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NEW CHAPEL, LONGDEN, SALOP.

On Friday, November 10th, a neat new chapel, situate near to the village of Longden, in the parish of Pontesbury, Salop, to be appropriated to the use of Congregational Dissenters, was opened for public worship. Two sermons were preached on the occasion: one, in the afternoon, by the Rev. J. Pattison, of Wem, on Matthew xv. 31; and the other, in the evening, by the Rev. T. Weaver, of Shrewsbury, on Luke xv. 2. The Rev. J. J. Beynon, of Dorrington, assisted in the devotional part of the service. The chapel was well filled, and a liberal collection was made towards the expense of the erection.

NEW CHAPEL, CRAWCOOK, DURHAM.

A small but commodious chapel, connected with the Durham and Northumberland Association, was opened for public worship, at Crawcrook, near Newcastle, on Tuesday, the 24th of October. The Rev. A. Reid, of Newcastle, preached in the morning from 2 Corinthians, iii. 8. The Rev. Dr. Matheson, of Durham, in the afternoon, from Isaiah xlviii. 22; and the Rev. A. Jack, of North Shields, in the evening, from Colossians i. 28. The Rev. Messrs Raine, Harper, Sample, and Adam, assisted in conducting the devotional exercises. The Rev. J. Lewis, the missionary, who labours at Crawcrook and the villages in the neighbourhood gave out the hymns. It is worthy of notice, that this chapel has been built at the sole expense of a pious and benevolent gentlemen in the neighbourhood, who also contributes largely to the support of the missionary; would that many, actuated by similar love to Christ and compassion for man, were raised up in the villages and hamlets of our country where the gospel is not preached.

ORDINATIONS, &c.

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, the Rev. Thomas Gallsworthy, late of Airedale College, was ordained as the pastor of the Independent Church assembling in Rothwell, Northamptonshire, on which occasion the Rev. T. Toller, of Kettering, delivered the introductory discourse; the Rev. I. Carter, of Braintree, asked the usual questions; the Rev. B. Hobson, of Welford, offered the ordination prayer; the Rev. W. Scott, (late pastor,) now Theological Tutor of Airedale College, gave the charge; and the Rev. J. Green, of Uppingham, preached to the people. The Rev. Wm. Robinson, of Kettering; Tunley, of Northampton; Jinkinson, of Kettering, Baptists; Dear, of Great Easton; and Carter, of Church Over, assisted in conducting the devotional and other parts of the service. The services were numerously attended, and the impressions produced by the affecting statements of the ordained, and the touching allusions and powerful appeals of the solemn charge, we trust, will be permanent, and be connected with the happiest results.

The interesting engagements of the day, and the auspicious aspect of the present times, forms a pleasing contrast to the period when the following entry was made in the church books of this venerable Society :-" Mr. Thomas Browning, the second pastor of this church, was gathered to his fathers in an evil and persecuting day, May the 9th, 1685, having served his Lord with much pain and many tears, about 23 years."

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On Wednesday, October 25th, 1837, the Rev. Joseph Field, late of Highbury College, was ordained to the pastoral office over the recently formed Independent Church, in Diss, Norfolk. The introductory discourse on the nature of a gospel church was delivered by the Rev. John Alexander, of Norwich, who also proposed the usual questions to the church and to the minister. The Rev. Edward Hickman, of Denton, offered up the ordination prayer. The charge was addressed to the minister by the Rev. John Carter, of Braintree, Mr. Field's late pastor. The sermon to the church and congregation was preached in the evening by the Rev. John Raven, of Hadleigh; and the Rev. Messrs. Flower, of Beccles; Lewis, the Baptist Minister at Diss; Buck, of Harleston; and Gooch, the Baptist Minister at Eye, engaged in the devotional

services.

A considerable number of Christian friends dined together after the morning service, and the afternoon was happily and profitably spent in listening to the addresses which were delivered by several ministers and members of Christian churches, who, though of various denominations, were animated by one spirit, and made all around them feel how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

DOCUMENTS.-THE REGIUM DONUM.

