United Kingdom, has rapidly increased. In 1823 it was 150,000, but now it is computed at 400,000 colonists, with an annual increase of 15 or 20,000. Many occasional appeals have been made, on behalf of these settlers, to the Congregational brethren at home, but the most decided was the result of the visit of Drs. Reed and Matheson, as the representatives of the Congregational Union in 1834. During the past year the Committee of the Colonial Mission have made some important efforts in behalf of this province.

The Rev. Mr. Nall, a congregational minister, who has laboured most usefully for two years at Burford, Oakland, and Paris, and succeeded in raising a congregation and building a new chapel, was compelled, through the sickness of his wife, to visit England, at the close of last year, and by afflictive providences would not have been able to return to his sphere of useful labour, but for the seasonable aid of the Committee.

To Guelph, a rising town between lakes Huron and Ontario, the Rev. Mr. Clarke, late pastor of the church at Godalming, Surrey, has been sent with very encouraging prospects of usefulness. The three brethren already named, left England in April last, and it is hoped are now arrived at the scenes of their future labours.

Toronto is the capital of Upper Canada, and an important place it is, likely to be very soon the largest and most influential city in British America. Its present population is 12,000, but it increases rapidly every year. The outline of a magnificent city is laid down, with long and spacious streets; the principal thoroughfare is half a mile in length, and the city is already adorned with several handsome public buildings. There is a considerable and increasing body of Congregational brethren there, who have formed themselves into a Christian church, intend to erect a commodious chapel, and have requested the Committee of the Colonial Mission to send them a suitable minister, "one of some standing and experience, and if not, of commanding, at least of no common talents."

When the Report was presented to the Annual Meeting, no individual had been obtained, but happily the Committee have been relieved from that anxiety, by the appointment of the Rev. J. Roaf, of whose designation an account will be found in next article.

Thus five experienced and effective ministers have been sent to the Canadian Colonies, since this Society was founded, whose arrival will gladden the hearts of multitudes of our brethren in those settlements, who have been as sheep, having no shepherd.

AUSTRALIA. This important portion of the Colonial possessions of Great Britain has naturally occupied the attention and shared the liberality of the Committee. The settlement of Southern Australia, though the most recent attempt at colonization on the vast continent of New Holland, was, in fact, the first object contemplated by the Committee. The Act of Parliament which, in 1834, legalized that settlement, apportioned for the use of the Colonists a fine district, thrice as large as the United Kingdom. With an unequalled climate, and soil and situation adapted alike for the pursuits of agriculture and commerce, free from the corrupting society of convicts, and possessing a constitution which alike secures civil and religious liberty, the Committee felt convinced that amongst the first settlers should be placed an intelligent and devoted minister of the Congregational Denomination.

They arrived early in the present year, so that in March last there were 1,300 people. Two townships, Adelaide and Glenelg, have been established, and the site of Adelaide, the future capital of this Colony, has been marked out. To this infant country the Committee were happy to send the Rev. T. Q. Stowe, late of Halstead, Essex, who, with his family and some christian friends, embarked for that Colony in May last. On the eve of his departure the Rev. A. Wells addressed to him an affecting farewell, in which he remarked,

"The vessel that bears you and your associates to your distant destination, will convey, no doubt, many of those things which are the boast of civilized

Britain-the produce of our soil, or of our arts; of our genius, or of our science. The intention is to re-produce British society on Australian shores; a noble design. But you carry, my friend, the choicest British blessing; the animating, preserving principle of all; the saving, sanctifying truth of God. You do not contemn or undervalue the productions of human liberty, science, and skill; you know and acknowledge their value; but you say the gospel produced in Britain that state of society which gave them birth. As without its influence they could never have existed, so without it, they can never be preserved; and even if they could, there are interests sacred, eternal, momentous, which no art of man can reach, but which the gospel provides for in rich fulness, in eternal security. Let your heart rejoice, my friend, that you go forth to carry the glorious gospel, without which it were better that the plains of Australia should remain in primæval solitude."

