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ground, we shall have many, who have hitherto kept in the back ground, coming forward and encouraging us, and joining us also. (Cheers.) Now, I hardly know what I shall further address to this meeting, for I did not at all intend to speak at such a meeting as this. I always feel more in my element here as a listener than as a speaker. I can address a promiscuous throng, and I hope I can also interest them on the various subjects connected with time and eternity; but I cannot instruct my brethren; I have neither leisure nor ability to go so deeply into our peculiar principles as many of them have done, and I have not that extensive acquaintance with the operation of those principles throughout our own and other countries which many of them, possess. And therefore I am extremely reluctant to speak upon these occasions; I came here to receive, not to impart; to learn, not to teach; and I can only rejoice in the opportunity of saying these few words, as it affords me an opportunity to assert my unbounded, my increased attachment to the body to which I have the honour to belong, to my brethren who are present, to our distinctive principles, and to the great cause which we have espoused and pledged to serve. The resolution which I have to read is as follows:

2. That this Assembly, having considered that portion of the report of the Committee this day presented, which relates to the subject of home missions, and also the plan for uniting this Union with the Home Missionary Society in labours for promoting that most important object, laid before it by the Committee, sanctions the Committee in that departure from the plan of the proceedings agreed upon by the adjourned meeting of the last annual assembly, held at Birmingham in October last, which the opinions of many brethren, and the general position of the question seemed to have rendered unavoidable. This assembly now declares its cordial approbation and adoption of the plan for connexion in home missionary labours between this Union and the Home Missionary Society as well calculated to secure, in a high degree, the object long desired by the supporters of the Congregational Union, namely, the efficient and consistent efforts of the Independent churches in home missions; and this assembly expresses its earnest hope that the undivided energies of the Congregational Union of England and Wales will be directed to aid in this great work by the most efficient and harmonious co-operation with the Home Missionary Society. And as this assembly deems a provincial meeting in the autumn of this Union and of the Home Missionary Society in concert likely to promote, in a most effectual manner, such co-operation, it instructs the Committee to use their utmost efforts to secure such a meeting this year, referring to them the appointment of time and place.

Now I hope we all understand this clearly-at least, we understand the essence of it, that we are to enter into a cordial union with the Home Missionary Society. I was one of the brethren who attended the meeting which took place at Birmingham, and who participated in the delight, the hallowed delight and joy, felt at that meeting. I came away, Sir, with a delightful glow of feeling, in the anticipation that our body was at last roused to exert and employ all their energies in the evangelising our own land. I heard afterwards of this projected union; I saw that there were difficulties in the way; at the same time it occurred to me that there would be very formidable difficulties in the way of carrying on a distinct society of that kind and of that name among ourselves. I found that many of our churches, already pledged to the Home Missionary Society, would feel some difficulty and embarrassment about the matter; and I may, perhaps, be permitted to mention, as a case in point, the congregation with which I am connected. We have not been negligent of the Home Missionary Society. I cannot blame myself for having been inattentive to the proceedings of that institution. We have raised between two and three hundred pounds a year for the Home Missionary Society, (hear, hear,) and partly supported two home missionaries in different parts of the country. Our friends are quite alive to the claims of home, and have always responded to them. I have long felt, Sir, that there is a disproportion between our exertions for foreign parts and for our

