CHESHUNT COLLEGE.

We have much pleasure in stating to our readers, that our highly-esteemed friend, the Rev. William Broadfoot, has been appointed by the Trustees of Cheshunt College to the responsible office of Theological Tutor to that respectable and venerable institution. May the divine blessing rest on the appointment!

INDEPENDENT BOARD.

We are happy to inform our beloved brethren and friends in the country, that the Board, at their meeting of last month, which was very numerously attended, came to the unanimous resolution of holding the 16th of February as a day for prayer and humiliation. We know that their proposition will be cordially received in the metropolis, and, we doubt not, through the whole country. The Board earnestly united in the wish that as many of their Presbyterian and other Christian brethren might join with them on the 16th as might feel at liberty to do so. The Rev. A. Reed was requested to draw up an address to the churches, which might tend, by the Divine blessing, to prepare the public mind for the proposed solemnity, and we are happy, without further remark, to lay his very powerful appeal before our readers.

AN APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES IN REFERENCE TO THE PROPOSED FAST DAY.

Another day is set apart for special humiliation and prayer. Every one will say this is very proper. But it is one thing to make this hasty acknowledgment, and it is another and a different thing to observe it properly. It may be well, then, to pause on the subject. If it is of any importance that such a day should be observed in our churches it is of great importance; let it be entered on and anticipated by serious and devout consideration.

The mind may, perhaps, be awakened in some degree by a recurrence to the past. We have already, on several occasions, given ourselves to these more special services. There can be no doubt that real good has arisen from them to many of our churches, but has not that good fallen short of even our limited expectations? When we consider that God, in his holy habitation, is the hearer and the answerer of prayer-that he waits to be gracious-and that he is more ready to give than we are to receive-must we not be driven to the painful but sulutary conclusion that our prayers have not found a more decided answer because we have more or less asked amiss?

By many has not the invitation to past services been met by the love of novelty rather than by the sense of duty? They have become cold and weary under the common and regular engagements of religion, and they have been anxious to see some strange thing in our churches. Under the force of this craving feeling they have hastened to

unite in these services, and their unusual and solemn character has impressed them, while the ardour of others has given some excitement to their passions. They have been pleased they have concluded they were profited-but they were mistaken. The pleasure they had in their social engagement was not transferred to the solitude of the closet. When there was nothing but God to impress them they remained unaffected; yea, instead of being reduced to profound self-abasement under the predominant sense of sin, they have indulged a vain elation and self-satisfaction of mind, in having done more than is usual to themselves, and more than others can be persuaded to do. Is this to keep a fast unto the Lord?

Then many have been disposed to regard not only the day as extraordinary, but the temper of mind we should bring to it as of the same character. These persons, therefore, have endeavoured to work themselves up to a state of penitence and prayer fitted for the occasion, and they have as readily discharged themselves from this state of feeling on the close of the services. It is evident that they have fearfully mistaken the intention of them. It was not meant that they should for the time put on and put off this temper of mind like a garment, but that the tone of feeling should be permanently invigorated to influence our future conversation. To them the extraordinary exercise has brought exhaustion, not renovation. Instead of having more life infused into ordinary services they have decidedly less. Their vows, made in the heat of feeling, are broken

their prayers are forgotten; the common and daily claims to worship and to obedience have less interest with them, and they are scarcely to be awakened to sincere penitence, earnest prayer, and holy expectation, by the influence of the ordinary and standing means of grace. Is this to keep a fast unto the Lord?

Again-Have not many who have professed to observe these days done so partially and with some reluctance? They have been unwilling to lose reputation in a matter supported by general consent; but they have been backward also to uphold it with the full force of their example. It has, indeed, been seriously and frequently maintained, that it is impossible for men in business to consecrate a whole day to such purposes. Thus the poor have been left to become poorer still in giving the day to the Lord, while the rich have managed dexterously to balance the interests of the exchange with those of the sanctuary, so that at least no temporal engagement might suffer. This has gone so far that the arrangements of the day have been made subservient to it. The prime of it has been given up to worldly pursuits, and the early and closing portions of it only given to its avowed purposes. The consequences may readily be seen. Apart from lowering the importance and solemnity of the engage

