THE following passage in Orme's Life of Owen, a book well known among the Independents, might be of service to the writer, and perhaps to some readers, of a recent article in the Eclectic Review. It may not be without its use to readers of the Repository. "There are many fine and important passages in this work, an attention to which on the part of believers would lead to much self-examination, watchfuluess, and humility. The remains of inbred corruption sufficiently account for the little progress which is too generally made in the Christian profession, for the fearful misconduct and falls to which men who have named the name of Christ are frequently left; for the want of that solid peace and enjoyment of which believers often complain; and for that conformity to the world, in its pleasures and vanities, which distinguish many, who would be offended if their Christian character were called in question. These things were matter of complaint and lamentation in the days of Owen, and are no less so now. It is true, we have a larger portion of public zeal, and of bustling activity, in promoting the interests of religion. This is well, ought to be encouraged and must be matter of thankfulness to every sincere Christian. But the deceitfulness of sin may operate as effectually, though less obviously, in many whose zeal for the Lord of Hosts' may appear very prominent, as in times when such exertious were not made. It is much easier to subscribe money to religious societies, to make speeches at public meetings, to unite in plaus of associated usefulness, than to sit in judgment over our hearts, or to correct the aberrations of conduct, spirit, and disposition. There may be much public professional warmth, and great inward private decay. There may, in short, be a merging of individual, se Owen on Indwelling-Sin. VOL. V. cret religion, in the bustle and crowd of general profession and public life. These things are suggested, not for the purpose of discouraging public exertion and association for the diffusion of truth, but for the purpose of leading men to consider that, in our circumstances, genuine Christianity is not necessary to do many things which are now the objects of general approbation; and that such things, however excellent in themselves, are but poor substitutes for a life of holy obedience and converse with ourselves and with heaven. Such as engage in Owen où Indwelling-Sin."- Pp. 315, these objects would do well to read 316. Chalmers and Channing. SIR, To the Editor. THE following remarks on these two author goes on to say, dividual in the present day, whose high "There is only, I think, one other inqualifications entitle him to any thing of a similar influence, and he is the inhabitant of another division of the globe, and the preacher, too, of a very different and even defective form of Christianity. I mean Dr. Channing. Yet, though with theological dogmas as distinct and diverging as they are themselves separated by their geographical position, and with many discrepancies, too, in the features of their mind and genius, I cannot but think that these remarkable men come Bearer each other in their points of resemblance and union, than they are remote in their dissimilarities and division. They breathe the same spirit of an overflowing zeal that the reign of the gospel may advance over the world, and the same deep conviction that, on the progress of that kingdom which is to come,' all the most glorious and spiritual triumphs of the human soul must depend. In the best sense of the Apostle, they are, therefore, ' of one mind' while they will be classed, in the mere technical map of theology, as being decidedly antipodes. The high Calvinism of the one, or the dogged Unitarianism of the other, will be accounted, however, by the mind which surrenders itself to the purer influences issuing from these master-spirits of this age,' rather as their excrescences than their energies, as the nodosities of the oak rather than its strength,' as the spots which somewhat obstruct their light and heat, more than the living fountain from which they flow. That fountain, indeed, who shall tell?' Yet its streams can never be mistaken when they mingle, amidst all their diversities, in the same grand and united channel of the love of God and the love of man!" MISS MARY ROE. OBITUARY. 1830. Oct. 23, at Norwich, after a long and painful illness, MARY, elder daughter of Mrs. John ROE. The death of one so young and so promising is one of those dispensations which speak to every heart, more particularly to the young, and tell us by what uncertain ties our strongest affections here are bound. She had looked forward to life with "golden hopes" and bright anticipations, but at the age of twenty-one they were shrouded in the grave! So has it pleased a mysterious but all-wise Providence, and the reason for recording her humble name in these pages, is the hope that should the eye of the young glance for a moment on this frail memento, penned by the hand of affection, it may prove an incitement to them to be "ready also." Worn by sickness and pain, she at length longed to be released from her earthly sufferings, and it pleased her heavenly Father that her release should be met by her with as bright an intellect and as ardent a hope as ever she had enjoyed