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the sacrifices of himself and Dr. Marshman and the Serampore brethren to the mission were represented as heroic, and when the mission, in all its circumstances, was declared to be a convincing proof to all but scorners of the agency of the Holy Spirit. The late Andrew Fuller was accustomed to appeal to this mission, in which he had unbounded influence, in token that he and his brethren, the Calvinistic Baptists, were owned of God; not without reflection upon the opinions of those that undertook no missions to the Heathen or failed in the undertaking.

Another sharp contest is carrying on between the persons engaged in the conversion of Seamen. They have split into distinct societies, which are arrayed against each other in hostile attitude. Mr. Smith, the Baptist minister, is the head of one of the parties, Dr. Styles of another. The most offensive charges and terms are bandied to and fro. Stratagems are said to be put in practice by each party to prevent the other from saving the souls of the sailors. Bethel flags are used to denote that boats or ships, or warehouses by the water side, are set apart for the religious use of mariners. These now bear different colours and signs to denote the society by which they are set up, and to prevent sailors from being trepanned by any other. The site of the late Brunswick Theatre is the centre of the operations and the disputes of the proselytists: upon this spot Mr. Smith is about to raise his banner. The circumstance may remind the reader of the Greek religious factions who carried their theological quarrels into the circus, and were denoted and opposed there by the different colours which they wore and waved.

Differing as we do in religious opinion from the several bodies whose schisms we have briefly reported, we take no pleasure in their contests. We give them quite as much credit as they are disposed to give one another for meaning well, and we have no doubt that all have done good; though their bickerings and mutual reproaches are, we are sure, discreditable to the common cause of religion. Some benefit, however, will spring from the evil, if they are taught by their respective infirmities that none of them are infallible; that their liability to error may belong to their opinions as well as to their practice; and that they must no longer conclude that their religious zeal is a sure proof of their being acted upon by the Holy Spirit, or that the disaffection of some persons and some sects to their schemes of

proselytism is any mark of their wanting religion, or being wide from Christian truth, or being favoured less than others, who cause their voice to be heard in the streets, with spiritual influence, and the manifestations of the Divine presence and blessing. God is not the author of con

fusion, but of peace.

THE DIVIDED GRAVES OF A FAMILY. BY MRS. HEMANS.

[From "Records of Woman," &c.]

THEY grew in beauty, side by side,
They fill'd one home with glee;
Their graves are sever'd far and wide,
By mount and stream and sea.
The same fond mother bent at night
O'er each fair sleeping brow;
She had each folded flower in sight:
Where are those dreamers now?
One 'midst the forest of the west,
By a dark stream is laid:

The Indian knows his place of rest,
Far in the cedar shade.

The sea, the blue lone sea, hath one;
He lies where pearls lie deep;
He was the lov'd of all, yet none
O'er his low bed may weep.

One sleeps where southern vines are dress'd
Above the noble slain :

He wrapp'd his colours round his breast,
On a blood-red field of Spain.

And one-o'er her the myrtle showers
Its leaves, by soft winds fann'd;
She faded 'midst Italian flowers-
The last of that bright band.

And parted thus they rest, who play'd
Beneath the same green tree;
Whose voices mingled as they pray'd
Around one parent knee;

They that with smiles lit up the hall,

And cheered with song the hearth

Alas! for love, if thou wert all,

And nought beyond, oh, Earth!

OBITUARY.

AT George Town, Dis. Columbia, U. S., N. America, in the 63rd year of his age, on July 11th, MR. John Wright; formerly of Liverpool. In the year 1817, Mr. Wright, who was in the habit of delivering discourses on religious subjects, was prosecuted by the magistracy of that place on the double charge of holding religious meetings in an unregistered place, and delivering sentiments of a blasphemous nature. (Christian Reformer. Vol. III. pp. 191, 229, &c.) On the first charge the penalty of sixty pounds had been incurred. The defendant had every reason to believe the place was regularly registered, as it had been used without interruption as a place of worship for six months together by different parties; but through the carelessness of the officer, who, it appeared had kept his notices on these subjects on a file only, instead of recording them in a book, the entry could not be found; the magistrates therefore convicted the defendant. Against this conviction an appeal was made to the Quarter Sessions, when the conviction of the magistrates was confirmed. During the discussion of this business, the worthy Recorder observed, that Dissent was a crime in eye of the law, and that an angel from heaven could not legally preach in a place not properly registered! It would be unjust not to state, that, although the conviction was confirmed, the magistrates did not exact the fines. But on the charge of Blasphemy Mr. W. was obliged to find bail to a very heavy amount for a person in his circumstances, but he had no difficulty in obtaining it. The blasphemy with which the defendant was charged rested on two points chiefly, viz. the doctrine of the atonement, and that of an intermediate state of conscious existence between death and the resurrection. The informer in this honourable work was one John Scott, then a Merchant of Liverpool, who is said to have corresponded with Dr. Law, the then Bishop of Chester. As it is supposed, the Bishop, fearing that his Rev. father's "Considerations," containing similar sentiments, would be pleaded in the court at Lancaster, was the means of putting a stop to the prosecution. In September of that year Mr. W. with his family emigrated to America, and for some time was in the habit of preaching in Washington, and once preached by invitation before Congress in their Hall of Assembly. His death was occasioned by a paralytic affection, increased, if not occasioned, by too great an exposure to the heat of the sun during the month of June, by working in his garden during the middle of the day. He has left a widow, one son, and two daughters. He had to struggle through many difficulties in life. His perseverance was of no common kind. His philanthropy knew no bounds.

