any thing to uphold and defend, besides the pure religion of the Saviour."-P. 16.

The following graphic description of Conference may well justify the decided objection which the newly-formed Society feels to that plan of Church Government, and may furnish every Congregationalist with a strong argument for his own. view of this much-disputed question :

As to the spirit in which the business of Conference was carried on, it was anything but Christian. Many a time as I sat in my place, hearing what was said, and observing what was done, did I ask myself, Is this like Christ? Can this be pleasing to God? What must angels think to look on a scene like this? Perpetual talk about the authority of Conference, and the majesty of the rules; but not a word about the authority of Christ, or the majesty and supremacy of the Gospel. And such overbearing on the one hand, and such servility to a few rich and influential persons on the other: and then such harshness, such determined unrelenting cruelty toward all who showed a determination to act according to their own convictions of duty. No Christian man could comprehend or believe it, if he had not seen it. It grieved my soul beyond measure. In the evening, after the sittings of Conference were broken up, I and my friend, W. Trotter, frequently walked out among the lofty hills, conversing with each other, and conversing with our heavenly Father, and oh, what a contrast! what a boundless contrast! what an infinite relief! To be placed beyond the sound of angry strife, and jealous persecuting rage, to walk at large over the lofty hills, to breathe the fresh air of heaven,-to converse with God,-to look upon his wondrous works,-to hear the melody of birds; now to trace the silent path of the shadowy wood, and then to stand on the exposed uncovered top of the higher hills, and cast one's eyes on fruitful vales and quiet homes, and almost all that earth could show of grand and beautiful,—and, most of all, to see in everything we saw, the hand of God, to hear in everything we heard, his voice,-to feel that the Great, Almighty, Unseen Spirit of the Universe, that lived and worked through all, was our Father and our Love,-to feel that we were one with him, and that he was one with us,-it was like heaven on earth. Never did we understand before why Jesus, after having spent the day in crowds, and being harassed with the captious, cruel, persecuting Scribes and Pharisees, retired at night into the desert, or to the mountains alone. Never before did the Gospel seem so true a Story. Never were its promises so sweet. Never before were we brought into such living sympathy with the Saviour of mankind. We prayed, we sung, we were enraptured, we felt a 'peace that passed all understanding, and a joy that was unspeakable and full of glory. I can recollect nothing I ever met with on earth so trying as to sit in Conference; but in our walks upon the high places God made up for all. God, I am now free! my Conference trials are ended. I be found shut up with men who set at nought the authority of

may

Well, I thank O, never more

Christ, and who, by all the cruel arts of unrelenting persecution, strive to bend the immortal, godlike mind into unnatural subjection to their ambitious will. Father of all, never more may I witness those awful, those horrible attempts to destroy the rectitude and freedom of those spirits which thou hast formed to be the images of thy own glory, and which thou hast ransomed from thraldom by the blood of thy own Son! Hasten that day, O God; hasten that day, when the proud outrageous spirit of intolerance shall be cast out, when the power of persecution shall be broken, and when the whole race of man shall be blessed with the peace and freedom, the purity and tenderness of the Gospel of Christ."-P. 24.

William Trotter, here alluded to, was a brother Minister, expelled by the same Conference, chiefly it appeared for the boldness with which he ventured to denounce the unjustifiable severity of Conference towards Joseph Barker, for his own views were orthodox. But the proceedings of Conference were far from meeting with entire support from the churches: many of them addressed remonstrances, while some congregations at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where Mr. Barker had been last ministering, were resolved not to be thus deprived of their able and energetic Minister; in consequence they passed the following resolution, which has since been adhered to:

"Resolved, That after hearing all the Conference Deputation has said in defence of Conference proceedings, this meeting feels called upon to express its deep and solemn conviction that the Conference has overstepped the liberty of the Gospel, and outraged the principles of our connexional constitution, by the means which they have adopted and sanctioned for severing from the connection some of its ablest ministers and brightest ornaments; and from a sense of duty to God—an affectionate regard for their persecuted ministers—a deep concern for the character of the connection, and a proper concern for the interests of this circuit, resolves to resist, to the utmost of their power, these antichristian and anti-connectional proceedings, and to receive no more preachers from Conference till those brethren who have been so unjustly expelled from the body be restored to their former place and standing in the connection."

As the Congregational system was adopted by the Remonstrant party, Joseph Barker was chosen minister by a Newcastle congregation, on condition, however, that every fourth Sunday he should exchange with some brother Minister, thus allowing him the opportunity of extending his influence, without too much weakening his connection with his own congregation. This seems, even under ordinary circumstances, a good plan, as it allows a certain degree of rest to the preacher, by thus periodically giving him a different audience. Different Societies