in her days of health; the terror, the "sting of death" appeared to be taken away; and leaving those she loved, to use her own expression," she wished only to die!" Thus were the anxieties of those who most tenderly suffer this bereavement alleviated, and her parent, under this consoling feeling, has " to earth resigned her, but to God," in humble hope of a happy re-union, when the shades of this life are lost in the brightness of immortality! not WILLIAM FILLINGHAM. Nov. 13, after a long illness, borne with Christian patience and fortitude, at his father's house, aged 15 years, WILLIAM, son of the Rev. William FILLINGHAM, of Congleton. He was interred on the 16th, when an impressive ad dress was delivered to the friends of the deceased by the Rev. T. M. Williams, of Macclesfield (late of the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen). To a bereaved and sorrowing parent it affords no small joy to reflect that during the short space of human life allotted to his son, were evinced those traits of piety and virtue which held out a fair promise of usefulness and respectability of character. And that these pleasing expectations should have been thus blighted by death, he conceives to be among those events which puzzle human reason satisfactorily to account for, but which will hereafter be found, like every other part of the divine proceeding, of all possible courses the wisest and the best. MRS. ELIZABeth Giles. Nov. 28, at Woodbridge, much respected, after a long affliction, borne with the most patient resignation to the Divine will, ELIZABETH, the wife of Mr. Thomas GILES. Obituary of Rev. J. M. Beynon; additional particulars by Dr. Rees. SIR, To the Editor. I HAVE read with great interest the memoir, inserted in your last number, of my late excellent and esteemed friend, the Rev. J. M. Beynon, of Yarmouth. In what the writer of that affectionate testimony to his memory has stated, as to his deep and unaffected piety as a Christian minister, the impressive earnestness of his manner as a preacher, and the amiable and exemplary virtues which, in all the intercourse of social and domestic life, he uniformly displayed, I fully and cordially concur. The biographer seems not, however, to be fully informed as to the circum Mr. stances of Mr. Beynon's early history, and I solicit your permission to mention a few additional facts, which I am able to supply from authentic sources. Beynou received the principal part of his introductory classical education under the able instruction of the Rev. Solomon Harris, of Swansea, a man no less distinguished by his sound classical attainments, and his extensive and varied erudition, as a scholar and a divine, thau by the high and amiable excellences of his private life. During a part of the time he was at this school my late venerated father was his associate. In 1766, Mr. Beynon quitted the Grammar School, and was admitted a student at the Presbyterian Academy, Carmarthen, of which the Rev. Samuel Thomas, and the Rev. Dr. Jenkius, both eminent for their learning and abilities, were at that time the tutors. Here he became again the fellow-student of my father, who, being two years his senior in years, had preceded him to college. In this institution Mr. Beynon passed through the regular course of four years, at the termination of which, in 1769, being desirous of reaping the further advantages promised by an English Academy, he was admitted a student at Warrington. Here he remained three years, studying with exemplary diligence the higher branches of the course under Dr. Aikin and Dr. Enfield. Of Mr. Beynon's contemporaries at the Carmarthen Academy few have been spared to reach so advanced an age. My honoured father preceded him to the grave six-and-twenty years. Those who now remain are, I believe, the Rev. Benjamin Evans, of Stockton-upon-Tees, the Rev. Theophilus Edwards, of Taunton, and the Rev. John Davies, of London, men venerable alike for their years and their characters. To this brief list I am not certain whether I may not add the Rev. Rowland Smith, of Clare, in Suffolk. At the time Mr. Beynon was a student at the Carmarthen Academy it was customary to educate at that institution, upon a separate foundation, a certain number of young men for the ministry in the Church of England. Two of his contemporaries of this class are now living, sustaining a high rank in their profession-the Rev. Mr. Archdeacon Beynon, of Carmarthen, and the Rev. Mr. Jones, Vicar of Lewisham, Kent. The biographer has mentioned one of Mr. Beynon's contemporaries at Warrington, the Rev. Philip Taylor, of Dublin. (Clarum et venerabile nomen.) In looking over the list of the Warrington students at that period, I do not find myself able to add more than one name, and that is Mr. Robert Alderson, whose father was for many years the respected minister of the Presbyterian congregation at Lowestoff. Mr. Robert Alderson was educated at Warrington on the foundation of the London Presbyterian Fund. After quitting the Academy he officiated at Filby, where, if I remember correctly, Mrs. Alderson, who was the daughter of Mr. Samuel Hurry, of Yarmouth, was many years ago buried. He was also for several years the colleague of my much-esteemed and greatly - lamented friend, Mr. George Cadogan Morgan, as joint minister