To such sentiments the heart of every British Christian, cannot fail to respond.

The Island of Van Dieman's Land has also presented strong claims upon the aid of the Society. Mr. Beazley, who had pursued his preparatory studies under Mr. Stewart, of Barnet, has been sent forth to enter upon the itinerant labours of a home missionary, in that important colony, under the direction of a local Society. We are happy to learn from a correspondent at Hobart Town, that "he is very suitable for his work, and feels much pleasure in it; that the country people are much attached to him, and that he has already formed small congregations in eight or ten different places."

Such are the measures that have been taken by the Committee in the first year of the Colonial Mission; but there are very important openings and very urgent appeals from other stations of great interest, both in the Canadas and Australia, not to refer to other British Colonies. To sustain the seven brethren who have already gone forth, and to equip and support other missionaries, will require a much larger income than has yet been obtained. Our churches in town and country, we trust, will, by collections and annual subscriptions, promptly encourage the Committee," to go forward." They owe this to the devoted men who have already embarked in the service of the Mission. What was addressed to Mr. Stowe, may be said, in the name of our churches, to them all. "We honour in you, the zeal and self-consecration which have induced you to leave an affectionate, attached people; a comfortable competency of support; an endeared circle of friends, and the native soil of your favoured, beloved country, to cross the mighty deep; to share the toils and privations of the very commencement of colonization in a distant land; and to undertake the arduous work of ministering the gospel amidst all the disadvantages attendant on a scattered, unsettled, and, except as religion shall operate, unrestrained state of society."

And shall they not also be encouraged as the same eloquent address promised? "Your connection with your brethren, the ministers and churches of your native country, will be continued.

They send you forth and will not desert you; the great and wide sea will indeed separate, but not divide us; you will retain our affections, and may assure yourself of our prayers; we shall maintain a correspondence, cheering to us when we hear of your welfare and success; how much more to you in that far land, when you receive tidings of the transactions and events of the churches and religious institutions of Britain, and assurances of the continued affection of beloved friends. Our money and our counsels will still support your efforts; you will connect yourself in thought, as you will be connected in reality, with the many thousands of our Congregational churches; and the thought and the fact will be sustaining and consolatory. No doubt it will be your satisfaction to feel yourself still connected with the great British empire; to dwell in a land, however remote, to which the authority of the British crown and parliament reaches, where the rights and liberties of an English citizen are safe in the protection of the British power. And if a connection with England for civil

purposes will yield you a just satisfaction, how much more a union with our happy country in religious and sacred interests. You will feel in the land of your distant labours, I am not here a solitary, unsupported individual; but as the representative of a numerous body of my fathers and brethren, to whom I can look in every exigency for countenance, sympathy, and support. We can easily imagine with what joy, what intense emotion, you will see a British vessel with her national colours flying, bear down to your shores. There, you will say, is the medium of our delightful intercourse with Britain; there are letters, journals, books; there are the assurances of private affection; there the tidings of public events and interests. You will bless the winds and the waves which seem to divide, but in fact unite the distant portions of the human family; you will feel the exhilarating thought, I am one with my British brethren still-remote, but not cast off."

Besides this, there is the vast influence of religious colonization upon the destinies of future generations. Truly is it said, that, "The fairest hopes of the latter ages of the world and the church seem connected with the spread of British influence in every quarter of the globe. Australia may, centuries hence, be covered with the culture, the cities of teeming millions of British origin; as the vast extent of North America bids fair to be, from Quebec to New Orleans. Of what incalculable importance, that wherever our countrymen spread themselves, they should carry the religion of the Gospel in its utmost purity; then shall be re-produced on a vast scale, our churches, our missions, our Bible Societies; then, as our race, language, commerce, dominion extends, shall the Gospel extend with it. Australia, America, England, India, will combine their labours to illumine and evangelize the world."

DEPARTURE OF THE REV. JOHN ROAF, FOR TORONTO, UPPER CANADA.

