REMOVAL. The Rev. John Emblem, who has been pastor of the Congregational church at Westham, Essex, for more than thirty years, has resigned his charge, and took an affectionate farewell at the table of the Lord. INTELLIGENCE. DECEASE OF LORD HOLLAND.-RESOLUTIONS OF THE MINISTERS OF THE THREE DENOMINATIONS.-LADY HOLLAND'S LETTER. The death of this distinguished nobleman occurred at Holland House, on the morning of the 24th of October, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, after an illness which commenced on the preceding day, but which did not present any alarming symptoms until a few hours before his decease. In this event Britain has lost one of the most enlightened and patriotic of her statesmen; the present government has been deprived of one of the pillars of its strength; and Protestant Dissenters have to mourn the departure of the most tried and steady advocate of their civil and religious rights during the present century. In the character of Lord Holland as a statesman, there was displayed, at all times, a rare combination of refinement and power-of intelligence and courage. His views on all subjects connected with national policy were large, liberal, and generous, and avowed with a honest firm-hearted confidence in their worth, which extorted respect even from his enemies, and never failed to render him an object of admiration and affection among his friends. During a considerable period before his removal, his lordship was deprived, by an affection of the throat, of all power to take part in the debates of the Upper House; but no minister of the present cabinet was more assiduous in bis duties at the council table. His lordship's connexion with Protestant Dissenters was, during the greater part of his life, through the medium, almost exclusively, of the small section of that body, who, while retaining the name of Presbyterians, have repudiated the faith of their forefathers. The orthodox dissenters have to thank themselves for this circumstance, and for some of the mischiefs which resulted from it; but this evil has been subject to some correction of late, and we think that signs are not wanting to justify the hope, that in the coming generation of statesmen, an attachment to liberal sentiments in politics, and to scriptural sentiments in religion, will be of less rare occurrence than formerly. We understand that the Record newspaper has spoken very freely of his lordship's religious opinions, and of his neglect of public worship. The Record cannot deplore such faults more than we do. But not long since there was an aged person, notoriously covetous, who stood forth in the Upper House of Parliament as the special champion of protestant charity; to the honour of whose most christian zeal a public monument was reared by general subscription; who, as Lord Chancellor of the realm, had the constant disposal of ecclesiastical livings from one extremity of the land to the other, and who was, moreover, by office, "keeper of the king's conscience;" but who, it is certain, was not known to have engaged in any one act of public or private worship for the last twenty years of his life. We scarcely need say that in this allusion we mean the late Lord Eldon. Our friend, the Record, however, and the politicians of the same school, saw nothing to make them wrathful in this most grotesque form of hypocrisy-this abominable fraud practised upon popular credulity. It should perhaps be added, that if Lord Holland had made his appearance in any place of worship for some years past, it must have been as the effect of being carried into it. We are far, however, from meaning to exculpate his memory on such matters; but we could say much on the hollow partiality in which such charges as the above often originate. At a meeting of the General Body of the Three Denominations of Protestant Dissenting Ministers, residing in and about the cities of London and Westminster, held on Tuesday, the 3rd of November, 1840, the Rev. W. Groser in the Chair, Resolved, 1. That we, the General Body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations, residing in and about the cities of London and Westminster, being specially convened to express our sentiments of respect for the memory of the late Lord Holland, and of sympathy with his bereft family, regard it as our solemn duty to offer our most humble and grateful acknowledgments to Almighty God, that a life so valuable to the cause of every thing just, pacific, and humane in the policy of Britain, and of Europe, and so eminently serviceable to the interests of civil and religious liberty in these kingdoms, should have been so long preserved: that in giving utterance to our feelings of unfeigned sorrow on account of the event which has terminated a career so beneficial and memorable, we cannot forbear to record our high estimate of the wisdom, integrity, and assiduity which so long characterised his Lordship as a statesman, but deem ourselves bound to give the fullest expression to those feelings of admiration and gratitude with which we call to mind the bold, consistent, and generous adherence of his Lordship, in times of much oppression and obloquy, to the cause of equal justice in regard to all questions affecting the civil or religious rights of our respective denominations-an adherence marked by the exercise of so many public virtues as must serve to place the name of Holland among the most patriotic and honourable in our history as a people; that in recording these sentiments as our humble tribute to the memory of his Lordship, we must also give expression to our confidence, that the great principles which derived so much aid, and for so long a period, from his Lordship's rank, and talents, and energy, are principles which cannot die; that their destiny is to become stronger as bequeathed from one generation to another, to obtain a broader and a more illustrious advocacy from age to age, until they have acquired their due place as the unquestioned truths of our common Christianity, and of civilized society in every region of the earth. 