of the Octagon Unitarian Chapel, Norwich. Mr. Alderson afterwards quitted the ministry, the Unitarians, and the Dissenters, embraced the profession of a barrister, became a leading counsel on the Norwich circuit, and obtained the honourable appointments of Recorder of Ipswich, and Steward of Norwich. His son has also distinguished himself in the same profession, and has recently been elevated to the Bench as one of the new Judges. THOMAS REES. INTELLIGENCE. Hinckley Fellowship Fund. ON Sunday, the 21st of November, a public meeting of the friends of the Unitarian cause was held at the Great Meet. ing at Hinckley, Leicestershire, for the purpose of establishing a society there, to be designated the "Hinckley Great Meeting Fellowship Fund." At the close of the afternoon service, Mr. James Eaglesfield having taken the Chair, the Rev. G. Skey proceeded to give an account of the plan and objects of the institution about to be formed, and read an extract from the annual report of the Sheffield Fellowship Fund, (inserted in the Monthly Repository, November, 1828,) detailing an account of the rise and progress of these useful institutions, under their lamented founder, the late Dr. Thomson, of Leeds. The rules of the Society were read over and adopted, and a President, Committee, and officers were chosen for the ensuing year; and besides the monthly meetings of the Committee, Christmasday was fixed upon for the general meeting of the Society. As no periodical publications are added to the Chapel Library, it was resolved (in imitation of other societies mentioned in the above report) to circulate the Repository, Reformer, and other publications of the same nature, amongst those individuals of the Fellowship Fund who have not hitherto had an opportunity of reading them. Between thirty and forty persons immediately entered their names as subscribers; and we trust that much good will arise in the town and neighbourhood from this institution, as soon as its plans are carried into operation. A Statement of Facts, Arguments, and Proceedings, in Opposition to a certain Clause in the Birmingham Free Grammar School Bill, 1830: with an Appendix of Documents. IN the year 1552, a Free Grammar School was founded in Birmingham, by King Edward VI., and endowed from the lands of a guild, then lately dissolved. From the great increase, in more recent time, of the population of Birmingham, a considerable portion of these lands has been built upon; and the income of the school, originally only 207. per annum, has gradually advanced to upwards of 30007.; will soon be 10,000.; and at no very distant period, should the town continue to prosper, may be of double that amount. The school thus possesses ample means of affording every benefit of education to the children of all classes of the inhabitants; and all are deeply interested in the wise administration of its funds. King Edward, by his Charter, "willed and ordained that there should be twenty men, of the more discreet and more trusty inhabitants of the town, parish, or manor of Birmingham, who should be goveruors of the possessions, revenues, and goods of the said school;" and that, on the death or the removal of any of the governors, the remaining governors should choose his successor; no other qualification being required than what is above stated. The population of Birmingham, like that of all other great towns, is composed of persons of various religious denominations. It is generally supposed, that, at present, not more than one half of the inhabitants are members of the Church of England. Something similar has probably been the case, ever since the passing of the Act of Uniformity. It might not unreasonably be expected, therefore, that some of the governors of a school, founded for the common benefit of all the inhabitants, should be chosen from among the Dissenters. At no very remote period, a majority of them were of that description; but for many years past, there has not been a single Dis. senter among them: though it caunot, for one moment, be contended, that there have not been, at all times, among the Dissenters, persons in every respect well qualified for such an office. The Dissenters made no complaint; but hoped that the progress of better feelings would eventually relieve them from this unmerited proscription. It may, perhaps, be not improper to mention, that many persous, of some influence in the town, had long been anxiously endeavouring to prevent or to assuage all bitterness of party spirit; and to foster, among people of all religious persuasions, sentiments of mutual kindness and good-will, so conformable to the precepts of the gospel; so conducive to the peace and comfort of individuals; and so favourable to the prosperity of a great commercial and manufacturing community. Their exertions appeared to have been productive of the desired effect; and, on public occasions, the increased prevalence of liberal feelings and principles, in all sects and parties, had, for some years past, formed a common topic of mutual congratulation. The governors of the Free School, in the year 1824, judged it expedient to apply to the Court of Chancery, and subsequently to Parliament, for some enlargement of their powers; with a view, it was presumed, of rendering their large income more extensively