has also been conducted on Sunday afternoons, in the Seamen's Chapel, and at the Police Office. Classes for religious instruction, and schools for adults, and chimney-sweepers, have been formed, and five circulating libraries established. That good will result from these efforts, particularly the libraries and the schools, we have no doubt. We hope some moral effect may be the consequence, even of the preachings. Of this, however, we still have our fears, for the moral purposes are not sufficiently pursued, whilst sectarian opinions are tenaciously adhered to, and constantly inculcated. The persons employed, are not the most calculated for this impórtant labour. There should be the wisdom of experience, and the parental kindness which wins to goodness, and the Christian benevolence which soothes and guides to virtue, as the portal of earthly happiness and heaven's blessedness; and these suppose a union of qualities not commonly found combined, even in advanced life, and are not to be expected, except like angels' visits, in the spring-time of existence. The number of families visited, and the attendance on the preachings, show the necessity of the work; but the spending a quarter of an hour once a-month, with a family, will not give much insight into their moral condition, nor enable the visitor to adapt his plans or his exhortations to their spiritual necessities. A less number, more frequently called on, would be more likely to lead to more beneficial consequences. Whilst thus stating our opinion as to the Glasgow City Mission, it is with unfeigned pleasure that we announce that the Rev. R. K. Philp of Lincoln has accepted the office of City Missionary in London, in connection with the British and Foreign Unitarian Association. The blessing of God on his labours.

MR. Adam of Dundee, in his reply to the Rev. W. Smith's last Letter, makes the following remarks:-"You say Professor Norton has answered Professor Stuart's Letters. If so, it must be lately, as I am in possession of a letter from Professor Stuart, dated Andover, 8th September, 1830, from which the following is an extract; In regard to the Letters themselves, they remain unanswered in my country to the present hour. Unitarians build not here on the Bible. They do not intend to meet the argument in this form. I presume such will be the case in Scotland and England." Now, the fact is, that "in regard to the Letters themselves," they were reviewed in the Christian Disciple, published at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1819. There are

two articles of review, the first published in the Number for July and August of that year, and occupying from p. 316 to 333; and the second, published in the Number for September and October, 1819, and comprising from p. 370, to 431. Professor Stuart may not consider these articles as answering his Letters; but his language, without explanation, has a tendency to mislead, and has deceived his Dundee correspondent. As to the Professor's assertions, “Unitarians build not here on the Bible, they do not intend to meet the argument in this form," they are worthy of his creed. When he wrote those sentences, the Unitarians had "met the argument in this form." And the thousand congre

gations of "the Christians," demonstrate the other assertion to be as baseless as that Trinity which he is lauded as supporting.

THE Rev. J. S. Porter, late minister of Carter-Lane, London, was settled as colleague with the Rev. W. Bruce, in the First Presbyterian Congregation, Belfast, on Thursday, February 2. The Rev. J. Carley of Antrim, prayed and read the Scriptures; the Rev. W. Heron of Ballyclare, preached from Prov. xxix. 25. The Rev. Dr. Ledlie of Larne, in the name of the Presbytery of Antrim, inquired whether the congregation adhered to their invitation to Mr. Porter, and was answered on their behalf in the affirmative, by J. H. Houstoun, Esq. On Mr. Porter's being asked, if he adhered to his acceptance of the invitation, he replied in the affirmative, and gave a brief outline of his views in accepting the pastoral office. Dr. Ledlie then delivered the charge to the Pastor and Congregation, and concluded the services. The Meeting-House was crowded by persons of all religious denominations.

In the afternoon, about one hundred and thirty-five individuals, Catholics, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians, assembled at dinner, Dr. S. S. Thomson presiding; having on his right hand, the newly installed Pastor of the Congregation; and on his left, the Right Rev. Dr. Crolly, Roman Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor, and next to them, members of the Episcopalian church. The meeting was one of singular interest, combining intellect with sociality, and the firm avowal of individual opinion, with fervent benevolence to all who differed.

"THE Unitarian Association of France," was formed at Paris on the 4th December. Its objects are to promote the diffusion of Christian Unitarianism in France, by circulating Tracts, by employing a Missionary, establishing a French Unitarian Congregation in Paris, in addition to the English Society already formed, and by correspondence with those parts of the Continent in which persons friendly to these purposes are known to reside.

THE Editor of the Monthly Repository, added to the last Number of that work, the first of a distinct, but yet connected publication, entitled, "The Unitarian Chronicle, and Companion to the Monthly Repository." In the "Chronicle," will be published the various articles of intelligence; and that space will henceforth be occupied in the Repository, as are its other pages. The Repository will still retain its price, ls. 6d.; and the Unitarian Chronicle will henceforth be published separately, price 3d.

CHRISTIAN PIONEER.

No. 68.

APRIL, 1832.

Vol. VI.

Settlement Service at Bury, Lancashire.

(Rev. J. R. BEARD's Sermon on Christian Salvation, concluded from p. 245.)

