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SHORT METHOD WITH ARIANS.

DR. CLARKE, the Arian, met with a powerful opponent in one Dr. Hawarden. By desire of Queen Caroline, the consort of George I., a conference was held by them in the presence of her Majesty, the celebrated Dr. Courayer, and others. When they met, Dr. Clarke, at some length, in very guarded terms, and with apparent perspicuity, exposed his system. After he had finished, a pause of some length ensued. Dr. Hawarden then said, "that he had listened with the greatest attention to what had been advanced by Dr. Clarke; that he believed he apprehended rightly the whole of his system; and that the only reply he should make to it was asking a single question; that if the question should be thought to contain any ambiguity, he wished it to be cleared

WORK IN YOUR OWN SPHERE.Every Christian occupies the centre of a circle in which no other person can stand or act with so much advantage as himself. He is placed in that relation to the minds of those around him, to exert the most beneficial and powerful influence. If those peculiarly within his reach are suffered to go uninstructed, unwarned, and uninvited to the banquet of mercy, their blood will be upon his own head. It may be found at the great day that while he has been sighing for a more extensive sphere of usefulness, the few souls immediately demanding his attention have perished through his neglect. To fulfil this comparatively private trust may require more patience, zeal, and love, than to address listening thousands, or to traverse the ocean fifty times. He is to be instant in season and out of season, watching for favourable opportunities, and looking continually to the Father of Lights for wisdom and grace, that his testimony may not be given in vain. Not that the least in the kingdom of heaven should be isolated in his efforts, or that his sympathies should be contracted. Besides this personal care, we share the general responsibilities of the Christian Church. That may be accomplished by the com

of the ambiguity before any answer to it was given; but desired that when the answer was given, it should be expressed by the affirmative or negative monosyllable." To this proposition Dr. Clarke assented. "Then," said Dr Hawarden, “I ask, can God the Father annihilate the Son and the Holy Ghost? Answer me, Yes, or No." Dr. Clarke continued for some time in deep thought, and then said, "It was a question which he had never considered." This certainly was a searching question; and the reader will readily perceive its bearings. If Dr. Clarke answered, Yes, he admitted the Son and the Holy Ghost to be mere creatures; if he answered, No, he admitted them to be, what they really are, absolutely God.

bined exertions of many, which would be utterly and for ever impracticable to individual effort. We are summoned to the help of the Lord against the mighty; and the cry of millions ready to perish is addressed to us. No talent is to be concealed, and no sacrifice is to be withheld."The Hebrew Martyrs," by the Rev. John Waddington.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS. -Why should the true believer in Christ tremble at the thought of laying aside his weak, sinful, mortal body? You will receive it again: not such as it now is, frail and perishable, but bright with the glory, and perfect with the image of God. The body is that to the soul which a garment is to the body. When you betake yourself to repose at night, you lay aside your clothes till morning, and resume them when you rise. What is the grave but the believer's wardrobe, of which God is the doorkeeper? In the resurrection moru, the door will be thrown open, and the glorified soul shall descend from heaven to put on a glorified robe, which was, indeed, folded up and laid away in dishonour, but shall be taken out from the repository, enriched and beautified with all the ornaments of nature and of grace.

ANNIVERSARIES OF VARIOUS RELIGIOUS AND BENEVOLENT

ASSOCIATIONS.

BAPTIST HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

This society held its annual meeting on Monday evening, the 26th of April, at Finsbury Chapel; Solomon Leonard, Esq., occupied the chair. The report, which was read by the Rev. S. J. Davies, detailed the proceedings of the society's agents, and stated that, during the past year, the number of missionaries and grantees assisted by the society was 91; that in connexion with the society are 270 places, where the gospel is preached to upwards of 20,000 persons; 94 Sabbath-schools; 867 teachers; 6,406 scholars; and 405 persons have been added to the Churches during the past year. The expenditure amounted to £4,269 7s. 7d., being £404 Os. 4d. beyond the income.

BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

On Thursday, the 29th of April, the anniversary of this society was held at Exeter Hall; S. M. Peto, Esq., M.P., presided. The report, read by the secretary, the Rev. F. Trestail, stated that, during the past year, the society had not lost any missionary by death, but that additional agents had been employed. The total receipts for the year amounted to £19,116 11s. 9d., the expenditure, inclusive of £875 11s. 4d. owing on the previous year's account, £23,839 17s. 5d., leaving a balance of £4,723 58. 8d. due to the treasurers.

BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGA

TION OF THE GOSPEL AMONG THE
JEWS.

At Freemason's Hall, on the 30th of April, this society held its ninth annual meeting; the chair being occupied by Sir John Dean Paul, Bart. Mr. G. Yonge, the secretary, read the report, from which it appeared that the society was progressing. During the past year several Jews renounced Judaism, and embraced Christianity. The receipts were £4,620 4s. 2ď., being £146 3s. more than the expenditure.

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

This society held its anniversary under the presidency of John Henderson, Esq., at Exeter Hall, on

Monday, the 3rd of May. The report was read by the Rev. George Osborn, and the Rev. Elijah Hoole. This society has 356 central mission stations; 3,092 chapels and preachingplaces; 476 missionaries; and 782 other paid agents, 8,477 gratuitous agents, inclusive of Sunday-school teachers, &c.; 108,078 full members; 5,499 members on trial; 79,841 scholars; and 8 printing establishments. The total income of the society, inclusive of a legacy of £10,000 from the late Thomas Marriott, Esq., amounted to £111,780 19s. 9d., being £175 5s. 5d. more than the expenditure. There is a debt on the society of £10,666 7s. 9d.

VOLUNTARY SCHOOL ASSOCIATION.

The fourth annual meeting of this society was held at the London Tavern on Monday evening, the 4th of May. The chair was occupied by G. W. Alexander, Esq. The report stated that this society was established for the purpose of aiding unsectarian schools, which inculcate religion, and repudiate Government control or assistance; that out of a

special fund, eighty schools in the West Indies had been assisted; and, during the past year, eighteen schools in various parts of England had received pecuniary aid from the society. The committee is desirous of increasing the number of the students in the Male and Female Normal Training-schools.

BRITISH ANTI-STATE CHURCH ASSOCIA

TION.

The annual meeting of the council of this association was held on Wednesday morning, the 5th of May, at the office on Ludgate-hill, under the presidency of S. Courtauld, Esq. The secretary read the report, which gave a detailed account of the proceedings of the society, and the publication of 'The Library for the Times." In the evening, the annual public meeting was held at Finsbury Chapel, on which occasion the chair was occupied by Lawrence Heyworth, Esq., M.P., and eloquent speeches were de livered by several ministers and other gentlemen.

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BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

On Wednesday, the 5th of May, the annual meeting of this society was held at Exeter Hall; the Earl of Shaftesbury presided. The issues of the Scriptures, during the past year, have been, from the depôts at home, 805,181 copies; from the foreign depôts, 349,461; making together 1,154,642 copies. The society has printed the Bible in 148 languages. The entire receipts for the year amounted to £108,449, the expenditure to £103,930. The liabilities of the society amounted to £52,341.

SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.

The society held its forty-ninth annual meeting on Thursday, the 6th of May, at Exeter Hall; Alfred Rooker, Esq., presided. W. H. Watson, Esq., read the report, and the meeting was addressed by the Revs. D. Katterns, L. Wiseman, Dr. Dyer, G. Rose, W. Brock, and T. Thompson, Esq. The sales for the year amounted to £10,080 7s. 1d.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOL

SOCIETY.

