respective Articles of faith, and which all the ministers of the Cantons of Berne and of Vaud subscribe in the Helvetic Confession of Faith.

2. This Institution does not profess to identify itself with the ecclesiastical forms of any particular church.Founded on the broadest basis, it offers the right hand of fellowship to all churches. Besides its students properly so called, its lectures will be open to persons of all religious persuasions. Indeed, it is hoped that pupils of the academies of France, of Switzerland, and Germany will devote to its course of instruction some portion of their period of study, in order to settle their faith by a more enlarged research and more extended examination of the Scriptures, and thus to prove all things, and hold fast that which is good." For, if the Protestant religion consists, as some have affirmed, in "examining," the Christian religion consists in believing" after baving examined. But the Institution, in wishing to render itself useful to all the churches which have preserved the fundamentals of the faith, and which desire to possess pastors according to the mind of God, wishes not to be regarded as, in itself, a church. As its only aim will be to prepare youths for preaching the Gospel of Christ, and fulfilling the duties of the sacred ministry, its pupils, at the termination of their studies, will be free to seek ordination from whatever church will best satisfy their convictions and suit their necessities.

3. The Directors of the school will endeavour to promote the welfare of the students entrusted to their charge to the best of their ability in all respects. As its means shall permit, the number of the professors will be increased, and the range of instruction extended; and endeavours will be made to found bursaries, or exhibitions, for some of the pupils, on the same footing with the stipends which the French students receive in the Academies of Geneva, Strasburg, and Montauban.

4. The Société Evangélique commends this Institution to all the churches. It has found in its committee the resources required to lay the foundation of its plan, and hitherto no foreign aid has been received.* But as the good contemplated is not limited to Geneva, and the Association desires to render itself

A contribution of 500 francs has subsequently been received from an association in England.

useful, if God permit, to all the Protestant churches, it ventures to claim the co-operation of all the Gospel. It presumes to solicit, in the name of Christ, their help, their counsels, their prayers, and their zealous efforts.

Separate accounts will be kept of all pecuniary assistance received from abroad, and will be duly communicated to the religious public.

The founders of this school desire that the churches should know that it is undertaken in faith. When they resolved to establish it, they saw only the necessity of the Institution, and their own inability for the undertaking. It was in faith they looked for means and for success. In taking upon themselves a task of which both the importance and the extent were apparent, they believed themselves encouraged to commit the issue with humble confidence into the hands of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Head of the Church. To him accordingly they committed it, and on his faithfulness they rely.

If, then, we are asked for the motives which prompted us to desire this establishment, our authority for commencing the work, and our means of completing it, we think that one fact will serve as answer to every question:-This school was indispensable to the interests of true religion: hence our motive. If indiapensable, it became a duty to undertake it: hence our authority. And, if it was our duty to undertake it, doubtles it becomes a duty to rely on the help and blessing of God our Saviour; hence our hope of success. Where the evil is great, duty is imperative; where duty is imperative, the promises of God are commensurate; and when God gives proinises, our faith should lay hold of them. We have done so. "If this work be of men, it will come to nought;" but if it be of God, it must prosper, either by our agency or that of others.

We have said that this school was indispensable; and it is but too easy to prove the fact. If the youths who go to the academies of France and Geneva to qualify themselves for the ministry of the Word of life, are there taught the Unitarian doctrines; if the very truths, for the sake of which our professorships were founded, our schools opened, and our institutions formed, are there condemned; if the studies in those schools are not free, that is to say, if the pupils attached to the faith of the Apostles and Reformers are not at liberty to follow the instructions which correspond with their faith and satisfy their cousciences;

has more than once resuscitated, and, as it were restored to the vigour of youth, the nations of Europe and Asia; and which alore, in announcing to man the love of God, in speaking seldom of his rights, but always of his duties, imparts to nations, as to souls, life by means of peace-happiness by means of charityand liberty, by the submission of the heart to the will of God. The church will discern the signs of the times-she will speedily summon to her service numerous workmen. She will perceive that, amidst the shock of the very elements of society, it is only the Spirit of God, shed abroad by the preaching of the Gospel, that can, as in the beginning, mould the chaos into form, or arrest the disruption which threatens all nations. The churches will understand their commission. New labourers will be required. The youths who wish to preach Jesus Christ, must qualify themselves to do the work of Evangelists. Nourished in the words of faith and of sound doctrine, they must seek, by fervent prayer and sacred studies, the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and that "wisdom which cometh from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, full of mercy and good fruits."

The Société Evangélique addresses itself by this circular to all the friends of the Gospel of Christ. It relies on their assistance, because it relies on the mercy of God to dispose them to grant it. If they disapprove of the project, they will acquaint us with their objections: if they approve of it, they will rejoice to help us.

Who is there among you of all his people who will engage in this work! His God be with him!" "The beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish thou the work of our hands!"

The course of instruction of the Theological School will embrace four divisions.