ment altogether, the day, which should be eminently one of calm and deliberate reflection, becomes one of more than common haste and bustle. The merchant hastens to an early prayer-meeting, and hastens, also, to leave it. He expresses a hope that it will not be protracted beyond a certain hour, for otherwise he will be too late for his morning letters. The ministers engaging are not, perhaps, prepared to consider the importance of his claims, and the service runs on beyond the time he has assigned to it. His mind is restless when he is released he hastens to redeem what has been lost; he plunges into the full tide of commercial occupations; rescues himself from it as the day closes; joins his family; partakes the usual meal; hastens again to the sanctuary, and unites in its solemn services with sentiments similar to what he would possess in the ordinary weekly lecture. Is this to keep a day unto the Lord? Is this to keep it as our fathers (of blessed memory) kept it?

Let it not be said that this is stated without sufficient allowance to the real difficulties with which men of business have to contend. It is readily allowed that there are difficulties -that there are many difficulties and that Occasionally they may be insurmountable; but, generally, it is maintained, in a full view of the case, that these difficulties are not impracticable, but may be dealt with and disposed of under the force of ordinary resolution. Do not these very persons manage to give whole weeks to recreation? Are any so deeply immersed in business as not to rescue some days in the year, and devote them to pleasure? Who shall say that there is any thing like an impossibility in the way of dedicating a single day to the high purposes of devotion? In ordinary circumstances, then, the ground must be abandoned, and the plea must resolve itself into nothing better than disinclination.

The writer is persuaded, from what he has seen, that it is better not to observe the day at all than to observe it thus partially and in haste. The intention is to separate us wholly from the world, and to raise us to a fresh and higher tone of religious feeling; and in blending the claims of the world with its solemnities, we do a violence to our habits and conscience, from which it may be hard to recover. To trifle with ordinary means, is sufficiently evil; but to trifle with extraordinary means is still worse; it is to place ourselves in the condition of a man who has tried the last remedies, and whose disease has resisted their influence.

Finally, may not our past exercises, on these otherwise delightful occasions, become to us a copious source of humiliation? That so few have attended these services in com.. parison with the numbers who had the opportunity that so many who have attended them have done so with such partial interest

and defective motives-and that those who have given them their best attention, have not profited more abundantly, is surely cause for present abasement and contrition. Our holy things condemn us. "Our prayers need praying over again; and our very tears need washing in the atoning blood of the Lamb."

Then, as to the present time, it may be said, without the fear of starting objection, that our circumstances are such as to make a special service eminently necessary, and deeply interesting. Our country is placed in a most critical situation. Questions of the deepest moment are now in agitation, which, as they shall be determined, will have a conservative or ruinous influence on the whole frame of society. Meantime, there is reason to fear that our sins may provoke the hand of Providence to dispose of them rather in judgment than in mercy. Its direction is not sought, and it may justly be withheld! Our Sabbaths are daringly profaned; the name of God is insulted and blasphemed; the common decencies of life have been outraged; the incendiary has carried the fire-brand into his neighbour's possessions, and destroyed the bread of life; vice has assumed new and monstrous appearances, and man has slain his brother man, not in revenge, but in cold blood and for a morsel of bread. The whole frame and form of society is shaken, and all things are out of place. Luxury and penury, intemperance and want, oppression and resentment, infidelity and fanaticism, indifference and presumption, are found together, but are found in conflict. The hand of God is evidently stretched out over the land, that we may see it and take warning. Distress has pressed heavily on every class of society, and drank up the resources of industry-while Pestilence, like a spectre of Death, stands on our shores, only waiting to be let loose to destroy a people too well pared for destruction. Alas, for the land! it mourneth, but not after a godly sort! It is brought low, but it is in circumstances, not in humiliation. There are those, indeed, who pray for its salvation, and who support their prayer by strenuous exertion; but hitherto they have been inadequate to the occasion. The mighty and turbid tide of corruption rolls on to its destination, and all the efforts of all the good seem only as the gentle rain from heaven, falling on and slightly disturbing its surface, but neither changing its nature nor checking its force. "Is not this a time to call upon the Lord ?"