The operations of the Colonial Mission are advancing to great interest and importance. The Committee have, by the Divine blessing, accomplished an important object in obtaining the services of so gifted and energetic a minister as Mr. Roaf, for the rising and influential city of Toronto, the capital and seat of government of Upper Canada, where many Christians of congregational principles are anxiously expecting his arrival, and where a prospect of great usefulness opens before our beloved brother. It is hoped that his vigorous exertions will be extensively and beneficially felt by the infant churches of our denomination throughout the wide regions of that noble colony.

On the evening of Wednesday, the 23d of August, a solemn valedictory service was held at Wolverhampton, on occasion of Mr. Roaf's departure, in the chapel where he had, for fourteen years, ministered with great acceptance and success. The Rev. Mr. Hill, of Gomel, commenced the edifying service with prayer and reading the sacred scriptures.

The Rev. A. Wells, Secretary to the Colonial Society, explained the object of Mr. Roaf's mission, and the circumstances of his solemn call to it, and acceptance of the invitation of the Committee.

The Rev. Mr. Hammond, of West Bromwich, offered up an affectionate, devout designation prayer.

The Rev. J. A. James, of Birmingham, addressed his beloved brother in a fervent strain of encouragement and counsel, founded on 2 Timothy iv. 22, "The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit;" and the Rev. Mr. Firnie, of Brewood, concluded with prayer.

On the next day, Mr. Roaf and family proceeded by the railroad to Liverpool, and embarked with favourable wind and weather, and amidst most auspicious circumstances. May the providence of God conduct him in safety to his destination, and render his ministerial labours there as successful as the fondest wishes of his friends can desire.

The Rev. H. Wilkes, of Montreal, the indefatigable agent of the Society in Canada, has transmitted to the Secretaries a most valuable series of letters, com4 Q

VOL. I. N. S.

municating the results of his observations and inquiries during several extensive journies through various districts of both provinces. They have also obtained, through the kindness of Andrew Hamilton, Esq., from Canada, several elaborate letters on the religious state of the upper province, addressed to that gentleman by the Rev. David Murdock, of Bath, Upper Canada. From the concurring testimony of those eye-witnesses, as well as from other sources of information, it appears evident

1. That Congregational Ministers at the present juncture will, from various concurring causes, obtain a very favourable reception generally throughout Canada, and more especially in the upper province.

2. That the Ministers sent to Canada ought to be men of energy, talent, and superior qualifications. That the entire state of society among the colonists is such as to demand the services of men qualified to make "full proof of their ministry." Nothing is more evident, than that it would be worse than useless to send to Canada men deficient in intelligence, moral energy, theological skill, and devoted piety and zeal.

3. That Ministers proceeding to Canada must, for the first years of their labours, be sustained by pecuniary aid from England. The colonists will, with great willingness, assist in the support of their Ministers, but cannot in the first instance entirely maintain them.

A noble field for exertion and success is open in Canada before the Congre gational churches of this country. Zeal and liberality in this service will reap a large reward.

NORTH RIDING THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION.

