own imperfections and deserts, made her | ligion, to prepare the way for the undecided to prize the more the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. She possessed more than an ordinary share of mental vigour, combined with great promptitude in action; and was as ready to execute plans of benevolence as she was capable of devising them. But though exceedingly active as a member of society, and qualified to take the lead in the execution of benevolent designs, yet there was nothing of officiousness or conscious superiority to be discovered; for those qualities were blended with genuine humility, and a just sense of propriety of conduct. These gifts, which she received from above, and which she consecrated to God and to the welfare of the human family, rendered her a very efficient member of society. Many religious and benevolent institutions in the town in which she resided, and especially the church to which she belonged, have sustained a heavy loss. She was from conviction and principle a decided Baptist; and believing her sentiments on this and other theological subjects to be derived from the pure fountain of truth, she maintained them firmly. She possessed, however, a happy combination of firmness of religious principle and decision of conduct, with liberality of feeling towards other Christians who differed from her in sentiment. The writer of this brief article had the pleasure of an intimate acquaintance with her for several years; and during that period had frequent opportunities of ascertaining her religious principles, and of beholding them brought into action, and he can truly say that he has never yet found a person more free from a sectarian spirit, and more ardently desirous of seeing brethren dwell together in unity, than his departed friend. Would that her mantle of love were thrown around many that are left behind, who bear the Christian name. It rejoiced her exceedingly whenever she beheld a catholic spirit predominate among the followers of the Lamb, uniting them together as one family in the bonds of love. She considered the exhibition of such a spirit as eminently calculated to produce an impression on the world at large in favour of re to submit to the claims of Christ, and to promote the peace and prosperity of churches. Being herself deeply embued with this spirit, she knew how to appreciate christian excellence wherever she discovered it; and rejoiced in the extension of the Messiah's kingdom, whether within or without the pale of her own communion. The subject of this memoir did not suffer her domestic concerns, or the claims of society, to interfere with the devotions of the closet. She was eminently a woman of prayer. This may, indeed, be inferred from a review of her character; for a life of such consistency and devotedness to the cause of Christ could only be maintained by frequent intercourse with God—by receiving perpetual aid from above in answer to fervent and believing prayer. The writer of this hasty sketch, however, has derived information on this subject from the best authority, corroborating the preceding statement. It appears that her habits of devotion were very regular and constant. She was accustomed not merely to appropriate portions of time each day for prayer, but also for reading and meditation. These sacred moments she regarded as peculiarly her own, intended for her own special benefit. It was then she obtained strength from the Lord to maintain the Christian conflict, and experienced the kindlings of Divine love in her breast, which made her feel she was not her own, but bought with a price, even "the precious blood of Christ." It was then she felt so powerfully her obligations to the Saviour, and so tasted of heavenly realities as to give such consistency, activity, and energy to her character as the disciple of Him who went about doing good. In June, 1831, this exemplary and excellent Christian became united in marriage to Mr. Soule, the pastor of the church to which she belonged; and as this connexion added to her responsibility, so it increased also her opportunities of usefulness, which she did not suffer to pass unimproved. But the adaptation of an instrument to labour for God is no security that he intends it for a long continuance in his vineyard: he that made it what it is lays it by at his pleasure. His conduct in cerned. This she felt to be the case on her such dispensations of his providence is in- dying bed; and more than once, with scrutable, and calculated to call faith into holy composure, and in the triumph of exercise, to correct the natural propensity faith, uttered this sentiment. The proof the mind in leaning too much to things priety, wisdom, and kindness of the distemporal, and to induce it to place a de- pensations of the Lord towards his chilpendance more simple and entire on Him-dren cannot be seen by taking a detached self as the fountain of all good. The re- or partial view of them; but on the dismoval of Mrs. Soule to the heavenly state closure of his plan to their astonished and so soon after her marriage, being a period adoring minds in eternity they will doubtof little more than twelve months, though less be able to discover that there severest a heavy stroke to her sorrowing husband, trials on earth were among their choicest and a severe affliction to many, yet was blessings, and a demonstration of his wisdoubtless an expression of love, not only dom, goodness, and faithfulness. towards her, but towards all parties con(To be continued.) INTELLIGENCE, &c. DOMESTIC. THE SABBATH DAY. Extracts from "The Report of the Select Your committee regret to be under the necessity of stating that the evidence which has been submitted to them exhibits a systematic and widely-spread violation of the Lord's-day, which, in their judgment, cannot fail to be highly injurious to the best interests of the people, and which is calculated to bring down upon the