The forty-ninth examination and annual meeting was held at the Institution in the Borough-road on Monday, the 10th of May. The chair was occupied by Lord John Russell, and the report was read by the secretary, Henry Dunn, Esq. During the past year, 181 male and 143 female students had been in the Normal Training-schools; 85 masters and 78 mistresses were appointed to schools: the average number of children in daily attendance upon the Modelschools was 1,030; the total receipts during the year, £13,966 13s; the expenditure, £13,012 10s. 7d.

RAGGED-SCHOOL UNION.

This society held its eighth annual meeting at Exeter Hall on Monday, the 10th of May; the Earl of Shaftesbury presided. The report stated that the number of schools was 110; voluntary teachers, 1,650; paid teachers, 200; scholars, 13,700. The receipts were, for the year, £3,510, which, after meeting the expenditure, left a balance of £376 in favour of the society.

BRITISH MISSIONS.

The annual meeting of this society

was held May 11th, in Exeter Hall; Charles Hindley, Esq., M.P., in the chair. A hymn having been sung, and prayer offered up by the Rev. Robert Hamilton, of Barbican Chapel, the chairman opened the business of the meeting by showing the necessity of the British missions, and suggesting the desirableness of giving to the proceedings as practical a character as possible. The Rev. Dr. Massie then read the annual report, which stated that the sums contributed this year from the Churches by October or other collections in aid of British missions, amount to £5,616 8s. 9d. The October collections alone produced £5,161 Os. 10d. As compared with last year, there is a diminution of £154 10s. 6d.

LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

On Thursday, the 13th of May, the fifty-eighth annual meeting of this society was held at Exeter Hall, under the presidency of the Right Hon the Lord Mayor. The Rev. Dr. Tidman read the report, and the meeting was addressed by the Revs. Dr. Halley, J. A. James, J. Stratten, Dr. Beaumont, J. Sugden, J. Gawthorne, J. C. Harrison and A. Rooker, Esq. The income for the year amounted to £69,048 12s. 3d.; the expenditure to £72,831 6s.

RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.

On Friday evening, May the 14th, at Exeter Hall, the fifty-third anniversary of this society was held under the presidency of the Earl of Chichester. During the year, 760 libraries were granted at reduced prices; the number of publications issued was 1,659,683. The receipts from sales amounted to £50,337, being an increase of £2,837 on the previous year; the total benevolent income was £7,975 7s. 8d., being £973 more than that of the preceding year.

PEACE SOCIETY.

The thirty-seventh annual meeting of the members of the Peace Society was held May 18th, at Finsbury Chapel; Mr. C. Hindley, M.P., in the chair. Mr. Richard, the secretary, detailed the steps which the Peace Society had taken to oppose the Militia Bill, and affirmed that the fact of upwards of 1,300 petitions

having been presented, and a minority of 165 against the second reading, was a proof of homage to public opinion, for not twenty were at first prepared to vote against the bill. The receipts for the year were £2,276, the expenditure £1,950.

TOWN MISSIONARY AND SCRIPTURE

READERS' ASSOCIATION. The fifteenth annual meeting of this society was held May 20th in the Music Hall, Store-street; Sir John Dean Paul, Bart., in the chair. Mr. Geldart, the secretary, read the annual report. It stated that the society was established by David Nasmith, fifteen years since, in order to accomplish in the provincial towns what the Lordon City Mission was effecting in the metropolis. It had formed more than fifty town missions, which were now for the most part working efficiently, but separately from the parent society. There were also forty-four auxiliaries in connexion with it. The number of missionaries employed by the latter had increased from fifty-one to sixty-two; but in the aggregate it might be said that there were now 250 town missionaries labouring in different provincial towns and villages, exclusive of a large number who were in immediate connexion with the Church of England, and with other bodies of Christians. New missions had been established during the past year in Salisbury, Reading, Coventry, Truro, Deal, Shoreham, and four village stations. Additional missionaries had also been sent to the stations at Newcastle-on-Tyne, Carlisle, Brighton, Chelmsford, Halstead, and Halifax. The colporteur in London had made 12,811 visits, and sold 1,526 copies of the Scriptures, principally to domestic servants. The financial condition of the society was prosperous. Its income during the past year was £4,565, 14s. 4d., being an increase over last year of £715 16s. 7d.

FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

The tenth general assembly of the Free Church of Scotland commenced its sittings May 13th, in the Tanfield Hall, Canonmills, Edinburgh. The Rev. Dr. Duff, the Moderator during the last year, delivered an eloquent

discourse on Psalms ii. 7. The Rev. Dr. Angus Makellar was chosen Moderator.

Rev. JOHN JAFFRAY made a brief statement of the progress and finances of the mission schemes of the Church. Concerning the funds of these schemes, the statements of former years had been encouraging, and the evidences he had now to submit held out also, upon the whole, great cause for thankfulness. He could not report an absolute increase in the revenues of all the schemes of the Church, but if circumstances were taken into account, and the difficulty of justly comparing the revenues of this year with those of former years, it would be found that substantially there was no falling back this year. The contributions during the past year included in the statement which he was now to submit, not only strictly concerned the schemes individually, but also those efforts which were affiliated with them, and this would enable them, he thought, to make a proper contrast with former years. There had been, during the year ending 31st March last, received:

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By the Committee in the
Highlands

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THE MIND OF MAN. We have faculties in full force and activity which the animals either possess not at all, or in so low and obscure a form as to be equivalent to nonexistence. Now, these parts of mind are those which connect us with the things which are not of this world. We have veneration, prompting us to the worship of the Deity, which the animals lack. We have hope, to carry us on, in thought, beyond the bounds of time. We have reason, to enable us to inquire into the character of the Great Father, and the relation of us, his humble creatures, towards him. We have conscientiousness and benevolence, by which we can, in a faint and humble measure, imitate in our conduct that which he exemplifies in the whole of his wondrous doings. Beyond this, mental science does not carry us in support of religion: the rest depends on evidence of a different kind. But it is surely much that we thus discover in nature a provision for things so important. The existence of faculties having a regard to such things is a good evidence that such things exist. The face of God is reflected in the organization of

than £1,727 2s. 5d. In the item of congregational offerings there was an increase this year over that of last year of £855 5s. 1d. There had been a decrease this year, as compared with the previous year, of £230 in the fund for colonial churches, of £491 7s. 9d. in the Jews' Conversion Fund, of £1,303 13s. 10d. in the Church Building Fund, and of £1,191 12s. in the Education Fund, but there had been an increase in the Foreign Mission Fund of £763 18s. 7d. He had this year also, as well as last year, to report a diminution in the Juvenile Offerings of £95 6s. 5d.

The assembly received the report, expressed thankfulness for the liberality of their people during the past year, and anew encouraged them to give of their substance as God might enable them to the advancement of the Redeemer's cause and kingdom.

man, as a little pool reflects the glorious sun.

THE LORD'S PRAYER AND THE ARAB.-I remember on one occasion travelling in this country with a companion who possessed some knowledge of medicine; we had arrived at a door, near which we were about to pitch our tents, when a crowd of Arabs surrounded us, cursing and swearing at the rebellers against God. My friend, who spoke a little Arabic, turning round to an elderly person, whose garb bespoke him a priest, said, "Who taught you that we are disbelievers? Hear my daily prayer, and judge for yourselves." He then repeated the Lord's prayer. All stood amazed and silent, till the priest exclaimed-" May God curse me if ever I curse again those who hold such belief! Nay, more, that prayer shall

be

my prayer till my hour be come. I pray thee, O Nazarene, repeat the prayer, that it may be remembered and written in letters of gold."—Mr. Hay's Western Barbary.

CHRISTIANITY.-Christianity, like a child, goes wandering over the world. Fearless in its innocence, it is not abashed before princes, nor confounded by the wisdom of

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