2. That as ministers of the gospel, we present to Lady Holland, and to the members of the mourning family, our sincere sympathy and condolence, earnestly imploring the Father of mercies, through the mediation of Christ, that it may please him to assuage the anguish attendant on this visitation of his hand, by administering largely from the consolations of our holy religion to the heart of the widowed and the sorrowing; and that, through his favour, a house so illustrious in its connexion with the intelligence and social virtue of our land, may share no less in the elevation and happiness to be derived from the principles and hopes of true piety. These resolutions having been communicated to Lady Holland, she has acknowledged them in the following terms: "West Hill, Putney, Nov. 10th, 1840. "To the Three Denominations of Protestant Dissenting Ministers residing in and about the cities of London and Westminster. "GENTLEMEN-I feel deeply and sincerely impressed by the regard (I may almost say affection) which it has pleased you publicly to manifest, by your resolution of the 3rd of November, to the memory of my late beloved husband, and am grateful for the sympathy you express in my heavy and irreparable loss. True it is, that the persevering efforts of his life were to promote 'every thing just, pacific, and humane in the policy of Britain and of Europe.' Treading in the steps of his uncle, Mr. Fox, he was ever devoted to the cause of civil and religious liberty, and unremitting in his exertions for the relief of all classes and denominations of men who were suffering from injustice or oppression. "With heartfelt acknowledgments to you, Gentlemen, in my own name, and in that of his unhappy family, I remain, with the greatest respect and regard, 66 Your faithful Servant, "ELIZABETH VASSALL HOLLAND." BIRTH OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL. On Saturday, Nov. 21, our most gracious Queen was safely delivered of a healthy infant, who, with her royal mother, are reported by the bulletins to be doing exceedingly well. This event has excited no common gladness amongst the Protestant Dissenters of the empire; and in all their chapels in the metropolis devout thanksgivings and prayers were offered on the following day. "A Form of Prayer" has been since issued by authority, and read for the first time, not on Lord's Day the 22d, but the 29th of November. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. Favours have been received from the Rev. Drs. Matheson-Wardlaw - Henderson and Vaughan-Rev. W. H. Heudebourck-H. Burgess-T. LewisO. T. Dobbin -A. R. Philips-J. Paine-Thos. Milner-W. Owen-J. Sibree -A. J. Morris-J. H. Godwin-W. Roaf-J. C. Potter-J. Spencer-A. Wells-T. Aveling-G. Taylor-H. Holmes-B. Slight. Also from Messrs. R. Ash-Thos. Challis-J. Skinner-G. Yonge-J. Robertson-W. Wilson-J. Ward-S. Nunnerly. The Editor has received several communications on the subject of Pastoral Visiting besides those he has inserted: want of space, however, has compelled him to restrict that discussion to two articles. He is happy to inform his friends that the January Number will contain, besides the Transactions of the Congregational Churches, a new department, THE CHRONICLE OF BRITISH MISSIONS, to be occupied with accounts of the Home, Colonial, and Irish Evangelical Societies. ERRATA. P. 2. Line 17 from top, for " Yond" read Youd. P. 6. 27th line, for "Maharatta" read Mahaica. RECENT ACTS OF PARLIAMENT AFFECTING DISSENTERS. ALTHOUGH Acts of Parliament may be thought by some of our readers dry and uninteresting, yet, as we have always sought to make THE CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE a repository of whatever affects the interests of the Nonconformist community, and have in former Supplements printed at length the Acts of the Legislature which affected us, so we have deemed it expedient to reprint the three following enactments, relating to our registers, our marriages, and, shame to a reformed House of Commons, to our sufferings. The Act which legalizes our baptismal and other records is a substantial boon, for which we are indebted to the liberal policy of Her Majesty's Government. The Act to facilitate Nonconformist marriages was passed at the instance, we believe, of the Catholic body, whose chapels are comparatively so few and scattered, that the New Marriage Act scarcely relieved the members of that community. It will also relieve Protestant Dissenters from an inconvenience which has been felt, and is, therefore, also a benefit. The third Act we know not how to describe. It has for its object the relief from prison of those Dissenters who have been incarcerated for church rates, but its benevolent intention is so injured by the questions of time and fees, that it is rather an insult than a boon, especially after the House of Commons has voted that church rates ought to be abolished. We trust, however, that such a measure will induce the Dissenters to seek with renewed energy for the speedy extinction of that hated impost. An Act for enabling Courts of Justice to admit Non-parochial Registers as Evidence of Births or Baptisms, Deaths or Burials, and Marriages. Certain Registers to be deposited in the Custody of the Registrar General.