pre

Holy brethren! ye who are constrained to stand between the nation and her ruin, let us unite to keep a day unto the Lord, under the persuasion that a people's prayers may do more for their salvation than a people's counsels, since the one appeals only to human, the other to divine, wisdom. Let us

seek more of the spirit of prayer, that our prayers may assume the urgent character of our circumstances. Let us pray in faith and in hope, for there is much to encourage these graces, while there is every thing to promote unfeigned contrition. Let us mourn

apart, and mourn together, for apart and together we have sinned! Let us make sacrifices, and show a readiness to dedicate the entire day to God, and not discourage others by giving part to the church, and part to the world. Let the merchant lay aside his merchandise, the scholar his books, the mechanic his handicraft, and the child his toys, and let us all appear before the Lord, acknowledging our sins in the dust, and, by one consent, let us offer from innumerable congregations our fervent believing prayers for ourselves, our country, and the world. Who can tell?-the Lord may hear, and turn, and forgive, for "He is very pitiful, and of great mercy!" Especially, let us desire that the proof of our sincerity and profit may be found in carrying out the vows and impressions of the day into future time.

Let us

see that the tone of principle and piety be not relaxed; but that we may be stronger in the Lord to meet the crisis of the country, and to seek the redemption of the world. Let it be a time of inquisition for sin, and let every" easily besetting sin" be exposed and sacrificed at the foot of the cross.

Let

us take fresh hold of the righteousness of the Son of God, and as we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit also. Let us yield ourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, conscious that after all our professions we have not yet been entirely his. Let us resolve to oppose ourselves to vice of every form, as the vicious themselves support itby day and by night, and with the whole soul! Let us subdue extravagance by our sobriety; inflame indifference by our zeal; conciliate contention by our charity; and confound infidelity by a living exemplification of the power of God in the gospel of his Son! Let us raise our protest every where against national iniquity, and insist that the slave be emancipated-that education be universal-that the poor find reward for their labour, and that men be taught "to fear God," as well as to "honour the King." Would God destroy a people in which such a church was found?

Above all, whatever may be the destinies of our land, let us habitually feel that we have interests dearer to us than any it can present, dear, unspeakably dear, as they are. Let us look steadily to the sanctity, the ingathering, and advancement of the church amongst all people. Let us seek to be prepared to rise above local attachments and worldly advantages, so that, should the kingdoms of the earth perish, we may rejoice in that kingdom of whose dominion and blessedness there shall be no end. Fearful as

the evils may be which we may be called to suffer, let us regard the evil as transitory, the good as permanent; and by the strong perception of faith, let us stedfastly look to the period, so surely promised, in which the world of mankind shall be restored to the favour, and enriched by the blessing of God. Thus shall we "dwell under the shadow of the Almighty," and he will" hide us in the secret of his pavilion." Hackney. A. R.

THE ASSOCIATE FUND.

Though the important object of this Society has been repeatedly brought before the Christian community, still the Committee feel it their duty, at the commencement of another year, to repeat its urgent claims upon the Christian sympathy and generous exertions of every individual who loves the Lord Jesus Christ and sincerely desires the promotion of his glory. Hitherto the annual bounty dispensed to poor ministers has scarcely reached £700; and when it is considered that the applications for relief are continually increasing-that from the embarrassed state of trade and agriculture in many coun ties humble congregations are less able to support their spiritual teachers-that many valuable ministers, with large dependent families, are often involved in the greatest pecuniary difficulties, yet that, except in some very special instances, the grants cannot exceed the sum of £5, it is to be hoped that where the claimants are so numerous, and the relief afforded in each individual case so moderate, the Committee will not be compelled to disappoint one deserving applicant from the failure of resources. Few understand the full meaning of the command "to deal out our bread to the hungry," but in its lowest sense it implies some personal sacrifice in the practical efforts of Christian benevolence; and it is indeed earnestly to be desired that a fund consecrated to such a laudable purpose should be far more generally and liberally supported.

At the last quarterly meeting of this Society, on the 6th instant, forty-three cases were submitted to the consideration of the committee, being a larger number than had been received on any former occasion, and, in some instances, in consequence of death and sickness in the families of the applicants, the appeals were peculiarly affecting and pressing. Increased annual subscriptions, as well as congregational collections, are earnestly requested, and will be gratefully received by Joseph Proctor, Esq., the Treasurer, 18, Cheapside; by the Rev. Thomas Lewis, and John Yockney, the Secretaries, Islington; and by the members of the Com mittee.

SURREY MISSION.