useful. Some dissatisfaction was occasioned in the town, by the proposed improvements never having been communicated to the inhabitants at large-the parties beneficially interested in the vast income, of which the governors are only the trustees: but there was no public expression of such a feeling; and the governors were left at perfect liberty to form and mature their plans, entirely at their own discre tion. It was not, therefore, without the greatest surprise, that when the governors were on the point of bringing their proposed bill before Parliament, the Dissenters accidentally discovered that it contained a clause, directing that no person should be elected a governor, who is not a Member of the Established Church of England. The Dissenters were, at first, perfectly unable to persuade themselves that such a clause could form a part of the bill; so utterly at variance was it with the spirit of the times, and, as they had fondly hoped, with the spirit of the town. There seemed, likewise, no motive for its introduction. The governors already possessed the power of exclusion: they had long exercised it, to the entire exclusion of Dissenters: and they might continue to exercise it, or forbear to exercise it, as, in their judgment, the interests of the school might, at any time, require. Why deprive themselves and their successors of a discretiou, allowed by the Charter? But, above all, why, under present circumstances, stigmatize a large proportion of their fellow-townsmen, with whom they were associating on terms of the greatest apparent cordiality, by declaring them for ever unworthy of a most important trust,-one which their ancestors had often held, and never abused, and in the due discharge of which they were equally interested with all the rest of the inhabitants? It was soon, however, ascertained, that a clause, to the effect above stated, did actually form one of the enactments of the proposed bill. And the indignation which the intelligence excited among the Dissenters, was heightened by the discovery, that its insertion was no hasty resolution of the governors; that the proceedings, of which it formed a part, had been before the Court of Chancery for several years; and, so far as the jurisdiction of that Court extended, had been finally settled some mouths before; while, during the whole period of the proceedings, a circumstance, in which they were so materially concerned, had been studiously concealed from the parties, whose privileges, interests, and even character, it was intended to affect. A Committee of the Dissenters immediately presented a strong remonstrance to the governors, against the introduction of such a clause. The governors, replied, that the clause had received the sanction of the Court of Chancery, and that they were no longer competent to with draw it. They did not, however, express any regret at this inability. The Dissenters were, at the same time, informed, that a printed copy of the proposed bill, which none of them had yet seen, would be sent to Birmingham the next day; but they were not informed, of what they afterwards found to be the fact, that the bill had already been read a first time in the House of Lords, and was to be read A SECOND TIME, the very day that copy would arrive in Birmingham. The next step for the Dissenters to take, was to petition the House of Lords to be heard by counsel against the bill. Measures were taken to convene, as soon as possible, a general meeting of Dissenters for that purpose. A petition was then agreed upon; and such was the excitement which the conduct of the governors of the Free School had produced, that it received between SIX AND SEVEN THOUSAND signatures in the course of forty-eight hours. The Dissenters had already sent a deputation to London, to take such measures in their behalf as the urgency of the business might require. A short statement of their case was drawn up, and submitted to several of the more in.. fluential members of both Houses of Parliament. The Deputies had the great satisfaction of finding that all the parties, with whom they had interviews, appeared to entertain the same opinion of the conduct of the governors of the Free School, with themselves. Several at once expressed their full conviction that the clause, to which the Dissenters objected, would never receive the sanction of the Legislature. Every step, indeed, which the deputation took, furnished them with additional evidence, that bigotry and intolerance would receive no encouragement from the higher authorities of the State; and that this attempt of a few individuals to re-establish, in their little jurisdiction, those disabilities, from which all classes of Dissenters had been so lately relieved by the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, would meet with almost universal reprobation. From the very first, therefore, they felt quite at ease with regard to the final issue of the business: and they were not at all surprised when a distinguished nobleman, from whom, immediately on their arrival in town, they had received the most gratifying assurances of assistauce, informed them that he understood the governors, without any further opposition, would themselves withdraw the clause. The deputies, however, still thought it expedient that the petition of |