chapel in St. John; one is at Carlton, on the other side of the harbour; and one at Portland, which is separated from St. John only by a small bridge. In this last place a room, which will accommodate one hundred persons, has been offered me without any expense, by a respectable ship-builder, a Wesleyan Methodist.

The degree of union which prevails between me and the other ministers, and between our church and the churches under their care, is very pleasing; it exceeds what you are accustomed to in England. I consider we have publicly stated the opinion that the promotion of Christian union, so far as God may enable me, is one of the distinct objects of my mission to this place. I consider this one of the aims of the Colonial Society-hence another of its righteous claims upon the support of all genuine Congregationalists.

At our last church meeting we agreed to a letter, inviting the Baptist church in this city to unite with us in forming a united monthly missionary prayer-meeting. They have cordially responded to the invitation, and we hope to hold our first meeting next Monday. The union will extend itself to the Free Presbyterian church, and I hope to the Wesleyan Methodists. It will lead to the raising of a little money, which we shall, of course, remit to the Colonial Society.

In respect to our present attendance, you will, of course, be prepared for the announcement that we do not witness the crowds which flocked at first. The diminishing of the attendance is traceable, I apprehend, to two causes. Curiosity is at length fully satisfied. I am no longer the new preacher from England, and a preacher belonging to quite a new sect. Another fact that has materially helped

to diminish our crowded attendance is the arrival of the Free Church minister, a very intelligent and devoted young man, one for whom I entertain the highest esteem. Many of my first hearers were only waiting for his arrival. These remarks apply to our evening congregation. I have always regarded the morning attendance as the true criterion of our numerical strength. This, I am happy to say, was never so good as it is now. We had the best which I have yet witnessed, in ordinary circumstances, last Sabbath morning. In the morning we are attended by nearly 400; in the evening by nearly 600.

My dear brother, such is my report. It will, I doubt not, awaken gratitude to God. The undertaking of the Colonial Society in this place has hitherto proved successful. May it so continue ! I feel that I am in the place where God has fixed my lot. The days which may get remain to me I desire to devote unreservedly to the glory of my Redeemer.

When our cause here is sufficiently established, many fields in these provinces will invite my attention and ministerial efforts. Surely, in these further efforts, we shall not be left without additional ministerial help from home. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have strong claims upon the Congregationalists of England. May these claims not be urged in vain! Brother Porter and I have now to work alone. May this state of things soon discontinue, and may our little band be reinforced by a few devoted men, who will be the earnest champions of scriptural principles of church polity-the ardent promoters of enlightened Christian union—and the faithful advocates of the great truths of human redemption !

With my best regards to the Committee, believe me yours, very affectionately,

J. C. GALLAWAY.

TRANSACTIONS OF CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ANNUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION OF ENGLAND AND WALES.

THE Meetings of the Fifteenth Annual Assembly of the Union, and of the societies associated with it, are arranged as follow:

Monday, May the 12th, at four o'clock, p.m., in the Congregational Library.Meeting of the Distributors of the Fund in aid of Aged Ministers, derived from the profits of "The Christian Witness.” At this meeting the attendance of the treasurers and secretaries of all associations connected with the Union is invited.

Tuesday, May the 13th, the Meeting of the Annual Assembly of the Congregational Union, consisting of delegates and other brethren, will be held in Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate-street. Chair to be taken at nine o'clock, a.m. precisely, by the Rev. JOHN BURNET, of Camberwell. The proceedings to close at half-past two o'clock, that the brethren may adjourn to the Congregational Library for refresh

ment.

On the evening of the same day, Tuesday, May the 13th, the Annual Meeting of the Irish Evangelical Society will be held in Finsbury Chapel. Chair to be taken at six o'clock precisely.

Friday, May the 16th, the adjourned Meeting of the Annual Assembly of the Union will be held, also in Crosby Hall. Chair to be again taken by Mr. Burnet, at nine o'clock, a.m. precisely. At twelve o'clock precisely this meeting will be constituted for proceeding with the business of the Board of Education; and at this hour the attendance of all contributors to the Education Fund is accordingly invited. This morning's business will be closed, as that of Tuesday, at half-past two o'clock, the hour for refreshment at the Congregational Library being again three precisely.

The proceedings of the Annual Assembly will relate to subjects of the gravest importance, and requiring the united counsels and prayers of all brethren concerned for our principles and prosperity as a Christian denomination. They are such as the following:

1. The letter to the churches on their public worship-a subject always sacred and momentous, but at the present time of peculiar interest with relation to the general state of the public mind and of other religious denominations.

2. The interests of our theological colleges, as connected with the proceedings of the recent conference. Now that the conductors of those most important institutions have manifested so deep and enlightened concern to effect every practicable improvement in their literary, religious, and practical working, it is equally natural and necessary to appeal to the churches for increased liberality and prayer in support of those colleges from which generally their future pastors must be obtained.