1. Exegetic Theology-namely, the interpretation of the Old and New Testaments and Introduction to Sacred Criticism.

2. Historical Theology-namely, Church History History of Sects-Ecclesiastical Statistics-Biblical ArcheologyChristian Antiquities.

3. Systematic Theology-namely, Dogmatic, Moral, Apologetic, together with what may be termed an Encyclopedia of Theological Science.

4. Practical Theology-namely, Church Government and the Service of the Church, including Homiletic, Catechetical, and Pastoral instruction.

The Directors of the school will entrust the above course of introduction to men distinguished for their attachment to sound doctrine. Considering the progress

which theological criticism has made in Germany, the Directors have deemed it right to apply for the assistance of a Professor of that country, whose character will authorize the entire confidence of the friends of the Gospel."

To promote the accomplishment of this important undertaking, a Committee of Correspondence has been formed in this country of respectable ministers and laymen, belonging, we believe exclusively, to the national churches of England and Scotland.

The Société Evangélique of Geneva, "does not profess to identify itself with the forms of any particular church;" but with fraternal regard, addresses "the churches and faithful brethren of Protestant Christendom," including, we presume, the Methodist, Baptist, and Congregational churches of these kingdoms. We know not then how it happens that all the members of these denominations, which have in various ways evinced a lively interest in the revival of evangelical sentiments, and in the growth of religious freedom amongst the Protestant churches of France and Switzerland, have been overlooked in the formation of the Committee of Correspondence, but we are confident of this that whatever reasons may have induced that omission, and which of course are best known to those who organized the Committee, the churches of Switzerland have not warmer, more prayerful, and affectionate friends than may be found amongst those denominations which have been thus passed by. We beg leave cordially to recommend the object to our readers.

PROGRESS OF REVIVALS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

During the first six months of last year (1831,) it has been computed that a special religious anxiety was felt in scarcely less than fifteen hundred towns, in all the parts of the United States, and that more than fifty thousand persons professed within that period to have become partakers of the blessings of salvation through Christ Jesus. From 300 to 400 of this number are members of various colleges. Many others are eminent in knowledge and weight of character, and as far removed from the influence of mere enshusiasm as any men in the community. In the principal cities which have been signally favoured, and in many other places, protracted meetings have been held, generally of four consecutive days, in which the gospel has been faithfully and plainly preached. The services on these occasions have generally differed very little from those of the Sabbath.

BIBLE SOCIETY CONTROVERSY.

We have been favoured with the following proceedings of the Committee of the Wilts Auxiliary British and Foreign Bible Society, (specially convened,) at the Town-Hall, Devizes, on Friday the 27th of January, 1832, respecting the question which has agitated the parent Society, and we cordially wish that in every Auxiliary throughout the kingdom, the question were discussed and settled with equal firmness and temper.

It was resolved unanimously, That this meeting fully approves of the plan, object, and principles, of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and expresses its unfeigned gratitude to Almighty God, for the signal manifestations of divine favour, bestowed for so many years on its operations, diversified and extended as they have been, in the various quarters of the globe.

That it will continue, (in humble reliance on that Divine Being, without whose aid nothing is strong, nothing is holy,) to support, with unabated zeal and perse verance, the British and Foreign Bible Society as originally constituted.

That, moreover, this Meeting is firmly convinced, that to exclude any person from the Society, merely on the ground of religious belief or practice, would be totally at variance with the first principles on which it was founded, and by which it has been uniformly governed.

That it is the decided opinion of this meeting, that the only legitimate method of convincing those who differ from them, is to employ solid arguments, avoiding all vituperation; and that, if they cannot reconcile all opinions, they will, at least, endeavour to unite all hearts in the simple and noble object of circulating the Scrip. tures without note or comment.

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The advantages possessed by the Pu pils of this noble Establishment, are exhibited in an Advertisement on Wrapper, to which we with confidence refer our readers, as our personal knowledge confirms its accuracy.

THE NATIONAL FAST DAY.

Wednesday, March 21st, was observed in London, and we believe throughout the Kiugdom, with great solemnity. The Protestant Dissenters, with a very few exceptions, kept it as a day sacred to the Lord, and their Chapels in the Metropolis were unusually crowded. beral collections were made also for the poor, which have in many cases, been disbursed through the visitors of the Christian Instruction Society.

THE PATRIOT NEWSPAPER.

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Having announced in our January Number the project of establishing a New Weekly Paper, "devoted to the support of the great principles held in common by British nonconformists," and having also recorded our conviction that it would be committed to the hands of an Editor, whose literary and personal attainments would ensure temperate but firm exhibition of the opinions held by the great body of Evangelical Dissenters, we are happy, now that Six Numbers of The Patriot are before us, to express the satisfaction we feel, in finding our anticipations fully realized

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rity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up; doth not behave itself unseemly; seeketh not her own; is not easily provoked."

MILL HILL GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

WE are happy to learn that the Committee of this admirable Institution have resolved to render their Establishment complete, by the immediate erection of a Chapel on the premises, which will harmonize with the other parts of their noble edifice, and prove to their interesting charge, that they do not wish them to dwell in a ceiled house, while the house of the Lord lieth waste.