At the last meeting of the North Riding Association and Auxiliary Home Missionary Society, held at Whitby, on the 7th of June, it was unanimously resolved to attempt the formation of an Institution with the above title. The want of such an Institution had been felt by the Association for some time, on account of the difficulty of procuring ministers for Home Missionary stations, and other places of a similar kind. Most of the students in our colleges decline such situations in favour of others; and of ministers destitute, and therefore glad to embrace any offer, several have been found either so exceptionable in sentiment or character, or so inefficient, as to render a continuance of their services very undesirable. This statement of things led to an investigation of the question of supply and demand, in regard to dissenting ministers; and from what follows, every unprejudiced reader must see the necessity of the proposed Institution, and also the importance of establishing others of a similar kind in different parts of the country. "The average lives of 350 of our ministers, during the last forty years, is ascertained to be 58 years." (Cong. Mag., 1833, p. 183, note.) According to this statement, 30 years must be a fair, if not a high average of ministerial labour; for, on an average, ministers will be 26 years of age when they commence their labours, which allows only 32 years for the remainder of their lives; and many ministers are obliged to resign their charges, or to leave much of the work to an assistant, several years before they die. As to students preparing for the ministry in our colleges, the number does not, according to the accounts published, amount to more than 160, which, allowing four years as the term of study, gives 40 young ministers as the annual supply; and as the number of our congregations in England, according to the list given in the Cong. Mag. for 1835, is 1457, and the average of ministerial labour, as already stated, is not more than 30 years; 48 vacancies must occur annually, for which the supply is only 40; and therefore eight uneducated ministers, or else the same number of students from Scotland and Wales, are required every year, to meet the deficiency, not to speak of new congregations. Besides, more persons from our colleges go out as missionaries than return for home service; some students remain at college five, and others six years,

instead of four, and a considerable number of students either never become ministers, or else soon retire from their work. We ought, therefore, to have 260 students training for the ministry, instead of 160; for in this case there would be only 16 young ministers each year for new congregations; and when the deductions before mentioned are considered, it must appear doubtful whether there would be any supply for new congregations. As, however, one minister in some cases has the charge of two congregations, and some places are supplied by students, these considerations may, for the sake of argument, be allowed to stand against the deductions mentioned above. Some persons may also allege, that there are many congregations too small to support a minister, and therefore do not require pastors. To this it may be replied, that such congregations frequently belong to one of the two classes just mentioned; and that where they do not, and the field of labour can be extended, which seldom admits of any difficulty, the religious public ought, by their liberality, to enable the people to support a settled minister among them. It is chiefly in this way, and by increasing the number of congregations in rural districts, that we can most effectually promote the increase of vital religion in the land; and the recent opposition to the abolition of church rates from such districts, should teach Dissenters a lesson on this subject. If the opulent Dissenters, in large towns and other places, had more extensively supported village preaching, this opposition would not have been so great.

Let it then be admitted, that we ought to have at least one hundred additional students preparing for the ministry, and the question will be, whether the existing colleges should have their number of students increased, or new ones be established, of a somewhat different kind; in short, institutions in which the course of instruction shall include the English language, logic, systematic theology, and also the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures, except where the circumstances of the pupil seem to require that his attention should be confined to his own language; but in which the Latin and Greek classics shall have no place. There are two or three reasons for preferring new institutions according to the plan just given. The first is the field of labour. According to Pigot's Tables of Population, there are not quite 500 towns in England with a population of 2000 each; but as a considerable number of these require several ministers, they may be considered as equal to 600. Even in this case there are only 20 ministers required annually for such towns, which is only half the number furnished by our present colleges; and therefore about 20 remain for the better class of small towns and villages. Besides, many of these spheres of labour require so much active exertion, that the minister, should he lay the foundation for extensive acquirements in our present colleges, would find it utterly impossible to prosecute many of his studies when he became settled, and therefore much of previous labour would in some measure be thrown away, especially in regard to classical studies. There are also other reasons to be found in the pupils themselves. The first is, that a considerable number of young men who enter our colleges have no taste for classical studies, and therefore never pursue them with sufficient vigour to make much proficiency; and yet most of these persons would feel great interest in the study of the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures, and every thing bearing directly upon the work of the ministry. Another reason may be drawn from the age and previous attainments of many young men who wish to enter the ministry. "Compare the situation of our young men with the advantages enjoyed by the greater part of those whose names grace the prize lists of our universities. The latter, if of wealthy parentage, have had the inestimable privilege of an early and careful initiation, and are enabled to superadd, when engaged in their college course, the benefits of private tutorage. Those, on the other hand, who, though not possessed of large pecuniary means, have been thrown for fortune and for fame on the results of a public education, have started early at some of those foundationschools, where severe discipline, high rewards, and the very finest possible instruction, prepared them for a still more arduous race among the keenest