The Rev. ROBERT AINSLIE proposed the following resolution:

That the cordial thanks of this meeting are due, and are hereby offered to Charles Hindley, Esq., M.P., for his zealous and persevering attention to the business confided to the attention of the Central Committee for General Education, over which he has presided as Chairman; to J. R. Mills, Esq. as Deputy-Chairman; to Samuel Morley, Esq., Treasurer; and to the Rev. Thomas James, Secretary pro tem., for their valuable services; and that it be referred to the Central Committee now chosen to make such permanent arrangements as may seem most expedient, in respect to the office of secretary.

He said he had a very easy task to perform in proposing a vote of thanks to the committee for the services they had rendered since the Conference, in reference to the cause of education. Those who were acquainted with the labours of committees would have no hesitation in thanking these gentlemen for their very kind, gratuitous, and devoted efforts. Their acknowledgments were especially due to their excellent friend Mr. Hindley. He believed that that was the first occasion on which they had had the honour of hearing a member of Parliament read a report at a meeting of Congregationalists. He was very happy to hear of the progress which education was making throughout the country; but he concurred in Mr. James's apprehension, that if they did not exert themselves, without delay, they would, for that very reason, have school-rooms without children. It became them all to be as active as possible in the work before them. He believed that if schools were built immediately, children would be found to fill them. He hoped the large cities would have the benefit of any surplus. A meeting had recently been held in one district in which there were at that moment twenty thousand children for whose education there was no provision whatever. With reference to the committee, he could not help saying that he thought there should be a greater proportion of laymen. To carry out this work in a proper manner, they wanted men who had leisure to throw their whole energies into it-men who had both ability and opportunity to manifest their devotion to so great a cause. There were, he believed, many persons in the metropolitan congregations, now kept very much in the shade, who might be made exceedingly efficient.

J. CONDER, Esq., in seconding the resolution, said, it would be recollected that the committee now about to be re-appointed, was chosen at Leeds; and he believed it contained an unusual proportion of new names, and this for the very reason which Mr. Ainslie had stated.

The resolution was unanimously agreed to.

T. BLACKBURN, Esq., of Liverpool, proposed the following resolution :

That from the financial statement now presented to this meeting, there appears to be a gratifying prospect of realising the most sanguine calculations of the total amount to be supplied for the promotion of education in connexion with this denominational movement-that in the first instance a large proportion of the amount may require to be appropriated to local expenditure; but that while this meeting rejoices in the impulse that has been given to such local efforts, it would earnestly plead on behalf of those poorer districts which stand in immediate and urgent need of grants from the Central Fund in aid of their exertions; and for this object, as well as for other departments entrusted to the central committee, respectfully requests the subscribers to allow as large a proportion of their donations as can be spared from local claims, to be appropriated to general purposes.

He could not but remark, in reference to some observations which had been already made, that if a congregation wished to establish a school in their own locality, they would, in his judgment, be acting perfectly in unison with the design of the movement, by applying their money to such purpose. At the same time, it

had never entered into his mind, that individuals putting down their names for sums of money should instruct the committee as to the part of the country to which their money should be appropriated. He thought that would be superseding the use of the central committee; whose great object he thought, should be to provide, or assist in providing, education in destitute districts, where congregations were not able to support schools, and where the pressure upon dissenters was most severely felt. He confessed that he did not see that any great advantage could arise from sending money to the central committee, when it was to be immediately applied to local purposes; it was merely sending money to be returned. The object would he conceived be fully unanswered, if a statement were sent to the treasurer of the amount subscribed, and the manner in which it was to be appropriated. He entirely participated in the hope expressed in the resolution, that the large amount specified would be realised within the five years. No one could imagine, that the exertions now making, would overtake the necessities of the people for years to come; there was scope for all denominations, and many years would probably elapse before they would be justified in relaxing in their efforts. He trusted that, as a denomination, they would feel the importance of making their schools, as far as possible, subservient to the diffusion of right views of ecclesiastical polity. On this subject he had always had a strong conviction, that they owed a large debt to their own principles, and to the great principles of truth and righteousness. If they neglected the opportunity of training their children in correct views of ecclesiastical polity-if they did not teach them the sinfulness, and the incompatibility with the word of God, of religious establishments-they would fail to accomplish one of the most important objects of schools of this description. He contended that they ought, in all their schools, as far as it was practicable, to give the children instruction in the principles of church government, and in the nature of the church of Christ, as well as in the nature of personal Christianity. They might gradually lead them from instruction as to what a church is, and who ought to be its members, to instruction as to the nature of Christ's kingdom, and the means which ought to be employed to extend that kingdom throughout the world. If they were true to themselves, they would produce a most important change in the electoral body of this country. By training up a large number of persons, whose opinions would eventually tell on the House of Commons, they might hasten that period, which they all regarded as necessary to the consummation of their wishes, when it would be left to the unaided efforts of Christians, to diffuse the knowledge of the truth.