A subscription has been opened towards the Building, which we trust will be liberally promoted.

If a larger amount of decidedly religious intelligence were found in its pages, it will be all that we could wish it to be; and we are happy to know that arrangements are now in progress, to secure a greater supply in that department of information."

We beg very cordially to recommend that Journal, which for beauty of typography and general interest, will sustain a comparison with the best Weekly Papers.

NOTICES.

The 118th Meeting of the Associated Congregational Ministers of the County of Essex, will be held at the Rev. R. Robinson's, Witham, on Monday the 16th Inst., at four, P. M.; and on the following day, the Anniversary of the County Union

will be held at the same place, at eleven A. M. The Rev. H. Murch, of Colchester, has engaged to preach on the occasion.

The Reverend Eustace Carey, late of Calcutta, is expected to preach the Annual Sermon for the relief of the Necessitous Widows and Children of Protestant Dissenting Ministers, on Wednesday the 11th April next, at the Rev. J. E. Giles's, Salters Hall Chapel, Cannon Street.-Service to begin at 12 o'clock at noon precisely. The subscribers and friends to the Society will dine together on the same day, at the Albion Tavern, Aldersgate Street.

CHARACTERISTIC SKETCH OF THE LATE REV. JOHN MACK, PASTOR OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH, CLIP STONE,NORTH

AMPTONSHIRE.

THE Baptist denomination and church of Christ have been called to sustain another loss in the decease of Mr. Mack, who has been called to his rest when he had just attained the maturity of his powers and the climax of his usefulness. His remains were buried at Clipstone, on Monday, Nov. 14, when the Rev. Walter Scott, of Rowell, delivered a funeral oration at the grave, and the Rev. J. P. Mursell, of Leicester, preached the funeral sermon. That gentleman having been requested to furnish us with the close of his discourse, he kindly consented, and we cheerfully insert it, to express our fraternal regard for the denomination to which he belongs, and with the hope that it may excite the attention of our benevolent readers to the urgent claims of the destitute widow and children of the lamented deceased.

Mr. Mack possessed a mind of the very first order, and if it did not take the precedence among those of its class, it was from no defect in nature, but from the accidents which were attendant on his early education. A discriminating judgment; a fine imagination, combined with a rich native taste, appeared to form the outline of an intellect which, for beauty and compactness has been seldom surpassed. Although it may have been exceeded in the mightiness and amplitude of its powers, it has not often been equalled in the delicacy of its structure, and in the symmetry of its parts, and while perhaps it was not distinguished by profundity, it certainly was not shaded and disfigured by obscurity: it seemed to resemble a substantial, elegant, and ornate abode, with each of its apartments, wisely proportioned and skilfully arranged, and whose recesses were fitly and usefully constructed, though not unusually commodious or deep it had all the accuracy without any

of the mystery of minds of the strictly original cast. The precision with which our departed friend would hold the balances between error and truth, and the skill with which he would analyze the properties of the one, and delineate the beauties of the other, bespoke the penetration of his genius; and the tenacity with which he would retain a subject, however evasive, within his grasp, was indicative of the vigour of his understanding: he seemed indeed not only to throw the light of his mind on whatever subject he approached, but literally to pierce and to transfuse it with its beams. Among other characteristics, the mind we are surveying, was adorned with the rare but charming feature of wit, which is rather a property than a faculty of being, and is not to be regarded as a separate attribute of the mind, so much as the exquisite music which is occasioned, by the playful harmony of its parts. If it be admitted that this is a dangerous, it is undoubtedly a most fascinating, property; its suitable exercise occasions great delight to its subject, while it administers to the intellectual gratification of others, and surely he may be forgiven who is occasionally lavish in the indulgence of a distinguishing prerogative, whose legiti mate exercise may awaken the chords of a thousand minds. This property, it is true, is sometimes mimicked by humour, and aped by drollery; but, to confound these with the refined spirit of wit, is to mistake the glimmering of the meteor for the light of the morning star. In connection with this, he possessed the imitative faculty to an astonishing degree, while from the storehouse of his mind he would, as occasion required,emit gleams of satire, which, though pungent, were never malignant. Whenever these escaped him, they were easily distinguishable the blasts of passion, by the pure light which attended them, and from the flashes of a querulous spirit by the tranquillity which succeeded them: they were totally devoid of effort, and may be recognised as the emanations of nature, as a sudden coruscation from some vein of light which ran through his mighty spirit, and which, in its effect, resembled the lightning of heaven,amidst the serenity of a partially clouded sky. With these intellectnal attributes our friend united a set of instinctive properties, by which they were rather irradiated than eclipsed; the sight of misery in its mildest forms, was appalling to him, and a tale of woe would sieze at once on his fancy and his feelings; his lofty mind was covered, though not concealed, with a variegated robe, which was wrought of the finest sympathies of our nature,