding judge took up three hours in the delivery. The testimony of the Rev. Dr. Lamson, of Dedham, whose ministerial experience, on its very threshold, was such as to be fruitful of questions pertinent to the point in hand, kept him on the stand the larger part of a week, inflicting on the outer man what, in homely dialect, is often called a siege. "The documents of the Dublin case shew how distressfully earnest the counsel for the plaintiffs were to make out that it was never conceived with us to have the radical meaning of Independent, so wisely preferred in the mother country by those in whose fellowship they gloried. Early authorities to this effect are paraded and lengthened out; and even, one is ashamed to say, some of the present time; for example, Professor Upham, of Brunswick. It would be descending to bandy words in such an argument. All this unwearied painstaking but serves to shew how little, with the large body of those who are most intent to usurp control over the appellation which is the nucleus of this debate, the vital essence of the one thing or the other is to their taste or after their heart; as to which, we reserve a further word to be spoken in the sequel. "The motive for these endeavours after a monopoly of a denominational name, thus steadily kept in view through long years, and which must be deemed a thing of concert through almost the whole line of a party, is altogether hid from us. Where the dear rights of property are concerned indeed, an explanation is found for almost anything. And yet even in the Dublin question (coming within that category), it is a very partial explanation. The plaintiffs had had no funds wrested from them by the strong arm. The case widely differs, as any one must see, from those of a minority in church, being conjoined with a majority of the parish, constituting, in the successive judgments of the courts, that body the first church, and which was the essence of the Dedham, Princeton and Groton suits in Massachusetts. These last may naturally enough be counted a hard, and, in more than one sense, a trying case. But the claimants in the matter in hand lost nothing which they did not lose by their own act and consent; and now strive to recover, not only their own share of a common good, but the whole. This only will content them. We repeat, then, one cannot but wonder that the zeal of these voluntary New Hampshire confessors was so impetuous, or their simplicity so extreme, as to allow them to have been committed beyond retreat to a lawsuit. That it was a very small society, would seem less a reason for precipitancy than the contrary. We profess to know nothing; but cannot but suspect that those whose friendly offices were at first astir to make this little STOCKPORT UNITARIAN CHURCH. flock feel it their solemn duty to secede at the present day; but they professed and build, have added to this obligation that their church was of such a nature by inciting to another step, which has that it could defy even the beams of the plunged their clients still more deeply in mid-day sun. He believed, however, that debt. The orthodoxy more nearly round a brighter and a better day was dawning about us, however actively bent in the upon them; he saw now, behind those same direction, is more cunning; conscious mountains whose huge forms had so long that the process of continual dropping' obscured the rays, beams of light rising, on paper or on the stone is the safest way, which gave great courage and heart to though it makes a slow approach enough hope for better things. In the Established to its object. This has been probably the Church at the present day there were numfirst lawsuit to deprive Unitarian believers bers of men who were doing the work of of the Congregational name; the second illumination, and he delighted to see them will not probably come in our time." there. The powers were now at work which would compel all men ere long to roll the chariot of freedom across the world; but in the mean time it was their duty to raise up beacons of light to point out the way to the land of liberty. In this work the ladies of the congregation had been engaged, and they had nobly succeeded. In after times, when all that were now in that room were gathered to their long homes, and when pure Christianity shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea-the men of those times would point to that church and say, The men who erected that building were, at all events, true prophets of their time, and by their labours have done a great deal to the spread of religious liberty and truth throughout the world. On behalf of the ladies, he begged leave to thank them for the manner in which they had recognized their services. For some time past the handsome Unitarian church at Stockport has laboured under a burthen of debt which has to a serious extent cramped its operations. A committee of ladies was, however, formed, by whose untiring exertions the whole of this debt, amounting to £2100, has been at length removed, and on Tuesday, Dec. 20, a congratulatory meeting of the members of the congregation and their friends was held in the school-room connected with the church to celebrate the happy event. Mr. HENRY COPPOCK presided. In his opening address he paid a well-deserved tribute to the exertions of the ladies, and expressed his satisfaction at the connection which the congregation had lately formed with his friend, Rev. A. Creery. His services had been most acceptable, and, he was sure, had given great satisfaction. The