Return to an Address, moved by Mr. Hindley, of the House of Commons, dated March 9, 1837, for a return of the names of the Committee by whom the Parliamentary Grants to Protestant Dissenting Ministers have been distributed, and the mode in which they are apportioned.*

The undersigned, composing at the present date the board of trustees of the Parliamentary grant to poor Dissenting ministers in England and Wales, in obedience to the order of the House of Commons of the 16th of August, 1836, beg respectfully to present the following "Return of the Names of the Committee" (or board of trustees) "by whom the Parliamentary grants to poor Dissenting Ministers have been distributed, and the mode in which they are apportioned." And, first, as to "the mode in which those grants are apportioned."

It appears from the most authentic sources of information upon the subject to which the undersigned trustees have access, that when, in the year 1723, his Majesty King George I, out of his royal compassion to the distressed condition of many of the Dissenting clergy and their families, directed an annual allowance to be paid out of the royal treasury for their relief, the money was issued every half-year, under the customary order, to a gentleman appointed to the office of receiver by his Majesty's Government After the money had been obtained by that gentleman, the entire sum was divided in equal portions among nine Protestant Dissenting ministers of great respectability, of the Presbyterian and Independent denominations, residing in London and the neighbourhood, for the purpose of being distributed in the manner best fitted, in their judgment, to answer the benevolent intentions of the royal donor.

These nine Dissenting ministers were in this way, with the knowledge and concurrence of his Majesty's Government, constituted the first" committee" (by whieh it is presumed, is meant the board of trustees,) for the appropriation of the royal grant, each trustee being held responsible for the application of that portion of the money which was placed at his disposal.

The plan thus established, in the earliest period of the royal grant, for its equitable apportionment and distribution, was, as the undersigned understand and believe, generally acted upon in after times. The money, as soon as it was issued from the Treasury, was divided in equal portions among the ministers composing the successive boards of trustees, who distributed the whole at their earliest convenience, in small sums, among such poor Protestant Dissenting ministers as they deemed to be proper objects of the royal charity.

The course thus pursued, with very rare exceptions, during the whole period that the fund to be distributed, was strictly a charitable grant from the King's persona! bounty, was uniformly followed after the year 1804, when, on the settlement of the civil list by a compact entered into between the King and the Parliament, in reference to the hereditary revenues of the Crown, the grant was directed to be made in future by an annual vote of the House of Commons.

In the year 1806, after the Royal bounty had thus assumed the form of a Parliamentary grant, the board of trustees consisted of eight Dissenting ministers highly esteemed in their respective denominations, three of them being Presbyterians, three Independents, and two Baptists. But in 1810 another Baptist minister was added, to make the number equal from each of the denominations; and this proportion has been maintained to the present time.

*This Parliamentary paper was printed for the use of the House of Commons some months ago. The Editor, anxious to include it in a volume that contains other important documents on the same subject, has now inserted it, and regrets that he has not been able to do so at an earlier period.

The plan uniformly observed in the apportionment of the Parliamentary grants has been as follows:-The money received by the trustees from the Treasury has been divided among them in nine equal portions, to be distributed, according to the best of their judgment and discretion, among the most deserving objects in that class of necessitous persons contemplated by the grant-namely, the poor Protestant Dissenting ministers of England and Wales.

The object of placing on the board of trustees an equal number of Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists, was to secure, as far as possible, an equitable distribution of the money among the poor ministers of these denominations; the best sources of information being, by this method, made available for obtaining the most full and accurate knowledge of the proper objects of the charity among the several religious persuasions, and every facility secured for transmitting to them a portion of the royal and Parliamentary bounty.

No trustee, however, has made it a rule to confine his exhibitions to the ministers of his particular denomination; the general practice of the whole board has been, when acting collectively or individually, to administer relief, on application, to poor Protestant Dissenting ministers of good character, without reference to the religious class or party to which they belonged.

The impartiality with which they have acted will be seen by the following statement of the payments made by them during the three years immediately preceding the date of the order of the House of Commons-viz., 166 exhibitions to Presby-. terian ministers, 443 exhibitions to Independent ministers, and 461 exhibitions to Baptist ministers.