The Rev. Dr. MATHESON seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously. J. C. EVANS, Esq. was then proceeding to make a statement in reference to the Dissenters' Chapels Bill; but in consequence of the lateness of the hour, it was adjourned until the afternoon sitting.

The Rev. SAMUEL M'ALL, of Nottingham, having prayed, and the benediction having been pronounced by the Chairman, the Meeting adjourned to the Congregational Library.

SESSION AFTER DINNER.

The meeting dined in the large room of the Congregational Library.

After the cloth had been drawn,

The Chairman proposed "The Queen and the Royal Family," which was loyally responded to.

The business of the Annual Meeting was then resumed.

AUTUMNAL MEETING.

The Rev. EBENEZER PROUT, of Halstead, proposed the following resolution, which was seconded by the Rev. J. REYNOLDS, of Romsey

"That the meeting entirely approves of holding the Autumnal Meeting of this assembly at Norwich, and has learned with great pleasure, from the Report of the Committee, the cordial willingness of the churches and their pastors in that city to receive the proposed visit of the Union. It is therefore agreed, that this assembly, at the close of its present session, shall stand adjourned for a meeting in Norwich, at such time in the month of October next, as may be arranged between the Committee of the Union and the brethren in that city."

The Rev. J. S. RUSSELL, of Yarmouth, and Rev. J. DAVIS, of Denton, expressed the satisfaction felt in Norfolk, at the prospect of a meeting of the Union being held in that county.

NEW COMMITTEE.

The Rev. J. CARLILE said he felt great pleasure in moving a resolution in reference to the appointment of a Committee for the ensuing year. Having before stated his conviction, that the mode of appointing Committees admitted of improvement, he begged now to state his unbounded approval of the impartiality and fairness with which his brethren, in whose hands the matter rested, had in this instance made the nomination. He had great pleasure in moving,

"That the former Committee of the Union be re-appointed, subject to the following changes: to substitute the Rev. Messrs. Stoughton, Gilbert, and Mannering, instead of the Rev. J. Jefferson, Dr. Leifchild, and Dr. Jenkyn; and Messrs. Hugh Owen, Christopher Lund, and James Leavers, instead of Messrs. Challis, Jackson, and Stapleton.

The Rev. RICHArd Fletcher, of Manchester, in seconding the resolution, said he was exceedingly sorry that they had not the satisfaction in prospect, of having the next autumnal meeting in Manchester; but, as had been already intimated in the correspondence with the Committee, they fully expected to have that satisfaction next year.

DISSENTERS' CHAPELS BILL.

J. C. EVANS, Esq., then proceeded to introduce the resolutions of the Committee on the Dissenters' Chapels Bill. He commenced by referring to a meeting of deputies of the three denominations in the Metropolis, which had been held on the previous day. At this meeting a resolution was adopted, to which only ten individuals, four of them being Presbyterians, were opposed, recommending that petitions should immediately be presented to the House of Commons to prevent the bill from passing into a law. When the bill was first introduced into the House of Lords, it had been thought desirable to ascertain, by private interview, what was the feeling of the legislature with respect to it, and to endeavour to persuade the members not to support it. A deputation was appointed, which waited upon Sir Robert Peel. They learned from him the astonishing fact that the bill was brought forward as a cabinet measure. "We have brought it forward," said Sir Robert, "to prevent litigation." They then waited upon the Lord Chancellor; and he must say that the interview which they had had with his lordship, bore a very striking contrast to the speech which he delivered when moving the adoption of the bill in the House of Lords.

Nothing could be more candid, nothing more friendly, than his language to the deputation during the interview; but he must say, with regard to his speech in the