country the divine displeasure. A popular opinion prevails that the Sunday marketing is unavoidable, in consequence of the labourer being paid at a very late hour on Saturday night, or on Sunday morning. It would appear that this excuse does not now exist to so great an extent as formerly; but a greater evil has With or without the knowledge of master taken its place, and leads to the same result. tradesmen, it frequently happens that their foremen or clerks pay the workmen at public-houses, where, as a matter of patronage, are established pay-tables. There the men are appointed to meet, and by the time they have drunk "for the good of the house," it being considered necessary to drink something, the money is produced by the clerk, or in some instances by the publican himself, and, the score for the week's tippling being deducted, the remnant is put into the pocket of the man. Continuing to drink, as is but too frequent, he is taken to the police station-house. His wife follows, and late in the morning discovers, by the entries in the police books, that his week's earnings are reduced to a few shillings. Then her Sunday morning's marketing commences. Even the wives (with their It appears that trading prevails to a great extent in various districts on Sunday morning, and that such a commencement of the sabbath tends very much to its general desecration throughout the rest of the day. The state of some of these places is described as "more like a fair than a market;" so that the neighbourhood is quiet upon any other day of the week compared with the Sunday. The people who frequent children), when looking after their husbands these shops and markets are chiefly the im- at public-houses, are frequently found to provident, who, generally speaking, might yield to the temptations which these places have made their marketing to greater ad- present; and thus whole families become vantage on Saturday evening. Any ade- victims to this baneful system. It is clearly quate idea of the great extent of this mis- established, by the unvarying testimony of chief, and the manifold evils resulting from many witnesses, that such cases are of freit, can only be attained from a perusal of quent occurrence. the whole evidence which has been laid before the committee. Your committee conceive that the time of paying wages might be limited by Legis train of evils. By such abuses, places of this description, instead of being properly used for purposes of health and recreation, frequently tend to destroy what is most valuable to a nation, the moral character of its people. ative enactment to the hour of six in the enticements to intoxication, with all its afternoon of Saturday, or even to an earlier hour, without any material inconvenience to masters, and very greatly to the advantage of journeymen and labourers of all classes; and even if this should be deemed objectionable your committee have no doubt that the abolition of Sunday markets, and Before leaving this subject, your comthe necessity which would thence arise to mittee would call your attention to the the labouring class of making their pur- case of the bakers, a body who consider chases on Saturday night, would have the themselves peculiarly aggrieved. From the effect of compelling masters to pay them at laborious nature of their business, the jouran earlier hour. Your committee have it neymen bakers, consisting of many thouin evidence that the plan of paying wages sands in the metropolis and its vicinity, and on Friday has been adopted by some em- of whom 7,000 have petitioned the House, ployers with decided success: and it must work from fourteen to sixteen hours per be obvious to the House, that when a work-day during the week, and by custom, ing instead of a leisure day succeeds the which the law has sanctioned, nine hours receipt of wages, the workman encounters fewer temptations to dissipate his earnings at the gin-shop, instead of employing them in the purchase of necessaries for his family. If gentlemen manufacturers, master tradesmen, and farmers, were aware of the benefits which must result to the labouring class from paying their wages on an earlier day than Saturday, especially if that day precede a market-day, your committee entertain no doubt that feelings of kindness as well as duty would soon cause the practice to become general. Your committee here beg to remark, that all the witnesses concur in the opinion, that if Sunday markets were abolished, and the whole of the community were thus under the necessity of laying in their provisions on Saturday, they would be better and more cheaply supplied on that day 'than on Sunday. They found this opinion on the important fact, that a higher price is paid for commodities purchased on the Sunday, and that they are also generally of inferior quality. Eating-houses, also, and coffee-shops of the inferior sort, are at present, according to the evidence, houses of refuge, where the worst characters of both sexes elude the vigilance of the police. With respect to beer-shops, one general opinion prevails, namely, that, as at present constituted, on the Sunday, as well as every other day of the week, they are carrying on the work of demoralization to a fearful extent throughout the country. Your committee desire likewise to remark, as to places of public resort on the Lord's-day, that many of them, whether from the imperfect state of the law or the laxity of its application, are the haunts where profligate persons set the watchfulness of the police at defiance, and where the young and unwary are allured by many of labour on every Sunday are required of them. They suffer greatly in health from this continued round of toil, and it is nearly impossible for them to attend any place of worship on the sabbath-day. The popular belief, strengthened by a high legal authority, is, that the mass of the community are thereby enabled to attend divine service. The bakers vehemently deny that such is the result, declaring that the mass of the middle classes do not avail themselves of the baker's oven, and that the portion of the poorer people who take this accommodation are not persons in the habit of frequenting places of public worship. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that the bakers are most desirous of obtaining the Sunday as a day of rest; and your committee deem their peculiar case to be eminently deserving of the consideration of the legislature. In a few of the worst parts of the town, shops of various descriptions are kept open throughout the whole of the sabbath-day; and at the West-end of the town, especially in the neighbourhood of the wealthier classes, some shops, such as fishmongers and poulterers, although with closed doors, do much business, and until a late hour in the evening, in supplying articles for Sunday dinners to the rich. This is a practice which tends much to the discomfort and to the demoralizing of such persons, their journeymen, apprentices, and servants. The tradesmen themselves, as well as their dependants, are most desirous of a day of rest; they wish that their customers might be withheld by law from making actual purchases on the sabbath-day; at the same time that some of the fishmongers, from the perishable nature of their articles, think it might be expedient to allow the delivery of their goods (previously ordered) until eight or nine o'clock on Sunday morning. But your committee cannot concur in this opinion. The ground upon which it is urged (viz. that the houses of the rich are unprovided with the means of duly preserving fish during the night) appears utterly inadequate to justify a practice so equivocal; on the contrary, feeling the difficulty, if not the practical impossibility, of distinguishing between the sabbath-day's sale and delivery, on the one hand, and on the other, the delivery on the sabbath-day of fish alleged to have been bought on the Saturday; and observing that the indulgence which would thus prima facie infringe on the character of the Lord's-day, is recommended as a relief, not for the great mass of the community in respect to articles of necessity, but as a mere accommodation for the rich in respect to articles of luxury; they cannot but urge upon the consideration of the House the expediency of preventing the opening of all fishmongers' shops from 12 o'clock on Saturday night to Monday morning. The same principle applies still more strongly to the supply of poultry, and of other articles of a nature less perishable than fish. Your committee have it moreover in evidence, that all attempts in other instances to stop Sunday trafficking at any given hour have hitherto proved altogether fruitless As a remedy for the evils connected with public-houses, the witnesses concur in thinking that they should be closed from eleven or twelve o'clock on Saturday night until after the hours of morning worship on Sunday. Most of the witnesses are of opinion, that no tippling of spirits or beer on the premises should be allowed throughout the Sabbath; but that the shops should only be open for the sale of beer for the use of private families, and at proper hours. Your Committee have likewise gone into evidence, though, for the reason before assigned, not so fully as could have been wished, on the subject of Sunday travelling, which it is well known prevails, to a great extent, throughout the whole country. It is stated that the coach passengers coming to London on the Sabbath-day are mainly attracted by the great Monday markets of the metropolis. But there are, undoubtedly, vast numbers of other travellers who have no such reason for thus violating the rest of the Sabbath. It will appear from the evidence, that by transferring Smithfield and other markets from Monday to Tuesday, a great part of the evil might be abated within a circle of 120 miles around London. In the wish to promote so desirable an object the chief coach proprietors, together with salesmen of great respectability, and others connected with Smithfield market, concur. It is in evidence that this market is crowded on Monday morning, very inconveniently to the buyers and sellers, and not less injuriously to the cattle; and that the Friday's market is so much less abundantly supplied; that if the other market was held on Tuesday, instead of Monday, the proportions of the supply would be better adjusted. Nor does it appear that any evil would result to any class of society from the change of the day; - certainly none that can for a moment be placed in competition with the unquestioned mischiefs which the Sunday preparations for the Monday market, more especially the harbouring and driving of large masses of cattle in the neighbourhood of London on the Lord's day, unavoidably cause. It will likewise appear from the evidence, that from the great concourse of passengers in steam packets, inuch demoralization is produced by the crowds of strangers arriving at Gravesend and Richmond upon the Sundays, together with innumerable public and private carriages at the latter place. Several respectable tradesmen have described the state of Richmond; and the curate declares, that the evil produced by the "foreign influence" overpowers all attempts of the parochial ministers to bring about a better state of things. Your Committee are happy to observe, that, through the influence of conscientions and influential individuals, the steam communication with Margate on the Lord's day has, in a great measure, been put a stop to. It appears in evidence, that barges carrying merchandise, pass up the Thames in greater numbers on Sunday than on any other day of the week. Your Committee beg the House distinctly to understand that they are very far from wishing that the Legislature should revert to the principle of the 14th section of the Act 1st, and the 5th section of the Act 23d of Queen