The board of trustees, in carrying into effect the benevolent purpose of this charitable grant, have anxiously endeavoured to extend its benefits to as large a number of poor ministers in England and Wales as could be done with real advantage to the recipients. With this view they have made it a rule of the trust, that no larger exhibition than five pounds should at one time be given to any minister. From this rule they have allowed themselves to depart only in a few extraordinary cases, in which some circumstances of necessity or affliction of unusual urgency have appeared to claim and justify a larger measure of pecuniary assistance. But such extraordinary grants have always been submitted to the whole board for their approval. In many instances they have limited the exhibitions to smaller amounts, having found from experience that such sums, though comparatively trifling, have been regarded by the poor recipients as a very welcome and not unimportant boon.

In this apportionment of the money, the trustees do not grant an exhibition of any amount to the same individual twice in the same year, and in many cases, the exhibitions are not repeated until after an interval of 15 or 18 months, or even two years. By acting upon this plan they have been able to administer aid to many hundreds of Protestant Dissenting ministers of various persuasions in necessitous circumstances, of exemplary character and great usefulness.

For the more effectual execution of the plan of distribution just stated, and in order to regulate the payments so that no ministers should, in the same year, receive exhibitions from more than one trustee, the board have held a meeting annually for the special purpose of comparing their several lists of applicants and recipients. At these meetings every trustee produces for examination an account of his disbursements for the preceding year, with his receipts and vouchers for every payment. These accounts are regularly and carefully audited, and held ready to be delivered into his Majesty's Treasury for inspection, whenever they may be called for.

The undersigned think it due to themselves to add, that the duties of their trust are discharged gratuitously. The whole of the sums placed at their disposal, as the almoners of the Crown and Parliament, is every year scrupulously apportioned and distributed in the manner already described, without any deduction whatever beyond what is required to defray the trifling charges incidently incurred in the management of the charity.

Secondly, as to "the names of the committee" or (board of trustees) "by whom the Parliamentary grants to poor Dissenting ministers have been distributed."

There being no limitation of time in this order, the undersigned judge that the intention of the House of Commons may be answered by an enumeration of the gentlemen who have acted as trustees for the last 30 years, being nearly from the

VOL. I. N. S.

5 N

time when the Royal bounty was, in name at least, converted into a grant of Parliament.

Shortly after this change took place the board of trustees consisted of the following Dissenting ministers of London and the neighbourhood:-viz. Dr. A. Rees, Mr. (afterwards Dr) T. Morgan, Mr. H. Worthington, Mr. J. Barber, Mr. N. Jennings, Mr. S. Palmer, Mr. J. Dore, and Mr. T. Thomas, to whom was added in 1810 Mr. (afterwards Dr.) W. Newman; three of these ministers being of the Presbyterian, three of the Independent, and three of the Baptist denomination.

As vacancies occurred in the trust subsequently to the above date, the following ministers of the several denominations were successively chosen to fill them; viz. Dr. John Humphrys, Mr. Thomas Thomas, Mr John Coates, Dr. J. P. Smith, Dr. Robert Winter, Dr. John Rippon, Dr. Thomas Rees, Dr. F. A. Cox, Mr. Robert Aspland, Mr. John Clayton, jun., Mr. George Pritchard, Mr. W. H. Murch, and Mr Thomas Madge.

The gentlemen chosen upon this trust were generally recommended for the office by the consideration in which they were held in their respective denominations, and frequently by their connexion with some of the most important public institutions of the Protestant Dissenters.

The undersigned, constituting the present board of trustees, unanimously agree upon the above return, which they humbly trust will be accepted as a satisfactory answer to the order of the House of Commons.

JOHN HUMPHRYS, LL.D.

J. PYE SMITH, D.D. LL.D. F.G S.
THOMAS REES, LL.D. F.S.A.

F. A. Cox, D.D. LL.D.

ROBERT ASPLAND.

London, Feb. 16, 1837.

JOHN CLAYTON, Jun. A.M.
GEORGE PRITCHARD.

W. H. MURCH.

THOMAS MADGE.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

PERSECUTIONS IN HOLLAND.

