the Death of the Rev. Mr. Thos. Saunders, preached at Kettering, August 8, 1736. 8vo. 1736.

These two sermons were afterwards published in 1 vol. 12mo.

1754.

Posthumous (4.) A Tract on Inoculation, (published by Doddridge.) There are also two recommendatory prefaces in Doddridge's miscellaneous works written by him;-one before the Sermons on the Religious Education of Children; and the other prefixed to the Sermon on the Absurdity and Iniquity of Persecution for Conscience Sake.

Nothing remains, but briefly to trace the history of the church at Harborough, down to the present period. For many years after Mr. Some's decease, it does not appear, that the people were satisfactorily settled with a minister. The person who succeeded Mr. Some, (for his name is not known,) came some time about the year 1738, and resigned in the beginning of 1752. The congregation was then in a very divided state, till Mr. Addington was recommended to them, in whom all parties happily united. He was ordained over them June 14, 1753,* and was very useful there, and much esteemed. In October 1781, he left Harborough to reside in London. An interesting life of this gentleman is to be found in the Theological Magazine for January, February, and March 1803. This is copied into Wilson's Dissenting Churches, vol. 1. pp. 499-518. After some little time, the Rev. George Gill, (who had previously been settled at Swanland, Yorkshire,) was chosen successor to Mr. Addington. He came in the beginning of the year 1782, and after upwards of thirtysix years of useful labour here,

* As appears from his own hand writing in his Church-Book. The date (of the ordination) mentioned by Dr. Addington's Biographer, is therefore incorrect.

was laid aside from his public work, November 1818. The writer must be permitted to add, that living or dying, the memory of Mr. Gill will be cherished in the neighbourhood, for the simplicity, unfeigned piety, and benevolence of his character; while many in his own and other congregations will have to bless God through eternity, that they ever heard the word of truth from his lips. The Rev. William Gear, late of Hoxton Academy, is the present pastor. tor. The congregation at Ashley, which had been in union with that at Harborough from its first formation in Mr. Clarke's time, had withdrawn, and formed a separate interest some time before Mr. Addington's coming in 1752. Its first minister was the Rev. Mr. West, of whom we know little more than that he was of a very weakly constitution; and that, upon some dispute with the people, he resigned his charge,-and retired to Corby, where he died. We are better acquainted with his successor, the Rev. Samuel Bacon, who was born at Sutton, in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, June 4, 1735, received his academical education at Mile End, under Drs. Conder, Walker, and Gibbons; and became the pastor of this Society in 1757. In addition to the regular service every Lord'sday at Ashley, Mr. Bacon was accustomed, during the greater part of his ministry, to preach at Kibworth every fortnight, the minister of Great Wigston rendering the society there a similar kind service on the intermediate Sabbath. Uppingham, Great Easton, and Corby, also enjoyed the benefit of his affectionate labours. It was on his return from the latter of these places, that he was seized with his last fatal illness. He was shortly after dismissed to his rest, February 6, 1789, having presided over this church thirty-two years. He was a man of a most heavenly

temper, and engaging manners; and conciliated the love and veneration of the world, as well as his flock, in a very high degree. Mr. George Bullock, a native of Derby, where he was born October 13, 1762, and who was one of the first students of what is now Hoxton Academy, then under the care of Dr. Addington, was first fixed at Kibworth; but on Mr. Bacon's death, was invited to Ashley, which he accepted, for a time serving both churches; but afterwards resigned Kibworth, and preached at Ashley and Wilbarston, at which latter place he resigned. For twenty years he faithfully served his generation, and this christian society, according to the will of God, and in the midst of life, was seized with a

paralytic affection, from which he never recovered. He died, September 25, 1811, aged forty-nine, and was succeeded by Mr. Wm. Notcutt, late of Homerton Academy.

May these churches (over which the subject of this memoir so long and usefully presided) emulate the zeal and affection, that glowed in the breasts of their pious ancestors; and may their present pastors follow in the footsteps of their excellent predecessors, though it must ever prove, "haud passibus aquis;" and in a similar spirit of wisdom, fidelity, and love, enjoy a large portion of the success vouchsafed to the labours of (not to mention others) a Clarke, a Doddridge, and a Some!