own country-this has long been my settled conviction; and, without at all wishing to diminish the efforts which are being made on behalf of other portions of the world, I have always felt it my duty to press the claims of home upon my people, and they have nobly responded to my appeals. (Cheers.) I think, Mr. Chairman, there is a kind of romance about foreign objects that takes with our people generally, and that it is difficult to impress them with the urgent claims of those around them; and from this conviction I have always pursued the course to which I have alluded. But when we talked of forming a Home Missionary Society of the Congregational body only, I felt this difficulty, that some of our friends who belonged to the Committee of the Home Missionary Society, and others who were warmly attached to it, would hardly have known how to act with regard to the funds. (Hear.) I think they would have said, "If you wish it, we will transfer them to the Congregational body, but we hope that you will allow us to collect, also for the Home Missionary Society." (Hear.) And then I should have felt myself in great difficulty; I should have felt that there was something like rivalry amongst my people, and thus would there have been a great practical difficulty that I should not have known how to overcome. Still, I thought we were in the greatest danger, I will not say, of compromising. but of concealing and merging our principles, and this was a thing to which I felt particularly averse, especially as I began to see that we must be decisive, if we would make any impression on the world. And, brethren, allow me to say, that it is not for the principles, considered in themselves, that I would stand up, but as they are interwoven with the truth of the Gospel of Christ, as necessary to the advancement of that truth and to the glory of our common Lord. (Cheers.) I was invited to attend a meeting of the brethren of both parties, in order to bring about this junction; and they will recollect that I was rather shy about the union, and stood out for our principles; but now I can most candidly and honestly say that on the part of the friends belonging to our body-I may as well mention, Mr. Blackburn and Mr. Wells-I saw such a concern for the honour of our principles, such enlightened knowledge on the whole subject, blended with a willingness to concede whatever might be conceded without damaging those principles, such a spirit of liberality, affection, and love united with firm decision in what we hold to be the truth on every point as it is in Christ, that their conduct commanded my admiration; and on the other hand, I saw on the part of the brethren belonging to the Home Missionary Society, a willingness to concede, as far as it was necessary to concede, to meet our claims; such a liberal disposition manifested on their part, because they had their predilections, and customs, and habits, they had their friends and persons warmly attached to their peculiar views, they had all these to give up, as well as we had some sacrifices to make-but, Sir, the meeting was conducted with such a spirit of candour, and liberality, and generosity, that any man who attended it must have seen that this was the point to which we must eventually come; and when we received from all parts of the country intimations that such was the wish of the brethren in every direction, we felt, Sir, that we were warranted and bound to come to this decision. (Cheers.) Perhaps I may be allowed to say, in reference to my friend, Mr. Dunn, the Secretary of the Home Missionary Society, that with the brethren who acted with him, he conducted himself in those discussions in the most noble, disinterested, and honourable way. I do not see, myself, how we could have come to any other decision. There may be some little discrepancies, but still I think, that if, as ministers, we enter warmly into the subject, we shall have the co-operation of a large body of friends in the country, and have the Gospel of Christ published by a faithful, evangelical ministry, maintaining all the principles that we hold in full and important detail. I think much will depend upon the ministers. We must go into this matter with all our heart; we must augment the funds, and we must apply ourselves to this one object, which is the great object which lies before us, that the reproach which is still upon us may be wiped off; we must apply ourselves to the great object of evangelizing our land, we must go into the dark and

miserable villages that have long been neglected, and we must endeavour to make them civilized and christian, that they may concur with us in the means used for spreading the Gospel in all the world. I should be very glad if my brethren from the country would avail themselves of the opportunity of procuring some of the little tracts which have been recently published on the subject of our principles, in order that they may circulate them among their congregations; if we do not do it, it will not be done. (Hear.) And remember, while some are laudably engaged in redressing your political grievances, and advancing your political rights, there are others who go to the root and core of the whole matter, the sinfulness of uniting secular with spiritual power, seeking that religion may be relieved from the shackles which have been imposed upon it, no longer connected with the state, but entirely voluntary. (Cheers.) We have had champions to plead our cause-men of intrepidity of mind, equanimity of temper, and a wide reach of thought, furnished at all points, of whom we could be sure that they would not commit themselves, and that they would never commit our cause. I bless God for the gifts that he has bestowed on many of my brethren, some who are now present, and others in different parts of the country, and for that devotedness of mind which he has given them to the great cause which is dear to us all. When I have seen how indefatigably some of my brethren have attended the Committee meetings, how they have devoted their time and their talents to those principles which are dear to all present; and with what wisdom, and discretion, and affection, and kindness they have conducted themselves; my heart has risen in thankfulness to God for the gifts and talents which he has bestowed on them. I trust that success will attend all our operations for the evangelizing of the country, and I commend this resolution to you with my whole heart. (Cheers.)

JAMES JAMES, Esq. Alderman, of Birmingham, said that he could only account for the honour which he enjoyed of seconding this Resolution, by the fact that he was connected in some measure with the first provincial meeting of this Society, held at Birmingham. (Hear.) He should not occupy the meeting by making any remarks, but content himself with saying that he most cordially se conded the Resolution.