3. The present being the jubilee of the London Missionary Society, presents a very appropriate occasion on which the Union may express its deep interest and sympathy in that noble institution, as well as record its deliberate testimony in favour of missions to the heathen.

4. How the earnest struggle on the Maynooth Bill may terminate, it is impossible yet to conjecture; but it hardly possible that its results should not be such as to require of the assembly some proceedings, to place before the churches and the public, a solemn declaration of its judgment on the altered state of the British Empire in relation to the great Voluntary and Protestant questions.

5. British Missions and general Education are subjects that have lost none of their importance: their labours are as necessary, their opportunities as great, their wants

as pressing as ever. On them alone all the attention of the two meetings of the Assembly might be advantageously employed. It is hoped that even amidst the pressure of so many other important matters, they will obtain more time and thought than in former Annual Assemblies.

On the evening of this day, Friday, the 16th of May, the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Colonial Missionary Society will be held in the Weigh-house Chapel, Fishstreet-hill. Chair to be taken at six o'clock precisely by the Treasurer, J. R. Mills, Esq.

NEW CHAPEL.

COMMENCEMENT OF TRINITY CHAPEL, ST. JOHN'S-STREET, Edgeware-Road, LONDON.-On Tuesday, April 8th, the foundation of this new chapel was laid by Sir Culling Eardley Smith, Bart. The Rev. J. Stoughton of Kensington, the Rev. J. Blackburn of Pentonville, and the Rev. J. Miller of New Court, engaged in the devotional exercises, and the Rev. Ridley H. Herschell, for whose ministrations the new chapel is to be built, delivered the address. The parish of Marylebone, in which this chapel will stand, is the abode of a large portion of the most intelligent and respectable Jews in London, and, in the present unsettled state of opinion amongst them, it is hoped that the erection of a Christian place of worship, where the Gospel is to be preached by one of their own nation, may excite their attention and promote their welfare. Besides, in this overgrown parish the church accommodation of all denominations united is very inadequate to the wants of the population, and therefore it is a matter for congratulation that a chapel, capable of containing twelve hundred persons, is being erected in it.

The site is part of a considerable property, the lease of which has been purchased by a devoted friend, in order to secure an eligible situation for a new chapel. The lease is for ninety-nine years, and the cost of the chapel, which will be a plain, unadorned, but substantial edifice, together with the school-rooms beneath, will not exceed £4,000.

The property is to be vested in the hands of trustees, who will hold the same in trust for the preaching of evangelical doctrines, by such minister as the church or communicants may from time to time appoint. Sir C. E. Smith, Bart., John Dean Paul, Esq., J. Conquest, Esq. M.D., and Fred. Wollaston, Esq., are the present trustees, with power to add to their number.

ORDINATION.

The Rev. W. A. Hurndall, of Huddersfield, has accepted a unanimous invitation from the church and congregation at Bishops Stortford, vacant by the death of the late Rev. William Chaplin, and will enter on his stated labours there, God willing, on the fourth Sabbath in May.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

RESISTANCE TO THE ENDOWMENT OF MAYNOOTH COLLEGE. THE popular agitation against this most mischievous measure of our government has been fully equal to our sanguine hopes; and though it is mournful enough to perceive the extent to which state connexions and a carnal policy have paralysed many members of the great Protestant body of our country, yet we feel thankful to God that there is good evidence that many myriads of our countrymen possess a healthy state of feeling on this momentous question.

The opposition has been carried on both by sectional and combined action, and

in all the forms of agitation permitted by law. The Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyan Methodist bodies have held distinct denominational meetings in the Metropolis; and many local meetings have also been held in the suburban districts and throughout the kingdom.

The Central Anti-Maynooth Committee, under the energetic presidency of Sir Culling Eardley Smith, has originated and carried forward some remarkable demonstrations of popular feeling, particularly at the aggregate meeting of Protestants of all denominations, in Covent Garden Theatre, which was crowded to excess, and where the enthusiasm was most extraordinary.

Many advocates of the voluntary principle have regretted that dissenters should act with churchmen on this committee, because that combination is necessarily affected by a compromise; their united opposition being based, exclusively, on Protestant grounds. But if we sincerely desire to defeat this measure, which we can only hope to do by the union of all Protestant denominations, surely for the sake of their powerful aid, and for the pleasure of fraternal union, we may forbear, for a season, to avow extreme opinions. We are not such zealous dissenters as to forget that we are Protestants; nor can we overlook the fact, that the voluntary and establishment systems are but means to an end; the question at issue being, Which method is more likely to preserve and extend the Protestant faith? But that faith is now threatened by the government patronage of Popish establishments. For whilst we believe that such patronage is very mischievous to a spiritual religion, we regard it to be highly favourable to a worldly system like that of the papacy; and therefore, we sincerely wish to prevent its receiving such important succour at the national expense. That committee have convoked deputations from every part of the kingdom; and on the day these pages are published, there will be assembled, in London, several hundred gentlemen, of every shade of political opinion, of every denomination of Protestant Christians; and cordially uniting in the most strenuous resistance of this unprincipled bill. Such a gathering is worth some forbearance: and most sincerely shall we regret if ultras on either side should venture to disturb its harmony, and so enfeeble its moral power.

