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service to the Society, and that as far as they can prudently, they meet to instruct and encourage one another in the knowledge and practice of the truth. In the present state of the Church, however, little can be done to promote the edification of the members. The Church is in the wilderness. She has fallen on evil times. Restraint is the lot of her members, and we need to labour and to pray for their liberty to openly worship the Lord and to disseminate the knowledge of His truth. The truth so precious to ourselves, and so important for the spiritual growth of the Church and the wellbeing of the world, is not less important to our brethren abroad, nor less necessary to the wellbeing of the nation of which they form a part.

BIRMINGHAM (Priestly Road, Sparkbrook).—The mission commenced about ten months since at this place, has continued to pursue a useful and encouraging course of Christian service. The attendance has been as large as could be reasonably hoped, the services have been regularly held, and the attendance has assumed somewhat of a fixed character. To give permanence to the movement, it was determined a short time since to organize those members of the congregation who had expressed their reception of the doctrines, and their wish to regulate their lives by their teaching, into a Society of the New Church. Sunday, April 27th, was appointed for this purpose, and the Rev. R. Storry was invited in conjunction with the Rev. R. R. Rodgers, the minister of the Wretham Road Church, to conduct the service. In the morning Mr. Storry preached at Wretham Road to the large congregation which steadily worships in this elegant church, Mr. Rodgers at the same time preaching at Priestly Road. In the afternoon the service for the organization of the Society took place at the mission-room. The service was opened by an appropriate hymn, the reading of a portion of the Word, and prayer. This was followed by an address by Mr. Rodgers on the purpose and usefulness of organized Societies in the New Church. In the course of this address the articles of faith were explained, which at its close were signed by the members. Mr. Storry, who after their signing had received

them into the fellowship of the Church, next delivered a short address to the newly appointed members. The entire service, after a second hymn, was followed by the sacrament of the Holy Supper. Including two or three who could not be present, and who signed the roll after the evening service, sixteen persons entered the Society. The service was throughout impressive and edifying. All present seemed to share the pleasant sphere which pervaded the assembly, and the effects of the service will, we doubt not, long continue with those more immediately interested in it. In the evening Mr. Storry preached to a good congregation on the Duty, Place, and Object of Prayer. In dwelling on the object of prayer, the preacher gave Scriptural evidences of the important truth that the Lord Jesus Christ, in His glorified Humanity, is the true Object of Christian worship. From this he pointed out that the leading purpose in the opening of the mission was to aid in leading men to a right knowledge and a spiritual worship of the Lord. An apostle had declared respecting the Son, which is the Lord in His Humanity, that "when He bringeth His firstbegotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him." The continuation of the canon of inspired truth after the ascension of the Lord clearly showed that this was literally fulfilled. The Book of Revelation gave the clearest evidence of the angelic worship of the risen and glori fied Saviour. Of this most convincing examples were given, and the discourse closed by insisting that if the Church on earth was to be at one with the Church in heaven, it must worship the same God, in the same glorious body, "in which dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The services thus commenced were continued on the Monday evening by a public tea party. Over fifty were present. After tea the chair was occupied by Mr. Freeth, who acts as the leader of the Society, and introduced the proceedings in an appropriate address. Speeches suited to the occasion were made by Mr. Storry, who spoke at length on the distinguishing features of the true Church and the privileges and duties of its members; by Mr. Rodgers, who took up portions of the same general subject; by Mr. Russell,

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an intelligent member and occasional continued usefulness and increased prospreacher in one of the Wesleyan bodies, who in a kindly and thoughtful address expressed his sympathy with the movement; and by Mr. Westbury, who spoke with special reference to the means of success. He commended the self-denial of the leader, Mr. Freeth, and exhorted the members to sustain him by their hearty co-operation. All present seemed to enjoy the proceedings, the social character of which, by affording the opportunity of pleasant intercourse, was in harmony with the services of the Sabbath. On the Tuesday evening a lecture was given in the mission-room by Mr. Storry on "The Sovereignty of the Saviour, its relation to Character and Progress," which was attended by a small but most attentive audience. The Rev. Mr. Ashby, who had come over to Birmingham from Derby for the funeral of his friend, Mr. J. S. Stanhope, was present, and appointed to the chair. At the close of the lectures cordial votes of thanks to the lecturer and the chairman were adopted by the meetings. Some questions were also proposed to which the lecturer replied; and this brought to a close what was felt throughout to be a useful service. May the Society continue to increase in numbers, and growing in unity and strength, long continue to hold aloft the light they are permitted to shed on those around them!