House of Lords, that a speech more full of gross misrepresentation, of perversion of law, and fact, and argument, it had never fallen to his lot to hear; unless, indeed, it were the speech of Lord Brougham on the same subject. When Lord Denman was waited upon, it appeared that he was not acquainted with the provisions of the bill, and he certainly did seem open to conviction. They next went to Lord Cottenham, and found that he had pledged himself to vote for the bill. They also applied to Lord Campbell, who refused even to present their petition to the House of Lords, on the ground that he had made up his mind in favour of the bill. They endeavoured to get interviews with many other members of the House of Lords, but most of them made excuses, and up to that day they had not succeeded except in very few instances. They had had the mortification of finding that Lord Melbourne had given his vote in favour of the bill; and Lord Fitzwilliam, besides taking the same course, had made a speech, which did much to change the opinion which they had previously held of that noble lord's mind and character. No personal application had yet been made by the Committee to the Bishops in the House of Lords, although certain documents had been laid before them. The great majority of the prelates of the Church of England had, however, deemed it consistent with their duty not to oppose the bill. Thus it had passed the House of Lords, and it would that evening be introduced into the House of Commons. It was for them to consider what course it would be their duty to pursue with respect to it. He then proceeded to state briefly the provisions of the bill. It consisted of three clauses, which had originally been intended to apply only to England, but which, in going through committee, had been made applicable also to Ireland. The first clause simply stated, that in case any endowment had been granted before the Toleration Act, it should not be rendered void from the mere fact that the particular form of worship used was not lawful at the time when the endowment was created. The third clause, which was that which they felt bound to oppose, provided that in every case in which the doctrines to be taught in any chapel were not laid down in express terms, the usage of the congregation for a certain number of years, which was now fixed at twenty-five, should supersede and stand instead of the original intentions of the founder. Now it was very common for the advocates of this bill to take for granted that wherever the intentions of founders were not laid down, in express terms, they were doubtful in their nature, and could not be ascertained; but it was a principle of English law, uniformly acted upon in courts of equity, that in all cases where the intentions of founders were not declared in express terms, they might be ascertained by those rules of interpretation to which the law had given its sanction in such cases. As the intentions of the founders could be ascertained by such rules in the present instance there was, be contended, no necessity for the bill which was then under their consideration. When these chapels were founded, the state of the law and historical circumstances rendered particularity in trust deeds unnecessary. In the first place, nearly all the chapels were built within ten or twenty years after the passing of the Toleration Act in 1689. It was assumed by the advocates of the bill, that they were built about the middle of last century, when Arianism and Unitarianism had gained considerable ground in this country; but the fact was, that most of them were erected during the reign of King William or Queen Anne. At that time no minister could exercise the functions of his office without subscribing the doctrinal articles of the Church of England; and they knew from Dr. Calamy, as a matter of fact, that they did sign those articles. They inferred from this, that nearly all the Presbyterians of that day held Trinitarian sentiments. There was, it was true, a certain degree of latitudinarianism prevailing; but it did not include Unitarians, for the law had forbidden the propagation of Unitarian doctrine under pain of severe penalties. Now he maintained that if the law provided that no man should preach until he had N. S. VOL. VIII. 4 D

declared his approbation of Trinitarian sentiments; whatever endowment was left, was left for the maintenance of Trinitarian views. Upon that principle the courts had acted in deciding that these chapels were intended for the propagation of such views. How could twenty-five years' usage be conclusive evidence of the opinions of parties who had died one hundred and fifty years ago? The bill was brought in, in order to give certain parties a right, which they did not possess by law, and as such, it was unjust to themselves.

B. HANBURY, Esq. moved the adoption of a series of resolutions on this question, too long for insertion here, but which appears in the official minutes.

The Rev. Dr. HEWLETT, of Coventry, in seconding the resolution, said, he thought they were much indebted to Mr. Evans, for the clear and lucid manner in which he had addressed them. He, for one, had never seen so much the hideous nature of the bill, as whilst listening to this able exposition, and he trusted it had had the same effect upon others.

After a short discussion, the resolution was unanimously adopted.

The Rev. J. BLACKBURN proposed a congratulatory resolution, in reference to Dr. Stewart, the Moderator of the Presbyterian church of Ireland, which was seconded, and briefly acknowledged.

It was moved by the Rev. ARTHUR TIDMAN, of London; seconded by the Rev. J. BLACKBURN, and adopted :

That the cordial thanks of this meeting, be presented to the Rev. Messrs. Kennedy and Shoebotham, delegates from the Congregational Union of Scotland; and to the Rev. A. King, delegate from the Congregational Union of Ireland, for their welcome presence, and valuable communications and services in the several sessions of this assembly.

Finally, it was moved by the Rev. THOMAS SMITH, A.M., of Sheffield; seconded by the Rev. J. BLACKBURN, and cordially adopted by the meeting :

That the most cordial thanks of this Assembly, be given to its beloved Chairman, the Rev. Dr. Burder, for the impartiality and kindness with which he has presided over all its proceedings.

Dr. BURDER having briefly acknowledged the resolution, the assembly adjourned till October next, and most of its members proceeded to attend the Annual Meeting of the Colonial Missionary Society.

OPENING OF A NEW CHAPEL.

The Independent Chapel, lately erected in the village of Woodham Ferris, Essex, from designs by Mr. Fenton, of Chelmsford, was opened for public worship on Tuesday, the 2nd of April, 1844. The cost of the building is estimated at £500, and has a remarkably neat and tasteful appearance. The Rev. A Reed, D.D. of London, preached in the morning, from 10th chap. of Numbers, part of 29th verse, a most eloquent discourse, powerfully affecting the minds of all present. In the evening (in the lamented absence of the Rev. G. Smith, of Poplar) Mr. Robinson, of Witham, kindly consented to take his place, and preached from 1 Cor. 9th chap. 16th verse, a sermon, characterised by expansive views of truth and ministerial faithfulness. The congregations were most numerous and respectable, and the collections amounted to upwards of £50.

About 100 ladies and gentlemen sat down to an excellent dinner, at which Dr. Reed presided until his departure for town; after which, the Rev. J. Gray, of Chelmsford, occupied the chair. The afternoon was passed in hearing addresses from the ministers and gentlemen present. Thus, after the occasional ministry of