He was the author of the following works:-The Right of

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Free Discussion claimed and exercised: pp. 60, 8vo.-The Claims of Misery, or Benevolence its own Reward; a Sermon in behalf of distressed Seamen: pp. 16, 8vo.—A Defence of the Jewish People; a Letter to Dr. Raffles, at Liverpool: pp. 64, 8vo.Three Discourses on the Right of Private Judgment, and the exercise of Reason in Matters of Religion : pp. 68, 8vo.-A Sermon, generally known by the name of Wright's Blasphemy Sermon ; pp. 28, 8vo. This was the occasion of the prosecution.-American Unitarian Controversy; containing the Author's defence of the Unitarian Doctrines: pp. 109, 8vo.-A Refutation of the Sophisms, gross Misrepresentations, &c., contained in an American's Letter to the Edinburgh Reviewers, on Slavery: pp. 52, 8vo. The Character of Jesus as a Saviour; a Sermon preached before Congress.-The three last were published in America. The A. U. Controversy is republished in Liverpool.

F.

September 11, at Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Mr. Serjeant HEYWOOD, Chief Justice of the Carmarthen Circuit. He had been for some time in a very weak and declining state, the natural consequence of his great age, and intended retiring from his judicial duties. He was of an eminent Dissenting family of long standing, and took an active part in the application to Parliament for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, at the close of the last century. He published on that occasion (in 8vo.) "The Right of Dissenters to a Complete Toleration asserted-By a Layman," of which a second edition came out in 1789. This is by general acknowledgment the best publication on the subject, and was made great use of in the recent successful application. Mr. Serjeant Heywood's name stood very properly in the honoured list of Stewards at the late Commemoration Dinner.-The_Serjeant was one of the early supporters of Mr. Lindsey at Essex Street.-In politics he was a staunch Whig, and an associate for many years with the party of which Mr. Fox was the head. He did good service to the cause he espoused by a 4to volume, in 1811, entitled "Vindication of Mr. Fox's History."-His remains were interred in the burial-ground belonging to the Lewin's-Mead congregation, Bristol, the Rev. John Rowe officiating on the occasion.

INTELLIGENCE.

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SHEFFIELD FELLOWSHIP FUND REPORT.

On Monday evening, the 2d of June, a General Meeting of the Subscribers and Friends to the Fellowship Fund in connexion with the Unitarian Congregation, Sheffield, was held in the Chapel. After the Rev. G. Harris, of Glasgow, had commenced the meeting by singing and prayer, T. A. Ward, Esq.,

the Town's Regent, was appointed Chairman. The following Report was read by Mr. Palfreyman, the Secretary, and afterwards various resolutions were moved by Messrs. Wright, of Stannington, Brettell, of Rotherham, and Harris; and the meeting concluded with singing and prayer.

The Committee of the Sheffield Fellowship Fund, in reporting to the Members the state of the Institution committed to their care, have great pleasure in announcing, that the increased support which they obtained from the congregation at the close of the year 1826, continues; and although no great addition has been made to the number of the meinbers since the last annual meeting, the funds of the Society are greater than those of the preceding year. The amount collected and to collect is £34. 15s., the number of members 132. Donations have been given from this amount to the chapels at Preston, Glasgow, St. Clear's, and Northampton, and also to the Unitarian Association. Notwithstanding the publicity given on a previous occasion to the plan and objects of Fellowship Funds, your Committee think that it will not be improper on the present occasion to again call the attention of the members and of the friends of the Institution, to a brief sketch of the rise, progress, and intent of these associations, the establishment of which forms an era in the history of English Unitarianism; and they trust that this deviation from the usual plan of reporting a mere formal detail of their stewardship, will not be unacceptable. In the year 1816, the late Dr. Thomson, of Halifax, and afterwards of Leeds, first drew the attention of the Unitarian public, through the medium of the Monthly Repository, to the advantages, both as regarded policy, temporal and religious, which the union of efforts was calculated to create; he appealed to the experience which other sects had afforded, of the efficacy of the contribution of numbers, at stated times, and in proportions differing according to their ability, towards the attainment of some common object; and pointed out the peculiar advantages arising from such institutions, as Unitarians were not united in any ecclesiastical discipline; and as the diffusion of their doctrines among the humbler classes of their countrymen had brought forward many cases in which persons were desirous of joining together in the profession and worship of the one God the Father, after the example and according to the command of the Christian Lawgiver, but were prevented from carrying their pious desires into effect by the want of means. The amiable originator had other views, besides a mere accumulation of strength, in advocating these institutions; he foretold the benefits which would arise from bringing the different members of each society into a Christian fellowship with each other; in creating a personal as well as a congregational friendship amongst the respective parts of the different bodies. It would be a delightful task to trace the gra

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