CLAYTON-LE-MOORS, NEAR ACCRINGTON.-The small Society at this place, which owes its existence to the untiring efforts of our zealous friend Dr. Pilkington, has been since the settlement of the Rev. Mr. Tansley at Besses, without a minister. In the month of April the Rev. Mr. Payten was invited to spend a month in the Society, and his services have been so acceptable that at a meeting of the members it was unanimously determined to invite him to become the minister of the Society. The invitation thus cordially given has been accepted, and Mr. Payten is expected to enter upon his ministry during the present month. Mr. Payten has been for some time engaged in the work of the ministry, and enters, therefore, upon his pastorate with considerable experience. He will find in his new sphere of labour willing helpers. We trust that under his ministry the church will go forward in

GLASGOW. -On Wednesday, April 30th, a social meeting was held in this city to welcome the Rev. F. H. Hemperley of Providence, United States, who has exchanged pulpits with the Rev. J. F. Potts. The meeting was combined with the half-yearly meeting of the Scottish Missionary Association. Mr. M'Lachlan of Alloa occupied the chair. In introducing Mr. Hemperley, the chairman stated that the parents of Mr. Hemperley were Germans belonging to the Lutheran Church, and that Mr. Hemperley had been educated for the ministry of that Church. While a student he had become so much dissatisfied with its creed that he determined to leave it and commence a Church in which he could preach what he conscientiously believed to be true doctrine. It was then that he was led into the New Church; so that Mr. Hemperley was not in the New Church because he had been brought up in it, but he had entered it because he believed its doctrines to be true. Those members of the Church, continued Mr. M'Lachlan, who had adopted its teaching from a sense of the power of its doctrines had to satisfy all their doubts and fears, and to pass through an experience which those born in the Church had not; and, in his opinion, Mr. Hemperley would be found a true and worthy member of the New Church. After a further address of welcome on behalf of the Glasgow Society by Mr. Andrew Eadie, Mr. Hemperley said it had been the desire of his heart since he was a boy to visit the Old World, and now that he was actually in it, he could scarcely realize that the dream of his youth had been fulfilled. He had left home, and travelled four thousand miles across the waste of waters to find himself not among strangers but friends. Underlying all the differences caused by birth, social position, and nationality, there was a bond of union in the man that was superior to them all. He accepted their welcome, feeling the power of that common brotherhood that binds men to each other all the world over; and would, during the absence of their pastor, do his best to

merit the great kindness they had shown him. Other addresses followedby Mr. Gunton, who spoke of the importance of missionary labour; by Mr. Allbutt, who gave a rapid sketch of the work of the Missionary Association; and by Mr. Paterson, who gave Mr. Hemperley a hearty invitation and assured welcome to Paisley.

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RAMSBOTTOM.-On Sunday, May 11th, the annual sermons on behalf of the Sunday-school connected with the Society at Ramsbottom were preached by the Rev. Dr. Bayley to crowded congregations. The subject of the afternoon's discourse was, "The Youthful Life of Daniel; a model for young people," and was founded upon Daniel i. 12, 13; and that of the evening, The Daily Life of the true Christian," the text being John xv. 10, 11. Both subjects were treated in the Doctor's usual masterly and eloquent style, and were listened to with close and sustained attention. In the morning a scholars' service was held, at which an interesting and edifying address was delivered to parents, teachers, and scholars by George Benson, Esq. of Prestwich. The collections for the day amounted in the aggregate to £77, 4s. 6d., the largest sum ever obtained on a similar occasion. It is very gratifying to record that in the midst of an unprecedented depression of trade in this neighbourhood there appears to be a stronger desire than ever to encourage and support our religious institutions, thus proving the soundness of the Apostle's maxim that (at least so far as the wants of worthy efforts to do good are concerned) "charity never faileth."

SOUTHPORT.-We are informed by a correspondent that the intimation in our last, that the debt which encumbered the church had been removed, is not quite accurate. Our correspondent writes: "The present debt of the Society is £647 in two items, one on mortgage of building, amounting to £550, the other £97 part of £200 borrowed from the Church Building Fund. Through the munificence of Mr. Mottram, who subscribed £150, the Society has been enabled to pay the remaining debt that was borrowed to pay the legacy duty on Mr. Beconsall's bequest as well as £35 towards the Church Building Fund."

Obituary.