in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire, have followed the example of their Northumberland brethren. Joseph Barker is also a highly valued Lecturer against the Socialists; and his work Christianity Triumphant, price 3s., is a valuable addition to our popular defences of Christianity; the style is forcible, and the sentiments pure and noble, while the general management of the subject is well adapted to the class of readers for whom it was principally designed, that is, to people who have taken up a prejudice against Christianity from the Socialists, or any one else, rather than from any real knowledge of the influence of Christianity itself. At the same time there are many facts mentioned in the book, which, though by no means new to a well-informed reader, may make him rejoice that such a noble army of witnesses can be called forth to attest the purifying and ennobling influence of genuine Christianity. Joseph Barker is also the author of an admirable defence of the propriety of teaching the children of the poor to write at SundaySchools; he has also published many excellent practical Sermons, and for some years conducted the Evangelical Reformer, a weekly penny periodical, with great spirit. He wrote all the leading articles himself, and by this means a far greater unity of aim and purpose is to be met with in that small work than in any other similar periodical that we have met with. He is at present Editor of "The Christian Investigator," the acknowledged organ of the Sect. Many articles are written with great spirit in defence of freedom of opinion, and the right of every man to judge for himself on all matters of faith. But the chief object of the work is to inculcate those views of self-denial which form the most distinctive features of the Society, and make it, in many respects, resemble the early constitution of the Society of Friends. The support of their own members is inculcated as a paramount duty, and the most self-denying exertions urged on the Society for the sake of seeking the Salvation of their fellow-men, not merely in this country but in foreign lands.

Although we are far from subscribing to all the sentiments which there are advocated, yet the movement is evidently in the right direction. The genuine spirit of Christian liberty which it breathes, and the supreme importance which it attaches to the moral requirements of Christianity, contrast most favourably with the constant dwelling on orthodox doctrines which

"The Christian Investigator and Evangelical Reformer, for the Promotion of sound Religious Knowledge, and the Inculcation of Temperance and Peace, and of the whole Religion of Christ." Price 3d. Published every fortnight, by R. Groombridge, 6, Panyer-alley, Paternoster-row, London.

too frequently disfigure similar publications. We hail this then as the dawning of a brighter day, for this movement has evidently originated with the people; and owing to the peculiar advantages which the Methodist system of lay-preaching gives to the speedy and efficacious advocacy of their views, we may hope that soon an abundant harvest will follow the disinterested and energetic labours of these "Christian" Disciples of our Lord. C. L.

THE FISHER.

"Tis morning on the bright and glorious sea!
In the fresh light ten thousand beauties rise;
The early mist has rolled in clouds away,

And fair and lovely are the sunny skies-
The fisher-boats advancing from the shore
Raise the white sail, or dip the glittering oar.
And who is she that on the gleaming strand
Looks with fond smile upon the waters fair,
Lifting her child to wave his tiny hand,—

While from her heart ascends the holy prayer,
That God would prosper him upon his way,
Who of her house and heart, is prop and stay?

'Tis noon upon the hot and heaving wave,

The sea-bird rests upon the molten sea;
And, as that bird rides on the waters green,
Within his fisher-barque so rideth he,
Thinks of his wife and little one afar,
And frequent longs for evening's first pale star.
And she the mother, in her cottage home,

Working with patient hand her daily toil;
How oft her thoughts across that deep sea roam,
As to her child she lifts the ready smile;
Or through the window bright her constant eye
Watches the sunny hours slow gliding by.

'Tis evening on the calm and moonlit main,

Swift through the shadow moves the fisher-barque ;

The holy star of evening shines again,

More holy to his eye one sacred spark

Lighted by love within his lowly cot,

By her who shares the fisher's humble lot.
Hark! the boat crushes on the pebbly shore,—
Lightly he leaps from off the bending side,
While brightly gleams, through the half-open door,
That welcome light which long had been his guide;
His wife, his child, that cheerful blazing fire,
His thankful heart with grateful thoughts inspire.

ART. VI.-MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF THE REV. L. CARPENTER, LL.D.: with Selections from his Correspondence. Edited by his Son, RUSSELL LANT CARPENTER, B.A.

Ar the conclusion of our notice of the posthumous volume of Dr. Carpenter's Sermons, we adverted to the Memoir understood to be in preparation, and expressed our confident persuasion, that if judiciously executed, it could not fail to be a most acceptable addition to our stores of Unitarian Biography. The Memoir has since made its appearance; and we have great satisfaction in stating that our expectations have been abundantly realized. Mr. Russell Carpenter, the Editor, as he modestly styles himself, of this work, has, we think, acquitted himself with great credit in the performance of a task, pleasing no doubt, but in some respects difficult and delicate, especially for one so nearly and intimately connected. He has, however, to all appearance, successfully followed the rule which he professes in the Preface to have assumed as his guide; namely, to speak of his Father with that truth which he loved ;—and it is obvious, that in many ways he must have possessed advantages, not only from personal knowledge, but from the access he appears to have enjoyed to various sources of information, which could hardly have been laid open with so little reserve, to any one not a member of the family.

The Memoir, we have every reason to believe, gives us a just impression of its subject, and a very favourable impression, both of the head and the heart of its author. That it would evince a warm attachment and filial reverence for one so well fitted to inspire these sentiments, is no more than might naturally be expected; but it is not always that we find in so young a writer as Mr. Russell Carpenter, the maturity of judgment and sound discretion for which many parts of this work are certainly remarkable. Its literary execution is very respectable, and indicates throughout a mind well furnished with the knowledge, and the habits of thought and feeling, which qualify him for successfully following the path which he has so ably delineated. We trust that he will ere long be enabled to enter upon it under circumstances conducive to his comfort and usefulness, and that a kind Providence may so guide and protect him, that these promising first fruits may be followed by an abundant harvest.

Our first impression, we must confess, on receiving this