The last number of the Paris Archives that we have received (that of Nov. 11,) gives us the painful information that the violence of persecution continued upon a wide scale with unmitigated severity. The quartering of blaspheming and insolent soldiers upon private families, the encouragement of ferocious mobbing, the interruption and dispersion of worshipping assemblies, fetters, handcuffs, imprisonment and ruinous fines, were still inflicted; and so far from a remission of these outrages having been produced, as was hoped would be the case, from a favourable occurrence at Amsterdam, on Aug. 4, they seem to have received a fresh impulse in different parts of the country. That occurrence was the gaining of a sentence before a tribunal (unhappily we are not informed of the proper designation of the court,) against a considerable number of rioters who had committed assaults upon some of the Dissenting Christians: and those aggressors were condemned to fines, imprisonment, and the payment of costs. An eminent jurist and historical writer, Mr. Groen Van Prinsterer, has published at Leyden a pamphlet, intitled The Proceedings against the Separatists examined upon the Principles of Public Law. This induced a government newspaper, The Hague Journal, to break the silence which had been hitherto observed by the Dutch periodical papers, no doubt under the orders of authority; and the mode in which The Hague Journal defends the persecuting measures is a shameess avowal of principles, fit only for the mouth of a popish inquisitor.

Is is, however, with pleasure that we present to our readers the following document. May we not ask, ought not the ministers of Christ in Great Britain to adopt some measure similar to those of our Swiss brethren? England has much closer relations with the Dutch provinces than the Canton of Vaud has

ever had. King William owes his throne principally, at least, to the generosity or partiality of our government in 1814, and to British blood and British hard-earned money: and he must be as ungrateful as he is arbitrary and obstinate, if he were not moved by a respectful yet energetic address, or a number of addresses, from religious bodies in this country.

The translator of the following and of previous articles upon this distressing subject, implores his brethren, the ministers of London, to arouse themselves, and act as they did twenty-two years ago in relation to the persecutions in France, to which those now perpetrated by the Dutch bear so exact a resemblance.

J. P. S. Letter from the Pastors and Ministers of the National Church of the Canton of Vaud, to His Majesty the King of the Netherlands.

"SIRE, Ancient bonds of christian brotherhood exist between Switzerland and the low countries. When your Majesty's illustrious ancestors contended for the cause of evangelical truth and liberty, they merited the gratitude, not only of the nation over which God has placed you, but likewise ours, and that of all Christians of the Reformation. When they opened their provinces to the bleeding fugitives from the persecutions for religion in France, Great Britain, and other countries, we felt the obligation of this kindness to our brethren, as if it had been done to ourselves. Your Majesty has taught us to look up to you, with just expectation, as a genuine successor of those princes, and as a friend of that everlasting gospel, to obtain which, Holland poured out its blood. We then, Sire, the undersigned ministers of the National Church of the Canton of Vaud, venture to take the liberty, with all respect, of laying before your Majesty the desire of our hearts, with respect to the proceedings adopted in your country against certain Christians who have separated from the Reformed Church acknowledged by the State.

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"We do not presume to make ourselves judges or advocates of those brethren, with regard to circumstances of which we are not perfectly informed; for we know that, as the scripture speaks, in many things we all offend:' but we believe in eternal principles of justice and truth, which even the faults of men cannot destroy.

"We therefore approach your Majesty with respectful confidence, to implore you to grant to those Christians the entire liberty of serving God according to their own convictions.

"This we implore of you, Sire, because this religious liberty is what we find written in glorious characters, both in the word of God and in the annals of your family and your nation; because we are conscientiously, in the presence of God, persuaded that man ought to be free in the exercise of his religion, and that (according to a celebrated saying) the power of kings ends where that of conscience begins; and because as Ministers of a national Church, in a country where Dissent was for some years prosecuted and punished by law, we know, by the sure teaching of experience, that few things endanger, weaken, and distress a church united to the State, so much as such prosecutions; while the opposite course of toleration and liberty powerfully contributes to render such a church happy, peaceful, prosperous, and honourable in the eyes of all men.

"Therefore, Sire, permit us to bring out of the bosom of our now peaceful mountains, the earnest petition which we humbly lay at your feet. Grant it, Sire, with that generous kindness of which your ancestors have given so many proofs to our fathers.

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May the God of your fathers and of ours, the Eternal God, pour out his richest blessings upon your person, your family, your church, and your people; and may peace and prosperity fix their abode in those provinces, dear to all the Reformed Churches, which, for near three hundred years, were the refuge of sufferers for their faithful attachment to the pure and glorious Gospel of our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."

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Signed by 173 Pastors and Ministers.

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