On Wednesday, April 23rd, at Park Cottage, Aston, near Birmingham, John Summerfield Stanhope, aged sixty years. The deceased was for several years a conscientious and respected member of the Derby Society of the New Church. About eighteen months since he removed to Aston. Although for some time his health had been failing, yet he was able to attend business even to the day of his departure, which was very sudden and altogether unexpected. Having returned home from the office on the above date, he sat down for a moment to rest, and having spoken a few cheerful and pleasant words to those about him, fell back in his chair and quietly passed away. Our friend's sudden departure reminds forcibly of our Lord's injunction, "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not."

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On April 13th, Mary Clara, the beloved daughter of Henry and Mary Ann Powell of 95 Snow Hill, Birmingham.

On Monday, April 21st, Fanny Cookson Backhouse, infant daughter of Alfred and Hannah Backhouse of Leeds, passed into the spiritual world, aged seven months.

At Thorner, near Leeds, on the 17th of April, Mr. Robert Backhouse, in the 74th year of his age. Mr. Backhouse was one of the oldest members of the Church at Leeds. During the ministry of Mr. Edleston, when his residence was nearer the town, he was a regular attendant on the services of the Church and a useful office-bearer in the Society. His intelligence, attention to the duties he undertook, and integrity of character, secured him the esteem of his brethren in the Church, and of many with whom he associated or had business connections in the world. For some years past he has resided too far from the town of Leeds to attend the services of the Church. His love of the truth remained, however, unabated, and he closed a useful life in tranquillity and peace.

"When life in the soul has worked its own way
The image of God to restore,
In brightness man enters the portals of day,
And the beautiful shell is no more."

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THE KINGDOM OF GOD: WHAT AND WHENCE IS IT?

THE natural man judges naturally even of spiritual things. Sensuous in his apprehensions and selfish in his desires, he moulds the highest principles and the most exalted views into forms of his own low ends and narrow conceptions. This was never perhaps more fully exemplified than in the case of the Jews, and of all the Jews in the case of the Pharisees. The Jewish people, from the earliest of their history, give unmistakable signs of that not uncommon inconsistency, the union of powerful devotional feeling with weak religious principle, and strong faith with feeble perceptions.

It was this which led to that endless alternation of sin and repentance which their history exhibits; and which led them to place their ideas of superlative happiness in a temporal kingdom, to the restoration of which they still look forward with blind pertinacity. About the time our Lord came into the world this expectation is said to have been general amongst the Jewish nation, which might induce the Pharisees, half in earnest, to ask the Lord, the declared King of Zion, when the kingdom should appear. But what may we suppose to have been their disappointment, or rather their contempt, when Jesus, passing over the question of time, directed them to the manner of the coming of the kingdom, and struck at the very foundation of their hopes by declaring to them that the kingdom of God cometh not with

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observation or outward show; that it is not to be looked for in one place or in another, nor in any outward place whatever, but in their own hearts and minds. This was a truth of which the disciples themselves were as yet ignorant and in heart unbelieving. But when they came to be converted, though not till after they had seen their views overturned and their hopes vanish away, they declared unto men the true nature of the kingdom of God, and laboured to establish and extend it. They taught what the Lord Himself had taught before them, that His kingdom was not of this world—that it did not consist in temporal glory and happiness, but in "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost;" thus in the government of the Divine love and wisdom in the hearts and lives of men, securing to them spiritual protection, peace, and blessedness.

This doctrine of the Lord that His kingdom is within is unhappily not only opposed to Jewish opinion, but also, to some extent, to Christian ideas and practice. For while Christians profess to believe that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy, many seem to place it in creeds or in worship; and while all admit, in words, that it cometh not with outward show, many appear unable to see or acknowledge it unless it come with the power of temporal authority or the shout of popular applause, with outward grandeur or an imposing ceremonial.

It is needful indeed that religion should have an outward visible manifestation as well as an inward invisible essence. And this outward manifestation consists of the ceremonials of worship as well as the duties of life. Without either of these inward religion could not exist. They are the foundations of the kingdom, without which it could neither be established nor sustained. It is also desirable that outward worship and all that is connected with it should be in harmony with the inward thoughts and affections which it is designed to excite and strengthen. Still religion does not consist in creeds or in ceremonials. These are not the primary but the secondary elements of religion; and should be used, not as the end or the fulfilment of our religious obligations, but as the means of enabling us to discharge them. It is not to be concealed that there are on the other hand many who attach too little, rather than too much, importance to the externals of religion. As some place all religion in the form, others place it all in the essence. This is an error which has seduced serious and pious minds into the mysticism which resolves religion into inward contemplation. The principle is often, it is to be feared, maintained

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