THE work which I have now endeavoured to explain, is manifestly a great work. And for myself, I can never turn from conversing with the greatest of the ancient heathens, to the humble son of a carpenter, and the humble fishermen of Galilee, without feeling the most assured conviction, that, in the language of Jesus, "they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world"that he and they came forth and were sent of God. Whence doctrines truly divine-whence love superhuman

whence, as in the great end they aimed to promote, whence an object so novel, yet so supereminently benevolent-whence, if not from the God of love? Yes, the grandeur of their great object, is sufficient to stamp their mission with the seal of divinity. They came to save the world, and in that purpose there is implied a largeness of love, an originality, a sublimity, an adaptation to the wants of man, which bespeak the intervention of the Author of all good; and that with peculiar force to the minds of those who know how poor and mean are the best men among the heathen, in comparison with the peasants of Judea.

In this sublime work, you, my Christian Brother, are called to labour. You feel, I doubt not, with myself, that all your thoughts are far below its elevation and sublimity; and that a chief, an imperative, yet a difficult duty, is, to use the words of an apostle, to magnify your office; so to magnify your office, that your sense may equal the weight of your responsibility; that your estimate of the value of the Gospel, of the value of the immortal spirit, of the value of a good heart, and a happy home-of the terror of that wrath, tribulation, and anguish, which await the wicked, and that unutterable, nay, in its fulness, inconceivable glory which awaits the good; that your estimate of these momentous concerns may correspond to the importance which they bear in the pages of the New Tes

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tament, and, consequently, in the estimate of Apostles and the great Head of the Church. Christian ministers are sometimes accused of extravagance, when they endeavour to reach the height of this great argument, and doubtless extravagant they may be, if they take imagination and not Scripture for their guide; but sure I am, that those who partake of the infirmities of the flesh, whether ministers or hearers, have need to make great and continual efforts to keep their minds duly alive to the transcendantly important truths of the Christian faith; and that minister can but imperfectly indeed discharge his duty, who does not feel his insufficiency to conceive and set forth the great realities of duty, judgment, and eternity, and make that feeling a constant prompter to exertions and prayers, that he may comprehend, with all saints, the height, breadth, depth, and length, not only of the love of Christ, but of the interests which are involved in his ministrations, and the use which the people of his charge make of the means of grace. Yes, high indeed, my Friend and Brother, is the calling that you have received, and sacred and sublime the relation you have formed with this people. You are to them the herald and minister, not of worldly pomp, not of riches, not of empire, not of learning, but of what is more than all united, of salvation, a good which comprises all other real good, a good which is to be measured by peaceful hearts, and peaceful homes, and assuaged sorrows, and relieved orphans, and comforted widows, the young rising up and calling you blessed, and the aged sinking peacefully to their rest, and all-the young, the old, the rich, the poor, all-if it please God, which I humbly and earnestly pray, all joyfully ascending from the tomb to their everlasting reward.

The importance of the office which, as a herald of salvation, you, my dear Friend and Brother, have to hold, may well excite in your mind, an earnest solicitude for the proper discharge of the duties which it imposes, and make you eager to receive any admonitions which may aid you in a work so momentous, but one in which you have much encouragement, because you have already had much success. In the supposition of such a desire existing in the ingenuous bosom of his young friend Timothy, Paul enjoins in my text, "take heed unto thyself and unto thy doctrine, continue in them; for in so doing, thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." And it

merits special notice, that the Apostle connects intimately together the teaching and the life of the Christian minister. In fact, they are not so much dissimilar things, as different forms of expression of the same thing. The Gospel may be preached in deed, as well as in word; and it is when thus taught, when the life is an illustration of the doctrine, that it proves, though administered by human agency, the power of God unto salvation. To be all that the Gospel requires, is what our merciful Father will not, I trust, exact of those who are young in life and labour; but the agreement between the life and the teaching, must be sufficiently obvious to be seen of those who hear, and by the exercise of constant diligence and endeavour, progressive throughout the whole of existence. Little good can ensue, and much evil must ensue, when the life is at variance with the teaching; when the minister condemns by his actions, what he approves in word; or esteems so meanly, as to grudge the sacrifices which are requisite for its attainment. But certain am I, my Brother, that in this your wishes will be crowned with ample success, and that your life will be a beautiful comment and enforcement of what you shall teach from this place. Certain am I, that your people will retire from this house with their hearts fraught with the gentle spirit of Christian love, to see in your intercourses in the domestic circle, a constraining exemplification of the good there is in brethren living together in unity; and equally assured do I feel, that keeping together in harmonious union, the counsel of the tongue, and the eloquence of the life, you will continue in the teaching of those things that make for peace, and things whereby you and your charge may edify each other.

If, therefore, I add one word of exhortation, it is only that, in conclusion, I may bring before you the sum of what I have said, and stir up your mind by way of remembrance. Bear, then, constantly in your mind, that you are the minister of salvation to this people; that you are sent, not to flatter, not to gratify, not to gain applause, not to acquire wealth, not to promote temporal prosperity, but to preach the Gospel; to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine, that you may save yourself and them that hear you. Let the salvation of men be the great aim of your life. Let every other object be subordinate to this, and esteemed in the precise degree in which it increases your efficacy as a minister of Christ. To pro