Chairman concluded by calling on Mr. Creery to address the meeting, and gave the following as the sentiment upon which he would speak-"The Ladies of this Congregation, through whose successful efforts this congregation has been relieved from a debt which cramped its energies and destroyed its vitality. May the thanks of this meeting, their own approving consciences, and the future prosperity of the church, be a lasting remembrance that they have therein nobly done their duty." Rev. A. CREERY, after some appropriate remarks on behalf of those energetic ladies of the congregation who had by their exertions succeeded in clearing the church from debt, said-When he came to this congregation it was to him delightful to think and to feel that he should breathe the air of liberty, that he had come amongst men whose only desire was to promote freedom of thought in the world. Now, it was no small boast to be able to say they had a church which was free from superstition. Theology, apart from the superstition of the dark ages, was not popular It Rev. CHARLES BEARD, in speaking to the sentiment of "Home Missionary Endeavour," said-It had been truly observed by Mr. Coppock, that the Unitarian body was beginning to shake off its lethargy with regard to home missionary labour, but it was not for him to inquire into the reasons which had prevented their predecessors from undertaking that labour. would, however, be very far from true to say that the work had been wholly neglected. There had been many menamongst whom he might mention his own father-who, throughout the whole of their ministerial course had kept this object steadily in view, and done very good and hard work in the same direction in which they were now proceeding. Those works had not been carried out in former times for want of being seconded by the congregations of Lancashire and Cheshire; but now the attempt was being made to do all in their power in this respect. He was not one of those persons who thought that in times to come all the different sects of religionists would be merged into one, and that Unitarianism, being the strongest of them all, was the one sect which was to govern the world. That was not the principle upon which they ought to engage in the missionary work. If a man believed that he had in his possession truths which are effectual comforters, -if he thought that these truths relieved him from superstitious fears, and supplied him with the necessary moral and spiritual food for his soul, would bring him into the presence of his God far more surely than any other, if he felt that he had the spirit of God within him testifying to the truth he possessed,-why then he had no choice; he could not help but go forth and spread that truth. It was with these feelings they should undertake the missionary work, not with any view of producing a particular impression upon other men's minds, but because God had placed within them something precious, which, like all God's gifts, was to be distributed to the whole world. Religious life should produce missionary work; it was not for missionary work to produce religious life. The beginning of their work must be a well-spring within themselves, and the actual expression of that religious life, of that spirit of missionary labour, that was within them. Mr. Beard concluded an able speech by alluding in detail to the mode of operation resorted to in the various chapels of Lancashire and Cheshire employed in the missionary work, and described the division of labour. Rev. JOHN GORDON spoke on The pros pects of Free Theology in the present day." After congratulating the Unitarians of Stockport on the advantageous circumstances in which they were placed, he said that whatever the prospects of the liberal theology of the present day might be, they ought to make no difference to the discharge of the high religious responsibilities under which they lay. However dark those prospects might be, it ought not to restrain them from the discharge of those duties they were called upon to perform; but ought, on the contrary, to call forth greater carefulness and earnestness on their part. They had a certain truth entrusted to them, which was a most precious possession, and they were bound by every moral and religious feeling, and by every other obligation under which they lay, to do their duty in spreading and upholding this truth, regardless of all consequences, leaving the future entirely in the hands of Him by whose wisdom and goodness they believed all future events would be overruled. The prospects of liberal theology were very favourable; they saw on all sides an advance towards these principles, not merely in their own community, but in almost every religious community on which they could set their eyes. Within the last twenty years a great change in theology had taken place, and that change had not been in any instance towards a narrow theology, but towards a more liberal one. Whatever progress had been made in other religious communities had been in direct opposition to the views of Christianity to which the parties making it had subscribed. In almost every instance the progress of liberal theology had placed the minister and the congregation in opposition, not merely to the opinions they formerly held, but to the opinions with which they were identified by positive bargain to that effect. But the result of this was very disastrous indeed in its bearing upon the religion of the case, but still more so upon its morality. The moral view of this subject