The autumnal meeting of the Surrey Mission was held at the Rev. J. Johnson's cha

pel, Farnham, on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 1831, when a sermon was preached in the morning, by the Rev. Dr. Morison, of Chelsea, from Rom. x. 13, 14, 15. A public meeting was held in the evening, when many of the ministers of the county were present. A spirit of love and harmony prevailed; important statements were made by the secretaries and others, of the great utility of this valuable institution, which has been the means of introducing the gospel, circulating the Scriptures, and establishing schools, in more than a hundred villages in the county of Surrey. The society has at this time five missionaries in its employ; it also affords assistance to stated pastors, who labour in the villages around them. But whilst its members have great cause for thankfulness that the Great Head of the church has smiled upon their labours in a remarkable manner, they deeply regret that their pecuniary means are not sufficient to keep the society in operation upon its present scale, and that, unless they are more liberally supported, they will be obliged to abandon some of the territory which they have won, after many a hardfought battle, and over which they have watched with paternal and anxious care. But surely there is too much piety, benevolence, and love for souls and the Redeemer, to suffer such a result. The society has sustained a heavy loss in the death of their late valued treasurer, Thomas Hayter, Esq.

Any lady or gentleman wishing to become a subscriber or donor to the Surrey Mission, may transmit their subscriptions to the Rev. Messrs. T. Jackson, Stockwell; G. Browne, Clapham; J. B. Richards, Wandsworth; and A. Dawson, Dorking, secretaries.

MELTING OF THE PROTESTANT UNION.

Country ministers, who are members of the Protestant Union for the benefit of the widows and children of deceased ministers, and who may be in London or its vicinity on Tuesday, the 14th of February, are respectfully informed that a general meeting of the said society will be held on that day, at the Congregational Library, Blomfield Street, Finsbury Circus, at twelve o'clock precisely.

SECESSION FROM THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

We have been requested to insert the following notice by a correspondent whom we have reason to regard as an ordained clergyman of the church of England. We thank him for his very kind notice of our labours; but we do earnestly entreat those excellent men who are, with himself, quitting the Church, to be careful not only of the grounds of their separation, but of the course they pursue as separatists. Let them remember, that many who have left the Church for one set of errors, have fallen into another not less injurious to the souls of men. Let our correspondent seek the fellowship of prudent

VOL. X.

well-instructed Dissenters, and not that of such men as Mr. Bulteel, and others equally unsettled in their religious views.---EDITOR.

We understand that several pious clergymen have seceded from the Establishment within the last few months, and we shall probably live to see their number greatly increased. Not the slightest movement has yet been made by the bishops with a view to correct the real abuses of the Church, or to purge her liturgy from the popish leaven which still cleaves to it, and the consequence is that some of her most valuable ministers, being no longer able to endure the weight of their scruples, are compelled to quit her communion in order to relieve their burdened consciences. It seems impossible to account for the supineness of our prelates amidst the storm which has already shaken their Establishment to its very foundations, except on the supposition of their being actually infatuated. P."

ONE HUNDRED

PROVINCIAL.

AND TWENTY VILLAGES IN SUSSEX WHOLLY DESTITUTE OF EVANGELICAL INSTRUCTION, AND OF ANY EFFICIENT MEANS FOR THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF YOUTH.

Had it not been stated, on the unquestionable authority of the Secretaries of the Sussex Congregational Society, that such a host of villages, and some towns, were, at this advanced period of the Christian era, quite out of the pale of the church of Christ, the statement would have appeared incredible. When, oh, when will British Christians arouse from their lethargy, and, with all the might of a holy resolve, put forth all their resources for the recovery of our strayed population! Tell it not to the heathen world, that in a country so close to the metropolis of highly-favoured Britain, and where Directors of Missionary Societies hold their meetings, concentrate their energies, and arrange for the welfare of the world, that a population of not less than sixty thousand are hitherto unblessed with those tidings which have partially gladdened the hearts of the Hindoo, the Hottentot, and the inhabitants of the lovely islands of the Southern' Ocean.