Elizabeth, whereby "forbearing to repair to church, chapel, or place of common prayer," subjected the individual to heavy penalties. On the contrary, they are fully impressed with the truth of the remark given in evidence by the Bishop of London, that such provisions were "a mistake in legislation.' But it is one thing to force the conscience of a man, and it is another to protect his civil liberty, of worshipping God according to his conscience on the Lord's day, from the avaricious or disorderly encroachments of his unconscious neighbour. در Your Committee report with pleasure the assurance given in evidence, that the decorous observance of the Sunday has been and is increasing amongst the higher classes: nevertheless they would consider their Report imperfect, did they not express their anxious solicitude that those who are elevated in so ciety should seriously consider how important it is that the Lord's Day should be duly reverenced on their part, and that they should all evince, by a consistent example, that they are disposed to "remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy," from respect not only to human enactments, but to the authority of Him by whom the day has been set apart for the wisest and most beneficial purposes. Such conduct must eminently conduce, as it ever has done, not only to their own highest interests, as affording them a day of rest and retirement, but to the welfare of their families and dependants; thus transmitting their good example through all the various grades of society, and thereby strengthening the hands of the magistracy in their efforts to uphold the laws. It will be seen strongly stated in evidence, that innumerable unhappy individuals, who have forfeited their lives to the offended laws of their country, have confessed that their career in vice commenced with Sabbathbreaking and neglect of religious ordinances. Your Committee are of opinion that the amendment of the law which they have ventured to recommend, is not only in itself a proper and necessary measure, but moreover that the moral influence over all classes of men, which will be produced by the very fact of the attention of the legislature being directed to this subject, will in itself be very considerable. Nor can it reasonably be doubted that, by means of such amendments, a considerable attention would be given to the temporal comforts of individuals, more especially of those in the middle and lower classes of society. Indeed, in the words of one of the witnesses examined by your Committee (confirmed by the testimony of many others), the tradesmen themselves who now exercise their callings on the Lord's day would consider a more strict law for the observance of that day, not as a restraint, but "as a blessing." Your Committee feel assured that an increase of true religion must also follow, inasmuch as many persons, thus favoured with an entire day of rest, would be led to employ it for religious purposes; and that a great accession would accrue to the strength and prosperity of the state itself, arising out of the improved tone of morals which a due observance of the Sabbath-day invariably produces. And there are, moreover, abundant grounds, both in the Word of God and in the history of past ages, to expect that His blessing and favour would accompany such an endeavour to promote the honour due to His holy name and commandment. Your Committee conclude with expressing their earnest hope, that early in the ensuing session the House will take into consideration the suggestions which they have made, and especially the evidence on which these suggestions are founded, with a view to amending the laws relating to the observance of the Lord's day. THE REV. W. KNIBB, AND MR. BORTHWICK. [From the Bath and Cheltenham Gazette.] "Our readers have been already put in possession of the nature of the charges which have been publicly made by Mr. Borthwick against the Rev. W. Knibb, late Baptist Missionary at Jamaica. We have now to state that the parties met on Saturday last, at the Assembly Rooms in Bath, for the purpose of debating the points at issue between them. The discussion occupied four hours and a half;-W. T. Blair, Esq. of this city, presiding. The large room, in which the meeting took place, is estimated to be capable of containing 2,500 persons; and on this occasion it was literally crammed. "Mr. Knibb (who came upon the platform supported by the Rev. W. Jay) opened the discussion. The Rev. Gentleman commenced his address (which was distinguished throughout by a fearlessness of manner which seemed to impress his auditory with a conviction that he was uttering only pure and simple truth) by refuting the assertion which had been made that he had ever declined a challenge from his opponent to discuss the circumstances of the insurrection. Both in Scotland, and at Cheltenham he had publicly challenged any man to come forward and meet him on that question or any other connected with colonial slavery. "Those who were present at the recent meeting at the rooms between the Rev. Mr. Price, the Baptist minister, and Mr. Borthwick, could not but have observed the subdued tone of Mr. B. during the discussion with that gentleman, as compared with the spirit which he evinced, and the tone which he assumed, at his previous lecture at the same place, when designating Messrs. Knibb and Burchell as traitorous men. They will recollect how he fawned, and flattered, and complimented Mr. Price, as being the most fair, and candid, and honourable opponent he had ever met; and denied that he (Mr. B.) had ever said any thing disparaging to the Baptists, or the Baptist Missionaries, save and except that a few black Baptist leaders had originated the insurrection. And, as it regarded Mr. Knibb, he had never said that he had any thing to do with the insurrection, but that since his return to this country he had said things in speeches which he (Mr. B.) |