The Resolution was then carried unanimously.

The Rev. Dr. REDFORD, of Worcester, rose to move the third Resolution, and spoke to the following effect:-Mr. Chairman, and my dear christian brethren, the recurrence of this meeting is associated in my mind with recollections which almost deprive me of the ability of rising once more among you. (Hear.) It is with difficulty that I can collect my thoughts and suppress my emotions; but yet there are other emotions which are excited in my heart by this assembly which seem, for a moment at least, to master and keep down those personal and private associations. (Hear.) The deep impressions which I have had on former occasions that the Spirit of the living God has been among us, and evidently presiding over our business and our movements, has been deepened on this occasion, when I see the working out of a great principle like that which is characteristic of our denomination, which at the outset of our Union we had such difficulty in persuading many of our brethren could be worked out profitably, successfully, and delightfully; the working out of that principle now for ten years progressively, and the growing importance of the results of the adoption of the principle and of our acting upon it, are such as, I think, must refresh and invigorate all our hearts. It is love, it is christian love that has drawn us together from all parts of the empire. (Cheers.) To feel that love cementing our hearts, to witness it in the countenances of respected brethren, to know that it is the animating principle of all the movements which we are pursuing, and are anticipating to pursue in time to come, is indeed a gratification to every christian mind, and an evidence to my own, as I trust it is also to yours, that the Spirit of God is upon us indeed, and of a truth. This is a sacred and holy assembly, the moments of it are indeed precious, and I have longed for one of two qualities, or both, the power of elongating time or of condensing thought, in a higher

degree than I now possess it. I have a long Resolution, and I must not speak further upon it; I have already occupied too much of your time. There is one subject which I will mention before I sit down-I mean the Irish Evangelical Society. (Hear.) I do feel this day great gratification in having the opportunity of submitting this Resolution, so utterly unanticipated by myself, for I never heard until I entered this room that such a thing was even contemplated. That it should have arrived at this stage, that we are about to pass this Resolution, is indeed gratifying, and I hope the results will be equally so. We are to adopt, it seems, the Society to which I have referred. We can hardly call it adopting, for it has been our child from the first; but, somehow or other, we Independents have brought many children into the world, and then have left them without education in our own principles. (Laughter.) The Home Missionary Society always was our own, it only wanted to acknowledge its parent; it was not, perhaps, so affectionate a child as it ought to have been, but now it is to be one of our family, and here the Irish Evangelical Society is another child come back with it.

3. That this Assembly, while desirous to cherish a catholic spirit, and to unite most cordially with brethren of other denominations in efforts for the spread of the Gospel, in all cases in which differences of opinion on subordinate points can be merged without doing violence to conscience or injury to truth, yet deems it the present duty of Congregational Christians to labour zealously and consistently for the advance, within the British empire, of the kingdom of Christ according to their own views of its constitution and government. In this view the Assembly will regard with entire satisfaction the accomplishment of the connexion proposed between this Union and the Irish Evangelical Society on the terms proposed in the plan now laid before it; and the Assembly hopes the result of this connexion will be a most harmonious and vigorous co-operation between the Independents of England and Ireland for the advance of evangelical religion in the latter country; and the powerful progress among the Irish people of the views of scriptural truth cherished by Congregational churches, which, in the view of this Assembly, are adapted most effectually to counteract all Papal and kindred errors and corruptions of our holy religion.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace. That fruit of the Spirit we are manifesting in our Union to-day. Let us continue to act under the influence of these principles, and in the spirit recommended by this Resolution, and the blessing of the God of peace and of love will rest still more copiously upon us as a body. (Cheers.)