— Proviso as to Registers not received. Whereas by a commission under the great seal, bearing date the thirteenth day of September in the seventh year of the reign of his late Majesty, certain persons therein named were appointed commissioners for inquiring into the state, custody, and authenticity of any registers or records of births or baptisms, deaths or burials, and marriages lawfully solemnized, as had been kept in England and Wales, other than the parochial registers, and the copies thereof deposited with the diocesan registrars, and for inquiring whether any and what measures could be beneficially adopted for collecting and arranging and depositing such registers or records, and for considering and advising the proper measures to be adopted for giving full force and effect as evidence in all courts of justice to all such registers as were found accurate and faithful, and for facilitating the production and reception of the same; and by another commission under the great seal, issued in the first year of her present Majesty, the powers and duties of the said commissioners were continued: and whereas there are now about seven thousand registers in the custody of the said commissioners, 6 B N. S. VOL. IV. which by their report to her Majesty, bearing date the eighteenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, they have recommended to be kept together in some secure place of deposit, and to be deemed to be in legal custody, and to be receivable in evidence in all courts of justice, subject to certain conditions and restrictions therein recommended: be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assem bled, and by the authority of the same, that the Registrar General of births, deaths, and marriages in England shall receive, and deposit in the general register office, all the registers and records of births, baptisms, deaths, burials, and marriages now in the custody of the commissioners appointed by her Majesty as aforesaid, and which they have by their said report recommended to be rest in some secure place of deposit, and also the several registers and records nettioned in the Schedules (H.), (I.), (P.), and (Q.), annexed to the said report si the said commissioners, and also such other registers as are herein-after directed to be deposited with him; provided that none of the said registers or records not already in the custody of the said commissioners shall be received by the Registrar General, unless the person or persons now having the custody thereof shall, within three calendar months from the passing of this Act, send the same to the said commissioners for examination by them. Continuance of Commissioners for Twelve Months.-Their Duty. II. And be it enacted, that such of the said commissioners as are now living shall be continued commissioners for the purposes herein-after mentioned for the space of twelve calendar months from the passing of this Act, and they are hereby authorized, from time to time during the said twelve months, to inquire into the state, custody, and authenticity of every register or record of birth, baptism, naming, dedication, death, burial, and marriage which shall be sent to them within three calendar months from the passing of this Act, and such as they shall find accurate and faithful they shall certify under the hands and seals of three or more of them (of whom the Registrar General shall not be one) as fit to be placed with the other registers and records hereby directed to be deposited in the said office; and the Registrar General, upon receiving the said certificate of the said commissioners, accompanied by an order of one of her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, shall receive such registers and records, and deposit them with the registers and records which are now in the custody of the said commissioners. Declaratory Provisions as to the General Register Office. III. And be it enacted, that every office or place where any 'registers or records which by this or any other Act are directed to be in the custody of the Registrar General shall be deposited by direction of the Registrar General, with the approval of the Lord High Treasurer, or three or more commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury, shall be deemed to be a branch or part of the General Register Office, so long as such registers or records shall remain therein, and the execution of this Act shall be deemed to be a part of the business of the General Register Office. Commissioners to identify the Registers deposited. IV. And be it enacted, that the said commissioners shall from time to time deliver to the Registrar General a descriptive list or lists of all the registers and records now in their custody, and also of all the registers and records which shall be so certified as fit to be placed with the other registers and records in the General Register Office, containing such particulars, and referring to the registers and records in such manner, as in the opinion of the Registrar General shall be sufficient to identify every such register and record; and three or more of the said commissioners, (of whom the Registrar General shall not be one.) shall certify under their hands, upon some part of every separate book or volume containing any such register or record, that it is one of the registers or |