Many a year will yet pass away, and many an immortal spirit will have hastened to its final account, ere the churches in Sussex can hope to supply a tithe of the destitute. Directors of Missionary Societies, wealthy Christians, and others, must share the responsibility, and, in their visits to Brighton, Hastings, and Tunbridge Wells, they must carry all the fire and all the affection of the Christian patriot; and the recovery of the lost must engage their every sympathy, and urge to deeds becoming the character they

H

assume. For want of such combined exertions, what has been the history of Sussex of late? 66 Ignorance, immorality, and wretchedness-disaffection, incendiarism, and crime abound in every part of the county." And shall these continue their baleful influence? Shall a county, presenting in some of its parts the loveliest scenes in nature, still present its claims for a due share in the solicitude which includes the world in its embrace, and be denied? Is the command to begin at Jerusalem to be always undervalued? Are special commissions to be again employed to punish, and to punish justly, the midnight incendiary, and shall no efforts be made to enlighten and bless? Do we believe the gospel to be the best preventative of crime, disaffection, anarchy, and woe; and shall we withhold it longer from the peasantry--our kinsmen according to the flesh?

Antino

mianism has too long rioted here; its pestiferous influence has been like a blight on the moral surface; and the churches, few and feeble, have been oft endangered. Here the infidel politician has bent his steps; here the tracts of Paine, and others of that school, have met a ready and extensive sale. Weigh, then, ye friends of the Redeemer, in the scale of your responsibility and of your duties, the claims of neighbourhood and the consistency of your character; hasten, by your counsels and your active zeal, the period when Sussex, with its entire population, shall co-operate in every well-directed effort for the illumination of the world, and all its resources be rendered tributary to this holy THMS.

war.

CHAPEL AT ST. LEONARD'S, NEAR HASTINGS,

SUSSEX.

Sept. 28, 1831.-The new chapel erected here was opened for divine worship. Rev. Mr. Spry, of Hurstmon Ceux, offered up a dedicatory prayer and read Solomon's prayer at the dedication of his temple; Rev. Mr. Payne, of Ashford, prayed the general prayer; Rev. Dr. Collyer preached on John vi. 45, in which he clearly proved that "all those who are taught of God are depending on and coming to Christ;" Rev. Mr. Jackson (Wesleyan), closed in prayer. Afternoon, Rev. Mr. Shirley, of Seven Oaks, prayed; Mr. Payne preached from those words of the Psalmist, "The goodness of God endureth continually," and concluded in prayer. Evening, in consequence of a disappointment, Dr. Collyer kindly took the whole service, and preached from Deut. v. 28, 29. The collections on the day, and sums since received, amounted to twenty pounds. The chapel (which is vested, so far as makes it secure to the public, and as it can be, till enough money is collected to buy the freehold) has cost £600, and is a neat and commodious structure, and stands in a conspicuous situation. By the exertions of the Rev.

J. Woods, who has visited several churches and benevolent individuals during its erection, £150 were collected. For the remainder an appeal must yet be made to the Christian church.

REMOVAL.

The Rev. W. Salt, who has resided in Lichfield since 1807, has lately resigned his charge in that city; and having received a unanimous and cordial invitation from the church and congregation at Erdington, near Birmingham, he has commenced his labours at that place. We understand that he hopes to be succeeded at Lichfield by the Rev. John Parry, who has lately been assisting the Rev. J. Parsons, of York.

NOTICE.

The Rev. G. Hoyle, late of Milnthorpe, Westmoreland, has accepted a unanimous invitation from the church and congregation at Stalybridge, near Manchester, to become their pastor, and commenced his stated labours in October last.

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH FORMED.

A church has just been formed, on congregational principles, consisting of sixteen members, at Paragon chapel, Bermondsey New Road, Southwark. The Rev. T. Bradshaw, the minister, feels much encouraged by the prospect of usefulness which is presented, and solicits an interest in the prayers of "all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," At the same time he feels it his duty gratefully to acknowledge the kindness of neighbouring ministers, who have countenanced the undertaking to which he has been providentially called.

FOREIGN.

SHAMEFUL PERSECUTION.

We beg to call the attention of the British public to the unhappy condition of some of our Christian brethren, in a foreign land, as detailed in the following letter from a correspondent on whom we can rely.-EDITOR.

To the Editor.

My dear Sir, Paris, Jan. 14, 1832. A letter written by me having appeared in the last number of the Evangelical Magazine on the situation of some of the Vaudois excellent Christians, in the valley of Luzerne, I cannot suffer the persons who may have seen that letter to remain ignorant of the shameful and cruel treatment to which those Christians are still exposed. It is with extreme reluctance that I give publicity to facts so disgusting as those which I shall communicate; but I feel that public opinion is an