The Rev. GEO. SMITH, of Plymouth, then rose and said :-I rise without any thing like previous preparation, for the purpose of seconding, which I do with very much pleasure, the Resolution which has just been read to this meeting. I think it every way desirable, Sir, that the Irish Evangelical Society should be affiliated to the Congregational Union of England and Wales. It will henceforth be, I presume, the Congregational Union of England, Ireland, and Wales. I feel very much pleasure in seconding this Resolution, inasmuch as it will lead to an open acknowledgment of the principle upon which the Irish Evangelical Society has been practically conducted for a length of time. All the agents of that Society, with the exception of one, are decidedly Congregational; all the churches which have been gathered out of the world through its instrumentality are likewise, I believe, Congregational; and I believe the whole of the funds which have been raised for the support of the Irish Evangelical Society have for a long time past been derived from the Congregational churches. (Hear.) It is, then, very suitable and proper, I apprehend, that this Society should be the Congregational Irish Evangelical Society. I hail it as a Society which shall in future have that character, if not that designation. And I rejoice also in seconding this Resolution, as following a Resolution which has reference to the affiliation of the Home Missionary Society with our Union. I rejoice that a union is effected, and I hope that in the practical working of that Society, there will be a full recognition of our common principles. (Hear, hear.) I hope

in the future operations of our Union some regard will be had to the condition of our churches in second, third, and fourth rate towns-I mean churches which are incapable of supporting themselves-and that the power and influence of this resuscitated Home Missionary Society will be brought to bear upon and to sustain them. I feel very much on account of villages, and it is a well-known fact that to them the Home Missionary Society has directed its special attention; but I feel equally concerned, Sir, on account of many gifted, devoted, pious, and zealous brethren, who are compelled to live upon an income of £50 a year, (hear,) and I do hope that, through the combined efforts of the Home Missionary Society and the Congregational Union, some means will be adopted to afford help in those very important and interesting cases. (Cheers.) Having thus stated my opinion upon this subject, I most cordially second the Resolution which goes to the uniting the Irish Evangelical Society and the Congregational Union.

The Resolution was put and carried unanimously.

The Rev. W. WRIGHT, of Honiton, then proceeded to read the draught of the annual letter to the Congregational churches, prepared at the request of the last annual meeting, by the Rev. D. Payne, Exeter, Rev. J. Bounsall, Ottery, and the Rev. W. Wright, Honiton, "on the privilege, responsibility, and duty of the churches in the choice of their pastors."

The Rev. J. REYNOLDS, of Romsey, in proposing its adoption by the meeting. said:-Mr. Chairman, I shall not trespass upon your time any longer than will be necessary to read the Resolution, and to submit it, as I most cordially do. to the meeting. I rejoice in what I have listened to in the document, and have full confidence that, through the confidential and friendly revision of the Committee, it will be made to meet all our views, and be adapted to the circumstances and condition of the great body of our people. I could have wished, Sir, if it be not presumptuous in me to say so, that a hint should have been given to our bre thren as to the countenance they should or should not extend to those who ar chosen to fill the pastoral office. (Hear.) It is very desirable that it should be given to those only who act solely upon Congregational principles. (Hear.) I have seen some of the most deplorable results arising from the neglect of these principles. Many ministers, either from want of attention or from want of information upon the subject, have recognized the settlement of pastors over churches, and afterwards deeply regretted evils which proper enquiry would have enabled them to avoid.

4. That this Assembly adopt, with warm approbation, the draft of the Annual Letter to the Churches now read; and directs the Committee, after revision by them in friendly concert with the brethren to whom the assembly is indebted for this valuable document, to print it, and secure for it the most extensive circulation practicable, in the hope that it will in many instances promote the peaceful and harmonious proceedings of churches in the choice of pastors. And this assembly tenders to their much respected brethren, the Rev. Dr. Payne, and the Rev. Messrs. Bounsall and Wright, their very cordial thanks for the service so kindly undertaken and so ably performed by them in the preparation of this letter. The assembly also respectfully requests the following brethren, the Rev. Mr. Griffith, of Long Buckby, the Rev. T. Milner, M.A., of Northampton, and the Rev. T. Toller, of Kettering, to prepare the annual letter for presentation to the Annual Assembly for 1841, suggesting as an appropriate subject for discussion of an important and practical bearing, recommendations on the choice of deacons by our churches, similar to that on the choice of pastors embodied in that now adopted by the assembly.

The Rev. GEORGE LEGGE, of Leicester, in seconding the resolution, said, I rise, Mr. Chairman, rather reluctantly, I must say, to second the resolution which you have just heard. Not that I object to any part of that address; for I am sure there has been but one sentiment in the meeting as to the gravity, solidity, and truth-telling character of that address. If any thing in the way of criticism might be advanced, I think it is too little in the style of a letter, and too much

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