ON IMPEDIMENTS TO MISSION

ARY EXERTIONS IN INDIA. LORD BACON's observation re

specting science in general, may, with great propriety, be applied to divine knowledge in particular. "The smallest beginnings are frequently succeeded by the greatest effects; and in every work of Divine Providence, where all things go quietly on, without noise or bustle, sometimes the whole is accomplished, before men imagined or took notice that it was in hand; and we should remember the prophecy of Daniel concerning the latter of the world;-many shall go to and fro upon the earth, and knowledge shall be increased; thereby plainly intimating it to be the design of Providence, that, when the world shall be laid open to a general intercourse, as by our numerous long voyages it begins to be, at the same time also the sciences shall receive increase." He who is attentive to what is going on in the world in these days,

ages

will find much to interest the best feelings of his heart. Of all the ends which a rational being can propose to himself, that of endea vouring to emancipate the human mind from the baneful influence of ignorance and error, is the most exalted in itself, and the most honourable to our species. A design so great, so pregnant with blessings to mankind, must originate in a spirit of benevolence, which, in some measure, transforms the soul into the image of Him whose nature is benevolence itself. This benign feeling of good-will towards men, has displayed itself in the present age, under a great variety of forms, adapted to the moral and religious state of those who are its objects.

It has produced Bible, Missionary, and Tract Societies, &c.; all of which have but one grand object in view, the intellectual and moral improvement of man. Every philanthropist will watch with anxiety, and contemplate with de

light, the progress of these kindred institutions. I have been led to these reflections, from observing the increased attention which these objects are attracting among the inhabitants of all classes in this great metropolis, and which, from time to time, meets the public eye through the medium of various periodical publications. It is not my design, however, on the present occasion, to take a review of what has been accomplished by these Societies, but merely to offer a few observations relative to Missionary labours in Hindostan.

I consider that station which the Missionary occupies in the extended scale of benevolent operations, as more honourable, laborious, and difficult, than that of any other who is embarked with him in the common cause. On him depend, in a great measure, the executive departments of the Bible, Missionary, and Tract So cieties. He goes to India with a determined resolution to acquire the language of the heathen, to translate the Scriptures, if not already translated, and such books as may be best adapted to instruct the heathen in the evidences of the Christian religion, with others of a fundamental nature; on him also devolves the important work of preaching the Gospel in such a way as is calculated to enlighten the understanding and affect the hearts of his hearers. These, if I mistake not, are the grand outlines of the duty of a missionary; for, as Dr. Milne has well observed, "Full and explicit statements of the contents of the sacred writings, are the means to which, under God, we look for the conversion of the nations; and till those statements, can be made, we have no reason to expect great results." Before a missionary can do this in a satisfactory manner, he must attain an extensive and critical acquaintance with the language, religious customs, and modes of

thinking peculiar to those whom he is desirous to teach. These acquirements must be the fruit of an undivided and laborious course of well-conducted study, for a considerable time after his arrival among the heathen.

With these views of missionary duties and missionary qualifications, I have often felt myself unable to reconcile many things which have come under my observation in several parts of India. I refer to the practice of some missionaries, who, from the period of their first arrival in India, have permitted objects to intrude on their attention, which had a tendency to divert, if not to withdraw entirely, their minds from the important and special duties of their calling. I believe it has not unfrequently happened, that missionaries have permitted English preaching, and other pursuits, to engross so much of their attention, as to leave them scarcely any valuable portion of time for the study of the language; and the consequences of this line of procedure have been imaginary difficulties excited in their minds respecting it, despair of ever being able to attain it, and a transfer of those important duties, which a well qualified missionary only is capable of performing to natives. Such things have, in my opinion, greatly retarded the diffusion of a sound and substantial knowledge of Christianity among the heathen; and, it is to be feared, have also been the means of producing impressions on the minds of many of the more respectable and educated classes of the Hindoos, respecting its doctrines, not the most favourable to missionary exertions. am inclined to attribute much of the want of success which has hitherto accompanied missionary undertakings in India, to things of this nature, the want of a welldirected and vigorous application of moral means.

I

PHRENOLOGY AND THE PHENO.

MENA OF CONVERSION.

THERE are two circumstances which invariably attend the broaching of any novel theory: First, the opposition of those who think they maintain opinions sanctioned and established by time and experience; and, secondly, a greater or less degree of extravagance in the views of the theorists themselves; and both these have characterized the rise and progress of the new science termed Phrenology.