was of more importance than the religious one, inasmuch as it was more dangerous. A man who subscribed himself to that which he did not believe, or who continued his subscription since his belief had undergone a change, approached very near to dishonesty. To connect religion with any dishonesty, either in principle or feeling, was to bring the whole question of religion into discredit.There was an idea prevailing that the administration of religion was entirely entrusted to the parsons. A falser idea than this could not exist, for a minister could do nothing unless he was upheld by the members of his congregation. They must be religious men. Not merely Unitarians-free men, men attached to a liberal theology, but men cultivating in their hearts, their minds, and all their relations to society in general, a true and really religious character. If they proved that Unitarianism made them better men in all the varied relations of life, they might depend upon it they would succeed, and that their body would prosper. Rev. G. H. WELLS spoke on "The Unitarian Church," and Mr. GRINDEN on "The universality of the Christian spirit." A vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman, and the meeting terminated with singing and prayer. A MARKED SIGN OF THE TIMES. The congregation which was founded in Strasburg by Calvin, has just appointed as its pastor the Rev. T. Colani, editor of the very liberal Nouvelle Revue de Théologie, author of the truly excellent volume of sermons which Dr. Davidson proposes to translate, and who, more than any other person, may be called the leader of the great religious movement which is Unitarianizing the French Protestant Church, and gradually sapping the foundations of the Catholic Church not in France only, but in neighbouring countries. OBITUARY. Oct. 4, at Gloucester, of pulmonary consumption, FANNY, the affectionate wife of Mr. J. Pascoe BLIGH, aged 26 years. Few individuals ever spent life more usefully, or relinquished it more tranquilly, or with the indulgence of brighter hope. Oct. 28, at Abbey Mead, Tavistock, Mr. JOHN COMMINS, at the advanced age of 84. He was born in Tavistock, where he afterwards spent, with the exception of a few years, the whole period of his earthly lifetime; and long as that was, it was filled with deeds of goodness and marked throughout by an earnest Christian zeal. He was early left an orphan, and brought up under the care of an affectionate uncle. Several of the best years of his life were spent under the tuition of his venerable pastor, the Rev. Theophilus Edwards, afterwards of Exeter. By means of subsequent study and an earnest self-culture, Mr. Commins acquired considerable proficiency as a linguist. He was originally destined for the medical profession, but in consequence of his extreme sensitiveness was obliged to relinquish it. His sympathies strongly inclined him at one time to entertain serious views of entering the Unitarian Academy, then at Exeter, with the intention of qualifying himself for the Unitarian ministry, to which he was strongly urged by his friend Mr. Kentish; but domestic circumstances prevented his carrying out this object, which he seemed in later years exceedingly to regret. What he had thus failed of attaining himself, he secured for his eldest son, Mr. Joseph Rowe Commins, who passed through the usual course of instruction at Manchester College, York, with much credit; but as he was about to enter upon a most promising ministry at Lincoln, he was mysteriously summoned to a more heavenly ministry on high, having been borne to his final rest at the early age of twenty-three. But though Mr. Commins was not specially qualified for the Unitarian ministry by a preparatory course of collegiate theological education, yet he possessed all the natural aptitude for it which could be derived from a richly stored and a highly cultivated mind, and, above all, from a heart singularly devout and deeply religious; and he did accordingly conduct the services at the Abbey chapel, Tavistock, for a considerable time when the congregation was not supplied with a settled minister. At all times he was ready, even in the last year of his life, to occupy the pulpit upon any emergency; and for many past years he always read the hymns given out in the course of the services, with a fervour and impressiveness which those who had the privilege of hearing him will not soon forget. His benevolent exertions were not confined within denominational limits. In conjunction with the Rev. W. Evans, the Rev. E. Atkyns Bray and John Taylor, Esq., of London, he was one of the founders of the Tavistock Public Library, and was latterly admitted a "free member," in acknowledgment of his various services thereto. For fifty years he was trustee of Watts' Charity, which is a source of considerable benefit to the town. He rejoiced, indeed, in every indication of improvement in his native place, and spared no labour to promote it both materially and socially. On the 2nd November, his remains were deposited in the family vault in the Dissenting cemetery; he was followed to the grave by a large multitude of people from all denominations, all being desirous of paying this tribute of respect to the memory of one so much and so universally esteemed and loved. The funeral service was conducted by the Rev. D. Griffith, minister of the chapel; and on the following Sunday funeral sermons were delivered by the same gentleman to large and deeply attentive congregations. The morning discourse was founded on Psalm cxxvii. 