Already there have been presented to the House of Commons about 7,000 petitions, signed by nearly 800,000 persons, against the Maynooth Bill; but there is much more to be effected by petitions still. Let it not be thought that it is now too late to make further opposition. The bill may not pass the Commons for two or three weeks; the floor of the House of Lords should be inundated with petitions; and, if necessary, addresses to the throne should be sent to Her Majesty, praying that the Parliament may be dissolved, and the sense of the country taken upon this proposed departure from the Protestant policy of our country. We entreat our readers to leave no lawful means untried to resist this measure to the last, and to accompany their efforts with much prayer that God may turn these evil counsels into foolishness.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE THREE DENOMINATIONS ON THE MAYNOOTH COLLEGE BILL.

The general body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the three denominations residing in and about the cities of London and Westminster, held a special meeting on Tuesday, April 1st, at the Congregational Library, Blomfield-street, to take into consideration the Maynooth College Bill, when the Rev. F. A. Cox, LL.D. D.D., was in the chair.

The Rev. John Blackburn, introduced the following series of resolutions, which, after a long and interesting discussion, was adopted. At a time when both in parliament, and through the daily and weekly press, the opinions of the Dissenters

on this question are most grievously misrepresented and perverted, we deem it a duty to preserve these documents, which supply the only materials for a honest history of this opposition to that most unrighteous measure.

1. That this Body has heard with the deepest anxiety and alarm of the proposal of Her Majesty's government greatly to augment the parliamentary grant to the Roman Catholic College of Maynooth, in Ireland, and of the intended introduction to the legislature of a bill to remove that grant from the annual votes of the House of Commons, and so to make the endowment permanent; which, if allowed to become law, will, in the opinion of this body, virtually establish Popery in that country by act of parliament.

2. That in the judgment of this body, it is in principle unjust, and in its tendency most mischievous, to appropriate the resources of the state to the endowment of any religious institution whatsoever; and that it is neither unjust nor uncharitable toward the Roman Catholics of Ireland, to demand that the education of their priesthood be left to the same voluntary support by which the seminaries and colleges of the nonconformist ministers of England and Wales have been founded, and are sustained.

3. That in addition to the general principle on which this body rests its opposition to the endowment of religious institutions by the state, there are special reasons which greatly increase its hostility to the measure now proposed to parliament, and which are deemed worthy of the earnest consideration of all true Protestants.

First. Because the doctrines taught at Maynooth College are those of the most rigid school of the Papacy, and which are inculcated by the most accomplished arts of Jesuitism-doctrines which the Protestant nonconformists of Great Britain and Ireland regard as subversive of the Gospel of Christ, and mischievous alike to the minds, the morals, and the liberties of mankind.

Secondly. Because all history and experience prove that the varied learning and high accomplishments of the Roman Catholic clergy throughout the world, have not been acquired for the enlightenment of the people, but have too commonly been employed to increase their intellectual bondage, and their abject submission to priestly usurpation: and, therefore, although the system of education for the Irish priest at Maynooth were greatly improved at the national expense, it will not consequently follow, that the popular mind of Ireland will be advanced thereby, either in knowledge, virtue, or charity.

Thirdly. Because accumulated national sufferings can alone explain the longcontinued national agitation of Ireland; and it is neither righteous nor manly to attempt to silence the loud complaints of an oppressed and impoverished people, by inducing their priests to employ spiritual power to repress their desires for political rights and social improvement,-to satisfy which seems to be the first duty of enlightened and honest legislation.

Fourthly. Because the Protestant churches of Europe and America, and their devoted missionaries throughout the world have, within the last quarter of a century, suffered much from the exclusive claims, the restless intrigues, and the unscrupulous aggressions of the emissaries of Rome, (the bitter fruits of restoring the order of the Jesuits in 1815,) whilst, in the Established Church of these realms, there has arisen a party formidable by their numbers and their talents, who profess warm sympathy with, and profound deference to the Church of Rome,-considerations these, which should not permit any advantages to be conceded to Roman Catholics, beyond those which national justice and equal citizenship demand.

4. That as the nonconformist founders of this body were amongst the first to welcome the arrival of the Prince of Orange in this ancient capital "for the security and maintenance of the Protestant religion;" and as they employed their best influence to secure the happy Revolution of 1688, and as their immediate successors