The principles upon which Phrenology is founded-(I speak for the information of those who are only acquainted with it by name, and there are few of your readers, I apprehend, who are not so far acquainted with it,)-are briefly these. 1. The phrenologists say, that the brain is the seat of the intellectual faculties, the moral sentiments, and the animal propensities; there they are, as it were, enshrined and tabernacled. 2. That a certain portion or cell of the brain is devoted to each of these faculties, sentiments, and propensities, in which its secret operations are performed, and from which all its influences emanate. 3. That according to the degree in which each of these is exercised, will be the development of that part of the brain in which it is supposed to reside, and that a sure indication of the state of this development will be always found in a correspondent prominence on the cranium. 4. As an inference, that NEW SERIES, No. 6.

according to the distinctness of these external insignia, the impress as it were of the mind, a very fair estimate may be formed of the capacity, tastes, and dispositions of any individual. Such are, briefly, the outlines of phrenology; a science, of the truth of which facts must, of course, be proofs; a science, which only time, experience, and observation can establish, if it be true, or explode if it be false. But, whether true or false, as its founders (Gall and Spurzheim) could scarcely be suspected of any sinister motive in the for mation of their opinions, or the pursuit of any personal interest in the promulgation of them, they at any rate deserved all courtesy and attention from those who, like themselves, professed to have truth only for their object; and their theory, novel as it was, merited a fair, an open, a candid examination. The reverse, however, of this was the case. They themselves were attacked with the utmost virulence; called alternately knaves, fools, and madmen; and their principles declared to be a system of imposture and empiricism. But this persecution, as is usual in all such cases, defeated its own end, and only served to give the theory of the philosophical sectarians a notoriety which otherwise it might not so soon have attained. So much, indeed, has it spread already, that phrenology begins to be looked upon as something like an organized science, and has its society, its authors, and its journal. But its votaries, as if intoxicated by their success, seem to be carrying their notions to rather an extravagant pitch; and as the subject of religion has more than once been touched upon, it appears to be imperative upon us to glance at their opinions, and satisfy ourselves as to their tendency."

As may readily be supposed, numerous objections have been started against phrenology, by its

2 P

opponents some of them, certainly, trivial enough. One of them is, that it has a tendency to Materialism; the objectors forgetting that no phrenologist ever identifies the organs of the brain with the ethereal property which he believes to live in them. Those he imagines to be but the "media of the soul's volitions," the mechanical apparatus, as it were, of the undying and immaterial principle within.

Another objection against the science is, that it is supposed to incline to Fatalism, a charge apparently much better founded than the former, and one which as yet has hardly been satisfactorily rebutted.

Another objection is, that the principles of phrenology seem to be incompatible with the doctrine of conversion. We every day see men, some of the worst description, brought from the deepest moral darkness into marvellous light, their whole characters and dispositions apparently changed, and yet the internal organization of the brain-at least, judging from the unaltered appearance of external developement - remaining precisely the same as before. Now I do not mean to say that phrenology is absolutely inconsistent with the doctrine of conversion, but if it is not, I mean to say that its advocates have not sufficiently explained how it is consistent. The explanation which I am about to notice,. I cannot but think extremely defective.

In the second number of the Phrenological Journal, which fell into my hands some weeks ago, is inserted, with the strong recommendation of the editor, a long passage from a work by Mr. Schimmelpenninck, illustrating the phenomena of conversion upon phrenological principles! To me it appears nothing more or less than an attempt, not to make phrenology appear consistent with

religion, but religion with phrenology; it seems to imply, that according to the opinions of phrenologists, there is in reality no change produced upon any of the faculties, sentiments, or propensities themselves, but that they are only directed into a different channel; exercised upon higher objects, and employed to a better end. Surely this cannot be that "conversion" spoken of in the sacred writings; that change, so radical and complete as to lead our Lord to designate it by the expressive phrase, regeneration, the new birth, a thorough renewal of heart and of mind, of the reason and of the will. It is not in any indifference to the progress of science and enlightened feeling that I have been induced to trouble you with these observations; but we ought never to allow even the least material truths of religion to be warped, or her slightest barrier overturned, to make way for what are but too often the useless speculations and idle refinements of philosophy.

H.

ON THE PROFANATION OF THE SABBATH.

(Continued from page 242.)

The Sabbath is appointed for a constant exercise of faith and trust in the providential care of God.

The poor man, when he looks on his scanty means, may sometimes be tempted to wish that he had been permitted, without hurting his conscience, to employ the Sabbath in increasing the sources of his temporal comforts. But God, from whom every comfort flows, knew best what is good for man, and was pleased, in mercy to the poor, to appoint the Sabbath to be a constant memorial of his providential care of his creatures, and a ground of faith and trust in him as their provider. The Sabbath is not a portion of time withheld by an austere master; it is indeed a be