2, "He giveth His beloved sleep ;" and among other true and appropriate words spoken, we may record the following. The preacher having dwelt upon the more prominent of the many excellences which distinguished the character of the deceased, said "In my comparatively brief intercourse with him, what appeared to me to be a more rare and precious characteristic of his spiritual nature than any other was his habitual nearness to God. The Divine Spirit seemed to be interfused through his whole being, and one could not speak to him of divine and holy things without feeling that they were constantly present to his thought, so immediate was his response, so living and so true his sympathy. His heart leaped up, as it were, to meet one's own whenever it beat with high and holy sympathies. His eye glistened with a holy joy when one touched upon the infinite love of God, the unsearchable riches of Christ, and the immortal life of the spirit,-themes so near and so dear to his heart. Of him it may indeed be said with truth, 'His delight was in the law of the Lord, and in His law did he meditate day and night.'' We shall only further add an extract or two from the letters of friends to whom Mr. Commins had been long and intimately known. The following words of sympathy were addressed to the bereaved widow: "I hasten to offer you my sincere sympathy in your heavy bereavement. A man of a purer mind and nobler character I never knew, and I am happy to think that his end was so calm and peaceful. He was always supported in his trials by those cheering views of our Heavenly Father and of the mission of His Son which he had imbibed and cherished in his youth. His was indeed the life of a true Christian; and that I may catch a portion of his spirit, and my last end be like his, will be my constant and earnest prayer. The following words are from another pen: "A purer spirit was never called to its Father's pre sence. His serene yet genial life has left behind it memories that cannot fail to impart somewhat of heavenly influence to those who cherish them. He was a true disciple of his Master. He had caught the finer, womanly tone and temper of the Saviour's spirit, as I have never perhaps seen it embodied in a man's nature, and it surrounded him with an atmosphere that was spiritual and was spiritualizing. He has left on my own heart and memory an image to be cherished till latest life. Too unworldly-if that be a fault-he passed through life with a child's love and tenderness and trust towards the Heavenly Father; and if his were not the more coveted circumstances of worldly prosperity, it was the much more desirable lot of a godly and contented spirit. He has gone to his reward. May those whom he leaves behind, near and dear to him, be imbued with his spirit, and, cherishing it on earth, be fitted to follow him to the higher blessedness of heaven!" "Tranquil amidst alarms, Death found him on the field- Dec. 14, at Southampton, of acute bronchitis, aged 36, SARAH, eldest daughter of Mr. Joseph SEATON, of Chatham. She was deeply impressed with the truth and importance of Unitarian views of the gospel, and it was her anxious desire to promote their wider diffusion. Cut off in the prime of life from further active duty, and from the society of friends by whom she was much esteemed, she submitted with entire resignation to the will of her Heavenly Father, and departed in earnest hope of "glory yet to be revealed." Dec. 3, at Lewes, after a few days' illness, ROSE FAULCONER, eldest daughter of John Edward FULLAGAR, Esq., solicitor, Chichester, aged 25. and granddaughter of Rev. J. Fullagar, of When Death's dread blasts such flowers blight, "We walk by faith and not by sight;" For Hope, blest Hope, to ease our pain, Assures us they will bloom again. J. F. It is with profound regret that we announce the death of Rev. GEORGE HARRIS, at Newcastle, on the morning of Dec. 24. This sad intelligence of the departure of one of our most energetic and successful labourers both in pastoral and missionary work, will be a painful shock to many Unitarians in England, Scotland and Ireland. Of the particulars of his last illness we have heard nothing. His health gave signs a few months ago of giving way under the pressure of his indefatigable labours. At the request of his flock, he sought the restoration of his health in a quiet retreat for three months on the borders of Scotland. He returned a few weeks ago to his home and, as we supposed, to his public duties, when the melancholy tidings of his decease reached us. The funeral obsequies are appointed for the 29th of December, and Rev. R. Brook Aspland is to be the officiating minister then and on the occasion of the funeral sermon. Our future numbers will doubtless be supplied with full particulars of the public services of this eminent man. The Unitarian church can ill bear at the present time the loss of such an able and outspoken minister. May God put it into the hearts of them that remain to work, with redoubled energy and perfect faithfulness, while it is day! MARRIAGES. Oct. 25, at Great George-Street chapel, Liverpool, by Rev. T. Raffles, D.D., LL. D., SAMUEL FRANCIS, eldest son of Samuel STONE, Esq., of Elmfield, Stoneygate, near Leicester, to MARIA, fourth daughter of Charles GILLHAM, Esq., of Liverpool. Dec. 14, at Upper Brook-Street chapel, Manchester, by Rev. J. H. Hutton, B.A., the Rev. JAMES HARROP, minister of the Hulme Domestic Mission, to HARRIET, second daughter of Mr. John HILL, machinist, of Manchester. |